Diane watched, melancholically, as the sparkling blue of the ocean far below disappeared from view.
“Why so sad?”
She turned, finding a smile for her new husband. “Not sad, just thoughtful. I didn’t want to leave. I guess I don’t want our honeymoon to end.”
Charles laced his strong brown fingers with hers. “It’s not ending, sweet thing. Our life together is just beginning.”
“You’re right,” she smiled.
“Did I tell you how irresistible you look in that outfit?”
“Uh-huh... but you can tell me again.” Diane laughed softly, looking down at her rather ordinary strawberry linen jacket, which she had teamed with cream silk slacks and shell. She suspected it was the rubies and diamonds in her ears matching the stones in her wedding rings that enhanced her appearance. She was unaware of the richness of her smooth brown complexion or her thick, curly black hair.
“Super fine,” he crooned, close to her ear, his ebony eyes twinkling with humor.
“I like the way you think, Mr. Randol,” she giggled.
“And I’m wild about you, Mrs. Randol. Would you care for a demonstration?”
“No!” she blurted out, then blushed, afraid to look around in case they’d been overheard.
“Why not?”
“You know why!”
Undaunted, he brushed her generous rose-tinted mouth with his. What began as a simple caress quickly deepened. He claimed and suckled the sweet bounty of her tongue. When the kiss ended, Diane was weak with longing, while Charles was breathing hard aching for more.
He almost laughed aloud. His breathing was not the only thing hard. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The odd thing was, he was not one for public displays, yet when it came to Diane, he quickly lost his head.
She whispered “Have you no shame?”
He chuckled, “None. Being married to you has been worth all the hell you’ve put me through to get you.”
Diane playfully hit his arm. “You’re terrible!”
“No, just extremely grateful that I was the one who caught you. Love me?”
“Oh, yeah,” she whispered stroking his wide palm. Diane still pinched herself when she woke each day beside Charles. She’d never known such happiness. When she’d boarded the plane for the cruise she’d had no idea she would return as Mrs. Charles Alexander Randol.
“I’m looking forward to you doing just that when we get home.” His eyes were dark and seductive.
Diane blushed and Charles laughed throatily. He ordered two glasses of champagne from the cabin steward.
“What’s this?” she asked when he placed the long, slender velvet box in her lap. The jeweler’s name on the box was familiar.
“A keepsake.”
“I have you. I don’t need anything more,” she insisted staring into his eyes.
“I’m so glad you feel that way, sweet cheeks. But I intend to keep right on spoiling you. I don’t want you to regret the way you married me.”
“Why would I?”
“Don’t all little girls daydream of a big, lavish wedding with lots of bridesmaids and bridal showers and an elaborate wedding reception? My sister, Eliz, must have had twenty bridesmaids. It turned out to be a sorority event.”
“I’m not a little girl, Mr. Randol. I haven’t been for a long, long time,” she said with a tilt of her head.
“I rushed you into marriage. Heather and your mother weren’t there to share our happiness. You think I don’t know how selfish I’ve been? I wanted you so badly that I didn’t give you time to think. Monday I became your lover and Wednesday I became your husband.”
Charles hadn’t been willing to gamble on losing her. Once had been more than enough. He had pushed her out of his life because he couldn’t handle her involvement with other men, only to learn later that he’d been completely wrong about her. She had proved her love for him, first by allowing him to become her only lover, but by also becoming his wife. With her beauty and sweet appeal, Diane could have had any man she’d set her sights on. He was nobody’s fool. He’d move heaven and earth to make her his before they returned to Michigan—and reality.
“I have no regrets. You’ve made me so happy.” Her eyes were bright with love. He’d come back into her life and filled it with sweet promise.
“I’m glad,” he whispered gruffly, emotion clogging his throat. “Open your gift.”
Diane fingered the box as she considered the sweeping changes in her life. She’d never known anyone like Charles, never been on the receiving end of so much generosity and unselfish love. There was so much he didn’t know about her... there were so many secrets buried in her past... things she could never tell him. The necessity of those secrets weighed heavy on her heart. She had waited a lifetime for the joy and love they shared. She’d be crazy to let the past interfere with their future.
“Di...”
“I’m scared to open it. I can only guess at the cost. Chuck, there are people living on the streets of Detroit without even a pillow to call their own.”
