As they parked outside the boarded-up house, Greg looked around the neighborhood and admitted to himself he wasn’t feeling as…secure…as he’d like to, although there wasn’t anyone outside walking around on the late afternoon day.
He’d, at first, felt conspicuous driving the Mercedes down the streets. He’d never had a reason to drive into North Stanton and seeing the obvious poverty, from the boarded-up, old houses scattered throughout the neighborhood, he felt more than conspicuous.
He felt strangely embarrassed at his obvious wealth.
“My mom left my father when I was less than a few months old and this was the first house that we lived in,” she said so quietly that he had to strain to hear her words.
Greg put his own embarrassment to the side to concentrate on what Liza was saying. “Where had your family been living before?” he asked.
“My mother says we lived in Kansas City. That she and dad were married and that he got angry when she told him that she was pregnant and he didn’t want her to continue the pregnancy.”
“So she left? Moved the two of you here to Stanton?” he turned in the seat and faced her, although she was staring out of the window at the old abandoned house.
“Yes. It wasn’t until I was fifteen years old that I overheard the truth,” she turned to face him with a twisted smile on her pretty face. “My Aunt Mary used to fly up for a visit every so often. She and Mom were talking and my aunt asked in this really disgusted voice, when my mom was going to stop lying to me about my father and tell me the truth. That it was wrong the way mama used my father as emotional abuse against me,” she said.
“How did she do that, baby?”
“Whenever she felt like it,” she laughed humorlessly. “Usually around the time that the rent was due and we were a few months behind and facing eviction.”
“What was the truth?”
“That my parents were never married and that my father never really cared about me one way or another,” she admitted and Greg’s heart clenched from the pain in her voice and eyes.
“Damn, Li…baby, I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t too hard to find out. I confronted my mother about it, when Aunt Mary left. She admitted it. She said she’d told him she might be pregnant and he told her he’d take care of the child, but he didn’t want her. They’d already broken up at the time, even though they would keep having sex, the relationship was over. Mama conveniently became pregnant.”
“She got pregnant on purpose, do you think?”
“Who knows? Probably. Doesn’t really matter though…it didn’t get her very far. He still didn’t want her. He didn’t want us.” She inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly.
“Have you ever met your father, Liza?”
“No. I never wanted to, not really. I thought about hiring a detective agency once, but…”
“Maybe one day, when you’re ready, sweetheart.” He reached across the seat and drew a finger down the soft skin of her cheek.
They stayed like that for a long time, with Liza staring out the tinted window of her car, looking at the old house. “Sure, maybe one day.” Liza turned back to face Greg with a smile. “Let’s go, the next address is 2701 Ellis Avenue.” After she gave him the address and directions, she leaned back in the leathered seat and closed her eyes.
* * * *
Greg cast worried eyes in her direction, wanting so badly to say to her that maybe it would be best if they just left. It was enough ghost chasing for one damn day.
He’d been worried the entire morning as he sat in his office, not really able to concentrate on his case, his thoughts solely on his woman and what she’d be feeling as she was going back to a place she had no desire to revisit. Not the physical building, but the memories associated with it. When Cooper called him to ask if he needed to follow him down to the center, relief had rushed over him. Greg wasn’t sure what her reaction would be when he went to pick her up, and he’d been concerned. Instead of following Cooper, he’d ridden with him, so that he and Liza could drive home together.
The moment he saw her face, he’d known that she’d figured out what he and Karina had done. The fact that she didn’t want to knock him on the head was something he was overwhelmingly glad about. She may be thin, but the woman had a killer right hook. He’d found that out the first time that he’d suggested a bit of spanking in their love play. Instead of asking her about it, he’d just popped her hard on the ass a couple of times, in the heat of the moment.
He learned after that to never, never, hit Liza and ask her who her daddy was. Never. He lightly massaged his jaw in remembrance.
“Right here, sweetheart. Turn at this corner,” she directed when he reached a four-way stop. As they drove along, people were milling about the streets, here and there. Some sat in lawn chairs on their porch, others on the steps, enjoying the last rays of sunshine.
They turned the corner and he drove down the street before stopping in front of a large housing area with the small wooden sign depicting it as the Rosewood Garden Complex. Children were playing and running in the streets and as Greg slowly drove along the narrow streets he glanced at Liza.
“Where do you want me to stop?” he asked.
“Go a little farther up this road and take a left at the yield sign. I think that will take us to the right apartment,” Liza directed him distractedly as she stared intently out of the window.
He did as she instructed and within moments, they were gliding to a stop before 2701 Ellis Avenue. He pulled to a smooth stop alongside the curb and cut the engine and turned to face her and waited.
“I was seven years old when we had to move here,” she started to say and had to clear her throat before she could continue. “Mom had just lost her job and we didn’t have much money,” she admitted. “It was either live here or be homeless. The projects beat the hell out of being in the cold.”
“Your mother was…is…a nurse, isn’t she?”
