Second Chances (20 page)

Sabrina crawled over him and straddled his
thighs. Renaldo watched her from half-closed lids, trying to recover.

“Mmm.” She licked her lips, and his nerves
rippled at the image she presented.

Her mane of chestnut curls were disheveled and wild
from where his fingers had run all through them. She was sexy, sultry, her eyes
now darkened to a smoky topaz in the throes of arousal. Her full mouth was moist
from the stroke of her own tongue after the decadent pleasure she displayed at
swallowing his seed.

Renaldo came up to a seated position and fanned
his fingers over her soft buttocks. He pulled her closer, and she propped back
on her hands with her hard nipples pouting up to him. They tingled with longing
before he caught one in his mouth. She let her head roll back, lost in the
sensation of his gentle suckling. His tongue added another layer, stroking
across the turgid tip.

“Feels so good.”

The sensitive flesh between her legs throbbed
and ached for his possession. She grinded her hips into his and felt his penis
harden and swell between them. He was ready again and she was ready for him.

Sabrina looped her arms around his neck,
and with her knees on either side of his hips, she seated herself on him. Her
feminine core fit around the girth of his hard shaft. Her mouth fell open on a
loud cry and her body tightened backward in a deep arch at the pleasure that
shot through her. His penetration was shockingly good.

“
Você está bela, meu amor
.” He kissed
her neck, her jaw line, and then claimed her lips. They indulged in a long,
slow kiss. Renaldo ran his hands up and down her back, and she held onto him as
his hips moved under her. She rode him, rocking back and forth, her breath
coming in shorter and shorter gasps at the nonstop pleasure.

Her nails bit into her palms as they continued
to pump and grind. “Please don’t stop. Please, please don’t,” she pleaded.  

“You’re mine.” Renaldo continued to thrust, filling
her, giving her exactly what she craved. “Say it.”

“I’m yours.” She could barely breathe, let
alone speak, but for him she made the effort. She
was
his. She’d been so
miserable without him, she didn’t know what she would have done if he’d sent
her away again.

Renaldo continued to push, and she continued to
ride. It felt so good breathing almost escaped her. Firm hands gripped her hips
and guided her in the back and forth motion. Her body was so wet from the
pleasure he inflicted.

They moved even faster, and their heavy,
panting breaths mingled together. She got wetter as her excitement escalated. He
spoke to her in a mixture of English and Portuguese while she clung to him. They
were words of praise, telling her how beautiful she was, how he could never get
enough, how no other woman had ever driven him out of his mind the way she did.

Renaldo rolled her onto her back. He drove his
hard flesh in and out of her, afforded an easy passage by the slick heat
between her open legs. Their fingers threaded together and he stretched her
arms above her head. He worked his hips—those sexy Latin hips moved with precision
to a primal rhythm that satisfied her every desire and touched a spot deep in
her heart no man had ever been able to reach before.

Sabrina arched back and cried out, three times
in succession, the orgasm erupting like a volcano. Her fingers tightened around
his and her entire body tensed. Then she convulsed as the explosion ricocheted
within the walls of her womb. “Renny, Renny…”

Still hard, he continued to thrust between her
thighs. He was like a man possessed. As if he had something to prove. His hips
demanded, pushing into her like a piston and steadily guiding her back to the
peak.

“
Minha, minha, minha
…!” His voice was
raw and thick, his dark eyes focused on her face. Emotion punctuated each
savage movement. The possessive words sounded torn from him, and she knew he
meant them with every breath he took.  

Mine, mine, mine…!

__________

It seemed impossible that Sabrina and
Renaldo could get any closer than they already were, with her leg thrown over
his thigh and their arms wrapped around each other as if they were never going
to be separated again. But when she kissed his throat, his muscular arm managed
to pull her closer and her still sensitive breasts flattened against his chest.

Sabrina ran her hand across the toned
muscles of his back. His skin was like satin. “You feel so good.”

“Not as good as you.” He squeezed her
bottom.

She stretched her languid limbs and
nuzzled his neck. She liked when he paid her compliments, seducing her with his
words.

“Renny?”

“Hmm?” He sounded content, and so was
she, but they had to face reality and deal with the problem of Mateo.

“We have to do something about those
photos. He threatened to expose what happened that night. The way he looked at
us when we were leaving the market worries me. He’s going to do something,
sooner rather than later probably.”

Renaldo rolled onto his back and let his
fingertips trail lightly up and down her spine. “After looking at his criminal
record, I think you’re right. He’s capable of anything.”

“I told him I wouldn’t give him any more
money, but I know he’s not finished with us. What can we do? Do you think we
should pay him?”

“No. I will take care of it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll get the photos and put an end to
this.”

Noting the rigid set to his jaw, Sabrina
was afraid to ask what he meant. “Honey, please be careful.”

Renaldo slid his hand into her hair and
cupped the back of her head in his hand. “You are worried about me? You think I
can’t handle that little boy?”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.
He seems dangerous.”

“I know where he lives. I know
everything about him.” Renaldo captured her gaze with his. “I’m not afraid of
him, and you should not be, either. You are not alone in this. Trust that I
will take care of you. As long as I have breath in my body, you will never,
ever have to fear anyone or anything again.
Entende
?”

Sabrina nodded.

Renaldo’s hand reached for and caressed her
backside. The gentle touch awakened desire inside of her again. His member
swelled between them.

“
Eu te amo,”
he
whispered.

