ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) (17 page)

Blake leaned back against the bench and took a huge swig of water. “Neither,” he replied moments later, lowering the water bottle from his mouth and meeting his cousin’s gaze. “The reason my game is off is because I’m still trying to get adjusted to the different time zones.”

“Hey, I can understand that,” Tyler said, wiping sweat from his face with a towel. “Are you interested in coming to my place tonight to watch a couple of movies? There are some action-packed flicks that hit Netflix this week.”

Blake shook his head as he stood. “No, I think I’ll pass. I need to get busy developing those photographs I took for Tonya today. Otherwise, she’ll be all over me tomorrow.”

Tyler nodded. “How did things go with that?”

Blake shrugged. “They went okay but we didn’t finish like I thought we would. I was hoping we could finalize things tomorrow but Justice has several business appointments so we won’t be able to finish up until Friday.” A part of him wanted to ask Tyler what he knew about Justice Manning. Specifically, he wanted to know if she was involved with anyone.

After Tyler and his cousins left, Blake went inside his grandmother’s house. She had gone to visit a sick friend at the hospital and had left his dinner warming in the oven. He smiled. His grandmother enjoyed cooking for him whenever he came to visit although he’d told her when he’d first arrived that she didn’t have to. But she did so anyway.

Before sitting down to eat he took a shower and decided that if he wasn’t too tired when he finished developing the photos, he would call Tyler to let him know he’d be coming over after all since there would be nothing for him to do later.

For as long as he could remember, the small windowless room in his grandmother’s basement had always served as his darkroom for developing film, and over the years it had pretty much remained intact.

In the dark he worked briskly to bring to life the photographs he had taken that day. A photographer was always eager to see what he had captured on film, the finished product. However, in this case there was more than eagerness that gripped him. He had an urgent need to see Justice again even if it was only in print.

Under the rays of the amber lights, he took a sip of a beer after one set of negatives was developed and hung to dry. Arching his back and stretching his shoulders, he set his attention to the next set, his thoughts already on the prints he would produce.

Less than an hour later he was sliding the film proofs under the enlarger, his breath catching in his throat. Letting go of the ease he’d always found when developing pictures, tension flowed through him as he quickly and methodically went through each frame. He brought the magnifier closer. It seemed each shot of Justice was more beautiful than the one before it . . . and more magnificent.

His favorite was of her posing in a huge recliner chair wearing a red satin slipdress that was tailored to fit her body. The outfit had been both simple and sexy, and with her wearing it, it had also been a total turn on. The way she had gazed into the camera had clearly showed the passionate woman he believed her to be. No woman could have such a look and be otherwise. Then there was the tattoo of
Lady Justice
on the upper part of her left leg. He had angled his camera so he wouldn’t capture the Lady and her scales on film for Internet viewing, but he had managed to get a few close shots for himself. These copies were his and his alone.

Neither Tonya nor Justice had seen the burning intensity in the eyes that had looked through the lens, holding Justice in their view. And neither had known the heavy pulse of his body with every click of his camera as he captured her on film wearing lingerie guaranteed to catch a man’s eye. She had worn lingerie whose sole purpose was to stimulate and project the self-assurance that what you saw is what you got.

He swore and a tremor quivered through his body. As far as he was concerned each photo was perfect and there were none to be eliminated. Each in its own way had a story to tell. He had used his expertise to capture the woman and all her sensuous flesh, and how the sheer material could caress and accentuate everything feminine.

In the span of one day the woman had amused him with her witty conversations with Tonya, stimulated him whenever he heard the sound of her voice, and razzled and bedazzled his mind and body every time she modeled a different piece of lingerie.

Heat blazed his eyes as he continued to study the proofs. The lighting had been perfect, striking her at just the right angles, making her skin appear a golden brown. Then there were her fluid movements. With practiced ease she had shifted her body with each flash and had smiled sensuously into the camera while fire had lit through his blood. Each outfit she’d worn was designed to show the voluptuousness of her hips and thighs, rounded curves as well as the fullness and ampleness of her breasts. He had been filled with thoughts of taking those breasts into his mouth, tasting, sucking and with the moist stroke of his tongue and the gentle scrape of his teeth, driving her, as well as himself, deliriously insane.

The sound of the doorbell snapped him out of his erotic haze. Leaving the darkroom he made his way up the stairs out of the basement and to the door. He did a double take when he looked through the peephole. He immediately felt a tightening in his gut and the hot, jagged edges of his senses escalated to full awareness. Justice Manning was standing on the opposite side of the door.

He took a deep breath as his pulse kicked hard. He couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was wrong with him. No woman had ever made nerve-ending heat rush through his veins with such intoxicating speed before, and he didn’t quite know what to make of it. As far as he was concerned, no woman was worth all this fuss and lust.

So he wanted her. Big deal. He’d wanted other women before and all of them he had found incredibly sensual. But even as he accepted those thoughts with shattering intensity, a part of him was forced to admit that when it came to Justice Manning, there was more than a longing to touch, taste and devour. This had to be the most erotic person he had ever known. Then there was also a need he hadn’t counted on: an intense, potent need for a woman he’d only met that day. With a mental grimace, he shook his head thinking that
had
to be the craziest thing.

When she rang the doorbell again he inhaled a deep breath. “Stay in control and accept lust for what it is,” he murmured low in his throat before reaching for the doorknob. While he may enjoy the fantasy elements that visions of Justice evoked, he had to deal with reality, and the reality of it all was that the last thing he wanted was an involvement with any woman.

***

Justice checked her watch. Usually Gramma Savoy would be home and she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she had stepped out a while. She was about to turn to leave when she heard the sound of the door opening slowly.

