Authors: Gwyneth Bolton
He kissed the back of her neck and pulled her closer. Her words halted and she shivered.
“That’s what I meant by ‘you weren’t ready to hear it,’ but don’t worry. I’m dedicated to making you believe it.”
He could feel her pause, could almost see the wheels turning in her head. Her back was to him so he couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t have to see it to know she was probably talking herself into a million reasons why he couldn’t possibly have meant what he said, a million excuses about professionalism and how they shouldn’t be together.
Well, she could drop all that nonsense now. He wasn’t giving her up for anything or anyone. He also thought about the comments she made about her father and the way he died. The last thing he wanted to do was bring her father into bed with them at that moment, but he did feel the need to be closer to her.
“Tell me something about yourself, Samantha. I already know you’re the best physical therapist in the state of Jersey—”
“I’m the best physical therapist in the world,” she teasingly interrupted as she wiggled her hips.
He groaned, but he didn’t move away. He relished the seductive tingles that pulsed through his body. He felt alive holding her.
“Okay, the best in the world…Tell me something I don’t know. I know you were a daddy’s girl and your pops was a cop. What about your mom? What does she do?”
Her wiggling stopped, and he could feel her back straighten. “My mom’s in Chicago. She…ah…never really recovered after losing my father…She took it hard.”
Instinctively, he pulled her closer to him. She felt so amazing in his arms that he never wanted to let her go. Each curve of her body felt like bountiful perfection.
“She drinks…A lot…” Her short, stilted words hinted that she would rather not be talking about her mother, but she continued.
“From the time my father was murdered, she hit the bottle hard and hasn’t stopped. I’ve tried a lot of things over the years to try and get her to stop, but she won’t.” Her voice quivered a little, and he heard her take a big gasp of air.
“I tried to make her go to rehab, but she wouldn’t do it. I’ve stopped talking to her. I’ve threatened not to visit her. I’ve hounded her. I’ve done so much through the years. I think that’s why I was so happy to get in to graduate school in New Jersey. It meant I could finally leave home.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He didn’t know what else to say, so he just held her tight.
“It’s okay. It is what it is. She just couldn’t cope with my father’s death. His dangerous job cost him his life, and it cost me a father and a mother. I lost them both to that robber’s bullet.”
Again he had no idea what to say. She clearly had an issue with her father’s job. Would she have an issue with him returning to firefighting? Would it squash their barely starting relationship?
It couldn’t. He refused to let it. Knowing what he was up against, he vowed to make her see that they belonged together.
He pressed his lips to the back of her neck and planted soft kisses. With his hands wrapped around her, he cupped her breast and began a slow circular tease on her nipple moving from one to the other until they each pointed out in hardened peaks. He allowed his other hand to move down the front of her body. He spread his fingers over her stomach, caressing it lovingly. Moving lower, he found the slick folds of her sex and dived in, letting his hand soak up the intense heat.
He had no idea how long he familiarized himself with her body and its responses. The entire concept of time seemed foreign, and he was ruled only by the
“aahs”
and
“oohs”
of pleasure escaping her lips as she pushed back into him and wiggled her bottom.
Spooning never felt this good. Her voluptuous behind moved against his sex, and soon he was standing at full attention. He continued his play with her breasts and sex, even though his erection demanded attention because he loved the way she moaned as her body shook and another orgasm caused her liquid warmth to cover his fingers. He could ignore his needs knowing he was bringing her so much pleasure.
He allowed his fingers to explore her more fully, dipping and delving into her depths, driving himself to the edge of insanity right along with her. He added another finger, circling and stretching her as his thumb lightly pushed and pressed her pleasure spot. His other hand tweaked her nipple. He loved the way it hardened to a point in his hand.
Soft shudders caused her shoulders to move against him in need and surrender. But he wasn’t ready to let her off. He continued to work her with his hand, loving the sticky, sweet evidence of her desire.
“Joel…please…” She panted the words just as her back arched, her head tilted and more of her fire soaked his hand. “Please!” Her plea vibrated through the room, much like her thighs vibrated around his arms, holding him as the last bits of her orgasm coursed through her.
