The Ultimate Merger (4 page)

Then she lost control.

Waves of sensation crashed over
her. She cried out, the room spinning as her body convulsed. He held her
upright against him, his fingers pressing into the flesh of her hips.

Then he lost control.

She heard the broken groan when he
could no longer hold back.

He pushed in with more urgency,
tightening his grip on her. He pumped faster, grunting, and then, just when she
thought she couldn’t take any more, he began to grind his hips against her. The
coarse hair of his genitals chafed the sensitive skin of her buttocks as he
erupted.

Weakened, Sabrina collapsed to her
knees, and he came down behind her. They remained in that position for a while
with a film of sweat on their skin, their breaths coming short and hard. His
naked flesh warmed hers, and his chest hairs tickled her back.

He rose to his feet, lifted her
into his arms, and carried her to his bed.

Later, lying comfortably beneath
the sheets, Sabrina turned her face into his neck and inhaled deeply of his
manly scent. Her fingers caressed the silken threads of hair on his head. She
was so comfortable she never wanted to leave the circle of his arms.

As quickly as the thought came, it
disappeared again, pushed away by common sense. She couldn’t let good sex cloud
her thinking, and what she’d just experienced was better than good. It was
amazing.

“Feeling better now?” Renaldo
asked, his breath brushing her forehead. His fingertips stroked down her spine,
leaving tiny shivers in their wake.

“Mhmm.” Sabrina slid her leg along
the length of his calf. “I’m not tense anymore.”

After a little chuckle, he kissed
her forehead. “Glad to hear it.”

Drifting into sleep, Sabrina
wondered what the hell she’d gotten herself into.

Chapter Seven

Sabrina hadn’t expected to meet the
man of her dreams a month ago, but life had a way of throwing curve balls. Never
in her wildest dreams as a young girl growing up on the mean streets of
Englewood—on the South Side of Chicago—had she ever thought she’d be lying in a
king bed in a posh suite at The Drake Hotel.

The enormous room was the size of a
small apartment, with a separate living room, dining room, and bedroom. Decorated
in warm colors, fine linens, and heavy drapes, it had become her home away from
home. Nowadays, she spent more time here than she did in her own apartment.

Because of him.

She’d fallen hopelessly in love in
such a short time, and it scared her. She dreaded the end of the relationship,
but the end loomed near. Once he concluded the deal he’d been working on, Renaldo
would return to his country. Lucky for her, he’d hit a few snags and the real
estate closing had been delayed.

Sabrina rolled over and stared at
her lover’s back as he stood looking out one of the windows at the breathtaking
view of Lake Michigan. With one arm braced on the window frame, he spoke in a
low tone into the phone so as not to disturb her, not knowing she was still
awake. Her eyes drifted over his bare back and the solid beams of his long legs
in a pair of black boxer briefs that clung to his firm buttocks.

Renaldo da Silva was every woman’s
dream. Muscles covered each inch of tanned flesh, and every night they spent
together she received such pleasure that she closed her eyes momentarily as
warm sensations filled her.

When she lifted her lids, she saw
he’d turned toward her. His onyx-colored eyes swept over the imprint of her
body beneath the covers. Heat swelled within her, and she welcomed his
attention, even though they’d already made love this morning.

He said something into the
mouthpiece of the phone. Then she heard him say, “
Adeus
,” never taking
his eyes from her, before he hung up and placed the phone on a table against
the wall.

She smiled. “Are you coming back to
bed now?”

One corner of his mouth slanted upward.
“You were not satisfied earlier? I’m not doing my job very well.” He walked
with confidence toward the bed, and Sabrina dragged the sheet down her skin to
unveil her body and invite him onto the mattress with her.

He growled low in his throat, eyes
darkening as his gaze swept her nakedness. The creep of moisture between her
thighs readied her for him. She wanted him in the worst way.

“I guess you’ll have to work
harder,” she whispered breathlessly.

He lowered onto the bed and slipped
his hand between her open legs. He tenderly kissed the corner of her mouth
while his fingers stroked with skill.

“
Sim
,” he whispered. He
lifted his head and looked down at her beneath half-lowered lids. “I will work very,
very hard this time,
meu amor
.”

With a wicked grin, he covered her
body and went to work.

****

Two days later, Sabrina arrived at her
job with a smile on her face, all because she’d spent another satisfying night
with Renaldo—or Renny, as she teasingly called him. She was enjoying this
little affair too much. She should thank her employer for getting on her nerves
or she would never have gone out that Friday night, and then she never would
have met Renaldo.

When she considered the men she’d
been involved with in the past, no one else compared. She’d dropped her
friend-with-benefits, Samuel. All because Renaldo had become absolutely
addictive.

They had so much in common. They were
both driven, with a strong work ethic. Because of that, he treated her as an
equal and didn’t try to put her in a box. Several times he’d bounced ideas off
of her and asked her opinion about aspects of the hotel purchase. She’d been
flattered he valued her opinion so much and wished she could garner the same
respect at her place of employment.

On the weekends, she took him
around the city. At one of her favorite pizza joints, they ate authentic
Chicago-style pizza, a deep-dish pie filled with cheese, chunky tomato sauce,
and meat and vegetable toppings. One weekend she joined him on a bus tour of
the city. She’d learned some things herself as she listened to the guide. They
also set sail on a one-hour architectural cruise and listened as the young
woman explained how the city bounced back from the Great Fire of 1871 to become
a show piece of modern American architecture. 

One of her favorite things was learning
his language. She knew how to count to twenty in Portuguese now, and he’d
gotten into the habit of teaching her two new expressions every day.

