by Samara King
Everything had gone horribly wrong. Starting with a night guard being gunned down by Ray. Another guard had hid in the back room and as they'd made their escape had shot Ray in the leg. By the time Jordan had found out, he arrived too late, Nate was gasping for air.
He'd held him in his arms as he whispered to take care of Belinda and died. When the police arrived, the guards was unable to say just how many of "them" there had been, and though Jordan had sworn his innocence from the beginning, he'd still lost ten years of his life.
He'd lost everyone that had ever mar mattered to him. He couldn't just let Belinda walk away, not for what they were feeling. Not the love that he felt bursting in his chest. He hadn't meant for this to happen, but now that h it had. He wasn't willing to just give them up. He hadn't killed Nate, though he'd harbored the guilt, taken on the ridicule and accusations from people in he'd once known when he'd first arrived back in L.A. but he was not responsible for Nate's rash decisions and playing into Ray's hand. Jordan looked up at the stars. In haling deeply, his soul needed to be free. And if it were the last thing he'd do he'd see it and Belinda again.
"FUNNY HOW TIME FLIES." The voice came towards him from the entrance of the bar.
Jordan hadn't gotten much sleep in the three days since the masquerade ball and depicted the voice without turning around. Every muscle in his body tightened. A deadly calm replaced the rage that he knew he could easily give in to.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Well, this is a bar and I'm in need of a drink."
Jordan turned around, his eyes meting Ray Jerome. "I suggest you turn around and find another bar."
"I suggest you serve a paying customer." Ray walked over, leather coat and a hat splayed atop his head. His limp was more of a remnant of the guard's shot that almost severed an artery. "It's been a long time hasn't J?”
Jordan watched the other man warily. "Not long enough."
Ray nodded. "Still bitter."
Jordan leaned closer, his eyes boring into Ray. He was still the same bastard he'd always been. His greedy black eyes shined with self-appreciation. And his built had filled out more from time in prison. "A man died. Two men. One being your cousin and if you haven't forgotten I lost time out of my life or you."
"I suppose you want some street justice for that."
"There's not one thing that the street can do for me that I can't do for myself."
Ray clapped his hands. “That's the J I know!” He tilted his head. "Still the same tough talking brother who thinks you're better than the rest of us out here on the street.”
“That was always you're problem, Ray. I never esteemed to be part of the gutter."
“We can handle this at any time. J. Name it."
"Do you think I’d put myself at risk over some street fight with you Ray. You weren't worth it then and you definitely aren’t worth it now."
"That's right because you have such a good thing going here, don't you J?” He looked around the bar. "Nice place you're A Uncle left you. Be a shame if something happened to it.”
Jordan gritted his teeth, slammed his hand down on the bar. "You got one time to the threaten me Ray and I promise you won't like the next time."
"In case you haven't heard I'm the kind of this these streets. I collect from every business on eth this strip again, now that I'm free."
"Minus one." Jordan stood straight, folding his arms across his chest. Waiting for the opportune moment to knock ray off balance.
"You're just an ex-con just like me though the state managed to spring you. As much as you say we're different, in the light of day we're just the same man."
"I'll never be anything like you, Ray. Not now. Not ever. And nor was Nate."
"He was a follower, but then you always knew that about my cousin. He wasn't strong, but you -"
Ray wagged his finger "You always did like to test me. And let's just say I'm not going to allow you to keep doing it."
Jordan frowned. "Well there are those you can teach and those that need to be taught."
Ray stood, anger reflecting back in his eyes. "You just never learn how the game is played out here did you J?"
"I don't follow rules."
Ray shook his head, grinning. "Maybe it’s time you did." He walked out of the bar.
BELINDA COULDN’T GET him out of her mind. The ball had been a huge success. Club Reign had ringed in another New Year with a bang. Her own celebration had taken place in the quiet of her office with two bottles of wine and tears.
She couldn’t believe that Jordan was back in her life. She’d gone about her life after marrying Brandon, thinking of her past as little as possible. Surely the woman she’d been then and the woman she’d become had not collided.
Or maybe you haven’t changed as much as you thought.
She shook her head, thinking of Jordan lead to two things. Sexual frustration and anger. When Hav had phoned her the day after the ball, Belinda had pretended that she’d been so busy attending to guests that she hadn’t had a chance to venture upstairs to see if her mystery man had dared to visit her again.
Hav hadn’t been satisfied with her hasty response and in time she’d confess about Jordan’s reappearance. Right now she was having trouble dealing with her own rampant emotions. The fact that her body called out for him was another problem all together and continued to grow in its ferocity. She’d never felt anything like it.
Seeing Jordan after all this time had brought a wild assortment of wanton feelings. She couldn’t just see him as the man he’d been back then, her lips and body knew him as the sensual stranger who’d handled her with the utmost gentleness and sensuality that she’d ever known. Her mind could not forget their past.
Belinda clicked the keypad alarm to her silver coupe and closed the door to her silver BMW 335IS. The wind was knocked out of her lungs as her body was slammed against it.
“No!” A male clamped down over her mouth. Her eyes widened.