He knew he was overwhelming her, but he couldn’t help it. She meant the world to him. This was his way of making up for the heartache she had suffered as a result of his coldness and his cruelty. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll donate the price of this to one of the homeless shelters when we get home. Okay?”
She nodded. Slowly she lifted the lid to discover a double-strand pearl bracelet with beautiful heart-shaped ruby clasp surrounded by diamonds, completing her wedding set. Her eyes flooded with tears as she lifted her face toward his. The hard, reassuring pressure of his mouth on hers told her all she needed to know.
He was grinning for all he was worth as he secured the bracelet on her slender wrist.
“To us,” he said, huskily clicking the crystal champagne glass against hers.
After a sip, they spent a considerable amount of time smiling at each other, oblivious to their surroundings. Charles couldn’t resist placing a lingering kiss on the side of her throat just below her ear. He watched her dark, silky lashes drop seductively as she shivered.
His breath quickened as he recalled with deep pleasure every one of the sensitive areas on her lush brown frame. The side of her throat was only one of those places he had tongued early that morning.
They had made hot, sweet love in the shower before they’d had to hurry in order to make it to the airport on time. Charles promised himself that tonight he would make amends for the morning’s haste and make slow, leisurely love to Diane.
“Chuck...”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad our wedding was private. I thought it was perfect. Didn’t you?”
“Yes... perfect,” he agreed with a smile. But she was frowning.
“What?”
“Must you go back to the community center?” she asked in a tight whisper.
His bewilderment was stamped across his strong features. “You know how important, how necessary, the work is to me.”
She nodded. “Honey, I support what you’re trying to do, but aren’t we talking about late nights in a high-crime area? I couldn’t stand it if anything bad happened to you.” His safety was more important to her than admirable goals.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing? What about the possibility of gang violence?”
“I don’t take risks. I work with kids, not thugs, but if one of the gangs is willing to participate at the center without causing trouble, we’d welcome them. That’s the goal, to show the kids there’s another way of making it in this world.”
She had fought her way out of poverty and she knew she was stronger because of it. Her past was just that—something she had willingly left behind. Her concern was for him alone. “You’re my number-one priority. I want you safe. I’d like to have you around not only to father our children, but to raise them, too. I want to grow old with you.”
“Baby, don’t worry. I’ll be careful, but don’t ask me to give up the mentoring program.”
As she looked into his eyes, she knew his commitment was unshakable. She nodded.
He put an arm around her and held her close, her cheek against his muscular shoulder.
“You’re going to be so busy with your workload at the company and at the community center. Are you sure you’ve got room in your life for a wife?”
“As long as that wife is you, I’ll find time.” He couldn’t stop himself from fingering her fleshy bottom lip. He ached to take it into his mouth and suckle, tasting her until she quivered in his arms, opening her soft, sweet lips to the deep invasion of his tongue. Charles sighed heavily, preparing himself for a long wait.
Even at night, Metropolitan Airport was a beehive of activity. Diane was exhausted by the time they climbed into the limousine Charles had waiting at curbside.
“Your place or mine?”
“Yours. It will take me awhile to pack all my things and close up my condo.”
For the first time she considered the possibility of selling the condo. It was her first real home... completely hers. It had taken her months of searching and years of saving before she’d found the ideal home.
They were speeding along Interstate 94 when Charles said, “It shouldn’t be difficult to find a buyer for your place. It’s in a great location. I’ll have my attorney look into it for you. Baby, you really don’t have to do your own packing. That can easily be arranged.”
Her arms were crossed tightly beneath her breasts and she stared straight ahead.
Charles looked at her expectantly. Finally he asked, “What’s the matter?”
A tight-lipped Diane refused to so much as look at him.
“Would you rather we stayed at your place? Is that what this is about?”
“If I let you, you’d probably try to take over my whole life!” Diane snapped. She was suddenly hugging the opposite door. “I’m used to making my own decisions. I bought the condo... I’ll decide if I want to sell it.”
He studied her profile. “Baby... cut me some slack here. I only wanted to make things easier for you.”
Diane slowly released the breath she’d been holding. Lacing her fingers through his, she said, “I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
It seemed as if there were some things they hadn’t gotten around to discussing. Both of them had full lives before they married... full, separate lives.
Charles tipped her head toward his, but he didn’t take a kiss. He was so close, his breath teased her mouth. It was Diane who bridged the space between them, savoring his full masculine mouth.
