by Ciara Cole
Half an hour later Rafe finally reached the hospital, found which room she was in, and burst through the door.
He gripped her hands and stared into her face that streamed with tears. She looked so drawn and frail in her hospital gown, and yet she’d never glowed more beautifully. Rafe’s breath hitched tight in his chest, and he pulled her to him, hugging her desperately. He told her he loved her so much and would be with her through any rough times. He’d never leave her side, no matter how little time she had left…
Chapter Twenty-One
Tamira drew back from the comfort of Rafe’s arms with confusion on her face. She’d been in a state ever since she’d come in for tests that morning and the doctor had said he’d noticed something. When he told her what it was, she’d gone into shock and called Rafe right away. The results would be ready any minute now, and she hadn’t wanted to be on her own if the doctor’s suspicions were confirmed.
But Rafe’s words were not making any sense. What could he have thought she meant?
Just then, before she could explain properly, the sonogram tech came in. She looked very young, barely out of her teens, but there was an aura about her that showed she was capable beyond her years. Somehow you felt an instant flow of trust just seeing her smile.
She confirmed to Tamira that yes, the doctor had been right. Tamira was having a multiple pregnancy.
“Congratulations. All your exhaustion was due to the fact you’re pregnant with three healthy babies,” she said to them.
“We’re having triplets?” Tamira exclaimed. Then she turned in alarm to see Rafe so astounded by the unexpected news… he fainted from excitement.
Chapter Twenty-Two
For some reason, Tamira’s breath caught as the bathroom door opened and her husband appeared.
Wow. Was it really one whole year since they married? She could never forget that perfectly sunny day in Versailles. Four months pregnant with the twin boys and girl, she’d definitely already started to look like she was expecting triplets. But she’d loved being in her gorgeous wedding dress, joining her handsome groom waiting beneath the trellis, his eyes filled with admiration and love.
The day ended with a dance party situated atop the gorgeously decorated loft venue, where the guests and couple could overlook the streets below them, where the tourists walking along waved and stared looking like they wished they were part of the fun. Tamira remembered how she’d danced with Rafe, feeling so carefree and alive and knowing soon she just might say good-bye to her feet what with the strain of the growing triplets on her body.
Now with the three angels at almost eight months, Tamira was loving every exhausting minute.
It was definitely a unique parenting experience, and she was so grateful having Rafe by her side to share it all with.
They shared a whole lot more, in terms of their careers and goals.
Just before they got married, Rafe brought up the contract he was signing for a reality show, and after the news of his arriving triplets hit, the network had wanted to make their new family a focal point with their own spin-off. Who would have dreamed that it would fly off into a phenomenal success?
A hard-working, loving interracial couple, expecting their bundle of three… both Tamira and Rafe already had some renown in their individual pursuits, and surprisingly, viewers were taken with their love story and how they’d found a way to be together despite the odds.
They’d had cameras following them around since then. Through every journey, from the wedding, finishing the pregnancy term, the joyous natural delivery of the identical, gorgeous twin baby boys and a girl with the lovable hazel eyes so like their dad’s—it was like a fairy tale and the show’s ratings soared along with the love and support of fans for Rafe, Tamira, and the babies. It was a wild ride and an amazing experience. Every day was a challenge but extremely worth it.
All those months ago, when Tamira had initially found out she was pregnant, having her first ultrasound scan, and seeing the baby on the screen, she’d been joyous. It was a total shock to have that second scan weeks later, and the nurse having a surprise for her and Rafe—they were actually expecting triplets!
Since that was the first time Rafe had even known she was pregnant, it was understandable how he’d been knocked out for a minute! Tamira ended up feeling bad for keeping the pregnancy news from him that long, but everything had worked out in the end.
There was a small moment of alarm, though, days before the wedding a month later. Rafe’s father had called to say his mother had just been admitted to hospital for a health scare. Though Rafe and his mother hadn’t been speaking for weeks since he returned from Africa, he’d flown to her side, and thankfully it wasn’t that serious. She then tried to make him come back to the company and continue as CEO. She confessed she knew about the babies they were expecting and said she felt honestly happy.
