Guilty as Charged

by Harlow James

  “What?” Javi laughs.

  “Yeah. There’s this young ice cream man that drives around her neighborhood. She was convinced I needed to get laid and kept trying to get us together. She’s exasperating sometimes,” I say with a roll of my eyes.

  “Are you into ice cream men, Sydney?” Javi grates as he begins to press kisses to my neck, my head tilting over instinctually to give him better access.

  “No. Just men who give me ice cream,” I tease breathlessly.

  “Hmmm. I might be able to do that.” He presses a kiss to my lips again and then moves me off him and walks toward the kitchen. I hear noise but then Javi returns quickly with a small pint of ice cream and two spoons.

  “Oh, you’re spoiling me,” I sing as he sits down and pops the lid off the top. It’s a simple vanilla ice cream with fudge swirls, but it sounds utterly perfect right now. I stab it with my spoon to take a bite, popping the creamy treat in my mouth and moaning before I sense Javier tensing up beside me.

  “Take your shirt off, Princess.”

  “What?” I look at him, stunned at how quickly his demeanor changed. “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to show you what a real man can do to you with some ice cream.” He drags his spoon from his lips and then licks his mouth, making me throb for him immediately.

  I set my spoon on the coffee table and then proceed to lift my shirt from my torso, baring my body to him.

  “Now the bra.”

  I snap the clasp in the back of my black bra and drag it away from my body slowly, itching with need for what he’s going to do to me. The last time we were together it was frantic and rushed because we were so desperate for each other. Tonight I feel like he’s going to ravish me, cherish me, take his time because we have it. Tomorrow is Saturday, I already know I’m spending the night, and now we’re together—this is going to be different.

  “Lift your hips.” His hands find the band of my leggings and he pulls them and my underwear down my legs and helps me free of them, leaving me completely naked next to him on the couch. Then he reaches behind his head and extracts his shirt from his body, giving me that view of his chiseled stomach and arms—the muscles that make me dizzy every time I touch them.

  “Lie on your back.”

  “Yes, sir,” I mock, reclining my body and trying to relax, even though I can’t wait for him to touch me.

  Javi’s eyes bounce all over my skin—from my face, to my breasts, to my freshly bare pussy. I watch him soak me up before he groans and then reaches for the ice scream, scooping out a bite and then bringing the spoon to my nipples. The freezing metal hits my nipples and instantly makes them hard as I cry out from the contact.

  “That’s cold …”

  “Don’t worry. I’m about to warm you up, babe. But first, I’m going to lick this ice cream off every part of your body I love.” His lips find mine and then he pulls back and rubs the ice cream over my nipple and down to my navel.

  “You love my body?” I ask on an exasperated sigh as I watch his tongue dart out and lick my nipples clean.

  “Fuck yeah, I do. And now it’s all mine.”

  “It always was.”

  His head pops up and we lock eyes, speaking words between our gazes. I’m his and he’s mine, no matter how hard we tried to fight it.

  Javi scoops up more ice cream and drags it across my lips, down my neck, over my nipples again before he licks up the trail, leaving me panting and desperate for him to relieve the ache between my thighs. But the next scoop he takes he rubs on my inner thighs before it starts to melt and he rushes to prevent it from dipping down on the couch.

  “Fuck.” He laughs as he dives between my legs and laps at my skin, making me chuckle as well.

  “This was your idea, genius. I could have told you this was going to get messy.”

  His head pops up, his eyes narrow intensely as I feel his fingers toy with my entrance, and then he plunges two fingers inside of me, making me gasp from the intrusion.

  “You were saying?” His fingers slide in and out of me with ease before his tongue finds my clit and he’s working me toward an orgasm with skill—the skill I already knew this man possessed.

  “Oh, God … Javi.” I groan as my hands find his hair and pull at the strands while his mouth does asinine things between my legs.

  “I want you to come in my mouth, Princess.”

