by D. F. Jones
Anna reached out and placed the palm of her hand on the curve of his face. A shock of his blond hair fell forward, and she twisted her fingers in his silky, soft hair. She murmured, “Oh, I’ve missed you.”
Jerry trailed his fingers down her cheek and across her bottom lip. He leaned in and pulled and tugged on her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth. An intense sensation hit her hard. She pulsed and throbbed with need from his kiss.
She whispered, “I love you.” His eyes darkened, and his lids were hooded and heavy with desire. The chemistry between the two of them rose higher and flowed like a raging river.
Anna pulled him to her mouth, and years of pent up passion exploded. She kissed him savagely, drawing him to her, cupping his face with her hands. Her tongue licked the edges of his lips, and she began nibbling his lower lip and gliding softly over the top before delving her tongue into his warm mouth. Tasting and twisting, balancing between playful and passionate. One of Jerry’s hands kneaded her bum while the other worked its way up her torso.
“Sweet heaven, that’s what you are to me. Sweet heaven.” He kissed her again and again.
The anticipation of having him inside her made her squirm under his touch, and she pleaded, “I need you to touch me.”
* * *
Jerry laid her down on the bed, and the love he had for Anna hit him square in his chest. Anna pulled her T-shirt gown over her head and threw it on the floor. She was perfect to him in every way. The streaks of sunlight cast a honey glow on her sweet, fragrant hair. The curve of her beautiful face and soft peachy skin as she lay on the bed was a vision to behold. Jerry marveled at her beauty from her firm breasts to her flat stomach right down to the thatch of soft, blonde curls of her sex. He adored her.
With a hoarse voice, he said, “You’re as pretty as a picture lying there with your dreamy eyes staring up at me. God, Anna, my damn heart feels like it’s going to jump right out of my chest.” He held her delicate hand, reached down, and licked and sucked the sensitive flesh between her fingers.
Anna closed her eyes and released a breathy moan. “Oh, God, Jerry, what are you doing to me?” She opened her eyes and wet her lips.
Jerry glanced up and smiled. “I just want to give you pleasure, my sweet Anna.”
Her smile lines around her brilliant blue eyes creased with laughter, and her pouty pink lips parted. She said, “I’ve dreamed of you here, just like this, with me.” Anna pinched his arm.
“Ouch, I’m here, I promise.” He chuckled and rubbed his arm. Jerry leaned down and kissed her slowly and deeply, and he circled his arms around her. He ran one hand down her back to cup her butt cheek. He was having a hard time breathing. It had been six long years since he had seen her lovely body. It had been six long years since he had made love to her. He laughed out loud.
Anna’s face leaned in less than an inch from his. “What’s so funny?”
Jerry brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “I’m laughing because I feel like a kid staring at the front counter candy, and you’re the candy.”
Anna brushed her soft lips across his. “I know what you mean. I can’t keep my hands off of you. I want to kiss you, to hold you, to touch you and to feel you inside me.” She kissed him softly on each cheek, and he closed his eyes to the wonderful sensations of her touch on his skin. She kissed each eyelid and the tip of his nose before pushing her tongue inside his mouth.
Jerry quickly flipped her onto her back and propped himself on his side. Then he bent down and latched onto one of her nipples, sucking and pulling until she released a throaty sigh. His hand ran gently along the curve of her calf and caressed the soft skin at the back of her knees. Anna’s fingers traced from his shoulder blade down his back with her nails digging into his skin.
Jerry moved from one breast to the other, pressing kisses south to her navel. He ran his fingers across the plane of her flat abdominals, downward over her short soft curls, and over into her glistening sex. Anna quivered and jerked when he stuck his tongue in her belly button. He murmured against her skin, “Ticklish?”
“Very ticklish.”
Jerry glanced up into her sweet, lovely face and saw the raw, sexual hunger in her eyes. “Oh, honey, I need you, and I need you now.”
Jerry swiftly shifted and began trailing kisses up her inner thighs. He loved the feeling of his lips next to her soft, slippery folds. Anna opened for him like the petals of a morning flower basking in the sun. The silky taste of her made him moan in pleasure as she arched and lifted her hips against him. He gently pressed deeper and teasingly pulled away. He began French kissing her until her body responded with total satisfaction, reflected in the color of her heated skin that flushed pink. Instead of releasing her, he lingered there, loving her for a moment longer until her love slowly ebbed.
