Pred. & Preach. Daughter - Ch. 8

All throughout the evening, Marcos watched Chasity interact with his relatives, particularly with the children. He soon realized what he’d basically ignored before - she was born to be a mother. After all, hadn’t she always surrounded herself with children at her father’s church, teaching Sunday school and being over the youth choir? Now Chasity had even formed an instant bond with Nakiya and that brash youngster was the hardest out of all the other children to warm up to.

Unfortunately for Marcos, the mother of his child basically ignored him all evening, refusing to even make eye contact with him, even at the dinner table when he’d asked her to pass the peas while sitting directly across from her. Chasity’s hands may have passed the peas, but her eyes had remained on La’Charity who had sat right next to him.

When it was time for the kids to go upstairs and prepare for bed, Chasity gave each of them a warm hug goodbye and then asked to use the phone so that she could call a taxi back to the hotel. She didn’t want to interrupt the Irelands’ nightly routine by having someone drive her.

“Sure, go right ahead,” Jaleel said, pointing to the top of the dark wood encased floor model television set where the brown phone sat. He was on his way out of the L-shaped den enroute to his office at the end of the long first floor hallway directly across from the master suite. Jaleel was going to work on his column one last time before tomorrow’s deadline. He always gave his paragraphs a final tweak before submitting the final draft for publication.

“No need to do that. I’ll take you,” Marcos quickly volunteered in a take-charge manner as he stood up from the brown fabric chair he’d sat in near the TV set. He was eager to be alone with Chasity, anxious to finish their earlier conversation, excited about starting something new with her. Tonight perhaps.

“I don’t need you to take me anywhere!” Chasity spat out vehemently as her whole body tensed with hot anger. Fortunately, the children were already upstairs with Marjorie, who was responsible for bath and prayertime, so they were not privy to the searing resurgence of bitterness that had just come out of Chasity’s mouth. She was glad the children were not around to be shocked by her current behavior. In all honesty, Chasity was pretty shocked by the intensity of her words herself. She usually practiced way more self-control than this.

Jaleel paused in the den’s arched doorway at Chasity’s sharp tone and turned back around to look at the two people behind him. An amused expression came upon his caramel-skinned face and a smile played at the corners of his mouth as he noted how Marcos’ eyes became ablaze with excitement instead of offense at Chasity’s biting words.

“Are y’all going to be all right in here by yourselves? Or do I need to stay and chaperone?” the tall, slender man asked as his comedic gaze shifted from Marcos to Chasity and back to his brother-in-law again. Brother-in-law, this woman is your match if I ever saw one, Jaleel mused, finding humor in almost every situation as usual, which is what made his weekly column so popular.

Marjorie had privately briefed her husband about the nature of Chasity and Marcos’ relationship and how it related to La’Charity during their short trip outside to feed the family dog in the backyard. Therefore, Jaleel knew that they had a sordid history together. Yet from his observation of them throughout the evening and now, he sensed that Marcos and Chasity also had a very tempestuous future ahead of them due to their obvious unresolved issues.

True to his take-charge nature, Marcos took the initiative and answered for them both. “We’ll be fine, Jaleel. I just wanted a chance to talk to Chasity alone about our daughter and to apologize for all the pain I’ve caused her.” Marcos was aware that his sister had shared the paternity news with her husband due to Jaleel’s knowing look after they returned from feeding the dog. And because feeding the dog was usually the kids’ job.

Still trying to speak for others, Chasity mused, biting her tongue this time. You should have been a lawyer instead of an architect! she thought, confident that Marcos had succeeded in his chosen profession. There was also little doubt in her mind that he probably owned his own business considering the fact that he had such a domineering personality and would not be content submitting to anyone.

Marcos looked at the mother of his child and saw defiance in her gorgeous eyes and knew that Chasity wasn’t about to let him take her anywhere tonight for real and probably not any other night. That knowledge made him want her all the more.

“If you don’t want me to take you back to your hotel, that’s fine. I can say what I need to say right now,” he stated, ready to seize the moment. Inwardly, his loins stirred even hotter at the fire in Chasity’s defiant eyes.

Marcos had always loved how the introverted woman stood up to him. He counted himself one of the fortunate to know how much passion lie lurking behind that reserved exterior. Marcos had no idea that he was the only man that had ever seen that side of Chasity. If he had, his ego would surely quadruple in size at this very moment.

Chasity stood with folded arms across her chest. She really didn’t want to hear anything that Marcos had to say. After all, he was a known liar. However, since this conversation was a long time coming, she decided to just let it happen and finally be done with it.

