Romulus

by Tina Martin

  “No, Derra, baby listen,” he said heading in her direction.

  Siderra put her hand out to stop him before he could get close. “Don’t bother,” she said, turning to walk away.

  “Derra, wait.”

  “Why, Romulus?” she asked, stopping in the middle of the living room. “What am I waiting for? For you to love me?”

  Romulus walked up to her. Took her hands. “I do love you. That’s why I haven’t touched you, baby.” He saw the confusion on her face when he spoke the words. “Can you sit down so I can explain?”

  She took a seat on the sofa.

  He sat down next to her. “First, I want to apologize for making you feel the way you do. It was never my intention to hurt you. The reason I haven’t touched you is because I have a problem.”

  “What problem?” Siderra asked.

  “Remember before we got married, I told you I wasn’t ready but I knew I wanted you? Do you recall me saying that?”

  “Yes.”

  “I love you, Derra. With all my heart I do, but I’m afraid that if I make love to you and I’m not ready, it’ll be the same as the others and I don’t want it to be that way. You’re not just another girl to me. You’re my best friend. My wife. Does any of this make any sense to you?”

  She nodded slowly. “Yes, it does.”

  He lifted a brow. “It does?”

  A smile came to her face. “Yes. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I was on the verge of having a breakdown thinking you really didn’t want me.”

  “Oh, I want you,” he said brushing a thumb across her lips. “You’ve been by my side all these years. In a way, I think I’ve always wanted you but I knew being with you would require some major changes on my part. So, please be patient with me, baby, while I make those changes.”

  Siderra leaned close to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I will, and I appreciate you opening up to me about it.”

  “See…I’m growing.”

  “You are, and I’ll be here every step of the way.”

  Chapter 23

  Siderra

  It’s date night – all planned by Romulus. We’re seeing a movie and having dinner afterward – things we’ve done countless times in the past, but I’m excited about it. It’s our first date as a married couple and since he poured out his soul out to me about his personal struggles. I’m happy I know what’s going on now. I’m no longer frustrated but understanding.

  The last two nights, he didn’t sleep in the bed with me. Said he would want me and he wasn’t ready for that. So he slept in the guest bedroom.

  In the mornings, we’d kiss for minutes at a time. Like this morning for instance…

  Goodness…

  I swear I almost swallowed his tongue in the kitchen. He was relentless, kissing me like it would be the only opportunity for him to do so. And he’s so good at it. So skilled. Makes me ponder over what else he’s skilled at…

  As the movie nears its end, I can feel Romulus’ eyes on me instead of the big screen in the front of us. He takes my hoop earring out of my left ear. That was enough to take my eyes off of the screen.

  “Rom, what are you doing?” I whisper somewhat amused by him.

  “This,” he says, leaning close to me, sucking my earlobe into his mouth. My first instinct is to pull away. We’re in the back row but it’s still a public place. I nudge him just a little, but he grabs a firm hold on me so I can’t move and feasts on my ear.

  I stifle my moans by putting my right hand over my mouth. He has my body tingling all over. His tongue is hot, flicking across my lobe. Just when I feel like I’m losing control of the nerves in my body, he stops and whispers, “I had to do that. I’ll let you get back to the movie now.”

  Like I can really get back into this movie...

  I don’t care how the movie ends. I’m just happy to be with Romulus.

  * * *

  At dinner, some fancy restaurant where they serve three shrimp for an appetizer and draw fancy shapes with cocktail sauce, Romulus stares at me from across the table and asks, “How was the movie?”

  “It was fine. I especially like the part where I got an ear massage. I didn’t know that came with the ticket.”

  He chuckles. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

  “You don’t hear me complaining,” I say. I see a twinkle in his eyes as he stares at me.

  “It’s amazing how life works. You let me borrow a pen. All these years later, you’re my wife.”

  “Yep. I’m your wife.” I take a sip of water. “Do you want children Romulus?”

  “You know I do. We’ve talked about that a long time ago.”

  “As friends, yes. I just wanted to make sure you haven’t changed your mind because I want children.”

  “How many?”

  “As many as you’ll give me.”

  “Wow. That’s a tall order. I can give you a dozen.”

  “Okay, not that many,” I say. “Maybe four.”

  “Four,” he says with raised brows. “We’d have to get a bigger house.”

  “Yep.” He tastes some clam chowder, then brings a spoonful of it to my mouth. “Taste.”

  I sample the soup, but I’m not a fan.

  “Don’t like it?”

  “Not really,” I tell him.

  He eats more of it. “Do you remember our junior year of college? I was on the basketball team. You came to all of my games.”

  “Never missed one,” I say. “You were debating on whether you wanted to pursue basketball or business.”

  “Yep,” he nods. “I was. I remember one game, you were sick. I looked up in the stands and saw you wearing my UNC hoodie. You actually had the hood on your head. Your nose is all red. You had a ball of tissue in your hand about the size of a soccer ball and you looked like you needed to be in somebody’s doctor office than at my game. I remember asking myself why didn’t you just stay home. Now, I know why.”

  “You do, huh?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Enlighten me?”

  “Because you loved me, even way back then.”

