14. Priest
SUNDAY EVENING
“You don’t have to do that,” I stated when I stepped into the kitchen with September. She stacked a load of dishes inside of the dishwasher.
I had allowed her more freedom lately, and I knew she was glad not to be chained up anymore and stuck in that room alone. The only times that I locked her away was when I had to leave the property.
“The least that I can do is clean up after the meal you made. It was good. Thanks, by the way,” she murmured. September bent over to put a plate at the rear of the dishwasher. I gripped my dick as it hardened in my sweats. The sight of that fat, golden brown ass on display had me wanting to stick my shit all inside of her. I could just see the curve of her pussy lips when I stepped back and dipped my head a little.
September stood up, and those perky breasts pushed against the tight T-shirt that she wore. I knew she hated the clothes I’d bought for her. But I’d foolishly sent Wildflower on the run for clothes. They were about the same size, but I should have known the sweet butt would come back with clothes like these. It worked in my favor, but September hated them.
I could tell that she didn’t wear a bra underneath by the way her nipples budded against the cotton. I had seen her around enough to know that she didn’t dress this way when she was at home.
We hadn’t had sex again since we had it in my office three days prior, but that hadn’t stopped my desire for her. I found that I wanted to fuck her every kind of way. I wanted to have her ass bent over my kitchen counter, the back of the sofa, the dining room table, and even my damn bike.
“You cool, Ember. You ain’t gotta do this shit.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” she declared before she placed the last plate inside of the dishwasher. I grabbed a tablet from the bucket and loaded it into the dishwasher.
“What’s that about?” she asked and pointed at the comb, brush, and hair oil that I had set on another counter.
“You fucked my hair up the other day.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. In my office. I took it down and washed it while I showered.”
After we ate dinner, I headed straight for the shower and left the kitchen a mess. I hadn’t left it for her to clean, but I had planned to return to it later.
“What are you gonna do when I’m gone? Who’s gonna do your hair then, Priest? One of your sweet butts ?” she asked with a teasing smirk.
I watched as she switched by me with those ass cheeks jiggling up and down. Damn. The girl was fine as hell. I grabbed my dick and squeezed it as she grabbed the hair supplies and left the kitchen.
“Nah, I figured you could still do it,” I replied, following her out of the kitchen.
She looked over her shoulder at me and declared, “You do realize that I don’t plan on returning after you release me?”
“Your ass will want to come back.”
“Who said that?” she asked in a shrill voice as she plopped down on the couch.
We were relaxed with each other, and this teasing manner we had was new. It wasn’t something I was used to doing with women. Again, I wondered, why her? What was she doing to me? I had been content not to let anyone in. I couldn’t afford the hurt that came with trusting people.
I kneeled in front of her and forced her legs apart. She stared into my eyes with that whiskey-brown gaze and almost challenged me. I reached one hand up to pinch her nipple, and my other hand reached out and freely cupped her pussy. It was hot and moist.
“You said that shit,” I muttered.
I slid my finger underneath her shorts and rubbed her sex up and down. September lay back against the couch and pulled one foot up on the couch beside her. I pinched her nipple harder, and she arched her back.
“Mm, Priest,” she whispered, and then moaned.
My fingers slid inside of her and fucked her. “Might keep your horny little ass here as my sex slave. Look at you. All milky and sweet.”
She pushed her pelvis forward. I knew she wanted everything I had to offer her. I shoved a third finger inside of her and fucked her with my fingers while my thumb rubbed her tight bud until it was intensely hard. September’s plump lips puckered, and her mouth opened slightly. When I saw her pink tongue, I moved a hand from her nipple, took her chin between my index finger and thumb, and tugged. When her mouth opened, I lifted a little higher and sucked on her bottom lip.
“Ohhh,” she moaned.
I slipped my tongue into her mouth and kissed her heatedly while my fingers plunged in and out of her. Her pussy made loud squishy noises, and I smirked.
“Wet pussy. My favorite sound in the world.”
September reached out and gripped my wrist with both hands. She secured my hand inside of her, squeezed her pussy muscles around my finger, and clenched her thighs tight. I laughed when she hunched my hand and screamed my name, “Fuck me, Priest! Fuck me.” When she finished squirting on my fingers, I pulled them back and sucked each finger individually.
“I ain’t fucking ya little horny ass again. You’ll get addicted to my dick. And like I said, you’re gonna want to come back.”
She lay back and huffed until she caught her breath. September closed her legs and fixed her panties and shorts.
“Who said I will come back?”
I sat on the floor between her legs.
“Your actions, or lack of action.”
“What lack of action?”
“I left you up here while I went and took a shower, and you didn’t try to run. You love this dick.”
She mushed my head and replied, “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“I’m not. You did that when you soaked my dick and my face with them sweet juices. And when you begged for the dick just moments ago.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered.
I relaxed between her legs so she could part my hair. Several minutes passed before I spoke. “What’s up with that?”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you run while I was in the shower? You weren’t locked away.”
“Run for what? So you could unleash your dogs on me?”
I sucked my teeth and answered, “Nah. Told you I wouldn’t do that shit.”
“They look vicious.”
She had watched me on a few occasions when I’d gone out to feed Smoke, Rocky, and Hazard. “They can be. They’re trained to protect all this shit around here.”
