After dark, p.28
After Dark, page 28
“Something like that.”
He rolled over until she was flat on her back while he looked down at her. His sex nestled between her softly parted thighs. He moaned, “Sweetheart...” moving in order to relish the softness of her mound against his pulsating shaft. He needed the reassurance of her welcoming heat…assertion of her love.
“Aw…Donald…my love,” she said breathlessly. “I want you so badly…please.”
He easily lifted her until he could nestle her breasts, pull the sweet, berry hard nipple into his mouth. He laved the entire peak, circling over and over again only when he was thoroughly satisfied with the way it stood out like ripe fruit did he apply suction. The powerful sensation sent desire spiraling throughout her entire system and pooling in her moist womanly center. The dazzling pleasure went on and on as he concentrated on enjoying her.
Taylor sobbed out her enjoyment, not able to breathe until he paused only long enough to move to the other breast and resumed driving her out of her mind with pleasure. She was so very close to climaxing when he allowed her to catch her breath.
Intent on drowning his senses in the same kind of hot pleasure, her soft hand moved over his body, stroking his flat nipples until they stood out like tiny pebbles on the beach. She surprised him when she laved him, slowly…sweetly.
She adored his sharp, pleasurable gasp. His breath stopped as she continued down his muscular torso. When her soft fingers played in the thick nest of curls surrounding his sex he nearly came off the bed, his pulsating need was so great. Finally, she caressed him where he wanted her soft hands the most, she moved over his shaft from the ultrasensitive peak to the broad base. She used both hands to encompass him; long, purposeful strokes soon had him close to peaking. Unable to bear more, he caught her hands, kissing the center of each soft palm.
“No more,” he cautioned hoarsely, positioning her in order to ravish the sweetness of her mouth. The kiss was so wonderfully wet that he didn’t want it to stop, but he needed more…much more.
He rolled until they lay on their sides, facing each other. He draped her thigh provocatively across his waist, leaving her open to his caress, his keen male hunger.
“Sweet…so sweet,” he said as he lovingly parted her damp soft feminine folds with the firm peak of his sex. He teased her, using his manhood to arouse her. He didn’t rush, even when she whimpered her excitement.
“Donald...” She trembled from the firm caress, purposefully moving her hips determined to force him where she ached to have him. “Honey...” she craved his strength, ached to have his full hard length deep inside. “Hurry…”
Donald whispered a rough throaty moan unable to bear the feel of her wet heat on the crown of his sex without giving in to that natural urge to be deep inside. Carefully he penetrated her tight sheath, determined not to hurt her in his eagerness to be buried to the hilt inside of her.
Taylor sobbed out her relief, calling his name. At long last…she trembled in his arms. They were intertwined, each breathing deeply, reluctant to move relishing their joining, their intimacy. Their bodies were not only joined, but also their hearts. Their loving generated from deep inside, a result of what they felt for each other.
She unwittingly tightened around him, giving him a rhythmic massage that caused him to let out a throaty groan. Unable to remain still a second longer, he began giving her the deep, hard thrusts they both adored. Her name was a rough caress on his lips as he gave her the full force of the urgency of his need. As her soft arms and legs clung to him, she quivered as each stroke was more forceful, more compelling than the last. They fit so perfectly together. With her eyes tightly closed, she was not prepared when he slid a hand between them and began stroking the tiny heart of her femininity.
She screamed his name as she shuddered, climaxing ahead of him. The sweet inner caressing strokes of her body caused him to lose control, his hoarse shout of triumph signaling his rush of release. He convulsed heavily in her arms. They clung to each other savoring the sweetness of the moment. He placed a lingering, loving kiss on her soft, kiss-swollen lips.
“Taylor…” he said close to her ear, “You feel so good…so good.” His breath was warm on her throat. “You are one of a kind. Girl, you sure know how to keep me coming back for more.”
She returned his kiss, whispering, “I love you.”
“Does that mean you’re finally going to stop blaming me because Scott decided to enter the draft?”
“Donald!” she exclaimed, trying to put some space between them. “I don’t believe you asked me that now!”
