Seeing him dressed in a polo shirt and a pair of tight jeans had caused goose bumps to form on her arms and legs. She took another swallow of cool water to get a grip. From the way hot passion was simmering inside of her, getting pregnant would be quick and easy.
She sighed. Dinner was ready, and unknown to Quinn, he would be the main course.
Quinn strolled around Alexia’s living room trying to concentrate on all the things he saw, nice furniture, including a large oak bookcase, and a collection of every Diana Ross CD, album, and cassette you could imagine. He smiled. Like him, Alexia was a die-hard Diana Ross fan. Imagine that.
He then walked over to the bookcase. The tall shelves were lined with a wide array of books. Most of the volumes were works by African-American authors. Like him she also liked to read. Another coincidence.
He turned and noticed the huge photo album sitting on a table. Curiosity made him pick it up, and he began browsing through it.
“Those pictures are from my family reunion.”
He looked up. Alexia had reentered the room. Because she had removed her sandals, the plush carpeting had silenced her entrance. “There are a lot of pictures in here,” he said as he sat down on the sofa with the album in his hand. “Come sit beside me and tell me what I’m looking at.”
Alexia wasn’t sure sitting next to Quinn on the sofa was a good idea, especially before dinner. According to a book she’d recently read, Pregnancy Made Easy, a man’s sperm count and sex drive automatically increased after he ate certain foods. Although she didn’t have any fresh raw oysters to feed him, she had made a tray of deviled eggs, since the book claimed boiled eggs served the same purpose. Pleased that she was back in command of the situation, she walked over and sat down next to him on the sofa.
Quinn nearly forgot to breathe when Alexia came and sat next to him. He watched as she slipped her fingers beneath the cover to open the album. He immediately thought that she had nice hands. He could just imagine them on him, touching, rubbing, stroking…
“This is a family picture of everyone,” she said, claiming his attention by pointing to the first picture she came to in the album. “This is my grandfather, Poppa Ethan. These are my parents, and these are my cousins Taye, Rae’jean, and Michael.”
Quinn nodded as he concentrated on the face of the man she’d said was her grandfather. “How old is he?”
“Poppa Ethan will be turning ninety years old in a few months, but he still has a strong mind and gets around OK. My grandmother Idella died ten years ago.”
“Were they still together when she died?”
Alexia lifted her head as if she found his question strange. “Of course. Gramma Idella and Poppa Ethan had been married nearly sixty years when she passed. They got married when she was only sixteen and he was twenty. They shared a good life together raising their six kids.”
She sat back as she looked back down at her grandfather’s picture. Her expression reflected a mixture of treasured memories, both happy and sad ones. “They were so close that we didn’t think he would live long after her. I’ve heard of that happening when two people have been married for a long time and one of them dies. Often the other one gives up all hope for living.”
“Long marriages run in your family?” he asked after they had looked at a few more pictures and she had mentioned that all her relatives, except for a womanizing uncle and his chip-off-the-old-block son, were married to their original partners.
She shrugged, thinking of her own short-lived marriage. “There probably aren’t any more in our families than in others.”
“I happen to disagree. My maternal grandparents are deceased, but my paternal grandparents are still alive. My grandmother is on her third husband, and my grandfather is on his fourth wife. And I don’t know but one or two of my uncles who are still married to their original partner. The others are working on their second or third marriage. That’s why my generation of Masterses have vowed not to marry until they’re sure they’ve found the perfect mate.”
Alexia’s eyebrow shot up. “There’s no way anyone can ever be sure of that.”
“True, but we intend to try. That’s why we’re committed to finding our chosen one and not rushing into marriage until we do. So far it’s worked. There hasn’t been a divorce in the Masters family in over fifteen years.”
She lifted her eyes to his. Since she knew for a fact she wasn’t any man’s “chosen one,” she felt pretty safe. But still…“You’re not interested in a serious relationship with anyone right now, are you?” she asked to be absolutely sure.
Quinn met her gaze. He knew why she was asking. If for one minute she thought he wanted a serious relationship with her, she’d probably not see him again. Therefore, his answer could not reflect the complete truth. There was no way he could tell her that she was the woman he intended to marry. He was more than willing to patiently wait for her to come around to his way of thinking. “No, not right now I’m not. However, although I’m not interested in a serious relationship, I do prefer dealing with committed relationships. They’re safer. It’s suicide for any single person to do it any other way. I wouldn’t want the woman I’m sleeping with to also be sleeping with other men. Having multiple bed partners these days is dangerous.”
Alexia nodded in agreement. She’d always had a policy of not being involved with more than one man at a time. It had also been a policy of hers to spell out their relationship up front. It ended whenever she decided to end it with no questions asked. The only reason she hadn’t felt the need to give Quinn her spiel was because with him she was on a mission. She had an ultimate goal she intended to complete.
She closed the album. “We’ll finish looking at this after dinner,” she said, placing it back on the table. “Will you help me set the table?”
Quinn smiled. “I’d love to.”
Over dinner they talked about anything that came to mind. His work. Hers. Their families. He told her about his sister’s wedding, and she told him more about the family reunion.
