Judged By You (Judge Me Series)

by Patricia Voois

  Carter’s office was surprisingly roomy. The walls were painted shades of grey and the furnishings were made of light woods and natural colours. Art hung on the walls of several different views of Seattle, some drawn and some painted. There was a kitchenette to the left and a set of grey couches to the right with a coffee table in between them. In the middle was a large oak table. It defiantly looked like a lawyers table, apart from the top…. It was spotless. Rob always had towers of documents and files sitting on his desk, it was often difficult to have a conversation with him. I had to bob and duck to see his face, I remember visiting his office once, and it was a shock to walk in and notice his office desk was spotless, it must have shown on my face because I then informed me that his wife had cleaned it trying to look for his wallet. Carter’s desk was neatly arranged, and the only file that was on his desk was Stephen’s…….. I noticed his name on the tag when I stepped closer. A small cup holding pens were next to his name; CARTER GRAHAM sat in large letters on the wooden piece.

  “Tea or coffee.” He asked waving towards the kitchenette.

  “No, thank you. I just had something at the cafe across the road.” I stated, still being able to taste the rich flavour of the coffee still on my lips when I licked them.

  “Ah….. That cafe had the best coffee.” He stated with a smile.

  I agreed. Carter sat in the large, black leather chair and gestured for me to sit on the opposite side of the desk at the same time. Carter stated by telling me what he knew and what he was told by Rob. But he wanted to hear what I had to say and my version of the events leading up to the arrest and when Stephen was sentenced. I told him everything. About them coming to our house, busting down the door, and dragging my brother out by his arms and legs…… how I had to get every lock in the changed because I had people continuously breaking in and we got raided a lot. I told him that Stephen had started doing strange things after our parents died, but that was expected Well, so I thought. Carter asked me how I handled everything, he looked concerned, but I told him that I pulled through. I mentioned that I have seen Stephen every Sunday for the past 4 years and haven’t missed on. Even if, I was sick and thought I was going to die, I still went. Stephen had no one else…. Well apart from Derek. I told him all about our childhood friend Derek who was like a brother and was just as heart broken when Stephen went away. I felt my eyes burning and realised that I was crying. I wiped them as soon as I could…….

  “Here.” Carter handed me a box of tissues.

  “Thank you…..I ……I’m sorry.” I stuttered. Taking the box and grabbing some tissues I wiped my eyes.

  “No need to apologise it must be hard.” Carter said in an apologetic voice.

  “I just want him home.” I lifted my head to see his face. I could hear my dad’s voice telling me it was rude to look away from someone trying to help.

  “And we will get him home.” Carter leaned forward at his desk with all seriousness. And I wanted to believe him. Life has dealt a few curve balls, and I just wanted someone who was just as dedicated as I was.

  We finished our conversation and carter asked if he could meet with Stephen at the prison on Sunday. I agreed and told him I would meet him there, but he insisted that he would pick me up from home and he could take me. I thought this was certainly a polite gesture, Rob had never offered anything like that, nor did he visit Stephen I jail. But Rob had “people” on the inside that gave him all the information he needed he told me. So I figured he knew more than I did.

  “Just let me lock up, and I will walk you to your car.” Carter said turning to switch off the lights and computers along the way to the elevator.

  While carter did that I pulled my phone out, and called Damon.

  “Hello beautiful.” Damon picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello.” I said biting my lip. God his voice was sexy.

  “I was just thinking about you…….im just leaving my office. Have you finished?” He purred into the phone.

  “Yes, I’m just leaving now, where do you want to meet?” I asked.

  “Can you meet me at my apartment building? Drop your car off and we will go in my car.”

  “Sure, I will be about fifteen minutes.” I said turning around to see carter approaching me standing by the lift.

