Scandalous (10 page)

C
rystal was still humming as she tossed the last of her clothes into her suitcase. She still couldn't believe the evening she'd spent with David. David Hall was like a dream come true. He was handsome beyond description, funny, intelligent, gainfully employed, and on his way to New York in the morning!

The two hours that they'd spent together at Jade's had her feeling as if they'd known each other for a long time. When he'd approached her table just to say hello, she'd been momentarily reluctant to take him up on his request to join him at the bar for a drink. Eventually, she had, and so far, she hadn't regretted one minute. He was every bit the gentleman and had even waited until she'd gotten a cab. They'd made plans to meet at Union Station in the morning and share the ride to New York.

Her heart beat a bit faster. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and the glow that haloed her face was
unmistakable. She'd finally found someone who sparked her interest. Hot damn! She'd give anything to have a crystal ball to see what the future held for her and David Hall.

It took all her willpower not to pick up the phone and call Vaughn. She was itching to tell her about David. But if Vaughn had the sense she was born with, she should be busy creating some unforgettable moments with Justin.

 

Vaughn and Justin spent most evenings together either out on the town or at her home. This would be her first look at how the man in her life lived. But she truly was not prepared for what awaited her.

Vaughn was moved to momentary speechlessness by the classy decor of Justin's home. If she'd expected either all-out opulence or downright bachelor bizarre, she found neither. Instead, Justin's modest but infinitely tasteful abode was furnished with a balanced mixture of the Afrocentric and the contemporary.

The color scheme was an intricate blend of olive walls contrasting ingeniously with soft golds and burnished orange and bronze. The effect was breathtaking. The dimmed recessed lighting gave an overall effect of tranquility and, yes, intimacy. Corner spaces were filled with either standing handcarved African sculptures or wrought-iron vases filled to overflowing with silk flowers and dried stems. The walls were adorned with artwork of various sizes and apparently, various stages of completion.

“Who's the artist?” Vaughn asked in admiration and a good deal of curiosity, walking closer to a particularly exquisite piece for a better inspection.

“I dabble here and there,” he said quietly.

Vaughn spun around to face him, her eyes wide with
shock. She turned back toward the painting and pointed. “You call that dabbling?” she cried, staring at a life-sized replica of a beautiful young woman sitting at a piano. “Your work…is fabulous.” She turned back around to look at him and suddenly saw him through new eyes. This was a side of Justin Montgomery she would have never imagined. Everything that hung on his walls showed an intense depth, an understanding, a passion. “I would never have guessed,” she said in wonder.

“Most people don't,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “It's just a hobby.”

“A hobby? Humph. If this is a hobby, you can definitely give up your day job.” Justin chuckled modestly. “You're just full of surprises,” she continued. “Your apartment is a showstopper. Did you do it all yourself?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” The last place he'd called home he'd shared with Janice and Samantha. Janice had been the one who'd decided what their home would look like. He didn't have the time, he thought, with a twinge of the old guilt. When she'd abandoned him he'd left everything behind. Here, he felt he could start over, erasing the memories by creating new ones. “It took a long time for me to get it the way I wanted it.” He paused for effect. “But I'm a patient man,” he concluded, looking deep into Vaughn's eyes. His meaning was unmistakable.

A flicker of a smile lifted her mouth as she crossed the room to stand directly in front of him. She looked up into his eyes and the heat of his gaze ignited a blaze at her core.

Tentatively, she raised her hand and stroked his rugged jaw as if committing the strong outline to memory. “I'm grateful for that, Justin,” she said softly. “More than you'll ever know.”

Justin clasped her outstretched hand into his, molding
her palm against his cheek. “Some things are worth waiting for,” he crooned gently. “And you're more than worth the wait.”

Vaughn tilted her head to look him full in the eye. Her voice was a throaty whisper when she spoke. “I don't want to wait any longer.”

His eyes suddenly sparkled. His heart thumped, then took up a racing rhythm. Justin took the hand that he held and maneuvered it behind her back, holding it there, causing her body to arch firmly against the hard lines of his.

