More Than He Can Handle (20 page)

“Cleveland.”

“I don't want to hear it. This is how things work, I love you and you're about to go through . . .”

“Will you shut up for two seconds?” she said. “I want to say thank you.”

“Oh,” he said, heat rushing to his cheeks. “I just thought you were doing that ‘being difficult' thing that you do.”

“Whatever,” Freddie said with a slight smile on her lips. “I'm not difficult.”

“And the sun doesn't shine,” Cleveland quipped. “If I can take you back to the night of Lillian's rehearsal dinner?”

“Please, you were being an ass. All you did was complain about missing a pep rally.”

“You don't understand how much I love football,” he said. “And it's not often that the Falcons are playoff bound. Besides, with all of those bridesmaids looking at me like I was going to be their ticket to a trip down the aisle it was just too much. Besides, my plan was to attend the wedding, not the rehearsal dinner.”

“Uh-huh. You loved every minute of it. Never have I seen a man strut around the way you did that night.”

Cleveland leaned back in the booth with his arms folded across his chest. “Do you really want to go back to that night? Go on and admit that you were fighting how bad you wanted all of this.”

“Wanted to deck you.”

Chuckling, he reached across the table and stroked her arm. “We both know you wanted more than that. When you walked over to me that night, it took my breath away and then you started talking. So beautiful, yet so bitter.”

Freddie balled up a napkin and tossed it at Cleveland. “Whatever. Lillian really had it in for you. She really thought you had a night of debauchery planned for her man.”

“All I wanted was a night of debauchery with you. Especially when you tried to pretend that you didn't want me.”

“I wasn't pretending, I didn't want you then,” she said with a smile on her lips. “But now is a totally different story.”

“Is that so?” he asked with a wide grin on his face.

Raising her right eyebrow, Freddie returned his smile. “It is.”

He waved for the waitress and then said, “I suggest that we order the special and get the hell out of here.”

After eating their meal, Cleveland and Freddie couldn't get back to Atlanta fast enough. He drove at a neck-breaking rate making the two-and-a-half-hour trip in about an hour and forty-five minutes. As they pulled into his driveway and exited the car, Freddie remarked, “You're lucky we didn't get stopped by the police.”

“Well, had the officer taken one look at you, he would've understood.”

She playfully swatted his shoulder. “And just what would you have said to the officer?”

Cleveland pulled her against his body. “It's a man thing, you wouldn't understand if I told you.” Gently, he brushed his lips against her neck. “Let me get your bags.”

Freddie slipped her hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “My bags aren't going to grow legs and walk out of your car. Besides, there's something else you need to do first.”

His body responded to her hot words and gentle touch. “What would that be?” he asked, his lips close to her ear. She wrapped her legs around his waist and Cleveland cupped her ample bottom.

“I could tell you or you could carry me inside and I can show you,” she said before leaning in to kiss his lips.

Cleveland couldn't get Freddie in the house fast enough. With one hand, he secured Freddie around his waist and unlocked the front door with the other one. Crossing the threshold, Cleveland kicked the door closed and then captured Freddie's lips, kissing her with an urgent hunger. She returned his kiss, thrusting her tongue into his mouth and probing the depth of it. A soft moan escaped his throat as his groin tightened in anticipation. Backing against the wall, Cleveland ripped her shirt open and Freddie grabbed at the waistband of his jeans. She dropped one leg from around his waist and planted her foot on the ground as he kissed her neck. Soft moans escaped her throat as his lips traveled down to her collarbone and across the tops of her breasts. With nimble fingers, she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Cleveland's hardness spilled out of his boxers and Freddie stroked him as he continued to kiss her breasts.

“Umm, I need you,” she moaned. “Need you inside.”

Cleveland ripped his mouth away from her breasts. He didn't have to tell her that he needed to bury himself inside her and forget that they'd ever been apart. Scooping her up in his arms, Cleveland headed upstairs to his bedroom, taking two steps at a time. Once he got into the room, he laid Freddie on the bed and looked at her for a moment. She was a thing of beauty with her hair fanned out on the pillow and her eyes filled with a combination of love and lust. When she sucked her bottom lip in, Cleveland grew harder and hotter. He stripped her clothes from her body, kissing each inch of skin that he exposed.

Freddie writhed underneath his touch, his kisses heated her body up like an inferno. She reached for his pants, but Cleveland grabbed her hand. “I want to take my time with you,” he said. He kissed her flat stomach, using his tongue to slide down to her heated core. Gently, Cleveland spread her thighs apart and buried his face between them and lapped her womanly juices. She seized the back of his neck, pressing him to go deeper, to taste more of her. He obliged her, deepening his kiss and wrapping his tongue around her throbbing bud. Intense waves of pleasure rippled through her body causing her legs to tremble. Freddie arched her back, pressing her hips into his mouth as her breasts heaved and her nipples hardened like diamonds. Cleveland alternated his finger and his tongue inside her, nearly bringing her to climax. Freddie hadn't noticed that Cleveland had disrobed until she felt his thick hardness against her thighs. Covering her body with his, he kissed her, allowing her to taste the saltiness of herself. Freddie drew his tongue deeper into her mouth, silently telling him how urgently she needed him. Cleveland slipped his hand between her thighs as they kissed and stroked her core until she cried out.

“Need. You. Inside,” she said, her breathing labored.

“Wait,” he whispered against her ear. “I have to protect you.”

Cleveland reached in his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom. Freddie watched him as he slid the sheath in place. Would it be horrible if they had a child together? She knew that she'd be a better parent than her mother or her father had been to her.
What am I thinking? He probably doesn't even want to have children and why would anyone want to get involved with my crazy family?

“Are you all right?” Cleveland asked when he noticed how quiet she was and the frown on her face.

