Chapter 32
A brIGHT LIGHT played at Carrah’s closed lids. She turned in the bed and found the other side empty and cold. She rolled to her back and began recounting last night. Seconds had become minutes, and then turned to hours. Time lapsed into what felt like infinity within Chris’s hedonistic rapture.
Her body heated up, thinking of all the naughty things he’d made her do and how much she had enjoyed it. Never had she felt so sexy, empowered, and in control of her sexuality.
“Does she always wake with a smile?” His deep voice created an ache between her thighs as he entered the room smelling like a fresh meadow in the spring.
Her nipples hardened and desire bloomed between her legs at the sight of his well-defined arms, chiseled chest, and washboard abs carved into his golden skin. The heat was almost unbearable. However, after six rounds with the last ending at daybreak, she wasn’t certain if her body parts could take him again.
“Depends.” She pulled the sheet up to hide evidence of her musings and the fact that she wanted him again.
“I’ve seen it all. No need to cover up now.” He tugged the covers. His eyes went to her breasts and a tent began to pitch under his towel. “Because I am a gentleman and have had the pleasure of making you cream all over my dick, I know you need rest. Just believe me when I say it is taking everything in me to stay here while you lie there.”
Carrah giggled, but he was serious. The same way he had been last night flexing his dominance while exposing her to things she’d never done before. “What if I don’t want you to stay there?”
He shook his head. “You risk not going home today.” He reached to untie his towel when the house phone started ringing. His attention darted past her to the nightstand, where the phone rang again. “I probably should get that.” He moved to the other side of the bed. “Few have this number and no one calls me here unless they haven’t been able to reach me.” He picked up the phone. “Hello,” he answered.
Carrah rolled from the bed to give him privacy and went down the hall to the bathroom. When she first came here, she had no idea it was a one-bedroom, one-bath dwelling, for it looked much larger on the outside and the front living space was classically proportioned. She very much appreciated how the old blended with the new since it was clear that renovations had been done to accommodate the vessel sink vanity and rainfall shower.
Another piece of her heart melted seeing that he had already set out linens and toiletries, including a shower cap for her use. After last night, how could they go back to pretending they were rivals? She pushed the unwelcome thoughts from her head, brushed her teeth, and then hopped in the shower.
Hard as she tried to focus on the million other things she needed to be concerned about, Carrah stood in the mist of the shower wishing the conflict between their families away.
“Did you get lost?” The shower door opened and Chris entered in all his naked glory. He was the incarnation of Zeus and Nefertiti’s son, golden, chiseled, beautiful, and powerful.
“In my thoughts, yes,” she answered honestly.
He took the washcloth and soap from her and began scrubbing her body. “Don’t get stuck there. Live in this moment with me.”
“Moments are fragments. They don’t last long.”
“No, but memories can live forever.” He fingered her chin up and looked into her eyes.
“So is that what we are to be, a summer memory?” Carrah rejected his notions and turned her back to him. God, she hated how this man made her feel, and yet she loved it because she knew there was the audacity to hope for more than the life her parents and Trent had assumed of her. “I don’t need you to have summertime memories in the Shores.”
“I asked you last night what else could we be and you never answered me, Carrah.”
She swallowed hard. “I gave myself to you in a way that I never have with any other man.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and made her face him. “So then, what are we? I’m done caring about my dad or your parents. If we want this, then nothing else matters.”
“I don’t know what this is,” she confessed. “But I want it… want you, as unexpected as it is.”
“So do I.” His forehead pressed against hers. Their chests were rising and falling in unison. “Time didn’t steal this away from us. It was what we needed to find whatever this thing is between us.”
Carrah nodded her head, acknowledging that it hadn’t, and then his mouth slammed down against hers. His tongue thrust desperately between her parted lips, greedily taking her affection. He came up for air and stared into her eyes. “I remember, once when we were little, we all went swimming at Reese’s. You forgot your swim cap, and when you came up from under the water, your hair was curly. Does it still do that?”
She allowed her mind to go back in time. “I… my mother and—” She cleared her throat. She wouldn’t say another man’s name while she was in his arms. “Straight hair is—was—preferred for pageants and certain appearances. I rarely wear my hair in its natural state.”
Chris dragged the shower cap off her head. He smiled as the water began hitting her hair. “Unless you count the Red Party, I don’t believe you’re prepping for a pageant or an appearance. You’re supposed to be working on a book.” Their laughter ceased when he lifted her up, gripping her ass and then slid her down his steely cock. “Besides,” he groaned, “now I don’t have to feel guilty for getting your hair wet.”
