Tender Touch (17 page)

“We should—” he began.

Jade nodded then watched him tear open the
package. His hands shook as he shoved the remaining oversized
pillow from the back of the sofa. He took a small throw pillow and
placed it under her bottom. Gazing into her eyes, Damon guided her
hands as she gently rolled the condom into place. She pulled him
down on top of her and pressed his mouth to hers. As their tongues
met, he entered her. Slow rhythmic motions rebuilt the smoldering
embers into a roaring flame that seared through them. They talked
to each other, at first in soft words of desire. But soon the
urgent need to satisfy a roaring hunger took control. Their soft
murmurings became cries of ecstasy. With one long, shuddering moan
Damon let go. Jade screamed his name as she felt herself release.
They lay holding each other a long time, wrapped in a cocoon of
contentment.

Damon went to the hall closet and brought
back a soft cotton blanket. “Here, now that we’ve cooled off—”

“Speak for yourself.” Jade giggled. Even so,
she allowed him to cover them both with it. Damon sat up and pulled
her to snuggle against his chest. “Of course you wouldn’t be chilly
if you put on some clothes. Wicked thing.”

“Me?”

“Uh-huh. Had your way with me right here on
the sofa. You couldn’t even be bothered to seduce me into the
bedroom.” Jade rubbed her cheek against the hair of his broad
chest.

“I’ll never be able to sit in here again
without a big smile on my face,” Damon said with a chuckle as he
gave the arm of the sofa a pat. “But I don’t regret one minute. Do
you?” He became serious.

Jade hugged him tighter. “No, indeed! By the
way, thanks for keeping your word.” Her eyes sparkled when she
looked up at him.

“Which promise was that?”

“To go real slow and take your time. Just
what I needed, baby.” Jade laughed deep in her throat.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Damon grinned at her. “I
aim to please. Now would you like to see the bedroom?”

“Hmm, I’m getting sleepy.” Jade yawned.
“Maybe I’d better go home now, or I’ll be here all night.” She
stretched.

“Exactly,” Damon whispered. With a playful
pat on her buttocks, he pulled her down the hall.

They kissed with tender affection before
dozing off. But only a few hours later, they were once more riding
a tidal wave of lust. It was a night that left them both happily
exhausted and sure of their love.

Chapter 7

Clarice tapped out a rhythm with the tip of
her ink pen as she sat at the small desk in a corner of the den.
“Damon Knight,” she said for the fourth time.

Alton did not lower the newspaper. “Hmm,
hope the Jaguars beat Grambling good this year. Tired of listening
to Burrell shooting off his mouth about his alma mater stomping on
our team.”

“He’s one fine young man.” Clarice put away
the stamps and envelopes she’d been using to pay bills. “Wonder how
far it’s gone.”

“Bayou Classic is going to be better than
ever. They’ve got the Neville Brothers to play at the Alpha Kappa
Alpha dance that Friday night. Gonna be a blast.” Alton ignored her
comment.

“The Knight family has been prominent in the
state for over a hundred years at least, Alton. And to think Jade
was the one that snared him.” Clarice sounded surprised at the
fact. She settled on the plush sectional sofa.

Alton lowered the newspaper with a deep
sigh. “Stay out of it, Clarice. It’s none of your business. When
Jade tried to squirm out of that dinner, you should have taken the
hint.”

“She didn’t squirm out of anything. We’re
going to have it in another week and a half. On a Friday night
before her trip.”

“Strong-armed her into it anyway, huh?”
Alton’s mouth turned down in disapproval. “Shoulda known you’d get
your way come hell or high water.”

“We’re having a roast,” Clarice said. “Jade
made the selection.”

“Didn’t have much choice once you cornered
her.”

“Damon went through a real bad marriage and
divorce. Lanessa told me all the gory details. And they’re the same
age,” Clarice went on as though her husband had not spoken.

“Clarice,” Alton said in his gravel like
voice. “Our daughters are grown women who should be capable of
running their own lives.”

“He seems a little... ahead of Jade, if you
ask me. I mean even with his bad experience with Rachelle Balleaux,
he’s not exactly been slow to bounce back. From what I hear, he’s
been seen with some of the most elegant young women in the past
year. All old money of course.”

Alton grunted. “Of course.”