“Yeah,” she said, her voice far off. “I'm fine.”

He eased into the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Talk to me,” he whispered as he stroked her forearm.

“This feels so easy, so right, but it can't always be like this.”

He rolled Freddie on top of him and brushed his lips against hers. “Why not? This thing between us is only as difficult as you make it,” he said.

She rolled her hips against his and Cleveland groaned. “There you go with the ‘d' word again,” she said as she guided his hardness to her wetness. He gripped her hips as she tightened herself around him. They rocked back and forth, their conversation saved for another time. Freddie threw her head back in ecstasy as Cleveland matched her stroke for stroke.

“You feel so-so good,” she cried as she gripped the sheets while they ground their bodies against each other. Cleveland wanted to speak, wanted to describe how good it felt inside her hot valley, but he was rendered speechless when she gyrated her hips like a trained belly dancer and brought him nearer to his climax.

Freddie handled his body like no other woman ever could, she knew where to kiss him, how to ride him and what drove him wild. Grabbing her back, he flipped her over and dove deeper into her wetness, causing her to cry out his name. They fell into an intense rhythm, pushing and pulling each other to dizzying heights of pleasure. Cleveland slowed his pace as he felt the eruption of an orgasm building in his belly. But Freddie wouldn't slow down. She tightened her grip around his waist with her legs and ground against him with wanton desire. Sweat covered their bodies as their dance continued. Freddie closed her eyes, reveling in the powerful sensations attacking her nervous system.

Grunting, Cleveland was no longer able to hold off his climax and he exploded inside her. Shivering, Freddie collapsed on his chest, smiling and satisfied. Cleveland wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. There was no need for words because their hearts were beating in sync. Freddie closed her eyes and silently admitted to herself that Cleveland Alexander was her soul mate.

 

 

The shrill ringing of Cleveland's cell phone woke him and Freddie around three
A.M.

Cleveland tumbled out of bed and grabbed the phone. “Yeah?”

“Where are you?” Darren asked.

“Was in bed. On the floor now. What's wrong?”

“I hope you're back in Atlanta, because we had a man go down tonight,” Darren said solemnly.

“Who was it?” Cleveland asked, now fully awake.

“Roland. He's in intensive care. About three hours ago, we were working a fire in a warehouse and the roof collapsed. He was inside and we couldn't get him out before the collapse. He's in bad shape. As much as we teased him, Roland's a good man.”

Cleveland cursed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Where is he?”

“Grady. He had burns on eighty percent of his body, inhaled a lot of smoke,” Darren said with a heavy sigh. “I'm going to need you to come to the station in the morning. Sorry if you didn't get to win your woman back yet, but . . .”

“I'll be there. I'm back in town,” Cleveland said.

“Thanks.”

“It's times like this when we have to come together. Were you there?”

“Yeah,” Darren said. “This is the first time that I've been at a fire and was scared. I have to think about my little girl, I don't want her growing up without me. I got an offer to be moved up to the arson investigations unit. After tonight, I'm seriously considering it.”

Cleveland didn't know what to say, though he understood what his brother was feeling. Still, he couldn't imagine working without Darren. “Do you think this is a decision to make while you're so emotional?” he asked.

“Jill's been pushing me to do it,” Darren said. “And you know who's been backing her up on it.”

“Well, if you take this job the next thing Mom is going to do . . .” Cleveland said.

“Push me to hire you. She's been trying to get us out of the fire service since the day we went to the academy,” Darren said with a low chuckle. “I guess it's times like this when I can understand where she's coming from.”

Cleveland shot a glance at Freddie and wondered if she would understand the life of a firefighter and the dangers that went along with it. She'd lost so much in her life, was it fair to bring her into his life when he faced death and danger on every call? “Yeah,” he finally said. “I know what you mean.”

“So, did you find her and plead your case?”

“Yeah, I sure did.” A slow smile spread across his lips as Freddie shifted in the bed and the sheet dropped from her chest and exposed her breasts. As her chest rose and fell, Cleveland felt a warm feeling spread across his body and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let her go.

“Is she there now?” Darren asked.

“Yeah, she is.”

“Well, I'll be damned. How did you swing that?”

“I can't even get into that right now,” Cleveland said as he crawled back into bed. “What time do you want me to come in?”

“I'd love to say six, but I'll deal with eight,” Darren said. “I'm going to head back to the hospital for awhile then I'm going home to kiss my baby.”

“See you in a couple of hours,” Cleveland said then snapped his phone shut. As he wrapped his arms around Freddie, her eyes fluttered open. “Did I wake you?”

Freddie snuggled closer to him. “Yeah,” she said. “Is everything all right?”

“One of the men from our station was injured in a fire. Times like this always make us think of our father. Darren is even thinking about going into the Fire Marshal's office for arson investigations because he doesn't want his daughter growing up without him.”

“I can understand that. It's really admirable that he wants to be there with his child. Too bad I can't say that either one of my parents did the same thing.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “I'm not going to think about that.” Cleveland wiped her cheek with his thumb.

“Whenever you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen,” he said, kissing the track of her tear.

“Thanks. I guess you'd better go to sleep since you have to work, right?”

Cleveland nodded. “Yeah, I'm going to have to go into the station and pick up the slack. It's a good thing I didn't have to do much talking to get you to come back with me.”

“Whatever,” she said. “You provided an escape plan.”

“Are you saying it could've been anyone that you would've left with? Yeah, right,” Cleveland said then tickled her underneath the covers. “You know you wanted to come with me.”

“And I did, several times,” she quipped.

Cleveland pulled her on top of him. “I can make it happen again,” he said.

Spreading her legs apart, Freddie smiled and said, “Don't talk about it, be about it.”