They Say Love Is Blind

  Tory leaned forward, finding the right angle and though she was very tight he slowly entered her. He placed his hands on her full hips, holding her in place and then he rocked inside of her gently.

  "Okay?"

  "Yes." She said breathlessly. He increased his speed of his rocking hips and this time she was the one doing the groaning. Her body began to swirl, her head to spin as little electrical shocks began to jolt through her abdomen. Last night, she thought, had been the epitome of sex; but it was even better today! Today her body seemed to know how to respond and her vagina seemed to understand its purpose.

  Her heart began to race and she felt almost over-whelmed by the convergence of sensations and emotions. Her mouth opened and she had to express herself in the only way that she knew how.

  "Oh!" She cried out. "Ohhh, Lee. I love you Lee! Oh, I love you!"

  He thrust into her faster. "Say it again, Tory!"

  She squeezed her eyes closed and threw back her head. "I love you!"

  He groaned even louder. "Eu amo-te! I love you, Tory!" And then he roughly pushed her off his lap and he grabbed his cock and abruptly ejaculated amidst soft groans. She watched him working himself to orgasm and found a decadent, voyeuristic pleasure in it. She knew that she would replay this moment for years within her fantasies.

  "Oh, honey..." He panted an instant before drawing her back into his arms. He cradled her in one arm and with his free hand, slipped his fingers between the swollen, wet folds of her pussy. She sucked in a sharp breath and arched her back. He fingered her clit until she felt herself spiraling upward again. He moved his fingers away long enough to grip her hand and move it to replace his.

  "Touch yourself." He commanded. She bit her lip and did as he asked. She felt his larger hand cover hers and he 'watched' with his hands as she rubbed and teased herself.

  "Oh God, Tory...." He leaned forward, seeking out her nipple, sucking it roughly into his mouth, drawing on it until her legs began to shake and an orgasm slammed into her. She came yelling and crying out nonsense words until there was nothing more. She was spent. Distantly she was amazed that she had actually masturbated with a man. But not just a man; her man. And then she remembered crying out her love for him. For some reason that was more embarrassing than the mutual masturbation. But he had said it too and that thought brought a smile on her face.

  He placed his head along side of hers. "That was amazing."

  "It was. It gets better and better."

  He chuckled. "Indeed. When you're with someone you love, then the feeling is extraordinary." He pulled her into his arms again and held her against him. "Thank you, querida. I love you and I am so happy that I found you. You make me feel more alive than anyone else ever has."

  She placed her lips against his. "I love you." She said softly while kissing him repeatedly.

  His tongue ran across her lips. "I love you." He murmured.

  "Tu amo..." She experimented with the foreign words.

  "Eu te amo," he corrected. "I love you." He continued to kiss her gently.

  "Eu te amo, Lee."

  "Eu amo-te Tory. Estou tão feliz. Quero-te oura vez..."

  She pulled back. "What?"

  "I love you, Tory. I'm so very happy. I want you again."

  Sure enough, when she reached between them he was already rising. She smiled. There could not be a luckier woman in the world.

  They made love once more, slowly, luxuriating in the feel of each other and this time they did not forgo the condom so when Lee again came, he was able to bring her to climax along with him. After, they showered and redressed. It wasn't quite five but she was anxious to get dinner over with.

  Tory knew that she shouldn't look at it this way but she'd never had to meet a boyfriend's relatives before. It spoke volumes for Lee that he wanted her there with him. He could have sent her home. They walked down the street hand in hand and though he said that she was his cane, she knew that he was the real guide here.

  They reached a brownstone building. Several little kids that had been playing on the stoop ran up to them.

  "Hi Uncle Lee!" They crashed in to him, from the youngest that looked no older than three to the eldest that was as tall as Tory. He seemed to be prepared for the tackle and accommodated each of them with hugs. She even got a hug from the three year old and that put a happy smile on her face. The children were gorgeous, some pudgy, some stick thin and all happy to see their Uncle.

  "Hey guys, don't knock over my girlfriend."

  "Sorry, Ma'ame." One of the smaller ones said solemnly while watching her with big light brown eyes.

  "I don't mind being bowled over, as long as it's with hugs and kisses." She hadn't realized that it was an invitation but suddenly she was swarmed by little bodies as well. Lee laughed merrily and rescued her by picking up two of the smallest ones who giggled happily.

  Someone darted up the stairs of the building and Tory could hear the distant voice shouting that Lee was here with a girl. Her stomach did a nervous flip. Adults would be converging on them soon. Lee took her hand again and led them carefully up the stairs. He seemed to know how to expertly maneuver between darting little bodies, perspective toys as well as managing the stairs without a cane.

  Tory checked out the pretty building as they headed up a flight of stairs. "This is your sister Macey's home?"

  "Actually this building is owned by my brother. Four families live here. Macey and Senna live on the top floor. My brother Paulo, who owns the building, has one of the first floor units. And...two other families occupy the other units." Intuitively she knew that one of those families was Roz's, so she didn't even bother to ask.

