Emerging Temptation: A BWWM Romance Limited Edition Collection

by Peyton Banks

  “No.” Her feet kicked out of the covers, and she sat up.

  “Hey.” I touched her shoulder. She shook it off. “Shani, it’s me. Hey.”

  I grabbed her shoulders.

  “What happened?” Her tone childlike. Her big brown eyes darted around the room.

  “You’re at my place. It’s okay?” I pulled her to me.

  I placed my hand over her heart. It raced.

  “You were talking in your sleep.” I ran my other hand down her arm.

  She turned and looked me up and down. Recognition hit, and she climbed into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me as if something or someone was chasing her.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” I rubbed her back. “What was it about?”

  She stiffened and let go.

  “Just a nightmare.” She rubbed her face.

  “It’s okay.” I caressed her cheek. “I have them too.”

  “What’s in your nightmares?” She smiled up at me, and my cock twitched under her thigh.

  Suddenly aware of how naked we were, she slid off my lap and pulled the sheet up over her chest.

  “You’re getting modest on me now.” I chuckled and wrapped my arm around her waist and led her to lay back down. “I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

  “You go first.” She flipped on her side and cuddled against me.

  I kissed the top of her head. Where do I start? I knew talking about what I feared might help. It would be the advice I’d give anyone I rescued. I had a hard time following my own advice. Especially with people I loved.

  My mother and father were the only ones who knew why I left the department after Hurricane Harvey. Instead of dealing with it and explaining myself to my friends and coworkers, I left.

  “I lost someone two years ago.” I shuddered.

  Shani gripped me tighter. “I’m sorry.”

  “My girlfriend Lizzy was a firefighter, too.” I paused. “I worked for a search and rescue team outside of Austin. They called us into duty for Hurricane Harvey and we drove to Houston hours after the storm left. I trained for years to join the search and rescue team. It was our job.”

  When I closed my eyes, the rush of the water filled my mind, the sounds of debris scraped together, people screamed.

  “What I didn’t know was a lot of the local fire departments were sending teams down to help. She was supposed to be facilitating transports, guiding people to safety. Non-hazardous activity. That sort of thing.” I wiped a tear from my face. The tears surprised me. I had not cried about Lizzy in over a year.

  “What happened?” Shani looked up at me, my sadness reflected in her eyes.

  “I was told a report came through that two kids and a dog were seen floating on some debris in rising water a few blocks from her post. She and another guy on our squad took off looking for the kids. They found them and attempted a rescue. They got the kids out safe, but she got washed away in the storm surge. When the water receded, they found her body.”

  “Oh my God.” I brushed the tears from Shani’s face. “That’s horrible.”

  “I had to identify her. I didn’t want her parents to see her like that.”

  Shani placed her hand on her heart.

  We held each other. I tried to forget, swipe the image of Lizzy's bloated and distorted body out of my head. I wanted to remember her the way she looked the last moment we spoke, beautiful and happy. She held a gleam in her eye that made me appreciate being loved by someone. She reminded me what life was all about.

  “What was she like?” Shani rested her chin on my chest. Her big brown eyes curious and sad.

  “She was kind, but tough. She cussed, but then apologized for it.” I laughed at the memory. “She was athletic, she loved kids, but not a fan of babies. Said they were too unpredictable. She would have made a great...”

  My words broke up as tears poured down my face. I covered my face.

  Shani crawled on top of me and wrapped her body around me. She rode out my shed tears, as the pain racked my body all over again. She held and peppered by face and chest with little kisses, injecting shots of her compassion. Her own tears dropped on my cheeks mingled with my own.

  “She shouldn’t have been there. She wasn’t trained to do what she did. I should have been with her. I could have saved them both,” I whispered against her cheek.

  “I’m so sorry,” Shani whimpered.

  My tears subsided.

  “No one knew she was pregnant. I wasn’t sure she knew. The doctor who performed the autopsy told me. He thought I would have wanted to know. I wished he hadn't told me.” I wiped my face. “It wasn’t until weeks later, when I was going through her stuff, did I realize she knew. She had planned to tell me on our anniversary a few days later.”

  The darkness consumed me weeks after her death.

  “Are you happy you know now?” Shani’s eyes filled with tears. It broke my heart. I didn’t want my pain to be her burden. I wiped the tears off her face and my own.

  “I’m not sure. I’m happy that she knew, and she was happy about the baby.” I frowned. “And, I’m pissed at her for putting herself in danger knowing she was pregnant with my kid.”

  “She loved her job.” Shani scrunched her eyebrows together. “She tried to rescue those kids on instinct.”

  “Maybe.” I nodded, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  “Maybe,” Shani whispered and laid her head on my chest. “Thank you for telling me.”

  Her body melted into mine, it was natural and right. It wasn’t hard, telling Shani my story. The weight lifted. My insides calmed. The quiet wasn’t so quiet with her in my arms. It was bearable, comforting. It made me want her more. Not exactly proper foreplay, but sharing my story with Shani made me want to get inside of her in every way she would allow.

  She lifted her head and stared into my eyes. I reached around and grabbed her ass and squeezed. I leaned up and captured her lips in mine and pressed my tongue in her mouth. I squeezed her ass again. My cock grew hard between us.

