The Pleasure's All Mine (13 page)

Pierce could take her right then. He knew it to the bottom of his soul, but something made him hold back. “I want more than this.” He shook his head. “Our first time can’t be quick. And someone might walk in.”

She looked at him with a mixture of unrequited passion and disappointment.

“I want to be totally naked when you’re next to me.” He ran a hand across the silk-covered thighs. “Take these off, unveil you, touch you, taste you…make love to you so long and hard that we forget everything else.”

Raven arched toward him as though his words were just the inspiration she needed to allow him to do just that.

“I want to feel you next to me when the sun rises, pleasure you when the sun sets. I want that word
lonely
to disappear from my vocabulary.”

The stricken, almost vulnerable look she gave him touched his heart. She was feeling him—for real. He knew he could open to her and never feel ashamed of admitting even that vulnerability.

Raven reached for him, brought his bare head to her breasts.

If it hadn’t taken so long to find her, they would already be beyond this point. He had waited so long for a woman as intelligent as Raven, as passionate about life as she was, with a sensuality that was volcanic and intoxicating.

Pierce pulled away, then lowered to place a kiss on both thighs.

He could slip into her heat and have the world as he knew it come to a complete standstill. But he couldn’t try, in this brief moment, to make up for lost time—just because it was convenient.

“Not like this, baby,” he whispered in answer to her questioning expression. “You deserve more than just this. God knows I want you, woman. I promised you dinner, dancing, and I’m a man of my word.”

Raven gave him a small reassuring smile before cupping his face in her hands and kissing him one last time.

Remembering how Sim had looked at her ignited a flicker of possessiveness that he didn’t know that he had. “You’re mine now,” he whispered without caring how wrong it sounded, how outdated it made him seem. “You’re mine.”

She arched toward him, answering his call. The most precious woman in the world, right there in his arms, in his life…

Simple dinner and dancing went straight out the window.

Ava, Eric, and Marie hopped in a cab and headed for the quaint little restaurant situated in a cozy spot on Lenox Avenue. The place, known for its Southern charm, great-tasting food, and large portions, was fast becoming a New York staple.

Marie gripped Eric’s hand so tightly she was cutting off the circulation to his fingers. “Marie, gotta loosen up, baby.”

“I’m loose. I’m loose.” She nodded vigorously as though trying to convince herself.

“I’m talking about my hand.”

She let go for a hot second, but the moment Ava sent a glance in her direction, that grip on him returned. “I’m scared, Eric,” she whispered. “Suppose she doesn’t like me?”

“She will.”

“No, she won’t,” Marie shot back, still whispering. “You didn’t see the way she looked at me.”

“She’s a lawyer,” he answered, not bothering to lower his voice. “She looks at everyone that way.”

“I heard that,” Ava mumbled as Eric paid for the cab.

They took a table near the window. The bright yellow walls and red-and-white checkered tablecloths gave the place a homey feeling. The waitress passed them the menus and said she would be back in a second. Marie still hadn’t released Eric’s hand.

“Marie, sweetheart.”

“Yes.”

He leaned over to her, and this time he did whisper, “It would be nice if I could open the menu.”

“Oh, um.” She swallowed hard, her gaze shifting between him and the display of culinary delights. “I’ll hold one side, and you hold the other.”

Ava stared at them as if they had grown wings. If the moment weren’t so serious, it would be funny as hell.

“Come on, now.” Eric gave her hand a gentle pat and inched his own away. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

They all started with homemade lemonade. “Eric, you have to use the bathroom,” Ava announced once their drinks arrived, her voice colder than he could ever remember.

Eric met her hard look with a determined one of his own, finger trailing over the choices. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes. You. Do!”

He lowered the menu, bent his head a little. “I do?”

She cocked her head at him. “You
do.
”

Eric glanced at Marie. Her eyes were wide as saucers. She was shaking but said nothing. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” He thought he heard her whimper, and leaned in and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, she doesn’t bite on Friday afternoons.”

“I hope she doesn’t bite at all,” Marie replied in a hoarse whisper.

“Depends on who I’m trying to seek my teeth into,” Ava replied, leveling a stony gaze at the younger woman.

“Behave, Auntie!”