Alexia shared with him information about Taye, Rae’jean, and Michael and how close they’d been growing up.
“You’re very dedicated to your family, aren’t you?” Quinn asked after devouring another deviled egg.
Alexia smiled, pleased. He had eaten half a dozen of the deviled eggs already. He should be good and potent by now. “I am now that I’ve taught some of them not to ask me for anything that has to do with money. When I began making the charts I had some family members—not even the real close ones—call me whenever they got behind in their bills, like I was the family bank or something.”
He chuckled. “There are those kinds in every family. But weren’t you always close to your family?”
Alexia leaned back in her chair. If she told him what he wanted to know, it would be the very first time she had shared such deep inner thoughts with anyone other than Taye, Rae’jean, and Michael. But for some reason she felt comfortable in sharing them with Quinn. He had that persona about him. He was an easy person to talk to. “No, not really. I was a big disappointment to my family.”
Quinn frowned. “In what way?”
Alexia’s throat tightened. Her chest burned at the childhood memories. She swallowed, willing her throat muscles to relax, and took a deep calming breath to ease the burning sensation away from her chest. “Rae’jean was always the pretty one, and if you ever saw her you’d see why. She’s totally gorgeous. Those pictures I showed you of her don’t do justice. While we were growing up everyone doted on her, understandably so.”
Quinn nodded but said nothing.
“Taye,” Alexia continued, “was always the smart one. She was so smart the school officials skipped her a grade. She graduated from high school at sixteen. Taye’s a born mathematician and can add, subtract, multiply, and divide in her head like nobody’s business. She has a memory out of this world and could ace any test the teacher gave her.”
Quinn considered everything she had told him so far before sa
ying, “You still haven’t explained why you think you were a disappointment to your family.”
With a voice a bit unsteady, Alexia said, “I was the darkest Bennett ever to be born. Besides that, I was overweight, had unruly hair, crooked teeth, and at times I was rather clumsy. I was considered the ugly duckling in the family.”
Quinn shot her a disbelieving look as he concentrated on her beautiful dark skin, gorgeous figure, a nice set of straight white teeth covered by full, sensuous lips, and the mass of flowing hair on her head that made her look downright sexy. She was definitely a good-looking woman. He looked at her and saw the seriousness of her expression. “You’re joking about being considered ugly, aren’t you?”
She met his gaze. “No. As a child I constantly heard I wasn’t attractive enough to ever amount to much.”
“People would actually tell you that?”
“Not to my face. The conversations were always meant to go over my head or were supposed to be spoken when I wasn’t around.” She exhaled a long breath. “They didn’t mean to be cruel, but constantly hearing those things kept me pretty sensitive, and hearing them didn’t do a whole lot for my self-esteem. If it wasn’t for my grandparents, my parents, Taye, Rae’jean, and Michael, I probably would have grown up with some sort of complex about the way I looked. Thank God for Weight Watchers, braces, and for a hairstylist who worked wonders with hair. And as far as being dark, black is beautiful, isn’t it?”
Quinn pushed his chair back and stood. He walked slowly over to her and gently pulled her from her chair and into his arms. He was thankful there had been others around to make her believe in herself. He couldn’t imagine anyone being cruel enough to say such things around a child. And these were people who’d been members of her family. “Yes, black is beautiful, and you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Alexia.”
She tried to laugh against his shoulder. She didn’t want his pity. She didn’t want anything from him. But still, being held in his arms felt good. She blinked the tears from her eyes, wondering why she had told Quinn about that part of her childhood. It wasn’t that they were close friends, lovers, or anything. Why did she feel he was someone she could bare her inner soul to? Why was it so hard to stay on her toes around him, to stay in control?
Although she liked the feel of him holding her, she knew she could never let herself get close to any man. She pulled back out of his arms. “How about if you go on into the living room and resume looking at the photo album. I’ll rejoin you as soon as I clear the table.”
“I’ll be glad to help—”
“No. I prefer doing it myself.”
He studied her face. “Are you OK?”
She forced a smile up at him. She didn’t think she could ever really be OK around him. He had a way of messing with her mind, big-time. “Yeah, I’m OK.”
He nodded before turning to walk out of the kitchen.
As soon as he was gone Alexia began clearing off the table. Her movements were slow, thoughtful. When the dishes began to shake in her hands, she immediately set them back down on the table. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around her waist, trembling. When she had come up with the plan to get pregnant, things were supposed to be simple, easy, uncomplicated. But Quinn was making things pretty damn difficult. She was letting him get too close. Way too close.
She was doing something she swore that she would never do, and that was let a man get the upper hand with her again.
Chapter 29
When Alexia joined Quinn in the living room, she squared her shoulders, mustered a bright smile, and walked over and sat next to him on the sofa. For the next ten minutes or so he turned the pages while she told him about the rest of the pictures that had been taken at her family reunion. After they had looked at the last photo he placed the album back on the table, then sank lower on the sofa and stretched his legs out before him. He began talking, telling her about a particular case he was working on, one involving a client who wanted her prenuptial agreement declared invalid.
