“I take it all, as long as you’re there,” she said. “There’s nothing I can’t handle or won’t handle as long as you’re by my side.”
“I swear you should be on the menu,” I told her. “You just whet my appetite with any damn thing that comes out of your mouth.”
She smiled a huge dimpled smile in my direction.
“I love your hair. I see you took yourself a pamper day, huh? Looks beautiful. Do you miss your braids at all?”
“Not really. But kinda…sorta…only because you do the most damage to my hair with all that seducing you keep me a victim of. But you promised that if I needed to go to the shop every day or get someone to come out, you’d be up for it, right? I hope you didn’t forget saying that.”
“Absolutely. I can’t give up the obsession I have with your body, so whatever your beauty needs are, you got it.”
“Stop trying to turn me on in this damn restaurant, Rush. That’s unfair to the highest degree. You hear me? Stop it,” I blushed.
“Alright, alright. Topic change. So, how do you feel about us getting to unwind since life has been so busy lately?”
“Look at this restaurant. Need you ask? This is so romantic, I can’t even think straight,” she confessed.
We had driven over to Chantilly’s in Redwood City, to have a nice dinner. We ended up in one of the private rooms sitting in front of the fireplace, soft music playing in the background, and in full relaxation mode. I loved spending time with Alika and couldn’t wait until I could bring my two girls together to hang out.
“How was earlier today for you, baby? You didn’t feel dismissed or anything like that did you?”
Alika was quiet momentarily, then looked over at me and smiled. “You want the truth?” she queried.
“Nothing but…” I responded, nervously.
“Well, in that case. I have to be honest.”
I put my fork down atop my Wine Braised Short ribs, eagerly anticipating what it was she was about to say. “Okay. Let’s have it,” I said.
“I absolutely did not feel dismissed. Not at all. And Michaela…she’s adorable. Absolutely adorable. It’s all I can say about her.”
“You know you had me nervous, right?” I chuckled.
“I know. I was just playing around with you. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that you helped produce such a beauty.”
“Thank you. She is kinda special, isn’t she?”
“She’s got her daddy blushing, that’s for sure. I’d say that makes her damn special.”
“And I’d say that you’re special, Alika. I know this is a lot for you, and I appreciate you taking it all in stride. I really do.”
“Oh, there’s no other way to take it, baby. I mean that. Whatever comes with the package, I’m for that. This happened way before me. It would’ve been the same had I come into your life and she was already there. I’d have to take it or leave it. And leaving is not an option. As long as the mama didn’t come with the package…”
I wondered when she would bring up the Janae issue. It made me think back to Janae’s bold intrusion earlier:
Is that your woman? I think it’s a little too early for you to be introducing yet another person into the picture so early when this should be Michaela’s time to get to know you…
“It’s my daughter and her only. There’s no lingering interest in Janae that you have to be worried about. It’s all about Michaela. Okay?”
“Okay,” she responded. She took a sip of her white wine, then announced: “But I wouldn’t have given you up without a fight if the package did include your daughter’s mother,” she said, smiling. “I’m just saying.”
“You better not ever give up without a fight. I know I’d fight to the death for you, so it’s good to know that we’re on the same page…in the same paragraph…in the same sentence,” I kidded.
“I get it!” she laughed.
“As long as you do…get it, that is.”
“Okay, boss,” she responded, placing her glass down, and cutting into her salad. “I won’t lie though. Janae isn’t bad-looking, so there was slight intimidation. Not a lot, but just a little. And I don’t think it had anything to do with how pretty she was, but more about the fact that you share something with her that will forever bond you.”
“Baby, that’s not something you even have to worry about. I’m thankful to Janae for blessing me with such a beautiful little girl, but there’s nothing romantic between the two of us. And I don’t have any kind of feelings like that for her. She’s the mother of my child. Without her I wouldn’t have Michaela, but that’s it.”
“I know, babe. And please don’t think that I’m gonna be that girl who you always have to reassure. I’m not her. And I won’t turn into her. I just really wanted to be up front with you about how I was feeling. It’s minimal. I actually hope to get to know Janae as well as Michaela when the time is right.”
“See and that is just one of many reasons that this man is all the way crazy about you.”
She smiled at me flashing those dimples that I loved, and went back to tearing through her salad.
“You know Michaela asked me who you were after you had left.”
“Really? she asked, excitedly. “Wow, what’d you tell her?”
“Well…” I started, reaching across the table. “I told her that your name is Alika, and that it means, most beautiful in Swahili. I told her that you make me very happy and that one day, when she got to know me better that maybe the three of us could go to Disneyland.”
I watched Alika’s eyes light up at the mention of Disneyland and almost laughed aloud. I thought it was the cutest thing ever that she loved that place so much.
“What’d she say?”
“She said that we needed to get to know each other really quickly then because she wanted to go. Oh! And guess what? I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this part before now.”
“What?”
“You guys share the same birthday. How ironic is that?”
“You’re not serious?”
“All the way serious.”
