“Denise, please, stop fighting.” Her mother took her hand and led her to the stage. “You know, sweetheart, it’s not you against the world.”
Denise pulled her hand away. “I’m ready.”
Her mother studied her for a few seconds. “We used to be alike, you and me.” She placed her hand against her daughter’s cheek.
Denise turned her head slightly. She read the pain in her mother’s eyes, but it was quickly hidden behind a bright smile.
“Looks like the Browns have just arrived.” Her mother reached out to touch her but then dropped her hand.
Twinges of guilt nettled her. Denise took a deep, steadying breath. The thought that they were alike wasn’t acceptable to her. She wished her father were here. His presence would be comforting and nonjudgmental.
Across the room, the event planner waved at her. Guess it was time to start this circus. Time to do her job.
An hour later, she’d wrapped up the portion of the event when they distributed awards, begged for more money and honored the accomplishments of the foundation. Denise was proud of her family’s legacy, despite her heated moments with Thea. Her brother, Nate, missed most of these moments, since he was the adventurer off on a safari in Africa. His playboy, devil-may-care attitude amused her. His many colorful stories made her envy his spirit and freedom.
She ordered a lemon drop, enjoying the sugar-crusted rim of her glass. The casino-style theme certainly helped their patrons to part with their wealth. She’d been in that frame of mind many times and had gotten into serious debt. Her sorors and her father had bailed her out. She didn’t want to see that hiccup as anything beyond a difficult moment in her life.
Cheers erupted at certain tables as people celebrated their winnings. The games of chance pulled her attention. Denise surrendered and walked over to the blackjack table.
The longer she stayed at the table, the more she wanted to play. The craving grew stronger, like an adrenaline rush. Her sorors hadn’t arrived. And if she had a boyfriend, well, he wasn’t there, either. She was standing in the middle of this noisy room having a one-person pity party.
“Hey, I want in.” She took a seat at the blackjack table. Her pulse sped. Her mouth watered. The sound of the chips being stacked, the dealer’s fingers pulling out cards and the players demanding to be hit were like tunes in an orchestra that was about to play a symphony.
And she played. Her stack increased and decreased, mostly decreasing as time passed. She rationalized that it was all for a good cause as she bought hundreds of dollars’ worth of chips.
“Denise, don’t you think you should take it easy?” Her mother stood behind her chair.
“I must learn that trick.” Denise pushed three stacks forward.
“What are you talking about?”
“Keeping the worry only in your eyes while the rest of your face looks like a mannequin.” Denise winced when the dealer pulled her stack toward him. “It’s all about charity.”
“Stop!” Her mother signaled to the dealer to cut her out of the next deal.
Denise shot out of the chair. “I am not a child, Mother.”
“I beg to differ. I’m not sure what’s gotten into you. It’s like you’re bent on hurting me.”
“Are you sure you want to start something?”
Her mother visibly backed down. She smoothed her clothes. As usual, Thea popped up, her teeth bared. “Why don’t you go home?”
Denise’s hand clenched into a fist.
“We’re here, soror.” Asia stood next to her. She slipped a hand around her waist. “Interested in blowing this joint and getting pancakes?”
Denise caught their hint, but didn’t feel like stuffing her face. “I’m not done yet.”
“Fine. Then we’ll all go with you.” Athena locked arms with her twin.
Her line sisters, except for Naomi, stood across from her. She could look at all of them but Sara. The condemnation played against her conscience. She felt as if she’d broken a promise.
“Waitress, I’ll have a ginger ale.” At least when it came to drinking, she could play the good girl. She turned to the roulette wheel. “I’ll be here for a little bit.”
Sara took the seat next to her. She leaned in until her breath tickled her ear. But there was no humor in the action. “You had better fight this demon. We didn’t pledge together and overcome all the odds for you to take the cowardly way out.”
Denise took the dice off the table and rolled them around in her hands. The small, harmless token had a crippling power that wormed its way into her soul and settled there. But all she had to do was put down the dice and back away from the table.
Thea had taken her mother away. They would probably talk about her and how terrible she was. She didn’t care what they had to say. The wall that she’d erected to block her emotions had gotten thick over time.
But her sorors stayed, not budging an inch.
“Denise!”
Denise turned toward the sound of the familiar, sexy voice. He looked completely out of place in his casual shirt and dark blue jeans. He stood with his fingers hooked in his pockets. He looked fantastic among the tuxedoes and designer suits.
Her sorors had the good sense to break their wall of solidarity and let her through. She took two slow steps toward him. Then he smiled and her restraint snapped.
Before cold reality could ruin her sudden giddiness, she was in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. He was more than a gorgeous man who had unexpectedly shown up. In this knee-deep muck that she had managed to step into, he was the solid pillar for her to hang on to.
“I think that I came at the right time.”
“You sure did.” She enjoyed his arms still being around her.
“I want to take you out of here.”
“You’d better.”
“My place?” Jaden asked.
“Do you have a king-size bed?”
“Wasn’t planning on using the bed.”
“Who said anything about using the bed? That’s for after I’m done with you.”
