Property of a Legacy

1. Bless

CHAPTER 1

BLESS

“ Y ou look so good taking all of this dick.” As he spoke, Legacy’s heartbeat against my sweaty, bare breasts. I could feel his full lips brush against my ear with each word he breathed into it.

I could only whimper in response.

Tears full of mixed emotions filled my eyes. Looking up into Legacy’s captivating whiskey-colored orbs, I felt so privileged to have him riding me, one hand around my throat while the other nailed my foot against the headboard. The privilege was so intense that it spilled from my eye in a single tear that moistened the mink lashes that decorated my spheres. I felt so honored to have him inside of me.

“You're taking this dick so good, baby.”

But the intensity of his penetration was extreme and profound. His inches drowned in pockets nestled into corners of my center that were buried deep. I strained to take every inch of him. He submerged the tip of his massive steel so far inside of me that it collided with my cervix. Each stroke conjured more tears. But he felt so good, his dick felt too good to push him away. So, I happily forced myself to take him in.

“You're so pretty with my fingers wrapped around your throat.”

His constant words of affirmation while stroking me was one of the things about him that had me still madly in love with Legacy after ten years.

Legacy tightened his grip on my throat, instantly initiating yet another orgasm.

“Oh God!” I cried out. A rush of adrenaline and excitement soared through me. The constriction of my throat, when done safely and consensually, heightened my arousal and focused my attention on the connection I shared with Legacy. The loss of control I felt was thrilling, as it required trust in Legacy to keep me safe. Trusting him to do what he always did so effortlessly, protecting me, made me cum violently. “ Shiiiiiit !”

“That’s it,” Legacy encouraged my orgasm, driving himself deeper and faster. “Cum for me, baby—”

The sound of my alarm clock jolted me out of my sleep. I gasped as my eyes popped open. My hand went to my chest as I fought to catch my breath. My eyes blinked owlishly as I looked around my room, coming back to reality.

The constant screeching of my alarm made me cringe. I leaned over toward my nightstand. I quickly snatched my phone up and silenced the alarm. I then flung my body back onto the pillows, phone still in my hand as I stared up at the ceiling. I could still feel my center pulsing with need. Tears came to my eyes, yearning to have the feeling of love and intimacy that I’d felt in that dream, because it was the closest that I had been to it in so long.

I had only been able to feel that much passion in my dreams, because in reality, I was alone. It had been a year since I’d been touched intimately by a man, but it had been even longer since I was touched by one and truly felt safe and loved.

Before Ri’s twenty-first birthday, Legacy and I were living our own fairy tale. Others dismissed it as puppy love, but we knew it was something deeper, something timeless that would endure for generations. The love we shared was something our children and their children would aspire to one day find themselves. But when Ri died, something in Legacy shattered. He carried the heavy load of responsibility for her death, and his mother never missed an opportunity to remind him of that burden. His guilt was a constant shadow over him, and he couldn't escape it.

Come to find out, on the day of the funeral, Tony had given Legacy a Percocet to calm him down and help him endure the painful ordeal. That was the day Legacy discovered a numbing escape from his grief, one that he would cling to long after the funeral ended. The line between relief and addiction blurred, and Legacy found himself caught in its grasp.

At first, he seemed to control the habit, staying focused on our family and his hustle. He had the money to feed his growing need for pills, and that constant numbness made it easy to ignore the warning signs. But as time went on, addiction tightened its grip.

A year later, the addiction had taken over his life. His drive to hustle faded, and his ambitions dwindled. He lost interest in me and the kids, becoming distant and detached. His personality shifted, and the spark that once defined him vanished. He no longer seemed like the man I had fallen in love with. He had been replaced by a hollow version of himself. It was heartbreakingly devastating watching Legacy slip away from us one pill at a time.

When I was a teenager, my grandmother always told me that a man’s dick should be directly proportionate to the drama he caused. When I saw Legacy’s thick, long, perfect dick, I should have known that he was going to put me through the fires of hell. Because of Legacy’s transformation, our relationship changed as well. We had gone from being the perfect couple to two lost souls searching for meaning in each other. I couldn't heal his pain, and he could no longer love me the way I needed. Watching him fall in love with the pills was just as devastating, if not more so, than watching him fall for another woman.

