Jordie cocked her eyebrow again. “Don’t wait. I know you, Eminence. You’ll do the right thing.”
“And if I fall on my face?”
“You can work for me here. Do you mind wearing shorts and a tight t-shirt?” Jordie laughed again. “Kidding. But not kidding about the job. I’ll always look out for you.”
“After all this time, I truly appreciate that.” Eminence meant every word. She didn’t want another minute going by without Jordie.
“Good. I hope we can rebuild our friendship.” She handed Eminence her business card. “This has my personal cell phone, home phone, and e-mail address. Oh.” She snatched the card from Eminence and scribbled something on the back of it. “Here’s my home address.”
“You really want to stay in touch, don’t you?” Eminence laughed.
“Absolutely. It’s hard to find really good friends nowadays. In this town, I need all the friends I can get.” Jordie stood and helped Eminence get on her feet.
With her arm around Eminence’s shoulders, Jordie strolled to her private elevator. Once at the doors, Jordie pushed the down button and gave Eminence a gentle shove toward the open car. “Now you get going. You need to go out and get your man.”
Although the words sounded positive, Eminence wasn’t so sure of the outcome. Twice she had questioned Keys’s intentions. She would have to put herself on the line to show him that she wanted his forgiveness. She just hoped he wouldn’t make her grovel.
Chapter Ten
As soon as Tank burst through the door to head to his black-and-chrome Harley-Davidson, he didn’t expect to see Eminence standing beside it. What did she want? Round Two?
A smile threatened to peek through, but he managed to arrest it. So she did want to have one last go ‘round, huh? Blood pumped to his lower extremities the longer he stared at her. He left his expression stoic.
He hesitated a moment before his will and his feet propelled him forward. Even though at one time in his life Eminence had owned his heart, he had to give her a bit of the treatment she’d given him and Jordyna. See how she liked the taste of her own medicine.
Tank stared ahead, but whenever he glanced at Eminence, his bones turned to pudding and his muscles transformed to taffy. How could he still be crazy over a woman who obviously hated his guts?
“Want a shot at the other cheek?” Tank turned his head to the side Eminence didn’t smack. “Get it in before I put the helmet on.”
“I don’t want to hit you.” Eminence’s voice floated like a whisper. “I shouldn’t have hit you earlier.”
Tank stared at her for a moment. From the way she fidgeted in her spot and chewed on her lower lip, he figured something had changed. “You talked to Jordyna, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“No wonder she wanted me to leave.”
This whole time, all of these years, Tank thought that once Eminence knew the truth, things would be different, he would be different. From the way she stared at him, so full of remorse, she had changed her perception. A niggling feeling in his gut told him something hadn’t been resolved.
“I’m so, so sorry.” Eminence took a step toward him.
Tank took two steps back, then circled his bike to mount it. “Thanks for the apology. So is everything all good with you and J.?”
She nodded again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I know. I would think if you did know, you wouldn’t be so cold as to leave your friend in need.”
“So why does it seem like you’re mad at me now?”
As he stared at her, it hit him how much his new shift in attitude wasn’t just for show. He had every right to be as angry as Eminence had been with him and Jordyna.
“Don’t worry about how I feel.” He climbed on his Harley. “You didn’t before.”
Before he started it, Eminence circled around to get in his face. “Wait. You don’t know everything that I was going through at that time. I—”
“You want to tell me about it?” He stared at her, waiting for her to hightail it. He knew better than that. He knew Eminence. She’d never back down from a fight. Ever.
“Your place?”
He unhooked a helmet strapped to the back of his seat. “Put this on and get behind me.”
She took the black helmet and secured it on her head. Once he started the rumbling motorcycle, she didn’t bother with fastening the strap around her chin. She hopped on behind him.
If Eminence truly wanted to make amends, she would be paying for her sins in sweat and her flesh. Tank was owed that much. Thank goodness he would be gone in a couple of days. He wouldn’t have to deal with Eminence…or his impending guilt.
