“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Alicia said with a sigh. “What about you, Jazz? What made you decide to marry Troy? You always said he was irritating and made you sick. And I quote, ‘Troy Singleton is a wanna-be player with absolutely zero game.’ And—”
“Yeah, well, clearly it was a case of protesting too much.” Jazz had to cut Alicia off. There was no need for Troy to hear every negative thing she ever said about him, especially when he’d been so nice and his kiss had been so intoxicating and his game was so-oo not a zero. It was more like one plus seven zeroes for sure…
“Well, what made you realize that you wanted to marry him so quickly?”
“I…ummm… Well, you know what…” Jazz all of a sudden wasn’t so irritated at Troy resorting to R&B to answer the Whitmans’ probing questions. They were some nosy-ass-put-you-on-the-spot-people for sure. Jazz had to resort to R&B herself to get Alicia off her back.
Jazz sighed. “I was just at the point in my life where I was just tired of playing games. I thought…it’s time to settle down. Maybe buy a house or something like that… Have some kids. Live life, you know? Maybe even change my last name… I’ve been a superwoman for so long… That I was just ready to become his wife… Plus, I figured I’m not going anywhere and he’s not going anywhere and love has taken over, so we might as well make it official…” She felt Troy squeeze her shoulder tightly so she figured she was going too far. She reined it back in.
“Anyway, girl, we need to go ahead and let some other folks get in here to see you. I’ll be back and you know I’ll be over as soon as you’re released to spend time with Ashley, Kyle and DJ.”
She and Troy left the hospital after saying goodbye to everyone. And as soon as they exited the door, Troy frowned at her.
“Lil’ Mo’s ‘4 Ever,’ really? Is that the best you could do? You’re lucky they didn’t pick up on your little remix.” He shook his head in mock disgust.
“Oh, really? I know you’re not talking because Raheem DeVaughn called and he said he’d like the lyrics to ‘My Wife’ back.”
They both started laughing when they realized that they’d each resorted to the thing they used to do to insult each other to offer their highly questionable answers to Alicia and Darren’s questions.
“Maybe Alicia was right,” Troy mused.
“Oh, goodness, we only said that to appease her so she wouldn’t cancel their offer to let us be adorable little Ashley’s godparents.” Jazz rolled her eyes. “Please don’t let this become a habit and start saying this all the time now. Right about what?”
“Maybe we are perfect for one another after all….”
She swallowed. She had no idea what to say to that.
Chapter 5
Foreplay…
Jazz continued to mull over the words Troy had spoken as they left the hospital. She also thought about the kiss they’d shared on their wedding day and the one they had shared ten years earlier. The one that had probably started it all… She wondered if Troy really meant all the little innuendos he’d been spouting these past couple of weeks.
When she thought about how his lips felt, so firm, so soft, so amazing, and when she thought about how steadfast he’d been since she ran into him in the Barbados airport, she honestly didn’t think she would have been able to cope with the loss of her mother without him. Forget the will, the marriage clause and their marriage of convenience.
She was beginning to count on him, and she was even opening up to him.
That was a big problem.
“So, I believe we have some sleeping arrangements to work out.”
Startled, Jazz jumped. She sucked her teeth and broke into her patois. “Wa de France, yuh creepin’ up pun me like you dun loss you mind. Yuh try tuh give me a heart attack?”
He laughed. “Wooo, I love it when you go all Bajan on me. Did you visit there a lot when you were younger?”
“No. This is all Carlyne Stewart’s doing. She didn’t have a thick accent, but when she got mad, man, watch out, yuh here. She’d cuss yuh real real bad, nuh.” Jazz started laughing. It was the first time since burying her mother that she could remember her and not have her chest feel like it was about to cave in.
Troy put his arms around her. “You miss her a lot, don’t you?” He wrapped her up so close to him she could smell his deep and spicy sandalwood cologne.
The smell made her think of strength and shelter from any kind of storm, real or imagined. It made her lean into him and inhale. His pectorals and abs felt muscular and sturdy beneath his shirt as she nodded her head in response to his question.
“I still can’t believe she’s really gone. I don’t have anyone now.”
His hold tightened. “That’s not true, Jasmine. You have Alicia, Darren, the kids—our beautiful new goddaughter…and…me. You have me, Jasmine.”
He bent down and brushed his lips across her forehead. Her insides turned to jelly. She moved her head from his chest and gazed up at him.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that he’d gone from the guy she couldn’t stand to the guy she couldn’t get enough of in such a short period of time. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t sure how he was going to react when he found out about her job. It didn’t even matter that he had somehow broken through her shield of protection and was working his way into her heart.
The only thing that mattered was at that moment she wasn’t afraid of what she was feeling for him. She wanted to embrace it.
He bent his head down and captured her lips with his. The charge from the initial contact brought her up on her toes searching for more. She opened her mouth and let her tongue circle its way into his mouth. She nipped and nibbled, sipped and suckled, and she couldn’t get enough. She reached up and placed her arms around his shoulders, his big, buff shoulders.