“Shut up Belinda!” Ray sneered. He looked over her, at the car and house. “Looks like you’ve done well for yourself. I guess that’s what happens when you marry an old rich man.”
She tried to speak but he tightened his grip over her lips. Her heart was beating so fast she felt it were about to leap out from her chest. How the hell had he found her?
Her eyes darted around. With Ray leaning his dead weight in to her, it looked as if they were two lovers having an intimate moment. No one would be able to see that he was a deranged lunatic threatening her.
“I bet you’re wondering how I found you. I have my ways.” He nodded. “I’m the last person you expected to see, probably would prefer Jordan, right? Right! Well sorry to disappoint you. I’m going to move my hand if you scream, I’ll kill you before someone can even get to you understand me?”
Belinda nodded. She fought the urge to vomit and wiped the scent of his hands off her lips. “What the hell are you doing here Ray?”
“I came here especially to see you with a message for you to give that jailbird boyfriend of yours – Jordan.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play with me, Belinda. You and Jordan have quite a history, don’t you?”
“That was years ago. I have nothing to do with him.”
Ray’s eyebrows rose. “Oooh! Ms. Uppity says Jordan is too low-class for her.” His eyes roamed over her. “Money has a way of coloring a person’s view, huh Belinda? Just like love, I guess. Nate could never see you for the cheating bitch you were.”
She clutched her blouse close. “I never cheated on Nate.”
He leaned in to her, causing her to brush up against the car, hitting her head against the window. “Don’t try to tell me you don’t remember fucking him and acting like you were going to marry my weak ass cousin.” Ray laughed.
“You tell him to stay the fuck out of my way or the last thing I do is put a bullet in his head.” Ray jerked his hand back, looked over her. “If you tell a
nyone I was here, I’ll come back.”
Belinda reeled back her hand to slap Ray, he pushed her and backhanded her, sending her sprawling on the ground. She crawled to the front of her car with him right behind her. She wanted to yell but knew Ray would make good on his threat. Tears stung her eyes as exhaust fumes, earth and the smell of stale vodka on his breath mingled in her nose. Her palms were flattened against the asphalt as Ray continued with his drunken rage.
He kneeled down beside her. “You’re just begging for a real man to get a hold of you and believe me I will oblige you.” Ray laughed. “Nate never knew what to do with you. He was so willing to play your fool; wanting to be the ‘good man’ you thought he was. But Nate was only fooling himself. He was like me. Well almost like me. We take what we want, when we want it and I unlike him, will not hesitate to eliminate anyone in my way.” He paused. “That’s why I had to take him out.”
Belinda’s eyes widened. Her throat constricted. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart lurched. Ray killed Nate? No, he wouldn’t. He didn’t. She shook her head.
“You remember what I told you.”
Belinda waited until she heard Ray’s footsteps in the distance before rising to her feet. She wiped her dirty hands on her jeans and rubbed the sore spot where he’d slapped her with her forearm.
Her body shook as she turned, making sure Ray was nowhere in sight. She got into her car and drove as fast as she could. She didn’t feel safe being alone. There was only one place she could think to go.
“I DIDN’T WANT TO SAY anything early about that scene with Ray, but you know he’s bad news. Always has been.” Charlie Warner, a retired musician, had been a friend to his Uncle Wayne and to Jordan as long as he could remember. His tall frame and agile moves actually belied his true age and the ladies seemed to really like his bald head and chocolate skin. His natural flirting nature might have had something to do with the ongoing female attention.
Charlie had a way about him that put everyone at ease and worked at the bar two to three afternoons a week. Jordan was grateful to have him as his partner and friend.
Jordan turned to face the concern etched in his wizened face. “I didn’t pick the fight.”
“No one has to when Ray’s involved.” Charlie wiped down the bar. “I want you to be careful. We can’t afford for his brand of trouble.” He patted Jordan’s back.
“I know, but I have other things on my mind than dealing with his craziness.”
A smile played on Charlie’s lips. “Yeah, you’ve gone after a whole other type of trouble –” He laughed at Jordan’s confusion. “- a woman.”
“It’s more to it than that.”
“Oh?”
“The mystery woman, the one I haven’t been able to think about is Belle.”
“Change that to one “mad as hell” woman.”
Jordan chuckled, scrubbing his hands over his face and sighed. “You got that right.”
Charlie shook his head and passed two beer bottles to one of the waitresses. “Little Belle Malone. Been a long time since I’ve seen her in these parts.”
“Yeah, she’s made quite a life for herself.”
“Heard she married some rich fellow. Died some time back.” Charlie paused. “I always thought you two had a lasting eye on each other.”
Jordan didn’t comment. There was nothing he could say to combat the older man’s words, especially when he knew them to be true. He had no idea how to get Belle to believe it when he couldn’t even get her to talk to him. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“She doesn’t want anything to do with me, Charlie. She made that perfectly clear.”
“Son, if there’s one thing I’ve come to know about love, it doesn’t happen the way we often think it should. It doesn’t come when we want it to and it sure doesn’t always leave when you think it will.” He winked. “Well, I’m calling it in for the night. You sure you can handle things?”
Jordan nodded, knowing he meant more than that evening’s crowd. “I’ll be fine. You go on and go home. I’ll see you on Thursday.”
