Belinda still could not believe the twins, her twins, stood in front of her. Time had been damn good to them. Tall, dark hair, and those bodies, lord have mercy they were fine. Staring at them, she forgot the call from Robert asking her to meet him for dinner or the call from Abe informing her that another letter had arrived from that P.O. Box in Florida. Somehow Trinity had gotten her mailing address and started sending condolence cards every week. Even if the cards were for her dad, which they weren’t. It would have been inappropriate since he was still alive. The cards were condolences on Belinda’s walking dead condition because she had left the church in Miami.
She was on her way home to put the card away in a box that held the collection of hate mail from Trinity, and then change for dinner with Robert. Until she bumped into her past.
“Your dad never told you?” she whispered, unable to believe the charming man she had met once for a few minutes would lie to her. Now that she thought about back, it was uncanny how he was the only one who answered the phone whenever she called. “Was that his personal phone or something?”
Blaine shrugged. “Back then we only had one phone, and it was in the house. He never told us you called. Never.”
Gut punched, she watched his cheeks redden and recognized the signs of his mounting rage. Damn. All this time... she thought they knew and didn’t care. “Why did he lie?” She glanced at Donnie, and saw the same signs of anger in him.
“I don’t know, but I will be sure to ask him that later today,” Donald said through a clenched jaw.
“Can we talk? Just for a few minutes? There is so much I want to know,” Blaine said, his eyes imploring as his large palms stroked her arm.
Her body literally hummed, vibrated with excitement. God it had been so long since she had been this turned on. Those kisses lit a fire in her core that Robert, with all his expertise, couldn’t match. These men had trained her body to respond to them, and after such a long hiatus, her nipples ached. Her pussy wept.
She licked her lips as she looked at her watch. “I have a date I need to get ready for. Tomorrow?”
Donald’s jaw tightened further while Blaine removed his hand from her arm. She missed the comforting motion but refused to ask him to continue. Neither man spoke.
“Well, if that’s not going to work for you, give me a working number and I’ll call you when I have time. Right now I have some things to do.” Pleased with the confident sound of her voice, she moved toward her car, praying they couldn’t smell her arousal or see her hardened nipples. “Just let me make it to the car,” she prayed even though her hungry body fought to return to the men who had mastered it all those years ago.
By the time she reached her car, her panties were thoroughly wet as memories of making love with Donnie and Blaine played on a loop in her mind. She exhaled and then pulled the keys from her jacket.
One hand slapped the top of the car door, causing her to jump. Blaine eased in between her and the door. The hard feel of his thigh against her sent her heart crashing against her chest. The effect he had on her after all these years wasn’t fair. They'd abandoned her… well, not if what they said was true, and they had never been liars. She tried to muster the feelings of regret and disappointment that dogged her for years.
Donald’s hand slid around her waist, his heat buffeted her back. His hard cock sat on her ass while Blaine’s thick length pressed against her lower stomach. It was heaven standing between the two of them like this. She closed her eyes wishing things were simple again. That she could shut out everyone and everything and just love these two men. Releasing a dejected sigh, she met Blaine’s calm gaze.
“I have to go. We can’t do this again…not again. Things have changed, I… I’ve changed.”
“We all have changed in one way or another. But this…” He rubbed his hardness against her.
Her breath hitched as she recalled the orgasms she’d received from his long, thick cock.
“This… hasn’t changed. It wants to come home.”
Her eyes flew to meet his. That was the phrase he would whisper to her when he wanted to make love. “Baby, your cock wants to come home.” Those words always worked like a push-button, she would open wide allowing him entry.
Before she could reply, Donald rubbed against her ass, stealing her thoughts as waves of lust swamped her.
“I’m sorry what happened, Lindy, and I know you’ve moved on,” he said in a low sexy voice that stroked her insides and had her leaning back onto him. “We didn’t know. There is no way I would ever allow your sexy ass to get away from me like that.” He paused as his palm stroked her stomach in a circular motion. “I loved you too much, needed you too much to just let you leave.” He pressed his hardness into her, pushing her closer to Blaine. Their combined scents sent her mind in a tailspin. Her body sprang to life as if it had been dormant all the years in between. Mind and body battled, but when Blaine’s hand cupped her cheek and his thumb stroked her lip, her mind waved a tattered flag. These men were her kryptonite and it pissed her off how quickly she’d fallen back into their arms. But it had always been that way with them, and as much as she wanted to kick them to the curb, she knew she couldn’t, not yet.
Thankfully, before she could embarrass herself and follow them wherever they wanted, her cell rang. It took a moment to realize she needed to stop rubbing against them and answer her phone.
Pulling the device from her pocket, she turned to the side when it became obvious neither man would move. She had forgotten how stubborn they could be.
“Abe?” she asked after seeing the caller ID. “Did you open the letter?” She worried over his response if he'd read Trinity’s card.
“No. I put it in your room. Got a call from Adam’s job.”
Her heart slammed into her chest and she was sure she would have fallen if not for Donnie and Blaine. “What happened?” she whispered, afraid of what he might say.
“No…nothing that serious. He fell and is at the emergency room, they need you to pick him up. That’s all.”
