Secret Love (Arabesque)

by Jackson, Brenda

  “I’m just repeating what I’ve been told,” she said, leaning forward to kiss the flat, dark nipples on his chest, and feeling his body respond as her tongue swept across it.

  “Behave yourself, Diamond, or you’ll be sorry later,” he muttered thickly, trying to retain control of their situation. He couldn’t think straight when she outright disobeyed him and the tip of her tongue continued to trace a path across his chest, moving from one male nipple to the next.

  “You’ll be sorry later,” he repeated warningly, his voice husky, his breath catching in his throat.

  Diamond shook her head, smiling. “No, I won’t be sorry later. I’ll be very satisfied later. We’ll both be.”

  She brought her face to his and gave him a kiss that immediately made him forget everything except for pleasing her and giving her everything she wanted.

  Chapter 17

  Justin Madaris tried to hide his grin as he watched the play of emotions on his uncle Jake’s face. Usually Jake was an expert at hiding his emotions. But not this time and definitely not today: emotions or no emotions, Jake was no match for the group of women surrounding him.

  It would be interesting, Justin thought, what the outcome of the confrontation would be. His wife Lorren, Dex’s wife Caitlin, Clayton’s wife Syneda, his two sisters—Traci and Kattie—and his cousin Felicia were not going to give up and back down. They were intent on being just as stubborn as Jake.

  Justin glanced around the card table at the husbands of those women. Fully aware of what was happening across the room, none of them seemed inclined to go to Jake’s rescue or aid him in his cause. The only thing they were intent on doing was finishing their poker game. They were willing to let Jake deal with their wives the best way he could. After all, the women were his nieces. Besides, they knew Jake’s fight was a losing one and that pretty soon, being the smart man that he was, he would realize it, too.

  Justin smiled. Because he loved his uncle and because he knew this power play of woman versus man could last the rest of the day, Justin took a deep breath and decided to intervene, taking on his role of peacemaker in the family. “Give it up, Jake, and give in. You may as well because you’re fighting a losing battle. Give them what they want, and come join us. The game’s getting pretty interesting over here.”

  Jake sent Justin, as well as the other men who were seated across the room at the card table, a hard glare. “It wouldn’t be a losing battle if all of you put more effort into controlling your wives.”

  “Our wives are your nieces,” Daniel Green reminded Jake, not bothering to look up from his close study of the cards he held in his hands. “Surely you can get them to do something simple like going along with your way of thinking. That should be easy enough for you since you had a hand in raising Felicia, and everyone knows how controlled she was before Trask married her.”

  Felicia Madaris Maxwell rolled her eyes upward. “Thanks a lot, Dan.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Felicia looked at her uncle, who was only a few years older than she was. “Really, Jake, all we’re asking for is one night, a girls’ night at the cabin, not an entire week’s leave of absence. You’ve had Diamond for eighteen months, surely you can miss her presence for one night.”

  Jake crossed his arms over his chest. “Why can’t you do this girls’ thing right here? This house is plenty big enough. Why do you want to spend a night at the cabin?”

  “For privacy,” Caitlin Madaris said.

  “For bonding,” Traci Madaris Green added.

  “To cultivate sisterhood,” Lorren Madaris threw in.

  “To get Diamond away from you for one night to give her body a rest.”

  Jake frowned. Not surprisingly the last statement was made by Clayton’s wife Syneda. She was known to not bite her tongue about anything. She wouldn’t hesitate to lay her cards on the table and play what she thought was a winning hand, something her husband was probably doing across the room at that very moment. Jake had a feeling she had been the one to share that information with Diamond about the Madaris men constantly being in heat.

  Jake cleared his throat. “I don’t have a problem with the privacy, the bonding, the cultivating of sisterhood or,” looking pointedly at Syneda he said, “giving my wife a night of rest, but I still don’t understand why you need to do it at the cabin and not here.”

  “Come on, Uncle Jake, a girls’ night at the cabin won’t hurt anything. Then you guys can play poker all night,” his niece Kattie said.

