In 1955 love between a white woman and a black man was forbidden. Having just divorced her cheating husband, Summer has returned home to the smalltown of Tarnton to decide what to do with the rest of her life. There she meets Griff Woods, son of her family’s maid, who has come home from Europe for his mother’s death. The attraction is instant, resulting in a passionate affair carried on in the moonlight at the old quarry pool, an affair that Summer wants to keep quiet at all costs. Griff wants commitment. Racists are perverting the law to further their own ends and think nothing of burning and harassment. When one of the racists who wanted Summer for himself finds her with Griff, Summer must fight for her life as well as her love.
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Excerpt (Adult)
Summer’s normally
pale skin glowed with a pure pearlescence under the silver moon, as if she had
been newly
carved from the purest alabaster. Raging with a fresh greed for
attention, the strawberry tips of her quivering breasts were drawn into tight,
pouting rosebuds that strained upward.
It was a
temptation that Griff could not resist. Reluctantly leaving the sweet seduction
of Summer’s mouth, his lips nibbled their way down her satin skin, blazing a
trail of lingering, licking kisses.
At last, when
Summer thought she could stand the painful anticipation no longer, his kisses
centered on those sensitive points of desire. He placed a circle of kisses
around the edge of the puffy aureole before pulling the hard knob of nipple
deep in his mouth. His tongue pressed it against the roof of his mouth, softly
at first, then demanding more, sucking on it with a passionate intensity.
Summer writhed in
the agony of pleasure as his teeth and tongue did marvelous, hitherto
inexperienced things to her hungry flesh, licking, nipping, tickling. She
wrapped her arms around him and pulled him even closer to her as if afraid he
would leave and abandon her in this state of unfulfilled ecstasy.
His hands were
busy with the strings at each side of her bathing suit bottom and this time
they had learned their lesson well. The knots parted and the fabric fell away,
discarded and quickly forgotten.
Griff cupped the
rounded globes of her hips in the palms of his hands and slithered down the
length of her body, scattering quick, hungry kisses over the slight, womanly
roundness of her tummy. Effortlessly lifting Summer’s hips above the thin sheet
of water, Griff gave a growl of unrestrained passion and dived forward, burying
his hungry mouth in the soft, moist center of Summer’s very femininity.
His tongue parted
the soft, hairy lips, searching for the sensitive seat of her pleasure and
teasing it. His lips closed gently around the tiny stem and tugged gently
before sucking on it. Summer’s back arched at the pleasure and she had to fight
to keep from crying out in pure joy.
Summer had never
been loved like that. When they had lived in Europe
some of her friends had talked about being loved that way, but when Summer had
tentatively mentioned it to Sonny he had reacted with such disgust she never
mentioned it again. She felt a sense of shock, having imagined it for years
with no real knowledge of how wonderful it could be.
In the burning
white moonlight nothing was hidden; Summer looked down the length of her body –
so like an alabaster altar – and saw Griff’s dark head framed by the milky vee
of her parted legs. It was as if she were being worshipped by some mysterious
water god risen from the depths for the sole purpose of awakening her to a new
awareness…. The moment and the idea merged, creating an iridescent erotic apex
in Summer’s life, loosening in her a vast, uncontrollable flood of feelings
that swirled and churned and redefined her world.
Sensing the coming
storm, Griff redoubled his efforts, lashing her clitoris with a heavy tongue,
then sucking, finally nibbling with careful teeth. His tongue sank lower,
lapping at her vaginal lips and slurping down the thick, sweet juices of her
passion. His tensing fingers dug into the creamy globes of Summer’s hips as his
lips and tongue combined to drive her the last small way into ecstasy. With an
effort Summer stifled a cry and shook in the throes of explosive release, her
body arching tightly as if she could neither control nor contain the pleasure
that coursed through her.
Gently, Griff
released his possessive grip and, hurrying now with his own need, stripped away
his inadequate, straining bathing suit. In the instant he raised upright over
her, proudly naked, his kingly penis aroused and impatient, Summer again had
the feeling that this was a place out of time, a place of magic, and the dark
god of the water had risen to claim her. Gladly, she raised her arms in
demanding invitation and gladly he came down to fill them.
Wrapping her
tightly in his arms to protect her back from the abrasive concrete, Griff made
himself go slowly, very slowly, prolonging the moment until he could wait no
longer. Gently, slowly, as if she were a virgin, he eased forward into her, the
great hard knob of his erection spreading and stretching and filling her warm
softness with his desire until at last they were one. Black and white, male and
female, positive and negative, opposites in every way, they joyously entwined
and combined beneath the cruel moon.
Then he could hold
back no more. With her wrapped tightly around him as if to draw him deeper,
tighter, closer, he at last began to move in a driven and intense rhythm, each
convulsive shared thrust carrying them to the final, explosive ecstasy. They
collapsed into a boneless embrace.
A soft breeze
stirred, making the brushy pines whisper gently among themselves. The dry scent
of a hot summer drought moved gently over the quietening water, but hidden in
its dusty depths was the poignant sweetness of somewhere a rose gone wild.
“Damn,” Griff
swore quietly.
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Additional
information regarding this book
Race
relations were strained and violent during this time, especially in the deep
South. Actual historical figure Emmitt Till was lynched for whistling at a
white woman. White men regularly patronized black women of a certain class with
no repercussions, but white women were held to a totally different standard.
Even smiling at a black man – let alone touching or having sex with one – could
be disastrous to her reputation and on occasion her health and life. While this is a complete work of fiction, the
thoughts and actions of most of the characters – especially the townspeople –
are accurate to the time period.
