Tender Touch (16 page)

“Here you go. I’ve gotten the last mail
out.” Jade nodded to Tavis, who was still in Lang’s office.

“Efficient as always. Happy shopping.”

When Jade was gone, Lang leaned back in his
chair. “She’s looking forward to our trip as much as I am.”

“Oh?” Tavis gazed at him with an amused
look.

“Yes. Jade is on her way to buy new clothes.
I’ll bet lingerie is on the list.” Lang wore a smug grin.

* * *

Jade closed her eyes and held on for a
lovely ride. The slow blues tune wrapped around them like a warm
blanket. It was magic being with him with all of her senses working
overtime. She savored the feel of having Damon’s arms around her in
the dark. Her ears hummed with the slow beat of the bass being
strummed with such precision. Damon’s cologne was a tangy spice
that tickled her nose in a delicious way. The dance floor was
packed, but Jade no longer noticed or cared.

Dorothy Moore crooned. Her rich throaty
voice poured out the words to a blues love song, “At Last My Love
Has Come Along,” making the old R&B standard sound new.

The Blues Cabaret was a nightclub in
downtown Baton Rouge that catered to the true blues aficionado.
Some of the best guitar players and singers came there regularly,
mainly because many of them were Baton Rouge or Louisiana natives.
They loved coming home to jam with friends. Local audiences were
the happy beneficiaries.

“Having a good time?” Damon said in a soft
voice close to her ear.

“Hmm,” she purred. Jade rubbed against him,
wishing there was a way to get even closer. “I’m at one with the
universe.” Damon chuckled. “So love can be a mystical experience,
eh?” Jade shivered at the word. She looked up at him. “We’re
falling in love?” The way his lips curved up at the comers made her
weak in the knees. He needed to be kissed—or rather she needed it,
badly.

“What do you think?” Damon nibbled her
bottom lip with a gentle tugging motion. “Tell me.”

“Damon,” Jade gasped.

A delicious hot hunger spread up her thighs
and hugged her hips. The movement of her gentle rocking motion
against him was involuntary. Instinct made her press forward. That
he was just as aroused became obvious when she felt his erection
through the fabric of his slacks. The music seemed designed to push
them into sweet insanity.

“Tell me you want me, too,” Damon said. “Say
it.”

“Yes,” Jade whispered. Her voice was hoarse
with the effort to hold on to what little conscious control she had
left. She trembled as a tiny explosion rocked her body. “Oh,
yes.”

“Say it,” he urged. His hands traveled up
and down her back, making her tremble more. “Please.”

“I want you so much, Damon.” Jade groaned
with the sweet sensation of arousal. She gave a tiny cry of dismay
when the song came to an end.

“Time to go back to our table.” Damon held
her still on the dance floor. His eyes were smoky with passion.

“Have mercy on me,” Jade said. Her heart was
pounding like a drum in her chest.

They walked back to their seats with their
arms encircling each other’s waist. An alert waiter appeared. He
handed Jade a cardboard hand fan with an advertisement for a soul
food restaurant nearby.

“Nice cool drink oughta go down just right
after that one.” He winked at Damon. “How about it, my man? Looks
like you could use something with ice in it.”

Damon nodded in a numb fashion. “Yes,
indeed.”

“I’ll have another diet cola, please.” Jade
worked the fan back and forth. The cool breeze helped calm her.

“That was some dance.” Damon wore a look of
amused affection.

“I had a great partner helping me keep
time,” Jade said with a saucy tilt of her head to one side.

She was amazed at her boldness. Jade had
always considered herself inept at this kind of erotic flirtation.
This was her first experience with a man who so enjoyed making love
long before consummation. Damon was bringing out a side of her she
had no idea existed. Jade liked it a lot.

“I feel like we’re communicating perfectly
on every level. I can’t wait to tell you about even little things
that have happened to me. But sometimes just sitting next to you at
the end of the day is enough.” Damon locked her in a loving gaze.
He sat with an arm draped around her.

“I know.” Jade emotions soared as she leaned
into the crook of his arm.

At that moment the waiter brought their
drinks. Damon paid him. “Keep the change.” He waved the man away,
impatient to have him gone.

