“And?” she challenged.
“And I’ll wait until you’re in your right frame of mind,” Indie said. He placed her on her feet and kissed her lips. He unbuttoned her blazer and slid it off of her shoulders, then grabbed the waist of her leggings and rolled them down. She stepped out of them one foot at a time. “I need you to sleep this off, a’ight? I need your head clear. You’re a thinker, YaYa. You can’t be the brains if your judgment is clouded,” Indie said. He undid the clasps of her heels and took them off of her pretty feet. He kissed her ankles, causing YaYa to smile.
“You sure you don’t want to take advantage of me?” she asked. “I give you full permission.”
Her voice was low and sexy as Indie looked up at her. He pulled her panties to the side and licked her clit slowly. The drugs in her system had her entire body sensitive to the touch, and blood rushed to her love button, instantly making it throb with passion.
“Ooh, Indie. Yes, baby. Lick it,” she whispered. Her head fell back as he pulled her flower between his lips and ran his tongue down her slit simultaneously. She creamed instantly as her legs shook. Indie pushed her down onto the bed and went to work, seducing her womanhood. He was reintroducing her to pleasure as he sucked and nibbled, tugged then pulled, on her most sensitive spot. YaYa’s nipples hardened, puckering up so tightly that she rubbed them softly between her fingertips to relieve the aching feeling. Her back arched, and Indie wrapped one arm around her waist as he pulled her body into his mouth, applying more pressure.
She was speechless, breathless, and all she could do was gasp. No words were needed for the way that he was making her feel. Indie was an excellent lover. He always made sure that she was satisfied. He was unselfish. He was rugged, handling her with just enough masculinity to let her know he was in control, but still gentle and expressive so that she knew he loved her. Indie blew her mind the way he went from kissing her inner thighs to sucking the sweet nectar from her pussy.
As her legs began to tremble uncontrollably, he coached her to the finish line. “Cum for me, ma,” he whispered, his breath hot, soothing as she moaned his name.
Her body went limp, and he stood to his feet while wiping his mouth with his hand. “Take a shower with me,” he said.
“Hmm, I can’t move,” she groaned. She was stuck—partly from her high, partly from her orgasm. Either way it didn’t matter. She couldn’t move from that spot.
She turned over on her side, and Indie went to the bathroom to retrieve a warm towel. He opened her legs and gently wiped her clean, then tucked her into the bed before retreating to the shower.
He had no idea the types of demons she was battling. She hadn’t come out of the fire unscathed. YaYa’s revenge was pushing her toward an addictive personality. She couldn’t let go of the idea of getting back at Leah. Her thoughts were constantly in a dark place, and the only way to counter the unhappiness was to take pills that made her happy, that made her feel good. They brought her bliss, but she had no idea of the price that she would eventually pay.
Trina didn’t know how to feel about YaYa or her proposition. It seemed to her that YaYa’s new team wasn’t a team at all. It all seemed to be about her and no one else. Trina wondered if YaYa had even considered that she was putting Miesha’s life at risk. She was glad that the proposition hadn’t been for her, but she knew that one day YaYa would ask her to cross a similar line. The only question was if Trina would be able to be bought as easily as Miesha had.
She wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to YaYa while she was away, but it had changed her. When they had first met, YaYa was sweet, considerate. She had become family. Now she was merely a shell of the person she used to be. Everything on the inside had changed. The power had changed her. She was selfish and cunning and ruthless. It was all about revenge to YaYa, and Trina no longer felt as if the loyalty was a two-way street. It wasn’t a family, or at least it didn’t feel like one to Trina. It felt like she was a pawn in a chess game. She didn’t want to be sacrificed in YaYa’s quest to get to Leah, but she knew that if she didn’t get out, eventually she would be.
“Chase!” she shouted as she rushed into the apartment that she shared with her brother. “Chase!” She had to voice her concerns with him; had to tell him that she thought YaYa would lead them straight into the fire if they stuck around too long.
