Fire and Desire (Arabesque) (24 page)

I
t was close to midnight when Trevor and Corinthians entered his apartment in Houston. The Reverend Nathan Avery would not be rushed in what ended up being more like a sermon instead of a talk. They had recessed for lunch only to be herded back into his study for yet another sermon, which had lasted until dinnertime.

Trevor was glad he’d been able to reach Gina during one of the infrequent bathroom breaks he’d been allowed during Reverend Avery’s lectures. He had given her explicit instructions on what he wanted done. She had promised to have everything ready when he arrived home.

When he walked into his apartment with Corinthians, he knew his sister had come through when he saw the numerous scented candles that were lit around the room and heard the soft music playing on his stereo system.

He watched as surprise, then pleasure lit up Corinthians’s face as she glanced around. “Oh, Trevor, how did you manage this?”

Rubbing the back of her neck tenderly, he brought her closer to him. Other than the short time they had spent straightening things out between them in her father’s study, this was the only time they had been completely alone. Reverend Avery had made absolutely sure of that. If he didn’t know better, Trevor thought, he’d suspect Corinthians’s father had gained immense pleasure in keeping them separated until he’d been absolutely sure they had worked out their differences and that there would be a wedding in the very near future. Plans had been made for him and Corinthians to get married in four weeks.

“I called my sister, Gina, and asked her to take care of it for me. I told her exactly how I wanted things.”

He leaned down and closed his mouth over hers. The kiss that began gentle and tender became hungry and heated. Three weeks of wanting and longing had intensified their desire, yearning and need to have their passions fulfilled.

On a long breath Trevor pulled back, but didn’t release her from his arms. This was
his
woman, and soon she would become his wife and the mother of his child. No other woman would he ever love more. No other woman had taken him through the changes he’d gone through for her. Two years of wanting and craving. Two years of trying to convince himself that he didn’t even like her. But now, as he stood with her in his arms, he knew it had been worth it.

Corinthians looked up at Trevor and stared directly into his dark eyes. She wondered just how many dreams she’d had of him over the past two years. How many mornings had she awakened with his features so clearly etched in her mind?

She reached up and placed her hands flat on his chest. “Oh, Trevor. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea the day would end up like this and I’d see you again. Last night all I could think about was the possibility that I was pregnant and you didn’t want me.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck as a shiver of happiness coursed through her. “Tell me I’m not dreaming. Touch me and prove you’re real and that I’m here with you.”

Giving her what she wanted was easy, Trevor thought as he kissed her. Before dawn broke, there would be no doubt in either of their minds that this was not a dream, but was reality.

When he felt her tremble in his arms, he leaned back. “You’re not dreaming, sweetheart.”

He leaned down and outlined her lips with the tip of his tongue. When she released a silky moan, he whispered against the tender skin underneath her ear. “Do you like that?”

When she nodded, he smiled. He then kissed her again, deeply, passionately. His hands slid over the slope of her bottom, nestling her to the cradle of his hips, letting her feel the hard strength of his desire for her.

“Feel that?” he asked in a deep, sexy Texas drawl, as he placed butterfly kisses near the corner of her mouth.

“Oh…yes,” she said, trying to catch her breath. Desire swept through her entire body.

“Good, because in a little while, the feel of that will become as much a part of you as it is a part of me.”

His words sparked Corinthians’s fire. They heightened her desire. When the tip of his tongue teased the corner of her mouth, she turned toward it instinctively. Her skin shivered with delight when his lips parted over hers.

“Corinthians.” Trevor exhaled a soft groan when she took the initiative and mated her tongue with his. Desire surged through him when he felt how her tongue was swirling around his, holding, sucking.

“I want you, baby.” He slipped his hand beneath her legs and swept her into his arms, and headed for his bedroom.

He stood Corinthians on her feet beside his bed and glanced around. His sister had really outdone herself. She had done everything he’d asked her to do and more. Everything in the room, every corner, every nook and every crevice oozed romance. From the candles providing soft lighting in the room, the soft music playing, the bottle of wine chilling in the ice bucket, the red roses and baby’s breaths arranged in a number of vases around the room—some even tossed on the bed for good measure—to the linen netting draped across the huge posters of his king-size bed. The mood was set for lovers.

“Oh, Trevor, this room is beautiful. Your sister outdid herself.”

Trevor couldn’t help but agree. He gazed down at Corinthians. Before leaving her parents’ home, she had changed out of her sundress and into a long, flowing skirt and ribbed-knit blouse. His eyes moved over her face then lowered, zeroing in on her breasts that were outlined under her blouse. He remembered how they looked when he’d made love to her in South America, taut and swollen in his hands.

