Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally

by Shirley Hailstock

  Leo cupped her gorgeous breasts while holding her gaze with his. He gently rolled her over onto her back so that he could feast on her. Her nipples were hard, and he licked them until they got even harder. She tasted sweet on his tongue, and the look of pleasure in her eyes made him mad with the urgency to give her as much as she could stand.

  He glanced over at the two condoms in their packets he’d put on top of the nightstand when they’d gotten to the bedroom, just being certain the action wouldn’t be interrupted by another foolish move on his part. Then he pulled her closer to him and went for the gold.

  * * *

  Meghan’s closed eyes shot open when she felt Leo’s head between her thighs. What was he doing? Did she need to guess?

  This was a first for her. Call her a prude. Call her inexperienced. But don’t call her in the next few minutes because she was going to be in the process of having her mind blown!

  She’d heard about it. She’d read about it. But the moment Leo’s tongue touched her clitoris, she felt like shouting about it. She melted. He was slow and gentle, then a bit rough and gentle again, as though he sensed just how she liked it. Which was impossible because she hadn’t even known she liked it until now. The pleasure and the pain continued until it reached a delicious crescendo. She trembled with the release, her feminine center throbbing crazily, then she fell, and she didn’t know whether she’d die right there or get up singing praises to the universe.

  While her thighs trembled, Leo kissed the insides of them.

  “Are you okay, my love?” he asked softly, a wickedly satisfied expression in his weirdly light brown eyes.

  Meghan tried to focus as she came down from her high, but all she could do was sigh and croak, “Give me a minute.”

  And I thought I might kill him, she thought with a smile.

  Leo smiled knowingly and reached over to get a condom off the nightstand. He tore the packet open, then tossed it onto the nightstand and rolled the condom onto his engorged penis.

  Meghan looked at his penis and grinned. It fitted the man. It was big, just like he was. She opened her legs wider.

  * * *

  Here, Leo needed to concentrate. He tried not to think of how long he’d been wanting to make love to Meghan. That just made him want to come faster. No, he had to think of things about the last few months with her that had infuriated him. Anger focused his energies. So he remembered how she’d started calling him Mr. Darcy just because he hadn’t jumped on the Meghan bandwagon as soon as they’d met and started behaving like a lovesick schoolboy. That had been presumptuous of her.

  To think that no man could resist her charms. Which, to be honest, he hadn’t. He’d wanted her from the beginning. Okay, that scenario wasn’t working. Besides, she felt so good. Her sex was tight and her walls caressed him and, oh, no, the woman had skills. She was squeezing the muscles of her vaginal walls around his member. Hard, too. Every time he thrust, she would parry. It was driving him crazy.

  He yelled when he came. And he groaned in disappointment because he’d wanted to last longer.

  * * *

  Meghan, however, was not disappointed.

  She pushed him onto his back and rode him until she had her second orgasm of the night, then she collapsed on top of him and let out a long sigh. Her ear on his chest, she listened to the rhythm of his heart. It thumped hard at first, and then it gradually slowed down. Leo inhaled and exhaled, his big chest raising her up with him. She rolled off him and they lay in bed face-to-face. She smiled. He smiled back.

  “You are the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said softly with a contented sigh.

  “Next time,” Leo promised, “I’ll put on some Gladys Knight.”

  “Gladys who?” Meghan asked.

  Leo laughed, “I knew you were too young for me.”

  Meghan giggled. “Psych! Of course I know who Miss Gladys Knight is. She and her brother Merald ‘Bubba’ Knight, along with two of their cousins, formed the group Gladys Knight and the Pips. She’s a Southern girl, you know. She was born in Atlanta.”

  “Merald? You know Bubba’s real name?” Leo exclaimed.

  Meghan smiled, snuggled closer to him and sultrily said, “You just made love to a history nerd of the first order, Mr. Darcy.”

  Leo laughed and kissed her. “I adore you, you nut!”