“Yo, Trina, what’s up with all the yelling?” he asked as he came waltzing out of the kitchen.
“I just came back from a meeting with—”
She stopped speaking abruptly when Indie came walking out behind Chase.
“You had a meeting with who?” Indie asked.
“Um, nobody. Just a potential buyer out of Fort Worth,” she lied quickly. She wanted to express her concern to Indie, but she didn’t think it wise to speak ill about the woman he loved. If it got back to YaYa, then Trina would be labeled untrustworthy. So, instead of speaking up, Trina said nothing at all and said her good-byes as Indie made his exit.
Once he was gone and she was alone with Chase, she asked, “How much do you trust YaYa? How well do you know her?”
Chase’s brow furrowed in concern. “What’s wrong, Trina? Where did that come from?”
Trina shrugged. “I don’t know. I just feel like we’re all a means to an end for her. That any of us are disposable. It doesn’t seem like YaYa cares about anything. Not the money, not us, just about getting to Leah,” she said. “I just want to get enough money and get out fast. I just want you to know where I stand. My loyalty is to me first.”
Chase didn’t like what he was hearing. He had never known his sister to go against the grain. “As long as you keep it one hunnid and keep what you know to yourself, I don’t see a problem with it. I’m in it until the death of me, though. You know how I move. Just remember I’m your brother. I wouldn’t have brought you into the fold if I thought anyone would do you dirty.”
“I just think that you’re loyal to a fault. Just make sure the team is still a team and you’re not just carrying out somebody else’s agenda,” Trina said. “I love Indie and YaYa, but I know this is only temporary for me. I’m getting to the money and getting out before she asks me to do something that I don’t want to do.”
Chapter 12
Miesha watched the speedometer go from sixty to seventy to eighty, and her heart beat rapidly as she checked her rearview. She glanced at the gun that sat on the floor of her passenger seat and then took a deep breath as she floored the gas even harder, pushing the car to ninety then one hundred. As she ripped through the city streets of the fifth ward, it didn’t take long for a police officer to pull out and give chase. She didn’t slow down when they turned on their lights and the siren rang out. She pushed the car to the max, figuring if she was going to do it, she may as well go all out.
She pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed YaYa’s number with one hand as she maneuvered the vehicle with the other.
“Are we on?” YaYa asked as soon as she answered.
“We’re on. They’re on my ass now. I’m pushing a hundred and five through the hood as we speak,” Miesha answered. Her voice shook slightly and YaYa heard her fear.
“Don’t be scared, Miesha. Trust me. I have the best lawyer in the South waiting to work everything out for you. Don’t overdo it, though. A high-speed chase could turn bad quickly. I don’t need you or anyone else getting hurt. Is the gun on you?” YaYa asked.
“Yeah, it’s on the floor,” Miesha answered as she checked her rearview. “They just added a second car. I have two of them on me now.”
“Did you empty the clip like I told you to?” YaYa inquired. She knew that getting caught with a fully loaded clip would be much worse for Miesha.
“Yeah, yeah! I followed your instructions to a tee,” Miesha yelled. “They’re on me. I can’t keep this up much longer.” She hit a corner and her car tipped on two wheels as she never cut her speed.
“Okay, Miesha, slow it down and don’t resist arrest,” YaYa said. “When they ta
ke you in, your attorney will already be waiting for you. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
YaYa disconnected the call, and Miesha brought the car to a reasonable speed as she pulled over to the shoulder of the road.
The two country hick officers hopped out of the car with red faces that stared at her in anger as they trained their guns on her. “Put your hands on the steering wheel now!” one of the cops yelled aggressively.
Miesha knew to do as she was told. She was in fry-a-nigga Texas, and the police wouldn’t hesitate to pop her if she gave them even the smallest reason to. She placed her hands on the steering wheel in clear view as they snatched open both of her doors. They pulled her out of the car as if little old Miesha was a threat. They dragged her across the gravel, making it hard for her to keep her footing.
