ROMANCING HER PROTECTOR (18 page)

gone.

“I never thought I’d see you again, Shay,” he said as he pulled her into his arms.

“I never thought we could ever---”

“I know,” she replied, her deep, hidden emotions surfacing too.

He held her, caressing her back, unsure where this moment would lead. Then he

looked at her again. He wanted to see that sparkle in her eyes again. And, once again, he

kissed her. Only this time it wasn’t tender, it wasn’t simple. It was complicated and

hard. Their lips met, their tongues intertwined, and their kissing became more passionate,

more forceful, more desperate, the longer they continued.

They stopped, both now breathing heavily, as their foreheads met. Then Matty

sat erect, and again placed his hand on the side of her face. “Shay,” he said, “I’ve re-

lived this moment in my mind for so many years. And I still don’t know how I can tell

you how sorry I am about what happened. I should have chosen you--”

Shay took Matty’s hand and held it. “I understood why you did it, I really did. If

I was in your position, I might have done the same thing. Was I hurt? Yes, of course I

was. I was devastated. I was angry with you for the longest time. I understood it, but it

still hurt, you know?”

Matty nodded. “I know.” He looked at me. “Could you ever forgive me?” He

was searching her eyes now. “Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me, Shay?”

Shay looked down, at their interlaced hands, and then she looked back up, in his

worried, deep blue eyes. “Yes,” she said. “I forgave you a long time ago, Matty.” Matty

pulled her into his arms. “I had to,” Shay continued. “You can’t live with hate and

bitterness in your life. Besides, I had a . . .”

She caught herself. She had been about to say that she had a son to raise and

therefore couldn’t live with hate and bitterness. But Matty didn’t realize any slip. He was

too busy loving her, thanking her for forgiving him, and putting his hands on the sides of

her face. “Oh, Shay,” he said, and kissed her again, kissing that quickly escalated

into the passion that used to define them. Then they stood to their feet, he took her by

the hand, and walked her into the bedroom.

Shay was racked with so many contradictory feelings that she didn’t know how to

handle them all. In her mind she was screaming no, she couldn’t go down this road again,

not again. But her heart was ruler this night. And although she saw the pitfalls, she

couldn’t stop herself from going, once again, down what she just knew would be yet

another long, winding road with Matty.

Matty was so pleased that she didn’t shun him, that she didn’t tell him that he’d

hurt her once, never again, that he had to purposely slow himself down. He laid her on

the middle of the bed, got onto the bed with her, and continued to kiss her. It was long

and it was sweet and it was as if their entire bodies were burning with fire. And when he

removed her blouse and began to kiss her neck, her chest, her breasts, and she removed

his shirt, and began kissing his powerful chest, they fell, once again, into each other’s

arms, embracing with the caress of two long lost lovers, that knew better than to start this

again, but were unable to pull back.

But Matty did, because this wasn’t enough. He stood to his feet, unbuckled his

belt and then unzipped his pants, his penis throbbing for her touch. When he stepped out

of his pants, and his boxer’s, Shay’s eyes slid down his still ripped body, to his almost

bursting with energy manhood, that hung as big and thick as she had remembered it. And

she thought about Matty, about all of the pain he had endured, and she made the next

move.

She got off of the bed, too, slid off her heels and then her pants and panties as

well, and walked up to Matty. When she got on her knees, Matty almost pulled her back

up. But he couldn’t. He wanted her too completely.

She licked first the tip of his penis, causing his head to roll back in the sheer

pleasure of it, and then she took into her mouth as much of him as she could.

“Oh,
Shay
,” he said, his body shaking with joy, his hands rolling through her silky

hair as her mouth licked and sucked and gave him the kind of pleasure no other woman

had been able to give him. Not with the intensity of
Shay.

It became so intense, in fact, that he knew he had to stop her or he’d be coughing

it up right into her mouth and her pleasure, which was even more important to him, would

be seriously delayed.

He stopped her, and stood her to her feet. He placed his hands on both sides of

her face, and smiled. “You’re still my baby, Shay, you know that? I know I don’t

deserve you, I know I can have no claim to you, but you’re still my baby.”

Shay wanted to tell him that he was still hers, too, but the terror in her throat

stopped her cold. Would he be able to handle the fact that he had a sixteen year old son?

And what about Dre? Would he be able to handle the fact that she had lied to him, that

his father wasn’t dead, that the decision she made all those years ago was the absolute

wrong move?

But Matty didn’t wait for any response from her, anyway. He lifted her back onto

the bed and laid on top of her. His mouth kissed her neck, her chest, and his tongue

flickered around her nipples, and kissed her breasts, and his fingertip found its way inside

her womanhood.

Now it was his time to pleasure her. And he moved down the length of her,

opened her legs as wide as they could go, and kissed and bit and slurped her so intensely

that Shay got on her elbows, dropped her head back, and opened her mouth to holler, but

no sound came forth.

And when he moved back up, and his now massive penis entered her, ready to

super-cure the ache that was now between her legs, she did scream, not some primal

scream, but his name, over and over and over.

When she screamed his name and then arched her pliable little body, Matty lost it

then. He entered deep inside of her and began gyrating with the kind of skill that made

him amazed that he could have stayed away from this all of these years. It was beyond

intense. And when she met his movements, with movements of her own, her skill now a

complete match for his, he lost all restraint. He began pounding her, wanting no-one else

but her, unwilling for this feeling, this euphoria, to ever end.

