Finally, You And Me. Lisa Harrison Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ the next morning. Through blinking eyes, Alexa wondered how she got into the bed. A secretive smile curved the corners of her mouth when she concluded that it was Darius’s doing.

      That smile faded when she rolled onto her side and gazed out of the window, realizing the complications she was creating by allowing him to place her in difficult situations. Letting Darius inside the house and into her room could have been a mistake. While she was supposed to be there for Maya, most of her quiet time was spent reflecting on her feelings and past with him.

      With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes once again and allowed herself to escape into the past filled with passionate memories that touched her every essence.

      Despite her initial reservations, Alexa and Darius hit it off. If there was one thing that she recalled about her relationship with him in comparison to other guys she dated, it was the fact that their personalities were a perfect complement. While Darius was talkative, Alexa was more of a listener. He taught her how to express herself more and she showed him how to listen well. Any tension that was apparent in the beginning had quickly dissolved as they fell into a comfortable place. Everything about their relationship was special, including their first time. Darius was her first lover. And, oh, what a lover he had been, Alexa thought with a smile.

      Because she was a virgin, Darius felt it was important that they discuss what she wanted their first time together to be like beforehand.

      Alexa took the necessary precautions to prevent pregnancy while Darius concentrated on fulfilling her wishes by making the evening special. When that special night had arrived, Darius fronted some money to Bryant for him and Maya to stay the night at a hotel. Once the apartment was vacated and while Alexa was away, he began to create an evening that his woman would never forget.

      Alexa remembered being nervous the whole day. However, when she crossed the threshold of her bedroom, her anxiety dissipated when she saw the care Darius had put into making her first time special.

      There were candles all over the room, giving it a warm, inviting glow. Darius had searched through his music collection and made a compilation cassette of the best love songs of the time by great artists of love like the Isley Brothers, Force MD’s, Ready for the World and Luther Vandross. The bed was redressed in white linens and was scattered with rose petals. On the bedside was a small plate containing strawberries, pineapples and chocolate dip along with a bottle of chilled champagne and two glasses.

      In the dimness she called out his name.

      “Yes, babe,” he responded softly.

      She turned to the sound of his voice and blushed at the sight of him standing in the doorway, shirtless, wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans. He reached his hand out for her to come to him and she responded, her heart pounding in her chest like a bass drum. As she slowly moved towards him, she couldn’t help but get caught up in the ambiance that he had created. Once she reached him, Darius pulled her into his embrace. With his hands on her hips, he began swaying her into a slow dance.

      He whispered sweet endearments into her ear as he held her tightly. She relaxed and rested her cheek against his smooth sturdy chest with a sigh, feeling as if she could stay in his arms like that all night long.

      They danced to several love ballads before Darius took her by the hand, and led her over to the bed where he began to feed her some of the chocolate-covered fruit.

      As she savored the sweet treat, Darius reached for the bottle of champagne and poured some into a wineglass. Holding the glass to her mouth, he tilted it for her consumption, deliberately allowing some of it to leak out of the corner of her mouth and trail down her chin to her neck and finally into her blouse. With a mischievous grin, he cleaned up the liquid with his warm tongue.

      No words were exchanged as Darius proceeded to remove each piece of her clothing in slow motion until she was standing naked before him. He stepped back to gaze upon her with love-filled eyes. Alexa blushed under his scrutiny and immediately glanced away, her hands covering her femininity.

      However, Darius wouldn’t have it and looked into her eyes as he took her hands in his.

      “I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, Alex,” he whispered as he stood before her. His lips tracked feathery kisses down her neck and shoulders while his hands caressed her soft skin. It didn’t take Alexa long to forget about her nudity and in moments her inhibitions gave way to the warm need stirring in her abdomen.

      Darius was gentle. He loved her slow and sweet. It was everything Alexa wanted her first time to be like. When it was over, she cried because she knew she was in love. Darius whispered sweet promises as he kissed the tears away. The next morning, instead of eating they had each other for breakfast in her bed several times before falling asleep curled up to one another as if connected for life.

      When they exited the bedroom later that evening, Bryant and Maya were grinning like Cheshire cats. However, Alexa’s smile was only for him because she knew her life had changed forever. The whole year, the two were inseparable until that fateful night when Alexa stepped out of his life.

      Although she tried Alexa could not shake Darius’s memory, which burned like a torch in her heart. She believed that her disregard for their relationship came back to haunt her when Sean called off the wedding, reaffirming her belief in the saying “what goes around comes around.” Since then, she accepted the responsibility of what had occurred and chalked it up as a learning experience.

      Yet here they were, nine years later and she felt helpless around him again. The ever-present chemistry between them hovered above as a reminder of how good they were together.

      There was also the ever-present fact that the situation had driven a wedge between them. In time, she had learned to gain control of her emotions and move on. Yet she could not help but be reminded that she may have lost the one true love of her life.

      Right now she had no place in her life or her heart for distractions. For the remainder of her stay, Alexa vowed to concentrate on her role in the wedding and not on Darius or their history. Once the festivities ended, she would catch the first flight back to Denver.

      The orange sphere swirled around the rim a few times before sinking into the net. Darius jogged up to retrieve it, bounced it three times, looked to his left then to his right before pivoting sharply back to his left only to drive down the middle of the court for a layup.

      Darius had lain awake most of the night thinking about her. It felt so good holding her in his arms again, and took everything he had within him to get up and leave. He left her curled up, hugging the pillow. Later in his own bed, he tossed and turned. He tried watching television, but there wasn’t anything on that held his interest, so he decided to get up and work out to clear his mind.

      After shooting hoops for another half hour, he went up to the locker room to get ready for the day. He was glad Bryant was able to obtain a temporary pass to a 24-hour gym for him during his visit. Working out was a great tension reliever for him.

      Sweat poured down his face as he peeled off the saturated T-shirt and shorts before stepping into a steamy shower. When the hot water hit his tired muscles and streamed down his body, thoughts of Alexa entered his mind. Darius had come to understand that seeing her again was like never having lost sight of her at all. They were three months into their new relationship and every day was like their first time meeting. He recalled in his mind the exact moment that he knew he was in love.

      He had been studying for a test when Alexa returned from her campus job.

      The minute he laid his eyes on her, he knew that there would be no СКАЧАТЬ