Safe Place Series

by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  “He has a court order for this time with the kids. It’ll be hard for me to just pick her up when it’s his time.”

  “I see.”

  “I try to believe things will get better. It’s just hard sometimes. My daughter hates going over there, and I hate making her, but the courts see things differently.” Her eyes began to water.

  “What about your son?” I asked. “Does he have a good relationship with his father?”

  “That depends on who you ask. Kevin has a good relationship with his dad when they are together. However, it’s honestly not a healthy relationship. Rodney lets both my kids down countless times, and I’m left to pick up the pieces. Then, he tries to bribe them with gifts to make up for what he missed out on. It’s hard to deal with,” she said and suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know why I just told you that. I’m talking too much.”

  “No, you just need someone to talk to,” I said, tilting her chin up.

  “I have Kemara to talk to.”

  I smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with adding another person to your support system.”

  “I shouldn’t be doing this,” she responded. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that either,” she apologized, her eyes dipping down to mine as I leaned back in the water. “Kemara thinks I should be more polite and to give people the benefit of the doubt.”

  “And by people, does that mean me?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t trust easy. That’s why I say and do things that come off rude; it’s to protect my heart,” she said with a slight crack in her voice.

  “I see,” I said, resisting the urge to grab her and hold her in my arms. She had just admitted to fighting me at every turn to guard herself from hurt. “Tameka, trusting people isn’t always easy, but at some point, you have to open yourself up to feel again.”

  Her pretty brown eyes gazed into mine. I moved closer to her, giving her the chance to pull back. When she didn’t, I slid over until I was inches away from her lips. Her breathing was so hot that I could feel it on my skin.

  “Jeb…,” she whispered before I brushed my lips against hers. She moaned on impact, which made me move in closer and deepen the kiss. I eased my hand around her neck, and my fingers landed on the nape. Her tongue swooped in and caressed mine as I grabbed onto her bikini bottoms.

  “Wait,” she gasped out. Her breath was ragged.

  My cock throbbed against my trunks. This was the moment I’d wanted more than anything.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t do this,” she said, pushing me away. She climbed out of the pool, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around her beautiful body. She then ran out of the pool area.

  “Damn!” I fell back against the side of the pool, my body throbbing more than ever before.

  Chapter 13

  Tameka

  I made it to my room and collapsed against the bed, frustrated. I had been on fire while soaking in cold water, and I wanted Jeb to take me right there in the pool. It was wrong on so many levels to let him get close to me, only to push him away. Why did I let him get that close to me again? I was trying to figure out the answer to that question when I heard a knock on the door.

  “Tameka? It’s me,” Jeb said.

  I didn’t say a word. I just waited for the knocking to stop.

  I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling until my lids became too heavy to hold open, and I drifted off to sleep.

  I snuck out the house before anyone woke up the next morning, heading to the corner market to get some breakfast. I needed the time alone…to clear my head. My ringing phone wouldn’t allow me any such peace, so I finally answered it.

  “Hello, Kemara.”

  “Tameka? Where the heck are you? We were about to call the police and report you missing!” she said, sounding winded.

  “I’m fine. Relax. I came to the corner market for some breakfast.”

  “Breakfast? I can’t with you right now! You know how to cause a scare, don’t you?” she fussed. “You must’ve never heard of the girl from Alabama that ended up missing in Aruba. Can you please be more careful and let one of us know where you’re going?”

  “I wasn’t trying to scare you, Kemara. I’m right around the corner. Something happened last night that made me have to get away and clear my head for a minute.”

  “Did you talk to Jeb?”

  “Yeah, we talked,” I admitted, and there was a long pause on the other end. I could hear the wheels of her mind turning.

  “What did you talk about?” she asked.

  “You are so nosey.” I laughed.

  “Hey, only trying to help. You seem more stressed now than you did before you left home. This trip was supposed to have the opposite effect,” Kemara said.

  I took a sip from my coffee mug. “I know, but I had a surprise guest, remember?”

  “Speaking of him, he’s up and losing his mind not knowing where you are.”

  I frowned. “I didn’t ask what he was doing.”

  Kemara laughed. “Channing and I are going out on a date tonight.”

  “Nice. Where to?”

  “Probably dancing. Then, we’re getting a hotel.”

  “A hotel? That doesn’t make sense. Why are you doing that when you said this house was big enough for all of us?” I asked.

  “We’re just getting away from the getaway for tonight.” She giggled coyly. “We have a few things we want to try while we’re here.”

  “Oh…”

  “I hope it won’t be awkward for you and Jeb to be alone in the house. You can always lock yourself in your room and read,” she said.

  “Oh, don’t worry about me. I can handle him,” I flat out lied.

  “Good. I’ll let you get back to your breakfast. I was just worried about you,” she said.

  “Sorry about that. I’ll let you know where I am from now on,” I said and hung up.

  I finished the rest of my toast and coffee and left the corner market heading back to the mansion where I stayed in my room most of the day, resting and reading.

  “We’re about to leave, Tameka,” Kemara said as she walked into my room that evening.

  “Have fun,” I said, smiling at my sister. “And bring me a niece or nephew back.”

