by Linda Verji
LOVE ME DEADLY
Linda Verji
Copyright © 2015 by Linda Verji
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2015 by Linda Verji
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the author, excepting brief quotes in reviews.
This is an original work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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‘Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.’
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
CHAPTER 1
It was a good day for bad things to happen.
The air reeked of looming rain. Weak sunlight peeked between heavy clouds to lick at the earth, but had no success in warming it. Several people hurried across the parking lot with barely a glance, smile or acknowledgement to each other; all of them in a hurry get home before the downpour began.
Unconcerned by the threat of getting drenched by the rain, Erica Young unloaded two bags of groceries from her mint green coupe. With a bang, she closed the trunk and trudged towards the five-storey apartment.
Quin, her fiancé, would probably get caught in the rain and five p.m. traffic. But she was sure her presence here would make up for it. They’d been apart for almost a week. She couldn’t wait to see him again; to touch him, to hold him and to tell him how much she appreciated his patience with her these last couple of months.
Erica took the flight of stairs one-by-one lugging the heavy bags. When she was shopping, she’d been thinking of Quin. How he would love it if she made him his favorite dish, baeckeoffe. Not how many ingredients she’d have to carry up the stairs. But he was well worth the aching arms and heavy breathing.
“Hey Erica.” Sabrina, Quin’s next-door neighbor, appeared at the landing. The fifteen year-old was dressed in teenage regulation – preppy t-shirt, short shorts and sneakers. Her face broke into a wide grin. “You’re back early.”
“Hi, lady,” Erica gushed through heavy breaths as she returned the smile – or tried to. Usually she came back from her out-of-town trips on Monday. However, she’d missed Quin so much that she’d decided to play hooky this weekend, leaving her partner to handle the last leg of their Savannah event.
“Did you get me any shoes?” Sabrina asked as she came down the stairs and grabbed one of Erica’s grocery bags.
“Girl, please.” Erica released the bag with a sigh of relief. “You want your mama to kill me?”
“Please,” Sabrina pleaded as they walked up the last flight of stairs. “I’ll hide them.”
Erica laughed “No.”
There was a reason she’d named her business Strippers & Heels. The shoes she sold were not for the faint of heart or the young.
“Are you and Rachel still not talking?” she asked Sabrina.
Easily distracted, the teenager launched into a summary of the state of her feud with her best-friend. It had something to do with a boy who both Sabrina and Rachel liked. Apparently the boy liked, Sabrina, not Rachel. Since Rachel had seen him first, she’d called dibs which didn’t sit well with Sabrina who thought she might like him. Complicated!
“But she’s your best friend, and he’s just a boy,” Erica said as they stopped in front of Quin’s apartment. “Do you want to lose Rachel over him?”
“You haven’t seen Sting.” Sabrina’s eyes glazed. “He is so buff and sooo cute.”
“But you’ve got cuter boys in your class.” Erica dug into her purse to extract her keys. “Didn’t you tell me you liked Jamal?”
Sabrina’s “I guess,” came with a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes. Her voice rose to a high whine as she added, “But Rachel deserves it. She didn’t even invite me to her birthday party.”
“She didn’t?” The keys jingled as Erica pressed them to the lock.
“No.” Sabrina paused for effect before adding, “And she invited Josie.”
“No, she didn’t.” Erica shot Sabrina a faux-shocked look before turning the key. Josie was Sabrina’s other enemy; something involving cheerleading - it was so hard to keep up with Sabrina’s feuds.
“Mm hm.” Sabrina rolled her neck. “Now you see why I have to date Sting.”
“This will backfire on you,” Erica said as she pushed the door to Quin’s apartment open. “Why don’t you just-”
Her words came to a screeching halt. Her heart paused in its beating and the shopping bag fell from her limp hand as all her senses focused on the scene playing out before her.
The naked lovers were hard at work.
Quinton Morrow’s pale skin glistened with sweat and the heavy muscles of his shoulders and back rippled with the strength of his effort as he pumped rhythmically into the woman below him.
“Quin, Quin, Quin,” the woman moaned throatily as she gyrated energetically in time to his strokes. In her pleasure she looked little like meek Brooklyn Davis who’d pleaded with Erica to give her a job. She looked nothing like the woman who’d been so grateful Erica had offered her a place to stay rent-free, she’d cried.
But there was no denying that it was she.
“Quin, Quin, Quin,” she moaned.
His response was a growl and a quickening of his pumping.
For a moment Erica was sure she was hallucinating. This was not happening. There was no way this was happening. She must’ve stepped into another dimension where the impossible was possible.
But there was no denying the truth her eyes were telling her brain.
This was happening.
Erica’s heart shattered into a million broken pieces as she watched Quin and Brooklyn betray her. The moaning and groaning sounds of their betrayal had masked her entrance, and neither of them even noticed that she was standing at the door. It was Sabrina’s sharp gasp that yanked Erica from her shocked state and alerted the two lovers of their presence.
