Origins (The Black Diamond Series Book 3) Read online

  She was completely captivated by his performance as he began again. It didn’t consist of twirls and spins but more strength and athleticism to a level she’d not previously witnessed. Isabelle wondered how he was able to complete the intricate and sensual moves along the pole. When the music ended, he stood up straight and stared over at her.

  “That was...amazing!” Isabelle exclaimed.

  Ray walked over to the side of the bed. “Your turn Isabelle.” He held out his hand to her.

  Isabelle looked shocked. “I can't do that.”

  “I'm going to help you,” he promised with his hand still outstretched.

  “Is this my lesson tonight?” she asked.

  He nodded and she hesitantly put her hand in his. He pressed the button on the remote again and the music came through the speakers. Ray led Isabelle over to the pole and stared down at her.

  “Did you climb the rope in school?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she answered watching him.

  He nodded. “Climb the pole the same way.”

  Isabelle looked down at her slacks and shirt then back at him in question.

  “It's fine. Just try it first,” he instructed.

  Isabelle looked up to the top of the pole then back at him. “What should I do when I get up there?”

  He smiled. “I'll tell you when you get there.”

  Isabelle climbed the pole slowly to near the top and looked down at him.

  “Slide straight down slowly.”

  Ray watched as she came back down the pole.

  “How was it?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Not bad.”

  “Now hold the pole, bend your knees and go down to the floor,” he instructed.

  Isabelle followed his instructions going down as far as she could in her slacks and Ray nodded.

  “It will be easier when you take your clothes off.”

  Isabelle looked at him. “I'm taking my clothes off?”

  “Definitely, now hold the pole and wrap your legs around it.”

  She did as she was told, holding onto the pole facing him.

  “Up,” he commanded.

  Isabelle started up the pole and reached the top.

  Ray stood underneath her. “Now loosen your grip and twist around the pole as you come down.”

  Isabelle closed her eyes as she twisted down the pole. Ray caught her before she reached the floor and she opened her eyes looking into sexy brown ones. Isabelle smiled slowly.

  He smiled back at her. “Now you can do it all without your clothes.”

  Ray moved to the bed and took a seat before settling himself back against the pillows putting Isabelle front and center.

  “You want me to take them off right here?” she asked.

  He nodded. “That was Lesson One.”

  Isabelle hesitated momentarily. “Okay.”

  Ray watched as she unbuttoned her shirt one button at a time before removing it leaving her in a dark blue push up bra that made her plush breasts sit up at attention. Isabelle's eyes connected with his as her hand went to her slacks. She unfastened them and slid them over her hips and down her legs. She moved both the slacks and shirt to the side and turned back to the pole.

  “Up,” the baritone commanded and with a quick glance at him she was back up the pole.

  Ray watched her closely in her bra and thong. Her ass cheeks were round and supple, the muscles clenching as she climbed. Without his direction, she twisted slowly back down the pole dropping down into a full sexy crouch with her butt almost touching the floor before standing up.

  Got damn, she's a natural, Ray thought.

  “Can I do it again?” she asked excited.

  “Oh yeah…” He rubbed his chin.

  Isabelle climbed the pole again and slowly spun downward. This time she lifted her butt high in the air as she came out of her crouch.

  She smiled over at him. “What now?” she asked eagerly.

  Ray cleared his throat. “Uh...why don't you come and sit on the bed with me?” he said patting the space next to him. He couldn't watch her on that damn pole for another minute.

  Isabelle's gaze stayed connected with his as she climbed up on the big bed. She sat next to him with her back against the pillows. Then she turned those big dark brown eyes on him, Ray felt his heart skip a beat.

  “That was fun. Will you teach me some more?” she asked happily.

  Ray nodded.

  “How do you turn upside down like that?”

  “Next lesson,” he told her.

  Isabelle pulled her knees up to her chest watching him.

  “Thank you Ray.”

  He waited for her to continue.

  “I'm sure this room could be filled with women doing all sorts of things. I appreciate your kindness and your time,” she finished.

  “Are you feeling more desirable Isabelle?”

  Isabelle laughed. “I'm sitting here in my bra and panties so I'm definitely seeing progress.”

  Ray folded his arms and Isabelle took in the bulging muscles that looked strong and smooth. This wasn't the first time she'd admired his body. She licked her lips.

  “Ray?”

  He looked over at her. “Yes, Isabelle.”

  “Um, I'm sure that you know that you are...very desirable.”

  Ray raised a brow. “Do you think I'm desirable Isabelle?”

  “Oh my, yes.” She blushed and he laughed.

  “So this is going where?” he asked.

  Isabelle averted her gaze. “I would like to touch you,” she whispered.

  “Okay.”

  “Yes?” she confirmed looking at him.

  Those brown eyes caught her. “Oh my, yes,” he told her smiling.

  Isabelle turned to him and hesitantly placed her hand on his bicep. She felt the muscles and sinew beneath her hand. His skin, the color of dark maple syrup, was warm and smooth to her touch. Isabelle slowly ran her hand over his arm then moved over to his chest, which she had secretly admired for a long time. As her hand spread over his impressive pectorals, she smiled.