Bom dia
. Good morning.

Boa tarde
. Good afternoon.

De onde você é?
 Where are you from?

Desculpe
. I’m sorry.

And her favorite words:
Até
amanhã
. See you tomorrow.

Sabrina entered the tall,
glass-covered building on Michigan Avenue and rode the elevator up to the floor
where she worked. On the way to her office, Ernestine’s voice stopped her in
her tracks.  

“Sabrina, you have a visitor.”

The look in the other woman’s eyes
made her uneasy. Her fingers curled tighter around the covered cup of coffee in
her hand, and she hitched her leather business bag higher on her shoulder. She
started to lose the buzz from her morning high.

“Who is it?”

“She didn’t give her name, but she
said she’s your cousin…?” The feeling of dread increased exponentially. Ernestine
lifted one brow higher, her tone and expression suggesting either she doubted
they were family, or she didn’t comprehend how they could be. “She’s in the
restroom right now.”

Taking a deep breath, Sabrina
forced what she hoped looked like a genuine smile onto her face. “When she
comes out, please send her back to my office.”

Ernestine nodded and Sabrina
stepped quickly down the hall, not bothering to pause and say “Good morning” to
her officemates like she usually did. She couldn’t, because her mind reeled at
the thought that Jewel was here, at her workplace.

It had to be Jewel, because she was
the only family Sabrina kept in contact with in Chicago. She’d walked away from
the old neighborhood years ago—the crime, the filth, the drugs, the
dysfunction. She wanted no part of the old life to connect with her career.

But Jewel was here.

Chapter Eight

Oh my God.

Sabrina’s mouth fell open as she stared at her cousin’s bedraggled
appearance from behind her desk.

Her cousin’s eyes filled with embarrassment. “Hi, Brina.”

Jewel Porter looked like she’d been dragged through a sewer once,
and dragged through it again for good measure. Her skin, the same buttery color
as Sabrina’s, was covered in dirt and had an unhealthy pallor to it. Her long
hair was disheveled and clumped together in several places. And the smell…

“Jewel,” she whispered, her heart hurting. She raced around the
desk.

“No.” Jewel stepped back, lowered her eyes and shook her head. “I
don’t want to get you dirty. I-I just…” Her face crumbled.

“What happened to you?” This was the worst she’d ever seen her.

Three months had passed since they last saw each other, and
Sabrina had begun to wonder if her cousin had died. She’d never stayed away
this long before. She hadn’t even called once the entire time. Sabrina called
the police and checked at hospitals, each time sagging with relief when no one
fitting her cousin’s description was in either location.

Her gaunt appearance terrified Sabrina. When had she last eaten?
Other than drugs, what else was she putting into her body?

Jewel kept her eyes trained on the floor. “I’m sorry, Brina. I
need your help. I don’t know where else to go. I tried to reach you at home,
but…but you were never there. I didn’t know how else to get in touch with you.”

Sabrina had been having a good time, spending every possible
moment with Renaldo, when her cousin had needed her. The weight of guilt came
down on her conscience.

“I’m here for you. You know that.”

Jewel covered her face and cried. She barely made a sound, which
made it even more heart-wrenching. Sabrina gripped her cousin’s arms. She was
so stick-thin that Sabrina’s fingers touched her thumb.

“Look at me. Look at me, Jewel.” Her voice shook, because she was
scared. She knew what could happen. They’d been raised together and were
practically sisters. They’d both lost their mothers to drugs. She couldn’t lose
Jewel, too. She wouldn’t let it happen.

Jewel’s empty, tear-filled eyes finally lifted.

“We’ll beat this, okay? We’ll do it together. You and me, just
like always.”

Jewel nodded like a child, looking needy and trusting.

Sabrina rushed around her desk and grabbed her bag. She picked up
the phone and told Ernestine she had a family emergency and was leaving for the
day.

“Come on,” she said, pulling Jewel behind her. First, she had to
get her cousin cleaned up and give her clothes to wear. Then they’d go to a
doctor.

She didn’t even want to know what Jewel had been up to. She
already knew what happened when women ran out of money because she’d seen her
mother do it. They used their bodies as currency.

****

Renaldo stared at his phone on the desk in his suite. He rubbed
his fingers across his jaw. He tried not to succumb to the need to call Sabrina
again. He’d already texted and called her this morning. It was now
mid-afternoon and he still hadn’t heard from her. Very unusual.

He didn’t like not having answers. He picked up the phone and
examined it, checking his list of texts to make sure he hadn’t missed any. No
missed voicemails, either.

Where was she?

Should he be worried? Was she busy today? Or was she blowing him
off?

****

Thursday morning, Renaldo sat in the real estate closing signing
documents. The deal was done, yet he had unfinished business.

He hadn’t seen Sabrina in three days, the longest period since
they’d started their affair.  A short text from her didn’t explain much
except that she was very busy with a family issue. Her explanation surprised
him because he could count on one hand the number of times she’d provided any
information about her family. When he offered to help, she’d turned him down,
stating she could take care of it on her own.

Whatever “it” was took up a lot of her time. Not only had she cut
off contact with him, but when he showed up at her job unannounced, he
discovered she’d taken leave from work. What was going on that caused someone
like her to leave work?

With a flight booked to leave for Brazil tomorrow, he wanted to
see her before he left. Maybe he was being selfish, but he needed to see her.
Needed. Not wanted. Needed. She’d become as important to him as breathing.

“Last one,” the attorney said, pushing another piece of paper at
him to sign.