Xavier: (Indestructible)

by Mortier, D. M.

  She didn’t back down and, instead, wrapped her arms around one of his outstretched legs.

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Cass, please go to bed. I can’t deal with this right now,” he murmured. He suddenly stood, lifted her to her feet, and spun her around to swat her butt to get her moving.

  “Ouch! Arrogant much?” she grumbled.

  He grunted.

  Cassandra looked at him one last time, sighed in resignation, and then crept onto the makeshift bed on her bedroom floor. She fidgeted restlessly for almost ten minutes before he gave in to her.

  “You’re so damn stubborn,” he whispered as he lowered himself next to her and pulled her into his arms.

  Purring with contentment, she sighed and snuggled into his heat. She promptly fell asleep, trusting him implicitly to take care of her.

  Xavier looked down at the young girl in his arms. “I’m so fucked,” he muttered. Thinking about his uncharacteristic protective attitude toward her, he hugged her closer to him. My feelings for this girl are way out of hand. Tonight, he had called his boss, waking him up out of his bed to apprehend a local gang in the Bahamas that was far outside their mandate. His boss had asked no questions, only authorized the relevant resources he needed to go back to Nado’s house and roundup all in resident, including Nado and Linc, who had yet to go to the local hospital for medical attention. After Xavier’s team had confiscated a large amount of automatic weapons and drugs, the men were immediately marked for extradition and placed on a plane to Miami. They had had to get the Minister of Immigration and Foreign affairs out of bed to achieve that feat. Along with the weapon charges and their attack on a US federal agent, the men were going to be prosecuted in a federal court in Miami.

  Now that he had proven that he would do anything to protect her, Xavier couldn’t lie to himself any longer. His feelings for her were irrevocable. Already, he was unwilling to be without her overnight. He couldn’t help the need to watch over her, even while she slept. He closed his eyes. His last thoughts were running through various scenarios on how to convince her to move in with him.

  The African, who sat the vehicle keeping watch, finally drove away in the early hours of the morning. The time to strike hadn’t arrived yet, but it would come soon.

  Chapter Nine

  Cassandra opened her eyes as the loud knock on her bedroom door came again. She looked around, surprised that she was back in her bed and Xavier was not in the room. “It’s open, come in,” she rasped out, more than disappointed that Xavier wasn’t beside her. Today was Sunday, so she didn’t have to go to work today. Thank God for small mercies!

  “Girl, it’s after one p.m. When are you getting out of that bed?” Monique teased as she came farther into the room. “I never thought I would see the day you oversleep and played hooky from your relentless training. Thank God, finally there’s proof that you’re human like the rest of us.” Monique laughed.

  “Hey, Monique, what’s up?”

  “Duane’s looking for you. It seems that people are talking about your boyfriend making Nado and his gang disappear.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Your boyfriend—”

  Cassandra raised her palm and held it in front of her. “No, let me take a shower and wake up properly before y’all start talking nonsense.”

  “Whatever,” Monique muttered. “Anyway, Duane and the guys are waiting downstairs for you. They think you’re feeding this guy information about their business.” Monique left the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  Cassandra watched her go and shook her head at her family’s foolishness. She marched to her bathroom, took a shower, and washed her hair. Back in her bedroom, she rubbed on her favorite lotion, pulled on a peach spaghetti-strapped dress, and slipped on tan high-heeled sandals. After the night she had with Xavier, she wanted to dress more feminine than the jeans and sweatpants he was used to seeing her in. She let her long hair air dry down her back into its natural glossy curls. Taking care with her makeup, she applied natural highlights and spent time accentuating her eyes, cheekbones, and lips. She smiled at the results and couldn’t wait to see Xavier’s expression when he saw her.

  Not in least worried about her irate brothers downstairs, she picked up her iPhone to check her messages. Xavier had left her a message instructing her to message him as soon as she woke up. He was picking her up for lunch. Without looking at the other messages, she immediately texted him back.

  Be ready in 10 minutes was his terse response.

  Cassandra grinned as her heart rate accelerated; she couldn’t wait to see him. Oh God, I love that man! She skipped down the stairs eight minutes later with the same bat-shit grin on her face.