She teased, “In all the time we’ve known each other, I’ve never been to your place. Why is that?”
“I have no idea.” He shrugged, lacing her fingers with his.
“What’s it like?”
“It’s brick and mortar, and a monster to keep up. I inherited it. Our family was one of the first African-Americans to own property in the area.”
Diane discovered that Charles’s description was a gross understatement. The Randol home was a stately manor house, a definite showplace. Even by Bloomfield Hills’s lofty standards it was impressive. Diane was given the grand tour of its eight bedroom, indoor pool, ground-floor library, recreation room, extensive grounds, four-car garage, and separate servant’s quarters. Charles had also failed to mention he’d inherited a live-in cook, maid, and manservant.
“You’re awfully quiet,” he said. They were downstairs in the huge family room on the side of the house that accessed the pool.
“Just thoughtful. You have a lovely home.” Diane didn’t want him to know how overwhelmed she was by the rapid change in her life. When she’d left for the cruise, she had never expected to return married.
“Excuse me, sir,” asked the impeccably tailored elderly manservant. “May I get something for you or Mrs. Randol?”
“Diane?”
She shook her head, nervously rubbing the goose pimples on her bare arms. What had she gotten herself into? She felt completely out of her element.
“Nothing, thanks, Sheldon. Goodnight to you and Mrs. Sheldon.”
Sheldon nodded his woolly snow-white head. His dark face beamed. “Once again, I would like to offer my wife’s and my own best wishes to you both.”
“Thank you,” Charles grinned, momentarily removing his gaze from his wife.
Sheldon quietly closed the oak-paneled double doors behind him.
Diane stood in front of the huge stone fireplace where a fire burned cheerfully in the grate.
“My staff is impressed by your beauty,” Charles said, from directly behind her. His large hands rested against her spine, just above the lush swell of her hips. He inhaled deeply, lured by the sweetness of her feminine scent.
“Your staff will no doubt need oxygen before breakfast. Not a one of them is under ninety. Who takes care of whom?”
Charles roared with laughter. “The Sheldons and their daughter, Rose, have worked for my family long before my sister and I were a twinkle in the old man’s eye. Hell, they took care of my father and uncle when they were boys. They’ve taken good care of the Randols for more years than I can count. I wouldn’t dream of asking them to retire. Every few weeks a cleaning service comes in and does the heavy-duty stuff.”
“What you really mean is that you take better care of them than they take of you.” Turning toward him, she slid her arms up to encircle his neck. “Oh, honey, you’re such a sweet man.”
He rested his chin against the top of her soft curls. “This is your home now. I want you to make as many changes to the place as you’d like.”
Diane wondered how her pale modern pieces would fit in the heavy, dark, traditional decor. “Tell me about the portrait above the mantel.”
“My parents, my sister, and me. That was painted only a few weeks before my mother died. She had a stroke.” The Randols’ closeness and love was unmistakable. It came from the heart.
Diane hadn’t a clue as to what that type of loving support and nurturing felt like. Yet it was something she was determined to give to her own children someday.
“How old were you?” She smiled seeing the making of the man in the child’s dark eyes and engaging dimple-cheeked smile.
“I was ten, Elizabeth was six. She barely remembers our mother,” he said, with a degree of sadness. “My father died less than two years later. He drank himself to death, grieving for our mother.”
Diane hugged him, kissing the base of his strong chin. “I’m sorry, honey.”
For just an instant Charles welcomed her comfort before he collected himself. Pointing out one of the antique gold framed photographs on the mantel, he said, “That’s Aunt Helen and Uncle Alex. And here’s Eliz with her two boys and her husband.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
Charles’s eyes twinkled when he said “Don’t tell her that! I can’t wait for you to meet my family. Eliz and Aunt Helen are going to be as crazy about you as I am,” he went on to say. “I’m looking forward to meeting your mother. We’ll have to call her and tell her our news.”
Just the thought of a face-to-face meeting between Charles and Lillie was horrifying. Diane couldn’t control the tremor that shook her entire frame.
“Cold?”
“Must be the change in the temperature,” she hedged. Charles added a pine-scented log to the fire. “Let’s cuddle on the sofa.” Once they were comfortable, with her curled against his side and his arm wrapped around her, he said, “Sweet cheeks, you might as well prepare yourself. Aunt Helen and Eliz don’t need much of an excuse to throw a party. A few close friends to those two can mean a cast of thousands.”
