Giving My All to You

by Sheryl Lister

Faith nodded her consent and was, once again, swept away. His hands roamed down her back and settled on her hips briefly before moving around to cup her buttocks. She moaned, slid her arms around his neck and drew him closer. He gripped her tighter and pulled her flush against his erection, turning her legs to jelly. She felt the slide of the zipper on her dress, then the warmth of his strong hands on her bare back. He pushed the dress off her shoulders and charted a path of butterfly kisses along the column of her neck and over her shoulder. She knew she should stop him, but the sensations whipping through her had her in such a haze that she could do nothing but stand there and feel.

  He gently turned her around and trailed his tongue down the center of her spine while his hands caressed her breasts. Faith’s breaths came in short gasps and her knees buckled. “Brandon,” she pleaded.

  “I can’t stop touching you and kissing you.” Brandon spun her around and captured her mouth again in a scorching kiss. “If you’re not ready for what I want to give you, tell me now.” He nipped her bottom lip. “Say something, baby.”

  Her body wanted him so bad, but her head just wasn’t ready. She’d barely known him three weeks. Her inner self warred for a few hot seconds. “We need to slow down,” she finally managed. “I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

  Brandon lifted his head and nodded. He redid her clothes and wrapped his arms around her. “Whenever you’re ready, just let me know. If you just want to talk, tell me. You want me to massage your back, to touch you like this.” His hand skimmed her thigh. “Or kiss you,” he continued passionately, “call me. You won’t have to beg and I won’t make you wait. All you need to do is ask.” He reclaimed her mouth in a long, drugging kiss. Then he was gone.

  Faith collapsed into the nearest chair. “Lord, what a man!”

  * * *

  Brandon left Faith and drove straight to the gym. His body was so aroused and wound up he would never sleep tonight if he didn’t work off the sexual tension. A cold shower wasn’t going to cut it. After forgetting his gear a few weeks back, he’d started keeping a bag in his trunk and it would save a trip home first.

  At this late hour, he prayed Khalil had already gone home. If he saw Brandon, he would immediately know what was up. And after all the teasing Sunday, that was the last thing Brandon needed. He had enough problems. The emotionally charged words he spoke to Faith had come from a place deep inside him he didn’t even know existed. He had never uttered anything like that to another woman, and in fact made a practice to steer clear of any sentiments that could be misconstrued as him wanting anything beyond the moment. Maybe it had to do with the intimate atmosphere at the restaurant. Yeah, that’s it. Shaking it off, he chalked it up to a strong physical desire. As soon as they slept together, he’d be back to normal.

  He changed clothes and headed for the treadmill, scanning the room and upstairs offices for his brother. All the office lights were off. Relaxing, he started the machine.

  Five minutes into his run, Brandon’s mind went back to Faith—the smooth texture of her dark brown skin, the alluring swell of her breasts above the black lace bra and the intoxicating taste of her lips. If she hadn’t stopped him when she did, he would not have left until he knew every inch of her sexy body. Intimately. So lost in thought, he didn’t realize he’d slowed down. Brandon stumbled and almost fell off the machine. He gripped the bar and cursed. Regaining his balance, he focused on finishing the thirty-minute cycle.

  Afterward, he used a towel to wipe his face and crossed the room to do his leg workout. His legs were on fire by the time he completed the exercises. He rested for two minutes and moved over to the bench press. He had just finished the second set when a shadow fell over him.

  “Thinking about a woman while trying to run at full speed on the treadmill can get you killed.”

  He tilted his head forward and met Khalil’s smiling face. “What the hell are you still doing here?”

  Khalil folded his arms, his grin still in place. “This is my gym. I don’t have to justify why I’m here. You, on the other hand... Let me guess, you’re ready to take things to the next level and she’s not, leaving you frustrated and horny as hell.”

  Brandon snatched the bar off the rack and did his next set. He replaced the bar. “Don’t you have somebody to train or somewhere to be?”

  “That bad, huh?” He chuckled. “This isn’t the first time you’ve come in to work off your frustrations, but I sense something else going on with you.”

  His brother had always been good at reading Brandon, as well as all their siblings. And he hated it. “I don’t need a damn psych evaluation, I just need to finish my workout in peace.” Khalil stood at the end of the bench. “Do you mind?”

  Khalil stepped to the left. “If she’s not ready, maybe you should move on. Isn’t that what you typically do?”

  Brandon had planned to finish his upper body, but the urge to punch Khalil was so strong, he opted for the heavy bag instead. “If you say one more word, I’m gonna risk Mama’s wrath and knock the hell out of you.” The last time they’d gotten into a brawl, he had been twenty-five and Khalil, twenty-three. He couldn’t remember why they were fighting, but during the scuffle had broken two of their parents’ deck chairs and ruined their mother’s flower garden. She told them if she ever found out they’d been fighting—no matter where they were—she would ban them from the house. And he had no doubts that she’d find out.

  Khalil raised his hands in surrender. “Damn, Brandon. Relax. You know where to find me if you want to talk about it.” He turned and strode off.

