Something Deeper

by Shara Azod

  And the man had the unmitigated gall to just lie there, blowing on her searing snatch. Why wasn’t he getting down to business? This was just wrong! With the steel grasp he had on her hips, she couldn’t move to force the issue.

  “Oh, come on!” she moaned in agony.

  Of course he ignored her complaint. Leland was out to shatter her hard-fought-for control.

  Chapter 10

  Exploring Toni’s body was something Leland could spend a lifetime doing. He wanted to know every nook and cranny, wanted to taste every inch of skin. His shaft was so far beyond simply being hard it wasn’t funny, but he couldn’t help himself. Running his mouth over her stomach sent chills throughout his body. One day his children would grow there. That fact blew his mind, making him dizzy. No other woman could ever be the mother to his progeny. He wanted it all, everything, no holding back. Toni might have freely given her body, but she kept a tight leash on her emotions. That ended right now. He drove her to the brink and kept her there, tenaciously battering down those walls she kept hiding behind.

  He felt it when they came crashing down. It was palpable shift in the room’s energy. Whereas she had been a combative lover, fighting for supremacy even in her surrender, her body became much more pliant. The fingers wrapped in his hair were that of a lover, not a competitor. She was like liquid heat in his arms. The smell of her desire pulled his face forward just as assuredly as if they had been hands. Her spicy sweet flavor burst on his tongue, inviting him to delve deeper. He couldn’t get enough of her addicting elixir, diving into her like there was no tomorrow.

  Maybe he was. He had never in his life wanted a woman with such single-minded determination. He couldn’t remember ever feeling anything beyond a nebulous kind of like coupled with physical attraction for any woman. Not Toni, never Toni. Leland had wanted her with a fierceness from the first moment he saw her. Everything about her called to him, the man inside. Every sigh, every tormented groan simply spurred him on. He locked on to her clit, sucking like a gay man with a bag of dicks. He rode her bucking body, refusing to let go. He felt her body quake in release no less than three times while he alternated fucking her with his tongue, licking her like a pudding pop on a hot summer day, or sucking her little clitty off. Only the incessant pounding of his cock threatening to spill before he got anywhere near where he needed to be made him finally move reluctantly away.

  Looking down at her stole his breath. She was gorgeous all wantonly spread out just for him. The little imp on his shoulder urged him to play just a little while longer. He had to see her fall apart by his ministrations. He wanted to witness her silent acknowledgement her body belonged to him, because his was without a doubted her sole property.

  Taking hold of his pulsing rod in hand, he ran the bulbous head across the seam of her sodden nether lips, making sure to make a slow circular pass over her stiff nubbin. He loved the way her body twitched, her legs opening, her back bending, trying to entice him inside. And damn did he want to go, but first…

  “Come for me again, sugar,” his voice somewhere between a rasp and an agonized moan. “Let me see how much you want me.”

  “Can’t,” she puffed, her face twisted in sweet agony. “Too much!”

  “You can do it, sweetheart.” No was not an option. “I need to see it, sugar. Show me you want me. Come for me.”

  It may be perverse, but he needed this.

  “Please, Leland! Need you so bad.”

  Music to his ears, but not what he wanted to hear.

  “Come for me, Antonia,” he demanded, needing to see her come acutely. “Come all over my cock, baby. Then I will give it to you.”

  Damned if that didn’t set her off. Throwing her head back she jerked her hips, rubbing her clit harder against the head of his cock. He damn near came himself.

  “Damn, baby, that was beautiful.” A thousand years with this woman wouldn’t be enough. He needed eternity.

  Her natural lubricant eased the way for the thickness of his cock, but it nothing to stop the walls of her pussy from damn near strangling him. How was it possible for her to be so fucking tight given how wet she was? It was heaven and hell all wrapped up in one. He had to work his way inside, seesawing until she opened for him. The sight of his thick tool seeping deeply inside her entranced him. It was magnificent he almost wanted to cry.

