“The child is sulking, Hezekiah. And then she has the nerve to bang the door? In my day, that would earn a good spanking.”
“Good thing today is a different day,” he replied mildly. “Besides, you haven’t been an easy roommate over the last couple of days. Of all of us, you should be willing to cut her some slack.”
The elderly lady’s lips tightened, but she also looked a little ashamed, and it wasn’t too long after that she declared herself tired and went to bed.
“Should I go check on Charm?” Mina asked, wanting to help.
Kiah hesitated for an instant, and then nodded. “Maybe she’ll talk to you. I’ve gotten nothing but grunts and monosyllabic answers from her today.”
Was he trying to make her feel guilty?
Whether he was or wasn’t didn’t really matter, Mina knew, because she felt that way all on her own, without outside prompting.
She’d never thought her choices would have the kind of impact on the others they seemed to have had. Charm in particular was tugging at her heartstrings, even while being a bit of a pain. No amount of reassurance that they would stay in contact, no matter what Mina decided to do, made any difference. Charm seemed to feel Mina was set to desert her, and no one could convince her otherwise.
Mina tapped on her door but received no answer. A slightly harder knock got no response, either, so Mina took a chance and opened the door a crack to peep into the room. What she saw moved her, and made her sigh.
Charm was curled up on her bed, still fully clothed, fast asleep. But there were tear tracks clearly visible on her cheeks, and even in repose her lips were set in an unhappy frown.
Going in, she found the little girl’s nightie under her pillow and gently roused her, so that she could change into it.
Still half-asleep, Charm said, “I haven’t cleaned my teeth.”
“Come on, then,” Mina said, getting up and leading her into the bathroom.
When Charm was finished with her ablutions, it was back to bed, but Mina was a little concerned, as the youngster felt a bit warm to the touch.
“Are you feeling okay, Charm?”
“Yes, Auntie,” came the sleepy reply, but she was almost back to sleep before Mina could pull the covers up to her chin.
Bending, Mina kissed the warm, smooth cheek, and slicked her hand over Charms braids.
“Sleep well, baby,” she whispered.
When she straightened and turned to the door, it was to see Kiah there, watching.
She put her finger to her lips and he nodded, his tender gaze melting her deep inside.
Walking toward him felt as though it took forever, each step causing the desire that constantly simmered beneath her skin to get hotter, until she tingled with need.
And it was there in his gaze, too, which morphed from gentle to fierce as she neared. When he turned sideways for her to pass him on the way out the door, she could almost feel his arousal coming off him, like static electricity, raising goose bumps on her arm and back. Bringing her nipples to yearning attention.
He took her hand and led her down the corridor past her room, which was next to Charm’s, and into his.
They shouldn’t be together like this, with his niece asleep just down the hallway, and his grandmother on the other side of the house, probably still awake. But nothing could stop the explosive desire that swirled and snapped between them, urging them to touch, to taste, to give and to take.
It was an erotic revelation to Mina, made somehow more intense by the necessity for silence, and the knowledge that they had to hurry.
Not that it took Kiah long to make her come the first time. Already he’d learned what aroused her, and how to take her over the edge. He caught her low sound of abject pleasure with his mouth, kissing her until the final shudders eased, and she lay limp in his arms.
Then he kissed her some more, his hands bringing her body back to yearning life, until she was twisting against him, silently, desperately begging for more. The way he caressed her, his hands gentle, adoring, awoke within her a sense of wonder. She became beautiful, because he looked at her as though she were. Became powerful, because of how he reacted to her touch.
Pushing away from him, she tugged at his hand, positioning him on the edge of the bed. When she straddled his thighs to take him deep into her body, it was her turn to muffle the sound of his appreciation with her lips.
It was a wild, ecstatic ride, which culminated with her biting his shoulder, while he shuddered and whispered words of ecstasy into her neck.
He held her close for several long, sweet moments, as their breathing and heart rates slowly returned to normal. And it felt almost surreal to get up and silently get their clothes back in order, before going back out into the living room.
Mina thanked the heavens when the room was empty. At the last moment she’d had the horrible thought that they’d come out and find Miss Pearl sitting there, waiting for them.
Still without talking, they wandered out onto the back veranda, and Mina sank into her chair with a satisfied sigh. Her legs felt wonderfully wobbly, and the surge of endorphins had relaxed her almost to the point of sleep.
And it was strangely easy to just sit and chat, even laugh a little with him, considering how fraught the last days had been, and how thoroughly they’d broken their agreement. They could go back to staying away from each other the next morning.
At least, that was what Mina told herself.
“I should turn in,” he finally said, looking at his watch. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow, with everything Morningside wants me to do.”
She heard and understood his reluctance but did nothing to waylay him, merely got to her feet and waited for him
