by Zuri Day
“Earlier I asked about your childhood, but the fact of the matter is…I already know.”
Jackson crossed his arms. “Know what?”
“About…your past.” She looked at him, and in that moment if given a choice would rather have stared down a Category 5 hurricane. “It’s standard procedure for our company to check out anyone connected to the vineyard.” She hadn’t asked but felt sure God would forgive her this small white lie.
“I’m not connected to Drake Wines.”
“But you’re intimately involved with a major expansion, for millions of dollars.”
Once adopted, Jackson’s uncle had gone to great lengths to “protect” him. Files had been purchased, records erased. His eyes narrowed. “Just what is it that you think you know?”
Diamond knew that if there was ever any chance of gaining his trust she had to tell him the truth. “I know that you were born Jackson Burnett, were adopted by your uncle and that your mother is in prison.”
His reaction was immediate—and explosive. “My past is none of your damn business,” he said, shooting out of the chair. “And that ain’t some background-check information. You had to know somebody, pay money for that!”
Diamond took a step toward him. “My dad found out we were…involved—”
“Oh, and let me guess—he made a phone call. Like the one you were going to make for me earlier? When I trusted you and told you what was going on at my company? How long have you known this, huh? Since you met me? Was that the appeal? Thought you’d come down from your castle and hang out with somebody who used to live in the hood? Am I the closest you could get to a gangster?” Even though he’d been cleared of any involvement, Jackson always felt ashamed about what had happened at the gas station. Call it guilt by association, but Jackson felt as responsible as those behind bars for what had gone down.
“Jackson, that’s not fair.”
“And what you did is?” Jackson wondered just how much Diamond’s father had been able to uncover and whether his money had been as effective as Uncle John’s. “You know I was adopted. You know my mom is in prison. What else do you know?”
My God, is there more? “That’s it. My father received this news today and told me tonight, right before I called you.”
“And instead of telling me what you knew straight out, you decided to play games. Tell me about your childhood, Jackson,” he mimicked. “This is ridiculous.”
“Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe that wasn’t the best approach. I was in shock. I was confused. But I’m here. Doesn’t that say something?” Silence. “He only did it because he knows that I have feelings for you. Deep feelings, Jackson. Some would call him overprotective—”
“Overprotective, hell. He’s stepped way out-of-bounds, Diamond. And so have you!”
“It’s only because he loves me so much.” Diamond saw the flash of hurt in Jackson’s eyes and realized how her words may have made him feel. He’d had an aunt who’d adored him and an uncle who’d raised him with love and respect, but he didn’t know his biological father…had never felt his love. She took a step toward him. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Jackson.”
“Uh-huh, cool. Get out.”
She took another step. “I don’t care about your past. I believe that you’re a good man.”
“You had no right to delve into my background. If I’d wanted you to know about it, I would have told you.”
Realization dawned. He’s ashamed. Even though the circumstances weren’t his fault, he’s ashamed about not knowing his father and about what his mother did. “It was an intrusion, and for that, I’m sorry. But I don’t apologize for caring about you.”
“I mean it, Diamond. I want you to leave.” Jackson’s entire body was tense.
But where Jackson felt anger, Diamond saw only fear. She took another step. “I don’t apologize for loving you.”
His chest rose and fell with the intensity of his breathing as he fought to keep the pain from the past at bay and maintain control of his emotions.
Diamond took one last step and came face-to-face with her heartbeat. She tentatively reached up and caressed his face. A single tear slid down her cheek. “I love you, Jackson Wright.”
One second passed…two…five. He grabbed her, crushed her to his chest. She could feel the rapidity of his heartbeat. She put her arms around him, wishing she could love his hurt away. She knew that might not be possible, but at the very least, she could ease it for awhile.
“You said to enter at my own risk, right?”
“Yes,” Jackson mumbled, barely above a whisper.
“Well, mister, you’re the one who’s in trouble.”
“How?”
“Because I want to assault your body. I want to feel you inside me, long and deep.” She stepped back, looked into his eyes. “Will you make love to me, Jackson?”
His eyes immediately darkened with desire. In answer, he swept her up and headed for the stairs.
Chapter 26
Jackson reached the double staircase, but instead of taking the one that led to his master suite, he went in the other direction. After setting Diamond down as if she were a fragile treasure, he took her hand and walked down a short hall with a door at the end. He opened it, revealing yet another stairway. Wordlessly, they mounted the steps, and when Jackson opened the door at the top of the climb, Diamond’s eyes widened. They were outside, in the turret she’d seen earlier, with a 360-degree view of San Diego County. Her eyes took in the magnificence of the night: twinkling city lights in one direction, the ocean before them and stars above. Jackson’s eyes were for her alone.
He reached for her and placed a kiss on her forehead. It was soft, almost reverent, and Diamond teared up at its sincerity. He kissed one temple and then the other, all the while reaching for the zipper on the front of her dress and pulling it down…farther and farther…exposing her warm skin to the cool of the night. Her nipples pebbled as the wind caressed them—barely concealed in a sheer mesh bra—and as Jackson’s mouth found hers, he forced his tongue inside.