  Chapter 11

  On Sunday morning, Meghan was awakened by the smell of breakfast cooking. She slowly opened her eyes, relishing the feel of her body’s faint soreness from making love more than once last night. Felt for Leo on his side of the bed and discovered he wasn’t there. Then grinned at the memories she and Leo had made.

  She sat up. Leo had left the blackout curtains closed so it was dark in the bedroom. She reached over and switched on the nightstand’s lamp. Suddenly, the sound of scratching came from the door. She got up, realized she was naked and got her T-shirt off the closet floor. The shirt covered her sufficiently.

  She opened the door, and Chauncey and Malcolm came running into the room and pounced on her. Leo was right behind them, laughing. “Sorry, they got away from me. I let them out and fed them afterward. Now they’re bursting with energy.” He stepped over to her and hugged her tightly. Looking down at the dogs, he exclaimed, “Out, you two!”

  Instead, Chauncey sat down as if he’d told her to sit. To his surprise, Malcolm followed Chauncey’s lead and sat, too.

  Meghan laughed, “I guess she missed me last night, and doesn’t plan to let me out of her sight for a while.” She sighed. “I didn’t think I needed my dog’s permission to spend the night with you.”

  She met his eyes. “But then, this has never happened before, so how was I to know she’d think I was abandoning her?”

  “You sleep with your door open,” Leo guessed.

  “Yeah, and she’s awake half the night patrolling, and comes into my room to check on me several times during the night.”

  “In that case,” Leo said, “last night must have been stressful for her.”

  Meghan affectionately rubbed Chauncey’s chin. “Okay, girl, from now on, I’ll remember to leave the door open at night. But right now, you and Malcolm need to leave so I can shower and dress. Today, we go visit Miss Lillie and her friends at the nursing home.”

  Chauncey’s ears perked up when she heard the name Lillie. Meghan smiled at her pooch. Chauncey loved visiting the nursing home where Meghan’s former teacher, Lillie Franklyn, lived.

  Meghan stood up and in an authoritative voice said, “Go play with Malcolm, Chauncey.”

  Chauncey gave her one last sorrowful glance, then did as she was told. Leo watched the dogs leave the room, and after they were gone, he said, “I’m impressed. I haven’t even begun to train Malcolm. He’s still basically without any discipline.”

  Meghan went into his arms, put hers around his neck and gazed up at him. “Good morning. How long have you been up? Did my snoring wake you?”

  “Good morning, beautiful. I’ve been up a couple of hours. My internal clock wakes me at six every morning, whether I have to go to work or not. And you don’t snore.”

  “Even your internal clock is efficient,” Meghan said with wonder. “Is there anything you’re bad at?”

  “Wait till you taste my cooking,” Leo joked, then patted her on the behind, gave her another quick buss on the cheek and returned to the kitchen.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, they were sitting at the island in his kitchen chatting over a very delicious meal. “It seems you’ve exaggerated your ineptness at cooking,” Meghan jokingly accused him, her eyes alight with humor. “Your eggs are fluffier than my mother’s and Virginia prides herself on her scrambled eggs.”

  Leo eyed her over his coffee mug. “I’ve noticed you often refer to your mother by her first name. Why is that?”

  “It’s not out of disrespect, if that�
��s what you’re wondering,” Meghan told him. “My sisters and I began doing it when we were little. We felt we needed to be a united front against her. She was our only parent in some ways, you see, because Dad wasn’t home a lot. Desiree, who went into psychology in an effort to understand herself better, believes we did it to separate her ‘mother’ persona from her ‘Virginia’ persona, which was the disciplinarian. Mom was the lovable one, Virginia the impersonal rule maker who you didn’t disobey. So I suppose I refer to my mom as Virginia when I’m thinking of instances when she was laying down the rules.”

  “Cooking scrambled eggs?” Leo asked skeptically.

  “Cooking class was on Saturdays,” Meghan told him. “And it was definitely like school. We got graded on our scrambled eggs. I remember I got an F when she tried to teach us how to cook grits, a Southern staple. My grits always stuck to the pot,” she laughed. “Do you eat grits?”