  He finished his workout and went upstairs to his brother’s office. “You never said why you’re still here.”

  Khalil glanced up from his desk. “I lost track of time drawing some designs. Better now?”

  Brandon dropped down in the chair. “No,” he grumbled. He had worked out over an hour and the only thing he’d successfully done was work up a sweat. He still wanted Faith. Bad.

  “Is this the same woman Justin mentioned on Sunday?”

  He nodded and told Khalil about the visits and dinners. He groaned. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “She must be something.”

  “She is. But she’s leaving in a week or two.”

  “That’s a good thing, isn’t it? You said you weren’t looking for anything serious.”

  He frowned. The thought of her leaving didn’t sit well.

  Khalil grinned.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  “No reason.” He stood, packed up his papers and locked the desk. “I’m going home.”

  They walked out and stood in the parking lot talking for a few minutes.

  When the conversation ended, Khalil said, “You never answered my question.”

  Brandon remained silent.

  “That’s what I thought. Sounds like she means more to you than you expected.”

  “Yeah. More.” With her intelligence, teasing smile and sweet kisses, she was getting to him. And he didn’t know how to make it stop.

  Chapter 9

  Late Friday afternoon, Brandon sat in his office staring out of the window. He’d spent a restless night trying to figure out how to proceed with Faith and decided to go with the flow for now. She’d be gone soon and then he’d move on, as would she. He left his office and went down the hall, wanting to catch Siobhan before she left. She was packing up when he entered.

  “Hey, sis. I’m glad I caught you.”

  “What’s up? I hope you don’t need anything today. It’s almost six and Justin and I are going to a movie.”

  “No. This has nothing to do with work.”

  “You ready, baby?” Justin asked, entering. “Oh, hey, Brandon. I didn’t know you were here. Are you guys meeting?”

  “No. I just came to ask her something. Since you’re he
re, maybe you have an idea, too. Where would you take someone if you wanted to show them the city?” He had never done a sightseeing date. Most of his dates consisted of dinners, fund-raisers, plays or concerts. The women he had dated all lived in LA and touring the city had never been high on his list of things to do. The women, either, for that matter.

  Justin leaned against the desk. “Sounds like it’s gotten to be more than ‘friendly.’”

  Siobhan smiled. “I know the perfect place—Santa Monica Pier.” She came and stood next to Justin.

  Justin nodded and slid his arm around Siobhan’s waist. He spoke to Brandon, but his gaze was on his wife. “You have to go in the evening. Black velvet night...millions of stars in the sky...” He nuzzled Siobhan’s neck.

  “Mmm,” Siobhan said.

  “A warm breeze,” Justin continued, then kissed her.

  Brandon frowned. “Can you two knock it off? In case you’ve forgotten, I’m still standing here. And that is too much information.”

  They both laughed. Siobhan said, “Bye, Brandon. Enjoy your date because I’m definitely going to enjoy mine.”

  Justin picked up Siobhan’s tote and straightened from the desk. “Trust me, Brandon. Go at night.”

  Brandon followed their departure. He had never seen his sister smile this much or be so relaxed. Until she met Justin, Siobhan had been holding on to a childhood trauma and had spent the next several years trying to make up for something that was never her fault. Brandon was glad she had finally let go of that pain.

  He went back to his office to finish up a report. As usual, he was the last to leave. He had initially dismissed Siobhan and Justin’s suggestion, but by the time he made it home and finished dinner, began to think it might be a good idea and called Faith to see if she would be interested in spending the day with him.

  “What time are you thinking?” Faith asked.

  Brandon remembered what Justin had mentioned about the evening being a better time. “Somewhere around four.” With it getting dark later, the time would give her time to see the pier in the daylight and catch the sunset, since she seemed to like that.

  “Can we make it five? I’ll be spending the first part of the day with my father.”

  “Sure. We’re doing casual so don’t worry about dressing up. And wear comfortable shoes.”

  “That was going to be my next question. Where are we going?”

  “Just doing a little sightseeing, nothing big. So, I’ll see you tomorrow at five.” They spoke a minute longer and he ended the call. Brandon smiled. He wanted to make sure that she never forgot her visit to the city...or him.

  Brandon spent Saturday morning tying up all the loose ends of their date. He’d been asking himself all day why he was going through all of this trouble for a casual relationship. He still hadn’t come up with an answer.

  He readily admitted to liking Faith, but when she opened the door to him that evening and the only thing on his mind was making love to her, he knew there had to be something else going on with him. Not wanting to dwell on it, he pushed aside the thoughts.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” He made sure their bodies didn’t touch when he kissed her because they wouldn’t make it out of her place otherwise.

  Faith smiled up at him. “Hi. I’m all ready.” She locked up and followed him out. On the way, she said, “This will be my first official sightseeing trip and I’m excited.”

  Brandon smiled, getting caught up in her excitement. As soon as the traffic on the highway slowed to a crawl, he glanced over and met her eyes.

  “I didn’t say anything.” Faith turned and stared out the window, but not before he saw her smile.

  “Are we going to the pier?” she asked when it came into view.