“Ahh—oh, Jerry, I need you now. Please…” She begged and gripped his biceps.
Jerry rose above her and placed his hands palm down on either side of her. Anna relaxed her legs, and he slid between them. “Anna, oh, you’re so ready, aren’t you, love?”
Anna moaned and arched again. “Yes, for crying out loud, Jerry. Quit tormenting me. I need you, damn it.”
Jerry nearly lost it from the first touch of her warm silken skin wrapped around him like a tight, hot glove. The scent of her sweet arousal coiled and fisted in his lower spine. Jerry’s blood pounded through his veins, and he throbbed inside her as he tried to make the moment last.
Anna was so hot that his body shook and trembled with desire for her. He strained with an urgent need to release to the point of sweet pain. He was crazy with the want of her as he slowly stroked her and she released her little, throaty sighs. His heart nearly burst with love as he screamed out her name. The love he felt for her was why poets wrote love poems. Jerry’s last thought before he melted into oblivion: Anna.
* * *
Anna and Jerry strolled past the pool through the lush gardens of Cary’s estate. They held hands, rocking them back and forth, as they walked up the steps of the back porch to the double doors. Anna pressed the doorbell and turned to smile at Jerry. She had been humming an old Doris Day tune her mom used to sing to her when she was a little girl. She caught the smell of the ocean breeze and let out a deep sigh. Everything about this moment was perfect.
Jerry leaned over to her and whispered, “You’ve been living in paradise.”
Anna butt-bumped him. “Nope, I just started living in paradise today.”
* * *
Ruby called, and Anna’s phone went straight to her answering machine. She sniffled and brushed the tears away from her face. “Anna, it’s Ruby. Please call me. Rachel’s in Pensacola. I’ve had a dream. Rachel’s in your house with a gun. Please, please call me as soon as you get this message. Be careful.”
Reed wrapped his arms around Ruby. Her head fell against his shoulder, and she cried. He said, “There, there, baby, please don’t cry, princess. It’s tearing me apart, and you’ve done all you can do. Think about the baby. You’re still in your first trimester. Please, honey.”
Ruby tried to steady her breathing and looked up into his eyes. “I’m so tired, Reed, so very tired of these dreams. I don’t know if they’re a curse or a blessing.”
* * *
Rachel parked down the street at the public beach and walked to Anna’s house. She had watched Jerry and Anna have sex through the bedroom window like a Peeping Tom, but Rachel had no shame. She had no pride left. Hate was the only thing left inside her. Rachel slipped into Anna’s house through the sliding glass doors next to the swimming pool when Jerry and Anna left for the big house next door.
The telephone rang, and the answering machine picked up the call. Rachel listened to Ruby’s message. Then she pressed the delete button. She went through Anna’s rooms, picking up things at random and smashing them to the floor. Rachel picked up a photo of Anna, Jerry, Ruby, Reed, and Sandy. It must have been their graduation from MTSU. They were in their caps and gowns. Rachel opened the f
rame, lifted the photo, and ripped it into tiny pieces.
Rachel stepped into the master bedroom, and the scent of sex made bile rise in her throat. She fled from the room, ran into the guest bathroom and threw up. Rachel turned on the cold water, cupped her hands under the faucet and pressed her face down into the water, anger and hatred boiling inside her, festering and rotting her soul.
Anna’s front doorbell rang, and Rachel ignored it. She stepped into the kitchen and rifled through Anna’s fridge. There was a knock on the sliding doors and Rachel lifted her head. Jesus, what a hunk. A good-looking man stared back at her and smiled.
Rachel opened the door. “Yes?”
Jack took a step back and said, “Hi, I’m looking for Anna.”
Rachel laughed bitterly, and she said, “Aren’t we all? Who are you?”
Jack shoved his left hand into his pant pocket and shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m Jack. I work with Anna at the hospital. I was just checking to see if she was back from Tennessee.” Jack wore a pair of off-white linen trousers and a black, short-sleeved silk shirt untucked. She looked him over from his head to his sandals. Another time, another place, and she’d be jumping his bones.
