A Chance with You

by Yahrah St. John

  There was no denying the lust in Spencer’s dark eyes, but she had some of her own that she wanted to work out. When she was down to her bra and G-string, she unlatched the snap of her bra and the strap of satin fell unceremoniously to the floor. Her G-string followed suit, and she was standing naked in front of him.

  “You’re beautiful,” Spencer whispered and held out his hand to her. “Come here.”

  She joined him on the bed. Instead of letting him take charge, she bent her head and licked his nipples, teasing them with her tongue until they became hard peaks. She continued a path to his navel and his lower abdomen; she heard his sharp intake of breath as her fingers closed around the band of his briefs and eased them down his muscled thighs and legs. When he was as naked as she, she gave him a wicked smile and closed one hand around his burgeoning erection. She licked the tip of his penis at first and then sucked the tip, teasing Spencer until his breathing thickened. Spencer took her head in his hands and her mouth moved up and down his hard length to the rhythm he needed.

  “Oh, yes, Raina, like that,” he moaned. Raina took him deeper inside her mouth again and again.

  When she was sure he was hard and ready for her, she reached for a foil packet, removed a condom and placed it on his erect penis, protecting them both. Then she swung both legs around his waist and began to ride him. She rolled her hips forward and backward, forming a steady rhythm that had Spencer moaning softly.

  “Oh, God, Raina,” Spencer groaned underneath her.

  Raina changed techniques and squatted on him, bouncing up and down and taking him deeper and deeper inside her body. It felt so good for him to be inside her, and Raina relished that she could bring him such joy.

  When it seemed he could take no more, Spencer grabbed her by the hips and flipped her on her back until she was underneath him and he was in control. He thrust deep inside until he found her spot. Then he sucked her already erect nipples. Although her breasts felt huge, Spencer made them feel beautiful as he cupped them in his hands. But he didn’t stop there, his hips continued to circle hers, massaging the spot first with his erect penis and then with his fingers until Raina’s orgasm hit her like a ton of bricks and she whimpered her release.

  “Spencer...”

  Spencer’s lips reached for hers once more so he could continue the dance with soft kisses, moans and thrusts before he too succumbed to wave after wave of the never-ending pleasure that had enveloped Raina.

  * * *

  Spencer awoke the next morning in Raina’s arms. Although there was no place he’d rather be, he hadn’t meant to sleep over. He’d intended on sneaking out in the middle of the night, but last night Raina had taken charge. She’d ridden him until he was moaning, shuddering and trembling as ripples after ripples of orgasm ran through his body like the aftershocks of an earthquake.

  He glanced at the alarm clock on Raina’s nightstand: it read 7:00 a.m. He was sure Zoe had to be getting up soon for school. So, if he could get dressed and sneak out before she found him in Raina’s room, all would be well and the peaceful calm he’d created wouldn’t be disturbed.

  He slid away from Raina, who was still dead to the world, and went to the bathroom. After freshening up and writing a quick note to Raina and leaving it on her nightstand, Spencer exited her bedroom. He heard a shriek behind him.

  “Spence?”

  Spencer rolled his eyes upward. He’d been caught. Slowly, he turned around to find Zoe staring at him bug-eyed and wearing cartoon-print pajamas.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Uh...uh...” For once in his life, Spencer was at a loss for words. How did he explain to a six-year-old that he’d just spent the night with her aunt?

  Thank God he didn’t have to, because Raina appeared in her bedroom doorway, dressed in a silk robe. She said, “Zoe, Spence had a sleepover here last night. He—” she gave him a furtive glance “—was too tired to go home.”

  “So he stayed in your room?” Zoe pressed. “Like other daddies?”

  Spencer watched horror spread across Raina’s face at Zoe’s leaped-to conclusion and before she could answer, Zoe was already rushing into his arms. “I’m so happy, Spence.” She squeezed his legs. “You and Auntie Raina can get married and we can be a family. This is so awesome!”

