Tempest (16 page)

I watched as the scene moved past the point where Korina stopped taping and saw what happened after. My eyes narrowed as I saw Lyrical force himself on my Beloved, calling her a whore for teasing him. I turned my eyes away, tears flowing freely, as I realized the mistake I'd made in drawing the wrong conclusion.

I wanted to scream.

“We interviewed Lyrical after we peeled amani off of Him,” Dominic said. “It seems He and Korina had designs on splitting You two up so He could have Her, and Korina could have You. The only thing that went wrong was when She turned the tables on Him after He began trying to humiliate Her during the encounter. If amani hadn't gotten there—”

“He's a dead man before He'll ever get the chance to tell a jury anything.” I threw the shot glass against the wall, shattering it into pieces. “Where is He now, and don't tell Me I can't see Him, either, Dominic.”

Amenhotep kept His hand on my shoulder the entire time I ranted. “Kid, listen to Me. I know You want to handle this and protect Your Beloved's honor, but all things in due time, understood?” He waited for me to nod my head before He continued. “You need to make things right with Your Beloved, first, and then the rest of Your family. They are hurting because You didn't give them a chance to explain things to help You to understand what happened.”

Tears still flowing, I dropped my head. “I fucked another woman without My Beloved's consent based on a lie, Sir. How in the hell do I reconcile that? She wasn't the one who betrayed Us, I was.”

“You two are the closest thing to family I have left on this planet, and I've seen You both go through ups and downs and survive a lot to get where You are right now.” Amenhotep grinned for the first time during our conversation. “You will find a way to reconcile; I have faith in that. You two aren't done yet. In life, everyone is going to hurt You; I have been around long enough to know this for a fact. The key is to figure out who You are willing to suffer through the hurt for. I think You know the answer in Your heart by now.”

I took comfort in His words. He was always a balancing influence on me, and having Dom there to beat me over the head with the cold facts was sobering enough to make me put down the bottle and shot glass and look for a pot of coffee. “You're right, both of You. I need to set things right before My family thinks I don't want them anymore.”

“Now that we've gotten that out of the way, Sir, what do we do about Korina?” Dominic asked, trying to get me back into business mode. “She's basically an accessory to the crime, but it really won't stick in court because She didn't know Lyrical would take things to the extreme.”

“I don't want Her in anyone's court, Dom.” The anger rose as I thought about the turmoil she'd caused and how stupid I'd allowed myself to be. “I need for You to do some digging on our little co-conspirators. I want to know everything there is to know before we make the next move.”

“Sounds like an extraction is in the works.” Dominic tried his best to hide the smile on his face. “Are we talking temporary extraction or permanent extraction?”

“That would depend on the information You are able to come up with, Bro,” I answered, looking at my Mentor and stroking my beard as I thought about the next moves to make. “If there are no ties, as I suspect there aren't, I believe a permanent extraction would be necessary, with extreme prejudice.”

“Consider it done, Bro,” Dominic stated before leaving the room. That left the two of us alone with our thoughts for a few moments.

“You know that bitch has to pay, right?” Amenhotep stated in a tone that made me do a double-take.

“What happened to priorities, Sir?”

“I know what I said, youngster, but I also know that what She tried to do…what they both tried to do…is worthy of a punishment that should send a message to never fuck with a union when it's strong.” Amenhotep started to sound all fire-and-brimstone, which scared and amused me at the same time.

“I didn't know You cared so much.”

“I always look out for My family, kid,” He stated. “You've always been the closest thing to a son I'll ever get the chance to have. I make it My business to make sure You and the rest of the House are safe and taken care of.”

“So, what do You suggest, Sir? Death is messy and complicated, and too good a fate for them, for what they've done.”

“There are worse fates than death, youngster.” Amenhotep's grin bordered on the sinister, but this time, I didn't care what he was contemplating because I was already there. “We'll get with the rest of the Society, put our heads together. If Dominic finds out there are no loose ends in the States to tie up, then God help them where they're about to go.”

NINETEEN
amani

“So, how are things going with Mistress Blaze?”

With all the drama surrounding my Goddess and Sir, I had no chance to catch up with my boy, Jelani, to find out if his weekend had gone as well as I'd hoped. We were in the family cabin, out on the balcony enjoying a beautiful, tropical day. The sun was shining, but I felt like the storm within my D/s family overshadowed the weather.

The grin on his face was worth the trouble it took to get him down there.

“Man, D, She's everything i'd dreamed about and then some,” he said, gingerly sitting in the chair next to me. I wanted to laugh because I knew how much of a sadist Blaze was, but he didn't need to know that information ahead of time. “Serving Her over the past couple of days has been bliss, but did She have to blister my ass to where i can't sit down for long periods of time?”

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. I tried to keep from laughing at him, but he couldn't stop adjusting in his seat to find a good spot. “Sorry, dawg, but you see taking an ass whooping on line and taking a scene from one of the baddest in the kink world are two different things.”

