This Winter Night Page 15

  “If you designed the house,” Colton told her, his cheek pressed to hers. “I’d gladly build it.”

  Lauren laughed. “It would take an architectural genius to design a house that would not only be able to be built on rocky terrain but have form and function.”

  “Then why don’t we simply build a house together in Raleigh?” Colton suggested.

  Lauren craned her neck to look back at him. “Are we building castles or are we being serious here?”

  “We’re doing both,” he said. He carefully turned her around to face him, his hands on her upper arms so that they both kept their balance.

  “I love you, Lauren,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes.

  Lauren was elated. She loved him, too, and she had hoped that he shared the same feelings but she’d been afraid to tell him how she felt. “I’m so relieved I’m not in this alone,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

  As they looked intensely into each other’s eyes, Colton wanted to freeze the moment and keep it this way forever. She loved him. He could die happy.

  But then loose rocks above began rolling toward them and suddenly their footing was not so sure after all. They fell and began sliding down the rocky incline they’d been standing on. Because he was heavier, Colton was rolling downward faster than Lauren. He tried to hold on to her as they fell, but the momentum made it impossible to do so. Lauren felt their fingers disconnect. She was trying not to panic. Luckily, they weren’t near a cliff. Eventually, their descent would stop and they would be able to get back up and walk out of here.

  She was right. Colton ended up bumping into a huge outgrowth of a pine tree’s roots and as she was rolling past him he reached out and grabbed her, thereby stopping her descent.

  For a few minutes all they could do was hold each other and catch their breaths. She looked him over. He had scratches on his face but he looked none the worse for wear. As he looked back at her, the expression in his gray eyes went from concerned to relieved.

  “You’ve got a scratch across your left eyebrow,” he said, “otherwise you look okay. How do you feel?”

  She managed a weak smile. “I don’t think anything’s broken. How about you?”

  Colton’s one dimple winked at her. “Never better,” he said. “Do you see what falling for you gets me?”

  They rose carefully to their feet. “You’re so corny,” Lauren said of his “falling for you” comment.

  “If we make it back to the cabin I’m going to show you corny,” he promised.

  “You mean when we make it back to the cabin,” she corrected him.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Colton said with a smile.

  Hand in hand, they slowly made their way back up to the path where they encountered a couple about to embark on the same trail. The couple eyed them with curiosity. Lauren imagined they had dirt and leaves stuck on their clothes to say nothing of the scratches marring exposed skin.

  “Are you okay?” the woman asked.

  “The rocks are a bit loose back there,” Colton told them. “So watch your step.”

  They continued walking. They heard the woman say to her partner, “Maybe we ought to turn back.”

  But her partner pooh-poohed her misgivings.

  Lauren squeezed Colton’s hand. “Hear that? I brought you here and almost got you killed but it was worth it.”

  Colton glanced down at her, his eyes alight with humor. “You told me you loved me. That was worth it.”

  Lauren grinned. “You say the sweetest things.”

  * * *

  An hour or so later they were soaking in the sunken tub of Lauren’s cabin playing footsies. “I’m worried about what could happen to you...now that I love you and you know it,” Lauren said as her right foot found a sensitive area of his body and gently caressed it with her toes.

  Colton was finding it difficult to think with her foot where it was. “What do you mean?”

  “I told you about the curse, didn’t I?”

  He’d had his eyes closed enjoying the moment. But now he opened them and looked at her. “I thought you didn’t believe in it.”

  “I don’t,” she said, “But I also didn’t believe I’d ever meet a decent man and fall in love. And here we are.”

  “You have a way of making your life harder than it needs to be,” Colton said as he sat up on his end of the tub and removed her foot from his crotch. “I command you to think only positive thoughts for the rest of the weekend.” He pulled her toward him and she climbed on top of him, water splashing over the sides of the tub to the floor. He squeezed her bottom with both hands as their groins rubbed together in the warm soapy water. Lauren cooed with delight. This was infinitely better than tumbling down a hill in a national forest, she thought.

