“Let’s get out of here, sweetheart,” he said and she nodds nand sheed.
Jamie got on the back of his motorcycle. She wrapped her arms around his waist and locked her fingers together on his stomach and laid her head on his back.
Chapter Seven
Sweet Talker
Jamie grinned when they pulled into the same park from the night before. No one typically came here at night, so it worked for them. Neither of them moved when he turned his bike off. He placed his hands on top of hers and held her to him. Jamie took in the smell of him and smiled. He would be forever imprinted on her brain, and she was fine with that. She’d thought she’d loved Ryan, but what she’d felt for him was nothing close to what she was feeling for Henry. Jamie was never a believer of love at first sight, and she’d laughed at the girls from school who claimed that it was real.
She moved away from him and removed the helmet; she looked up at the stars and grinned. She’d always loved it outside and remembered when she used to set up the tent in her backyard. Her tent had a screen on the top so you could look at the stars. Henry was the first one to get off of the motorcycle and he took off his helmet. He sat it on the handle bar and put his hand out for her to take. Jamie smiled up at him and took his hand.
Henry pulled her to him and his body heat enflamed her. “How was shopping?” he asked.
“It was great.” She reached in her large purse and pulled out a box. “I got this for you.”
He grinned at her. “You got me something?” he asked as he took the box, and she nodded. He opened it and raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m having a masquerade ball in two nights and I want you to be there. I understand if you don’t want to go and it could be risky, but it won’t be the same if you aren’t there.” She looked down and took a deep breath. When she got nervous she would talk until someone told her to stop or until she realized she was doing it.
“Hey,” he said and she looked up at him. “I love it and will try like hell to be there for you. I know it’s risky, but I don’t care because I get to be there with you.” He smiled and sat the mask on top of the bike.
Henry laid a hand on her cheek and smiled. She would never get tired of seeing how he looked at her. “Why aren’t you with someone already, what’s wrong with you?” Jamie asked and he laughed.
“Well I don’t typically have time to date and no one has caught my eye…until you.” He laid a sweet affectionate kiss between her eyes and she trembled from it as his warm lips left her skin. She wanted more, but most of all she wanted him to kiss her with all of the passion he had shown her early.
“Sweet talker,” she whispered.
H<">pspan>e winked. “That I am.” He reached between them to grab her hand. He started walking toward the abandoned park, and stopped at a wooden bench. “Jamie I need to tell you something.”
That was how every break up had started. And Jamie started to fear the worst. She turned her head to look at him and he looked like he might smash to pieces.
“I don’t do casual flings. Never have, and won’t start now. When I’m not with you, I want to be and you are always on my mind. I can’t get your smile and your laughter out of my head.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “And I will never be able to eat raspberries without thinking about your lips.”
Jamie smiled at him and felt her body heat up as she heard his words. “I think you’ve got it bad for me,” she said and a smile appeared on his sweet lips.
“I think so.” He closed his eyes, but she saw the worry in his eyes. “We should walk away from each other now, before one or both of us get really hurt.”
She didn’t want to lose him, not now or ever. Tears rushed to the back of her eyes, and Henry opened his eyes to look at her. “I can’t walk away from you, not now or ever. Henry you make me believe life is worth living for. I am falling for you and I don’t want to stop it from happening,” she said with her heart pounding so hard she thought it was going to beat out.
“Jamie, I don’t want to be without you, I am falling for you too. You know you are too good for me, right?” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, and laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
“Don’t ever do that to me again, you made it sound like you wanted to be done. Henry what we have is worth fighting for.” A tear escaped from her eye and he wiped it away.
“I will fight for you until my last breath, but you deserve a knight in shining armor, and sweetheart, that isn’t me. Mine is rusty and squeaky.” Henry smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Jamie shook her head. “Who needs a knight in shining armor when I can have a man in faded jeans on a motorcycle any day.” She beamed at him and he laughed lightly.
“And you called me a sweet talker,” he said and winked at her. She leaned her head on his shoulder; he pulled her closer to his side. They sat there for what felt like a long time before he spoke again. “You know you could always come home with me. I live at Mike’s in the guest house in the back. My mother still lives there and she would love to meet you.”
Jamie shook her head against his chest, she knew her father would burn down the whole world looking for her and he didn’t care who got in his way. She was all the family he had left. “No my dad wouldn’t stop until he found me.” She felt his hand massage circles on her back and she liked it. Jamie had never been that comfortable with someone before, and Ryan never just held her. He’d always wanted to be doing something.
“I would do the same for you,” he said and she slowly lifted her head off of him and looked at him. He grinned his wickedly gorgeous smile, and she noticed he had dimple on the right side of his chin. That was something else she would have to add to her mental folder of him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jamie laughed softly, and shrugged. “Because you are treacherously handsome,” she replied and a half smile tugged on his right side.
“Treacherously, huh?” Henry leaned in and she thought he was going to kiss her, but he kissed her nose. Tease, she thought.