“You can speak your peace while I wait for my taxi,” she replied dryly, finally going over to the phone and dialing the number she’d written down earlier.

The whole time Chasity talked on the phone, she kept her back to Marcos, refusing to even look at him. Once the taxi had been dispatched to the Irelands’ address, she sat down on the matching brown sofa opposite the chair and forced herself to meet Marcos’ heated gaze. There was no doubt in her mind that he’d been steadily watching her the whole time she made her call.

Meanwhile, a smiling Jaleel went through the den’s arched doorway, past the eat-in kitchen and on to his home office down the hall. Brother-in-law, I think your player days are over.

With the full knowledge that he was dealing with a short amount of time here and knowing how resistant Chasity could be to his will at times, Marcos sat down in the chair again, took a deep breath, and began. “First of all, I don’t blame you for being angry with me. I did pursue you for the wrong reasons and told a bunch of lies while I was doing it. But you got to know that I truly had come to love you. So much so that I panicked when I finally realized it. I was afraid of loving you, Chasity, afraid of becoming a parent, and terrified of us turning out like my parents did. That’s why I ran like a coward. I’m ashamed of myself and I have carried that shame around for years. Please forgive me, Chasity.”

Chasity’s pulse accelerated at his seemingly sincere words and at the genuine repentance resting upon his pecan-tan face. It sped up even more as quick images of the tender and loving way Marcos had held her all those years ago flashed in her mind to support his claim of having been in love with her once upon a time.

No, he’s just a very good actor that’s all, she thought, talking herself out of even trying to believe Marcos. Chasity couldn’t afford to believe him again and a part of her didn’t even want to forgive him, even though she knew she should. After all, bitterness seemed like a suitable enough cloak to protect her from the intense attraction that she still felt for the man across from her.

“You really expect me to believe that you actually loved me back then?” Chasity asked, trying to project her disbelief in her question, despite the fact that her body had been decisively soothed and deliciously aroused by his potent words.

“Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. I did love you back then and I still love you now. In fact, I’m glad that you didn’t abort our child because La’Charity will always be my evidence of the love we once shared.” Upon noticing how Chasity’s warm honey eyes had darkened to almost an oak brown with desire at his words, Marcos effortlessly got up from the chair he sat in and joined her on the sofa. He’d never forget those telltale signs of Chasity’s mounting passion or the fact that her bottom lip was vulnerable to certain types of caresses.

Marcos hid a smile when Chasity stiffened up as he sat down beside her. He was amazed by her resilience and her ability to resist him even when it was obvious that she still wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Oh, the wonderful challenges she always presented him with just kept his blood pumping with excitement.

Chasity stiffened even more as Marcos stretched out both of his long arms on the headrest behind them, causing one of his arms to be directly behind her head. His legs, he comfortably stretched out in front of him, as if presenting them for her eyes to feast off of. And that expensive spicy cologne Marcos wore made Chasity want to bury her face in his neck in order to get a deeper whiff.

Stop it! she told herself, trying to force her body not to react to Marcos’ nearness, wanting to flee from his presence, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he still affected her. Chasity was especially affected by those long, deliciously hairy legs of his in the brown cargo shorts he wore. She had vivid memories of her tasting those long limbs during the more passionate phase of their relationship. In fact, she wanted to taste them now.

I said stop it! Chasity told herself again. Then sensing that her body was going to be rebellious in this matter, she sought another way to stop this madness. Especially since Marcos was still watching her every move and seemed ready to pounce upon her at any moment like the predator he was.

“Maybe you did love me back then and maybe you think you still do now. However, what you did to me makes it impossible for me to ever love or trust you again,” Chasity forced out, despising her own treacherous body for pulsating with so much need for the man beside her. “All I want now is my daughter,” she added quietly, wishing that that statement was one hundred percent true now, the way it was a few hours ago.

“And I want you both, but of course for very different reasons and in very different ways,” Marcos replied in a whisper as he leaned closer to her right ear, allowing his fresh warm breath to caress her neck. Mmm…she still smells so good, he thought, inhaling a deep whiff of her floral perfume into his strong nostrils. Ever since he’d known her, Chasity has always smelled like rose petals in the springtime.

When Marcos noticed her shiver of delight stemming from his breath’s caress, he knew that Chasity had not only lied to him, but also to herself. Their daughter wasn’t the only thing she wanted, either. Deciding to seize the moment, he used his nearness to place a light kiss upon her lips.

