“Umm, I need you,” she moaned. “Need you inside.”
Cleveland ripped his mouth away from her breasts. He didn’t have to tell her that he needed to bury himself inside her and forget that they’d ever been apart. Scooping her up in his arms, Cleveland headed upstairs to his bedroom, taking two steps at a time. Once he got into the room, he laid Freddie on the bed and looked at her for a moment. She was a thing of beauty with her hair fanned out on the pillow and her eyes filled with a combination of love and lust. When she sucked her bottom lip in, Cleveland grew harder and hotter. He stripped her clothes from her body, kissing each inch of skin that he exposed.
Freddie writhed underneath his touch, his kisses heated her body up like an inferno. She reached for his pants, but Cleveland grabbed her hand. “I want to take my time with you,” he said. He kissed her flat stomach, using his tongue to slide down to her heated core. Gently, Cleveland spread her thighs apart and buried his face between them and lapped her womanly juices. She seized the back of his neck, pressing him to go deeper, to taste more of her. He obliged her, deepening his kiss and wrapping his tongue around her throbbing bud. Intense waves of pleasure rippled through her body causing her legs to tremble. Freddie arched her back, pressing her hips into his mouth as her breasts heaved and her nipples hardened like diamonds. Cleveland alternated his finger and his tongue inside her, nearly bringing her to climax. Freddie hadn’t noticed that Cleveland had disrobed until she felt his thick hardness against her thighs. Covering her body with his, he kissed her, allowing her to taste the saltiness of herself. Freddie drew his tongue deeper into her mouth, silently telling him how urgently she needed him. Cleveland slipped his hand between her thighs as they kissed and stroked her core until she cried out.
“Need. You. Inside,” she said, her breathing labored.
“Wait,” he whispered against her ear. “I have to protect you.”
Cleveland reached in his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom. Freddie watched him as he slid the sheath in place. Would it be horrible if they had a child together? She knew that she’d be a better parent than her mother or her father had been to her. What am I thinking? He probably doesn’t even want to have children and why would anyone want to get involved with my crazy family?
“Are you all right?” Cleveland asked when he noticed how quiet she was and the frown on her face.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice far off. “I’m fine.”
He eased into the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Talk to me,” he whispered as he stroked her forearm.
“This feels so easy, so right, but it can’t always be like this.”
He rolled Freddie on top of him and brushed his lips against hers. “Why not? This thing between us is only as difficult as you make it,” he said.
She rolled her hips against his and Cleveland groaned. “There you go with the ‘d’ word again,” she said as she guided his hardness to her wetness. He gripped her hips as she tightened herself around him. They rocked back and forth, their conversation saved for another time. Freddie threw her head back in ecstasy as Cleveland matched her stroke for stroke.
“You feel so-so good,” she cried as she gripped the sheets while they ground their bodies against each other. Cleveland wanted to speak, wanted to describe how good it felt inside her hot valley, but he was rendered speechless when she gyrated her hips like a trained belly dancer and brought him nearer to his climax.
Freddie handled his body like no other woman ever could, she knew where to kiss him, how to ride him and what drove him wild. Grabbing her back, he flipped her over and dove deeper into her wetness, causing her to cry out his name. They fell into an intense rhythm, pushing and pulling each other to dizzying heights of pleasure. Cleveland slowed his pace as he felt the eruption of an orgasm building in his belly. But Freddie wouldn’t slow down. She tightened her grip around his waist with her legs and ground against him with wanton desire. Sweat covered their bodies as their dance continued. Freddie closed her eyes, reveling in the powerful sensations attacking her nervous system.
Grunting, Cleveland was no longer able to hold off his climax and he exploded inside her. Shivering, Freddie collapsed on his chest, smiling and satisfied. Cleveland wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. There was no need for words because their hearts were beating in sync. Freddie closed her eyes and silently admitted to herself that Cleveland Alexander was her soul mate.
The shrill ringing of Cleveland’s cell phone woke him and Freddie around three A.M.
Cleveland tumbled out of bed and grabbed the phone. “Yeah?”
“Where are you?” Darren asked.
“Was in bed. On the floor now. What’s wrong?”
“I hope you’re back in Atlanta, because we had a man go down tonight,” Darren said solemnly.
“Who was it?” Cleveland asked, now fully awake.
“Roland. He’s in intensive care. About three hours ago, we were working a fire in a warehouse and the roof collapsed. He was inside and we couldn’t get him out before the collapse. He’s in bad shape. As much as we teased him, Roland’s a good man.”
Cleveland cursed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Where is he?”
“Grady. He had burns on eighty percent of his body, inhaled a lot of smoke,” Darren said with a heavy sigh. “I’m going to need you to come to the station in the morning. Sorry if you didn’t get to win your woman back yet, but . . .”
“I’ll be there. I’m back in town,” Cleveland said.
“Thanks.”
“It’s times like this when we have to come together. Were you there?”
