12. Elle
12
ELLE
Monday Morning…
I stood in one of two lines outside the school, greeting the kids on the way into the building on their first day. This had been a Citrus Grove tradition for as long as I could remember. It was like a mini homecoming where the neighborhood and alumni came out to give the kid high fives and words of encouragement as they walked into the school. At first, I wasn’t going to come, but I needed a distraction since my thoughts had been all over the place since Declan left my house the other night. I couldn’t believe I’d mistakenly told Declan I loved him. Even worse, we hadn’t talked since then, and I double texted him yesterday. I knew I told him I was hanging with my dad, but I still kind of expected to hear from him. I’d already texted him one too many times, so I wasn’t going to bother him again, though it was taking everything in me not to triple-text his ass. So far, I hadn’t seen him yet, so I didn’t know if he was coming or not, but I hadn’t seen Donovan yet either.
“Hey, girl hey,” Quinci greeted, walking up while holding her daughter. “I’m late. This little girl did not want to get dressed this morning.”
“Hey girl,” I returned, playfully pinching Dymani’s leg and making her smile at me.
I looked past her and saw Declan and his brothers falling in line. I started to smile until I saw Winter come under him and he draped his arm around her neck. Suddenly, my chest started to tighten, making my heart flutter out of sync until I focused back on Quinci.
He can touch his girlfriend, Elle.
“Are we still on after this?”
“Yeah, girl. I’m going right to the shop after I leave here. And I’m going—oh my fucking… girl, look,” I told Quinci.
She turned around and saw Kemba and Johnny walking up, joining Declan, his brothers and Winter. My heart fluttered out of sync again. It wasn’t that I was excited or nervous to see Johnny, I just thought I would never see him again, like ever. I never thought we’d be in town again at the same time. On top of that, the last time I’d seen him, he was getting dragged by his pregnant fiancée, many years ago.
“Oh my God. Now, where the hell Johnny been? Ohh,” she hummed, looking down at me. “I forgot. My bad.”
“Girl, you know I don’t care about that man.”
Me and Johnny’s relationship wasn’t a secret, but being that she was best friends with Kemba, I knew she knew some of the more personal details. My thoughts weren’t on Johnny being back; it was him being around Declan, and I didn’t know why, since neither of those men were my man. I hated that I was going to have to walk by him and them on the way to my truck, especially since his brothers and Kemba knew we were fucking.
“I’m not trying to speak either, though,” I said, laughing.
Peeking over Quinci’s shoulder, Johnny and I locked eyes. He tilted his head, smirking, like he knew I was purposely hiding from him. I turned away from him, trying not to blush. Although I couldn’t stand him, that didn’t take away from him being one fine, charming ass man. If he talked long enough, he could sell ice to an Eskimo. I glanced at him again before looking at Declan, who was staring upside his head.
“I’m about to take Mani to her daddy, so I can ride with you to your salon, if that’s cool.”
“Yeah, that’s cool.”
As we walked toward the group, Johnny and I locked eyes again, and he started smiling like we were the best of friends. I flicked my eyes toward Declan and one his eyebrows were slightly raised, as was his brothers. On the inside, I wanted to laugh at how God had put me in this situation back-to-back with Declan, but Quinci would probably think I was crazy for randomly laughing like a maniac.
“Quinci, girl, it’s been so long. What’s new,” he asked, smiling and showing off his perfect set of teeth.
My eyes flicked to Kemba, who had a look on his face that was hard to read. My thoughts instantly went to how he was feeling, because him and Declan were close, but him and Johnny was thick as thieves.
“What’s up, John John. Ain’t nothing new. Well, she’s new, kind of. Can you say hi, Dymani?”
Dymani dropped her head on Quinci’s shoulder, not wanting to speak.
“She doesn’t speak to strangers,” Dymon sniped, stretching his arms for her.
Oh, God.
The way Dymon sized him up, I knew that was a message to both Declan and Johnny for different reasons.
Quinci smirked, picking up the message. “And my husband, Dymon.”
“Oh, yeah, that was the talk of the town,” he said, nodding. “Kemba just introduced us. Please accept my late congratulations and well wishes.”
I scoffed inwardly. I hated how charming he could be. Not wanting to look at him, I looked around at the late stragglers pulling up and snuck a quick look at Declan, who was still discreetly sizing Johnny up.
“Dell.” He looked me up and down, smirking. “And how are you? It’s been a while.”
I didn’t respond because I didn’t know why he was trying to talk me, knowing I didn’t fuck with him.
“I saw Mr. Bill earlier, him and Ms. Sherry. He said you would be here.”
The way I felt Declan’s and brother’s stares upside my head made my stomach twist into knots.
“Johnny.” I smiled, flatly, hoping that would get him to stop talking to me.
I was not going to acknowledge him talking to my father because he didn’t need a single flame to fan. Inadvertently, I looked at his hand and noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding band, instantly hating that he caught me.
“Don’t worry, it’s gone. I’m here for a while, let’s find some time to catch up. I could use a cut, if you can pencil me in for this evening. VIP’s still on Monday’s, right?”
“Johnny. Don’t play,” I said, laughing while trying to keep calm.
“Laughing still your favorite mechanism, huh?”
Falling and twisting my ankle felt like it would be less embarrassing than talking with Johnny in front of Declan and his brothers. It would have been better if Johnny was somebody I didn’t despise because I would have loved to make Declan a tad bit jealous.
“I know you’re not going to turn down any money, are you? That’s not like you,” Johnny continued.
The tension in the air immediately became thick. My lips spread tight while I tried to remain calm. He loved getting a rise out of me because he loved what I did to him when I was pissed. I knew he was trying to test the waters, but I wasn’t going to take the bait.
Before I could respond, Kemba jumped in. “Quinn, you about to go to Elle’s shop.”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“No, reason, for real. I—” Kemba started before Johnny interrupted him.
“Quinci, you still be cooking. I want to put in an order for—”
“My wife ain’t your short order cook,” Dymon hissed.
Oh, God.
“Oh, my fault, Dymon. It’s no disrespect. I’d pay her for her time.”
