5. Sage
SAGE
Ten Years Ago . . .
My heart rate slowly returned to normal as I sat in KD’s lap with my head resting on his shoulder.
Somewhere in my mind, I knew what had just happened was terribly wrong, but just for a moment, I allowed it to feel right.
As a matter of fact, it felt perfect. Even the constant stinging on my ass where he’d hit me with the flogger felt heavenly.
The ache helped keep my mind off reality.
He sat with his head thrown back and his eyes closed as he rubbed my ass with one hand and my back with the other. Lying on his hard body, smelling his cologne, and feeling his hands on me made me want to climb on for another ride.
The bulge beneath me said that he was ready and willing for round two just as much as I was.
I hadn’t even put my clothes back on. All I had to do was climb on a quick ride.
Once we left the basement, we never had to bring up what happened down here.
I just wanted to experience it one or two or three more times. Why was this wrong again?
“I have some cream I can put on that,” he spoke, bringing me back to the moment.
“Hm?”
“Some cream, so you won’t bruise.”
“Oh, so this is something you do all the time?”
He chuckled. “It’s new.”
“I’m pregnant,” I blurted.
“Damn, that fast? I knew this shit was potent, but damn.” KD tittered and placed his hand on my stomach to be funny.
“I’m serious, K. I found out yesterday. That’s why I was such a wreck when I got here. I told Jaylen this morning, and he told me to get rid of the baby and let him know how much his half of the procedure is.”
“What the fuck?” he asked, almost throwing me out of his lap when he stood up.
I adjusted in my spot on the couch, pulling my legs under me as I looked up at him.
“Yeah, he had the nerve to say I was trying to trap him. Do you know how long he begged for me to give him a chance? Now that the heat is on, he wants to run. He’s such a freaking coward.”
“Don’t chase him, Sage. You don’t need him in your life for things to be OK. You know that.”
I sighed, ignoring his attempt to make me feel better. That wasn’t his job anymore. He had done his duty of getting my mind off my shit for a while. Now reality was setting in even more.
“My dad is going to kill me. Oh God. Who the hell is going to raise my baby once I’m dead?”
“You know Bash wouldn’t do that. If he does, I vow to take care of the kid.”
“I’m serious. I don’t even want to imagine how disappointed he’s gonna be when he finds out.
That’s the worst thing. I never wanted to let him down, and here I am fucking up my whole life.
He’s already going out of his way for me as always.
Sebastian has done nothing but good by me, and all I do is find new ways to fuck up.
Eventually, he’s going to get fed up with my shit and wash his hands with me too.
No wonder my mom left and never looked back,” I said, allowing the tears to seep from my eyes.
KD’s shoulders dropped as he eased onto the couch next to me. He brushed my hair out of my face and pulled me back into his lap.
“Don’t say that, Sage. You know that’s some bullshit.”
“No, it’s not. You know I found out she had another kid with her new man and started over like me and Supreme never existed. I never even told him. You see how easy it is for people to throw away the people they claim to love. All you have to do is make one mistake and you’re all alone again.”
The tears rushed down my face as KD pulled my head against his chest. I wanted to kill my boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, Jaylen.
We met a year ago when he was one of my dad’s prospects.
He had been pushing up on me since he’d come up to visit for a meeting and realized that we went to the same college.
After a few weeks, I gave in and let him take me out.
I still couldn’t believe how he snapped on me when I told him that I was pregnant.
After insisting for months that we stop using condoms, his sorry behind had the nerve to tell me that he knew I was trying to trap him from the start.
He offered to give me half the money once I handled the business, then left me sitting in the café like he didn’t even know me. This was all my fault.
I knew there was a reason that my dad didn’t like him.
Jaylen was such a punk. How dare he suggest that I was trying to trap him!
I didn’t need to trap him or anyone else.
I was perfectly fine being alone. He was the one who’d hounded me for weeks, invading my space during lunch, sitting with me and my friends to talk to me, walking me to my apartment after class, and straight up begging for a chance to prove himself to me.
Well, he’d officially proven that he was a bitch-ass nigga.
“Marry me.” KD interrupted my thoughts.
“Do what?” I asked, barely aware that he was still in the room.