“Nice. So I can use my birthday as an excuse to get down to Anaheim even when I’m deemed too old to still care about Mickey and Fantasmic!?”
I laughed out loud because I knew she was dead ass serious. “Yep, I guess so.”
“So, I can’t wait for this formal introduction to take place between all of us so that I can ease into the fold and get to know the little beauty.”
TWENTY-ONE
New Century: Premier Full Nude Gentlemen’s Club
San Francisco, CA
“Get help! Call 9-1-1!”
Lance was slowly fading, but could hear the voices around him amidst all the activity. He could barely move, and could feel at least two people tugging at him, yelling for him to, “Stay with me, Mr. Cambridge! Stay with me!”
But it was too late. Everything had already faded to black…
~*~*~
Unbeknownst to anyone the perpetrator was still in the midst of the chaos. She had initially hurried away from the scene, but then doubled back. She had come for a mission and she wanted to ensure that it was completed. Yes, she had seen the mighty Lance Cambridge take a fall. She had even seen his entire body go limp. But that wasn’t enough. She wanted to make sure that he had met his demise. The dosage that she had given him should have been enough, but with all the people around him trying to see that he was okay, there existed the slim possibility that help might arrive in enough time.
That can’t happen! Absolutely cannot happen.
Her best bet was to stay as long as she could so that she could have a front row seat to the goings on. This had been in the planning stages long enough for the execution to succeed. Failing was not an option.
The beautiful woman had come dressed to kill—both literally, and figuratively. She had leaned against the wall in an effort to blend in with the rest of the spectators. Her mahogany-colored hair was pulled all the way away from her face
in a smooth ponytail down her back. Her accessories: tennis bracelet, earrings, and necklace—all diamonds. And her dress was draped around her svelte form in red, and off one shoulder. She wasn’t nearly as frantic as everyone else because she was hoping for an outcome that would not allow Lance to breathe air ever again. As far as she was concerned he had done enough damage for a lifetime and needed to be stopped. He had breathed sixty-five years too long, in her opinion. Just he alone, was a weapon of mass destruction.
When the paramedics rushed through the club’s entrance, she tried to peek around the crowd to see what she could see, but it proved difficult. Once the oxygen mask was placed over his face, it seemed that the entire building had silenced. Her head was filled with desperation.
Once the sound of sirens neared, it dawned on her that she should get out of there before police arrived and began detaining everyone for questioning. She flashed a few strained smiles as she used the same entrance that she had walked through several hours earlier—as an exit.
~*~*~
By six o’clock the next morning, all the major news outlets were reporting that:
“Millionaire, Lance Michael Cambridge, has been rushed to the hospital this morning. He is still in the touch-and-go stages, and he is listed in critical condition. Initial reports coming in say that Mr. Cambridge was injected with a lethal dosage of the drug ketamine.
Ketamine is one of many commonly abused drugs in the United States. However, it’s not a drug that was created for the purpose of getting high, but instead was originally designed for the purpose of medical anesthesia for both people and animals.
Authorities are treating this as an attempted homicide, and are urging anyone with information to please contact the San Francisco Police Department.”
TWENTY-TWO
Rush
“I love when you do that,” I muttered. “Yeah…baby.”
Alika coated my dick with her lips in the most sultry way imaginable, while allowing her tongue to trace over my head’s tip, and into my opening in sensual strokes. I could feel the trickles of pre-cum as they met with her mouth. Shit. Every ounce of what she did made me feel as though hers was the only sex I would ever need for the rest of my existence on this earth. Our desire to please one another matched identically. Whenever I took her, I made sure that I paid strict attention to what her body asked for, and she obliged me in the same manner. No two times ever felt the same.
She mounted me, her pussy facing me. As much as I longed to pull her to me and suck her pussy until it was numb and she was begging for me to come inside, she had forbid me. I tried my best to comply every time, but it was like asking a bee not to produce honey. Alika insisted that whenever we indulged six-nine style, that I let her finish so that she wouldn’t lose her mind in the process of trying bringing me to my explosive conclusion. But as her prize stared me in the face, all I could think of was wanting to be inside, and the more I obsessed, the harder my dick became, and the harder my dick became the quicker the nut crept up out of nowhere. “Arrgghhh! Arrgghhh!” I yelled, out as my toes curled, my eyes rolled to the back of my head, and all I had to give went spurting across Alika’s tongue. “Arrgghhh!” And then down her throat.
My eyes were still closed when Alika swallowed her final drop, and my appetite was in grave need of being fulfilled. Without hesitation, and without warning, I grabbed her by her hips and yanked her toward my face, and I ate her like she was a second entrée. As her juices began to fall, I licked each and every drop of her essence. This pussy was mine, and I wanted to mark every ounce of its territory. I had her locked in place as I massaged her wet lips one by one, then opened her wider so that I could tease the hole I planned to move slowly into once I was done here. I brought my arms around to lock around her thighs where I was able to slide my fingers along her clit. The moment was near and she began to surfboard and contract around my face the closer her orgasm came.
