Page 69 of Brother to Brother

I took my time, slipping out of my clothes and laying kisses all over her body before laying myself over the top of her. I quested for a moment or two for her opening, and only when I was sure I had it, did I slip inside her, between her thighs. She was incredibly warm and close and taking her this way was tighter than any other way I’d taken her to this point.

I took my time loving her, probably way later into the night than either one of us should have been up, given that it was Sunday night leaking into Monday morning, but I didn’t care. It would be worth it to be tired the next morning.

I cradled Melody close in my arms and made love to her until we were both exhausted. It was needed, it was wonderful; it most definitely brought us closer… Best weekend ever.

Chapter 29

Melody

“Yay!” I laughed with Noah and he giggled and we both clapped. It was moving day and we were picking up Noah’s toys and packing them away in yet another cardboard box. The door to the apartment was open as Archer and the rest of the guys were coming and going, fixing things around the dingy one bedroom apartment and loading out furniture, so when a shadow fell over the door, I didn’t think anything of it.

“Melody Beswick?” a woman’s voice, authoritative, called out into the gloom of the apartment. I looked up sharply.

“Turner, its Melody Turner… can I help you?”

“I’m Carina Washington with the department of children’s services, may I come in to talk to you?” my heart sank and I felt myself nodding.

“Yes, of course.” I opened up my hands and Noah threw himself into my arms like he always did. I picked him up and stood, “Oof! Good Lord, Noah, you’re getting too heavy for this,” I uttered.

He laughed that beautiful high baby laugh and declared, “No!”

To Ms. Washington, I said, “Please come in, I apologize for the mess and lack of furniture, we just closed on a house and we’re moving in today. What can I do for you?”

She stepped across the threshold, this regal, curvy black woman in a grey business suit. Her long hair flowed down her back in elegant tiny braids and her deep brown eyes sparkled with intelligence. Her quick assessment of the apartment left me feeling hollowed out, self-conscious, and pretty much gutted, but we hadn’t had a choice when we’d arrived and now we did. Archer had found us a home with plenty of room and now we were moving.

“We received a call from a Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Whitmore…”

“That’d be her mother and stepfather, what sort of crazy are they spouting now?” Archer demanded from behind her, as he came through the open apartment door.

She startled and lookedreallyunhappy about that and demanded, “And you are?”

“That would be Mr. Turner,” I said and Noah reached for Archer.

“Da da!” he cried and Archer plucked my son from my arms settling him against his side before using his free arm, tucking me against his opposite side and holding me close.

“Well, Mrs. Whitmore claims that you threatened her and that Melody here is both on drugs and an unfit mother, who kidnapped Noah out from under their care.”

Archer laughed, a genuine, jovial laugh and I looked up at him, blinking. “Well if it makes you happy,” he said, “I’m sure Mel would be willing to submit to any drug tests you might want her to take, as for any accusations or threats? I did have a talk with Mel’s mother a few weeks back and I have three witnesses that were there with me, all of ‘em upstanding citizens, who will tell you I was downright civil given my history.”

The woman shifted her stance and asked, “And what might that history be?”

Archer glanced down at me and his gold green eyes radiated ‘trust me’and I did, implicitly. How could I not? He had been nothing but good to my son and I knew in my heart of hearts he would be devastated if we lost Noah, I nodded and he turned back to Ms. Washington and he told her that he was a felon, that he hadn’t been in trouble since his twenties, that he loved me and my son and that he hadn’t when we’d gotten here, running from the mental and emotional abuse of my family.

He told her everything and it was simply amazing, just how much he’d grown as a person, because Archer wasintenselyprivate. I had fully expected him to tell anyone that even remotely hinted at ‘government official’ to fuck right off, but here he was, trying a lot of diplomacy and I had the distinct feeling that Dragon had a hand in that.

“So, all that being said, would you like to follow us over to the new place? See where Noah will be staying and that it’s a safe environment? I mean, Nox and Rush – excuse me, Landon and Logan my twin foster brothers all growing up and Noah’s uncles, should actually be putting the finishing touches on baby proofing the place. I had them installing socket covers and child locks on all the cabinets before I came over here to grab Mel and the baby.”

The woman blinked, an ‘are you serious?’ look on her face as she furiously scribbled notes onto a yellow legal pad balanced on one of those metal clipboards meant to house paperwork.

“I somehow get the feeling you were expecting me to call,” she said and I nodded.

“Like Archer said, it was the reason I ran and tried to find Noah’s biological father. I didn’t know he’d died and when I got here and explained the situation, Archer didn’t want to turn us away. He made it work, and we’ve worked very hard to get us out of this one bedroom as soon as possible.”

“And the getting married?” she asked still looking flummoxed.

“It was the best thing for Noah. This way, I could put him on my insurance and Mel, too. Plus the tax breaks and the like weren’t going to hurt for getting us into a house sooner rather than later.”

“There were more reasons to, than to not,” I murmured.

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