“Yes. But she has problems,” it was hard to admit, harder to talk about, but it was necessary. “She was an alcoholic. Couldn’t keep a job for long before she was fired or quit because she’d overslept and missed too many shifts.”
“That had to be hard. For both of you,” he said.
“For a long time I hated her. I didn’t understand what was wrong with her. I was so angry. Why couldn’t she just stop drinking? Why did she have to drink? I was only a child, and all I knew was that my mother wasn’t like the other mothers. She rarely came to any event at school for me, she never read me stories, she never did the things I saw the other mothers do. Nothing. And I hated her for that.”
“Is this where you met Karina and her family? They were like a family for you, weren’t they?”
Liza smiled as she remembered meeting Karina. “I met Karina my first day of school at Mary Magdalene. She was so funny! I was late in registering for kindergarten…or rather my mother was late, and missed the first few days when seats were assigned. There were a few desks left for me to choose from and the teacher allowed me to choose. I looked around and most of the kids turned their heads away, probably hoping I wouldn’t choose to sit next to them. But not Karina,” she laughed in memory.
“Karina raised her hand and waved it around until the teacher had to call on her! She asked in this really chirpy voice ‘Sr. Rita-Mary, could Liza please please please, with sugar on top and maybe a few sprinkles on it for good measure…and maybe a few chocolate chips…ummm…that sounded really good…could she please sit next to me.’ I think she lost track of what she was asking.”
“That’s funny. And sounds just like something Karina would do, even as a child,” Greg laughed with her. Karina had always had a sweet tooth and was notorious for getting lost in the moment when describing her favorite desert. Over the years Little Debbie cakes had been her old standby favorite.
“Yeah. Without Karina and her family, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“They were a second family for you.”
“At times they were my only family,” she said as she stared out the window at the housing development before she turned back to face Greg.
“Where next?” he asked.
Liza thought about which address to give next. She’d not had any solid plan when she set out on this tour. Something in her burst free when she went to the recreation center with Karina and sat in on the session with the young girls.
“How about 12709 Winchester?” She asked turning away from the window and toward her husband.
He started the ignition before the address dawned on him. “Home? You’re ready to go home now?” he asked and the concern on his face confirmed to her that it was time to go home.
She took a deep breath and answered. “Yes. I’m ready to go home, Greg.”
The drive home was silent, no doubt Greg was as lost in his thoughts as she was. As they pulled into the driveway, Greg turned to face her in the car.
“What you did took a lot of courage, baby. I’m so damn proud of you.” He caressed her cheek with one finger before unbuckling his seat belt and going around the front of her car and opening the door for her.
As they went inside the house, walking close to one another as they went up the stairs and toward their bedroom, Liza thought about it.
Yes, it had taken courage for her to do what she’d done. She felt no shame in admitting that. She’d done something that she’d had no intention of ever doing. By going down to her old neighborhood, she’d confronted her past in a way that allowed her to see it for what it was and not allow it to dictate who she was.
She’d never do that again.
She stood in front of her mirror in the bathroom and just stared at her refection after she’d taken off her slacks and pulled her sweater over her head, wearing nothing but a pair of miniscule panties and barely there bra. Greg walked up behind her, completely naked and drew the panties down her long legs before he wrapped his arms around her, his fingers automatically covering her lace-covered breasts to unclasp the front closure of her bra, as he toyed with her extended nipples.
He spread her legs and with one long, sure stroke, entered her from the back as they both groaned in delight at the feel of him so snugly in her warm sheath.
He then grabbed a hold of her hips to brace them both, pushed her legs closer together to add more pressure to the fire already burning, as he surged in and out of her in rough, sure strokes.
Liza tilted her head to the side when his mouth went to her neck giving him better access so that he could lave and bite the underside of her ear. He knew just how to touch her.
As he continued to pump into her, his hips moving like a piston, one hand played with the small nub of her clit as the other rolled and pinched her nipples until she cried out in stark agony from his sensual ministrations. It wasn’t long before the feel of his thick cock, buried so deep, had her crying out in orgasm, long and hard.
He didn’t allow her breathing to return to normal when, without a word, he withdrew from her sweet, wet pussy and carried her limp body to the large tub as he lovingly glanced down at his wife. She was so tired, so wrung out from the emotion of the day, that she simply laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
Greg sat on the side of the Jacuzzi, with Liza cradled in his lap as he turned on the faucet and allowed the Jacuzzi-style tub to fill. He brushed a soft strand away from her forehead and kissed her.
“I love you so much, Liza. I never want you to doubt that. It’s the only reason I want to know all about you. It’s the only reason that I pushed you to share yourself with me. All of you.”
She opened her eyes and stared at him with that melancholy look, the one that tugged at his heart when she mentioned being made fun of as a kid.
“I know that, Greg. It’s hard to talk about my childhood, that’s all. It’s not that I don’t love or trust you. I trust you more than anyone on this earth,” she lifted her body from his lap and took his face in her hands and kissed him softly, before she eased out of his arms.
When she stood up, he stepped into the Jacuzzi and motioned for her to take his hand and helped her climb inside.