“Anyway…”
“So…” Quinci and Kemba said at the same time, knowing if they didn’t intervene, Dymon would have had Johnny in the school trashcan headfirst.
“Baby, I’m about to get going.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, and then his lips before kissing Dymani. “See you later, little girl.”
“See y’all later,” I said before walking away.
“Later, Dell,” Johnny said to me, and I completely ignored him.
The further I walked away, the better I started to breathe. I hated Johnny, not only because he was a cheating liar, but because he was one the very few men who’d slipped through the cracks on me. I’d started liking his ass a lot. He was all the F’s; fine, funny, freaky, and fun until I found out about his girl. It was super easy to get over him because he was out of sight and out of mind. Although I had no intentions on ever seeing him like that again, I didn’t want to think of him.
I hit the locks on my truck and me and Quinci got inside.
“Just throw all that in the back,” I told her, then started the engine.
“How is Dad doing?”
“Girl, he is fine. Just need to drink more water and stay out the sun if he’s not. He’s going to do right because he never wants to spend the night in the hospital again.”
“Good. I was praying for him.”
“Thank you, girl. I was scared as hell at first.”
After pulling out the parking lot, Quinci looked upside my head, smiling.
“Okay, now, what the fuck was that back there?”
I looked at her and then back at the road.
“What was what? Johnny know I don’t fuck with him, so I don’t know why he was trying to talk to me like shit was sweet.”
“Nahh, bitch. You know what I’m talking about. Because why is my husband bucking up at somebody about something he knows that I love to do. He trusts Kemba and knows that Kemba would never bring nobody around him that I used to fuck with, so he had no reason to be short with him.”
“I don’t get what you saying,” I said, trying not to sound guilty.
“Let me put it this way. I know for a fact you not fucking Dymon, and you would never backdoor Greysen, and Kemba would never backdoor John John, so the only person left is…” She gasped so hard and long that I heard her throat drying out. “You are fucking Declan Danger!”
“Girl, what? How are you coming to this conclusion?”
“I’m not crazy, Elle. My husband doesn’t act like that with anybody, right off rip. Spill the tea, now.”
“Girl, yes yo’ husband do,” I said, then burst out laughing.
She couldn’t help but to laugh because she knew it was true. I turned into the parking lot of my salon and pulled into my parking spot.
“But you are quiet, so yes!” Quinci squealed.
“Girl, come on here before I never get finished with your thick ass hair.”
“Uh-huh,” Quinci said and opened the door.
I got out and opened the door to my shop, letting Quinci walk in first before I walked in and locked it back.
She followed me into my suite and went into the room where the table was.
“You know what to do, I’m about to grab my things and I’ll be in there.”
I took a few minutes to grab my things before walking back into the room. Quinci had gotten comfortable under the sheet with her head in the bowl.
“You comfortable?” I asked.
“Yes, everything feels great.”
I sat on the stool behind the bed and turned the steamer and water on, letting them heat up before lifting it over her head.
“Ooh, that feels so good.”
“Good.”
I started parting her hair, so the water could hit her scalp more.
“Now, tell me who all knows,” Quinci said.
“This is not part of the head spa treatment.”
She laughed. “Girl, tell meee, dang. I don’t want to pull it out of you.”
I sighed. “Since you’re not going to leave this alone, and please keep this between us, but Kemba, Dymon, Diesel, and Mr. Duncan, and now you.”
“Mr. Duncan know!”
“Uh-huh. Apparently, he knows his sons better than they do and after dinner the other night, he approached me on some I needed to leave Declan alone type shit and—”
“Ooh, so that’s what happened the other day, when they were all hanging out all damn day, and half the night. Declan was about to fight his dad, girl. I was on Facetime with Dymon when it first happened.”
“Bitch, shut up!”
“I wish I was lying. Dymon said it was some business shit and that they were taking Declan out to blow off some steam. At first, I thought something had happened with the EastRose deal, but now that you saying this… it was definitely about you.”
“Oh, wow. That is crazy.”
I tried not to sound too excited about Declan about to square up with his daddy about me. That probably was only going to make him hate me even more.
“Hold on. Grey don’t know?”
“Not yet. On top of not wanting to tell his personal business, you know how you like to do a thing in private in case it doesn’t work out, so no one really knows if it fails or not?”
“Uh, yeah, I understand, but I don’t know. It’s not like Grey is some new bitch though. Y’all have been through it all together. I know you don’t think she’ll judge you or something, do you?”
When I didn’t respond, Quinci opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Girl, you do not think your best friend will judge you.”
“Well, no, I don’t think she will, but… I’m just in my head, but also, it’s only a short thing. So, I’m really like, why can’t this just be something I keep to myself?”
“A short thing?”
“Yeah, so Winter asked him for an open relationship, for like a three-month trial. If she finds out it’s me he fucking, I feel like she’d nip it in the bud. You know she really thought he wasn’t about to be fucking nobody else.”
“Hell yeah, because he only had eyes for her, and now Declan fighting his daddy about you. This might get messssyyy.”
“Right! Same thing I said! Like… oh my God.”
“And then with John John being here and his smart-ass mouth; he doesn’t need to find out. Girl, this is better than any soap opera.” She grinned.
“Ooh, I swear it’s not funny.”
“It’s not, but it is. I would have never, ever guessed Declan was doing it like that. He putting it down, right?”
I kissed my teeth.
“Girl, I can ask,” she huffed, playfully.
“I brought that beast out of him, and that’s all I’ll say,” I said, grinning.
“Mmmh. I love that for y’all.”
“And you don’t think differently of me because… you know, a lot of married women don’t like to hear cheating stories?”
“Didn’t you just say he was in an open relationship? You and Winter are not friends. Well, I can see how it would look weird, but I don’t know. Either way, Declan deserve some outside pussy. She ain’t been all the way clean, so it is what it is. Is that the real reason you hadn’t told Greysen? You worried about what she may think, being that she is married to his twin brother.”
“Yes,” I breathed. “Oh my God, yes. It feels so good to say it out loud. I could be overreacting and I most likely am, but yeah.”
“I mean… what has she said about your subs? They are all married men, mostly.”