  “We are.” Not bothering to search for parking on the street, he drove into a nearby garage. They strolled along the pier and beach area for a while. Though early evening, the temperature still hovered near eighty degrees. After a while, she stopped and looked out at the water with an expression of contentment on her face. They reversed their course and came back to their starting point.

  “I haven’t done something like this in a long time, so thank you.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Are you ready to leave?”

  Faith whirled around. “Leave? We aren’t going to the amusement park?”

  “I hadn’t planned on it,” he said slowly.

  She rolled her eyes. “Brandon, we have to go. You can’t just come to the pier and not go. Doesn’t it look like fun?”

  Brandon glimpsed over his shoulder at the big Ferris wheel, roller coasters and the tower ride that dropped a person from a height he didn’t even want to think about. Fun? He thought not. He didn’t do amusement parks, rides and games...or at least he hadn’t since his teen years. His type of fun involved silken sheets and soft music.

  Faith grabbed him by the arm. “Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. We’re supposed to be sightseeing and there are lots of sights I want to see.”

  Usually, women didn’t have a problem with him calling the shots and never questioned where he took them on a date, but not Faith. She’d called him bossy, told him when she didn’t care for something he said and now nearly dragged him toward a place he didn’t want to go.

  * * *

  When they reached the ticket booth, Faith opened her purse and slid her credit card into the tray. “Two unlimited wrist bands.” Before the woman behind the glass could take it, Brandon snatched it.

  Brandon scowled down at her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Paying for the unlimited ride wrist band. What does it look like?” She reached for her card and he moved it out of her grasp. “Brandon.”

  The woman looked on with amusement.

  Faith frowned at him. “You’re holding up the line.”

  Brandon slipped her card into his pocket and withdrew his own. “Two wristbands.”

  The woman swiped his card, had him sign a receipt and handed him their wristbands. When he walked away, she said to Faith, “Honey, don’t be mad at him. I wish I had a man like that. He can take me anywhere,” she added with a chuckle.

  Faith realized that the woman had a point. Women would kill to have a man who didn’t mind footing the bill. She just didn’t want him to think she expected him to pay every time they went somewhere. “Can I have my card back now?” He handed it back without a word. “You really should have let me pay, especially since you hadn’t planned for us to come here. I don’t want you to think I can’t pay my way.”

  He didn’t reply immediately. Finally he peered down at her. “I never thought that, Faith. And I don’t want to argue.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “I promised you fun, so...” Brandon gestured her forward.

  Faith enjoyed herself tremendously. They rode the Ferris wheel twice and she talked him into getting on the oceanfront roller coaster that provided a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the bay. She stuffed her face with cotton candy, a funnel cake and a pretzel, and cradled the tiger Brandon had won in her arms. By the time they walked back to the car, the sun had started to set. “Can we go watch the sunset?”

  “Absolutely.” He withdrew a blanket from his trunk and they went and found a spot on the beach. He spread it out, sat and pulled her down onto his lap, then slid his arms around her.

  She leaned back against his chest and covered his hands with hers. This one was more spectacular than the one she saw at the restaurant. At length, she asked, “Are you angry about going to the park?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Just wondering. You didn’t seem like you were having a good time.” Faith angled her head his way. “Do women usually follow wherever you lead?”

  Brandon paused before answering. “Usually.”

  “Hmph. Figured a
s much.”

  He tightened his hold. “But I’m finding I like it when a woman takes the lead every now and again. And I did have fun.”

  They shared a smile and refocused their attention on the now darkening sky. The moon rose, fat and bright, and stars dotted the heavens. “It’s a beautiful night.”

  “Yes. But it doesn’t hold a candle to you,” he whispered against her ear. Brandon shifted her until she sat sideways and lowered his head.

  As always, Faith thought Brandon’s kisses were magnificent. His tongue swept into her mouth, hot and demanding. Brandon brought his hand up, cradled her cheek in his palm and continued to kiss her. He gently sucked on her tongue and she felt the pull all the way to her center. Faith tore her mouth away, breathing harshly.

  “Take me home, Brandon.”

  He searched her face. “Are you saying...?”

  She leaned up and kissed him softly. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “But, the other night you said—”

  She placed a finger against his lips. “You said you wouldn’t make me beg. You promised I wouldn’t have to wait.”

  Before the words were out of her mouth, Brandon surged to his feet with her in his arms and stood her on the sand. He reached down for the blanket, balled it up, grabbed her hand and strode purposefully across the beach and down the block to the parking garage.

  Faith studied Brandon as he drove. The tight set of his jaw and the way his hands gripped the steering wheel told her he was fighting for control.

  “I really need for there to be no traffic tonight,” he said.

  So did she. She would be leaving soon for good and wanted to know one time how it felt to be cherished by him. By the time they made it to her place, nervousness claimed her. She usually dated a man much longer before deciding to sleep with him. And, technically, she and Brandon weren’t even dating.

  Brandon gathered her in his arms. “Change your mind?”

  She shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “I want you to be sure, Faith.”

  “I’m very sure.”