  I had to get inside of her. I hoped she’d understand.

  I kicked off the covers and slid her off of me while grabbing a condom from the nightstand.

  “What are you doing?” She pulled the sheets up over to cover her body.

  “I want to be inside of you again.” I laid back down on my side and yanked at the sheet.

  “Didn’t you get enough?” She giggled.

  “Not even close.” She released the sheet and laid on her back. “Roll over on your stomach.” I guided her, but she resisted.

  “My ass looks much better covered, believe me.” She rolled her eyes and reached for me.

  I grabbed the fleshy part of her backside.

  “Don’t talk about this epic ass like that.” I flipped her over on her stomach and straddled her thighs. I ran a hand over her lower back and over both ass cheeks.

  I bent over and whispered against the back of her neck. My breath tickled her spine, and she shivered. I slid my hand down. She arched like a cat. My fingers continued over her lower back, down her ass to her pussy. I slipped two fingers in, enjoying her heat and wetness. She moaned and gripped my fingers. I pulled them out.

  The sexiest little whimper left her lips.

  “Don’t listen to her.” I slapped her ass. She groaned and glared at me over her shoulder.

  I leaned down and whispered against the skin of her left butt cheek. “You’re perfect.”

  I laid kisses across her flesh until I had her begging me to fuck her again.

  7

  Oscar

  We had sex all night in all three rooms in my apartment. I walked her home, and we lingered outside of her brownstone, sharing kisses.

  Shani yawned. We laughed.

  I kissed her again and sent her upstairs to get some sleep. I walked down the street, ended up at the firehouse. My brain buzzed from lack of sleep, but I wasn’t sleepy. I was happy. Shani was exhausted, I was wired.

  And happy.
>
  I parked myself in a training room at the firehouse. I couldn’t concentrate at home. I fired up my laptop and studied my slides for a search and rescue seminar I had scheduled at the Academy later in the week. I tried my best to reveal the realities of a search and rescue emergency. I ended each lecture reminding the cadets it would be nothing like they imagined. No stupid lecture would prepare them for thinking on their feet and adapting to the situation. I never got personal during one of my trainings, but talking about it would be good. From a looking-out-for-your-fellow-officers standpoint. I made some notes.

  Being in search and rescue for over seven years taught me one thing. It was unpredictable. The training helped sixty percent of the time. The other forty was instinct and intuition. Experience played a part, too.

  I reviewed statistics about a recent national disaster and pulled real video to incorporate in my presentation when someone knocked on the door.

  “O.” David, one of the officers of the firehouse, poked his head in. “What you working on?”

  “Training material.” I flipped through the hard copy of my presentation.

  “Dude?” David said.

  I looked up and caught the grin on his face.

  “What?”

  “You look all happy.” He snickered. “What’s gotten into you?”

  My cheeks grew red. I rubbed my face but didn’t answer him.

  “Shut up.”

  “I’m just saying you look happy,” David held his hands out, palms up. “You're always so serious.”

  “Are you done?” I lifted my head.

  “There’s some guy out here asking for you.” He nodded.

  “Who is it?” I wasn’t expecting anyone. No one knew I was here. I stood up and closed my laptop.

  “Some guy named Jacob Daniels.” David looked down the hall. “He said you guys have a mutual friend, and he wanted to talk to you about her.”

  “Her.” I blinked.

  I followed David out of the training room and down the hall.

  “How often do y’all go out on a call?” His voice was loud—I heard it before I turned the corner. He had a slight Southern accent.

  The house buzzed this time of day. Guys scurried around, training, cleaning fire engines, checking on supplies.

  Jacob stood near the front of the house. He leaned on one of the trucks with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked out of place in his gray tailored pinstripe suit. At six foot tall, he looked in shape. I took him in, measured him up. An expensive watch sat on his right wrist. His suit strained against his shoulders and forearms. He wore fancy leather sneakers instead of dress shoes.

  When he saw me, he dropped his arms and shoved his hands in his pants pockets. He flipped his longish brown hair back and made a weird expression with his face.

  I didn’t like the guy.

  I walked up to him. He stood up straight and stepped back a few feet. If we were closer, he’d have to look up at me. He was aware.

  “Jacob Daniels.” He held out his right hand.

  "Oscar Hunt." I shook it, squeezing it firm to test his grip strength. He released my hand.

  “Do I know you?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  He nodded and mimicked my stance.

  “Well, sort of.” He rubbed his chin and took another step back. “You’re fucking my wife.” A few officers standing nearby stopped what they were doing. “I guess that makes us acquaintances at the least.” Jacob rocked on his feet, lifting to his maximum height.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I dropped my hands and took a step forward. I had four inches on him. I heard him, but it didn’t register.

  “You are fucking Shani Daniels, right?” He held a hand out. “You might know her as Shani Rogers.”

  My chest tightened. My hands drew up into fists. I went on the defensive, ready to defend Shani. And then it hit me. I stepped back.

  His wife.

  “You’re Shani’s husband?”

  He nodded.

  “Her ex-husband?” I grunted.