“Yeah, but their wives know, and I am getting paid for a service. She knows that I don’t feel anything—”
“You have feelings for Declan!” she whisper-shouted.
“Quinci.”
“You have feelings for Declan. I think that is so sweet. Wait, is Declan a…”
“This is what I wanted to avoid with keeping us a secret. All these questions. Yes, I do have feelings for Dec, anndd he has veryy good Dom potential, like he’s literally almost there, but the man be scared he’s going to hurt me. I have to force him to give me a little pain.”
“Oh my God. This is just too good.”
I laughed. “Girlll, please. On top of all that Mr. Duncan said I would ruin the family dynamics and I feel Greysen would never forgive me if I did. My biggest fear is Winter finding out about us and taking Lil D away from Declan to hurt him. He lives and breathes being a father to Donovan and that would kill him. You know how big that story would be on the internet. Like, I can really feel that bitch’s vindictive ass spirit radiating off her. You know what. Let me not call her a bitch, because she ain’t done nothing to me, and Declan been with her ass for twenty years, so he knows what he signed up for.”
“Dang, Elle. I ain’t even think about that.”
“See. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.”
“I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, he ran up on his father about you, so I don’t know. He might be feeling the same way.”
“Yeah, but none of that means nothing for real, you know niggas love running up on other niggas about their sides.”
“Bitch! You are so fucking stupid,” she said, laughing.
After treating Quinci’s scalp and hair, I gave her a good silk press and trimmed her ends, which took me nearly two hours because of all the damn talking we did. When I finished, I took a few pictures of her hair before taking her cape off.
She stood and stretched. “Dymon’s outside; you coming behind me to lock up?”
“Nah. I’ll be right behind you in about ten minutes.”
“Okay, thank you, again.”
“You’re welcome. And I better not see you with your hair in a ponytail tomorrow. Wrap your hair tonight, Quinci, I’m not playing.”
She laughed. “Yes ma’am,” she said as she walked out of my suite.
I grabbed the broom and started sweeping the hair from around my chair.
“Ella.”
I gasped and looked up to see Declan standing in the door of my suite. He was in his work clothes, looking so fine. The sweat had his white T-shirt clinging to his body and I could see every peck of his abs. When my eyes found his again, he was smirking. He knew how to make me forget every thought I had over his good looks.
“Hi. May I come in?” he asked.
“Might as well.”
“Might as well? You’re angry with me, rightfully so,” he spoke as he crossed the room. “I saw you texted me a couple times, and I wanted to respond, but we were having a no device, family day, sponsored by her wanting to keep me in the house and off the phone. It was very evident when she suggested we watch the Avengers series, knowing she’s not even into that. However, that’s neither here nor there.” He was now standing over me, and I looked up at him, hanging onto his every word. “I wanted to text you when I got in bed, but Ella, I don’t want you to think you are only a booty call and only worthy of speaking to at night. You’re far from that.”
I stared up at him and the sincere look on his face made my heart melt. I tried to stop myself from blushing, but I couldn’t.
“Ugh, damn it, Declan,” I huffed and stomped my foot. “I wanted to be mad at you.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s so much easier.”
“Of course. Let me make it up to you by taking you on a date tonight.”
“A dateee?”
“Yesss, my dear.”
“Say I come pick you up around six.”
I looked at my watch to see it was approaching twelve.
“You have time to get yourself together. Drive over into the city and grab you some things if you need too.” He started moving my twists out of my face. “Pull your hair up tonight, I want to see your face.”
The more he caressed my face, the faster my heart started to race. He stared at me like he was wanting to rip my clothes off.
“Um… uh… is there a specific dress code?”
“Surprise me.”
I giggled. “I don’t know how. I don’t want to embarrass you and be under or overdressed. You know I can give cute and country for JB’s, or I could give sexy and luxurious for a five-star restaurant night. I kind of need to know which one.”
“You could never embarrass me, baby. How about you give me a mixture of both?”
“Ummm, I think I pull that off.”
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
He leaned over and pressed his lips against my forehead, and then the tip of my nose, and then my lips. I didn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss because I missed the feel of his lips. He pulled away, smiling.
“I needed that. Ella, baby, if I didn’t have to go back to work, I’d bend you over in here. You don’t how bad I missed you yesterday,” he said and pecked my lips.
“Can you tell me, please?” I whispered.
“So bad that I had to flex my muscles every time a shiver went down my spine from the thought of touching you. Smiling, randomly, thinking about something silly you’ve said. Tony Stark dying shouldn’t have put a smile on my face. We’ve moved into strange territories, Della Mae.”
I gasped and started trying to pinch what fat I could find on his stomach.
He backed away from me laughing. “See you tonight, Ella. And don’t spend any of your money, if you get something new.”
I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched him walk out of my suite.
That Evening…
It was ten minutes until it was time for Declan to come pick me up, and my anxiety had been on a thousand since he left my salon. My phone rang and I jumped, thinking it was Declan, but it was Greysen returning my FaceTime call from earlier. We’d only had enough time to chat about my unfortunate run-in with Johnny and the reason I was going into the city before D2 had a blowout in his diaper and she had to get him bathed and changed.
I answered the phone and propped it up on my vanity.
“Bitch! Back up!”
I backed away from the phone until she could see my new chunky high-heeled Gucci sandals, courtesy of Declan’s card. His request for country luxury was harder than I thought it would be, so I went with a pair of dark skinny jeans and a leather corset top that had my girls sitting up perfectly. Also, courtesy of Declan’s card, I picked up gold accessories to match the logo on my belt and shoes.
“Oh my God. Waist snatched, but those girls are the spotlight. Spin around. Oop! Ass sitting. Wowww.”
“You like it?” I asked as I sat back at the vanity.
“Make-up, soft glam, giving Black Barbie. You look so cute. Why didn’t you do a bang this time or those side pieces you normally do with that style?”
“Just trying something different this time. You really like it?”
Since Declan wanted my hair out of my face, I washed and blew my hair out and pulled it up into a high ponytail and put a couple curls in it. I turned my head side to side so she could see the little bounce.
She giggled. “Yeah, I really do. You know I like seeing that big forehead.”
