Chapter 15
15
Now…
S he always smelled so good, fresh, even after spending hours beneath me or on top of me. Her sweat, her pheromones, her pussy—it all bore an intoxicating fragrance that I was addicted to. I’d always been addicted to it.
At that moment, we lay facing each other, my mouth buried between her breasts which were moist with perspiration, a combination of both mine and hers.
“You’re fifty-four years old. How the fuck do you have this much stamina to be having all this sex?” she murmured.
I chuckled, kissing her cleavage. “I been saving all this energy for you,” I admitted.
“You act like you’ve been celibate or something,” she scoffed.
“You assume I haven’t?” I said against the soft skin of her breasts.
“I know you haven’t. You have an entire wife.”
I lifted my head, just barely able to discern the features of her face in the near blackness of our bedroom. Our bedroom, our house. Everything I owned and was belonged to her, too, whether she wanted it that way or not.
“ Had . Stop tryna give that woman to me, King.”
“No, your father gave her to you. I’m clear on that.”
I sighed, moving up in the bed until my face was even with hers. “All I’ve ever wanted was you. You know that.” I pulled her body into mine although she was now far less pliable. She was pissed; our past had a way of ruining her mood.
“Bo—”
“I love you. I know it makes you angry for me to say that, but it’s the truth, and you know it. You feel it. Was I fucked up in the past? Yes. Am I even more fucked up now? Yes. But all that I do or have done, however twisted it may be, is a side effect of being without you for far too long. I need you.”
“Shut up,” she grated.
“King—”
“I said, SHUT UP!” Her voice was so loud as she literally yelled in my face that I actually flinched.
And I never flinched.
She shoved me onto my back, and before I could blink, her hand was on me, stroking me, and like a bell’s toll to Pavlov’s dogs, my dick sprang to attention.
All I could do was close my eyes and murmur, “Shit…”
Her mouth met my left nipple, her teeth digging into it as she continued to stroke me. The nipple shit hurt, but I liked it, and she knew it. There wasn’t another woman in the world who knew my body like Memphis King did.
She moved, abandoning my dick to straddle me, replacing her mouth on my chest with her pussy, and I could smell it, damn near taste it.
Got damn, I wanted to lick it!
“I gave you my heart when I was young, and you broke it like it was nothing. I loved you so much,” she said as she rubbed her pussy on my chest.
Reaching up, I grasped her hips. She was going to make me lose my fucking mind. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I’m sorry, baby. I fucked my own heart up in the process, too. Hurting you destroyed me.”
“Destroyed you? Destroyed you ?” she said, her voice breaking, and before I could elaborate, offer a rebuttal, take a deep breath, anything , she slid that pussy over my chin, taking a seat on my mouth and making me moan from somewhere deep in my soul as I went to work, licking and sucking her clit. She gripped my head and rode my tongue with abandon, devoid of any regard for my need of oxygen. Her thick thighs flanked my face as she grinded and bucked and howled. I just kept feasting on her flesh like my life depended on it. Hell, maybe it did. When that orgasm hit her, she tried to run away, but I reached up and gripped her ass cheeks, holding her in place, and when I knew she couldn’t take anymore, I released her, allowing her to collapse onto the bed beside me.
As I fought to catch my breath and listened to her do the same, I managed to say, “You can hate me. I don’t care as long as I get to love you. That’s all I want. I just want to love you.”
Her response was to leave the bed and shut herself in the en-suite bathroom.
Now…
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Lilith accused.
“No,” I replied, my voice modulating on the “o.”
“Yes,” she countered, mimicking my tone.
I sighed, reclining on her sofa. “Ask your questions, Lil.”
“Okay, who was that man with the Darth Vader energy that came to Daddy’s house?”
“Who, Ray? Isn’t he your husband?” I asked, my eyebrows knitted together.
She glanced at her daughters playing on the living room floor. They were so cute, but I was sure they had kid cooties.
“Bitch, you know I’m not talking about the man I freshly fucked this morning,” she harshly whispered. “You know who I’m talking about!”
“Um, ew?” I said, holding my stomach.
“Memphis, come on!” she whined. “Who is he?”
I sighed. “He’s the reason you’re still alive.” Fuck it. I was tired of lying to her.
She frowned. “What? What do you mean?”
“He’s my boss, among other things. He, uh…canceled the hit on you.”
“Your boss? You’re fucking your boss?! You’re living with him?! Wait, I would’ve thought he’d be taller than that. Big, menacing. You know?”
“You met him. Do you think more height would make him any more threatening? You just said he has Darth Vader energy.”
“Oh, you’re right. If he was bigger, I’d probably would’ve cried when I met him.”
“Exactly.”
“Then why in the world are you with him?”
“I just told you why. He saved your life.”
“Wait, so you’re…oh. Memphis. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to have to trade yourself for me.”
I leaned forward, fixing my eyes on the coffee table. “That’s not the only reason I’m with him. You remember how we talked about men like Ray and how they’re addictive? You asked me about my Ray. This is him.”