“Yeah, you're the one to talk.” Jelani glared at me as he studied the bruises on his body. “I don't remember you being all that bad-ass when we were on line, either, bruh.”

“That's easy; i figured out how to process pain, bruh.” I glanced at him for a moment, feeling the need to school my frat on a couple of things. “my Goddess and my Sir helped me to understand the mental aspects of pain. If you think of it in one way, that's the way your body will react to it. After a really intense scene with them one night last year, at one point i couldn't feel a thing, at least, it wasn't a bad pain. Once i came down from subspace, i felt everything, but by then i'd already applied what they taught me.”

“So, that's why you were looking all high that night when you came to my fight party?” Jelani gave me the side-eye for a minute before memories began flooding his mind. He shook those images for the moment to try and finish his thought. “That must have been why i was so trippy last night, huh?”

“Yes, felt like you'd gotten ahold of some MJ, right?”

“Yeah, i wasn't that high, but it was close enough.” He laughed as he thought about the comparison of the sensations. “i caught the munchies like hell, though.”

“That's why i usually keep something nearby after a scene. The endorphin rush burns calories and then some, and if you don't have something to eat or drink to make up for that, you can wind up sick.”

“So, let me ask you something, dawg.” Jelani found a sweet spot to sit to keep from hurting so badly. I tried again to keep my laughter to myself as best I could, but he wasn't making it easy. “Has your Goddess ever given you some? i mean, have you two had sex?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because when we were in our scene, She kept saying how She needed to get some dick as soon as She was done with me,” Jelani recounted. “you know i'm down for the cause because She's fine as fuck for a woman in her late forties, but as soon as She was done, it was lights out for me and She headed to take care of what She said She needed. What's up with that?”

“Okay, bruh, first rule of serving a Female Dominant: it ain't about you,” I explained. “The minute you try to make it sound like you're getting your rocks off without first thinking about Her is the minute you find yourself
persona non grata
in Her life.”

“But, i'm saying, bruh, She's been talking about how fine i am, how She would love to find out how well i can please Her, shit like that.” Jelani sounded frustrated, and it wasn't as though I could blame him. Goddess put me through the same paces when we were first together.

“Bruh, listen to me, and this is the most important piece of advice you'll ever get from me,” I advised. I leaned back in my chair, feeling like I was looking at a reflection of my former self a year ago. “Don't expect Her to fulfill your sexual fantasies, and don't expect to handle all of Hers. Just be thankful when She chooses you to fulfill them, and when She does choose you, you make Her want to choose you over and over again.”

A knock on the door startled us. I turned toward the front door and then back toward Jelani and asked, “Were you expecting someone?”

“I was about to ask you the same question, bruh.”

Not knowing who would be at the door, I cautiously walked and asked the person through the door, “Who is it?”

“amani, your Sir requests your presence,” the young woman answered through the door. “He says it is of utmost importance and requests that i escort you to Him personally.”

“I need answers, and I need them yesterday.”

Stepping into the interrogation room with my Sir while not knowing the nature of his sudden need to see me had me on edge on a
few levels. I kept my guard up, even while the slave who escorted me to the room remained in the room until he dismissed her. I had a feeling it would concern the events surrounding my Goddess, and more importantly, his Beloved, but I was not about to be summoned like some mongrel who was dying to have his master's attention, either.

“You requested my presence, my Sir?” I began as I kneeled beside the chair facing him at the table.

“Yes, amani, I summoned you here because I need to know what happened, and I need to hear the truth, because for some reason everyone wants to give me versions of what happened.” Ramesses's demeanor was businesslike, stoic and cold. This was the side of him I knew most people feared, and I understood why. Callous. Cruel. Unfeeling. I didn't recognize him. “I know you won't lie to Me, so give it to Me straight: did My Beloved cheat on Me or did you keep Her from being raped?”

“With all due respect, my Sir, but why are You asking this question?” I was incredulous. I'd only known them to be upfront about everything, and I'd witnessed their unwavering belief and faith in each other. “You know the answer to this question, why on Earth would You need my answer?”

“There are demons that unfortunately have not been exorcised that you might have a hand in eradicating once and for all with the answer to My question, amani.” Ramesses's face showed no emotion, but I wasn't about to show any fear. His eyes penetrated deeper as he moved closer to my face, making me rethink my original stance to not show any fear. “you are more than welcome to try and debate the methods of My madness when I'm in a better mood to entertain, but right now, a simple answer to My question will suffice.”

“If You want an answer, then i will show You my answer,” I retorted. I stood from my kneeling position, taking off my shirt. His eyes widened as he observed the bruises, which had turned black from the reddened shade a few hours ago. The most glaring ones were around my ribcage where we'd taken the fall before I'd turned his face and torso into my personal punching bag. In a tone I wasn't sure I meant to have or not, I stated, “Does this answer Your question, my Sir?”

He never answered me, at least to say yes or no. He got up from the table, took one last look at my bruises, and said before walking out of the room, “Thank you, amani. you have given Me everything I need to know.”