  “It took you fucking long enough,” Duane yelled as soon as her feet hit the last step on the stairway.

  “Good afternoon to you too, Duane. Hi, fellas.” She grinned at him and her other four brothers. “What’s up?”

  “Who is this American mudderfucker you’re screwing around with?” Anton demanded.

  “As far as I know, I’m not screwing around with any mudderfucker, American or otherwise.” Her voice was laced with mocking humor.

  Dylan advanced on her and gripped her forearm.

  “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you,” Xavier said menacingly. No one had noticed his soundless entry into the house.

  Damn, he moves like a ghost! Cassandra’s lips stretched wider in amusement and admiration; she loved his virile presence.

  His gaze devoured her, roaming over her with ill-concealed hunger but with obvious trepidation. While she had wanted to impress him with her femininity, she had not anticipated he would again have the beauty and the beast comparison. His dark eyes remained steady on her, but his desire of moments before was now hidden.

  Still holding onto Cassandra’s forearm, Dylan turned toward Xavier. “You’re that fucking tourist from a few weeks ago.”

  Xavier held his palm out toward Cassandra. “Come.”

  Cassandra rolled her eyes at his still unreadable expression. Hell yeah, he’s pissed! She smiled harder, happy to realize she’d learned to read his moods so well. She devoured him with her eyes. Dressed in dark blue jeans, a light blue designer shirt, a white gold chain around his neck, and a diamond earring in his ear, he was a gorgeous, suave-looking man. Pulling out of Dylan’s grasp, she forced herself to walk and not run toward Xavier. She placed her hand in his. His fingers closed around hers and pulled her against him. Her head barely reached his shoulder, making her feel intensely fragile and feminine next to his blatant masculinity. She snuggled into him and melted as his arms tightened around her.

  With an arm anchored around her waist, he turned to leave.

  “Hey! What the hell? Y’all ain’t leaving out of here until you tell us who the fuck you are!” Duane shouted.

  Cassandra stepped out of Xavier’s arm and started to move toward Duane. “Look, Duane—”

  Xavier palmed her stomach and pulled her back against him. “Cameron?” Xavier looked at her younger brother.

  “Wassup?” Cameron nodded at Xavier.

  “You good?” Xavier asked.

  “Yeah, man, everyting cool,” Cameron mumbled in gravelly Bahamian dialect.

  Xavier nodded, turned again, and coolly walked out the front door.

  “Hey! What the fuck?” Duane yelled, pissed at being ignored.

  After handing her into his SUV, Xavier moved around to the driver’s car door. Her brothers, who had followed them outside, looked as though they were edging for a confrontation.

  With a gun drawn in his hand, Duane rounded on Xavier. “Look, man, you didn’t answer me. Who the hell are you?”

  Cassandra opened the car door to climb out.

  Xavier turned and gave her a hard stare. “Stay where you are,” he told her softly.

  Cassandra jumped out of the vehicle. “I can handle my brothers,” she said, sure her annoyance at her brothers’ antics was etched in her face. “So don’t get your panties i
n a twist.”

  “This idiot has a gun. I don’t want you in the line of fire,” Xavier growled. “Get back in the damn car, please.”

  Cassandra stomped back in the car, grumbling under her breath, and slammed the car door behind her.

  Xavier looked down at Duane. “I would suggest that you never point a fucking gun at me.”

  Anton moved forward with his gun also drawn.

  “Come on, guys. X saved my ass last night. Why y’all trippin’?” Cameron complained.

  “I just don’t like some mystery dude hanging around us when we gat shit going on,” Duane insisted.

  “Well, y’all need to thank this dude. Nado and his crew could have come here at us,” Cameron argued.

  “I still say we smoke this sucker before his boys come for us,” Dylan suggested. “How the hell can we trust someone who can clean out an entire gang and no one knows where the fuck they are?”

  “Yeah, mudderfucker, we don’t trust you. Ya know what I’m sayin’?” Duane drawled.

