Triple Diamonds (Mystic Nights Book 2) (26 page)

At ten o’clock,
Joseph was in his suite waiting for a Jewel. He had put on fresh sheets on the bed. He had gone out and purchased several dozen candles, and the room glittered with their flickering light. He wanted tonight to be special, a memory of their fresh start she would cherish forever. He hoped it was. He glanced at the velvet box on his dresser. On a whim, he had gone down to the jewelers and purchased a necklace and charm. The moment he saw the small circle pendant with the three floating diamonds, he knew it would be perfect. It was a token of his love for her, which he planned to tell her of that night, but the charm, the three diamonds, also symbolized her devotion to her brothers, and her faith in them. Her love for them would be respected. He would trust in her word, and that meant them, too.

He hit the stereo and the soulful voice of John Legend played in the background. Then he heard the soft tap on the door.

Crossing the room, he opened it, and her eyes immediately filled with tears as she took in the room, and what he had done. “Oh, Joseph, it looks beautiful.”

He gathered her in his arms. “You are beautiful,” he murmured into her shiny dark hair. And she was. She must have brought a change of clothes to work, because she wore a sleek emerald dress. Her hair lay in long layers, and she had done her make up. She looked gorgeous. “I want this to be special tonight.”

“It’s always special when I’m with you.” She gazed into his coppery brown eyes that flickered in the candlelight. What she saw in those depths was love and pain. “Joseph, I love you. I want you to know that.”

Hearing her say the words he planned to tell her in just a few moments sealed the deal for him. She was giving him another chance, trusting him, and he wasn’t going to screw it up. “I love you, too. I really do, Baby. The moment I met you, when I thought you were stealing food from the pantry,” her brow furrowed and he laughed to erase her worry, “I knew even then that there was something incredibly special about you. You are an amazing woman, and one I want to spend my life with.”

Her gasp caught her by surprise.

“Just be patient with me. I promise you that I’ll work on my trust issues. And keep loving me, because I’m never going to stop loving you.”

Jewel took this gorgeous man’s face in her hands, and she met him half way as he tilted his head to get access to her mouth. He kissed her with all the love and passion he had in him.

When the kiss ended Jewel was breathless, but he wasn’t done yet. He took her small hand in his and led her to the dresser, and picked up the large velvet box.

“You didn’t have to . . .”

“Hush, I wanted to.” He pulled off the cover as she looked inside at the beautiful necklace. On a thin chain of gold, was a round band of gold, and inside were three diamonds tethered together by an invisible cord that made them appear like they were floating. She understood the meaning of the three diamonds immediately and tears sprung to her eyes.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You are beautiful,” he repeated his words from earlier as he pulled the chain out of the box. “Now, let me put this on you.”

Jewel turned and lifted her thick mane of hair as he made quick work of the clasp and fastened the token of his love around her neck. She turned so he could see the glittering diamonds that lay just below her collar bone. It was lovely.

“Thank you, I love it,” she whispered.

Joseph bent to taste her lips once more. And he kissed her again until he needed more. When her hands began to pull his shirt out of his pants, he took over and led her to the bed.

He stepped away from her and began to finish what she started. He removed his shirt as her eyes feasted on his body. She took in his tatted arms and his chest. He knew what tattoo he was getting next. Diamonds, for his own precious Jewel.

When he stood in nothing but his boxers, Jewel took the hem of her slinky dress and pulled it over her head. In one swoop she stood before him in nothing but her emerald satin panties and bra.

His eyes were ablaze in a second, and not from the candlelight that cast their flickering glow all around them. They were alight for her.

Together they pulled the duvet off the bed and climbed in together. Hands reached for each other and touched, and grasped as they clung to one another.

After he removed her bra, and his boxers, he pushed her back so she was underneath him. Taking off her panties, he gazed down at her sweet pussy. He caught her lips and kissed her deeply, cupping her femininity. When she pushed herself into his hand, he knew she was ready but he wanted to be sure. His fingers slipped inside her folds, and he stroked her clit to help her find her pinnacle. She was so wet, so hot. So ready.

When she began to moan her pleasure, he couldn’t help himself any longer, and positioned himself at her entrance.

“I love you, Joseph,” she whispered as he paused above her to soak in her words.

He plunged inside, claiming her forever. “I love you too, Jewel. I love you too.”

And then, he began to move.

His cock pulled out, and then slid in again reaching her depths. Soon her hips rocked with his in that ageless, timeless rhythm. When her moans became frenzied whispers, and he felt the walls of her pussy began to close in around him, he picked up the pace so he could find his release with her.

“Oh, Joseph,” she cried when the first wave of pleasure crashed around her. “I’m yours. Always.”

“You are mine,” he claimed her, promising himself to always worship this remarkable woman. His cock surged forward once more and his climax came. He thrust deeply twice more, filling her with his cock while the walls of her pussy convulsed around him and milked him dry. He collapsed on top of her briefly, spent from his own powerful release, and turned to the side still deep inside her wet folds. He didn’t withdraw and she instinctively knew he wanted that. Positioning one leg over him, they stayed that way, connected, gazing into each other’s eyes and wordlessly communicated their love for one another.

‡

T
he sound of
his phone vibrating woke Joseph. They had just dozed off after another round of love-making. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was just after midnight.

