“Why?”
“He got real possessive after they set a date. He treated her like prisoner, dictating when, where and if she could go somewhere. Snapping at every little thing she did when she didn’t clear with him first.” He shrugged. “She got tired of it and called off the wedding three months before the date. She was a nice girl, too, real pretty. I paid my respects at her funeral.”
“Her funeral? She died? How?”
“In a car accident. They said the brakes went out when she and her new boyfriend were on their way to Brown County for the weekend. They went off the road and slammed into a tree.”
“The new boyfriend?”
“Yup, she started dating some black guy from her job about eight months after she broke it off with my brother. He was in the car too. He died at the hospital a couple of days after she did. Frank thought she was cheating on him with the guy all along and that’s why she didn’t want to marry him. He blamed the guy for killing her because he was driving.”
“That’s ridiculous. If the brakes went out, they could have gone out at anytime.”
“I know that, but according to my brother it was his car and he was driving, that makes it his fault.”
“Well, at least I know it’s not me.”
He dropped another kiss on her head and chuckled. “No, sweetheart, it’s not you.
He’s just had a bad experience and he’s just not over it. I think once he gets over the whole Roxanne thing, he’ll be fine. Now, enough about him, he’s in Michigan City with our older brother, Dennis. He’ll be there working for the next eight weeks with him. He’s Denise’s twin.”
She snuggled against him. “Ooo, eight weeks without Frank. How will we manage?” She giggled. “But what happens when he comes back, Jake?”
“I don’t care what Frank thinks, baby. As long as I have you, it’s me and you against the world. Denise and Dennis finished raising us after our parents died. We were only 11 and 13 at the time and they were 23. They’re going to love you. They probably won’t be down for a while, but they’ll come down for my birthday and meet you then. That’s when the five of us will go out.”
“Five?”
“Yeah. Me, you, Dennis, Denise and her husband Bobby.”
“Oh, ok, that’s cool.” She rolled on top of him. “Now, enough talk.” She leaned down so their noses touched. “Why don’t you show me again how much you missed me.”
He ran his fingers through her hair and smiled. “My pleasure.”
Hours later Jake cooked them a light dinner as Pearl told him all about her trip.
She gave him the bag of souvenirs she brought for him. Shortly after that, he walked her out to her car.
“I’m almost afraid to let you go.” He closed her car door and leaned into the window.
She smiled and caressed his face. “Don’t be.”
He held her hand to his face and nodded. “Ok. I love you, Pearl.”
She pulled his head into the window and kissed him. “I know, baby. I love you, too and I will be back.”
Chapter 12
Over the next eight weeks, Jake and Pearl spent every moment they could together. Along with working, they fit in hanging out with Doug and Opal and Debbie and Rakim, and they all became very close.
“Ok, so who’s winning now?” Pearl asked setting up the picnic table on the other side of the barbecue pit.
“Well, we would be if Rakim wasn’t cheating,” her sister replied.
“What? Man, I ain’t cheating. This is just payback for all the ass-kickings that you and your boy been dishing out all summer.”
“That’s right, Chica. Ya’ll have been putting it on us for a while.” She peeked at him over her cards. “Hmm, you sure you ain’t cheating, baby?” she asked in a teasing voice, snickering behind her cards.
“Deb!” He laughed and everyone joined in.
“See, what did I tell you.” Opal laughed with them.
“Come on, Opal, we’ve got time to stage a comeback.”
“A comeback? What’s the score, Doug?”
He looked at his paper. “It’s not that bad. We’ve got two hundred fifty eight.”
“Uh-huh and they’ve got…”
He smiled. “Four hundred twenty eight.”
Everyone’s laughter renewed.
Pearl took a plate to Jake at the pit, laughing. “This game goes to 500, right?”
“Yup.” Jake laughed.
Opal shook her head. “Doug, sweetie, you’ve got some serious optimism going on over there.”
“We can turn this around. We’ve beat them before.”