He kissed her, tenderly, fervently, whirling his tongue inside her mouth as his finger swirled around her nipple. Diamond shuddered as his hands roamed her upper body, and he buried his hand in her hair, pulling her even closer and deepening the exchange. The assault was so intense that Diamond’s knees almost buckled. But there was no need to worry. Jackson was ahead of her, and even now, he was leading her to a low-sitting platform covered with colorful pillows of various sizes and textures that occupied one wall of the circular outdoor room. She eased down on the pillows, and after hurriedly taking off his clothes, he joined her there, massaging her skin, licking her nipples through the soft mesh, fingering her paradise, driving her wild. Diamond gasped as his tongue trailed down her body, lingering at her stomach and navel before he went down farther and kissed her thighs.
“You’re so soft,” he whispered, kissing the insides of her thighs and then blowing on the wetness. Closer and closer he came to her heat, only to place a trail of kisses back down her legs all the way to her toes, where he sucked them one by one. Diamond was out of her mind with desire. Her body thrashed with impatience and the knowledge of what was to come.
Jackson wouldn’t be hurried. He kissed a path back up her legs, hips, stomach and breasts and seared her with another hot, wet kiss.
“Jackson, please.”
He chuckled and made his way back down, spreading her wide and parting her folds with his sharp, talented tongue. Over and again he licked her, flicking her nub while placing a finger inside, heightening her pleasure, taking her over the edge. At the height of her orgasm, and with no thoughts of condoms by either of them, he slowly eased himself inside of her, her heat pulsating around inch after delicious inch. He filled her to the core, pulled out and
then filled her again. Over and over, deeper and deeper, slowly, oh…so…slowly he loved her, twisting his hips from side to side, setting up a rhythm that would be known to them alone. She grabbed his ass and pulled him closer still, her legs in the air as she spread them to accommodate his expanding girth, tears of ecstasy now on a free flow. He got up and pulled her with him, walked them over to a part of the turret that jutted out over his well-landscaped yard. The infinity pool glistened against the darkened sky; the lights of San Diego continued to beckon in the distance.
But Diamond couldn’t see; she could only feel as Jackson came up behind her, held her hips and entered her again. That they were naked and standing outside added to the friction and her delight. He kneaded her backside, running his hands over her flesh as he pounded her over and again. The wind blew, and goose bumps broke out on Diamond’s flesh. It began to rain, but their dance continued. There was something about making love outside that felt naughty and decadent, even as it felt organic and pure. He lifted her onto him, placed her back to the wall and entered her again. The intensity of his thrusts intensified, his tongue mimicking his hip movements as he kissed her senseless. He pounded her relentlessly, as if he could go on forever. She wished he would. The rain outside, her lover inside her, Diamond felt herself explode again. This time, Jackson joined her. They both saw stars, and neither was looking at the sky.
Chapter 27
“Come on, baby.” Jackson wrapped Diamond in a throw he retrieved from a chest. They went inside and were soon enjoying the warm water pulsating from the multiple jets in Jackson’s master bath. Diamond admired his body as she rubbed a fresh, lemony-scented soap all over it, kneading the tension from his neck and shoulder muscles much as he’d done to her not long ago. They rubbed their soapy bodies against each other, bringing themselves once again to arousal. Neither could get enough. With all of the lovemaking that had occurred one might not have thought it possible, but when Diamond’s hand went around his limp shaft, it immediately sprang to life and along with it, Diamond’s desire. She wanted to satisfy Jackson as much as he’d satisfied her and soon found herself kissing him all over. Her tongue was akin to molten lava, scorching his shoulders and broad expanse of chest. She tongued his navel and discovered a secret. He was ticklish. Then she dipped her head lower and his laughter turned into a satisfied moan. She wrapped her mouth around him, licking him like a lollipop with a prize inside. Again water served as the backdrop as these two lovers explored and enjoyed each other. Diamond loved Jackson so tenderly, so completely that it was almost his undoing. He grabbed the hand that rested at his waist, pulled her up and took the lead. Wordlessly, he walked them over to the bench on the shower’s far wall. He sat down and so did Diamond—on him. And just like that, once again, he was in her—filling her full, loving her deeply, leaving no room for anything else, especially doubt. Diamond leaned forward. Blood rushed to her head the way love was rushing to her heart. She was overcome with passion and emotion, marveling at the fact that there was this much ardency in the world. He reached around for her nipples, grabbing and squeezing as she continued to jump for joy on his joystick, increasing the pace and their pleasure with each rise and rotation. If their cries had been a song, it would have been in perfect harmony. Her high-pitched whimpers matched his low, deep grunts. Their worlds exploded. When it was over, they sat gasping for breath, grasping for an explanation to this insatiable hunger.
“Baby,” Jackson said when his breathing returned to normal, “it’s time to shower again.”
* * *
A short time later, they lay in Jackson’s custom-made bed. Diamond’s sated body spooned against his; a high-thread-count sheet rested over their bodies. She knew she could stay here forever, in his arms. His parentage didn’t matter. His past was of no consequence. Her heart just might get broken again, but she wasn’t going anywhere far from this man—not if she could help it. Theirs was a companionable silence. Diamond thought Jackson had fallen asleep, but he hadn’t.