He reached for it, trying not to disturb Jewel, but knew he failed when he heard her murmur sleepily, “Who is it?”

He chuckled. “I don’t know yet?” he replied and then into the receiver, “Joseph here.”

Jewel knew it was bad when he sat up ramrod straight in bed, and then felt his body shift as he swung his legs off the bed.

She, too, sat up, and pulled the duvet up to cover her breasts.

“When?” Then a few seconds later. “No, don’t do anything. We will be down in a ten minutes.”

At the ‘
we
’ Jewel asked, “What is it? Anything the matter.”

He stood and began to pull on his boxers as he gazed at her. He hated having to tell her this. But he didn’t want to keep it from her either. “Lesley and Wesley are here. And they just walked into
The Rainmaker
. That was Eve.”

“But they aren’t even eighteen yet,” she stated angrily as she got up and began to reach for her clothes.

“I know. But they do look older. And they showed the doorman ID. They are also not alone.”

His tone told her what she asked anyway. “Is it Justin?”

He nodded while he fastened his pants and then stopped to get his shirt that lie discarded on the floor. He handed her the emerald dress.

“I’m going to kill them.” He saw the fury in her eyes.

“Well, let’s not jump the gun. Let’s hear them out,” he cautioned seeing a side of Jewel he had never seen before. She was furious.

“Not jump to conclusions! What other reason could they have by sneaking into club with fake ID.? And how did they get fake IDs?”

He had a suspicion. Those envelopes. That cash. Although he didn’t like it any better than she did, he knew boys would be boys. And there weren’t any teen clubs nearby, “Eve is keeping her eye on them. They haven’t been drinking anything other than soda. They seem to be scoping out the girls right now.”

“I’m going to kill them,” she repeated as she sat on the bed to put her heels back on.

He restrained his laughter at seeing her this angry, and pushed back the doubts of them being with Justin. She was a real mamma tiger. Heck, even when she had been angry at him, he had not seen this kind of fierceness.

*

When they reached
The Rainmaker
, Eve was waiting at the door, and she pointed them out. Lesley was dancing with a pretty brunette, while Wesley and Justin remained at the small table they had claimed. Justin was sitting next to a petite girl who clung to him.

When he spotted Jewel, Justin had the decency to look panic-stricken and nudged Wesley. Wesley turned to see Jewel leading the threesome in his direction. Jewel couldn’t make out what Wesley said, but just from the way his mouth formed the shapes she knew it involved the words, “Oh shit!” Well, she was about to give him exactly that.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” she stated emphatically pointing her finger into his chest with each enunciated word. “I turn my back for a moment and you boys do something stupid.”

Lesley must have noticed the scene his sister was making and he came over right away. “Shit, Jewel. We’re sorry. We’re not drinking. Just dancing.”

She turned her blazing eyes on Wesley’s twin. “Well, let me remind you both, you are not old enough to go clubbing. You need to pick up girls elsewhere. Follow me,” and with that she turned on her heel and walked right out of the bar. She ignored Justin completely.

Guests were laughing at the spectacle she had caused, and Joseph and Eve exchanged knowing looks. They had been through this as well. Only it was their mother who had caught them and dragged them from places they shouldn’t have been.

From Jewel’s quick pace and the boys following her with stooped shoulders, all who witnessed the scene knew the boys were in big trouble.

Jewel didn’t stop at the lobby. She walked right out the doors with her brothers in tow. Joseph told Eve to go back to the club. He would handle it and call her later.

Jewel spoke firmly twenty feet ahead of him. “Oh no. I am handling this.” She turned once outside in the parking lot. “Keys!” she demanded.

“I said we weren’t drinking, Jewels.” Wesley dug in his pocket to find the keys and dropped them into her proffered hand.

“I don’t care what you said, Wesley. No truck for two weeks. You
big men
can take the bus to school for the next two weeks. Now get in the car.”

“Jewels?”

“Lesley, now!” She opened the door for them and they both slid into the cramped back seat. Neither of them dared sit shotgun. They knew she could be an ogre when they screwed up. And they both knew they had screwed up badly.

She slammed the door after them, and turned to Joseph. “I’m so sorry, Joseph. I really can’t believe they did this.”

He smiled apologetically. “No need. They are boys, and sadly I admit, I did that a time or two. Though it doesn’t make it right.” The brothers looked away in shame.

“It’s so hard,” she complained. “But I promise it won’t happen again. They are going on restriction for two weeks. And no truck, no friends. No Justin.” She enunciated each phrase. “And when we get home they are going to watch me burn their fake IDs.” Both boys bemoaned the loss of their coveted IDs.

Joseph suppresses his smile remembering his mother doing the same thing to him. “I know this is your call, but how about you make them do a little volunteer work at the center with me. I’d like to help if I can, and maybe they can help me with the younger kids.”

Her eyes lit up at the thought. “Oo, that would be perfect. They’ll have to get up extra early.” Again, he heard the groans from the backseat.

“And I’ll even pick them up on the way to the youth center. They can catch the bus there to school.”

“That would be perfect.” He heard the anger slipping away from her voice. He saw her frown and knew she was worried about how this incident would affect them.

He leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. And he hugged her whispering in her ear, “I’ll get to see you every morning too. This is not something to worry about. For us.” He heard her shaky intake of breath and knew he had said the right thing. “Go get them home. I’ll call you later.”