  Xavier moved swiftly, removing the gun from Duane’s hand and then pointing it back at him.

  Duane widened his eyes in shock.

  Anton looked on with a slight hesitation now, uncertain about their foe. His hands were no longer steady.

  “Next time you point a gun at me, I’ll empty the clip in your ass. Ya know what I’m sayin’?” Xavier muttered before climbing into the SUV and starting the ignition. He threw the gun he had confiscated from Duane into the car’s glove compartment.

  “Hey! Come back here,” Duane yelled, trying to save face in front of his brothers.

  Xavier reversed the vehicle out of the driveway.

  Cassandra shook her head in disgust. “Sometimes I wonder how they’re not dead yet. They’re so bloody incompetent.”

  Xavier glanced over at her. “Didn’t we have a discussion last night about you following instructions?”

  “It seems you were having that discussion with yourself. Ask me to do something nicely, and if I think it’s appropriate or makes sense, I will decide whether to obey you or not.”

  Xavier placed his palm on her knee. “You look beautiful,” he said coolly and slowed the car down to ten miles per hour, causing other motorists behind them to get agitated and blast their horns. He ignored the long line of traffic behind them and instead inched his hand up her left thigh.

  “Okay, I’m confused.” She frowned at him. “You go from fussing at me for not listening to you to telling me I’m beautiful, and now you’re caressing my thigh?”

  Xavier kept his gaze on the road ahead and continued to roam his palm slowly over her thigh.

  Her breathing hitched as his rough palm inched almost to the apex of her thighs.

  “I want to show you another reason why you should listen,” he murmured. He leaned over her, rubbed a thick finger along the seam of her panty-covered folds, and tenderly kissed her cheek, her nose, her ear, and her neck, all while driving at a sedate pace.

  Cassandra widened her thighs, trying to encourage him to caress her more intimately. She turned her head toward him and tried to kiss his lips. He avoided her lips and instead kissed her forehead. His caresses between her legs were feather-light touches of his fingers. She tried to press her throbbing flesh against his hand, but he kept his touch light, teasing. Cassandra squirmed in her seat in agitation, still trying to capture his lips. “X, please,” she begged.

  Xavier removed his hand and his lips. He returned his attention to the road and increased the car speed.

  Cassandra quivered with need, breathing in and out deeply to try to restore her equilibrium. Xavier’s scent, his presence, was everywhere, and desire reeled through her. She closed her eyes in an effort to block out the demands of her body, but that made her other senses only sharper. What the hell is that?

  Too soon the car came to a stop outside the Poop Deck Restaurant. Xavier came around to her side door and opened it for her. When he reached for her hand, she ignored him and climbed out of the car without assistance. “Don’t touch me. And don’t ever do that to me again,” she hissed. “I will not be controlled by my desire for you.” She marched past him through the car park. Cassandra smiled and greeted the taxi drivers who waited outside the restaurant for their next fare. However, she ignored Xavier and stalked up the stairway leading into the restaurant.

  He followed silently behind her.

  A hostess met her at the entrance and escorted her to a table by the window overlooking the harbor and a clear view of Paradise Island.

  Xavier ordered a beer for himself and lemonade for her.

  “Who says I want lemonade?” Cassandra muttered.

  Xavier looked at the confused server and smiled. “It’s okay. She’ll have the lemonade.”

  The server left them quietly.

  “So, is this how you think our relationship will be? Will you tell me when to breathe, when to go to bathroom as well?”

  “You know you’re being ridiculous, right? I explained to you why it’s important that you listen when I give you an instruction,” Xavier said softly.

  “My brothers are imbeciles; they’re not dangerous.”

  “I didn’t ask you to obey me when you perceive a threat. You will listen to me when I consider you in danger. The way they were shaking with those guns, anything could have happened.”

  “Now who’s being ridiculous? If I leave it to you, I would never leave the house. You think every situation is a threat.”

  “I’m not going to apologize for wanting to keep you safe,” Xavier said, starting to lose some of that cool.

  “I’m not asking you to. But, X, you have to start trusting me too. This is my country, and I know the players a little better than you. Believe it or not, I managed to survive twenty-one years without you.”