  “We’ll try our best,” Channing said from the doorway. “Try not to kill my cousin,” he added.

  “Please,” Kemara chimed in. “I don’t know how we would ever explain it to your parents if one of you died tonight.”

  Jeb snuck up behind Channing and said, “We’ll live. You guys go and have fun.”

  I glanced towards him and turned back to my sister and brother-in-law. “What Jeb said,” I replied.

  We all walked downstairs, talking about the restaurant Channing was taking Kemara to. Jeb and I waved them off, and when the door closed, I headed back upstairs, but Jeb stopped me before I reached the steps.

  “Hey, you’ve been up there all day,” he said. “I know you’re trying to avoid me, so I’ll go to my room, and you can stay down here in the entertainment room.” He went trekking up the steps before I could reply.

  Seeing him run up the steps in a pair of jeans that fit him so snug that my mouth watered was a treat in itself. And he didn’t have on a shirt. The muscles rippling off his back sent a zing of energy right through me. Mercy.

  Once he reached the top of the stairs, I tore my eyes off his backside and looked at the book sitting on the side table. I sat on the couch, opened the book Kemara had been reading, and attempted to start a new read by J. McCreary. I was halfway through the heart-wrenching story of a girl who was falling in love with a sexy brute who helped her bury the corpse of the man who molested her when she was a child when I yawned and looked at my watch. This book was so good, I’d been reading for three hours nonstop.

  I stretched out on the couch for some much needed eye rest. I couldn’t recall the last time I ever read this much in one day. I heaved a sigh and closed my
eyes, trying to relax and let every worry wash away.

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d been napping when I heard my phone ring. It sounded so far away that I thought it was a dream. The tone rang out again, and it was definitely not a dream.

  “Tameka, wake up… Tameka, your phone is ringing.”

  I jerked, and my eyes opened. Jeb was standing over me, holding my phone out to me. “What?” I asked, confused.

  “Your phone has been ringing back to back. It might be important,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  Still dazed, I looked at my screen and saw that there were four missed calls from Eva. I called her back, and she answered on the first ring.

  “Where were you?” she asked frantically.

  “I was sleep. What’s going on?”

  She sniffled. “I want to go home.”

  A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “My trip is almost over, honey. What’s going on? Where’s your dad?”

  “I don’t know where he is. Why do I have to stay here? Did you know he was marrying that skank?”

  “Don’t call your dad’s girlfriend names,” I scolded.

  “You do!” she shot back.

  Guilt washed over me. Eva had overheard me talk about her father’s future wife. Even though I disliked the woman with my soul, I shouldn’t have let Eva hear me talk about her.

  “Well, it’s not right when I do it either.” I paused. “So they’re really getting married, huh?” I asked.

  Eve sighed. “Yeah, Melody’s pregnant. We’re going to have a little rat running around trying to be our sibling, and I don’t want that. I just want it to be Kevin and me. No one else. Dad doesn’t have time for us as it is.”

  “Where is your father?” I asked.

  “Everyone is outside in the backyard. Melody’s parents came over to celebrate the baby, so it’s been about her all day.” Eva let out another exasperated breath. “When are you coming back, Mom? I’m ready to go.”

  “I’ll be home Sunday morning,” I assured her.

  “Can you come to get me when you get back?” she asked. “It’s not fair that I have to stay here for a whole month. Why am I being punished like this?”

  I wanted to tell her I’d bring her home, but I couldn’t make any promises about her father’s court-ordered time. There were no guarantees when it came to Rodney.

  “Honey, you’re not being punished. Everyone doesn’t get to spend time with their father. But I’ll talk to him about you coming home for a few days,” I said.

  “He’ll say no. He doesn’t let me do anything,” she pouted.

  “The month will be over before you know it, I promise.”

  “I gotta go. He’s calling for me, Mama.”

  “I love you, Eva.”

  “I love you too.”

  I put the phone on the table and stared at it after the call ended. I hated that my kids got the rotten end of the stick of me and Rodney’s failed marriage.

  “Everything alright?” Jeb asked with concern in his eyes.

  “My daughter isn’t happy that her father is getting married, and I don’t like it when she calls me upset.” I grabbed my phone and the book and walked past him to leave the living room.

  Jeb grabbed my arm, causing me to look into his ocean blue eyes. “You’re always running. For once, don’t run. Stay here and talk to me.”

  “The last time I started talking, we ended up kissing. I can’t handle kissing you two nights in a row. I might not be able to push you away this time,” I confessed.

  “That wouldn’t be a bad thing, Tameka.”

  “It would be devastating. I’m full of baggage. No man wants to be saddled down with that, and I’m not trying to put it on anybody.”

  “I’m a strong man. I can carry a lot. Why don’t you let me decide what I want to handle?” he asked.

  “I wouldn’t bring a man into a situation I haven’t figured out yet,” I said as I slipped my phone into my pocket.

  “You don’t know what I want. If you did, you would give me a chance.” He moved toward me.

  “I have two kids and enough drama to make an epic movie. You should run for the hills as most men would,” I told him as I stepped back and pointed toward the hallway.