  Jake almost told her it was their plan to do that anyway. He let out a sigh and had to admit Syneda was right. His wife did need a break from him. She deserved at least one restful night. Right now she was upstairs sleeping off the exhaustion from their full morning of lovemaking. But still, he wasn’t ready to give up his fight.

  “Don’t you ladies have children to take care of?”

  “No,” Caitlin answered quickly. “Mama Marilyn and Poppa Jonathan took the kids back to Houston with them, so all of us are children-free.”

  “And I don’t have a child to worry about yet,” Syneda added, smiling.

  Jake lifted a brow. “Maybe that’s your problem. Maybe you need a child to worry about so you can settle down and stop being everybody’s advocate.” He glanced across the room at his nephew. “Clayton, you need to work on getting your wife pregnant.”

  To Jake’s surprise, and to the annoyance of the men at the card table who were intent on finishing the game, Clayton placed his cards down and stood up. He held out his arms and Syneda walked across the room into them. He wrapped her in his arms and lovingly kissed her on her lips. “My wife is pregnant. She found out this morning.”

  At first shocked silence, then earth-shattering elation followed Clayton’s surprise announcement. The women raced over and pulled Syneda from Clayton’s arms.

  “Oh, Syneda, that’s wonderful,” Caitlin Madaris said in a choked voice. “Have you told the folks yet?”

  Syneda was crying now, getting all emotional. So were all the other women. “Yes, Clayton and I told them before they left to return to Houston. They were very happy for us.”

  “I can’t believe you’re pregnant,” a teary Kattie was saying. She was next in line to give Syneda a hug. “You and Clayton just got married eight months ago.”

  “This is a planned pregnancy, and at least we waited until after the wedding,” Clayton said to his sister, playfully pulling one of the many braids on her head, and reminding her of how her situation had been.

  “Tell Clayton to shut up, Raymond,” Kattie said to her husband as she gave Syneda a hug.

  “Shut up, Clayton,” Raymond Barnes said teasingly to his brother-in-law. “So we goofed. Everybody isn’t as fetishistic about birth control as you were,” he added. “You’re the only man I know who kept a case of condoms in his closet.”

  “Oh, Syneda, we’re so happy for you,” Traci and Felicia were saying together, giving Syneda double hugs.

  Next came Lorren Madaris. She stood in front of Syneda for the longest time without saying anything. She didn’t have just a few tears, she had an entire bucket of them. And everyone in the room understood why. Lorren and Syneda were childhood friends who had grown up together in the same foster home. There was a strong bond between them. Through the years, they had always been there for each other and now by marrying brothers, they were blessed to be in the same wonderful family.

  Lorren finally gave her dearest and closest friend a long hug and burst into more tears.

  “You ought to do something before Lorren has us floating out of here, Justin,” Dex leaned over and whispered to his brother.

  Knowing Dex was right, Justin stood and walked over to Syneda and Lorren, who were hugging and crying at the same time. Gently pulling Lorren into his arms, he handed Syneda over into Clayton’s.

  “Congratulations, baby brother. Welcome to fatherhood,” he said to Clayton before placing full attention to consoling his wife.

  Jake walked over
to his nephew by blood and his niece by marriage. He cared deeply for the both of them and like everyone else, he was caught up in the happiness and the excitement of their news.

  He shook his head. Clayton and Syneda had been the least likely two to get involved with each other, and had shocked the hell out of the family when they had announced that they were getting married. Now they were surprising everyone again with Syneda’s pregnancy. He thought they were the two least likely people who’d want to become parents, at least this soon. He’d figured they would wait at least four to five years. He had always thought they were more into escalating their professional careers than their family status. Now it seemed that starting a family meant a whole lot to them. There was no doubt in his mind that they would make good parents.

  “Have you told your father yet, Syneda?” Jake asked.

