The Ramseys Boxed Set

by Altonya Washington

  Moses leaned closer to trail the back of his hand across her arm. “You okay?” he asked, speaking the words into her ear.

  Johari bristled. “Fine,” she managed, hissing a silent order for her lashes to stop fluttering. Then, her unease cleared a bit and she fixed Moses with an accusing look. “You’ve been here before,” she guessed.

  “Once or twice,” he admitted with a shrug while reaching for the drink menu.

  Johari’s fist hit the table, causing the silverware to clatter. “That’s why you didn’t argue with my choice of restaurants.”

  Again, Moses shrugged and laughed when she punched his shoulder, “What Twig? You seemed hell bent on handling everything. I suggested a place down the street, but you weren’t havin’ it, remember?”

  “And you counted on that, didn’t you?” She spat, her heart somersaulting when he laughed again.

  “Baby are we gonna bicker all night?” he asked, brushing his fingers across her freckle-covered nose. “If so could I at least get something to eat first?”

  Jo tugged at the thigh-high hemline of her maroon frock. “So they actually serve real meals here?” she queried, in a skeptical tone while observing the couple at a cozy round table fed each other from a plate of fruit.

  “We can have a real meal,” Moses promised, his ebony stare narrowing mischievously. “I think you could use one. Maybe it’ll help with all that snapping,” he said and braced himself to be punched again.

  Instead, Johari only watched him for a while. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  The words surprised Moses more than one of her punches. He was speechless.

  “After I left you, I went back to see Z.”

  “She doin’ better?” Moses asked, turning to face her more fully.

  Jo closed her eyes and gave a brief shake of her head. “She wants to see your cousin-it’s all she could talk about.”

  Moses propped his elbow on the table. “She know he’s married?” he asked, resting his chin to his fist.

  Again, Jo shook her head. “I haven’t told her. She almost bit my head off when I tried to change her mind about seeing him. I’m brave Ram, but not brave enough to tell her the only man she wants is married and to the only woman he’s ever really wanted.”

  “She needs to be told Twig, no matter how she takes it,” Moses advised, once the waiter had collected their drink orders. “She’ll find out sooner or later anyway, you know?”

  “I know,” Johari sighed, her expression pensive as she studied the moon and stars pattern embroidered on the black tablecloth. “At least in the hospital, they can give her something to keep her calm,” she noted as though considering the idea.

  Knowing she was still on edge, Moses kept his comments silent. He took her wrist and stroked his thumb across the diamond bracelet she wore. Suddenly, Jo was covering his hand with hers.

  “Would you talk to him Ram? Talk to Quay and tell him about Z wanting to see him?”

  “’Course I will,” he agreed without hesitation. He was unable to put into words how much it meant to hear her ask for his help.

  “Moses, I want you to talk to both Quay and Ty. It’d be great if she would agree to go with Quay to the hospital.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?” he asked.

  Jo’s eyes flashed with regret. “Sometimes cruelty is what it takes to get a person to leave you alone, right?”

  Groaning below his breath, Moses pulled her hand into his. His engrossing dark stare seared her uncommon bright one.

  “Why don’t you want to sleep with me again?” he asked, attempting to move the conversation to a different topic.

  The unexpected question caused a lump to develop quickly and heavily in Jo’s throat. “I um, I didn’t say that,” she stammered, closing her eyes on the confession.

  Moses; lips twitched at the stirrings of a grin. “So you do want to sleep with me?”

  “I don’t think we should.”

  “Didn’t you enjoy it?”

  The sensuous tingling stirred and Jo was powerless to even order it to stop. The man’s words and voice were as potent a stimulant as the rest of him.

  “Fishing for compliments Ram?” she asked eventually.

  He tilted his head. “Sue me.”

  The waiter returned, breaking the electricity of the moment as he provided their drinks. Curiosity flashed in Moses eyes when he saw the ginger ale with lime. He didn’t pay attention when she ordered earlier, but now he decided to pry.