“Hold on.”
* * * * *
Eminence didn’t know if Keys drove like a madman because anger fueled him or because he wanted to scare her or if he just drove that way normally. Every time he took a sharp turn, she squeezed her legs together to hold onto him.
He smelled so good, and he felt even better. At one point during the ride, she closed her eyes and imagined his nude body, wondering about his chest, his abs, and that ass.
She wasn’t sure what he had planned for her. From the way his mood shifted from molten hot to iceberg cold, it probably wouldn’t be the scenario she wanted. Agreeing to go to his place alone set her up for a whole host of events that Keys could do to her to torture her.
Keys made one stop at an all-hours convenience store. He barely acknowledged her when he hopped off the bike and headed inside, leaving her alone. She tried peeking through the window with all of its advertisements to see what he just had to have before heading home, but she couldn’t make it out. After he made his purchase, he stuffed it into his jacket pocket and headed out the store.
The remaining ride took less than a minute for him to coast up a driveway to a modest townhome. He pulled out a small remote, and with one click, activated the garage door.
Keys parked the cycle next to a large SUV, then turned off the bike and hopped off as the door closed behind him. “Helmet, off. In the house, now.” He pointed to a workbench to signal to her to place the helmet on it.
Eminence did so, then followed behind him into the house. “I’m not even allowed the courtesy of a verb now?”
Keys glanced over his shoulder. “You want an action word? Here you go.” He stopped and faced her. “Fuck.”
She blinked. “I’d almost forgotten how straightforward and honest you are. Just don’t remember you being so, um—”
“Horny?”
“Crass. Rude. Tactless.”
“You’re still dressed.” He took off his jacket and tossed it on a recliner behind her.
“I must have been out of my mind to come here.” Even in the darkened room, Tank seemed immense. “I’ll call myself a cab.”
Just like he’d done in the office, he stopped her from leaving with just his voice. “So that’s it? You’re running again? Truth hurts?”
Eminence glared at him. “Why are you being this way to me?”
Keys remained quiet, then started pacing in the room. He stared down at the floor as though looking at the spot where his booted feet would land with each step. Then he stopped.
Him stopping worried Eminence more than the pacing. It meant that he had his thoughts together enough to release his true feelings.
Keys turned to her. “You broke me.”
Those three words made Eminence blink. She stopped breathing for a moment as she looked at the giant who had exposed his soul to her.
“I didn’t trust a lot of people growing up. My parents blame themselves. I was the only boy in a house with three sisters, and my parents used to tell me to treat my sisters well, but that I was too good for any girl.” He snickered. “That was their twisted way of keeping me from dating and getting some girl pregnant.” Keys glanced at Eminence after his last statement. He looked remorseful.
Now Eminence understood the reason. She wanted so much to hold his hand. Still looking fit to be ti
ed, she held off.
Keys continued. “So I immersed myself into activities. Football, baseball. Hell, I even joined the debate team.”
Eminence smiled. She remembered when he’d done that. It had given her a glimmer of hope that Keys would be more than just a guy getting by on his looks and a few high school sports stories.
“Then I met you.” He pointed to her. “Everything changed. You made me laugh, and you listened to me.” Keys shook his head. “You used to listen to me.”
Her heart stopped at that statement. She swallowed hard and waited for him to finish.
“Because of you, I opened myself up to other people. That’s how Jordie became my friend.” He took a couple of steps toward Eminence, who remained rooted in her spot. “Jay came to me as a friend. The one time I needed you to be by my side you bolted. When you wouldn’t talk to me anymore, I couldn’t cope.” He released a snicker. “Funny. I could run football drills until I puked and would do them again if my coach wanted me to. I would take on any stupid dare. I even skydived one time. But you walking away from me and cutting me off crushed my spirit.”