  “Only when I go visit my parents,” Leo said. “Grandma Etta Mae knows how to cook grits, and they never stick to the pot.”

  Meghan laughed, “I knew I liked her for a reason.”

  Her cell phone rang, and she picked it up from the island’s counter and glanced at the display. “It’s Auntie Marjie,” she said. “I know she’s calling to see if I’ve made up my mind about the position she offered me.” She looked into his eyes. “Do you remember my telling you she and my mom were visiting me that day I was looking after Malcolm while you were sick?”

  “Yes, I remember,” Leo said, smiling. “The Higher Education Mafia.”

  Meghan smiled, apparently pleased he’d remembered. “Well, she offered me a position in her department that day. I’ve been putting her off because she told me you would be my supervisor. I thought it would be uncomfortable for me, and you, if we were working together.”

  “What’s their position on fraternization?” Leo asked. “I haven’t looked into it since being hired.”

  “There are couples who work at Duke. Of course, your behavior should be respectful and aboveboard. As long as you’re professional and are doing your job, you’re okay.”

  “Personally, I want to spend as much time with you as I can,” Leo said seriously. “You know my situation now. And like you said last night, we need to start living. Especially since I have no idea how long I have.”

  Meghan looked at him with sympathy. But then her expression became optimistic. “Duke has some of the best doctors in the country. When was the last time you got another opinion? Fresh eyes on the case. There could have been medical advances since the last time you were checked out.”

  “I go to the doctor every few months,” Leo said.

  “I know, but would you see a specialist here? Just to cover all the bases?”

  Leo frowned. He hated going to doctors. He’d gotten so much bad news from doctors, he had developed an aversion to them. They were a necessary evil as far as he was concerned.

  Meghan smiled. “I know you’ve already been through a battery of tests. Having this condition all your life, you must be tired of doctors. But would you try for me?”

  Leo grasped her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “Okay, babe. If you’ll accept the position at Duke, I’ll go run on a treadmill for one of their brilliant heart specialists.”

  “I’ll phone Auntie Marjie right now,” Meghan told him happily.

  * * *

  Marjorie answered right away. “Where did you disappear to last night?” was the first thing out of her mouth. “Rumor has it you left at around the same time as my new English professor.”

  “Is no one’s business private in this town?” Meghan cried, laughing.

  Meghan hadn’t yet read her messages this morning. But she’d noted that there were around forty new ones. Undoubtedly, her sisters and her mother had been blowing up her phone.

  Meghan smiled at Leo while she talked to Marjorie. “Is it true that couples can work together at Duke?”

  Meghan had to hold the phone away from her ear, Marjorie started screaming so loudly. “Yes,” she said after she’d calmed down. “As long as you’re the professionals I know you are and you perform your jobs well, we’re always willing to work something out. Does this mean you’re going to take the position?”

  “Yes,” Meghan said. “My contract will soon be fulfilled at Shaw. I was offered another, but haven’t given them my answer yet. Auntie, you know I love that school.”

  “Yes, but no one there would dream of holding you back. They understand how hard it is to make a living as an academic. They’ll wish you well, sweetheart. Besides, it’s not as if you’ll be abandoning them. You’re an alumnus. You’ll be at all the homecoming games and reunions.”

  “Go, Bears!” Meghan and her godmother cried in unison. Shaw was Marjorie’s alma mater, too.

  Leo laughed. He was getting used to the lively women around him. He sincerely doubted Meghan would ever stop surprising him with her enthusiasm for life.

  Meghan said goodbye to her godmother and regarded him with a broad smile. “It’s done,” she said breathlessly. “Our lives will never be the same.”

  * * *

  Leo smiled as if in agreement, but inside his emotions were a seething cauldron of misgivings. He should have told her about his sterility, and the fact nagged him. This morning, he’d gone out on the back porch to have a private conversation with Jake, who didn’t sound pleased to be awakened at six o’clock.

