Veronica gasped as his blood-engorged arousal brushed her inner thigh. Instinctively, her body arched toward him, she caressing the length of his spine, and her fingernails raising goose bumps along his flesh.
Kumi’s tongue explored the skin on her neck and shoulders, moving down to stake his claim on her entire body. His mouth covered the peaks of her breasts, teeth tightening on the turgid nipples. He didn’t just love her—he worshiped her, ignoring her soft moans, as he tasted the taut flesh over her flat belly. Her moans escalated to gasps when he eased her panties down her hips and legs, tossing them aside.
Sitting back on his heels, Kumi surveyed the exquisite perfection of the woman with whom he’d fallen in love. He was glad he’d waited for her, because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept with a woman.
Sinking back down to the mattress, he rested his cheek on her belly, brushing tender kisses over the velvety flesh. Moving lower, he left a trail of moisture before he buried his face between her thighs. His hot breath seared the tangled curls concealing the warm moistness of her femininity.
Veronica wasn’t given the opportunity to react when she felt Kumi’s tongue lathe her dormant flesh. Her body bucked as his teeth found and gently worried the swollen nodule hidden in the folds at the apex of her thighs. She writhed in exquisite ecstasy, her chest heaving from a sensual assault that made it difficult for her to draw a normal breath.
“Kumi, Kumi, Kumi…”
His voice became a litany as she felt herself drowning—drowning in a flood tide of sweetest agony that threatened to shatter her into thousands of particles of sexual bliss.
Passion pounded, whirling the blood through her heart, chest and head until she was mindless with desire for a man she hadn’t planned to love.
Shock after shock slapped at her when Kumi’s finger replaced his tongue once he moved up her body. His mouth swooped down over hers, permitting her to taste herself on his lips.
His hand worked its magic as he gently eased a second finger into her, moving them in and out of her tender celibate flesh in a quickening motion that matched the movement of her hips, a pulsing growing stronger with each stroke. Waves of ecstasy throbbed through Veronica and she swallowed back cries of release. She did not want it to end—not now—not when she’d waited twenty years to rediscover a passion she thought was beyond her.
Kumi felt the tight walls pulse around his fingers, and without warning he withdrew his hand and positioned his rigid flesh at the entrance to her feminine sex. Guiding his maleness with one hand, he pushed slowly, registering Veronica’s gasps against his ear.
“I’ll try not to hurt you,” he whispered softly, gentling her, while he gritted his teeth against the passion threatening to erupt before he entered her tight body. “Relax, baby, relax,” he crooned over and over as each inch of his blood-engorged flesh disappeared into the throbbing folds squeezing him like a hand in a glove a size too small.
Veronica felt Kumi’s hardness fill every inch of her body, reviving her passion all over again. He pushed gently, in and out, setting a strong thrusting rhythm she followed easily. She rose to meet his thrusts, her hips moving of their own accord, their bodies in perfect harmony with one another.
Her fingernails bit into the tight flesh over his hips as she once again felt the escalating throbbing searching and seeking a means of escape. She and Kumi had become man and woman, flesh against flesh. He’d become her lover and she his, and together they found the tempo that bound their bodies together.
If possible, Kumi felt his flesh swell and become harder, as he tried to absorb Veronica into himself. Her eager response matched his, while his hunger for her intensified. He wanted to lie in her scented embrace forever; lie between her thighs for a lifetime. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman he’d ever known.
Heat rippled under his skin, settling at the base of his spine. He knew it wasn’t long before it would be over. It would take less than a minute for him to spill his passions into the latex sheath protecting the woman he loved from an unplanned pregnancy.
He withdrew from her, but seconds later he anchored her legs over his shoulders. He reentered her with a strong thrust, his gaze fixed on her glistening face. The memory of her expression would be branded in his mind for an eternity as he memorized the curve of her lush parted lips, fluttering eyelids and trembling breasts, as she was aroused to a peak of desire that swept away the fear that had haunted her for two decades.
Kumi quickened his cadence and within seconds he, too, closed his eyes, lowered his head and groaned deeply in his throat as the hot tide of passion swept through him, leaving an awesome, powerful and pulsing climax that radiated from his core.
He did not know where he found the strength, but he withdrew from her body and collapsed, facedown, beside her. Draping an arm over her belly, he kissed the side of her neck.
Veronica flashed a sated smile, but didn’t open her eyes. “Kumi?” He moaned softly in response. “I love you.” Her voice was soft, the admission reverent.
Raising his head, he stared at her profile. In a motion too quick to follow, he pulled her over his chest, her legs resting between his. Burying his nose in her hair, he kissed her scalp.
“Thank you, my darling.”