“F-fuu-ck! Ruushhh! Baaabyy!” But it didn’t stop there. Her body twitched for the next few minutes as she went in and out of a triple orgasm, leaving me smiling beneath the wetness. I loved when I got her to that point, and it was just in time for my dick to rise once again, so I quickly turned her over, and gave her what we both wanted. I slid in, and out, and out…then in…again and again until we were both calling out each other’s names. We held on tight while we rode the wave of passion that was upon us, and reluctant to let us go.
Once our love crashed against each other, we lay in silence for minutes on top of minutes. Our heartbeats pounded against each other, and our out of sync breaths hit the air at varied times in our effort to contain the fire that our passion had ignited.
I rolled over onto the side of Alika and then pulled her close to me. “I love you sooo fucking much. I never thought I’d feel love like this. You’re it for me,” I said, rubbing her face.
She looked at me, and I could tell even in the dimness of our room, that her eyes had begun to water.
“I didn’t tell you that to make you cry, baby.”
“I know,” she admitted. “It’s just that I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. And you love me like I never thought I even deserved to be loved. So, it’s just emotional for me, that’s all. You’re my heart, Rush.”
I was about to respond when I heard what sounded like a vibrating noise. “You hear that?” I asked.
“Hear what?”
“That…listen…”
We both quieted, and I squinted my eyes as though doing so would reveal some magical answer.
“Oh! I hear it! That’s your phone,” Alika explained. “Where is it?”
I crawled out of bed to run over to the dresser where my slacks were. By the time I had reached it, the ringing had stopped, but when I swiped the screen I saw that I had eight missed calls.
“There’s eight missed calls here starting at like two o’clock in the morning. Does your phone have any missed calls?” I asked, preparing to return the call that looked to be from Gigi’s phone. But just as my call was going through, hers was coming in again, so I quickly swiped to answer.
“Hey Gigi,” I said, panicked. “What’s going on?”
“It’s your father, Hunter. Your sister called a short while ago, and apparently he’s in critical condition.”
Everything stood still when I heard Gigi say, critical condition. My entire body went from feeling bliss, to feeling detached from my person, altogether. I was in shock, and I was in denial, and I was confused—not just about what had happened to him, but about how I was supposed to feel about it. The man that I’d had such a tumultuous relationship with all my life might be dying, and I was conflicted about whether or not I was even affected.
“Hunter…? Are you there?” Gigi asked.
Then it was Alika’s voice. “Rush…? Baby, what’s wrong?”
I nodded in her direction to signal her that I was fine, and then responded to Gigi. “What happened?” I managed.
“Jamie called and said that something happened to him while he was out at a club in San Francisco with his friends.”
“He must’ve been at New Century,” I said, quietly. “That’s where he and his rich buddies go to hang out.”
“Yeah, well, Jamie said that some kind of way someone injected him with some drug. A lethal dose of it.”
“What?!”
“Yeah. She said that they have no idea who did it, but that…” she paused.
“But that what, Gigi?”
“They don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“Okay. I’m getting dressed and I’ll…uh…” I couldn’t find my words. I was discombobulated. “I’ll uh…make my way up there, I guess.”
“I think that would be good. Let me know if you need me for anything. Anything at all. Okay?”
“Yeah, Gi. Thanks. I appreciate you calling.”
“No worries at all. He’s at UCSF Medical Center.”
~*~*~
Alika had insisted on accompanying me to th
e hospital for moral support, so after we had gotten dressed, we headed across the bridge, in silence. I didn’t know what role I’d play while there, but we went anyway.
As soon as we arrived on the floor, I immediately saw Jamie, her boyfriend, Greg, my little brother, LJ, and his mother.
LJ spotted me and rushed over. “Rush!” he yelled, running over to Alika and me. “My daddy’s sick. Really sick,” he said.
“I heard about that. It’s why I came.”
I picked the little guy up and went to take a seat in the vicinity of everyone else so that I could be near for updates as they were provided. I had no intentions on having discussions with anyone. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Jamie from approaching. She looked exhausted, and it was easy to tell that she had been crying. Her eyes and nose were both red, and her sniffling was constant.
“Hi Rush. I’m glad you could be here,” she said. “Hello Alika.”
“Hi Jamie. I’m sorry about your father,” Alika expressed.
“Thank you. I appreciate that,” she responded, dismissively. “Rush, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for a while now.”
“Jamie, now is not the time,” I said, as mildly as I could muster.
My little brother climbed down from my lap and went back to his mother was, who flashed a faint smile in our direction. I offered her a simple nod, and paid very little attention to Greg who sat not too far from her.
“When will be the time, Rush? I shouldn’t have to call your personal assistant to get word to you about anything. You never even heard my side. You just cut me off without notice. With Dad lying in there fighting for his life, we can clearly see just how short life is. So, when will—”
Alika rose from her seat before I knew it and spoke on my behalf. “Jamie, he asked you to leave him alone. Now is not the time,” she warned.
“I don’t believe I was talking to you, Alika,” she shot back.
Rapture 2: a BWWM, Alpha Male Romance Page 12
