Second Chances (12 page)

He’d tossed his suit jacket haphazardly
on a chair near the bed. She always used to get on to him about leaving his
clothes lying around like that and giving Vera more work to do. It only took a
few more steps to put them in the right place, but he never seemed able to get
that far.

She missed giving him a hard time and
having him call her a nagging wife. Then she’d tell him he was spoiled, and
he’d grumble that if he were really spoiled he’d be able to do whatever he
wanted in his own home.

Hesitantly, she walked further into the
room. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt. I’m a big man,
and I’m filled with muscle.” His joke was met with a half-hearted smile.

“I wanted to check on you.”

As Sabrina came closer, Renaldo felt a
wave of tension overtake his body. She was here, in his—
their
bedroom.
He’d meant to change his clothes, but after the doctor left, he’d found himself
sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, still shaken by the
thought of losing her. 

“I wanted to say thank you,” she said
softly.

He couldn’t respond. Her scent had him
wanting to shed the rigid control he’d barely held onto since kissing her in
the alley. For six weeks he’d forced himself not to see her or speak to her.
But he’d missed her every single day and every single night of their separation.
And now she was here, in his life, in his car, in his bedroom, and he didn’t
want to let her go.

What good had the strict no contact rule
done? From the moment he’d seen her again, he’d known he wanted her and had found
a way to bring her back here.

He’d always thought of himself as
progressive in thought and attitude. Yet his feelings for Sabrina made him feel
anything but progressive. They made him feel primitive and possessive.

Him
, a modern and open-minded man, had forced her to come back
here using caveman tactics.  

“How does your hand feel?” She took his
hand, and with gentle fingers traced the scratches made by the broken glass.

“Fine.” The cuts were small. She was
using them as an excuse to touch him.

He knew it. She knew it.

Her light brown gaze lifted to his
mouth. It was a visual caress.

She licked her lips, and he traced the
movement with feverish intensity. When she looked him in the eye again, there
was no mistaking what he saw. She felt the same thing he did—a compulsion to
touch—a need to feel closer.  

“You’re not here to check on my hand.”

“Well, not just your hand.” Her voice
had a breathy quality to it, and the hardened nipples pressing against her silk
blouse confirmed his thoughts. She wanted him. “I was worried about you,
Renny.”

Renny.

Why did she continue to call him that
when he’d told her not to? It was too intimate. Too familiar. The sound of it
chipped away at his resolve. He ground his teeth together and felt the muscles
bunch in his jaw.

Only Sabrina called him by that
nickname. Every time he’d brought her to orgasm, every time he’d made her
laugh, every time she’d scolded him, and every time she’d looked at him with what
he thought was love in her eyes, he’d been
Renny.

He missed being Renny.

His fingers curled around her wrist and
her pulse thumped beneath his thumb.

He should have never kissed her that day
in the alley because he’d never been able to forget her taste. He had to have
her. Tonight. Now. He stood. “Tell me you want me, Sabrina.”

“I want you.” She whispered the words
without hesitation.

Renaldo drew her into his arms and fused
their mouths together. It was a long, drugging kiss—a heated exchange during
which their tongues met and tasted. He wanted to gorge himself on her. All this
time he hadn’t been able to muster the energy or desire to be with another
woman. Because he hadn’t wanted
another woman. Only her. Only Sabrina.
It had always been only Sabrina since that very first night.

He released the buttons on her pretty
blouse, somehow managing not to tear the delicate material in his haste, to
reveal incredible breasts that were barely covered in a sexy lace bra. He
unhooked the bra so they spilled into his hands. Her breasts were amazing—full,
round, and soft. He pushed them higher and bent his head to lick across the tips. 

Her head tipped back and her body bowed
into his so he could suck the puckered nipple of one breast into his mouth. Clasping
her to him, he made love to the caramel peak, his tongue dragging across it and
causing her to whimper his name.

“
Você é deliciosa
,” he whispered
against the tasty flesh.

The next task was to unzip her skirt. He
tugged it past her hips until it fell to the floor. She stood before him in
only a pair of sheer black panties. The damn thing was see-through. He could
see the cluster of curls between her legs.

Holding his gaze, Sabrina hooked her
thumbs in the sides and pushed the thong down to her feet. Kicking it out of
the way, she whispered, “Your turn, but I want to undress you.”

She unbuttoned his shirt and ran her
hands over his hard chest. He caught the back of her head and kissed her again,
sucking her tongue between his lips. It was erotic, breath stealing. She could
almost come from his masterful kisses.

Pressing her hand against his chest, Sabrina
pulled back. Fully aware of her own power, she
circled behind him and pulled the shirt down his arms,
tossing it aside with the same lack of
care she did her underwear.

Overwhelmed by the thought that this
magnificent body had protected her only hours before, she plied his skin with
kisses, the compact muscles bunching under her lips.

“You know what to do to me, don’t you?”
he asked in a gruff, pained voice. “You know how to drive me out of my mind.”

Her hands trailed down his broad back
and around his narrow waist to stroke the distended front of his pants. He
groaned like a man in pain and his head fell back. “Sabrina.”

She loved the sound of his voice, how it
grew thick when he was aroused, his accent becoming more pronounced. She
stepped around in front of him again and tongued the flat nipples nestled in
the light sprinkling of hair on his chest. They tightened, and Renaldo drew a
harsh breath.  

Sabrina felt the power of being a woman,
with the ability to make this strong man weak. She undid
his pants and reached in to hold his
engorged flesh in her hands. It was heavy and hot, and she couldn’t wait to
feel him drive between her legs. She squeezed and caressed, the thought of him
claiming her made her groan mingle with his, sending a shiver down her spine.  