  Colton had been semierect throughout their playful foreplay. Now he was fully erect and ready for her to impale herself on him. But Lauren had other ideas. She reached behind him and pulled the tub’s plug. Then she kissed him briefly and got up. Thanks to the nonslip ridges in the tub’s bottom she didn’t fear falling when she grabbed his hand and coaxed him to his feet. “Let’s move this to the bedroom, okay? I’m cold.”

  He was happy to oblige her. In fact, he took great pleasure in taking the removable showerhead and rinsing the suds off her beautiful brown body, then patting her down with a fluffy white towel. He liked pampering her. If she’d let him, he’d wash her hair, but Lauren had a thing about her hair. She was tender-headed and didn’t trust he’d be gentle—something about his big man hands. He smiled as he held her bathrobe for her and she slipped inside it. She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed his chin. “Your turn,” she murmured, her voice sexy. She dried him off and held his robe open for him in return. After he was ensconced in its warmth he bent and swept her into his arms and carried her to the adjoining bedroom.

  Lauren giggled. “Don’t drop me. I’ve been beat up enough for one day.”

  “I’m not going to drop you, woman, but I do believe you’ve put on a few pounds lately.”

  “I weigh the same as I did the day we met,” Lauren claimed. “But if I have gained a few you can blame yourself, Mr. Gourmet Chef.”

  Colton dropped her onto the bed and turned to remove his robe and deposit it on the floor. Turning back he watched her as she followed his every movement. He liked it when she couldn’t draw her eyes away from him.

  Lauren removed her robe and tossed it onto a nearby chair. She moved backward on the bed, her eyes riveted on Colton’s cinnamon-brown body, the muscles rippling enticingly as he walked toward her. “Like what you see?” he asked as he straddled her and forced her legs apart.

  Lauren arched her back, her pelvis thrust upward. “You’re so damned vain. Maybe I simply admire the human body in all its aesthetic beauty, much like, as an architect, I admire a beautiful building.”

  Colton chuckled. “Or maybe looking at me makes you wet and horny as hell.”

  “Must you be so crude?” she asked, pretending to be aghast at his choice of words.

  “Too titillating for you?” he asked as he bent and licked the nipple of her right breast. His hot tongue laved the hardened nipple until Lauren writhed with pent-up sexual desire. He paid equal attention to the left nipple. Then he kissed his way down past her rib cage to her belly and farther still until he was feasting on her feminine center with abandon.

  Lauren moaned loudly. Her inhibitions were long gone and her will abolished under the assault of his mouth. She came with a shout and even then Colton didn’t let up, but only slowed down to coincide with her trembling release.

  “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she cried repeatedly.

  That only increased his ardor. His penis was hard and throbbing, and by the time he got a condom on he could barely contain the need to enter her. She was more than ready for him a
nd he slipped inside, her folds welcoming him with hot intensity. Lauren clung to him, her legs wrapped tightly around him. His thrusts were so deep she felt he might tear her asunder but at that moment all she cared about was the pleasure of loving him and being loved by him. She grabbed his ass with both hands and held on. She could feel his muscles flexing as he moved. The hot steel of his shaft filled her up.

  The walls of her vagina quivered with the lovely friction. She felt another orgasm coming on and at the same time that Colton growled his release, she exploded again. Together, they fell onto the bed and faced one another, smiling gently, breathing hard.

  “I like this much better than hiking,” she told him sincerely.

  Colton laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Chapter 14

  Their weekend in the mountains would be the last vacation they would be able to take for months to come. Work kept them extremely busy. The building business was booming due to the improved economy and both Lauren and Colton benefited from it. In October, Lawrence, Mayer and McGill, pleased with Lauren’s work on the children’s hospital, offered her a partnership, which she accepted. She also hired an intern, a twenty-year-old African American woman named Deanna Lane, who was currently attending Duke University.