  “Why didn’t you tell her at the same time you told her about your heart?” Jake practically yelled at him. Then he lowered his voice. “Mina’s asleep beside me. Hold on, I’m going downstairs. I hope the general’s not up yet. That man acts like he’s still on army time.” Leo imagined Jake going downstairs at his in-laws’ house, trying not to make noise for fear he’d disturb Virginia and Alphonse’s sleep.

  He felt like an ass standing on his back porch, the air still filled with mist. The morning was crisp, but he knew the sun would come out and dispel the chill in the air, and the day would be bright and cloud-free. Such was April in Durham. It was a beautiful month.

  Finally, Jake started talking again. He sounded a little breathless. “So, you’re calling to ask me not to tell Mina you’re sterile because it just slipped your mind when you told Meghan about the murmur,” Jake deduced.

  “Yeah,” Leo confirmed. “And I hate to ask you to do that knowing you hate keeping secrets from your pregnant wife.”

  “Damn straight I do,” Jake grumbled. “You’re lucky I haven’t said anything to her yet.”

  “You haven’t?” Leo said, relieved. “But you told me you were going to tell her after you were married.”

  “It may come as a surprise to you, Leo, but I’ve got a life, too, and I’ve been busy living it. It slipped my mind, okay? I’ve been so wrapped up in Mina. I’m happy. I know the concept is new to you. But happiness is a state sought after by most red-blooded males. And while I’m glad you’ve finally found a woman who can stand you, I ask you—can that happiness be complete when you’re not being honest with her? Now, handle your business. Tell Meghan as soon as possible. Tell her while she’s in the throes of new love. That’s my advice.”

  “I know what you’re saying is true,” Leo told his brother. “But telling the woman you love that you can never give her a child isn’t as easy as you might imagine. She’s a healthy, vibrant woman who loves children. Physically, she’s perfection, and after last night I can say that with some authority.”

  “I don’t want to hear anything too intimate about my baby sister-in-law,” Jake warned him.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Leo assured him. “That’s between me and Meghan. All I’m saying is now that we’ve been together, I feel even worse about deceiving her. It pains me, and yet I can’t seem to form the words to tell her I’m not the man I appear to be.”

  “Tell me this,” Jake said. “Did you tell her you love her
?”

  “I told her I adore her,” Leo admitted. “And I meant it.”

  “Then you’re up shit creek without a paddle,” Jake told him. “Man, everything you say before you tell her you love her can be forgiven, and she’ll reason that you did it before you told her you loved her. So it doesn’t count. But anything after you’ve already said you love her? You come back with some new revelation? She’s going to suspect you were never truthful with her in the first place. Which means when you told her you loved her, you lied. Because to women, when you say I love you, it’s sacrosanct. Sacred, my brother.”

  “I do love her,” Leo insisted. “With all my heart, body, mind, spirit and everything else I have.”

  “You just don’t love her enough to risk losing her,” Jake said. He sighed. “I understand what you’re going through. I do. However, women can forgive a lot of things. Being dishonest isn’t one of them. Ask any woman on the street which quality she wants most in a man and she’ll tell you—honesty. So I feel for you. Plus, you’ve got that Dracula syndrome thing going for you, too.”

  “Dracula syndrome?” Leo asked, puzzled.

  “Dracula was a creature who lived forever, but he only survived by sucking the blood from people’s veins. Imagine how hard it was for him to sell a woman on that life. No woman wants to deal with that. I don’t care if she never ages and has a figure like a supermodel for the rest of her life. She wants to go out in the sun sometimes! You’re like Dracula, because deep inside you think no woman will ever want you because of your condition. So you set yourself up for failure each time you get brave enough to enter into a relationship. Like you did last night when you conveniently forgot to tell Meghan about your sterility when you told her about the heart murmur.”

  “I’m setting myself up for failure?” Leo cried incredulously.

  “Hell, yeah,” Jake said. “What other explanation is there for your actions?”