Jamie moved her fingers to his shoulder length rich chocolate brown hair and tangled her hands in it. She swung a leg over his lap and moved to sit on him. “I don’t like to be teased.” Henry groaned and little by little she moved her lips closer to his. His sweet hot peppermint breath was in her face.
“Sweetheart, you are the one that is teasing me,” he growled and she giggled.
She knew what she did to him because he did the same thing to her. Jamie lowered her lips to his and he sighed when her lips were on his. She never knew that kissing someone could be like that. It was like he was a starving man. Usually she allowed him to take their kisses over, but it was her turn to be in charge. Jamie deepened the kiss as she licked his bottom lip. Henry moaned and opened his sweet peppermint mouth. She lightly touched her tongue to his and he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him. Jamie realized there was nothing better than being in his arms with his lips on hers.
She had been thinking about kissing him like this all day after their time in Cynthia’s. She never wanted their kiss to end. She pressed her lips harder to his and moved up on her knees to get closer to him. A phone rang and Henry cursed as he pulled his lips away from hers; he reached in his front pocket and pulled out his phone.
“What?” Henry said after he cleared his throat. He listened for a minute and said, “fine.” His light blue eyes met hers and he smiled.
“Emily texted your dad and said you wanted to stay at her house. Mike invited all of his friends to his place to hang out, without me worrying that I’m putting you in danger,” he said and smirked at her; it made her insides melt.
“So what does that mean?” she asked apprehensively and his eyes went to her lips; she shivered wanting to feel his lips on hers again.
“If you want, sweetheart, you can stay with me all night.”
Her heart pounded so hard she heard it in her ears, and her face heated. The thought of b
eing with Henry alone all night, without her father disturbing her, thrilled her, and she smiled. “All night?” Jamie arched an eyebrow, and a low chuckle came from his mouth.
“If that’s what you want.”
She wanted to s Ce w“ “I get to fall asleep in your arms. Do you think I would turn that down?” she asked and he shrugged.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t.” Henry leaned closer to her to kiss her, but she put up her finger on his lips to stop him; his eyebrows furrowed together.
“Haven’t you figured out I would do anything to be with you?” Jamie beamed at him, and laid her palm on his face. She hated that she was lying more and more to her father, but she knew she had to in order to be with Henry.
Gradually he turned his lips to meet her palm. “I just don’t want to rush you to do anything that you don’t want to do, and I want you to be able to feel that you can tell me,” he said and his eyes met hers.
“Don’t worry I’m not a sweet innocent virgin, but I’m not easy either.” As she spoke his eyes darkened and she knew he’d figured out Ryan was her last lover.
“Let’s get to the house,” he said and lifted her off of him. Henry placed her on her feet and started walking back to his motorcycle.
Jamie ran after him, seized his hand in hers, and wrenched him back to her. “Hey, you don’t get to do that. I had a relationship before where we didn’t talk about things and we both were unhappy. I don’t want that again. Please talk to me, tell me what’s going on.”
Henry sighed and enfolded her into his arms. “I don’t like to think about you and that asshole together. When I brought him to your room he was telling me how he used to nail you in your bed as your father slept down the hall. He told me he was planning to do that when you came in there to talk, that you could never refuse him.” He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. “I wanted to kill him.”
Jamie tightly surrounded her arms around him. “Henry, what Ryan and I had was nothing measure up to what we have. I thought I loved him, but never thought about him as much as I think about you. Last night I went to bed with my lips still tingling from your kisses and dreamt of you.”
Henry opened his eyes and stared into hers. “I can’t believe you are mine.”
She laughed and carelessly kissed his lips. “You better start.”
Thirty minutes later they pulled the motorcycle into a driveway and she knew the area they were in; it was only about ten minutes from her house. The house was large like all of the Black houses, with a shiny black door like hers. Medium green bushes with clear little lights lined the walk way toward the house. Eight enormous windows were in the front of the house.
Henry reached down to take her hands in his; he led her through the lit pathway toward the house. Jamie loved how her hand fit seamlessly with his, and how he would rub his thumb along her knuckles. He still had his motorcycle keys in his other hand as they approached the front door, he put a key into the lock, and turned the handle. Apple cinnamon wrapped around Jamie and her stomach growled; Cachd as Henry arched a dark eyebrow at her and heat rushed to her cheeks.
He led her through the house, and rich reds were everywhere. The cherry wood floor gleamed and pictures were on the walls. They walked into a large kitchen, and found a petite woman with waist long black glossy hair. The stunning woman turned around with two freshly baked pies in her hands; she smiled at Henry and two large dimples appeared on her cheeks. She looked at Jamie and her smile never fell. She had the same bright green eyes that Michael had.
“Hello, Henry, who’s your friend?” She turned her gaze back to Henry.
“This is Jamie…my girlfriend.” Henry squeezed his hand around hers, and excitement ran through her; he called her his girlfriend. He turned his head to look at her and smiled so sweetly at her, it made her heart melt. “Jamie this is Cameo, Mike’s mother.”
She remembered him telling her Mike’s mother was a doctor; Jamie really looked at the other woman. She was about Jamie’s height and Cameo was wearing high heels; about three inches. But the major thing was she couldn’t get pass how beautiful the other woman was.
