by Tiana Laveen
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, tears trailing down her face. He rubbed her back, giving her the love she so needed at that moment in time…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Graduate, The Mother Hen, and the Snake…
“She gave what she came to give, and it’s givin’ what she got, baby! Yaaassss! The new graduate is up in this bitch! My girl got a whole master’s degree in Human Resources, baby! She ain’t come to play-play! It’s the Black Girl Magic, for me.” Destiny exclaimed, snapping her fingers adorned with long, stiletto aquarium nails, and causing an uproar in laughter. The woman with the bright red lipstick and pretty eyes beamed, then wrapped her arms around Majesty.
Clad in her dark purple satin cap and gown, her heels sinking into her living room carpet, Majesty relished the moment. The house was packed with guests, and the living room couch was covered with presents and cards. It seemed like all her friends and most of her close family members had attended her special day. She caught up on the local Miami gossip, and loved on them hard. Her elation soared through her and the only time she recalled being any happier was the day she gave birth to Troy. Filled to the brim with excitement.
“What time is the hall open?” Trina questioned, smacking on her gum.
“Girl, it’s open now,” Joy replied before Majesty got a chance. “Gina ain’t coming,” she added, rolling her eyes. Gina was a friend from back in the day who’d always acted a bit iffy. Her girlfriends that mattered were there, surrounding her, all looking gorgeous and giving their full support. The love was palpable. A few haters stayed home… and she was grateful.
“So, what’s the plan now, Maj?” Destiny questioned.
“We are about to roll out. This was a pitstop. Remember I said just follow me home to get these wine bottles, so that’s what we’re doing.” She pointed to the kitchen where Viper was chatting away with a bunch of her cousins, uncles, and aunts. Mama was outside waiting in her white BMW, hardly speaking to anyone, as usual. Moments later, she and her friends loaded up a few boxes of liquor and wine into several car trunks. Some of the vehicles were already full of balloons.
“The cake is in the refrigerator,” Viper stated as he closed the trunk on Trina’s car and walked around it. “I’ll go get it.”
“Is Troy riding with Betty or Daddy?” Majesty asked, wanting to be sure who her child would be terrorizing for the twenty-minute trip down to the party hall for her graduation dinner.
“Your father. He’s in the car with him right now. He said he was taking him over.”
“Okay. We’ll meet y’all down there. I need to put some more stuff in Viper’s truck.” Trina nodded and started up her car, waiting to merge with the rest of the vehicles heading to the party spot.
Majesty walked back into her now empty house. Viper grabbed a large empty cardboard box from all the mess in the living room.
“We can take this for people who show up late and have presents for you at the hall. That way, things aren’t spread out and it’ll be easier to get everything when it’s time to roll out.”
“That’s a good idea.”
He walked out the front door while she made her way back into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she spotted the grand cake her sister had gotten her. A large sheet cake with elaborate flowers, decadent vanilla frosting over a marble cake with her name written in purple on top along with ‘Congratulations’ and a graduation cap. She and Allison had grown especially close over the past few years, and she savored her closeness with her little sister. They’d always been like this, but it seemed as Allison matured and got away from their mother’s at times toxic influence, she began to realize that Mama wasn’t the prototype of perfection she pretended to be. She closed the refrigerator door and toed off her heels.
“Ahhh… Damn, my feet hurt.”
The straps of the heels had been digging into her skin, leaving them red and sore. On her way to the bedroom, she heard the faint sound of children playing outside, and the freezer clonking as it made a new batch of ice. She turned on some music and disrobed, then plucked her gray and cream bodycon dress that hugged her in all the right places from the closet, laying it on the bed. Doja Cat’s, ‘Like That’ was playing and she swayed to the beat, feeling the vibe. She closed her eyes, a big smile on her face, snapping her fingers, falling into the groove. Proud. On cloud nine…
“Stop!” Her body was swept in the air so fast, it felt as if she were flying. Her man was lifting her with one damn arm, a big, slick grin on his handsome face. She was relieved when she felt his other arm wrap around her waist, adding support and subtracting from her anxiety. That anxiety soared right back up though when the bastard laughed and spun her around like some damn frisbee.
“Nooo! Viper, stop! STOP!” She laughed and screamed at the same time.
When he lowered her to the floor, she was dizzy, but he held her steady as he pressed his soft lips to hers.
She slapped his shoulder in irritation.
“You play too much.” She shouldered past him and began searching for a comfortable pair of low heels. The sexy mama ones she’d planned to wear wouldn’t do in her current state.
“Shit, don’t get mad at me,” he chided, as if truly offended by her response. “I thought there was a party goin’ on in here. You’ve got the music on loud.” He stepped back, stroking his jaw and sporting a lascivious grin as she placed a pair of slides on the floor. “And you’re butt ass naked.”
Their gazes hooked. He looked like he had a dozen and one reasons to ravish her body right then and there. She glanced down at his crotch, where his pants were tented. He smirked when he noticed she’d noticed, proud pervert that he was. It was over. And she knew it.
