Two days later, Dani woke up in the spoon position with Ryan kissing her neck. Groaning, she stretched and luxuriated in the warmth of his body and the gentleness of his kisses.
"Good morning, baby," she murmured.
"Ummm, morning sweetheart," he returned while stroking her full breasts.
Turning on her back, Dani looked up at Ryan and stroked her fingers through the short length of hair on the top of his head. He still wore the military style cut that made him look so commandingly sexy, but it had grown out a bit.
"Last night was awesome," Dani said on a sigh.
"There's nothing like making up for lost time, but if we keep up that pace, I won't be able to stand up because my legs will have turned to mush. Not that I'm complaining."
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she gasped as Ryan gave his attention to the tips of her breasts. He sucked each nipple causing her to purr like a kitten. Arching her back, she was becoming lost in his loving when the telephone rang.
"Ryan," she said with a moan.
"Let it ring," Ryan growled, continuing his assault on her body.
But the recorder came on and broke the mood.
"Hey Dani, I'm calling to remind you that my fight will be in at 11 o'clock today, your time."
"Damn! I forgot he was coming in today," Dani groaned and then hurriedly picked up the receiver.
Flopping onto his back, Ryan grunted in exasperation.
"Hey, James," she answered, trying to calm her breathing.
"Hey, Dani; I know it's kinda early, but I wanted to make sure you didn't forget since you've been sick. We haven't talked in a couple of days, but I assume it's still ok to come," James said.
"Of course it's ok. It would be ok even if I didn't feel better, but it probably wouldn't have been pleasant for you. Boy, I was a mess."
"I bet. I remember that you're more than a little cranky when you're sick," he reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah," Dani muttered.
"I didn't feel up to being cranky this time. Anyway, I'll be at the airport to pick you up at eleven."
"No," Ryan whispered from his position beside her. "I'll pick him up, baby."
Nodding, Dani said, "Ryan will pick you up, James."
"Oh. Ok Sis," James said, not wanting to admit that he was apprehensive about meeting the man in Dani's life.
"All right, baby Brother, I'll see you later. Bye."
After ending the call, Dani scooted down in the bed and curled up against Ryan.
"Thanks, sweetheart, I really wasn't looking forward to all that traffic. I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered, stroking his chest.
"It's not luck at all," Ryan said, "we were meant to be together. Loving you is as natural as breathing."
Quickly changing position, he pulled Dani on top of his hard body and took her lips in a deliciously slow sensual kiss that left her breathless.
"Now, where were we?" he asked with a wicked grin. *
After Ryan left to pick up James, Dani reluctantly got up. She was still feeling the warm flush of afterglow, but staying in bed was out of the question. Technically, she was still sick, but she didn't want James's first sight of her in over a year to be of her lying in bed.
Aside from that, Dani didn't know how he and Ryan were going to get along. She ran through the possibilities in her mind, none of which were good. Growing frustrated, she realized that she wasn't going to get any rest. Struggling to a sitting position, she sighed and got up.
After changing the bed linens, she took a long warm shower and got dressed. Feeling refreshed, she thought she might be able to face whatever was to come.
*
The ride from the airport was a revelation for James.
He'd already made up his mind not to like Ryan, so he started out with the silent treatment. When Ryan tried to engage him in conversation, he answered with as few words as possible. He didn't want to be outright rude, that would piss his sister off, but he didn't want to encourage him either.
Ryan knew that James wasn't happy about Dani being with him and why. He wanted to have a good relationship with her brother, but race is what it is and as far as he was concerned James would just have to deal with it. He'd make the effort; anything else was up to James.
Growing up, according to Dani, James never expressed any negativity toward other races. Although he was raised in a predominately black neighborhood and attended mostly black schools that wouldn't necessarily breed racism. Ryan thought there might be something more to his attitude. Whatever it was, he knew he had to get to the bottom of it.
"James, there's something we need to talk about before we get to the house," Ryan said.
"What?" James asked, looking cautiously at the big man.
"You seem to have made up your mind not to like me. I know that you've expressed your feelings to your sister about her dating a white guy. That's fine, if that's the way you feel, but whatever your attitude is towards me, I don't want Dani upset about it. Understand?"
"Yeah, I understand," James said, a little irked that Ryan was reading him.
"Good. Now tell me why you feel as you do. If it's really my race, that isn't going to change; if it's something else, I'd like to know," he said glancing at James.
"I'm not going to give you a hard time about your opinion," Ryan continued, "but I will tell you if I disagree and why. We can then agree to disagree. Anything you say to me will remain strictly between us; I don't want Dani in the middle. I love her and I won't allow anything to come between us. As far as I'm concerned, she's going to be with me until I take my last breath."
James was shocked at Ryan's confession which gave him pause to think.
