From This Day Forward: Multicultural Romance (10 page)

“Well, here are a couple,” she purred, almost out of wind as she pictured his hands on her body. The brandy had more than fanned the flame of her rising desire for lovemaking.

As she thumbed through the dozen or so small school photos she kept in her wallet of her children, Alonzo’s strong fingers stopped her.

“And this one?” he asked, staring admiringly at the photo.

“That’s me, over twenty years ago. It was my wedding day.”

“Ah, Loretta. Look at you. Stunning,” he said, his broad hands traveling the photo. “Almost as stunning as you are now.” 

“Oh, stop,” Loretta said, warmness filling her cheeks.

“You are beautiful, you know,” Alonzo breathed, staring intently at her.

“Thank you,” she said, unable to ignore the mounting desire to be in his arms.

Alonzo stared deeper into her eyes, wanton now consuming him.

Loretta let his hand gently travel the contours of her face. His touch against her skin sent passion spiraling through her body.

“You make me feel so special, Alonzo.”

“You
are
special,” he said in a raspy voice.  He stood up and reached for her hand, bringing her to a standing position in front of his tall body.  Draping his arms around her waist, he held her gaze for a long moment. Finally, dipping his head, he pulled her body into his, seeking permission for his long-awaited kiss.

Loretta tensed at the firmness of his broad body.  She could feel his growing tightness through the light fabric of her dress. Tilting her head slightly, she parted her lips as he drew her body into his. His mouth devoured her gently, before letting his tongue caress the soft contours of her lips. The sensation of his warm mouth on hers, nipping, pecking, easing in and out of her eager cavern, made her swoon. Loretta leaned her body into his as his grip grew tighter around her waist, pulling her all the way into him. Her arms clung tighter to him and as her fingers traveled the nape of his neck, caressing his dark, wily mane.  Alonzo’s kisses grew more passionate as his hands massaged her waists and gently groped the area right below the small her back.

She wanted him to pull her buttocks into him, but he did not.

A gentlemen, Alonzo kissed her until he could barely contain his passion.

Pulling away from him, letting eyes drunk with passion land on his, she whispered, “I’d better go.”

Alonzo’s eyes pleaded for her to stay.

But she cleared her throat and backed away from him, his mesmerizing glare tampering with her sanity.

“Good night,” she said, almost fleeing for the door.

“Loretta,” he called out as she reached the foyer.  “I can drive you home.”

“Ah, no. I’m okay,” she said, opening the front door with urgency before she lost herself and turned back to him.

“You sure?” he asked. His question had more to do with lovemaking than it did him driving her home.

“No, I’m not sure,” she said, answering what they both knew was his intended question. “Which means I’d better go now,” she smiled and tried to leave, but Alonzo pulled her body back into his, drawing her into strong arms with a loving, lustful embrace as he leaned against the foyer wall. His hands traveled to her buttocks and raked her body across his.

Weak with desire, Loretta gave in to his kisses, his touch, his passion, as her hands stroked the full, throbbing tree between his legs. Her large bosom was full of fire against his hard chest. Alonzo turned her body so her back was to him as his wide hands gently massaged her breasts, tugging at the large, hardening nipples under his palms.

“Loretta, you’re so beautiful,” he groaned, barely able to control the growing thickness between his strong thighs.  “Beautiful,” he said, kissing her on the neck as his hands held her body firm against his.

She turned around and tiptoed to return his kisses. As her hands traveled his bulging biceps and broad shoulders, her lips met the wavy hairs on his chest and kissed gently. 

“I’ve to go,” she said, backing up from him again.

He exhaled and let her hands go.

“Okay,” he said, tearing his gaze from her and looking up at the ceiling.

A few seconds later, he took the keys from her hands and drove her home. 

After walking Loretta to the door, he handed her the vehicle keys and kissed her on the nose.

“But--,” she started.

“I’ll walk back,” he smiled. “I need the fresh air.”

She smiled and nodded. “Goodnight, Alonzo.”

“Goodnight, Loretta.”

Loretta closed the door behind him. Peeking out the window, she watched as his broad frame disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter 15

The next morning, she woke to a knock on the door. It was barely five a.m.

“Who is it?” she asked still groggy from the night before. She’d had barely slept a wink, with Alonzo’s touch still on her mind.

The cold shower had not worked, and the sleeping pill she’d taken at two a.m. seemed to have the opposite effect. The only thing that seemed to soothe her, temporarily, was imaging him inside of her. But the climax to which she’d brought her own self had left the hot petals between her legs craving for the hardness of Alonzo entering her.

“It’s me,” he said. 

“Me, who?” she said, excitement coursing through her at the sound of his voice. She opened the door and saw wanton shooting from his eyes.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said.

“Me either,” she breathed, so glad he’d come.

“Oh, Loretta,” he said, pulling her scantily clad body into his arms and kicking the door shut with his foot.

Loretta responded with fervor to his powerful kisses, breathing heavily as their lips and bodies danced to each other’s touch. 

