After I drowned them in syrup, I dug into the best damn pancakes I’d ever tasted! When I was done, I chugged my water, and said, “That was so good!”
“You like that, huh? You want seconds?”
I shook my head. “Maybe later.”
He nodded, cleared our plates from the table, and said, “Stand up.”
“Uh, why?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
So I stood, and he pushed my chair back. When he picked me up and sat me on the table, I shrieked, “Neil! What—”
“Lay back.”
“What are you—”
“Baby, lay back.”
I lay back, my eyes on the ceiling as he opened my legs, moved my panties to the side and covered my whole damn pussy with his mouth.
“Oh!” I yelled. “Oh! Oh! Oh!”
“Mmm, mm-hmm…hmm…ummmmmm,” he replied, as his tongue swirled around my clit.
When his mouth left me and he slid his fingers inside me and started stroking that spot, I damn near jumped off the table. “Neil…Neil, wait. Shit!” It felt so good, but it was too much, and I wasn’t sure if I could take it, but I wanted it, but I was scared of it.
He massaged my clit with his thumb, kept his fingers rubbing my g-spot, and asked, “You want me to stop?”
“Shit!”
“That ain’t an answer, baby.”
“Noooooooo! Don’t sto—ohhhhhh, got-damn!”
It hit me. Not a wave but an avalanche, an eight-point-zero earthquake of pleasure, and my whole body started vibrating again. I felt him lift me from the table and hold me in his arms, and I started crying. It was too damn much!
“You look so beautiful when you come for me…you know that? Beautiful, baby,” he said into my ear.
I couldn’t stop crying. I tried, but I just couldn’t stop.
He rubbed my head, told me it was okay, kissed me, and held me until I finally calmed down.
Through a sniffle, I said, “I don’t understand what just happened.”
“You had an orgasm.”
“I know that, but…I’m sorry for last night, Neil. I’m so sorry,” I whimpered.
“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come at you like that or yelled at you, cursed at you. That was disrespectful, and you might be younger than me, but you’re not a child. It’s just that I had this dream that you were hurt, that someone was hurting you, and the shit scared me. Then I woke up and you were gone, and I didn’t know where you were or if you were safe. Can’t nothing happen to you, you hear me? I can’t let nothing happen to you.”
“Neil…this morning, I-I got a text from Choc—Minnie. She said someone came in there with a gun after I left. One of the dancers’ boyfriends came in there threatening to shoot up the place and actually got some shots off in the dancers’ dressing room before security tackled him. No one was hurt, but she said it was good you made me leave. So thank you. Even if you were rough about it, you probably saved my life.”
He sighed and clutched me tighter. “I got you, baby. I promise I do, and I always will.”
19
“I’ll have the strawberry and spinach salad. Thanks,” I said, handing the waiter my menu.
After he’d left our table, Jo took a sip of her water, and said, “I’m so glad we sisters-in-law could get together today, and especially since Kim is in town.”
“Me, too! I never get to hang with y’all since we’re in St. Louis most of the time!” Kim chirped.
“Or on the road. Leland be dragging you all over the place!” Bridgette observed.
“Yeah, he swears something is gonna happen to me if I’m not with him damn near every hour of the day,” Kim said, rolling her eyes.
“Those damn McClain boys are so overprotective! Geez!” Jo said, glancing at the table next to ours where three security guards sat. Two for her and one for Kim.
“I know mine is,” I kind of mumbled.
“Speaking of yours…how are things going with you and Neil?” Jo asked.
“Good. I mean, it’s an adjustment, but we’re making it work,” I replied.
“I’ve always liked Neil, although he’s usually quiet around me. I knew he’d be a good man once he got himself together,” Kim shared.
“Mm-hmm,” Bridgette said, “and I bet you getting fucked like you stole something from him and refused to give it back. I can only imagine the savagery he’s putting down in the bedroom!”
Kim’s mouth fell open.
“Wow,” I said.
“Really, Bridge?” Jo interjected. “You do know you’re talking about your husband’s twin, right?
“Yeah…and?”