“Turn it around? They’ve set us twice, you know.”
“Yeah, I know, but, it ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”
“Well, you can tell your fat lady that she’s on in five,” Rakim said and threw down a card slamming the table. “That’s our book, baby, and so are these last two! Ha! Gimme some, girl!” He put his hands up and Debbie gave him two high fives laughing.
“Looks like we’ll be up soon, honey. This should be the last hand.”
Jake took the plate from her, filling it with hamburgers, and then took it with him to the table, sitting next to Rakim.
“Ok guys, the burgers are ready. So, ya’ll got any ideas for my birthday next weekend? You know my older brother and sister are coming down to meet my baby here.” He smiled and pulled Pearl into his lap.
“Sounds like a good reason to party to me, man. What do you think, Doug? Shit! Was that your queen? I didn’t know so I cut it.”
“It’s cool, we got the book. It’s still your turn.”
“Well, I’m down for whatever,” Doug replied.
“Yeah, Jake. Why not have a party?”
“Yeah, this way you can cook.”
He chuckled. “Shouldn’t someone else cook if it’s my birthday?”
“Alright, man, damn, twist my arm why don’t you. We’ll bring some stuff and slap it on the grill for you, but don’t trip when it doesn’t taste as good as yours does.” Doug chuckled and dropped a card.
Rakim dropped his card on top of Doug’s. “Yeah man, and we can bring some music and drinks. What do you think, baby?”
“Fine with me. So what do you say, Jake? Sounds like the makings of a good party.”
“Alright, but you guys know my sister has little kids, right? Twin eight year old boys, a five year old boy and a baby girl. She’ll be bringing them, you know.” He chuckled.
“Kids are cool.”
“I like kids, too. It’s kind of a prerequisite at my job. You can’t be a teacher and not like kids.” Pearl chuckled.
“Shit!” Doug said slamming down his cards.
Rakim and Debbie jumped up, laughing, and did a quick victory lap around the table.
“Well, I guess that means the fat lady is singing.” Jake laughed, pushing Pearl to her feet. “Come on, baby, let’s see if we can wipe that smug smile off of Rakim’s face.”
Later that evening, Rakim pushed open his door, laughing, and stepped to the side, letting Debbie in.
“Rakim, you can stop gloating now. We won three games tonight. That gives us a total of, what, seven wins all summer. And we play every weekend.” She chuckled closing the door behind her.
“Woman, don’t be kicking me off my little cloud. The wins come few and far between, I know that, but it sure felt good rubbing Doug’s face in the losers’ box for a change.” He laughed. “Let me ride this one for a while.” He chuckled and sat in the corner of the couch.
“Ok, ok. So when your little gloat fest is over, what do we do?” She sat at the other end.
“Well, the only thing that can top off a winning night like this is some bomb ass sex. So, if I had my way, we'd be sexing it up in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Is that right?”
“Well, yeah. As you are well aware, I’ve been asking you for some pussy for the last two months, with pain staking subtlety, mind you.”
“Subtlety, huh?”
“Uh-huh, and if you could, maybe, I don't know, see your way to giving me some, I'd be very grateful.” He smiled and started to slowly crawl across the sofa to her. “I’m really good at showing my gratitude, you know.”
She smiled, watching him. “Are you, now?”
He nodded as his smile morphed into a devilish grin. “Yes, I really am and I’ve been very patient, too.”
She giggled. “Patient? Really?”
He nodded and continued crawling.
“And I guess you’d like to be rewarded for that patience, huh?” She leaned back and let him come.
“Oh yeah. I’d like that a lot.” He stopped at her face. “And so would you.”
She slipped her arms around his neck. “Hmm, your argument is sound, so, ok.”
He blinked a few times, showing his confusion. “What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I am. I like the person I’ve been getting to know.”
He smiled. “Really? Hmm, and to think I’ve been this person all along. So, is this a good time for ‘I told you so’?”
