She smiled through her tears. “I won’t break yours either,” she promised.
And although Tommy smiled and squeezed her hand, she’d never know that he was just as relieved to hear those words from her lips as she had been to hear them from his.
The door opened and Tommy and Grace entered a quiet, elegant home. Grace’s eyes immediately flew up, to the cathedral ceilings that sailed so high up that she had to lean back to see its highest peak. Then she looked back down and saw the elongated wall to wall windows, the beautifully lit fireplace, the majestic ocean view in the back of the home. Peace was the word when she walked through that door, and she immediately felt at peace.
Tommy began helping her out of her jacket. “I hope it’s not too warm in here for you.”
“Not at all,” she said. “It feels great.”
He placed her jacket on the coat rack near the door. Then he placed his hands on both sides of her upper arms.
“I’m so pleased to have you here, Grace,” he said and kissed her on her lips. Then he kissed her on her neck. “I’m so glad to have you,” he said, remembering the last time he had her and wanting to feel that powerful feeling again.
Grace wanted to feel it, too. There had been many nights when all she did was think about how Tommy felt. She’d never had that feeling before and she couldn’t wait to feel it again.
“We can eat now,” he said as he lifted her shirt and then her bra, and began sucking her breasts. “Or later,” he added as he squeezed and sucked and moved his hand underneath her dress to her panties. “It’s up to you.” But when he slipped his hand inside those panties, he knew neither one of them had a choice.
“Later,” Grace said when his hand began rubbing her clit. Then his fingers moved in, getting her creamy for his entry. All he could think about was fucking her. All he could think about was feeling that feeling again.
“Problem is,” he said as he moved her sideways, to the authentic Queen Anne table at the center of his vestibule, and he pulled her panties down and then off and then spread her wide. “I want to eat now.”
“You want food now?” she asked, although her brain, her heart, her pussy knew exactly what he meant. But she said it again. “Food?” she asked. “You want to eat food now?”
“I want to eat you now,” he said in a voice so husky she barely understood him. He wanted her with a ferocious need.
And he got her. His mouth covered her pussy and the cream came with every lick and suck and chew. He was eating her hard, and she had one leg up on the table, one leg hanging down, and her hand buried in his silky light hair as he mouth-fucked her harder than she’d ever had it before.
She unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick, and started jerking on it, as it was already hard, and already big, and already ready to finish what his mouth was starting.
Then he removed all of her clothes, knelt back down, and devoured her again. His mouth wouldn’t cease. His tongue soaked her with his love. They were a couple now. They’d both made that clear. And he was taking all of her. No more pretenses. No more holding back. No more fears. He was ready to show just how committed to her he was willing to be.
And when he sheath and entered her, right there on his Queen Anne, and she felt the pulsations of his dick to the roots of her hair, she began to buck with him. He loved the way she rode his dick. She was leaned over a table, one leg up and one leg down, and she had one hand around his neck bucking against his manhood as if she wanted him to giddy-up faster than any human could get.
But he kept getting up. He kept thrashing her with his sex until she felt an explosion of passion that caused her to suddenly find his pleasurable sex unbearable. She couldn’t take another hit.
But he kept hitting. And she squirmed and fault and cried out at the pleasure and the pain and the ripples of sensual elation that caused her pussy to vibrate. And she knew what her cum was doing to him, because his face changed. He was pleasuring her, and taking pleasure in her joy, but now it was his time. And he was pounding every ounce of release into her. He was pounding and making her scream again. Because his passion provoked hers even more. She didn’t think she could bear it, but she did. She held on as he continued to release and thrash and spill into her pussy with a drenching release.
Then his body convulsed, and he sputtered, and then he leaned into her for support.
He smiled when their foreheads met.
“Still good?” he asked her.
“Oh, yes,” she responded.
But he wasn’t done. There was no way this could be it for them.
He carried her upstairs, into his bedroom, laid her on his bed, and put his dick in her again. Only this time, he took it slow. She smiled as he moved into her with that steady rhythm she loved. She didn’t think she had any more sensuality to give. But she was wrong.
As he fucked her, and pulled her into his arms, she wrapped her arms around him in her tightest embrace. And Tommy smiled, and continued to fuck her. It was a calming lovemaking for him this time, and it continued for nearly twenty minutes more. His dick moved in and out of her pussy with that tight friction that made him quiver.
And she held on. It felt good to every inch of her body. And when he moved his mouth to her breasts, and began sucking and licking as he continued to fuck her, she jerked in an arch of joy.
And he continued to fuck her. The slouching sounds of their mating echoed throughout the massive room, and he couldn’t stop fucking her. He couldn’t get enough of her. Even as she came, and her body kept arching and jerking, he continued to ride that peak. He continued to tingle with feelings every time his dick rubbed her pussy. And then the levee broke, and he released into her with a powerful surge.
“Whoa!” he yelled as he poured into her. His manhood moved in and out of her pussy at a frantic pace, as if he was attempting to outrun the deluge. Then one more thrash, one more pounding into her, and it was done. He was empty. And she was full.
