20. Nala
“Oh, this is nice… really nice.”
Dark brown eyes studied me with amusement, his slow smile seeming pleased at my predicament.
“Mmmhmmm. Told you.”
He took a hit of the joint before passing it over to me. Who knew hand-eye coordination would be required for such a task but I inwardly applauded myself when my fingers clamped around the shrinking beauty and pulled her to my lips without fumbling it and embarrassing myself. Maybe it was the perfectionist in me but even doing something like smoking weed, for the first time, meant I needed to do it right. Not to mention being with this sexy ass man, made me feel more seen, more vulnerable than ever. And safe, Nala. You feel safe.
I did feel safe I thought. He watched me closely as I took a less tentative drag this time and avoided that hacking cough from moments ago. A bitterness filled my mouth as the warmth of the smoke moved into my throat and I filled up my lungs to hold the fire inside. After a few moments, I released what remained of it into the haze-filled living room.
“Is it like this always or just because it’s my first time?” The thought hung in my mind longer than usual but eventually, my mouth was able to communicate. Damn, this shit made you slow.
“Well, the next time you’ll have fewer questions or at least I hope.”
My body was so … so something …. I felt lighter than a feather as if I were floating up into the stars with him right beside me. Even thinking about it, had the visual of a dark space peppered with speckles of white light appearing in my mind. The delayed realization of his sarcastic words had me eventually reaching out my hand to make contact with him. The perpetual lack of density caused by my condition made what I intended to be a smack on his shoulder result in a light tap. Even in the corner of my mind where I could make out Jazmine Sullivan crooning:
“You feel that fire, just let it burn…There”s no runnin” beneath your turn…”
I could still hear his melodic chuckle. Seeing his eyes half cast and the gentle bite to his bottom lip made the energy emanating from my intoxicated state travel to every body part he had ever touched. My nipples tingled, my pussy throbbed even as the rest of me felt…loved. Damn, what was in this plant that had me ready to say fuck healing, I needed dick. Healing dick. Yeah, that’s what I needed.
A stupid smile spread across my face and even when I felt him watching me from the recesses of my mind because, at this point, I could only focus on an insignificant detail in this room. The cup sat on the coffee table, surrounded by a bag of chips and a box of cookies for munchies. That red cup had my attention and I couldn’t let it go. I don’t know why, but that’s where my eyes went and stayed until I realized my mind had gone to nothingness and I didn’t like that. Where was I drifting off to?
Oh yeah, healing dick. Wait his eyes were on me, that’s where I had been… and now there was that feeling again spreading throughout my floating body. My nipples, my cat—everything wanted him. Finally able to move my head to the left I stared at him, I found his attention already on me like my body already knew. He was weakening whatever little will I had left with just his eyes. They were so beautiful and they loved looking at me.
He reached for me but was stopped short. His phone buzzed and seemingly unaffected by the joint we smoked or that my body was yelling out to him, he lifted it in his palm and began a Facetime video with a dark-skinned man who could have been Djimon Hounsou’s doppelganger. I tried to school my features into a serious nonhigh way and listen.
“Hey, man.”
“What’s up? You try Scarlet at the spot?”
Even in my haze, I knew Scarlet was the variety we selected. Scarlet was short for The Scarlet Witch—the telepathic Marvel character great at creating an illusion and driving her victims to madness. Zaire said it would help me to imagine more peaceful things until my brain healed the trauma.
“Mannnnn, MJ… we love it.”
For the first time, MJ looked over as if seeing me for the first time sprawled across Zaire’s lap, head on his chest. He’d wrapped me up in his arms as soon as we sat down to smoke. He said it would help me feel his healing touch. Healing dick. That’s what you need, girl.
“Hi, Nala.”
I waved at the screen when Zaire turned it for me to see. I knew I looked silly, but I didn’t care. I could feel the smile on my face but had no control over it to release my jaws. Damn, this was some good weed.
“You know my name,” I said in a stupor that belied my true intelligence. The man was gonna think I was a chicken head.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? Midnight been talking about you for months. About this shorty with a big a?—”
“Hey, man. Didn’t you tell me you had to get going somewhere?”
MJ laughed but wouldn’t let up.
“Now when I say that man? I ain’t had no time but that’s okay. Hey Ms. Nala. The man loves you, darlin’. Just so you know.”
Zaire didn’t respond to that. He went on to ask what MJ was into.
“Now you know I’m hitting up some shit for Four20. But only the places with my plant being distributed.”
“That’s strategic.”
“Hell yeah. Well, you go on and take care of your honey, Midnight and enjoy y’all Four20 celebration. I’ll catch up witcha. Bye pretty, Nala.”
“Bye...” I lifted my hand with a wave.
“Talk to you later, MJ.”
I looked up at his handsome profile and realized he was embarrassed and not for the first time but more recently, I was able to see how he sincerely cared for me, and I couldn’t keep back how much I cared for him too.
“I love you too, Zaire.”
His surprise shone in his eyes before they turned warm, and his kiss came next. “I love you, baby.”
“I know. Now tell me about this name Midnight. I heard him call you that before.”
He shook his head. “Just a nickname for the dice games and because my ass is darker than the outside and also because when I get to rolling them dice, I put everyone else to sleep.”
“Ooooh, sounds exciting. Tell me about these dice games, Zaire.”
He shook his head at me. He grabbed the joint and rekindled it with a lighter that he tossed aside. He pulled the smoke into his mouth and leaned forward and as if I had been a pro at this, I leaned forward and pulled the tendrils of smoke into my mouth. My focus on MJ, Midnight, dice, and whatever else disappeared from my thoughts as I swallowed the smokey heat.
He placed the joint back into the ashtray he had pulled out of a kitchen drawer earlier. Something about this action said we were done and I was alright with it. What I’d done with him tonight was going to have me high until the end of time. Thank goodness it was the weekend and neither of us was on call.
“You want to hear more stories from my past or would like for us to smoke some more… then I stroke some more?”
I bit my lip as he repositioned himself to face me. Intense need filled my belly as his hands traveled up my thighs and landed at my waist.
He began pulling the t-shirt I wore, his t-shirt I stole, up over my head and tossed it to the floor. His palm engulfed one breast as his hot mouth found the nipple of the other. Fuck. I felt like I could cum in his lap just from this. Okay, I give in. Weed had its uses that I could entirely get with, I thought.
“Answer me,” he mumbled around the tip of my breast.
“Yes,” I whispered. Just finished sucking, dammit.
“Yes, what?”
“Let’s smoke and then stroke,” I choked out as his fingers found their way to my slit and opened me up.
“Good girl.”
I came twisting and shaking on his lap. He pulled his black basketball shorts down and I immediately sat up and straddled his lap. As I impaled myself on his dick, I felt my body oozing out of my pussy making the ride slippery.
“Yeah, baby. Ride this dick. Take us to the stars.”
I threw my head back and did just that.