“We’ve got a gun!” the second cop announced.
“You’re going to jail. You have the right to remain silent . . .”
Miesha turned deaf as handcuffs were placed on her wrists. They pinched her so hard that she winced. “Ow!” she cried out as they bent her arm back as far as it would go then forced her toward the back of the squad car.
She hoped that she had made the right decision. YaYa had guaranteed her that she wouldn’t do more than six months for a first-time offense of carrying a concealed weapon. It would be the longest she had ever been away from her mother and son, but when she emerged a new woman, a paid woman, it would be all worth it.
“Make me understand this, YaYa, ’cause right now it’s not adding up,” Indie said calmly as he leaned over the dining table in the penthouse suite as YaYa sat at the head of it, calmly eating her dinner.
“What is there to understand, Indie?” YaYa replied.
“Why would you send Miesha in? Of all people? She’s eighteen!” Indie said through gritted teeth. YaYa had put a play down that had been stupid. “What makes you think she can even pull this off? Huh?”
“She’s hungry,” YaYa replied as she stopped cutting her chicken and looked up at Indie as she cocked her head to the side. “She has every reason in the world to pull this off. She’s a mother,” YaYa said, enunciating her words. “I made her a proposition that she couldn’t refuse. She kills Leah, I’ll personally see to it that her and her son want for nothing.”
“You manipulated that girl, YaYa,” Indie said. “You stay loyal to the team. You do right by your team, ma, because without them you’re nothing. Without your soldiers you become touchable. You don’t play off of their weaknesses in order to get what you want!”
“As long as Leah gets hers, that’s all that matters,” YaYa replied.
“You should have run it by me, YaYa. What if she murders Leah and gets caught? That’s more than six months, ma. That’s life. You have to think about the play from all angles. If this thing goes bad, Miesha won’t ever get out. You will have taken someone else’s mother away from them the same way Leah tried to take you away from Skylar.”
“If that’s the cost I have to pay to get at Leah, then so be it, and for the record, Indie, I don’t have to run things by you,” YaYa said snidely.
Indie looked at her in disbelief. He didn’t even recognize the look in YaYa’s eyes. This wasn’t the fly girl that he had fallen in love with. YaYa was cold since the fire. She seemed preoccupied with her thoughts most of the time, and although she was there with him physically, she seemed so far away. She had always known how to play her position by his side, but things were different with her now . . . awkward. They weren’t vibing to the same rhythm anymore. She was ruthless, more cunning and selfish than he ever remembered.
“Don’t play that boss shit with me, ma. I know you. I know you better than you know yourself,” he said as he leaned over her as she sat perfectly still. “Get your mind right, YaYa. It’s too early in the game for you to be power drunk. I love you, ma,” he said.
YaYa refused to look at him.
“What’s over there? I’m right here. Look at me,” he requested as he pulled her chin toward him. She resisted and snatched her chin away, but he gripped it with more authority. “This is me, YaYa. Look at me.”
She did this time, but her bottom lip quivered in anger, in resentment, in sadness. YaYa hated Leah for what she had done to her. Through the cat and mouse games, YaYa had built up a wall of bitterness that was so hard for her to tear down. She was going through a thing that no one, not even Indie, seemed to understand. Not power, not money, not anything could cure her. The only remedy to her ailment was revenge.
“How could you not understand my need to get at her? She ruined me,” YaYa said with tears in her eyes.
“She tried, ma . . . but you’re here and free and breathing while she is rotting in a cell. The only person who can ruin you is yourself. Revenge is sweet, but it can make you rot, too. I just got you back, so tell me why it feels like I’m about to lose you again,” he asked. “There is something in between us. What is it?”
“It’s Leah,” YaYa responded truthfully.
“Let it go, ma. Let all of it go,” Indie said. The scent of her invaded his nostrils as he inhaled her Donna Karan fragrance while planting kisses on her neck. His lips left tingles behind as he blazed a trail from her ear to her collarbone to her chin, and finally their mouths met.
