At first his rhythm was slow, intense and demanding, but his pace slowly started to increase, faster and harder, until I felt like my entire body was on fire. “Yes! Oh God, yes!”
He was driving me wild with every hard, deep thrust, and it wasn’t long before I felt a familiar warmth start building in my lower abdomen. My fingers dug into the comforter, twisting and pulling, as my back arched off the bed. A deep growl vibrated through his chest as his fingers slipped into my hair, pulling my head back as he exposed my neck. His breath caressed my skin as he began nipping and sucking from the base of my ear down to my collarbone. My legs tightened around him as my hips involuntarily jolted forward, meeting his thrusts and taking him even deeper.
I inhaled a labored breath as my body shuddered beneath him. Every muscle clenched around him as my orgasm took hold. He continued his relentless rhythm as my body jolted beneath him. Each thrust was more demanding than the last as he came closer to the edge. I was still floating on the high of my own release when I felt his body grow rigid. A deep groan echoed through the room as he drove deep inside me, holding still as he found his release.
My body fell limp as my legs dropped to the mattress, and I let out an exaggerated breath. He eased off me, quickly disposing of the condom before settling on the bed next to me. I was still trying to catch my breath when I muttered, “Yeah, living with you is definitely going to have its advantages.”
“Ah, I’m just getting started, baby. Just wait and see.”
Epilogue
The time had finally come. Marlowe had made it. After busting her ass for the past two years, she’d passed all her classes and was going to graduate. The brothers, along with Gladys, Ada, and Ford, had all come to share in her special day. We all sat there watching as she walked out in her cap and gown. She looked so damn beautiful as she stepped out on the stage, and I couldn’t have been prouder when she took that diploma in her hand and held it high for us all to see. When the ceremony was over, she rushed over to me and lunged into my arms, hugging me tightly. “I did it! I actually did it!”
“Of course you did.” I gave her a tight squeeze as I told her, “Proud of you, babe.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I had nothing to do with it.” I looked down at her and smiled. “You did this all on your own.”
“I don’t know about that but thank you all the same.”
I motioned my hand over to Gladys and the brothers as I told her, “You have a few folks who came to see you.”
“Oh my goodness! You all came!”
“No way we’d miss it.” Country hugged her, then stepped back with a shake of his head. “But dang, woman. That shit lasted like two hours. The least you could’ve done was trip or have the wind blow up your skirt. Something to keep us entertained.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“I got a way you can make it up to me.” He glanced around at the other graduates as he said, “You could hook me up. Damn. Seeing all these hot women in these robes has me wanting to go to church!”
“You could use some churchin’,” Gladys fussed. “Move over and let me give our girl a hug.”
Gladys stepped in front of Country and hugged Marlowe. As she patted her on the back, she whispered, “Sure am proud of you, Hun.”
“Thank you so much, Gladys. It means so much that you’re here.”
“Always knew you were going places.” Gladys looked behind her and smiled. “Guess I wasn’t the only one.”
A warm smile crossed Marlowe’s face when Ford stepped out of the group and started towards us. “Ford! You came too?”
“Absolutely.” He walked over and gave her a hug. “You did good, kid. Always knew you would.”
Marlowe hugged him back, then looked up at him and said, “I can’t thank you enough. I wouldn’t have made it here if it hadn’t been for you.”
“You graduating today was all the thanks I needed.” He looked around at all the people who came to join Marlowe on her special day, then smiled. “Looks like you all have some celebrating to do.”
“We’re all headed over to the clubhouse, and it’s gonna be one hell of a party. I hope you’ll come join us.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
Ford stepped aside, giving Marlowe room to speak to the others. After she’d thanked each and every one of them for coming, we headed over to the clubhouse. When we arrived, there was a huge spread of food and drinks waiting for us in the family room. Marlowe was so busy checking out all the decorations that she didn’t even notice the big surprise I had waiting for her in the corner. I stepped up behind her as I whispered, “There’s someone here who came a long way to see you.”
“Who?” She whipped around, and the minute she spotted Maria, tears filled her eyes. “You didn’t tell me she was coming!”
“Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. They flew in last night so that they could be at your graduation. She saw you get your diploma, but with so many people at the graduation, she decided to wait until we got here to let you know they’d come.”
“Well, I can’t think of a better surprise.”
Marlowe rushed over and gave her mother a hug. A few weeks after learning about Maria, Marlowe wrote to her. She was nervous about it, thinking Maria wouldn’t reply, but she did. The two corresponded back and forth for weeks, and eventually Marlowe mustered the courage to call her. Days after, they had their first visit, and it went even better than expected. They’d promised to meet again soon but juggling their busy schedules had turned out to be more difficult than either of them had expected. I knew how much it would mean to Marlowe to have Maria there for her graduation, so I flew her and her family in and did my best to keep it a secret from Marlowe. While it wasn’t easy, it was clear from her expression my efforts had paid off. I gave them a few moments to speak alone, then went over to join them.
As I walked up, Maria said, “Like I told you before, I never wanted to let you go. I simply didn’t have a choice, but I never stopped thinking about you. I’d always hoped and prayed that you would have a good life and you’d be happy. Seeing you now, I know all those prayers have been answered.”
“Thank you, Maria. That means more to me than you could possibly know.” Marlowe looked over to Maria’s husband Diego as she said, “Thank you for bringing her and the kids. It’s so good to have them all here.”
“I had little to do with it.” Diego looked over to me as he said, “Rafe set the whole thing up. I just got us to the airport. He took care of the rest.”
“Of course, he did.” Marlowe slipped her arms around me as she smiled. “Thank you. This is the best graduation present ever.”
They all sat and visited a while, but after a couple hours passed, Maria’s two young girls started to become restless, and she and Diego decided to take them back to the hotel—but only after promising to come by the house in the morning. They would be there for several days to visit, but I could see Marlowe was a little disappointed that they were leaving. Hoping to lighten her mood, I leaned over to her and said, “You’ve got another surprise coming.”