“It’s nice to meet you, sweetie.” Cameo wiped her hands on her apron and reached her hand out for Jamie to shake. Jamie took her hand and grinned. “Would you like some pie?”
Jamie nodded, and Cameo turned around to get them some. Henry brought her hands to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles; he grinned at her and her heart nearly stopped. Cameo cleared her throat and Jamie blushed. She took her hand from Henry and reached for the piece of pie the other woman was offering.
“Thank you,” she said and smiled.
Henry put his hand on the small of her back and lead her to the through the kitchen. When they passed the table she turned her head to look at him. “I want to bring you to my place,” he said and a little grinned tugged at the corner of his lips, but she saw how anxious he was.
Henry led her through the large house, and she momentarily glanced at pictures; he led her through the back door onto a wooden deck. Jamie couldn’t really see what the backyard looked like, but the steps leading toward the guest house was lit up. She turned her head to look at him.
“I haven’t seen these before.” Jamie nodded toward the lit up walkway.
He smiled. “Robert Rich, Mike’s dad, designed them. I don’t think they are out yet.”
The walkway wasn’t big enough for them to walk side by side she had him walk in front of her. She looked down at her feet at the glowing pathway and was amazed. It was like she was walking on glowing white stones. She glanced up when the sidewalk ended, and took in the beautiful white one-story house with black framed windows and a black glossy door. She instantaneously fell in love with the small house.
Henry held open the door for her and she walked in; h C wa loe turned on a light and the room lit up. The same cherry wood flooring from the main house was in here, along with a large black couch with bright red pillows. One black and one red, leather Lazy Boys were on either side of the couch. A cherry wood coffee table sat in front of the couch with three remote controls. All of the furniture faced a plain white wall. Jamie looked at Henry and he laughed. He walked away from her and to the couch; she followed. He sat his plate on the coffee table and reached for the large of the three remotes.
The plain white wall lit up, and a football game filled the entire eight foot wall. Her mouth dropped open. She’d heard rumors about it, but had never seen it. “This is remarkable.” She ripped her gaze away from the wall TV and looked at Henry.
“Yeah I don’t have too much time to watch it.” Henry turned it off and reached for his pie.
Jamie cut a little piece with her fork and brought it to her mouth. Apples, cinnamon, almonds, vanilla, and a sweet buttery crust filled her mouth and she moaned loudly. This was the best apple pie she had ever had, and was grateful Cameo gave her a generous slice.
Henry chuckled as he ate his, and she slowly adored hers. When she was done she leaned forward to set her plate down on the coffee table next to his, and sat back. Henry placed his hand on her leg with his palm up waiting for her to take his; she did. His fingers intertwined with hers and she grinned.
“I like seeing you in my house,” he said as he squeezed her hand.
She liked seeing where he lived. It gave her insight on him. Jamie looked around the house and saw a huge bookshelf filled with books, and she saw a black, shiny table in the dining room. The house was spotless. “I like being able seeing where you live,” she said and looked back at him. Ever since she found out that he was one of the leaders of the revolution she wanted to know more, but wondered if he would tell her.
“What are you thinking about?” Henry asked and she looked up into his eyes.
“Will you tell me more about the revolution?” Jamie asked and bit her bottom lip, she watched his eyes narrow on her lips.
“I will tell you anything you want to know,” he said, but kept his eyes on her lips. She felt heat rush to h
er face.
“Have you been planning for a while?” she forced herself to ask.
Slowly he looked up to meet her eyes. “Mike and I have been planning for four years, but really got everything started this past year. We have an astonishing amount of people on both sides that want things to change, and we are prepared to fight if we need to. I really hope it doesn’t come down to that. I don’t want another war to break out, but I’m afraid if something doesn’t change fast, my rebels will be demanding war.” Henry’s eyebrows creased together, and she had a feeling he wasn’t telling her something.
Jamie took a deep breath. “My father is in danger, isn’t he?”
He looked down at their connected hands, and nodded. “Yes a lot of people want him dead, but many more want to know about his mystery child. They know you would be the key to hurting him, some think the rebels should kidnap you.” He looked up at her, and determination shined in his blue eyes, along with something dangerous. “I told them no before I met you, and I won’t let them touch you now. You are mine, Jamie, and I will do everything to protect you.”
Jamie felt more of her heart opening up for him and she didn’t want to stop it. “I told my dad I think things should changes between the Blacks and Blues today.” Henry’s eyes expanded as she spoke.
“Why would you do that?” he asked and she took her hand away.
She stood up and kept her back to him. She didn’t just believe things should change just for him; she wanted a better life for everyone. “Henry, I want to be able to walk down the street and to meet new people without looking at the bloody bracelet to see if I am even allowed to talk to them. I want to be able to fall in love with the man of my dreams without worrying my father will…kill him...” She choked as she said that last part and he turned her around to face him. There was so much more she wanted to stay to him, but her throat felt tight with thoughts of him being killed because of her. She wasn’t falling in love with Henry, she had already fallen and was hoping he would be there to catch her.
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