She knew this was going to happen.
From the first time he’d kissed her all those years ago, she’d known they were barreling headfirst into this uncharted and dangerous territory. But damn if she wasn’t tired of running from it.
She pulled her lips away and immediately missed Troy’s tantalizing kisses.
“What are we doing, Hubby? We’re not supposed to be doing this.”
“Says who? We’re two consenting adults and you’re my wife.”
“Yes…there’s that…” She licked her lips, savoring the taste of him.
“Can you honestly say that you’ve never thought about how it would be between us?” He nipped her bottom lip and sent a thrilling electric charge through her stomach that made her thighs quiver.
She wanted Troy Singleton. She wanted him bad.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder where all of this pent-up passion was coming from. How did he sneak past her defenses?
“Tell the truth, Jasmine. Our first kiss and the kiss on our wedding day last week were amazing. I know you felt it then. I know you feel it now.” He kissed her again as if trying to prove his point.
His lips started out smooth and silky, with brushes of tenderness that felt almost feather-soft. Each touch of his succulent mouth on hers sent tiny charges through her, willing her to open for him.
As soon as she did, his tongue seized the moment and circled hers with almost dizzying speed and focused determination. It went under and over and under and over, flicking the roof of her mouth with each trip and creating an almost kinetic energy in its wake. His hands cupped her behind and he squeezed, pulling her closer to him, close enough for her to feel his desire for her.
Each time he kissed her it seemed to build on the first time. Each time he kissed her she could no longer hide the fact that something vital had changed between them at first kiss and there never was any going back. She had fooled herself into thinking she could run from it.
Good morning, heartache… The only man who could spark any kind of emotion in her, any level of caring, had pulled her card. When he left her, she would be devastated. But she intended to make some great memories before that happened.
Sh
e pressed herself closer to him, wanting to merge with him in every way possible. Taking a deep breath, she glanced up at him.
“After the kiss on our wedding day, we said we wouldn’t muddy the waters, that we wouldn’t push this. Hubster, this could very well change everything.” She couldn’t help the sexy, playful, flirty smile that crossed her lips, and damned if she could prevent the “come hither” in her gaze. She couldn’t turn off her desire for Troy if she wanted to, and she didn’t want to.
She wanted to do so many other things…
His eyes became even more hooded and he nibbled her lips again. “Sometimes change is good. I want you, Jasmine. Bad. I think we can have all the benefits of our marriage and still remain friends if you decide you want to end this in two years.”
She laughed, and the throaty, sexy laugh she usually saved for when she was trying to slay a brother with her sexiness came out.
She really couldn’t turn it off. The sex kitten refused to be caged.
“But we aren’t friends, Hubby. We’re frenemies,” she corrected. “And what do you mean if I decide to end this in two years? That’s what we agreed on, right?”
“Yes. That’s what we agreed on.” He kissed her again, and all of her questions faded to the background.
His kiss deepened and she decided to just let go. She could think about all of the drawbacks to muddying the water and worry about how Troy might react when he found out about her new job later.
Right now, she wanted to feel him. She wanted to experience what she had been denying herself ever since he’d kissed her senseless ten years ago.
She reached her hands up and pulled open his shirt. Buttons went flying everywhere, but she couldn’t focus on them. All she could focus on was the fact that the stupid undershirt was in her way and she couldn’t touch his skin.
She wanted skin to skin.
He took a step back, pulled off the ruined shirt and took off his undershirt. “If you don’t want me to ruin that pretty little blouse the way you ruined my shirt, I suggest you start stripping. Now.”
She laughed again, and she slowly and seductively undressed. “Sorry about the shirt. I don’t know what came over me. Must be all your sexiness driving me crazy.”
“I’ve been known to do that…” He took off his pants and her eyes roamed from his firm calves to his muscular thighs and stopped at his black boxer briefs to admire the very full package he sported. It was standing at attention and ready to go.
She made quick work of the rest of her clothing, stopping at her black lace boy shorts and matching camisole. She eyed his boxer briefs again and then did a quick spin.
“Beautiful,” Troy said as he pulled her, midspin, into his arms. He lifted her up, planted her on his reclining “man chair” and spread her legs so that they each cradled an arm as he kneeled in front of her. He slid off her boy shorts and kissed his way from her toes to her upper thigh.
She took a sharp intake of breath when his kisses centered on the most intimate kiss of all and his tongue and lips explored her slick wet folds with a focused intensity aimed at making her explode.
She threw her head back when—after what seemed like a lifetime of his fierce tongue action and her squirming, squealing, sliding and squeezing—the most intense orgasm ripped through her and caused her to scream his name at the top of her lungs.
He continued to lick and suck until another smaller aftershock of an orgasm made her shake and sigh. She was so busy basking in the afterglow that she barely noticed when the recliner went back and he covered her body with his and entered her in one smooth sure motion.
The overwhelming sense of being filled to overflowing caused her to open her eyes. His mouth swooped down and covered hers, sharing her taste with her.
