22. Nakyra
Chapter 22
Nakyra
M y body felt light, my mind clear and goosebumps covered my arms as I lay wrapped in Creed’s arms. After having sex the two of us showered, heated up the food I cooked, then retired back to his room once we were finished. Bella lay at the foot of the bed and was eager to come into the room once we were finished.
Creed had said what we did was simple, but it was more than anything I had ever done with Rome. My body felt like jello the first time, just from the head he had given me. While it wasn’t exactly how he was with Dedra, I was overly satisfied. Jealousy hit me thinking about how he had been with someone more experienced. He mentioned a club he visited and looking at him I would have never expected him to be part of a sex club, let alone have a room at home. Just the thought of him being with someone else in either made my stomach churn.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” he asked against my neck.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, embracing his warm breath against my skin, and sank back into him.
“Are you gonna continue seeing Dedra?”
Creed stilled then his lips left my neck. I leaned forward slightly and looked over my shoulder so I could see him, waiting on an answer.
He eyed me silently. My heart thumped irregularly and I scraped my bottom lip with my teeth.
“No, I’m not.”
“Really?” My eyes widened and my brows shot up to my hairline.
He flashed me a crooked grin. “Yeah, girl.” He dipped his head and pecked my lips. “Shit with me and her wasn’t serious. We both used each other for sex and?—”
I frowned. “I don’t want to hear about you sleeping with her.”
“And it didn’t go any further than that. She still did her own thing at the club and we hooked up when it was convenient.”
“What about other girls? Are you going to sleep with other people when you visit your club?”
He reached out and brushed his hands over my braids. “Are you asking me for exclusivity?”
I cleared my throat then lay back down, focusing on the wall across the room. “I probably don’t have the right to do that since I’m still technically engaged to your brother and need to handle that whole situation.” I grew quiet for a second. “But I don’t like the thought of you with other girls.”
Heat crept up my neck at my confession. Creed lowered back on the bed and tightened his hold around me.
“Right now my attention is occupied. I don’t have any interest in venturing out to anyone else.”
A small smile crept on my face but disappeared when my eyes fell on my hands and my engagement ring shined up at me, causing a knot to form in my stomach. I had grown so accustomed to having it on that it felt natural, but I knew I needed to depart with it if I planned on ending things with Rome. Each time I looked at it I got a reminder of how many years I’d wasted and how my life was completely different from what I planned it to be at the beginning of the year.
I pulled the ring off and reached over to set it on the nightstand.
“You know you didn’t have to do that,” Creed said.
“I know, but it was time. Plus it doesn’t feel right wearing it anymore.” I wet my lips. “And I have a request.”
He chuckled. “What is it?”
“I want to be the one to teach you ASL from now on. I appreciate you learning it for me and Camilla teaching you, but I can take over now.”
Creed pressed his lips against the back of my neck again. “If that’s what you want then I won’t complain.” I closed my eyes and sighed as his teeth sank into my skin.
Suddenly I was flipped onto my back and Creed was hovering above me. His eyes bounced around my face before he lowered his mouth to meet mine. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Warmth I never felt before wrapped around me and a sense of peace covered me.
Usually after sex I was left feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied. While I loved Rome there was never any passion between us during sex, not like tonight with Creed. That scared me. It had only been a short period of time and I felt like I was already fully gone over this man.
____
“Oh there’s some fine ass men here. Cousin, you brought me to the right place!” Summer grinned and knocked her shoulder against mine.
Snickering, I shook my head and looked around, watching as the crowd grew around us. We were at another race and this time I invited Summer to come with us. Four days had passed since he’d tied me up and since then we had been more connected than ever.
“Summer, please act like Auntie raised you right.” I side eyed her while shaking my head.
“Girl, you know I’m newly single and ready to mingle.” She bent forward and bounced her ass.
“I know that’s right, girl!” Camilla encouraged, approaching us.
“I was wondering where you went.”
“I had to go grab this.” She lifted the bottle of Don Julio with a snarky grin on her face.
“You two have it,” I signed and looked around again. Just like the first race, the area was lit. The crowd was large, music was playing. The people they were supposed to race hadn’t shown up yet, so it was more like a party at the moment rather than a race.
I glanced over to where Creed and Dylan along with a few other guys stood in front of Dylan’s car looking under his hood.
“Is Dylan racing last tonight?” I asked.
Camilla handed the bottle to Summer and used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth.
“More than likely. He normally does.” She shrugged.
I bounced my eyes between the two of them. Now that I thought about it, I’d barely seen them interacting since we’d been here. A couple of girls approached the hood of the car where the guys were grinning. My eyes widened and went back to Camilla who was shooting daggers their way.
“Do you know them?” From what I’d learned about Camilla in the short time we’d known one another, she was possessive over Dylan.
“No.”
