Power (Romantic Suspense) (14 page)

“Was he always that crazy?”

“No. But, killing kids and stabbing your childhood friend in the forehead could do that to you.”

I swallowed down my fear.

“Is that hard for you to hear?” he asked.

“Yes. Are you kidding me? That scares the shit out of me. I don’t think I could ever kill anyone.”

“You could—if it meant your life or their’s.”

“Sure,” I said. “But I’ve never had to make that decision.”

“And you won’t with me.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m stating a fact.” He squeezed my hand a little and continued to lead me closer to the water. With only a few feet remaining between the crashing waves and us, he laid out the blanket and gestured for me to sit down. “We need to talk.”

“Do we?” I slowly sat down and pulled my dress over my legs.

“This Harrold situation could go many different ways for me. None of them would be ways that would make you happy.” He moved closer to me, causing a warm shiver to run up and down my flesh. Even though I had his jacket over me, I couldn’t stop shaking. It was fear and desire. They both thundered inside of my chest. He had the nerve to talk about hurting someone like it was nothing and yet, as he did it, his voice and the way he spoke the words made me delirious with lust.

“I don’t want you to hurt him,” I said.

“Of course not, but he threatened to humiliate you. Someone that is with me. He didn’t know that, poor guy, but no one fucks with someone I’m looking after.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Looking after? You make it sound like you’re babysitting me.”

“Okay, let’s change the wording.”

“Sounds good to me. We can call it
kidnapping
.”

“Or we can say that you’re someone that I’ve recently met and discovered that I. . .”

“What?”

Each word was uttered with a dark sensual promise. “I would like to care for you in many ways, Mary Jane. This one being the first.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t get to where I am by only using a gun. There are other ways to conquer. Making friends gets you there faster. Doing favors helps even more. So let’s say that, sometimes, I will do favors for you.”

My heart raced in my ears. “And what do you expect in return?”

“I just want your gratitude.” He caressed me with a hungry gaze and licked his lips again. “So tell me. How do
you
want me to help you with this situation?”

“I can do it myself or—”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Doesn’t matter. It started with you doing something. If I’m doing the favor, I carry out the action, and trust me, Mary Jane, I really want to do something to this guy. He’s a piece of shit guy who decides that the best way to get his girl back is to overload her phone with pictures of his tiny penis.”

It’s not that tiny, but I guess compared to yours, it’s fucking child-size.

Noah continued, “And when you don’t answer, he shifts from his porno Romeo affections to threats.”

“Fine, but I bet if I just—”

“No.”

“What if?”

“I want to break something,” Noah said matter-of-factly. “I think a good compromise is one leg.”

Stunned, I froze.

“What?” He frowned. “Legs heal. And he’d be able to limp as opposed to spending the next couple months in a wheelchair.”

“Yes, but the very act of someone breaking the leg. I mean, it’s barbaric.”

“Maybe the right hand? He probably used it to jack off to that picture of you. And naturally, his face wouldn’t be too pretty after our discussion.”

I widened my eyes. “You think these are compromises?”

He had the nerve to frown. “Then, what do you want?”

“Just a simple verbal threat. I mean, you look pretty fucking serious when you’re mad. That should do fine.”

“How would you know? You’ve never seen me mad.”

“At the party—”

“No, that was me annoyed.”

“What about when I first saw you on the stage and you were holding the gun and telling me to get off?”

“No, that was more puzzled and confused.”

“Then, what do you look like when you’re mad?”

“It’s not a look. It’s about what happens to the environment.”

“You mean like the sky thunders and lighten crackles, because Noah the King is pissed?”

“No.” His face became neutral. “When I’m mad, blood covers the streets. Bodies fall to the ground. Mothers and wives cry while they prepare funeral arrangements. The blocks go cold. People decide to stay inside for the evening.”

My face must’ve been priceless. Terrified and swooning all at once. What the hell was wrong with me? These were clear red flags. Not that one needed to state the obvious. But this was one of the moments when I should run fast away from a person like this.

But for some reason, as I sat on the blanket surrounded by glowing glass pebbles and the moonlight bathing the beach with his jacket covering me, I couldn’t run away. I didn’t want to move or leave. I wanted to learn more. And I had to have him. He was too fucking hot to ignore.

Noah continued, “I will break something on Harrold. He threatened you and got to see that beautiful, wet pussy. I’ve killed people for less. Watched the life leave their eyes. He needs to feel pain to understand I’m serious. Do you get that?”

Speechless, I nodded.

“For you, I’ll only break one thing. You pick.”

“I-I can’t pick.” I shook my head.

“You want me to pick?”

“Hell no.” My bottom lip quivered. “Maybe. . .okay. Maybe his pinky.”

A groan left him. “A pinky?”

“Yes.”

“Too small, but for you. . .I’ll do it.” He reached for me and anticipation radiated over my skin, but he didn’t touch my face. “For you. . .I would probably do many things.”

He placed his hands on my up-do and slowly, one by one, he freed the pins detaining my curls. I’d only used a few to keep the curls in place, but in seconds, he’d dismantled it, running his fingers through my curls and arranging them around my shoulders. The few times his fingertips stroked my flesh, it drove me crazy. Wet arousal moistened my thighs.

