“I’m not gon’kill you, ma. Let me take you home,” he said.
“Straight home,” she stated seriously with a pointed finger in his face.
He nodded and opened the door for her as she stepped out of the car.
While Raven kept herself occupied with school to avoid Ethic, he could not find enough to do to keep her off of his mind. Surprisingly, he found himself wondering about her and worrying about her well-being even though he knew it wasn’t his place. It had been a full month since he had set her up in the condo and she had not called him since. Even when Ethic was making moves in the street he could not stop thinking about her, and when he saw Dolce he found himself wishing that it was Raven on his arm instead. When she was chasing him he had not been interested, but now that he was open to the possibility of getting to know her, she had shut him out. It seemed that she did not want anything to do with him. After becoming acquainted with the grown-ass woman Raven had become, she had more than his attention; but because of her past he forced himself to keep his life in perspective. He knew that if he ever invited Raven into his life, trouble would soon follow. She was disloyal, whether she meant to be or not. Like a black widow, she was poisonous, and Ethic could not afford to be bitten, which was why he did not make an effort to reach out to Raven. He respected her for trying to put her life back on track and if he did not have a daughter he would probably have been willing to take the risk of pursuing Raven. However, his life was not his own to live. He breathed for Bella and he would do anything to keep her secure. Although Raven and Ethic’s thoughts brought them together many times in the course of a day, their pride, mixed with the cold sting of reality, kept them apart.
Ethic had not had a relationship with a woman he cherished since the death of his child’s mother. Most of the chicks he met only wanted him because of his status in the streets, including Dolce. It was no secret that he ran the most lucrative and notorious drug empire in the city. He was smart, and had a chain of funeral homes as front businesses to avert attention from the police. After the fire had ruined his face, he could tell that his money was the only thing that attracted most women, and he steered clear of gold diggers. Raven had proved completely different, however, when he had looked into her eyes. She was the one woman in quite some time who had actually looked at him and saw him for who he really was. He attributed Raven’s infatuation to the Ethic she used to know, but he had changed with the times. He was pushing thirty and looking to go completely legit. He had survived in a game where many had fallen and he did not need someone like Raven coming into his life creating chaos. She’s no good, he thought. Ethic was jarred out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He answered it, and a mailman stood in front of him with a certified letter. Ethic signed for the letter and opened it to find a check from Raven.
She’s on that bullshit with this shit? he thought, slighted. He understood what she was trying to do, but by being self-sufficient, she was insulting him. He picked up the keys to his Dodge Challenger and headed out the door.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate this,” Raven said as she hopped out of Jacob’s car. It was a far cry from the luxury vehicles she was used to riding in, but for some reason she welcomed the change. Jacob was not a thug or a hustler. He was just a regular guy trying to make something of himself. She could respect that, because even though he wasn’t the type to make it rain in clubs and switch whips like he did underwear, she recognized that he would eventually become the type to have IRA accounts and life insurance. He was the smart choice.
“So have I earned the right to call you?” he asked as he stepped out and walked her to the entrance of her condo.
“Yeah, you can call me,” she gave in as she pulled out a pen and wrote her number on his hand.
“Cool. So what I got to do to get you to say yes to dinner?” he asked.
Before she could fix her lips to respond, she saw Ethic’s car pull into the driveway. Ethic exited the car clad in jeans and a Ralph Lauren sweater. The Piguet on his wrist shined effortlessly as the sun played hide-and-seek in the diamonds.
“E—Ethic, what are you doing here?” Raven asked, stuttering. A guilty feeling overcame her, as if she had just been caught cheating.
Ethic didn’t respond. Instead his focus was on Jacob. Like a territorial lion he stared him down intensely until Raven cleared her throat.
“Umm, Ethic, this is—”
“We need to talk,” Ethic interrupted, skipping the introductions. “I’ll be waiting in the house while you tell your company bye.”
Raven’s face turned beet red. She had never seen Ethic be so rude. She turned to Jacob.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “Thank you for the ride. I will see you tomorrow in class, okay?”
“Yeah, a’ight. I’ll see you around,” he stated with a bit of salt in his tone.
Raven checked her watch and saw that she still had an hour and a half before Morgan made it home from school. I’ma need every minute because I’m about to check Ethic’s ass. Who the fuck do he think he is? She stormed into the house to see Ethic sitting calmly on her couch as if he was the king of her castle, his leg propped up on her coffee table.
“What was that all about?” she asked in irritation. She stormed over to him and knocked his foot off of her table, she put her hand on her hip, awaiting a response.
“Who is he?” Ethic questioned as he put his feet back up. He was surprised at the amount of jealousy he felt and he could not help but demand answers. Raven was who he wanted, but could not allow himself to have. She was like a guilty pleasure, and although he refused to indulge in her, he was not going to sit back and allow another man to do it instead.
“Why?” she asked. “You need to get yourself some business and keep your fucking feet off my table.” She was beyond irritated as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Coming around here asking questions.”
“Don’t play games with me, Raven. Who is that nigga that you had all in my crib?” Ethic asked. He never raised his voice at her. He did not need to intimidate Raven in order to get a response from her. She heard the seriousness of his tone.
