by Kiki Leach
I looked to the hallway and pressed my hands against his chest until he sat upright. "There's no telling who that could be."
"Don't give a fuck -- not at this hour," he spat. "I'm liable to fuck 'em up the minute I find out either way. I don't want you moving from this bed, baby, or this position."
"Nikko--"
"I don't want you going any fuckin' place 'til I get back up here and finish giving everything you need from me."
"Which would be what?"
He slid off the bed with only a chuckle to follow and trailed to his basket of clothes in the corner, reaching for a pair of black pajama pants made from silk.
As he leaned forward to slide them on, I sat up to take notice of his perfectly round ass and brought a hand to my chest, hoping for a glimpse at the front. He snickered in realizing my desire for more of what he had to offer, then turned back to me and pointed toward the door. "Whoever the fuck it is will be outta here in less than five goddamn minutes. I can promise you that shit."
"So you think," I told him.
"So I fuckin' say, baby."
He winked at me before storming out of the room.
Chapter Twenty
Stolen Goods
Nikko's POV
Nikko knotted the lace around his pants while gradually making his way downstairs, then stepped to the front door and dropped his shoulders in aggravation.
"Christ," he muttered. "Who the fuck is it?"
"Who the fuck do you think, asshole?" Chino called back to him from the other side. "Open the goddamn door already." He clinched his fists and gnashed his teeth at the thought of being in that old man's presence again so soon, then reached for the knob and pulled back, glowering as Chino stared up into his face with a snarl. "Your ass never called after finally getting back home last night. The goddamn phone no longer work?"
"Some shit came up--"
"With your cock?" Chino looked to the stairs and pointed. "She still here?"
"Yeah."
He shuffled past his son to move inside the house and fixed his suit jacket. "Green mentioned her getting settled in not long before learning about you being released. You two still good with each other?"
"As much as we can be, yeah." Nikko closed the door and turned as Chino eyed him from head to toe with an arched brow. He opened his hands while making a face. "You were expecting another answer?"
"Something of the goddamn truth."
"What the fuck would that be?"
"Where'd she sleep last night, Nik?"
"Does it fuckin' matter?"
"It shouldn't, and wouldn't with anybody else you were only looking to fuck for the time being. But I know you wanting to link up with her wasn’t just about this money."
"You telling her what I prefer in a woman?"
"I didn't fuckin' lie about it," he shot back, eyes wide as his brows lifted. "You go after women that look like her -- have since you were a goddamn kid; always chasing after the mailwoman -- your goddamn teachers."
"I like what I fuckin' like," he told him. "What she looks like has never mattered more than what the fuck she can do for--"
"Your cock? You picked her out to marry based on seeing her once."
"You say that shit as if I had a goddamn choice in taking my sweet time to look for a wife--"
"You were looking for pussy," he interjected, "'til now. Whatever shit you keep telling yourself beyond it is always gonna be different from what I already fuckin' know."
"Which is what?" He stopped as Chino went silent. "You think Rebecca was some kinda goddamn exception?"
"Was she not?"
"No."
He rattled his head. "I don't believe that shit--"
"I don't give a flying fuck what you do and don't believe about me anymore, old man, and haven't for a long fuckin' time now. Just like I told Cheyenne, what I like is what I like when I fuckin' like it and right now, she happens to be it."
"In every goddamn respect?"
"Yeah. Pussy is pussy."
"This one is not just pussy for you," he spat. "That's some shit you need to rectify."
Nikko crossed his arms without response to his demand, and grimaced. "What the fuck are you doing here without calling in the first goddamn place?"
"I'd been calling your ass for the last two motherfuckin' hours. No answer on the phone, your cell or any of the goddamn burners Green left behind. Showing up was my only other option."
"Email too good for you?" Chino sneered at his son while strolling into the den, and took a seat near the fireplace. He hunched forward and pressed his hands together as Nikko stepped inside and leaned against the wall. "What the fuck is it, old man?"
"We need to talk about the shit that got you out... About what the Gambiano's are gonna be expecting in return for their help."
"A goddamn 'thank you' should suffice for how the fuck long the shit actually took. I know good and motherfuckin' well they could've gotten me out sooner if they wanted with every connection secured in and outside of Rikers -- they fuckin' didn't."
"Be lucky that they worked to keep your ass alive while inside--"
"Worked with what?" he snapped. "With fuckin' who?! Last I checked, I did that whole 'staying alive' shit with Dog's help. If not for being tipped off about those asshole guards in the first fuckin' place, I wouldn't be here talking to your ass right fuckin' now. And I'm guessing the Gambiano's wouldn't have given much of a fuck either way."
"Much like Cheyenne's old man?"
Nikko twisted his face in question before pushing away from the wall and strolling further into the room. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"You know he's gonna be singing like a goddamn canary once he gets the chance."
"Singing about what?" He turned his attention back to him and soured. "I never confided in him about shit to do with your casinos -- nothing outside of what he already knew."
"He thinks you and Cheyenne being linked spells bad news for Snake that's liable to trickle back down to him."
