She was a healthy, red-blooded woman, with a healthy libido, when she allowed that door to be opened . . . but she didn’t want to be attracted to Kade Strong. She didn’t want to keep dreaming of making wild and kinky love to him astride a horse. She didn’t want to go to sleep and dream of his hands and mouth and tongue . . . and other things pleasing to her. She didn’t want to wake up to find that just a dream of that man had the bud between her legs visibly pulsating. A wet dream!
Garcelle released a heavy breath.
“Something you want to talk about?” Carlos asked as he rose to pour the rest of his beer down the drain.
She shook her head and took another sip of her beer. His words of undying and unending love for his wife were proof positive that Kade Strong, the handsome and oh so sexy grieving widower, was not a man to even consider catching feelings about. During the last few weeks, they had settled into a platonic friendship that she enjoyed.
He was her friend, and that was all they would be. That was all she wanted them to be. Period.
Carlos tugged on Garcelle’s ponytail as he walked out of the kitchen. “Go to bed,” he told her, with a yawn.
She drained the last of her beer and then tossed the can into the trash. “Papi, anyone ever tell you that you look like Oscar de La Hoya?” she asked.
Carlos laughed richly and fully as he reached his bedroom door. “That’s the beer talking. Good night, Garcelle.”
She walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her before she climbed into bed. Perhaps the beer would put her to sleep so deeply that she wouldn’t even dream of Kade Strong.
Kadina climbed out of her bed and made her way across the cool hardwood floor to the pastel-colored curio cabinet in the corner of her room. Her father had said that before she was born, her mother had picked out each and every one of the glass and crystal figurines in the cabinet. Kadina carefully opened the glass door and stood up on her toes to flick a switch in the cabinet. A small light popped on, and a sweet lullaby, like in a music box, began to play.
She closed the cabinet door, with a small click, and stepped back to enjoy the way the figurines seemed to sparkle in the darkness as the music played. She smiled before she climbed back in bed and got under the covers. She turned on her side so that she could look at the curio cabinet from where she lay.
She hadn’t told a soul that one night last week, she’d dreamt that she was just a baby in her mother’s arms in front of the lit curio cabinet as her mother sung her that same lullaby. It had seemed so real. For the first time in a long time, she’d felt a connection to her mother.
Whenever she couldn’t sleep or her new room was just too much for her, she would turn on the curio cabinet and feel her mother’s presence there in the room, watching over her.
It wasn’t long at all before her eyes drifted closed and she felt the wind coming through the window touch her cheek like a kiss.
Hank kissed the top of Mimi’s head, which rested on his chest. It felt good to have her warm body snuggled close to his. Damn good.
Who knew that his daughter’s eccentric friend would turn out to be just what he needed when he needed it. A dance at Bianca and Kahron’s wedding had turned into nearly six months of phone conversations. Bianca didn’t even know that he’d been down to Atlanta twice to spend the weekend with Mimi.
She was good for him. He could tell her anything. Ask her anything. And it wasn’t Mimi in her “I’m wild, and I’ll say anything to get attention” mode. She was calm, laid back, rational, logical, and smart. This was Beulah.
He chuckled to think he was probably the only person alive who knew that was her real name. She swore she’d gut him with a fork if he told a soul.
He loved her, and she loved him. They had decided it was time for Bianca to know, and so this time Mimi had come to him. They hadn’t wanted to spring it on her like they did, but who knew Bianca would be standing there the exact moment Mimi arrived. The look on Bianca’s face had been priceless.
Honestly, he couldn’t tell if she was pleased or not, but it didn’t matter. After the hell Trishon had put him through, his daughter should be happy for him.
Mimi stirred in her sleep. She smacked her lips slightly as she tilted her head up to look at him in the moonlight. Her hair was wild and mussed. Her make-up was gone, except for those long eyelashes. The scent of her perfume mingled with the scent of the sex. She had never looked or smelled better to him.
“Hey, you,” she said, her voice more husky and soft.