I’d looked at the time and saw that the time was inching closer, and I was starting to get nervous.
“Now, tell me why you decided to go on a date with Johnny.”
“Excuse me! Never did I tell you I was going on a date with Johnny.”
“Elle going on a date with who!” Diesel said in the background.
“Now, who is that in my business?”
His head appeared in the camera. “Me.”
The slight eyebrow raise had me biting the inside of my lip to stop myself from blushing. In a way, it seemed like he was asking if his brother knew I was going on a date.
“Boy, get your gigantic ass head out the camera, so I can see my beautiful friend.”
“Boy?”
“Move, Diesel,” Greysen nudged him out of the way. “Then who are you going on a date with?”
I kissed my teeth. “Girllll…”
“Girllll, nothing. Men hardly ever make it to a first date with you, and here you are, getting dolled up at the beginning of the fucking week. You’re either going on a date with Johnny or…”
The doorbell startled me so bad that I bumped the vanity and made the phone fall. I hurried and picked it up to see Greysen’s mouth wide open.
“What?”
“You’re not meeting this person nowhere! He knows where you live!”
I grabbed my mini bag and stood up, throwing it over my shoulder.
“Is that new! Oh my God. I do not know who you are anymore.”
“Grey, I will text you when I get home.”
“Send me a picture of the car tag!”
I blew a kiss into the camera before I ended the call. It was perfect timing because Declan had appeared in the doorway, scaring the hell out of me and making me drop my phone.
“I’m sorry, Ella, but—oh my fucking…” he looked me up and down as he walked toward me. He grabbed my hand and spun me around slowly. “You look amazing. Jesus.”
“Thank you, Declan, you don’t—ooh.” He pulled me into him and sniffed around my collarbone, my neck, and hair.
“And you smell delicious, my goodness.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I wish I was.”
He pulled away, looked me up and down, and shook his head.
“You look so adorable, Ella. Are you ready?”
I grinned while shaking my shoulders. “Yes, I’m ready.”
I cut the lights off and followed him out of my room.
“I wasn’t going to use my key, but you were taking a lil’ while to come to the door, so I ain’t know if you were ready.”
“Yeah, I was trying to get off the phone with Grey. She wants a picture of your tag and thinks I’m going out with Johnny. I’m going to have to tell her soon.”
“I’m surprised you’ve kept it to yourself this long. You know how y’all do,” he said, opening the door for me.
“And how do we—ooh!” I skipped out on the porch, squealing and turning toward Declan who was looking at me with his eyebrows raised. “I finally get to ride in your Slingshot!”
He closed and locked the door.
“You been wanting to ride in it or something?”
“Uhh, I asked to ride in it when you first got it, and you told me no, in front of everybody, too.”
“No. I think you asked me to drive it and the answer was no, which is still the same answer today.”
I shook my head.
“Why you shaking your head, you want to me to see your ponytail moving, huh? I see it, Babygirl. Shake it again.”
“You know what…” I laughed and waved him off.
He walked in front of me and opened the passenger side door for me. I looked him up and down in his fitted white shirt and black and white plaid fitted trousers, before getting in the Slingshot. He closed me in and walked around and got in the driver’s side. I couldn’t stop smiling as he pulled from in front of my house.
“What you smiling about?”
“It’s been a long time since I been on a date, date, and I’m anxious because I don’t really like surprises.”
He looked at me. “Because you like control?”
“Sure. If that’s what you want to call it.”
“Hmph. I guess we have to see about you learning how to relinquish some of that control, don’t we?”
My thighs clenched, but I didn’t want to be getting wet before we even got to where we were going.
“Um… should we get the elephant out of the car?”
“What might that elephant be, Ella?”
“You know I didn’t miss the Danger eyebrows from y’all this morning and your baby brother’s rudeness.”
“Dymon’s rude to anyone.”
I looked at him, not saying anything.
“I wanted to dropkick him in the chest for talking to you.” He looked at me, smirking. “Is that what you wanted me to say? Did I get it right?”
I bit my lip, trying to hold in my laughter.
“You know, you just think you are the funniest thing, and I must say, you are not as funny as you think you are.”
He chortled. “Ella, baby. That guy is not an elephant in this car. Should he be?”
“No, I just thought…”
For a moment, I felt embarrassed for thinking that he might be jealous, and he wasn’t.
He stopped at the red light and looked at me. “Babe, the way you looked at him said that you have nothing left for him, and even if you did, I don’t have a right to tell you who you can and cannot talk too. If there was something there, hell yeah, I’d feel a way. We had this discussion already.”
I looked out the window, blushing.
“Ahh, my baby wanted Daddy to be jealous. Look at you.”
When the light turned green, he pulled off.
I looked at him. “Well, yeah, ‘cause see, I thought that the only reason you pulled up on me on some, I can’t breathe without being in your presence and I miss smelling your hair and licking through the crevices of your fat, wet coochie lips was because Johnny wanted me to pencil him in this evening.”
He shook his head. “Aye, yo, you so fucking stupid. That’s how I sounded, for real, like I was down bad?”
“I mean, if I had to tell this story to someone else, you would definitely sound down bad.”
“You really be making me laugh, yo.”
“Uh-huh, because you think I’m a joke. Where are you taking me? The only thing this way is the ferry station, and uh, we kind of missed the last one.”
“Well, luckily for me, I have a lil’ bit of money and can make a couple of things shake.”
“I love the sound of that.”
After turning through the employee gate at the ferry station, he stopped at the security guard and let the window down. My eyes got big when he pulled a wad of cash out of his door and handed it to the guy. He turned and smiled at me before he continued toward the parking area. When he parked, I looked around and saw faces that I recognized and some that I knew Declan knew, and suddenly, I wondered if he thought about us being seen.
He got out, then leaned in the car and said, “Don’t touch that door.”
He grabbed the matching jacket to his pants out the backseat and then his sling bag, before walking around and opening the door for me. When he helped me out, he spun me around again, shaking his head. He grabbed my waist and pulled me into his pelvic twice. I blushed and looked around and the couple eyes we’d caught.
“Declannn,” I murmured. “People are looking at usss,” I whined.
“Girl, I don’t give a fuck about that.”