“I hear that Marlene Knight—she was one of
the St. Landry Parish Cormiers you know—makes sure her sons date
and mate the ‘right’ girls. The woman is very demanding.” Clarice
wrinkled her nose with disapproval. “One of those people who always
insist on having her way.”

“Humph, sounds familiar,” Alton grumbled in
an undertone.

“So Jade is going to have to pass her
inspection. Poor dear, Jade is going to fold or get smart with her.
You know how she is,” Clarice said.

“That’s my baby girl. Jade has a dozen
low-key ways of telling folks to go jump.” Alton chuckled.

Clarice shot a reproachful glance at him. “I
don’t think we should encourage that behavior, Alton.” She sat in
thought for several minutes. “The more I think about it, the more
it seems that those two won’t be together long.”

“What are you saying?”

Clarice pursed her lips and was silent for
several seconds. “Damon and Jade are completely incompatible. But
now Lanessa and Damon would make a perfect pair.”

“Wait just a minute—” Alton slapped down the
section of newspaper he was holding.

“He’s got the kind of sophistication that
Lanessa can handle with ease. She’s a high-stepper for sure as my
grandmother used to say.” Clarice spoke of her older daughter with
pride.

“Clarice!” Alton snapped in a commanding
tone. Clarice stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. “This is too
much even for you!”

“Why Alton, I...” Her voice trailed off at
the stern look of ire on his face.

“Jade seems happier than she’s been in
almost three years. You’d try to sabotage that?” Alton let her see
just how loathsome he found the notion.

“Alton Earle Pellerin, how dare you even
think I’d do such a thing?” Clarice drew herself up in outrage. “I
said nothing about trying to come between them.”

“I know you too well, woman. You’ve decided
he’s right for Lanessa and thinking of other men for Jade. Some
sort of consolation prize for the child. I won’t have it.” Alton
did not back down from her. Once in a great while he took a stand
against his wife’s more blatant meddling.

“I only meant that it’s clear Jade and Damon
won’t be together long. You know I have a feel for these things,”
Clarice tried to explain.

“And your feelings have been wrong before.
Jade and Nick are a prime example.”

“But what about Lanessa’s husband? Everyone
else thought he was so wonderful. I tried to tell her, but would
she listen? And look how it turned out.” Clarice shook a finger at
him.

“Yeah, I still say Brandon wasn’t such a bad
guy. Lanessa did her part in messing up their marriage,” Alton
said.

“Nonsense. But I’m not going to argue with
you about Brandon again.”

“Good.” Alton got up to retrieve the remote
and turned on the television.

“You’re wrong as usual. Anyway, there is no
reason Lanessa can’t date Damon when they break up—only after a
decent interval, of course.”

“If they break up, Clarice. From the way
they looked at each other the night we saw them together, I think
you’re way off base on this one.” Alton was losing interest now. He
punched the buttons until he found the sports cable channel. “Just
leave it alone.”

“Well, we’ll see. I give it three months
tops—and that’s stretching it.” Clarice folded her arms.

“Our children are grown. Let them handle
their lives.”

“I want both my girls to be happy, Alton.
They’ve been hurt, and I want them to find true love and happiness.
Why is that wrong?” Clarice had repeated this question numerous
times when her husband or daughters were critical of her attempts
to help them.

“Sure, baby. I know deep down you do, but
they’re not little girls anymore. They have to make their own
way.”

“Yes, yes.” Clarice had heard all this
before.

He gazed ahead. “Jade doesn’t have enough
self-confidence, and Lanessa seems to be drifting somehow.” Alton
shook his head as though the effort to fathom his daughters was too
great a task. “Anyway, sticking your nose in their love lives won’t
help matters for either of them.”

“Yes, dear,” Clarice said in an indulgent
manner. “Of course you’re right. Oh, look, the game is about to
start.” She pointed to the big-screen television. A smile of
satisfaction curved her lips when he turned to watch it.

“Dallas against Oakland.” Alton propped his
feet up on the leather ottoman that matched his favorite recliner.
He had forgotten the discussion already. “This is gonna be
good.”

“Jade needs a stable man in her life.”
Clarice held a novel in her lap without looking at it.

“Uh-hmm.” Alton was engrossed in the
announcer’s pre-game comments on the line-up.

“Someone like...Dorothy Vicknair’s son,”
Clarice said with a snap of her fingers.

