Make You Mine (3 page)

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Don't go.”

 

Their trail of clothing led a path straight to the sofa. Caress straddled Julius's narrow hips in nothing but her matching peach lace bra and panties. His hands massaged her full bottom, pressing her heated flesh closer to his erection bulging through his silk boxers.

They couldn't keep their hands off of one another.

His coal black eyes feasted on her breasts as her hardened nipples strained against the flimsy lace. His mouth watered. Nearly growling, Julius lowered his head to suck deeply on the tempting bud through the material.

Sparks of electricity shot through every inch of her body. “Suck harder,” Caress demanded hotly, her back arching for more, as she flung her head back.

“Like this?” he asked huskily, nearly sucking all of her plum-sized breast into his eager mouth.

Caress gasped.

Not wanting the lacy barrier, Julius's hands rose, caressing her soft skin as he easily unlatched her bra and flung it away. “God, they're beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely with truth, drinking in the sight of her small round breasts peeking through the soft strands of her hair.

Caress leaned forward to outline his lips with her tongue, the short hairs of his beard tickling her mouth as she did. He groaned in sweet pleasure. “You like?” she teased saucily, before slowly rising from his lap.

Smiling wickedly, Caress lowered her panties over her hips and shapely legs as Julius freed his long and hard member from its silk confines to massage it deeply with long strokes.

Naked and unashamed, she lay back on her large wooden coffee table, her head bent back toward the floor as she propped her feet on the edge and opened her legs to offer him a welcoming sight of her shaved womanhood and moist core.

Heated by her boldness, Julius rose from the couch to kneel between her quivering thighs with his member still hard and throbbing in his hand. The sweet scent of perfume mingled with her womanly scent, driving him nearly insane for a moment. He had to shake his head for clarity.

Caress reached blindly with her fingers into the silken folds of her own moist intimate treasure. Finding it slick and wet to her touch, she moaned wantonly.

Enjoying the show, Julius watched closely as she teased her own swollen bud until the desire to make her come filled him. With a swift lick of his lips he lowered his head to dip his tongue deep inside her core. His shaft hardened in his hands from the feel and taste of her as Caress bucked up from the table. He felt her body shiver as he suckled her bud like he was thirsty. It pulsed against his tongue matching the steady beat of his heart.

“Oh, Julius,” she cried hoarsely, her chest light with emotions as white hot spasms pushed her to be lost to time or place. Blindly she reached for his head and pressed his swift-moving tongue closer.

“Give it to me,” Caress demanded hotly, unable to think of anything but having his sizeable tool deep inside of her.

“What?” he asked thickly, rising to position himself so that the thick dark tip of his erection slid inside of her.

He clenched his jaw as his body jolted. “This?”

Caress bucked her hips up off the table again, driven with want for him. “Yes,” she begged unashamedly.

Julius tensed for control, flinging his head back as her walls created a spasmodic rhythm against his tip. Feeling her climax finally ease, he gave her another thick inch. “Say please,” he ordered, his own voice strained as he shifted his head to look down at her.

Caress pulled her upper body up, bracing her arms on the table's edge to look him hotly in the eyes. “Now,” she demanded softly as she quivered for him.

Moving his hand up her shapely thighs to her flat stomach, he continued upward to massage her breasts with skillful fingers just as he plunged his shaft deeply inside her core with one powerful thrust.

They gasped hotly. Quick, hard, and fast they worked their hips with grunts and moans, giving in to their primal lust. Both sought to please and be pleased in a hurried but pleasurable fashion that was completely electrifying.

Caress met him stroke for stroke, using her tight walls to pull him deeper inside of her. She released all of her inhibitions and gave in to pure and raw sexual pleasure.

Julius grasped her shapely hips with trembling hands and thrust hard and deep inside of her like a piston, his pumps fast and furious as her moans pushed him to the edge.

Both of their movements became intense as the first wave of their climaxes warmed them from their toes to their loins. It was the first of many to come.

 

Caress's body definitely felt like it had been made love to all night. Her thighs ached, her breasts were tender, and her core was decidedly sore. She grimaced as she remembered all of the things they did and said last night.