He continued his purposeful feeling, his determined exploration. He might not be able to totally make love to her the way he would have when he had a healthy back, but he could damn sure bring her pleasure unlike anything she had ever experienced. In fact, that was his new goal. Each time he felt her release, it sparked the hyper adrenaline in him that he hadn’t felt in the many months since he’d fought his last fire. He felt alive. And he was going to make her feel it, too.
He nibbled the back of her neck as he continued to stroke her. Her breathing slowed to soft, shuddering pants until her back straightened and her sex clenched his fingers. She moaned and cried out as she threw her head back into his chest.
This time, the feel of her tight, slick hold was his undoing. He had to feel her tightening around him like that again, but he wanted to be deep inside of her when it happened. He removed his hand and rolled over.
“Top drawer,” she directed with the same lilt.
He opened the top drawer of her nightstand and found the protection. Quickly shielding himself, he pulled her back into his arms, spooning her again. Her soft round behind cushioned him and made him think of the warm sweetness he’d left only moments ago.
He tilted her hips slightly and entered the heat of her womanhood. He felt her tighten around him almost immediately. They moved slowly and surely, in sync and as one. He was able to move deeper and deeper until he didn’t know where he stopped and she began. If ever there was a perfect fit, this was certainly it.
Each thrust felt like a homecoming, each withdrawal a loss. He pulled out to the tip. Breathed. Thrust back into the hilt. Hissed. He lost count how many times he repeated these actions. He only knew that he couldn’t get enough of the soft warm feel of her engulfing his manhood and soaking him with her desire.
If he didn’t know his own history, he would have sworn that he had never made love before. But the truth was he had never made love like
this
before.
He slowed his stroke, savoring the tight, slick heat of her. However, the hard pounding double beats in his chest and the unrelenting pulse throbbing all over his body told him it wouldn’t be long before he gave in to the call of bliss.
He cupped her breasts and kneaded them using them to pull her tighter to his body. She increased her pace, bouncing back with a fervor and desire that seemed to possess her. She pressed back, riding him with each soulful swivel of her hips. Each move made him squeeze and hold her tighter, made him thrust harder and faster.
Soon she screamed out his name and it was only a matter of seconds before he screamed out her name, as well. The satisfied sigh they each released echoed throughout the room.
“That feels nice. You’re so much gentler when you’re away from the clinic. You need to work it like that all the time.” Joel teased Samantha as she finished massaging his back.
They were lounging in his bedroom after watching a movie and having Chinese food. After only a week, he knew two things. He loved sharing his space with Samantha, and he was going to work on making sure he was able to keep her there.
She sucked her teeth and pinched his arm, hard.
“Ouch. You’re supposed to help, not hurt.”
“That’s what happens when you mouth off at your physical therapist, Hightower. She might just rub you the wrong way.”
“
Ha, ha, ha.
You’ve got jokes. Bring that sassy mouth of yours over here.”
She leaned forward and gave him a brief peck on the lips.
“I should probably head home. We have your family’s cookout tomorrow. I’m still not sure I should go….”
“What do you mean? Of course you should go. It’s just a little family get-together. We have them whenever we can during the summer, especially when we can get a bunch of us off from work at the same time. It’ll be fun. Plus, my mom specifically said, ‘Bring her to the cookout,’ and then there’s the more important reason,
I
want you there.” Joel turned and sat up. He pulled her into his arms and onto his lap before covering her mouth with a kiss.
He would never get enough of her. Her luscious lips opened to him immediately, and he smiled. Her tongue twirled like a tornado, leaving him devastated in the best way. He couldn’t envision rebuilding if he ever lost her. No kisses had ever floored him that way, and he knew none ever would.
She pulled away, panting, and it was good to see that she had been as affected as he was.
“I think we’re moving too fast.” She tried to move from his lap.
He held her tight. “And I don’t think we’re moving fast enough.” He slid the sleeveless T-shirt she was wearing off her shoulders and brushed his lips across her collarbone. “For example, you really should be naked by now.”
She grinned. “That’s not what I’m talking about, smarty-pants.”
“I know, but you should still be naked. I think much better when you are.”