“You are so damn crazy.”
“So, you’re gonna sit over there and act like you haven’t been thinking the same thing? Shit, you know she getting it good!” Bridgette declared.
Jo rolled her eyes and then fixed them on me. “As crude as Bridgette is, uh…is it savage? We’re family for real, now. You can tell us.”
“Y’all are too funny,” Kim commented.
I shrugged. “I mean, yeah. It’s the best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”
Bridgette offered me her hand for a high-five. “I knew it! I can just look at him and see all that pent-up black rage and hotep hostility, and I know he’s a damn pussy annihilator!”
After I smacked her hand, I said, “Girrrrrl, you just don’t know. I’m sprung as hell. Whew, chillay!”
“Okay, now that we have established that good sex is a McClain dominant trait—” Jo began, but was interrupted by Bridgette, who said, “How do we know Leland is good in bed?”
All eyes were on Kim.
“I gave that man a baby when my only child at the time was twenty years old. What does that tell you?” she said.
“That he got the magic stick, too!” Bridgette avowed.
“And you know it!” Kim agreed.
“Lord, help us all. Anyway,” Jo continued, “how are things otherwise? Outside the bedroom, I mean.”
I sighed. “Good, when I’m not doing stupid shit to make him mad.”
Bridgette frowned. “Like what?’
After I explained what happened with me and the strip club, Jo said, “Yeah, I know that upset him. I think maybe you were operating like this was still an arrangement that didn’t involve feelings, but he definitely has feelings for you to react like that. Are y’all all right now, though?”
“Yeah, he apologized for going off on me in front of the club, and I apologized for leaving like that without letting him know, and the next morning, he made me pancakes and ate my coochie on the kitchen table, so we’re good. Plus, he gave me one of those g-spot orgasms that make me feel like I’m on another planet. Then, later that night, he ate my pussy and ass while we were in the shower, and we had sex like three times before we went to sleep. So, we’re cool now.”
After they stared at me for a full five minutes, all three of them simultaneously said, “Daaaaaamn.”
“What you up to, man?” Nolan asked, his voice booming from my SUV’s speakers.
“‘Bout to head into the Sankofa Center,” I replied, my eyes glued to the house where I got my life back on track.
“Counseling session?”
“Yep. But she’s talking about releasing me soon.”
“That’s good, man. Real good.”
“Thanks, thanks.”
“So, I wanted to call and let you know I’m proud of you, Neil. For real. You really turned things around. I mean, it’s like I got my original brother back.”
“Instead of the fucked-up one you were ashamed of?”
“I wasn’t never ashamed of you, man. Just wanted you to do better, That’s all. I know you, Neil, and your potential. I know better than anyone how brilliant your mind is. I just wanted you to be the best you could be.”
“What the fuck you supposed to be now? An army recruiter?”
“Oh, your ass got jokes, huh? See, I wasn’t gonna mess with you about what my wife said about you
and your wife over there screwing like a couple of possessed rabbits, but since you wanna start shit…”
“Yeah, I’m screwing the living daylights outta my woman…and?”
“Oh, shit! So it’s on for real, huh?”
“Yep, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
“Good. Sounds like she is, too.”
“Hell, I know she is.”
“Yeah, my original brother is definitely back.”
“I would ask you how married life is treating you, but I can see that it’s treating you well,” she said, with a warm smile on her face.
I nodded, shifting my eyes from that Sankofa painting to her face. “Yeah. I mean, it’s different, but I love it. She’s…she’s everything you said she was. She can be a piece of work because she’s a hustler, real independent, but I feel good with her in a way I’ve never experienced before. She makes me want to be better and better. I’m not sure if either of us was really prepared for what it takes to keep a marriage together, but I’m willing to put in the work.”
Mother Erica leaned forward and clasped her hands as she often did, her eyes on me as she said, “That’s love. Even in its infancy, love takes work, but it’s work you don’t mind doing, because you know the benefits outweigh the effort. Neil, when you first came here all broken and frustrated with yourself and your life, my first thought was that you needed love. Your heart needed the exercise, your soul needed the sacrifice, and your body needed the kind of healing only good loving can provide. And look at you now.”
