Chapter 5
“Relic, wait! I—fuck!”
Aura winced when Relic palmed her head and smashed her cheek against the acoustic window, shutting up her trivial complaints. Her hardened nipples scrubbed the cold glass, while her waist ached from his thick fingers gripping there as he fucked her from behind so hard that her bated breaths fogged the window. A choked whine emitted from her when his dick burrowed deep in her guts to where her stomach cramped worse than while on her menstrual cycle. She reached back to brace a hand on his thigh, but he smacked it away.
“What’d I tell you ‘bout that shit, Aura? Huh?” Relic spanked her plump ass for the violation, making her belt out a scream. His hips pumped harder as he coaxed her, “The faster you cum on this dick, it’ll be over.”
“It’s too deep. I’m trying, but—”
“I don’t want to hear any buts. Open up and take this shit! It’s what you asked for, right? Ain’t this the reason you signed on that dotted line?”
Aura tried shaking her head, but Relic pinned it to the glass firmer before using his free hand to push down on her spine. His torso tightened as he slammed his pelvic against her round ass, making their clapping skin echo throughout the tiny booth while he watched the steady disappearance of his shaft between her slick walls. Not even that, or her juices coating the rubber sheathing his dick, prevented him from detaching.
His mind wandered to his tuxedo fitting he was late to, because Calm had hit him up about Aura being difficult to work with. After five ignored calls to her phone, Relic had pulled up to give the fly mouthed rapper a dose of act right since the only time he’d heard her mute was when his dick was buried in her guts. He’d figured out that trick after conning her panties off the first time they’d met to discuss business. Two sexual encounters, and a doubled advance later, he’d secured his final artist.
Jahleel raced through his thoughts second, and he made a mental note to check how his son’s lessons with Los were coming along. After a conversation with his folks, he’d concluded that toughening up his son was a requirement he couldn’t avoid. Relic had taught his brothers from a tender age to stand tall, to not allow a soul to try them, and to defend themselves with either their fists or a gun if it required that. Jessica had taken away his right to teach his son the same. That simple reminder eradicated pounds of weight from the guilt he carried about her death.
With slow blinks and a lick of his lips, Relic coasted from his overburdened mind and into the present where elevated moans and pulsating walls begged for his affection. His hand palmed the glass above Aura’s head as he sandwiched her between it and his chest. Her body squirmed in eagerness when his hand cupped her breast, tweaking a thick nipple while swapping out his rough strokes for taunting rolls of his hips. Her lips gaped, body shuddered, and duck nails clawed at the window.
“Relic...” His name was the most she could push out as the pain switched to immediate pleasure.
“I know you ‘bout to cum ‘cause this pussy doesn’t like it rough. You can’t take it. I’m giving you what you want now, so give me what I need, Aura. You gon’ act like you got some fucking sense?”
“Yes! Just don’t stop because I’m so fucking close!”
Her declaration was music to Relic’s ears. He dipped low and then thrusted up, forcing her onto her tiptoes as his hips gyrated like he was practicing the sensual dance of gouyad. The more he stirred inside her, her body quaked, and pussy leaked down his hard shaft. He knew exactly how to send Aura over the edge but fucked her like a slut because he could.
“Fuuuck, Relic. I’m cumming,” she cooed, jutting her ass back against him.
Her full lips parted, and sultry eyes pinned him with a lustful glance over her shoulder that begged him to release with her. If Relic weren’t wearing his tinted glasses, she’d have caught the emptiness in his gaze.
A mentally weaker man would’ve obliged, but he continued molding her walls until her pleading eyes fluttered, and she belted a note that made him wonder if he should add singing to her repertoire. Her juices drenching his shaft made him snake an arm around her waist, giving her half-hearted strokes while letting her ride out her release. Relic pulled out of her to put space between them as soon as her trembling legs steadied in her heels.
“Shit,” Aura huffed, spinning to face him while untangling her bra and shirt to yank down.
She inhaled a heavy breath to regulate her racing heart as she watched Relic fist his hard dick, pinch the tip of an empty condom, and then roll the rubber down a thick shaft that muddled her common sense and ended discord at his leisure. A mild case of embarrassment washed over her because she’d yet to make him cum. If Relic assumed she’d fold each time he stuck a dick inside of her that refused to even nut; he was in for a rude awakening.
