He traced the outline of my bra and slipped his fingers inside for a slight touch. I shivered.
“I miss the feel of you in my hands,” he said, his voice as slow and thick as syrup. “I miss the taste of you. I miss everything about you. Do you want me to tell you just what I’m going to do to you? How I’m going to make love to you?”
Crap! And double crap, because I want him to.
This Manny had some new lines and some new moves that were even smoother than before.
“Oh, Jewels. You’ve missed this as much as I’ve missed it, haven’t you?”
I couldn’t speak, but huge tears were rolling down my cheeks. I had missed him too.
He unhooked my bra, and within seconds he had me gasping. All that was left to come off were my new silk panties. I tried to kiss him, but he drew away.
“Not yet, baby. Be patient.”
He removed my panties and slowly, deliberately, rubbed me till I was practically panting. Then he stopped and reached for the amaretto. Lifting the medallion to one side, he poured the amaretto onto one of my breasts and licked the sweet brown liquid off slowly.
“I said you wouldn’t have to drink a drop,” Manny said.
“Oh, God, Manny, please,” I begged.
“Not just yet. I’ve waited so long for you. Let’s don’t hurry this,” he whispered.
He moved the medallion to cover one of my breasts. The sensation was cold against my naked body. He poured the amaretto over my other breast. Then he barely touched my belly as he tipped the bottle lower, following the trail with his tongue.
He sensed that I needed to kiss him, so just as I was about to climax, he thrust his tongue into my mouth. Swollen and desperate, he pushed me down onto the bed and exploded into me with a primitive fierce jungle rhythm, until we both came together.
Satisfied, we lay back on the bed, hands clasped, and listened to the steady whir of the ceiling fan until our hearts regained their regular rhythm. I still had all my jewelry on, but nothing else. My brand-new French panties were lost somewhere in the cool sheets.
“C’mere,” he said softly.
“I am here,” I whispered, tugging on his hand.
“No, closer to me, amada,” he said, leaning over and kissing me sweetly on the lips. “That was great. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way,” he said, echoing my thoughts.
I wanted to know how I compared to Nita, but I didn’t feel secure enough to ask. He’d told me he wasn’t sleeping with her. Could I trust that?
He rolled over to the side of the bed, leaned over the end table, and poured some more of the almond-flavored liqueur into a glass. He sipped some, licking his lips slowly, suggestively. Then he reached over and kissed my mouth again so I could taste the rich sweetness on his tongue. His mouth moved down to my nipples and he wet them with his tongue, licking them in a circular motion till they were erect. Then he blew on them.
“How does that feel?” he asked.
I groaned.
“Well, that’s just the beginning, amada,” he said softly, starting to kiss me again, long and deep. A new wave of desire swept over me. He moved his hands between my legs and touched me gently, moving his fingers expertly the way he knew I liked.
“You’re all ready for me, again,” he marveled, and whispered, “You were made for love, Jewels, made for me. Let me love you.”
“Manny, please,” I moaned.
Then he moved into me again, first softly, then insistently, with a hunger I found surprising. When we were lost in each other, I thought I heard him grunt an almost imperceptible, “I love you.”
“You don’t have to say that,” I whispered faintly about the one thing I’d craved hearing from him. “If it’s not the way you feel.”
I don’t think he even remembered the words coming out of his mouth. At least he didn’t acknowledge them.
“I think I got carried away,” he said instead. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked sheepishly. “The baby, I mean.”
I shook my head. I won’t ever let you hurt me again.
“You know we’ve got to keep seeing each other—”
“I don’t think…” I protested weakly, as the waves of excitement began to recede.
“Sssh,” he whispered, and quieted me with long, sensuous kisses, stroking me all over. “Let me do the thinking.” He cupped my breasts in his hands and fondled them. He didn’t say so, but I was sure he was comparing me with Nita, whose breasts were as flat as the Serengeti Plains. He made me feel treasured, even though I knew I was bloated and unattractive. I wanted to ask him about Nita, but I didn’t want the thought of that woman to intrude on our time together.
“I need you so much,” he said simply. “You’re so good for me. Isn’t it good for you? I can’t stop seeing you now. I could stay here all night with you like this. Something is missing in my life. And I think it’s you.” He reached for me and held me close. “Jewels, I can’t get enough of you.”
“Where is this going?” I wanted to know. “Are you going to tell Nita about us?”
“I don’t want to talk about her now,” he answered. “I want to talk about us. How do you feel about me?”
“Are you fishing for compliments?”
“Always.”
“Well, I guess I like you.”
“Admit it, you still love me.”
“I never said that.”
“When can we see each other again?” he asked tentatively.
“I’m not sure that would be a good idea,” I said, shaking my head at the inane dating banter. Although “dating” really wouldn’t have exactly described our nontraditional relationship.
Being with Manny again seemed right. All my loneliness was melting away. The regrets and the pain he had caused me were being crowded out by the good memories that suddenly came flooding back. It was no use pretending or playing coy. I was hooked on him, and he knew it.
“Julie, what do you want from me?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed.
What exactly did I want from him? If I was honest with myself, I’d want him to say he’d stop seeing Nita, quit his job at her father’s company, marry me, really want our baby, and solve all my problems.