  Xavier leaned across the table and held her gaze. “When there’s a weapon around, or someone appears even slightly dangerous, the rule is you will listen. No question.”

  The server chose that moment to return with their drinks. After taking their order, the server left them again.

  “Did we just have our first fight?” Cassandra asked him.

  “You haven’t given me your promise that you will obey instructions, so I guess we’re still fighting.”

  “You didn’t promise to stop trying to control me, so you’d better not hold your breath on my promise.” Cassandra took a sip of her lemonade and, with irritated, jerky motions, buttered the warm bread the server had left for them.

  Xavier drank his beer and stared unwaveringly at her, his molten gaze roaming over her face and her cleavage in a soft visual caress.

  Despite shivering in response, Cassandra diligently ignored his scrutiny. Sensing another’s gaze on her, she looked up at the man approaching their table from behind Xavier. She stiffened, anticipating the coming unpleasant confrontation.

  “Hello, Cassandra, you’re still looking fine as ever,” the Chinese man said, grinning at her and ignoring her lunch companion.

  “What do you want, Qin?” Cassandra asked him impatiently. Qin was annoying as hell. He was a gorgeous man, and he knew it. He had smooth olive skin, long jet-black hair that he usually kept in a ponytail, beautiful dark eyes, and adorable dimples in both cheeks. At a little over six feet tall, Qin was not a small man, especially for a Chinese. He had arrived on the Island about two years ago with his crew of men in tow. He’d seen her out one night at a restaurant with her sisters three months into his stay on the island and had been sniffing around her ever since. He was always flanked by two of his men, as he was now. They were as Asian as he was, and she had never heard them speak. This was the man who had been having her followed all summer. However, she hadn’t seen them since yesterday. Qin’s visit now was very interesting indeed. What the hell is he up to?

  “Is this any way for you to address a long-time friend of your family?” in asked with his head tilted and a sly smile on his lips.

  “Qin, you and I both know that you’re
not into black girls. So why are you sweating me?” Cassandra wondered if Qin realized her double meaning in the question. She had never seen the Chinese man with a black woman. He’d probably slept with a few of them, but she knew Qin would never be seen in public dating a black woman. He appeared to be a traditionalist, always with Asian women whenever she saw him out on a date.

  “For you, sweet Cassandra, I find I’m willing to make an exception.” Qin reached out to touch her face.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you.” Xavier spoke for the first time.

  Qin looked coolly at Xavier’s slouching figure, and the slits in his eyes narrowed even further. “I wasn’t talking to you, dog.” Qin smirked at him.

  “When you try to touch what’s mine, you don’t have to be talking to me, chink.” Xavier hadn’t moved a muscle.

  Qin turned fully toward Xavier now. “You think you can challenge me, mudderfucker?” Qin leaned closer to Xavier, trying to maintain some privacy in the crowded restaurant and intimidate Xavier at the same time.

  Xavier sat up, moving closer to the now seething man. “Any time you’re ready to shorten your lifespan, let me know,” Xavier said softly.

  Qin straightened to his full height. Both men stared at each other silently for a few tense moments. “Cassandra, give your brothers my regards. I will visit the house real soon.” Qin turned and smiled at her. “I have extensive plans for you, and the summer is almost over.”

  “Cassandra is no longer available for any of your plans. Move the fuck on,” Xavier drawled.

  Qin spoke through clenched teeth. “Your American friend will learn to never insult Qin Wong.”

  “Well, good luck with that. X ain’t gat to do shit, except stay black and die,” Cassandra muttered. “And now-a-days, he doesn’t even have to stay black.”

  “Is that so? Then I guess it’s going to be death,” Qin smirked.

  Xavier stared at Qin in that cold, still demeanor he’d worn when she had first met him.

  Qin returned his stare with a glare. Neither man wanted to give an inch. The tension between them was one of pure hostility, both exuding lethal strength and aggression. Qin gave in first, grunting in annoyance before striding toward the exit with his entourage in tow, though both of his bodyguards gave Xavier long looks before following their boss.