  “You're beautiful,” she told him.

  “Thank you. You're beautiful.”

  She continued to stare at his chest. “Do you have a tattoo?” she asked curiously.

  “Yes.”

  Isabelle raised her eyes to his. “May I see it?”

  Ray sat up and grabbed the ends of his shirt quickly whipping it over his head. He turned his back to her and Isabelle gasped. Before her was the most incredibly intricate and beautiful sun she'd ever seen. It covered the entire back of his right shoulder.

  “Wow! It's so beautiful!” Isabelle exclaimed. Without thought, she scrambled to her knees to touch it. The design was so precise she almost thought she felt actual heat emanating from the sun. Isabelle slowly traced each and every curve.

  “It's a risen sun,” she explained.

  He turned to her surprised. “Yes, how did you know?”

  “By the placement on your body, your head would be north from this view, so your shoulder is east and the sun rises in the east.”

  Ray nodded. “Most people don't comprehend it on that level.”

  Isabelle shrugged. “I think I've learned that you are far more than you let people see.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded.

  “In what way?” he asked curiously.

  Isabelle sat back on her haunches and studied him. “I know that you're very intelligent, you're very strong and you probably can be very dangerous; if you chose to be.”

  He nodded.

  “I get the impression there's a totally separate Ray Parker from the one you allow us to see.”

  “Maybe one day you'll get to meet him,” he told her quietly.

  She smiled at him. “I think I'd like that.”

  *********

  “You know, I really should still slap you once,” Sage told Jordan inside the limo that was driving them to dinner.

  Jordan pulled her closer. “Stop tha
t. You should have known better.”

  “You caught me off guard,” she said putting her arms around him.

  Jordan gave her a look. “You really thought I was taking a woman out and had the nerve to tell you about it?”

  “I didn't know what was going on. I just saw red,” Sage confessed. “You sounded very convincing.”

  He lifted her face to his. “Sage, that's something you never have to be concerned about baby.”

  Sage rewarded him with a long, sensuous kiss that left them both breathing hard.

  “Keep that up and you'll be alright,” Jordan told her smiling.

  “Yeah okay,” Sage responded smiling back at him. “I can't believe you did this. I told you I didn't need to go out.”

  “Yes, you did need to go out. I have to make sure you know how beautiful and sexy you are to me.”

  She gave him a wicked smile. “I think you do that very well.”

  He laughed. “Not just in that way pretty girl.”

  “I can't believe you left Diamond,” she commented.

  Jordan shrugged. “I asked Sean to update me every thirty minutes but he told me there was no way in hell he was going to do that, so I asked Lily.”

  Sage shook her head. “What did Lily say?”

  “She said Sean told her there was no way in hell he was going to let her do that either.”

  Sage laughed. “So then what did you do?”

  Jordan smiled. “Put an extra camera in Diamond's bed so I can see her.”

  “Did you put a wiretap on her too?” Sage asked.

  “Nah, Sean is too smart for that.”

  Sage looked at him. “Jordan if you're that paranoid, we could have stayed at home.”

  Jordan took her hand. “Yeah, I'm that paranoid about Diamond, but I'm more in love with my wife.”

  She smiled at him and touched his face. “I love you too Jordan.”

  “Tonight baby, the Black Magic is in full effect for you,” he said kissing her softly.

  “The Black Magic is so real...”

  *********

  Trent was home on a Saturday evening with nothing to do. After his shopping excursion with Jordan earlier in the day, he'd gone home and watched television before finishing up some schoolwork. Now Sean was out and he had the house to himself. Not that it mattered because he had no one coming over. He thought about Callie and smiled as his phone rang. He looked at the screen and raised his eyebrows.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Hey Trent.”

  “Hey Isis, how are you?”

  “I'm good.”

  Silence.

  “I was calling because I heard you were accepted into the Secure Programmer project.”

  “Yeah I was,” Trent confirmed.

  “Congratulations! That's great. That's a highly competitive program.”

  “Thanks.”

  Pause.

  “So how about I take you out to celebrate? Dinner?”

  “Cool.”

  “How about next week?”

  “Yeah, that sounds cool,” he agreed.

  “How have you been?” Isis asked.

  “Good.”

  “Okay. Well then I'll see you next week?”

  “See you next week, Tamale.”

  The call was disconnected and Trent looked at the screen. Isis wanted to take him to dinner, somehow that didn't make his heart beat like it used to. He still looked forward to seeing her just not with the same anticipation. His phone rang again and he looked at the screen. This time his heart jumped.

  “Hey Callie,” he answered.

  “Hey Trent, what are you doing?” Callie asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You got any plans tonight?” she asked.

  “Nah, why?”

  “Why don't you put on a T-shirt and some sneakers and come hang out with me?”

  Trent smiled. “Where are we going?”

  “Boy, do you want to go or not?” she reprimanded.

  “Yeah, I want to go.”

  “Okay, meet me at the office parking lot in thirty minutes and I'll drive.”

  “You feeding me?” he asked.

