Chapter 20
20
I awoke in a dimly lit room. I was on a bed, and the only sound I heard was a hum. My ears felt full, and my stomach felt empty. My body just felt…tired.
“Hey,” came a voice that belonged to a familiar energy.
“You were following me? Watching me?” I asked, my eyes to the ceiling, my hand cradling my forehead.
“I’m always watching you. Always making sure you’re safe,” he told me.
I turned to see him sitting next to the bed, disquiet in his eyes. “I can take care of myself.”
He nodded, leaning forward, his eyebrows in a tangle. “I know that. I do it for my own peace of mind because I love you.”
Returning my attention to the ceiling, I queried, “How long have you been watching me?”
“For The Agency? Since you joined. For me? Since the first time I met you face to face.”
“So, you’re trying to say you’ve loved me that long? Bullshit.”
“You know I have.”
Nothing from me.
“King, what’s going on with you? Why’d you pass out?” he probed, pissing me off.
“Because I walked miles in a dark, dank, disgusting-ass tunnel with no food or water! Isn’t that obvious?” I spat.
Shaking his head, he said, “Nah, it’s more than that. I know you. I know your body. Something is off. Something’s been off.”
“ Now you wanna be concerned? You weren’t concerned when you decided to take me hostage.”
“I ain’t doing shit to you that you don’t want done. If you didn’t want to be with me, if you didn’t love me, you would’ve killed my ass by now.”
“You ain’t worth the trouble.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And if you’re so worried, why didn’t you take me to a doctor?”
“I brought one to you. Your vitals were fine. He said you probably just needed rest.”
“See? Exactly.”
“I wanna hear what your regular doctor has to say.”
“Where are we going?” I asked. Finally realizing we were on The Agency’s jet.
“Home, baby.”
I sighed, and then a thought hit me. “Shit, Jerryn?—”
Bo held up a hand while dialing a number on his phone with the other. I could hear it ring, heard Jerryn answer.
“Proof of life, as promised. Here she is. I’ve been taking care of her, just like I told you I would,” Bo said into the phone before handing it to me.
I stared at him until he got the message and left the room.
Once I was alone, the words fell out of my mouth. “Jerryn, I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I made the kill and Bo showed up and accosted me and?—”
“You were set up. I told you this felt too easy. I got word from a source that the senator’s illegal business partners were on their way to eliminate you . Bo Pierce got you out of there just in time.”
“What? Why would…they’re the client?”
“Looks like it.”
“Damn. Oh! There was a child there. They might’ve seen me. I don’t know…”
“Don’t worry. As soon as I realized what was going on, I contacted the authorities—anonymously, of course. The kids were all rescued. The partners were taken into custody. None of the kids have said anything about seeing you. It was dark. You had on black, as usual. You’re being paranoid.”
“Can you blame me?”
“No. When I lost track of you, I fucking panicked, and then your guy contacted me, and I was like what the hell is going on and how the fuck did he get my number? Anyway, he said you’d been in a tunnel and that’s why I couldn’t track you. The whole thing is protected from signals, air tags, all of it.”
“Wow. I just don’t know what to say.”
“Shit, me either. Hey, are you okay, Raja? You fainted?”
“I’m…I’m fine.”
“I don’t think you are, and this job is too dangerous to lie to yourself about something like this. I’m not working another job with you until you get checked out.”
I bolted up in the bed and instantly regretted it. I was dizzy as hell and extra pissed off about it. “Are you threatening me? Let’s not forget who pays who!”
“Yeah, you do pay me, but you’re also someone I care about. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You can’t be around freezing and fainting like this.”
I was silent for a moment, so he said, “Raja? Boss?”
“I gotta go. I’ll be in touch,” I said, ending the call before he could respond. Falling back on the bed, I clutched Bo’s phone tightly in my hand and squeezed my eyes shut, opening them when I heard him return to the room.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“Yes,” I croaked.
He nodded and turned to leave but stopped when I called his name.
Facing me again, he raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
I swallowed hard, dropping my gaze from his face. “Come here.”
He moved, sitting on the side of the bed, his head angled toward me.
“No, lie down with me,” I said.
His eyes filled with a combination of surprise and so much affection that it almost made mine mist. Then he joined me in the bed, pulling my body into his. I closed my eyes and let him. I let him comfort me because I was fucking scared.
Then…
I kept finding myself here, at her place, and she kept letting me come inside, if hesitantly. We usually spent a good amount of time arguing—her asking why I kept bothering her and me asking why she kept letting me bother her.
“You’re my boss. Didn’t know I had a choice,” was her answer this time.
I laughed. “You don’t give a shit about me being your boss. You know that, and I know that.”
She shrugged, a little smile playing on her pretty lips.
“You like me. Admit it,” I teased her.
With a dramatic eye roll, she replied, “I hate you. You know that. I liked your brother, though. He was nice.”
I involuntarily flinched. “A nice assassin? That shit don’t even make sense.”
She grinned, turning her body to fully face me. “You’re jealous.”
