I still remember like it was yesterday.
Fifteen years ago
With every person who came back, Moses looked more and more tense. I saw him leaning against the window, watching the house across the street as a big truck drove through standing water in the road.
“Everything okay?” I asked him, coming up from behind to rub a palm over his shirtless back.
He turned and looked at me, his quick smile subdued. “People are coming back. I wondered how long it would take for the city to come to life again.”
For the eleven days since Katrina, the world had been unrecognizable. We were an island, the water coming up to the front stoop of the house and completely flooding everything down two streets. I’d lost count of how many times I’d sent up a prayer, thanking God that this house was on a little patch of high ground. Another foot of floodwater, and we’d be standing in it, but at least only the basement was full.
There wasn’t shit I could do about that right now, except be thankful I had flood insurance. The previous owner, Linnie, had it when she died, and I made sure to do the same. This was New Orleans, a town that sat mostly below sea level. I knew not everyone got it, but it just made sense to cover my ass on that front, because I wasn’t about to take chances with the one thing of value I owned. So the basement would be fine, eventually.
But right now, I was more worried about the man in front of me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew he couldn’t stay forever, but I hated to think about how fucking bad it was going to hurt when he left.
He’d brought up me going with him, but we didn’t talk much about it because I couldn’t leave. Not when I’d just gotten my hands on something worth a damn. The house was all I had, and the memory of being out on the street corner with no protection, at the mercy of a pimp, was still all too fresh in my mind.
This rickety house was my only security.
No matter how I felt about Moses, I’d only known him for eleven days. But then again, going through an experience like this with someone went far beyond the connection you’d make under normal circumstances. From the moment he stormed into the house . . . we had something I’d never had with anyone else, and I didn’t want to let it go. But I was even more terrified to take a chance and leave.
For all I knew, he’d grow tired of me in a few months. Where would I be then?
“It’s good people are coming back,” I replied. “Maybe it means we’ll get power eventually. God, I miss hot water.”
He turned away from the window, his green-gold eyes locking on my face as if he was memorizing it.
I knew then the faster life went back to normal, the faster I’d lose him.
“Don’t worry about what’s going on out there. We’ve got plenty going on in here,” I said as I pulled him away from the glass. “Besides, you haven’t beat me at chess yet. I’ll give you another shot tonight.”
Moses laughed. “I’m gonna need a hell of a distraction to beat you.” A grin split his face right before he scooped me up into his arms. “And I’ve got an idea I think you’re gonna like. A lot.”
“If it involves your mouth on my pussy and me screaming your name when I come, then I’m all for it.”
Present day
The memory of Moses fades away as I hear him call my name.
He pokes his head into the room, catching me with my hand on the dresser, staring at the wall. “You hungry?”
I cut my unfocused gaze to his face, shaking free of the dreamlike memories. “Yeah. I could eat.”
“Good deal. I sent Jules out to handle the girls, and Trey moved his shit out to the pool house so he can blast music to help his searching.” Moses’s smile charms me when his head falls to the side and he adds, “So we’ve got the house to ourselves for the rest of the night.”
“Just like old times,” I say, excited and still nostalgic. “Except, you know . . . no flooding, and we have power and hot water.”
Moses comes into the room, wraps his thick arms around my waist, and pulls me against his body. It’s like no time has passed at all between this moment and the memory I was reliving. I curl into his heat and breathe in his unique spicy scent.
“We made it work, didn’t we?” he asks.
“Yeah, we did. Those should’ve been the worst days of my life, and instead, because you were there with me, they were some of the best.”
His body tenses for a beat before he pulls back to look down at me. “I’m glad I was there. So fucking glad.”
It’s like he shows up when I need him most in my life.
We both know what would have happened to me if he hadn’t been there after the storm, so I don’t have to say a thing. Instead, I lift my lips to his and sweep them across his warm skin.
After kissing him earlier, I need more.
This time, Moses takes over, one hand burying in my hair as he tilts my head to the side. My mouth opens and his tongue steals inside, and all I taste is Moses. After going years without kissing anyone, I want to live in this kiss. There’s something so perfect about the feel of his lips on mine, and the way he holds me like he’s never letting me go.
I love it.
My thought from earlier comes back. I’m falling in love with him all over again, and I’m not doing a damn thing to stop it.
Finally, Moses pulls back. I meet his gaze, and the flames in those green-gold eyes are so hot, they could blister me.
“I want you bad, mama. I told myself I’d wait. I told myself I’d make you dinner. Remind you who we are together. Then . . . then I’d bring you in here and lay you down and show you exactly how fucking much I’ve missed you.”
“I don’t want to wait. I need you. God, I’ve fucking missed you, Moby.”
I reach up again, dragging his mouth down to mine. I want everything from him, even if I don’t know what the hell is going to happen tomorrow or the next day. Tonight, I’m giving myself this. I’m giving myself permission to let go with a man, and that isn’t something I’ve done in a long damn time.
But with Moses, all my barriers drop away. He must feel it in my kiss. Must feel the longing and desperation I’ve had pent up for years. His hands find my ass and grip, lifting me off my feet. I wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him with everything I’m feeling. I devour his mouth, loving the battle of lips, tongues, and teeth. I feel us moving through the room, but I don’t worry about where he’s going to put me or whether he’ll drop me.
Not with Moses.
Never with Moses.
I trusted him from the beginning—me, the woman who doesn’t trust anyone or anything until it’s been proven beyond a reasonable doubt with me sitting as judge and jury. But with Moses, it was second nature to trust him. I guess that happens when someone saves you and then appoints himself your protector so nothing can happen to you as long as he’s on watch.
That’s what Moses did for me, and tonight, all I want is everything I’ve missed for the last fifteen years. We can’t get the lost time back, but we can start this very second by not taking now for granted.
When he lowers me to the bed, I pull him down with me, wanting the heavy weight of his body pressing me into the mattress. I’ve always loved the weight of him. So strong and capable. And as a woman who’s had to watch out for herself and couldn’t rely on anyone, being able to give him that part of me is like finding freedom I didn’t know existed.