ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) (23 page)

“You’re going or coming?” she asked him when he released her.

“I’m going, but Marie’s in the kitchen. I told her I thought that was your car I heard pull up.” He grabbed his jacket off the sofa. “I got to run since we’re having a meeting before the start of my shift. I’ve already kissed my woman goodbye, so I’m out of here.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Love you, Lady Justice,” he said grinning.

She grinned back at him. From the first day her mother had surprised her and brought him to her college dorm for the two of them to meet, he had called her Lady Justice. “I love you, too, Don.”

She stood at the window and watched as he got into his car and drove off. He was a man who really loved her mother and Justice knew her mother loved him, too. It was evident in the way they interacted and Justice didn’t think she’d ever seen her mother happier.

“Justice, honey, I’m in the kitchen. Come on back,” her mother called out to her, claiming her attention.

Justice stopped dead in her tracks in the doorway of the kitchen. Her mother was standing at the sink dressed in a long, Bohemian print gown that had spaghetti straps, sexy side splits and a daring low-cut back. The material was sheer and looked soft and draped her mother’s curves. It was a great outfit for casual lounging, especially if you had your man around, and evidently her mother had, up until a few moments ago.

Justice shook her head smiling. She wondered if she would ever come to terms with the fact that the woman who had a thirty-three year old son and a twenty-six year old daughter was still so beautiful, and it seemed her marriage to Don had brought out all the beauty her mother hadn’t thought of exposing for years. Justice knew for a fact, since she often helped Tonya stuff boxes to fill her orders, that her mother and aunts were three of Tonya’s Temptations most loyal customers, and she knew the outfit her mother was wearing was one she had ordered from Tonya’s company.

“Hi, Mom,” Justice said, crossing the room and giving her mother a warm hug. She loved her mother and thought they had a wonderful relationship. They didn’t get to spend time together as much as they used to but she always knew her mother was there if she needed her and vice versa. But she always managed to come for dinner every Sunday, right along with Bryan.

Her mother had become a police officer a couple of years after her getting divorced but recently decided to come off the streets and work within the school system, protecting the children who came to school each day.

“And how is my favorite daughter?”

Justice smiled. “Mom, I’m your only daughter,” she replied to her mother’s usual greeting.

“And what’s this I hear about you having a boyfriend?” Marie Spears asked, grinning from ear to ear as she put the huge pot of spaghetti she was making on simmer.

Justice frowned. “I guess Bryan’s been talking again.”

Her mother chuckled as she turned to give Justice her full attention. “No, it wasn’t Bryan. I happened to run into Thelma Savoy, and she told me that you’ve been spending a lot of time over to her place – more so than usual – and that her grandson, who’s visiting, has been spending a lot of time over at yours.”

Justice picked an apple from the fruit bowl and took a bite before saying. “Guilty as charged.”

“Then why haven’t you brought him to dinner? Don and I would love to meet him.”

Justice sighed. And she would love for them to meet him, too. “I didn’t see the need since he was only going to be here for a short while.”

“Oh.”

A part of Justice knew that response hadn’t satisfied her mother’s curiosity, but Marie wouldn’t ask or push the issue. She believed in letting her kids live their own lives and keep their privacy if they felt they needed it.

“Mom?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why did you, Aunt Lois, and Aunt Katy get married so many times before the three of you could truly be happy?”

Marie tossed the dishtowel aside as she watched her only daughter study the apple she had already taken a big bite out of. Her heart immediately went out to her. She had an idea what was bothering Justice and what issues were plaguing her. Over the years she had hoped and prayed that she would come to her about it so the two of them could talk. On several occasions she had brought up the subject herself, but each time she had tried talking about her past marriages, Justice hadn’t wanted to hear anything about them. Evidently things were different now and after her conversation with Thelma Savoy, she had an idea why.

Marie came to the table and took the chair next to Justice. “When I think about the reason, it seems real simple now but to me, Lois, and Katy it wasn’t then. Your aunts and I were raised believing that sex with any man was dirty and deplorable. Our mother instilled in us the belief it was something awful and degrading.”

Justice’s eyes widened. “Why?”

Marie shrugged. “Probably because she was a single mother with three daughters and worked a lot, both day and night. I think she saw telling us that was her way of making sure we never made the same mistakes that she did by getting pregnant in our teens. Her intent was good but the message was damaging since the three of us grew up hating the very thought of having sex.”

Marie paused, thinking about that difficult time in her life and what it had cost her. “When we got married our feelings about sex didn’t change, so I can’t fault your father for looking elsewhere for needs he had to have filled. He put up with it for as long as he could and then he just couldn’t take it anymore. I never blamed him for leaving me, Justice, you know that.”

Justice nodded. She had never understood why until now.

“Then with Frank Hill, I thought I could be different, but I couldn’t,” Marie continued. “The moment he touched me I would freeze up and freak out, no matter how gentle he was. Pretty soon he got fed up and start looking elsewhere for satisfaction since he wasn’t getting it at home, so I couldn’t blame him either.”

Justice leaned back in her chair, hearing but not wanting to believe what her mother was saying. She’d always thought her mother and aunts were the sexiest and sensuous women on earth. Although they never went out of their way to flaunt it, in her mind they certainly looked the part.

“What made you decide to take a chance on Don?” she asked softly, reaching over with her finger to wipe away a tear that threatened to fall from her mother’s eye.