Around one in the morning, Jordan walked into his office, feeling the dregs of the day and his thoughts weighing in on him. He’d contained the fury within himself as long as he could. He’d gone to prison at the age twenty-six years old. When he’d first gotten out he’d had nightmares of going back. Being caged in a cell, being told when and what to do every moment of your life from the time you open your eyes, go to the bathroom, ate and worked made him feel like the animal the guards wanted you to believe you were.
If it hadn’t been for his uncle and Charlie. Jordan probably would have died in his cell. Everything about prison was made to shatter a strong mind. He lost count of the many nights he’d thought of Belinda, her smile and what she might be doing and if life had been good to her.
He pounded his fists against the punching bag he trained with every morning several times before he realized he wasn’t alone.
“What the –” His eyebrows knitted together. “Belinda? How did you get in here?” His body instantly responded. He couldn’t help looking at her like a starving man. He was!
“Charlie let me in as he was leaving. He wanted to go get you, but I told him I would wait.” She looked down at her hands and remained seated on the old leather couch that doubled as a bed many nights after closing for Jordan. “Have you seen him?”
“Seen who?” Jordan stepped closer. Something was off. “What’s going on?”
Belinda gazed up at him. Puffy eyes half covered by her ebony waves, masked the wet trail of teals skittering down her high cheekbones. “Ray.”
The moment his name came out of Belinda’s mouth, Jordan fell to his knees, a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. He reached out to caress her face, but she jerked back. “Baby, what did he do to you?
She shook her head, her voice so low that Jordan had to ask her to repeat herself.
“He came to my house earlier this evening. My house, Jordan...” Her cries muffled words. “He threatened me.”
Chapter Six
“DID THE BASTARD TOUCH you?” When she didn’t respond, Jordan’s voice rose. “Belinda, did Ray put his hands on you?”
Jordan pulled away, looking into her fearful face; her slow nod was all he needed to annihilate the man. He stood, not hearing anything but the rush of anger flowing through his body.
He’d put his hands on Belinda. His woman.
"Jordan what are you going to do?" Belinda rose, watching him. The fear of what would happened if Ray and Jordan were to clash frightened her more than she ever thought it would. The need to know that that would not occur became a necessity. She touched his arm, "Promise me you won't a go after him."
"I can't make you that promise.” He turned to her. "Do not ask me to."
"Ray is crazy and we both know this. He came to me to get to you. We should call the police."
"Right and you think the police will take the word of an ex-con." The words were laced with bitterness and truth.
Tension vibrated through the room.
For the first time, Belinda saw the pain in Jordan's face. She looked away, ashamed of the way that he'd been so relentlessly against him. She had no idea what it must have been like for him in jail. His freedom stripped of him. In her heart she knew that giving up his life would have been of little consequence if it meant saving Nate. So afraid of what she felt and what had s transpired between them. She had her own guilt to contend with but his hurt echoed in her heart. She reached out and held his face in her palms.
"Jordan, if something were to happen to you. I don't know what I would do. I already o lose Nate, please don't do anything."
He leaned forward and kissed her lips. Belinda kissed him back, opening her mouth to his punishing kiss. His soft lips. He kissed her passionately, the way she'd been waiting to be touched. He pulled her against him, the edge of his erection brushed against her stomach and made her body flush. She needed him. Dear God. More than she'd been willing
to say or believe. Her body hungered for him and responded to him at any chance it got.
Jordan deepened the kiss, twirling his tongue against hers, taking more and more of her with him. His hands pulled at the hem of her shirt, tugged upward. The cold contact of the air against her heated skin made her aware that this time they were facing each other, no masks, no secrets. He leaned back to look at her. "I want this. I want you."
Belinda felt her knees shake. The urgency she felt rushing within her only mirrored back to her as she watched him. She couldn’t deny what she felt. She didn’t want to.
"I want you too."
The words brought a deep groan out of his throat and before she could utter another word his mouth was back on hers, rocking sensations out of her that she was sure she'd never feel again.
He was building a fire within her, slowly stoking embers and a mighty flame she didn't want to douse. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. She wanted nothing more than to feel his him deep insider of her pussy. Stretching her and retracting her the ways of his loving. She wanted to be touched and fucked as only he could do to her.
Jordan made quick work of discarding her black panties and jeans. He undressed in front of her and her heart caught in her throat. She'd never seen a more beautiful man.
Broad shoulders, tapered into strong muscular arms and lean six-packed waist. Her eyes dipped lower, licking her lips the narrow patch of dark hair at his belly button and lower abdomen and lower to crown the magnificent length of his dick. He was long and thick and just seeing his arousal made Belinda's pussy clench in anticipation.
She’d waited a year for this. What she’d craved every night since the Masquerade ball. Her hands reached out to touch him. Jordan's head dipped back. "Mmmm, careful. It won't take much to make me lose it."
Belinda smiled. "I think I like that idea." Her hands gently traced the outline of veins and wonderful tight brown skin. He was built like Adonis and she wanted to memorize every line of his body. Her fingers cupped the head of his penis and rubbed over h the highly sensitive slit.