  “I’m almost there,” I pant. And then I feel Javier push against my other hole, pressing in just enough to make my orgasm come to fruition. “Yes!” I shout into the room, moaning over and over as my release rides out in my body.

  “God, you’re so fucking sexy when you come, babe.” Javier withdraws his fingers from me and then stands, shoving his shorts down as he grabs a condom from his pocket. He tears the foil and then covers himself before hovering over me on the couch. His hand caresses my face as he dips down to kiss me and thrusts inside of me, barely giving me a moment to recover. “And you feel so fucking good.”

  “You feel amazing, Javi. Sex with you is …”

  “I know, Princess. I feel it too.” He slows down just enough to change the pace of the desperation we just felt before. Now he’s savoring me, dragging in and out slowly while his lips nip and hover over mine.

  “Javi …”

  “Sydney …”

  Those are the only two other words spoken as the slow, methodical moves of his hips hypnotize me and shift my entire world. Even though he’s not saying it, I can feel Javier making love to me. This isn’t hardcore, desperate fucking like we’ve experienced every time before. This is languid, exquisite, borderline painful with how amazing it feels.

  It builds a foundation of a new beginning between us, and I relish in every minute of it.

  Javi’s hand travels down my arm and to my hip where he caresses his palm against my body, before slipping between us to find my clit. As his fingers rub against me in the space between us, I lift my head up just enough to see where we’re joined, watching him slide in and out of me, driving me wild with abandon as I feel my orgasm start to build. He’s watching our union too, and like a match to gasoline, we strike at the same time, chasing our release together and moaning into the room.

  As we come down from the high, Javi nuzzles my neck and kisses my skin as I run my fingers up and down his back. That was the best sex I’ve ever had. It was the perfect combination of daring and bold, mixed with passion that I’ve never experienced before.

  And as Javier holds me in bed later after we showered together, his arms pulling me flush against him, his legs intertwining with mine as we drift off to sleep, I’ve have never felt so content in my life. And it’s all because of this man beside me.

  Chapter 26

  Javier

  “Are you sure I look alright?” Sydney smooths down her hair for the hundredth time as we stand in front of the door to Selena and Andre’s house.

  Reaching out to pull her hands away from her head, I stroke the top of them with my thumbs before bending down in front of her just slightly so we’re at eye level with each other. “You look gorgeous and you will be fine. Hell, I think my mom would be happy if I brought any woman to meet her.”

  Her brow arches slowly and that streak of anger I’ve grown to recognize flashes through her eyes. “Is that so?”

  “Shit. That’s … that’s not what I meant. She’s going to be thrilled to meet you because you’re you, and you make me happy. I’ve only introduced one other woman to her, Sydney, and that was almost ten years ago. She’s going to love you and probably declare that you’re too good for me, in all honesty.”

  Her face softens and then she rests her head on my chest. Wrapping my arms around her, I breathe her in, trying to calm my own nerves. “I want her to like me, Javi. It will makes things so much easier if we don’t have issues with your family and only have to worry about mine.”

  It’s been almost two weeks since we officially started dating and this week my mother and her husband are in town. They w
ill be staying with my sister in the guest house where I live, which means I’m spending the night at Sydney’s place tonight. When I told her I just planned on sleeping in Selena’s guestroom, she scoffed at the idea. I haven’t been to her place yet, except when I dropped her off a few times, so tonight will be the first time I’m completely in her space. That thought has me twisted up a bit too.

  Selena and Andre are making dinner tonight for all of us, and of course I asked Sydney to accompany me. This is the first time I’m introducing a woman that I truly care about to my mother, and I’d be lying if I said my body wasn’t humming with nerves. The idea of Sydney meeting my mom isn’t what’s got my stomach tied up in knots, though. It’s the fact that between my sister and mother, I know many details of my life will be shared tonight and I’m not sure how far they’re going to push it.