“Oh my gosshhh.”
He released me and spun me around again. “Damn, woman, I’m really trying to be good tonight and you come out the house like this. It’s crazy how sexy you look right now.”
“Take some pictures of me,” I told him and handed him my phone.
“Yes, ma’am. I’mma do some videos, too.”
I started posing for him.
“You know my twin surgical with cameras and shit. He’d be able to get you perfectly with the sun starting to set in the back. This sun got you glowing like crazy, Mama. I know you are going to post these. What’s your caption going to be?”
“I don’t know. I don’t be thinking about captions like that. I just post and go. Probably date night or something like that. Give me one.”
“Daddy’s spoiled rotten brat.”
I playfully rolled my eyes at him.
“You asked. Matter of fact, do that. I want people to know you’re taken. Look at that blush,” he said as he continued snapping photos. “So, my question from earlier, why you ain’t told Grey about us?”
“Am I supposed to?”
He peeked around the camera. “You ashamed of me?”
I giggled. “No, Declan. I just wanna keep you to myself for a little while. Is that okay?”
He smiled. “Good. Come on, it looks like they ready for us.”
He handed me my phone before grabbing my hand and leading me toward the small sized yacht. Declan had me full of butterflies and this was the only the beginning of the date. The woman standing at the edge of the boat had a big smile plastered on her face as we approached her.
“Mr. Danger,” she greeted Declan before smiling at me. “Ms. Elle.”
I smiled at her. Her name tag read Tee. I didn’t know her, but if Declan trusted her, then so did I. Our little town was steadily growing, and so was the list of the people I didn’t know. Declan walked on the boat first and helped me across. I followed behind her first, still holding his hand until we approached the top of a staircase. As I tipped down the stairs, my mouth dropped when I noticed the balloons and big bouquets of roses on the table. Tears immediately started to form in my eyes. I fanned my eyes so my eyeliner wouldn’t run.
Declan wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
“You like it, baby?”
“Ugh, I can’t stand you, Declan Danger,” I scoffed, playfully.
He walked us over to the table and pulled the chair out for me before sitting across from me.
“Now, tell me why you can’t stand me?”
“This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. A quiet dinner on this beautiful boat,” I said, looking around and admiring the beautiful decorations through clearer eyes.
“Well, we’re going to sail across to the Keys for dinner, and then we’re going to take the long scenic route back for dessert, Ms. I Don’t Like Surprises. Is that okay with you, my lil’ spoiled brat?”
My lips curled into a smirk, and I did a little dance in my seat, making him smile. When his eyes started roaming from my face down to my cleavage, the butterflies returned. He looked at me like he wanted to skip dinner and head right to dessert. I was thankful Tee came over with two flutes of champagne to interrupt his stare down. I immediately took a sip, hoping it would help settle the butterflies. When she walked away, he looked at me again, and I stared out the window.
“Look at me. Why are you being all shy this evening?”
The boat jolted, startling me a bit.
“We’re just taking off, you don’t get seasick, do you?” he asked.
“No seasickness.”
“Then why you being all shy and jumpy then?”
“It’s umm….” I sighed. “The way you be making me feel whenever you come around. It’s me being anxious to hear from you. It’s me being annoyed seeing your arm around that girl.”
“Ah ha. Now, we getting to the meat and potatoes. You wanted me to be jealous because you were jealous.”
“Now, where exactly did you pull that from?”
“The little truth box inside my jacket pocket.”
I shook my head, laughing. “And I had to tell myself that my boyfriend could put his arm around his damn girlfriend.”
He laughed. “I’m your boyfriend, now?”
I blushed. “Yes, for now.”
“I’ll take whatever I can get from you,” he said, sipping from his glass. “Just so you know, everything you feel, I feel it, too. I’m not doing all of this because I can afford it or I’m trying to pacify you, I really enjoy you, Ella. Baby girl, I simply don’t know how to put it plainer than that. It’s kind of like you want me to be lying or something.”
“And it’s not the thrill of having new pussy?”
“Your pussy is fantastic, Elle, but if you decided not to fuck me again, I’d still want to hang out with you and spoil you.”
That sent shivers down my spine, forcing me to shift in my seat.
“Spoil me?”
He nodded.
“How so?”
“Giving you whatever your heart desires,” he said, then sat back against the seat.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
I looked across the room at Tee who was staring at us as if she was waiting for a command.
“Did something happen to where you don’t care about us being seen now?”
“Nope.”
It sounded like he wasn’t going to elaborate, so I wanted to dig deeper.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you want her to break up with you? Like, do you want her to find out about us, so she can break up with you. Is that me stepping over the line? I know it’s a premature thought and I am not asking you to break up with her for me. I’m just asking in general.”
His lips curved into a smirk. “Honestly, Ella, I haven’t thought about it. We still haven’t talked about what she said to me. She moved back into the bedroom, probably thinking we will just move past it, like I’ve always done, but I haven’t. I think she knows something is different, though.”
“Is there something different?”
He nodded slowly. “I’m different.”
“How so?”
“I finally know a life without constant heart palpitations, or constant worry, and chest pain. I finally know I can be genuinely happy, in every facet of my life, mentally, emotionally, and sexually. When you’ve been told for so long that what you say and do is never going to matter until you can produce, you kind of internalize it. I have been thinking a lot about you telling me some of my wounds were self-inflicted, and Dymon, of all people agreed. Lately, when my mind is not on you, I replay every major situation I’ve ever been through and wonder if I had of listened with an open mind and ears, would the outcome have been different? I guess it took me lashing out how I did to snap back to reality.”
I cleared my throat, trying to blink back tears. “You, um… confronted your dad?”
When water started to build in my eyes, I opened my purse to pull out my make up compact and refresh my makeup.
“Hey, hey, hey.” He reached across the table and caressed my elbow. “Why you doing all that?”
“Um, my body is raging against me because I am not pregnant, so everything is making me emotional, but I’m really happy you said that because you deserve it, Declan. What I felt the other day is not something I would like to feel every day. I can’t imagine what you go through.”
“Yeah, you know I manage with a lot of self-medication and prescription medication as needed, but Baby Girl, something about those big watery brown eyes is telling me it’s more than you just being happy for me. Talk to me, honestly.”