“Erica,” Brooklyn called out in shock just as Erica hustled Sabrina out the door. Unable to think of anything but her pain, Erica left the teenager at the landing and rushed down the stairs.
Her heels clicked on the hard concrete as blind shock carried her footsteps further from her hell. The moment she stepped out of the building, sadness overtook the shock and tears slipped down her face. The weather seemed to react to her pain because even the frail sunlight was no longer visible. Only angry clouds brooded over the sky.
Erica reached the car only to discover that her hands were empty. She’d dropped her car keys with the shopping bag.
No. No. No.
Any pleasure Brooklyn had felt before Erica’s interruption, splattered into distress as she pushed Quin off her and grabbed her dress. No. No. No. Erica was supposed to be in Savannah until tomorrow hosting one of their parties. Not here.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
She wasn’t supposed to find out like this.
Brooklyn had planned it all out. She would wait until Erica came back home, sit her down and tell her everything. She was going to tell her it wasn’t a choice for she and Quin to fall in love. It had just happened. What Erica and Quin had was just lust, but Brooklyn and Quin were in love – destined for each other. Erica would be a little sad at first but eventually, she’d understand.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
“Erica,” Brooklyn shouted desperately as she emerged from the building. Erica was at the parking lot yanking at her car door, but it wouldn’t budge. It gave Brooklyn the time to reach her. Her voice tight with desperation, Brooklyn pleaded, “Erica, please let me expl-.”
The punch caught her by surprise.
Sharp pain blinded Brooklyn as Erica’s fist connected with her cheek. She staggered back with the force of the blow and fell to the ground. Her ass slammed into the hard concrete. Pain shot up her spine in excruciating waves, but her pain was nothing compared to the hurt in Erica’s watery eyes as she stared down at her.
“You were my friend.” There was so much venom in Erica’s words that Brooklyn’s heart constricted in fear and she flinched as if struck. Erica wasn’t supposed to be this angry. If only she’d just calm down and listen.
“I’m st.. I’m still your friend,” Brooklyn stumbled over her words as she sat up on her hunches and grabbed Erica’s dress. “P…Please, Erica. Just listen.”
Disgust marred Erica’s features as she slapped the younger woman’s hands away from her dress. “Don’t touch me.” Skirting around Brooklyn, she made for the gates.
Brooklyn hobbled to her feet intent on following her but pain shot through her ankle and she crumpled back to the ground. Helplessly, she watched Erica rush past the gates, make a right turn and disappear around the corner.
That’s when it began to rain. Fat, sad rain drops slid down her tear-stained cheeks, soaking into her skin and plastering her dress to her body.
It’s wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
CHAPTER 2
“No.” Reggie Coleman’s voice brooked no argument.
“Look. I promise it will be for…let’s say one hour,” his friend, Nico Vasquez coaxed.
“No.”
“C’mon, man.”
“Absolutely not.” Reggie set his socked feet on the coffee table as his eyes followed the football game playing on his TV. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
“Kendra won’t kill you,” Nico insisted. “She won’t even know.”
“She always finds out-” Reggie took a sip of his ginger ale. “-and even when she doesn’t, you tell her. Snitch.”
Nico’s loud gasp filtered over the phone line. His voice took on a mournful note as he said, “That is hurtful to my feelings.”
Reggie laughed. “I’m not going out with you on a Sunday night.”
“Do you know how long it has been since your sister went out of town?” Nico didn’t wait for Reggie to answer. “So long I don’t even remember it. I need to take advantage. Help a brother out.”
“First, don’t you have like the four a.m. shift at the station tomorrow? How you gon’ chase down criminals with a hangover?” Reggie’s words hitched as he bent forward to set the now empty bottle on the coffee table. “Second the last time I went out with you I ended up in Tijuana with a tattoo I’m still testing for Syphilis. I am not doing that again. And finally, you are not a brother.”
“Oh, so brother is a black thing now?”
“Yup.”
“Black people!” Nico scoffed. Adding pep to his voice, he shifted gears. “I’ll be waiting for you at Sal’s. Wear something warm.”
“Did you not hear me?”
“You better get your ass here in an hour,” Nico threatened, “or I’m sending a patrol for you.”
“I am so scared.”
“Fuck you.”
“Back at ya.” Reggie chuckled as Nico cut the call on him. He would’ve capitulated to Nico’s demands but he could still hear the soft patter of rain drops falling outside. Nico may’ve been his friend, but he didn’t love him that much.
Pausing the game, he slid his feet to the ground and stood. His footsteps soundless, he crossed the living room and headed to the kitchen. His two-bedroom apartment was large by single-man. But when you had a little sister who had a habit of running away from home whenever the feeling struck her, you had to do what you had to do.
He’d just picked a can of pop from the fridge when the doorbell sounded. Setting the can on the counter, he made for the front door. He peeked through the peephole, only to find her standing at his doorstep. Quickly, he unsnapped the locks and pulled open the door.
