Xavier: (Indestructible) (7 page)

Cassandra turned and looked to the back seat of the vehicle at
her battered brother and wanted to weep for him. He looked shell-shocked, as if
he’d lost something tonight. Cassandra was pissed because she had done
everything she could to spare him this.

Xavier drove the SUV silently.

The atmosphere in the car was part shock, part relief, and many
parts anger.
Well, I’m angry dammit! Cameron shouldn’t have been in that
situation. Those bastard brothers of mine need their asses kicked.

“Cameron, what the hell were you thinking?” Cassandra asked through
clenched teeth.

“I just wanted to see how the guys did their business,” Cameron
said softly, gazing out the window at the passing scenery instead of looking at
her.

“So you want to become a drug dealer? Wow, never thought you
would take the lazy way out.”

“Man, it wasn’t supposed to go down like that. It was a simple
drop. Nothing major or dangerous, only a few ounces,” Cameron complained. “They
said Nado is usually an easy mark; he never checks his purchase from them. So
Duane thought we could give him some not so authentic coke. But Linc, with his
suspicious ass, checked the quality before they left. Nado got pissed and said
that they would hold onto me until the guys came back with decent shit. The
guys don’t have anything at home. They’re expecting a major shipment in next
week though. Nado decided to keep me anyway and said that the longer the guys
took to come back, the more injuries they would inflict on me.” Cameron slumped
back in his seat, his eyes wet and red as if he was on the verge of crying.

“What did they do to you?”

“Nothing, sis. Nothing I can’t handle,” he mumbled. “They
didn’t have time to do much. You came before they could do what they wanted to.”

“I saw how Linc was looking at you. Did he hurt you?”

“That sissy mudderfucker didn’t have time.”

Cassandra let out the breath that she had been holding. “I
really hate sissies. I like gays just fine, but sissies, I can’t stand them.”

“What the hell is the difference?” Xavier asked in surprise.

Cassandra grinned at his confusion. “Gays own their shit. They
like members of the same sex, and they are up front with that. They live their
truth. I can respect that. However, sissies are a brunch of deceitful bastards.
They live a lie, pretending to be heterosexual while secretly having a
homosexual lifestyle behind closed doors.”

Xavier roared with laughter.

Cassandra smiled.

Cameron shook his head at her. “Only you would come up with
some idiotic difference like that, but they all the same to me.”

Cassandra sobered, the momentarily levity forgotten. “Cameron,
you have to make up your mind what you want to do. It’s time for you to make a
decision about what kind of man you want to be. Are you going to be a man of
integrity? A man who works hard and garners respect? That door is still open
for you. Are you going to walk through it?” She tried to show him how much she
loved him, softening her gaze as she spoke to him. “I pray you make the right
decision.”

“Cass, I’m not like you. I can’t work like that. Besides, why
should I? We make enough money to support all us. Niggas respect us, respect
what we bring.” Cameron’s voice was hoarse with emotion. “Yeah, the guys got
played tonight, but when I tell Anton what that punk Linc did, Anton will pump
some lead in him.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Cassandra yelled. “You are talking
about killing someone like you’re ordering a pizza. Is this what—”

“Cassandra, stop. We talked about this already,” Xavier
cautioned.

“Who the fuck are you anyway?” Cameron asked, glaring at Xavier.

“You ungrateful prick! “Cassandra gasped.

Xavier brought the SUV to a stop at the side of the road and
jumped out of the car. He pulled opened the back passenger door and pulled
Cameron out of the car by the collar of his shirt. Xavier dragged him to the
back of the vehicle.

Cameron struggled to no avail. Xavier’s grip and strength were
unyielding.

Xavier pushed Cameron against the car, lifting him so that his
feet dangled in the wind.

“Hey? What the hell? Put me down, mudderfucker!” Cameron
yelled.

“Ever since I’ve met your sister she has been trying to save
your ungrateful ass. It’s obvious that she loves you.” Xavier spoke calmly,
tightening his grip at Cameron’s collar. “If she hadn’t come for you tonight,
you would have been under some of those boys back there, maybe even Nado.” Xavier
pulled him off the car and slammed him against it again. He opened his jacket,
showing Cameron his arsenal of knives and guns. “Because she is mine, I will
always have her back. Think really hard about what you want to say to her next.
Otherwise, the cut-ass those gangbangers gave you will pale in comparison to
what I’ll do to you.”

“Bey, I heard you,” Cameron struggled anew to get out of
Xavier’s hold. “Man, put me down, you freak!”

I’m really beginning to hate that word. For Cass’ sake, I
hope she doesn’t think I’m a freak when she finds out what I am.