  Colton, who usually thrived on getting out in the field, found himself more and more in the office with clients. He missed the physical labor but knew as head of the company he had to show leadership and keep them fiscally strong. That meant he had to court clients and once he landed them, keep them happy and eager to do business with them over and over again. Now he knew what his father meant when he’d said that you always had to have your business cap on.

  As for his love life, it remained hot and heavy. They’d exchanged keys and it wasn’t unusual for Lauren to come home from work and find him in her kitchen preparing a meal for them.

  On the night before Thanksgiving, Colton came home and found Lauren not in his tub but asleep in his bed. He stood there smiling at the image she made, like a black Goldilocks snoozing away while the big bad bear arrived home and discovered her in his bed. He got undressed and climbed in with her. She awakened as soon as he knelt on the bed, and blinked at him. Smiling, she murmured, “You’re home.”

  He kissed her and pulled her close, pulling the covers over both of them. “It’s cold outside.”

  She snuggled into him, her warm, naked body molding itself to him. “But it’s warm in here.”

  “Not that I’m not happy to see you,” he said, looking into her eyes, “but you said you and your sisters were spending the night at your parents’ house to help your mother prepare Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “I know I did,” she said softly, “and I meant to, but Momma nixed that. She said it’s time we started cooking dinner ourselves and inviting her and Daddy to our houses. So Desiree volunteered for duty. We’re all going to her house tomorrow for dinner.”

  “Isn’t that a lot of cooking on Desiree?”

  “Desi’s not cooking. Don’t tell Momma but she got on the phone with a caterer the minute after she told us she’d handle it. She’s organized like that.”

  “Yay, Desiree,” Colton said. “Now, come here.”

  * * *

  Benjamin closed the lodge for Thanksgiving, so he and Amina drove to Raleigh to spend time with the family. His old blue Ford pickup was parked in Desiree’s driveway when Lauren and Colton arrived the next day at noon. It looked out of place next to the other late-model cars and SUVs.

  Desiree met them at the door looking cool and collected and chic in a royal-blue dress and black patent leather pumps. Lauren kissed her proffered cheek. “You didn’t say anything about dressing up.”

  She and Colton wore casual clothes. He was in navy blue Dockers and a white short-sleeved shirt, a black hoodie and athletic shoes. She wore black slacks and a lavender pullover top, a black hoodie and athletic shoes.

  Desiree looked her over. “You look great. I’m a nervous wreck and I need my armor to get me through today. I’ve already been busted. Momma inspected the kitchen and found the containers the catered food came in. I’ll never live it down.”

  Lauren laughed. “You’re a psychotherapist. Don’t you have some kind of psychological trick that’ll get you through today?”

  “Yes,” Desiree said, “and it involves mimosas. I’ve got a pitcher mixed in the kitchen. Help yourself.”

  Lauren looked closely at her sister’s eyes. They were a little glazed. “Desi, are you drunk?”

  Desiree smiled. “That’s a possibility.”

  Desiree closed the front door after Lauren and Colton were inside then gestured to the great room to the left of the foyer, which served as the entertainment room. “Everybody’s in there. Make yourselves comfortable while I go check on the rolls I put in the oven a few minutes ago.”

  Desiree’s home was immaculate like its owner. The air was redolent with enticing aromas of food cooking. Two-stories, it had high ceilings, hardwood floors throughout except for tile in the kitchen and baths. She liked open spaces so the rooms were tastefully decorated with minimalist furnishings in modern styles. Knickknacks were few and far between but she had a penchant for African American artists like Romare Bearden. Prints of his watercolors could be found above the fireplace in the spacious living room and on her bedroom wall.

  Lauren and Colton were greeted as soon as they entered the great room. Virginia and Fonzi were sitting on the couch with Amina between them. Benjamin sat in a chair across from them and Meghan sat on the arm of her grandfather’s chair. There was a football game on TV.