“Vaughn,” he groaned from deep in his throat. His head lowered. Vaughn's pulse beat erratically. His fingers felt like feathers as they brushed across her face, trailed along the tendons of her neck, then threaded through her hair to cup her head into his palm, pulling her deeper into the kiss.

Vaughn felt all her resistance, all her fears and doubts, melt away from the warmth of his embrace. Justin's exploring tongue taunted her lips, daring her to join him in the mating dance. And she did.

Her mouth sought his, savoring the texture, the fullness of his lips. The titillating contact of his tongue against hers sent sparks snapping through her veins. It felt as though their spirits had unified into one extraordinary fireball.

This wasn't simple sexual gratification she was satisfying, she realized, as desire raged like a desert storm within her. This was more than a joining of bodies; this was the uniting of souls. She knew that once she leaped across the precipice, there was no turning back. The thought that she was giving herself up totally for the first time in her life was at once frightening and all too tempting.

Never before had she felt the need to go beyond the mechanics, to reach deep inside herself and relinquish her
control to someone else. Momentarily she stiffened as the thought of total submission took hold. Her thoughts twisted in confusion. To relinquish control of her body, her soul, to this man—any man—was no different than allowing her father to manipulate her, bend her to his will. Her father controlled her through the weakness of her guilt. If she fully succumbed to the allure of Justin's seduction, she would be at his mercy as well. Her body would betray her once again. She couldn't think, not with Justin's fingers magically unzipping her dress. She couldn't breathe. Flashing sparks of yearning whipped through her. Her dress slid off her shoulders and down to her waist, baring her uncovered breasts to his ardent gaze.

A rush of apprehension swept through her. The ghosts of her past leaped through her brain. The lights were dim, she reasoned, sinking deeper into the abyss of desire. He wouldn't know she prayed silently. But as Justin's mouth sought out and captured a hardened nipple between his teeth, all caution dissolved into a pool of liquid fire.

He wanted to scream out his pleasure when the velvety softness of her breasts brushed against his waiting lips. The texture of her taut nipples against his tongue nearly sent him over the edge.

He wanted to take her—here, now—on the hardwood floor of his living room, burying himself deep within the succulent walls that he knew awaited his entry. If he didn't, he knew that he would explode with longing.

But he knew that wasn't the way it would be between them. He wanted to savor every minute. He wanted to bring her to the utmost peak and hold her there until he knew she wanted him as desperately as he wanted her. If he had to bring her to the brink of completion—all night long—he would until she begged him to join her.

Vaughn felt the last of her resolve become consumed by
the fire of her passion. In the instant that her soft cry mixed in harmony with Justin's deep groan, she fully understood that there had never been any other course to take but the road they had embarked upon.

Vaughn lifted herself up on her toes, pressing her bare upper body against the hard lines of his chest. Instantly she felt the powerful thumping of his heart and then the epicenter of his passion as Justin surged against her, cupping her firm derrière in the palms of his hands.

“Vaughn,” he whispered over and over again in ragged breaths. She let her dress slip completely to the floor. All she wore beneath was a lacy black garter belt and sheer black hose.

The moment that Justin made the realization, he was sure that his heart would give out. To think that he'd sat next to her for hours and she was virtually naked beneath that dress was almost more than he could stand.

Cautiously, he stepped back to gain the full impact of what had only been in his imagination.

“You're…beautiful,” he expelled in wonder. His dark eyes raked savagely across her body, scorching her with their intensity. Her breasts were high and round, like ripe fruits waiting to be tasted. Her small waist and taut stomach flared to provocative hips, and downward to long, shapely legs.

The vision of her standing there in nothing more than a garter belt and stockings blew him away. She was a sculptor's dream overlaid with silken ebony flesh that he knew he'd never get enough of.