I turned my head, gazing out of the big window in her office with a smile on my face. “Yeah…look at me now.”
*****
“Aw, shit! Turn up time!!! It’s my king’s earthstrong in this bitch! Where’s the sparkling grape juice?!” Sage yelled, as we entered Second Avenue for the birthday party Bridgette was throwing for Nolan. I was invited by default, but whatever. I was just glad to be there with Sage. Two months of marriage, and I knew I’d follow her ass anywhere. She was a real blessing. Gave me something to care about, something to cherish, a reason to wake up in the morning.
Sage grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dancefloor. “Come on, baby. Let’s dance!”
As luck would have it, Drake’s In My Feelings had ended by the time we hit the floor, and Ella Mai’s Trip began to play, so I pulled my queen into my arms and buried my face in her neck as we moved to the song. I licked and kissed her neck, rubbed her booty, and jumped when I heard my name blasted through the speakers.
“Damn, Neil! I know y’all newlyweds, but shit!”
Leland.
Sage was laughing as I looked toward the DJ booth and threw my middle finger up at my little brother. All my brothers were some assholes. For real.
My family congregated in one of the roped-off VIP areas, so we could be in the middle of the action. All five of the McClain siblings and our spouses filled couches and roasted each other. Well, I was the subject of most of the roasting because I couldn’t keep my hands off my wife, but whatever. I didn’t care. I just laughed, because the shit was funny.
“Damn, Sage. What you doing to him? Nigga over there smiling and shit,” Everett said.
“And look at him. She tried to sit next to him and he pulled her on his lap, keeps rubbing her thighs and stuff!” That was Nolan. “What you tryna do, get in a speedy out here or something?”
“Quickie, baby. It’s called a quickie,” Bridgette corrected him.
“Oh, yeah…that,” Nolan said.
“I bet her pineapple levels are off the charts!” Leland shouted.
“Ain’t you supposed to be somewhere dribbling a basketball?” I quipped. Truthfully though, I’d heard about the pineapple thing years earlier, and yes, my baby’s levels were at one hundred and ten percent at all times.
“The season is over, shithead, and you know it. And I’m glad I made it, so I can see what it looks like for your Malcolm X ass to be all in love and shit.”
“Wait a minute, what are pineapple levels?” Kat asked. I was surprised she and Tommy made it. She hated leaving little Randy with a sitter, and she still stayed keeping Leland Jr. all the time, too.
“Ain’t nobody telling you about that. Hell naw!” Ev shouted.
“I got you, girl. I’ll text you the details,” Kim said.
“You better the-fuck not!” Leland yelled.
“Oh, shut up, Leland Randall!” Kat fussed.
“I can’t be happy without y’all fucking with me?” I asked, kissing Sage’s arm.
“Look at your ass. You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Nolan asked.
“Hey, Nole…fuck you,” was my response.
“What I’m tripping on is what you told us about Esther and Dunn, though. Like, wow!” Bridgette interjected.
“I ain’t surprised. She always did have a thing for bodyguard dick. But now I know I gotta get Ella out that house. I don’t like the fact that Dunn is hanging around her. I don’t trust his ass,” Everett said.
“Shit, neither do I,” Jo agreed.
“Neil?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my head shot up to see Emery standing beside the couch Sage and I occupied. How the hell did she get past all of Everett’s and Leland’s security?
My family cleared out of that space so fast, the shit almost made me dizzy. As they made their exits, they all mumbled shit like, “Oh, hell. I’m out.”
Sage gave me a confused look, so I made the introductions. “Emery Bledsoe—I guess it’s still Bledsoe—this is my wife, Sage. Sage, this is Emery…my ex.”
Sage tightened her arms around my neck. “Oh…hi.”
“Hi, great to meet you!” Emery gushed.
“Uh-huh. Um, Neil, I’ma go to the bathroom,” Sage said.