Alonzo’s large, rough hands slid under her silk panties as if it were the most natural thing in the world to him. He massaged and grabbed at her naked bottom, pulling her firmly into him.

Without hesitation, Loretta guided him into the bedroom. Before she could pull him onto the bed, he cupped her large, pert breasts and brought them to his lips. The heat searing from him made her nipples harden under his suckles. 

“God, I need you,” Alonzo said in a husky whisper.

“I’m right here,” she said, giving him the permission she knew he was seeking to make love to her.

Within seconds, they were lying naked in her bed under a tousle of soft bedcovers.

Alonzo’s body towered over hers as he began kissing her from head to toe. His lips traveled from her mouth, to the hollow of her neck, down to suckle both breasts again. He kneaded her fullness with a tender grip as his mouth traveled lovingly from nipple to nipple.

She sucked her breath as his mouth left a trail of kisses from her bosom to her navel, to the trembling softness between her legs.

Alonzo lightly kissed and massaged the swollen button of passion with his lips before dipping his tongue into her wetness.

A cry of passion escaped her lips as he skillfully slipped his tongue in and out of her hot, wet body.

After almost bringing her to her peak more than one time, she rubbed his dark, wavy mane and guided his mouth back up to hers.

Slipping from his grip, she beckoned him to let her get on top of him. Straddling him as he groped at her bouncing breasts, she bent backwards and tugged at his rigid manhood. She could feel his veins growing thicker as her hands slid up and down the strained stalk between his legs.

Loretta turned around and brought his thick loin to her hungry mouth. 

Alonzo breathed heavy and his eyes grew wider as she stroked his hard, jumping body with her mouth, with each suckle taking his log further past her lips.

Without effort, he positioned her body so her hairy mound was back to his lips as she pleased him, too.

The sounds of guttural passion escaped them as they enjoyed the feel and taste of each other’s passionate juices simultaneously.

After a few moments, Alonzo could not fight the urge to be inside of her any longer. Lapping at her tenderness with a care that made it swell to almost release, he knew she was ready.

“Come here, my love,” he whispered as he positioned her body under his.

Loretta was dizzy with desire as he cupped her swollen petals and massaged.

“Please,” she whimpered, looking into his dark eyes, begging him to take her.

But Alonzo paced himself so he would not hurt her.  He kissed the sweat from her brow, nipped playfully at her nose, and devoured her pleading lips with his for long seconds. 

Finally, he angled his rigid body at her thumping cavern. With care, he eased his thick head into her soft, swollen body.

Loretta’s breath caught as he inched his fullness deeper inside of her. His size made her tense and whimper, but Alonzo quieted her with a hypnotic gaze as he clung to her buttocks with strong hands and drew her snug into him.  He rhythmically eased his thunder further into her slippery tightness. After the passionate pain, Loretta’s body suctioned around him and danced joyously to his movements.

Sweat rained from them as their lovemaking grew from a loving dance, to wild gyrations.

They held on to each other until earth-shattering passion burst from their bodies, leaving them breathless in each other’s arms. 

Holding each other close, they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.

“You were pretty incredible,” Loretta said, lying naked against Alonzo’s chest a little while later.

“You, too,” he said, looking down at her as he pulled her naked body closer.

Loretta felt Alonzo’s passion begin to rise again.

“You’re still hungry,” she smiled.

“I can’t help myself around you,” he said, pulling her on top of him.

“Me either,” she said, straddling her legs wide.

Alonzo held onto her waist and nibbled at her full, dark nipples as Loretta gently guided his throbbing strength into the swollen lips between her thighs.  

They made love, slow, tender, with whispers of adoration filling the bedroom as the sun rose over Thornton Vineyard.

***

Over the next several weeks, Loretta and Alonzo spent several evenings together, side by side, as if they’d known each other forever.   If they weren’t in her cottage, they were tucked away in the privacy of his estate home at the back of the vineyard.

Loretta knew she was falling in love with Alonzo.

They’d become close, sharing many details about their lives with each other.

Alonzo had opened up fully about his marriage and how he and Marissa had ultimately come to an end. Loretta was glad he’d opened up to her, but it made her think about Marissa more and more.  As a result, she could not forget that Alonzo was still officially married.  Being with him went against everything in her heart and soul, and in her mind, it compromised the relationship she had with her God.

She was sleeping with another woman’s husband, and she knew she could not continue it, no matter how much she loved him.

Chapter 16

“Something’s not right about Velma’s story, about Malachi leaving,” Alonzo said, toking his long, mahogany pipe on the porch a few evenings later. He and Loretta had gone for their normal evening walk around the vineyard and wound back up at her cottage. Loretta was snapping peas for a new soup dish she was experimenting with.

She looked up from the large, white bowl in her lap. “What do you mean something not right about her
story
?”

“I mean, I know what it feels like to have someone leave you, especially if you loved that person, like I did Marissa. Velma never had that look about her.”

Loretta tensed up. It wasn’t the first time he’d hinted at something like that.  But the sudden knots twisting in her stomach were coming from somewhere else today. She didn’t like it when Alonzo talked about his wife -- because they were still married; and because she felt like Marissa Thornton might just turn up again one day and want to take her place as mistress of Thornton Vineyard. 