  “There's food where we're going, but you're buying your own.”

  Trent laughed. “Okay. I'll see you in a minute.”

  Trent disconnected the call with a smile then headed upstairs to put on a T-shirt and some sneakers.

  Chapter 16

  “This has been a wonderful surprise Jordan,” Sage told him smiling after they'd had dinner and were now in the car.

  “It's not over pretty girl.”

  Sage looked surprised. “Really?”

  Jordan nodded looking over his wife. She was wearing a red halter style dress with her hair down. She had her lips slicked in red gloss and added red stiletto heels to her ensemble. He thought he was a lucky man indeed.

  There were the customary raps on the hood and Jordan winked at her before stepping out of the car. When he returned, he extended his hand to help her out of the car. Sage looked up at the building.

  “We're going to a hotel?” she asked.

  Jordan nodded.

  “You've never taken me to a hotel before,” Sage commented.

  “I know. Tonight is special.” Jordan led her into the lobby and straight to the elevators.

  Inside the room, Sage looked around and saw her luggage in the corner. She turned to Jordan.

  “When did you do this?” Sage asked.

  Jordan leaned back against the door. “I'm a man that makes things happen.”

  She smiled. “You're keeping me here all night?”

  “All night baby.”

  She walked over and climbed onto the bed. “What are you going to do to me all night?” she asked lying back watching him as she stretched out her long curvaceous legs.

  Dark eyes returned her stare. “You want me to tell you?”

  She nodded and he pushed away from the door and walked towards her stopping before he got to the bed. He looked at her on the bed and licked his lips.

  “I'm going to start by devouring those luscious lips...the ones on your face.”

  She gave him a naughty look.

  “Then I'm going to squeeze, lick and suck those beautiful breasts before I turn you around and taste the tattoo on your back.” He began removing his tie. “I'm going to caress that sweet ass before I lick it and bite it.”

  Sage's breathing increased with the look in his eyes.

  “Then those other lips...I'm going suck them until you come apart.” He began unbuttoning his shirt as he watched her.

  “After, I'm going to climb on that sexy body, wrap those beautiful legs around my back and ride you until you scream my name.”

  He removed his shirt and went for his pants.

  “Once you've screamed my name I'm going to turn you over and pump that sexy ass until I explode calling yours.”

  He dropped his pants and looked at her.

  “Is that okay?” he asked.

  Sage quickly scrambled to her knees and threw her arms around him. Looking into his eyes, she responded, “Oh, hell yeah...”

  ************

  Lily looked over at Sean who was playing with Diamond on the floor. She could imagine him with his own child. Sean would be an excellent father and it seemed it was something he was looking forward to in the future.

  “Do you really think they'll let us watch Diamond the entire night?” Lily asked him.

  Sean looked at her. “Knowing Jordan he probably has a number of cameras on us right now.”

  Lily laughed.

  “I can see why he loves her so much though,” he said nodding toward Diamond.

  “She's so precious,” Lily said softly.

  Sean looked over at her. “Lily, I need to talk to you about something.”

  Lily heard the seriousness in his voice and quickly took a seat by his side.

  “What is it Sean?”

  “I'm putting extra security on you.”

&
nbsp; Lily was confused. “Why? What's happened?”

  He looked at her. “There's been a threat on Trent's life and we're not taking any chances with anyone else.”

  “A threat, who would want to hurt Trent?”

  “It's someone from our past who has a vendetta against me, Jordan and Ray.”

  Lily took his hand. “Are you in danger?”

  Sean shook his head. “We're more concerned about you, Sage, Diamond and Trent.”

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “I just want you to be aware of what's going on. I don't want secrets between us,” he said bringing her hand to his lips.

  “You will be careful?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Do we need to cancel anything until this is over?”

  “No, we have a plan. Everything will continue as normal.”

  Lily looked skeptical. “Okay...”

  Sean smiled. “Do you doubt me beautiful Lily?” he asked.

  “Never, I know how my warrior handles business.”

  “Your family is still arriving a few days before the wedding?” he questioned.

  Lily nodded. “Yes, Mama and Lotus will be here. I've booked them rooms at the hotel.”

  “They could stay at the house Lily.”

  “No. They can stay at the hotel. I'm not having you put up with my mama and sister. Besides, Trent already has to deal with me over there all the time.”

  “Trent doesn't deal with you there. You're always welcome, you know that.”

  She smiled. “I know. Trent's a sweetheart. Is he excited about moving into the apartment?”

  “Yes, he is. I hope we're not giving him too much in such a short time.”

  Lily shook her head. “I don't think so. Trent is very mature for his age.”

  Diamond climbed into Sean's lap and laid her head on him as Lily smiled.

  “She must be used to climbing on Jordan and going to sleep,” she commented.

  Sean looked down at the bundle laying on him. “If anything happened to any of you, we would destroy everyone and everything connected to it,” Sean vowed and he meant every word. Even now, the mere threat that had been leveled against Trent was deemed a total annihilation mission.

  “We are all very fortunate to have brave men who go to such lengths to protect us,” Lily said stroking his head.