Buried Secrets (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES)

by SK

  Darrell stood up as she stared at him in silence. He wordlessly held out his hand, letting her take things at her pace. Jerra hesitated for a moment then walked over to him. She felt safer than she had in a long time when he wrapped his arms around her. Darrell scooped her up and gently laid her on the bed before climbing in beside her. When he pulled her to his chest and simply held her, Jerra’s body slowly relaxed. She melted against him and snuggled close before sighing and drifting off into a deep, dreamless slumber.

  They slept throughout the night holding each other. When Darrell reached down to pull the covers over them, Jerra softly cried out and held him tight. He quickly gathered her to him. He soothingly rubbed her back and kissed her temple until her breathing steadied.

  By early morning, sunlight began to peek through the window. Darrell hadn’t gotten much rest, had been too worried about Jerra. Easing out of the bed, he went to use the bathroom then came back to sit beside her. He stared at her while running his hand over her hair. He didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling, and to be honest, didn’t even want to try. Jerra stirred under his touch. Her lashes fluttered before they opened and found him studying her. She immediately remembered the events of yesterday evening, but determinedly pushed them out of her mind.

  "Hi..." he smiled.

  "Hi..."

  Staring deeply into his eyes, Jerra realized she needed his warmth….his strength. She needed him to make her feel whole again. She held her arms out to him. Darrell obligingly obeyed her unspoken request and stretched out beside her. He folded her body close and lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was slow and unhurried. Their tongues leisurely twisted and moved together in a sensuous love knot. Darrell groaned at the taste of her sweetness. Jerra’s hand slid down his chest until she got to the hem of his shirt. He hesitated, but helped her pull it over his head. She pressed her body to his and went to unsnap his jeans. This time, Darrell reluctantly pulled back and searched her eyes. He curled his hand over hers to still her movements.

  “Baby, believe me. I want to, but I don’t think this is a good idea…”

  Jerra covered his lips with her fingers. “That’s just it. I don’t want to think. I just need to feel. Please….”

  They stared at each other for a few moments. Darrell was still hesitant. "Are you sure?" Jerra nodded.

  Darrell stood up and took his pants off before joining her. No more words were said. Instinctively, he knew what she needed and he wanted to give it to her. Jerra trustingly lay on the bed as he removed her clothes and began to make sweet love to her.

  Her mouth opened in silent wonder and appreciation as he reverently kissed her stomach and made his way between her legs. Her fingers clenched in his hair as he loved the very center of her pleasure pool. Her hips answered his unspoken promise by moving eagerly beneath him and moaning as he brought her to a shattering climax. Jerra’s silent tears fell from the corners of her eyes and trailed down to her hairline. Darrell kissed a path along the dips and curves of her body, and when he saw the tears rolling down her face, he used his tongue to gently lick them away.

  “Whatever you need, Jerra - I’m here.”

  With the utmost tender loving care, he separated her thighs and slowly pushed into her until he was fully sheathed in her narrow, tight, feminine channel. Darrell lowered his head and kissed the remaining tears with gentle lips. Their bodies moved to a slow rhythm heard and understood only by the two of them. There was no rush, no need to hurry. Darrell claimed her again and again as Jerra circled her hips to receive him. The emotion of the age old elicit dance caused her to cry out as she surrendered herself to him and let him do whatever he pleased. She trusted him.

  Darrell reached down and placed both hands underneath her backside as he went deeper and made her cum again before he gave in to his own explosion. Moaning loudly, he came hard when he felt her inner tightness flexing around him. Their lips met in a series of small, loving kisses. Darrell closed his eyes and inhaled her sigh of contentment. He‘d never had an experience like this. He didn’t know how to put it into words, and by the way Jerra stared back at him with wonder in her eyes, it was apparent she felt the same. Still connected as one, he lay beside her and pulled her into his arms. They held each other tight and passed light caresses over the other’s body.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  She heard the underlying concern in his voice and let out a low grumble of satisfaction. “Yes. I’m very okay.”

