Secret Passions (9 page)

When she stopped hearing her heartbeat in her head, she realized he had moved back up near her and was just looking down at her, his head propped up by one of his hands. His other hand was spread wide on her stomach, slowly making circles on the soft skin.

“Mitch?”

“I know.” He leaned down and started kissing her gently. She’d never imagined she would want someone this bad, that the wanting was only half the pain. The need, the desire, the passions went beyond all her imagination.

Using her hands, she rolled him to his back and moved on top of him. Tucking her legs on either side of his hips. Her hands followed the same path his had. Running up his exposed, heated skin as she sat there, looking down at him with only her tank top on. Realizing she was still wearing it, she quickly pulled it up and over her head and it hit the floor. She heard his breath catch.

“So, beautiful.” He moaned and his hands came up and cupped her as her head rolled back and her eyes closed. He pinched her nipples lightly between his fingers and her eyes flew open again. Reaching down, she started running her hands over his muscles. She’d never touched a man before. Did they like the same things she did? Slowly she rolled the tips of her fingers over his flat nipples and saw his eyes close with passion. Leaning her head down, she ran her tongue over them and felt his hands fist in her hair gently. She took her time, running her mouth and hands over him, until finally she had moved down to the waistband of his shorts.

Using one finger, she hooked his shorts and started pulling them down off his legs. He gripped her hands to stop her.

“Are you sure?” She looked into his eyes and nodded her head.

“I want you so bad. I’ve always wanted you.”

She used her hands this time and pulled his shorts off. When his erection sprang free from his shorts, she gasped and held her breath. She never imagined that men looked this beautiful, that he’d be this beautiful. Tossing the shorts to the floor, she sat on her knees between his legs and just looked at him.

“Sandi?”

“Ssh, let me just look. Take it all in.” She ran a finger down the length of him and he moved with the light touch, causing her to be more interested in his parts. She used both hands to cup him, running her fingers over every inch until finally, he gripped her hands.

“If you keep doing that, you might get a little wet.”

She didn’t know what he meant by that, but she was ready to move to the next level, she just didn’t know what that entailed.

“Come up here.” He looked into her eyes and must have seen her questions. She scooted until she was lying next to him, side by side.

“Sandi, have you ever done this before?”

She shook her head, no.

“
I didn’t think so. What do you say, we take it slow?”

She nodded her head and he leaned over and started to kiss her. Building her passion back up until she felt she was close to exploding again. Then his hands moved over her skin. He moved them from her chest to the tops of her legs and back, circling everywhere but where she wanted him to touch again.

She angled her hips towards him, but he seemed determined not to touch her there. Reaching over, she gripped him lightly and she felt him freeze in place. He pulled his head back from hers, they were both breathing hard as she glided her fingers up and down over the length of him.

Then he finally reached down and touched her, using his fingers to spread her wide before slowly sliding a finger into her as she pleasured him. They matched beat for beat until finally she felt the explosion coming and gripped him tighter as he moaned with his pleasure.

She didn’t know how long they lay there like that. Finally, he rolled over and pulled her into his arms.

“I wasn’t going to do this, you know,” he said into her hair. It was soft and smelled of flowers and he wanted to stay there, wrapped around her, for the rest of time.

“Mmm, I never imagined it would be like this.”

He wanted to chuckle. He’d thought the same thing. It had never been like this with anyone else. And they hadn’t even technically had sex yet. What would happen when they finally came together completely, with no barriers to hold them back? He knew it was the smart thing to wait, but his body was telling him to reach down, pull her leg up and slid into her in one quick motion, burying himself deep in her heat. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something, anything that would stop his cock from rising to full staff again.

Then she moved against him and he lost that battle. His hands snaked around her, pulling her close to him, holding her still.

“Mitch?”

“Shh, just let me hold you.”

She snuggled, her back to his front and it was pure torture for him. But finally she settled her movements down and he lay there breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling her body rise and fall with each breath, until, finally they both slept.

“
W
hy can’t I go with you?”