  He looked down at Zoe and then at Raina and mouthed, “I’m so sorry.”

  “Zoe.” Raina came toward her. “It’s time for you to get ready for school. Why don’t you get washed up and we’ll meet you downstairs?”

  Zoe started for the bathroom, but then she spun around. “You’ll be here when I get out of the shower?” she asked, looking directly at Spencer.

  He stared at Raina. When she nodded, he said, “Okay, sure thing, munchkin.”

  “Great!” A large grin spread across Zoe’s cheeks and she rushed off to the bathroom adjoining her room.

  Once he heard running water, Spencer turned to Raina. “I’m sorry, babe. I overslept and I was trying to sneak out and—”

  “I’m not upset with you,” Raina replied. “She was bound to figure it out sooner rather than later. I was just hoping to have figured out what we were going to tell her before she leaped to conclusions.”

  “And what are we going to tell her?”

  Raina shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet. Care for a cup of coffee?” she asked.

  “Sounds great.”

  Several minutes later, Spencer was seated at Raina’s wooden table in her breakfast nook while she busied herself in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. Zoe catching him leaving Raina’s bedroom had been unexpected and he was unsure of how to proceed. They were already on soft footing, so he waited for direction from Raina.

  Eventually after the coffee started brewing, she took a seat at the table beside him. “So, I guess we need to explain us to Zoe.”

  “And how would you characterize us?” Spencer inquired. He sure as hell wasn’t certain. Were they dating, committed or just kicking it?

  “We tell her the truth,” Raina replied as if the truth was obvious to him. “That we like each other a lot and that we’ll be spending a lot more time together.”

  That makes the situation real clear, Spencer thought.

  He must have had a look of consternation because Raina clarified, “She’s a little girl, Spencer. I don’t know how to better explain it than that. I don’t want her getting her hopes up that we’ll be more than that.”

  “You mean a family?” Spencer asked. “Isn’t that what we are? Heck, we haven’t told her I’m her uncle yet. Don’t you think it’s high time we tell Zoe the truth?”

  “Tell me what?” Zoe said from the doorway. She was already dressed for school in jeans and a pink pullover sweater with lots of sparkle and glitter.

  Raina rolled her eyes upward, making Spencer wonder if she ever had any intention of telling Zoe his true identity.

  Raina shrugged. “Come here, sweetheart,” she said, opening her arms wide for Zoe. Zoe sat in her lap. Raina gave her a big squeeze and a kiss. “You know how you said you felt like we were a family?”

  “Yes?” Zoe asked, wide-eyed.

  “Well, I have some news.” Raina brushed Zoe’s wayward curls out of her face so she could look at her niece intently. “Spence here is more than Auntie Raina’s friend. He’s related to you. He’s your uncle.”

  Zoe frowned. “My uncle? But you and Mommy were Grandma’s...” Zoe paused midsentence and thought about what Raina had said. She then turned to face Spencer with her big doe eyes. “If Mommy and Auntie Raina were Grandma’s only children, then...” She looked at Spencer as if searching for some sign of resemblance. “Then you’re my daddy’s brother?”

  Spencer nodded and he watched as the weight of the information settled on Zoe and more questions formed.

  “Where
is he then?” she asked, her voice steadily rising. “Where’s my daddy?” She looked at Spencer and then at Raina. He could see tears forming as she asked again, “Where’s my daddy?”

  Raina swallowed. “I’m sorry, baby, but your daddy, Spencer’s brother, passed away like your mommy.”

  “He’s dead?” A tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Yes,” was the sole word Raina could muster. Seeing Zoe so distraught was too much for her.

  Zoe turned to Spencer. “Then you’re his only family I have left?” She rushed into Spencer’s arms and he hugged her as tightly as he could, resting his head on her tiny shoulders as sobs began to rock her body.

  “Shh, it’ll be okay, Zoe,” Spencer whispered, stroking her hair. “I’m here.”