  "They wanted me to live here but...it was too much like living at home. My family is very close knit and there just wouldn't be any real privacy if I lived here." The door to the upstairs apartment opened before they reached it and a blond woman came out to greet them.

  "Lee! There you are. Anda cá." She gripped Tory's hand. "Tory? Nice to meet you, hon. My name is Kaye, I'm Paulo's wife." She pulled them inside and the apartment was swarming with bodies. Swarming might be an overstatement, the apartment was thankfully huge, and it was filled with people. She began to panic at the idea of having to remember these names.

  "Dinner smells good, Kaye." He turned to Tory. "Kaye is like a sister to me. She and Paulo have always been together even back on Flores. Any picture I have of Paulo is with Kaye not too far behind."

  "Ah, indeed, I was your first babysitter."

  Another woman stepped through the gathering of bodies that came to greet them. "You? I remember it was me that was changing that boy's diapers."

  Troy reached out to the woman with a happy smile. "Tory, this is my oldest sister, Francie. She is like a second mother to me." The two hugged lovingly.

  "I've had to paddle you like I was your Mama on several occasions, too!" She chuckled. Then she gave Tory a huge smile.

  "Tory, nice to meet you." She pulled her into a hug which surprised her, and then other people came forward to greet and hug Lee and she always received a hug right along with him. There were brothers and sisters and then their spouses and the introductions seemed to go on forever. The kids ignored them as they went running in and out of the apartment. She had a distant idea that one day she might have little caramel colored children that would be running about right along with them, getting yelled at good-naturedly when they bumped into something or slammed the door. It brought a pleased smile to her face. It was much too early to be having those thoughts, but her mind couldn't stop it.

  Macey squeezed her hand drawing her attention back around. "Nice seeing you out of the restaurant."

  "Thanks for inviting me."

  "Inviting you? You are family. You must always come!" She grabbed her arm and led her away. Tory gave Lee a quick backward look. He was talking to a man named Rafael and he called out jokingly, "Take care of my woman, Mace!"

  "Pára quieto," the young woman waved away his words. "Come on. I'll get you
something to drink." They went into a pretty kitchen. It was big and delicious aromas were coming from it. She was suddenly starving. The room had a homey feel despite the fact that it had commercial size appliances. Yes, this would be the kitchen of a restaurant owner and a member of an extra large family. But it also had a relaxed and comfortable appearance. Pictures of family and drawings by kids decorated the refrigerator or a bulletin board. There were all kinds of canisters and jars filled with spices and pickled items. It was just the type of place that she would love to explore.

  Kaye was there tending to a huge roasted meat; leg of lamb? And another wife was slicing cucumbers. It looked like she was making a salad. She gave Tory a warm smile. Macey moved to the refrigerator.

  "What would you like to drink? I made a rum punch."

  "That sounds good, thanks."

  Kaye hefted the meat and placed it back into the oven. "I'm happy you said what you did to Roz." She dusted off her fingers and then placed her hands on her more than ample hips. She was big enough that she was more than plump, but from the expert application of her make-up, to her pretty blond hair and the way she carried herself, this woman was very pretty.

  Macey placed the cold rum drink into her hand, nodding in agreement. "Don't get us wrong. Roz is family, but you are my brother's woman and that means she got trumped." Tory hid a smile.

  "Yes." The third woman in the room said. "You don't make a play for a woman's man right in her face!"

  "Yes, but Roz always thought that she was the boss over Lee." Kaye added. She was slicing thick crusty bread. "We love Roz and we don't spend a lot of time gossiping about family."

  Macey took a sip of her own rum drink. "But we're telling you this; that maluca, was wrong."

  Francie entered the room; the eldest, along with another sister, also as plump and shapely as the others. Her name was Senna.

  Senna was nodding even though she had entered at the tail end of the conversation. "Don't worry about Roz. She told Leticia about the fight; she and Leticia are best friends, but even Leticia had to say, Girl, apanhada do juízo?! You are married to Brice and have two kids!' She said, 'Give that girl a chance. She will make my brother happy.'" Senna nodded her head as if that was a given fact.

  Francie began placing the sliced bread into a pretty woven basket lined with a linen napkin. "Well I will guarantee that Roz thought we'd all be on her side." She gave Tory a steady look. "But I know that Lee has been very lonely. If she cared about that she would have left her husband long ago and approached him correctly. “Não te parece?" And it was as if she was asking for her agreement.

  "I...yes." Tory nodded and she did agree. Obviously she had been harboring those feelings for years.

  Senna had poured herself rum punch. "I knew she liked him." She said knowingly.

  "Well I didn't," Francie announced while placing the baking sheet into the oven. "If I had known that she had scandalous ideas I'd have told her about herself. Tory, hand me the butter from the refrigerator please."

