Jewel finally understood what had driven her to act the way she did in the past. She had let her insecurities and the desperate need to gain her husband’s approval, color her views, and she felt sorry for her. What a horrible life!
“I found out recently that my husband, who had been so big on respect and sticking to his own kind, had been seeing a colored woman,” she looked up at Jewel in apology and the girl shook her head letting her know she was not offended. “Her name is Sally and he bought her a string of beauty salons some years ago.” She smiled sadly.
“I found some receipts in a desk drawer that had been locked for years. There were also letters that she wrote him, letting him know that no matter what she will always love him and that even though he had had her kill their child, she was still going to love him. She had been pregnant with his child, and all this time I thought that even though he did not love me, at least he respected me. Now I realize that I never had his love and certainly not his respect.” She leaned forward and took Jewel’s hands in hers, surprising the girl. “Jordan is not like his father, he is kind, loving and a perfect gentleman. He certainly did not get it from either of us,” she said with a grim smile. “He loves you. I have wished with all the money and fine clothes and jewelry that I have in my possession, that I had that. He loves you and for him there can be no one else; don’t lose that.”
“I won’t,” Jewel gripped her hands with her own. “There has never been anyone else for me but him either and never will be.”
“Thanks for listening and for forgiving me for what I did.” She smiled sadly. “I just hope my son will be able to forgive me one day.”
“He will,” Jewel said with a certainty borne from knowing the man she loved.
*****
It was ten o’clock that night before she called the number. He answered on the second ring and it was obvious that he had been sleeping. “Jewel, what’s wrong?” his tone sounded urgent.
“I am okay and so is your daughter,” she assured him. “I just wanted to hear your voice, I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” he told her huskily.
“Your mother came to see me today.”
“What did she say? Did she upset you?” she heard it, the protectiveness, and that told her everything she needed to know. She realized that this man was a man who was never going to let anything or anyone hurt her, no matter who they were.
“She did not upset me.” She told him softly. “We just talked Jordan, that’s all. When are you coming home?”
“On Friday. Is something wrong, Jews? You sound weird.” There was concern in his deep voice.
“Yes something is wrong. I am aching for you and I need you beside me; inside me, and I don’t want you to leave me like that again.”
There was silence at the other end and Jewel smiled as she envisioned his reaction. “I have a meeting in the morning.” His voice was hoarse. “I am coming home after that. Jews I need you right now.”
“I need you too.” She told him huskily. “I am in bed right now and I'm opening my nightgown. My hand is going between my legs and I am pretending that it is you parting them. My legs are wide open now, I close my eyes and I can feel your tongue inside me, thrusting inside me.”
She heard his deep groan over the phone lines and she felt the lick of desire coursing through her. “I love you Jordan McIntyre and I have loved you all my life; I want only you. I love what you do when you are on top of me and your mouth is on my nipples.”
“I am inside you now baby, feel me, feel the way I am pushing myself inside you, deeper and deeper until I can touch your soul. My thrusts have become more urgent and I feel you moving with me, we are on the brink of coming together.” He breathed harshly. “Can you feel it?”
Jewel touched her nipple, hard from his words and ran a finger over it. “Yes,” she gasped.
“Stay with me baby, and let me guide you through this.” He told her urgently.
“Jordan,’ she whimpered as she felt herself weaken.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she whispered as the feeling washed over her. It was so intense, like he was right on top of her and she cried out his name as he whispered to her, assuring her that he was right there.
She fell asleep with his voice in her ear and her hand on her bulging stomach.
*****
She was in the store with customers when he came in the next day. He stood there in the doorway looking at her, his green eyes devouring her as she stood there talking to the customer. “Could you excuse me for a moment?” she asked, barely able to be civil. Without waiting for the woman’s reply, she made her way over to him, not caring who was looking. He did not come to her but waited for her to come to him, and she did, wrapping her arms around his neck and drinking in his beloved face. The wind had tousled his hair and the dark blue shirt he was wearing highlighted his deep tan. “Welcome, back darling,” she said huskily.
“I missed you.” He murmured, his arms going around her. “I need you right now,” he told her huskily. “Do you have someone to take over for you?”
“If I don’t, I will just close the place,” she told him, her arms still tight around his neck. “ I will just call Savannah to come and take over for me.”
“Do that and let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 7
He took her to his place. It was only half past four when they got there. He had driven all the way, with his hand holding hers on his thigh as if afraid she was going to vanish into thin air if he let her go. Savannah had just left work and she came straight over, giving an approving nod as she saw Jordan standing there waiting. “Don’t screw it up,” she had whispered when Jewel got ready to leave.
He drove around to the side entrance and she noticed that the gardener was busily pruning the hedges located around the back. The scent of flowers wafted in the air giving the atmosphere an aroma that was pleasing to the senses.
“Are you hungry?” he took off his light spring jacket and hung it up, taking hers to do the same.
“We can eat later,” she told him softly coming over to put her arms around his neck.
