After the Morning After (7 page)

“Well, I know I didn’t peek in your bedroom window,” Victoria teasingly told Sanjay the next night as he took her leather jacket from her to hang up. “Did you look in mine?”

Sanjay hung her coat on the wooden coatrack he kept in his small entryway and, turning, gestured her into his living room. He looked at her in confusion. When she held her arms out to the sides and then did a slow 360-degree turn, he laughed. She wore dark blue jeans with a black blouse tucked into the jeans and black high-heeled boots, all accented with silver at her ears and around her throat.

Minus the jewelry and the boots, he had on almost the exact same thing. He wore an untucked black T-shirt and no shoes at all.

Victoria stood in the middle of the room, letting her gaze roam over him and trying to maintain a sense of decorum. His black hair was just long enough to touch his shirt as he threw his head back in amusement. His easy sexuality was so potent she felt it coming off him in waves from across the room, and automatically her sheath tightened in preparation for him. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and
lasered in on her, and abruptly she felt weak and vulnerable.

The urge to run was a strong one. She didn’t move. She stood there watching him watch her. Her breath caught in her throat and then started up again with a
bang, her pulse kicking up a quick beat against her skin. When his eyes focused in on that, she irrationally wondered if he could actually hear her heartbeat. He was clearly dangerous, and she felt her heart begin to race in recognition of the threat he posed.

Sanjay stared at her, his whole body on alert. Things had gotten down to a purely animalistic level very quickly. Her wholly feminine, instinctive reaction to his sexuality made him feel a primitive male satisfaction, and he embraced it eagerly. She knew that her possession was imminent, and when it came it wouldn’t be pretty. He watched her pink tongue dart out to lick her lips. The movement made him growl. Like a wolf that had scented his mate, he slowly stalked her.

Victoria watched him come with wide eyes and panting breath, the look of savage intent on his face making her seek reassurance from him. “San?”

The soft sound of his name falling from her lips made Sanjay want to strip her bare, take her to the floor, and possess her totally. He pulled her into his arms. “
Shh,” he murmured, “I’ve got you.” He took the bag she was holding and put it on a side table. “I didn’t get my hello kiss,” he whispered hoarsely and, tangling his hand in her hair, pulled her head back so that it was resting high on his arm, bent his head, and took her mouth.

Victoria opened wide for him, her fingers clutching at him for balance. She pulled his tongue into her mouth, greedily sucking it to the roof of her mouth and moaning when he retreated to use his teeth on her tongue and lips. He backed her
up, pushing her against the wall with the force of his body, and pressing his jeans-covered dick into her center.

There were no fumbles as they each took care of the other’s jeans and underwear. Preliminaries were neither thought of nor necessary, and lifting her leg to hook it around his waist, Sanjay thrust into her, embedding himself to the hilt in one swift move. Biting at her mouth and pressing her hands into the wall, he took her savagely, pounding into her hungrily and taking what he wanted.

Anchoring herself to him, Victoria gave as good as she got, meeting him thrust for thrust, and no more than five or six thrusts later began screaming as her orgasm crashed through her, bringing tears to her eyes and taking her body through convulsion after convulsion.

Sanjay, who’d been watching her the entire time, flexed his hips and hammered into her one last time before roaring his own pleasure.

“Oh, my God,” Victoria mumbled a few minutes later as very slowly, she removed her leg from around his hip.

Sanjay straightened, pulling his pants up. Pulling a fresh handkerchief from his pocket, he folded it into a square, placed it in her panties, and pulled them up along with her jeans.

Victoria made a gentle sound of appreciation.

Resting his forehead on hers, Sanjay smiled down at her. “You okay, sweetheart?”

Victoria stood in the circle of his arms feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. She nodded and then searched her brain for something to say. “I um…” She cleared her throat. “Your living room is lovely. I really like the hardwood floors.”

Sanjay burst out laughing, and realizing how random and out of place her comment had been, Victoria joined him. Their laughter dispelled the tension, and when it had wound down, he bent his head for another kiss, mentally sighing in relief when she stood on her toes to meet him halfway. This kiss was friendly and gentle. He rested his forehead on hers again. “I don’t know what that was
—some kind of primitive call of a man to his woman—but I liked it,” he told her with a crooked smile. He knew exactly what it had been: a claiming. He’d claimed her in the most basic sense, and she’d welcomed it. There was no way he’d tell her that, though—she was already skittish.

Victoria chuckled and absently rubbed her nose against his. “I liked it too, but it also frightened me,” she whispered.