  Tory liked listening to the women talking even if she hadn't added more than two words to the conversation. They didn't make her feel self conscious. She passed the woman an industrial sized tub of butter.

  A tall dark haired man entered the room. She remembered that he was Paulo; Kaye's husband. He looked to be in his forties and had strands of grey in his curly hair. His skin tone was much darker then Lee's and his eyes were hazel. He was really gorgeous even with a pouch for a belly and about fifty extra pounds on his tall frame.

  "What are you hens talking about?" He gave Tory a friendly wink while everyone else chastised and berated him both in English and Portuguese until he grabbed several beers from the fridge and slipped back out of the kitchen.

  "Tory, come over here and give me a hand," a woman said. She was several years older than her and Tory had no hope of remembering what her name was as she was not a sibling of Lee's, but married to one of his brothers; Rafael or Carlo, she didn't remember which. "I'm going to show you how to make the aletria, eh?"

  "I'd love to. Let me wash my hands." She went to the sink and quickly washed while the women chatted and described the dishes that they'd have. The woman poured milk into a large pot to boil. It was nearly the entire gallon of milk, but then again it was a very large family. She instructed her to pour a cup and a half of sugar into the simmering liquid along with a couple of teaspoons of salt while the woman went about cracking a dozen eggs and beating them up quickly along with more sugar.

  "Ladle some of the boiling milk into the eggs...that's it. Good." The woman beat them for a bit longer and then set the egg mixture aside. She then grabbed a box of vermicelli noodles. “Back home we made this with rice but here we make it with noodles.” The two of them broke the hard noodles into the boiling milk and sugar concoction. Once that was done and the noodles were cooked in the boiling milk, they took it off the heat.

  Kaye removed the leg of lamb from the oven to rest in the pan and Tory poured the tempered eggs mixture into the pot of vermicelli and milk until it made a beautiful custard. She smiled in pleasure once it was poured into a shallow glass dish. She was instructed to sprinkle cinnamon across the top and it was placed in the refrigerator to cool. She had prepared her first Portuguese dish!

  "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Kaye shooed her out of the kitchen even though she had been having a good time cooking with the women. Of course, being kicked out of the kitchen and back to Lee wasn't a bad deal either. Senna placed a beer in her hands.

  "Give that to Lee, he's probably due for his next one."

  "Ok." Before she was completely out the kitchen door Macey placed a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome to the family. We are all kind of crazy and we're loud at times and talk too much but we kiss a lot too and hug and are loyal to the end. Whenever you're around any of us, you have allies. Do you understand?"

  She was so touched that her eyes stung. If this was Azorean hospitality then she was blessed. She looked at each of the women in the room and knew that the sentiment was shared by all.

  "Thank you for making me feel so welcome. I truly understand why Lee is such a special man, it runs in the family." She went to the living room but didn't see Lee or the other men, just some of the kids still racing about.

  "Where is your Uncle Lee?" She asked one of the children.

  "In the family room watching soccer." The child pointed out a connecting room and she peeked inside to the sight of several men and some of the older children watching a big screen television. It was set to an international channel and a soccer match was broadcasting, the announcer speaking rapidly in a foreign language. Suddenly several of the men jumped up and cheered, among them was Lee. He was listening intently.

  "Uncle Lee, Tory is here." A boy about sixteen said. Lee turned in his seat and held out his hand from where he was sitting on the couch.

  "Hey, querida. Welcome back." Paulo stood and moved to the chair, allowing her room to sit next to Lee. She smiled her thanks to him. He pulled her into his arms snuggling with her and she passed him the beer.

  "Cerveja for you, honey." She said.

  "Where's my wife with my cerveja?" Paulo asked playfully.

  "Last I checked she was carving the biggest leg of lamb ever known to man."

  Rafael winked at her. They were a playful, winking family. "We're going to have to trade our wives in for new ones like you, Tory."

  "I heard that!" The woman that had taught her to make the aletria was suddenly in the doorway holding several beers. "For that I take these right back to the kitchen-"

  There were several protests and she pretended to relent, and walked around the room passing out the beers to the adults, slapping the hand of the 16 year old when he reached out for one, until she finally ended by sitting in the lap of her husband, presenting him with a kiss and the last beer.

  "Do you like soccer, Tory?" Lee asked.

  "I've never watched it."

  Everyone in the room got quiet and stared at her a
s if she had just announced that she'd flown in from the moon.

  "Some American's don't watch soccer." The sixteen year old said. "They watch American football." Someone scowled. "American football has too much standing around and not enough action."

  "I've seen bits and pieces of soccer matches; on the news. I saw a soccer player kick some guy in the head." His scalp had split and blood had poured from it like a fountain. She'd also seen fans chase down a referee and give him a beat down. It seemed a bit violent to her.

  Everyone rushed in a once to try to explain the game to her. She was too embarrassed to admit that she had no idea what they were talking about.

  "Which team are we rooting for?"