The Love of a Latino (14 page)

Raphael was a doting father-to-be.
He was constantly at Dahlia’s side, fussing over her and the baby. At the first
sign of fatigue he would usher her off to bed making sure she never over did
it. Lauralyn and Alejandro were just as bad. They were always insisting that
she rest and try not to do anything that would hurt the baby. Dahlia had all
the love and attention a mother-to-be could crave, but she hated it!

She missed her sister
terribly and she missed home. With nothing to do but rest, she ended up
spending hours on end on the phone with Natasha. Although she loved Raphael
with every waking breath it was still so difficult being away from her last
living blood relative. Dahlia had grown so accustomed to the beaches, rivers,
and ponds in the country side back in Trinidad, it became a challenge being
cooped up in the city constantly. When she had finally reached the stage of
wanting to pull her hair out and die of boredom, she decided to become
proactive. She was going to collect on some of those marital dues. Six weeks
after the wedding, Dahlia broached the subject of the promise to fly Natasha
out with her husband.

At dinner one night after a
million questions about the baby she finally dredged up enough courage to ask
Raphael. “Raphael…Baby?”

“Um hum…?” He answered
through a mouthful of chicken.

“I was wondering…I was
wondering would it be alright for Natasha to come visit?” She whispered.
Somehow all the courage she had stored up over the last couple of days seemed
to have vanished.

Carefully placing his fork
down, Raphael studied his wife, assessing the question carefully for a moment
or two. “I do not think that is a very wise idea at this time.” Raphael knew he
shouldn’t have said it, but he wasn’t quite ready to share his new bride with
the world. He looked forward to the afternoons when he came home to spend time
with his Dahlia and he certainly didn’t want her sister around at nights when
he wanted to love his wife.

The baby would be here soon
enough and then most of her time would be dedicated to caring for their child.
So no, he would not feel guilty about wanting to spend all the time possible
with his wife without the distraction of in-laws.

“But you promised,” she
pointed out.

“Yes I did, but you do not
need your sister around right now to have you all excited and running around
the city when you should be resting. You have the baby to think about.”

There he went again,
the
baby!
Stifling the urge to ask if all he cared about was the baby, Dahlia
responded through clenched teeth. “Are you trying to say that I am incapable of
taking care of my baby?”

“No es haci.
Don’t put words in my mouth, Dahlia. You know I do not
mean that. I just think that it is not good for the baby, or for
you
to
be exhausting yourself.”

She was so tired of everyone
talking about the baby,
what about her?
She loved her baby. She would
never do anything to hurt him.

“Raphael, please…” She
pleaded, pouting those beautiful lips at him and Raphael felt his reasoning
begin to slip. If he did not put a stop to this now, he would give in. The next
thing he would know Natasha would be sleeping in one of the spare rooms and all
his privacy would go out the window.

“That’s enough, Dahlia! Your
sister is not coming to stay here and that is all there is to say about that.
Maybe after the baby’s born, she could visit.” And just like that he went back
to his food.

Dahlia was as quiet as a
mouse for the rest of dinner and that night when Raphael touched her, pressing
his aroused body against her she feigned sleep. Quite amused at his wife’s
attempt at withholding sex from him in order to get him to give in, Raphael
smiled, leaving her to sleep. She would have settled down by the next day and
then he would punish her in the sweetest of ways for making him suffer.

But she did not calm down.
She barely said two words to him at breakfast the next morning and when he
attempted to kiss her she pulled away. Amusement was quickly replaced by
annoyance causing Raphael to snap.

“What is this
nonsense
you are carrying on with? I wish to kiss my wife and you turn from me.” When
she didn’t answer, he came up behind her where she was dishing out his
breakfast, gently spinning her around to look at him. When she tried to avoid
looking at him, he urged her to look at him by holding her chin.

“Querida, por favor,
tell me why you are upset with me? Is it because I
will not allow your sister to visit?” He urged gently.

“You told me you would never
deny me anything and I haven’t asked for anything until now. I miss my sister
and I miss home. I promise I will not overdo it. I will be careful, but please
Raphael, please let her come.” And when the first tear slipped past her lids
his resistance crumbled.

“You do not have any idea how
much I love you, do you? I admit my reason for not wanting your sister to come
is selfish. I am not ready to share you with the world, but I will not be the
reason you hurt. I will make the necessary arrangements to have her flown here.
Will that put a smile on my beautiful wife’s face?” It did.

“Oh Raphael, thank you, thank
you,
thank you!”
she cried. Throwing her arms around his neck, she
rained kisses over his face and neck and when her lips finally touched his,
Raphael could not contain the primitive growl that escaped his throat. It was
always like this with her. She just had to touch him and he would go up in
flames. What was amazing was the drive with which she matched his passion.

Diving into the kiss he
gripped her bottom, pulling her up against him. “Put your legs around me,
Amor.”
He commanded in a rough voice.

When she obliged, he lifted
her off the floor, putting her to sit at the edge of the counter. Pressing
himself tighter between her spread thighs, he pushed her dress up, his big
hands gliding up her legs and higher. Slipping the dress over her head he
tossed it carelessly over his shoulder. She leaned back supporting herself on
her hands.

Raphael swore as his gazed
travelled up her exposed body. Even with his child growing inside her, she was
so erotic spread like this before him. Her beautiful hair hung loose, the ends
gathered on the counter top, her brown eyes dilated with the passion he aroused
in her and with nothing but the little scrap of cloth that covered her nether
regions she was practically begging for it. Raphael gave it to her. All, and
then some!

