Kneeling he pulled her legs up to straddle his thighs. She wrapped them around his waist feeling the firmness of his need beaconing. Eye to eye he nibbled her lips with caressing kisses leaving a trail of burning passion.
J.T. circled his palms against her nipples. She moaned in ecstasy as the heat of his mouth found the tiny pebbled nipples and devoured each.
Juliet reached between their bodies and found his hard and throbbing penis. She guided him closer to her core feeling him tense. Then in one powerful thrust he entered. She gasped in delight. The exquisite pain of pleasure filled her completely.
Together they danced the ancient rhythm of lovers as gentle kisses rained down on her face neck and shoulders. She held firm feeling the strength of his muscles stretch and tighten across his back.
He looked down into her eyes. They burned with seething passion as they rocked their hips in unison slowly at first then picking up the pace to a fevered frenzy. Their bodies thrust together in a frantic fury. Deeper and deep he plunged into her as her inner muscles tightened around him adding more to his already souring pleasure. Closer and closer they came perched just to the edge of the crescendo.
Then in unison they exploded as the sweet savored ecstasy they sought brought them to the brink of pleasure and sent them reeling over the edge into absolute ecstasy. Breathless and winded, he collapsed onto her. Weak with sated bliss he gathered her into his arms and rolled to the side bringing her on top of him reversing their position.
She lay there in perfect peace never wanting the world to return. J.T. wrapped his arms tighter as he brushed her wayward hair aside with his lips. He realized that he would never have enough of this woman in his arms. The thought of not having her by his side sent a tremble through him. Juliet closed her eyes and drifted to the peaceful place she always found when she was with him.
Sometime later J.T. had picked her up, turned off the lights and climbed the stairs. He laid her on his bed after coaxing her to put on one of his company t-shirts to prevent a chill in the night. Reluctantly she accepted it then drifted right back to a deep sleep.
J.T. sat awake for hours sitting out on the balcony staring out at the night sky. The rain had passed and a sweet clean scent filled the air. The dawning of a new day came too quickly. He watched it break against the sky’s horizon.
Hearing Juliet stir he stood and returned to her side in the bed. She instantly curled her body to fit him. He accepted her intimate closeness willingly. Moments later he drifted to a light sleep with dreams of the woman beside him in his bed.
Juliet woke up the next morning tucked comfortably in J.T.’s bed. She looked around remembering the masculine décor of his bedroom. She tossed the sheets back and smiled. She was dressed in an oversized E-Corp t-shirt. She got out of bed and walked to the balcony doors. The bright sunny day promised a new beginning. The rain had gone and the sweet fresh smell of peace filled her.
“Good morning,” J.T. said as he stood in the doorway behind her.
Juliet turned. He was the idealized GQ man, open white French cuff dress shirt, denim jeans, bare feet and a broad winning smile. “Good morning,” she replied. She’d never get enough of seeing this man’s chest.
He walked to her and handed her a cup of hot coffee. She took it sipping tentatively then sighed. It was exactly as she liked it. “Thank you, it’s perfect.”
“Good, breakfast will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Are Spanish omelets okay?”
“Perfect. I’m gonna take a shower first,” she said. He nodded and turned to go. “J.T., about last night…” she began.
“We’ll talk about that later. What do you have planned the rest of the day?” He asked curiously.
“I’m teaching a class this morning at the dance workshop in town then I’ll probably do some shopping.”
J.T. nodded and smiled. “Your clothes are clean and are hanging up in the closet or,” he smiled, “since that shirt looks so good on you, there’s more in the armoire.”
“Thanks.” She watched him leave then turned back to the balcony.
How perfect is this.
After a few moments to reflect on her day she went inside and grabbed a quick shower. The hot water and steam on her body felt wonderful. Refreshed and rejuvenated, she walked into the closet and easily found her sweat pants and jacket in with his suits.
She ran her finger along the perfectly hanging line suit jackets and pants. He had dozens of them all lined up at attention. She sat down on the cushioned bench in his dressing room and slipped into her pants. As she prepared to put on her shirt she remembered J.T. mentioned the company t-shirt. She grabbed one from the armoire and wrapped her jacket around her hips.
She smelled the food before she hit the stairs. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered. If this is what J.T. meant by being domestically self-sufficient then he was one exceptional man. The men she knew, her father, her half-brother and others couldn’t boil water if their lives depended on it.
But truthfully neither could she. She chuckled to herself at the reality of her totally un-domesticated state. As a cook she’d be terrible, as a housewife she be horrendous and as a mother, she thought happily, she’d be wonderful. The last step brought her to the open kitchen area where a breakfast table setting had already been laid out.
“I hope you’re hungry,” J.T. said as he saw her enter the kitchen area.
“Starved,” she walked over to the stove and grabbed a piece of bacon. Munching she looked around at the ordered disarray. He was mixing an egg batter, while twisting orange halves on a grinder, and flipping hash browns. He reached over picked up a knife and began chopping onions and red and green peppers to mix into the egg mixture.