And then he stood there staring, the depths of his hazel eyes making her senses leap. Blake Savoy. The man who had occupied her thoughts most of the day. It had been the first time a man had outright fascinated her and he had a definite way of reminding her she was a woman.

A woman with needs. Some tapped. Most of them not.

The awkwardness of the moment was somewhat downplayed by the chemistry openly flowing between them to the point that it would be a waste of time to pretend things were normal. But still she knew they would try like hell anyway.

“Justice, this is a pleasant surprise,” Blake finally said.

His words coaxed a smile from her. They eased the tension a bit, but definitely not enough. The sound of his voice, low and husky, sent a warm ache flowing through all parts of her body. And it didn’t help matters that he looked good enough to eat with the snug pullover shirt he was wearing and a pair of jeans. He’d worn jeans earlier that day but a different pair. The ones he had on now were well-worn and even more a perfect fit. And they seemed to radiate body heat since she could definitely feel warmth emitting from his body.

“Would you like to come in?”

It was at that moment she realized she had been staring and had not responded to his greeting. “Oh, hi, sorry but I’m surprised to see you here,” she said, giving him a truthful excuse as she entered the house when he stepped aside.

He closed the door behind her, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door and lifted a brow. “Why are you surprised? My grandmother lives here.”

“Yes, but I thought you’d probably be staying with Tyler or one of your other cousins while in town.”

“No, whenever I come to visit this is where I stay. I don’t think my grandmother would have it any other way.” He moved away from the door and came to stand directly in front of her. “If you’re here to see her, she stepped out and I can’t tell you when she’ll be returning. She’s at the hospital visiting a sick church member.”

Justice nodded as she tried to ignore the flutter in the pit of her belly with his nearness. This, she thought, had to be the epitome of sexual chemistry since it’s been boiling over all day.

“The photographs came out great.”

His statement came midway through some naughty thoughts she was about to have and her need to leave quickly. “They did? Then I’m glad. Tonya wanted to get that Web site finished and up as soon as possible.”

Blake nodded. He wasn’t sure just how he felt about those photographs being on Tonya’s Web site for everyone to see, especially men. One look at her in those outfits and any man in his right mind would immediately visualize naked skin and rustling sheets.

But then, Tonya had fully explained that had been the whole intent behind Tonya’s Temptations: to prove that full-figured women could hold their own in the sexy department. He would definitely not argue with that because the woman standing before him didn’t lack anything. In fact, he liked the very thought that she was so well stacked in what he considered to be all the right places.

His gaze slowly and thoroughly raked in all of her. She had changed from what she’d been wearing earlier and was now dressed in a blue skirt and a white blouse. The outfit was casual as well as seductive. And then there were these cute little sandals that she wore on her feet. Speaking of feet, hers looked good. He’d always gotten a good, hard throb looking at a woman’s feet and hers were smooth and her toes were neatly trimmed and polished a sultry red, the same color as her fingernails.

“Well, I’d better be going.”

He returned his gaze to her face. Evidently his close scrutiny of her had made her nervous because now she was in a hurry to leave. But a part of him wanted her to stay, if only for a little while. And he would love to show her his darkroom.

He cleared his throat. “Would you like to see the photographs?” he asked, thinking that was one way to get her downstairs. He could imagine being alone with her in the dark and at the moment would find just about any excuse to get her there.

“I’d better not. Tonya prefers seeing the photographs before anyone else and she likes picking out the ones she wants without any of the models’ input.” Her smile widened. “Probably because she knows that if we had our say, we’d probably balk about the ones she thinks are good.”

His lips parted on a smile, thinking that very well sounded like Tonya. “All right. Would you like for me to tell my grandmother anything other than the fact that you came by?”

“No, there’s nothing else to add. She knows I drop by occasionally just to sit and chat.”

He nodded and seeing no reason to hold her up any longer – at least no reason that he thought she would go along with – he walked her to the door. “I’ll let her know. And I’ll be seeing you on Friday.”

“Yes, I have business in Baltimore tomorrow and won’t be back until late tomorrow night. But I promise to be at Tonya’s on time. Good night, Blake.”

“Good night, Justice.” After he closed the door behind her, Blake spent several minutes leaning against it, trying to get his emotions back in balance and his mind back in focus. He could stand there all night and debate why he shouldn’t feel such an attraction to Justice Manning, but it would be a complete waste of his time because he did feel an attraction to her and had from the first. The question of the hour was how he would control it and not let it go any further when she was so damn irresistible.

He puffed out a heated breath and knew he had to come up with some answers. Seconds ticked by and the only thing he could come up with was that he wouldn’t have to come in contact with her any more after Friday. He should be able to wrap up all the photography work by then and afterward there was no reason their paths should cross for the remaining three weeks of his stay in Alexandria.

He would stand his ground and no matter how much chemistry flowed between him and Justice, he would bottle it and keep the lid on tight. Chin high, confidence raised, he walked away from the door thinking he had everything in full control.

Justice’s heart and blood and mind were still racing as she swung her car into her driveway less than twenty minutes later. Cutting off the ignition car she inhaled deeply then blew out a long breath. Tonight would be another night that she spent alone. At any other time that thought would not have bothered her in the least, but that was before she’d gotten a good look at Blake and he had reminded her of just what she was missing out on as a woman.

As she walked into her house and closed and locked the door behind her, a sheen of perspiration began soaking her skin. It would be one of those nights when a vigorous shower would do wonders. But she knew that nothing would relieve her from the rare chemistry and that soul-sizzling connection she had with Blake Savoy.