His tongue probed her mouth as deftly as his sex probed hers. Her hips lifted and she moved her legs from the armrests, placing them around his back in an effort to feel even more of him. The chair rocked back and forth along with them, creating a soothing lull that seemed to go against the powerful passion of their thrusts.
“My. God. Jasmine. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to feel you like this.”
She let her tongue trail his chest and enjoyed the salty taste of him.
“It’s only been a little over a week since we’ve been married, Hubby. I’m sure you’ve waited longer…”
He nipped her nipple through the black lace of her camisole. “Next time all of this has to go.” His thrusts picked up an even stronger pace and soon, in addition to rocking, the chair was squeaking and thumping.
“You feel so damn good. I knew you’d feel this good the first time I laid eyes on your picture.”
Something inside of her chest thawed and she struggled to maintain her protective shield. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him hard as she met his thrusts with her own.
“You don’t have to run game. Game recognize game, player.” She chuckled nervously as she realized she was running the biggest game of them all, trying to convince him and herself that she hadn’t felt something for him from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him as well.
“This is not a game, Jasmine. This as real as it gets and as real as it’s ever been. Can you handle it?”
An orgasm ripped through her and she found herself calling out his name. Not “Stud” or “Hubby” or any variation of the two, but “Troy,” long and loud and at the top of her lungs.
He didn’t let her coming inconvenience him in the slightest as he kept thrusting away and staring at her as if she were indeed the most beautiful woman in the world.
It was hard to compose herself and create any semblance of swagger after such an intense orgasm. But her name wouldn’t have been Jazz Stewart if she hadn’t tried.
“I can handle anything you bring my way, Hubbalino.” Her voice was more of a breathless pant than the strong, sexy, confident tone she was aiming for. “Can you handle it?” She tilted her hips and squeezed her thighs around him, pulling him closer and deeper into her.
His eyes narrowed in challenge and his thrusts became even more purposeful. Every nerve ending in her body became ultra-aware and overly stimulated. She pulsed with a desire that threatened to consume her. And she knew that if she went up in flames, she was taking him right along with her. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes right back at him as their bodies swayed in a sexual dance-off where the winner would not only take all, they would also give their all.
“I can take anything you’re willing to give me, Jasmine. Anything.”
That admission sent her spiraling over the top once again. Her body began to shake and her thighs quivered and she clenched them around him even tighter.
“You can have anything you want, Troy.” She kissed him passionately. “Anything…”
He let out a howling sound that came from deep in his gut and threw his head back when she broke away from the kiss. She felt his body shake and then go completely still.
He kissed her one last time before getting up, swooping her into his arms and heading for the bedroom.
Troy opened his eyes and tried to get his bearings. Jasmine had her head on his chest and he had his arms wrapped around her. He was holding her closer than close. In fact, it was safe to say that he—Mr. Never-Let-Them-Stay-the-Night—was cuddling.
They had made love twice more after their first time in the living room, and he could feel himself reacting to her soft skin and plush curves. His erection sprang to life at the thought of being inside of her again.
She must have felt it because she lifted her head up from his chest and stared at him incredulously. “I need food if I’m going to keep up with your insatiable sex appetite.”
He kissed her and let his fingers explore her moist slick folds. “I promise to feed you as soon as we’re done.” He lifted her leg to his shoulder and entered her warmth.
Either he was tripping or Jasmine had him under some kind of a spell, because the few times he’d been with her increasingly topped one a
nother and each felt like the best sex he’d ever had.
He placed her other leg on his shoulder and rocked slowly in and out of her, letting the friction build and build with each move.
“Maybe it’s a good thing for us to get this out of our systems now. The novelty will wear off and then we can get back to the way things were.” She panted out her words and she lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.
Before he’d actually made love to her, he might have been foolish enough to believe that. He had even thought that sex between them might help take off the edge of him wanting her so much since kissing her on their wedding day. But if anything, having her only made him want her more and want more from her than she was probably ready to give.
Like the fact that even though they were technically married and would have probably been trying to have a family and not using condoms because of that, he hadn’t used any protection yet. And he didn’t want to. He was having these weird desires to see her belly rounded with his seed.
He bent and took her delicious nipple into his mouth. The beautiful, plump, toasted-cinnamon breast with the dark-toffee areola and milk-chocolate nipple tasted sweeter than any candy concoction ever could.
“Ahhh!” She threw her head back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding his head in place as he suckled and she rode out her orgasm.
He could feel her sex tightening around his, milking him with ferocious want and need. He clenched his teeth, determined to endure the tantalizing massage that tempted him to the edge of his own explosion.
But it felt too good and he was only human. He found himself screaming out her name as soon as her shaking body went limp with satisfaction. He shook with his own release seconds later. He moved her legs and rolled over on his back carrying her with him and keeping the connection.
She rested on top of him for several minutes. The only sound in the room was their heavy, satiated breathing. He let his hands slide down her back and cup her voluptuous behind.
At First Kiss Page 6