Oh Baby(7)

He lowered her to the plushly carpeted floor, sucking on her lips and tongue. When he moved between her legs, she curled them around his hips, crossing her ankles at the small of his back.

Levering above her, he stretched her wrists over her head with one hand. With his other hand, he guided his cock to her slick opening.

Every nerve ending in her body was at a fever pitch, ready to explode. "Marcus … "

Staring into her eyes, he plunged inside her. As he began thrusting slow and deep, the pleasure was so intense she couldn't remember why she'd put up the slightest resistance to him in the first place … .





5





The alumni holiday party was held at an upscale country club in North Atlanta.

When Marcus and Samara arrived that Saturday evening, the club's large banquet room was festively decorated with sparkling lights, candles on every table and pine garlands twisted around the marble columns. Waiters passed through the crowd with trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres. A live jazz band was playing Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" while throngs of distinguished Morehouse men mixed and mingled alongside their elegantly dressed spouses and girlfriends.

Michael, Manning and Quentin were standing across the crowded room, sipping champagne and laughing with their beautiful wives. Marcus and Samara worked their way toward them, stopping frequently to exchange greetings with other guests. Marcus had always been very popular. He couldn't take two steps without someone calling his name or grabbing his arm to engage him in conversation.



       
         
       
        

At least twenty minutes passed before he and Samara reached the other side of the room. Reese, Taylor and Lexi looked ravishingly gorgeous in their red evening dresses. They hugged Samara and gushed over her backless gown and elaborate updo.

Michael, Manning and Quentin-like Marcus-were impeccably attired in bespoke black suits with silk maroon ties that paid homage to their alma mater. Every last one of them looked fine as hell, drawing plenty of admiring female glances.

"Is Magnum coming?" Lexi asked, referring to Manning's younger brother, a firefighter who'd also graduated from Morehouse.

"Nah," Manning said. "He had to work."

"Bummer." Lexi sipped her champagne. "Has anyone heard from Khalil or Derek?"

"Khalil's running late as usual," Michael answered. "Not sure about Derek."

Marcus whispered something to a passing waiter, who returned shortly with a club soda for Samara. A recovering alcoholic, she hadn't touched a drop of liquor in years, and she was much happier for it.

The four couples stood around chatting and laughing while they waited for dinner to be served. They were frequently joined by other people-some they saw regularly at alumni meetings, others only showed up for special events.

At one point, the fellas excused themselves to go catch up with a beloved former professor who had just arrived.

It was all Samara could do not to blurt out her baby news the moment she was alone with Reese, Taylor and Lexi. Over the past several years, these women had become more than her best friends. They were the sisters she never had. The four of them did everything together. They went shopping, had monthly lunches and spa days, hosted play dates for their kids, planned birthday parties and baby showers, and did volunteer work together. They always supported and confided in one another, so naturally Samara was bursting to share her good news. But since she'd decided to surprise Marcus on Christmas, she couldn't risk him finding out accidentally. All it would take was someone's innocent slip of the tongue or an overheard conversation to ruin her big surprise.

She couldn't have that. So she'd just have to keep her secret a little longer.

Taylor gave her an admiring perusal. "You really do look amazing, Samara."

"Doesn't she?" Reese agreed. "Her skin is positively glowing."

"Think so?" Samara smiled enigmatically and took a sip of her club soda. She hoped that Reese-an ob-gyn who was around expectant mothers all day-wouldn't be able to figure out her secret.

A passing waiter offered them hors d'oeuvres, smiling graciously as they selected dainty morsels from the tray and thanked him. 

Nibbling on a stuffed mushroom cap, Lexi glanced around the room and sighed. "It's so weird not having all the fellas here tonight. A House alumni party just isn't the same without the Morehouse Nine together."

"I know," Reese agreed. "Only Michael and Quentin are here so far. When I saw Shokare at the hospital yesterday, he told me he couldn't make it tonight because he was pulling a double shift. And then, of course, Percy's off in Silicon Valley launching another tech startup. Jagger's in China overseeing his company's expansion operations. Gabriel got transferred to the FBI field office in Houston-"

"Liam's still in Kenya singlehandedly trying to rebuild the country," Lexi lamented.