  I hung up as carter came up next to me. I pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive. Carter turned the last set of lights off, the place was in darkness. When Carter placed his hand at the small of my back. I felt that this was a gracious gesture, and it made me feel like I could trust him… was that awkward? Before my thoughts could run away from me, the doors to the elevator opened, and light appeared, Carter waved his hand forward as I stepped into the cart. He followed and pressed the floor button. I was very much looking forward to seeing Damon this evening. I had missed him, I did think about him a lot, I think sometimes out of confusion as to what we were actually doing.

  The doors opened on the elevator, and we headed towards the front door. The sun was not far off setting, it was almost six forty five in the evening, and the pink, reds and yellows showed in the sky. I headed towards my baby sitting outside the doors and unlocked the door.

  “I will see you at nine on Sunday Savannah.” Carter said extending his hand.

  “Yes you will. thank you.” I said shaking his extended hand. He gave me that Colgate smile again and started walking towards the underground garage doors.

  I got in the car and headed straight to Damon’s apartment building, leaving all my other thoughts were. I turned into the apartment underground car park and noticed Damon standing next to his car. He pointed to the space next to where he was standing; he was as sexy as I remember. I parked perfectly, and turned off the ignition; I grabbed my bag and got out of the car, making sure to lock the door. I doubted anyone would steal my car, every other car parked here was worth a lot more than mine…. Money wise anyway. It was the sentimental value of my car that mattered more. I walked two steps to where Damon was standing up against his car. He stepped to the side and opened the passenger door for me.

  “Thank you, sir.” I said playfully. I rounded the door and felt my hand being pulled before I had the chance to sit. I turned, and Damon’s lips met mine. I could feel his tongue licking my lips; I opened my mouth and granted him access. His tongue laced with mine…… was it getting hot in here? His hands came up to cup my face, and I dropped my bag on the ground, and my first instinct with empty hands was to grasp his shirt in my fits, which I did. God knows how long that kiss lasted, but it was what I needed. Damon pulled away to break the seal of our lips, and I opened my eyes to meet his beautiful eyes.

  “Hi.” He murmured rubbing his lips along mine, slowly.

  “Hi.” I stumbled out of breath.

  Damon stroked my cheek tenderly, than gave me another quick kiss on the lips. This man drove me crazy. I felt a little flush after that kiss. He stepped away from me and smiled. I picked up my bag off the ground and got into the car with him closing the door behind me. I took the few seconds it took him to walk around the car to gather my wits because I was sure they were shattered. I looked over at Damon once he got in the car, and he still had a smile on his face. He looked over at me as he turned the ignition on; he brushed his knuckles down my cheek and mouthed “beautiful” at me. I felt my cheeks heat again. He just chuckled.

  I had no idea where we were going, I didn’t ask. I asked Damon how his days had been, and he told me that he had been pretty busy lately, but things were coming to a slow, not a stop but a slow. He skipped over how he had been working on some “ambitious projects” lately, and that was taking up a lot of time.

  “How are those lectures going?” He asked, placing his hand on my thigh.

  “They are……well…..” I couldn’t remember the last one I listened too. Maybe because I didn’t listen at all.

  “Doesn’t sound real convincing.” Damon had said with a frown.

  “No? Maybe because I’m losing interest……
..I don’t know.” I shifted my body a little. I was a little uncomfortable talking about this. But I needed to speak to someone.

  Before I could say anything else, we pulled up at a marina. The water looked gorgeous with the sun setting over the horizon. Damon opened my door and set out his hand. I put my hand in his, and I noticed he had a basket in his other hand. I couldn’t help but laugh when I also realised a blue and white stripped blanket tucked into the top of it.

  “Are we going on a picnic?” I asked with a smile and a little curiosity.

  “Do you want to go on a picnic Savannah?” Damon asked with a raised brow.

  “Of course.” I couldn’t keep my excitement. I hadn’t been on a picnic since I was in primary school.

  Damon just smiled, and I threaded my arm through his and we walked. I had no idea where he was leading me; I looked out at all the boats mooring in the marina. Some were small others were bigger than my house, but they all had dollar signs all over them. I hated fishing, but I loved the ocean. Didn’t swim in it often though, I hated the idea of an aquatic creature ripping my limbs from my body and lately that’s all that we hear about in the news, with the change in water temperature and all. We walked all the way to the end of a pier. It was in between all the massive boats, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the name in bold letters down the side of one; it read “OUTTA FUEL”.