“In a good way or a bad way?” he asked her as he slipped his hands into her back pockets to massage her butt.

She smiled shyly and slipping her hands under his T-shirt, rubbed his back. “Good,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” he asked with an eager, wolfish grin and bent so he could see her eyes better.

“Yeah.” Victoria nodded and stepped closer to him to lay her head on his chest. “What does it mean?”

“It means I’m gon’ get to have my horny way with you, lil’ lady, and that you’ll lahk it,” he said playfully, exaggerating his Southern accent.

She chuckled and snuggled closer, rubbing her nose into his shirt to inhale his scent. “You already have that,” she told him, “and I already do like it.”

Sanjay hugged her tight, not just because he wanted to, but because she seemed to need it. He’d never seen this Victoria before, this soft, shy one that seemed to need assurance. “Victoria?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are we whispering?”

Victoria froze as she realized that she had been whispering during the entire conversation. She shrugged. “I don’t know; the situation just seemed to call for it. The way you made me feel…what you did to me a few minutes ago
—what we did to each other—was so powerful, I suppose I was so awed by it that I guess I automatically adapted my voice to fit the situation.”

Sanjay had taken his hands from her pockets, and now he wrapped them loosely around her waist. Swaying back and forth, he kissed her hair. “I’m sorry for this, but I didn’t use a condom this time.”

“I noticed,” Victoria said with a grimace, “but I’m okay right now as far as pregnancy is concerned. And I trust you’re not disease-ridden so—”

Sanjay threw his head back, his laughter booming out. “Did you just say ‘disease-ridden’?”

Victoria grinned and laughed with him. “I thought that would get you. But seriously, before tonight I always used a condom. You?”

“Same here, but we’ll do the tests anyway. All right?”

“All right.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes, starving. I’m anxious to try that homemade Bengali meal you promised me.”

“You won’t be disappointed,” he promised. “I suppose you’d like to wash up first.”

“Of course.”

“All right, there’s a small bathroom off the dining room through there.” He pointed straight ahead. “You take that one; I’ll use the one upstairs and meet you back here in a few minutes.”

“What is this I’m eating again?” Victoria asked as she forked up the last of her fish dish.

Sanjay smiled. “It’s called
macher jhol
, a traditional Bengali dish of fish in gravy. It’s usually made with steamed hilsa, a fish found in India, but since that’s hard to get, I used a fish quite similar to it. It’s called shad, and it’s found on the American East Coast.”

“Hmm.” Victoria nodded. “I love that it had coconut in it. It was a great blending of flavors. Loved the vegetables too.”

“
Panch Mishali Tarkari
,” he enunciated for her. “It’s a vegetable medley; that’s all. Are you full? Would you like more?”

She shook her head. “No, but thanks. It was all delicious.”

Sanjay sat back. “Where did you grow up, Doc?”

“Boston
—born and raised.”

“And what are you doing here in Bay City?”

“I got a job offer and decided to take it. I needed to get away from Boston. I felt stifled.”

“How so?”

“My dad’s a US senator, and my mom’s a socialite—”

“Wait. Your dad is Senator Peter Howell?”

She smiled when she saw his frown. “Ah, I see his conservative reputation precedes him. Yes, Senator Peter Howell is my dad. My mother is the socialite Regina Howell, nee Stanton, of the Cambridge Stantons. Her parents owned a chain of restaurants.”

“Your parents are Episcopalian, right?” He thought he remembered reading that in the newspaper about the senator.

“Right.”

“So, I suppose you are too, right?”

“Right again,” she confirmed.

“And how would your parents feel about your dating me?” he asked her.

“As my grandmother reminded me when she arrived in town yesterday, they’d hate it.”

“Because I’m Indian and Hindu?”

“Nope, because you’re not black, nor are you a Christian. Do you believe in God?”

“As a Hindu, I believe that there is one God, capital G; but I also believe that there are many gods, small g. They help us to understand what God
—capital G—is like.”

“So you do believe in God?”

“I believe in Vishnu. He’s a part of the Hindu Trimurti and is responsible for the maintenance of the world. There are two others who are responsible for the creation and destruction of the world, but I worship Vishnu, as he preserves the universe. I’m a
Vaishnava
.”

“Okay,” Victoria said with a troubled frown. “So you worship Vishnu. Is he the only one you worship?”

“Yes, though my parents are coming to town in two weeks for
Maha Shivaratri
, which is in honor of Shiva.”