“Yeah,” Darren said. “This is the first time that I’ve been at a fire and was scared. I have to think about my little girl, I don’t want her growing up without me. I got an offer to be moved up to the arson investigations unit. After tonight, I’m seriously considering it.”
Cleveland didn’t know what to say, though he understood what his brother was feeling. Still, he couldn’t imagine working without Darren. “Do you think this is a decision to make while you’re so emotional?” he asked.
“Jill’s been pushing me to do it,” Darren said. “And you know who’s been backing her up on it.”
“Well, if you take this job the next thing Mom is going to do . . .” Cleveland said.
“Push me to hire you. She’s been trying to get us out of the fire service since the day we went to the academy,” Darren said with a low chuckle. “I guess it’s times like this when I can understand where she’s coming from.”
Cleveland shot a glance at Freddie and wondered if she would understand the life of a firefighter and the dangers that went along with it. She’d lost so much in her life, was it fair to bring her into his life when he faced death and danger on every call? “Yeah,” he finally said. “I know what you mean.”
“So, did you find her and plead your case?”
“Yeah, I sure did.” A slow smile spread across his lips as Freddie shifted in the bed and the sheet dropped from her chest and exposed her breasts. As her chest rose and fell, Cleveland felt a warm feeling spread across his body and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let her go.
“Is she there now?” Darren asked.
“Yeah, she is.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. How did you swing that?”
“I can’t even get into that right now,” Cleveland said as he crawled back into bed. “What time do you want me to come in?”
“I’d love to say six, but I’ll deal with eight,” Darren said. “I’m going to head back to the hospital for awhile then I’m going home to kiss my baby.”
“See you in a couple of hours,” Cleveland said then snapped his phone shut. As he wrapped his arms around Freddie, her eyes fluttered open. “Did I wake you?”
Freddie snuggled closer to him. “Yeah,” she said. “Is everything all right?”
“One of the men from our station was injured in a fire. Times like this always make us
think of our father. Darren is even thinking about going into the Fire Marshal’s office for arson investigations because he doesn’t want his daughter growing up without him.”
“I can understand that. It’s really admirable that he wants to be there with his child. Too bad I can’t say that either one of my parents did the same thing.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “I’m not going to think about that.” Cleveland wiped her cheek with his thumb.
“Whenever you want to talk about it, I’m willing to listen,” he said, kissing the track of her tear.
“Thanks. I guess you’d better go to sleep since you have to work, right?”
Cleveland nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to have to go into the station and pick up the slack. It’s a good thing I didn’t have to do much talking to get you to come back with me.”
“Whatever,” she said. “You provided an escape plan.”
“Are you saying it could’ve been anyone that you would’ve left with? Yeah, right,” Cleveland said then tickled her underneath the covers. “You know you wanted to come with me.”
“And I did, several times,” she quipped.
Cleveland pulled her on top of him. “I can make it happen again,” he said.
Spreading her legs apart, Freddie smiled and said, “Don’t talk about it, be about it.”
Chapter 23
The next morning, Cleveland struggled to pull himself out of Freddie’s arms and head to work. But she pushed him out of bed.
“Don’t let me be the cause of you losing your job,” she said. “You get in the shower and I’ll start some coffee.”
Cleveland groaned as he glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes after five. “All right,” he said as he rolled out of bed. As he walked into the bathroom, Freddie grabbed Cleveland’s T-shirt, put it on and headed downstairs to brew him some coffee and scramble a few eggs. While she cooked, Freddie thought about her situation. She didn’t have a job, she wasn’t going back to New Orleans and she couldn’t live off Cleveland. Maybe Lillian would help her find a job somewhere in Atlanta.
Lillian isn’t going to be happy about Cleveland and me being together, but she’s going to have to get over it, she thought as she heard Cleveland walking down the stairs. I think I love this man.
“Breakfast and coffee? Don’t get me used to this, I may never let you leave,” he said as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Don’t get used to it,” she said as she turned around and kissed him on the tip of his nose. “I’m not a morning person and hopefully I’ll be employed soon.”
“So, you’re going to make Atlanta home?”
“For a while, I guess,” she said. “I don’t want to go back to New Orleans right now, especially with all of that stuff going on with my family.”
“When do you want to move your stuff in?”
Freddie crinkled her nose. “Move my stuff in? Cleveland, I don’t want to be dependant on anyone, including you. I’ve got to make my own way.”
He sighed as he dropped his hands from around her waist. “Dare I say it?”
“Say what?”
“That you’re being difficult again?”
Freddie threw her head back and groaned. “Cleveland, eat these eggs before you end up wearing them.”
“You’re just not used to someone helping you out, are you? You don’t have to live here forever. Do you even know how much a decent place in Atlanta is going to run you?”
“So, I haven’t thought this whole thing out,” she said as she walked over to the stove and moved the pan with the eggs in it from the burner. “But, you have to let me do this my way. I’ll stay here for a few weeks, but I am going to get my own place, all right?”
Cleveland raised his hand in mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good, now get some plates so that we can eat and you can make it to work.”