She twisted her lips. “Shut up and kiss me.”
He obliged her, and a flame ignited between them that was waiting to burn for far too long. Grabbing a handful of hair, he pulled her head to the side, kissing down the long column of her throat and he let out a moan of desire.
Her breathing quickened as she slid her hands down his back, pushing against his butt, grinding herself against his full, throbbing erection.
He moved her head from side to side, kissing from one side of her neck to the other.
“Let me make love to you, Debbie. I’ll make you feel so good you’ll want to make me feel good,” he breathed out huskily into her neck.
“No.”
The shock from her one word answer woke him from his sex-induced daze like a bucket of cold water on his head. He leaned up so quick he almost fell off her.
“Wha-? But, but you said--”
She smiled and touched his lips. “Allow me.”
Confused, he lost all communication to his body parts and stared at her blankly as she pushed him backwards.
“Your reward is coming right up, baby, relax.” She gave him a Cheshire cat grin and straddled his lap. “But first a little visual stimulation,” she said, unbuttoning her shirt.
Speechless, he watched her shirt fall to the floor, his mouth getting drier by the second.
Never taking her eyes off his face, she reached back and unsnapped her bra.
He watched her bra fall loose, and that small action seemed to reopen communications with the rest of his body. He didn’t think his eyes could open any wider, and yet, they did. His hands started to shake as the message reached them that there were titties nearby, and all he could hear was the blood rushing from one head down to the other as the first stirrings of his hard-on threatened to toss her up to the ceiling.
Her smile widened as she watched his body twitch. Sliding the bra off, she leaned forward and dragged it across his face before dropping it to the floor. She picked up his hands and moved them to her breasts.
He took in a deep breath and concentrated all his control so he wouldn’t crush the perfectly formed, lightly toasted orbs he held in each hand. Closing his eyes, he exhaled, welcoming the warm feeling that engulfed his body.
She leaned down, touching her nose to his, and his eyes popped open.
“Are you ready for the next phase?” she said softly.
He coughed lightly and licked his lips. “Yes, please.”
She giggled and stood up. Unzipping her shorts she wiggled out of her shorts and panties, letting them fall together.
The look in his eyes changed almost instantly from amazement to burning lust.
Licking his lips again, he sat up quickly and scooted back to the corner of the couch. He could barely breathe as he took in every inch of her. Her cinnamon hair was messy from where he grabbed it, light red marks were on her neck, from his heated kisses and her curls hung pass her shoulders, just above the dark nipples of her breasts.
His breath came in short, heated breaths as he appreciated the fluid lines of her figure as her waist tapered in and spread out to accommodate her ample hips.
Grinning like a fool, he reached out to touch the dangly ring hanging from her bellybutton, then his breathing stopped again as he lowered his gaze to the small patch of cinnamon colored curls directly in his line of sight.
Suddenly his mouth, that was just bone dry, had enough saliva to wet his throat, mouth and lips, and it threatened to spill over when his mouth dropped open. His eyes grew even bigger, to his own surprise, as she did a slow spin, giving him a good look of her firm, round bottom. When she turned back, he leaned forward, willing the cinnamon curls to come to him and miraculously…they came!
“Now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?” Debbie said, moving closer to him, stopping close enough to almost tickle his nose.
Looking up at her, he swallowed loudly to stop himself from slurping. He smiled and dragged his face up to her nakedness as he stood.
“Lay down on the couch. I want to get a good look at you.”
“Hmm, you just gonna look at me, huh?” She laid back, leaning on her elbows.
“Look here, woman, you already kicked me off one cloud tonight, give me this one. I’ve waited a long time for this moment and I’m gonna take my time.” He chuckled and sat on the floor near her feet. “I’m trying to make a good first impression. Don’t think I don’t know what you women say about us.” He picked up her foot and kissed it, letting out a little chuckle. “Shit, I’m about to put my demo down, girl.”