Damn, I want him. If he can make me hot playing in my hair, what else could he do with his hands?

The next moment, he answered my question. He drew me against him and consumed my lips. There was nothing left to say about Harrold. I could think of nothing, but Noah on top of me. I had to have him.

His next words were a sensual plea. “Can I taste you?”

“No.”

“Why not, Mary Jane?”

“Because you scare me.”

“A few kisses?”

“No.”

“Please.”

My heart beats increased. “I don’t want to have sex.”

“Fine. I only want to kiss her. May I?” He licked his lips and my entire body came undone. “Please, Mary Jane.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Lay down, beautiful.” He took his damn time lifting up my dress as I reclined. The soft blanket pressing against me. The starlit sky became my view. Cool air brushed against my bare legs.

He spread my thighs and muttered, “Goddamn it.”

“What?” I tried to rise, but he tenderly pushed me back down.

Kissing my thighs, causing me to shudder against his mouth, he whispered with annoyance, “I don’t have time for this, but damn. . .I’m definitely going to take my time. I’m going to lick you until your dry and fast asleep.”

I giggled. “Now who’s telling jokes?”

His answer was an action. He buried his face into my sex and rubbed his chiseled chin against my pussy. He sucked and lapped like I had a gun to his head and the only way he could live was to make me come.

“Oh, fuck!” I curled my toes.

He would not stop lapping and licking. His mouth continued making love to my sex while I twisted and turned, moaning like a wild woman. My voice rose over the sound of ocean waves and the rippling of his tongue pushing in and out.

Suddenly, I erupted into nothing but a buffet of pleasure. My pussy exploded. My nipples blazed to numbness. My skin shuddered against him. Color exploded into taste. Sound mingled with heat. My mouth was an open mess and I screamed Noah’s name over and over. I babbled. At one point, I think I drooled a bit, still riding the shock waves.

What the hell was that?!

An orgasm wasn’t supposed to be that way. Impairing the senses with lightning fast speed. Orgasms weren’t supposed to make my legs spasm and me mumble incomprehensible things to the world. Orgasms didn’t disrupt the mind and make the heart boom out of my chest.

What the hell was that?!

I’d come many times before. Nice, little soft orgasms. A little moan here. A gyrate there, and I had a subtle finish that lasted for a few seconds. The orgasm that Noah gave me wasn’t subtle. It was wrong and wild, raw and terrifying. It ripped through me. What had he done to me? I’d thought only drugs were supposed to give people this feeling, a sensation of erotic euphoria. A tongue wasn’t supposed to do this. Or had I been letting the wrong dudes eat me all this time?

Now, I finally understand why Mom always said, “Stay away from the bad boys.”

The world went dark. It was hard to keep my eyes open as another tiny orgasm shuddered through me. He continued to lap and suck as I passed the fuck out and drowned in an oasis of pleasure.

Damn you, Noah.

Chapter 9

Noah

A misogynist stood in the marketplace and announced:

"I'm putting my wife up for sale, tax-free!"

When people asked him why, he said:

"So the authorities will impound her."

–Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)

M
ary Jane
fell asleep after yelling my name at least five times. I stopped counting when my cock twitched in envy.

I wanted her so fucking bad, my teeth rattled. My hands desperately gripped her hips, rocking her center into my face. I wanted to pound Mary Jane, turn her over. Have her moans speak thunder. Have the blood surge through her veins. Make her heart wonder. I wanted to fog her brain. Have her soul sink. Go under.

And then roar, “You’re mine, Mary Jane!”

But I couldn’t take her on the beach. Our first time needed to be in a bed. She needed something soft under her while I pumped hard into her. She needed the head board knocking loudly against the wall to understand who the fuck she had in her bed. She needed the beauty of my master suite, the scent of our sex against silken sheets, to forget about the darkness in my heartbeats and all the blood I’d splattered on these streets.

So I made her come hard.

What a lovely sight it was to behold.

After, she passed out. It could’ve been all the crazy shit that I’d involved her in. She’d found herself somewhat kidnapped. And also, she’d exerted tons of energy as she beat my guard with that dildo. There could’ve been another reason for why she lay, exhausted with soft snores on the blanket surrounded by sparkling glass.

It could have been many things, but I knew it was my tongue. And that very fact had me grinning as I picked her up and carried the beautiful sleeping princess away.

Crusher jumped out of the limo wearing an odd expression on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, boss.”

You better not say it. Although, I know what you’re thinking . Why, Boss, were you eating the fuck out of the one witness that can put you in jail right now?

Mary Jane could be a witness to many crime cases that the police would love to pin on me. But the only reason why the cops cared now was because my men had shot kids. The commissioner wanted them gone. I would do it. Problem solved. Only then, with Rasheed and Domingo out, could I let Mary Jane go. Even if she did go to the cops, they’d be back in my favor. If not, I would have to make some tough decisions.

I shoved those thoughts out of my mind. “Go grab the blanket out there and take us over to Manny’s. Have you heard from 305 or Fuji yet?”