  They were silent for a few minutes more before Darrell quietly asked her the question uppermost in his mind. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Darrell –“

  “Jerra, you shouldn’t keep this inside. It might help if you tell me what made you so upset.” When Jerra remained silent, Darrell continued. “Baby, it’s tempting to try and forget situations that are unpleasant, but doing so only holds us captive to whatever it is that’s bothering us. I’m not saying it’s easy. Believe me, I know it’s not, but we can’t let things that happened in our past affect the present and the future.”

  He felt a tremor roll over Jerra’s body. “You couldn’t possibly understand.”

  Darrell’s half laugh sounded hard and bitter. “Don’t be too sure. I’ve gone through things most people will never experience in a lifetime. Trust.”

  Jerra heard the twinge of pain in his voice and lifted her head to peer up at him. “Like what?”

  Darrell hesitated. He rarely talked about his past and was no more used to expressing his feelings than she was, but then again, he couldn’t expect her to open up to him if he wasn’t willing to do the same.

  “I’ll be the first one to admit not everyone is blessed to grow up in a perfect household. I can relate to that. When I was seven years old, my mother relinquished her rights as a parent and dumped me off at an orphanage.” He jaw jumped in response to Jerra’s surprised gasp. “She was only a teenager and I guess she felt a kid was causing her to miss out on something, was holding her back from experiencing life. She said it was temporary, but…”

  Jerra leaned up so that she could look him in the eye. His voice was cold and matter of fact, but she saw the lingering traces of hurt in his dark gray eyes.

  “Found out later she’d hooked up with some joker who gave her a choice: him or me. Guess she made her choice and I wasn’t it.” Darrell's lips twisted in bitter remembrance as painful memories he hadn’t allowed himself to think about in years surfaced.

  “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I guess neither of us had the luck of the draw when it came to parents. Did you ever see her again?”

  “I did. Before I left Philly to move to Vegas twelve years ago, I tracked her down.” He forced a tense smile across his mouth. “I found out I have a sister. Gabriel – Gabby.”

  “Was your mother able to make amends for what she did?”

  The smile slowly fell from Darrell’s lips. "Amends? Not quite. She was more interested in in making sure I didn't cause any upheaval to her family - a family I clearly wasn’t a part of."

  His eyes darkened at the hurt he'd felt, wanting only to hear his mother say she loved him. Instead, she'd looked at him as if he were an unwanted stray who'd shown up on her doorstep. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with him.

  “So she denied you as her son?”

  Darrell catapulted back to the present when he heard the deep emotion in Jerra’s voice. He reached up and wiped a lone tear from her face.

  “Don’t cry for me, baby. It was a lifetime ago, but for the longest while, it ate away at me like a cancer spreading through every bone in my body until I finally confronted it and made a conscious effort to move on with my life.”

  Jerra shook her head as a wave of helplessness washed over her. “How did you overcome it? Our pasts aren’t so different, but I don’t think I’m as strong as you.”

  Darrell was silent a moment as his thoughts turned to Roni. He didn’t even want to hazard a guess about where he may have ended up if she hadn’t come into his life.


  “Let’s just say I had someone who cared enough to help me get over my demons and make me realize we control our own destiny – no one else, Jerra. Never let anyone have that much power over your life.”

  Jerra stared at him for a long time before she nodded. She pondered the decisions she’d had to make at such a young age. From the moment that son of a bitch raped her he'd taken so much more than just her innocence. He'd forced her to give up a part of herself she could never get back.

  But it had been for the best...

  Jerra lowered her head to his chest and felt a newfound strength seeping into her body. She almost felt…empowered. Darrell made her believe that maybe……just maybe…it was possible to reclaim her life. Earl couldn’t hurt her anymore.

  She controlled her own destiny.

  Chapter 26

  For the next couple of days, the two couples spent a lot of time together as well as alone time with one another. Marcus and Aleesha marveled at the noticeable change between Darrell and Jerra. They knew that their friends were complicated people. Neither gave trust or absolute friendship easily, but somehow it seemed as if they’d found a common ground and were on their way to building something very special.