Short of a permanent commitment, I needed to break off our relationship—this time for good. I would finally let him go, body and soul. And this time, I wouldn’t waver or give in to him. I would make him realize I was serious. I doubted he would put up much of a fight. His career was obviously more important to him than I was. The trouble was that when I imagined myself growing old, it was with Manny. Deep inside, I knew I still believed we were meant to be together.
But I was through wanting what I couldn’t have. And I was tired of this one-sided relationship. I was ready to move on. I couldn’t help who I fell in love with, but if I ever let myself trust enough to fall in love again, I would look for somebody who was sure and steady and safe and real. Someone like Matt. But I had given up a sure thing once for a master showman. Manny was always playing games. Stringing me along to boost his ego. And I was finally ready to get off the merry-go-round. The baby and I would be fine on our own.
Despite my reservations, I desperately wanted to trust Manny. Seeing him again proved that I still loved him. And that I missed him. But I knew something was missing in the core of our relationship. I needed a sincere commitment from him that he just couldn’t make. A commitment he could make if he truly loved me, if what he felt for me was real. I didn’t want to come second in his life. I deserved more, and so did our baby. But I invariably delayed a decision about our relationship with a variety of excuses.
Facing the overwhelming prospect of launching Stones, I knew I would never be able to focus if I went back to the office. How could I concentrate on anything else? I wanted to stay here forever, reliving the afternoon. It was everything I had ever dreamed of. The most satisfying sex—well, the only sex—since the last time I had slept with Manny. He was a sensitive lover who always considere
d my needs first, at least physically. He delighted in my sensuality and loved giving me pleasure. And I couldn’t deny I wanted to see him again, be with him like this again.
If we could be together just one more time to see what would happen… What did I think would happen? We’d tumble back into bed again and again, but beyond that, what more could come of it?
How much would my pregnancy complicate our high-stakes relationship? How much would it change what was happening between us? And what in the hell was I doing here?
I yawned and stretched. Manny took my hands. I could tell he didn’t want to leave me. I felt tired. Maybe the baby was sapping my strength.
“Julie…you are so beautiful, soft as a kitten, but such a tiger in bed,” he said, stroking me lightly, arousing me all over again and eyeing me like some prey he was about to devour. The power he held over me was complete. His eyes never left mine as he moved over me again and we came together. But now I was taking back some of the power.
Just hearing his voice and feeling him so near was intoxicating, addicting. We couldn’t get enough of each other. And we had a lot of lost months to make up for.
“Come here,” he ordered, filling his hands and mouth with my breasts. His tongue was doing wonderful things to my body. Then he moved his hands slowly up and down, from breasts to stomach, then lower, until he was driving his fingers into me and driving me crazy. I was totally ready for him.
“I want you inside of me,” I said.
“And I want to be inside of you, Jewels, but not until you’re ready for me.”
“I’m ready,” I protested, feeling his arousal.
“No, baby, I’ll know when you’re ready,” he whispered, stroking me and kissing me all over until I was throbbing and slick and ready to combust.
“Manny, please,” I pleaded, wondering why he was torturing me. “Now.”
He moved my legs apart as I shuddered and yelled out for him. He flashed his smile as he lifted himself on top of me and thrust himself forcefully inside of me, moaning my name.
I reached up for him and put my arms around him, and our bodies came together in a primal rhythm. I screamed out, “Oh, God, Manny, oh, God.”
He continued his thrusting momentum until he came in a rush. If anything, this time was better than ever. For a few minutes neither of us said a word.
“Do you think I’ve changed much?” I wondered as I snuggled to get closer to him, settling into the familiar crook of his arm.
“We both have,” he answered, fondling me absently.
“I mean, am I still, you know, attractive to you?” I asked tentatively.
“When we were first together, you were just a girl, Jewels. Now, you’re a woman about to have a baby.”
“And you’re a man,” I said and bit my lip shyly. We looked at each other admiringly.
“You still turn me on, if that’s what you want to know.”
“Practically everything does.” I giggled.
“Everything about you does,” he corrected. Manny was caressing me again. Every part of my body was awake now.
“Does this answer your question? Hell, yes, you’re still attractive to me.” And he proved it again. With his strong hands anchored on either side of me, he supported his weight and shifted his body quietly above mine, so as not to put any pressure on my stomach, moving ever so lightly without penetrating at first and then moving inside me in a steady vertical rhythm. Making love with Manny seemed so natural and right, and we fit perfectly together.
Spent, Manny relaxed and dozed off. Later that afternoon, I leaned over in the bed and watched him as he slept, a spoiled little boy, looking like he needed to be spanked.
I knew I shouldn’t entangle myself in this relationship, but something was always pulling me back to Manny. I had no business being with him, because he refused to sever his connection to Nita. But whenever I tried to move away from him, my feet seemed cast in concrete.
I knew what he wanted and why he liked having me around. I was pliable and receptive. There was no real friction between us—just verbal foreplay and feeble protestations before I inevitably gave in to him. Harmless sparring he found enjoyable in a tableau that was always about him. At the same time, I didn’t want to be without him.