“I thought a prenuptial was ironclad.”
He shook his head, smiling. “A number of people think that. However, as with anything else, exceptions can be made, especially if the behavior of one of the individuals comes into play. In certain situations, a prenuptial agreement can be overturned.”
Alexia tried not to analyze Quinn’s features while he spoke but couldn’t help doing so. Not only did she enjoy looking at him; she enjoyed listening to him as well. His voice was deep, rough, sexy. The sound of it made her insides tingle. She could just imagine how it would be to wake up to the sensuous sound of it each and every morning. While he continued talking, her eyes skimmed over his chest. She wondered if he had a hairy chest and if so, how her naked breasts would feel rubbing against it. Her gaze then moved to his lap. The thighs she saw covered in denim seemed strong, firm with sinewed strength. She thought about straddling those thighs while they were completely naked with his hands guiding her movements over him as she rode him in sure strokes, moving up and down, forcing him to climax inside of her as she ground herself more tightly against him, taking his seed into her womb.
“Alexia?”
The deep, sexy sound of Quinn’s voice reclaimed her attention as it drifted over her. She raised her gaze and saw the eyes watching her were compelling, magnetic. She sucked in a deep breath when she also saw they were smoldering with fiery desire.
Their gazes held. Neither could look away. The room was quiet except for the shallow sound of their breathing. Then, as if he had been privy to her earlier thoughts, he reached over and lifted her onto his lap to straddle him. As he framed her face in his hands, his mouth hungrily covered hers. Greedily devouring her, more so than it had the other day.
She was not prepared for the magnitude of his kiss as his lips took complete possession, nibbling and sucking while arousing her to a feverish peak and sending new spirals of ecstasy through her. It made her body ache even more. He continued kissing her as his hands moved downward to lift her dress up to her waist.
Quinn moved his legs, stretching them apart and, in doing so, spreading hers wide open and getting easy access to the very heat of her. His mouth remained locked to hers as his hand slid under her dress, not surprised to discover she wasn’t wearing any underwear. His fingers immediately went to work to explore, to touch, and to claim the heart of her sex.
When her body jerked from the sensation of his fingers’ intimate touch, his mouth gentled her by his constant assault on hers, savoring every moment doing so, hungrily devouring her tongue, swallowing her sighs and moans of pleasure.
When Alexia felt herself succumbing to the domination and skill of his mouth, she pulled away, braced her hands on his shoulders while her head fell forward, limp with desire, on his chest. Currents raced through her body the likes of which she had never felt before. He was relentless in what he was doing to her. The pad of his thumb continued to stroke her, demanding her readiness. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, holding on as she abandoned herself to the sensations he was making her feel, sweetly draining all of her fears, doubts, and resistance and making her forget about her well-orchestrated plan. Even that couldn’t compete against this uncontrollable passion and this intoxicating need.
No man had ever touched her so boldly, to the core, branding her sex his, making it crave his touch. And no man had ever made her moan aloud in sexual pleasure. His fingers were tearing away any self-control she may have had. They were tearing away any walls of resistance she may have erected. She felt some sort of rebirth, purely physical, emotionally uplifting. She felt her body getting hotter and wondered if he could feel her heat.
Quinn did feel her heat and gloried in it. He was staking his own claim to her body and, by slow degree, setting in place the groundwork for a future he intended to have with her. He loved her totally, completely, not just physically. But if physical loving was what he needed to start with, then he would. He was willing to do whatever it took. And in time, with love and pat
ience, he intended to give her everything she deserved. She was definitely a woman worth loving and cherishing. And he wanted all of her.
When he felt her nick his shoulder with her teeth he decided it was time to give her what they both wanted. He removed his hand from beneath her dress, and in one fluid motion he lifted her dress over her head and tossed it to the floor.
Easy on. Easy off. That was no lie. With her completely naked before him, his mouth immediately set upon her breasts. It latched onto a nipple and began teasing it with his tongue, nibbling sensuously with his teeth, then sucking gently with his lips.
Alexia nipped Quinn’s shoulder again when his torment to her breasts became unbearable, making the burning hotness at her center blaze out of control. When he moved to the other nipple and began the same torment, she closed her eyes as pleasure, too rich, too potent, too arousing to deny, flooded her.
“Quinn…oh…oh…Quinn.”
Upon hearing his name moaned so sweetly from her lips, Quinn felt his heart thump loudly in his chest. He removed his mouth from her breasts and went back to her mouth to kiss her deeply, hungrily, intimately. Moments later he broke off the kiss to whip his shirt over his head.
Before his shirt hit the floor Alexia had reached out to explore the mass of hair on his chest, the swell of his muscles, the force of his broad shoulders, and the sheer beauty of his upper body in the naked flesh. She leaned forward, inhaling his scent before lowering her mouth to his chest, latching onto a budding tip, and encircling it with her tongue. When he expelled a long, shuddering breath, her insides grew hotter at the sound. She then attacked the other budding tip and performed the same torment at the same time that her hands went to work at the snap and zipper of his jeans. She wanted to be skin-to-skin with him.
A Family Reunion Page 24