  I smile dearly. “Yes, I did.”

  He stares at me in a way that makes a tingling sensation spread through my body. “I was thinking about a nice place for our honeymoon.”

  My eyes brighten. “You want to go on a honeymoon?”

  “Yes. What are your thoughts on spending a week—maybe two—in Antigua and Barbuda? We could leave at the end of the month.”

  “That sounds lovely, Romulus! Anywhere would be just fine with me as long as I’m with you.”

  “You know all the right things to say, don’t you?” Romulus bites down on his lip.

  “I mean it. Are you serious about the honeymoon?” I ask.

  “I am. I wanted to run it by you first before I contact my travel agent.”

  “Yes! We should do this, Rom. I get to have you all to myself in paradise. I can’t wait.”

  “I’m glad you’re excited about it.”

  “You don’t know how excited I am,” I tell him.

  Chapter 24

  Romulus

  “I wasn’t going to come in today,” Ramsey said, beginning the meeting. “But I felt I needed to. The last meeting we had, Romulus brought up several options for land along the blue line extension. As an architect, I take great pride in designing amazing structures – stretching my creativity and doing things that have never been done before. It comes with great responsibility and after the task is completed, it comes with great reward – mostly monetary. But, this time, we’re going to do something different. I was watching the evening news with Gianna one night last week and an hour-long special on what they called an affordable housing crisis here in this city, came on. News anchors interviewed council members, the mayor – seemed there was no concrete solution to this issue, but it is a serious issue and it’s one that’s not going away. I look at Gianna’s father as an example…he works at an auto parts store, making minimum wage – there’s no way h
e could afford an apartment in this city. In fact, if Gianna didn’t give him her house, he’d have nowhere to go. So I say we get our hands on some of this land between 36th Street and Parkwood Avenue as soon as possible so SCA can be a part of the solution. Otherwise, it’s going to be bought by developers who’ll cater to millennials pulling in $75,000 a year who can afford to pay between $1,500 and $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.”

  “Honestly, they’ll pay that for a one-bedroom unit,” Ralph said.

  “So, what’s the order of projects here?” Regal asked, “Because I thought we weren’t going to start a new project until the Paris project was completed.”

  “We’re not, but we at least need to go ahead and get our hands on some of this land.”

  “Agreed,” Romulus said. “I’ll start the process.”

  “Meanwhile, Royal, get me a work-up on the owners,” Ramsey said. “I want to find out what other properties they own around the city if any.”

  “Okay, I’m on it,” Royal said.

  “Alright, fellas,” Ramsey said. “I have a lunch date with my girls today so I’ll be leaving in a half hour.”

  “I have a date with some girls, too,” Regal said. “Can I leave early?”

  Ramsey grinned.

  The men chuckled as they exited the office.

  “Hey, Romulus,” Ramsey called out before Romulus left.

  “What’s up?”

  “How is everything?”

  “Good,” he said withholding a smile as he thought about the morning with Siderra and their date night. Everything was good between him and Siderra. She couldn’t be more understanding.

  Ramsey raised his brows. “Good? You’re not just saying that to get me off of your back or you?”

  “No. Seriously, we’re good. I explained myself to her and she’s more understanding than I thought she’d be.”

  “Love will do that, brother,” Ramsey said.

  “Ay, by the way, I’m taking the last two weeks of this month off. I plan on taking Derra somewhere nice for our honeymoon.”

  “That’s fine by me.”

  “I’ll get started on looking into that land to get something moving before I leave.”

  Ramsey gave him a single nod.

  * * *

  Romulus stayed at work a little later than usual today, studying the land and finding out who the owners were. He took notes and passed the information along to Royal who would be doing a report on the owners in the next few days.

  He logged off his workstation around six, jumped in his car and took Tryon Street to Eastway Drive – Eastway Drive to The Plaza – The Plaza to 36th Street – heading for Siderra’s shop.

  He found a parking space on the street, got out of the car and stopped in his tracks when – before he even walked inside – he saw Siderra behind the counter working while Jamar had his elbows propped up on the counter, talking to her.

  Something went off inside of him. What was this man doing in her shop? The last time he saw Jamar was when he’d been sitting outside of Siderra’s apartment watching them kiss. It was before he and Siderra were married, but still – that visual of Jamar’s mouth on his woman had him furious. Now he was up in her store? Shooting the breeze?

  Not on his watch.

  He snatched the door open and walked swiftly to the counter.

  “Hey Romulus,” Siderra said before noticing his flared nostrils. She frowned. “Romulus?”

  Jamar turned to look at him and immediately stood up when he saw the anger on Romulus’ face.

  “Why are you here?” Romulus asked, walking right up to Jamar.

  “Ay, man…ain’t no need for all of that. I was just—”

  “You have no further business with my lady, so get out,” Romulus told him.

  “Rom—” Siderra said, hoping he’d divert his attention toward her instead of Jamar. He looked like he was ready to hit the man.

  Palms up, Jamar said, “Alright, man. Chill out. I’m leaving.”

  As Jamar left, Romulus followed him to the door, then locked it. He turned to look at Siderra. Her mouth was opened in shock.