They lay together, savoring the aftermath of their lovemaking and a love that filled both with a gentle peace that promised forever.
Veronica eased out Kumi’s loose grip on her body, slipping out of the bed. His soft snoring faltered, and then started up again. Grimacing, she made her way to the bathroom. She ached where she hadn’t realized she had muscles.
Turning on a light in the bathroom, she closed the door softly behind her. Walking over to a black marble Jacuzzi, she pressed a dial, then brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth before stepping into the warm swirling waters.
She lounged in the tub, the water caressing her tender flesh and unused muscles. Closing her eyes, Veronica smiled. Making love with Kumi had been an incredible experience. She thought she was going to faint when he’d put his face between her thighs.
“Would you mind if I come in and share your bath?”
Her eyes opened quickly. Kumi stood several feet away resplendently naked and magnificently male. He had the body of an ancient god sculpted by artisans in centuries past. She flashed a shy smile, sinking lower in the water to conceal her breasts.
“You’re going to smell like me.”
Moving closer to the oversize Jacuzzi, he stared at her, noticing the evidence of his lovemaking on her throat and along the tops of her breasts. “I already smell like you. Your scent of your perfume is on my skin and the taste of you is in my mouth.”
Veronica couldn’t stop the wave of heat in her face as she glanced away demurely. “There’re toothbrushes in the top right drawer of the dressing table.”
Kumi smiled at her display of modesty. He had to remember Veronica hadn’t shared her body with a man for twenty years despite the fact that she’d been married—a marriage that had been in name only.
Turning, he made his way to the dressing table and opened a drawer filled with an ample supply of toothbrushes and disposable razors. He brushed his teeth before joining Veronica in the warm water.
The black marble tub was large enough to accommodate four adults. The bathroom’s ebony-and-platinum color scheme was modern and sophisticated.
Resting his arms along a ledge surrounding the Jacuzzi, he gave Veronica a penetrating stare. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head, limp strands of hair moving with the slight motion. “No.”
The recessed ceiling lights slanted over her face, highlighting the gold in her skin and eyes. Kumi floated over to her, stood up and watched her face for a change in expression. He wanted to make love to her again; now that he’d had her he didn’t think there would ever be a time when he wouldn’t want to make love to her; he was certain he would want her even when he was old and gray.
Cradling her face between his palms, he eased her to her feet and pressed a kiss over each eye. “You are so incredibly beautiful, Ronnie. Beautiful and sexy.”
Rising on tiptoe, she wound her smooth legs through his hair-roughened ones, making him her willing prisoner. Holding tightly to his neck, she kissed him tentatively as if sipping a cool drink.
“You make me feel sexy,” she murmured, inhaling his mint-scented breath.
“No, baby, I have nothing to do with that. You are sexy.”
His right hand moved down and cradled a breast, his head following. She gasped loudly when he took the nipple into his mouth and suckled her until she felt the pull in her womb.
She managed to free herself from his rapacious mouth, her body splayed over his. Both were breathing heavily. Waiting until her pulse slowed, she moved sinuously down his chest, her tongue sweeping over his breasts and suckling him as he had her. She moved even lower, her nose pressed against his thigh; then she registered his labored breathing as she took him into her mouth, his flaccid flesh hardening quickly.
“No, Ronnie!” His voice bounced off the walls, but it was too late. Her magical tongue caressed the length, tip and the root of him like someone savoring an exquisite dessert.
His hands curled into tight fists as he resisted the urge to explode in her mouth. The muscles bulged in his neck, shoulders and biceps. He embarrassed himself with the moans of ecstasy escaping his compressed lips. Electric shocks shook him until he convulsed uncontrollably.
His right hand moved down, his fingers entwined in her hair, easing her head up as he spilled his seed into the swirling waters. His fingers loosened and she stood up, curled against his body, smiling.
“Now we’re even,” she whispered, “because the taste of you is in my mouth.”
Curving a hand under her chin, he lowered his head and kissed her tenderly, his tongue meeting hers. He tasted himself on her lips, loving her even more for her selflessness.
Lifting her from the Jacuzzi, he carried her to the shower stall and together they frolicked under the flowing water like little children until it cooled and their fingers and toes wrinkled like raisins.
Half an hour later, Veronica, wrapped in a silky red robe, sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching Kumi prepare baked chicken breasts with mustard, tarragon, carrots and leeks over a serving of boiled egg noodles with an accompanying salad made with field greens.
They ate on the patio, listening to the latest Enya CD with the flowing waters of the indoor waterfall providing the perfect backdrop to the soothing selections.
Both were content to listen to the music and enjoy the comfortable solitude. What had occurred between them earlier was still too new and shockingly sensual to absorb in only a few hours.
They cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, then hand in hand mounted the staircase to the bedroom. Veronica straightened the twisted sheets, while Kumi stood on the veranda staring out at the night. She was in bed when he returned to the bedroom, closing the French doors behind him.
She turned in to his embrace as if she’d been doing it for years instead of a few hours. He held her protectively until she fell asleep. Sleep did not come as easily for Kumi. Thoughts of when he would leave the States to return to Europe tortured him. For the past ten years he’d made Paris his home when he could’ve returned to Asheville, North Carolina. Before meeting Veronica Johnson he’d thought he would live out his life on European soil, but now he wasn’t so certain.
Could he leave her? Would he return to France without her?
The questions attacked him until fatigue overtook him as he succumbed to a sleep filled with mental images of their erotic lovemaking.
Veronica came to know a different Kumi a week after they’d begun sleeping together. She’d heard the excitement in his voice when he spoke of owning and operating his own restaurant, his anxiety when he talked about returning to Paris and she also registered his pain when he revealed his strained relationship with his father.
Reaching for her hand, he threaded his fingers through hers. “How can a man reject his own flesh and blood because he refuses to follow his wishes?” he questioned.
Veronica stared up at the netting floating around the bed. Cool air filtered into the bedroom through the open French doors, and she snuggled closer to Kumi for warmth. “Because he’s a control freak,” she said softly, “and because he believes he knows what’s best for you.”
“That may have been okay when I was a child.”
“Some parents never see their children as adults.” Turning on her side, she smiled at him. “My mother still tries to tell me how to live my life. She doesn’t like the fact that I live here alone, and she took to her bed for a month when I told her that I was marrying a man old enough to be my father.”
“How do you deal with her?”
“I used to argue with her, but that got me nowhere, so now I just ‘yes’ her into silence. I’ve always been the renegade, while my younger sister has always conformed. She married a wonderful man and gave birth to two perfect children.”
Releasing her hand, Kumi cradled his arm under his head. He gave Veronica a steady look. “What about you, Ronnie? Would you marry again?”
Running a finger down the middle of his furred chest, she shrugged a shoulder. “I doubt it.”
His gaze widened, searching her face and reaching into her thoughts. “Would you consider marrying me?”
She wavered, trying to comprehend what she was hearing. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. And she didn’t know. She loved Kumi, enjoyed sleeping with him, but hadn’t given any thought to a permanent relationship because she knew he planned to return to France at the end of the summer.
Moving closer, he kissed her forehead. “At least you didn’t say no.”
“Are you proposing marriage?” she asked with a wide grin.
He hesitated, measuring her for a moment. He’d done it again—opened his mouth to say something before he’d thought it through. He did want to marry Veronica, even if she smiled at him as if he’d told her a joke.
“No,” he said glibly. The tense moment passed when he reached for her and flipped her over on her back. “I want you to come with me to see my sister’s place.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “When?”
“Today.”
Veronica shook her head. She wasn’t ready to meet Kumi’s family. “I don’t think so.”
“Please,” he whispered, lowering his body over hers. “Don’t make me beg, Ronnie.”
She felt the crush of his muscular body bearing down on her slender frame. Bracing her hands against the solid wall of his chest, she closed her eyes. “You’re going to have to do more than beg, sweetheart.”
Burying his face against the side of her neck, he nipped at a spot under her ear. “What do you want?” Curving her arms around his neck, she whispered what she wanted him to do for her. Kumi threw back his head and laughed loudly. “Of course. You’re so easy to please,” he crooned sensuously.
Rolling off her body, he parted the netting, scooped her off the bed and carried her into the bathroom. She’d asked that he accompany her to her family reunion in August.
He would go to Atlanta with her, while she would finally get to meet Debbie. When his sister had questioned Kumi about not being able to reach him at his cottage one night, he’d smiled at her, saying he had been occupied elsewhere.
Debbie had followed him around, taunting him until he finally blurted out that he had a friend. Flashing a smug smile, she sweetly invited him and his friend to come to the B and B.
Deborah had let go of some of her anxiety that Maxwell’s B and B wouldn’t open on its projected date, after Kumi hired the third assistant chef. Only one of the three had more than six years’ experience working in a full-service kitchen. The other two were recent culinary school graduates. Kumi had offered to act as executive chef if he hadn’t hired one with more than ten years’ experience by opening date. He was scheduled to meet with the new hires to plan dinner menus.
Veronica waited for Kumi to come around the Lexus and open the passenger-side door for her. She hadn’t realized her pulse was racing until she saw a woman standing on the wraparound porch of a magnificent Victorian house, waving at Kumi.