Cassandra came around to stand beside them.

“Go back in the car,” Xavier muttered. He didn’t bother looking
at her.

“I—”

“Go back in the car,” Xavier repeated without raising his
voice, but he turned his head and held her gaze. He knew she usually didn’t
listen worth a damn, but...

“You and me are going to have a conversation after this.” She
narrowed her eyes and pointed at him. “No one tells me what to do,” she
muttered before turning and going back in the car.

Xavier returned his gaze to Cameron. “Are we settled, Cameron?
Do you need more convincing to take your punk ass to school and make my girl
happy?”

Cameron hung his head and refused to meet his gaze. “Anton says
that I’ll be a pussy if I listen to Cass, that I have no guts.”

“After they left you tonight in the hands of those bastards,
are you still dumb enough to follow in their footsteps?”

“No, man, you don’t understand. If I go with Cass, they’ll gang
up on me. You don’t know what that’s like.”

“Do they usually hit Cassandra?” Xavier wanted to know. He let
Cameron stand on his feet.

Cameron laughed. “No, bey, they all scared of her. You should
have seen what she did to T. The guys came at her one night, and T thought he
could take her on his own. She moved so fast T never touched her. Cass always
fight dirty. She had him on the floor, sitting on his chest with his hands
trapped beneath her knees in seconds. T couldn’t move.” Cameron chuckled at the
memory. “Every time he opened his mouth, Cass slapped him.” Cameron stopped
smiling. He dropped his shoulders and lowered his gaze. “I’m not like Cass.”

“So learn how to fucking fight.” Xavier bent until he could
look him directly in the eyes with a hard glare. “Don’t put her through this
shit again.”

“I—” Cameron started.

“She is mine now. Don’t make me fuck you up,” Xavier growled.

Cameron stared back at him and flinched. “Alright, alright, Cass
will get no more crap from me.”

Xavier walked back to the driver’s side and got in the vehicle
again. He leaned over and caged Cassandra in, completely ignoring Cameron as he
climbed into the backseat.

Cassandra frowned mutinously back at him.

Her scent had already been playing havoc on him in the small
confines of the cabin, but this close to her was pure torture. She had an
alluring scent, ultra feminine, and it was making blood pool to his lower
region. So when he spoke to her, his voice may have been a little harsher than
he intended.

“Just so we’re clear, I don’t give a shit if you don’t listen
to any other man. But that stunt you pulled tonight will never happen again,”
he told her.

“I’ve known you all of five minutes!” She moved closer to him,
staring him down. “I don’t even know your last name. What in those five minutes
of knowing me makes you believe that I’m that girl?” Cassandra yelled.

“I know how stubborn you are. But if you ever go into such a
dangerous situation again like tonight, I’m going to tan your ass.”

“I—”

Xavier didn’t let her finish. He knew she would only piss him
off further. She had come too close to being hurt. He covered her lips with
his. She was just as sweet as he remembered. She sputtered in indignation at
first, but he persisted and seduced her with his tenderness. Moaning in
surrender, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He
sank into her softness and deepened the kiss.

“Ew! Hey, man, cut that shit out. That’s my sister.”

Xavier reluctantly released her lips. He placed his forehead
against hers and held her gaze, stunned that he was having so much trouble moving
away from her. It was like a magnetic force field was surrounding them, keeping
them in a drugged cocoon. She stared feverishly back at him. Their gazes locked,
they were drowning in their own private world. He started to lower his lips
back to hers.

“Can we go home now please?” an irritated Cameron interrupted
them again.

Xavier closed his eyes briefly and then forcefully pulled
himself away from her. He slowly eased back into traffic. With each of them in
deep thought, the remaining miles to Cassandra’s house was done in silence.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Cameron jumped out and
stalked into the house.

Cassandra sighed as she watched her brother march toward their
home. “Let me get in there before I have to kill one of them. Thank you for going
with me.”

Xavier shook his head at her.

“What? Why are you shaking your head at me?” Cassandra asked.

“You’re not staying here tonight,” Xavier told her.

“What? Why the hell not?”

“Nado and his gang know where you live.”

“So what? You think Nado, who is badly injured, and a number of
his men, who you totally incapacitated, are going to come here in such a state?”
Cassandra shook her head in disbelief. “Those guys aren’t stupid enough to come
here.”

“After what we did to them tonight, on their home turf, they
will want to save face.”

“Look, X, I know you’re probably aware of it, but my brothers
are drug dealers, armed, and extremely dangerous, despite how inept they acted
tonight. Besides, my sisters and their children are in that house as well. I’m
not leaving them if there’s a chance of danger, especially since I created it.”