  Syneda looked up at Jake, smiling at him through her tears. “Not yet. Clayton and I are going to Austin as soon as we leave here tomorrow. We’ll tell Dad then. I can’t wait.”

  “I wish Diamond was awake so she could share in your good news. She and I are very happy for you and Clayton.”

  “Thanks, Jake.”

  The card game forgotten, the other men stood and walked over to console their wives, who seemed intent on staying emotional.

  Dex Madaris let out a huge chuckle. “Heaven help us all. That kid will be the most argumentative child on earth.”

  “And one of the best-dressed,” Kattie piped in, thinking about Clayton’s and Syneda’s flair for fashion.

  “Heaven help the future women of Houston if it’s a boy,” Raymond Barnes said, laughing. “Especially if he turns out to be a chip off the old block. You may want to put that case of condoms somewhere in storage.”

  “And heaven help the future gents if it’s a girl,” Jake added, grinning. “She’ll have no pity on the opposite sex.”

  Trask Maxwell pulled his wife into his arms. “I wonder what’s going to happen next,” he said. “With my and Felicia’s wedding last month, news of Jake’s secret marriage yesterday and finding out Clayton and Syneda are going to be parents today—shows that there are never dull moments in this family.”

  At least that was something everyone in the room agreed with.

  Jake tipped into his bedroom and found Diamond still sleeping. The sun was shining brightly into the room through the blinds—however, the way they were angled kept any direct sunlight from hitting her.

  He walked over to the bed. She was lying atop the covers in a short, very skimpy nightshirt that was unbuttoned. His breath caught in his throat when he looked down at her. He thought of his family downstairs, celebrating Clayton and Syneda’s news and wondered just how he would feel when the day came and Diamond told him she was carrying his child.

  Jake knew that would be the happiest day of his life. He knelt beside the bed and reached out to touch her. Being careful not to wake her, he pushed her shirt aside and let his hands touch her flat belly. It was a belly that would one day grow with his child. He had never given much thought to fatherhood until he had met Diamond. Now he couldn’t help but think of anything else than them sharing a love and a product of their love.

  He caressed her stomach, imagining a child growing inside of her. His child. He would love it, protect it and be the kind of father his father was to him, his brothers were to their children and his nephews were to theirs. He bowed his head in silent prayer, thanking God for sending this woman, this very special woman, into his life. And he made a vow that if they were ever blessed with a child, he would always be there for his son or daughter. Sealing his promise, he leaned over and placed a special kiss on her stomach.

  Diamond mumbled in her sleep. “Jacob.” His name was whispered off her lips while she slept.

  Jake placed a kiss on her lips. “I love you.”

  Standing, he walked across the room and eased out of the door, knowing if he stayed he would be tempted to wake her and make love to her again and again and again.

  The man was angry. He was more angry than he had been in a long time. He crushed the newspaper in his hand. If Jacob Madaris thought he was going to get away with this, he had another thought coming.

  The man pushed himself back from the table, disgusted with the way things were going. If what he had read was true and Diamond had been secretly married eighteen months, then she had been at risk all that time. He could not let any man hurt her. Men could be physically brutal to women like her, and he would protect her with his life if he had to. He was determined that he would protect her the way he had not protected his sister.

  “A girls’ night at the cabin?” Diamond asked her husband excitedly. “Oh, Jacob, that’s sounds wonderful. Whose idea was it?”

  Not mine, that’s for sure, he thought as he sat across the bedroom in a chair and watched his wife get dressed. Damn, she looked good. She had slept most of the morning, and it was a little past noon. He watched as she struggled with the zipper on her jeans, thinking just how tempted he was to walk across the room to peel the things off her again.

  Jake forced his mind back to what they were discussing. “I think it was Syneda’s idea, but then all the others jumped on the bandwagon about it.’

  Diamond looked up from snapping her jeans at the irritation in Jake’s disgruntled tone. She studied his features. “I take it you’re not too crazy about the idea.”

