Read Just Can't Get Enough Online
Authors: Cheris Hodges
Just Can't Get Enough (23 page)
CHAPTER 23
Days after Thomas's funeral, Rena and John returned to Chicago. Rena asked Celina if she wanted to return with them for a few days to clear her head.
“This is my home now,” Celina said. “Darius and I have a lot of work to do.”
“So, my next visit is going to be for your gallery opening, huh?” Rena asked. “Well, at least you've decided to put some roots down somewhere. And thank God you have gotten out of New York. I never liked you living there. That place is so dangerous and you were all alone and . . .”
“Ma, why don't you get in the car before you miss your flight?” Celina said, then kissed her mother on the cheek.
Rena hugged Celina, then stepped back and took a good look at her daughter. “You've been eating pretty good? You're getting thick.”
Celina looked down at her midsection. Was her mother right? She had been eating more lately, and she hadn't been working out as much as she did in New York. She wouldn't admit it, but she was beginning to think that she really was pregnant, though she knew she wouldn't be showing so soon. Still, something told her she needed to be sure.
After Rena and John left, Celina headed for the drugstore. “Good morning,” the clerk said when she walked in. Waving, Celina quickly ducked toward the back of the store where the pregnancy tests were. Before picking up an EPT test, she looked around to make sure she didn't see anyone because the last thing she wanted was to be the talk of the town or have someone tell Darius what she'd been buying. Celina grabbed two rapid response tests, then sped to the register. After checking out, she headed back to her house, desperately praying that the tests would be negative. She was more than a little thankful that Darius had returned to work that day so she could take the tests in private. It wasn't that she was trying to hide her suspicions from him, but she didn't want to get his hopes up.
Opening the box and reading the instructions, Celina was poised to take the test, when there was a knock at the door. Shoving the tests underneath the sink, she dashed to the front door and found Darius standing there.
“Hi,” she said when she opened the door. Darius picked her up and spun her around. “What's going on?” she asked, totally confused and flustered.
“We got it.” Darius's eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Got what?”
“Space for the gallery. Celina, you're going to love it.”
“So, when am I going to see this great place?” she asked, clasping her hands together. Though she put on an excited face, part of her wanted to take the pregnancy test and find out if her suspicions were correct.
“What are you doing now?” he asked.
“What-what do you mean?” Nervousness crept up her back. Did he know?
“Hiding something, Ms. Hart? You seem a little nervous.”
Celina smiled brightly and stroked his forearm. “Why would you say something silly like that? Everything is fine.”
Darius stepped back and looked at Celina as if he were asking, “are you sure?” “Come on, let's go, then.”
Celina grabbed her keys from the coffee table and followed Darius out the front door. When they got in the car, Celina considered telling him about her pregnancy suspicions.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she replied. “I'm just amazed that you had time to do this.”
“I work for myself, remember? I can do what I want to do.”
Celina smiled. “That's right. You're the boss, at least at the hardware store.”
Darius took Celina's hand in his and kissed it. “Have you been working on some masterpieces to hang in the gallery?” he asked.
Celina shrugged her shoulders. “I haven't really felt like painting. You know, maybe we should have some classes for kids in the summer and on Saturdays. Or maybe we should come up with a summer camp to expose the kids to art.”
“What's with all the talk about kids?” Darius asked as he pulled up to a warehouse.
“You know how it was growing up here. There was never anything to do in the summer. If we did something like a summer program, the kids would have something constructive to do.” Celina got out of the car and looked up at the building as she shielded her eyes from the sun. “Wow,” she said.
Darius walked up behind her, brushing his lips against her neck. “You like it?”
Celina turned around and wrapped her arms around Darius and squealed with delight. “I love it.”
Suddenly, Darius reached into his pocket and pulled out a burgundy velvet box. He dropped down on one knee and looked up at Celina, whose mouth had dropped open.
“I know you have a lot on you right now. Your life is changing and I want to be here for you. I need you in my life, today, tomorrow, and forever.” Darius opened he box, revealing a princess-cut diamond ring in a white gold setting. “I want to be your husband and I need you to be my wife.”
She blinked her eyes rapidly to hold back her tears. “Darius, I don't know what to say.”
He stood up and caressed her face. “All you have to do is say âyes,'” he said. “I know you didn't answer me before and my timing was probably off when I asked after your father's funeral.”
Celina chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, out of nervous habit. He stared into her eyes as he held the ring out to her.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Darius, I love you so much. I never felt this way about a man before. You've brought something into my life that I never wanted to give myselfâa chance to fall in love. Then I came home and found you.”
Darius slid the three-carat diamond ring on her finger, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her long, hard, and passionately. Neither of them heard the footsteps creeping up behind them.
“Well, isn't this a postcard,” Tiffany said, causing the couple to break off their kiss.
Celina shot a contemptuous glance her way. “Why don't you go stalk someone else?”
Tiffany laughed. “I'm not stalking anyone. You and your boyfriend think too highly of yourselves. You're on a public street; anyone could have passed by and seen such a nasty public display. What would your poor dead father think of making a spectacle of yourself like this? Then again, from what I've heard, Thomas Hart wasn't much better.”
Darius held Celina back as she lunged for Tiffany. “Why don't you just leave us alone,” Darius said as he struggled to hold his fiancée. She wiggled in his arms like a minx, itching to rip Tiffany apart.
“That's your specialty, leaving people alone. Remember all of the promises that you made to me about us being together?” Tiffany snapped. “Don't get too comfortable with Darius. As soon as you step out of his box, he's gone.”
