Pleasure Seekers Read Online Free PDF Page B

married.”
    “Where is all of this coming from?”
    She rested a hand over her heart. “From here. I want a commitment from you.”
    “I am committed to you.”
    “Committed enough to marry me?”
    There was a pulse beat of silence. “Yes, Lanie. I am committed enough to marry you, but not now.”
    The heavy lashes that shadowed Alana’s cheeks flew up. Stunned, Calvin’s admission had rendered her mute. “When?” she whispered, recovering her voice.
    “When I come back we’ll announce our engagement.”
    A frown creased her smooth forehead. “Why wait? Why can’t we get engaged now?”
    “No, Lanie,” Calvin countered, shaking his head. “I want to do it right—the ring, on bended knee with the traditional will-you-marry-me scenario. I also want to save enough money so we can buy a house in the suburbs with a good school system. I don’t want our children to go to New York City public schools.”
    His words did not register on Alana’s troubled senses. She didn’t want to wait six months. She wanted now because she didn’t want her life to parallel her mother’s, who’d lived with her common-law husband for twenty-three years and borne him three children. The liaison ended after he married another woman—a much younger woman whom he’d gotten pregnant. Melanie Gardner’s battle with depression had been exacerbated because none of her children claimed Carlos Moore’s last name.
    “We both went to public schools and we did all right,” she argued quietly.
    Calvin ran a finger down the length of her nose. “I don’t want them to do all right. I want them to excel.”
    “How long do you want to be engaged?”
    “Probably no more than a couple of years.” He held up a hand when Alana’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t want to say anything before, but there’s a possibility that we might be signed to a record label. If that happens, then we can marry next year.”
    Alana’s smile was dazzling. “Oh, Calvin,” she crooned against his parted lips. She pressed her breasts to his chest. “Now, show your baby how much you love her.”
    She caught the hem of Calvin’s T-shirt and pulled it up and over his head at the same time he eased the thin straps of a lace-trimmed tank top off her shoulders, exposing her breasts to his heated gaze.
    Lowering his head, he lifted one breast and suckled it. Alana’s breathing deepened quickly. His mouth emitted apopping sound as he pulled back, watching her nipple swell like a plump berry.
    Sliding his hand under the elastic waistband of her pajama pants, he searched between her thighs, finding her wet and pulsing. He massaged the engorged flesh above her vagina, smiling when her juices melted over his hand, then removed his hand and slowly peeled away her pajamas.
    Calvin hadn’t been faithful to Alana because he didn’t believe in monogamy. Alana represented stability, something that had always been missing in his life, something no other woman had offered him. She wanted to play house, and he would grant her her wish. He would marry her, give her a couple of kids but he would always live his life by his own rules.
    Alana’s mouth was as busy as her hands. She kissed every inch of her lover’s face. She undressed him, pushed him down to the mattress, her gaze fusing with his, and straddled his thighs.
    The muscles under Calvin’s arms rippled sensuously as he reached over and removed a condom from the drawer of the bedside table. He’d never allowed his promiscuity to overshadow the risks involved in unprotected sex. He wasn’t ready to father children when he was barely able to support himself, and the possibility of contracting an STD was not an option.
    Alana took the foil packet, tore it open with her teeth, inserting the latex into her mouth. Using her mouth, with the skill of a trained courtesan, she slipped the condomdown his erection. Her lips closed on the throbbing flesh, eliciting a deep groan from Calvin.
    Throwing an arm over his face, he