“Hence, me staying in place.”
“That ain’t it, chief.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“There’s another reason you won’t leave. What is it?”
“Considering how I was lost, cold, hungry, and had to pee the last time, why would I risk that again? I’ll wait.”
“For?”
“You to take me back.”
“For you to be so in love with your fiancé, I thought you’d do anything to get back to him.”
“Who said anything about love?”
“You’re marrying that nigga.”
She sighed and didn’t say anything. I elbowed her inner thigh and turned back to face her.
“Stay still. You can’t be doing all that moving while I’m trying to do your hair.”
“Answer me one thing.”
“What?”
“You love him?”
“Priest, let me do your hair,” she replied with a dry sigh.
“Answer my question, princess.”
“I’m sure in time that I’ll grow to love him.”
“You’re twenty-two years old.”
“And?”
“Why the fuck are you marrying some nigga that’s twenty-five years older than you, who you don’t love. Nigga is old enough to be your father.”
“But he’s not, okay. So drop it.”
“I don’t want to. Why are you marrying him? It can’t be for the money. Your dad’s got plenty of that.”
She sighed and answered, “My father arranged a marriage with Daniel and me. He wanted someone who would be able to financially provide for me the way that he has, if not better, and someone who could protect me. He said that I had security with Daniel, and while many people married for love, it didn’t always last. He wanted me to have a stable life where I could have all the best comforts and protections that a man’s money could provide. He assured me that Daniel would be a great provider. Besides, my fiancé is very attracted to me.”
“Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?”
“Because he could have a number of women. He’s gorgeous himself.”
“Have you seen you?”
She giggled and tapped me on the head. “Turn around and let me work on this head.”
I turned around and leaned back. “You deserve to have what you want, Ember. You can find a man who’ll protect you, love you, and provide for you if you want. Shit, as resourceful as you are, I’m sure that you can take care of yourself financially if that’s what you want.”
“I graduated from high school early while taking college courses. At twenty-two, I recently graduated with a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in epidemiology. I wanted to work with the CDC and study diseases and the spread of them. I had hoped my dream would be supported by my father and my fiancé.”
“You could still do that shit.”
“I can’t. I’m engaged to marry Daniel, and he’s very clear on the fact that his wife’s place is in the home.”
“Why the fuck are you standing by and letting these men negotiate your life, Ember?”
“You mean the way that you are?”
That shit silenced me for several seconds.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized after a while. “It’s a sensitive spot for me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess I had all these ideas about what my life would be like. I haven’t met a man who I love yet. So, I allowed my focus to be on my studies and having fun until it was time to settle down. I don’t even think there’s such a thing as love.”
“What about the nigga who took your virginity? You didn’t love him?”
“Evan? Evan was my high school boyfriend, but we went off to college and lost touch before our freshman year ended. I mean, we knew how to contact each other, but we chose not to.”
“So, you didn’t love him?”
“I thought that I did, but I know now that I didn’t. I don’t even think it exists, Priest. So, why not marry a man who can take good care of me in all the other ways that matter?”
“What about your body? Your sexual needs. Do you honestly believe that Usher will make you feel a tenth of what I’ve made you feel?”
“It doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What about your mom? What does she say?”
September’s fingers froze in my hair before she replied, “She died when I was sixteen.”
“Oh.”
There was something about the way she said her mother ‘died’ that let me know it was still a hard thing for her. She was still grieving, and I didn’t want to open that Pandora’s box. I decided to let that go. She’d discuss it if she wanted to. Besides, asking questions about that area of her life might cause her to start asking me shit that I didn’t want to talk about. And going down that path would only remind me of why her father had to die.
“What about you? Have you ever been in love?”
“Fuck no.”
“Don’t you believe in it?”
“Nah.”
“Why not?”
This was the bullshit that I’d tried to avoid.
“To be honest with you, I ain’t never seen true love. I mean, when I look around me at folks like Bell and Jagged, Torch and Chainz, Juicy and Lyon, or Kyte and Ox, I know their asses are hard in love. But even with them, they’ve all been through some changes. They’ve gone through some shit or taken each other through some shit to get to where they are today. I don’t have it in me to do all that. I’d rather just live the life that I do now. It’s much easier when you don’t put expectations on yourself for people to be the way that you need them to be. Placing expectations on a person might break them. And seeing a person break because of expectations they couldn’t carry can be hell. You might not ever come back from that shit.”
“It sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” she remarked.
September’s hand pressed into the side of my head. I laid my head on her thigh as she worked on the side of my head. She smelled like brown sugar and maple. Her thighs were soft, and I had to force myself not to turn my head and press my lips against them. If I did that, I would go too far and expect more.
“Just watching people.”
“What happened to you, Priest? Who made you this way? All hard, rough edges with no curves or nothing soft.”
“Nobody.”
“I mean, I know someone hurt you at some point. Tell me what led to the man who sits here today,” September encouraged.
I grabbed the remote off a side table and held it up to the television.
“You talk too gahdamn much. Shut the hell up and finish my hair,” I demanded.
I searched through the channels and finally settled on the Roku channel.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to get in your funky feelings,” she muttered.
I turned on an assassin movie and turned the volume up to drown out her voice and the thoughts that troubled me.