“Ohhhhh!” She was so loud with that one word that Blaze glared up at us…with her little mean self. Dropping her voice, Lilith added, “But didn’t you say he wasn’t kind to you? He’s not hurting you, is he?”
“You think I’d let him?”
“Right, that was a stupid question.”
“Uh-huh. Look, it’s complicated. Really complicated, but it’s whatever. I’m fine. He thinks he loves me.”
“And you love him,” she stated. It wasn’t a question but more of a revelation.
I couldn’t respond.
“Get dressed. We’re going to dinner, so put on something nice.” Bo’s voice entered the living room before he did, booming in that way that always made me tingle down below.
I hated that feeling.
“What? You fired the chef whose name I’m not allowed to know?” I said without bothering to look up from my phone.
He’d entered the room and was standing over me now. “Call him Chef, like I already told you to. My name is the only one I wanna here you say in this house.”
I shifted on the sofa, looking up at him. Same old evil ass, handsome ass Bo. Glasses in place, beard and hair neat. I involuntarily smiled. “Fresh cut?”
He moved, squatting in front of me, his hand on my knee. “Can’t walk around looking crusty with you on my arm now, can I?”
I rolled my eyes.
He grinned, rubbing his beard. “ And , I had to get your seat right.”
Skipping over that statement, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise. Hurry. We’re gonna be late,” he ordered before standing and leaving the room.
This woman looked so fucking good; I wasn’t sure what the fuck to do with myself. It was one thing to spend time with the love of my life, but to see her in this black dress that looked like it was made just for her body? That red lipstick? That fucking perfume? I was about to pull my car over and eat every morsel of her pussy.
Shit!
“You look good, King. Maybe a little too good. Got me wanting to lock you up and throw away the key,” I said, reaching over to lay a hand on her thigh.
She swatted it away. “You’re already holding me hostage, remember?”
“Yeah, but I think you kinda like it. I know you like how I make you feel, huh?”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see, beautiful.”
She mumbled something I couldn’t make out, and I smiled. She hated being in the dark about things as much as I did. Side effects of the job.
When we arrived at our destination, she shifted her body, facing me with a frown. “Why are we at The Greenwood? Damn, why is the parking lot full?”
“It’s a birthday party. Let me open your door for you, baby.”
“Don’t start that baby shit,” she fussed. “And who the hell would invite your evil ass to a birthday party?”
“I have friends, King. People like me.”
“Impossible.”
“You nervous or something?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Hell no! Why would I be nervous?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you think one of your other niggas might be in there, and of course, in that case, I’ma have to kill them.”
“Did I kill your wife?”
“I didn’t expect you to. I’m the only one of the two of us who’s in love…right?”
“Correct, but maybe I would kill her just to hurt you,” she posed, her right eyebrow arched.
“Now, you know that wouldn’t hurt me. Someone wants to mess my head up, let them touch you . I’ll fuck everything and anything up over you.”
She chuckled bitterly. “Riiiight…you gonna get the door or what?”
I climbed out the vehicle, noting Moody’s car parked behind mine as I walked around to her door.
He guided me into the building, his hand on the small of my back, his body heat and scent making me more than a little woozy. The history between us made being with him both nostalgic and heartbreaking. He was my first love, and the worst thing about that was he knew it.
As we were greeted by the hostess, who was eyeing him like he was a brand-new Birkin, he let his hand drop to my waist, pulling my body into his.
“Pierce,” he said, his voice as commanding as ever.
The hostess dropped her gaze to a bundle of papers that lay on the podium before her, quickly jerking her head back up. With wide eyes, she said, “Yes, Mr. Pierce! So good to have you with us tonight. Let me show you to your table.”
Bo grasped my hand as we followed her into the massive space teeming with elegantly dressed brown bodies. Several people greeted Bo as we threaded our way through the maze of round tables to our own. Others may not have spoken to him, but their eyes were on him. They had to feel it, that pull he had, that invisible but absolutely undeniable magnetism that allowed him to own any room he entered.
Once we were seated, I fixed my eyes on him.
When he finally looked at me, he smiled. “I’m known for giving great gifts.”
I shifted my gaze to our surroundings and smirked, knowing that wasn’t the truth. The truth was he oozed power and anyone with a pulse could feel it. “Oh, really? That’s it?” I questioned.
Leaning in close to my ear, he murmured, “Nah, it’s you. They’ve never seen a woman so beautiful, so fucking fine. They want you, baby.”
I turned my head, frowning as he stared at me. “Everybody, Bo? They all want me?”
He nodded, licking his lips. “All of them. I hope I don’t have to kill anyone tonight.”
Shaking my head, I said, “There you go, tryna act like this thing between us is real.”
With a peaked eyebrow, he replied, “This thing between us is extremely real to me. I love you. I have loved you from afar for damn near three decades. I dreamed of being with you again. If I had one goal in my life, it was you. You’re everything to me, King.”
