Buried Secrets (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES) (15 page)

     Marcus rubbed his goatee as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with Darrell. “Hmm. Good question. Apparently something happened between him and…..”

     Ringgg…  Ringggg.

     Before he could continue, Aleesha’s cell phone rang. She let out a sound of annoyance at the interruption. She started to ignore it, but then decided to answer it and finish the call as quickly as possible. She and Marcus had a lot to talk about. “Excuse me baby.” She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss and as she stood up.

     Watching her ass in the short robe when she walked towards the phone, Marcus couldn’t help but utter, Damn! Aleesha glanced over her shoulder. She smiled especially hard at the erection outlined beneath the material of his pants.

    “What’s that smile for?” he asked knowingly as he got up and came after her. 

     Laughing, Aleesha ran the rest of the way to pick up the phone before he could catch her. She squealed and giggled in surprise when he grabbed her from behind and barely managed to get out a greeting. “H-hello…”

     “Uh, hello! Did you forget about me? Is everything ok?”

     Aleesha gasped. “I’m sorry, Jerra! Yes, everything is fine….”

     She leaned back against Marcus’ chest and tilted her head to the side to give his searching lips access to her neck. She groaned as he nipped and nibbled her wildly beating pulse. He chuckled softly when he remembered the spot was one of her erogenous zones. Giving her neck a final kiss, he lifted his head and just held her so that she could concentrate and talk on the phone. The sooner she finished her conversation, the sooner they could give each other what they so badly needed.

     “Aleesha, what’s going on? Do you have company?” Jerra frowned. Please don’t say it’s Amir, she prayed.

     “Yes. Actually I do. You’re never going to believe who’s here…”

     In a dry tone, Jerra said, “Let me guess. Amir…”

     “Amir?? No!  Please!” Then glancing over her shoulder, she answered in soft voice. “It’s Marcus.”

     Jerra quickly sat up and cursed under her breath when a splash of wine ran over the rim of her glass. “What?! Marcus?  Wait. Marcus from Vegas Marcus…??”

     Giggling, Aleesha answered, “Yes.  That’s the one. My baby is here.” She turned her head and gave Marcus a soft kiss. He groaned as he pressed his throbbing erection against the pliancy of her rear end.

     Jerra’s lips opened in shock. My baby…?? She mouthed. “But…how? When…? Aleesha, what is he doing here?”

     As Marcus’ hand slid up to cup her breast, Aleesha’s breath caught in her throat. “Uh, Jerra…can I call you back? Marcus and I have some things to…umm…talk about…” she said in a raspy voice. Not waiting on a reply, Aleesha blindly disconnected the call before turning to Marcus with hungry, seeking lips. 

     “Wait…!” But Jerra only heard the dial tone.

     “Where’s your bedroom?” Marcus asked impatiently as he untied Aleesha‘s robe and stared at the black, lace teddy. “We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Chapter 18

                                                     Jerra’s Eclipse

Eclipse: [e-klips] : the concealing of the light of the sun by the intervention of the moon between it and a point on the earth; to cause the obscuration of; to darken or hide.

     Jerra sat on her sofa in a state of shock. Marcus the stripper/doctor was here. In Atlanta. At Aleesha’s house…

     Jerra snatched the phone up again, this time to call Keisha. They needed to find out what the hell was going on.  Just as she was getting ready to push the last number, the doorbell rang. A wave of relief washed over Jerra. Thank God! That had to be Keisha.  She practically ran to the door and flung it open. When she saw the delicious looking man standing there like sinful temptation, all thoughts of Aleesha and Marcus fled her thoughts.

     Darrell!

     “What are you doing here?” She whispered, staring into his gray eyes.

     Seeing Darrell smile at the question caused an instantaneous ache of lust to pulsate between her thighs. It made no sense whatsoever for a man to be so utterly and ridiculously sexy as the one standing in front of her.