“Don’t think that you can come fuck me whenever Calm goes crying to you, and I’m just supposed to listen,” she snapped at him, bending to tug up her skintight pants. After wriggling them over her hips, she complained, “I have a signature style, so Calm needs to take that into consideration instead of trying to change it.”
“You need to take into consideration that maybe your fucking style is basic, and he’s trying to pull more out of you than rapping about your pussy and shaking ass,” he retorted, causing her to snort a laugh.
“Rapping about my pussy and ass is what caught your attention the last time I checked.”
“And you see how fast it lost me. Cut the track before I cut you.”
Relic didn’t give her the satisfaction of eye contact because the topic wasn’t up for debate. He pulled up his boxers and slacks from midway around his thighs and then exited the booth with a seething Aura rushing behind him.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she shrilled, her heels clacking across the floor and grating his nerves like nails on a classroom chalkboard. “Do not threaten me, Relic, because I will say fuck you and that contract! I’m not hurting for shit, so—”
Her words caught in her throat before she skidded to a stop when Relic pivoted to face her so fast that she almost stumbled into his chest. He snatched off his shades, making the hairs on her neck stand in forewarning as his steely glower robbed her of her courage.
“Think very fucking hard about this battle you’re starting, Aura. My patience is running thin. Your best bet is to take your ass to the bathroom, wipe your pussy clean, and then get back into that fucking booth to cut the track. You’ll have a thousand songs about your usual bullshit, so one or two that are different won’t kill you.”
“It won’t,” she replied in a calmer tone. “But I think it’s dumb to—Relic!”
Her heart lurched and eyes doubled in size when his large hand clamped around her jaw, squeezing with a force that caved her cheeks and silenced her backtalk. The last man who’d gripped her face in the same manner was keeping her thirteen-year-old trap shut while deflowering her body in the back of a church van. She cowered away from Relic’s hold, but he clenched her face tighter.
“Look at me and listen, Aura,” he gritted as her blurry eyes strayed from his. “I tried to be nice about this shit, but I’m two seconds from dragging you out of my studio and tossing yo ass back where I found you. If you want to say fuck the contract to keep shaking your ass online for a few bucks, do it, baby, but see how well that shit goes over for you. Don’t ever for one second believe that nutting on my dick puts you above my fucking business or money.”
If Aura hadn’t opened her legs for him, Relic wouldn’t have given a damn since his sole mission was seeing if she’d mix business with pleasure. She had. Their second session—in his meeting room with her bent over the table—was where he’d spent time locating the spot that made her cum quickest because good nuts lured bitches into bad decisions.
Aura’s bad decision making started when he’d let her believe she’d finessed him out of cash his other artists hadn’t received. She wasn’t knowledgeable to the fact, her contract length was twice as long as theirs because Relic stayed ten moves ahead, even if his opponents assumed he was behind. He intended to work every red fucking cent out of her that she’d gotten.
“Can you let me go?” she croaked, swallowing the budding fear twisting her gut in knots. Aura almost thanked a God she no longer believed in when he released her and tucked both hands into his pockets.
“So, we shouldn’t have this issue again, right?” he quizzed, making her full lips thin into a line.
“No.”
Hatred laced the single word, while rage contorted her striking features, but the answer sufficed for Relic. He was used to those emotions. Every woman he’d bedded teetered on the line of loving or hating him depending on whether he assuaged them with petty cash and dick, or reprimanded them with physical or mental warfare. He’d learned that if he built them back up after breaking them down, it balanced out in their eyes. Joseph would knock the last breath out of him if he knew Relic did anything other than tear them into worthless pieces.
He pushed out a breath and strolled off at the disturbing reminder that he’d become his own man—he’d built a name and reputation that preceded him—and yet Joseph wouldn’t loosen the tight grip on his psyche. His father’s lectures ingrained his brain to where he struggled to move without scrolling through his mental rule book for plays. He was positive, Joseph preferred it that way.
“Is she straight now?” Calm lifted his eyes from the blunt he was rolling on the vacant receptionist desk when Relic trekked into the lobby.
