They Say Love Is Blind (22 page)

Tory sat up in bed and checked the clock. Oh my god it was nearly
eleven o’clock! How could she have slept so late? They had been in bed by nine o’clock which meant that she’d slept over 12 hours. She scrambled out of bed and pulled on her robe. She rubbed her hands through her unruly hair and hurried out of the room.

Mr. and Mrs. Torres was standing at the computer that had been moved from the spare room to the living room. They were oohing and aaahing at something he was showing them until Mrs. Torres turned to her.

“
Ola,
Tory,
” She
gave her a knowing smile
.
But nothing had happened last night!

Mr. Torre’s eyes scanned her attire and his brow arched. She made sure that her robe was closed.

“Uh, good morning,” she said.

Lee minimized the computer screen and with a broad grin he walked over to her. She was pleased that he didn’t
have to
hold his arms
out
and that he moved confidently the way he had before the accident.
She felt a rush of guilt when she saw the purple bruise standing out prominently over his eye. But he was all smiles and didn’t seem to notice it at all.

“Morning? I’m sorry to tell you that you missed morning and are about to greet the afternoon.” He pulled her into
h
is arms and kissed her lovingly. She pulled back because his parents were staring.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”
She mumbled to him.

“My mother said that you needed your rest.”

Oh, well she couldn’t argue with that.

“Are you hungry? You missed breakfast but lunch is nearly ready.”

She grimaced. Ugh, food was not tops on her list. She just wanted coffee and a piece of Danish…if that. But she knew
that if Mrs. Torres was anything like her mother, she would insist she eat well
in order
to build up her strength. She smiled and
lied
, saying that
she was a little hungry.

“
Feijo
a
da
de vaca
will be ready soon.”

Tory gestured to the bathroom. “I’m going to get showered. I’ll be back.”

After showering and dressing,
she
checked her messages and saw that Mama had called. She listened to the message; they had arrived safely. She felt guilty for not calling to check and then further guilty when Mama reminded her to use her
Incentive spirometer
to help with her breathing
. She hated the thing. She was supposed to use it three times a day
to help strengthen
and open up
her lungs. But it made her feel lightheaded and dizzy and so she would skip it anytime she could. She hadn’t even brought it with her.

She decided to send Mom a quick text
telling her that she was happy she had seen them and would call her later. She didn’t mention the
spirometer
.

When she returned to the living room the table was set and Lee and his father were
sitting in chairs watc
hing something on his computer. Oh what a surprise; soccer, she though with a wry grin. She had
discovered
that Lee and his family were demented over the sport. The fact that he didn’t own a television set didn’t stop him from keeping up with his favorite team. He could tune into foreign channels via
computer.
At that very moment the
two men cheered happily at some unknown event. She placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek from behind.

“Mmmm,” he said simply, pausing long enough to receive it.

“
Cerveja
?”

“Yes, thanks, honey.”

Tory gave Mr. Torres a quick smile. “I’ll bring you one, too.”

“
O
brigado
,
Tory
. Thank you
,
” he responded with an appreciative smile.

She went into the kitchen
and saw
Mrs. Torres putting slices of fresh baked bread onto a plate and singing a Portuguese song. Tory knew it. It was one by Amália Rodrigues
who was like the Elvis Presley of Portuguese music
.
Whenever
Lee
played music by
her,
his vibe would change
. It was like
the way she felt when she
played a song
like Yearning for Your Love by The Gap Band or Serpentine Fire by Earth Win
d and Fire.
Listening to
music from her parent’s generation made her feel good and it was the same with him. Wanting to know more, Tory and Lee began to play those spec
ial songs for each other until each now
had favorites from the others history.
The one Mrs. Torres now sang was one of them.

Lee’s mother
was an excellent singer
and Tory couldn’t help but
stand there for a moment listening.
She
caught herself when she saw Tory and laughed, clutching her chest.

“Sorry, that was beautiful,
”
Tory
apologized.

Mrs. Torres waved away her words. “Old music for an old woman.”

“I like
fado
.” Tory moved to the refrigerator for beer.

“Oh, Tory! You know
fado
music?”
She peeked around the refrigerator door unsure why that would surprise her.

“Yes, ma’ame. It’s like
…Portuguese blues
.” She closed the refrigerator door
with two bee
rs in tow
. “I also like that song you were singing;
Povo que lavas no rio
.
”
Folk
who bathe in the river. When Lee interpreted the lyrics
for her
it made her think of Strange Fruit by Bill
ie
Holiday. She was instantly enraptured by the song;

Folk who wash in the river,
Who with your axe prepare,
The planks of my coffin,
There will be those who defend you,
Who'll buy your sacred ground,
But no, not your life.