“Oh, so now it’s your crib?” she questioned as her neck snaked in anger. “What happened to all that good shit you was popping the other day, Ethic, about all of this being mine?”
Ethic had to bite his inner cheek to stop himself from checking Raven as she got indignant with him. She raised her eyebrows and put one hand on her hip while she raised the other one near her ear. “Huh? I don’t hear none of that shit now, Ethic. I know you bought this condo, but I do remember sending you checks to cover my rent! So as long as I’m paying to live here, I don’t have to explain myself to you. I’ve been there and done that. I’m tired of reporting my every move to a nigga.”
Ethic leaned forward on the couch and put his hands together. She was trying his patience and she knew it. She could practically see the steam coming out of his ears, but she did not care. He has no right to tell me who I can and cannot see, she thought stubbornly.
“Who is he?” Ethic repeated calmly. He didn’t give a fuck about how much shit she talked. She was going to answer his question.
“Huh!” Raven screamed in agitation. “Just some guy from the college, damn. My car battery died. He gave me a ride home.”
“School?” Ethic stated in surprise. “You enrolled in college?”
“Yeah, I took my GED and then applied to the community college. I started last week,” she replied.
Ethic smirked and shook his head. He was impressed at how quickly she was piecing her life back together and he found her determination intriguing. Her strength astounded him. There was definitely more to Raven than met the eye, and he was discovering that she was not the person he had labeled her to be.
“So you mean to tell me you got a brain up there?” he asked sarcastically.
Raven smirked, rolled her eyes, and stuck up her middle finger. She was aggravated with Ethic.
“I don’t appreciate how you came up over here regulating. If you think I’m never going to go out with a dude just because I’m living here, you got me fucked up,” Raven stated.
“Don’t bring a nigga into my house,” Ethic said sternly.
“Why, Ethic?” she asked as she scrunched her brow in confusion. She walked up to him and stood between his legs as she cocked her hip to the side. Her neck began to work at full speed as she went off. “You used to get this same little funky-ass attitude back in the day when I first met Mizan. Why can’t I date a guy without you looking down on me? Why does it bother you so much?”
As she screamed at him, Ethic leaned back on the couch and relaxed as he listened to her rant.
“Why is it wrong for me to want to have a man?”
“You choose a man and I might respect him. You bring home these bitch-ass niggas that go upside your head or that can’t afford to buy you a meal,” Ethic responded simply.
“So what, Ethic? If that’s who I choose then that’s on me. What, I’m supposed to live by your rules just because you purchased this place? What if I want to have company? What if I want to go on a date?” Raven leaned over him and spoke directly in his face. “What if I want to be fucked, Ethic?”
Before either of them knew what was happening, the tension in the room exploded as Ethic pulled her down on top of him and absorbed her rants into his mouth, kissing her passionately. Their tongues performed a delicate dance and Raven closed her eyes as she melted into his embrace.
“Hmm,” she moaned as she tugged at his sweater. Every muscle on Ethic’s torso was so well defined that it felt like her fingers were gracing one of Michelangelo’s stunning sculptures. He picked her up effortlessly and carried her up the stairs to the master bedroom. They had both waited years to know what a kiss between them would feel like, and they took advantage of every second, never breaking their connection. All of their disguised anger was really their chemistry rising to its boiling point. Items of clothing flew all around the room as they scrambled to undress one another. Ethic took both of her breasts in his hand and pushed them together, licking her areolas into erection. He sucked on them, blew on them, and bit them gently as she moaned softly in his ear. The tent in his boxers let Raven know that she would not be disappointed. She grabbed hold of his length and stroked it slowly, then propped her leg up on the bed so that she could rub his mushroom-shaped head into the gushy entrance of her love box. She could feel his passion as the heat from his body warmed her opening. She desperately wanted him to fill her up, but he didn’t even knock on her door. He pulled away as his mouth found hers. He introduced his lips to every part of her body as he traveled south. Her neatly shaven lips stared him in the face as he pulled them back to reveal her throbbing clit. It resembled a juicy oyster, and he treated it as such as he sucked it into his mouth and applied pressure to it with his full lips. “Aghh!” she screamed in pleasure as he brought her to orgasm with torpedo flicks of his wet tongue.
He wiped his mouth and sat on the edge of the bed, then pulled her down on top of him. His thick girth parted her opening and her body tried to resist his size. She gasped as she arched her back and her walls allowed him in.
For every down stroke she put on him, he matched her, as his hands gripped her voluptuous backside. The only sounds that could be heard were their labored breathing and the sounds of their juices as skin slapped skin. Fuck noises filled the room and tears involuntarily filled Raven’s eyes. Sex had never felt this good. She was experiencing things that she had never felt before. Her heart felt weak as she rocked her hips to the rhythm of her headboard hitting the wall. Her head fell back in ecstasy and Ethic put his hand behind her neck, forcing her to look up at him. Tears fell down her cheeks as she rode him and stared into his eyes. She continued to work him slowly as she brought her hands up to his face. She touched his burns and kissed every scar as they kept eye contact. There was no doubt about it. This thing between them was more than just a casual fuck. Something was happening, and neither of them knew if they were prepared to handle it.