  As far as Aleesha and Marcus were concerned, there was no question of their commitment to each other. They both believed fate had a hand in orchestrating their chance meeting again in Las Vegas. Marcus told Aleesha he didn’t believe in coincidences. Everything happened for a reason – they were simply meant to be.

  The night before Darrell was scheduled to fly out, the lovemaking between he and Jerra took on a desperate edge. They loved with a wild intensity that rendered them almost unable to move after it was over. Breathing heavily, Darrell turned his head to look at Jerra. He smiled when he saw her struggling to inhale precious air into her near to bursting lungs.

  “Damn,” Darrell managed to get out past a grin which stretched wide over his handsome face.

  Jerra turned her head to look at him. They’d christened every room and still, the sight of him fanned the flames of a desire that burned to her very core. She couldn’t get enough of him. They couldn't get enough of each other.

  “’Damn’ is right.” Using the last bit of strength she could muster, Jerra crawled over and threw herself down on his chest.

  Darrell chuckled as his arms wrapped themselves around her waist. His hands trailed down to squeeze the plump globes of her ass before coming to rest on her hip. Jerra ran her palms over the contours of his chest as a sense of loneliness began to engulf her. She missed him already.

  Although she hadn’t opened up to him about the hell she’d gone through because of Earl, she appreciated the fact that he hadn’t pressured her. She’d listened and heard his words. The days of letting her past influence her future were over. She had too much to look forward to – starting with the person lying right here beside her…

  The next morning, Jerra pretended to be asleep when she heard the shower turn off in the adjoining bathroom. Darrell would be leaving in the next hour or so, but she didn’t want to think about him going home. Not yet.

  She listened as he opened the bathroom door and padded barefoot towards the bed. She felt his gaze running over her face as surely as if he were physically touching her. After a few minutes, he walked across the room and started getting dressed. The two of them had made love an hour before he’d gotten up, but her body stilled ached for him.

  A little while later, Darrell gently rubbed her shoulder. She looked at him with sad eyes, knowing she couldn’t ignore the inevitable any longer. When the moment came for him to leave, they wordlessly walked hand in hand to the front door.

  Darrell pulled her to him and lifted her chin. “I’ll call you as soon as I get back to Vegas. If you need me - for anything - you have all of my numbers. Okay?”

  Jerra nodded, trying not to cry. “I’ll be fine.”

  Darrell sighed. She was so damned stubborn and determined not to depend on anyone but herself. He’d have to work on that. Leaning down, he kissed her again and hugged her tight. “Take care, baby.”

  Jerra stood in the doorway watching him walk to the elevator. He blew her a kiss as the elevator doors closed. Jerra stepped back and quietly pushed the door to. She leaned her head forward before slowly sliding down its wooden frame until she was sitting on the floor. With her forehead resting on her bent knees, she cried harder than she’d cried in a very long time until she had no more tears left.

  Darrell stepped out of Jerra’s building and walked over to the rental car. Once inside, he turned the ignition, but just sat there, unable to get rid of a lingering sense of dread. Blowing in exasperation, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. Finally, he put his shades on and pulled off. He’d call Jerra before the plane took off. Aleesha was bringing Marcus to the airport, so when he saw her, he’d ask her to make sure she kept a close eye on Jerra.

  Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Earl standing several feet away. Once Darrell’s car disappeared out of sight, he walked inside of Jerra’s building.

  He had shaved and purchased a pair of cheap pants and shirt from the dollar store so as not to arouse suspicion. Yesterday, he’d been able to slip in unnoticed when he’d given a teenager a few dollars to create a diversion. Now, walking up to the security desk, he introduced himself as Jerra’s stepfather, here for a surprise visit from out of town.

  The guard was still suspicious, but Earl came prepared. Luckily, he’d brought a ragged and faded picture he’d managed to find of him, Jerra, and SaraLynne. He didn’t know why he stuffed it in his bag, but it came in handy when he showed it to the security guard as proof that he was who he said he was. Earl could turn on the southern charm when it suited him, and after showing his ID, he managed to talk his way up without being announced.

