by Vonnie Davis
“Baby, I’m sorry. I want you for myself. Exclusively. When I thought you were naked under that robe, I saw green. Hell, the top of my head nearly blew off, I was so jealous.”
“Don’t you think you should know me better than that? Yes, I was teasing you, but not at the cost of my personal dignity—or yours.” She unlocked her door, got in, started the little car and spun out.
Well, I certainly botched up that idea. Still, he didn’t have to be so caveman about the whole deal.
She’d just stepped into her condo when the first text dinged. We need to talk. Oh, he was not getting anywhere with orders like that.
Is that an order, Mr. Caveman?
Call me.
I didn’t see the magic word. She snorted and hit send.
She changed into a nightgown and brushed her hair and teeth before crawling into bed.
His next tweet was PLEASE!!!!!!
She swiped his number. “I’m really not in the mood to talk. As you so kindly pointed out, I made a fool of myself tonight, when I was only trying to cheer you. It was an error in judgment. One I won’t ever make again. Now, you macho, arrogant caveman, I’d like to lick my wounds and go to sleep.” She ended the call.
Her phone dinged an incoming text. I was thinking of a conversation. U know. U talk. I talk. Then U talk. What U gave me was a damn monologue.
She called him back. “What would you like to say? I put on extra perfume for your enjoyment, and you never got close enough to smell it. I wore no underwear and you never touched me to find that out.”
“Baby, may I please have a chance to say something? I’m sorry I over-reacted. What’s worse, I hurt your feelings.” Her tears started. “Sweetness, I love you. I cherish you. Don’t cry.”
“I’m tired. Today was the first day I’ve driven. I know I’m making a bigger issue than I need to. I just need sleep. Mom’s taxi comes early to take her to the airport. Good night.”
Quite a few tears were shed before she drifted off to sleep. After a few hours, her alarm went off. She made fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and rye toast for her mother. “Think I could talk you and dad into moving here after you retire?”
“We might buy a condo in this town to rent during the summer when it gets really hot, but live in it ourselves during the winter to escape the snow and ice. Ellis likes it down here. We’d see you more often, which would be grand.”
Graci-Ella got a text and was almost afraid to look at it. No doubt, Boyd was up and ready to start his texting marathon. Thank goodness, this was the taxi service announcing its arrival at the condo gate. She gave him the security code and the number of her condo. “Your ride is here, mom. Let me help you with your luggage.”
“Nonsense! That’s what I’m tipping the driver for.” A flurry of hugs, kisses and good-byes, and her mother was gone. Graci-Ella felt lonely, yet relieved. Today was a good day for sulking.
Someone knocked at her door. Had her mother forgotten something? She unlocked and opened it to stare into Boyd’s grey eyes and a t-shirt stretched tightly across muscles.
“Is your shift over? Why are you here? To bitch at me some more for doing something I thought you’d enjoy?”
Boyd sauntered in, cupped her cheek with one hand and her ass with his other. He pulled her against him. “I will not have this distance between us.” His lips covered hers, and she didn’t think she could stand up for the onslaught his mouth gave hers. “I wasn’t angry with you. The timing yes, because I needed you so badly and when I saw you like that I didn’t think I could take my next breath. I wanted to take you on the floor, up against the wall, over the dining room table, on the kitchen counter, but we had an audience. And I won’t have anyone else looking at you.”
“Well, you could have fooled me.”
“Yeah, I can act like an ass pretty quickly. Not with Matt. And I’d hoped not with you, but this sexual desire I have for you that’s slowly driving me insane is playing havoc with my moods.” The backs of his fingers ran down her cheek. “Because you’re flawless and I adore every bit of your perfection.”
“No one’s perfect.”
“Ask a man in love who desires a woman more than his next cup of coffee or his next breath of air or to hear his next heartbeat.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “There is this astute mind of yours for starters.” Kisses feathered on her eyes. “Then, you have these beautiful azure eyes that see things others miss. Eyes that take my breath away.”