“Ethic,” she whispered as she felt her pussy muscles contract around his shaft. Her mouth fell open in pure bliss as she sped up. Slow grinds turned into full winds as her body began to move like a belly dancer. She bounced down onto him hard, and with every stroke his grip on her backside grew tighter. The feeling of him vibrating inside of her told her that he was about to climax. His guttural grunts echoed off the walls until he finally exploded. He held on to her so tightly that she did not know where he ended and she began; they were one. The feeling of him spilling inside of her caused her to cum, and she closed her eyes and rode the wave as if it were the best feeling she had ever felt in her life. She collapsed onto his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. They did not jump up or try to pretend that it had not happened. For this one moment, they did not speak. He moved her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. He noticed the rhythm of her heart matched his own. All of the things that had occurred to lead up to this moment did not matter. The death, the destruction, the disloyalty ... all of it was erased from his mind temporarily as he held onto her tenderly, loving the way she fit perfectly in his arms. He pulled the covers over their bodies and she lay on top of him, enjoying the feeling of his hands as he rubbed her back.
Before Raven knew it, she had drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t until she felt Morgan flop down on her bed that she woke up.
Morgan shook her shoulder over and over again until she was finally awake.
Raven jumped up and clutched the covers against her breasts, thinking that she and Ethic had just been busted. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach when she realized that he was no longer lying next to her.
“Hey, Morgan,” she signed with a half smile as she looked around in confusion. “Let me get dressed. I’ll be right out so that you can tell me all about your day at school.”
When Morgan left the room, Raven shook her head and closed her eyes. She didn’t know what to think. Maybe he regrets it, she thought. I should have never let this happen. What was I thinking? He doesn’t want me ... It was just sex for him. She did not know how she would face him the next time they saw each other. She stood and walked over to her dresser to retrieve some clothes, when she noticed a manila envelope sitting on top of it. When she opened it she put her hand over her mouth in shock.
Oh my God. He put everything in my name.
Inside of the folder was the deed to the condo, the title to the car, and also papers to a bank account that Ethic had opened up for her. He had put all of the checks that she had sent him for rent into an account for Morgan and had put $50,000 in a separate account for Raven. She smiled as she closed the folder and flopped down on her bed. So many things were running through her mind that she could not think straight. Sleeping with Ethic had just complicated her life. She was not naïve enough to think that sex was the same thing as love, but it sure had felt like it. The rational side of her told her not to get her hopes up. He’s never been into you, she told herself, but her heart was forcing something completely different. What does all this mean? And where the hell do I go from here?
Chapter Seventeen
As Ethic put his daughter down to bed that night, he thought of Raven. He could not believe he had slipped up and had sex with her. The last thing he wanted to do was play with her emotions. After everything she had been through, he was not trying to bring her pain, but he had to be honest with himself. He was not sure if he was ready to welcome her into his life. There was no doubt about it that he wanted to. His life was lonely. His heart too guarded. His soul unflinchingly cold. But when he had held Raven in his arms he knew that she was what was missing in both his life and in Bella’s. He had always found Raven attractive. Physically her beauty was undeniable, but her air-headed mentality made her easily influenced. If the wrong person put the wrong ideas in her head, she could easily switch teams on him and lead him down the road to his own demise, the same way she had
done with her father.
“I can’t afford that,” Ethic said aloud as he watched his daughter sleep soundly. He was proud of the fact that she could sleep comfortably under a roof he had provided for her. He couldn’t let Hurricane Raven blow through their lives and destroy everything he had worked so hard to build.
Mizan sat back in the cold metal chair with a mean mug on his face. He had been locked up for over a month and his patience was on “E”.
“Look, I don’t give a fuck what you got to do, but I want to be up out of here like yesterday, Mizan stated. “I mean, what’s up? My man dropping the paper off to you, right?” he asked the balding attorney seated across from him.
“Yes, I have received payment for your case... .”
Mizan hit his hand against the table, causing a loud bang to echo off the walls. He leaned across and stared his attorney down. “Then why the fuck am I still in this bitch?” he asked angrily. The shabby five o’clock shadow that had grown on his face gave him a grimy look and revealed his true nature. His attorney could barely look him in the eyes. Even he had heard the stories of Mizan’s wrath and he was scared shitless. If the money weren’t so good, he probably would have never taken on the infamous gangster’s case.
“There is only so much that I can do,” the attorney defended himself. He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses onto his face nervously. “Unless you are willing to talk then I have to be honest with you ... this doesn’t look good for you.”
Mizan looked around the room and then lowered his voice. “Tell them pigs I’ll tell them whatever they want to know,” he stated, fulfilling the prediction that Benny Atkins had placed on him years ago. Mizan was a snake. He did not stay true to the game. Now that his back was against the wall, he was looking to snitch his way out. “I want to walk away from this. If they can guarantee me that on paper, I’ll talk.”
Moth to a Flame Page 22