He glanced down at his watch. “Um, I’m just going to have time for coffee on the run. I want to head to the hospital before I go into the station.”
She poured him a mug of java and kissed him on the cheek. “Have a good day,” she said. “And be careful.”
Cleveland winked at her and headed out the door with his coffee in his hand. Before he left, he told Freddie that she could use his truck if she needed to go somewhere and that the keys were in the utility drawer in the kitchen.
When he was gone, Freddie leaned against the kitchen counter questioning what her next move should be. Maybe she could live with Cleveland until she found something more permanent. But Freddie was scared, afraid that loving him would lead to heartbreak. Even though he’d offered safety, love and support, there was still a part of her that was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was no way she could be happy, especially when her past showed her that it’s always the ones who love you the most that lie to you and break your heart.
Freddie cleaned the kitchen after eating some of the eggs and toast she’d cooked, then headed upstairs to take a long hot bath. As she luxuriated in the oversized tub in the master bathroom, Freddie closed her eyes and wished that she was still on her pleasure trip with Cleveland and they were upstairs in the bed making love this morning. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, the loud chiming of her cell phone jarred her awake. Freddie sprang from the tub, wrapped herself in a towel and dashed into the bedroom where her phone was. She grabbed it without looking at the caller identification. “Hello?”
“Chere, I’m a free man,” Jacques said happily. “Well, save for the electronic bracelet on my leg. But now that I don’t have to go back to prison until a new trial is ordered, I can finally clear my name.”
“Am I supposed to rejoice because one parent is free and another one is on her way to prison?” Freddie asked sarcastically.
“Your mother may not even go to prison. Can you really blame me for wanting to clear my name?” he asked. “I’m innocent. Sure, I made some bad decisions, but I gave up my life for your mother. The least she could do is be honest about her role in the whole thing.”
“Maybe you’re innocent of murder, but from what I understand, you set all of this in motion, didn’t you Dad?”
Jacques chuckled. “Then your mother got to you first, huh? I really did love your mother, she was the one who thought I had an ulterior motive for marrying her.”
“So, this war with you and Nolan Watson had nothing to do with you getting Mom pregnant?”
“At first, I wanted to be with her because he loved her and I wanted him to crumble. You don’t understand how hard it was for us after my mother died and he wouldn’t pay out the insurance policy that she’d been paying for all of those years.”
“That doesn’t make it right. I don’t really want to hear your spin on this,” she said. “I guess between your story and Mom’s the truth is in there somewhere.”
“The truth is, your mother and I made mistakes and . . .”
“And I paid for it,” Freddie said. “That’s the one thing that you and Mom don’t seem to understand. I needed both of you.”
“Chere . . .”
“Don’t give me that ‘chere’ bullshit! While you and Loraine played games, I was suffering. I needed a father and a mother who could protect me. I grew up in a city where I couldn’t tell anyone who my father was because everyone hated him. My mother would never tell me about you and I walked around my entire life feeling as if part of me was missing.”
“What do you want me to do? I can’t change the past. We’re going to have to find a way to get past it or . . .”
“Or maybe I should pretend that I don’t have parents. I have to go,” Freddie said then clicked her phone off. She tossed the phone against the pillow and exhaled loudly. She couldn’t accept one version of what happened without wondering if she was being lied to by one of her parents. Since she couldn’t unravel the mystery herself, she was going to have to put it behind her and move on.
Once she calmed down from her father’s phone call, she dressed and headed
for Lillian’s. She knew that this was going to be another argument, but she felt as if this was the time to get it over with.
Cleveland sat back on the leather sofa in the lounge area of the fire station and closed his eyes. He’d been at work for three hours after stopping by the hospital to visit Roland. Seeing his buddy in that hospital bed with all those tubes and machines hooked up to him, affected Cleveland in a way that he hadn’t expected. Much like Darren, he was beginning to question if he wanted to continue to be on the front lines of firefighting. He’d already faced death and won. But would he be that lucky again if he was in Roland’s shoes?
“Hey man, you’re not falling asleep already are you?” Louis asked when he walked into the lounge area.
“Nah, I’m just thinking,” he said.
“About?”
“Life, Freddie, Roland.”
“Freddie? Aw, shit,” Louis said as he took a seat on the end of the sofa. “What’s up with you and that chick? And think before you answer that, because whatever is going on with you two has an effect on my marriage.”
“What?”
“Lillian doesn’t want you two together.”
“It really doesn’t matter what Lillian wants. Freddie and I are adults.”
“Uh-huh, I wish someone would tell my wife that,” he said. “She seems to think that she’s Freddie protector and I’ve never understood that.”
“I can,” Cleveland said. “Freddie’s been through a lot, but Lillian needs to mind her own business.”
Louis nodded in agreement. “Well, at least Freddie’s tucked away in New Orleans and I don’t have to worry about . . .”
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Cleveland said. “Freddie came back to Atlanta with me yesterday.”
More Than He Can Handle Page 19