Derrick and Vivian and Tai and King walked along the beach as a colorful sunset filled the open sky. There was a comfortable silence—each couple lost in their own world.
Derrick grabbed Vivian and hugged her gently as they walked along the water’s edge, their bare feet wading into the sea. It was incredible how much love he had for her after all these years. How her smile could still warm up a room and light up his heart. He patted her booty softly, a booty still firm and shapely thanks to Billy Blanks and his Tae-bo regime. “I love you, woman,” he whispered in her ear. Vivian simply looked at him and smiled before turning her gaze once again to the setting sun.
Vivian had been thinking that very thing when Derrick voiced his emotions. It didn’t surprise her. After fifteen years, they fit together like hand in glove. They could read each other’s thoughts and finish each other’s sentences. There was a comfort level with Derrick that Vivian enjoyed with none other, a comfort she looked forward to enjoying for a long, long time. She heard Tai squeal and looked around in time to see King lifting her up and running out into the water, threatening to treat her to an unsolicited swim. “Careful, you two!” Vivian cried happily. “Don’t have me performing CPR out here tonight.” Like the beauty surrounding them, King and Tai’s marriage was proof as to how great, how awesome God really was. With Him, indeed nothing was impossible. If she were a betting woman, she’d have lost her shirt if she’d wagered on her friends’ marriage just two months ago. And now to see them frolicking like newlyweds. Well, even with its ups and downs, love was a beautiful thing.
King let his wife down gently, stopping to kiss her as the water flowed around their feet. How he’d ever turned away from this woman he’d never know, but he thanked God every day for the opportunity he’d been given, to try again with Tai and to make it right this time. She looked at him and was reminded of the love of Christ—unconditional. He grabbed Tai’s hand as they continued walking down the shoreline. “I thank God for you, baby,” he said sincerely. “You’re the best gift He could have given me.”
Tai smiled and kissed his shoulder, leaning into him as they walked along. Time, she felt, would definitely heal all wounds, and well, that good loving she was getting on the regular wasn’t a bad tonic either. So what that a few other women had had him for a night, a week, a month or two? What was that compared to forever? What was that compared to right now? She studied him from the corner of her eye. Damn! He was still fine. Toned and tall, taut and terrific. And when he was thinking with the head above his waist, he was actually the most intelligent man she’d ever met. Not that the other head wasn’t good for something. Tai smiled as she thought back to a week ago.
Tai had surprised King, who was working late at the church office, with a picnic dinner. After dinner, one thing had led to another, and after locking the office door, Tai became dessert instead of the oatmeal cookies she’d baked fresh that afternoon.
At first Tai had been hesitant. “Baby, we can’t do this! We’re in church!” she’d whispered loudly.
“We’re in the church offices,” King replied as he pulled the sweater she was wearing over her head and reached behind her to undo her bra. “Didn’t you teach in that conference that sex was sacred?”
“Well,” Tai breathed, trying to focus on the question while King did wonderful things with his tongue to her breasts. “Yes, but…ooh, baby. I’ve never done…anything…like this…before.”
“Hum,” King responded, having relieved Tai of the sexy skirt that matched the sweater and now joined it in a heap on the floor. “Neither have I. Guess there’s a first time for everything.”
I guess so, she’d thought as King grabbed a couple pillows off the couch and situated her strategically on his large, maple desk. “King! What are you—oh! Ooh, ooh, King…” Tai couldn’t believe it. She was having sex in the sanctuary, and too busy to see God smile before He left the room and they really got down to business. Even “the God who will never leave” left believing, in His infinite wisdom, that sometimes three really was a crowd!
Derrick and Vivian caught up with King and Tai. The sun had gone down, and the air had turned chilly.
“Anybody up for coffee in the lounge?” Vivian asked. “I hear they have an excellent band.”
King and Tai glanced at each other. Music sounded like a good idea, but they wanted to make their own. Tai feigned a yawn.
“No, Viv,” Tai replied. “I think I’ll turn in. It’s been a long day.”