But it had all been good. Damn good.

Rolling over in bed, Caress was surprised to feel the coolness of the sheets and a piece of paper instead of the warmth of Julius's body. Confused, she sat up in bed and picked up the note to read.

At that moment the weight of her actions hit home. What happened between them, good as it had been, was not the start of a wonderful relationship like she hoped…but a one-night stand!

“Oh…no,” she cried out dramatically, filled with embarrassment at what she did last night on the table…and in the shower…and on the floor.

“Oh, God…no,” she moaned again, falling back in the bed to cover her mortified face with the sheet.

 

Julius handed the airline attendant his boarding pass. “Here you go.”

“Have a good flight Mister, uhm…Jones,” the beauty said with a flirtatious smile.

Julius ignored the obvious invite and accepted his I.D. back. “Thanks.”

As he settled in his first class window seat, Julius felt absolutely drained of energy. Caress wore him out last night until he felt like he could be knocked over by a toddler. It took all the strength he could muster to get out of her bed so he could go home to shower and grab his suitcases and make it to the airport on time.

He didn't want to meet any new women.

He didn't want to talk with anyone.

He didn't want to do a damn thing but sleep off last night.

Julius cushioned his head with the pillow he requested from the flight attendant. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he thought of one of the moves Caress put on him in the shower as she straddled him with her feet braced against the wall. A shiver raced from his toes straight to his head.

“Damn it, girl,” he muttered to himself.

Three Months Later

Julius was excited about all of the great photos he took while in Africa. He was anxious to get home, unpack, and get right into the darkroom he set up in his basement for times he didn't feel like driving to his studio.

His agent was expecting the photos in two weeks and that wasn't a problem. He had hundreds of rolls of film that Dwayne and he were going to work overtime to get printed.

For the past three years, Julius had been throwing around the idea of a book. At first he hadn't known the particulars of when and what, but he knew he wanted to do it. Finally choosing Africa as his backdrop made perfect sense. It was a land rich with his culture, his history, and his ancestry.
Julius Jones: My Africa
would be in bookstores everywhere next year.

A fabulous career. A fabulous three months in Africa. Now a fabulous book. Life couldn't be any more…fabulous.

“Thanks, man,” Julius told the driver who double-parked the green-and-white taxi in front of his house.

As the man hopped out to remove his passenger's luggage from the trunk, Julius dug enough money from his wallet to cover the fare and a hefty tip.

He was just about to climb out of the cab when his cell phone rang. It was an unusual sound to him since his phone hadn't worked while he was out of the country. Julius flung his leather carry-on onto his shoulder and reached into the inside pocket of his leather blazer for his tiny silver flip phone as he climbed out of the cab.

“Julius Jones here.”

“Welcome back, Julius Jones. You truly have been missed.”

He had to pause for a moment to catch the sultry, feminine voice on the line.

“This is Karina, silly boy.”

Julius smiled as he envisioned the model. “Of course I recognized your voice,” he lied, as he moved to allow the driver to place his two large suitcases on the sidewalk.

“I hope you haven't forgotten our date tonight.”

Damn. He had.

“We never got to finish what we started at the photo shoot and you told me you'd be returning today and to give you a call.”

He remembered it now.

“I'm naked in my big Jacuzzi tub and just thinking of you. I've been waiting three whole months for some of you, Julius. Don't let me regret waiting.”

Julius waved the driver off. “I won't, I promise.”

“Good,” she sighed huskily. “Oh, and Julius? Your assistant sent me the photo. It's hanging over my bed. Don't worry you'll get to see it. I love it almost as much as you're going to love the real
thing
.”

He smiled broadly. “Really?”

“Definitely.”

“I'll pick you up, say around—” Julius began, glancing down at his Jaeger-Le-Coultre watch.

“No,
I'll
pick you up around six,” she asserted.

“Oh…okay.”

“See you then.”

Julius smiled, shaking his head as he closed the phone and slid it back into his pocket. What the hell. His time in Africa had been more work then play. A date with Karina would be a good way to cap off his return home.