Alton glanced back at her for a second.
“What was that?”

“Nothing, honey.” Clarice watched him turn
his attention back to the muscular men who bounded out onto the
field. “Nothing at all.” She smiled to herself.

* * *

“Sure you don’t mind going without me? I
know what an ordeal tearing yourself away from the business will
be.” Eddie Simon gazed at Damon with a gleam in his eyes. He had
stopped by Damon’s office on his way back from a meeting.

“Don’t worry about it. At first I hesitated
to leave Joe with all the work, gearing up for year-end inventory,
but we’ll handle it.” Damon cleared his throat. He worked hard not
to let the anticipation show on his face or in his voice.

The truth was he had been unable to
concentrate on business, or anything else for that matter, for the
past three days. The quarterly sales reports, operating budgets and
marketing reports were no match for the memory of Jade. Damon could
still taste the tangy-sweet trace of her lips just by closing his
eyes. He could not wait to show her all his favorite places in
Washington. Already he was thinking of at least two days when they
would skip the latest workshops to visit a few galleries. Most of
their days would be busy. But the nights? A finger of heat tickled
through him at the thought of holding her close while they
danced.

“Ahem.” Eddie cleared his throat in a loud
dramatic fashion. “Come back to earth, my brother. You’ll be with
her and across state lines soon enough.”

Damon’s eyes went wide with embarrassment.
He gave up the vain attempt to disguise the reason for his
distraction. “Eddie, she got to me, man.”

“Yeah, and I can see how upset you are about
being caught.” Eddie gave him an amused look. “Fighting like crazy
to get away from her.”

“Real funny,” Damon shot back. He took a
deep breath. “But you’re right. I thought suffering through
Rachelle was a strong vaccine against any kind of love bug.”

“Come on. Relax and be happy. Jade seems to
be a wonderful woman.”

“Jade who?” Trent stuck his head in the
door. “What’s up, Eddie?” He shook Eddie’s hand. “Still doing good
work with our kids, I hear.”

“Hanging in for the cause,” Eddie said.

“That’s what we need. Now who is Jade?
Lovely name by the way.” Trent folded his long, lanky frame into a
chair beside Eddie. He looked from his older brother to Eddie.

Damon shrugged. “A lady I’m dating.”

“O-ooh. So that’s who made your nostrils
flare when we talked about three weeks ago.” Trent grinned at
him.

Eddie stifled a laugh. He got up when Damon
gave him a cutting look. “Ahem, time for me to get going. See ya,
Trent. I’ll be in touch, Damon.”

“Bye, man.” Trent winked at him then turned
back to Damon. “So things have progressed nicely, it seems. What’s
her full name?”

“Jade Pellerin.” Damon shifted in his chair.
That pesky heat wave moved through him just saying her name. What
kind of spell had she cast? Not even Rachelle had brought out this
reaction.

“Hmm, don’t know her. But I’m glad you’re
back in the saddle, cowboy.” Trent gazed at him with approval.

“Don’t be crude. Jade is a fine person.
She’s intelligent, caring and—”

“If you could see your face right now.”
Trent threw back his head and laughed.

“You haven’t grown up even at twenty-eight,”
Damon grumbled at him with a surly look.

“You got it bad and that’s good.” Trent did
not let up despite the dangerous look he got from his older
brother.

“Cut it out.” Damon’s frown melded into an
abashed smile. “Eddie was just ragging me about it, too.”

“Seriously, go with it. I’m happy for you,
bro.”

“Mama and Dad weren’t so enthused about it.”
Damon scratched his chin. “You know how they can be.”

“Yeah, snobs.” Trent did not hesitate to
express his thoughts. He was the brash younger son in sharp
contrast to Damon.

“They value tradition,” Damon said.

“Hey, don’t try to dress it up. They’re
snobs. What is it? Her family not rich enough?”

“Her father is a successful
businessman.”

Trent nodded. “I get it. The wealth doesn’t
go back far enough up the old family tree. Yeah, they love
old-money families.” He gave a grunt of disgust.

“Our parents aren’t that bad, Trent. It’s
how they were raised. Everyone we socialized with while growing up
was the same way.” Damon remembered the birthday parties with a
group of children from only certain families—the care his mother
took to steer them into the “right” crowd. His grandparents had
been the same way with their children. “They really think it’s best
for us.”