King mimicked a huge, noisy yawn. “Me, too. Lord knows I’m tired!” He yawned again, even louder this time. Vivian got the message. Little did she know that Derrick’s vote was with King and Tai.
“Yeah, I hear you,” she said. “Have a good night.”
“I’m glad you got their message,” Derrick cooed as he and Vivian walked down the hall to their suite, just a few doors down from the Brooks. “Because I’ve got one of my own.”
“Oh, you do, do you?”
Derrick opened the door and waved her inside. “Uh-huh.” He stopped just inside the doorway and pulled Vivian into his arms.
Vivian melted into his lean frame. There was no space between them. “And just what is that message, Mr. Derrick Anthony Montgomery?”
“Darling, answering that question,” he whispered, pulling Vivian toward the bedroom, “will take all night.”
“Umm,” Vivian murmured as Derrick placed a trail of kisses from her eyelids to her shoulders and back again. “Well, don’t just stand there, baby, get to talking!” And Derrick talked to Vivian, the love of his life, using the unspoken language of lovers throughout time. And Vivian savored every word.
A similar scenario was being played out in the suite just down the hall. King lit the candles he’d requested earlier from the concierge while Tai put on a CD compilation of love songs King had made prior to their trip. The smooth sounds of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” flowed out of the stereo and mingled with the warm island breeze and the jasmine-scented candles and transported Tai and King to their heaven on earth.
King grabbed Tai and pulled her tightly against him, singing softly in her ear. “I’m so in love with you…”
Tai finished the verse as they danced a spry, Kansas City two-step. They were all smiles as they glided to the melody, singing the whole song, word for word.
King was holding her gently now as they rocked to the beat—one two three step, one two three…. Tears gathered at the corners of Tai’s eyes, a gentle rain storm threatening to shower down on her paradise. King noticed and slowed their movements further. “You’re beautiful,” he said, kissing the tears that wavered threateningly at each eye’s corner. “I love everything about you, what you’ve done to your hair, this new tight body you brought to the island.” He smiled, gently squeezing her buttocks.
“Baby, it’s us forever,” he continued. They were barely moving now, the only thing flowing faster being Tai’s tears. “God has told me what I need to do, and I’m going to show you that this time will be different.” The sounds of Champagne echoed his sentiment, saying some people could love each other for life.
“I believe you,” Tai said simply. She grabbed King’s hand and led him to the sofa. She sat down quietly, and he followed her lead. They were facing each other, holding hands. “You know I love you, King. And I know it will take time for the wounds to heal. We’ll take one day at a time.”
King glanced at the bed. “I’m hoping we can start with one night at a time.”
Tai smiled. “I hope so, too. I’ve prayed, and while I know it will not always be easy, I still believe it is possible for us to have a good marriage. We’ve had one before. I know I’m partly to blame here. It’s not all your fault. It’s mostly your fault,” she added hastily.
“Ah, here we go,” King said dramatically, lightening the mood. He wisely changed subjects. “Remember that time when Michael was about three years old? He decided to play soldier with Princess. It had been raining and you went out in the backyard to f
ind her covered with mud and leaves, and he said it was camel-flog?” Both he and Tai laughed softly at the memory.
“Yes, and I wanted to beat his butt because he was as dirty as she was.”
“But instead you started rolling on the ground with them, and when I got home, all three of you were looking like little mud children. You were so cute to me that day.”
“Yeah, we all jumped in the shower together, singing at the top of our lungs.” Tai’s face glowed at the memory. “We stayed in there until the water got cold. When we got through that bathroom was a mess!”
“Yeah, but we didn’t care. You went in the kitchen and made hot chocolate, and we pulled out potato chips and cookies and Skittles and all kinda junk food and had a picnic on the living room floor. The kids were in heaven!” King pulled Tai up and walked toward the bed. “I want to lie down.” He wanted to join Lionel and show Tai she was a lady; once, twice, three times.