  “Look at us, sugar,” he panted, anxious to share the glorious sight. “See how good we look together?”

  Sweat rolled down his back as he struggled to hold on. A final push and he was fully seated-and Toni was coming.

  “Shit!” he growled, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from going over with her.

  It was a close call. The way her walls pulsated against his rod, choking the shit out of him. It was glorious. He had to stay completely still until her quakes subsided. Only then could he take the chance to move. He started slowly, watching every nuance of emotion that marched across her face.

  “Feel me, baby,” he demanded, his surges increasing in tempo and intensity. “Feel what you do to me. You make me so hard, so damn hard.”

  He probably should shut the fuck up, but the words seemed to tumble from his mouth.

  “I need you to come again, sugar. I want you to come with me.”

  His hips were frantic now, plundering her incredible sheath, unable to stop to save his life. Her bucking hips in answer to his quest fueled the blaze in his gut. Her cries became screams, made him feel invincible. Every man dreamed of bringing their woman true pleasure. This was not about conquest, this was giving her everything that he was, and having her accept it, love it, get off on it. Her response was so fucking glorious, it spurred him to endurance he never knew he had.

  “Aw, shit, baby, I am going to explode! Come with me Toni, let me feel you!”

  *****

  There was no way Toni could speak. Her entire existence narrowed to this one place, this one moment in time. She felt like she just might explode from the inside out. Every nerve ending alive and snapping, every inch of her completely and utterly possessed by one man. Leland. His name was like a prayer on her lips. Heaven help her, she was falling deeper and deeper. Falling hell, she was in deep. She was in way over her head.

  Every stroke sent her deeper, or was it higher. She wasn’t sure. Hell at this point she wasn’t sure of her own name. He was so deliciously thick; so long he caressed her g spot with every stroke. And that fucker knew he was driving her crazy. He had driven her to the point where every touch was a sensual assault. She was actually sweating. She had never sweated while having sex before in her life!

  By the time he commanded her to come; she would have done anything he told her to. Her entire being shattered from the inside out. She grabbed onto him, her anchor in the storm. She never wanted to let go.

  “You bastard,” she growled once she was able to talk. It didn’t sound anywhere near as fierce as she had wanted it to. “Why did you do that?”

  One thing was painfully clear. She had never made love before this morning. Not once in her life. She wasn’t altogether sure if she ever wanted to again. Then again, how could she ever live without it? The pleasure so intense it was painful. Feeling as though they were the only two people in the world. She had just given Leland a piece of herself, and he had taken it. He wasn’t about to give it back.

  “You needed to know how I felt,” his response was as smooth as ever. Not slick, not like so many men she had known before. Just steady, sure of himself. Leland made a decision and stuck with it. In spite of evidence to the contrary where Toni was concerned, he wasn’t hard headed in a bad way. But he knew what he wanted.

  It wasn’t that Toni didn’t know. She was just too damn afraid to take it. He knew that, and he wasn’t going to force her hand. Not much anyway. He would however, remind her of what he was offering. He would pressure her without words. Damned if it wasn’t the sweetest torment ever known to man, or woman in this case.

  “Lee? Leland! You will not believe the nonse
nse I heard…”

  Toni didn’t have to look around his very broad shoulder to see who was standing there. It was the voice of an older woman. An older white woman. A cultured, dignified, older white woman.

  “Oh! Oh, my I…Well I will wait for you in the living room.”

  The sound of her retreating footsteps was obscenely loud in the suddenly still room. The bead of sweat that formed on her forehead then rolled down the side of her face had nothing to do with the intense workout they just went through. The lump in her throat wasn’t from any warm fuzzy emotions.

  That was Leland’s mother.

  It was the reality she knew would come calling, but had expected it much later on. She knew Barbie from last night would be calling the older woman, she just didn’t expect her to actually show up. Call Leland and throw a tantrum yes, but to just show up? To walk on into his place like she owned it? Obviously she had a key, as her parents had a key to her house, but they would never just walk on in.