“Why did you have your sister do all of this? You didn’t have to, you know,” she said softly.

“I wanted tonight to be special. After I’d made love to you in the cave, on the floor, I knew you deserved better. Your first time should have been like this with candles, flowers and soft music. You deserved more than what I was able to give you. I want to make it up to you.”

“I enjoyed how we made love the first time, all wild and hot,” she confessed.

“But your first time should have been different. You’d never been touched before. I should have handled you with more tenderness and care,” he said, brushing a kiss across her lips. “Dance with me.”

Trevor’s request surprised her. He left her momentarily to change the music on the stereo. “There are three songs I’ve chosen for tonight. They will tell their own story of my love. And then, when all three have ended, I will make love to you until the early-morning dawn. I will make love to you until our baby knows my presence and my place inside of you. I will make love to you until our bodies become so connected, that even when we’re apart, we’ll still be one,” he whispered huskily.

Trevor’s words touched her like an erotic mist, covering each and every part of her body. He pulled her into his arms when the first of the songs he had selected, “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge, softly filtered through the room.

Corinthians thought it felt good being held by him, so close and intimate, as they moved around the room, barely swaying to the music. She felt every hard inch of his body touch hers. Resting his cheek against the top of her head, he lightly hummed along with the song as he held her.

When the song stopped playing, he looked at her. She returned his warm gaze, feeling light-headed from his love. Then the rich, soulful sound of Jerry Butler came to life when “For Your Precious Love” vibrated softly through the room. Trevor pulled her closer into his arms. She gasped softly when she felt his fingertips glide across her bottom before cupping her in his hands, bringing her closer into the hard fit of him.

He crooned the words of the song in her ear before taking her mouth in his, kissing her with a passion that was all-consuming, all-devouring.

Corinthians’s breath caught. Trevor was romancing her in his own special way. It was a way that had the ability to touch everything feminine about her. It went straight to the very heart of what being romanced was all about. It cut to the chase and delivered love at its finest. The songs he had chosen were all classics with meaning. They conveyed each and every thing a woman held dear—the knowledge that her man loved her, and the knowledge that her love was precious to him.

“Now for the finale,” he whispered against her lips. She smiled when the song “Fire and Desire” by Rick James and Tina Marie softly began playing. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed. Moving the soft netting aside and brushing the flowers out of the way, he laid her down on the satin sheets, then sat on the edge of the bed, gazing down at her, while the soft, sensuous music floated around them.

Corinthians drew shallow breaths as Trevor continued to look at her. His dark gaze gently glided over every detail of her. Then she watched when he stood and slowly began removing his shirt.

Her breathing quickened when he tossed his shirt aside. She couldn’t help but savor the maleness of him, the solidness of his hairy chest and hard muscles. Her lips parted slightly when he began to slowly unzip his pants and remove them. Emotional tears nearly filled her eyes when she thought of just how much she loved him. And when she gazed upon that strong, masculine part of him that had placed their child inside of her, she became hot all over, burning.

“Fire,” she whispered when he walked naked back to the bed and her. “You’re my fire, Trevor.”

“And you’re my desire,” he whispered huskily. He reached out and began removing her blouse. Tossing it and her bra aside, his palms closed over her breasts. He gently massaged them, noting the difference in them from the last time, and knew the changes were the result of her pregnancy. They were fuller and rounder, he thought, fitting their shape in his hands.

He wrapped his arms around her and began to remove her skirt. His fingers gently stroked her smooth, bare legs. Caressing each one, his fingers kneaded every muscle.

The music had ended. They both knew that now, the passion was about to begin when he had removed all her clothing. “I want you so much,” he rasped as he joined her in bed, moving his body over hers. His hands came up to join with hers, lacing their fingers together, binding them. He leaned down and kissed her in a passion that was all hers.

“I love everything about you, Corinthians. And for the rest of my life, I will cherish you and the love we share. And when our children are born, I’ll let them know just how much their mother means to me,” he said. He then repeated the words to her in Portuguese just as he had done the first time they’d made love.

“Those words, what do they mean? You said them to me before, when we made love the last time,” Corinthians said. Her voice was no more than a mere whisper.

“I’m saying I love you in Portuguese, and yes, I said them before. I also told you I loved you in English while you slept in my arms on the plane.”

She reached out and cupped his face in her hands. “So, I really hadn’t dreamed it after all. Oh, Trevor, I love you so much.”

He kissed her again. The kiss made a hot shiver of need consume them. Trevor eased into her slowly, savoring her heat, feeling it, wanting it and needing it. His desire for her overwhelmed him and when she lifted her hips to receive him, he gave up and gave in to the passion consuming him.