  He glanced at Raina, and her eyes were glistening with tears.

  “I’m so happy I have you, Spence,” Zoe said against his cheek.

  “And you always will.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll always be here for you. I promise.”

  Zoe looked up at him. “Promise? You won’t leave me? Like my mommy and daddy?”

  “Promise.”

  “Then you’ll go with me to the father-daughter dance at school?” Zoe asked, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. “It’s next month before the Christmas holiday.”

  Spencer looked down at his niece. “I would be honored.”

  Zoe attempted a smile. She turned to Raina. “Can I stay home today with you and Uncle Spence?”

  Raina pondered Zoe’s request and Spencer could see the wheels of her mind turning. He hoped she would allow it. They had just unloaded some heavy emotional baggage on a six-year-old. She’d lost both her parents and found two of the people she cared about most had spent the night together. How could she turn down her request?

  “You can.” Raina nodded. “We could do something fun.”

  And that’s exactly what they did after Spencer called the office to tell Mona he wasn’t coming in and Raina feigned illness to Summer, though he doubted she believed it for a second.

  To cheer Zoe up they took her to an amusement park that had breathtaking landscaping and a special VIP safari tour with hands-on activities with the wildlife for visitors. Zoe got to have two parrots sit on her shoulder while they serenaded her, feed red kangaroos from Australia, ride a one-year-old Aldabra tortoise from the Seychelles Islands and play one-on-one with the capuchin monkeys from South America. Spencer was more adventurous, holding a baby tiger in his arms while Raina took photos from afar.

  Spencer couldn’t remember the last time, he’d had this much fun. After he’d dropped them off after dinner, he finally made his way home. As he drove over to Star Island, Spencer examined his feelings for Raina and Zoe. He was proud that Zoe wasn’t angry with him for not telling her sooner that he was her uncle. Instead she’d embraced him with open arms and asked him to her father-daughter dance. He would be able to do right by Cameron by looking after Zoe and ensuring she had all the love her heart and tiny hands could hold.

  And then there was Raina. In a short time, she’d become a huge part of his life and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Every time he was with her, whether they were talking, trick-or-treating, playing with the animals at the amusement park or making love until the wee hours of the morning, he fell harder for her. There was no doubt in his mind he’d fallen in love with Raina Martin, and he couldn’t wait to see what was in store next.

  * * *

  Raina showed up to the catering shop with coffee and a variety of muffins and scones in hand. She knew she was in the doghouse for leaving Summer in the lurch the day before they had a large dinner party to prepare for.

  When she arrived the lights were already on, but the front of the shop was empty. Raina heard pots and pans clanging from the back of the house. She reached for a nearby white linen napkin and cracked the swinging door open. She waved the napkin back and forth like a white flag.

  “May I come in?” she asked from the other side of the door.

  “You’d better,” Summer yelled. “’Cause we have a lot of work to do.”

  Raina steeled herself for the choice words she was sure Summer had for her and walked inside the kitchen with her box of muffins and coffee outstretched.

  Summer eyed her peace offering warily and then said, “Just put mine on the counter.” She returned to the root vegetables she was preparing at her station.

  “Listen, Summer,” Raina began., “I’m really sorry about yesterday.”

  “Raina, I understand you’ve found love and all that,” Summer replied. “But we still have a business to run. And you and I—” she pointed to Raina “—are it. I can’t be down staff. Thankfully, my sister came in and was able to pitch in yesterday when you bailed.”

  Raina swallowed hard. She knew Summer was right, but that wasn’t the only reason she hadn’t come in. “I know you’re mad at me,” she said finally. “And you have every reason to be. Can I just tell you why I didn’t come in?”

  Summer rolled her eyes. “Do I have a choice?”

  Raina smiled. She and Summer had been friends a long time and she knew this too would pass. She just had to get over the hard part. She walked over and placed Summer’s favorite drink and a large blueberry scone in front of her.