Tai followed him quietly, still lost in the memories of happier days. The covers had already been pulled down and Godiva chocolates placed on their pillows. King got in first and then pulled Tai down and close to him.
Tai laughed softly and continued the story. “We all fell asleep, right on the living room floor. The next morning you were so mad because Princess had somehow lost her diaper during the night and peed on you!” She snuggled closer to King; his scent was intoxicating.
“Humph. I still think you had something to do with that!”
“No, I didn’t!” Tai said, laughing freely now.
“Yeah, that’s what you said. I still think it was a conspiracy.” He pulled her closer, rubbing his lips against hers, gently, lovingly, without demands.
Tai closed her eyes, focusing on the moment. King kissed her eyelids, her nose, her mouth. He hugged her to him and rubbed her back.
“We’ve had some good times, huh,” he whispered against her ear. King began a slow, languorous journey from Tai’s ears which he’d traced with his tongue, across her neck, slowly down the valley of her breasts where he rested his head. She hugged him to her, each kiss seeming to relax her a little bit more. He continued, paying homage to first one dark nipple and, after giving it his thorough and undivided attention, moving to the other, pulling, teasing, sucking. He kissed a path to Tai’s lips again and kissed her deeply. He worshipped her body with his mouth, adoring her beauty, celebrating her ability to love him still, esteeming her power to forgive. He took his time with her, rubbing and massaging and cuddling and consoling. He kissed her from the freckles on her nose to the soles of her feet. Marvin Gaye had the right idea. It was time for some sexual healing.
Tai moaned in frustration as King rolled over to remove his pants. She shrugged out of the blouse King had unbuttoned on his quest to relive the pleasure of Tai. As he rolled back over, she placed her arms around his neck, looking deeply into the eyes and the soul of the man she’d loved since she was fifteen years old. He rocked her softly, his dick hard between her legs. Thick and throbbing, he lifted himself as Tai opened to receive him. He pleasured the love of his life with deep, steady strokes.
“I love you, King,” Tai whispered fervently as King led the way on their dance of love. Slowly, deeply, he possessed her as if he never wanted to let her go.
“I love you, Tai. I love you, baby.” King’s mind was filled with love for his wife, and there was no one else he’d rather have in his arms.
He smiled as the music lulled them both to sleep. You’re right, Sugarfoot, he thought. Heaven must be like this.
Enjoy the following excerpts from Lutishia Lovely’s latest novels
A PREACHER’S PASSION
and
LOVE LIKE HALLELUJAH
Available now wherever books are sold!
A Preacher’s Passion
1
Is That You?
People say Passion was fast from the womb. That when she heard men talking, she’d make a motion in her mother’s belly that felt like a tickle. When she heard women, her mother got gas. Even before Passion was born, she decided that men were to be loved; women, tolerated.
She had one real girlfriend growing up, Robin Cook. They got along like two peas in a pod from the moment they met at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia. For one, they were big tomboys, bigger than most girls their age. For another, they both hated their female classmates and constantly baked up evil schemes to right some imagined wrong done to them. Whether it was putting cayenne pepper in a girl’s food, glue on her seat, or beating somebody up at recess, they were always getting into trouble, and usually together. But Passion and her family moved from Georgia to California when she was fifteen years old. She hadn’t seen Robin since.
Passion sat in her living room, flipping through an Essence magazine and watching the MLM channel, a new, progressive, Black-owned network that was finally giving BET some competition. A minister, Derrick Montgomery, was speaking at a convention hosted by a group called Total Truth. Passion decided he looked as good on TV as he did in person. That man is fine forever, she thought, as she turned up the volume.
Passion wasn’t a member of Montgomery’s church, Kingdom Citizens’ Christian Center, but the church she belonged to, Logos Word Interdenominational, fellowshipped with KCCC often. Passion loved Pastor Montgomery’s fiery style, not to mention the way his body blessed a designer suit. She could always expect a good word plus some men worth watching when she visited Kingdom Citizens, and was one of many who’d visualized Pastor Montgomery sans suit or wife. Either him or Darius Crenshaw, KCCC’s hot minister of music whose latest hit, “Possible,” had spent months at the top of both gospel and secular charts. Pastor Montgomery was fine, but Darius could sing, play several instruments, and looked like “thank you, Jesus.” Add the fact that he was single, and as far as she knew, available, and he was the obvious choice.
