Interracial Desires: BWWM Multicultural Romance Box Set

by Tamara Black

  After I put the baby in his crib, I went back to the dining room. When I didn't see Serena right away, I checked the bedroom and the kitchen. She had vanished. I disappeared a lot myself, so I didn't get too mad at her. At least not at first. The baby was asleep, so I got out my laptop and checked my sales numbers. I loved to see it when they moved in the right direction.

  NINETEEN

  Serena

  As I walked to my car and drove away, I tried to convince myself I hadn't just yelled at my husband-to-be in front of our baby. I didn't know where else to turn, so I took Ms. Jones up on her offer to talk to someone about my feelings. The idea seemed dumb to me at first, but the more stressed I became, the more I realized it would be a good idea to talk to others facing similar problems.

  The support group for single mothers she had recommended was open to anyone who needed help. I expected them to tear me apart when they realized I still lived with the baby's father, but as soon as I walked in the back room at the community center, I felt a sense of peace wash over me.

  “Hi, I'm Gina,” a woman said as I entered the room.

  I sat down at a large table with about a half dozen other women. The woman who had greeted me wore bluer coveralls over a plain, white t-shirt. I soon realized the outfit fit her hippie personality perfectly. She talked about energy this and chakra that a good part of the night. I found listening to stories from other women more helpful than sharing my own stories.

  Before the meeting, I felt as if I was the only person on the planet trying to raise a baby while maintain a career and keep my man satisfied. An hour later, I remembered I was not on my own. Unlike a lot of the other women seated at the table, the baby's father was still a big part of my life. He irritated the hell out of me occasionally, like when he left his dirty socks in the middle of the living room floor for me to pick up, but deep down I loved him.

  After the session, I stayed behind to talk to Gina. I needed more people like her, with a bubbly personality, in my life. She greeted me with a huge smile as I walked over to her and smiled. Her eyes looked into mine as I stopped in front of her. Would she be willing to help me? I wondered as I gathered the courage to speak openly to her.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something?” I said, looking right at her.

  “You're direct. I like that,” she said with a smile.

  “Good. I don't have time to mess around. I think my man is cheating on me, and I wondered if you might give me some advice.”

  “Cheating, huh?”

  “Yeah...”

  I explained the story to her, including our unexpected pregnancy.

  “You have proof?” she asked once I finished the story.

  “Well, no, but I have a hunch. Aren't new moms supposed to have hunches?”

  Gina laughed while she shook her head from side to side. “No, it doesn't work like that unfortunately.”

  “Damn, motherhood isn't all they advertise, huh?”

  “I need to know more to give you an answer, but I have somewhere I need to be right now. Do you want to have lunch sometime maybe?”

  “Really? That would be wonderful. I lost a lot of friends at work during the pregnancy.”

  “Not a problem. My number's on this card. Call me sometime and we'll go out for a bite.”

  I accepted the silver business card from her. “Thanks again. I'll call.”

  She waved then left the room in a hurry. I headed back to my car to go home. In some ways, I felt a lot better, but I knew the real test would be to go to the apartment and deal with Luke and Edmund. I saw my “husband”, my baby’s father, asleep on the couch so he could hear the baby. He looked so sweet curled up. I remembered why I had fallen in love with him in the first place, but I was too tired to care.

  * * *

  The next morning, I got up early to get ready for work. I woke Luke up before I left. He grunted and waved, not seeming happy. I knew he wasn't a morning person, but I had to get to work a little early to get some extra work done. When I arrived, I walked in on Tina and a group of employees in middle of a meeting without me. Furious, I stormed over to them.

  “What's this meeting about?” I asked Tina point blank, interrupting her.

  “None of your concern, Serena. How's that baby of yours?”

  She moved her face so that a small smile appeared, but it wasn't genuine in any sense of the word. Less than a year earlier, I'd trained her to be my assistant, and now she was having meetings without me, a tactic I had taught her myself. I shook my head, anger flashing through my entire body. Then they all laughed at me. I didn't hear the joke, but I was certain the laughs were directed at me.

  “Fuck you and your meeting, Tina. I'm getting to work.”

  “Interesting. This is a meeting to plan a party for you, but now I'm not sure why we're trying to be nice to you when you were never nice to any of us.”

  Her words stung, but I put on a brave face.

  “Whatever. I know you're lying...” Is she? I wondered to myself. With all the emotions running through me, not to mention the paranoia, I didn't know what was real anymore.

  “We need to have a talk, Serena,” Tina said, motioning for me to follow her.

  Instead of her office, we went to see Terry Clifton, our supervisor. I prepared to defend my actions just a few minutes earlier, but the conversation went a lot differently than I expected.

  “We're going to have to let you go. Your position has been eliminated. Company receipts have taken a big hit because of a downturn in the economy.”

  What had happened? The company was doing well, or they had been when I left. What the hell is going on? I thought to myself as I tried to process the information.

  “You can work for two more weeks and then you'll get two weeks’ severance pay, of course,” Tina said with a smile still plastered on her face.

