Eternally Yours - Brenda Jackson [38]
“If we try this anymore today, I won’t be able to walk for a week.”
“Did the bath help any?”
Syneda noticed the concern in his voice. Last night after they’d made love a number of times, he had gotten up and gone into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she had heard the sound of running water. He’d come back and gathered her up in his arms. Carrying her into the bathroom, he had eased her body into the warm sudsy water. Dropping to his knees beside the tub, he had taken her bath sponge and gently lathered the soreness from her aching muscles. It had felt heavenly.
She gazed up into his eyes. “Yes, the bath last night helped tremendously. Thanks for taking such good care of me. But then, somehow I knew that you would. Under that rough and tough exterior is a very caring man. You’re a gentleman in every sense of the word.”
“A gentleman?” At her nod, he shrugged. “I don’t know about that. A part of me feels a real gentleman would have walked out the door last night and left you alone after discovering you were a virgin.”
“But I wanted you as much as you wanted me. It was just that simple.”
“There’s nothing simple about being the first with a woman, Syneda. Some men may take it lightly. I don’t.”
Their gazes held and Syneda felt the seriousness in his words.
“No, you wouldn’t. Even with your womanizing ways, I knew deep down that you wouldn’t. And that was one of the reasons for my decision to let it be you, Clayton.”
“And the other reason?”
When moments passed and she said nothing, Clayton reached out and caressed her cheek with his finger. “Talk to me, Syneda. We’re friends, remember. And after last night, I’d say we’re very close friends.” A smile touched his lips. “As close as any two friends could possibly be.”
Syneda nodded. “The other reason is because you play by the rules.”
“A man playing by the rules is very important to you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why are you so against falling in love?”
She frowned. “I’ve told you all this before, when we were in Florida. You and I are a lot alike. Love isn’t for everybody. Take you for instance—”
“We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. You never told me what happened to make you so against falling in love.”
Syneda quickly turned away from him. “I’m hungry. I think I’ll go find something to eat,” she said, attempting to get up from the bed and clearly sidestepping his question. But Clayton’s huge muscular thigh across hers wouldn’t budge.
She turned back to him. “Clayton,” she said warningly. “Kindly move your leg off me.”
“Not until you answer my question. Who was he, Syneda? Who was the man that hurt you so?”
She held her head down for a moment and when she lifted it again, Clayton couldn’t help noticing the tears misting her eyes. “Please don’t ask me about him, Clayton,” she said softly.
“Syneda.” He gathered her close in his arms. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her cry. In the two and a half years that he had known her, he had never seen her cry, except for the tears she’d shed at Justin and Lorren’s rushed wedding. But those had been tears of joy. What he saw in her eyes now were clearly tears of pain. His entire body shook. He was used to seeing fire and anger in her eyes, not hurt and pain.
“Talk to me baby. Please talk to me. Who was he?”
Twisting agony in her midsection made Syneda not want to talk about it. But another part of her, the part Clayton could so effortlessly bring out, wanted to share that period of her life with him.
“My father.”
“Your father?” He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Syneda drew a shuddering breath. The subject of the man who had fathered her was one she didn’t like to discuss with anyone. But for some reason, she wanted to talk about it with Clayton.
“I never knew my father. From the information I was able to gather while growing up, my mother got pregnant while attending college. It must have been in her senior year because she did manage to graduate with a degree in nursing. She was an only child, and she, too, had been born out of wedlock.