Rachel opened the door wider and waved him inside. “Come in. We’ll wait together.” Rachel noticed a full pot of coffee and cups on the kitchen counter. She turned to Jack and said, “Want a cup of coffee?” Jack smiled, and his Hollywood good looks blinded her.
Jack walked into the kitchen behind Rachel to the coffee pot. “Sure, sounds great. Black is good. How do you know Anna?”
Rachel handed him a cup and motioned for him to sit down at the kitchen table. “Ah, well, we met through mutual friends in Tennessee.” Not a lie really. She reached inside her navy blue blazer, and her fingers caressed the pistol she’d just bought. Rachel joined Jack at the table, placed her hands around her coffee cup, and peered through the sliding glass doors across the pool to the main house where Jerry and Anna had just walked inside.
* * *
Maria, Cary’s housekeeper, opened the door with a huge grin. “Ms. Anna. You’re back. How are you?” Maria glanced over at Jerry and smiled, and he offered Maria his dimple-revealing grin.
“Maria, this is my fiancé, Jerry. Maria is the best cook in the panhandle.” Maria beamed with pride at Anna’s compliment. Anna said, “Is Cary home? I need to speak with him.”
Maria waved them inside. “Yes, yes, Mr. Cary is home. He’s in the shower. Come into the kitchen. I’m making some chilaquiles with fried eggs.”
Anna and Jerry followed Maria through the foyer to the wide-open living space with incredible views of the ocean from floor-to-ceiling windows. The interior walls were painted a golden beige with white trim. A brown leather sectional couch sat on the white shag carpet in front of a marble fireplace large enough to roast a pig. Large brown wicker ceiling fans rotated slowly over their heads.
Jerry whistled. “Geez Louise, this is how the other half lives.”
Anna said, “I told you, Better Homes and Gardens.”
Anna and Jerry sat at the kitchen bar, and Maria pushed two plates of food in front of them. Anna was starving.
Maria poured two glasses of orange juice and placed them on the bar. “Ms. Anna doesn’t cook very well. She likes my cooking.” She smiled at Anna.
Anna reached over the bar counter and kissed Maria on the cheek. “Your dad-blamed right, Ms. Anna doesn’t cook, period. Why would I want to cook when I can eat Cary’s leftovers?” She chuckled. And I have a guardian angel who cooks like a chef.
Maria waved her hands. “Eat. Eat. It’s not good cold.”
Jerry took a bite and moaned in delight. “Maria, it’s fantastic. Maybe you could give Anna some lessons.” Anna elbowed him in the ribs, and he grunted. Jerry rustled the hair on top of Anna’s head, and Maria laughed out loud. She went back to weave her magic at the stove.
Anna and Jerry had been together less than twenty-four hours, and it felt like it used to between them. It was as if the past six years had never happened. Happiness bubbled out of Anna like the water fountain on Cary’s front lawn.
Cary stepped inside the kitchen and looked surprised. “Anna, you’re back. Who’s your friend?”
Anna began to tell Cary the condensed version of her and Jerry’s love life from college to the flight out of Nashville last night.
Maria held her hands over her heart and patted it several times. “Aye yai yai. A true love story. ’Tis wonderful, no?”
Anna reached over again and squeezed Maria’s hand. “Yes, it’s a wonderful love story and my happily ever after.” Anna turned to Cary and asked, “Cary, I was wondering if you would allow us to marry on your front lawn. I’m going to make a few calls to some wedding planners and see how fast we can pull this thing off.”
Cary gave her a big smile and leaned his forehead against hers. “I’ll take care of everything. My wedding gift to you and Jerry. I’ll call my golf buddy, Judge McGuire, who can officiate. He owes me a favor and some money.” He winked at Jerry and turned to Maria. “Maria, do you think you could handle a cake?”
With arms folded across her chest, Maria said, “Humph, I can do better than that. I’ll make dinner and cake. My brother plays in a band, too. Do you want me to call him to play music for your wedding, Ms. Anna? My gift to you.”
Anna leaped out of her chair and threw her arms around Maria’s shoulders. “Oh, you’re the best. Thank you. Thank you.” She turned to Cary and said, “Would you give me away?”
Tears filled Cary’s eyes, and he said, “I would love to.”