"In what fuckin' way could this shit hit him or the club any harder than it has already when the only reason she's even agreeing to be my wife is to pay them back for what the fuck he stole?"
"She hasn't said shit else about her old man?"
"What the fuck else is she gonna say? They haven't spoken two words to each other since he learned about the agreement from Snake."
"Is that what she told you?"
"It's what I fuckin' know."
Chino stared into his face for a few seconds in silence, then stood up from the chair and adjusted his clothes. "We're gonna need to meet up with Benny about this shit soon. I'll set up an appointment." As he attempted to turn from him, Nikko reached for his arm, jerking him back. Chino looked to his hand and glowered. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Why the fuck are you being so goddamn vague and evasive about this shit?" he replied. "You come over here talking about what the Gambiano's think they're owed for the half-assed job it took to get me outta Rikers before switching over to Rox and his club? What the fuck is going on with this shit, old man? You got anymore skeletons in your closet ready to jump out and take me down for good this time?"
"Not if you play your cards in the way they should be played, Nik. And with a heavy goddamn hand."
"What the fuck is that shit supposed to mean?"
"Just what the fuck I said. Pay attention." He snatched his arm from his son's grip and headed out of the room. "Next goddamn time I call out here, pick up the motherfuckin' phone. Or it gets shoved up your ass." He moved back into the foyer and reached for the door, then stepped outside and slammed it shut.
Nikko remained in place before jogging back upstairs to his bedroom. As he stepped inside and noticed Cheyenne missing from his bed, he moved to the edge to take a seat.
"Hey." He turned as soon as the sound of her voice echoed throughout the room. She stood near the door while wearing jeans and a tank, and folded her arms. "Who was downstairs?"
"My old ma
n." He lifted his brows while eyeing her from head to toe, taking note of the faded white running shoes on her feet, and flared his nostrils. "You going somewhere?"
"Nix called while you were down there. He wants to meet up but failed to mention what it's about."
He grunted. "Shit seems to be going around like the goddamn plague with these older motherfuckers."
"What do you mean?"
"My old man and his reason for showing up... didn't get the weight behind what it meant."
"What did he tell you, Nikko?"
"Some shit to do with your old man and Snake; said something about how us being linked could spell bad news for 'em both."
"How?"
"Don't know; that's the shit he failed to mention further. Also threw in the shit about us owing the Gambiano's for helping to get me out."
"Oh." She stepped inside and anxiously dropped her hands.
"Whatever the fuck they're expecting from me, baby, the shit won't fall on you -- not at all. I'm not your old man." She nodded as the skepticism of his words snaked its way through her and moved in front of him. He looked into her eyes, into her fears and embraced them as his own, then rolled his tongue along his bottom lip and reached for her waist. "Comm'ere." He lifted her tank and pressed his face against her stomach as she stumbled forward, drowning her with deep, sensual kisses and tiny bites across her skin that she never knew she would need from another person until that very moment -- until now and him. She mewed and slinked a hand behind his neck, then slid her fingers into his hair and massaged his scalp until she felt him growl against her. "Jesus, I have fuckin' missed what the fuck it felt like to be held by a woman," he said. "So fuckin' soft. Never felt this good before, baby, and you being the one to do it... fuck me." His lips parted as he exhaled; her skin burned from the heat of his touch. She lifted her other hand to his arm, sliding it along his muscles before reaching his shoulder. He pulled back to stare up into her eyes again, and smiled. "You are all I fuckin' need right now. All I fuckin' want."
"More than Chino's money?"
"More than any green I could ever see in my lifetime, baby -- or the goddamn next for that matter." He lowered his hands to her pants and tugged at the button and zipper. "I wanna fuckin' taste you tonight; slide my tongue against you, between those lips..." She swallowed hard as the look in his eyes darkened with desire, as his mouth shined from the moisture of his tongue. She dragged her hand from his hair and combed her fingers across his cheek until his jaw tightened and his teeth clinched. "That sweet pussy is gonna be mine, baby. Only a motherfuckin' matter of time."
"I--"
"You are gonna be calling out my name in a way no man who's ever treated you outside of what you deserve will ever hear it for himself. In a way that's gonna make us both come 'til we're damn near in the ground together."
"I need to go--"
"What you fuckin' need, and what you want aren't one and the goddamn same..." He trailed off and chuckled. "You know how long Nix plans on keeping you with him today?"
"No idea."
"That means you don't know when you'll be coming back?"
"No... Do you plan on giving me something when I do, Nikko?"
"Goddamn tease." He stood up from the bed, towering over her, and cupped her face. "You know I can play that fuckin' game too? And play it fuckin' better than you, baby."
As her head dipped, he lowered his face to hers and shoved his tongue between her lips in search of her own. She nearly came as he teased her without a single kiss to pass between them and reached for his waist, attempting to pull him closer. "Mmm." She lowered her hand to the front of his pants, rolling her hand across his dick as it stiffened. He twitched against her palm before clamping her bottom lip between his teeth and pulling back completely. "My God." She brought her hand to her mouth and turned from him, then crossed the room and closed her eyes while swallowing his taste mixed with her own.