Juliet was completely lost. The whole idea of having more than one pan on the stove at a time was mind-boggling.
“You look lost,” he said noticing the bewilderment on her face.
“I am. I’m not exactly
B.Smith
in the kitchen, or any other part of the house for that matter.”
“No problem, as long as one of us knows what he’s doing.”
She looked at him oddly. What was that supposed to mean. She opened her mouth to ask but thought better of it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know at this point.
“I see you’re talented in the kitchen.”
“I’m talented in several other rooms.”
“So I’ve noticed,” she said playing along.
“Want to help?”
“Dangerous question, how close is the nearest stomach pump?”
He chuckled. “Take this,” he handed her the small cutting board, “and drop these into the bowl. Mix it up with the fork and pour it into the pan once you see the butter beginning to bubble.”
“Are you kidding? How am I supposed to do all that?”
“Brilliantly, like you do everything else.”
She began her chore slowly inching the cut vegetables into the egg mixture. “You have way too much faith in me.”
“On the contrary,” he said. He wanted to say more but paused. She was skittish and the last thing he wanted to do again was scare her away.
When she had poured all the batter into the pan, J.T. stepped up to the stove as she took the bowl and cutting board to the sink. She let the water run in the bowl washing out the last remnants.
“About last night,” she began.
“I think we need more thyme,” J.T. interrupted, as he sprinkled parsley and other herbs into the pan.
Her heart jumped instantly at his suggestion. “Time?” she asked nervously.
“Yeah,” he said absently distracted by the skillet.
“Fine, time apart is probably best.”
J.T. turned to her, “I meant thyme, as in the herb. It’s over there on the far counter.” He pointed at small bunch of fresh thyme bundled together. She walked over grabbed the bunch and handed it to him. He pulled a few leaves, chopped, and then tossed them in the pan. An awkward silence filled the room. As the pan began to sizzle, he turned to her and took her hands. “Juliet if you need time, I understand. Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you.” She placed her hand on his and squeezed gently. “And thank you for the world, it’s beautiful.”
She picked up the herb bunch, looked at it then tossed it back down on the counter. “They really should change the name of this stuff.” J.T. smiled and shook his head chuckling inwardly. He loved the woman, every quirky, smart mouth, and temperamental part of her.
“Let’s eat.”
Chapter Twenty
A long white oblong box with a bright red tied ribbon lay on the side of steps. Unseen from the street or sidewalk, Patricia’s teenage step-daughter, Kimberly Franklin, noticed it a soon as she opened the wrought iron gate and walked up the brick path.
“Hey Juliet, you got a delivery,” Kimberly said as she hurried to the front steps carrying a shopping bag each hand and her dance bag over her shoulder. Jasmine Penbrook, Kimberly’s best friend and classmate since third grade, followed closely.
“Ooh, let me see,” Jasmine, said as she hurried to Kimberly’s side. “Who’s it from?”
Kimberly leaned to Jasmine’s ear, “I bet it’s the same guy from last night.” At fifteen years old Kimberly and Jasmine were as close as two friends could be. Just like Patricia and Juliet at their age, they were always in and out of each other’s homes and lives. What one knew, they both knew.
“Oh yeah, that’s right I forgot about him,” Jasmine agreed.
Overhearing them, Juliet looked at Patricia then to Jasmine and Kimberly. “What same guy from last night. What do you know about last night?”
“Well, since Uncle Pierce is out of town this week, and Jasmine was spending the night at our house last night…” Kimberly began.
Jasmine immediately chimed in ending Kimberly’s sentence, “…we all decided to go to the movies, so we picked a movie and then we decided that we should ask you since we figured since you were off today we could grab a bite to eat the hang out…”
“…So Aunt Patricia called you a couple of times…” Kimberly continued.
“…Even on your cell phone…” Jasmine added.
Kimberly nodded, “…but we didn’t get an answer, so we drove over here last night and your car was still here so we rang the bell, but there was no answer so…”
“…Aunt Patricia opened the door with her key…” Kimberly said.
“…‘Cause we were really worried…” Jasmine interrupted again.
“…And we looked around but you weren’t here so we figured you had a date and we went to eat then saw the movie and it was really good.”
Having looked at each girl as they spoke Juliet and Patricia turned their heads nearly a half dozen times. It was more like a tennis match volley then a conversation.
“That was exhausting,” Patricia said chuckling.
“I’m sorry I asked.” Juliet said opening the door.
“So what’s in the box,” the girls said in unison.
“Can we at least get in the house first?” Patricia said.
Sullenly, Kimberly and Jasmine walked inside. They dropped the shopping bags at the base of the steps and hurried back to Juliet with the coveted white box.
Juliet took the lid off, plucked the card for the bouquet and gave the box to the girls. They immediately tore at the green and white tissue paper. Juliet opened the envelope and chuckled as she read the card loud, “all the thyme in the world.”
“Yuck.” Kimberly turned her nose up.
“Oow, that’s disgusting,” Jasmine added. “Who would send you weeds?”