  One corner of Jake’s mouth lifted into a smile. “I’m not crazy about any idea that takes you away from me, even for a night.”

  After slipping into her blouse, Diamond walked across the room and eased into her husband’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s just for one night, Jacob. Besides, you had mentioned that you and the guys would be playing poker all night anyway.”

  He sighed heavily. “I know, but I still wanted you close by.”

  “And I will be.” Diamond snuggled closer into his arms. “I’ve never been to an all-girls’ sleepover before. I think it will be fun.”

  “You’re kidding—you’ve never done the pajama party thing? I thought all girls did something like that at least once in their lifetime. I know for a fact that all my nieces used to have sleepovers all the time.”

  “Well, I didn’t. My father wouldn’t allow it. He never wanted me to have close girlfriends.”

  Jake frowned. He couldn’t help but wonder what other things she had missed out on during her childhood by being the daughter of Jack Swain. “But I thought you spent a lot of time with your grandmother while your father traveled.”

  “I did, but Dad had given her strict rules and she knew better than to break them and put her at risk of losing me. So the only friends I had were the ones he selected for me.”

  Intrigued and more curious about her childhood, he said, “Like Kyle and Sterling?”

  “Yes. Dad thought friendships with men were safer. He claimed women befriended each other one minute then couldn’t stand each other the next. It was natural for me and Kyle Garwood to become friends since our families were well-acquainted. In fact, Kyle’s grandfather is the one who financed my father’s first movie. As a child growing up, I occasionally spent my summers at Kyle’s grandfather’s cabin in the mountains.”

  “Special K?”

  “Yes, Special K. I met Sterling through Kyle when I was in my teens. The three of us—Sterling, Kyle and I—became best buddies and have remained so over the years.”

  She looked at Jake. “So there were never girlfriends around to have fun with, to discuss our coming-of-age and all the things that went with it, to share breathy revelations or earth-shattering secrets. You know, just someone to hang out with.

  “And,” she said, pulling in a deep breath, “it’s been only recently that I’ve realized what I missed out on. Just the little time I spent with your nieces has shown me how close they are and just how much fun they have together. I think it was nice of them to include me in their group.”

  Jake cocked his head to look at Diamond carefully. Agai
n he was reminded of what Sterling had told him about her in the beginning. She was a person who loved people and who enjoyed being around them. But because of her status in life, she’d been denied that. Now it seemed her father had denied her other things as well. Something as elemental as having another woman for a friend.

  “Of course they would include you,” he said. “You’re a part of the family, and they think you’re special. Not only because of your accomplishments in the movie and film industry, but because you’re also the one who captured my heart.”

  He chuckled. “Everyone had pretty much given up on me in the love department. But you came along and changed that.”

  Diamond smiled at him. “So you don’t have a problem with my staying at the cabin tonight with your nieces?”

  “No, I don’t have a problem with it.” Not anymore, he thought. You really need that time to formulate friendships you’ve been denied.

  Jake stood with her in his arms. “Oh yeah, before I forget, I need to let you know that I’m having the telephone number here changed.”

  Diamond lifted a brow. “Why?”

  “Because it’s accessible to the public. Since the news of our marriage appeared in the morning paper, anyone can call here.” Someone already has, he didn’t bother to add.

  “Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she said, as he placed her on her feet. “And we do want all the privacy we can get, don’t we?”

  He reached out and let his thumb caress her cheek. “Yes, baby, we do.”

  Chapter 18

  The next day, Diamond stood at the window in Jake’s bedroom and gazed out. As far as her eyes could see, there were endless plains of lush green peaks and valleys. This was her home, the home Jacob Madaris had given her to be shared with him and his family.

  This was Whispering Pines. It was Madaris land that had been in the family for six generations. She could just imagine the hard work, labor and tiring days that had gone into keeping the land out of the hands of others. Jacob had once told her that there had been a number of African-American families in Texas who had been fortunate to own spreads such as this over a hundred years ago, but very few of them still owned them today. The Madarises were in that few.