Hot Like Fire (24 page)

"I just got in a few minutes ago, sweetie, and we
came straight over here."

The new Mimi-or was it the old Beulah-took
a little getting used to. Thank God she's found a happy
medium, Bianca thought as she reclaimed her seat.
She had compromised: she was midway between the
over-the-top Mimi and the dowdy Beulah. Her hair
was in a classic bob, and she wore minimal make-up
on her still-beautiful and refined features, but gone
were the 1980s Dynasty suits, the bulky jewelry, and
the Beverly Hills cowgirl garb, replaced by a simple
fitted silk T and linen slacks, with crocodile flats.
Mostly, that voice was gone. Her sharp sense of humor had remained, and for that, Bianca was
grateful.

"Are you in for the weekend?" asked Bianca as she
leaned back against Kahron, who stood behind her.

"No, she'll be staying for a while," Hank said
vaguely, with a hearty smile, as he sat down on one
of the stools.

They looked at each other.

Bianca's eyes darted from one to the other. "What?"
she asked, sensing there was more. She turned slightly
to look up at Kahron, but he just shrugged.

Mimi pulled her hand from the pocket of her
pants and extended her arm to them. A good-sized
solitaire twinkled from her left ring finger.

"Is that an engagement ring?" Bianca asked as she
escaped from Kahron's hold and grabbed Mimi's
smooth hand with both of hers. Her mouth
dropped open as Mimi smiled.

"Congratulations, old man," Kahron said, stepping around the island to shake Hank's beefy hand.

"Thank you, Son. Thank you," said Hank.

"Ms. Mimi, welcome to the family," said Kahron.
He literally picked her up off her feet and twirled
her before he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh, come on, Kahron. You have Bianca, and I
have Hank. There could never be anything between us," Mimi joked as she playfully fluttered her
lashes at him.

Everyone laughed. Everyone but Bianca. She
gave them all a hesitant smile as three sets of eyes
turned on her. She met each look.

Her father sought approval. Mimi sought acceptance. Kahron wanted peace.

Mimi and her father were getting married. It
took a minute to get used to the idea. The minute was over. She had never seen her father happier,
and who was she to block him?

Her father jumped to his feet, with a stern look.
"Bianca-"

"Kahron, baby, will you get a bottle of sparkling
cider for us? Looks like we have some celebrating
to do," Bianca said, pulling Mimi to her for a tight
embrace before she moved over to hug her father.

"That's my girl," Hank said as he gave her a big
bear hug.

Kahron handed each of them a flute. "Here's to a
life filled with lots of love and happiness for you both."

"Hear! Hear!" they all said in unison.

Bianca placed a hand on her flat stomach as
she smiled into her flute. "Since we're celebrating, anyway, now is a good time. I've been trying
to figure out a really cute way to tell you something, Kahron."

Kahron's eyes darted to her, over the rim of his
flute.

Bianca sat her flute on the island, then picked up
her purse and dug into it. "Your mama and her
damn fish dreams," she said softly, holding up the
pregnancy stick as she looked into her husband's
loving eyes.

Hank jumped to his feet. "Hot diggity damn!"

Kahron almost dropped his flute to the floor as
he crossed the kitchen and pulled Bianca close
against him. He picked her up and sat her on the
counter and stood between her legs. "I love you so
much, Bianca Strong," he whispered before he captured her lips with his own.

She was touched by the brightness of his eyes,
hinting at tears she knew he wouldn't let fall. She
caressed his silvery stubble with her hand as she smiled into his eyes. Eyes that she hoped their child
inherited. They were having a baby, and she'd never
loved him more.

That Sunday afternoon after church, Kade paused
as he entered the kitchen, and all conversation came
to an immediate halt at the sight of him. Five pairs of
female eyes locked on him. His mother's, his sister's,
his sister-in-law's, his daughter's, and his girlfriend's.

"Hello, ladies," he said, throwing them a charming smile.

"Hello," they all said in unison, with soft smiles.

"I, uh, just wanted to grab some beers for me and
the fellas."

Garcelle cast him a soft smile before she walked
over to the refrigerator. "How many would you like?"