Chapter 5
Jaden made the journey to his house in one piece, a minor miracle. He could barely keep his hands off Denise. How could he have thought that he could walk away from her? And he’d tried.
He did have business to conduct, but it wasn’t as far away as he’d pretended so he had returned to town early. The euphoric feeling that overcame him whenever he was with Denise, or when he even thought about her, unsettled him. Never had a woman taken control of his mind and emotions. He worked hard to keep life calm and pleasantly predictable. He functioned better that way.
Her entry into his life had hit him like a cyclone, whipping everything into a frenzy. Giving in to his preoccupation, he had acquiesced and sought her at her family’s event. He had to battle with the staff at the door because of his casual attire, but he wasn’t going to be denied.
“Why so quiet?” Denise touched his leg, a dangerous move.
“Concentrating on not breaking any laws.”
“I feel like I’m in a time warp,” she teased.
“Look, you’re going to have to stop stroking my thigh. I can’t concentrate and it’s making me drive faster.”
“Good. I don’t want you to cool down.”
Jaden punched the accelerator. He knew the universe was on his side because the traffic lights stayed green as he made his way in record time to his house.
He pulled into the driveway in front of the house instead of parking his prize car in the garage. Tonight he couldn’t care less about protecting his sports car from the elements.
Like a caveman, he tossed Denise over his shoulder, pleased at her delighted squeals that pierced the quiet, sleeping neighborhood. He hurried into the house before the security detail could put in an ill-timed appearance.
“If you don’t put me down…” Denise giggled.
“Not till I get you inside.”
“Stop!” she said, la
ughing.
Without ceremony, he finally set her down abruptly.
“Please tell me that you didn’t bring me to the bathroom.” She stopped short at the shower. “I’m willing to try a lot of stuff, but not the floor of a bathroom.” She headed to the door.
“Still seeing me as a person with no class, huh?” Jaden removed his shirt then unbuckled his belt.
“I smell chlorine.” Denise walked toward a glass door. She pushed it open. “Oh, my. You’ve got a pool. You didn’t show me this before!”
“I wanted it to be a surprise for later on,” he explained.
Jaden pulled off his pants. Denise’s bemusement had him chuckling, but she would either join him in disrobing or he would toss her into the pool with her clothes on.
“But I can’t go out there.”
“You can’t swim?” He’d never thought of that.
“I can swim but what about my hair?”
“I hate to tell you but your do is half done.” Jaden walked over and gently pulled down her upswept hair. He wanted her. And a hairstyle wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“I’m too into you at this moment,” Denise said. “Otherwise, I’d beat you with my shoe for manhandling my hair.” She stepped up and kissed him like she owned him.
And he was all hers.
He allowed her to take the lead with her devilish tongue. She kissed him to a titillating peak. Her mouth was soft and full of sensuality. He responded to her ministrations with a hunger that carried the gnawing edges of greed.
“Am I forgiven?” he asked, after he pulled away from the suction of her mouth. “I’m going into the pool. Come join me.”
“You’re the first man I’ve known who wants to exercise before he gets busy.”
“Increases the stamina.”
“For you or for me?”
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” He stood in his briefs, enjoying her admiring gaze roving over his body.
He classified himself as a nerd, but he knew his body was in tip-top shape. He didn’t work out and watch his diet just to catch a woman’s eye—it was his way of life. He didn’t have to contract his muscles to know that he had washboard abs and lean, muscled hips.
“Are you going to shield your eyes?” he asked, with his finger in the waistband of his briefs.
Denise crossed her arms in a defiant pose. “Nope. You want to get all dramatic, then go ahead and strip under the bright lights.”
He slipped off his briefs and tossed them into a chair. “You’ve got exactly one minute to get into the pool, Miss Dixon. I’ll go do a warm-up lap.” He turned away and headed for the pool.
But not before Denise checked out his erection.
Denise wanted an award for best actress in a serious, heart-numbing role. Many reactions to Jaden’s naked body would have been appropriate. Her least favorite would have been take offense and leave the house. Not only was that not an option, she entertained an entirely opposite reaction.
Plain and simple, she wanted Jaden beyond a simple bump and grind. She wanted to make love with the intensity and tenacity of a student with a 4.0 grade point average. The thought of her fingers massaging his brown skin stirred her appetite.
She took off her jacket, pulled her blouse over her head then peeled off her pants. She was standing in her matching black lace bra-and-panties set and knee-highs, when Jaden reentered the dressing room.
He stood across from her with the water dripping and beading on his body. In her opinion, he wore the water well. Each trickle traced the indentation of a muscle that framed his gorgeous body.
“What’s taking you so long?” he asked, striding toward her.
She held out her hands, giggling. “I have to take off my knee-highs.”
“From where I’m standing, you need to take off a lot more than that.”
She hopped on one foot as she tried to get off a stubborn knee-high. Before she could accomplish the feat, Jaden scooped her up for the second time that evening. He pushed through the door and entered the pool area. She looked up, expecting to see stars, but was pleasantly surprised that the pool was enclosed. The walls of the pool room were beveled glass.
