Beverly gasped when he kissed her fingertips.
Lucius’s eyes fluttered open, his own smile sliding into place. “Morning.”
“Morning,” she sighed, amazed at how her body was already tingling again.
He reached out and pulled her close. “How long have you been up?”
She quivered at the feel of his morning erection pressed against the high part of her thigh. “Not long.”
“No?” He nuzzled her neck.
Beverly giggled, now being tortured by his scruffy beard against her face. “Stop. Stop. That tickles.”
Of course, that just ensured he would continue until she squealed for mercy. Instead of giving in this time, Beverly reached for a pillow and smacked him soundly on the head.
Lucius looked up, confused, but then was hit again. When he went careening to the side, he reached for his own pillow and then declared war.
Beverly tried to scramble out of bed, but received a few pillow whacks that had her diving under the bedding for cover.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Lucius said, grabbing her by the ankles and trying to pull her back out. “You started this.”
Beverly grabbed hold of the bottom edge of the bed and held on for dear life.
“Ah. You think you’re slick.” Lucius laughed, yanking the comforter and top sheets from the bed and leaving her completely exposed.
She released the bed, grabbed a pillow and flipped around almost in the same motion. Her swing caught Lucius off guard, but it wasn’t powerful enough to knock him from hovering over her. She, however, took a direct blow to the face. Despite erupting into a new series of giggles, she renewed her efforts to try to get off the bed.
Lucius, once again, dogged her every move, including when she fell over the side and crawled toward the safety of the bathroom.
They were halfway across the floor—Beverly, naked and on her hands and knees, and Lucius, naked and dragging her firm backside back toward him—when the suite’s door suddenly opened and a startled gasp drew their attention.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll come back later,” A young Latina maid said, covering a trembling hand over her mouth and quickly backtracking and slamming the door shut.
Beverly blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. Finally, she glanced back over her shoulder to see a very amused Lucius smirking back at her. That was all it took for them to collapse with laughter.
After a long and playful shower, Lucius called room service and ordered up lunch…since they had missed breakfast by a couple of hours. His next call was to the concierge, where he gave his clothes sizes and requested new clothes to be purchased and charged to his credit card.
When they sat down to eat, both cloaked in thick, white hotel robes, they were equally interested in playing footsies as they were with actually eating their meals. Beverly still couldn’t believe how she was behaving. It was if she’d taken some magic pill and she was eighteen again.
As if.
But it was nice to pretend. She also ignored the needling question as to what she expected from all of this. Was she officially in a relationship now or was this some weekend fling to help her find her groove again? She bit into her chicken sandwich and eyeballed her lover from across the small table. How nice would it be to wake up every morning to see his handsome face, smiling, laughing and devouring her with a simple glance?
Stop that! she mentally admonished herself. Hadn’t she been down that disastrous road before? Hadn’t she convinced herself that she was in love before? Hadn’t she tried to achieve having the perfect family before?
Soon, her smile melted from her face as a precious memory bubbled to the surface.
Lucius noticed the change immediately. “Is something wrong?”
Beverly jumped as if suddenly remembering he was still in the room with her. “No. Everything is great.” She smiled awkwardly.
Lucius’s antennae shot up. He’d been around enough women to know not to buy that line. He reached across the table and caressed her hand. “C’mon. Surely by now I’ve proven that I’m a pretty good listener.”
Beverly drew a deep breath and looked as if she was weighing her answer.
The familiar sound of his BlackBerry ringing caught his ear. He groaned and rolled his eyes. Couldn’t he have this one Saturday away from the office? It rang again. “Hold that thought,” he told her and then bounded out of the chair and searched through the piles of clothes littered across the room for his phone.
Beverly took the moment to regroup and clear her head. Get a grip, girl.
“There you are,” Lucius said after finally finding the phone, but not in time to answer it. But when he read who the missed call was from, he took a seat on the edge of the bed and returned the call. “Give me just a second,” he told Beverly while he listened to the phone ring over the line.
Beverly returned her attention to her lunch until she heard Lucius say another woman’s name.
“Erica,” he said. “You just called?”
“Where the hell are you?” Erica snapped. “Your daughter wanted to see you today so we swung by your place and you’re not there!”
“What do you mean you swung by? You were supposed to be going out of town again, don’t you remember?”
“Well, we changed our minds and Ruby said that she wanted to see you.”
Lucius huffed and glanced at the clock. “Fine. I’ll be home in a half hour.”
“Naw. Don’t do us any favors. You’re probably out partying with some bimbo while your daughter is in tears.”
Lucius gripped the phone and clenched his teeth. “You’re out of line. I said I’ll be home in thirty minutes so I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“Then you’ll be there by yourself because I’m not driving back across town.”
Breathe. “Then I’ll come to your house and pick her up.”
“Well, we won’t be there, either. To make her feel better, Andrew and I decided to take her down to Pine Mountain to see the safari. You know how much she loves animals.”
“Then I’ll take her.”
“Next time,” Erica said and then disconnected the call.
