Chapter 6 Prime #2
“Goddesses got power,” I said. “Real power. The kind that brings kings to their knees. The kind that makes warriors lay down their swords. The kind that can build empires or burn them to the ground.”
She blinked, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“You the only person who ever made me feel vulnerable. Soft.” I squeezed her thighs.
“Human. And I don’t do vulnerable. I don’t do soft.
I built walls around myself so high I thought wasn’t nobody ever getting over them.
Then you came along and just… walked right through.
Like they wasn’t even there. Like I’d been waiting my whole life to let you in and didn’t even know it. ”
“Prime—”
“You got power over me I ain’t even know was possible for somebody to have. That’s goddess shit, ma. You brought me to my knees without even trying.”
She was full-on crying now. Tears streaming down her face, chest heaving, trying to keep quiet so she didn’t wake up Yusef.
“I disposed a whole body for you,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Cleaned up a crime scene. Been ready to go to war with anybody who even looks at you or Yusef wrong. You really thought your truth was gonna run me off? You thought your baggage was too heavy for me to carry? Nah.” I shook my head.
“I’ve carried heavier. And I’d do it again. For you.”
She tried to say something but couldn’t get the words out through the tears.
“I’m still mad,” I admitted. “I ain’t gonna front like I’m not.
The lies hurt. The secrets hurt. But you not being worth it?
” I leaned forward, cupped her face in my hands, wiped her tears with my thumbs.
“You worth everything. You hear me? Everything. I’d move heaven and earth for you.
Tear this whole city apart brick by brick.
Whatever you need. Whenever you need it. That’s on my life.”
“I hear you,” she whispered.
“Then stop running from me. Stop hiding. Stop trying to protect me from the truth like I’m some lil bitch who can’t handle it.”
She nodded, more tears falling, and I pulled her forward into a kiss.
It started gentle. Soft. I could taste the salt on her lips, feel her body trembling against mine. But then something shifted between us. The gentleness burned away, replaced by something deeper. Hungrier. All that anger and hurt I’d been carrying started transforming into something else entirely.
I pulled back just enough to look at her face. Her eyes was dark now. Wanting.
“Finish my hair.”
“What?” She blinked, confused.
“You heard me. Finish what you started.”
She stared at me for a beat, then nodded. I turned back around, settling between her legs again, and her fingers went back to my locs.
But everything was different now. The air was charged. Electric. Every touch of her fingertips against my scalp sent heat straight down my spine. Every accidental brush of her thigh against my shoulder made my blood pump harder.
She worked faster. Still precise, still careful, but with an urgency that matched the energy building between us.
Finally, she twisted the last loc into place.
“Done,” she breathed.
I stood up and turned around. She was looking up at me from the couch, eyes wide, chest rising and falling with quick breaths.
“Come here.”
She rose slowly. Carefully. Like she wasn’t sure what was about to happen.
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against me. Let her feel exactly what she did to me. She gasped softly, her hands landing on my chest.
I didn’t say nothing. Just looked at her. Let the tension build. Let her squirm under my gaze.
Then I kissed her. Hard. My hands found the hem of that t-shirt she was wearing—my shirt—and I yanked it up over her head.
Nothing underneath. Just her. All that smooth brown skin on display for me.
“Upstairs,” I growled against her mouth. “Now.”
Didn’t give her a chance to respond. Just lifted her up, her legs wrapping around my waist automatically, and carried her toward the stairs to the master suite.
The bedroom was dark except for the city lights coming through the windows, painting everything in shadows and gold. I dropped her on the bed and stood over her, stripping off my sweats and everything else until I was bare.
“You’re gonna take your punishment,” I said. “You understand me?”
Her eyes went wide. Then dark with need. “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes… Prime.”
“Good girl.”
I climbed over her, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand, using the other to spread her thighs. She was already soaked—I could feel the heat of her before I even touched her.
“This wet for me even when I’m pissed at you?” I slid two fingers inside her, watched her back arch off the mattress. “Even when you know you’re about to get punished?”
“Yes,” she gasped. “Always. It’s always for you.”
“Damn right it is.”
I worked her slow at first. Then faster. Building her up until she was squirming, begging, right at the edge—
And then I stopped.
“Prime, please—”
“Please what?”
“Please, I need—”
“Tell me what you need.”
“You. I need you. Please.”
I let go of her wrists and flipped her over onto her stomach. Gripped her hips and pulled them up until she was on her knees, face pressed into the pillows.
“You want me to forgive you?” I asked, positioning myself at her entrance.
“Yes.”
“Then show me how sorry you are.”
I pushed into her in one deep stroke, and she cried out into the pillow. I didn’t wait for her to adjust. Just started moving—hard, punishing thrusts that had the headboard knocking against the wall.
“This what you was hiding from me?” I gripped her hips tight, pulling her back to meet every stroke. “This pussy that belongs to me? These secrets you thought I couldn’t handle?”
“I’m sorry,” she moaned into the pillow. “I’m so sorry—”
“I know you are.” I reached forward, wrapped my hand in her coily hair, pulled her head back. “But sorry ain’t enough. You gonna show me. Every night. For the rest of your life. Show me how sorry you are.”
“Yes. Anything. Whatever you want—”
“Say my name.”
“Prime—”
“Louder.”
“PRIME!”
I felt her tighten around me, her whole body shaking as she came. I followed right after, burying myself deep, letting go with a groan that came from somewhere primal.
For a long moment, we didn’t move. Just stayed there, connected, breathing hard, sweat cooling on our skin.
Then I pulled out carefully and collapsed beside her on the bed. Gathered her into my arms, her back against my chest, my face buried in her neck.
“I got you,” I murmured against her skin. “You hear me? Whatever comes next, I got you.”
She was crying again. Soft, quiet tears I could feel against my arm.
“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.
“Maybe not.” I kissed her shoulder. “But you got me anyway. And I ain’t going nowhere.”
We laid there in the dark, tangled up in each other, until her breathing evened out and she fell asleep in my arms.
I stayed awake longer. Watching the city lights move across the ceiling. Running through everything in my head.
Zoo out there hunting for his son’s killer.
Meech getting released in three weeks.
Rashid coming back from Brazil with questions I wasn’t ready to answer.
And Shamir Ali. That bitch-ass nigga, somewhere out there, still breathing when he had no right to.
I’d handle all of it. Every threat. Every enemy. Every obstacle standing between Zainab and the peace she deserved.
That’s what you did for a goddess.