****

When Natasha finally arrived
four days later, Dahlia was like a child in a candy shop. She was up long
before Raphael and when he finally woke after a long night in his wife’s body
it was to find her wearing the sexiest lingerie he had seen. She was rifling
through the closet, reaching to take something from the top. The little piece
of green silk she wore rose higher, exposing everything he already had
imprinted in his brain. That didn’t stop him from being instantly aroused. Throwing
off the covers, he crept up behind her on the carpeted floor. Circling her
swollen waistline, he nuzzled her neck inhaling that unique scent she carried
around. Pressing his hardened length against her, he groaned.

“Ah,
Tesoro,
are you
deliberately trying to drive me crazy?”

Turning around in his arms she
looked up through innocent eyes and playfully asked.
“Me?
What have I
done? I was just minding my own business—looking for something to wear when you
snuck up on me and stuck me with something in my back.” Her index finger
lightly jabbed him in the chest.

Grabbing hold of her wayward
finger he put it in his mouth gently sucking on the tip. He saw more than heard
her quick intake of breath. Trailing his hand down her sides, he cupped her
between her legs and when she bucked against his palm a wicked smile crossed
his lips, with her finger still in his mouth he asked, “Mm,
Amor.
It
seems as though we both have a problem. What do you think we should do to solve
it?”

Pushing at his chest gently
so that he staggered backwards onto the bed, she came to stand over him. “Cavos,
do you know what is worse than a pregnant woman in the morning?”

“No,
Amor,
but I am
sure that you are going to tell me.” He challenged.

“Yes, and when I am finished
you will know never to tease a horny pregnant woman in the morning,” she
stressed as she mounted him. They were an hour late in picking up Natasha at
the airport.

****

“It is so good to see you
this happy, Dahlia.” Natasha stated as she sat opposite her sister at the
little roadside café.

“It feels good to be this
happy! Raphael is wonderful. He takes good care of me.”

“Oh, I know! What I don’t see
in your face, I
hear
at night.” Natasha teased and further broke out
into a fit of laughter when Dahlia’s face went beet red.

Raphael was an ardent, experienced
lover and when Dahlia was in his arms she forgot the world around. To think
that Natasha had heard them making love made her wish the ground would open and
swallow her up. It was embarrassing knowing that she couldn’t control her moans
when she was with her husband.

“Don’t worry, Little Sister.
I know that that husband of yours is a sex God. So there is no need to be
ashamed of how he makes you feel. Maybe he can teach Roger a thing or two.”
Natasha joked, winking at her sister across the table.

This was the sixth day of Natasha’s
visit and she would be returning home the next day. They decided to have lunch
at a small café in town after they had done a ton load of shopping. Dahlia
couldn’t wait to show Raphael all the little cute stuff she had bought for the
baby. Even though Raphael made it clear that she should get whatever she wanted
she was apprehensive about spending too much. It was just not in her blood to
spend money carelessly. So many times she and Raphael had the “Dahlia, my money
is your money” conversation but still she couldn’t bring herself to spend a
lot.

She had made sure to enjoy
every moment with her sister because when Natasha went home it would be months
before they saw each other again. Soon, both of them would be too pregnant to
travel.

Despite Raphael’s constant
reminders that she needed to rest, she and Natasha were up and out early every
day. When they got in at nights, Raphael would already be in. Always the
attentive husband, he would bring her tea in bed, rub her feet that were
beginning to swell and then he would make love to her ever so gently into the
late hours of the morning.

The baby was fine, her sister
was here, and her husband loved her. What more could she possibly want?

“So have you guys picked out
any names for the baby yet?” Natasha was asking, but something in the distance
behind her sister caught Dahlia’s attention. Focusing on the man stepping out
of the hotel, a smile stole across her face, but faltered when she saw the
woman holding the baby stepping out behind him. Her heart fell into her stomach
when she saw Raphael take the baby from the woman, bringing it close to his
chest. Dahlia let out a stifled groan when the woman said something to him and
then brought a hand up to caress his face.

“Dahlia,
Dahlia?
What
is it? What’s the matter?” Natasha was asking but Dahlia couldn’t seem to take
her eyes from the events unfolding in front of her. The woman
she didn’t
know,
but the man that was holding the child, the man that was bending down
to place a kiss on the woman’s upturned cheek,
she did.

Unconsciously she rose from
her seat. Unwillingly, her feet took her closer to where they were. Dahlia
watched as she got closer. Her lungs constricted, as the woman got into the car
and then Raphael, baby in hand disappeared behind her. What was going on? Who
was the woman he was so over affectionate with? Why was he cuddling the baby as
if it was his own? Could it be?

Dammit!
She had a right to know what her husband was doing
with some woman and a child in the middle of the day. Without another thought,
she stepped out of the pavement with every intention of stopping the vehicle
that was now pulling away from the curb. The last thing she heard before the
car came pummeling into her was Natasha screaming her name.

****

This was not something Rafe
was expecting or prepared for—to have Sarafina show up like this, with a baby
in tow. The last he had heard from her was when he had called off the wedding
six and a half months ago.  In an act of rebellion she had packed up and moved
to Miami with Maxwell Remington. She had even gone as far as cutting off her
family when they asked her to come home. No one blamed Raphael. Sarafina was an
adult and she was responsible for herself and her own actions.

To say he had been stunned to
receive a call from her today would be an understatement because even
he
had not been able to convince her to come home. It was an even bigger surprise
when he showed up at the hotel restaurant to find her sitting there with a
baby—Maxwell Remington nowhere around.