His lips were so dangerously close that I could feel his hot breath on my face. I wrinkled my nose but couldn’t smell him, though I tried hard to breathe in the taste of him so I could remember him like this when he was gone. Suddenly, he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me down for a long kiss.
“Was this what you wanted, amada?”
“You’re cruel,” I said, trying to twist out of his grasp. But he was too strong. I doubted I would ever have the strength to leave him or stop loving him.
“Now let’s do it en español,” Manny whispered.
“You’re a nut.” I laughed. “How do you do it in Spanish?”
“Come here and I’ll show you, my little señorita,” he replied.
He pulled me down on top of him and smoothed his hand over my back and then lower around the rest of my body until I no longer tried to wriggle away.
“It didn’t feel any different in Spanish,” I smiled after we were done. “I guess it loses something in the translation.”
“You look exhausted,” he said.
“You wore me out, I think.”
For a while neither of us said anything. I lay there listening to the slow ticking of the clock and the whirring of the fan overhead.
“Why don’t you just get some sleep now, Jewels? I’ll let you know when it’s time to leave.” Thoroughly satisfied, I snuggled up against Manny’s body in the cozy king bed and folded my hand around the emerald medallion.
Chapter Seventeen:
The Curse of the White Witch
[email protected]: I’ve been feeling kind of lost lately and I need to talk to you.
[email protected]: Can’t talk now. I’m in the middle of something.
[email protected]: What?
[email protected]: Nita and I are getting ready to play Taboo.
[email protected]: Oh, is that what they’re calling it these days?
[email protected]: I’ve got my clients to satisfy, and my wife to satisfy, and her father to satisfy, and now you to satisfy. I can’t make you all come at once.
[email protected]: No one’s asking you to.
****
A few weeks later, as I was walking in the door of Goldsmith’s, Mercedes handed me the phone.
“It’s your realtor—again,” she said sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes at her.
“Hi,” I said.
“We have to talk,” Manny said insistently.
“We talked last night.”
“I’m coming to the store.”
“No, my mother will be here today. I’m not up for an inquisition. I thought we were meeting for lunch at the new shop space. We can talk then.” Somehow I’d have to manage to get away.
Manny and I managed to “get away” at least three times a week. I wondered how he ever found time to work or spend time with Nita.
He’d located a lovely space for Stones in Coral Gables. He accompanied me to meetings with the interior designer and was totally involved in helping me implement the new concept for the store. He even made suggestions about what I could serve at the gala opening.
When Manny walked into the shop later that morning, I was just about to take a lunch break. I was anxious to get off my feet. The morning had been especially difficult. My pregnancy was exhausting me, and I couldn’t wait to go home and curl up in bed with a good romance. There was always a happy ending in a romance.
“Hi, Jewels,” Manny said. “You look beat. Why don’t I take you to lunch, and then we can go back to my place. Are you up for that?”
“I’m not going anywhere near your place,” I said stubbornly.
“Well, then, how about ‘our place’?” he suggested.
“I’m not going to a hotel w
ith you, either. I haven’t been off my feet all morning, and I’m only going to take a short lunch so I can leave early.”
“We can remedy that,” he said, looking at me wickedly. “How about a foot massage?”
Actually, that sounded heavenly. “I’m drained. Mrs. Gottlieb was in, and I spent three hours with her. She’s a great customer, but she wears me out. Why did you stop by?”
“You agreed to meet me for lunch, remember?” Manny said, eying me suspiciously. I was becoming more and more forgetful. “I wanted to see you again, and, well, I’m actually here on another errand.”
His eyes met mine.
“Julie, if you could pick one ring from my mother’s collection, which would it be? You always had great taste, and this is very important.”
What a strange question, I thought, but I answered, “Well, that’s easy. The emerald ring.” The ring was magnificent, a five-carat Colombian emerald in an antique setting, flanked by two one-carat diamond trillions.
“Show me,” he said.
I pulled the ring from the vault and placed it gingerly on a white velvet cloth before him.
“Is that your favorite?” he asked.
“I love it,” I admitted. “It matches my medallion.” He slipped it on my finger.
“It’s beautiful,” he agreed. “Perfect fit, too. Hey, wrap it up for me, would you? There’s someone special I have in mind to give it to.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly deflated. I didn’t even have to ask him who that someone special was. The White Witch.
“Wedding wrap?” I asked, as my voice broke and my heart crushed at Manny’s latest little cruelty.
“Perfect,” he said, smiling. “I really think the girl I have in mind for this will love it.”
What did he even know about love? My eyes blinked with tears, and I had to turn away.
“Okay, now let’s go grab something to eat.”
“I-I’m not very hungry,” I said. “Let’s skip lunch.”
Several hours after he left, Nita Weinstein swept into the store. I bit my bottom lip as we circled each other warily. I wanted to tell her where she could park her broomstick. I had to admit she looked sleek in her signature white sweater set and flawless white pearls. She was perfectly put together, as usual, her long mane of white-blonde hair coiffed smoothly behind her head. She wasn’t tired and exhausted and she wasn’t porked out with pregnancy. But the total effect was ruined the moment she opened her mouth.
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