Diamond (G Street Chronicles Presents The Love, Lies & Lust Series)

by Mz. Robinson

  “Home,” I whispered, looking at him.

  “Okay. What’s your mama’s address? Just let me put it in my GPS, and I’ll—”

  “No, Gator. I wanna go home…with you.”

  He pulled his eyes from the road and looked at me, long enough to gauge my expression.

  I nodded, confirming that he’d heard me correctly.

  He redirected his attention to the road and signaled to take the I-565 exit. The remainder of our drive was silent, with the exception of my occasional emotional outbreak. By the time we arrived in Cliff’s Cove, the nice neighborhood where Gator lived, my throat felt like it was on fire, and my eyes were swollen to the point that they ached.

  Gator’s home was nestled cozily in the back of the subdivision on a cul-de-sac, surrounded by two empty lots. It was a beautiful red-brick, ranch-style house, situated on a small hill, with a circular driveway in front of it. Inside, I stood in the foyer admiring the simple, but immaculate, design. There were hardwood floors and crown molding throughout, along with wooden accents and black art gracing the walls.

  Following Gator through the living room, I observed the leather and wood furnishings. He led me to the master bedroom and opened the door. The gorgeous room was furnished with a king-sized bed with a large cherry headboard, a matching armoire, a dresser with mirror, and two nightstands.

  “I’ll run you a bath,” he stated, turning to look at me. “There are t-shirts in the bottom drawer of the armoire, if you’d like to wear something more, uh…comfortable,” he said gently, looking at my bloodied white dress.

  I nodded and watched as he disappeared into the master bath. I stepped out of my shoes and looked around the room, admiring the paintings on the walls. Finally, I locked eyes with my reflection in the dresser mirror, and when I did, I shuddered. The image of me standing there, with my little makeup smeared, my hair going every which way, and my stained white dress was simply too much to bear. I pulled the dress up and over my head and quickly tossed it down on the carpeted floor. I stood in front of the mirror again, this time wearing nothing but my panties and the tiny goose bumps that covered my skin.

  “Diamond…” Gator called from behind me.

  I turned around slowly to face him.

  He hesitated momentarily, allowing his gaze to flow across my body, penetrating my skin with the beam in his eyes. “Your water’s ready, sweetheart,” he finally said, then looked away. He remained silent while walking past me, then exited through the bedroom door.

  * * * * *

  Physically, my body felt better after my bath, but emotionally, I was still a wreck. I couldn’t believe my best friend was gone and that my life had almost been taken along with hers and Blair’s. The dark, angry, sad feelings coursing through me were surreal, and there were seconds when I thought and hoped that it had all just been a bad dream, a life-altering nightmare from which I would wake up at any moment. Why has death come into my life again? This isn’t fair…not so soon after… After the death of my father, I’d naïvely thought it would be years before I’d have to lose another loved one. I knew it was a silly notion, a ridiculous hope to hold on to, but in mourning, hope was all I had.

  I entered the living room, carrying my clothes and shoes in my hand, wearing a gray, short-sleeved t-shirt I’d found in Gator’s drawer. I saw Gator reclining on the sofa, dressed in sweats and a plain white tank-top that revealed the tight molding of his sculptured arms and chest. “Hey,” I said, getting his attention.

  “Let me take those.” He stood to his feet and held out his arms for my dirty clothes. “You hungry?” he asked, taking the items out of my hands.

  “No…but thanks.”

  “Have a seat,” he instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

  After he left me alone, I contemplated sitting down but chose to walk across the floor to the fireplace instead. On the mantel were four white pillar candles, surrounding a framed picture of an attractive caramel-skinned woman and a little boy.

  “Me and my mother,” Gator said, causing me to jump slightly.

  “She was beautiful.”

  “Yes, she was,” he stated, walking up to me.

  “And you were such a handsome little guy,” I said, looking up at him. “Just like you still are.” When he responded only with silence, I said sincerely, “Thank you for everything, for letting me come here and the bath and clothes and—”

  “I want you here, Diamond. You’re more than welcome…always.”

  I reached up and stroked his face with my fingertips, searching his eyes. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for in those chocolate pools, if anything at all, but something inside of me yearned for him, screaming that I needed him. I wanted Gator to ease my pain, to relieve just an ounce of my sorrow in any way he knew how. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his.

  He took a step back and looked at me like a teacher who’d just crossed the line with a pupil, not at all the reaction I’d expected. “I think you should get some rest,” he said. “You’ve had a long night. You can sleep in my bed, since it’s the most comfortable, and I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.” He turned, preparing to leave.

  Sleep was the last thing I wanted at that moment; I was terrified of what dreams might come if I did close my eyes. I grabbed his arm, prepared to beg him to stay. “Please,” I whispered, pulling him back to me. “Please, Gator? I don’t wanna be alone—not tonight.” I placed my hand on the back of his neck, guiding his face down, leading his lips to mine.

  “Diamond.”

  “Please?” I begged, the same way Shaundra had begged me to get into Blair’s car.