The lengths he would go for his next high, the way he would abandon me and our children to chase that fleeting escape, ripped my heart apart. His obsession was like a cruel betrayal, leaving me with a hollow ache as he slipped further away from the man I knew and loved. The high he chased became his only priority, overshadowing our once beautiful life together. I was losing him to a dark abyss, one that was impossible to pull him back from.

I held on through five agonizing years. I somehow felt responsible for all of it. Legacy had gotten into the game to take care of me and our children, and the game had ruined him and his family. But holding on broke my heart a little more each day. Legacy’s addiction changed everything between us. His emotional instability ruined us. One moment, he’d be tender and loving, and the next, he’d lash out in anger or slip into sullen silence. I never knew what to expect from him, and it made our home life unpredictable. He withdrew from me and the kids, shutting himself away from us, choosing isolation over the love and support we tried to give him.

He started neglecting his responsibilities as a father and partner. I was left to pick up the slack at home, handling everything from household chores to raising our kids alone. It was exhausting, both physically and emotionally.

The financial strain was another blow. The money Legacy spent on pills meant we often struggled to make ends meet. His dishonesty became a constant disappointment. He’d lie about where he’d been or how much he’d used, eroding the trust we’d built over the years. I felt lost, never knowing what was true. He lost interest in the things we used to do together—watching movies, going on dates, or even just talking about our day. His absence was felt deeply, leaving me feeling lonely even when he was right beside me.

His health began to deteriorate, both physically and mentally. It was heartbreaking to see him grow thin and gaunt, his eyes dull and distant. I feared for his life and struggled with my own anxiety. Sometimes, Legacy would lash out aggressively, his words cutting and his temper flaring. I tried to protect the kids from his outbursts, but it wasn’t easy.

As his dependence on me grew, I found myself shouldering more than I could bear. I became his caretaker rather than his partner, and the burden of it all crushed me. When I tried to confront Legacy about his addiction, he’d explode. It felt like I was walking on eggshells, trying to avoid his wrath while still standing up for myself and our family.

Legacy’s addiction broke down every part of our relationship, leaving us disconnected and me heartbroken. I wanted to save him, but the man I loved seemed too far gone to reach.

When I found out I was pregnant with our youngest, Riley, he had reached his lowest, putting me and the kids’ lives in danger. I knew I had to find the strength to leave. I could no longer take care of him, our kids, and a newborn. I longed to hold on to the love we’d once shared. I desperately wanted the old Legacy back so that I could get us back, but his need for the pills outweighed his love for me.

The harsh truth was undeniable; his desire for his next high was stronger than any love he once had for me. I couldn't watch myself and children suffer any longer. It was a heart-wrenching decision, but I chose to walk away, knowing it was the only way to protect my family.

That was five years ago. It was the hardest decision I’d ever had to make, but there was a light at the end of that heartbreaking tunnel. When we broke up, I no longer let him see the kids and I limited communications with him for my own sanity. Having those limitations woke Legacy up somehow. He left Chicago, hoping to get the help to become clean. He went to a rehab clinic in Houston. For a long time, I had doubt he would get clean. The pills had been ruling his life for five years. But after a year, he visited Chicago, and he was so different. He was healthy. His skin was once again flawless. His eyes were bright again. His physique was more tone and even larger than it had been before his addiction. He had life in his eyes again. He was clean.

But with a clear mind, he was confronted with the harsh reality of everything his addiction had destroyed. Ashamed and embarrassed, he decided to stay in Houston. He continued going to NA meetings and he started a security firm. He would visit the kids as often as he could, but our connection was dead. I couldn’t forgive him for a lot of things he’d done, and he blamed me for leaving and taking the kids from him. The tension between us broke my heart all over again. I yearned for him, but there was so much damage that had been done that I couldn’t see us reconnecting. I ignored the desire. My heart was bruised. I could never love again so I didn’t.

I preferred sleep because in my dreams was where Legacy and I still existed. I missed loving him. I missed being loved by him. I had never loved again. I was attracted to other men, but I knew that they could never love me like Legacy had before his addiction. And I was scared of being hurt again. I couldn’t take the pain, so I focused on being a single mother and taking care of my household. I had tried to date here and there, but no man came close to loving me as unconditionally and perfectly as Legacy had. The yearning and passion for Legacy was always present in my heart, in my mind, and in my loins. He consumed me. We had a soul tie that no time or space could unravel. I thought my infatuation with him would change as I got older and matured, but as time passed, as I got wiser, my infatuation only grew. And even though he ruined us, I was still infatuated with the man he used to be. I yearned for the Legacy of the past.