He hadn’t expected them to make it, but his parents and the rest of his family had been there for the intimate yet extravagantly merry wedding. He knew there was still a lot of tension to be overcome, but at least there was no outright hostility between his wife and his family. Rafe was grateful for that.
Life couldn’t be more perfect. They had a ready-made family of their own with Tatyana, Rolfe, and Wolfe. Tamira’s family and his were full of support and even sometimes featured on the show. They were the golden couple of prevailing love, and watching the loving couple juggle their individual careers along with parenthood was something viewers couldn’t get enough of. Rafe and Tamira already had a second season in the making.
For now, though, the cameras and crew were gone. It was their first-year anniversary, and the kids were with Nisha and Tamira’s parents. Nisha always stayed with the older couple when the doting grandparents babysat. Nisha loved playing aunty and knew that Tamira’s parents were getting on and would need all the support they could get to handle the energetic trio!
With just them, Rafe and Tamira could make time for their personal brand of romance. They’d shared a candlelit dinner, and then Rafe insisted on finishing up with the dishes while Tamira shyly told him she was having a soak and hoped he’d be in time to join her.
She had been waiting patiently in the big, freestanding tub, luxuriating in the bubbles, and when Rafe entered in his dark satin robe looking like sex incarnate, she felt those flutters like from the very first moment, the very first night.
Her husband was as handsome and sexy as ever. Just like a Hollywood leading man. He slowly undressed, eyes gleaming. He tugged at the belt and shrugged the robe off his broad, tanned shoulders. Tamira watched, mesmerized.
Formidable. One word that struck her out of nowhere. After a year of living and loving together, to still have that aura about him that inspired awe, excitement, and adoration, told Tamira she had a whole lot to be thankful for.
He was a good husband and father, friend and lover. And Dom.
Oh, they still got down to their forbidden trysts, sometimes incorporated into their everyday lovemaking or set aside for special scenarios enacted inside their secret basement room, where only they had the key.
Tonight, the theme was true romance, with spice. Tamira’s husband joined her in the huge freestanding tub that took center stage in the elegant bathroom, and in the next instant Tamira was splashing water at him. Her giggles filled the air as Rafe retaliated, turning their bath time into a frolic.
But soon their play turned steamy. The love permeating the atmosphere mingled with the scented steam, as Tamira tenderly washed Rafe’s back and he did the same for her. The desire brewing between them was so powerful. Instead of giving in to their passion then and there, they knew to save it for later. Instead, they bathed each other lovingly. But beneath the surface, Tamira could feel her body catching flame. With each gentle kiss her husband planted on her neck, the tension between her legs increased.
Their bath over, Rafe wrapped Tamira in a huge towel. Tamira felt much like a conquered prize as her captor swept her up in his power
ful arms. He carried her to the bedroom and gently set her on the bed. Then he took the edge of the towel and suddenly tugged hard, sending Tamira tumbling naked out of the unraveled towel. She gasped, rolling over and over and landing on the other end of the massive king-size bed.
Looking excitedly over her shoulder, she watched as Rafe approached, his muscled torso rippling as he made his way over to her on the mattress. Just as he reached her, she turned on her back and saw his head lowering to hers for a kiss.
At the last moment, she evaded his lips, rising from the bed and agilely crawling backward on her ass. Her glint-eyed lover wasted no time in making his advance. Quickly, he closed the distance between them.
Tamira rose onto her knees and rested her hands on his shoulders. Without saying a word, she pushed him backward to rest him against the countless pillows. She pressed a hand to his lips, her eyes conveying a language only they understood.
Seemingly content to watch for now, Rafe trained his eyes on his wife as she stood on the bed and did a sultry dance, giving him a 360-degree view of her curvaceous body as she twirled and swayed.
