Page 93 of Twisted Revelations

43

Beverly

An hour of tossing and turning was enough. I was craving something sexy. All I needed to do was be brave enough to walk out the door and go and get it. I threw on the fluffy robe from the bathroom and headed out.

Be brave.I kept repeating to myself as I took unsure steps that edged me closer to Luke. He was no doubt the genie that had the magical powers to make me set fire to the vows I’d made concerning men and relationships. I was setting myself up for a heartbreak, but I couldn’t resist the pull Luke had on me.

When I entered the living room, he was sitting with his back resting against the large arm of the couch. The television lit the space, but his face was aimed at the skylight.

While sitting up, his feet reached the opposite end of the couch. Therefore, when he laid down his feet would hang over the edge.

His head snapped in my direction, and a huge smile bent his lips at the sight of me. When I eased closer to the couch, he turned his feet over the side to allow me a place to sit. He’d spread a sheet over the sofa, and the blanket he’d use for a cover was slung across the back.

“I couldn’t…”

“You…”

“You first,” he stated before pointing the remote and lowering the sound on the television. The lights were all out so the television and moonlight gleaming in from the beautiful slanted skylight windows provided a dim glow. It was enough light for me to see all I needed to see.

The robe slipped off my leg when I adjusted myself to sit closer, and I didn’t close it. The sight of him excited me, sparking an array of emotions I’d lost all control over.

“Luke, please tell me I’m not the only one that’s feeling chemistry here?” I questioned as my breath caught. I refused to let it go until he answered.

His eyes raked leisurely down my body, so filled with lust, I swore, my panties had melted clean off and leaked to the floor.

“You’re not the only one feeling chemistry. I didn’t want to cross the line with you,” he admitted.

My smile spread wide as his words warmed my insides.

“Cross it,” I urged in a breathless whisper. “Whatever line you’re avoiding, I want you to erase it, destroy it, make it go away.”

His low chuckle sounded at my words, but he didn’t make a move to get any closer. There remained a depth of uncertainty with him that I didn’t understand.

I was skeptical about asking, but I’d be doing my curiosity a disservice if I didn’t. And the fact that neither of us had brought up the subject was a testament to our attraction for each other.

“Can I ask you something, Luke?”

“Sure,” his eyes sparkled when they met mine.

“Have you ever dated a black woman before?”

“No,” he answered, while allowing his fingers to skim my forearm. His caress was making more of my questions and concerns disappear. I’d never dated a white man because some had managed to make me feel like I was a creature they feared touching. Not Luke though. I wholeheartedly believed we’d already accepted each other at first sight.

His fingers were steadily sliding up my arm, causing goosebumps to rise.

“I didn’t have any childhood friends or family growing up. I didn’t even have an imaginary friend. My friends were blind, deaf, and mute, the dead.” His statement reminded me that he’d grown up in a funeral home.

“When I talked to them, silence answered back. My existence was lonely and solitary. Without guidance or influence, I learned early to appreciate good people, no matter the color, as long as they were among the living.”

I rolled my arm around his and brushed my hand over the top, mingling his seashell white with my dark brown. His broad smile surfaced at my action, the sight sending a rejuvenating tingle through me.

“Whether it was manufactured by society or self-imposed, anyone who fails to see the many ways that you are beautiful is blind,” he complimented, destroying my questions altogether.

“Thank you,” was my basic reply, but his beautiful words had my heart ready to hop out of my chest and skip across the floor.

“You asked about chemistry. I felt it instantly. From the first moment our eyes met it was like a warm hand reaching out. We hadn’t spoken a word to each other, but it was like we were speaking all the same,” he admitted, taking our encounter to a depth I liked but never expected. It let me know I wasn’t imagining our connection when I was sitting at Ansel’s table.

He leaned closer with slow ease, observing me, requesting permission with his pleading eyes. When our lips touched, my eyes slid close and my body relaxed. My mouth melted into the soothing flow of his, the sensual caress spreading a blanketing warmth throughout my body. His kiss was gentle, smooth, and followed by an emotion-infused pleasure I’d never experienced before.

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