“We’ve talked about this. It’s too risky. Look at what happened last time you left this building.” He gave her a look, and she wanted to pull her hair out.

“That was different and you know it. This is just a short trip to the market with you. You said yourself, it’s just a few blocks away. Besides, my hip is feeling better and being locked in this place is driving me mad.”

It had been two days since her run in with her cousin and the taxi cab and she was going crazy. She’d spent time on her art, but she was used to going out, seeing people, being around people. Having to live the way she used to again would kill her. Even though her childhood home was large and they had four gardens and over thirty rooms, she had always been a prisoner there. She knew that her future husband’s family had more wealth than her own and doubted their house would have been anything but more grandiose.

He looked down at her and she saw the moment he changed his mind.

“Fine, but I don’t want you to get out of my sight.”

She clapped and walked over to grab her new jacket and rushed to the door and closed it behind them.

When they reach the lobby, John was there helping another tenant move some heavy packages. They walked out and she waved to him as they passed by.

“I can’t believe you don’t know anyone else in your building.”

“Oh, I know a few other people. It’s just that I don’t get involved in their lives. I don’t know where they work, who their families are, those kind of things. I stick to my business and they stick to theirs.”

She shook her head, “You know, I always thought that America was one of the friendliest places on earth. The first year I moved here I spoke to a total of ten people outside of the women’s shelter I lived in. Most of them were my self-defense instructors.”

“So, that’s where you learned those fancy moves you put on your cousin back there.” He smiled at her and grabbed her hand in his. She enjoyed walking down the street, holding hands with him. “I was impressed. After my heart started beating again, that is.”

She smiled and moved a little closer to him, wrapping her arm around his.

“You heard all about Sandi the other night. Tell me something more about Mitchell.”

His smile fell away, and she could have sworn she felt him stiffen.

“There isn’t much to tell. I’ve already told you about my past.”

“No, you told me the bad things about your past. None of the good stuff. Like, where did you go to college?”

“Princeton. It’s in New Jersey. That’s where I met Ric Derby. Carter, Eve, and I all attended there after going to high school together. You can say we had decided early on to stick together.”

“Why does Eve have such a problem with Carter?”

He laughed, enjoying the fact that she could draw the good out of him. “Eve is smarter than Carter and that fact drives Carter nuts. The fact of the matter is, we should have made her partner a long time ago. The only thing stopping us is the fact that Carter enjoys the hold he has over her.”

“Do they hate each other that much?”

“Oh, I don’t think they actually hate each other. Well, you can say they have an underlying appreciation for one other. And they show it, too, when they aren’t thinking about killing one another.”

She smiled. “I’d like to meet Carter someday. I’ve seen the picture of you two on your laptop. You both look very happy.”

His smile fell away again, and she remembered the other photos that had popped on the screen.

“I saw the picture of you and Suzanne, too.” She looked down at their intertwined hands. Wondering if she was crossing the line. She wanted to know more of what happened between the pair, but was trying not to sound too eager for the information.

He stopped at the corner and turned to her. “Suzanne is in the past. I made my mistakes there and it’s over. You don’t need to worry about that part of my history.” He started to walk, but she pulled his hand back until he looked at her again.

“Mitch, I’m not trying to pry. We are molded by our history into who we are today. I think you know that I haven’t been with anyone else like this before. I don’t know the rules or etiquette. If I’ve crossed a line, I’m sorry.”

He moved closer until their noses almost touched, then he put his hands on her shoulders.

“You can ask me anything. I may not always give you the answer you want, but I’ll try.” He took a deep breath and looked around. “Come with me.” He pulled her into a small street cafe where they sat at a booth that looked out towards the busy street. After ordering two coffees, he pulled her hand into his again.

“Suzanne and I met at a business dinner. We didn’t hit it off at first. To be honest, looking back at it, that should have been a warning sign. But I suppose I was stubborn. I wanted something and I finally wore her down and went out with me. It was just shortly after I’d sobered up, and I was making up for one addiction with another one, by filling my bed with as many women as I could.”

He stopped and looked across the table at her. She tried to show no emotions.