“You’re right.” He murmured. “All the way here I kept thinking about last night. I have been hard ever since.” He lifted her up and took her into the bedroom, placing her gently on the bed. “I never stopped loving you Jews, even when I was not around.” He had taken off his shirt and was pulling the buckle of his leather belt. “You are an extension of me and that is the part I cannot do without.” He flung the belt on the carpeted floor and it made a faded thud. “I berated myself for giving you that ultimatum, because the truth is I cannot be without you.” He stood before her, gloriously naked, his erection pulsating, the tip red and shiny from the little beads of moisture gathered there. Her gaze was riveted and she found that she could not look away. She wanted it inside her mouth, to taste and to savor.
She lifted her gaze to his and he knew exactly what she wanted without her having to say it. He had taught her the art of pleasuring him there. The first time she had almost gagged as she swallowed the length of him, but he had gently held himself and fed her a little bit at a time. He undressed her and when she was totally naked, he positioned himself over her face, guiding his erection to her lips. Her tongue reached out and she licked the tip, reaching for the small opening there. He groaned softly. She then opened her mouth and took him in. She removed his hand and replaced it with hers and took him a little bit at a time inside her mouth, her teeth grazing him just a little bit. She had risen to her elbows and her eyes held his as she took him further inside her mouth. He thrust into her gently, his teeth clenched as the combination of her teeth and tongue threatening to drive him crazy! She reached underneath to put a little pressure on his testicles and he called out her name harshly, his body shuddering with the exquisite pleasure racing through him. He was not going to make it, he thought, as he felt his body losing control. With a tortured groan he pulled out of her mouth and
quickly entered her vagina, his penis made slippery by her saliva. He started thrusting inside her rapidly, his breathing irregular. He felt as if he was going to have a heart attack, the way his heart was pounding inside his chest. With a mumbled oath he reached for one of her nipples and pulled it inside his mouth, sucking and tasting as if he would die without it. Jewel bent her knees and opened wider for him, her nails digging into his firm buttocks as she returned his thrusts with her own desperate ones.
He knew she was about to explode because he felt it within himself as well and with a feral groan he released her nipple and took her lips with his. He met her halfway, their cries captured inside each other’s mouths, their bodies shuddering with the power of an orgasm that rocked them to the very core!
He still held her lips with his as their bodies tried to recover from the passion that had almost overwhelmed them. She still clung to him, her legs holding him captive as she returned the kiss.
He released her lips finally and rested his forehead against hers, trying to control his breathing. “You okay?” he asked her gently.
“Ask me again in another few minutes,” she told him softly. She brushed back the hair from his forehead, her eyes meeting his.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked her anxiously, getting ready to move off her.
“No,” she held him to her. “I just want to hold you for a little bit more. I missed you so much when you were gone that I had flashbacks to when you had left before.” She felt him stiffen on top of her and realized that she had stirred up some bad memories. “It’s okay Jordan,” she rested her hands on his jaw and lifted his head to look at her. “We are past that now and I promise you that I no longer blame you for what happened. I love you and always will, no matter what.”
“I just want to erase the past,” he moved off her and she felt bereft, but he gathered her close to him, putting her head on his chest. “I have to tell you something,” he clasped her hand that was resting on his chest and took a deep breath. “I have been with quite a few women in my quest to forget you. I keep thinking about that and feel ashamed; it was like I had cheated on you, and I cannot forgive myself for that; I don’t know how.” His voice was raspy with regret and lifting her head Jewel saw the raw emotions on his face.
“There is nothing to forgive,” she told him softly. “If it happens now then there will be hell to pay!”
*****
They talked and reminisced about the past when they had been in a much better place.
“Remember when we were studying for that literature exam?” he mused. She was spread half over his chest, the sprinkling of hair tickling her cheek.
“You mean when we were reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’?” she asked him mildly, a soft smile on her face as the memory became distinct. “You reached underneath my shirt and started fondling me and I lost all sense of what I was reading.”
“Doing that was much more interesting than reading about some old stuck up guy who had a lot of difficulty telling the woman that he was into her.” He told her with a grin.
“Mr. Bingley was a gentleman who wanted to wait for the opportune time to let Jane know how interested he was.” Jewel lifted her head to look at him. “It’s a wonder you did not fail the exam.”
“I am a literary genius,” he touched the fine hairs at her temple. “And I had a great teacher.” She bent her head and kissed him tenderly. They had not bothered to put on any clothes. He reached between them and started fingering her mound. She opened up for him and he dipped two fingers inside her, thrusting inside as she squeezed and moved against his fingers, her lips becoming hungry and desperate. He did not stop until she had come all over him, her whimpers echoing around the room.
*****
She moved in with him even though he had not asked her again. Her friends helped her pack the stuff she needed and she was going to lease the apartment out to a college student who had asked her.
“I have so many good memories of this place,” Jaclyn said staring around the bedroom with its brightly colored walls. “That ding in the wall was when we were moving the armoire and putting it over there.”