“Take your time,” Ava called after him. “We’ll order for you.”

“Okay.” He winked at Marie who gave Eric one last panicky look as she held up the menu to block Ava’s view. Oh boy—if Marie couldn’t handle Auntie Ava, he was straight-up in trouble.

Eric leaned in to Marie whispering, “I love you, baby.” With that he left the table, quickly making his way past the register and incoming guests, checking back over his shoulder occasionally.

“Marie.” Ava lowered the woman’s menu with her index finger. “It’s time we had a talk.”

She straightened up, met Ava’s eyes, which Ava had to admit scored her some points. Not enough, but some. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re nineteen, correct?”

“Yes ma’am. Just turned nineteen last week.”

“And you’re aware of how old Eric is, correct?”

Marie nodded. “He may be seventeen in years, but as far as maturity goes, he’s much older.”

Ava could not disagree with her there. But how well could this young woman
really
know Eric? She stirred a little sugar into her lemonade, which was more tart than she preferred. “Still, you must be so much more…
experienced
than he is. He’s practically a child.”

Marie’s face darkened a bit. “Have you talked with that
child
lately?”

Ava bristled. “Every single day.”

“Then you know that he’s no more a child than Li’l Kim’s a virgin.”

Ava waved off the waitress as she looked sternly at Marie, who was still frightened, but also protective as hell of Eric. That was another good sign. But there were still issues to discuss. “Which brings me to another point: sexual experience—he has none.”

“He has more than you think.”

Ava gasped, both astonished and—honestly—impressed by the girl’s sass.

The girl scanned the tables closest to them, leaned in, and whispered, “He’s ripped off his mother’s porn collection.”

Ava smirked, then suddenly broke out laughing, remembering when Raven had complained to her about that very same thing.

The tension lessened as Marie smiled.

The young woman was actually very pretty and had more of an innocence about her than Ava had noticed at first. She felt herself softening towards the freckled young woman a bit. “Marie, all I’m saying is that I think this relationship is much more than Eric’s ready for at the moment.”

“You don’t know him like I know him,” she responded quickly, picking up the menu again.

Ava turned to the waitress who had been hovering nearby. “I’ll take the Foxy Brown.” She then turned to Marie who gestured for Ava to order for Eric as well. “And a Michael A. Hardy for my nephew.”

“He’ll have his without bread and butter, please,” Marie added, “and I’ll have the Chrissa Chin.” After the waitress left, Marie looked at Ava’s questioning look. “He’s watching his sugar, starches, sodium, and cholesterol intake—because of what his doctor suggested when we visited two months ago. I’m doing it, too. I’ve dropped twenty pounds since we’ve started.”

Ava leaned back in the chair, completely astonished. “You’ve been going with him to the doctor? A doctor here in New York?”

“Yes, ma’am, every visit,” she remarked with a proud lift of her chin. “He’s been checking out some holistic treatment. He’s actually been considering trying a new technique that might shrink the tumors instead of having surgery.”

“He is?”

Marie nodded. “I told him that he may want a family but there’s no way I would consider having children if he’s not doing everything he can to stick around and help me raise them.”

Ava’s heart lurched. She covered her mouth to hold back a sob of pure relief. She looked away from Marie, whose eyes had welled up with tears of her own.

Marie reached for Ava’s hand. “I love him, Ms. Davidson. I want to make sure we’re exploring every option to treat Eric’s illness. We’re supposed to go to a doctor in Baltimore tomorrow—we have an early appointment. He hasn’t told his mom because he doesn’t want to give her false hope. Please don’t tell her.”

Ava’s spirits soared. The fact that Marie kept using the pronoun
we
wasn’t lost on her. Clearly, Marie looked at battling Eric’s situation as a
team
effort, and Marie counted herself as a vital part of that team. If the young woman was getting Eric to consider alternatives, then who was Ava to say anything different? Oh, wouldn’t Raven want to hear that! But she would keep the younger woman’s confidence and just pray that God would be merciful and that something, anything, could be done for him.

“I won’t say a word. I promise.”