“Okay.” I kissed her and swatted her booty when she stood from my lap. “Hurry your sexy ass back.”
“I will.”
Sage left, and Emery took it upon herself to sit down next to me. “Happy earthday, Neil.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Your wife is cute.”
“You were invited?” I asked, wondering why this woman suddenly kept popping up after years of no contact. Bridgette had organized everything. Did she invite her?
“No, my friend was. She had a small part in Floetic Lustice. She invited me to tag along.”
Or did you invite yourself? “Hmm.”
Her hand met my knee, and she smiled at me. “You know…I’ve missed you.”
I squinted at her and stood from the couch. “Let me go find my wife. Good seeing you, Emery.”
“Wait! Neil, wait! I need to talk to you.”
I sighed and shook my head. “About what?”
“Us and—”
“Did I make you wait too long?” Sage appeared, stepping over Emery and wrapping her arms around me. “You miss me?”
“Yeah. You know I did.”
She reached up and bit the front of my neck, and I laughed. “You tryna take my moves from me?” I asked.
“You only bite my ass.”
“Oh, let me fix that.” I bit her neck, and she giggled. Then our mouths locked for a good five minutes. When we came up for air, Emery was gone.
“Oh, shit! This is my jam!” Sage screamed, pulling on my hand and leading me back down to the dancefloor where we smiled and danced to Jacquees’ and Dej Loaf’s At the Club.
Emery Bledsoe, owner/operator of Natural Knots Beauty Salon, specializing in braids and natural hair maintenance. Divorced. No kids. Lives in Los Felix.
Bitch.
The next morning, I paid for an internet background check on this bitch, because she was getting too close for comfort. When I saw her sitting next to Neil in Second Avenue, I almost fucked her up on-sight. He was my man, dammit! She’d had her chance!
“What you looking at? You always on that computer,” Neil said, sitting next to me on the sofa, where he was, of course, reading a book.
“You still don’t have a TV
, so what do you expect me to do?”
“You want me to get one? Just tell me.”
I slammed the computer shut. “No, I don’t want a got-damn TV, Neil.” I slung my laptop onto the recliner, and hopped to my feet, stomping to the kitchen where I started opening and slamming cabinet doors shut like a lunatic.
“I don’t want her, I didn’t invite her, and I have no idea why she was there,” he said, scaring the shit out of me. I didn’t know he’d followed me.
“She was there because she sees that you got yourself together and you’re fine as fuck and now she wants you back! You know that’s what it is!” I screamed.
“Okay, maybe that’s true. But it takes two, and my heart belongs to you, baby. I don’t want her.”
“I’d understand if you did. She’s pretty, really pretty. And thin. She could be a model if she was taller. Was that her hair? And her eyes…they were gray. Are those her eyes? And she seems real cultured. I see why you were so heartbroken over losing her. I’m nothing like her.”
“Sage—”
“I mean, it’s been good, better than good, but I’ll be okay if you wanna give things with her another shot. I was gonna suck your dick for your birthday, but after I saw her, I was like, she probably sucks dick better than me, and if I do it, it’ll only remind you of her, so…”
“Sage, baby—”
“And I got you a gift. I forgot to give it to you. Are you gonna leave me for her?”
“No! Hell no! Sage, sit down.”
I plopped down at the table and watched as he pulled a chair next to mine. He sat down beside me and grabbed my hands.
“Sage, I don’t want her. I’ve been over her for a while. The drinking and shit? That just became a habit, an addiction. It stopped being about her a long time ago. And…I love you. I don’t know when it happened or how it happened, but I know I spoke the intention and it came true. I know my damn heart beats for you. I know you are my everything. You’re my sunshine and my moon and my stars. I know I wake up in the morning thinking about you, go to sleep at night thinking about you. I wanna take care of you, undo the damage the men in the past did, fill you up with my babies, and will kill a motherfucker for putting their hands on you. I ain’t going nowhere and neither are you. If I gotta rip my heart out my chest and hand it to you to prove that it’s yours, I will.”
Let Me Free You (McClain Brothers Book 4) Page 10