If Marcos had claimed her lips in a hard kiss, Chasity would have been better able to resist him and would have promptly pushed him away after a hard slap on the face for good measure. After all, predators were never gentle with their prey. One viewing of a Discovery Channel documentary on predators can attest to that. But when Marcos only brushed his mouth across hers with the tenderest of caresses and then licked her bottom lip in that sensual way she liked, Chasity found her lips involuntarily opening in invitation and a soft sigh of deep desire escaped just before she welcomed his tongue into her mouth.

Upon seeing her reaction to his butterfly kiss, Marcos forced himself not to respond with his usual ferocious need leading the way, fiery need that had been stroked that much higher with her opposition to his charm. Instead he continued along the tender path, allowing Chasity to determine how fast or slow the kiss progressed and to what degree it deepened. Oh, how it pained the aggressive man to allow someone else, anyone else to lead the way in anything.

The way Chasity responded to Marcos was like sand flowing through an hourglass - steady, but ever so slow. She probed his mouth, teased his tongue with hers, and suckled his bottom lip with meticulous precision as she surrendered wholeheartedly to the tender side of him. Where had her anger gone? Where was the bitterness now? They both were currently consumed by Chasity’s passion as she delectably familiarized herself with the joys of Marcos Valdez again.

Although Marcos didn’t want her to stop for anything, this moment still felt like sweet torture to him. He wasn’t a natural follower and patience had never been one of his stronger virtues. Plus, the fact that he’d never wanted a woman this badly before in his life caused Marcos to really wrestle with himself right now. He had to particularly fight to keep his hands respectfully above Chasity’s neck.

But first things first. Marcos had to somehow convince Chasity to go home with him on that star-filled night. He had to somehow get her to want him so badly that she’d agree to anything he asked. Remembering how taken she was with his legs, he brought his right leg up and rested it upon his left knee. Then Marcos reached for one of Chasity’s hands and began to slowly move it over his lower limb, allowing her to feel the hard muscles and the silky hair there. He knew he’d struck gold when she moaned with pleasure and tightened her grip on his calf muscle before lightly tracing its grooves with her fingertips. She also began to increase the pace of their succulent feast and was now practically devouring his lips with her hungry kisses.

It was at that point that Marcos knew that Chasity was his for the taking. “Cancel the cab, baby. Let me take you back to the hotel. Better yet, let me take you to my house. It’s only four blocks away and it even has a retractable mirror on the bedroom ceiling for our viewing pleasure,” he whispered against her lips, letting her know that he had every intention of making love to her tonight. Thoroughly.

Chasity suddenly stopped all movement and abruptly broke the kiss. Her passion flew away as if it had wings and common sense returned, bringing anger along with it. “Once again you’ve asked the wrong thing of me, Marcos,” she said, standing hastily to her feet. “But this time, I won’t compromise my ethics for you. This time, I’m going to do right by myself.”

Just then, a horn sounded outside, indicating that her taxi was there. Then gathering her purse, Chasity looked back at a highly surprised and thoroughly disappointed Marcos and added, “La’Charity will be the only thing between us from now on.” Then she proceeded to make her way out of the house.

That’s where you’re wrong, Chasity. La’Charity will ‘not’ be the only thing between us, Marcos mused with determination as desire continued to pump through his veins even as he heard his sister’s front door close in the distance.

Now that he’d been presented with this new challenge, he was taking himself officially off the dating market. All the other ladies in Marcos’ social life were as good as dumped as of this moment. He wouldn’t make the same mistake of keeping other women in his life like he had during their college years. Especially since too many of those women had thought it their duty to find creative ways to let the preacher’s daughter know of his little trysts with them.

Some of the women had written Chasity short letters and mailed them to her house. A few had reverted back to high school tactics and written who he was with on the walls of the ladies room near the mirrors where all the other females could see the messages. And one very innovative woman had written ‘Marcos is a dog’ on his car windshield in bold, red, spray paint.

Marcos had hated himself a little bit more each time he’d lied to Chasity about being faithful back in college, each time he insisted that those women were in his past and that they were just jealous that he’d chosen her over them. Unfortunately for Chasity, she believed him every time and ended up feeling and looking like a fool when it was all over. Unfortunately for Marcos, he now had that working against him even though he was determined to be faithful this time. Of equal misfortune is the fact that he didn’t even know if he would get another chance with Chasity, but he was definitely going to try.

© 2006 Suprina Frazier

Comments

Anonymous said…
you go girl!!!
kris said…
mmh hmn

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