“We have to go, Viper. I’m going to freshen up and change clothes. People are waiting on—”
He shut her up with a kiss. Urgent, needy tongues flickered and danced, and so did their bodies. Viper outstretched her arm, and moved his hips to the beat, as if hearing salsa music. She wasn’t quite sure how to move, so she followed his lead into the next song in rotation: ‘Rules,’ by Doja Cat. His hard cock pressed against her stomach. The motherfucker wanted to drop low, and go in.
“Sing the song to me, baby… The hook.” he mouthed in between hot kisses along the crook of her neck, then stared intensely into her eyes, waiting. Demanding.
His eyes narrowed to slits, and when the light hit them, they reminded her of a snake’s. Glossy and sinister…
“Play wit’ my pussy, but don’t play wit’ my emotions…” she whispered the lyrics as he cupped her pussy. She shuddered when he dragged his lips across her breasts, rendering the nipples wet and hard.
“Boy, stop.” She struggled, but the attempt was weak. “People are waiting.”
“I’m waiting, too.” He pushed her against the wall. “I wanna graduate with honors… I’ll show you some magna cum laude… Let me put on a magnum, and cum loudly…”
She giggled at his silliness.
“Come on, Viper. People are hungry…”
But he kept on masturbating her and kissing her all over.
“Aren’t you hungry, too? Wanna taste me? Don’t you want your king’s dick in your fucking mouth, baby?”
His words turned her on so much. It was a done deal.
“Yes…”
Her pussy throbbed with need and moisture collected between her trembling thighs.
“That’s what I thought. You love suckin’ my dick, and I love eatin’ your pussy. I wanna eat you up and swallow you, baby. Mmmmm… It’s time to fuck.”
Viper went right back to her tits, sucking and licking them, driving her crazy. He knew all of her weak spots and exploited the hell out of them, making her weak at the knees. With her nipple in his mouth, he undid his shirt buttons. His tongue flicked back and forth and all around while he flung his shirt to the side. He stood back and quickly removed his dress pants and boxer briefs, exposing a throbbing, deliciously menacing hard-on.
She whimpered and sighed, both elated and frightened at his roughness. He tossed her dress off the bed and positioned her how he wanted her. Hovering over her on his knees, he grabbed the back of her head and fed his long, fat dick to her, inch by inch. Wrapping her hands around the thick base, she greedily slurped and sucked his nature, the rigid, veiny flesh calling her name. She slipped one hand away to stroke his abs, watching his lips part and his eyes hood as he fucked her mouth, harder and harder.
“That’s it, baby… Suck it… Fuck, you give good ass top! Open wider…”
She did as he asked and he pushed more of himself in her mouth until she could take no more. She could feel her perfectly done mascara going to ruin as trickles of sweat raced down her cheeks. She sucked harder, almost orgasming from the sounds of his groans and the way his dick felt along her tongue. She stroked his soft, black pubic hair, then his balls.
Soon, though, he pulled his dick out of her mouth and slammed her on her back, then burrowed between her thighs, her legs over his shoulders. All she could see when she looked down was black hair, muscles, and tattoos.
“Shit! Oh shit!” She snatched a fistful of sheet as the man terrorized her pussy, sucking and licking in a frantic then slow rhythm, over and over. “Eat my pussy, baby! Fuck, that feels good! … This is inconsiderate… Oh, God! People are… People are waiting… peep-pull… People are wait…ing on uuuussss! SHIIIIIIT!” She came hard, her back arching as she lost all sense of time for a moment, damn near forgot her own name. He kept going, shaking his head back and forth as he gripped her around the waist, dining on her with enthusiasm and vitality, as if his very existence depended on getting her off. She came again, then again, then fell against the sheets, exhausted…
Some time later, she heard him open the drawer where she kept condoms for when he’d spend the night. She listlessly looked at him as he sheathed himself, seeing two of him, her head still spinning. He made her so high. Viper fucked her and made her crazy. He made her hallucinate, his loving so good… inebriated from his addictive kisses and damn good dick, each and every damn time.
“Get your sexy ass over here.” He slipped a pillow under her behind and thrust his dick in her pussy, without preamble. With his wind-knocking stroke, her soul collapsed. But then his soul picked her back up…
“God!” She clawed at his chest and stared up at his placid expression while he tore her in two. He fucked her ruthlessly until he was balls deep. She’d never gotten completely used to his size, even after all the times they’d made love. But he did it so well, she couldn’t give it up. She didn’t care that she customarily couldn’t walk straight for a few hours after he’d turned her inside out. The impairment was worth it. “Dominic! Shit!”
The bed groaned beneath them as he gave it to her, showering her with delicate kisses all over her breasts and neck. Masego’s and Don Toliver’s, ‘Mystery Lady’ started to play, and he slowed to the beat. Torturing her. He slipped one hand beneath her head and his tongue in her mouth. They kissed leisurely while his hips and tongue moved to the beat of the music. With closed eyes, she fell into his dream, escaping the nightmare of her past. His love was her ‘good morning,’ his lust her ‘good night.’