He moved into the kitchen and walked past the
ladies to reach Garcelle. He looked down into her
laughing eyes. "Were you all talking about me?" he
asked her as his eyes dipped down to her lips.

She nodded as she began to pass him the beers
one by one.

"Good things?" he asked.

"Great things," she told him as she reached up to
press her fingers to his lips.

He kissed them softly as he looked down into her
eyes. His heart exploded in his chest, and he didn't
think he could stop the words if he tried. "I love
you, Garcelle," he whispered to her fiercely. "I really
love you."

Her eyes widened and then softened before they
smoldered. "Good. Because I love you, too."

"Get a room, you two," Kaitlyn called from across
the kitchen, sending Kadina into a fit of giggles.

"I better go," he said, bending his head to taste
her lips.

All the ladies sighed.

"Tell me again," Garcelle whispered.

Kade moved his mouth near her ear. "I love you,"
he repeated, with ease.

With one last kiss to the side of her head, Kade
turned and strode out of the kitchen, with a wink at
his mother.

"Well, whatever he said to you sure has put a big
old Kool-Aid grin on your face," Bianca teased as
she stirred a big bowl of potato salad.

Garcelle couldn't stop smiling, but she didn't
share with them what had just passed between her
and Kade. She would remember it always. A woman
never forgets the first time her man tells her that he
loves her.

"You ladies are discovering something that I have
known for nearly forty years," Lisha said as she
smiled warmly at Bianca and Garcelle. "There is
nothing and I do mean nothing-like the love of
a Strong man. Take it from the one who has the
original. They live up to their names, ladies, they
live up to their names."

"Doh, Mama," Kaitlyn joked.

"I don't mean just in the bedroom, daughter,"
Lisha said as she looked at Kaitlyn. "See a real man
a real good man ... is good in and out of the
bed. He got more going for him than what's below
the waist. He got a lot going on in his head and his
heart. That's a Strong man, baby, and I love mine."

Bianca grabbed the bottle of wine and topped off everyone's glass. She gave herself and Kadina more
lemonade. "Well, here's to the Strong men."

The women all lifted their glasses.

"Hear! Hear!" they all said in unison.

"And to the future generations of Strong men
and women," Lisha said warmly, giving Kadina a
hug before she winked at Bianca.

"Garcelle ... Garcelle ... wake up, baby. We're
here."

Garcelle stirred in her sleep and sat up in the
seat. She looked out the window of Kade's Expedition. "Where are we?" she asked as she stretched.

"At the hotel," he said as he climbed out of the
SUV and came around to open her door.

"The hotel? Why are we at the hotel?" she asked
out loud as she slipped her feet into her sandals
and grabbed her purse.

She accepted his outstretched hand. "Kade,
Kadina stayed in Walterboro with your grandparents. Why didn't we just stay at your house?"

"I thought you would like this better," he told her
as they walked into the hotel lobby.

Garcelle stopped in her tracks. He turned. She
looked at him appraisingly. His eyes shifted from
hers. She tugged on his hand. He looked up and
locked his eyes with hers. She raised a brow. Kade
smiled. She felt a tugging at her heart.

Love was an amazing thing. She pushed any doubts
she had aside and followed him into the hotel lobby.

Kade carried Garcelle into the unlit suite, using
his foot to nudge the door closed. She caressed his face, then bent her head to nuzzle his neck as she
talked to him softly in Spanish.

He swung her onto the bed, and she stood, towering over him. The sliver of light through the crack
in the curtain offered just enough illumination to
silhouette the curves of her body as she kicked off
one shoe and then the other. She reached up to
unzip the lavender sundress she wore.

Kade ran his hands from her ankles to the firm
contours of her calves and then to her thighs before
massaging her soft buttocks. The dress fell to her
waist, and he grabbed the material and jerked it the
rest of the way down her body.

"Yes, Kade," she gasped as she reached up to release her hair from its ponytail.

He slid his fingers beneath the lacy rim of her
panties to play in her soft curls before he slipped
two firm fingers up inside her moistness. She bent
her legs to receive them, with a hot gasp, as she rotated her hips against his hand.