“That's the difference between me and you, Tiffany,” Celina flashed her hand in her face. “Darius is committed to me. He never made a commitment to you.”
Tiffany shuddered as she looked at the ring. “You're marrying her?”
“Yes, Darius made a commitment to me and there's nothing you can do to change it, because he doesn't want you,” Celina snapped.
Tiffany narrowed her eyes into tiny slits. “You will not make it down the aisle, mark my words,” she threatened.
Celina reached out and grabbed Tiffany by the collar. “You're not a threat to me, but I have a warning for you. Stay away from us, or you're going to regret the day you met me.”
Darius whispered for Celina to calm down. She released Tiffany and gave her a little push. Tiffany's nostrils flared as she turned to walk away.
Celina turned to Darius. “Do you believe her? She follows me to New York and then she comes here with these lies. She's lucky that I didn't deck her for that crack about my father.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side, Ms. New York,” Darius joked. “And to think I wondered how you made it in the city.”
Celina gave Darius a playful shove and laughed. “You know what, I'm not going to let her steal my joy.”
Darius wrapped his arms around her. “So, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?” His breath tickled her neck.
Looking into his eyes, she never realized that love could feel this good, this right, and this special. She kissed him gently on the lips, then boldly grabbed his hands and slipped them inside her shorts.
“I want you,” she whispered against his ear. Darius reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.
“Let's go inside,” he moaned as he stroked her upper thigh with his thumb. “We don't want to give the town a show.”
Celina stepped back, allowing Darius to open the door. “How did you get the keys?” she asked.
Darius smiled, then pushed the door open. “I'm full of surprises.” Celina walked in and smiled at the scene. The place was decorated with white and yellow roses, and a pink and blue blanket was spread in the middle of the floor with a bucket of ice holding a bottle of champagne, a plate of strawberries beside the bucket. Celina didn't care about the blank walls or the hard slate floor. All she saw was the beauty in what Darius had done for her to make this day special. “Darius,” she murmured. He turned around and handed her the keys.
“It's all yours,” he said.
“What?”
“This is yours, for you and our future,” he said as he waved his hand.
“Darius, I can't accept this. It's too much.” He shook his head as he reached down and picked up a succulent strawberry and placed it between her lips.
“It isn't,” he said as she bit into the berry. “There's nothing I won't do for you and our future. You're the most important thing to me.”
Celina unbuttoned her blouse and slid it from her shoulders. In the back of her mind, she wondered how long it would be before she started showing the world she was carrying Darius' child. Grabbing her hands, he took over undressing her. Darius pulled her shorts down, slipping the denim garment over her long legs, then he scooped her up in his arms and laid her down on the blanket. She looked up at him as he slowly took off his golf shirt. Every time Celina saw his body, she felt inspired to paint. Darius was definitely her muse. She wondered if their child would look like her or Darius. Maybe the child would look like his or her grandparents. Darius leaned down on top of Celina, gently kissing her collarbone, nibbling on her as if she were a tasty treat. Celina's body was wrought with desire, hot with yearning, and she clutched his back, pulling him down on top of her to let him know she was ready.
“Slow down, baby,” Darius said. “We have all day, all night, and all our lives.” She relaxed and let him take control of her body. Unsnapping the front clasp of her satin bra, he took her full breasts into his mouth, moving from left to right. His tongue teased her nipples, making them hard as rocks. Celina moaned in delight as he slowly slid down her body, blazing a trail to her hot center. She arched her back, pressing her supple body against his mouth. Darius ran his hand down the valley of her breasts as he kissed the tender skin between her legs. Celina was on fire and near explosion as his tongue darted in and out of her, lashing against her tender bud.
She closed her eyes as he dove deeper, lapping up her womanly juice. “Oh,” she moaned as she reached back, grabbing the blanket as Darius led her to the edge of ecstasy. Pulling back, he reached for the bottle of champagne, then made quick work of opening it. Next, he poured it down her stomach and drank from her body, making her nerves stand on end. Celina closed her eyes, lost in the sensations Darius's tongue elicited as it touched her most sensitive spot. She stroked the back of his neck as the waves of an orgasm attacked her senses.
Darius looked up at her. “How do you feel?” he asked as he spread her legs and eased between them.
“Good, really good,” she replied breathlessly. His manhood throbbed against her thighs and she took his burgeoning erection in her hand, stroking him back and forth. Darius threw his head back as she moved her hand faster and faster. Darius reached into his discarded pants and pulled a condom from his pocket. She took the red packet from his hand, opened it, then slid the latex sheet on Darius before guiding him to the hot folds of flesh between her thighs. Pressing her body closer to him, Celina felt every inch of him inside her and she tightened herself around him. She tried to lose herself inside him. Their bodies were intertwined like ribbon. Celina clasped her lips against Darius's neck, muffling moans of passion, as he played her body like a skilled musician, finding every erogenous zone and pleasure point that she had.
When Darius rolled over on his back, it was Celina's turn to play conductor. With her legs locked around him, Celina threw her body backwards, grinding against him as sweat beaded on their bodies. She held his face in her hands as she began to shiver and Darius ran his hands up and down her spine, as if he knew she was near climax. Falling against his chest, she gave in to the eruption between her legs. Darius held her tightly as the same feeling washed over him. Clinging to each other, they settled on the blanket in a spoon shape as the aftershocks of their lovemaking rippled through their senses.
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