  Once at the end of the pier, I laid the blanket out and Damon put the basket on it. Damon sat first with his legs over the edge, I cautiously had a look first to make sure something wasn’t going to jump up and bite my extremities off. It looked pretty safe, so I sat down. Damon caught on to what I was doing, and he was laughing to himself. I slapped him playfully with a chuckle of my own. I put my hands behind me, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. With the aroma of the salt in the air, I felt relaxed; I hadn’t felt this carefree in ages. I needed it.

  I felt something hard and cold stroking across my lips. I opened my eyes, my mouth, than bit it. Strawberries…….. Yum! Before I could ask for another one, I already had one waiting at my mouth. I moved, so I was semi facing Damon, I grabbed the sixth strawberry out of his hand I put it near his mouth. He pursed his lips tight with a smile and tried to grab the fruit out of my hand, he caught my free wrist and I knew I wasn’t going to win the fight, so I put the strawberry into my mouth and smiled before laughing. He had the sexiest smile, and most honest eyes. I reached around and lifted the lid on the basket, but before I could see what else was in the basket of goodies the lid slammed closed. I looked up and saw Damon shaking his head and mouthing “No” at me playfully. Damon reached out and grabbed my hand and threaded our fingers together. Couldn’t help but look at how our hands looked together, and this made me feel? I felt secure………

  We sat for hours eating Chinese that Damon brought from my favourite Chinese shop, which was a total coincidence as it’s his favourite place also. I told him about my fear of swimming in the ocean, which he thought was funny of course. And how I hated fishing, I made a point of saying how you just sit there and watch and wait…. And watch….. And wait……and……. Damon just laughed and told me I’m looking at it all wrong. I just agreed to disagree. Damon told me more about his family and his upbringing, and I realised just how large his family was, he had eight aunties and eight uncles. Wow. Imagine that Christmas list.

  “So…… what’s with you losing interest with college?”

  “I’m just not sure what I want right now, it’s just unfortunate timing and all.” I hoped that was enough for him.

  “When is the timing ever right?” He cocked his head to one side when he asked me this. Hmmm……..

  “I believe there is always a right and wrong time; I mean…… the time will be right when everything else is right in my life. And right now, everything is so up in the air and I have no idea which way is up or down at the moment. I want to be able to focus on my study and know that I will succeed and not fail because I’m too caught up in other things.” I relaxed when I said this because it felt good to say them out in the open, and it was a step opening up to Damon like this.

  “What has you so caught up at the moment? Is it your brother?” Damon straightened, and I could tell he wanted to know more about my brother and the reasoning’s behind him.

  “Yes that among other things. I have a lot going on…. not all bad, some good…..” I trailed off smiling into those beautiful eyes. Damon gave me a wicked grin in return and leaned in and gave me a slow, gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth.

  I moved my head slightly, so our lips were touching, I couldn’t help but run my tongue along his bottom lip. In return, his lips parted, and our kiss deepened. The way he kissed me was intense, eager and fierce. I wrapped my arms around his neck for support and to keep him close. Our tongues continued their assault for minutes…… when he pulled away, I was panting. His eyes grew darker, and my want for him grew even darker. I unwrapped one of my hands from his neck and trailed it down to his chest, then down the middle of his stomach, the taut muscle became tighter. He groaned and leaned his forehead against mine. We never took our eyes off each other. The descending continued until I came to the stiff ridge in his pants, I grabbed it and rubbed my fingers over it until one of his hands grasped mine. He shook his head and grinned.

  “Not here.” He whispered.

  Before I could protest he rose and helped me to my feet, he quickly began to pack up our picnic, grabbing my hand once he was done we headed towards the car. I could feel my legs wanting to run, but Damon just casually walked at a slow pace, I noticed he was holding the basket in front of him, and it made me chuckle. I knew what he was hiding, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, amongst other things.