Her mouth drifted open and a nervous tongue moistened her lips just before he kissed her.
“I think you already know what I think of your lips. The gracefulness of your neck and the delicious way it smells draws me like a magnet.” By turns, he gently bit, soothed with his tongue and kissed her neck. “A man could feast here forever, but then he’d miss the rest of the delights your body presents.” As he talked and seduced, he asked which way her bedroom was and she silently pointed.
His voice kept up its sexual purr as he continued with the compliments until he had her backed against the bed. He reached back with one hand and yanked off his t-shirt and toed off his boots. She pulled off her nightgown and lay on the bed. Waiting. Watching.
He tugged three rubbers from his front pocket, laid them on the nightstand and then unbuttoned his jeans. He shucked his boxers, leaving him completely naked.
Her gaze feasted on his cock, which was a turn on in itself. “There’s nothing tiny about you, is there?”
A blush heated her skin as he took a long, slow gaze over her body. “My Sweetness.” Her bed dipped as he crawled in, lying half over her. His fingertips lightly skimmed her face, neck and breasts. Her nipples peaked in response. “God, I love your large breasts.” He lowered his head and circled her points with his tongue while his hand applied gentle pressure in a caress to her breast. “A freakin’ work of art.”
He drew her nipple into his mouth and sucked while her back bowed toward him. She gasped and scratched his back. “Oh my God. Don’t you dare stop!”
Eyes gazed at what he obviously wanted to devour when he raised his head to look at her. “Stop? Oh, baby, I don’t intend to stop for years. You better believe I’m just getting started.” His palms slowly stroked the skin of her thighs to the shaved lips of her labia as if they were the last thing he wanted to touch in his lifetime. “Pure silk. Sweet satin. Sensual skin a man dreams of.”
He reached for a condom and tore open the foil. “A warning. This first time will be fast. I’ve got it for you so freaking bad, I won’t have much control.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it won’t be. I want you to come first.” His lips were like warm, breathy caresses showering her body with the purity and strength of his emotions. “My love.” While he sucked at her breasts, his one hand slid between their bodies, first one finger and then two entering her while his thumb circled her clit. Her body tightened. Her muscles quivered and her core spun into a coil of desire. His lips traveled down her abdomen while his fingers created a rhythm she could not resist.
“I want you in me when I come. I’m so close. I want our first time to be together.”
Boyd slipped his hands under her legs and bent to circle his tongue around her nub until she started to climax against his fingers. He withdrew and shoved his cock into her, pushing her legs higher over his shoulders. Her climax rolled through her body and she trembled, screaming his name. A few more strokes and he groaned her name against her throat. And limbs around limbs, skin to skin, heart to heart, they meshed and melted into the fissures and jagged pits of each other’s souls.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They both must have dozed for over an hour, according to Graci-Ella’s clock. She woke with the weight of a thick thigh over her legs, a muscular arm around her, holding her breast in his hand and a mighty fine erection, lying in wait in the crack of her butt cheeks. Her gaze zeroed onto the remaining two condoms on her dresser. Did she have the stamina for two more rounds?
“I may hav
e been selfish with grabbing three. I wasn’t giving thought to what you’ve been through the last few weeks. His large hand released her breast and knocked one foil packet onto the floor. “I felt you stiffen when you woke up and looked at them. Want me to toss the other one too?”
His voice was so sexy when it was heavy with sleep. She snuggled back against him and he moved her hair to the side to kiss her neck. “Baby.”
“Put the rubber on and take me this way. Play with my clit like you did before, while you slide into me from behind. As big as you are, you can reach my opening with no problem.”
He reached for the condom. “I like a woman who knows what she wants.”
“I read about it in a book. It sounded interesting. I want to see how it feels.”
“Is this classified as legal research?” After he’d sheathed himself, he nibbled and kissed her shoulders. With one arm under her shoulders and his other slipped under her one elbow, he plucked at both nipples, giving them a gentle twist every so often. He moved his hand to lift her leg over his thigh and began working her clit. As soon as he slid in, she started moaning. “So good. So, so good. I had no idea.”