“How many children are in the house?”

“I have eight nieces and nephews under the age of ten.”

“Can you convince your sisters to relocate for a few days?”
Xavier asked.

“They would all laugh in my face. Do you realize how small this
island is? There’s nowhere to hide. It’s best that we confront those idiots if
they do come at us anyway.”

“I’m not prepared to leave you here.”

Cassandra opened the car door, climbed out, and slammed the
door behind her. Before she could take two steps away from the SUV, Xavier
planted himself in front of her and blocked her progress.

“Xavier, I’m not leaving my family to deal with this alone,”
she hissed.

“I’m not asking you to do that. I understand your desire to
protect them, however ill advised. I need to ensure that you’re safe. Which of
those bedroom windows up there are your sisters’ and yours?”

Cassandra told him while frowning at him in confusion.

“Go in. I will see you later,” Xavier said softly.

“What are you going to do?” Cassandra asked him.

Xavier pulled her against him. He covered her lips with his and
kissed her softly, and only when she was straining to get closer to him and mewling
as if she was a satisfied cat did he put her away from him. “Go inside, it’s
very late.”

Giving a sigh of exasperation, Cassandra turned and stomped
toward the house.

Xavier watched her enter the house before pulling out his
phone. The usual shadow of men stalking Cassandra was nowhere in sight.
Good.

The African man who had been monitoring Xavier for years
smirked as yet again Xavier failed to detect his presence. He had come from a
long line of men who knew how to live in the shadows, so he took pride in his
ability to remain hidden while he was stalking his prey. Tonight, the African
hung back in his car park several houses down. He wasn’t worried about losing
the man he had been trying to kill for years. Xavier was predictable in his
bleeding heart need to protect his woman. Wherever the woman was, Xavier would
be also.

Cassandra opened her eyes and stared into the dark murkiness
of her bedroom. She had no idea what had woken her up, but something had. Very
soon her eyes adjusted to the limited lighting coming into the room through the
window, and she saw the outline of a large man sitting in the armchair next to
her bed. She opened her mouth to scream, but the figure moved too swiftly,
overpowering her and covering her mouth to prevent any sound.

“Shh, it’s me, honey,” Xavier whispered. He removed his palm
from her mouth when she pushed at his wrist.

“What are you doing in here?” Cassandra asked as she became
more alert.
What’s going on? Is everyone okay? What the hell…?

“Ensuring you’re safe,” he murmured.

The gravelly sound of his voice vibrated through her, making
the butterflies in her stomach buzz in excitement and her nipples throb in
awareness. “So your idea was to sit in that chair all night?”

“You have a twin bed. Somehow I don’t think I could fit in that
cot.” He caged her in with his elbows bent on either side of her head. “Go back
to sleep.”

His warmth and masculine scent enveloped her. Cassandra wound
her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer.

He didn’t budge.

“What time is it?” she breathed out, lifting herself closer to
him since he wouldn’t come to her. The thin material of her sheer nightgown did
nothing to shield her beaded nipples from the hard walls of his chest. The
sensitive tips grazed the hard contours of his chest, making her shiver from
the sheer bliss of it. This relentless need for him was playing havoc with her
years of blind focus on succeeding. Nothing and no one had ever distracted her
or drawn her interest like this before. She had been so busy with her
basketball training and school that the closest she had come to a relationship
was with a college soccer player. They had dated for two months. His attempts
at seduction had been clumsy and had left her cold. It wasn’t long before he
lost interest in her insistence on remaining a virgin. After him, she told
every guy up front who asked her on a date that she was going to remain a
virgin until after college.
I used to think that I had too much to lose. I
couldn’t risk being distracted from my goals or, worse, get pregnant before I graduated.
Xavier is making me rethink all of that. With him, I’m already willing to risk
everything.

“Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Nado and his gang ain’t coming here. I’m not complaining about
your presence, but you’re wasting your time.” She peppered his face with soft
kisses to his cheek, his eyes, his forehead, his chin, and finally the corners
of his lips.

“I know they won’t be coming here tonight,” he said, his voice
deepening even further. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her into
him for a brief moment. His arms were like warm bands of safety, contentment
and strength surrounding her. She rested against him in dreamy delight.

Arching her back, she sensually rubbed her nipples against his
hard body like an affectionate feline to assuage the need blossoming through
her in waves. “How do you know they won’t be coming?” She nibbled his lower
lip.

He released her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Go to sleep.
We’ll talk in the morning.”

She wiggled out of the sheets and climbed into his lap, straddling
his thighs. “X, I can’t let you sleep on that chair. You won’t be able to walk
in the morning.”