“Thanks, brother.” The waiter glanced at
Jade with masculine appreciation. He backed off. “I understand.
Yes, indeed.”

“Can we leave now?” he murmured, his lips
brushing against her cheek. Damon’s question was one with a charged
double meaning.

Jade could no longer resist. She kissed him
full on the mouth, not caring that they sat in the middle of the
crowded nightclub. So intent on the delicious taste of him, she did
not hear the scattered applause from those around them.

“People are watching,” Damon said, his lips
still pressed to hers.

“What people?” Jade replied. She eagerly
touched the tip of her tongue to his. With perfect timing, they
parted just as the music came to a dramatic end with a long guitar
solo that ended abruptly.

“Jade?”

A loud male voice directly above them broke
the spell of passion. Recognition tugged at the comer of her
consciousness. She looked up to find her ex-husband, a pouting
beauty on his arm, standing two feet away. The look of slack-jawed
amazement on his face made her want to laugh out loud.

“Come on, Nicky,” the woman said. She shot
Jade a glance that could curdle milk. “You promised to take me to
Chez Irene.”

“Hello, Nick.” Jade’s manner was cool and
offhand.

Yet she could not help but feel a teeny
thrill. This could not have been better had she arranged it! All
the nights of smarting from blows to her self-esteem dealt by Nick
came back in an instant. There were also moments of rage at her
treatment. Moments when she fantasized about showing him a thing or
two. I wish I had video of this!

“It’s been a long time.” Nick glanced at
Damon then back at her. “A very long time.”

“A few months.” Jade smiled at him. “This is
Nick Guillory, Damon. My ex-husband. Nick, Damon Knight. And this
is...?” She nodded to the woman.

“Oh, uh, Tiffany—” Nick broke off, a
befuddled crease in his handsome brow.

“Monroe,” Tiffany snapped. She dug her long
nails into Nick’s coat sleeve, causing him to jump.

“Yes, Monroe,” Nick said with an embarrassed
laugh. “Sorry, it’s just I’m surprised to see you here.” He stared
at Damon.

“Nice to meet you. Great band, eh?” Damon
did not look happy at the way Nick kept glancing at Jade so
possessively.

“Hmm, yeah, yeah. Really good music.” Nick
did not seem as though he was thinking of music at all. “Have you
two been coming here awhile?”

Jade almost lost control at the obvious
attempt to find out how long they had been dating. Before she could
speak, Damon began.

“Awhile,” he said. His expression challenged
further efforts to probe.

Nick drew himself up and became the
imperious man so familiar to Jade. “We usually go to New Orleans
but decided to stick around the old town for once.”

Damon was not impressed. “Oh, yeah.”

“In fact what was that club I used to take
you down near the French Market, Jade? You loved it. We’d stay up
until two in the morning then wander over to Cafe du Monde—”

“Nick, this trip down memory lane is simply
fascinating, but I’m ready to leave. Now.” Tiffany spoke in a tight
voice of fury.

“We’re on our way out, too.” Jade lifted her
royal blue cape from one of the extra chairs at the table.

“Listen, if you’re hungry, join us for
dinner,” Nick spoke up. He made a point of not looking at Tiffany.
“No reason we can’t be friends and get acquainted—or reacquainted
as it were, ha-ha.”

Damon stood up and helped Jade into her
cape. “No, we’re going to my place.” He wrapped an arm around Jade
and pulled her close. “But thanks anyway.”

“Oh. Then goodbye.” Nick had the wide-eyed
expression of a man who had just had cold water thrown in his
face.

They were silent for the long drive to
Damon’s apartment. Jade’s mood of amusement slipped to one of worry
at the dark scowl on Damon’s face since they had left the club.
Once they were inside, Damon turned on his sound system and began
preparing cafe au lait. Several minutes went by before she worked
up the courage to speak.

“As usual the Blues Cabaret had the best jam
in town.” She craned around from her position on the sofa to see
him in the kitchen just off the living room.

“Yep,” came his clipped reply.

“I’m glad you suggested we go there. It was
one fabulous evening, honey.” Jade hoped the tension that hung in
the air between them like a thin curtain would lift. But it did
not.