His grin widened as he felt her hand firmly close around his growing erection. “Say it for me,” he pleaded as she placed her nude and svelte body atop his.
Mimi rolled her eyes heavenward. “Do I have to?” she asked in her natural voice.
“Please.”
She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “You and me makes we,” she said in the mock nasal tone of hers.
They laughed together until Mimi straddled his hips and proved to him that at that moment, there wasn’t a darn thing funny.
Bianca tightly grasped Kahron’s buttocks as he stroked deeply within her. Each stroke brought a gasp from deep within her until she felt she’d go breathless. As they came to a spasmodic climax together, she kissed his shoulder and then his neck.
Kahron rolled over onto his back, bringing her body atop his as he remained planted within her until his hardness eased. He stroked her back. “You okay?” he asked.
Bianca lifted her head from his sweaty chest to look at him. “Wasn’t it as good as always?” she whispered to him in the moonlight.
“Actually . . .”
Bianca’s mouth dropped open in surprise and a bit of hurt. “Actually what?” she snapped.
“Physically everything was as good as always, but as much as I know I put it down—and I did lay it on you—I could tell you weren’t all there. It’s like your mind was somewhere else.”
Bianca kissed his chin, enjoying the feel of his stubble against her lips. “You’re right. I wasn’t all there. I’m sorry, baby.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
Bianca rolled off of him and then sat on the edge of the bed, with her legs crossed. She grabbed a pillow and held it close in front of her. “I love my father, and I want him to be happy. And I love Mimi to death. . . .”
“But,” Kahron urged as he rolled over onto his side to lightly massage her lower back.
“But I would rather get into the ring with barbeque sauce on my ears and fight Mike Tyson.”
Kahron laughed. “Day-um, is it like that?” he asked.
Bianca turned to him, with a serious look on her face. “Oh, it’s like that.”
“Because . . .”
“Because Mimi is a drunk. She sips on liquor all day long from her flask like it’s water. She may not act like a drunk. She may not talk like she’s drunk or smell like she’s drunk, but trust me, her ass be drunk.”
“So you’re worried your dad will fall off the wagon?”
Bianca flung her hands in the air, knocking the pillow to the floor. “Off the wagon? Shit. I’m scared she’s gone drag him under the wheels of the wagon.”
“Talk to your dad. Let him know how you feel. Hell, be honest with Mimi, too.”
Bianca nodded as she dropped her chin into her hand. “He’s just worked really hard to get himself together, and I’d hate for it all to go to waste. His life, his business. Us.”
Kahron flung back the covers, sat up, and moved behind his wife. He wrapped his legs and arms around her and kissed the sweet hollow of her neck.
At that moment—at least for that moment—in her husband’s arms, Bianca felt at peace.
The hooves of the horse pounded the dirt as Kade rode as if the fiery doors of hell were singeing his heels. The sun was blazing down on his back as he rode the endless stretch of emerald green grass. He rode effortlessly to the top of the hill. The muscles in his arms tensed as he used the reins to bring the horse to a halt.
Kade looked d
own at the valley below him. It was as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. The sounds of nature surrounded him. His eyes honed in on the crystal blue lake just as a figure appeared from beneath the depths. Even from a distance, he could tell the figure was that of a sultry and seductive woman, whose curves defied reality as gravity pulled the water from her body. Droplets raced across her caramel skin to pause at the tips of her nipples before they fell from her body.
Here, in this picturesque setting, he was the Adam to her Eve, and this was the perfect spot to give in to temptation.
He quickly stripped off his clothing, freeing his throbbing erection, before he kicked the horse’s sides and went racing down the hill at a thunderous pace. She looked up as he neared her, but she barely had time to blink as he bent over and scooped her body up with one strong arm. With ease, he brought her up onto the saddle, facing him.