I grabbed my sponge out of my compact and blotted around my eyes.
“Is it about what you mistakenly said to me and wanted to take back?”
“Oh God,” I murmured before glancing at him over the mirror. His sly smirk told me he knew that was part of it.
“The look of steel, so I assume I’m one piece away from a Connect Four.”
“Anyway,” I rolled my eyes and shut my compact.
“Yeahhh, anyway,” he mocked me.
“I’m just soo… ugh,” My body shivered. “I’m so happy about the treatment I’m getting from you, and I find myself aggravated I can’t get used to it, though my brain is trying to. The odds of me finding another man like you is slim to none, very slim. My standards were already high, but you took the bar higher, and you know… much like what you said earlier, knowing there is a man who’s willing or can deal with all of me, is refreshing.”
“That’s what I like to hear. You’re not trying to run from me again, are you, because what number would that be? Four or five? Every time your little ass do something new to me, you always try to take off running from. If anything, I need to be running from your ass.”
I laughed hard.
“Yeahh, caught your ass, didn’t I? See, that’s crazy how I already know how you operate. You be on some, ‘Let me fuck this nigga head up and then make him chase me’. That’s what be going through your head ain’t it.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to contain myself, but he didn’t miss me blushing by a long shot.
“Uh-huh, I know, but chasing you is fun, Della. I’ll do it for as long as you let me. Chasing you is giving me the opportunity to get to know myself better. Also, I need to apologize for what my father said to you though. He had no right to step to you like that and I let him know that. He always thinks he’s helping by getting in my business.”
“Why?”
“Why what? He always in my business? That’s how he always been. Dymon and Diesel aren’t strangers to it either.”
“Why, though?”
“Him and my mother always treated me differently.”
“Why?”
“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled before taking a big sip of his drink. “I hadn’t had a barrage of ‘why’ questions since Donovan was smaller. That was very stimulating.”
“Oh, so the avoidant makes an appearance,” I mumbled, and took a sip of my drink.
His eyebrows went together. “So, if I’m the black pot, then you must be the… black kettle.”
My mouth dropped before I bit my lip, trying to hold in my laughter.
“Okay, you got me. Just this one time, I’ll give you that.”
“And I’ll take it because I know I won’t win often with you,” he chuckled before throwing the rest of his drink back.
“Damn, right. Here, take my shoes off,” I said, putting my feet in his lap. “Let’s go out on the top.”
I watched him stare at my feet as he carefully took each shoe off and placed them on the table.
“Tee, bring Ms. Elle some slippers, please,” Declan ordered.
“Shoot, I forgot about her. I won’t talk about your personal life anymore.”
“It’s fine, baby.”
Tee came over to the table with a pair of flip flops and handed them to me. She took Declan’s glass and walked away again. Declan took the shoes from me and slipped them on my feet.
“Thank you for my pictures, too. You can use that card as my tab,” he said and stood, holding his hand out to help me up. “You want to top your champagne off?”
“Hell no. If I drink anymore of this before I eat, it’s going to be bad.”
“Damn, you can’t hang with the big dogs in girly shit either. Lightweight ass.”
“Oh, I got your lightweight,” I mumbled.
He smacked my ass. “What was that?”
“Oh, nothing.”
The wind watered my eyes me as soon as we got outside. Although the weather was warm, being out in the middle of the ocean made it cooler.
Declan wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You need my jacket, baby?”
“No, we don’t have to stay out here long. I just wanted to come out here and look around. You know being from here, we let the tourists hang out on the beach and stuff. You know us locals hardly come out here.”
“Hmm. So, tell me this, what does a day of Elle hanging out with herself looks like? No Greysen and the kids, no subs, no hanging out with your dad, no appointments, just you. What does that day look like?”
“That is a good question because my life revolves around my dad, work, Grey, and my Godchildren. But, if it’s just me, I’m probably just sitting in the house and watching T.V. Catching up on sleep.”
“Oh, do you see a future where you have kids running around your house? A husband?”
I spun around and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“What? Did I overstep?”
“I just told you what my life revolved around and you’re trying to add more things, Jesus,” I said, grinning and stuffed my hands in his pockets, pulling him closer to me. “But I suppose you can ask me that since you are depositing your delicious cum in me every chance you get.”
His dick jumped against me.
“Okay, now, Ella. We won’t make it to dinner. I want to be good tonight, okay.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “Well, I want five kids.”
His eyes nearly popped out of his head, making me laugh.
“The hell wrong with you and Greysen? Is that like a country thing or something? Y’all had a pact or something?”
“And what is this tirade you’re going on when you the one that asked me a question, Declan Danger?”
“I don’t know,” he said, laughing. “Damn, that is a lot though, Lil’ Bit.”
“I know. It is. They don’t all have to come from me either. I’m okay with adopting. I just think that I want a house full of kids because I didn’t have that. Like I would have killed to live in a house similar to y’all.”
“Similar.”
“Yes. Growing up with servers—”
“Servers?”
“Uh-huh, and people to wait on you hand and foot seems so boring. Oh, don’t put your eyebrows together like that. It’s the truth. I want to be the great great great grandma sitting in the grove with like a hundred family members surrounding me while I’ll tell stories.”
He rubbed his chin.
“You thinking about how many you want to give me? I know Lil’ D wants to be a big brother.”
“Shittt, Lil’ Bit, I probably can spare two. Maybe three with the way you be pulling that nut out of me. Them other two, I don’t know. I’m damn near forty.”
I burst out laughing. “Just two and a possible, huh? The way you be nutting in me, one of us is going to have to get fixed, then.”
“Hell yeah. I agree, but I’ll do what I have to do, if it means I get to keep nutting in you.”
My mouth dropped, and before I could respond, a catamaran sailing not far from us started blasting my favorite song.
“Uh-oh, that’s your shit, ain’t it. Turn around and show me something.”
“Declannnn, all those people on that boat,” I whined.
“I don’t care about that. All I see is you, looking so fucking pretty.”
I playfully bumped into him twice before I turned around and started grinding against him.