“Ms. Davidson, he didn’t think about his age or mine when he stepped to me. He only thought about being a good friend.” She looked down at their joined hands. “I didn’t have many here, and until a month ago, he’s been just that, though he’s always wanted to be more than just a
friend
.”

Ava looked up, saw Eric heading back to the table, and waved him off with her free hand. He scowled, threw his hands up, but trudged back to the rear area of the restaurant.

“After we first met, he sent me a single white orchid every day for a week. Then he changed colors and started all over again.
I
was the one who wanted to keep the relationship just a friendship. He insisted on calling me his
girlfriend,
even when people laughed at him for getting with the plain girl.” Marie’s eyes were shrouded in pain. Her voice changed when she mimicked some thoughtless person who had said, “‘How could someone as fine as him want someone like her?’” Marie blinked back tears. Ava couldn’t help squeezing her hand a little tighter. “I heard people talking smack in the beginning, but after he put a few of them in check, people accepted that he really cares about me. And for the first time, other women are jealous of me.” Her voice cracked as she pointed to her chest. “Jealous of me. Can you believe that?”

Ava nodded, a sense of pride swelling in her bosom that Eric truly was more mature than she had ever considered.

“He loves me…the
real me
. He doesn’t see any of this.” She gestured to her plus-size frame. “He sees this.” Marie pointed to her head. “And this.” She pointed to her heart.

Ava whispered, “Don’t break his heart, Marie.”

“That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about,” she replied in an equally soft tone. “It’s hard not to love Eric. Trust me, I’ve tried to push him away, but he’s the most persistent person I’ve ever known.”

Ava rolled her eyes heavenward before taking a sip of lemonade. “Don’t I know it.”

“He’s made me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to.” The tears welled in her eyes again.

Ava had two emotions—one of pride and one of hope. Eric had really grown up to be quite an amazing young man.

“He’s the reason I’m going back to school in the fall. I was going to drop out so I could work a second job and earn money for my family. He’s even put me on a budget and helps me manage my money better. He told me about taking the first twenty percent for myself, then paying tithes to a church or charity, then paying bills, and then saving some. He said he learned that––”

“From me,” Ava finished, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride.

“So, Ms. Davidson, I’m not using him. I care about him, and he truly cares about me. That’s more than I can say about anyone I’ve dated before.”

“And you love him enough to make sure no little Maries or Erics pop up before you’re both ready?”

“Eric is man enough to say we should wait until he’s older or we’re married. He doesn’t pressure me. I respect that, and he respects me. He’s not like men twice his age––they say one thing and do something else. At first I thought he was just one of those pretty boys that didn’t want to be with anyone prettier than he was.”

Ava slipped a napkin on her lap. “Yes, I’ve run into a few of those in my time.” And she had. The type of men who spent more time in front of the mirror than their women did. The ones who thought they were doing Ava a favor just by letting her be seen with them. Ava shuddered at the memories. Thank God she had met Carlton, a gorgeous, hard-muscled, and well-groomed piece of chocolate. He was fine, and not just on the outside.

“Eric went with me to the doctor, and we both got tested, even though I know he’s a…you know…”

Ava looked down at her lap, playing with her napkin.

“He wanted me to see for myself that he’s clean. And I wanted him to know that I was too. He’ll be my first…and he’ll use a condom. All those boys who pressured me for sex and tried to make me feel bad because I wouldn’t…I’m glad that I didn’t with them. Eric is special.”

Ava let out a long, slow breath. The conversation was going where it needed, but not where she wanted.

“He wants to travel before kids,” Marie said softly. This time it was she who signaled for Eric to stay away a moment longer. His eyes rolled before he stormed back the way he came. “I’ve dropped weight, not just because we’re eating better, but also because I’ve had one heck of a time keeping up with him. God, can he move!”

Ava smiled. That was one of the reasons why she had landed on her ass on her front sidewalk with a skateboard moving up the road without her.

“We walk everywhere––at least three miles a day now––and he can cook, too!”

It was his cooking that got her in this mess in the first place. And she knew if Raven or Pierce found out she would be in the doghouse faster than anyone could say, “Puppy chow.” She sighed softly before saying,”Marie, I wasn’t too happy about this in the beginning.”

“I know.”

“But I’ll try to smooth things over with his mother.”