  Amina got up to hug Lauren. “I haven’t seen you since April,” Lauren cried. She took in Amina’s huge Afro. “You look like that jazz artist, what’s her name?”

  “Esperanza Spalding,” Meghan spoke up from her perch on the arm of Benjamin’s chair. “I love her.”

  Lauren touched her sister’s hair. “You look fierce!”

  “Thanks,” Amina said. “I’m having fun being natural these days. My hair feels so much stronger in its natural state.”

  “How is life in the mountains? Have you met any nice guys?”

  Amina laughed. “If I were looking for a guy I’d be out of luck up there. They’re either married or Grandpa’s age.”

  Benjamin heard that and had to add, “She’s not lying. I told her a guy’s going to have to drop out of the sky for her.”

  “Mina’s not looking for a man. She’s there to learn the business. How is that part going?” Virginia interjected.

  “She’s smart as all get-out,” Benjamin said proudly. “She already knows more than I know about customer relations. The guests love her. She’s going to be just fine, Virginia.”

  Virginia sat back on the couch beside Fonzi, satisfied with her father’s assessment of his granddaughter.

  “Enough about me,” said Amina, her teasing gaze encompassing Lauren and Colton. “How are you two doing? You haven’t taken anymore spills since Mingo Falls, have you?”

  “No, thank goodness,” Lauren answered for both of them. “We’ve stayed out of the woods.”

  “This is the first I’ve heard of an incident involving you and Colton at Mingo Falls,” Virginia said, her eyes on Lauren. “When were you there?”

  “In April,” Lauren answered easily. “We went to Bryson City for the weekend.”

  “You’d only known one another four months at that time,” Virginia commented.

  Lauren’s face went hot with embarrassment. Surely her mother wasn’t going to discuss her sex life in front of everyone.

  “Ginny,” Fonzi said in warning tones.

  But Virginia would not be muzzled. “Am I the only one in this family who thinks their relationship is going too fast?”

  She turned to Fonzi. “You don’t think that Lauren needs to
get her head together before getting too emotionally attached to Colton? She just got out of a marriage.”

  “Mother, I’m standing right here. If you have a problem with me, please direct your comments to me.”

  “I don’t like your tone of voice, young lady,” Virginia told her, standing up to face her. Lauren was nearly a foot taller than her mother.

  “And I don’t like yours,” Lauren said respectfully. “How can you possibly have a problem with my relationship with Colton? He’s been nothing but a gentleman.”

  Virginia turned to look at Colton who had taken a seat on the chair beside Benjamin’s. “You’re a good man. I know that. I have no problem with you. I have a problem with my daughter getting out of one marriage and immediately getting involved with another man. A decent man whose heart she might break when she discovers that she’s not ready to be everything he needs her to be. Mainly because she hasn’t yet resolved issues relating to her recent marriage.” Her gaze back on Lauren now, she continued, “You haven’t been divorced a year. Are you over Adam?”

  Lauren’s eyes bugged out. Her mother obviously didn’t care that she was embarrassing her in front of Colton.

  “I could tell you things about Adam that would curl your hair and you would never again doubt that I’m completely over him,” Lauren said, her voice strangled. “But I won’t do that here and now. That’s private and actually, it’s none of your business. I love you, Momma, but you’re too hard on the people you care about. Is it any wonder none of your daughters have been able to find happiness with a man?”

  She hadn’t meant to say that, but there it was. She couldn’t take it back. Her expression remorseful, she said, “That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean to suggest it’s your fault, but we are always aiming for perfection because of your influence and because we don’t want to disappoint you. My God, I stayed with Adam longer than I should have because I didn’t want to admit defeat. You and Daddy told me before I married him that he couldn’t be trusted and I married him anyway. Do you know how badly I felt when the marriage failed? It meant I would have to hear ‘I told you so’ from you, Momma!”