But theirs was a kind of euphoria that had to end, least it would be the end of

them. The climax came, beyond intense it came, and they both released into a surge of

happiness, pain, and fear that when it was all over, when they were at the peak and about

to come back down, even that was like a rush.

They collapsed into each other’s arms.

***

some signs. When Shay looked over at Matty’s Rolex on the night stand, and saw that it

was nearly one in the morning, she panicked. She never stayed out all night on a business

meeting or a date or anything that DeAndre could declare as improper. She knew she had

to leave.

“No, stay,” a still sleepy Matty said, pulling her back into his arms. “Please don’t

leave me, Shay,” he said.

Shay felt his pain, it was impossible for her not to feel it, and she allowed herself

to move back into his arms. But it would have to be only temporary. She did not spend

nights away from home, away from DeAndre, and she wasn’t about to start now.

Besides, this night with Matty was such a mistake, and she knew it. How in the world

were they going to pick up the pieces and go forward when there were too many pieces to

pick up? Not to mention that big, fat secret of hers that could tear the whole thing to

pieces again.

That was why, as soon as Matty was asleep again, she slid, ever so quietly, out of

his big, warm arms, and took herself home.

FOURTEEN

The next day, Shay and Tasia were in Shay’s office going over the latest editorial page.

Tasia, however, had more pressing matters on her mind.

“Are you going to tell me?” she asked.

“Tell you what?”

“How did it go with the gorgeous Mr. Driscoll?”

Memories of how it went were now embedded in Shay’s mind. “It went fine.”

“It did?” Tasia was getting excited. “So he said yes?”

“Yes?” Shay asked, confused. “No, we didn’t . . . I mean, no.”

“So he said no?”

“He didn’t say anything. It didn’t get that far.”

A puzzled look came over Tasia’s expressive face. “That makes no sense, Shay. Then

what was fine about it? What happened?”

She wanted to say the truth. She wanted to say that they made wonderful love and

then fell lovingly asleep in each other’s arms. “Nothing happened,” she said, instead. When

Tasia kept staring at her, she was about to reveal more, she didn’t know how much more, but

something. But her desk intercom buzzed.

“Miss Cooper,” her secretary buzzed, “Mr. Driscoll is here to see you.”

Tasia’s already big eyes became bigger. Shay’s heart dropped. “Ask him to come in,

please,” she said.

“What’s up with this?” Tasia wanted to know. The idea that the head of DSI would

be coming once again to their office was stupefying to Tasia. But by the sudden worried look

on Shay’s face, she knew it wasn’t a question that would be answered today.

“I’ll be in my office,” Tasia said, standing to her feet. “Holler if you need to.”

Matty walked into the office as Tasia was leaving. She spoke to him, glanced back at

her boss, and then walked out. Matty looked back at Tasia.

“What’s her problem?” he wondered.

“Nosiness,” Shay said.

Matty walked further into the office. Shay, who was seated on the edge of her desk,

her legs crossed in her short skirt suit, didn’t move. He looked at those legs, and then into her

eyes. “Why did you leave me,” he asked, unable to shield the pain he felt when he woke up

this morning, and found her gone. “I asked you to stay.”

“I had to go, Matty.”

“Why?”

“Because I had to.”

Matty hesitated, his heart constricting. “You’re seeing someone else, aren’t you?”

Shay almost rolled her eyes. “Oh, and I just slept with you although I’m seeing

somebody else? I’m not like that. No, I’m not seeing somebody else.”

“Then why did you leave, Shay?”

“I told you I had to.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Look, I’m not your young piece on the side anymore, Matty, all right?”

It came out accusatory and full of venom. Shay had no intention of sounding that

harsh. But it was harsh. And the pain seared Matty’s face.

“Matty,” she said, attempting to make amends, but the damage to his already frayed

and beaten self esteem was already done. He left.

Shay laid back on her desk, angry with herself. But what was she going to do?

DeAndre had to be told, and Matty had to be told. But how, Lord?
How
?

***

second, Shay fessed-up to Tasia about everything: her previous relationship with Matty, Alex’s

scheme and their eventual marriage, and DeAndre.

Tasia, a know-it-all when she wanted to be, claimed that she had already figured most

of it out. And was ready with the advice.

“The longer you wait, girl,” she advised, chomping down on her massive pile of shrimp

lo mein, “the harder it’s going to be. Dre will understand. The woman was dying, Mr.

Driscoll had to marry her, you didn’t want to add to their stress. Dre will understand. He may

be upset initially, but in the long run he won’t hate you. But he could despise you if you know

Driscoll’s no longer in that situation, is, in fact, here in Philly, and you still didn’t tell him.

Now there could be consequences and repercussions then.”

“Oh, Tazz,” Shay said, shaking her head. “I’m the queen of bad decisions.”

“You?”

“Yes, me! Everything everybody else touches turns to gold. I touch it and it fizzles.”

“Destiny didn’t fizzle.”

Shay looked at her as if she was nuts. “We are headed for bankruptcy, Tasia.

Receivership, hello? And you don’t call that a fizzle?”

“But look how long it took for us to get here? Nearly a decade. We was riding high

once upon a time, girl. Mighty high. Look how long it took for us to get to this point.”

“But we’re at this point, don’t you see that? And that can mean only one thing.”

“What?”

Shay hesitated. A frown creasing her face. “I didn’t do this right.” She shook her

head, stared at her plate of untouched food. “I should have told Matty, Tazz, regardless of his