Her slim figure had lost none of its provocative silhouette, having gained it back soon after the babies were born. In those sensual moments as she waved her arms high over her head in a slow, sexy rhythm, she was his private dancer. Teasing him, tempting him… with the roll of her curvy hips and concave belly, her rounded high breasts and dewy mound between her sexy thighs.
Tamira hid an inward shiver at the look in his eyes, so scorching and even awed. She loved that she could still make him look at her like that.
Tamira knelt again and glided up to Rafe, moving her lips close to his, and then drawing back yet again, just as his mouth reached for hers. With a growl he grabbed her wrist and tugged her close again. She fell against him with a sigh, feeling his hard, muscled chest behind her back and his throbbing hardness against her rump as she rested on him. She turned her face and saw his head descend again but no… she wasn’t done with teasing him yet.
This little game of tiger and prey… nothing felt as exciting as being just within his reach and then stealing away, like she did now. Each time Rafe lowered to capture her lips, Tamira edged away to the other end of his embrace, making him give chase once more. Back and forth, and back again. It was like an intricate movie love scene, an imperceptible soundtrack guiding the rhythm of their bodies swaying from side to side.
Tamira bent backward over Rafe’s arm as he bent to her lips one last time, and she blew a soft breath in his face that made him groan in arousal.
Falling back he gathered her to him, circling his arms around her in a tight embrace, causing Tamira to rest against him with a sigh. Her hand lifted his larger one to her lips and she kissed inside his palm. They could roll around in the sheets this way tirelessly, reveling in their intimacy and unrushed desire. It was a luxuriant enticement, both secure in the knowledge that they belonged to one another, body and mind.
Resting against the solid chest that felt like a marble wall, Tamira moaned when Rafe’s thickly muscled arm snaked its way around her stomach, pinning her to him. He wound his other hand in her hair and used it like a handlebar, tilting her face back and sideways. He trailed his nose from her temple to just beneath her ear and then buried it within the spot where her neck met her collarbone.
Rafe’s warm breath heated up her skin before he opened his mouth to take a hungry suck at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Tamira whimpered and her body writhed within his strong embrace.
Gently shushing her, he lifted his lips to nip at her lobe, whispering, “While I love the chase, I think you derive too much enjoyment from making me impatient. You haven’t let me kiss you properly even once today.”
“Has it been that long?” Tamira asked, her eyes popping wide open as she twisted and looked over her shoulder at him.
“Minx. You know it has. I didn’t get my morning kiss, for starters. You skirted around me all day—and now this. I need my mochaccino fix now.” He growled and in a few swift maneuvers had Tamira flat on her back.
She loved when he likened her to any of his favorite kind of chocolate and coffee flavors. Her legs spread in unwitting submission for him to settle between them. His hands braced on either side of her head, balancing most of his weight. In this new position her legs easily wrapped around his waist, giving him a cradle for his muscled hips. Her smooth-shaven mound was a soft, cushiony rest for his hard, thickening shaft grazing right on her clit.
Tamira’s moan vibrated through them both, her body lost in the sensation of Rafe’s turgid member sliding between the swollen lips of her sex. Helplessly she ground against him, and with an answering groan, Rafe pressed himself harder against her core, Tamira’s head flinging back as her spine arched in a bow.
“Yes baby…” Rafe grated out, his breath heavy on her neck as he buried his face there. “My sweet chocolate treat—you know just how I like you moaning and dripping for me.”
He lifted up to gaze into her face for a moment, before leaning down and capturing her mouth. He sank his teeth into her bottom lip roughly, causing her to cry out at the bite. Then he swallowed the sound whole, his tongue plunging past her lips.
How could his kiss always feel this brand-new? Tamira felt like she was drowning in the bliss and intensity of it. Her hands slid up his chest, exploring those hard, rippling planes. His chest rumbled at her touch as he deepened the kiss further. He had a hand encircling her throat and tightening a fraction, managing to add to the dizzying hurricane of pleasure his lips on hers gave. Tamira was panting for breath while loving the slight smothering sensation of that big hand around her throat. Seconds later, Rafe slid his hand from her neck to her breast, seizing one full globe in his hand and squeezing firmly.