Trevor’s body made love to his woman as they both soared to the stars and beyond. They made their own music, set their own beat and established their very own rhythm. Their moans became the lyrics that made the melody complete. When they reached the ultimate pitch, their bodies exploded in spasms of passionate waves of pleasure that touched each and every nerve of their bodies. Powerful shudders tore through them as candlelight flickered softly over them. They exploded into the realms of rapture, earth-shattering fulfillment where only love was truly the driving force behind their fire and desire.

Minutes, maybe five, possibly ten, passed before Trevor could summon enough strength to move. Corinthians tightened her legs around him, holding him inside her. She didn’t want this moment with him to end just yet.

“I’m too heavy for you, sweetheart,” he whispered close to her ear.

Relaxed and depleted, she smiled at him, basking in the feverish afterglow of their lovemaking. “No, you’re not. I’m not ready for you to leave me. I like the feel of you inside me.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Trevor said upon feeling his need for her renew itself. “You feel it?”

Corinthians felt his deep, throbbing hardness take shape again within her. A slow grin started at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I feel it…and I like it.” Arching her body upward, she could feel his need, wanting him to feel hers, as desire reawakened within her.

“Trevor.” An urgency consumed her and her mouth sought his. Once again they became caught up in total possession of each other, eager to share in the essence of their love.

T
raffic on Houston’s interstate was heavy for noontime, Trevor thought as he maneuvered his Pathfinder from lane to lane. He glanced over at Corinthians as she lifted the can of ginger ale to her mouth. She had awakened feeling nauseated and had been eating saltines and sipping the cool drink ever since.

“Are you sure you’re up to visiting my mother, sweetheart?”

Corinthians took another swallow of her drink before answering him. “Yeah, I’m fine now. The sickness usually passes by lunchtime.”

He nodded. All this was new to him although Dex swore to this day that he’d been the one who suffered with morning sickness instead of Caitlin while she’d been carrying Ashley. “How long will it last?”

Corinthians smiled at him. “Mom said to expect it to last for at least three months. I guess I’ll be getting used to it shortly.”

When the vehicle came to a stop at a traffic light, Trevor glanced at his watch and saw it was a little past noon. He couldn’t help but wonder where everyone was. He had tried calling Gina and had gotten her answering machine instead. No one answered at his father’s house and he couldn’t reach his mother, either. He had called the bookstore only to be told his mother wasn’t expected in today. Trevor had never known his mother to miss a day in her store.

“I hope your mom likes me.”

Corinthians’s statement invaded Trevor’s thoughts. He smiled over at her. “She’ll love you as much as I do. Trust me,” he said as he pulled his vehicle into the driveway, bringing it to a stop next to his mother’s car. He was glad he had found her home.

He leaned over and kissed Corinthians before getting out of the vehicle. He walked around to open the door for her, and helped her out. Taking her hand in his, they strolled up the brick walkway toward the door.

Corinthians raised a brow when Trevor dug into his pocket and pulled out a door key. “Aren’t you going to knock or ring the doorbell first before we go inside?” she asked as he began inserting the key inside the lock.

He looked at her and smiled. “No, why would I?”

Corinthians shrugged. “On the off chance she has company or she isn’t dressed for visitors.”

Trevor grinned. “Mom’s always ready for visitors and she seldom has company. If you’re worried that she might be entertaining a male friend, you have nothing to worry about. My mom hasn’t dated at all during the years she and my dad have been separated.”

He opened the door and went inside. She followed him.

As soon as they entered the foyer, they heard conversation, the voices of a male and female. Trevor frowned. “Sounds like she has company after all. It’s probably just a salesman.”

When they walked into the living room, they didn’t see anyone. It was apparent the voices were coming from the back of the house, where the bedrooms were. And from the sound of the conversation it was a friendly one with occasional laughter.

Corinthians watched as Trevor’s mouth tightened. She stopped him before he headed to where the voices were coming from. “It might be better if you stayed right here, Trevor,” she said, feeling the tension and anger radiating in him. “I think it will be a good idea to let your mother know we’re here. Then we’ll sit and wait for her to come out.” She leaned up and kissed his lips to calm him. “All right?”

He reluctantly nodded. Turning, he walked backed to the door, opened it then slammed it shut as hard as he could, rocking it on its hinges. “Mom!” he called out at the top of his voice.

Corinthians couldn’t help but grin. Trevor definitely wanted to make his presence known. Whoever the man was in the back with his mother was in serious trouble. He would have to face the wrath of her overprotective son.