Her admiration came to an end when she realized that Jaden had stopped. Panic started when she looked down and saw that he was holding her over the water.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned, looking into his dark eyes. “I don’t want to be dropped.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as a warning to him. How ever, with her breasts crushed against his chest, she acknowledged her weaker state.
He nuzzled her mouth, playing with her lips. Soft kisses and slow darts of his tongue as it teased the insides of her lips stoked the fire raging in her.
The water lapping at her behind shocked her. Jaden had descended the steps into the pool with her. As far she was concerned, he had used distracting tactics to get her into the pool.
“Now you’ve gotten my underwear wet,” she teased.
He let go of her, allowing her to stand. Her body rubbed against his, getting used to buoyancy. He tilted her chin so that he could look down into her face. “I promise you that by the time I’m done, they will be dry.”
“Oh, really. I guess you’ll be tiptoeing in between to the dryer.” She was glad that she was in the water. Her body could stay cool despite the flush of excitement, the high anticipation, of what she and Jaden could bring to the surface.
“Allow me.” He unsnapped her bra in the front and placed it with care, as if it were a precious gem on the side of the pool.
Now that her breasts were free of the thin barricade, she could feel the water bathing her heated skin and sensitive nipples.
“One second. I’ll be right back.” Jaden took a deep breath and slipped below the water’s surface.
Denise looked down into the water wondering what he was up to. Once he had placed his hands on her hips, she realized that he intended to disrobe her without oxygen. She tried to help but he brushed her hands away.
She held on to the pool’s edge for support. His hands slid down her panties and pushed it down her legs, over her knees to the bottom of the pool. She stepped out of the thin material.
Jaden shot up out of the pool. He sucked in air, breathing normally after a short time. “Be right back.”
He disappeared again under the water. Despite his teasing, she had no intention of getting her hair wet and was about to tell him so when he disappeared.
The water’s surface distorted the image, but she quite clearly recognized his hand between her legs. He trailed a line from her ankle up to her knee. She bared her teeth in faintly animallike behavior, glad that he couldn’t see what she had been reduced to. And then his progress was halted by the roadblock between her legs.
His fingers stroked her, making introductions that didn’t require speech. His lips against her body made her arch her back. Her fingers squeezed the unyielding pool’s edge. Then his finger entered her, sealing any further introduction. She gritted her teeth and bared down to enjoy more of his finger-talk.
When he came up for air, she kissed him, refusing to let him go. With his finger still deep inside, he kissed her with a savage force that matched her desire. She wrapped her legs around his waist. “I want you so bad.”
“I want you, too.” He let her go and then pulled himself into the middle of the pool. “Let’s swim.”
“You’re cruel.”
“Maybe.” He swam effortlessly toward one end of the pool.
Okay, so his foreplay was a little different. She could learn to hang. She pushed off from the edge of the pool and swam toward him and then beyond. She would swim two laps and then demand that he fulfill her needs, or else.
When she was finished, she stepped out of the pool. Enough with the foreplay. “Now you have exactly one minute or I’m coming with or without you.”
Jaden didn’t need any further incentive. He exited the pool seconds after she did. Walking on the wet tiles made his progress much slower, but he
had inspiration.
When Denise emerged from the pool like Venus rising, he thanked her parents for their contribution. She was beyond fine. Her natural beauty was in her lean frame that surrendered to voluptuous hips.
By the time he entered the dressing room, she had stepped into the shower. He smelled shampoo and smiled. He washed off the chlorine in the next shower stall.
“I think we’re too clean now to get all dirty again,” he said, drying off with a thick bath towel.
“You’re the one who wanted a dip in the pool.” Denise threw her towel at him. “Let me go hunt for a more practical place.”
Jaden followed her, enjoying the sway of her hips as she headed up the stairs. She paused at the top, looking both ways.
“It’s to the right,” he directed.
“What’s to the left?”
“Another master suite. It’s never been used.”
“Never?”
He saw that he had piqued her interest. “Guess I saved it for a special occasion.”
“And there’s nothing more special than this?” She turned to face him, a mischievous glint twinkling in her eye.
He kissed her, propelling her down the hallway into the room. The softness of her body tempted him and he didn’t mind succumbing. His hand slid up the back of her head as his fingers intertwined with the silky length of her hair.
“Baby, do you have a condom?”
“I’ll be back in the blink of an eye.” Jaden hurried back down to the dressing room where he kept his protection.
“Back in no time.” He kissed her neck. “Did you miss me?”
Denise lay on her back on top of the sheets. “Thought I’d start without you.” Her hand circled one nipple.
Jaden shook his head. “Nope, I’m not sharing, not even with you.” He pulled her legs toward him, bringing her close to him. He kissed her breasts, nuzzling them with his face. Her nipples he saved for last, teasing them with the tip of his tongue. Denise arched up to him, sucking air through her teeth.
Her writhing excited him. His hands stroked her body, lingering over the fullness of her buttocks. Touching her drove him wild. After sheathing his sex and cupping her behind, he entered her hard. She gasped and then moaned.
Gamble on Love Page 8