Grace woke up a few hours later still feeling the effects of Tommy’s lovemaking. She should have been sore, but she wasn’t. She should have been drained, but she felt rejuvenated. Her problem for her was that she wanted him inside of her again. Desperately. She could still feel the rub of his penis, and that was the rub for her. His special branding. That was why she smiled and reached across the pillow.
But he wasn’t there.
She looked over and realized she was alone in bed. His aromatic masculine scent was there where his body had laid, but he was gone.
She got out of bed and looked for her clothes. Remembering that they were probably in the living room where he had stripped them off of her, she went to his massive closet, grabbed one of the seemingly hundreds of dress shirts off of his rack, and put it on. It smelled just like Tommy, which thrilled her. Then she headed downstairs.
Tommy was in his gourmet kitchen, cracking eggs into a pan, when Grace walked in. She smiled when she saw him standing there.
“So domestic,” she said as she walked over to him.
Tommy turned. His eyes immediately roamed down her body. He loved seeing her in his shirt, which devoured her small body and dropped to her knees. He also loved the fact that she kept it unbuttoned at the top.
He kissed her on the lips. “I’m preparing our dinner,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked as she lifted up on tiptoes and looked at the eggs he was scrambling.
Tommy smiled. “These are what we call eggs,” he said.
Grace hit him on his bicep. He was wearing a sweat shirt and jeans, his hair rumpled and gorgeous. “I know that silly,” she said. “But what are you making?”
It was only then did Grace notice the vegetables sautéing in the Wok. “Smells good,” she said, and walked over to the center island stool and sat down.
“So you fancy yourself a chef, do you, Mr. Gabrini?”
“I’m Italian. Enough said.” Tommy said this as he took the pan of eggs and tossed them into the Wok with the vegetables.
&nb
sp; He glanced back at her. “What about you?” he asked. “You cook?”
“I love to cook,” she said.
Tommy was glad to hear that. “Are you any good?” he asked her.
“I couldn’t get a job as your chef at Diamante’s, no, but I’ve been known to throw down when I put my mind to it.”
Tommy laughed. He loved how sexy she looked sitting there, with his white shirt against her naked black body. And she could cook too? “Next time will be your time,” he warned.
She took his warning in stride. “That’s a bet,” she said.
“But I assure you,” he added as his cell phone began ringing, “you’ll have to get up awfully early in the morning to out cook me.”
“Excuse you,” Grace said with a laugh. “I don’t even know if you can bring it yet. I’ll have my verdict when I taste this meal of yours tonight, thank-you very much.”
“Fair enough,” Tommy said as he grabbed his cell phone and clicked it on. “Hello?” he asked.
When silence ensued, he automatically knew who it was. He almost told her that she needed to cut this shit out, but he knew that would only encourage her to double down. He knew ShoShawna Shanks too well. A sadness came over him as he killed the call. Grace saw that sadness when he tossed the phone back onto the countertop. He suddenly appeared a little less certain.
“Where’s that asparagus?” he asked himself, as he opened the door to this frig.
Grace assumed it had been one of Tommy’s “friends with benefits” calling, and she had a feeling that this could get messy. She hadn’t known Tommy that long and already she was hooked. How in the world, she wondered, were those women going to give up his brand of sex? At least not without a fight. Not with the kind of sex he put out. And maybe, she thought, that silent caller was one of those women. Which caused a kind of wariness to overtake Grace, too. She wanted Tommy. She wanted him as badly as those other women probably wanted him. But she had a grave feeling that she was going to have to fight unlike she’d ever fought before, if she planned to keep him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Grab your sweater, girl,” Nayla said as they prepared to leave Grace’s office.
“I’m good,” Grace said. “I have on sleeves. You know how hot I always am.”
“Oh, don’t I know it. The only thirty-year-old I know who have old lady hot flashes.”
Grace laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far,” she said as they walked out of her office. As soon as they did, and as Grace reached back in to close her office door, Nayla patted her on the arm.
“What?” she asked as she closed the door.
“There’s boyfriend,” Nayla said as she motioned across the corridor. Grace looked too. Standing near the private elevator was Jillian and Tommy. They appeared to be in a contentious conversation. Grace smiled. She always smiled whenever she saw Tommy.
But Nayla wasn’t feeling it. “And you actually believe that a hunk like that is going to be faithful to you?”
Grace’s heart tightened. She knew what Nayla meant. She and Tommy had been together for a couple weeks already and she had spent the night at his house at least half of that time. Just last night, when she slept over, four phone calls went straight to his answering machine and all four calls were from females. Asking him to phone them. Word had supposedly gotten out that he was off the market, but some of his “friends” apparently didn’t, or didn’t want to heed the word.
“I believe he’s faithful,” Grace replied as they both continued to look at him.
“I wouldn’t trust a player like that as far as I can throw him,” Nayla said honestly. “I’m sorry. He’s too good looking to be faithful. There are too many women out there who want a piece of that.”
She wasn’t saying anything Grace hadn’t already told herself. “Let’s just go,” Grace said and began heading in the opposite direction, to the public elevators at the front of the hall. Besides, he and Jillian were undoubtedly talking business and Grace didn’t want to bring her personal life anywhere near that office.