  I turned and walked out of the room without saying a word. All I wanted to do was get away. Nothing I could say would get my job back. That much was obvious. I had no effect on the economy or on the company’s bottom line. What wasn't so clear was what the fuck I would do, not to mention how I’d break it to Luke and the baby. As the main breadwinner in the family, the stress drained me completely. To top it all off, I had failed my family.

  When I got to our apartment, I first thought of how we’d dreamed, planned on getting a house. I rushed in because I needed Luke to hold me and assure me it was all going to be okay eventually. Sometimes, that small sign of affection was all that kept me going. To my surprise, I saw Christina, his assistant, holding Edmund. She smiled at me as I walked in and shut the door, trying my hardest not to cry.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as I reached out for my baby. “Where's Luke?”

  “He sent me a text message and asked me to watch the baby so he could go do something.”

  “Are you sleeping with my husband?”

  “What?” she asked as her brow furrowed in confusion.

  A knock on the door caught our attention. I walked over and opened it. To my further surprise, I saw Gina a familiar tall redhead, Gina from my support group, standing in front of the doorway.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Um, I'm here to pick up Christina. Do you live here?”

  Gina appeared as confused as the rest of us.

  “Come in.”

  I watched as she walked straight to Christina. They touched in a way that told me that they were more than friends.

  “You two are a couple?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Christina said. “You didn't know?”

  “No, can I have my baby, please?”

  With Edmund in my arms, I kissed him lightly on the forehead. I could feel sweat on my own forehead.

  “I think we're going to go,” Gina said. “Sorry to intrude on you at your home. I didn't know...”

  “It's fine,” I said as they moved toward the door.

  When Christina opened it, I saw Luke walking up. The two women in love left in a h
urry. I continued rocking my baby.

  “Where'd you go?” I asked as calmly as possible.

  “I had to go out for a bit.”

  “And you left our son with her?”

  “She's a good person. I see you met her girlfriend.”

  I decided to not tell him Gina was in my single mother support group.

  “Yeah, she was fine, but I can't believe you didn't let me know.”

  “Baby, I'm sorry. And thank you.” He walked toward me. “You've been supportive of me chasing my dream, and I want to tell you.”

  As I watched him, unsure of what he was about to do, he got down on one knee in front of me. His eyes locked with mine. Then I saw the little case.

  “Will you marry me? For real this time?” he asked as he held the ring up..

  A single tear welled up and ran down my left cheek as I nodded my head, smiling a smile that made me fear my skin was going to rip. Edmund chose that particular moment to cry. The smell told us that his diaper was dirty and needed a changed. Luke took the baby from me and went to do the poopy duty while I examined the ring. The diamond was much larger than anything we could afford on my salary.

  I slipped it on my finger, amazed at how it looked. Luke walked back into the room without the baby. He smiled as he approached me. I took the ring off and put it back into the small, velvet box. When he reached me, I held it out to him. His eyes went from the ring to my face. I appreciated his gesture, but we needed a bigger house more than a diamond on my finger.

  “We can't afford something like this, Luke,” I said, still holding the small box.

  “Put it back on, baby. It's okay. That's what I wanted to tell you. You know all that writing I've been doing? Well, the time investment is paying off. I've been selling books. A lot of them.”

  His left eyebrow wasn't twitching, which told me he was likely not lying, but I still sensed something was not right.

  “You've been selling books? That's great, but I lost my job today. We can't afford this ring right now.”

  “You don't get it, do you?” he said as he smiled.

  “Get what?”

  He kissed me on the mouth, and for a moment I forgot what we were talking about.

  “I'm serious. No job. No paycheck. No rent money,” I said after pulling back.

  His arms wrapped around my waist as he held me tight.

  “If I keep writing and keep selling, we're going to be able to make it. You don't have to work if you don't want to work.”

  Something about his words, or maybe the way he said them, hit me the wrong way. Then he showed me the checkbook and the deposits to our shared bank account. The money was around the same amount as I had been making working at the office, even a bit more over the past three months.

  “And this is just the beginning. You inspire me, so I think I'm going to be able to keep writing great stories people want to hear.”

  All the problems I thought haunted me turned to dust and floated away. For a second, I thought I could smell the dust. Then a real funky scent hit me. I could smell Luke’s sweat.

  “Make love to me,” I said. “It's been too long.”

  “Months, actually, but I think we should wait.”

  “What?”

  I placed my hands on my hips as I stared into his eyes.

  “Let's wait until we're married. We can do it tomorrow if you want.”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No, I was thinking we fly to Jamaica and have a little wedding ceremony on the beach with a few close friends.”

  “Fly to Jamaica? Isn’t that a little extravagant? We still have rent to pay.”

  “Forget about it. Who do you want to invite?” he asked me.

  “Christina and Gina?”

  He nodded. “She helped me with my writing so much.”

  “Let's do it.”

  Part of me couldn't believe we would finally have our wedding. The other half just wanted to enjoy the ride until the very end with the man of my dreams.