Slowly, Justin eased to his knees. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. The heady scent of her incensed him beyond reason as he sought its source. The tip of his tongue boldly stroked her and Vaughn felt her knees give way. Her body involuntarily arched. A strangled
cry rose from deep in her throat as she clung to him, her nails clawing his shoulders. Justin slipped his other arm around her thighs, bracing her solidly against his exploring mouth.

Tremors of unbelievable power shot through her as Justin delved deeper into her center. All sense of reality, time, and space eclipsed into a blinding white light. Vaughn threw her head back in delirious rapture. Her eyes slammed shut as the steady pulse of fulfillment built to a crescendo within her. Just when she knew that her body had endured all it could stand, without sweet release, Justin slowed the tempo, steadily bringing her back down to earth.

At once she was both disappointed and still desperate for more of the sublime torture. Her deep moan floated through the torrid air, while Justin meticulously worked his way back up her body.

He covered every inch of her with tantalizing flicks of his tongue, nipping flesh with his teeth. Her body was one mass of electrified desire. She was sure that if she didn't have him buried deep within her—now—she would cease to exist.

Finally he reached the hollow of her neck and placed tiny, hot kisses along its base. He cupped his palms over each breast, massaging, caressing, kneading them until she cried out. “Justin…please…”

“No,” he groaned deep in his throat. “I've waited too long…” he breathed heavily. His lips burned across her neck, then behind her ears, as he ground out his erotic challenge. “I'm going to take you back and forth through the doorway of the promised land,” he whispered hotly in her ear. Gently his fingers slipped between the slickened folds of her womanhood. Her knees gave way, but Justin held her fast. “But we won't go through together, until I
know that you want me,” his fingers intensified their probe, “as desperately as I want you.” His mouth covered hers, stifling her cries when his fingers slid up into her center.

Her body shuddered. A plaintive cry tore from her throat. She felt weak and light-headed, as the very tip of his finger teased the one place that she wanted him to fill.

“Justin…” she moaned weakly.

“Tell me,” he whispered deep in her ear. “Tell me.”

“I want you,” she answered back. She pressed herself against him and felt the hard shaft of his desire pulse against her inner thighs. She brushed her lips across the shell of his ear. “I want you…now.” Her mouth covered his, demanding, controlling, beckoning. Her eager tongue deftly explored the tangy sweetness of his mouth. She drank of him, wanting to absorb him into her being. Her hands slid down from his face to his sides and firmly grabbed his arms and locked them behind his back in a steely grip.

“Now,” she breathed huskily, “I'll show you the way to heaven.” The butter softness of her hand encased him, steadily stroking him as her lips dropped hot, wet kisses across his burning flesh. Justin sucked in ragged breaths through his teeth. His deep groans filled the room when the pad of her thumb brushed teasingly across his tip.

Vaughn felt a sudden rush of inexplicable power, realizing that she could evoke such longing in her man. And he was
her man,
she thought giddily. The acceptance of that seemed to escalate her need for him. She wanted him—all of him—and she proved as much when her lips replaced her tender fingers.

“Yes!” Justin hissed. He groaned with undeniable pleasure as she played teasing games with her tongue. He
clasped her head firmly in his hand and reluctantly eased her away. Through passion-drunk eyes he looked down into her face. “No more,” he breathed, as a shudder raced up his spine.

He pulled her gently to her feet. “I believe I've run out of patience,” he said on a jagged whisper. His mouth crashed down on hers, his tongue diving into her open mouth, a warning of what was to come.

Then, as easily as if she'd been no more than a baby, he lifted her nude body into his arms, cradling her gently against him, and strode into his bedroom.

Like a fragile treasure he lay her atop the down-filled comforter. For several unbearable moments he stood above her, momentarily overcome by the exquisiteness of her and the knowledge that soon she would be his completely.

His heart raced with anticipation and anxiety. A woman like Vaughn was sure to have been with other men. Men who, Justin was certain, did everything in their power to please her. He wanted to surpass every sexual experience she'd ever had. He wanted to be the one who'd be branded on her soul for all time. Because somewhere deep inside he understood that no one had ever reached that part of her.