Mourning a person who was alive was torture.

I was relieved when he first left because we were too connected. I loved him so much that his pain felt like a weight on my soul. But now, he was returning to Chicago. Last night, he drove to Chicago from Houston, returning for good. He wanted to be closer to his kids and rebuild relationships with each of them. So, he’d given the Houston branch of his security firm to his best friend and business partner and started another branch in Chicago.

I was petrified about Legacy being back in town permanently. The tension between him and me was suffocating and heartbreaking. It was sad to watch two people who’d once breathed one another’s air now only exist in the distance between one another.

We continued to co-parent our children effectively, and that brought us together regularly, forcing us to maintain some semblance of harmony. Seeing him with our kids reminded me of the man I had fallen in love with, and even now, I found myself undeniably attracted to him. But the distance between us wasn't just physical; it was built on all the hurt and pain we’d caused each other. It stopped me from opening myself up to him again. Letting him back in after everything we'd been through seemed impossible, even though my heart longed for it.

When he was far away, it was easier to imagine him moving on with someone else, even though the thought still hurt. But now, with him so close, the possibility of watching him love someone else right before my eyes terrified me. It made me realize just how deeply he still held my heart even after all this time.

Even though it was a Saturday, I had set my alarm early to make sure I was up in time to get the kids ready for Legacy's arrival. His plan was to pick them up in the morning for the weekend. I climbed out of bed with a knot in my stomach. I slipped on my soft, worn robe and made my way through my condo on the east side of Chicago.

The condo was modest but homey, filled with the kids' toys and drawings, which brought warmth to the modern aesthetic of the space. The open-concept living area was strewn with scattered blankets from our movie night the evening before. The morning light filtered through the tall windows, sending a soft glow across the hardwood floors.

I headed down the hallway towards the kids' rooms. I stopped at Eden's room first because he was usually the hardest to wake up. He often needed a nudge and a few threats to start his day. But as I opened the door, I was surprised to find him already awake. He was sitting up in bed. His small light brown eyes, mirroring his father’s, reluctantly peered at me.

“Good,” I said, entering his room. “You’re already up.”

Sucking his teeth, he began to whine, “I don’t want to go, Mama.”

I breathed heavily with slight frustration. “We already talked about this, Eden.”

He began to pout. “Why do I have to go with him?”

Being the oldest, Eden had gone through a lot as well because of Legacy’s addiction. He could remember his father breaking promises and acting irrationally. Because of that, he fed into everything Charon had to say about Legacy. After ten years, she still openly blamed Legacy for Ri’s death. At every celebration of Ri’s life held on the anniversary of her death or birthday, Charon blamed Legacy. She would show the kids videos of their Aunt Ri, reminding them of her while openly blaming their father for her death. Zara didn’t take heed to everything Charon would say because she was a daddy’s girl. But Charon was adding to Eden’s negative outlook on his father. Because of this, I put space between the kids and Charon. They no longer visited her. When Darrell wanted to see the kids, he had to come to them.

“Because he’s your father,” I said as I sat on Eden’s bed.

He shrugged his shoulders, pouting. “Why did he have to come back?”

I sighed, hating that I was asking myself that same question, although for a different reason.

“He’s not a good person,” Eden mumbled.

“What did I tell you?” I chastised. “He did do some bad things in the past, but that was because he was sick . But he’s been better for years now. Has he done anything to make you feel like he’s a bad person recently?”

He glowered, being ornery. “No.”

“Exactly. So, stop treating him like that and get dressed.”

He sucked his teeth again and huffed, throwing the covers off of him.

“And if you smack your teeth again, I’m going to make sure you lose all of the ones in the front! I promise,” I threatened with narrowed eyes. “Fix your attitude! Do you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he gritted through tight lips as he climbed out of bed.

After standing, I left the room, but I heard him mumbling, “Why couldn’t he just stay in Houston?”

I wanted to turn on my heels, go back into that room, and chastise him, but hell, I had been asking the same questions to myself since I’d learned Legacy was coming back.