“Trust me, I’ve slept in far worse places.” He tried to lift
her off of him without hurting her. She crossed her legs at his back and put her
arms around his neck, clinging to him like a vine.

She moaned lustily at the friction that created. She wore only
a T-shirt nightie and a sheer panty, and the rough material of his jeans was an
unexpected stimulant against her inner thighs.

“We’re not doing this, baby,” he whispered harshly. “It’s late.
Get some sleep.”

“X, I’ve been making decisions about my life for years. I think
I can decide if I need to go to bed.”

He grunted and stood, but still she hung on to him
determinately as he paced up and down the carpeted floor.

 “I just want one kiss,” she murmured in a coaxing voice.

“No.” He gripped her bottom and halted the movement of her hips.

“I’ll go to bed, X. I promise.” Massaging his close-shaved
head, she kissed the side of his lips before running her tongue along the seam
of his closed mouth. “Just one itsy, bitsy kiss,” she begged softly.

He groaned deep in the back of his throat as his cock pulsed
harder, pressing insistently at the apex of her legs. His big body shuddered against
her, and he dug his fingers deeper into the lush roundness of her flesh.

She covered his lips with hers. He did try to stop her but let
her do what she wanted. She moaned in satisfaction, kissing him for all she was
worth.

He soon took over the kiss, plunging his tongue deep into her
mouth.

Angling her head, she sucked on his tongue and ground her hips
against him. Cassandra shivered in ecstasy as his hard muscles rippled beneath
her. Her clit throbbed in response. Feeling the answering pulse of his stiff
cock against her, she aligned her damp flesh to the thick length. She moaned as
she rotated her hips, ratcheting up her lust further.

He tightened his grip, sliding his hand into her panty and
palming the naked globes of her ass. He lowered her to the bed without breaking
the kiss.

Cassandra held onto him, loving his bulky weight on top of her.
The hem of her nightshirt gathered at her waist as he wedged his hips between
her thighs.

He slid his palm over her naked butt cheeks and glided a thumb
between her damp folds.

The rough pad of his thumb strummed against her sensitive clit.
She cried out in his mouth as he slid a thick finger in her sleek opening while
scraping her clit. Writhing violently against him, she almost dislodged him
from the intense need he wrung out of her.

“Ah hell,” he growled as she tightened her muscles around his invading
digit. He trailed his lips over her cheek, the column of her neck, over the
globes of her breasts, and pulled a pebbled tip into his mouth while sliding
his finger shallowly in and out of her heat.

She cried out loudly. Grinding her hips against his hand, she
tried to draw his fingers in deeper.

He raised his head and looked down at her. The moonlight
beaming through her window gave her a hazy view of his feverish gaze.

“I’m not fucking you tonight,” he warned, obviously trying to
convince himself of his intent. He greedily returned to sucking on her nipple
through her thin nightdress.

“As long as you keep touching me and kissing me like this, I’m good.”
She picked up the speed of her hips, impaling herself harder on his finger.

After torturing one hard peak, he released it and rooted to the
next tip. He worried the nipple between his teeth at the same time he pinched
her clit.

She writhed and cried out loud, stopping mid-screech as she
realized that anyone in the house could hear the amount of racket she was
making. She grabbed her pillow from beneath her head, pulled it to her face,
and bit on it to stifle her cries.

He released her nipple and laughed huskily. His warm breath
abraded the sensitive, making shiver further with desire. He gently kissed the
soft skin of her stomach, and then removed his hands from between her legs.

“No, X,” she sobbed. “Please don’t stop.”

“Shh, baby. Trust me.” He grabbed her thighs with his rough
hands and pulled her panty from her, throwing it to the floor. Gripping her thighs
again, he dragged her hips to the edge of her bed, got down on his knees, and widened
her legs before him. “I’m not going to fuck you, but I’m going to taste you.”
Xavier lowered his head and licked the lips of her folds.

“Xavier?” Cassandra breathed in surprise.

He opened her sex for better access and licked her from top to
bottom.

“Oh God,” Cassandra exclaimed and gripped his head, uncertain
of whether she wanted to push him away or pull him closer.

Another lusty lick accompanied with a pinch of her pebbled
nipple.

The feel of his broad tongue on her throbbing flesh and the
rough pads of his fingers on her breasts made her eyes roll back in her head in
exquisite pleasure.

Xavier savored her and licked her clit slowly. “So sweet,
baby,” he growled, “nectar of the finest wine.” His warm breath and goatee
provided an additional stimulant to her aroused flesh.