  “Most men,” he said, taking a step toward me. “I’m not most men.”

  “Alright then, prove it,” I said. “We’re set to go out on a date. At the last minute, I realize Kevin has a baseball game scheduled for the same time. What do you do when I tell you about it?”

  “Is this a trick question?” he asked.

  “It’s not a trick question. I’m just trying to prove a point here. What do you do?” I asked.

  “Our date plans shift to family night. I go to the game and then take you guys out for pizza afterward,” he said concisely.

  I scowled at him. “You gave an obvious choice that you think I want to hear. That doesn’t mean you really feel that way,” I argued.

  “That’s really what I would do. I’d go to his baseball game and cheer for him as if he were my son. I was an all-star baseball champ all four years in high school. I love baseball.”

  “Okay. Eva comes home from school with a fever, so our weekend getaway has to be postponed. How do you handle that?”

  “I stay home with you and help nurse her back to health. Then, we do a staycation in the bedroom when she’s asleep,” he said and winked. “Why are you looking like that, Tameka? What are you thinking?” He moved closer to me.

  “You gave perfect responses. Too perfect. Their own father would have said we should get a sitter. In fact, on a couple of occasions, he did say that when Eva was sick.”

  “I’m not your ex, Tameka. At some point you have to understand that,” he said. “He’s a real asshole. I’m not.”

  “But how do I know I can trust you?” I asked softly.

  “Sometimes, you just have to take that leap. I will prove that your heart is safe with me, Tameka. Trust that.”

  He swooped in for a kiss. His lips felt right on mine, and I didn’t want to pull back. I wanted to kiss him forever and never let go.

  “I don’t want anyone to know right away,” I whispered between kisses. “I want to keep what we have between us,” I murmured.

  “Your secret is safe with me,” he said, and I dropped the book from my hand as I snaked my fingers around his neck and deepened the kiss.

  I was ready to take that leap, no matter what dangerous curves were ahead.

  Chapter 14

  Jeb

  Our clothes were tossed aside, and it felt like a dream as I grabbed her neck and hauled her lips to mine. I lifted her into my arms and carried her to my bed. Slowly, I sat her down on top of the covers and surveyed every inch of her naked body. Then, I eased on top of her, feeling her slickness against my manhood, as she lazily ran her fingers through my hair. I claimed her soft, sweet lips as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Tameka tasted delicious when my tongue plunged into her mouth, eliciting a soft moan from her.

  “My God,” she whispered, and her hot breath against my neck drove me mad. I kissed her again, and another soft moan from her unraveled me even more.

  Tameka arched her back and gasped as my tongue traveled to her shoulder. My teeth grazed her right breast, and I latched onto her pebbled nipple, tugging softly at her areola. Clutching her waist gently, I held her in place as I flooded her with kisses.

  Tameka cooed, and I loved the sound. “Jeb…,” she said as I circled her navel with tender kisses. Moving further south, I tasted the best part of her, spreading her labia and running my thumb slowly over her clit.

  She trembled as I thrust a finger in and out of her as if I were fucking her. The feel of her slickness and the smell of her intoxicating aroma had my cock hard as a rock. It swelled even more as she made erotic faces that showed her pleasure. I pressed my tongue against her opening and flicked it in and out of her heat. She shifted, grabbing onto the edge of the bed.

  “Je
b!” she cried out. She lifted her hips off the bed and started to shake.

  I held her in place as her delicious juices gushed into my mouth. I licked up every morsel, not sparing one bit. Then, I eased up her body and saw her sexy smile. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

  “Any regrets?” I asked.

  “Not one.” She pulled me down until our lips touched, and her mouth opened to receive me as she parted her legs to take me inside of her.

  My cock throbbed. I’d waited a long time for this moment, and it was finally happening. I growled when my hardness touched her slick heat and slid into her, expanding her heated walls. This was it. Right here, inside of my woman, lip to lip, hip to hip, soul to soul was where I belonged.

  Tameka shivered as I claimed her with ferocious thrusts. My lips captured every moan and groan. They were mine to keep. My length went in and out of her with precision. I penetrated her deeply, opening her wider than ever before. But when she arched her back and gave me full access, she pulled the cum right out of me.

  “Yes, baby. Just like that,” I groaned, pumping inside of her wetness until one last plunge sent me tumbling over the edge. I collapsed on top of Tameka and nuzzled against her as her body began to tremble with her release. “You feel so good, baby,” I told her.

  “So good,” she whispered.

  I rolled onto my side and gathered her in my arms, and after a few moments of silence, we were both fast asleep. The night had played out as I hoped. Tameka was back in my arms where she belonged.

  Early the next morning, she was still sleeping peacefully next to me. I’d never seen anyone so beautiful in my life. My cocoa beauty looked like an angel. She must’ve sensed me watching her. She started to move, and then she moaned as one eye fluttered open, and she looked at me.

  “Hey, beautiful,” I said.

  She covered her smile. “Have you been watching me sleep?” she asked.

  I pulled the covers back and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Yes, and don’t hide from me.”

  She tilted her head up to kiss me. “Did that seriously just happen?” she asked.

  “Yeah, you just kissed me.”