Swept up in an extended bubble of bliss, their lips were crushed together… the length of her neck licked… his ears whispered into while their passion intensified…
Rafe held her nipples delicately within his fingertips and then, within his lips. Tamira fell back against the pillows, barely able to breathe as slowly, she felt his warm breath finally trail down to the juncture of her thighs.
Tamira let herself simply melt into pleasure, giving in completely.
Long minutes of enjoying his tongue raveling through her labia, almost pounded her into a pulpy mass of bliss. He spread her folds apart with his fingers and thrust deep with his tongue, branding those tiny nerves inside her with ecstasy. Just when release beckoned, Rafe drew his lips from her clit and instead kissed her satiny inner thigh.
Tamira reached for the back of his head and pulled him closer, then felt his hands suddenly grip her wrist.
“Oh!”
Her moan of surprise and excitement made his eyes blaze. Tamira could only watch, breathless as Rafe proceeded to wrap her wrists with silk scarves and then tie them to both corners at the head of their king brass canopy bed. The silk secured her firmly, just as the sleeping mask he then placed over her eyes dimmed her vision into black, titillating mystery.
“Open your mouth,” he said softly. There was a rustle, and moments later Tamira tasted the decadent flavor of a truffle placed in her obediently parted lips. The chocolate melted sweetly on her tongue, and Tamira’s senses bloomed from how stimulating it felt to rely on all her other senses but her sight. Truffle had never tasted so delicious than now.
Helpless and naked she lay there in the dark of the eye mask, waiting eagerly for clues regarding what would happen next. She knew Rafe’s box at the bottom of the bed would hold a few surprises, but she hadn’t dared to check inside it when she had the chance earlier as she’d come in to take her bath. She had no doubt, though, that everything within the chest-like box would be to her approval. Rafe knew just the things to entice her with.
Next came a sequence of pleasurable moments of sweet agony, which was the only way Tamira could have described what her body experienced at the hands of her dominant lover.
First, scented oils made he
r breasts tingle, massaged into her flesh by Rafe’s slow gentle touch. Those hands then headed lower to the center of her thighs, warming her throbbing vulva with those tender rubs that made her only frustrated for a stronger pressure.
As if in answer there came a humming sound of a wand, and soon a light buzz settled on her clit. Tamira gasped in delight at the steady vibrations spreading in zigzagged circles around her whole mound. She thrust her hips into the sensation, but it stayed exasperatingly subdued, never varying to a higher level to trigger the ecstasy she sought.
“Be good, and simply enjoy,” growled Rafe in her ear. She was then warned not to grind or push harder unless instructed to, before her nipples were lovingly pinched hard for some moments. Tamira cried out and nodded quickly in assent. She loved it when he made her obey.
Rafe pressed the vibe to her clit again, and the power was stronger than before. Tamira moaned happily but it was only for a second before it lowered to a light tingle again. Damn, damn, damn. She had to just breathe, and enjoy the aching sweetness, Tamira told herself.
The sweetness turned savage when she least expected, as Rafe’s strong hands grabbed her ankles and spread them wide. The vibe was left to pulse harder and harder against her agony-swollen clit. Rafe pushed two fingers of one hand into her vaginal walls and pumped in several fast, deep strokes. At the same time Tamira felt like her clit would explode from the wand.
She felt so vulnerable, exposed and lifted off the edge of arousal, and she couldn’t help pushing against his fingers eagerly. It felt so good, yet so bad, and she couldn’t stop wanting it, needing it…
Again, she was warned by the gruff-sounding Rafe to be careful, followed by his fingers pinching and smacking on her clit to bring the utmost pleasure as well as a needed bulge of pain as a reminder.