Eminence covered her mouth with her hand as she studied Keys. She had no idea of the power she had back then and how her reacting to her father’s betrayal had affected Keys. She wanted to touch him, hold him. When she took a step toward him, Keys retreated.
“Look, you promised you would tell me what was going on in your life that day between me, you, and Jay I’ll listen.”
She released a long breath before twirling and heading back into his sparse living room filled with packed boxes.
Keys continued. “After I listen, you and I can—”
“Keys.”
“What? I was going to say watch a movie. You still do like watching movies, don’t you?” He brushed his hand up on a light switch by the kitchen that illuminated a ceiling fan light in the living room.
“Don’t be cute. That was not what you were going to say,” she shouted after him as he ducked into the kitchen.
When Keys returned, he held two frosty bottles of water in his hands. He unscrewed the caps off both of them. Eminence sat on the couch with her spiky high heels off and her legs curled under her butt. Her feet throbbed and almost thanked her for releasing them from their expensive if not torturous prisons.
“Here.” He handed her a sweaty, clear bottle, then sat on the other end of the couch. “So shoot.”
* * * * *
After a hefty swig, Eminence relayed a story that floored Tank. He didn’t know about her pain of catching her father being unfaithful. He hadn’t realized the anguish she went through watching her parents’ marriage disintegrate right before her eyes.
“No wonder you thought—” Tank moved closer to her and removed her nearly empty bottle from her other hand and sat it down on a clear spot on his coffee table. He cradled her face in his hands and made her look at him. “I’m sorry about your parents. But you knew me. You knew I wouldn’t have done something like that to you.”
Eminence wiped her eyes. “I thought I knew my father, too, and look what happened. He’s married to this other woman and my mother is still miserable.”
Tank swept his thumb over her cheek. “There’s a difference. You and I had a different type of relationship from what you have with your parents. They still love you individually. Their romantic life fell apart. Ours didn’t. At least I thought it didn’t. You stopped trusting me.”
Eminence leaned her face into his palm. “I should have known better. Jordie and I did everything together. She knew all of my secrets.” She stared at him, her big, brown eyes brimming with tears. “And you, you protected me.” She moved closer to him so that her leg touched his.
With her face still in his hands, he pulled her forward and brushed his lips over hers. He couldn’t get enough of hearing her breath catch. He should have been stronger. With this one night, this one moment, he had to take advantage of everything that he could, from kissing her to fucking her to playing with her. If only his heart didn’t demand that he did whatever he’d planned to do with her in order to get this woman to stay with him.
Once he took her breath away, he pressed his mouth onto hers, savoring her full lips. Parting his lips a sliver was enough of an invitation for Eminence to invite her tongue into his mouth. His heart pounded so hard and heavy, even his t-shirt felt too binding across his chest. He wanted to be naked, and he wanted to be inside of her now. He had to clear the air and make sure that the past wouldn’t continue to wreck their potential future.
He pulled back from her and said, “Hi, my name is Keys Tanksley. My friends call me Tank.”
Eminence furrowed her eyebrows. “What are you doing?”
“We need to start over on a clean slate.”
“And forget everything in the past?”
Tank nodded.
She shook her head. “I don’t agree. I like some of the stuff from our past.”
He rested his hand on her naked thigh. “Like what?”
“Like the way you used your mouth on me.”
Tank positioned his mouth by her ear and whispered, “You mean like this?” Then he kissed the shell of her, swiping down the side of it with his tongue.
Her body shivered in response. “That was one thing.”
As he listened to her breathing pattern increase, he kissed down the side of her face to her neck. “Or this?”
“Mmm, yeah.” Eminence put her hand on his thigh and kneaded his muscle.
The motion, the connection, her tangible need engorged his cock. If he didn’t get to make love to her this time, his fucking head would explode.
Tank floated his hand over her white, silk blouse. Without having to look, he undid the buttons, one by one with his nimble fingers until he had her shirt open. With that task done, he smoothed his hand down over her ass to her legs. He swept the duo around until he had her flat on her back on the sofa. Then he climbed over her body.