A seething and incredulous Lucius was left staring at the phone, a long stream of expletives flowing through his mind, but not out of his mouth—though the urge nearly overpowered him.
“Is something wrong?” Beverly asked.
“No. Everything is great.” Realizing what he’d just said, he looked up. They smiled. “Why don’t we make a deal?” he said, returning to the table. “We leave whatever troubles we have at home.” He takes her hand again. “Let’s just shut everything out and enjoy this weekend.”
Beverly’s smile returned. “Now that sounds like a wonderful idea.”
The Hollington Lions homecoming game was against their decades-old rival the Greenville Rangers. It all had the makings of being a really tight and intense game and Beverly was surprised that she was actually looking forward to it. She and Lucius made the last few minutes of the large tailgate party. Like her, Lucius had no problems reverting back to his college days when he kept running across old football buddies that were determined to show off by tossing a football around.
Lucius went a little overboard. Every time he turned or made a play, he checked and made sure she was watching. It was sort of cute, really.
The party wasn’t all fun. Darcy and her posse continued to cross Beverly’s path and each time they had their noses turned up and their asses on their shoulders. It just confirmed to Beverly that some people never grew up.
The football game turned out to be a real thrill. Lucius and Beverly joined the crowd in shouting and jeering.
Hollington’s marching band jammed, playing an array of hits from the ’90s, everything from R. Kelly to TLC, and the crowd loved it. Afterward, the college’s president took the stage and welcomed the crowd. Chloe Jackson followed behind him.
“Is everybody having fun yet?” she shouted.
The
stadium crowd cheered.
“We’re just getting started, and there’s so much more to come. Just a reminder that there are several places where you can leave your order forms for official homecoming and class photographs. And there will be someone at the brunch on Sunday to collect them as you’re getting ready to leave the campus. Be safe, respect school property and don’t forget we need your contributions to the alumni association. Hollington is educating our kids better for tomorrow.”
There was another outburst of response from the crowd.
Kevin Stayton stepped forward to talk into the mike. “One more thing before we get out of the way and let the performance begin. I think you all need to know who was the moving force behind this weekend. She doesn’t think she deserves any recognition, but how about a Hollington shout-out for Chloe Jackson!”
Chloe was pushed forward and her image was immediately enlarged and displayed on the screens erected at both ends of the field. She didn’t take the mike again, but merely pivoted to wave at the crowd, who applauded her, as the night before. She smiled and quickly stepped back.
Lucius leaned over. “I’m telling you, there’s something up between them two.”
Beverly shrugged. “They do sort of make a cute couple.”
The rest of the game was a complete blowout. The Hollington Lions won the game 27–11 and Beverly and Lucius exited the stadium, laughing and shouting along with the crowd, “We’re number one! We’re number one!”
They were still in a jubilant mood when Lucius carried Beverly piggyback style back into her hotel suite. She squealed when he tossed her onto the bed and then launched himself on top of her.
“Bev, my dear. Has anyone ever told you that you make one hell of a cheerleader?”
Beverly wrapped her legs around his waist and tugged up his shirt. “Rah, rah, rah.”
Lucius held up his arms and allowed for his shirt to be removed. He returned the favor by tugging up her black turtleneck, then planting his face in the valley between her breasts and shaking his head like a rabid dog.
Beverly giggled at his childish antics and didn’t protest when his hands then made quick work of unbuttoning and unzipping her designer jeans. She went from being amused to being turned on in a matter of seconds. This time, however, she wanted to take the lead and she playfully rolled Lucius over and helped him remove his own jeans.
“Whoo. Somebody is anxious,” he joked, folding his arms behind his head and watching her as she removed his boxers and retrieved a condom from the bag the concierge had delivered earlier.
“You were taking too long,” she said, smiling and sliding the condom over his rigid cock. Next, she climbed up and lifted her left leg high over his shoulder, stretching herself wide so she could take all of him when she slid down.
The air left Lucius’s body in a long hiss. “Oooh. Damn, baby.”
Beverly only smiled and rocked back and forth on his dick like a seesaw.
Lucius grunted and groaned while trying his best not to come too soon, but it was hard. Beverly was driving him wild. Just when he thought that he was losing the battle, Beverly jumped off, flipped around and scooted her booty toward his face while she peeled the condom off and stuffed his hard shaft into her watering mouth.
Loving the instant sixty-nine, Lucius grabbed hold of Beverly’s melon-sized ass cheeks, squeezed them and then smacked them a couple of times before parting her open and sliding his tongue so deep he could feel her vaginal muscles tremble. His mouth went to work, smacking and slurping until Beverly’s mouth sprang off his dick because she was about to come.
“Ooooh, Gawd,” she panted.
Lucius continued even as her cries grew louder.
“Ooooh, Gaaaawwwddd.” Beverly’s body quaked violently as she came, but Lucius was nowhere near done with her.
“Stand up,” he ordered, giving her ass a good smack.
She stood up while he grabbed a new condom.
“Bend over and grab your ankles.”
Beverly obeyed without hesitation, but nearly passed out from the pleasure of his long, thick dick sliding into her from behind.