“She better be, and she doesn’t leave this studio until that track is done. I don’t give a damn how long it takes.”
“She gon’ have to rap that shit in fast forward then, ‘cause I got moves to make.”
“You think I give a fuck what you have to do?” Relic stared at Calm as though he were a goddamn idiot before heading down the short hall to his office. He pushed open his door and stalled to shout over a shoulder, “I had moves to make, but I’m left dealing with your bullshit instead! You fucked up my day, so I’m fucking up everyone’s day. Let it not be done and see what happens.”
With that, he slammed the door shut and headed into his private restroom—fishing the used condom from his pocket to flush down the toilet before turning to grab a fresh washcloth and bar of soap from his wall cabinet. Relic turned on the sink water to warm, lathering his washcloth while debating if he should call his brother to hear his fucking mouth about not being on time. Before he could settle on an option, his phone juddered against his thigh.
“Fuck,” he grumbled, pulling it out to see Shabu’s name blaring on his screen. He answered and placed the call on speaker before balancing his phone on the sink while shoving down his pants. “I know I’m a little late. I’m heading to you right now,” he lied.
“Nigga, a little late is a few minutes. We’ve been here for over a fucking hour! Then, talking ‘bout you on the way, but I hear running water. What, you swapped out the stars in yo ceiling for a waterfall?”
Relic chuckled while scrubbing his dick clean. “You know, I only pull out my big boy on special occasions. I’m not too far from you, though. I had to stop past the studio and give Aura a pep talk.”
“So, you’re either cleaning cum off yo dick or blood off yo hands. Which is it?”
“Funny. Every now and again, you remind me how little you think of me, ti frè. You can’t see that your big brother is changing his ways?”
“Enough to have a conversation about a problem instead of snapping at her or playing mind games by fucking her? Hell no, you ain’t that changed!”
“You’re right. I fucked her,” he admitted, neglecting to add that he’d also given her a physical warning that worked better than sex. It always did. He reached behind him for a hand towel to dry himself before insisting, “I am changing, though. Ask your nephew.”
“That shit don’t count, Relic. You love Jah like you love me and Titan. Of course, you ain’t gon’ put a hand on him, and you’d fuck up anyone who tries it.”
The conviction in his brother’s tone made him pause, his eyes going to his phone as his mouth twitched, although a smile didn’t break through. It made his fucking heart swell to know Shabu lacked faith in him more often than not, but held undeniable belief that he wouldn’t screw up as a father. His exhausting efforts to prove that he loved his brothers more than his last breath were paying off. If he was lucky, Jahleel would hold those same sentiments for him at some point.
“You’re doing a good job with him, too.” Shabu continued singing his praises as Relic washed his hands, dried them, and then pulled up his pants. “I don’t know if I told you that. Jah seems happy as hell every time we get him, and he hasn’t picked up any bad habits. You’ve been watching what you say and do around him.”
“For the most part. Lil’ nigga said I curse too much,” Relic relayed, and Shabu burst into laughter.
“Shit, that’s all of us. He gon’ have to deal with that.” The line silenced before Relic heard female laughter fill the background as Shabu fussed, “Aye, y’all better not spill champagne on those dresses, ‘cause I’m not paying for shit Whoop ain’t wearing!”
Relic shook his head as he wiped down his glasses to place in their rightful spot before tossing his dirty cloth and towel into the mini laundry bin. He strolled toward his desk, swiping his jacket from the back of his chair to swing on as he listened to his brother going back and forth with his sister-in-law. Relic would bet his last, they were tipsy since they didn’t have their children.
“Handle your wife, Shabu. I’ll be there in fifteen, and I got the bill for being late,” he offered while digging in his coat pocket for his keys.
“Oh, word? Aye, y’all can spill as much shit as y’all want! My brother footing the muthafuckin’ bill in this hoe!” Shabu announced, just as his folks began to cheer. A bell rang in the distance before he told Relic, “And she just said yes to the dress, nigga! You right on time. Bring yo ass and pay this high ass tab.”