  “What the heck was that about?” she asked.

  “You tell me,” he said anger still clouding his vision.

  “Rom, we were talking—”

  “And for some odd reason, you think that’s cool with me. He’s your ex.”

  “He’s not my ex. We went on three dates. He wasn’t even a boyfriend.”

  “I don’t care who he is—”

  “And I was telling him I’d gotten married,” she explained. “He was telling me he was back with his ex-girlfriend. There’s nothing between us if that’s your concern.”

  “I don’t want him anywhere near you. You’re mine now, Derra.”

  “I know that, Rom,” she said, softening her tone as he walked closer to her. “I’ve always wanted to be yours. Do you think I’d messed that up with Jamar? With anybody? I love you. There is no man for me other than you so there’s no need for you to be jealous of anyone. You’re all the man I’ll ever need. You have no competition. None.”

  Her words touched his heart. Gripped his soul. Made his body ache with a desire for her that he was able to control up until this point. At the moment, that control was gone.

  He walked behind the counter, secured her in his arms and said, “You have no competition either, Derra.” He leaned down and captured her lips before taking possession of her tongue, feasting on her mouth while growls erupted from his throat. Without thinking about the people out on the sidewalk who probably had a good view of them, he scooped her up and carried her to the back office where they’d have plenty of privacy.

  He lowered her so she was standing in front of her desk, then took the liberty of undoing the clasp of her pants.

  Siderra’s body shivered. She gasped. “Rom, what are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” he asked, holding her gaze. “I want you and, no, this can’t wait until we get home or for our honeymoon. I want you now.” He lowered her jeans and went low with them as he pulled them down her legs. He lifted her legs, one by one to help her take them off. And then he reached up to grab her panties, pulled them down and helped her step out of them the same way.

  Her legs went wobbly when she felt his tongue at her knee while his hands gripped her thighs. With one long swipe, he came up the length of her leg with his hot tongue while his hands traveled up to settle on her butt. He squeezed her there as he stood tall in front of her. “Do you want me?”

  Siderra nervously chewed on her lip when she nodded.

  He released her so he could undo the buckle of his belt and the clasp of his slacks. He let them fall to the floor along with a pair of black boxer briefs.

  Through a haze of passion, Siderra took in the sight of him naked from the bottom down. From the parts of his body she’d seen in the past, his hard chest, chiseled thighs and thick arms, she knew he was all man. But seeing him naked – good grief – he was big – a lot bigger than she imagined he’d be. Seeing that part of him awakened her senses in a way they’d never been awakened before. At the same time, she felt her nerves go crazy with the uncertainty of how this was going to go down. She didn’t have the same experience he had. What would he think of her as a lover?

  She swallowed uncertainty down her throat then quickly dispelled her fears. This was Romulus – the man she’d loved forever who was now her husband. She’d been aching to feel him this way. There was no need to be afraid now.

  He nudged her legs apart and stood there between them when he angled her head up toward him and dipped his tongue in her mouth. He was eager to kiss her but slowed down intentionally to give her a drugging, mind-owning, addictive kiss that had her pulse racing out of control. She wanted this – had even asked for it. Now that she was on the verge of getting it, her body couldn’t contain the nervousness or the excitement. They blended together – had her body shivering and anticipating passion only he could deliver.

&
nbsp; She moaned, hands gripped his biceps through the dress shirt he had on. Her whole body quivered when she felt the girth of him poke her. A loud gasp escaped her lips. She tried to encompass the feeling but failed. More gasps came when he pulled her shirt up over her head, undid the clasp of her bra and massaged her soft flesh. Felt like putty in his hands as he acquainted himself with this part of her body. He dipped his head so his mouth could do some acquainting.

  Siderra threw her head back to contain the sensation.

  “Your body is so soft,” he said in amazement.

  “And yours is so thick and hard,” she told him holding the back of his head as he ravaged her chest.

  Her gasps and moans filled the office. Anticipation took over her mind. When she felt the tip of him steadily bumping against her, she gasped louder.

  He looked at her. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  She glanced down at him again, nibbled her bottom lip, then said, “Yes, I’m ready.

  He pulled her closer to him so she was sitting on the very edge of the desk, legs still spread apart as wide as they could go. And he held her vision as he moved inside her, watching her eyes close while he settled, stretching her along the way.

  She clamped down on his biceps as soft whimpers came from her mouth.

  A groan escaped through his lips as he absorbed this feeling of being inside of her.

  The pressure built and mounted. When he settled finally, the joining overpowered Siderra so much so that she knew this was the most pleasure she’d ever felt in her life.

  “Derra, are you okay?” he asked, realizing he’d never asked any woman that question before during intimacy. He soaked in the feeling of being enraptured by her warmth.

  “Yes, I’m okay,” she said, sensitive to the smallest movement while every inch of him was buried inside of her.

  He moved slowly while attending to her mouth again, priming her body for more. He pulled her even closer, tightening their connection feeling her legs lock around him. That motion made him lose whatever control he had which wasn’t much to begin with. He moved in back and forward motions, still looking at the pleasure on her face and while he did so, he realized something – how good and intense making love to a woman could be when you actually loved her.