  TWENTY

  Luke

  I breathed in deep through my nose. Jamaica smelled just like I thought Jamaica would smell. I looked out the open window of my little villa and saw the mighty ocean as if for the first time. Some of it was due to seeing Edmund react to the massive amount of water when I held him in the sand as the waves lapped up at my feet. Soon after, Christina had taken him inside as Serena and I prepared for our wedding.

  The nuptials were nothing like we had planned, but that wasn't a bad thing in my mind. All that mattered was my wife, my child, and the words I wrote on a daily basis. Just ten years ago, I would've had to slug away for years in anonymity and poverty like most writers. Due to good timing, I sold my work online myself and had a chance to make a good living.

  As I adjusted my suit jacket, I examined myself in the full- length mirror in front of me one final time. Satisfied with what I saw – a proud father and soon-to-be groom – I walked out onto the beach and made my way, barefooted, to the wedding ceremony a few hundred feet away. The ceremony would be simple and quick compared to our extravagant week-long honeymoon after the nuptials.

  “Thanks again to you and Gina for watching Edmund so we can get away,” I said to Christina when I reached the bamboo arch on the beach where the wedding would take place.

  “It's fine. You guys enjoy yourself. We have a lot of work to do when you get back.”

  I nodded my head then looked around. A lot of people were looking at us, wondering what was going on as the sun went down. Most of them were leaving. After a few minutes of waiting, I saw Serena making her way down the beach with Gina at her side. None of the words I had ever written could convey the emotions flowing through my body as she approached.

  The minister, with full dreadlocks tied behind his head, walked over to the arch, signaling the start of the ceremony. I took Serena's hand in mine. Christina, holding Edmund, stood next to me while Gina was on the other side of my beautiful bride. Pride swelled up in me as the setting sun painted the sky brilliant hues of orange, red and yellow.

  “Do you, Serena, take this man to be your husband?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you, Luke, take this woman to be your wife?”

  “I do.”

  “By the powers vested in me, I pronounce you man and wife.”

  “Wow, that really was simple,” I said, causing everyone present to laugh.

  Serena and I each gave Edmund a kiss, then Christina and Gina took him away for the night. I led her to our room right away. After over seven months, I wanted to be with her, around her, beside her and inside of her as soon as possible. I loved everything about her, but the physical side of our relationship was also important to me. And from the way she kissed me back and stripped off my clothes when we were in our room, she did too.

  When we were both naked, I took a moment to just feel her naked body against mine. Her black skin glowed with the moon shining in through the window. My hands ran over her body then cupped her shapely ass while I kissed her. Before things got too heated up, I lit a joint and handed it to her. While she took a hit, I turned on the stereo. Bob Marley sang Three Little Birds.

  She giggled as I danced naked across the room toward her. The smile on her face was genuine, but all I could concentrate on were her very impressive breasts. I bent down and licked one of her dark nipples. We both forgot the joint, much more concerned with each other.

  We both moved to the bed, our naked bodies touching. Her hands roamed over my body as my mouth once again explored hers. We knew each other well, which made the sexual encounter so much better. I moaned as she stroked my hard cock. She let go as I slid lower down her body, continuing to plant kisses along the way.

  I moved between her legs. As I teased her delicate outer lips with my tongue, she blossomed and opened up. Her fingers ran through my hair as I licked, sucked, and teased her with my mouth. She bucked her hips upward, pressing her moist pussy against my face. The taste was raw, sensual, and something I
had missed.

  “Fuck me,” she said.

  My body slid up hers. I looked into her eyes as I thrust forward. The tip of my dick slid in her willing, wet hole. She moaned as I plunged deeper then pulled out. As I penetrated her, I felt her legs wrap around my body. We became one. Our baby and all my other worries floated away as I made love to the woman who meant the most to me in the world.

  “Slow,” she commanded, and I obeyed.

  With each stroke, I changed the angle slightly. Friction built up. My bare chest pressed against her breasts. Our bodies continued to move as one.

  “Now faster,” she gasped, her hands on my ass.

  I looked directly into her eyes, able to see the pleasure she felt. When she came, I felt her squeeze me tightly. Unable to hold back any longer, I let myself go.

  Breathless, we held each other for a moment as we each tried to catch our breath.

  “That was amazing,” she said as I crawled off of her.

  “I agree.”

  “See?”

  “Huh?”

  “I don't mean to spoil the mood, but I've been thinking we just need to communicate better.”

  “I agree.”

  “Don't just be a yes- man, Luke.”

  “I'm not. Well, I am in this case, but I won't always be. I should have told you about the writing and how well it was going, but I didn't believe it was really happening and I didn't want to get your hopes up then let you down.”

  “It's okay. We made it through. We're married now. We just need to communicate better.”

  “I love you, Serena.”

  “I love you more.”

  As she snuggled closer, we didn't argue the point. After so many ups and downs, we wanted to relax and enjoy the fact we were learning how to be a better couple. In that exact moment, the world made sense in my mind.