A few minutes later, an attractive older woman who she assumed was Trevor’s mother came out of the back wearing a bathrobe. The first thing Corinthians noticed was that it was evident she and Trevor had interrupted something. Having been made love to practically all night herself, Corinthians immediately recognized that “thoroughly made love to” look the woman wore. Chances were Trevor recognized it, too.

The second thing Corinthians noticed was the huge, radiant smile on the woman’s face. She didn’t have the look of a person who should be embarrassed at the possibility that her son had walked in on her liaison with a man.

“Trevor, I didn’t know you were back.” She walked over to them smiling brightly. She ignored the scowl on her son’s face and said, “You brought a friend with you. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Trevor’s frown deepened. “Just as soon as you introduce
your
friend. Who is he, Mom?”

Stella Grant smiled innocently up at her son. “Who’s who?”

“I heard voices coming from the back. One of them belonged to a man.”

Stella shrugged. “Yes, that’s right. I have company.” She then turned to Corinthians and extended her hand. “Since my son won’t introduce us, I guess we’ll just have to introduce ourselves. I’m Stella Grant.”

Corinthians took the hand offered to her. “And I’m Corinthians Avery.”

She raised a dark brow upon recognizing Corinthians’s name. “You’re the young lady who was with Trevor in South America. I’m so glad you—”

“I want to see him, Mom.” Trevor said, cutting into his mother’s sentence. There was a sharp edge in his voice.

“See who, Trevor?”

“The man you’re entertaining in your bedroom. Either he comes out here or I’m going in there.”

Mother and son stared at each other and Corinthians couldn’t help but wonder who would be the one to give in. It was obvious Trevor was having a problem dealing with the fact that his mother was entertaining a man in her bedroom.

“I think you’ve forgotten, young man, that I am your mother, and not your sister. I’m a grown woman, Trevor Maurice Grant. I don’t need your permission to have company in my home,” Stella Grant said sweetly, but forcefully.

“What’s going on out here? Is there a problem?”

Corinthians looked up when a very good-looking older man walked into the room from the back. Like Trevor’s mother, he was wearing a bathrobe—a matching one at that. She watched as shock, then disbelief covered Trevor’s face when his head snapped around at the sound of the deep, masculine voice. His steady gaze was on the man who was boldly walking toward them.

Corinthians braced herself for what might come next when the man came to a stop in front of them. “I asked if there was a problem.”

Trevor shook his head as if to clear it. He then looked at the man again. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

Trevor pulled Corinthians into his arms. Their bodies were still damp with perspiration from their recent lovemaking. “I can’t believe my parents are getting back together after all these years,” he said, his voice filled with wonder.

Corinthians turned in his arms and smiled. “I happen to think it’s wonderful. They looked so happy together.”

Trevor grinned. “Yeah, they did, didn’t they. I think we made them even happier when we announced our wedding plans and then the news that they would be grandparents.” He chuckled. “I could wring Gina’s neck for not telling me about the folks. I don’t care that she wanted to surprise me. I could have hurt somebody today if any man, other than Dad, walked out of that bedroom.”

Corinthians laughed. “I’m sure you could have. The look on your face was priceless.”

“So you think it’s funny, huh?” he asked, hooking an arm around her waist and placing her atop him.

“Yes,” she said, leaning down and nibbling kisses over his face. “I think it’s funny.”

Trevor reached out and moved a strand of hair from her face. “I hate you’re leaving tomorrow. I have a good mind not to let you go. I’m going to miss you.”

Corinthians placed a kiss on his lips. “I’m going to miss you, too. But I have to return to work sometime. Besides, I need to know how I’m going to handle living in Houston but work in Austin after we’re married. I need to talk to Adam Flynn about the possibility of me working out of our field office here.”

She drew a long, deep breath as she fought back a yawn. Today had been a full day. Besides meeting Trevor’s parents, she had gotten to meet his sister, Gina, when she’d shown up at her mother’s house later. The two of them had hit it off immediately.

Later, Trevor had taken her to Dex’s and Caitlin’s house for a visit. Clayton and Syneda had dropped by. It had been good seeing the newlyweds again. Justin had called while they were there, reminding everyone that Lorren’s belated birthday party was in two weeks.

Corinthians didn’t know who was more surprised with the news of her and Trevor’s pending marriage, Dex or Clayton. However, it seemed that Caitlin and Syneda hadn’t been the least surprised. On the other hand, Dex and Clayton had not been surprised with the announcement that she was pregnant.

“Are you still coming to Austin this weekend?” she asked Trevor as she cuddled into his chest.

“Even sooner if I can get away,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“Good. I’m going to look forward to your visit.”

“Are you?” he asked, encircling her with his arms.

She grinned down at him. “You bet. Me and your baby both are.”

Corinthians lowered her head and kissed the man she loved.