  “Is that what she told you?” His smug expression made my fist tense, ready to punch him in his perfect fucking face. I imagined the guy had never been in a fight. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. He turned towards the street. A true sign of his deceit.

  I relaxed and stood next to him.

  “Shani needed some time, to find herself. She went from her parents house to my house, never been on her own. I gave her six months. She needed to figure out what she wanted out of life. She wasn’t satisfied with our life. So I gave her space.” He nodded. “Any man who loves a woman the way I love Shani would do the same.”

  “So...”

  “A month ago we started talking again. Working on our relationship. She got the space she needed. She asked me to come up to discuss so we could talk about getting back together.” He tilted his head. Checking to see if I bought his bullshit.

  “Whatever Shani did during the separation, I understand. I don’t hold it against her.” He rubbed his chin again. “I didn’t live like a monk myself.” He chuckled.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I turned to face him.

  “Shani will talk to you, I’m sure. I just didn’t want you to hold it against her.” He squared his shoulders to me. “I thought I could soften the blow, give you a little insight.”

  “Insight?” The guy pushed my buttons. I used my sleeve to polish a spot in the chrome on the fire truck. Anything to distract me from throwing him out of my firehouse.

  “Shani’s had a difficult life.” He leaned against the truck. “She’s an amazing woman. So creative, but she’s in her head too much. Her self-esteem has been pretty low since I met her. No confidence at all. She thinks and reacts and then deals with the consequences or runs away. She’s been that way since I met her.”

  “People change.” He wasn’t describing the Shani I knew.

  “People change.” He nodded. “Maybe Shani has. But, if she hasn’t told you any of this, maybe she hasn’t changed much.”

  My mind raced through everything Shani had told me and stuff she hadn’t. The entire time we had been together, she had something she wanted to tell me, something she needed to confess. When I asked, she remained quiet. Or stirred the conversation back to me.

  He was right. Shani was an amazing woman. She ran away to Brooklyn to experience a new life for herself. She omitted the part where she left a husband back home. I had questions, but I couldn’t figure out the words to ask. And, I didn’t need the answers from him.

  I dropped my hands and my head. My bubble had burst with a resounding pop!

  For the first time in a long time, I had let my guard down, I shared my fears with this woman and she’d accepted me. Shani was happiness and hope rolled up into a sassy-mouthed, strong, curvy black woman. She challenged me. Made me see the world different. She saw me as a hero and had done a good job of convincing me it was okay. It didn’t make me infallible.

  I looked over at the guy, in an expensive suit and kicking the ground with his perfect clean shoes. The street traffic buzzed by. Kids played in the park across the street, oblivious to the fact that my world had shattered.

  His insight pulled the rug out from under me, and I was in a free fall all over again. Hitting the bottom would hurt, more than it had before.

  I had to talk to Shani.

  8

  Shani

  I laid down, but sleep evaded me. I closed my eyes and images of his muscular arms and full lips filled my brain. I could feel his strong fingers inside of me and the way they gripped my ass when his penis filled me up. I got up thirty minutes later and tried to work, but my brain was distracted.

  I had to talk to Oscar. I tried last night and this morning, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. I was stuck until I got it out and told him the truth about my past. I

  I tried to work, but abandoned it shortly after. I couldn't quiet my mind. My brain tried to not obsessed over his
loss. The pain in his voice when he told me about Lizzy resembled the pain in my heart. Oscar felt he let Lizzy down. I let myself down.

  We were perfect for each other.

  My phone rang.

  I gasped and jumped.

  I searched my bag and retrieved it. The caller ID said Mom.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  A rustling sound passed through the phone.

  “What are you doing?” I put the phone on speakerphone.

  “Your father wants to know what your plans are for the holidays?” She didn’t answer my questions.

  “I haven’t thought about it yet.”

  “You could come home.”

  “I’m not coming home, but you all can come here.” I nodded.

  “Your father hates New York. He thought it was the reason you moved there.” My mother tsked under her breath.

  “Dad wouldn’t have liked any place I moved to.” I scratched my forehead.

  “Well, he didn’t understand why you left Jacob.” A muffled voice rose in the background.

  “I’m not having this conversation again.” I hid my face, not wanting to get into it again with my parents about Jacob. They never knew what happened between us and blamed me for leaving him.

  The oven beeped.

  “Listen.” I walked into the kitchen. “I have to go. I have someone coming over for dinner.”

  “A young man.”

  “Yes. A man.” I figured I should get it over with. “I’ve moved on.”

  “Shani.” My father grabbed the phone. “You’re seeing someone?”

  “Uhm.” I stammered. “Yes, sir.”

  “Does Jacob know?” My father spoke something to my mom I couldn’t understand. “I’m just saying he didn’t mention it.”

  “You talk to him?” I stood up straight. “When?”

  “A couple of weeks ago.” My father paused. “He told me what you told us, that you both wanted different things. He was as convincing as you are.”

  “Dad, I have to go.” I didn’t wait for them to answer. Before I said something I regretted, I hung up the phone. Last night was the best night of my life. Oscar made me feel things Jacob couldn’t approach with a ten-foot pole. My G-spot for starters.