Her arms and legs surrounded him as she blessed him with a dozen tiny kisses from one broad shoulder to the next. As he focused his eyes ahead and controlled the horse’s gallop with one strong hand, Kade wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her higher up on his lap until the lips of her thick and moist core cupped his shaft. He brought the horse to a stop in the middle of a field of colorful wildflowers. His Eve leaned backward, with her breasts pushed forward, taunting him. With a low growl, he buried his head in her sweet cleavage, leaving kisses on each bronzed globe before he shifted to capture one throbbing hard nipple in his mouth.
“Ah,” she cried out as her fingernails began digging into the strong muscles of his shoulders.
He circled the nipple with his moist tongue before he blew cool air on it, causing her to shiver uncontrollably in his arms. On to the next nipple. He repeated the delicious move. She shivered again.
“Oh, Garcelle,” he moaned against her flesh.
His head jerked up, and he looked down into her face. That beautiful face, with wide, doe-like eyes that haunted him. Teased him. Caressed him. Drew him in.
Garcelle was his Eve. His temptress. His temptation.
He locked his eyes with hers as she slowly sat up to face him. “You want this as much as I do, don’t you, Kade?” she asked in Spanish.
“Yes,” he submitted. “Yes.”
The first taste of her lips made him harder. He felt his thighs quivering from a need to be deeply buried inside of her warmth. As she deepened the kiss with the hotness of her tongue, Kade tightened his hold around her waist, lifted her up with ease, and then guided her back down onto his hardness.
Their mouths opened as they both gasped. Their chests heaved, and their breathing was shaky. Their hearts pounded.
He captured her lips for a quick kiss before he buried his face against her chest as she began to move her hips against him. Each move gripped and then released his shaft with slick ease. He closed his eyes tightly and fought for control as she lowered her head and whispered hotly in his ear in Spanish as she rode him.
“¿Es bueno?”
“Yes, it’s damn good,” he answered, with a moan, against the plushness of her breast.
She licked his ear lobe as she moved her hips to the left.
“¿Quisieras que parara?”
He shook his head as his hand massaged her buttocks. “No, I don’t want you to stop.”
She laughed huskily as she moved her wide hips to the right.
“Dicen que soy la mejor,” she said.
Kade leaned back and looked in her sultry eyes. “Damn right, you’re the best.”
She kissed him as she swiveled her hips 360 delicious degrees.
Kade felt a fine sheen of sweat coat his muscles as he clenched his teeth, fighting so that he wouldn’t explode deep within her.
He kicked the horse’s flanks, causing it to move forward at a slow and easy trot through the field. The movement of the horse caused their bodies to jostle, sending his shaft deeper against her walls.
His hands tightly grasped her soft buttocks as she clasped her hands behind his neck and leaned backward. The horse’s trot caused her full breasts to rise and fall against her chest as her hair blew in the wind, mingling with the horse’s flying mane.
Never had he seen a more glorious sight.
His blood surged through him, hardening him until he ached. “Make me come, Garcelle,” he moaned as he watched her with intense eyes.
“Make me come . . . Make me come . . . Make me come . . . ,” Kade murmured as his hands rose in the darkness of night. His fingers were cupped as his hips rose slightly off the bed, and he felt like his seed was going to spill. “Make me come, Garcelle.”
Kade’s eyes shot open, and he sat up in bed. He hollered out hoarsely at the pain that raced across his ribs. Sweat coated his body. His heart raced. His loins ached. His penis was as hard as stone between his legs and tenting the sweat-soaked sheets.
He winced as he remembered every erotic detail of his dream. What the hell was going on with him?
He wanted Garcelle . . . badly. But it couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. He was not ready. He felt guilty about dreaming of another woman in the bed he had once shared with his wife.
Yes, Garcelle was beautiful. Garcelle was smart. Garcelle had a body that could stop traffic on Highway 17 in both directions. He was a man. A man with good vision and great blood flow.
Oh God, was she woman. All woman.
But this could not happen. It would not happen.
He would make sure of that.
7
“Go fish, Daddy,” Kadina said, with a chuckle, as she fell backwards on the floor.
Garcelle plucked a card from the deck and handed it to him so that he didn’t have to reach from his spot on the couch, where he was lounging. Their hands briefly touched, and the card drifted to the floor as they both pulled away as if they’d been shocked.