  Our lips met again, and this time, he allowed them to linger a moment longer. I parted mine, welcoming his warm tongue, anticipating it with passion and gratitude. Gator wrapped his arms around me, pressing his chest against my breast, devouring my lips with his. I felt a surge of heat in between my legs as Gator trailed kisses down my neck, across my shoulder blade, then back up to my lips again, leaving me breathless in the process.

  He released his hold on me, freeing my lips from their pleasurable captivity. “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked. “What you’re getting yourself into?”

  “Yes,” I said, attempting to kiss him again.

  “Diamond…” he said, stopping me. The stone look in his eyes expressed the seriousness behind his question. “You’ve been through a lot tonight, and—”

  “I know that,” I snapped, running my fingers through my hair. “I was there, remember? I don’t wanna think about that, to think about anything right now! Right now, I just want this. I just want you. Please?”

  There was only silence for an answer.

  Refusing to further humiliate myself, I exited the room and returned to the master bedroom, slamming the heavy door behind me. I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling hurt, afraid, and rejected.

  A few seconds later, Gator opened the door and entered the room. He looked like a king as he stepped over to the bed and stopped in front of me. Easing down to his knees, he knelt before me on the floor. In utter silence, I watched as his hands traveled up my calves to my thighs, pushing the shirt up around my waist. Our eyes remained engaged as I pulled the material up over my head and tossed it to the floor. His eyes cruised my body slowly, taking in every inch of my skin. He grabbed both of my ankles and lifted them up to his lips, forcing me to push back on the bed. He parted his lips slightly, then exhaled, blowing warm air across each of my toes before kissing and sucking them one by one. After he’d tended to all ten digits, he pushed my thighs apart, then slowly moved his way up, leaving a trail of warm kisses along my inner thigh. My lower region tingled as Gator blew on my clit and stroked its hood with his thumb. I shuddered as he flicked his tongue across my clit with one swift stroke, then returned to tantalizing blows. He rubbed my chocolate knob softly, making small circles with his thumb, pushing my hormones over the edge. I stared into his dark eyes, anxious for the moment when he would dive in. If anticipatio
n had been fatal, I would have been dead. Flutters erupted in my stomach as he trailed kisses from my knees up between my thighs, until finally burying his face between my legs. He rolled his tongue back and forth inside my pussy, causing chills to course through me from head to toe.

  “Mmm…” I moaned, running my fingers over his head.

  Gator pulled away, just long enough to remove his clothes, then climbed back on the bed. He kissed me softly while positioning himself between my legs. He stroked and dug deep inside my pussy, rotating his hips, serenading my lower walls with his dick. He held my right leg in his palm while I locked my left leg around his waist. Elevating my hips, I arched my back, and rotated my hips, throwing it back. He dropped his grip on my leg, then grabbed my waist with both hands, lifting me up off the bed.

  “Shit!” I groaned in pleasure and wrapped my arms around his shoulder, my legs around his waist, while pressing my face against his neck. I closed my eyes while flexing my pleasure muscles, holding on to his man for dear life.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked again, then grunted lowly. He flipped me back onto the bed, and increased his thrusting speed. He beat the corners of my pussy viciously, causing me to scream out in ecstasy. “Do you?” he asked again.

  “No…” I moaned. “No!”

  * * * * *

  “I can help you find the person responsible,” Gator stated, stroking my back.

  The two of us lay in each other’s arms, basking in the afterglow of what I could only describe as true lovemaking.

  “How?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “What happens after you find him?” I asked curiously.

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “Justice.”

  “Then justice will be served,” he said. “However, my idea of justice might be different than yours.”

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  “So…what happens next, Diamond?” he asked, tightening his arms around me.

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “You to give me your loyalty and love.”

  “I think I can do that,” I said without hesitation.

  “You may want to think about it Diamond. I take both of them seriously.”

  “If my loyalty and love is what you want, Gator, they’re all yours.”

  Chapter 4

  When the police finally located the man responsible for my best friend’s murder, they discovered that he’d been tortured and mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable. I didn’t necessarily agree with the methods Gator had employed, but part of me felt some bittersweet satisfaction that justice had been served, albeit a crueler justice than I would have imagined. His cohorts, the other men in the rusty, green car, were later apprehended; as it turned out, they had been disputing with Blair over a breached contract. Truly, Shaundra and I had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  While losing my girlfriend was my greatest regret from that night, some good came out of it. Her tragedy led me to grow closer with Gator, the best man I ever known next to my father. Six months after that tragic night, the night Gator and I had made love for the first time to soothe my pain, Gator had asked me to be his wife, and I’d accepted without a second thought.

  “Diamond, you know nothing about that man!” Mama ranted, pacing back and forth across her living room floor.

  “I know I love him, Mama, and that’s enough,” I explained.

  “You’ve known him six months, Diamond. That isn’t love. It’s just…lust.”

  I had been attempting to explain to my mother for the last half-hour why I was going to marry Gator, and I’d hoped she would offer me her blessing. That hope had fizzled out within the first sixty seconds of our conversation.

  “What does he do for a living? Who are his people?” Mama raged. “I know nothing about him.”

  “Mama, he’s good to me,” I pleaded. “That’s all that matters.”