He clasped their hands together and she burst free, her orgasm firm and strong, flowing and lazy like the rivers and lakes she was used to, and the oceans, too…
His pace increased, their bodies soaked in sweat and their limbs sliding against one another like twisted Georgia Candler oak tree branches covered in Spanish moss. He was wound around the golden apple tree in the Garden of Eden, warning her that her beloved was an unworthy abomination, and he was her true King… Amor de Rey…
“…Ahhhh… Ahhh…” And he came, his body spasming as he filled the condom with liquescent warmth. His hand squeezing hers, he buried his face in the crook of her neck while she lay content. Happy. Free. Her lover’s muscles locked and released, and his heavy groans and sighs poured from his mouth in uncontrollable, raw, wild ways…
His were no quiet whispers or subtle hisses. He came with all that he had in him, and the way he held her as he spent the very last drop, the way he slowly kissed her face while his body kept trembling said it all.
The Viper had shed his skin…
An old soul with a new heart.
He was here.
He was hers…
Forever.
The aroma in the house reminded Viper of the smell of the hotels in Disney World. He noted how clean everything was. Sparkling. He’d dressed well in a loose white shirt, buttoned halfway down, and matching white pants and loafers. Although he’d made no effort to hide his tattoos that proved his associations, he had taken extra care to get a good shave and haircut. And of course, his favorite cologne, Tom Ford’s, ‘Fucking Fabulous.’ He could hear Troy and his cousins playing, as well as Majesty and her sister laughing in a room on the second floor of his soon to be mother-in-law’s Miami house. They’d left to give him and the lady of the house some time alone, per his request. Jazz music played throughout the house, and across from him, the Queen had arrived.
Dressed in a flowy pale-yellow dress and a short black pixie cut wig atop her head, the stately woman took her throne upon a gold and silver couch, a glass of iced tea in one hand and a long, skinny cigarette in the other. She’d offered him nothing to drink, eat, or smoke. She’d offered nothing, but a look of total disdain.
They stared at each other, then he let his gaze drift to the décor, noting the art and mirrors hanging in the palace of a house. Nice, but overdone. The entire place was dripping with female dynamism. Devoid of male energy, and full of estrogen. He could not detect any balance.
“Majesty let me know that you wished to speak to me. Two weeks ago, at Majesty’s party, you and I didn’t have a chance to talk much.” She crossed her long legs.
“You decided that. I had attempted to speak to you at the graduation party, like I had with her father, brother, and sister. I spoke with them at length…but you walked away.”
The woman glared at him, then shrugged. Unbothered.
“Okay.” She rolled her eyes, as if bored. “Since I see you don’t need to be handled with kid gloves, I will say I don’t like you, Dominic. You’re not good enough for my daughter. You may have, I don’t know, put your old ways behind you, and although my child is a hard worker, she needs to start being a hard receiver. I am tired of her struggling. I am tired of Black women struggling, period. She deserves someone who has good income, is financially and mentally steady. You know she has a child, my grandson, and from what she tells me, you’re good with Troy, but that isn’t enough. I do not want my daughter dating, and definitely not marrying, someone who is in a gang, has spent time in prison and is uneducated. This isn’t a racial issue. It’s a character issue.” She took a taste of her tea, then set it down on a cork coaster along the long glass table that separated them.
He leaned forward and ran his hand along his jaw. Thinking.
“Mrs. Gerald, with me, what you see is what you get. I don’t pretend to be someone other than who I am. I presented myself to Majesty, Troy, and now to you in a way that is authentic.” Something you know nothing about. “So, although, in a perfect world, my fiancée’s parents would like and embrace me into the family, I have had enough disappointments in my life to be happy when things go better than expected, yet not distracted when they don’t go my way. I’ve endured too many storms to be worried about one single drop of rain. Now, here’s how it is. Number one, I’m not going to apologize for being a Latin King. I’m not going to apologize for being Cuban, either.”
“I don’t want an apology, and you being Cuban, as I stated, is not my concern.”
“You say it’s not a race thing, but to me, the fact that you even brought it up shows that that isn’t true. Now, here’s the thing,” he cured an itch on the side of his eye and continued, “I’m marrying your daughter. You can either be there, or you can choose not to. Majesty and I love each other, and I’m not givi
ng her up for nobody. I respect you. I respect your right to do what you want, say what you want, and tell me how you feel. It doesn’t bother me in the least. The only thing that would bother me is if you take your feelings about me out on Majesty.” He shrugged, then flopped back against the couch. “It’s really just that simple.”
The older woman sipped a little more of her drink, then took a drag from her cigarette, which she set down in a white owl-shaped ashtray. She cocked her head to the side and studied him for a long while before speaking.
“My request is also simple. You’ll never be accepted into this family. I want you to stay away from my daughter.”
“And I’ve told you, respectfully, that I don’t give a shit what you want.”
They stared daggers at one another.
“My grandson is impressionable. He doesn’t need someone with your background influencing him! He has already had a father that was just like you! It’s not fair that you—”
“Yeah, and his mother was impressionable at one time, too. And yet, you fought, yelled, screamed, and made all kinds of unpleasantness around her as she was growing up.”