  “You don’t have to drive to get home, you know? Just make it to the elevator,” he teased.

  “I know,” Jo sang, squeezing the lime juice into her drink. “What? Do you have a problem drinking alone or do you simply want me drunk?”

  Moses’ eyes trailed the graceful line of her neck and down further still to the erotic rise and fall of her breasts. “I think we both know I don’t need you drunk to get what I want.”

  Jo smiled. “Overwhelming confidence and blatant compliment fishing. You’re thoroughly surprising me tonight.”

  Again, Moses brushed his hand across her skin. “Not really fishing. I already know you enjoyed it. I only want to hear you admit it.”

  Tiring of their suggestive chatter, Jo waved her hand. “Would you please just stop?” she asked, desperate for an end to the tingling between her legs. “Sex was never our problem.”

  “We never had a problem.”

  Jo relaxed against the velvet booth. “Yeah, yeah we did Ram. You didn’t trust me-else you’d have told me about your dad instead of…”

  “It wasn’t about trust or the lack of it. I trusted you with my life. I still do,” Moses swore.

  Tears began to add more sparkle to Jo’s gaze. “Then why couldn’t you trust me to handle it?”

  “Dammit, I told you it wasn’t that!”

  “Then what?!” she challenged, taking heed of the muscle jumping along his jaw.

  Leaning back against the back of the booth, Moses massaged his eyes. “You’d never believe me.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Fear,” he said simply, looking directly into her eyes as if to judge her reaction. When he saw what he assumed was disbelief, he sent her a wink. “Told you-you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Well I’m sorry Mo, but that’s one you’re gonna have to explain,” Johari blurted, her silver stare wide and expectant. “Surely you can understand that fear and Moses Ramsey aren’t two words I’d team up.”

  “Humph, you should ask some of my jumpers,” he chided.

  Johari rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “Damn Jo, did you listen to any of what I told you about Marc? What he said on that damned boat?”

  “But that’s not it,” Jo figured, leaning close to watch him with probing eyes. “Your father taking me wasn’t what you were afraid of.”

  Moses blinked as though she’d tapped into something he didn’t want to share. “Let’s order,” he said.

  “Moses-“

  “Hey, when you’re ready to share yours, I’ll share mine,” he challenged, smirking when the fight left her eyes.

  “This is ridiculous,” Jo snapped after she’d been studying the menu for several minutes.

  “What?” Moses asked, still concentrating on the dinner selections.

  “I mean, how’s anyone suppose to order off this thing? What the hell is ‘lover’s lasagna’?”

  Moses laughed and set aside his menu. “It’s regular lasagna Twig. But everything here is geared towards seduction…sex.”

  “Genius,” she commended dryly.

  “Actually, it is,” he agreed, leaning his head back against the booth. “Right now, food is the last thing on my mind.”

  Jo felt her throat constrict as though suddenly the booth had become five times smaller if possible. “Moses don’t,” she urged, feeling the maddening tingle returning.

  “Why not?” he whispered.

  Johari rolled her eyes toward him and quickly realized her mistake i
n doing do. He was all she’d ever wanted: smoldering sexiness, intensity, intelligence and power combined into one tall, muscular package. Her eyes were drawn helplessly to the provocative curve of his mouth and she moaned before his lips ever touched her own.

  The kiss began hot and lusty, then escalated from there. Moses was leaning across her, his tongue thrusting feverishly inside her mouth. Though there was no way she could leave the booth, he held one of her hands in his while the other was fisted and planted firmly on the other side next to her hip. The kiss was slow, sultry and needy as its participants surrendered to what had been brewing between them all night.

  Johari’s moans had become tortured whimpers. She didn’t care who overheard-not that it mattered. Her fingers toyed with the open collar of Moses’ shirt. She contented herself with stroking the powerful chords of his neck as she suckled and stroked his tongue with her own.