For all her salacious wonderings, Passion couldn’t see herself actually sleeping with Pastor Derrick or anybody else’s husband. She admired Pastor Montgomery’s wife, Vivian, who was good friends with her first lady, Carla Lee. Even after news broke that Pastor Montgomery had an older son from a previous relationship, a son he supposedly knew nothing about until two years ago, his and Vivian’s marriage remained strong. Word had it that the boy was even living with them now and playing basketball at UCLA. No, Passion would never act out inappropriately with Pastor Derrick. Well, other than the lusting in her heart for which she was already guilty. She’d probably not send love notes or nude pics to Darius Crenshaw either. But he was definitely daydream material.
An hour after the television program went off, Passion pulled into her favorite strip mall. It housed an inexpensive clothing shop, video store, nail salon, Chinese food restaurant, and the reason for her trip, Gold’s Pawn Shop. Passion loved this store. Pawning had kept her lights, gas, or phone on many times right after her divorce, when she’d been struggling to raise her newborn daughter. She’d pawn gold, diamonds, anything she could to make it to payday. She prided herself on the fact that she always bought back her stuff and in the process would sometimes find a couple bargains, enough to where she continued to make regular visits even after her finances improved.
She stepped inside the store. As she’d expected for the middle of the day, it was quiet. Lin, the Korean owner, was behind the counter, helping his one, lone customer.
“Hey, Lin,” Passion said cheerfully.
“Hey, Passion,” Lin said. “What you buy today? I got tennis bracelet you like—just came yesterday.”
“How much you want for it?” Passion asked. “I might be interested if you give me a good deal.”
“I give you very good deal,” Lin said. He unlocked the showcase and pulled out a bracelet set with tiny diamonds, effectively shown off in a black, faux-velvet case.
“This is nice,” Passion said. She put it on her arm, turned it this way and that.
The other shopper, a woman, looked at the bracelet as well.
“It’s prett
y, huh?” Passion said to her, being friendly. “You think it’s worth two hundred dollars?” That’s the deal Lin said he’d give to Passion, because “she good customer.”
The woman didn’t answer, just stared. Passion looked up and stared back. The face was familiar. Then it dawned on her.
“Robin? Robin Cook? Girl, is that you?”
Robin was shocked, her response subdued. “Passion Perkins?”
Both women were incredulous. It had been twenty years.
“What on earth are you doing in LA?” Passion exclaimed, stepping forward to grab her former best friend in a bear hug. As she did so, she felt something cold, hard, pressing against her stomach. She pulled back, looked down. “And why are you buying a gun?”
Robin looked at Passion, then down at the gun, almost as if she didn’t know how it had gotten in her hand.
“I, well, uh, girl, it’s good to see you!” Robin placed the gun on the counter and hugged Passion with fervor. This had been her best friend back in the day. She was genuinely glad to see her again, but still couldn’t have a sistah all up in her business.
Passion didn’t miss the fact that her question had been diverted. But this was Robin, her homegirl from the ATL!
“Oh my God, Robin, I swear I thought about you just today. Listen, we’ve got to grab something to eat and catch up; you got time?”
“Of course.” Time was all Robin had had for the past eighteen months.
Both the gun and the tennis bracelet stayed at Gold’s Pawn Shop as Passion and Robin headed for the Chinese food restaurant three doors down. They quickly ordered, paid for their food, and sat down.
“Passion Perkins, or is it something else now?”
“No, it’s Perkins again. I’ve been divorced almost five years, got a little girl. What about you; are you married, divorced, kids? Are you living here or just visiting? Girl, I still can’t believe I’m looking at you!”
Sex in the Sanctuary Page 32