“Or maybe even this.” He trailed his lips down the center of her neck to between her breasts encased in a flesh-colored nylon bra.
His hand hovered over her breast, but he withdrew it. No, he wanted to enjoy her, all of her.
Tank laved her tight abdomen.
“Oh, Keys.” Eminence ran her fingers through his short hair.
Just hearing her call his name again ran his blood molten hot. His dick ached in his pants from pressing against his jeans. Her body writhed under his and it sent his mind careening into thoughts of how she would be once he plunged inside of her.
“Oh hell!” Tank leapt from the couch. He noticed how Eminence’s gaze dropped to his protruding cock.
She licked her lips, and it signaled Keys. He picked her up, threw her over his broad shoulder like a caveman, and stalked back to another room.
* * * * *
With her ass next to his face, Eminence didn’t question her destination. She didn’t even care if he talked to her during the act. As soon as Keys touched her, her body belonged to him.
As though still in football training, Keys took his stairs by two until he got to the second floor. He kicked open a door to an even darker room. Although she faced his back, she heard him kicking a couple of boxes and cursing until he was able to turn on a floor lamp in the corner.
Just like the downstairs, boxes lined his walls and covered the floor. Shipping boxes did not cover his unmade bed.
Keys plopped her on the bed, then made short work of his shirt and boots. Eminence watched the display. Seeing him remove each item reminded her of watching a Chippendale dancer who must have downed caffeine pills with Red Bull.
His body looked nothing like the way it did back in high school. Yes, he had been more muscular than the guys back in high school. Now his body had more defined muscles. If his body defined what a cut and ripped man looked like, then Keys epitomized that.
Keys wasted no time pulling off his jeans, which Eminence had been eagerly awaiting that moment herself. After pulling his jeans down t
o his feet and stepping out of them, he stood up straight, showing off his erection.
Every part of her body ached to experience the length of him inside her again. Her mouth wanted to taste him. Her hands itched to wrap themselves around him. Her pussy throbbed.
“Shit!” Keys scanned the room after his outburst. “You, get undressed.” He darted from the room, his erection waving in front of him.
Eminence stood to disrobe, however the power to do so escaped her as the image of Keys running through his house naked flashed through her mind. When she heard the telltale stomping coming upstairs, she made a feeble attempt to remove her panties.
In Keys’s hand, he held the jacket he wore that night. “Why aren’t you naked?” He slammed the jacket onto a pile of boxes and reached inside of an internal pocket. He pulled out a box of condoms.
So that’s what he purchased in the store. Not caring if Eminence had undressed now or not, he ripped open the box, tore off a condom package at the end of the row and sheathed himself with the filmy prophylactic.
Keys grabbed Eminence and pushed her against the wall. “You’re going to regret not getting undressed when I told you to.”
He pulled her leather skirt up to her waist so that now it looked like a belt. She had managed to get her panties off. But what Keys did next, she wished she’d gotten her shirt off before her panties. He grabbed her unbuttoned blouse and opened it further, then grabbed her bra and ripped it apart.
“Do you know how much that bra cost? I—”
Keys stopped her rant by pressing his lips on hers, then lifting her up and plunging his cock deep inside her.
Time didn’t revert back to the first time they had had sex like she thought it would. Oh, no. As soon as he entered her, time stopped completely. Eminence couldn’t see. Her body froze with the exception of her legs, which she managed to clamp around his body.
Although she didn’t want to admit it because it would be like admitting she needed him as much as he needed her, but damn it if she didn’t have an orgasm as soon as he entered her.
Eminence let out a long, loud wail the moment his cock drove into her pussy. Right now, she could care less that he ruined an expensive bra. She savored how her body trembled and the juices produced when he pumped in and out of her, and how he held onto to her for dear life.
Scandalous Heroes Box Set Page 131