  I’ve attempted to open up to Sydney as much as I can when she asks for details, and vice versa. The woman has confided in me about her issues with her family and how stifled she feels by them. Sometimes I get irritated with the degree of pushiness I get from my sister, but after hearing what Sydney deals with, I consider myself lucky. Hearing how her father tries to manipulate her makes my blood boil. If my father were still alive, I know he would never do that to me. There was a certain level of expectation from him that I had to adhere to, of course. But he never pushed me to live my life a certain way or make decisions that I didn’t agree with. When the day comes that I have to meet her dad, it’s going to be very difficult for me to hold my tongue.

  “I don’t see how she wouldn’t like you, babe. Come on. It will be fine.” I press my lips to her reassuringly, and then grab her hand while I reach for the doorknob with my other.

  “About time you two show up,” my sister calls from the kitchen just as I see my mother come around the corner.

  “Javi!” She exclaims, running over to me and pulling me in for a hug. I squeeze her tightly to my chest, realizing it’s been far too long since I’ve seen her. She was here for a few weeks after I got out of prison, but then her and Emilio were back to Florida and continued living their lives. I haven’t seen her since.

  “You look so handsome, son. Taking care of yourself, I see.” She pinches my cheek and then turns her focus to Sydney beside me. It’s in this moment that I realize that Sydney looks a lot like my mom—dark hair, light eyes, similar build. Huh, weird.

  “You must be Sydney. My word, you are beautiful. Javi,” she says, facing me again. “What is this beautiful young woman doing with you?”

  Sydney chuckles beside me as I roll my eyes. “I ask myself that question every day, Mom. This is Sydney Matthews. Sydney, this is my mother, Linda.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Sydney extends her hand in greeting. They shake hands as my mother casts me a quizzical look.

  “Likewise, Sydney. Come in you two. Selena has been slaving away in this kitchen for hours now and Andre is firing up the grill. I’m sure you’ll have to roll me back to the guesthouse later, but it will be worth it.” She winks and then grabs Sydney by the elbow, leading us further into the house.

  “You want something to drink, babe?” I call out to Sydney as I watch my mother claw her nails into her.

  “Just water will be fine.”

  Selena chimes in. “No, no, girl. No water today. You need a beer or a White Claw.”

  “Oh! Did you get the watermelon ones?” Sydney beelines straight for my sister as I find myself smiling at them. Last weekend we had dinner with her and Andre and the two of them solidified their friendship. They bonded over White Claws and their love of Friends as we played a rather entertaining game of Cards Against Humanity. They also formed a bond through giving me shit. As much as it irritated me to be ganged up on, knowing my sister accepted Sydney and I together made me feel more at ease about our relationship. Selena even pulled me aside that night before we went to bed and told me how much she loves Sydney for me. Her stamp of approval, even though she’s younger than me, gives me hope that maybe this could all work out after all.

  “Yup. Here you go.”

  The sound of the can popping means the evening is under way as my mother drags Sydney outside to meet Emilio.

  Emilio is taller than my dad was, and since I inherited my height from my mother’s side of the family, he actually looks like he could be my real father. He shoots me an approving look with a raise of his eyebrows when he sees Sydney, making one more admiration of the woman I’m seeing ticked off for the evening.

  Once the food is finished and our plates are full, we all settle in around the table and the inquisition starts.

  “Alright, Sydney. So how did you meet my Javier?” My mother takes a bite of her pasta salad as everyone’s eyes dart across the table to the woman sitting right beside me. I reach for her hand under the table and give her a comforting squeeze before she finishes chewing and answers.

  “Well, Javi and I actually went to school together.”

  “Oh? Were you two friends?”

  Selena and I both chuckle before I reply. “Not really.”

  “Let’s just say we didn’t exactly run in the same circles,” Sydney adds.

  “Okay. So how did you get here?”

  “We ran into each other at The Jameson.”

  “The honky tonk down in Fort Worth? Javi, what on earth were you doing in a place like that?”