  Summer stopped what she was doing long enough to reach for the drink and bring it to her lips. She turned to face Raina and waited for the explanation.

  “Again, you’re right that I shouldn’t have left you hanging yesterday,” Raina replied. “But Zoe caught Spencer at my place.”

  “After he’d spent the night?”

  Raina nodded. “She was rather excited and was talking about us becoming a family.”

  “Is that what you want?” Summer inquired.

  Raina didn’t answer because she wasn’t ready to think about exactly what her relationship with Spencer might lead to. She said instead, “So we finally told her that Spencer was her uncle.”

  “You did? How’d she take that?”

  “Oh, she was thrilled at first,” Raina responded. “But then she started asking about her father and where he was.” She watched as understanding began to dawn on Summer. “And you guessed it, we had to tell her that not only had she lost her mother, but her father was dead, too.”

  Summer touched her chest in concern. “Oh, Lord, that poor child. She must have been devastated.”

  “She was distraught and there was no way I was going to send her to school in that condition,” Raina said. “So I allowed her to stay home from school and Spencer and I took her to the amusement park to cheer her up.”

  “Well that was a very family thing to do.”

  Summer’s comment was not lost on Raina. She was trying to press her on defining exactly what was going on between them. “Spencer was really great with Zoe. He seemed to know exactly what to say to comfort her. Zoe was putty in his hands.”

  “Zoe’s not the only one,” Summer said underneath her breath.

  “All right, Summer,” Raina said. “Say what you have to say.”

  “I’m already saying it. I want you to see where it goes with Spencer. It could be good for you. I just think you’re going too fast and now you’re talking family. You’ve barely known him a few weeks. I mean, do you two even know what you’re doing?” Summer asked.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but you and Spencer have both lost siblings close to you in dramatic ways. Could you be clinging to each other as a lifeline because it’s an easy way out?”

  Raina frowned. She’d never thought of her relationship with Spencer as a cop-out or a crutch. “Absolutely not! How could you think that?”

  Summer groaned heavily. “Okay, okay. I had to ask.” She walked over to Raina and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Listen, I’m just concerned for you. I know it’s been a while since you’ve had a serious relationship, and Spencer comes along at the right time after you’ve lost Alexa. And Zoe needs a father and it’s all so neat and convenient that I question if you’re thinking clearly. Perhaps you’re still grieving? What happens in a few months?”

  Raina pulled away. “Well, I’d hope we’re still seeing each other.” She couldn’t bear it if she and Spencer ended just as quickly as they’d begun. Summer was right. They had gotten close in a short time. If she admitted the truth to herself, she was in love with Spencer Davis. She didn’t know how he felt about her because neither of them had said anything directly, but the way he treated her, made love to her, told her there were genuine feelings behind their relationship. He’d told her he’d fallen for her. Could she hope that he’d meant love?

  “I hope for your sake that’s true, Raina, and that he doesn’t fall back into his old patterns,” Summer said.

  “So do I. So do I.”

  Chapter 13

  November flew by. When she wasn’t catering, taking Zoe to one of her numerous weekend outings or to her grandparents’, Raina spent as much time as possible with Spencer. She’d missed him terribly when he’d gone away for nearly a week to court several new clients in New York and Philadelphia. When he’d returned, Spencer had more than made up for it by giving her a beautiful diamond teardrop necklace and making sweet love to her for hours. Having been away from her for days, he’d been insatiable and they’d made love in the bedroom, in the shower, in the infinity pool and outside his Star Island home underneath the stars on one of the chaises facing the bay.

  Raina blushed at the memory as she stirred butter into the mashed potatoes she was making at her parent’s home for Thanksgiving dinner. She and Zoe had come several hours earlier so she could help her mother with the meal. Of course, her mother hated having Raina in the kitchen because she wanted to make everything even though Raina was a well-known chef.