  Once Earl got to Jerra’s floor, he pulled a flask filled with cheap whiskey out of his pocket and took a few sips. This little bitch thinks she’s too good for me now? Earl sipped the alcohol again, all the while working himself up into a fury. Who in the hell does she think she is? Jerra St. James my ass. I’m about to remind her she ain’t nothin’ but the daughter of a whore from a shit ass town in Mississippi, he sneered as he walked to her door.

  Jerra was still on the floor when she heard the doorbell ring. Her heart began to pound in her chest and a smile crossed her lips. Darrell! He came back!

  With excitement pumping through her veins, she unlocked the door and threw it open with her face all aglow. When she saw Earl, she quickly tried to slam the door shut, but Earl was too strong. Jerra went sliding to the floor as he effortlessly shoved his way inside.

  “Where’s that smart ass talkin’ you was doin’ when your boyfriend was here, slut?”

  Jerra started to hyperventilate. She tried to remember that Earl had no power over her any longer, but somehow, bravery had come so much easier with Darrell by her side. “I-I want you to leave! Now!” When Earl’s face twisted in furious outrage, Jerra started scooting backwards, terrified as he began to advance towards her. “What do you want?! Please…I’ll give you money…however much you want...” Jerra was barely able to put a sentence together because of the way her teeth chattered from fear.

  “Please, please…” Earl mocked her. “Bitch, don’t plead now. Oh, you’ll give me money I rightly deserve for taking care of you when your whore of a mother died. But you’re gunna give me something else too…”

  Earl licked his lips as his hand went to his belt buckle. Jerra felt violently ill at the sight of the bulge in the front of his pants. “I'm gunna finish what we started before you ran away all them years ago."

  Grinning, he added, "If it helps, pretend I’m that pretty boyfriend of yours who just left…”

  ****

  Darrell had driven about a block from Jerra’s condo when he came to a stop at a traffic light. He sat waiting on it to change as thoughts of Jerra continued to plague him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was fillin
g him with unease.

  Shaking his head, he propped his elbow on the door and absently rubbed his chin. That stepfather of hers….Earl. Something told him he wasn’t going to give up so easily.

  Still deep in thought, Darrell didn’t notice that the light had turned green. The car behind him blew once then leaned on the horn. Undaunted, Darrell glanced in his rearview mirror and quickly came to a decision. Stepping on the accelerator, he made a U-turn and pulled into the gas station across the street. He’d learned a long time ago to trust his instincts. They had gotten him out of numerous situations and stopped him from making mistakes that could've otherwise proven to be disastrous. Darrell put the car in park and took out his cell phone to call Marcus.

  “Yo, what’s up D? You almost at the airport? We’re here already.”

  “Marcus. I’m not leaving today. Something’s come up. I think I’m gonna catch a flight out at a later date.”

  “Something’s come up, huh?” Marcus asked in an amused voice. “Could that something’s first name start with a ‘J’ and end with an ‘a’?”

  Darrell forced a laugh. “Yeah man, something like that.”

  Marcus’ amusement faded “You okay, D?”

  Darrell deliberately injected a light tone in his voice. “Everything’s good, man.”

  “Ai’ight. I swear, I never thought I’d see the day when you got sprung over a woman, but even the best of us fall, right bruh? Okay, handle your business. I’ll catch up with you in Vegas.”

  After hanging up, Darrell called his assistant and informed him that he was staying in Atlanta for a couple more days, so he needed any appointments he had lined up rescheduled. With that taken care of, Darrell pulled away from the gas station and drove in the direction leading back to Jerra’s home. He tried to call her, but when he only got her voice mail, the prick of uneasiness intensified.

  Minutes later, Darrell parked in front of Jerra’s building. He took long strides to the entrance, anxious to hold his baby. Only then would he be satisfied that she was alright.