  Selena pipes in. “That was my doing, Mom. I dragged him out so he didn’t become a hermit.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  “And Sydney actually ran into me,” I correct her.

  “You just can’t seem to let that detail slide, can you?” She chastises.

  “Nope. Until you start telling the story correctly, that will forever be my tag line.”

  Sydney rolls her eyes and then takes a sip of her drink. “Fine. I ran into him and spilt his drink in his lap. I was … a little drunk.”

  Selena snorts. “More than a little if I remember the story correctly.”

  “Okay. Okay …” Sydney laughs as her cheeks turn pink. I kiss her temple and then urge her to continue. “A few days after that night at The Jameson, I showed up at Andre’s gym for the self-defense class they offer and ran into Javi again. Seems my annoyance was only a momentary defense until we gave in to the attraction we felt for each other.” Sydney’s eyes find mine, sparkling in the lights cast under the eaves on the patio. The woman definitely wore me down, but I certainly can’t complain now.

  “Ah, I love that. My Javi can be a tough nut to crack. So, why did you sign up for the class?” My mother adds, and in that moment I realize I never asked her that question. Selena clears her throat next to me as her eyes bounce over to Sydney, and my girl tenses in her seat. Is there something I’m missing?

  “Um. Well, about two months before signing up for the class, I was attacked outside of my office while getting into my car. The man held a gun to my head as he pushed me into my car from behind.”

  “What the fuck?” I bark out, rage running through me like lightening.

  “Javi,” my mom warns.

  I shoot my gaze at Sydney, whose nerves are apparent all over her body. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

  “Because you never asked,” she answers meekly. “I’m fine, obviously. It was a friend of a defendant who was on trial at the time for murder and my father was the judge on the case. He was trying to scare my dad by scaring me. But all it did was give me crippling anxiety and a loss of sleep.”

  My teeth grind together as I watch Sydney try to act unphased by her circumstances. Flashes of the night I beat the shit out of Jesus come barreling forward, and the same desire to kill someone I felt in that moment comes alive inside of me again.

  “So, I signed up for the class so I would feel more confident in case something like that happened again.” She shrugs and then Selena chimes in.

  “That’s exactly why I asked Andre to offer a class like that. There are a lot of women who need to know how to protect themselves or at least how
to escape in that type of situation.”

  Sydney nods. “I’m eternally grateful for what I learned with you, Javi.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Andre adds as the energy shifts around the table. But my mind is still reeling with the fact that Sydney faced a situation similar to my sister’s and I wasn’t able to protect her. I know it happened before she and I ever crossed paths, but knowing that detail now instills that protective need in me again to provide that for her as well.

  “I’m sorry you experienced that, Princess.” I lean over and rest my head on her shoulder as I pull her into my arms. I can feel everyone staring at us, but I seriously could not give a fuck. My need to hold her right now outweighs the questions I’ll have to answer later.

  “I’m fine, Javi. I have my concealed carrier’s permit now too, so at least I’m packing heat in case it happens again.” I lift my head in surprise as she winks at me and snickers from the rest of the table hover between us.

  “Damn. I’m at a loss for words right now.” I keep my eyes trained on hers as we bounce our eyes back and forth between each other’s. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thank you.” She presses her lips to mine and then focuses back on her plate, as if her revelation didn’t just crack the last brick of the wall I built around my heart. This woman is the exact opposite of who I thought she was, and I’m a fucking fool if I ever thought I had a chance at resisting her.

  I think I just fell in love with her today.

  “Your father would be proud that you’re helping women in that way, Javi. And you too, Andre. You’ve created something profound in that gym.”

  I scoff and then direct my attention back to my food, which suddenly doesn’t seem so appealing. “I don’t know about that, Mom. I haven’t exactly lived an exemplary life.” This was what I was afraid of—my mom divulging too much, giving out too many details. I know I’m going to have to confess everything to Sydney eventually, but I want to lay it all out there when it feels right.