  There could be no denying what they were doing. Her legs were still firmly wrapped around him. He was still buried deep inside her. He remained hard although he had come with a fierceness, bathing her womb with his seed. Seed that would never take root, not in her. Mrs. Westmorland was about to do her level best to make sure that never happened.

  Seemed that all the denial in the world hadn’t protected her heart after all. Dread clenched it in its icy grip. She didn’t want to lose him. She could not imagine a day without him. But she could never tell him that. Not when she knew the best thing to do was to pack her shit and get as far away from Leland as possible. It would hurt like hell today, but it would be so much worse later on.

  Chapter 11

  Shit! Leland had completely forgotten about his mother. Truthfully, he had planned to be far away from here when she showed up, as he knew she would. Annabelle probably thought Lorileigh Westmorland would break a leg trying to get over to his place to see with her own eyes what was going on. Although his mother often hinted she wanted him to settle down, preferable with Annabelle, she would never presume to tell him who he should and should not be seeing. Yeah, she might be appalled by his decision, but given her own miserable marriage, she was careful not to drive her son away with her disapproval.

  And she had disapproved of women he had become superficially attached to before. He could see it in her eyes. But Leland also knew his mother was no one’s fool. She might not love Toni, might not even like her, but she would accept her; he would accept nothing less. His mother had better be prepared to let go of any preconceived notions she might have, but he wasn’t letting Toni go. He had to mentally prepare himself for any and every scenario that could play out here because he had never, EVER brought a woman to his home before. Who knew how his mother was going to react?

  Toni’s presence would speak volumes. He had no idea what his mother would have done, but he knew Toni would never allow anyone to talk down to her or to look down on her. He might have caught hell later, but her place in his life would have been solidified in his mother’s mind.

  Now he had no idea what his mother thought. She might believe he had brought Toni here as a one-time thing. An anomaly. He would have to now disabuse her of that notion, if that was indeed what his mother was thinking. He only hoped and prayed Toni wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what he was trying to do. He could never allow his mother to think of Toni as anything less than what she was; his woman.

  “Well, we might as well get cleaned up and greet my mother.” Leland was nowhere near as calm as his voice implied. For Toni’s sake, he had to appear so. Anything less and she would think he was ashamed of her. That would be her immediate assumption had he shown any concern that his mother had caught them in a rather delicate situation.

  Toni glared up at him. He could tell she was pissed and horrified all at the same time. Good. As long as she was pissed at him, she wouldn’t get it into her pretty little head that he was in away ashamed his mother had walked in on them. In truth he was more than a little dismayed. He had wanted more.

  “I am not going in there to face your mother,” Toni ground out through her teeth.

  Leland smirked down at her, making her even madder. He could tell by the way her nostrils started to flair. Perfect, because he needed to keep her a little off kilter.

  “You would prefer we have this conversation in here?” he raised a brow and allowed his lips to quirk a little. “I can bring her in here to meet you, honey, I mean, if you can’t stand or something.”

  “Bastard!” she hissed jumping to her feet. That was the Toni he knew and loved, not some weak kneed missy cowering under the covers.

  Just in case though, he stayed right by her side until they were in the living room facing Lorileigh Westmorland. She looked immaculate as usual, but there was a gleam in her eyes that sent all of Leland’s senses on high alert. She wasn’t the least bit upset. She wasn’t even uncomfortable, which made no sense at all. The woman was beaming at him. Beaming! He mother wasn’t the devious sort, so what was her damage?

  “Well hello dear,” Lorileigh breezed right by him and encompassed Toni in nothing short of a bear hug.

  Toni looked at him like she might faint. He personally concurred.

  “What’s your name honey? Where are you from? Are you planning on moving here to Atlanta?”