“Erica?” Reggie’s voice reflected his shock as he took her in. By the hair clinging to her skull and face, and the dress plastered to her body, it was obvious she’d gotten caught in the rain. But it was her eyes that caused a painful constriction of his heart. They were a heartbreaking red and in place of the smile that usually lit them was deep sadness. “What’s wrong?”
“Umm. I was just passing and…um,” she stumbled over her words as her gaze dropped to her sodden shoes. Her hands fluttered nervously as she said, “I…I…I’m sorry I’ll just go.”
He caught her hand before she could turn on her heels. “Come in. Please.” He didn’t know what was going on but there was no way he was letting her leave. Her fingers were icy cold as he tugged her into the house. Once she was in, he closed the door behind her.
Erica stopped at the threshold staring askance at his living room. He barely caught her words when she whispered. “I’ll mess up your carpet.”
“It’s okay,” he returned. He could clean it up. “And I can get you something to change into.”
She nodded. Bending, she slipped off her shoes before letting him guide her by hand to his bedroom. The curiosity was killing him. What was she doing here? The apartment she, Kendra and Brooklyn shared was a good distance from his so how had she gotten here? But his instincts told him it would be a bad idea to press for any answers right now.
She stood watching while he rummaged through his closet. Seconds later he came up with a t-shirt and basketball shorts and handed them to her.
“Thanks.” Her voice was soft it would’ve disappeared if there was any wind to carry it. She made her way to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Thirty minutes later, she still hadn’t come out of the bathroom and Reggie started to worry.
He rapped on the door. “Erica, are you okay?”
No answer.
“Erica?” he tried again. No answer.
The doorknob turned easily in his hands.
She was seated on the floor by the bathtub, in nothing but her bra and panties. In one hand she held a towel, but she wasn’t using it. She was just staring into space. She turned her head when he entered the bathroom. Even in distress Erica was a beautiful woman. The soft overhead light lingered on her wide brown eyes, nose and thick lips. It touched her honey-toned skin, licked at her full breasts cupped by the flame red bra, to kiss her thick thighs.
Reggie’s cock jerked at the sight.
Down, boy. He’d successfully hidden his desire for her for this long. He wasn’t about to out himself. Especially not now! Shifting his gaze to her face, he stepped closer and gently tugged the towel from her hand. “Let me help you with that.”
He crouched to her level, toweling her hair then the bits of skin he could get to, intent on keeping the process as clinical as possible. However, it was hard to tame his errant eyes; eyes that kept slipping back to her body for another tempting glance. He picked the t-shirt off the floor and then slipped it over her head. Unresisting, Erica accepted his help and slipped her arms through the t-shirt’s armholes. When Reggie bent to pick the basketball shorts, she stopped him with fingers digging into his forearm. “They’re too big.”
“Oh.” Reggie straightened to upright position. Racking his mind for a solution, he said, “Maybe Ailea left something in the guestroom that you can fit into.”
Considering how curvy Erica was, the chances of finding something that fit both her and Ailea was pretty low. But it wouldn’t hurt to check.
He’d just turned on his heels when Erica’s soft voice stopped him in his tracks. “I found Quin fucking Brooklyn.”
Her voice was so hollow, and the statement so matter of fact that
it took Reggie a while to get it. But when comprehension of what she’d said hit him, it rendered him speechless. Brooklyn?
Quin maybe! Reggie could see him doing something dirty like that. But Brooklyn? She was like Erica’s second shadow and unequivocally devoted to her. Reggie didn’t even know what to say, so he settled for, “I’m sorry.”
He sat down on the hard floor next to her and snaked his arm around her waist. Erica turned slightly, wrapped both her arms around his torso and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder. On instinct, he folded her against his body and dragged her to his lap.
It felt good to hold her. She was all warm, sexy curves and clean, feminine scents that teased his senses. Usually their relationship was arms-length, but he’d been craving for something more for the better part of two years. But this was not the way he wanted her in his arms.
He only realized she was crying when he felt the cold teardrops wet his skin. Holding her tight, he soothed his palms over her back and arms in smooth circles as she cried. It could’ve been a minute, it could’ve been an hour, but eventually the tears dried up.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized as she swiped her palm over her cheek. “I got your t-shirt wet.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s just…” Her words drifted off and her hand fluttered without direction before dropping to her thigh. She set her head back on his shoulder.
“I know,” Reggie responded simply as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
For a while they sat in the large bathroom neither speaking. That changed when she shifted in his lap reminding him she was in nothing but a t-shirt and underwear. Despite his best intentions he was still a man – a man who wanted her. Afraid that if they stayed with her on his lap any longer his dick would go rogue, he said, “Why don’t I set up the guestroom for you?”
“Okay.” She shifted off his lap and then stood. Reggie tried to avoid looking at her as he matched her movement but it was impossible. Unbidden, his gaze catalogued her delectable form.
He’d seen many women wear dresses shorter than that t-shirt but somehow the thigh-length fabric seemed more erotic on Erica. It fell below her ample ass, molding over her firm flesh lovingly as she walked out of the bathroom. Oh, how he itched to touch.