So many feelings bubbled inside of her.
Love, appreciation, gratitude for the man who’d shown her such unconditional
love. She gently kissed the bruised skin of his swollen hand. She then rolled
on top of him and covered his face in kisses, as all her emotions rose up inside
of her, falling as tears onto his cheeks. It was like a new day. They were
starting over. Truly starting over. The aching void inside of her was gone.

He loved her. He forgave her. And they
would face whatever the future held together.

“
Eu te amo
,” he said again and
eased his length into her.

She took all of him, rocking gently,
giving him her love. The rhythmic movement of their bodies was gentle, but no
less passionate than their last bout of lovemaking.

He took her to the heights of ecstasy
with controlled movements and a steady stroke. Her body shuddered as an avalanche
of sensations had her whimpering his name and telling him how much she loved
him.

“I love you. I love you so much.”

She kept telling him. She breathed it
into his mouth. Whispered it in his ear. Wrote it on his skin with her lips.

Over and over and over again.  

Chapter Eighteen

Sabrina sat on a stool in Renaldo’s closet, which
doubled as a dressing room, watching him get dressed.

“How do I look?” he asked, straightening his
tie in the mirror.

This was the fourth tie he’d tried on and he
still wasn’t satisfied. She’d never seen him so nervous and agitated before.

“Honey, you’re not going to a meeting. You’re
going to see your mother.”

With two impatient tugs he removed the tie.
“This was your idea.”

“I told you from the beginning I thought a tie
was too much.”

“Not the tie. This—this great idea about going
to see her. If it blows up in my face, I’m blaming you.”

Sabrina went to him. “It won’t.” She rose up on
her toes and reassured him with a kiss.

“No tie?”

“No tie,” she repeated with a small smile. “She’s
already agreed to see you. Relax.” She undid the top button of his shirt and
smoothed her hand over his chest. “That’s better.”

Renaldo took a deep breath. “I haven’t seen her
in so long. It feels…strange.”

“I know. But no matter what happens, you’ll be
glad you’re taking this step. At least you’ll have an answer one way or the
other.” She ran a fingertip over his full lower lip. “I love you.”

“Even though I’m an arrogant, hypocritical
bastard?” The corner of his mouth hitched up.

“Turns out I have a weakness for arrogant,
hypocritical bastards.”

Over a week had passed since the night he told
her that he forgave her and still loved her. In all that time, Renaldo hadn’t
been able to find Mateo. He had someone staking out Mateo’s apartment, but
there’d been no sign of him. Sabrina worried about the outcome of this ordeal,
but she was heartened by the fact that they were facing it together.

She watched her husband brush his hair again,
even though it didn’t need it. She understood his anxiety. She hadn’t known
he’d been thinking about contacting his mother until a few days ago when he
mentioned plans to meet her. Her words in Rio had stayed with him and made him think
about how he
would
feel if something did happen to the woman who’d given
birth to him. He said he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t take the steps to
at least try to see if they could establish a relationship.

The scheduled visit to his mother’s had
coincided with a visit from Jewel, who’d be there any minute to have lunch with
her. Sabrina had offered to postpone the lunch and accompany him, but he’d been
adamant that he wanted to go alone.

Finally, Renaldo heaved a sigh and turned to
Sabrina. He pulled her into his arms and rested his forehead against hers.

She wrapped her arms around his torso, hoping
to transfer some positive energy.

“I’ll call you when I’m done,” he said.

“Call me from the car as soon as you leave her
house. I want to know every single thing that happens.”

“I will.”

A few minutes later he was gone, and Sabrina prayed
that the meeting went well.

__________

Renaldo sat in an elegant room that looked more
like a furniture show room than a living room. After he’d pulled into the
driveway, he’d gazed at the house where his mother resided. He was familiar
with this exclusive neighborhood located a few miles outside of Sao Paulo. He’d
looked at a house nearby a few years back but preferred to stay in the city—for
now. Once he and Sabrina had children, this would be the kind of place where he’d
like to buy a house and raise them.

His mother entered the room with a tray of
pastries and coffee. Despite his protests, she disappeared soon after leading
him into the room while she went to get the refreshments.

The years had been good to her. She looked the
same as the last photo he’d seen. Only her hair, with a few gray strands
throughout, hinted at her age.

She was very tall, and he remembered once
hearing someone comment that she’d given up her dream of becoming a model when
she’d married so young.

The fine lines at the corners of her eyes
deepened as a nervous smiled touched her face. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like,
so I brought you a little bit of everything. When you were little you used to
love—” The walk down memory lane ended abruptly, and the bone China coffee set
rattled on the tray in her unsteady hands.

Renaldo eased the tray away from her. “Have a
seat.”

In the moments that followed, they exchanged
pleasantries until they ran out of ideas for conversation and the room fell
quiet.

“Why?” Renaldo had to ask. He had to know. “Why
didn’t you ever try to see us after you left?”

His mother stared at the coffee set. “Because I
didn’t deserve you after what I’d done. I-I couldn’t live with myself. And I’ve
regretted it all these years.” She fingered the cross hanging from the rosary
beads around her neck. “I prayed this day would come, and my prayers have been
answered.”

Renaldo averted his eyes at the prick of regret
in his chest. All this time he and his sisters had stayed away because they’d
feared her rejection. So much time wasted when all along they’d all wanted the
same thing.

 “I wanted more children, but…I wasn’t able to
have them, and I thought that was my punishment for what I did. Why should I be
blessed with more when I gave up the ones I had?” She hung her head and
suddenly looked like an old woman—much older than her forty-something years.