“Shiva? Which one is that
—the creator or the destroyer?”

He smiled at her. “He’s the destroyer.”

“But if you only worship Vishnu, why are you participating in this Maha Shi—Maha Shi—”

“It’s
Maha Shivaratri, and I’m not; my parents are. They’re coming to Bay City because there’s a temple dedicated to Shiva here. It’s one of the largest in the States.”

Victoria took a sip of her wine. “Would your parents like me?”

Sanjay smiled. “You, they’d like. The idea of me
dating
you?” He shook his head. “Hmm…not so much.”

“Because I’m African American?”

“Because you’re not Bengali. Hell, you’re not even Indian. And of course there are points against you for not being Hindu. And my parents—he’s a professor of engineering at the university back home, and she’s a homemaker—are very strict in their beliefs when it comes to that sort of thing. Nobody can make a better spouse for me than a Bengali Hindu in their opinion.”

“And to my parents, the best mate for me would be an African American Episcopalian.” She grinned. “Well, shit, our parents are a lot alike, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are. Imagine what your parents would say if they knew that I, a Hindu heathen—would they call me a heathen? I bet they’d call me a heathen, wouldn’t they?” He smiled when she nodded and said her father probably would. “Okay, so imagine what they’d say if they knew this heathen had had their daughter everywhere but in a bed.”

“‘Defiler,’ they’d cry. ‘You, sir, are a defiler of good Christian girls!’”

He laughed. “But do you care what they think?”

“Of course I care. Now ask me if I’ll let what they think affect my decision to be with you.”

“Will you?”

“Nope, and I think I already know that you won’t let your parents’ beliefs affect a relationship with me.”

“What gave you that idea?” he asked her. “The fact that I practically stalked you by phone and e-mail?”

Victoria giggled and, surprised and embarrassed by the sound, frowned at the wine. She pushed the glass away.

“Why didn’t you call me back or answer me, Doc? I know you had the same great experience I had that night.”

Victoria sighed. “That night
—the night I ran into you at the hotel—I’d just been dumped by a guy I’d been seeing. That was okay. I mean, I’d been dumped before, and we weren’t heading toward anything permanent. What really hurt me was that I realized he’d been lying to me the entire time.” She told him about Keenan’s duplicity.

Sanjay was quiet, and Victoria thought he looked as if he were waiting for the punch line. Finally, he said, “You’re kidding, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “Now honestly, San. You know me. Would I joke about something like this?”

Sanjay studied her. “No, I guess not.”

“Right. So, anyway, Keenan putting one over on me like that was the last straw. I’d already been ditched two days before my wedding—”

“Wait, wait, wait,
hold up
.” Sanjay had one hand up and was shaking his head in disbelief. “You were engaged to be married before?”

“Yes.”

“And the guy ditched you?”

“Yes. I was twenty-five, and I’d known him for years. We’d grown up together. Both sets of our parents were thrilled with the match, and I thought everything was fine, but obviously it wasn’t.”

“Sounds almost like it was going to be an arranged marriage, like in my culture,” Sanjay commented.

Victoria frowned. “Not exactly arranged, but our parents did encourage it. He was acceptable to my parents, and I to his. Our parents were in the same income bracket, we were both college graduates, and we’re both Episcopalian. But anyway,
all he left me was a note saying that he couldn’t go through with the wedding. I really couldn’t stay in Boston after that, so I packed up my stuff and moved here. It was at that point that I decided I couldn’t trust my own judgment when it came to men.

“Fast forward a few years to where I’m learning to trust myself again, and in walks Keenan
Saphmen, who managed to break me down all over again. And that in a nutshell is why I was in the hotel bar that night.”

“Did you love him?” Sanjay asked her.

“No, but I did trust him.” She stood. “Let’s clean up. I don’t like sitting around talking when there’s work to be done.” So saying, she grabbed her plate and his and strolled toward the kitchen.

He found her at the sink making up dishwater. “So, you’re over him?” he asked her as he handed her their wineglasses and picked up a dish towel for drying.

She frowned contemplatively. “Well, he was really nothing to get over. As I said, I only saw him on Wednesday nights. My friends and I have discussed Keenan ad nauseam, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Keenan was just a convenience.”

“Don’t forget ‘creep.’”

She laughed. “Yeah, that too. So,” she said as she cleaned a fork, “tell me about your prototype.”