“Nasty boy…”
He took her nipple in his mouth and suckled. If he had to work her until all thoughts of “too fast” were permanently erased from her pretty little head, then so be it. He was a man on a mission.
“Mmm…How am I supposed to have a conversation with you when you’re doing that? Mmm…” Her held fell back, and her back arched, feeding him more and more of the delectable chocolate morsels of her nipples.
He moved from one nipple to the other, feasting until she writhed on his lap and cried out in pleasure.
“Still wanna go slow?” he whispered in her ear as she came down from her peak.
She shook her head. “No way.” She smiled. “Hey…why aren’t we naked?”
“N
o, Mama, I can’t come home until late fall. I told you I had to wait until I get more vacation time.”
“Well, I think it’s horrible I only get to see my child once or twice a year. You really need to get a job closer to home, Sammie. Tomorrow isn’t promised. You’d think a person with only one parent left would get that.”
The snippiness of her mother’s voice made Samantha’s skin prickle.
It was the sober and sarcastic mother on the phone. Not that she could have a real conversation that wasn’t full of hurt feelings and accusations with Veronica Dash in any of her incarnations, but at least she could understand the words coming out of her mother’s mouth when she wasn’t inebriated.
Samantha had given up trying to make her mother get her act together. It was just too taxing on her mind and spirit. Getting accepted into graduate school in New Jersey and getting a job there felt like a lifesaver because she could no longer watch her mother drink her life away. It was bad enough seeing it twice a year and listening to it on the phone.
“Mama, you know I love you, and I spend every vacation I get in Chicago.” She sighed in frustration. “I could be taking a trip to the Bahamas or Jamaica, you know.”
“Oh…I’m so lucky my only child spends a couple of weeks a year with me. Whoopie! First my husband was murdered and I have to grow old without my soul mate and then my child decides to move to another state and I have to die…Oh, just forget it then, Samantha Elaine Dash! Just stay the hell in New Jersey forever for all I care.”
Click.
Being hung up on by one’s mother on a regular basis had to have some kind of cumulative hardening effect. There had been a time when she would have been so distressed by it she would have called right back, apologizing and begging for forgiveness.
Not today.
Today, she simply swallowed and placed the cordless back on the charger. The only thing Samantha learned she could do was hope and pray her mother made a change before her drinking caused irrevocable health problems. Or something worse.
Her mind traced back to her mother’s use of the word
die.
She never mentioned death or dying before in her rants, just her loneliness and misery.
Just as Samantha was about to pick up the phone and see if there was more to her mother’s latest phone call, the phone rang again.
It must be her. This time I’ll try to be more open and see if there is anything really wrong. She calls a lot anyway, but maybe this recent onslaught of phone calls has a deeper meaning behind them.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Definitely not Mom…
Samantha couldn’t help the big old grin working its way across her face.
After making love with Joel on Wednesday, they had fallen into a slow and easy pattern. Things hadn’t become all weird in their relationship, and she was convinced they would be able to finish out the last week of his therapy without drama. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about taking a chance and starting a relationship with a man who could be heading back to a dangerous job. And she wasn’t sure what was in store, but she was more or less ready to take the ride.
They had made love several times during the rest of the week at either her apartment or his town house, and he’d even gotten her to agree to attend a cookout at his parents’ home for Saturday. To calm her nerves, she reminded herself that it was just a little family get-together, nothing major. So what if she was about to meet everyone in his immediate family today.
Today,
she thought as she realized her mother’s phone call had totally taken her mind away from the task of finding something decent to wear.
“Hey, you…” She couldn’t keep the desire from her voice. It just seemed to go hand in hand with talking to Joel.
“So, are you just about ready? I was about to leave and come pick you up when I figured I should call, given how late you crept out of here last night.”
She smiled in remembrance. “I didn’t creep out of there. I just knew if I stayed, I wouldn’t get any rest, and I wanted to get my beauty sleep before meeting all your folks.”
He chuckled. “You don’t need beauty sleep. You’re gorgeous, but are you dressed and ready to go?”
She laughed. “I think I’ll only need about an extra half hour. I’m trying to pick out the right outfit.”