“How do you want it? Fast or slow?”
“Slow, big guy.” She reached under him and fondled his balls.
“Hell, Sweetness, much of that and I’ll be out of my freaking mind.” How nice to know some of his sensitive spots. After all, one didn’t make All-American without knowing how to work a ball.
“After Chantel left, I never thought I’d love again or trust another woman. Then I found you and my heart opened to both emotions.”
Chantel? Why did that name sound familiar? She ran into all kinds of names in her profession. Chantel Calloway certainly had a ring to it. The way he was nibbling and kissing her shoulders while he circled her bud with his thumb erased whatever she was thinking. All she could do was concentrate on the onslaught of her building climax.
“Boyd!” Her climax was growing, stronger and stronger.
“Come for me baby. Need me faster. Harder?”
“No, don’t change a thing!” Her muscles contracted and her core unspun like a child’s top…and she screamed, convulsing around him.
He came within a few more strokes, telling her over and over how much he loved her as he held her close, almost as if he were trying to absorb her into his skin. Eventually, he released her and went into her bathroom to dispose of the condom.
Not that she was one to stare, but he did have a fine, naked behind. And he seemed comfortable in his own skin. Could she walk around naked in front of him? Or would she reach for a robe? Her previous relationships were less intense than this one. From the beginning, their interaction had been different, more teasing on one hand and quite powerful on the other.
She trusted him. He was a good person, full of integrity and caring ways she found deeply appealing.
He strutted back in her bedroom and stretched on her bed, leaning his head against a hand upturned at the elbow. “What are your plans for the day?” His other hand skimmed up and down her side. “Visiting hours start at one in Matt’s ward. Would you like to go with me? We could shower and stop for a soft shell crab sandwich on our way.”
She studied his eyes. “Would Matt like sharing you with me? Kids have a way of being very possessive of their parents, especially the one they depend on the most.”
“I think it’s time he sees us together as a couple and come to think of the three of us as a unit, don’t you?” He took her wrist, bringing her palm up so he could press a kiss on it.
Acid rolled in her stomach. “A unit of what? What are your thoughts about our future?” She swallowed loudly in the quiet room. “Exactly.”
He bent to kiss both of her breasts. “I’m thinking of a long relationship. But I’m not sure how you feel about a child becoming a large part of your life? Or knowing you’ll always come second to Matt. His mother pushed him aside. I won’t.” His jaw was set with determination.
He’d been honest with her. Now it was her turn. “I understand that’s your reality. My reality is I’m a lawyer who works long hours five days a week. Sometimes, I bring cases home with me to do legal research on and write briefs. I’d planned on a marriage and a couple of children in a few years, when my career is more settled.”
“Are you telling me your future is non-negotiable? That there’s no room in your heart for the destiny of two strangers meeting and falling in love?” Her man was so open and truthful about his emotions. Was she understanding him correctly?
“But you’re not talking about our moving in together, are you? That might be too much for Matt to accept after all he’s had to deal with at his mom’s. This hearing is going to be hard on him. We have to give him a space of time with no changes, where he can become grounded in his security again.”
Boyd rolled onto his back and laid an arm over his eyes. “I know. We’ve had child protective services at the townhouse. They interviewed him. So has a child psychologist.” He chuffed a laugh. “Poor kid. He was scared to death to say something wrong. He was afraid the incorrect answer would take him away from me. We had a lot of long talks about being truthful opposed to saying what we think people want to hear. I kept telling him to be honest about everything. That it was okay to give a wrong answer now and then. He even developed a stutter for a month or so.”
“Oh no, poor baby.” She’d seen a few kids traumatized by the trial process.