Abe’s “that’s all” was a lot in her opinion. “Where is he? Which hospital?” Donnie and Blaine stepped back giving her some space. “Okay, I’ll head over there now.”
“What’s wrong with Adam?” Blaine asked, drawing her attention.
“He’s been hurt, I’ve got to get to the hospital.” She glanced at the address on her phone again. She unlocked her car door and sat down inside, quickly punching the directions into the map program in her car.
“Not seriously, I hope?” Donald asked.
Anything that required a doctor’s visit was serious to her. “He fell from the back of a truck at work.”
“Who’s Abe?” Blaine asked at the same time.
“My son, Adam’s twin.” She gazed up at them as the GPS gave its first direction. The slack-jawed expressions on their faces would have been comical if her son wasn’t hurt.
“You have twins?” Donald whispered as he stepped closer.
“I have a son?” Blaine asked with what sounded suspiciously like hope and excitement.
“I have twin boys. From you.” She pointed at each of them as her face warmed. Not knowing exactly who her sons’ father was had always been a sticky point for her. It was hard to explain to anyone who didn’t know these two. But telling them she didn’t know which of them fathered her sons embarrassed the hell out of her. “I have to check this out.”
“We’ll go with you.” Donald slid into the back seat.
“Tell us what’s been going on,” Blaine said, walking on her other side.
“What kind of truck?” Donald asked.
“Where is Abe?” Blaine asked.
Exasperated, yet pleased with their concern, she took a moment to pull the seatbelt across her chest. How much to tell them? If her memory was correct, they wouldn’t stop until they were satisfied with her answers. Stubborn as pit bulls, that’s what she had called them when they… She shook her head to cancel the direction of her thoughts. I
t was too late for that. Things had changed. She bit back a sigh of regret.
“I am headed to the hospital now…Adam's been having a hard time adjusting to the city. It’s a bit different from what he, what we’re used to. But there was no one else…” she did not want to air her family’s sordid history with them. It was taking everything within her to remain focused on getting to Adam rather than the two men sitting in her car.
“Has this happened before?” Blaine asked from the front passenger seat.
Exhaling, she nodded. “Yeah, like I said, he’s having a bit of a problem adjusting to the area.
“Tell us about him, we’d like to…” Blaine paused and she wondered at his hesitation.
“We’d like to meet him and his brother,” Donald said from the back seat.
Now that she knew they had not known of the boys before, the request to meet their sons was no surprise. If they hadn’t, she would have been shocked. But she needed to process everything first and Adam’s health took precedence.
“We’ll discuss that later, right now I’ve got to see about my son. Now’s not the time to catch up.” She pulled out of the space, forcing her thoughts away from the punch in her gut. Their father lied. They had not known… all these years.
An internal war raged. Anger fought reason. Reason unleashed hope. Hope pleaded that she forgive. Memories of her struggles through the years fed her anger. Uncertainty reared its head and she shut it down.
“Adam is in a mentoring program, he was doing fairly well. Or I thought he was.” Lately, he'd been spending a lot more time at the youth center and at the church around the corner. She wasn’t in any hurry to join anyplace yet, but he seemed to like it there. How could she explain the walking contradiction that was her son?
She shook her head.
“Okay… but I hope we can discuss this soon, a lot of time has passed and I want to fix that. I don’t want my… our sons thinking we didn't want them,” Donald said in an authoritative voice that flamed the fire in her belly.
“Did you ever go to law school?” she asked, glancing at him in the rear view mirror.
His eyes softened as they met hers. Ignoring the tingling in her nipples, she released his gaze and stared straight ahead as she waited for his answer.
“Yes, I own my own firm. I have three other attorneys working there as well. I am surprised you remembered.”
Following the GPS instructions, she turned and then snorted. “It was all you talked about, and sports.”
He nodded with that small grin of his, where his lips curled up just a smidgeon on the corner. “True, but that was a long time ago, I’m surprised you remembered.”
She shook her head and focused on the traffic, fortunately it was light this time of day. The soft scent of Blaine’s signature fragrance teased her nostrils. She bit back a groan as memories of the times they spent together washed over her. She did not know it then, but the man was a sensualist and she could only imagine how good he would be with his hands and mouth now. He met her brief gaze with a similar grin.
Damn twins.
Turning up the music on the jazz station playing on her car radio, she hoped the sounds would soothe her jumpy nerves. Donnie and Blaine… never in a million years could she have imagined they would be riding in her car.
She frowned. Adam.
When the boys were small, her godmother chose members of the church for male role models and badmouthed their unknown father the first six years of their lives. By the time they moved to Florida, they'd stopped asking about their other biological parent. When asked about their parentage, her sons claimed one parent as if another immaculate conception had taken place. This turn of events might cause some problems.
Belinda bit down on her lip, wondering if she should mention that bit of information to the men sitting quietly in her car and decided against it. In fact, she would allow them to form their own relationships with her sons without her involvement. Her feelings over Donnie and Blaine’s recent disclosure were too raw and she had no doubt that as soon as this crisis with Adam passed she would need time and space to deal with it.