“Of my brother? HELL no. He ain’t nobody to be jealous of.”
“Why not? He’s taller than you, he’s very handsome, he has a personality, he?—”
“Why you ain’t kiss him like you been kissing me, then?”
Tilting her head to the right, she posed, “How do you know I didn’t?”
“Because I know. Plus, Zaccai’s lame ass would’ve told me. He was really feeling you. He ain’t have no idea what to do with you, though.”
She reclined her neck. “And you do?”
“I know exactly what to do with and to you, and I’ma do it all as soon as you decide to let me.”
“So, you know your brother likes me and you’re still tryna screw me? Really? No code of honor? No family loyalty?”
“When it comes to a woman like you? Nope. Like I said, he wouldn’t know what to do with you. Y’all don’t match.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, me and you? We got the same mind, the same energy.”
“I ain’t evil like you!”
“But you’re attracted to my evil ass, ain’t you? With me, you feel things you never felt with my brother. Admit it.”
“I ain’t admitting SHIT.”
I laughed. “You’re so fucking mean and I love it.”
She frowned, shifting her gaze to the wall across from us. “So, all these visits is you working up to fucking me?”
“Yes and no. I definitely wanna fuck you, but that ain’t all I want. I want your heart.”
She stared at me before she started laughing, stopping when she saw that I wasn’t joining her.
“Wait, you’re serious? You want like a relationship with me or something? Seriously? Like, for real?” she inquired.
I nodded. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman—beautiful, fine, smart, a killer…”
She fixed her eyes on me, wordlessly inspecting my face. Then she moved from her seat, scooting closer to me.
Holding my face in her hands, she softly kissed me and said, “I know I’m a catch, but why in the fuck would I want to be in a relationship with you?”
I grinned. “ You tell me . Why do you want me, King?”
She rolled her eyes before kissing me again while climbing into my lap and grinding on me.
My dick was already harder than a got damn steel construction beam, had been since she opened her front door. But her body? It was a fucking work of art with clothes on. Once she left my lap and undressed, I knew for sure I was going to lose my mind over her. Thick thighs, wide hips, big juicy ass breasts, a booty made for gripping.
This shit didn’t make no sense!
She stood over me, naked, her eyes below my waist, and I had to ask myself why the fuck I was still sitting on her sofa with my damn clothes on. The hell was wrong with me?
I remedied that problem by hopping up and quickly dropping my slacks and underwear. She removed my shirt and kissed my chest, her tongue dragging over my nipples, I had to suppress the chill that ran through me. She was twenty-two to my twenty-nine. I wasn’t going to go out like a much younger amateur. I had a point to prove. When I got done with her ass, she wasn’t ever going to want another man.
When she lifted her head to kiss me, I grasped her hand, dropping back onto the couch and pulling her down to straddle my lap again. We kissed and moaned as she stroked me and I slid my fingers inside her heat. So hot, so fucking tight…I couldn’t wait to be inside her.
“Condom,” she murmured against my mouth.
“Wallet,” I muttered.
She left my lap, and I wanted to beg her to come back but opted to watch as she dug in my pants pocket and retrieved my wallet, opening it. When she froze, I frowned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, mentally adding, please don’t say you changed your mind because I gots to fuck you. God knows I do.
“Your driver’s license … your name is Mephibosheth?” she inquired.
Shit, hearing my full first name almost made my dick deflate.
“Damn, you pronounced it right,” I observed.
She shrugged one shoulder, giving me a grin. “Lucky guess.”
I nodded, eyeing her body. “You gon’ get the condom or…”
“Right! Your middle initial is T? What’s that stand for?”
“I’ll tell you once I’m inside you.”
She quickly found a condom and returned to me, watching as I covered myself with it. Then…paradise. I was inside her, my hands gripping her ass as she rode me with her head thrown back, displaying her neck and breasts. I sucked the flesh of her neck, moved my hands to palm her breasts and pinch her nipples.
“Shit!” I screamed because how the fuck could she possibly feel this good?
Her moans were virtually continuous as she rode me, her mouth agape, head still collapsed between her shoulder blades. I wished I could paint or had a camera handy or something. I needed to capture the moment, freeze this view of her, so beautiful and totally free. I knew I was going to fall in love with her if I hadn’t already. Shit, I wasn’t sure since I’d never been in love before. I’d been in lust, for sure, but love? If it was real, I somehow knew I would and could only experience it with the beautiful Memphis King.
“Ohhhhh! Oh-oh-oh!!!” she wailed as her walls began to shudder around me.
In turn, my balls started to tingle as I clenched my ass and felt the building nut release. “Oh, fuck! Tidal! My middle name is motherfucking Tidal!” I grunted.
I dropped my head onto the back of the couch while trying to catch my breath, eyes closed, chest heaving as I continued to grip her ass.
I was in a nice haze when I heard her say, “Tidal? What kind of middle name is that?”
Opening one eye, I replied, “Better than my brother’s. That nigga’s name is Zaccai Tiberius.”
“Damn.”