“Uh-huh, just like that,” Declan encouraged me.
I dropped my hips just as Tems’ voice came in, which had him mumbling something I couldn’t understand. He grabbed onto the sail line and looped a finger in my belt loop to keep us from toppling over. He found my rhythm and circled his hips, making sure to grind his crotch into me, allowing me to feel his hard dick. It seemed like it was only us until we received cheers and praise from the catamaran full of people.
I looked back at him while biting the corner of my lip.
“Yeahhh, you liked being watched, don’t you?” he asked.
He ground into me even harder as I began feeling myself even more. I felt his hand creep up my back before he grabbed my neck and pulled me up, until my back was pressed against him.
“Tell me how much you like being watched,” he mumbled, then nibbled on my ear.
“I love being watched, Daddy,” I purred.
“I know,” he said, pulling away and resting his cheek against my head. “Man, I really, really want to be good tonight, Ella.”
“You want to be good, but you told me to bend over.”
“Because you pull something out of me, woman. This shit is crazy, Ella.”
He turned me around and stared into my eyes, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. The music from the catamaran was fading into the distance and the only sounds were the ocean water slapping against the boat and the wind ripping between us.
He smiled. “Hi, Beautiful.”
I blushed. “Hi, Declan.”
He ran his tongue across his bottom lip before leaning in to kiss me when Tee came out.
“Sorry to interrupt. The captain has advised me to let you all know to either come in or sit out here. We are getting ready to dock.”
Declan kept his eyes on me. “You’re lucky, woman.”
Dinner was great, perfect even.
He’d reserved us a private ocean front cabana where we were served a three-course meal. I got to enjoy some of the finest cuisine while we watched the tail end of the sun going down. Our conversation flowed as if we’d known each other for decades. We were finishing each other’s sentences and laughing at each other’s silly jokes. We probably would have still been there talking if the workers didn’t have to leave and take their things. I found myself getting so lost in him that I had to scare myself back into reality by thinking about what his father said to me, which was why I’d gone quiet on him as we headed back down the beach to our car service.
The water and sand were cool to my feet as I walked along the shoreline. Declan had my heels looped together across his shoulders and kept a little distance so he wouldn’t get his shoes wet. We didn’t have to take this way back to the truck, but I wanted to get my feet wet and prolong the date in case it was our last one. Every other step, I stopped and let the sand seep through my toes. I’d been trying to occupy my thoughts by counting the amounts of seashells I could see under the moonlight. I’d been too distracted because Declan nudged me slightly.
“Yeah,” I responded, not looking up at him.
“Did you hear me?”
“No, I’m sorry. What did you say?”
In such a short time, Declan has picked up on every one of my expressions, so I knew if I looked at him, he’d know that my mind was everywhere, but on this moment.
“I had a good time tonight, Ella. I hope we can have another night like this.”
“Really?”
“Hey.” He stopped and grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. He put his finger under my chin and lifted my head toward him. “What’s the matter?”
I rubbed my lips together.
“Not tonight, Della,” he said, shaking his head slowly. “I don’t want to pull it out of you. Talk to me.”
“Is what your dad said true? You do things out of spite for him?”
“Yes, I do a lot of things out of spite for him. But not this.” He motioned between us with his free hand. “Not this, Ella. This date was purely because I wanted to make up for being ghost yesterday. No other man is fueling my decision to be with here with you.”
I didn’t respond.
“Is that what you thought? That I’m only here out of spite.”
I shrugged slightly. “Your dad is very convincing.”
“He is very convincing. He wouldn’t be who he is today if he wasn’t a convincing mothafucka, but trust me…” He lifted my chin more and pressed his lips against mine, slipping his tongue in my mouth. The gentle tongue wrestling had me moaning in his mouth with saliva pooling in the corner of my lips. He pulled his tongue out of my mouth and smiled against my lips. “Now, tell me Ella D, does that feel like spite to you? Why the fuck would I need spite to feel something like this?”
He knew how to leave me speechless.
When I regained my senses, I giggled. “You know, Declan Danger, you are more like your brothers and your father than you realize.”
His lips curved into smirk. “Coming from you, I am going to take that as a compliment.”
“Good, because it is.”
I grabbed his hand and continued walking with a slight skip.
“My God, you are a fucking spoiled ass brat. Suddenly, you not pouting no more. Come here.”
He yanked me up bridal style and kept walking, so I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“You really love to be babied, don’t you?”
“Yess,” I pouted. “And it really fucking amps up when my body is mad at me. I told you that.”
“So, what you’re saying is, when it’s getting close to that time of the month, you need me to lay up under you.”
“Please. And rub my stomach?”
“Yes. What else do you need?”
“Diapers,” I said, laughing.
“Whoa. I don’t have to change you, do I?”
“I’m capable of cleaning myself. Thank you very much,” I said, laughing.
He blew a sigh of relief and chuckled. “Anything else?”
“Hmm. Between my bouts of fatigue, feed me sweet and spicy things around the clock, like sweet as in a honey bun, and spicy as in a bag of Flaming Hots. A large greasy bacon and cheeseburger meal in between there somewhere. Ignore my ‘God hates women’ rants and weird moments when I may or may not burst into tears.”
He chuckled. “Check, check, and check. I’m about to put you down, so I can wash your feet.” He sat me on my feet and kneeled by the handle to turn the water on. “It might be cold, Lil’ Bit.”
“Jesus!” I shrieked when the cold water hit my feet.
“I told you. Give me your foot, baby.”
He wiped the stubborn sand off my feet and turned the water off, then lifted me off my feet again and walked toward the truck, waiting for us at the corner. Our driver had got out of the truck and opened the back door for us.
“My man, you got a towel,” Declan asked, as he sat me in the seat.
My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and Declan looked at me, and then did a double take, smirking and shaking his head at the same time.
“Look at you. You think you about to get some dick, don’t you?”
My eyes darted from him to the driver quickly when he handed him the towel.
“Nah, don’t be shy now.”
He started drying my feet with the towel, while staring in my eyes. Testing him, I pressed my foot against his crotch and felt how hard his dick was getting. The driver turned his back to us, giving us a little bit of privacy. I kept one foot pressed against his crotch, while dragging the other one slowly up his chest.