Veronica had given special attention to her appearance. She blew out her hair, and then pinned it up off her neck in a chic chignon. Her dress was a simple sleeveless black silk sheath that barely skimmed the curves of her body, while Kumi had elected to wear a pair of black tailored linen gabardine slacks, jacket, and a banded collar white silk shirt. He looked incredibly handsome with his freshly shaven face and neatly brushed hair.
Veronica liked Kumi’s sister on sight. She was tiny—barely five-two—and very pretty. Her delicate features, large dark eyes, and quick smile made her appear almost doll-like.
Arching eyebrows lifted in a face the color of rich cinnamon, she peered closely at Veronica. “Now I see why my brother needs a pager to monitor his whereabouts. You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
Veronica couldn’t stop the flush darkening her cheeks. Pulling her hand from Kumi’s loose grip, she extended it. “Thank you, Deborah. I’m Veronica Johnson.”
Deborah shook her hand, smiling up at the taller woman. “My pleasure, Veronica. Please, come in.” Still holding Veronica’s hand, she pulled her into the large house.
Pushing his hands into the pockets of his slacks, Kumi followed the two women, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Bubbly, spontaneous Debbie could get the most uptight person to relax. She would be the perfect hostess for Maxwell’s. His smile was still in place as he headed for the kitchen.
Veronica was awed by the interiors of the proposed bed-and-breakfast as Deborah led her in and out of every room on the first and second levels. Highly waxed bleached oak floors gleamed under the brilliance of chandeliers, windows framed in stained glass sparkled from bright sunlight and walls were graced with patterns of wallpaper made popular at the beginning of the last century.
Veronica ran her fingers over the smooth surface of a desk in the sitting room of one of the larger bedroom suites. “This piece is exquisite.” There was no doubt it was an original.
Crossing her arms under her small breasts, Deborah gave Veronica a curious look. “You have a good eye for antiques.” Veronica nodded, her fingers tracing the outline of one of the five leaf and scroll-carved cabriole legs ending in hairy paw feet.
Turning, she stared at Deborah. “And you have exquisite taste in decorating.”
It was Deborah’s turn to nod. “And you have wonderful taste in men.”
Veronica lifted an eyebrow. “I assume you’re talking about Kumi?”
“But of course.”
“It doesn’t bother you that I’m older than he is?”
“Does it bother my brother?”
“Not in the least.”
“Then it’s fine with me. I’m five years older than Kumi, and I had always assumed the responsibility of protecting him from my father. But then Kumi went away, and when he didn’t come back after his tour with the Marine Corps I blamed myself.
“Dad was consumed with Kumi becoming a doctor because my two older brothers were better suited for careers in business. Larry is an actuary and Marvin is branch manager of a local bank. We all knew Kumi was gifted when he was able to read at three. Dad used to brag to his colleagues that his youngest son was able to solve mathematical and chemical equations in his head even before he entered high school.
“There’s been a Dr. Walker in our family for three generations, so the responsibility fell on Kumi to continue the tradition. I’m certain he would’ve gone to medical school if Dad hadn’t been so controlling.
“I kept saying I should’ve done more, said more.” She shrugged a shoulder, exhaling audibly. “I beat myself up for years until Kumi made me realize that we can’t change people, and if they don’t change, then you accept them for who they are.
“Dad’s not too old to change, it’s just that he doesn’t want to change.” Dropping her gaze, Deborah bit down on her lower lip. “I know that I’ve been running off at the mouth. I said all that to say that if Kumi wants you in his life, then who am I to question his decision? He’s never spoken or written to me about a woman before, therefore, you must be very special for him to introduce you to us.”
Veronica flashed a warm smile. “I’m very fond of Kumi.”
Deborah gave her a skeptical look. “Fond?”
“Yes, fond.” She didn’t know Deborah well enough to bare her soul to her. She had to know that she and Kumi were sleeping together, therefore, Veronica decided to let Deborah draw her own conclusions.
Deborah glanced at the watch on her wrist. They’d been gone for almost three quarters of an hour. She grinned mischievously. “Mom should be here now.”
Veronica recoiled as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “Kumi didn’t tell me he wanted me to meet his mother.”
“He doesn’t know I invited her. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“What about your father?”
“He went fishing with a few of his retired friends. He’ll be away for at least three days.”
Deborah clasped her hands together. “We’d better get back downstairs.” She winked at Veronica. “Your boyfriend has offered to do the cooking.”
She followed Deborah across a carpeted hallway and down a staircase with a solid oak banister and massive newel posts. She was certain Kumi would be surprised to see his mother, but Veronica wondered how Mrs. Walker would react when he introduced her to his friend.