“Excuse me,” Garcelle said.
“No, I’m sorry,” Kade said.
Garcelle reached for the card and handed it to him. She looked up at Kadina and found the little girl looking at them, with a scrunched-up face.
“What’s wrong with y’all?” Kadina asked, her Southern accent sounding almost like a Texas twang.
Garcelle and Kade looked at each other and then looked away. “Nothing,” they quickly said in unison before glancing at each other again.
“Okay,” Kadina said simply, with a shrug, before she focused on the cards in her hand. “Garcelle, do you have a . . . three?”
Garcelle folded her legs where she sat on the floor. She shook her head. “Kadina, go fish, sweetheart, and then let me have those deuces.”
“Aw, man,” Kadina whined as she handed the card to Garcelle.
“Boy, I am so good at this game,” Garcelle teased them as she laid down her pair.
“You do learn card games fast,” Kade said dryly as he shifted his cards in his hand.
Garcelle winked at him as she playfully tossed her hair over her shoulder. “No odies al jugador; odia el juego.”
Kade smiled at her. “Could you talk crap to me in English, please?”
Kadina giggled. “It means, ‘Don’t hate the player; hate the game,’ Daddy.”
“Oh God, am I going to have both of you around here speaking Spanish?”
“Sí, Papi,” Garcelle and Kadina both said. They looked at each other and laughed before they gave each other a high five.
“Lord, help me,” Kade drawled as he watched them.
They continued to play, and although Garcelle had learned the child’s card game quickly, Kadina was the true master, and she beat them twice. As they dealt a new hand, Garcelle bit her thumbnail and glanced over at Kade as he lounged in old Dickies pants and a T-shirt, with a pair of ratty slippers that had seen better days.
At that moment she was aware of her attraction to Kade, but it wasn’t her focus. She was just enjoying being in his and Kadina’s company. They were friends. That was it. She felt so much better than she had last night around twelve, when she woke up in a sweat, with thoughts of stallion
s— and riding the two-legged variety atop the four-legged one.
Don’t even go there, Garcelle. No way. No how.
The doorbell rang, and Garcelle jumped to her feet, more than glad for the diversion from her thoughts. “I’ll get it,” she said over her shoulder as she left the den.
She smoothed her hands over her I’M TOO HOT FOR YOU T-shirt and sweatpants. The front door was open, but the glass screen door was locked, so Garcelle was able to see the unfamiliar woman standing there. “Otro cazador de hombre. La pena buena,” she muttered under her breath, with a suck of her teeth, thinking it was indeed another of the man chasers wanting to put their hooks in Kade.
Although, Garcelle had to admit that this one was trying another approach. Her hair was pulled into a professional topknot, the make-up on her face was minimal, and her jeans slacks and buttoned-up pinstripe shirt were a definite change from the hotties who rolled through in clothes tight enough to spark a fire from friction.
She noticed the woman’s eyes widen and then damn near close as she squinted at the sight of her.
Garcelle unlocked the door and put on a smile. “Hello. Can I help you?” she said, with plenty of pleasantness.
“Oh . . . you’re Spanish?” the woman said in a whisper, her soft voice filled with surprise. “You don’t look it.”
Garcelle’s spine stiffened, and she had to swallow her irritation, because this was not her house and this woman was not her guest. Ignoring the woman’s rudeness, she said, “Can I help you?”
“Well, I thought this home was still owned by Kade Strong, but I guess I’m wrong,” she said, looking up at Garcelle.
“This is Kade Strong’s house. Can I help you?”
“I’m Zorrie . . . Zorrie Kintrell. I’m a friend of the family.”
“Aunt Zorrie?” Kadina called from the den. Seconds later there were running footsteps. Kadina appeared at the door in no time and flung herself at the woman, wrapping her long, skinny arms around her waist.
Zorrie bent over a bit to hug her back. “Kadina? Oh, you’ve gotten so big. Step back, and let me see you, sweetheart.”
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