“Well,” he began, taking the utensil from her to dry it, “I had the idea for it years ago, and I started working on it then, but there was a glitch I couldn’t figure out, and I put it aside. Then one day about a year ago, I picked it up again. I worked
on it every spare minute I had. I started feeling guilty about it because I wasn’t giving the company my all. So, I decided to quit.”

“Okay, I get that. So word around the Universe is that you walked out on a meeting the other day.”

“Yeah, I did. I had other things on my mind.”

Frowning, Victoria pulled up the drain stopper and then dried her hands. Her frown deepened as she took his face in her hands. “Why are you trying to ruin yourself?”

Sanjay took gentle hold of her wrists and kissed the tip of her nose before saying, “What do you mean?”

Victoria sighed and released his face, turning to walk toward the living room when he let go of her wrists. “I mean that you need to just produce your proof that the prototype was developed before you started working at the Universe and then just move on. Stop playing games.”

Bemused, Sanjay followed her. “What makes you think I have proof, and that I’m just playing a game?”

Victoria stopped abruptly and turned to look at him. She saw what he knew was an unholy light of glee in his eyes…shook her head…rolled her eyes. “Oh,
please
. Of course you’ve got proof. Now be a good boy and share it with the nice robber barons, hmm?”

“So you believe me when I say the prototype was always mine?”

Victoria looked insulted. “Well, that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

Sanjay lifted a brow. “Is it? Obvious to whom?”

“To me.”

“Really? How is it obvious that you believed me?”

Victoria tilted her head to the side and just looked at him. And looked at him.

Her eyes were so full of suspicion that Sanjay laughed. “
What
? I’m serious!”

Eyes narrowed, she studied him some more, as if he were some sort of irritant that she was about to rid herself of at any minute. Sanjay laughed harder, making her emit a frustrated sigh and throw up her hands before she turned away.

Sanjay was laughing so hard now he almost lost his grip on her arm after he’d reached out to grab her. “No, really, Doc,” he said once he’d gotten himself under control. “I’m serious. How was your belief in me obvious?”

Another few seconds passed while she gave him a jaundiced look. “All right,” she began. “I believe you’re serious, but you so often joke around, it’s hard to tell.”

“I’m not joking now, so tell me,” he demanded, because he knew that she was now stalling.

Victoria’s gaze was like a boomerang as she looked everywhere but at Sanjay. Finally, she settled it somewhere in the vicinity of his ear. “I’ve had sex with you. That’s how it should have been obvious to you that I believed you.”

Sanjay scoffed playfully and snagged her waist. “You’re kidding, right, sweetheart?” he asked as he bent his head toward hers. “You know and I know that you slept with me because you wanted the happy-happy, joy-joy special—”

“What? What on earth is happy-hap
—” Clearly perturbed, Victoria looked at him and found her mind emptying of all thoughts as she stared into in his heated gaze.

“My dick in your pussy, making you whimper, sob, and scream.” She melted against him, and Sanjay took her mouth quickly, his tongue plunging inside from a huge, greedy lust that he found impossible to control.

Victoria simply held on. “Hmm,” she murmured when he came up for air. “What was that for?”

“I don’t know. Because I hadn’t had my hands on you in more than an hour… because you’re irresistible when you’re frustrated or embarrassed…because you’re still wearing your lipstick even after a full meal.” He shrugged. “Because you only have to be, and I want you.”

“Oh, San,” Victoria said with a shaky smile. “How am I supposed to resist you?” Sighing dreamily, she pressed a slow, sweet kiss to his mouth and then wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. After a few short moments of listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat, she spoke, “Happy-happy, joy-joy special?” She lifted her head to look at him, cocked a brow. “Really?”

“Otherwise known as Sanjay style.”

Victoria nodded as if in full agreement. And then she burst out laughing. “S-s-s-seriously?”

He shrugged. “You
oughta know.” He grinned when she began to laugh so hard that she bent over hugging herself. “Hey!” he demanded and yanked on a curl when the laughter went on a little long.

Victoria yelped. “
Ow!”

“Am I going to have to prove it to you? Pull down your pants.”

Rubbing the side of her head where he’d pulled the curl and still chuckling, Victoria backed away. “No, no. I believe you!” she said with enthusiasm when he started walking toward her. “Stop, Sanjay, please!” she begged and held up a halting hand as she continued to back away. “I want to hear about your prototype!”

Sanjay stopped. Hands on hips, he inclined his head. “Really?”

“Really.”

“All right. Would you like something else? Coffee? Tea? Another glass of wine?”

Victoria shook her head. “I’m good, but thanks.”