“I called the child psychologist and explained. I asked if she could interview him in a playful environment rather than a sterile room. She said she’d work something out. When she called his mother to verify what I’d told her, Chantel claimed Matt had no stuttering problem. So, who do you think was believed? Surely not me. My son was a basket case when the interview was over and within hours went into a full blown asthma attack.”
He rolled and sat on the edge of the bed. “Wish you could have heard how happy he was after you and your mom came to visit him yesterday. Thanks for your thoughtfulness, by the way. Last night, he slept with the raccoon you gave him. He…ah…named it after you.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and grinned. “Fella.”
“Fella? Ohhh! He calls me Graci-Fella. I think it’s so cute how he does that. I’m honored he named Fella after me. I would never mind coming second to him as long as you could handle coming second to my career.”
A strange expression played across Boyd’s face. His eyes narrowed for a few seconds and the muscle in his jaw twitched. His phone rang and he glanced at her as he dug it out of his jeans on the floor. “It’s the hospital’s ring.” He swiped it. “Boyd Calloway speaking.” There was a slight pause. “Awesome. We’re on our way in about half an hour. Thanks.” He ended the call. “Matt’s lungs are clear, he can come home today. I’d like for you to come along, but only if you’re good with that.”
She kissed him and shoved him back on the bed. “I get dibs on the shower.” She grabbed some clean panties and bra from her dresser before charging for the bathroom.
Boyd paced through her bedroom while she showered. What the hell kind of agreement had they just arranged? They would see each other, but not live together—which was probably best for Matt. Her career would always come first, as would his son. But what about the two of them? Where was their love in all of this? What about their future? Did she want a future with him? A lawyer and a fireman—and another woman’s biological child. Fuck!
They hadn’t settled a damn thing. All they’d done was muddy the waters because he hadn’t mentioned what he truly wanted. Her. A marriage. At least one more child. A house with the damn picket fence he’d have to paint every year—and God how he hated painting. But he’d do it for her…for them.
Graci-Ella charged into the bedroom, wearing a set of blue lace underwear and her hair brushed into a ponytail. “Shower’s all yours.” She started slathering on that great smelling lotion that set his libido into overdrive.
He snatched his boxers from the floor and heade
d for the bathroom, evidently it was the room with the steam still rolling out of it. Barely warm water sluiced down his back as he soaped up and sulked some more. There was no doubt in his mind he loved her. She’d told him she loved him, but were they talking about the same kind of love? And what exactly had she said that put him in this pissy mood?
He turned around to rinse off his front. He’d just had two mind-blowing orgasms. He’d had his hands all over her, his lips too. She’d agreed to go along to pick-up Matt. So, what was up with his mood?
He turned off the water and reached for a towel. She was looking on this as a casual relationship. He wanted permanence.
When he returned to the bedroom, she was applying some make-up. She had on jean shorts and a blue t-shirt with a basketball sailing through a net and the slogan, “String Music” in pink lettering. She looked fabulous and he was getting angrier by the minute.
“I go back to work tomorrow. This is the last day of my medical vacation.”
“Guess that makes you happy.” He jerked on his jeans and buttoned them before snatching his t-shirt off the floor and shaking it out. He rammed his arms into the sleeves and yanked it over his head, then ran his fingers through his wavy hair to make sure it wasn’t sticking up.
She stopped whatever she was doing to her eyes and turned. “Boyd? Are you upset about something? The tone of your voice is different, clipped. I can almost sense your anger vibrating from here.”
He sat on her bed to put on his boots. “I thought you understood what I was fumbling around, trying to say earlier. I want an exclusive, serious relationship with you.” He jerked on his shoestrings. “I’m not into casual, especially the way I feel about you.”
“Neither am I.” She stepped between his spread legs and cupped his face. “My man, I love you. I’ve never loved another man before, and I’m pretty scared about this new emotion in my life. Sure I dated. I lost my virginity years ago. So, I suppose one could say I’ve already done casual. But you’re so intense, too forceful to look on as casual. With you, there’s safety and an abundance of love I find I need. I need you, sweetheart.”