  Moses forced himself to remember where they were, knowing he was seconds away from helping himself to the treats beneath the naughty dress she wore. Still, while The Den didn’t frown on public displays of affection, the management would surely request they leave if he allowed his affection for the sandy red beauty to run unchecked.

  He’d be taking her on the table in the next ten minutes if he let his desire simmer any longer.

  “Come with me,” he ordered between the affecting thrusts of his tongue.

  “No,” Jo refused, still kissing him desperately.

  “Come with me,” he asked again. Insinuating his hand beneath the draping bodice, he cupped a breast. His thumb and forefinger worked the nipple into a hard bud. “Come with me,” he requested a third time, suckling her earlobe as he spoke.

  “Moses,” Johari gasped, taking his hand from her breast and pushing it to her thighs.

  “Come with me,” he chanted once more, refusing to accommodate his silent plea.

  Jo faced him more fully and spanned her palms across the wall of his chest. “We haven’t ordered,” she groaned in a weak reminder.

  Moses took that for his answer. “They’ll understand,” he promised, breaking the kiss to drop a few bills on the table before he helped her to her feet. He kept both hands firmly on her hips while escorting her from the dim establishment. Of course, he made sure to slip Diego another fifty when they passed the host’s stand.

  Thankfully, no one joined Moses and Johari during the elevator ride up. Otherwise, a heated romp would’ve awaited and stunned the most voyeuristic eyes. Jo just managed to compose herself before the car arrived on her floor. She was thankful for Moses’ hold on her upper arm when she rested her forehead on the door to her suite. Her legs felt as oozy as syrup. That feeling combined with Moses standing behind and caressing her thighs was a recipe for contentment. She could’ve stayed there all night.

  She did manage to get the door open, however. Unfortunately, she made it no further once it closed behind them.

  “Moses!” she gasped when he took her hands and made her hold them against the wall. Her purse and card key fell to the floor. She practically sobbed his name when next his hands plundered her bodice to cup her bosom again.

  Moses groaned at the feel of her nipples grazing his palms. For a time, he buried his face in her hair and was satisfied fondling and squeezing her into frenzy. Jo grunted when he wrapped her bright hair around his fist, baring her neck. He plied her nape with moist kisses. Meanwhile, his other hand skimmed her waist and the small of her back until he found the fastening of her dress. Once the material shimmied to the floor, his persuasive fingers found their way inside the crotch of her panties.

  Jo stood on her toes, offering him ample room to explore her moist sex which he plundered slow and thoroughly. She bit her lip and concentrated on the mastery of his touch which forced the most sensuous sounds from her throat.

  “Now please,” she prompted, rubbing her bottom against the powerful stiffness lying beneath his trousers.

  Moses had reached his limit as well. He grinned when Johari laughed in response to the condom packet he’d just pushed into her hand. Turning to face him, she initiated another deep kiss while she tugged the crisp butter cream shirt free of his trousers. Johari indulged herself, splaying her hands across his sleek torso once the shirt was unbuttoned. She broke the kiss, her eyes sparkling in wonder as she followed the path of her hands. Soon though, she was refocused on disrobing him.

  Moses dipped his head, wanting to taste her lips again. They were in the throes of another kiss when his trousers and boxers pooled around his boots. Jo shivered when her hand tried to close around the silky steel muscle of his arousal. Her sweet caresses to his shaft pulled several helpless sounds from his throat.

  “Please Johari.”

  His tortured whisper sent a triumphant smile to her lovely café au lait face. She’d barely eased the condom in place, when he hoisted her high against the door. He didn’t waste time removing or even ripping away her undergarments. Instead, he simply repositioned them in order to impale her upon his desire.

  Johari bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut tight as he lunged higher and higher. The relentless thrusts coaxed a wealth of moisture down her thighs. She kissed the top of his bald head when he hid his handsome dark face in the deep valley of her breasts. His hands were cupping her bottom, flexing upon the fullness there to hold her still-allowing him greater control and deeper penetration. Johari cursed and treasured the fierce orgasm that arrived seconds later. She was deep in the affects of the pleasurable shivers, but Moses continued to take her until he was satisfied.