"And Derek-"

"-is right here."

Everyone turned toward the deep voice. When they saw Derek Pearce standing there, they exclaimed ecstatically, "Derek! You're here!"

He grinned broadly. "Evening, beautiful ladies."

"Heyyy, Derek!"

He went around the circle, hugging and kissing everyone on the cheek. He was tall, dark and handsome with a manicured goatee and a lean physique. A renowned civil rights scholar and community activist, he was often at the forefront of marches protesting police brutality against unarmed African Americans.

"Where's Hayden?" Taylor asked him, referring to her stepsister. "Didn't you bring her?"

"I did." Derek was all smiles. "She's out in the lobby talking on the phone. She'll join us shortly."

Derek and Hayden had been dating for the past three years. Although they met for the first time at Manning and Taylor's wedding several years ago, sparks didn't fly between them until Derek appeared as a guest on Hayden's cable news show in Washington, D.C. Following the interview, they'd gone out to dinner and really hit it off. After Derek returned to Atlanta they'd kept in touch, getting together every chance they could. They'd been going strong ever since.

"Where'd the fellas go?" Derek asked humorously. "I'm surprised they're not glued to your sides to make sure nobody hits on y'all."

Everyone laughed.

"They went to say hello to some legendary history professor who rarely makes public appearances," Reese explained.

Derek's eyes widened. "Professor Phifer is here?"

"He sure is." Lexi grinned. "I remember how much you guys used to rave about him."

"Hell, yeah. Professor Phifer was the man."

"An opinion obviously shared by many, judging by the large crowd surrounding him."

Derek followed the direction of Reese's gaze and grinned. "I gotta go talk to him. Excuse me, ladies." He took off, threading his way purposefully through the crowd.

Reese smiled after him. "He looks happy."

"He does, doesn't he?" Lexi smiled softly. "I'm glad things are working out with Hayden."

"So am I," Taylor said with a rueful grin. "For a while there I was worried that she'd never get over her feelings for my brother. She took it pretty hard when Tru married Simona."

The others nodded, remembering.

Samara smiled. "Just goes to show. When one door closes, another door opens."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

Taylor glanced across the room. "Oh, here comes Hayden now."

The others turned to see a tall, leggy redhead walking swiftly toward them. Hayden Vaughn was an attractive woman with baby blue eyes and flaming red hair that spilled past her shoulders in stylish layers. Tonight she looked sleek and sophisticated in a green Chanel dress with a scooped neckline that showed just a hint of cleavage.



       
         
       
        

"Hey, Hayden," everyone greeted her warmly as she approached.

"Hey, girls!" There was an excited gleam in her eyes. "Oh my God. Guess what?"

Everyone leaned forward. "What?"

Hayden thrust out her hand to show off a sparkling diamond engagement ring. "Derek proposed!"

The group erupted into squeals, then took turns hugging and congratulating Hayden.

"Details," Taylor demanded eagerly. "We want details, woman."

Hayden laughed radiantly. "It was so amazing! He really put a lot of thought and planning into the proposal, and he totally surprised me."

Everyone was intrigued. "What'd he do?"

Hayden grinned as she launched into her story. "Okay, so since we're always flying back and forth between D.C. and Atlanta to see each other, Derek thought it would be fitting if he proposed to me on a plane."

"A plane?"

"Yes! It was so awesome!" Hayden gushed. "See, I usually fly commercial when I visit Derek, but this time my father insisted that I take his private jet. He's done that before, so I never suspected that he and Derek were up to something. So I got to the airport, boarded the plane and settled in for a quick, uneventful flight to Atlanta. Little did I know that Derek was hiding in the back. Shortly after the plane took off, a flight attendant brought out a bottle of champagne and two wineglasses. Another attendant presented me with a dozen red roses." Hayden laughed. "At that point I was like, 'OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!' Then Derek came out holding a small black box. By the time he got down on one knee, I was bawling my eyes out!"