“Enough.” Suddenly impatient, he pushed
away her hands. “On the bed.”

She quickly obeyed his command, and he
removed the rest of his clothes before he joined her there. Sabrina opened her arms
and legs, offering herself to him, loving him with everything inside of
her—heart, body, and soul.

He came down on top of her. Immediately,
his fingers, tongue, and lips worked her into a frenzy of need. He thumbed her
rigid nipples, making her become shockingly alert. His hand moved down her
ribs, seeking the thatch of dark curls between her hips. When he found it, she
arched into his caress, desperate, sighing with pleasure as he dipped his
fingers into the slick heat.

While his fingers stayed busy, his
tongue licked the underside of her breast and his teeth nibbled at the soft
skin.

“Please,” she whispered, trying to guide
his mouth to her nipples, begging him to pull one into his mouth.

“This is what you want.” His breath feathered
across the straining peaks. He knew very well what she wanted, but he wouldn’t
give it to her. He flicked his tongue across the tips, teasing, drawing out the
torment. “Hmm…?”

Sabrina let out a cry of frustration. “No.
Suck. Please.” She pulled his head down and arched her body up to him.

She was so hot, so out of control, that
when he sucked her breast into his mouth and gently bit down, pleasure shot
straight to her loins. Her hips shot up off the bed and his fingers plunged
deeper inside of her. He pumped them in and out. She clutched onto his head and
exploded. Wave after wave of pleasure rocked her. She panted, gasping his name and
grinding her hips into his hand until the powerful reaction subsided.

Her breathing had just returned to
normal when Renaldo curved an arm behind her knee and lifted her left leg. The
swollen head of his erection pressed to the wetness between her thighs before his
powerful body seized hers. At their joining, a tortured moan escaped her throat,
and the juices of her arousal eased the way as he began to move with deep, hard
strokes. They stared into each other’s eyes. Each thrust jerked her back on the
bed, and her body trembled at the pleasure he delivered, clasped him, dragging
him deeper into the satin walls.

The feverish arch of her neck was a
temptation Renaldo couldn’t resist. He traced the length of it, alternating
between moist kisses and tender flicks of his tongue. Dipping his head lower,
he showered her breasts with attention that caused them to ache and tingle all
over again. His tongue licked, and his lips sucked, inflicting a sensual
torment on the tender nipples as he continued to move inside of her.

Her arms wound around his neck. “Yes…”
She held on tight, the provocative motion of skin against skin escalating the
pleasure.

Sabrina’s mouth moved to his throat, tasting
his skin and running her hands across his broad back. She massaged the hard
muscles, moving lower to grip his buttocks as pressure mounted inside of her.
He never failed to satisfy, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was
crying out his name again.

Renaldo placed his thumb on the knot of
nerves at her feminine core, circling and rubbing and sending her excitement
spiraling higher. She made small, helpless sounds until she could no longer
stand it. The clitoral stimulation created a strangle hold on her vocal chords.
She was unable to breathe, unable to make a sound, until the orgasm powered
through her, forcing the air from her lungs and her body to shudder. Raw,
unadulterated pleasure tore a cry from her throat.

His hips bucked relentlessly against
hers as she rode out the storm, her muscles contracting to hold him prisoner. He
reached the pinnacle and grunted, her name a pained sound on his lips, his
breath flitting over her collarbone. Their bodies shuddered against each other
in a mutual climax.

Afterward, they held on tight. Neither
wanting to let go.

__________

Sabrina was alone in the bed. When her
eyes adjusted to the dark, she turned over and saw Renaldo seated in the chair.
He was still naked, and he was looking at her.  

“Renny?”

“Go back to sleep, Sabrina.” His voice
sounded odd, and her heart grieved because she knew that what he felt at that
moment was because of her.

Did he regret their lovemaking?

Excruciating sadness filled her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He didn’t answer.

She rolled back over on her side. She
couldn’t blame him for needing the distance. How would she feel if he’d done to
her what she’d done to him?

The other side of the bed depressed when
he lay down. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she didn’t think he’d
allow it. The physical and emotional distance was too much to bear after what
they’d just shared.

She was about to get up when his arm
settled on her waist. It took her by surprise. She waited, holding her breath,
hoping he’d draw her closer. There was still so much space between them.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She turned in his arms and wedged her
leg between his hair-roughened thighs. He didn’t move, and since he didn’t
reject her, she snuggled closer.

When his arms tightened around her, she
sighed with relief. It felt good to be held. It felt good to smell his musky
male scent and feel his naked skin against hers. This was what she’d missed for
weeks, ached for in the darkness of her apartment alone at night. 

“I’m not offering you anything,” he
said.

“I know.”

But what he said wasn’t entirely true.
She had this, and she’d take it. Lying here in his arms was something, when for
weeks she’d had nothing when he cut her off. No kiss, not the touch of his
hand, not even the sound of his voice—
nothing
. 

She was content for now.

__________

In the kitchen, Renaldo wrote a note to
Vera for when she stopped by later. His
body
was sore after the jolt in yesterday’s crash, but he wasn’t in such bad shape
he couldn’t go to work. He’d wanted to stay in bed with Sabrina, but he had too
much to get done.

He lifted the glass dome of the dish on
the counter and chose one of the homemade pastries. He bit into it before pouring
himself a cup of coffee. This was a typical breakfast. Neither he nor Sabrina was
big on eating early in the morning during the week. They either had one of
Vera’s delicious creations or picked up something on the way into the office.
On Sundays, Vera prepared a large meal, which they ate after sleeping in. They took
their time while reviewing the paper and discussing the current state of the
economy.