Donald cupped her lush hips not allowing her to separate her body from his. “Well, you do. Be still.” He was in heaven, and he was not interested in changing positions any time soon.
She sighed deeply, not wanting anything to spoil their lovemaking. She pressed her lips against, his throat.
“Well?” he prompted.
“Not any more. Scott made his choice. I don’t like it, but it’s his choice,” Taylor said playfully, “I still love him.” Then she said, more seriously, “I’m sorry, honey. I was wrong to let it come between us. Can you forgive me?”
“If you marry me.”
“What?” she said, her heart skipping a beat, doubting she heard correctly.
“You heard me. I need you with me. I want to build a life with you. I want you to carry and raise our babies.”
She just looked at him, too overwhelmed to speak. She had not expected this. She wasn’t even sure that she’d secretly hoped for it. She had been fighting her feelings for him for so long that she didn’t even know when she’d lost the battle. She loved him so much that she knew her heart belonged to him. There was nothing she could do or for that matter even wanted to do about it.
“Say something.”
She stroked the generous curve of his bottom lip. “How can it work? Honey, our lifestyles are so vastly different. You are constantly traveling. We don’t even live in the same city. I want to finish school and someday teach on the college level.” Yet, even as she offered the explanation she knew she could not live without him. She needed him so badly.
“There is no reason why we can’t eventually live anywhere you choose. Sweetness, I only have two more years in my contract with the Bulls. Then I’m retiring from pro ball. The business goes where I go. If you want to stay in Detroit, I have no objections. I was born and raised in that city. My family is there. It doesn’t matter where, as long as we’re together. I love you, Taylor. Never doubt it. I need you.”
Her large pretty eyes filled with tears.
“Don’t, baby,” he cradled her against his chest, stroking her back, soothing her. He had known how he felt about her much longer than she had. Time he hoped would ease her fears and uncertainty. He could not let her go. They belonged together.
She smiled through her tears, surprising him when she whispered, “You’re going to make such a wonderful father.” She felt him flex inside of her.
His chest swelled with pride. “Shall we work on it,” he whispered huskily. He automatically surged forward his body thickening and lengthening at the thought of making love to her. Suddenly he was once more crazy with need for her. She pleased him each and every time they made love. Her body felt as if it had been made for his…her sweet womanly sheath tightly caressed him from aching crown to pulsating base.
Taylor gasped, loving every minute of the hot, wildly erotic loving he gave her. She hung on to him as he took them both to new dizzying heights. When their release came it was as one—they shared all the promise and pleasure of their loving. As their breathing slowed he stroked her.
“Marry me, Taylor,” he persisted, his lips pressed to the base of her throat.
“Yes…yes. Oh, yes.” She rained soft kisses over his hair-roughened cheeks and jaw. When she reached his lips, he opened for her, allowing her full access to him. “I love you so much. I promise I’ll make you a good wife.”
“Thank you.” His voice was filled with emotion. “I promise to take good care of you.”
“We’ll take care of each other. I know you have to travel a lot, but I hope to go with you as much as I can.”
He smiled thoroughly pleased. “I’d like that. I know you want to finish college. Honey, you will be able to go to college full time if you want. By the time we’re ready to leave Chicago you may be ready to start teaching.”
“You are so sweet.”
He chuckled. “No, you’re the sweet one. I have something for you.”
She didn’t want him to leave the bed. “I have all I need. I have you.”
He couldn’t help smiling. “I’ve had it for some time. I’ll be right back.”
Reluctantly, she released him.
True to his word, Donald returned with a square shaped jewelry box. He was right; it was familiar. He had hoped to give it to her on their first real date.
“Donald! You kept it!” she said in amazement.
“When I first saw it, I thought of you. I had to keep it, in hopes you would accept it someday.”
“Oh, honey.” She kissed his cheek. “You’ve been carrying it around in your pocket?”
“Yeah, I hoped you would change your mind. As I said, it reminds me of you, sparkling, pretty, lush.” He didn’t wait for her to open it, but flipped the lid himself. Inside was a square cut diamond and emerald tennis bracelet set in eighteen-karat gold.