“My first memory is when I was three or four years old,” he said, his voice soft, his breath hot and wet against her earlobe. “A fair came to the neighborhood. You know, one of those traveling kinds where they set up a Ferris wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, Spider and whatnot? They set up in a grocery store parking lot right down the street from where we lived. I don’t remember what I rode, probably a merry-go-round at that age, but I remember all the lights and the people. Oh, and the cotton candy. It’s crazy how your mind recalls things, but I remember pulling that confection off the stick and stuffing it into my mouth. It was blue, and I thought the way it disappeared in my mouth was magic. I must have eaten three or four of those things.
“My next really strong memory is a few years later, when I was around seven. I came home from school and noticed that Mom was acting strange. She was talking fast, and her eyes were glazed. She was high, of course, but my young mind didn’t grasp that right away. She left, came back with a hamburger and fries and told me to watch TV until she got back. I didn’t see her for a week.”
Diamond turned to face Jackson, who was now lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What kind of mother would leave her child like that? She placed a hand on his chest and whispered, “You must have been so scared.”
“The first day I wasn’t. Thought it was kind of nice to stay up late, watching TV, eating almost a whole box of Cap’n Crunch. But the next day, when I came home from school and she still wasn’t there…that’s when I began to worry.”
“She was out getting high?”
Jackson nodded. “And doing whatever it took to support her habit. The day after she came back, I came home from school to a houseful of people—my mom’s boyfriend at the time and some of his friends. He was from New York and had brought back this new drug, one sweeping across the five boroughs faster than a plane streaks across the sky—crack cocaine. Alvin Johnson. That was the name of the man who ruined my mother’s life and mine in the process. I hate him to this day.”
To this point, Diamond had considered hate a draining, nonproductive emotion. But in this instance, it was the only one that made sense. “That’s who your mom was picking up when she had the accident?”
“Yes, but that was years later, when I was thirteen. By then, I was pretty hard myself, had taken to petty crimes and being the lookout for a fairly high-ranking drug dealer. I was just getting ready to move into the big leagues—dealing—when she got arrested. That’s when my uncle stepped in and saved my life.”
“Had you known him before?”
“Vaguely. I remember him coming around a few times, him and my mom arguing. He told her to go into treatment, and she told him to go to hell.” Jackson laughed, but his voice held no humor. “I was only in the system two days before he came and got me. I don’t know what he did or said to her, but my mom terminated her rights almost immediately afterward. John and Evie Wright adopted me the following year, and became the parents I’d never had. That’s when my life changed for the better. I’ve not looked back.” Jackson shifted uncomfortably, turned to look at Diamond.
She looked back, eyes filled with love…and nonjudgment. He continued staring at her, and she would have sworn that a tear was forming in his eye when he looked away. “Jackson…what is it?” Her voice was soft, quizzical.
Again, she wondered if he would say anything. But finally he did. “I went back one time.”
Diamond said nothing, just turned, laid her head on his chest and lazily ran her hand up and down his arm.
“The end of July, the weekend of my sixteenth birthday, I ran into the cousin of a dude I grew up with. It felt good seeing somebody from the old neighborhood. Until that point, I didn’t even realize that I’d missed them. I told him that it was my birthday, and he said I should celebrate with the boys. I told him it sounded like a plan.
“My birthday was on
a Friday that year. I told Uncle John and Aunt Evie I wanted to celebrate in my old neighborhood. They weren’t crazy about the idea but finally gave their consent to my leaving. I hit the block, and it was like I never left. I meant to stay three days and stayed almost a month—partying, drinking, getting high, having fun. My boys almost had me convinced that I needed to move back there, that I could stay with one of them. I asked about school, but they waved that comment away. ‘We’re making more paper than the teachers,’ they told me. And it was true.”
“How were they doing that?”
“Selling drugs. And other illegal activities.”
Diamond paused, her mind filled with what “illegal activities” could entail. “What made you come back home—to La Jolla?”
“I got a wake-up call.”
Jackson became silent then. Diamond thought he’d gone to sleep, but when she looked at him she saw that his eyes were gazing at the ceiling. She wondered about the wake-up call, but clearly it was something he did not want to talk about. “When was the last time you saw your mom?”
Jackson was silent for another long moment. He swallowed once, again tamping down a dam of emotions that threatened to spill over into the bed and this new life. “About five years ago.” His voice was low, reflective, laced with heaviness. “Went to see her at the prison. Asked her about my father, my biological. She told me it was Alvin. I called her a liar. It was an ugly scene. She cursed me out, told me never to come back there. All these years later and she’s still choosing him over me. I vowed to never see her again.”
“But Jackson,” she said, her heart aching with the pain of these revelations. “She’s your mother.”
“Evie Wright was my mother,” Jackson hissed. “And she’s dead. And as far as I’m concerned, Sharon Burnett is dead, too. I’ve cut her out of my life.”