Once inside, he leaned his body against the cool, black porcelain tub and positioned her back against his chest, wrapping both arms around her. Because of their height, he’d had the tub specially ordered so they could stretch out full length.
“I know you trust me, baby.” He kissed the top of her head before he reached inside the small basket she kept stocked with bathing essentials and picked up the bar of herbal soap and the small towel. As Greg sat behind her, he thought about what he wanted to say. What he could say to bridge the gap that their lack of communication had created. He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck in small biting caresses before he lathered the towel and ran it slowly over her beautiful, brown body.
Liza loved to bathe with Greg. It was one of the things she missed more than anything lately. It seemed he never had time to relax with her in the Jacuzzi anymore. He came home from the office so late most times, that she was either already in bed, or sound asleep. It felt good to lie against him in the dark room with no lights, save the small vanity lights, and let him wash her. She loved the way he’d lather the towel and smooth it over her bared skin, over every nook and cranny, never missing a spot.
Hmmm. She missed this.
As Liza sat nestled in the juncture of his thighs, she felt the prod of his thick cock against her bottom and she felt herself grow aroused. She allowed her head to drop, unable to prevent the groan from leaving her lips.
“That feels incredible, baby,” she whispered, her hands gripping his hard, taut thighs. She felt his chuckle more than heard it.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said and dipped the towel beneath the water and carefully washed her tender vagina. Although she was sore, she welcomed his gentle caresses and in no time, she felt hot and achy, wanting to feel him once again, deep inside her. When his hand left her, she felt bereft and an involuntary cry escaped her mouth.
“Sssh. It’s okay, baby. I’ll take care of you,” he promised and cupped her small breasts in both hands and slowly toyed with her erect nipples. He took the distended peaks between his fingers and lightly tugged them, and bent his head to lick the side of her neck.
As Greg lightly played with her, Liza felt a giddy sense of relief wash over her. All shame and embarrassment were relegated to a thing of the past.
It was as though a light bulb came on.
She had what Oprah called an ‘ah-ha’ moment! She almost laughed out loud with the sudden lighthearted feeling that washed over her as her husband abandoned her breasts, one hand caressed her belly and the other eased down her leg and buried itself deep into her vagina.
As one hand pressed into her belly, right above her pelvic bone, the other issued a soft stroke to her clit.
“Greg,” she hissed. She hadn’t recovered from their lovemaking and although she was excited and growing more aroused, she was too sore to go another round with him so soon.
“Sshh. This is for you baby, just lean back and enjoy,” he whispered in her ear.
Liza giggled when she felt his chest rumble as he laughed. They were going to be okay. She felt happier and more content than she had in years. She had a bit to go before she was operating at one hundred percent, ready to disclose to the world about her childhood, but she felt good. She understood that her past was nothing to be ashamed of. In her desire to not allow it to dictate her life as an adult, she had instead allowed it to make her feel less than. Less than perfect, less than a woman…just less.
Liza was tired of being ashamed of her past. She was tired of pretending and damn tired of feeling as though she wasn’t good enough. She would no longer allow feelings of shame to cloud her spirit. Karina once told her that she was tired of being afraid, that fear was totally useless and a waste of time.
Karina was right. As she turned around in her man’s arms, she could barely see his face in the dark of the room. But
she could make out his beautiful smile. And the true love reflected in his eyes couldn’t be denied.
She also saw the hesitancy and wanted to reassure him that she was done hiding from him. She placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down and kissed him with everything she felt for him pouring out into the kiss.
No more hiding for her, she decided. She wasn’t about to let go of a man who loved her as deeply as Greg loved her because of fear.
To hell with that.
She smiled and mumbled around their kiss, “Now…how about we talk about making a baby?”
Greg drew away from her to peer more closely into her eyes, shock clearly showing on his face, despite the dark of the room. “Oh my God, baby…are you serious?” he half-whispered.
Although he barely croaked out the question, Liza knew, without a doubt, how much he loved her. His love for her was real and complete. She didn’t have to be perfect, she didn’t have to hide her past or feel unnecessary shame over something that she had no control over, as a child.
“Yes, Greg. I’m very, very serious!” she laughed and felt tears spring to her eyes when he let out a loud whoop in response and grabbed her. He held her so tightly against his chest that she heard the loud, strong hammering of his heart as it beat heavily against his chest, pressed so tightly against her breasts.
Liza had every intention from this moment forth to give them the chance to learn and love one another to the full extent. To take a chance, and as she so fondly told Karina once, she had every intention of allowing them to broaden their horizons…together.
The End
About the Author
Kimberly offers her fresh take on multicultural romance with a unique, sexy blend of romance, love, and true eroticism. Kimberly lives with William, her husband of 11 years, along with their daughter. William is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, and commander of a medical battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Kimberly has a bachelors degree in social work, and a masters degree in human relations. She is also a life-long member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Please visit her at www.kimberlykayeterry.com She also has a blog where she mostly waxes poetic. Drop by at www.kimberlykayeterrys.blogspot.com.
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