“Marry me, Sage. Bash is putting me through school and helping me with some connections in his circle. I already make enough to support us and handle the business while you’re in school. You don’t have to worry about that soft-ass punk that got you pregnant. Let me take care of you.”
“I can’t do that to you, KD. This is my problem.”
“What do you mean? You wouldn’t be doing anything to me. You would be doing something for me. You know how I feel about you.”
“Yeah, that was before I was damaged goods. I’m carrying another man’s baby now.”
“You’re not damaged, Princess. You’re wounded.”
“Either way, I’m not doing that to you.”
“Let me help you, Sage.”
“What about my dad? What about Supreme? Between the two of them, we might not live to see our first anniversary.”
“Let me worry about them. I’m sure knowing that his baby girl is married to a man who’s willing and able to provide for her will soften the blow of finding out she’s pregnant.”
“But the baby is not even yours.”
“You think I don’t know that? I never even touched you until a few minutes ago.”
Hearing the door close behind me caused my back to straighten. From finding out my man was cheating, to crashing out at his house and getting arrested, my entire night was filled with one humiliation after another.
I walked into the room fully prepared to clear my head and let Klever take control. Then the jealousy and questions about who else had been given the privilege of experiencing him in this room took me out of my element. One thing was clear: He had been practicing.
Even with his shadow looming behind me, I felt safer than I had since I could remember. Actually, from the moment he told me he was coming, I knew that I was good. With Klever, I never had to wonder where I stood. He didn’t question or try to chastise me. All he said was “I’m coming.”
The reason I’d called him instead of my dad was because I couldn’t handle the judgment right now. Plus, I knew if I told Bash what Jaylen had done, he would have been sitting in a jail cell right beside me.
I didn’t know how long KD had been home, but the warm sandalwood scent that filled the air indicated that he had showered. My bare feet sank into the carpet in the dimly lit room as I waited for him to come into my line of vision.
It had been years since we had been together this way, but from experience, I knew to keep my back to the door. I kept my eyes glued to what I was pretty sure was a St. Andrew’s cross as my eyes moved to the leather chaise wondering where I would end up.
“Fuck, baby, you’re even more beautiful now than I remember,” he groaned.
I could hear him, but I still couldn’t see him. From the sound of his voice, he was still too far away.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Anything changed? Boundaries? Hard nos?” he questioned.
I jumped when his bare chest brushed against my back.
His hands slipped around to cup my titties as he pressed a soft kiss to my shoulder.
I literally shuddered. See why I was so terrified of this man?
He had a way of taking full possession of my body.
How the hell could I recover if he decided he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore?
I had to stay in control of the situation.
“We don’t . . . well, we didn’t really experiment.”
“Oooh, baby doll, no wonder you’re so wound up.”
He circled me, scanning my mostly naked body with dark intense eyes. As I anticipated his next move, I was so lightheaded that I felt like I would pass out. Settling his gaze on my face, he stared at me with the intensity that I had been craving in secrecy for longer than I cared to admit.
“What’s your safe word, Princess?”
“Pineapples.”
With a single bob of his head, he started to move again. Two taps to my shoulder caused me to sink down to my knees without him having to say a word.
“Anal,” rushed out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
There had been one change. Although Jaylen wasn’t into dominating, he had gotten me to try a few things. Some of them stuck.
“Have you forgotten the rules?” Klever asked.
“No, sir.”
“Are you supposed to be speaking, or are you supposed to be waiting for me to tell you to speak?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, dropping my eyes to my hands that were now resting on my thighs.
A quick swipe across my thigh made me hiss. I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the light tingle. He knew exactly how much intensity would get my attention but stimulate my senses without causing pain.
“Don’t try to apologize now. I asked you a direct question.
I gave you plenty of time to answer the question, and you neglected to provide me with an answer.
” This time I knew better than to answer.
“After you brought up that divorce shit again. After you called me out of my comfortable bed to get you out of jail. My princess had no business sitting in a fucking jail cell. She should have been sitting on my face, but no. My perfect princess wanted to settle for the bullshit. So instead of multiple orgasms, she was somewhere showing her whole ass over a worthless no-good nigga who should have never had access to her in the first place.”