  Lorileigh pulled Toni over to the couch, seating herself comfortably beside her. She had yet to let go of Toni’s hand. Leland felt like he was adrift at sea with no land in sight. He hadn’t expected a blow up or anything crass like that, but there was absolute glee stamped on his mother’s face. Man had he pegged this particular parent all wrong.

  “Uh, Mother this is Antonia Bignon, Toni, from Brunswick. She and I met on a project I am working on-”

  “Oh why that is wonderful!” Lorileigh fairly gushed.

  And that didn’t sound fake. What the hell was going on here?

  “I have no intention of moving to Atlanta,” Toni finally spoke up. Leland was grateful she didn’t appear to be upset. Hell, if he were her he’d be freaking right about now.

  “Oh!” Lorileigh cast a long assessing look in his direction. What did she see? he wondered. “Well, I have plenty of friends in Savannah! It wouldn’t kill me to move there. That way I can be close when the children start coming.”

  “Excuse me?” Toni looked at her like she just sprouted horns. “What children?”

  “Yours and Leland’s of course!” Lorileigh laughed. Her laughter always reminded him of wind chimes, all light and airy. He would miss that laughter when Toni demolished her. Man, she had to go and mention kids. He was having a hard enough time just getting Toni to admit he meant more to her than a good roll in the sack!

  “Mother, I don’t think-“

  “Oh, hush Leland Bartholomew Westmorland! I have eyes you know. I have waited for years to see my son settle down! Did you really think I would give a damn what she looked like, or who she was?”

  Now she was snapping. Her porcelain cheeks stained red in righteous anger. Well, shit, this was about to get ugly. His mother turned back to Toni, apparently dismissing him entirely.

  “My dear, I did not have what one would call a ‘happy’ marriage. Leland’s father was a dear, but far from being madly in love with me. I made the mistake of thinking being the perfect society wife was what he wanted. I forgot to be his lover and his friend. So he went elsewhere. I have learned the hard way, love is far more important than appearances. And sweetie, let me tell you the fact you are here in this apartment tells me a hell of a lot about my son’s feelings for you! I can see it in his eyes, honey. My son loves you. So I love you. I am not about to lose my son over some antiquated notion of race. I am just glad he found someone! The boy is not getting any younger!”

  Leland had to sit down. He had known about his parent’s marriage. He had known about his father’s affairs. He never once suspected his mother knew, or even cared. Seemed the grand dame was a heck of a lot deeper than he ev
er gave her credit for. Would wonders ever cease?

  But now the ball was in Toni’s court. Would she accept what his mother had said, or would she fight it?

  “Um, wow,” Toni looked at Lorileigh for several long seconds. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, but she didn’t say anything. Leland could see those gears working at full speed in her head.

  What would she do? His damn hands were sweating, his heart pounding, he felt like he had freaking asked her to marry him or something. In a way he had. He had known this confrontation was coming, he had just misread all the players. Except Annabelle of course, but shallow people were never hard to read.

  “Mrs. Westmorland-”

  “Lori, please,” his mother cut Toni off.

  “Er, Lori, I won’t lie, I like Lee a lot,” Well Halleluiah Amen! “But I’m not sure this is going to work out. I appreciate your blessing and all, but we have a lot to overcome.”

  Of course it couldn’t be that easy could it? Why she had to make everything so damn complicated he didn’t know. He felt bitterness threatening to choke him. Did he give up? Did he let her just walk away?

  “Of course, dear,” Lorileigh was telling her. “You will do what’s best I’m sure. Just know love doesn’t come around often. Grab the happiness you can. Life is hard enough trying to muddle through on your own.”

  The rest of his mother’s visit went reasonable well. Both women more or less ignored him. He didn’t mind. It gave him time to plan. Toni believed they were only good sexually. He had to prove to her it was more than that. He had tried being with her without having sex and that failed miserably. Common sense told him to let her go, but he couldn’t do that. His heart knew what it wanted, what it needed, and no one but Toni would do. He was just going to have to force the issue.