“I did warn you, the truth sometimes sucks.”

She smiled slightly. “Continue.”

“
Well, anyway, I suppose I can be thankful for that long relationship, because she broke me of that habit. We started dating, then somehow it was two years later and I was walking in on her with her lover.” He stopped when the waitress refilled their coffee.

“I’m sorry,” she said after the young woman left.

“Don’t be. To be honest, I think she’s happier now. Did I happen to mention that her lover’s name was Stephanie?”

Sandi almost chocked on her coffee. He moved to her side of the booth and started smacking her back lightly to get her to breathe.

“I’m sorry.” He said, “I guess I should have made sure to say that after you’d swallowed.”

She waved her hand in front of her face. Her cheeks had turned a bright shade of pink. She tried to breathe though the heat that had seared her throat.

Finally, when she felt like she had her breathing and voice under control, she said,
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

She looked over at him and for a second, she thought he was mad. Then he burst out laughing and she followed.

“I guess when you look at it from a different point of view, it really is shocking and funny. You know, when I walked in on them, I actually thought she was giving me a
ménage à trois f
or my birthday.” Upon her blank look he laughed even more. “When two girls please one man.”

“Oh! Oh, no!” She looked a little shocked then held her sides. “That’s terrible.”

“Then why are you still laughing?” He chuckled.

“Because, I don’t know. Because you are.” She smiled across at him and reached for his hand. “Well, I can promise you this, I will never leave you for another woman, or man for that matter.”

His eyes dropped and she could tell she’d said too much, exposed too much of her thoughts. Pulling her hand away, she took another sip of her coffee as she looked out the window, only to come up short and spit her coffee out again, gasping for breath as she stared across the street, right into her father’s eyes.

For the second time in the last few minutes, Mitchell moved over and smacked Sandi’s back, trying to get her to breathe. This time, he knew it was nothing he said or did that had caused it.

Finally, when she could breathe, she pointed to the window. “My father.” Mitchell was up in a flash, he scanned the crowd on the street and didn’t see anyone that resembled the image of her father he’d memorized.

“
I don’t see him.” He started to pull her up, noticing her face was even redder than before.

“He was there. Next to the sign,” she said between coughs, pointed out the window again. He scanned the crowd a second time. Taking his wallet out, he tossed down a few bills, not caring if he had overpaid.

“Come on, we’re leaving.” He started pulling her out the door.

“Wait. Mitchell.” She pulled on his arm until he stopped. “Where are we going?”

“Home.” He started walking again. She pulled him to a stop just outside the cafe.

“No, I’m not going to run and hide every time I think I see my father.”

“You either saw him or you didn’t.”

“I did, at least...I think I did. My eyes were teary from all the coughing and laughing.” She bit her bottom lip. “I could have been mistaken.”

He thought about it. “Well, we’d better be safe rather than sorry. We’ll head back and order in.”

“No, Mitch. Please. If it was my father, then maybe we can get a look at him if he follows us to the market. We wouldn’t want to lead him back to your place.”

Why hadn’t he thought about that first? When she’d said she’d seen her father, his first instincts were to rush her to safety. Protecting her was his main goal now, and he’d do anything at this point to ensure that she remain safe.

“You’re right.” Taking her hand, he started walking towards the market slowly. “No, don’t. Keep looking forward,” he told her when she moved to look over her shoulder. “Just keep walking. Talk to me. Did you always want to be an artist?”

He could feel the tension in her body, next to his. Squeezing her hand lightly to reassure her, he started swinging their hands playfully. She smiled a little and started talking about when she first knew she wanted to be an artist. He found the story interesting, but was paying more attention to the people around him, looking through his dark sunglasses at every movement, every face. When they finished the short walk to the market, he grabbed one of the small handheld baskets and handed it to her. Then they walked from booth to booth, gathering basic groceries. His mind was so focused on everything else that he accidentally almost bought too many tomatoes.

“Mitch, I think we only need a few tomatoes, not a dozen. Unless you have plans to make enough spaghetti to feed your entire building.” She chuckled. He shook his head and set a few back down.