“Why don’t you wear those denim shorts you were wearing when I saw you at the grocery store…Oh, never mind, if I come to your place and you’re wearing those shorts we might not make it to the cookout.”
“Look at you. You’re full of the devil, as my grandmother used to say.”
“And you in the shorts ain’t nothing nice, girl…You liable to hurt a brotha, so wear whatever you want. But know this, if you are wearing those shorts, I can’t be responsible for the beast you’ll unleash.”
“Mmm…Now that sounds tempting. I like your beast. He’s rather cute.”
“And insatiable. My mother would have a fit if I didn’t bring you to the cookout after she more or less demanded you come when she met you the night you stopped by my place. And she’s been calling me every day since to remind me to bring you.”
“Your mother is so sweet. Tell me…will your dear aunt be there, too?”
“Yes, but you don’t need to worry about her, between her beef with my mom and my new sister-in-law she’ll barely have time to bother you at all.”
“Oh, great!” she said as sarcastically as she could.
He laughed. “Plus, I’m sure Little Miss Spitfire can handle my aunt just fine. Just put her in check like you’re always trying to check me.”
“
Trying
to check? Boy, please…You see how I whipped you into shape. You’ve had a complete attitude overhaul thanks to me.”
He really cracked up then. “See, nothing nice…I’ll pick you up in about forty-five minutes, hot stuff.”
“Okay. Bye.”
She hung up and finished raiding her closet for something fly to wear.
She had decided to wear a pair of peach linen shorts with a matching short-sleeved jacket and a sleeveless white silk camisole underneath. The summer suit was dressy casual, and she could take off the little jacket if it got too hot out. Joel’s eyes had popped out of his head when she’d opened her door, and it made her feel as beautiful as he kept telling her she was.
The ride over to his parents’ home was relaxed once they agreed on which CD to listen to. They both listened to hip-hop, but he preferred Jay-Z while she vibed to Nas. He was a die-hard Mary J. Blige fan and refused to buy her argument that Keyshia Cole represented the new generation’s version of the queen of hip-hop soul. The more she thought about it, the more she realized they actually had more in common than not, including the fact they were each
very
opinionated.
Luckily, they both liked Algebra Blessett and her music was in a class by itself, so they mellowed out on the short drive from her apartment in to his parents’ huge home on the East Side of Paterson, listening to Algebra.
She tried not to be nervous as she entered the backyard of the Hightowerses Tudor-style minimansion right across the street from East Side Park. She had driven by these beautiful homes in Paterson before, but she had never been in one. The home had a stately elegance that was breathtaking. Everything from the leaded glass to the beautiful wood built-ins gave the home an old-money feel. They had also done some remodeling, which was evident in the state-of-the-art kitchen. The teakwood deck in the backyard was nothing to sneeze at, either.
“Your home is gorgeous, Mrs. Hightower,” Samantha gushed after coming back from a quick tour with Joel.
“Thank you, sweetie. It’s been the family home for several generations. My husband, James, grew up here and his father before him. I’m glad you were able to make it. Let me introduce you to everyone.” Celia cut her eyes in Sophie’s direction. “You already met my sister-in-law, Sophie. This is my husband, James Hightower.” She pointed to a man who could only be described as an older version of the four other handsome Hightower men sitting around the large teak table on the deck.
They were all tall, deep-chocolate versions of heaven, and the finest of them all had his arm around her.
Joel continued to hold her close as his mother introduced her to Patrick, Lawrence, Jason and his wife, Penny.
Penny had to be the prettiest woman she had ever seen. She had the oddest color eyes and these long, golden-brown sisterlocks that made Samantha question why she continued to do two-strand twists in her own hair when she could be wearing some fierce sisterlocks like Penny’s.
Penny’s mother, Carla, and father, Gerald, were also there, as well as two friends from California, Maritza and Terrell.
She nodded politely and said hello to everyone, but with each new person she started to get this feeling of dread. What was she doing attending a cookout at her patient’s home and meeting his family as if they had some kind of future together? Hadn’t she sworn off ever dating a man with a dangerous job?
Even if they did have a future, wasn’t it too soon to play “meet the folks”? Shouldn’t they date for a while first?
What have you got yourself into?