But Nayla didn’t get it. “You aren’t going to say hey to him?” she asked.
“He’s talking business,” she said. “I’ll call him later.”
Nayla was impressed with her confidence as they turned to leave.
But Jillian saw them just as they turned. “Grace!” she yelled out and Tommy looked too. Grace turned. Tommy’s heart swelled with warm emotion when he saw her.
“Come here!” Jillian ordered.
“What does that witch want?” Nayla asked. “You’re on your lunch break. She don’t pay you for lunch. You’re on your time now.”
“Come on,” Grace said, walking toward her boss, “we’ll catch the elevator over there.”
When they arrived, Jillian wasted no time. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked Grace.
“I’m going to lunch,” Grace replied, trying not to look at Tommy.
“Where’s my manifest? Didn’t I tell you to get that done?”
“Jillian, you just gave it to me an hour ago.”
“And? I expect you to do your job. All of this running around town when I gave you a job to do. What’s wrong with you? I’m getting tired of your foolishness, Grace.”
“What foolishness?”
“Just keep it up.”
“Keep what up?”
“Jillian,” Tommy interrupted, “let me see you in your office.” Tommy said this and began walking away without waiting for her response.
Jillian was irritated by his bossiness, but she didn’t delay. “You wait right here, young lady,” she ordered as she followed him.
“What was that about?” Nayla asked.
“Damn if I know,” Grace replied.
When Tommy and Jillian entered Jillian’s office, he closed the door. And he didn’t mix words.
“That lady out there, the one you just lit into, is my lady now.”
“Your lady?” Jillian asked, amazed. “Who, Nayla Santiago?”
“Grace.”
Jillian was surprised. “Grace?” she asked.
“You will not talk that way to her ever again, do you hear me, Jilly? She works for you, and I get that, but I’m not going to allow you or anybody else to disrespect her that way.”
But Jillian was still stuck on his original proclamation. “Are you telling me that Grace, that my Grace, is your woman?”
Tommy exhaled. “Yes, Jilly, that’s what I said.”
“So . . . let me get this straight. Not only do you control your forty shares in Trammel, but now that she’s your lady, and you’re her man, you’ll control Grace’s ten shares too? Well, darling, I guess that’s one way to take my company away from me.”
Tommy could not believe Jillian had gone there. She knew his net worth. She knew he had stake in more businesses than she could count, all of whom were larger and far more profitable than Trammel, yet she was insinuating that the only reason he was interested in Grace was because of her ten measly shares in Trammel?
“Kiss my ass,” he said to Jillian and walked out of the door.
Grace and Nayla saw him when he walked out and began heading their way. Nayla saw no discernible difference, but Grace did. She saw the anger in his eyes.
“You okay?” she asked him.
“I will be,” he said and then leaned over and gave her a peck on her lips. “Where’s your jacket? It’s cold out there.”
“I told her,” Nayla said.
“I’m okay,” Grace said.
“No, you’re not okay. Get your jacket.”
When Nayla told her to get her sweater, it sounded like nagging. When Tommy told her, it sounded so caring. “Okay,” she said, and Nayla looked sidelong at her.
“Take care of yourself,” Tommy said, gave her a peck again, and then looked at Nayla. “Don’t get her into any trouble,” he warned.
Nayla smiled. “Who me?” she asked innocently.
He looked, once again, at Grace. “I’ve got a meeting across tow
n, but I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” Grace said as he headed for the stairs.
Jillian came up behind them just as Nayla was about to question what was going on.
Jillian attempted to smile. “You ladies go on to lunch,” she said.
“What about the manifest?” Grace asked.
“When do you think you can have it ready for me?”
“I’ll need at least a full day to get it done.”
“Okay. And I apologize, dear, if I came across as too hard-charging. You know me. I meant nothing by it. Nothing at all. Okay?”
Grace was completely thrown. “Okay,” she said.
And then Jillian left.
Nayla looked at Grace. “What was that about?” she asked her. But it was the same question she had asked earlier, just a different weird circumstance.
“Who knows?” Grace decided to say, because she still had no clue, either.
Later that night, Tommy and Grace were reclining on the sofa in his den, with Tommy on one end of the sofa and Grace on the other end. Tommy had on reading glasses reviewing a lengthy written contract, and Grace was reviewing paperwork from her job. It was times like these that Grace was beginning to love the most.
But something was on her mind. She looked at Tommy. His entire focus appeared to be on the documents he read.
“Tommy?” she finally asked.
“Yes, babe?” he responded without looking up.
“What happened with Jillian today?”
Tommy flipped a page, read a line, and then turned back to the original page. “Why would you ask that?” he asked her.
“She apologized to me, you know that?”
Tommy looked up. “Did she?”
“Yes.”
Tommy nodded, returned his attention back to his contract. “That’s a good thing.”
Grace sat up, her body turned to him. “Why did she do it, is what I mean? Did you make her?”
“No.”
ROMANCING TOMMY GABRINI Page 13