3 Weeks 'Til Forever

by Yuwanda Black

  Janey bucked against him, needing to feel him inside her immediately. Reaching for the zipper on his cargo pants, Redmond reluctantly released her breast from his mouth, rolled over and quickly discarded the pants. Janey was already working to remove his t-shirt, boldly straddling him in her attempt to get it off.

  Sitting atop him with one breast exposed, he could feel the moistness of her womanhood through her lace panties on his belly. Her face flushed and lips swollen from his onslaught of kisses, Redmond couldn't wait any longer.

  He swiftly rolled over, pinned her beneath him and entered her. There was nothing gentle about it - and it was just what Janey wanted. Putting both hands under her buttocks, he drove into her again and again.

  Janey lost herself. She met his masculine force with her feminine response – each powerful in its own right.

  Right before she was ready to explode, Redmond slowed his thrusts, moving in and out of her in slow circles. Over and over again he entered her. All the while, his lips forged their own trail, moving from her breasts to her neck to her mouth – gently licking and tightly sucking.

  Her breaths grew shorter and his thrusts grew harder again. This time, there was no slowing down. She met him at the precipice, crying out his name. Her whole body convulsed as she slowly scaled down the mountain from the peak of passion.

  Both spent, they looked at each other. Redmond rolled off Janey, gently pulling her to his side and holding her there. He needed to feel her next to him.

  There were no words.

  Janey didn't remember falling to sleep, but she must have. Redmond woke her with a slew of kisses to her forehead, as his hand travelled once again to that magical place on her body where he knew they would always come to the same end.

  He took her once again, this time much more slowly.

  Janey marveled at how he could be so gentle sometime, and so rough at others. She never knew what she was going to get – and she liked it that way. He instinctively know how to make love to her; seeming to know her body better than she did.

  She reveled in his lovemaking; coming alive, giving herself in a way she hadn’t known was possible.

  Quite simply, Janey Belle, you've never felt so complete as a woman; so thoroughly fulfilled sleeping with a man," she thought.

  And she couldn’t deny it.

  She didn’t even try.

  . . .

  “We'll be at the airport in about five minutes Ms. Coltrane.”

  Wilson's announcement cut through her dream. Only it hadn’t been a dream. For a while, it had been real … all too real.

  She couldn’t believe how quickly the drive had gone. She’d completely lost herself in the memories of the passion she and Redmond shared and felt about ready to break emotionally as the town car pulled up to the airport entrance.

  “Dear God, how am I ever going to live without him?”

  Janey wiped her tears before Wilson could open the back door of the car. She positioned her oversized sunglasses on her reddened nose and prepared to face the world – life – as best she could.

  Stepping onto the pavement, Janey reached back in the car for her scarf. Retrieving it, she turned around and ran right into the force that was Redmond.

  Mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, she didn’t manage to utter a word before Redmond tipped Wilson, grabbed her bags with one hand and her right arm with the other, and pulled her out of the onslaught of travelers entering and leaving the airport.

  “Where . . . how . . . what are you doing here?” she finally managed to get out.

  “I love you and I can't let you go Janey. It's that simple.”

  “As far as tracking you down, it’s all too easy as this island is small. I’m a taxi driver, remember? Another driver knew that Wilson was taking you to the airport this morning, and I broke all kind of speed limits getting here before you took off.”

  “Look, I know about the little visit you got from my ex-wife last night. I let her know in no uncertain terms that no matter what happened between me and you, what we had is over and done with for good.”

  “But enough about her. I came because I wanted a chance to say everything I should have said the last time I saw you. But my pride got in the way when you told me that what we had wouldn’t work. That won’t happen again.”

  “After I’ve said what I came to say, if you still don’t want to be with me, I’ll find a way to live with that. But, I want you to make up your mind with full knowledge.”

  Did he say ex-wife? was her dominating thought at that moment.

  “Number one, I’m divorced. The papers came through the day I got back from Hill Country; the same night I picked you up in front of Gustavo’s in your little gold dress.”

  “So there is no wife; she’s my EX-wife.”

  Suddenly, the way Layla had stumbled over the word ‘husband’ came to her. She’d said, “We need to talk about my h-husband.”

  So she knew they were divorced all along.

  “Bitch!” Janey let out a silent curse.

  “Are you listening to me Janey?” Redmond interrupted her angry thoughts.

  Not wanting to interrupt, Janey just nodded her head yes.

  “Two. Yes, I loved Layla. I never thought I’d love another woman the way I loved her … until I met you. And what I feel for you made me realize that there are depths to love. A part of me will always love Layla because we were together for so long and she’s the mother of my child.”

  “But she doesn’t touch my soul the way you do. No woman ever has. That’s the only way I know how to put it.”