I raised a brow. When I turned my attention back to the guys, I noticed one of the girls leaning over the hood. She twisted her neck and said something to Dylan who chuckled and shook his head.
“Are you two still into it?” I wondered out loud.
Camilla sighed loudly and leaned against the car parked behind Dylan’s crossing her arms across her chest.
“We’re not technically together right now.”
“Wait, what? Since when?”
Again, she shrugged. “Like a week.”
“So it’s over between you two?” Summer asked. She had been around when me and Camilla discussed her relationship, so she knew they had been in a rocky place lately.
“Girl what? No.” Camilla waved her off before grabbing the bottle from her. “Dylan knows he’s mine and I’m his. We just need space right now; so we’re taking a break. It’s not the first time.” Her eyes looked back to the front of the car. By Camilla’s body language I could tell she was growing more irritated watching the girl smiling in Dylan’s face.
“I know that’s right.” Summer laughed.
This time Creed met my eyes when I looked back toward the guys. He lifted his hands and signed.
“Are you okay?”
The corners of my mouth lifted. I still couldn’t believe he was learning sign language for me.
“ Yes. I am fine. ”
“ Do you need anything?”
I shook my head.
The past couple of nights we had been having lessons after we ate. Creed was right when he said he was a fast, hands-on learner. He was catching on to basic words and sentences quicker than I expected.
“Nakyra!” Summer called out, causing my attention to snap back to her.
“Huh?”
“Did you hear me?” She squinted and darted her eyes to the side. The corners of her mouth turned up. “Never mind, I see who has your attention.”
My cheeks heated. “Shut up.” I rolled my eyes. “What did you say?”
“Now, now don’t be coy. What’s going on with you two?”
My lips tucked in my mouth and I shoved my hands into my pockets. “We’re figuring it out. Speaking of… Camilla, you never told me you were teaching Creed sign language.”
“Because he wanted to surprise you, it was cute.” She smiled for the first time since she came back over here. The smile on her face quickly vanished and she pushed off the car. Camilla stormed off and me and Summer made eye contact before following her.
Now standing next to Creed, I watched as Camilla snatched the girl’s hand off Dylan’s chest and got in her face.
“Shit, here we go,” Creed mumbled, wrapping his arm around me, pulling me into his side. Butterflies swarmed my stomach. Easily, I melted into him.
“Oh I really like her,” Summer commented.
Dylan instantly snatched Camilla back in a bear hold. She was kicking her feet, attempting to break his hold. Dylan walked away with his hold still on her.
“Are they gonna be okay?” My face scrunched and I looked up at Creed.
He nodded. “Yeah, this isn’t anything new. I told you this is like foreplay for them.” He smirked then turned his attention to Summer.
“How you doin’, Summer? Enjoying yourself?”
“Hell yeah. I’m mad I never knew this kind of thing existed. It’s exciting.”
“Just wait until the races start, you haven’t seen anything yet!” I mentioned.
Right on cue, engines revved and a gang of cars pulled up on the outside of the crowd.
“All the noise isn’t bothering your ears, is it?” Creed looked down at me with concern written all over his face.
With a toothless smile, I reached up and cuffed his cheek before pushing up on my tiptoes and pressing my lips against his. “No. Thanks for asking though.”
He looked surprised by my gesture but ended up grinning at me. “Let me know if it does.”
I wasn’t sure what made me feel so bold in public, but touching and kissing Creed felt as natural as breathing to me. I welcomed being in his embrace and feeling his hands and lips on me.
“Okay then, cousin,” Summer said.
Shyly, I leaned my head on Creed’s chest and smiled at her. Summer had a look of approval on her face. Since the last time we spoke I’d felt so indifferent about everything, I knew she must be happy that I was more comfortable with it now. The night we shared together helped, but I wouldn’t tell her that.
A few minutes later Dylan and Camilla came back to the group. She didn’t look as hostile as she was before they left. I hadn’t even noticed the girls who’d caused everything had disappeared. Dylan leaned down and whispered something in Camilla’s ear. She frowned and rolled her eyes before walking away from him and over to us.
“You okay?” I asked.
She ran her fingers through her hair and nodded. “Yeah, girl. Dylan knows what’s up.” She waved me off and tucked her hands in her hoodie.
It wasn’t like Camilla to be so quiet. I was concerned about her, but when Creed gave me a light squeeze and I glanced up at him, he subtly shook his head.
Shifting my eyes back to Camilla, she was now talking to Summer about something I couldn’t hear.
“They’ll be good. Don’t worry,” Creed mentioned.
Sighing, I nodded, still content with leaning on him. I had grown to like Camilla and considered her a friend. After learning what I had about her, I worried about how she was handling everything. The last thing I wanted was to see her spiral, but I was going to trust Creed. If he told me everything would be okay, then so be it.