“Do you really think they’ll want to give a party in our honor?”
“You bet. Probably a huge reception, would be my guess.”
“Honey, you’re scaring me. We’ve been married less than a week.” She shook her head vehemently. “Charles, I don’t want a party. I don’t want anything. All I want is you.”
His mouth was possessive. “Make love with me, Mrs. Randol,” he whispered. He had her blouse open before she could gather her thoughts. When he unhooked her bra and warmed her full breasts with his hands and then his wonderfully wet tongue, Diane forgot everything but her love for him.
It was much later, as she lay in their king-sized bed, listening to his even breathing, that she fretted over the possible ramification of their hasty marriage. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet his family; she did. She hoped they would like and accept her.
What she didn’t want was to draw attention to herself with a wedding reception. How in the world could she explain her mother’s absence? Hadn’t she told enough lies already? How many more would she be forced to tell? She hated lying to him. Yet what choice did she have? There was no way he’d have married her if he’d known about her mother and their background. She wasn’t ashamed of the fact that it was humble. She’d worked hard to overcome it. That she could explain. How many times had she come home from school and found her mother passed out cold? No amount of shaking or calling could bring her around. How do you explain that your mother sold her body, not because she had to, not even because she wanted to, but because it supported her fondness for alcohol and drugs?
Tears trickled down Diane’s cheeks. She turned her back to her husband and bit her lip to hold back the sound of her sobs. She stopped breathing when Charles stirred beside her. He rolled toward her. He didn’t wake, but he didn’t settle, either, until his arm was around her waist. His open palm rested on her stomach. Diane lay perfectly still, her back to his front, her hand over her mouth, determined to swallow her tears. By taking slow, deep breaths, she managed to calm herself. She was just scared and tired from the long flight. It would be all right. Everything would be fine.
She would focus on cherishing every precious moment she shared with her husband. They would make beautiful babies together. Someday they would have a family of their own... a real family. She wouldn’t let anything or anyone destroy their happiness.
Diane had never had a real home. They’d lived in cheap hotels or rundown apartments. Her first memory was of being alone at night... scared of the dark... scared of the sounds just beyond the door... terrified of the strange sounds coming from her mother’s room. Everything had changed for her when her little brother had been born. Diane had loved him from the first instant she’d seen him. After that, she wasn’t alone at night... Danny was there. Diane used to cuddle with him through the night... taking care of his every need. He’d been such a sickly baby. And as they’d grown older, they’d not only cared for themselves, but for their mother too... when Lillie had been beaten up by one of her men or been too drunk or strung out on drugs to take care of herself.
It was in school that Diane had learned that she was different from other children. To compensate, she’d learned to make up stories, to pretend she had a mother who took care of them and cooked for them and a father who loved them dearly. She lied to her teachers, she lied to her classmates. She made up whole stories about her wonderful mother and father, who never managed to find time to attend parent-teacher conferences or school functions because they worked so hard. She was a bright child and an excellent student. She watched and learned.
She did everything early. She learned how to make peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, and she learned how to beg money from her mother in the morning before she went to school so she could shop after school for their evening meal at the corner store. She also learned never to get in trouble in school, never to cause undue attention to herself.
The most stable time of their life had been when her mother had been in rehab. Danny and Diane had been placed with Lillie’s sister, Jean. It wasn’t so much that she wanted two extra mouths to feed but the money from the state came in handy, especially since she had five kids of her own.
Aunt Jean didn’t love them like her own, but she was very good to them. She saw to it that they had three regular meals a day and that Diane could go to school without having to worry about Danny or her mother. Danny received the medical treatment he needed. Diane really excelled in school. There were trips to the library and to church on Sundays. There were family picnics and occasional shopping trips for new shoes and clothes. To this day Diane was grateful to Aunt Jean.
“Can’t sleep?” Charles asked quietly.
“No. Did I wake you?”
“I’m not sure what woke me,” he said stroking her soft, smooth skin from her stomach to the tight, soft curls between her thighs. He cupped and squeezed her softness before worrying the tiny heart of her desire. When he slid a finger deep inside, she was damp and welcoming. Her sensuous moans caused his heart to skip a beat.
“Yes?”
“Yes...”