  As we came to the parking lot Damon let my hand go to unlock the car, he opened the car door for me. Before I slid into the seat, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to face him.

  “Stay with me tonight?” He said in a seductive tone. I shuddered as his breath tickled my ear and nodded, not thinking about anything else. Tonight… I was his.

  The trip to his apartment seemed to take ages, maybe it was the quiet. We hadn’t said a word to each other since leaving the marina, but our fingers were entwined on his lap. That was my move once we got in the car, mind you I did try and relive the moment that we left off at the picnic site, and I eagerly slid my hand along his crotch, but he stopped that idea. I felt like an idiot, but he cushioned the blow by taking my hand in his, and our fingers ended up laced together. When I glanced over at him, he looked deep in thought, like something was bothering him as a frown appeared on his handsome face. But it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

  We pulled up next to my classic and Damon was quick to open my door like a true gentleman. I was a little disappointed when the car stopped to begin because our hands disconnected. Why was I becoming so sappy? I wasn’t the clingy type or the hold hands, and kissing all the time type, but I wanted to be with him. It left me feeling odd. I pushed those niggling feelings and thoughts aside, got out the car and followed Damon to the lift.

  He waved his hand forwards the open door once it arrived and ushered me inside. Another young couple followed and stood laughing and giggling in front of us. They were holding hands and kissing and whispering to each other, obviously in love. The young girl looked at him with such grace and love, and he returned the same look, he stroked her face with his finger and kissed her sweetly. I couldn’t help but blush for staring at them, when I looked across at Damon he was eyeing me with a soft smile of his own. If only I knew what he was thinking because he still seemed to have something on his mind? The doors opened at the couple’s floor, and the man tugged her out and spun her into his arms kissing her when their bodies connected. The doors closed and the carriage starting moving again in the direction of Damon’s apartment.

  I rubbed my hands up my arms and felt gross. I seriously needed a shower to wash the salt off my body from the sea spray. The doors opened, and we arrived at the apartme
nt, it was just like I remembered, for a bachelor pad it was clean. I often wondered who cleaned it as I was always under the assumption that men messy and never cleaned. Maybe he had a cleaner? Between Nicole and I and our never ending list of guests, our house always seemed to be messy and took us forever to clean. I tend to shy away from Nicole’s room as she has that many clothes that the room is normally covered in them, Mmmmm I wonder where we will stick the crib. Shacking those thoughts I placed my bag on the counter in the kitchen. Damon got two glasses out of the cupboard, a bottle of wine out of the fridge and placed them on the counter.

  “Do you want to have a shower?” Damon asked, dragging me out of my thoughts.

  “Yes, please, I feel….. Salty.” I said rubbing my hands over my slightly sticky skin.

  “This way.” Damon gestured towards the bedroom. And I followed right beside him, vaguely remembering were that was since I had been here last time.

  Damon stopped at the dresser and grabbed out a shirt and silk boxers. He handed them to me, grabbed my free hand and walked me into the ensuite. I placed my items on the vanity and moved my hands to the bottom of my shirt. But before I could do anything I was shifted my Damon, he moved me, so I had my back to the vanity and lifted me onto it. The tiles felt cold on my the backs of my knees and I opened my mouth to protest he cold but his mouth claimed mine before I had the chance to. God this man knew how to kiss, it made me needy and left me wanting more of him. The way his tongue stroked mine with his own made me knees weak and my mind shatter. I felt warm in all the right places.

  I felt my way to his shirt and unbuttoned it, forcibly shoving it off his shoulders once it was undone. Our mouths parted and he removed my shirt throwing on the ground with his. I got brave and moved my hands behind my back and unclasped my bra hooks and slowly removed it never taking my eyes off his. His eyes were full of enthusiasm, he bit his bottom lip and shook his head with a smug smile. Leaning in he whispered “you’re so beautiful.”