     Once he realized she wasn’t going to invite him in, Darrell stepped past her and closed the door behind him. As arrogant as ever, he took the glass out of her hand and swallowed the rest of the wine before he answered her question.

     “What am I doing here? You and I have some unfinished business to settle. Don’t you agree?”

     And with that proclamation, he strolled further into the room as if he had every right to be there. Curious, he walked around her condo, picking up pictures and then setting them down. As nonchalant as he acted,  he could almost fool himself into believing this was just a friendly visit and that he hadn’t had the best sex of his life with this woman a couple of months ago - almost.

     Jerra stood with her back to him while still facing the door as she tried to regain her composure. With trembling hands, she quickly pulled the top of her robe closed over her breasts and tied the belt tighter. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply to try and still her racing heart then whirled around and fixed him with an unwavering glare.

     “What in the hell are you doing here?”

     Darrell spared her an unconcerned glanced before heading in the direction of the kitchen. Jerra’s mouth dropped at his sheer, unapologetic audacity. “Excuse me….!”

     She quickly followed him and watched in disbelief as he opened the refrigerator as if this was his domain. He took out the bottle of wine and refilled the glass he had taken from Jerra’s unresisting hand. Darrell sent her a look which let her how much he enjoyed the fact that she was clearly thrown off balance. .

     “Want a glass?” he calmly asked her.

     “Wha…you….” Jerra sputtered in disbelief.

     The corner of Darrell’s eyes crinkled in amusement. He leaned against the counter and drank half the wine in one sip while studying her. Somehow, he knew she didn’t find herself speechless too often.

     “Come on, Counselor. What’s wrong - cat got your tongue?” he taunted.

      Jerra’s eyes narrowed as she took the bait. “You have one minute to get the hell out of my home or I will call security. Speaking of which, how did you get past Stan anyway?!”

     “Oh you mean the brotha downstairs? He’s a real cool dude. Look, don’t be upset with him. He found out I was visiting from Nevada and turns out, his daughter lives on the outskirts of Vegas. So we got to talking and one thing led to another, I told him I wanted to surprise you. To quote him, he could see I was ‘good people’.” Darrell smiled at her as he took another sip from the glass. He knew his next words would provoke her even more, but for some reason, he just couldn’t help himself. “I tell ya, Southern hospitality at its best.”

     Seeing her reaction, his smile widened. Yeah. She was pissed. Good. She needed her feathers ruffled. He planned on smoothing them out for her in just a minute.

     “Is that so? Well we’ll just see about that tomorrow. You could’ve been a fucking killer or rapist for all he knew, and he lets you come waltzing up without even checking with me or at the very least announcing I have a visitor? Oh no, that will definitely be addressed tomorrow.”

     Darrell was bringing the glass to his lips to finish off the rest of the wine when his hand stopped midway.  Sighing, he said, “Come on, Jerra. There’s no need to get the man in trouble. It wasn’t his fault. I can be very convincing when I want to be.” He gave her the smile he usually kept on reserve when he needed to dig himself out of a tough spot. He should’ve known it wouldn’t work with her.

     “Oh, I know all about how convincing you can be. I want you out - now!”

     The smile on Darrell’s lips slowly disappeared. He lowered the glass to the counter. Folding his arms, he rubbed his chin as if giving her directive some serious thought, then said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

     Jerra’s eyes widened. Surely she had misunderstood him. “What did you say?”

     “You heard me. I said - I’m not going anywhere. At least, not yet. I meant what I said about us having unfinished business.”

     “Oh, I think everything was crystal clear the last time we saw each other…Eclipse.” Jerra literally sneered in distaste when she recalled the events of that night. Darrell’s jaw tightened at the mocking way she said his stage name, but Jerra continued before he could let loose with a biting reply. “Now if you feel you have unresolved issues to clear up, then I suggest you do it elsewhere. That sounds like a personal problem because I’m just fine.”

     With cold, calculating eyes, he moved towards her and murmured, “Are you now?”