“Ella,” he sighed, as he turned his head toward my foot snaking around his neck.
I placed my ankle on his neck and pulled him in between my legs. He laid between my legs and started kissing me. Just when he started attacking my neck, the driver cleared his throat, letting us know that we were about to have company.
“You can be good tonight, but let me be bad, please.”
His eyes roamed my face like he was trying to decide on what he wanted to do.
I blinked twice, turning on my charm before whispering, “Please, Master. Can your babygirl please you right now? She wants to show you how appreciative she is. Can she do that?”
When Declan’s eyes closed, I knew I had him where I wanted him. I hadn’t called him that since the night at Benny’s, so I knew his mind was already spinning.
The driver cleared his throat again. “Mr. Danger.”
His eyes opened slowly. “Ella, since you been teasing me all night, you have until this door is closed until we make it to the dock to give me a nut.”
I licked my lips. “And if I don’t?”
He smiled in response and my pussy couldn’t have clenched any tighter. Declan climbed off me and put me straight in the truck before he closed my door and went got in on the other side. As soon as he got in on the other side, he got out of his jacket and threw it in the back and let the seat back. The driver got in and pulled off.
“You’re wasting time, Ella,” Declan warned.
I climbed out of my seat and got comfortable between his legs. My mouth started to water as I tugged at his belt. After getting his pants unbuckled and unzipped, he lifted his hips and helped me pull his pants and briefs down. His dick was already hard as a brick with precum seeping out the tip. I swiped my tongue over the bead of precum before kissing down his shaft and sniffing around the base of his dick.
“I love how you smell, Master,” I mumbled.
“Damn, girl,” he sighed.
I zig zagged my tongue up his shaft and circled the head of his dick before wrapping my lips around it.
“My nasty little woman,” Declan sighed.
I tightened my jaws, bobbing up and down his dick until enough saliva collected and I moved down to his balls.
“Ella, baby,” Declan sighed.
I gripped his dick tightly and stroked him slowly while I sucked on his balls, pushing all the gathered saliva out of my mouth so it could run down his ass. Snaking my tongue out of my mouth, I glided my tongue over that spot between his ass and balls.
“Ella!” He inhaled sharply.
I went as far as my tongue would allow and he nearly came out of the seat.
“Oh my fuck…ing, Ella,” he grunted as low as he could.
He scrambled to find something to latch onto, finally grabbing onto the head of the other seat and handle above the door.
“Ella,” his voice went up an octave.
I let his balls slip out of mouth and went back to sucking on that spot, dropping my tongue down the line of his ass. I’d never took it that far with him and I loved witnessing him lose his fucking mind.
“Ella, fuck, oh!” came out hoarsely.
I licked up his balls and then up his shaft, spitting on the head of his dick for more lube. When I looked at him, he stared at me in a daze as his chest heaved up and down.
“The fuck, girl,” he mumbled, breathlessly.
“You like that, Daddy?”
He didn’t respond, but I knew the lump in throat was as big as a softball. I palmed his balls, letting my middle finger massage that sensitive spot. He clenched again when I moved my finger lower.
“Ella,” he choked out.
I tightened my grip on his dick.
“You’re going to cum for me, aren’t you?”
Every vein in his neck was popping out and he was about to yank the handle out of the car ceiling. As his breathing picked up, I moved my finger faster. Every part of me wanted to go further, but I didn’t want to push him too far.
“Mmhh, I know, Daddy. You’re about to cum and I want you to cum right on your girls.”
“Baby… I’m about to…” His head dropped back against the seat.
I aimed his dick at my chest and kept stroking it until his cum shot out three long spurts.
“Oh my God, yess, Daddy, that’s it. That was so beautiful. Look at me.”
He looked at my cum covered chest and laid his head back against the seat. When I stroked him again, he grabbed my wrists and placed them on his thighs.
“That’s crazy,” he mumbled.
The truck came to a stop.
“Oop. Right on time.”
He looked at me and shook his head. “Here.”
He grabbed his jacket from the back and covered my chest with it before getting himself together. I watched him with a smirk on my face while he kept shaking his head. The driver got out, opened the door for us, and made sure to look away when Declan stepped out. He pulled me up into the seat and grabbed my shoes. While he put my shoes on, I peeked under his jacket, looking at my chest at all his smeared cum.
“You were so backed up. I know you mad its not leaking out of my pussy right now.”
“Girl, be quiet,” he urged.
I laughed. He helped me out of the truck, making sure to keep his jacket in place. I walked away, letting him have a conversation with the driver privately. Moments later, I heard him walking up behind me.
“I hope you’re happy with yourself and this life, Ella.”
I spun around and started walking backwards. “Why wouldn’t I be? You gave me a task and I completed it. What you mean by ‘and this life’?”
When he approached me, I stopped walking and looked up at him. His facial expression was hard to read, and it had me on edge.
“What I meant by that is, after what happened back there, if you try to run from me again, I might do something very reckless like have a bunker built under your shop and chain you in there, giving you only enough room to go from there to your shop.”
My lips slipped apart, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. That should sound scary, but my pussy didn’t give a fuck about that.
“You… you wouldn’t.”
His eyebrows went up. “Are you willing to test me and see?”
His stare was so fucking intense that I had to look away from him. He grabbed my chin and made me look him at him.
“Your mouth is a beautiful mess, Ella,” He used the back of his hand and cleaned my face. “While I have your mouth, I need you to say, ‘I am done running.”
“I-I-I am done running,” I stuttered.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Because you know you belong to me, yeah?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And I belong to you too, yeah?”
“Yes.”
My pussy was already soaked from giving him head, but now she was throbbing hard.
“And you will never do that to another man, unless I command you to. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
My knees nearly buckled. I nodded as much as I could.
He gripped my chin tighter. “I need to hear that you understand what I’m saying to you.”
“I…I understand.”
His smiled. “Good.” He leaned over and pecked my lips before releasing my chin. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up so we can finish the last part of our date.”
He wrapped his arm around me, and we walked down the dock. My heart raced so fast that I could hardly breathe.
What the fuck did I just agree to?