Then again so would a home-cooked meal at Kendrick and Tamara's.

Or another date with Caress
, Julius thought, as he carried a suitcase in each hand up the stairs. He had to admit that she had drifted into his thoughts on more than one occasion during the past three months. He wasn't looking for a relationship, but he
damn
sure would love to touch base with her again.

Putting his key in the lock of the front door, he thought,
It'll be real good to see her.

Julius set his bags on the hardwood floor of the foyer. Immediately he noticed that there wasn't one piece of mail on the floor beneath the mail slot on the front door. He hadn't bothered to discontinue his mail or his utilities because he didn't want the hassle of getting them reconnected. He merely prepaid his utilities three months in advance. When he traveled he liked to return to his life just the way he left it.

Even after three months, there should be mail. Plenty of mail.

Since he traveled so often, Tamara and Kendrick had a key to keep an eye on the place whenever he was out of town.
They probably piled up all the mail for me
, he reasoned, immediately put at ease.

Leaving his luggage by the door, Julius jogged up the stairs, then stopped suddenly and backtracked two steps. He frowned at the odd angle of the picture hung on the wall. Correcting it quickly, he nodded in approval before continuing up the stairs.

As he walked into his bedroom Julius again frowned. He knew it sounded very cliché but…someone had been sleeping in his bed. Tamara and Kendrick. Their lackluster attempt at making it was definitely not up to his good-enough-to-be-in-Architectural-Digest par.

“Did those two…in my bed?” Julius asked himself aloud, already crossing the room to pick up his cordless phone. Quickly he dialed Kendrick's work number.

“Kendrick? Hey, what's up?”

“Julius? Welcome back. How was Africa?”

“Great, but look I got something to ask you? Have you and Tamara used my—”

“Actually, I got something to tell you,” Kendrick began, sounding decidedly unlike his usual calm and collected self. “Uhm, it's about—”

The bathroom door opened and Julius whirled around to see who in the hell was in his house. His eyes widened in surprise. “Caress?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact. It's about Caress,” Kendrick said on the phone.

Julius disconnected the call as he faced Caress standing unsure in a white-fitted tank top and his pajama bottoms that were rolled up to her knees. Her hair was up in a pony-tail and a toothbrush was in her hand. Her face was free of makeup. She was braless and the cotton of the tank top clung to the hardness of her nipples and the soft curves of her breasts. She bit her bottom lip and smiled nervously as she looked over at him.

He thought she looked absolutely gorgeous.

“Hi, Julius,” she began, rubbing her free hand over her—no correct that—over
his
pants leg.

Julius frowned deeply.

“I guess I should explain,” Caress began.

The phone in his hand rang suddenly and loudly. He held up a hand to her and then looked down at the phone to check his caller ID. Just as he thought, it was Kendrick. “Kendrick and Tamara in on this?” he asked, his voice stern.

Caress nodded, her face resembling a child about to be punished.

Hitting the
TALK
button, Julius raised the phone to his face. “I'll call you back,” he said shortly, before disconnecting the call again.

“Julius—”

“Why are you in my house, Caress?” he asked, studying her and noticing that her plum-sized breasts were definitely larger than the last time he suckled them.

Shaking his head to free his mind of sudden erotic images of her naked astride him, he focused on her slow coming words.

“First, let me apologize for moving in without your—”

“Moving in?” Julius balked, his eyes darting around the room to take in the unkempt bed, the gossip magazines on his usually clutter-free nightstands, the red brassiere flung carelessly over his leather chaise lounge.

Noticing everything his eyes took in, Caress moved quickly to gather the magazines and bra into her hands. “Sorry. Look, Julius—”

Suddenly, her face paled and she dropped everything in her hands to dash into the bathroom. Curious, Julius walked over to pick up the items she dropped and then followed her.

Caress was kneeling over the toilet, retching horribly. Her back arched as she heaved up her stomach's contents. Frowning, Julius moved to grab a folded washcloth from the shelf to dampen with cold water. “Here you go,” he told her, squatting down next to her.