She keened in distress as he repeated his sensual assault over
and over again. He pulled the taut pink bundle of nerves between his lips,
nibbling and sucking her clit into the warm cavity of his mouth. When he thrust
the hard tip of his tongue into her core, she splintered, completely melting
onto his mouth. For what seem like forever, she trembled uncontrollably in mind-numbing
ecstasy.

Xavier kept his tongue pressed into her heat as the tremors
from her orgasm receded. He gave her one last lick before rolling to his feet.
He gently lifted her back upon her pillows and pulled the covers over her
sprawling figure. He meticulously tucked the sheets around her and kissed her
tenderly on the forehead. “Go to sleep,” he murmured.

Cassandra couldn’t respond, as she had yet to catch her breath
enough to speak. She remained still, breathing deeply in and out, trying to
regain her equilibrium. “Wow,” she finally breathed and smiled shyly up at him.
God, I’m so much his. Can someone fall in love so quickly?

“Despite what we just did, I want you to be absolutely sure about
us, about wanting to be with me. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

“Yes, X. How many times do I have to tell you that I want you?”
She peered up at him, trying to see his face through the limited moonlight
floating through her window.

“You have no idea who I am,” he reminded her softly.

“I know that you’re absolutely amazing, and someday soon I’ll
be able to convince you of that.”

Xavier’s only response to her soft vow was to kiss her on her lips,
not yet willing to dissuade her of her positive opinion of him. He sighed at
his predicament.
How do I tell her?
He stood from the bed in a moment of
dejection and a feeling of inevitability.
I’m going to lose her when she
learns about me.

“Where are you going?” Cassandra seemed agitated, trying to get
up from the bed to follow him.

“Go to sleep. I’ll be here in this chair.” Xavier was holding
onto his control by a thread. She looked so soft and sweet lying there in the
bed. He wanted nothing more than to join her.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at his determination to sleep apart
from her. She threw the covers from her and stood on unsteady feet. After a few
deep breaths, she grabbed the quilt and sheets from her bed and spread everything
on the carpeted floor to make a neat bed. Going to her closet, she grabbed an
additional two pillows and threw them to the floor. She then took the pillows
from her bed and then lowered herself to her new makeshift bed.

Xavier watched her silently with his arms folded to his chest.

Curling her finger at him, she invited him to join her.

“Not happening,” he muttered and retook his seat in the
armchair.

She crawled to kneel between his legs. “X. I’m really sleepy.
Come to bed, please,” she said softly.

“Cass, ease the hell up. I can only take so much, baby.”

“I just want you to hold me, X.” Cassandra reached for him.

Xavier was determined to keep her at arm’s length. He gripped
her shoulders and held her away from. Although his grip was firm, he was also
gentle. “For the last time, go to bed. I won’t just lick you next time,” he
warned. “Please, I need you to listen to me.”

She didn’t back down and, instead, wrapped her arms around one
of his outstretched legs.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Cass, please go to bed. I can’t
deal with this right now,” he murmured. He suddenly stood, lifted her to her
feet, and spun her around to swat her butt to get her moving.

“Ouch! Arrogant much?” she grumbled.

He grunted.

Cassandra looked at him one last time, sighed in resignation,
and then crept onto the makeshift bed on her bedroom floor. She fidgeted
restlessly for almost ten minutes before he gave in to her.

“You’re so damn stubborn,” he whispered as he lowered himself
next to her and pulled her into his arms.

Purring with contentment, she sighed and snuggled into his
heat. She promptly fell asleep, trusting him implicitly to take care of her.

Xavier looked down at the young girl in his arms. “I’m so
fucked,” he muttered. Thinking about his uncharacteristic protective attitude
toward her, he hugged her closer to him.
My feelings for this girl are way
out of hand.
Tonight, he had called his boss, waking him up out of his bed
to apprehend a local gang in the Bahamas that was far outside their mandate. His
boss had asked no questions, only authorized the relevant resources he needed
to go back to Nado’s house and roundup all in resident, including Nado and Linc,
who had yet to go to the local hospital for medical attention. After Xavier’s
team had confiscated a large amount of automatic weapons and drugs, the men were
immediately marked for extradition and placed on a plane to Miami. They had had
to get the Minister of Immigration and Foreign affairs out of bed to achieve
that feat. Along with the weapon charges and their attack on a US federal agent,
the men were going to be prosecuted in a federal court in Miami.

Now that he had proven that he would do anything to protect
her, Xavier couldn’t lie to himself any longer. His feelings for her were
irrevocable. Already, he was unwilling to be without her overnight. He couldn’t
help the need to
watch
over her, even while she slept. He closed his
eyes. His last thoughts were running through various scenarios on how to
convince her to move in with him.