“Well,” he urged, when she simply stared at it.
“It’s beautiful.”
He didn’t hesitate to place it where it belonged, on her pretty brown wrist.
She pressed her lips against his. “Thank you. I love it.”
He leaned back against the pillows, content just to hold her close to his heart.
She remembered how intensely she feared the women who hunted him, seeing him as easy prey for a life of riches. She suddenly realized she was no longer afraid. It did not matter what someone else wanted. Other women were not a threat to her because of the way he felt about her. The reality of his love for her gave her the confidence to face each new day at his side. He was her partner in love and life. Her friend…her lover, soon to be her husband.
“You’re going to spoil me,” she teased, snuggling even closer.
“Why not? You could use a little spoiling. There is no such thing as too much love.”
She agreed with him deciding to do a little spoiling of her own—only with sweet loving kisses.
Chapter Twenty
“Mama, will you please stop fussing,” Taylor said with a touch of impatience.
“I’m sorry. I’m just a little jumpy.”
A nervous wreck would be more like it, she thought. She had been planning this special day for months and now that it was finally here she wasn’t sure she could go through with it.
“With good reason. Bridal jitters,” Virginia Hendricks said as she kissed her daughter’s cheek before fluffing out her veil.
They were in the small room off the main corridor of the church that Taylor and Scott had both grown up in and where the wedding was to take place.
“It won’t be long now.” Jenna squeezed Taylor’s hand. She looked lovely in her slim pale pink bridesmaid’s dress.
Taylor hugged her, knowing how difficult it was for Jenna to be her maid of honor considering the situation with Scott. “Thank you so much for doing this.”
In the months since she and Donald decided to marry, Scott and Jenna had stopped seeing each other. It had been a painful separation for them both. Things hadn’t gone as Scott expected when he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets. He was making plans to move out of state and Jenna was not going with him. They had been both hurt by her refusal to follow him. He was starting a new life, but he was starting it on his own. Their parents, like Taylor, had no choice but to stand back and let Scott choose his own path.
Now today was Taylor’s special day. She told herself it was only the beginning. But she was so scared, scared that she wouldn’t be able to make Donald happy. His love had certainly made all her dreams come true.
A soft knock on the door made her jump.
“Ready?” Scott asked, peeking his head around the door. His hungry gaze lingering on Jenna.
“Yes.” Their mother answered for all of them.
Jenna didn’t look up, she busied herself with helping Taylor with her bouquet of pink and yellow roses.
“Where’s Daddy?”
“Right here, baby girl.” George Hendricks said, taking his daughter in his arms for a brief hug.
“What about me?” Her tall, handsome brother asked before he took her into his arms. He whispered close to her ear, “Be happy.”
She nodded, unable to speak. Taylor felt as if her legs were going to give out; they were shaking so badly as she waited while Scott escorted their mother to her seat. Jenna was next. The wedding march was Taylor’s cue but she was trembling like a leaf in a whirlwind. She wasn’t sure she could do this, even as the double doors were opened. In fact, she was certain she could not until her eyes locked with Donald’s. In that instant she knew everything was going to be just fine. The love in his eyes and smile on his dark handsome face had her quickening her step. There could be no doubt about the love they shared, a love everlasting.
Discover Bette Ford
Forever After
For Always
Passionate Hearts
When a Man Loves a Woman
All the Love
Island Magic
Mama’s Pearl
One of a Kind
After Dark
Can’t Say No
An Everlasting Love
Unforgettable
Can’t Get Enough of You
About the Author
Bette Ford grew up in Saginaw Michigan, where she continues to live. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Bette began her teaching career in Detroit and completed a master's degree at Wayne State University. She has taught in the Detroit Public School HEADSTART Project for many years and has retired from teaching. She is writing full time.
She has received several awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best Multicultural - WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN and Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for 2004 Multicultural Romance.
To learn more about the award-winning novels by Bette Ford, please visit Bette Ford's Website.
Bette Ford, After Dark