By late afternoon, Carrah was home at her desk attempting to complete the serum brief for Miles. Only, last night was on a constant loop. The warmth of Chris’s kisses claimed her heart while his touch set her soul on fire. Her body had confessed the secrets she was too afraid to speak.
There were no regrets. She had never felt more alive, free, or so seen in her entire life. She wanted this chance with Chris. This unexpected path that gave her everything she ever wanted. There were no doubts in her mind until she heard shouting downstairs.
Camille was broadcasting her reservations about the venture, her distrust of the Chennaults, and she reminded Melvin that Noir belonged to her family. Unlike her siblings, Carrah refused to linger outside the study door eavesdropping. She went back to her room to grapple with how lust, attraction, and something else sitting at the base of her heart had betrayed her mind. Her family wasn’t ready to discover she’d bedded the enemy.
“Come in,” she called as knocks rapped at her door. Her little niece, Zoe, bounced in ahead of her sister, who appeared as though she hadn’t slept all night. Carrah got up from her desk and gathered Zoe in her arms before showering her with kisses.
“I like your hair, TT Carrah!” Zoe patted Carrah’s curls.
“This is not the time for you to rebel. Mom is on a rampage. You need to call the salon and get an appointment.” Aubrey appraised her in a way that would have normally made her feel as though she’d broken a rule. She then moved to Carrah’s side and frowned, pulling at the natural coils. “I mean, I like it. I’m just saying you know how our mother is about image and with Senator Roland hosting the annual Red Party tomorrow…”
Hand to face. In submitting to Chris’s hedonistic rapture, Carrah hadn’t considered the Red Party, which kicked off the weekend’s Juneteenth festivities. For a second she contemplated calling a stylist to blow her out. Except, she looked in the mirror. A long time had passed since she saw this girl staring back at her, and she loved her. It wasn’t just the hair. She felt whole, confident, appreciated, and loved.
Unexpectedly Chris had come along and helped her tap into a power that was always hers.
“My image is fine. I’ll be ready tomorrow. I have my red attire, and my social graces remain intact. What else could Mother ask for? Hair doesn’t define me.”
“Geez, forget I said anything.” Aubrey cleared her throat. “Anyhow, as you’ve heard, Mother has reservations on the venture. She wants you to spend some time with Miles Chennault to determine if he’s truly capable.”
Aubrey proceeded to explain that Miles was on his way over to collaborate with Carrah in the lab. She then disclosed that their mother seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with him, and his involvement had triggered her reservations.
“This is silly.” Carrah had more to worry about than their mother liking Miles. “I don’t have time for this, Aubrey.”
“He looks like a younger version of Dad, Carrah,” Aubrey blurted out. “They were all friends at one time. Haven’t you ever really wondered what happened? I have always thought that there were holes in the story of how the two families fell out. And I’m wondering… Haven’t you noticed the cold shoulder Mom’s been giving Dad? They’ve never argued like that in front of us.”
In truth, Carrah had not noticed. She had been caught up in her own affair and was now processing how she and Chris would navigate the Red Party tomorrow after the blatant disdain expressed by her mother downstairs.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
A grimace formed on Aubrey’s face. “Try paying attention when he gets here.”
No more than an hour passed before Carrah was being paged to come downstairs. It was too late to pretend she hadn’t heard what Aubrey said earlier. As a result, she found herself engaged in the scrutiny of their guest.
Miles’s eyes were dark like their father’s with a golden complexion customary of his Chennault kin. His nose was thin, and his ears were similar to hers. He seemed familiar as they worked in the lab and sat discussing hypotheticals.
“Miles.” Camille entered with a faux smile. “Did you figure it out yet?” He laughed along with Carrah and divulged a few theories he had for the serum failing to stabilize. “Interesting. Well, tell me, where did you get this genius from? Hannah hated science.”
“Still does.” He chuckled. “She says it comes from my father.” He shrugged. “Except I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met him.”
Camille moved closer, analyzing him with each step. “Do you—”
“Mom,” Carrah interjected, seeing that Camille had no filter on her quest to find something she probably would regret knowing. “We’re almost finished here.” She met her mother’s gaze and saw more pain than she could have ever imagined. “I’ll bring Miles up to the house after we get these notes into the brief.”
Camille hesitated. She nodded then turned on her heel and left Carrah with a man that reminded her of her father.
Naturally Carrah now wondered if Miles was the real reason that lines had been drawn between the two families.