  “Money doesn’t make a man good, Diamond. And furthermore, what’s he plan to—”

  The front door opened, and Gator stepped in, interrupting our conversation. I’d originally asked him to wait in the car for me, but much like my pleas for my mother’s approval, my request had fallen on deaf ears. “Mrs. Tinsley,” he said, standing with his hands clasped in front of him. “Diamond is going to be my wife. It would please both of us if you would give us your blessing and agree to share in our new life. However, if you choose not to do so, I will respect your decision, but it won’t change a thing. Diamond and I are getting married, no matter what anyone else has to say about it.”

  Oh shit, I thought, as few people I knew had the nerve to stand up to my mama.

  Mama stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “You do not have my blessing,” she said firmly, “and you never will.”

  “Thank you for your honesty, ma’am,” Gator said politely. He extended his hand to me. “Enjoy your evening, Mrs. Tinsley.”

  Speechless, I took his hand and followed him out the door.

  “Diamond, if you leave with that man, you are no longer part of this family!” Mama yelled after me.

  Gator held the car door open while I climbed in. “Our flight leaves in an hour,” he said, sliding in behind the wheel. “Are you sure this is what you want, Diamond? I’m not the kind of man who just lets people drop in and out of his life. Once you become a part of my world, there’s no turning back. Baby, if you’re feeling even an ounce of doubt that this is what you want, you need to let me know now.”

  I stared into his beautiful brown eyes, concentrating on every word he said. “I want this.” I smiled. “I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted before.”

  “For life?”

  “For life.” I leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, anxious to see what our future would hold. It pained me that my mother was so upset, but Gator had all the love I’d ever need. If I’d ever been sure of anything, I was sure of that.

  Chapter 5

  Five years later…

  I sat in the corner of Club Delight, relaxing against the soft leather booth and sipping on my third glass of Kinky for the night. The bright electric blue and neon green lights flashed around the room, creating a spectacular show, while the bass blaring from the stereo speakers ignited my inner desire to move my hips. I maintained my composure and watched the crowd. On any given Friday night, the exclusive club located on the island of Ambergris Caye, was packed with an array of partygoers, and this night was no different. The dance floor was a melting pot of men and women representing almost every nationality, shaking their asses and turning their glasses up. On all four sides of the dance floor were long runways, flanked with spotlights, each housing two metal poles.

  I was sitting in the VIP section near the stage with Jonah, my husband’s second-in-command. He’d been assigned to accompany me until Gator arrived. Jonah was a tall brother with skin the color of dark chocolate, two hundred pounds of modest, but lean muscle, with a round face, full cheeks, and low-cut hair flowing with deep waves. His long, curly eyelashes and big, brown eyes made him look more like the boy next door than a bodyguard. He was dressed in dark slacks and a button-down shirt, a dramatic change from his normal jeans and polo shirt.

  A loud gong resounded throughout the room, indicating that it was now midnight, time for all those hogging the dance floor to step off and make room for the real entertainment. At the stroke of midnight, the music changed, the lighting softened, and the atmosphere became more sexually exhilarating. The dancers hit the stages and began to slither around their respective poles. The deejay, a slim Rastafarian with shoulder-length dreads, made his traditional midnight announcement that it was time to slow the party down. I watched as the crowd on the floor dissipated and eight bikini-clad female dancers strutted out in a single-file line.

  I held my glass up for Jonah to pour me another drink and shot glances from one stage to the other, until my eyes landed on a tall, cinnamon-complexioned female. She wasn’t on
stage, but was sitting in a booth near the exit door. I’d seen her in the club before, and upon further examination, I recognized her as the assistant manager. Our eyes locked momentarily, until I redirected my attention to the voluptuous eye-candy that now gyrated and bounced against the poles.

  Out of the eight dancers, one in particular stood out, a far cry hotter than the rest. She had skin the color of milk and hair the color of night; it swung past her shoulders and stopped in the middle of her back. The shimmering gold two-piece outfit she was stuffed into could hardly contain her large, round breasts and ample, perfectly sculptured ass. I followed her every move, admiring how she rolled her wide hips back and forth atop her stilettos as she pranced and slid around the pole. She grabbed the pole with both hands, then pulled herself up off the floor. She slowly spread her legs apart, stretching them out until they were parallel with the pole. She held that position while the crowd went wild, tossing bill after bill onto the stage. I admired her strength as she balanced her body without struggle or hesitation, like an acrobat, entirely suspended in midair. When the tempo of the music changed, she slowly inched her legs up, then locked her ankles around the metal pole before releasing her hands. She hung upside down, rotating her hips and bouncing her crotch against the pole, grinding like she was riding a dick.

  “That’s one bad chick,” I whispered in appreciation.

  After the dancers completed their sexy show, each stepped seductively off the stage and dispersed out into the crowd. I watched as they approached the onlookers, undoubtedly on a mission to secure an additional paycheck for the night.

  The female who had captured my attention stepped up to a distinguished-looking gentleman dressed in a tan linen shirt with matching pants. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and from the way he extended his arms to greet her, it was clear that the two of them had a connection outside the customer relationship. She leaned in and welcomed his embrace, then kissed his cheek before sauntering off, toward the other woman I’d noticed earlier.