"Garcelle," he said thickly before he removed the
fingers and then slipped them into his mouth, with
a deep groan.

Garcelle kicked her leg high, almost losing her
balance, and rested it on his shoulder. He turned
his head and pressed his nose and mouth to the
soft and warm flesh of her thick thigh as he inhaled
deeply of the scent of her intimacy. She laughed
softly and freely before she lifted her leg from his
shoulder and did a cartwheel across the bed. She
eased off her panties and bra before she crawled on
her knees toward the middle of the king-sized bed.

Kade nearly tore the buttons from his shirt as he
removed it. His hands fumbled as he removed a
condom from his wallet and held it with his teeth as he tore off his belt, pants, and boxers. Naked and
hard and ready, he covered as much of his throbbing length as he could as his heart pumped wildly.
He crawled on his knees to meet her in the middle
of the bed. They came together in a heated rush.

Kisses. Touches. Strokes. Caresses. Skin to skin.
Body to body. Furious heartbeats. Panting breaths.
Racing pulses. Urgency. Need. Want. Electricity.
Desire. Fire.

Garcelle put her hands on the hard contours of
Kade's chest and pushed him away. He landed on his
back, with his erection pointing up to the ceiling,
then watched her shadowy figure move from the bed
and climb atop the dresser. Her back was pressed
to the mirror above the dresser as she brought her
legs up.

Kade held his hard and throbbing penis in his
hands as he got up from the bed and walked over
to where she waited for him. Panting and wet. Her
fresh feminine scent heavy in the air. With one
thrust he entered her swiftly.

"Ah," they both gasped.

Kade put his hands on her knees and pushed her
back until she touched the mirror. He wished for
more light so that he could see his hardness surrounded by her lips. See the way her thick bud was
swollen with want for him. See the way she made
the length of him wet.

He stroked deep inside of her.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Again and again and again until she lost count.
Each thrust brought a deep, guttural moan from her.

He bent down, offering her his tongue to suckle,
as he shifted his hands to massage her soft breasts and tease her hard nipples until he felt her walls
pulsating and pulling him deeper inside of her.

Garcelle sucked his tongue deeply and brought
her hands around to grab his buttocks. She enjoyed
the way the hard muscles relaxed and then tensed
with each delivery of his strokes.

"I'm coming, Garcelle," he moaned into her open
mouth as that urgency caused a warm sensation to
float over his entire body.

Garcelle let her tears flow as she felt her body freefall as she came. He tasted her tears as he moved his
hips and buttocks until he thought he would break
his back. Then his seed shot from him, with a jolt.
She clutched his stiff body as he fought to find the
strength to continue stroking inside of her.

"I love you ... I love you ... God, I love you," he
chanted as he fought for control of his body.

"And I love you," she whispered against his
sweaty shoulder as they slumped against each other,
exhausted and sated.

Long into the night, as Kade slept with his arm
and leg over her as they lay on their side, Garcelle
could not find enough peace to sleep. Her thoughts
were heavy. The truth was a bitter pill to swallow.

In every way imaginable, Kade had given himself
to her. They'd spent time together. He'd introduced her as his girlfriend to his family. He'd told
her he loved her.

Yet, not once since they'd become involved had
she spent the night or enjoyed more than passing affection inside his home. She had fooled herself into
thinking it was because of Kadina. But tonight there
had been no excuse. There had been no feasible reason for him to pay for a hotel suite when his
home sat empty.

Correction. His home was anything but empty. It
was filled to the brim with the ghost of his dead
wife. And she knew tonight that there was still a
piece of Kade that he was sheltering from her.

And that hurt like hell.

Kade knew something was wrong. Late into the
night he had reached for Garcelle, but she had
seemed to draw away from his touch. Then she
hopped out of bed and dashed into the bathroom.
When he heard the shower running, he jumped
out of bed to join her, but the door was locked.
When she came out fully dressed and suggested
that they leave so that he could go home and rest
for work the next day, she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Garcelle, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, Kade. Just go and wash so we can go
home," she said, with a light tone, which he didn't
buy for a second.