He moved in to press the weight of his dick against her behind, forcing her to feel the effect she managed to have on his well-being beyond his current state of mind. She fell into his chest without thought, then spun around to face him again and snaked her arms around his neck while lifting to her toes to meet his height. She rolled her fingers back into his hair as he slid one arm around her waist and walked her back to his bed. "I could love you if you gave me the chance for it." He reached for her face with his other hand and gently squeezed her cheeks until her lips puckered for a kiss. He lowered his face back down to hers and licked her lips. She moaned. "All you gotta fuckin' do is just let me, Cheyenne."
Her eyes closed before reopening to the hunger in his own. "Letting you love me might be a sin," she told him. "Maybe the worst of its kind."
"Sin with me, baby." His hand dropped from her face to her breast, resting in place until she lowered her arms from his neck and stepped back. "Baby--"
"My nickname is 'Chey'," she told him. "I know it sounds like I'm blurting that out to you, but the people closest to me have called me that since I was a child, and I think you should start calling me that sometimes too."
"Instead of 'baby'?"
"No, just... in general."
He nodded. "Alright--"
"Because I'm starting to feel closer to you, Nikko, and it's more than just in how you touch me despite that being so much of it so far. It's more than just this moment or the thoughts often racing through my head as you stare at me with eyes that make me melt from within.... Telling me about your mother last night -- the truth about Rebecca, was a very big deal; especially because I know that you weren't all too willing to share that much with me as it was."
"Had nothing to do with anything outside of myself, Cheyenne."
"I know. Just like I know that falling for you would be a sin within itself; one I can't seem to stop myself from committing despite every scream from the outside attempting to hold me back from it." He stepped back into her space and lowered his mouth beneath her chin to kiss the center of her throat. She swept her hand across his cock for the second time and closed her eyes to imagine them bare and against each other. "This feeling with you is something I didn't know I needed until finally having it for myself. And now that I do..." He wrapped his hands around her behind and squeezed until her mouth fell open. She yelped. "Nikko, that's not fair."
He lifted his hands to her back and dragged his mouth, teeth and tongue along her jawline before pressing his lips against her ear and whispering, "Nothing is gonna be fair about this, Chey, not when you've got me feeling like this too; no way out but through you." Hearing her nickname roll across his tongue for the first time sent a shiver down her spine. "You come back and get everything you deserve in being with a motherfucker like me, baby; I promise that shit."
"Can you?"
"Yeah." He slid his hand to her stomach, pressing his palm against her skin. She dropped back from him with a smile before grabbing her purse from the nightstand and leaving the room to head downstairs.
After hearing the front door open and close, Nikko sat back down on the bed and stared at the dresser drawer holding Rebecca's picture. He realized in those few seconds of being alone just how much she had become less of a whisper in his mind due to Cheyenne's presence; how much he had been liable and all too goddamn willing to throw himself straight down to hell itself before seeing her face from the courtyard; before taking her hand inside of his and staring down into a perfect pair of liquid brown eyes, certain to enrapture him until his own death.
Before she baked for him.
Goddamn, he was hooked to her like a fish to bait, never willing to accept until now that a feeling like this was only bound to come around once in a lifetime for anyone, and this was it for him.
He loved Rebecca, cherished the hell out of their time together until the end.
But she wasn't Cheyenne.
And he realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that no woman before or after would ever manage to compare.
He was good with that shit.
Rea
l fuckin' good.
Chapter Twenty-One
Full Steam Behind
After rolling into the nearly empty lot of the Macadamia Apartment Complex and parking near Nix's bike at the back, I hopped out of my car and slammed the door.
"Baby girl!" He spotted me while standing in front a partially open door on the first floor and waved me forward with his free hand, using the other to toss a frayed burner into the trash after wiping it clean of his prints.
"Oh boy." I mumbled a quick prayer after locking my purse in the trunk, then made my way toward him as he reached into his back pocket for a joint and quickly lit up. "What the hell are we doing here?" I questioned, lifting my eyes to the roof and shaking my head.
He leaned away from me to blow out a wad of smoke and jerked the collar of his cut. "I should be the one starting out with questions since you never let me know what the fuck happened with ol' boy finally showing up last night. Even this morning on the goddamn phone."
"What do you need to know outside of the fact that he's home?"
"Where'd the fuck you sleep last night?"
"In a bed. Now what the hell am I doing out here?"
"Whose muthafuckin' bed were you sleeping in last night, Cheyenne?"
"Who are you now, the damn FBI? Where I lay my head at night is nobody's business but my own -- it sure as hell isn't yours. As long as I'm safe, you need to learn how the hell to back off from this, Nix. It's none of your business beyond what you need to know for the club."
He shook his head at me while eyeing the ground; he sighed and grit his teeth. "Baby girl--"
"Tell me about this place and what the hell I'm doing here, or I walk."
The ire in my voice cut through him like a knife.
He lifted a brow and tightened his jaw while taking another hit from his joint; he swallowed back some of the smoke before allowing what was left to float from the corners of his mouth. "The name of this place doesn't ring any goddamn bells for you?"