She
left
the kitchen calling over her shoulders.
“I’ll be back in a minute
, Mrs. Torres
to help you.” She didn’t see the look of surprise on her soon-to-be-mother in law
’
s face.

CHAPTER 17

After lunch Mr. and Mrs. Torres
decided to do some visiting and asked Tory and Lee if they wanted to join them.

The couple was sitting on the couch holding hands. Lee shrugged. “I think we’ll pass.”

“Yeah.” Tory a
greed
. “I’m in the mood to kick off my shoes and plant myself on this couch.”

“Okay, kids. We’ll see you tonight.
Até logo
.
” Mr. Torres
called
and they disappeared into the elevator. Lee perked his ears and listened until the
elevator reached the ground floor. He got up and moved to the elevator and listened. When he turned he had a smile on his face.

“
Vem aqui
,” he held out one hand to her in invitation.
Come here
.

Oooo…
Tory came to her feet and sauntered over to him. The apartment was quiet and she knew that he was listening to each step of her slippered feet against the stone floor. She felt a flutter deep down in the pit of her stomach and then it blossomed and spread electric fingers throughout her body.

She stopped just a mere foot in front of him. His arms snaked out and gripped her about the waist and she thought;
that’s right baby. I’m right here
…Strong hands ran lovingly over the curve of her ass, pausing there to stroke and explore her
. Her hands moved around his strong shoulders, careful of his bruising and healing collarbone.
Lee closed the space between them and she could feel his hard muscular frame as it pressed against her much softer flesh.

“Baby, I missed you,” she sighed. Lee’s head lowered and he suddenly had her bottom lip gripped between his. His tongue pushed into her mouth and he kissed her passionately, nearly crushing her lips in the process.

She no longer remember
ed to be careful of his bruises
and she held onto him tightly, pressing her body against his, discovering
that he was more than aroused; he was unyieldingly hard. She couldn’t help it, she rolled her hips against his cock,
feeling wanton and weak with desire.

“I missed you…” she gasped. “Please baby…”

Lee groaned
and suddenly gripped her ass and lifted her. Her legs went around his
hips and for a moment all he could do was stand there
and hold her in his arms.

“I love you. I love you so much, Tory. I can’t stop thinking about how close I came to losing you and there was nothing that I could do-”

“Shh,” she kissed his face and ran her hands through his hair. “You took care of us, don’t you see? You bought a car with safety in mind and because of it we made it. That was all you, baby. I would have bought a hooptie.”

He chuckled and
planted kisses on her face. After a while he
sighed
and
just
stood there holding
her in his arms. They touched foreheads and stayed that way until he lowered her back to her feet. “Let’s go to bed.”

They walked hand in hand and once in the bedroom Lee stopped her before she could undress. “
No.
I want to
do it
,
bela
.” She shivered as he
lifted her blouse above her head. His fingers moved to lightly touch her breasts, tracing the bra where it met her flesh.

Tory closed her eyes, relishing his gentle touch. Now blind, she experienced each sensation with a renewed intensity. She felt his fingers glide between her breasts and down her abdomen. Slowly he moved past her belly
button, trailing down to her jeans
. Tory knew that she was breathing hard and fast. She stood there unmo
ving and felt Lee unbutton her pants
and drag the zipper down slowly. He stepped closer to her, his body pressed against hers lightly. She felt his hands in her panties, pushing them and her pants down in one fluid motion and she couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath.

He bent and had her step out of them and now all she was wearing was the bra. He reached around and unhooked it, letting it drop to the floor.
His hands moved up the sides of her body, seeming to rediscover each curve. He left no part of her torso untouched and when he discovered the bandage
, beneath which
the tube had pierced her lung
,
his brow drew together and he
placed a tentative kiss there
before moving on. He found the bruise on her shoulder and kissed it and so that he wouldn’t miss kissing any injury he kissed every inch of her body until she could take no more.

“Please…” she begged breathlessly.

He raised his head
and looked at her
. “Please, what?”

“Please,” she
bit her lip her eyes bright. “P
ut it in me. Make me cum, make love to me, fuck me—I don’t care! I just want to feel you inside of me!”

“Fuck…” he lifted her and carried her to the bed, lying her down carefully. Then he swiftly removed his clothes, grimacing once when he raised his arms above his head to remove his shirt. When he was naked, standing over her in beautiful perfection, Tory
moaned in anticipation
. He was so beautiful. He’d often called her beautiful
, but he was. He was perfect. He was hers.