Relic ended the call without another word as a slight pang struck his chest. His jaw muscles ticked while he locked up his office and headed out, slowing his stride as he passed the studio room Aura’s muffled voice wafted from. The young, undisciplined version of himself that didn’t have as much to lose would’ve gone inside to slap the taste out of her mouth for being the reason he’d missed a significant moment in his brother’s life. His feet kept moving because the other thousand occasions he’d missed were on him.
He thought about the years they’d wasted beefing over their parents as he slid into his point A to B car that he upgraded every year but kept the same make, model, and color. Relic was a creature of habit. He cranked his engine, and his thoughts shifted with his gear, coaxing him to recall a time when Shabu wanted nothing more than his big brother’s affection. His throat tightened at how much shit between them had changed.
Relic propped an elbow on his car door, cupping his forehead as those skeletons in his mental closet tried breaking free to remind him of all the fucked-up things he’d done as he drove. His brothers didn’t know the half and never would. Shabu and Titan loved him, even with his flaws, so he’d slaughter every soul on earth before he allowed someone to sever their brotherhood. He was grateful Savvy had come around to liking him before their conflict ended with her funeral. His son’s mother hadn’t been as lucky.
By the time he pulled into a parking spot at his destination, he wondered how the hell he’d gotten there since his mind had held him hostage like a strait jacket the entire drive. His eyes scanned the large parking lot as he shook off his daze and climbed out, mashing the lock button on his fob before trudging toward a two-story brown and tan brick building with obnoxiously priced white gowns displayed in the wall to ceiling windows. He began calculating the cost of everyone’s attire as he flung open the door, causing the greeting bell to chime. Savvy was squealing his name and rushing toward him before he even got a foot in.
“The bank is here!” she broadcasted, making two skinny white women trailing behind her beam while a few nearby customers stared in piqued interest. Relic didn’t get a word in as she wrapped her arm in his like she’d do Shabu and introduced with a proud smile, “This is my husband’s brother who he thought wouldn’t show. I had faith in him, though! He’s even walking me down the aisle because, even if he won’t admit it, he loves me like a little sister. Right, Relic?”
She glanced up at him with a cheeky grin while her long lashes fluttered over hazel eyes. Relic looked away.
“I’m walking you, so my brother can stop bitching about it. Where do I pay for your dress, so I can get your loud ass out of these people’s establishment?”
“Oh, we don’t mind her at all! The whole family is a hoot,” one lady said with a giggle as she skittered past to direct them toward the register counter. Relic twisted his lips before he leaned toward Savvy’s ear.
“That’s her way of saying y’all ghetto niggas kept them entertained.”
“Relic, stop!”
She snickered, removing her arm from around his to slide the credit card Shabu had given her inside her back pocket. When Relic hadn’t arrived in the fifteen minutes he’d claimed, Shabu sent her to pay for her dress since he was tipsy, horny, and ready to bounce. Relic noticed her move but didn’t speak on it.
He pulled out his billfold, plucking through his cards before handing Savvy his ID and business American Express that she didn’t bat an eye at, while the employee’s gaze lit up. Her hand shot out for it before Savvy could reach across the counter.
“We just need a deposit today to reserve the dress. It’ll be fifty percent of the—”
“We don’t do that, baby.” He shook his head and fanned off her spiel before she could finish. “Take the whole payment, and her dress should be done as promptly as you swiped the money off my card.”
“It will be. We strive to have the best customer service and satisfaction around,” she assured him, glimpsing at his identification card before she did a double take and then peered at him with a squint. Her attention went back to finalizing the transaction after a few seconds.
Relic pushed his shades further onto his face, knowing she wanted to inquire about his eyes but wasn’t brave enough to ask. She was the kind of woman he liked—the one who thought things but kept it to herself instead of prying because there was a chance the conversation wouldn’t end in her favor. The lady fake busying herself with a payment that had been processed was nothing like Aura, who spoke with her chest and then retracted it all once he applied the bare minimum of pressure on her. Neither were like Kennedy.
After spending a week breaking down everything that he’d found out about her, he concluded she was the type to fight him tooth and nail, give the exact eye contact he’d spent years perfecting, and would either put him in a hospital bed or a jail cell if he laid a single finger on her. After their last conversation, Relic had pieced together where most of her notable qualities derived from. Whether he’d tolerate them or handle her in his usual manner kept him from reaching out to her since then.