She flushed the toilet before she shut the lid and moved to sit atop it. Accepting the cloth, she wiped her face, frowning at the awful taste in her mouth. “Thanks,” she told him, careful to cover her mouth so that the smell of vomit on her breath didn't offend him.

“Are you sick?” Julius asked, rising to stand over her. Looking around, he immediately noticed the total disarray of his bathroom. He swallowed down a deep wave of irritation.

“No,” she answered softly.

Too softly.

Julius's body immediately tensed. Their eyes met and locked. He swallowed despite a huge lump in his throat. “Are you pregnant, Caress?”

Her eyes dropped.

So did Julius's stomach.

 

Caress thought of the pained expression on Julius's face when she disclosed her condition. She couldn't really be angry with him about looking exactly like how she felt when she saw the little plus sign appear in the window of the pregnancy test. This wasn't the greatest news for her either. Especially having been evicted from her apartment three weeks ago.

“How are you feelin'?” Tamara asked, walking into Julius's bedroom where he left Caress while he went downstairs to talk to Kendrick.

Caress smiled half-heartedly, tossing her shirt into the open suitcase on the bed. “As fine as I can be pregnant, homeless, jobless, and husbandless.”

Tamara winced visibly. “Besides all of that, how are you doing? How's the baby, Caress?” she asked, moving over to pick the suitcase up off the bed. “Why are you packing?”

Caress's expression was odd as she watched her best friend set the suitcase on a luggage caddy by the door and then sit on the chaise lounge adjacent the bed. “I'm packing because he's going to put me out. Why'd you just do that?” she asked, pointing to her luggage.

Tamara made a face. “Girl, Julius is so anal about his things. He'd pass a stone big as both our heads if he saw your suitcase on his suede comforter.”

Caress smiled. “I kinda noticed that he is very…organized.”

Tamara sucked air between her teeth. “My daddy's a career military man and he's not as orderly. Trust me, Julius is a neat freak bordering on obsessive compulsive.”

Caress felt sadness weigh her shoulders down. “I don't know anything about my baby's daddy,” she wailed, dramatically dragging out her words as she flopped back on the bed.

“You know his name, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know his address?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you got the most vital info girl, so hush.”

The two women fell silent.

“I told you this was a bad idea, Tam-Tam.”

 

Julius paced back and forth across his living room. Every time his friend tried to speak he silenced him with an agitated wave of his hand. He had a lot on his plate to swallow, and it was sticking in his throat like bile. Finding out he may have a baby on the way
and
an unexpected roommate was quite a bit to handle all in one morning.

Caress is pregnant with my child.

Is it my child?

He paused in his therapeutic pacing. Okay, it was very possible that it was. He couldn't deny that they had sex. Great sex.
Focus, man, focus
. Nor could he deny that although he carried two condoms in his wallet, he didn't use either of them that night. Everything had been so hot. So fast. He never had unprotected sex. But the one time he did—zip bam BOOM—he was going to be a daddy.

What was I thinking?

Julius continued his pacing. He was slipping. This type of thing didn't happen to him. He was too together for a baby mama. And with a woman he knew nothing about except that she was awesome in bed, homeless and jobless, and had taken residence in his home.

Julius felt like screaming as the control he cherished slipped through his grasp like sand.

“I know what we did was a little presumptuous—” Kendrick began from his seat on the sofa.

Julius swung around to gawk at him. “A little?” he scoffed. “Negro, please.”

“Look man, I was just as shocked as you are when Tamara told me that you, Mr. Magnum, had gotten Caress pregnant—”

“Gotten?” he asked sarcastically, piercing his friend with angry eyes.

Kendrick held up both of his large hands. “I didn't mean it that way, Julius. All I'm saying is that you were in Africa and we couldn't reach you. Caress hadn't found a job yet and was getting evicted. Hell, Tamara was on my neck like a flea. What was a brother to do?”

“Certainly not give her keys to my home and tell her to move on in.” Julius's voice was filled with exasperation and some resentment.

Kendrick went on the defensive. “What? You'd prefer that in your absence I let the woman who is pregnant with your child move into a shelter…or worse?”