Her mother chuckled softly. “Maybe you should be asking what made Don decide to take a chance on me. He’d been asking me out for months and I kept turning him down but I knew deep down that I was falling in love with him. Then one day I woke up and realized I had a problem and needed help. I called Lois and Katy over and we talked and realized we had pretty much the same issues which were the reasons we could not get anywhere in the intimacy department. So the three of us decided to get help. A lot of folks see getting therapy as an admission of weakness, but for the three of us, we saw it as survival, a way to have a better and more rewarding life. After a few sessions we knew getting therapy wasn’t a weakness but a strength. It’s not easy to admit when you have problems and it’s harder still to be willing to do something about them. We did, and over time we were strong enough, self-confident enough and determined enough to get our lives on the right track. Lois met and fell in love with Carl, Katy met and fell in love with Joe, and I finally acknowledged my love for Don, and today my sisters and I are very happy with the men in our lives.”

A radiant smile touched Marie’s lips. “Don is wonderful and everything I need. With him I glory in the fact that I’m a woman, a very sensuous woman, and it’s like I’ve never had any hang-ups about sex at all. I told him everything and he understood and was there to help me turn things around. He is the best thing to ever happen to me and I am truly happy.”

Marie reached out and took her daughter’s hand in hers. “Just like I want you to be happy, sweetheart. I didn’t turn you against sex like my mother did me, and I hadn’t realized until you turned down Harold’s marriage proposal that you had a problem with committing your life to anyone. I tried to bring the subject up a few times but you didn’t want to talk about it. I’m curious as to why you wanted answers now.”

Justice closed her eyes. She was willing to admit to her mother something she hadn’t yet admitted to herself. She loved Blake. She couldn’t refuse to believe that fact anymore. It didn’t matter to her that they had met less than a month ago, what really mattered was how she felt.

She opened her eyes and met her mother’s gaze. “The reason I wanted to know is because I’ve fallen in love with Blake Savoy. I didn’t want to love him but I couldn’t help it. From that first day I saw him he touched my heart. I tried to convince myself it was all physical but deep down I knew that it wasn’t. And you’re right. I don’t have a hang-up with sex so that’s not an issue. The issue was whether or not I could commit to anyone and until you told me what you just did, I didn’t think I could. But now I truly believe that I can try. I appreciate your sharing this with me. It really explains a lot, Mom.”

Marie smiled. “So now that you understand, what do you plan to do?”

Justice wiped a tear away from her eyes when she thought about what she was about to lose. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

J
ustice inhaled deeply as she pulled into Thelma Savoy’s driveway. Cars were everywhere and when she recognized the one belonging to her brother, she remembered the Savoy cousins were playing basketball this evening.

Blake would be leaving at noon tomorrow, flying out to visit his parents for a week in Texas. Although he had told her he would be coming by and spending time with her tonight, she needed to see him now and say what she had to say. She had no idea how he felt about her but she intended to tell him how she felt about him. She wanted him to know that the nights she had spent in his arms had meant more to her than just sex.

Taking off her sunglasses she decided not to disturb Gramma Thelma by going to the door but would walk around to the back of the yard since she knew that’s where the guys were. Her breath caught in her throat the moment she rounded the corner and her gaze immediately latched onto Blake. He was shirtless and the gym shorts he was wearing blatantly showed all the attributes of his athletic body. He was unadulterated male and the sight of him made her pause. But that didn’t stop her heart from beating faster in her chest as she saw the sweat that covered his dark skin.

Her gaze moved to his broad shoulders and she remembered the bite mark she had put there the night before. He’d been on top of her, thrusting in and out, driving her insane, wild, out of control, determined to give her the most incredible orgasm she’d ever had and when he’d succeeded, she had tried smothering her scream in the blade of his shoulder and had unintentionally bit him, leaving her mark. He’d been too wrapped up in his own release to notice the pain and when he did, smiled and simply said she had branded him.

She smiled at the memory, thinking that Blake Savoy was the most incredible lover and the most caring, sensitive and giving human being that she knew. During their talks he had shared with her some of the foundations he had put into place to help underprivileged kids and how closely he worked with the Historically Black Colleges to assure that deserving students had a chance for a college education.

“Hey, Blake, your woman’s here.”

Tyler’s statement got Blake’s attention, as well as reclaimed hers. He stopped playing in the middle of a pivot and caught her gaze. He smiled, turned and made a perfect shot into the basket then shouted, “Time out and if I’m not back in five minutes continue without me.”

It seemed that all his cousins watched with interest as he made his way across the yard. The moment he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, not caring who was looking. In a way it seemed that he was staking his claim, letting his family know without a doubt that she meant something to him, and that’s what she needed to know - just what she meant to him. For all she knew, he was only sharing a vacation fling with her since that’s how things originally started out. But a part of her wanted to believe that Blake felt more for her than that although he’d never said so. And the bottom line was she had to find out.

A smile touched her lips when he released her mouth. “Hi.”

“Hi, sweetheart. You’re a pleasant surprise,” he said huskily.

“Thanks. I hate to take you away from your game but I was wondering if we can talk for a few minutes.”

He lifted a brow. “Sure. Come on inside the house. Gramma went to Richmond with Aunt Bessie and won’t be back until late tonight.”

Justice nodded as he opened the back door for her and she stepped inside the house. “Where’s Bryan? I saw his car out front?”

Blake shrugged. “Umm, I don’t know. He was playing with the rest of us and suddenly called time-out and came inside. We figured he took a bathroom break but that was over fifteen minutes ago.”

“Oh,” she said. She followed Blake down the hall that led to the basement. “Why are we going to the basement?”

“That’s where the darkroom is located, and I thought you’d like to see the photos we took at the party yesterday.”

She glanced up at him. “I’d love to see them.” As soon as they reached the bottom step to the basement they stopped. It seemed the huge room was already occupied. There stood Bryan and Tonya, wrapped in each other’s arms kissing like there was no tomorrow.