“Well, it started anyway.” Damon marched in
with a teakwood tray bearing two beautiful white cups with an
African kente cloth pattern as a border around the rims.

Jade bit her lip. “How do you mean?” She was
not prepared for the rush of anger that followed.

“I mean, your ex showed up and stood scoping
out every inch of your body. Right in front of me.” Damon did not
touch his mug.

“Nick isn’t interested in me, Damon.”

“That’s not the way he acted tonight. And
you seemed to eat it up.” Damon turned to her with a look of
accusation.

“Damon, I...” Jade searched for a way to
explain.

“So that means you still care about him.”
Damon got up and stood with his back to her, hands jammed into his
pockets.

Jade was well acquainted with the sting of
feeling insecure. Knowing how he’d been hurt by his ex-wife helped
her to be understanding. Jade stood behind him and put her arms
around his waist.

“Damon, I admit I enjoyed seeing that
dumbstruck look on Nick’s face. Not very admirable, I know. But
it’s not because I still have feelings for him.” Jade forced him to
turn and face her. She lifted her face to his. “You’re the one and
only man in my heart.”

“Are you sure? You were together for a long
time. How can I compete with all the memories?” Damon searched her
face for an answer.

“Nick was not only unfaithful to me; he
constantly belittled everything I did. Most of my memories of being
with him are unpleasant, some downright horrible,” Jade said in an
intense voice.

“I didn’t realize he’d hurt you so much.”
Damon’s face softened. He touched a fingertip to her mouth.

“About one year after he finished law
school, he announced that he’d outgrown me. Well, not exactly in
those words, but that’s what it amounted to.”

Nick had joined the thriving family
insurance business. The heady life of meeting some of the South’s
most wealthy and powerful only made his oversized ego bigger. He
went from treating her with mild condescension to outright
contempt. Jade stared off. Even that hurt faded. She felt nothing
at the image of that last ugly scene which led to the end of her
marriage.

“Are you sure there isn’t at least a trace
of love left?” Damon spoke just above a whisper. His expression was
one of fearful expectation.

“No,” Jade said with confidence. After all
this time, this was a moment of revelation to her. Nick meant
nothing to her now. “I can’t even get mad at him anymore.”

Damon gazed into her eyes for several long
moments. “Then let’s forget about the past. For us, the present is
sweet enough.” He traced a line from her lips down her throat.

Jade’s pulse jumped to double-time as she
watched his finger stop just at the point her cleavage began. “More
than sweet.”

She guided his hand to her breast and let
out a gasp when he teased her nipple beneath the fabric of her
blouse. Her mouth opened to his with eagerness. Damon kissed her in
short urgent bursts that trailed down her neck to the tops of her
breasts. Jade unbuttoned her blouse.

“Only if you’re ready,” Damon said. He
paused in the act of unhooking the front clasp of her lace cup
bra.

Jade’s answer was to discard her blouse
completely and pull him down to the sofa. “Now. Now,” she
murmured.

With soft words of love, Damon undressed her
then let her undress him. When flesh met flesh, they both sighed
with pleasure at the satisfaction of a long-awaited desire
fulfilled. To her delight Damon began to nuzzle her nipples with
tiny bites using his lips. From there he brushed his lips down the
length of her.

“I want you from the top of your head,”
Damon whispered. He looked up at her with eyes dark with desire.
“To the bottom of your feet.” He planted a hot kiss on the smooth
skin of her ankle. He let out a satisfied chuckle at the vibration
that rippled through her.

Jade tingled all over, her mind filled with
the wonder of how luscious sex could be with a tender lover who
took his time finding all the right places to touch. This was a
dream come true. Jade ran her hands over the solid, muscular arms
as he worked his way back up and licked her breast with long
strokes. Damon was so kind. And his lovemaking was a reflection of
his generous nature. His attention to pleasing her brought small
cries of joy from Jade. She feared she would lose consciousness as
he again rubbed his lips up and down her thighs. Damon pulled
away.

“Don’t dare move.” He sought to quiet the
gasp of dismay that came from the loss of contact.

Jade clenched her teeth to keep from
shouting for him as the few seconds he was gone seemed like hours.
She ached with the need to feel him. But he appeared over her,
holding a small foil square.