“You are right and you told me it was Savannah who did it,” Jewel looked at her friend and shook her head. She had called her mother and told her what was happening, and she had asked her about marriage? “I am not ready yet, mom.”
“Honey, moving in with a man is as much a commitment as moving in with him.” she had said.
“And remember the time when we got drunk and Jaclyn threw up in that corner, nearest to the bed?” Savannah asked sending her friend a triumphant look.
“I was not drunk!” Jaclyn protested folding the towel neatly and putting it into the container. “It was something I ate.”
“Yeah right,” Savannah said sardonically. “Girls, do you realize that this is the end of an era?”
“What do you mean?” Jewel asked her abandoning her folding of nightgowns and sitting on the bed.
“It means that we are no longer going to be able to hang out like we use to do.” Savannah told her. “You are about to pop and now you are going to be living with Jordan; and Jaclyn spends so much time over at Tyler’s place that she is practically living there; and well, Blake and I are inching around trying to decide on the next step in our relationship. Things are changing between us.”
“No matter who is in our lives, we are still going to remain friends. We have been through too much together.” Jewel said firmly.
“Let’s toast to that.” Jaclyn went into the kitchen to get a box of orange juice and some wine glasses. “Friends forever.”
“Friends forever,” the other two girls agreed.
*****
It felt strange living with him. His mother had come up to welcome her, and her and Jordan had settled into a tentative relationship. She was bending over backwards to right the wrong that she had helped to do in the past.
The first night he had brought home pizza they had sat on the carpet in the living room and ate many slices and drank orange juice. She had been afraid to spill anything on the obviously expensive carpet until he had deliberately let a piece of bacon and cheese fall onto it. “Jordan, what have you done?” she had cried agitatedly.
“It’s just stuff baby,” he had told her solemnly, reaching over to kiss her on the lips. “We have stain remover for this and if not it can be replaced.”
She started getting up and he realized that she was getting ready to go and look for the stain remover.
“Don’t you dare!” he had said with a laugh, holding on to her hand. “It can be a reminder of our first night together.”
They had made love slow and leisurely in the same place in the living room where he had spread a blanket on the carpet to stop her from getting carpet burn.
They were very different. She had always been neat and tidy, folding away her stuff as soon as she took them off but Jordan dropped his clothes on the floor in the bathroom and left them there. The first time she had seen him do it she had taken it up and put it in the hamper. The next time it happened she had confronted him about it and told him she was not his helper. “What are you talking about?” he had asked her puzzled. “I don’t expect you to pick up after me baby; we have people who do that.”
She had stared at him in disbelief and it had been brought home to her how different they had been brought up. People had been picking up after him his entire life and he was accustomed to it. “So that gives you the right to drop your clothes on the floor, because you have someone stupid or desperate enough for the money, you pay them to pick them up?” she had rounded on him furiously, her hands on her hips.
“I can’t believe you said that,” he had stared at her, noticing her parted lips and her baby bump and her glowingly exquisite face. He loved living with her and he raced home everyday to be with her. “We always treat our employees very fair Jewel, you only need to ask them.”
“Pick up your stuff Jordan; I am not going to pretend not to see them, an
d if I have to pick them up I am going to throw them in the trash can.” She told him.
“Okay baby, you are the boss.” He had told her quietly.
*****
“He is messy,” Jewel said sitting down carefully on the chair in Savannah’s living room. Jordan had gone to a business dinner and had wanted her to accompany him but she had declined, telling him she was feeling a little tired; and besides, she wanted to spend some time with her friends. It was almost the end of May and she was getting bigger by the day. “Thanks,” she accepted the glass of lemonade from her friend gratefully.
“Ah, the joys of living with a man,” Savannah said with a grin taking a seat on one of the sofas scattered around the large airy bedroom. “Been there honey. That’s what’s keeping me from saying yes to Blake.”
“I sound like a nagging wife and we are not even married.” Jewel grumbled.
“Just tell him the truth.” Jaclyn suggested. She was sitting there cradling a glass of lemonade in her hands and had curled her feet underneath her. It was Saturday night and they had met for their usual chat.
“I did,” Jewel said with a shrug. “I told him about throwing his clothes on the floor for the helpers to pick them up, but it’s not only that. He makes a mess in the kitchen when he cooks dinner for us and does not clean it up. I feel badly for the helpers there so when he has gone to bed I end up going into the kitchen and clean up. It’s exhausting.”
“Do you love him?” Jaclyn asked her quietly.
Jewel looked at her friend in surprise. “Of course I do, there is no doubt about that.”
“Then you are going to have to compromise. This sort of thing is new to him and he is learning about you as well. But talk to him and tell him how you feel and hear what he has to say.” Jaclyn told her wisely.
*****
“What don’t you like about me?” she asked him that night while they were in bed. He had called her and told her he was leaving the dinner and if she wanted him to pick her up. She had told him yes and he had come over.
Hold Me Close: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 6) Page 21