  ***

  “I don’t feel good about this,” Marcus admitted later that night as he spoke on the phone. “What good will it do me to agree to testify?” he asked the person on the other end of the line.

  “You must see what a huge bargaining chip this is? Your brother is accused of murder and the people want justice for that more than anything you’ve done. Using the mere promise of your testimony, you can demand immunity and don’t let them fool you into thinking they wouldn’t give it.”

  “Yeah this all sounds good, but you’re asking me to take a big risk,” Marc argued.

  “What risk? There won’t be any witnesses to come against you.”

  Marc’s dark gaze narrowed. “So that’s been taken care of?”

  “It will be. I assure you. Just go along with what your attorney is advising.”

  “Tell you what,” Marc sighed, snuggling deeper into his hospital bed, “I’ll agree to testify once this bait’s taken. Good night,” he sang into the cell before clicking it off. “That is,” he added to himself, “unless I decided it’s in my best interest to testify.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The next two weeks brought Moses and Johari closer. Physically closer, oh yes. But another bond was being forged between them-one they both feared was long dead. Of course, the talks they shared never breached anything tense. They reminded Johari of those days when she and Moses were just beginning their involvement-days when he’d share his plans and she’d speak on hers. Those were days when their futures were truly bright.

  Johari knew the storm between them was far from over and it made her relish their time together more vigorously. Besides, the situation with her sister was growing more unbearable each day. As they’d feared, Zara’s emotional state was in a truly damaged condition. The slightest upset was enough to set her off. Everyone from their parents to Zara’s doctors and the hospital orderlies tried to provide her with every comfort. Only one thing would satisfy Jahzara, however. Johari feared it was also the one thing that would send her sister over the edge.

  The sound of her name in the distance drew Jo’s thoughts to the present. She frowned, looking across the dining room of the restaurant where she was to meet Moses for lunch. Her expression brightened when she recognized who had called her.

  “How are you?!” Sheila McPherson cried as they hugged.

  “It’s so good to see you,” Jo whispered, very happy to see Carlos McPherson’s sister. />
  “I was so happy to hear about Zara,” Sheila was saying when they drew out of the embrace. “I um, I realize I don’t know her,” she said, her expression clouding. “Carlos confided in me. I guess he needed someone to talk to all that time he was undercover,” she shrugged and drew a tuft of hair behind her ear. “Knowing what he did for your sister made me feel…connected somehow.”

  Johari nodded, squeezing Sheila’s hands. “No one could ever repay Carlos for all that he did.”

  “He was my saving grace after what Stef put the Ramseys through. At one time, I was afraid to even show my face in public.”

  “No, Sheila no. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Still…I knew he was evil,” Sheila admitted, biting her lip. “So many times I wanted to tell Fernando, but I didn’t know if he’d believe me. I certainly didn’t want him hating me when I’d always been a little in love with him.”

  “Oh Sheila…” Johari sighed.

  Sheila waved it off. “I know he’s engaged. Besides, I worked for him and he didn’t play that. Unlike his partner.”

  “Listen girl, Stef’s long gone,” Johari said in a refreshing tone that she hoped would lift both their spirits. “That fool knows what’s waiting for him here.”

  Sheila appeared far from convinced. “Just be careful and keep your sister and your cousin safe.”

  “Mel?” Jo asked, stunned by Sheila’s words.

  “Right now she and Zara could bring down a lot of heavy people. Stefan is evil and greedy just like Marcus and he’ll do anything to protect his interests.” Sheila cast a quick glance around the room before stepping closer to Jo. “Melina has Yohan to watch out for her and I know Moses will keep good watch over Zara, but still be on guard. Stef has a way of sneaking in under the radar and you won’t know he’s there until he’s standing right in front of you.”