Uneasiness began to consume her as she realized she had put herself, her heart, in a very compromising position.  Jealousy and fear began creeping in, but she tried to mask her feelings with a terse comment.

“Alonzo, what in the world does
that woman
leaving you have to do with Malachi and Velma?  The man left her, period. And why would Velma have to make up a story? You’re talking madness.”

“I’m not so sure I am,” Alonzo said, taking another toke of his pipe as his eyes met with Loretta’s.  Her “that woman” comment had not escaped him, but his eyes drifted across the vineyard as he focused on what Velma had told him about Malachi. “You see, Velma never had that look in her eye -- that hurt about her -- that must have racked her soul after the man she loved abandoned their home, their world, abandoned her.”

“Are you sure you’re talking about Malachi?” Loretta snapped, yanking at the green peas stems in her hands harder. “I mean, not everybody holds onto the past, Alonzo.” Love and fear were overtaking her. She was crazy about this man, and he didn’t even know he was hurting her.

Alonzo looked over at Loretta, realizing her tone had little to do with what he was talking about and more to do with them.  Her eyes were full of pain.

“This is not about Marissa--,” he started.

“That’s enough!” Loretta snapped. “I don’t even want to hear your wife’s name!” Loretta jerked up, almost dropping the bowl from her lap. She was getting ready to storm into the cottage, but Alonzo’s movements were too fast. His strong hand grabbed the screen door before she could open it. As he pulled her around the waist, the pile of green snap peas rolled from her hands and scattered all over the little porch.

“Now look what you made me do,” she said, trying to wriggle free from his grip.

“Leave them, Loretta,” he said. “Look at me.”

She tried to free herself, but Alonzo held onto her tighter.  “Stop fighting. I’m not letting you go.  You are jealous,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes as he pulled her snug against his broad body.

“I am not,” she said, a tear trickling down her face.

Alonzo used his wide fingers to guide her face up to his so their eyes could meet.  “Then why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying,” she said, brushing the stray tear away hard with the back of her hand. 

Alonzo smiled as he stared into her eyes.  “You have no reason in the world to be jealous,” he said. “She’s my wife, on paper, but it’s you I want.”

Loretta’s eyes stretched as she gazed back at him.  “What did you say?” she asked. Her lips were trembling as she spoke.

“I said, it’s
you
I want.”

Alonzo held her gaze for a long few seconds before pulling her closer to him. Pressing his lips against hers, he repeated his adoration between tender kisses.

“You’re all I think about, Loretta. I have wanted you since the day I laid eyes on you in that airport. I was hoping you were my new housekeeper, but for reasons that had nothing to do with domestic work.” He devoured the fullness of her mouth with his. They lingered in a long, passionate kiss. 

“Alonzo, I’m crazy about you, too,” Loretta said. “I’m sorry, I’m just scared of all of this -- of these feelings.”

“I know,” he said.  “But there’s no need to be afraid.”

“Yes, there is,” she said. “No matter what you say, you are still somebody else’s husband.”

“Oh, I see,” he said. “But Marissa hasn’t been in my life for a long time, Loretta. You know that.”

“I know, but it still
matters
, Alonzo. I can’t see you like this, not anymore. I’m not getting any younger, and I don’t want to get entangled with a married man, whether or not it’s just on paper,” she said.

“I see,” he said, thinking. “Just know that I hear you, okay. And no matter what, I am not going anywhere.”

“It doesn’t matter. We can only be friends.”

“Friends?” he almost laughed at that.  But looking deep into her eyes, he knew she was serious.  He sighed.  “Okay, that will have to do, for now. But my heart belongs to you,” he pleaded, trying to stroke her lips again with hers. 

But Loretta turned her head so his lips landed firmly on her cheeks.  

Alonzo sighed. “Okay, have it your way, Loretta. But I’m not going anywhere -- and you’re not either,” he said.

She shot him a surprised look.

“Because I do have you locked into a ten year restaurant lease remember?” he teased.

“That you do,” she agreed. “That you do.” Loretta rested her head on his broad shoulders and exhaled.

“I’m sorry, Alonzo,” she said. “I hope you understand.”

“I do,” he said, knowing what task lay ahead of him. “I understand and respect it, too.”

After Alonzo left, Loretta sat on her porch for a long time, thinking. She said a silent prayer, thanking God for the courage to say what was on her mind and asking him for the strength to stay away from the man she loved. 

As she exhaled, a sadness clouded her world.  Lord she would miss him, but she felt good about expressing her feelings. Hoping she hadn’t lost him forever, she knew with certainty that if she had, she would be able to look herself in the mirror, and that was more important than anything.

Later that night, as she was lying in bed picturing Alonzo’s chest, her mind flitted to Velma and what Alonzo had said about Malachi. But she dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come and turned her mind back to Alonzo.  She snuggled up to her pillow, in search of sweet slumber, already knowing it would be a long, restless night.  She didn’t know how in the world she would be able to work at the vineyard seeing him every day.