Anna caught Jerry’s hand and said, “Isn’t it wonderful?”
Jerry put his arm around her waist and pulled her up to him, kissing her. “It is. Cary, Maria, thanks so much for helping us out on such short notice.”
Cary smiled. “No thanks needed. I’ve never seen Anna this happy. Be good to her. She is a very sweet girl with a big heart.”
Jerry playfully slapped Cary on the back. “No worries there, Cary. I intend to spend the rest of my life making her happy.”
Cary pointed to the ocean and said, “You two are welcome to stay here as long as you like, but you might want to look out the window. There’s a bad storm rolling in fast. It’s getting dark out there.”
Anna looked out at the ocean. A tropical storm was churning up the water. “Hey, Maria, flip on the TV and let’s see if a hurricane is coming.” Maria flipped to the local weather station. The storm brewing outside wasn’t in the forecast. Anna said, “Jerry, we’d better fly, or we’re going to get drenched.” Anna quickly kissed Cary and Maria and then they ran out of the house and down the steps.
Anna and Jerry raced across the lawn, and the ground beneath their feet shook. Anna lost her balance and fell. “God, I think that was an earthquake or somebody just dropped a bomb.”
Jerry helped Anna to her feet. The wind blew over the palm trees nearly to the breaking point, and the patio furniture tumbled into the lawn. He chuckled and shouted over the wind, “I take it back. This isn’t paradise. Hurry, those clouds look like a tornado might spin out. Jesus, I had an encrypted message about this storm the night before last. This isn’t a good sign.”
Anna held onto Jerry’s shoulder and shouted, “What? Tell me about your message when we get inside.”
Anna stepped into the kitchen through the sliding glass doors, and Jerry grabbed her ass, making her squeal with delight. Anna’s mouth dropped open. She stopped in her tracks, completely paralyzed with shock because Rachel stood inside her kitchen drinking coffee. Jerry tried to shove Anna behind him, but Anna wouldn’t move. Anna yelled at Rachel, “What the hell are you doing in my house?” Anna noticed Jack sitting at the table. What is he doing here?
Jack stood and stammered, “I—I was just checking to see if you made it home all right. I have great news. The hospital has made you a good offer to stay.” Jack leaned over to kiss Anna, and Jerry shoved Jack in the middle of his chest. Jack stumbled backwar
d against the kitchen cabinets.
Jerry shouted, “Keep your damn hands off her.”
Jack flushed with anger and balled his hands into fists, preparing to fight Jerry. “Who the hell are you?”
Rachel started laughing hysterically and clapped her hands. “Oh, this is just too good. I mean, this is too much.” She walked over to stand between the men. “Please allow me to make the introductions.” Rachel pointed to Jerry and said, “This is my fiancé, or ex-fiancé, as of, oh, what, sixteen hours ago. See, Jerry ran off with Anna last night, and I am just guessing here, that she’s your piece of ass.” Rachel threw her head back and laughed again.
Jerry’s face flushed red with anger. “Get the hell out of here, Rachel, or I’m calling the cops.”
Anna looked to each of them as if stuck in some bad B movie that kept rolling in slow motion. Ralph materialized beside her, and the hair on her arms rose. He said, “Rachel has a gun. Demons consume her, and they’re eating her soul from the inside out.”
Rachel reached into her blazer pocket, pulled out a pistol, and aimed it directly between Anna’s eyes. Anna stared straight into Rachel’s eyes without moving. Rachel said, “Jerry, you know how I love to pull a trigger. Step away from her and I won’t kill you. But if you don’t, it’s no sweat off my ass to put a bullet in both of your brains.”
Jack gasped, stepped back, and threw his hands up. “Rachel, put that gun down.”
Rachel never took her eyes off Anna. “Jack, I told this son of a bitch last night that if I can’t have him, then she can’t, either. I won’t be going to prison because as soon as I put a bullet in her head, I intend to put one in mine.”
Jerry dropped to his knees and tears rolled down his cheeks. “Rachel, please, don’t do this or kill me instead.”
Rachel laughed like a madwoman. “Oh, for Chrissakes, Jerry, get off your damn knees. I can kill you, too, if that’s what you really want, but this whore gets it first.”