“Well, according to your reputation, you shouldn’t have that problem.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t give a rat’s ass about impressing them.” He came out of his shorts, threw them across the room and lifted the other leg, putting it on his shoulder.
“Oh, so you’re trying to impress me, huh?”
He smiled kissing his way up her thigh. “You bet your sweet ass I am, but I’ll get to that part of you in a minute.”
She giggled and laid back.
Rakim laid between her legs, kissing his way up, and took a deep sniff before diving into the honey pot before him.
“Ohh, shit! Woo! There ain’t nothing like a man who loves his work at hand.”
He let out a muffled chuckle. “Girl, you ain’t seen nothing yet. You about to wake my neighbors ‘cause I‘m about to break out my A-game.”
“Break it out then, baby, break it out!”
He licked on and around her sensitive button of pleasure and the pedal soft folds of her womanhood as she rode his probing tongue to a wild eruption of pleasure.
He shoved his hands under her butt, massaging it and she crushed his head with her legs, letting out a wail that left her throat sore.
Laying still for a while, her breathing slowed and she started giggling.
“What?”
“You know, I think you were right. I might have woke a neighbor or two.”
He laughed, pulled her to her feet and kissed her. “Well, the night is young and I’ve got lots of neighbors, baby.”
“Well, hell, we might as well wake them all! Come on.”
He laughed again and pulled her to his bedroom.
***
For the next week Jake and Pearl spent all their free time together planning Jake’s party.
“Ok, here’s the final, final draft.” She plopped down on the couch and chuckled.
“I swear, what started out as a small get together with just a handful of people has yet to stop growing.”
Jake put his arm around her shoulder. “It’s not that bad is it?” He chuckled.
She chuckled again. “Baby, it went from the six of us, to the six of us and your brother and sister and her family.” She counted her fingers. “Then it was us, them and the people from your shop, that’s six more and now the people from my shop are coming, too. Oh yeah and your stupid roommate. See, I
ran out of fingers a long time ago.” She wiggled her fingers, giggling.
“We don’t have to have this party, baby. I’ll be happy just spending the weekend with you, locked up in some nice little hotel room watching you dance for me in some cute little outfit.” A sly grin touched his lips. “Just say the word, baby, and it can go all away.
“No, no, no, Jake. You can’t call everyone and cancel at the last minute, but I’ll tell you this, Mr. Thompson, my birthday won't be so complicated. We’re just going to stay in my room and fuck all day long,” she said giggling.
His grin increased to an ear to ear smile. “Now that’s the kind of birthday I’m talking about.” He leaned her back on the arm of the couch and laid on top her.
“Mmm, I love it when you talk to me like that.” He brushed his nose against hers.
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
She gave him a smug smile and slipped her arms around his neck. “Because you’re not as smart as I am, that's why.”
“Really? Well, maybe if I get closer some of your smarts will rub off on me.” He kissed her.
“That might work, but you’re going to have to get very close.”
He smiled pushing her legs apart. “Is this close enough?”
“Mmm, that’s close, but I'm sure you can get closer.”
He kissed her, again, grinding against her. “How’s that?”
“Mmm. I like that.”
“You know, in order to get closer I’ll have to take you out of these clothes,” he whispered and dropped a soft kiss on her chin.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Mmm, well, you gotta do what you gotta do, Jakey.”
He chuckled and kissed her neck. “Don’t call me Jakey.”
She giggled. “You know you like it.”
“Really? Does that mean that I can call you Jakey, too?”
Jake looked up his from her neck and Pearl’s upside down face looked up into the face of his roommate.
“Joe, what are you doing here?” he asked in an annoyed tone.
“Same as always, man. I live here.”
“If he says that again I’m going to strangle him myself,” Pearl mumbled near Jake's ear.
Jake smiled at her and backed up so he was sitting next to her. “Joe, I swear, you’ve got to be the most cock blockingness mother fu--”
The Yin Yang Effect Page 14