  “Three. Island men do not always stick with ‘their kind.’ We’re like men everywhere else. When we fall in love, we want that woman, no matter where she’s from.”

  “Finally, look … I know you’re scared. I am too. And you’re right, there are no guarantees that we’ll live happily ever after. But never trying would be the biggest mistake either one of us ever makes. I know it and I think you know it too.”

  “So I'm going to ask you one more time – will you be my wife? Would you take a chance on building a life with me? I promise I'll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

  Though slight compared to Redmond, Janey almost knocked him over. She ran straight into his arms, saying over and over again, “Yes, yes, yes, I will! Thank you for having enough courage for both of us Redmond. Oh God I love you so!”

  “I think that’s all I ever really wanted – for someone to show me that they cared enough to take up the slack when I’m weak; to be there for me. I've never had that before – not with a man.”

  “I need that too Janey. If you have the courage to trust in me as a man, I promise to never betray that trust.”

  “Let's go home.”

  “Home . . . I haven’t felt like I really had one since my mom died,” Janey said, getting weepy all over again.

  “Well you have one with me – now – and for always,” he responded, gently pulling her to him and kissing his favorite spot in the center of her forehead.

  Janey loved it when he kissed her there. Her mom used to do it every night as she tucked her into bed when she was a child and it always made her feel so safe and secure. It was like an assurance that she’d be there in the morning when Janey woke up.

  When Redmond did it, it triggered the same emotional safety net in her. She’d discussed this with a male friend years ago and he said that it was a sign of sincerity because it’s non-sexual.

  He said he did it to women he really liked because “It shows I’ll be there.”

  Janey glowed. It was as if the universe was literally sealing their love with a kiss – a kiss Redmond had no idea meant so much to her, which made it all the more special.

  At that moment, she knew and trusted that he would always be there for her – as she would for him.

  “Redmond, do you remember that dream I had when we were in the cabin in Hill Country?”

  “Yeah, how could I forget after what it led
to,” he smiled, recalling the first time he’d made love to her.

  “Remember I said that I was being chased and I was terrified? Well I just figured it out.”

  “I realized the next day on the drive back to hotel, after you told me about running into Layla, that I was in love with you. So those feelings were about to catch up to me; that’s what I was running from in the dream.”

  “And the fear was about losing you. I was so afraid that I’d lost you when you told me that you’d run into your ex. I didn’t know if y’all would get back together or what to expect.”

  “Hmm, I never give that kind of psychological stuff any thought, but that makes perfect sense.”

  “That’s a nightmare that will never repeat itself, Janey. Ever. As long as I’m alive, I’ll do my best to make sure that you never regret falling in love with me. I promise you that,” he said, squeezing her hand tightly.

  As they walked hand-in-hand to his van, Janey made another observation, “Do you realize that we met exactly three weeks ago today?”

  “Hmmmm . . . you’re full of insight today,” he said. “Only three weeks, huh?”

  “From three weeks to forever, baby girl. Three weeks to forever," Redmond said, smiling down at the woman who was now his for life.

  ###

  Coming in July 2013 . . .

  A PREVIEW

  “Trapped by Desire”

  “It’s just sex.” Karen said. “Will you stop trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill!”

  “I would if you didn’t have that mountainous smile glued to your mug – which has been there for the last week,” her best friend Angela shot back.

  “I’ve never known you to do ‘just sex.’ Be careful Kare,” Angela said, turning serious as she used Karen’s nickname. You don’t do ‘to-go sex.’ Your heart always gets involved and that’s what scares me about this. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

  After her last two serious relationships had ended in heartbreak, Karen had taken a year’s sabbatical from dating and reassessed her priorities.

  Her professional life was budding, but she was lonely. So she decided to focus on what she could control – her business – and not wait for a committed relationship to blossom before she had some fun.

  Meeting Kamar seemed to solidify that she’d made the right decision. They hit it off immediately and headed straight down the ‘bad girl’ path, forging a physical connection before thought was given to any type of emotional bond.

  Could her bad girl behavior lead to a lasting relationship?

  Could the chemistry they shared in bed translate into a successful relationship out of bed?

  Or, was she so Trapped by Desire that she was setting herself up for heartbreak all over again?

  Update: March 2014 – Trapped by Desire can be found on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1kP1nOo.

  NEW RELEASE COMING APRIL 2014: The Courage to Love

  PROLOGUE

  The cool sand between her toes eased the heat of the pain lodged in Kayla's chest.

  "Tate, oh Tate …" the wind whipped her deceased husband's name from her lips on a roar.