A stream of air rushed from between her lips as the emergency room entrance came into view. Despite the company owner telling Abe that Adam suffered minor bruises, her heart wouldn’t return to normal until she checked him out herself. The three of them strode into the ER, and she headed to the information desk.
“My son, Adam Moore, was brought here in an ambulance?”
The woman behind the glass glanced at her and then looked at her monitor. “Adam Moore? How do you spell his last name?”
Gritting her teeth at the delay, Belinda spelled his entire name, and earned a raised brow from the woman.
“He is in the back, number 15A. Are you his legal guardian?”
Mouth agape, Belinda stared at the woman. “I just told you he's my son.”
The woman nodded. “I understand, but I have to ask that question to make sure you can give and receive information about…” She glanced at the monitor before pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “About Adam. He is a minor and I need you to answer some questions please.”
“After I see my son, who as you know is a minor. Where is he?”
The woman blinked and then pointed to the double wooden doors down the corridor. She spoke through pinched lips. “He's in there. Someone will meet you to get his information.”
Pissed at the delay, Belinda nodded while moving toward the doors.
“Wait a minute…hold on. You can’t go back there, only immediate family members are allowed,” the woman said, standing as she spoke to Blaine and Donnie.
Belinda smiled at Blaine’s calm, yet firm, reply. “No problem, we are his father.”
The sputtered sounds from the woman were silenced as the door closed behind them. Seeing the numbered spaces, she searched for her son’s spot and moved quickly toward the placard with the number 15. Before she reached the curtained area, Solomon, the owner of the landscaping company, stepped out. His smile and gaze landed on her first, and then flicked over the two men who bracketed her on both sides.
“Ms. Moore—”
“Belinda,” she said, waving off the formal tone. “How’s Adam?” she whispered.
“I can hear you, Mom. I’m okay, a bit bruised and waiting to go home,” Adam said from behind the curtain in a strong voice.
The knot of tension that had been coiled inside her relaxed as she quirked a smile at Solomon. “What happened?”
“Goofing around on a job, jumping off some equipment that he had been told not to play with…” He shook his head and motioned her away from Adam’s bed. “He’s a good kid, but I can’t have this type of thing happening on my jobs.” He paused as he met her gaze. “I already told him, and planned to contact you later, but I’m releasing him from the company.”
His words took a moment to penetrate and then her gaze sharpened. “You’re firing him?”
He nodded. And to his credit, he appeared pained over the situation.
“Okay, thanks for letting me know and for all the time you’ve spent with him.”
He held up his hands. “Oh, I am still his mentor; he just won’t work for me, that’s all that’s changed. We don’t give up on our guys that easily. No, we will still get together for talks and hang out. I told him that, please remind him as well.”
Squeezing his hand, she nodded glad that her son wouldn’t be losing everything at the same time. “I will and thanks, Sol.”
The older man nodded, looked briefly over her shoulder and then back at her. “If you need anything, call me. I can spend some time with him at the house. You got your daddy and Abe… don’t be stubborn about this.”
He nodded and walked off. With his offer, the reminder of her dad and other son ringing in her head, she turned to find Donnie and Blaine glaring at Solomon’s back. They did not appear pleased at all. Shaking her head at their actions, she walked past them and pulled back the curtain.
&
nbsp; “Hey you? How do you feel?” she asked her son while trying to stop the wince that struggled to surface. A large white bandage covered a portion of his face and another was on his shoulder.
“Uncomfortable. The doctor said I was lucky, it could have been worse.” He turned his head to the side and stared off. “I haven’t ever been lucky,” he murmured.
Her heart ached at the defeat she heard in his voice. “Oh? What about me?”
He turned to face her. “Huh?”
“You have me…and Abraham. I guess we just aren’t enough for you to feel blessed,” she said, playing the same card he had a moment ago. It was low, but years of dealing with his swinging moods had taught her to fight fire with fire.
“Aw Mom, I didn’t say that. It’s just…I keep messing up. You never have to go to the police station or hospital for Abe, why can’t I get it together?” His eyes filled with tears as they met hers. “I mean I try…I really do try to follow the rules, but I get bored or something catches my eye and before my brain kicks in… I let God and you down.”
She moved close to his side and touched his hand. “I can’t speak for God, but you’ll have to talk to Him yourself. But you’ve never let me down. I understand you like sparkly new things, always have. You are not Abe, stop comparing yourself to him. He wishes he was more like you and you wanna be more like him, while I am soooo thankful to have each of you, different personalities and all. You are my joy, I love you exactly the way you are.” She brushed a kiss across his forehead. “He meant you could be dead, and that you are lucky to be alive. And so in that regard, you are lucky… we all are. Because I can’t…” She inhaled and then released it slowly. Blinking rapidly, she looked away and then back at him. “I can’t imagine being here, in this life, without my Adam. So… suck it up and accept the fact that you are one lucky guy.”
Tears filled his eyes and trickled down his cheek as they sat quietly gazing at each other. With his unhurt arm, he wiped his face. “Love you Mom. Thanks so much for always… you know being here, never giving up on me or Abe. You could’ve…so many times, but you didn’t.”
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