There was sincerity in his eyes and his voice, but I couldn’t let myself accept his words. That would be dangerous.
“Stop,” I hissed. “I’m willing to play this little game with you for the sake of my sister, but we’re not going to pretend this is some star-crossed lovers shit. You didn’t choose me when you should’ve. Nothing will change that.”
He had the nerve to look hurt, so I gritted, “Fix your damn face.”
His eyes flashed before he grasped my chin, pulling my face so close to his that his lips touched mine as he spoke.
“You don’t get to tell me how I feel. You don’t get to rewrite history. I love you whether you fucking like it or not. This shit between us is real, whether you like it or not, and I’ve always, always chosen you…whether you believe it or not.” His voice was a low growl.
Oh, so I’d pissed him off, huh?
“Fuck. You,” I rebutted, my words slow and deliberate. “Fuck you and your declarations and lies and bullshit.”
Before he could respond, a voice said, “Rochelle? I thought that was you! Been a long time!”
I almost asked the tall, light skinned man standing before us who the fuck Rochelle was, but then I realized he was someone I once knew and fucked. Of course, he didn’t know my real name.
“Uh, hi…um…” I muttered.
“George…George Carson.”
“Yes, George! Crazy seeing you here!”
“Right!”
Cue awkward silence until…
“I’m Bo, George.”
I didn’t have to look at my boss, the dicktician, to know he was tight. If the energy he was now giving off didn’t tell me, his voice did. Still, I gave him my attention and watched as he stood, moving around the table to offer a hand to George. A smiling George took it, and Bo yanked him forward, saying something in his ear before shoving him away. George left rather swiftly without another word to me.
“The fuck did you say to him?” I asked once Darth Maul reclaimed his seat beside me.
Settling in his chair, he shared, “I told him if he ever came around you tryna get a whiff of your pussy again, I will gladly dislocate his dick and both his balls after I cut his head off.”
“Now, why would you say that to him? George is a good guy, and if I remember correctly, he had some good dick, too.”
He glowered at me, his nostrils flaring. “Keep fucking playing with me and you will become a prisoner for real. You better hope no other niggas approach you tonight because I’ll fuck this whole building up.”
“You gonna fuck me up, too? You think I’d let you? And as far as me being a real prisoner, I’ll kill you first.”
He leaned in, kissing me before I knew what was happening. When our lips parted, he said, “I don’t doubt you will, and you might have to if you think I’ll ever let you go otherwise.”
The night’s MC kept me from responding, as the festivities began.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered this was the mayor’s birthday party. The mayor of Parkton, that is, who was now making a bid for a US Congress seat. What the fuck were we doing at Mayor Shari Young’s birthday party? The question played in my head as we ate the too-good soul food dinner and sat through the speeches from her friends and colleagues, but as soon as the DJ started playing music and the dance floor began to fill, I turned to him, ready to get an answer to my burning question.
But then I heard, “Mr. Pierce, so glad you could make it tonight.”
It was the got damn mayor!
The fuck?
Bo stood to greet her with a quick hug and a peck to her cheek. “Where else would I be, Mayor? You know I had to come celebrate with you.”
“Well, I appreciate you, as always, and thank you for the gift.” Damn, her scrawny ass was gushing all over this nigga.
The hell?
“You’re welcome! And this lovely lady is Memphis King. She’s a local business owner.”
“Oh! Really?” she squeaked, her overly enthusiastic attention now on me. “So good to meet you! What’s the name of your business?”
She’d moved closer to my side of the table, her hand outstretched.
I took it and gave her a fake smile. “Likewise. I own a day spa—Face Card. It’s over in the Montblanc shopping center.”
Her mouth fell open. “What?! That’s where I get my facials! That place is fabulous! Why have I never seen you there?”
I shrugged. “I’m a hands-off business owner. My staff is more than capable of keeping things afloat.”
“Oh, I agree! Wow, Mr. Pierce, you’ve got yourself quite a catch!”
Bo smirked. “Believe me, I know I do.”
The mayor left after the two shared another hug, and he grasped my hand.
“Dance with me, King,” he said, and as much as I wanted to refuse, I couldn’t. After all, he was touching me.
So I stood, allowing him to guide me to a spot on the dance floor situated in front of the stage and pull me into his arms as Lucky Daye’s Diamonds in Teal played. It was a beautiful song, one of my favorites, really, and despite it all, he felt good…as always.
Leaning in close to his ear as we swayed to the music, I said, “You fucked the mayor,” rather than asking the question. It was too damn obvious. “I know you have a negro’s only dick, so I can see it since she’s Black, but she’s a bit thin for your taste, don’t you think?”
He turned to face me, his eyes smiling. “You jealous?”
“She wants some more, too. It’s written all over her,” I said, ignoring his dumb ass question.
“Like it’s written all over you, right?”
I rolled my eyes.
He grinned. “Don’t worry, she ain’t got nothing on you.”
“Shut up and dance, nigga.”
He chuckled as he pulled me closer and we continued to dance.