  It had been almost two years since Kayla lost her beloved Tate to colon cancer. Even though it had been way beyond a respectable time, she still felt guilty about falling in love again. It was all so unexpected. She felt like she was cheating on him.

  No Dreams Delayed

  Kayla and Tate had relocated from New York to Amerila, a small Caribbean island five years ago. They'd both given up fast-paced careers to embrace a more meaningful life – and had never regretted the move.

  They'd been happily married for eight years and longed for more time together. Both in the prime of their high-powered careers, they never seemed to have enough time together and had decided on a whim five years ago to chuck it all and start the life they wanted now – not wait for the conventional "when it's the right time" to come.

  Tate – known to all as simply "TW" from TW Holdings – had taken his skills as a successful real estate developer of luxury properties all over the U.S. and started a company building eco-friendly, affordable, "tiny houses" in the Caribbean.

  He'd said that the world, especially developing countries, needed more affordable housing – not more luxury condos. And he planned to give it to them.

  Kayla, a family law attorney who worked for the non-profit, Legal Aid Society, had put her career skills to use in Amerila too – volunteering at women's shelters helping abused women get protective orders, divorces, child support and any other kind of legal assistance they needed.

  She'd also founded a charity, helping raise money for school books for children.

  Their lives in Amerila couldn't have been richer, fuller or more blissful.

  Then all of a sudden, Tate took ill. Kayla had practically had to feign an emotional breakdown to get him to go to the doctor. By the time he did, it'd been too late. The cancer had spread and a mere four months after his diagnosis, her darling Tate died.

  While she knew the inner workings of Tate's business, Kayla knew squat about being an architect. And in the short five years they'd been Amerila, he'd gotten quite a few projects underway – all in various stages of completion.

  It was one of the things she loved about him – his ability to get things done. Unfortunately, it meant a huge burden for her because of his untimely death.

  "Oh Tate, I miss you so," Kayla gulped. The grief of losing him came in waves. Today was a bad day.

  Forcing herself to refocus, Kayla knew she needed to find someone who could step in where her dead husband had left off as soon as possible.

  Architect for Hire

  Shaw "Rifle" Jackson was finishing up his last project for the latest firm he'd contracted with – and he couldn't wait. Another monstrosity of an office building, another dollar.

  "The life is being sucked right out of me," he thought as he looked out over the Chicago skyline from his office.

  Shaw moved fluidly from one project to the next, always having more work than he could handle. That's because he usually served as the project architect as well as the project manager, something that wasn't very common when working with/for large firms.

  But, he'd built a reputation for bringing large-scale commercial projects – like office buildings – in on time and under budget. Because of this, over the last decade, he'd become somewhat of a go-to hired gun for this type of work (hence the nickname, Rifle).

  In the beginning, the work was exciting – mainly because the money was so good, at least to him – who came from nothing. But the last couple of years, he'd started to feel empty.

  So when he heard from a friend about the death of the infamous TW of TW Holdings and that his widow was looking for an architect, he was immediately intrigued. For some reason though, he didn't move on it.

  . . .

  "Yes, this is Shaw Jackson. May I ask who's calling?"

  "Kayla Williams. I’m TW's wife … I mean, ah widow." She still had a hard time referring to herself as a widow. It was too final; it meant her Tate was never coming home.

  Plunging on, Kayla said, "We have a mutual friend – Chase Turner. He said he told you about the job I'm looking to fill. I don’t mean to be so forward, but it's been a couple of weeks and I haven't heard from you and I really need someone quickly, so I thought I'd give you a call. Chase gave me your number. I hope it's ok."

  . . .

  Two days later, Kayla waited on the hot tarmac for the lone passenger on the plane to disembark. She'd chartered a private jet to fly Mr. Jackson from Chicago to Amerila.

  She was that desperate to get someone in place continue her husband's work. Projects had been stalled for four months while she tied up some loose ends of her Tate's affairs -- and got her grieving somewhat in check.

  The tall stranger took her hand in a firm grip. He was several inches over six feet, and broad. Kayla would bet dollars to doughnuts that he still did a great deal of construction work. That physique was nothing some
thing that came from a gym.

  "I'm Shaw Jackson Mrs. Williams. It's nice to finally meet you, although I'm regretful it's under these circumstances. I'm so sorry for your loss."

  She liked the firmness of his greeting. Some men tended to have what Kayla thought of as an insipid handshake when it came to women. She hated that. Although she didn't want her hand crushed, she did appreciate a strong grip, which is just what Mr. Jackson gave her.

  "Thank you. I appreciate that."

  "Evan will see to your bags, Mr. Jackson. I'll take you to where you'll be staying and see that you get all settled in. Then I figured we could grab some dinner and discuss the business at hand if that's ok?"