     Darrell kept walking until he was standing inches from her. If she dared to even breathe, the tips of her hard, aching nipples would touch his chest, but Jerra refused to take a step back or be cowered. He wasn’t going to intimidate her in her own home…or rather if he did, she’d die before she let him know it. 

     His gaze dropped to the top of her robe, which had once again gapped open in her agitation. He could see the pulse in her throat beating erratically. Eyes that were cold and distant a moment ago warmed and darkened as they slid over the slope of her exposed naked breasts.

     Jerra felt the blood rush to her head from standing this close to him. Ignoring her decision to hold her ground, she tried to move back in order to put some distance between them, but it was too late. Darrell’s hand quickly snaked around her waist and pulled her body flush up against his. He lowered his head until his lips were a hair’s breath away from hers.

     “Don’t….” Jerra barely managed to get the weak protest out.

     But Darrell was an expert when it came to women and their reactions to him. “Don’t act like you don’t want this.”

     Jerra couldn’t deny the truth of her body’s reaction. Her breasts tingled and liquid heat pooled between her legs at his nearness; her control slipped away as each second passed. Her eyes lowered to his mouth. God help her, she wanted to feel his mouth on her body doing the things that had driven her wild and crazy in Vegas.

     In a last ditch effort to gain command of the situation, Jerra whispered in a shaky voice, “So what was the bet this time? How much was the wager?”

       Slowly shaking his head, Darrell looked her directly in the eye, not wanting there to be any mistaking the sincerity of his words. “Uh-uh. This time, it’s all about you and me - no one else.”

     Darrell had been rock hard since the moment she opened the door, and with her body against his, his erection was as unyielding as a brick wall. He wanted to gloat at the obvious desire she felt for him, but how could he when he wanted her just as much. Jerra’s eyes fluttered closed and her lips softly parted in anticipation of the kiss she knew was coming.

     Darrell hovered for a few seconds more before lightly licking the length of her bottom lip and sucking it into his mouth. Jerra whimpered at the unexpected caress. His pelvis did a slow, grind into her soft center, allowing her to feel just how aroused he was.

     She pressed closer and curled her hands around the front of his shirt. Her entire body trembled. "Mmmm..."  
     "Shhh..." Darrell soothed her, gently kissing her closed eyelids. "I know, baby. I know." His lips skimmed along the soft skin of her cheek and finally down to her mouth. They both moaned as their tongues took over from there. Darrell reached up and slid his fingers through her hair and deepened the kiss.
     "Darrell. I want you...." Jerra sighed against his lips.

     Hearing her softly spoken words full of need, Darrell nudged her backwards until she came in contact with the large island in the middle of the kitchen. When he lifted her up onto it, Jerra reached back and swept the few odds and ends to the floor. She then turned to Darrell and clasped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.

     Darrell rested one hand on her hip and twisted the other in her hair again as he brought her mouth back to his. His tongue twirled over hers in a sensual game of foreplay. Keeping his fingers firmly entrenched in her silky tresses his lips traveled down to the sensitive curve of her neck and licked her rapidly beating pulse, causing it to flutter even more.

     Darrell brought his hands to her robe and pulled the slinky material down past her shoulders so that it bunched around her hips. The look he gave her was heated and covetous as his eyes feasted on her perfectly formed breasts. He lowered his head and began to devour them like he was Adam in the Garden of Eden taking his first bite of the forbidden apple. Jerra held his face against the aching, round globes and cried out when his fingers pinched and tweaked her nipples just enough to make her want more.

    “Lift up,” Darrell instructed in a gruff voice.

     She placed her hands on the surface of the island and lifted her butt slightly off the counter, allowing him to slip the robe and her underwear off in movement. She tried to pull Darrell back to her, but he stood where he was as if hypnotized by the secret feminine powers he knew the triangle between her legs possessed. Jerra had just gotten a fresh wax, and her plump, hairless mound was smooth and inviting to the touch. Darrell parted her thighs and traced her outer lips with his finger, making Jerra scream out in absolute bliss.