“Damn, baby. You’re so wet,” he praised and then immediately started pumping his hips. Soon he reached around and grabbed her full breasts, squeezing and pinching her nipples, but then his smooth strokes became like a violent jackhammer.
“Oooh, baby. That’s it! That’s it!” she screamed as he worked her G-spot. It was amazing how he filled every inch of her. She loved the combination of pleasure and pain she felt each time he pounded into her. “I’m—I’m coming,” she panted.
“Then come on, baby. That’s what I’m here for.”
Her muscles started contracting, causing Lucius to hiss and curse about how good her body felt. It got so good to him that he had to hike one leg up on the edge of the bed so he could sink even deeper into her warm, slick walls.
Beverly was the first to scream out. Behind her closed eyelids a blanket of shooting stars appeared and swirled around her.
Lucius cried out, his thick sausage-like dick springing out from the force of his explosion.
They fell to the bed, sweaty and panting for air. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, they curled up together and promptly fell asleep. When they woke again, they had about an hour to get ready for the reunion dance at Bollitos.
Jumping out of bed, they scrambled around, showering and dressing at a record pace. In the end, Lucius whistled when he saw Beverly twirl around in a short black dress that looked as if it was poured over her thick curves. But it was her legs and thick booty that drew his attention and nearly forced his dick to give a high salute.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
Frankly, he was more interested in getting her out of that dress.
“Later,” she said as if reading his mind. “I promise.”
“In that case,” he said, offering her his arm, “let’s go.”
Chapter 8
Beverly and Lucius arrived at Bollitos at eight-thirty and the place was packed. When Beverly learned that the building was owned by Kevin Stayton, she was more than a little impressed with the five-story warehouse building. It looked quite urban and stark from the outside, but inside was another story altogether. Large, multilevel balconies looked down on a huge five-story dance floor. There was different music playing on each floor.
When they walked through the large double doors, Beverly handed over her jacket at the coat room and then excused herself to go to the large restroom down the hall.
“I heard she was going to be waving on some float tomorrow.” Darcy’s snarky voice drifted to Beverly when she cracked open the door.
Kitty barked with laughter. “Like she’s still relevant or something.”
Natalie chimed in. “Who cares that she was homecoming queen a decade ago? She’s no better than anybody else here.”
Darcy’s high-pitched laugh grated across Beverly’s nerves. “Tell me about it. If her ass was all that, she would’ve been able to keep her husband.” Her voice lowered. “I heard David left because she went crazy after losing—”
Beverly pushed open the door and stormed inside. Darcy and her gossiping group swung apart and then smiled up at her.
“Bev,” Darcy cooed. “We were just wondering if you were coming tonight.”
Beverly glared at the woman, letting her know that she’d heard every word.
“Well—” Darcy smiled tightly “—I guess we better get back out to the party.”
Beverly remained mute, staring them down and ready if any of them said something out of pocket again. When they sauntered past her they were careful not to bump into her. Likely, they sensed she was just seconds from yanking out their ratty-ass weaves from their heads.
Once they were gone, Beverly closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. It did little to calm her down. In fact, she could feel a wave of tears rushing forward. She couldn’t decide what was worse, that Darcy was spreading lies about her divorce or that
she knew the truth about her loss and her subsequent breakdown. Having her years of chronic depression, medication and therapy being discussed and dissected by those cackling bitches had her blood boiling.
“Damn it, Kyra. Why did I let you talk me into doing this?” She moved over to the vanity mirror and stared at her reflection. Suddenly, she didn’t like anything she saw: her hair, her makeup or her dress. After all, who was she trying to fool—her classmates or herself?
She drew a few more deep breaths, but her solitude was disrupted when more women began to drift into the ladies’ room.
“Hey, aren’t you Beverly Turner?” a woman asked.
Beverly blinked back her tears and forced on a plastic smile. “Yes.”
The woman’s smile beamed. “Hey, I’m Shawna Miller. You probably don’t remember me. I used to be in your English and calculus class senior year.”
“Oh, hi.”
“I have to tell you,” Shawna went on, “I admired you so much back in college. You were so beautiful—and you still are. Plus, you had that gorgeous boyfriend, David Clark, and you were sooo popular with everyone. It just looked like you had the perfect life. I heard you were going to be in the parade tomorrow?”
Beverly’s smile tightened. She needed to get out of there. “Excuse me,” she said and then hightailed it out of the bathroom.
Lucius saw the look on Beverly’s face when she came out of the bathroom and was instantly concerned. “Sweetie, are you all right?”
She glanced up at him, her eyes glossy.
“That’s it. No more bathroom breaks for you. Every time you leave my side you come back looking as if someone kicked your puppy or something.”
His joke was rewarded with a small smile. “There. That’s better,” he praised.
“I need to find Kyra,” she said. “There’s no way I’m riding in that parade tomorrow.”
Lucius frowned. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just need to find Kyra…or Chloe Jackson,” she amended, as if remembering the name. “I could tell her.”
Tender to His Touch Page 6