She took a deep breath and tried to keep the smile plastered on her face while her heart started playing a conga in her chest.
It was at that moment she felt a slight reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. She tilted her head and gazed right into Joel’s expressive brown eyes and what she saw there, oddly enough, calmed her.
She knew if she had seen that level of loving, caring and devotion in his eyes weeks before this moment she would have ran in the other direction, but seeing it now just made her smile and nod.
“So, you’re the girl who has my son walking around here with the look.” James Hightower stood behind his wife and wrapped her in his arms.
“The look?” She glanced at Joel again.
“Yes.” James nodded in Jason’s direction. “Take a look at my son Jason over there.”
She glanced over at Jason. He was grinning up a storm and couldn’t seem to take his eyes off his beautiful wife. She turned back to James with a quizzical expression. She had no idea what she was supposed to be seeing.
“Oops. She doesn’t recognize it yet. Guess you’ve got your work cut out for you.” James winked at Joel.
Joel smiled and shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’m more than capable of helping her see it. I’m the only man for the job.”
James nodded. “I have no doubt. Nothing can stop a Hightower when he has that kind of focus. Ask your mama.” He gave Celia a slow peck on the lips, lingering just enough to cause everyone to stare and then went back over to the grill.
James Hightower seemed more interested in checking out his wife than those bratwursts on the grill.
He’d better start paying attention to the grill. The only thing I like burnt at a cookout is my hot dog, and even those I don’t like too burnt….
It was cute though to see an older man still so much in love and devoted to his wife he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
She turned to Joel, who was gazing at her.
“Your family is nice,” she said in an attempt to break his stare.
“Yes, they’re cool. I think I’ll keep them.”
“It must have been so cool growing up in a big family with older and younger siblings.”
“It was. I liked knowing they would always have my back, even though sometimes I just wanted them to mind their own business. I’m sure they’ve felt that way about me at times, too. You were an only child, right?”
“Yep, just me and Mom after Daddy died, and both of them were only children, so I didn’t even have cousins….”
She just pursed her lips and cut off her own words. Sitting there basking in the closeness of his family, she didn’t want to call attention to her own dysfunctional relationship with her mom or her lack of family.
The Hightowers had it right. They were what a family was supposed to be, and at that moment, she just wanted to fit in.
“Samantha, would you like to come on in the kitchen with us to finish up the side dishes? We can have girl talk while the guys finish the grilling.” Celia Hightower came over and it was hard not to be won over by her smiling face and pleasant demeanor.
“Sure, I’d love to.” She got up and followed Celia, Penny and Maritza into the kitchen.
Celia stopped before opening the screen door. She opened her mouth and closed it again before taking great pain to speak. “Sophie, would you like to join us?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Sophie turned her head sharply after giving off a haughty expression of disdain that seemed to stop and rest on each of them. “Too many…cooks…Mmmph.”
Celia smiled an easy and relieved smile. “What about you, Carla?”
Penny’s mother was cuddled next to Penny’s dad, and it didn’t look like she was moving anytime soon. “Y’all know I don’t cook, but y’all need to hurry up and get this party started. I’m hungry.”
“Eat some chips or something.” Penny rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“I don’t want no chips. I want food.
F-O-O-D. Food.
” Carla rolled her eyes at Penny and then snuggled back up with Gerald.
“Okay, Carla, we’ll have things ready in a sec.” Celia shook her head and kept walking into the house.
“My mother is a nut,” Penny said, rolling her eyes.
“Your mother is hilarious. Ain’t no shame in her game, that’s for sure.” Maritza laughed. “She cracks me up. I love Carla. She’s off the chain!”
“Carla is real, and she tells it like she sees it, that’s for sure,” Celia said. “Okay, Penny, you’re on pasta salad, and Maritza can help you with that. I guess we can share the family recipe with her since she’ll end up with Terrell one day and he’s like a son to me, so that makes her family.”
“Terrell? No way. He works my last nerves.
El stupido.
Argh!” Maritza turned to Penny. “Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here,
chica?
I didn’t know he was coming until he had the
nerve
to call me and to try and tell me what to wear to the cookout! Like I don’t know how to dress myself?”