The electricity that flowed through her when Indie’s strong hands caressed the back of her neck made her flower bloom. She was high out of this world on Vicodin, and it intensified every sensation. Pleasure was sinful as Indie rubbed her nipples through the thin fabric of her silk blouse, turning them into little torpedoes. Her legs instinctively spread as she re-familiarized herself with Indie’s way of lovemaking.
He was an artist when it came to cunnilingus, and his tongue was like brush strokes as he painted a canvas on the way down. He went from her neck, ripped the buttons of her expensive shirt so that he could leave his mark on her breasts, then blazed a trail to her navel, before finally landing on her clitoris.
She inhaled as he exhaled hotly onto her love button, and her hips arched upward to meet his face as he ate away at her as if she were his favorite dessert.
“You’ve got a wall up, YaYa,” Indie whispered as he was drowning in her wetness. “You’ve got to let me back in.”
She moaned and her head fell back as he folded his lips over his teeth then closed them on her clit. YaYa almost lost her mind as he went from sucking to biting her flesh gently. It had been so long since they had indulged in one another. She had forgotten how skilled her lover was, and she was giving him total access to her body as she opened her legs wide and grabbed the back of his head.
“Agh, Indie, wait. I don’t want to cum yet,” she protested.
“Let it go, ma. I hit more than one homerun. I’m not a rookie,” he said. His arrogance sent YaYa over the top, and her love melted against his warm tongue as her back arched and her mouth opened in ecstasy.
Indie stood and pulled her into the master bathroom. Their kisses were endless as he pulled his shirt over his head and then stepped out of his pants with ease. He reached for her clothing and felt her go stiff.
“My burns,” she whispered. It was easy for her to fake confidence when her hands and arms were covered. The majority of the damage had been to places she could conceal, and she had become good at hiding her insecurities. Naked, she was vulnerable, she was ugly. Her arms and hands were exposed; the scars from skin grafts that had been taken from her back could be seen. Each time they made love, she cringed at the thought of Indie seeing her that way.
“I don’t care about the burns, YaYa. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I love every part of you. Once you realize that, you’ll be okay,” he said as he massaged the back of her neck while looking her intensely in the eyes.
YaYa lifted her arms and closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face. Indie slowly peeled the shirt off of her. He hurt just from seeing her so unsure of herself.
He positioned himself behind her and then walked her over to the full-length mi
rror. “Open your eyes, ma. Look at yourself,” Indie said.
She was choked up and couldn’t speak, but she opened her eyes. Her reflection was so flawed.
“What I see is perfection. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t know why God chose you to bear these scars, but every single one makes you who you are, YaYa,” Indie said. “I’m so attracted to you. You’re the most beautiful girl in the world to me.”
He was chipping away at the hard wall that she had built around her heart to protect herself. He loved her still, but could she love herself? YaYa didn’t know, and the longer she looked at herself the more disgusted she became. Instead of being grateful that her face had been repairable, she was angry at the parts of her that were still marred.
Indie kissed the nape of her neck and wrapped his arms under her arms as he cupped her breasts. One hand stayed on her nipples, while the other slid down her flat stomach until he reached between her legs. He licked his fingers and then played with YaYa’s pussy, rubbing in circles and applying pressure until she was soaking his hand.
“Make love to me, Indie,” she said.
Acting in compliance, he bent her over the sink and entered her from behind. His thickness parted her southern lips, and her pussy immediately molded around him. She had always been the perfect fit. He gripped her hip with one hand, and pulled at her shoulder as he moved in and out of her to a slow, intense rhythm. His stroke was so official that it took her breath away. There was no theatrics, no name-calling, no faking, just straight lovemaking as his grunts and her moans filled the air.
The sound of skin slapping skin intensified her pleasure as she felt the pressure building between her legs. He had her bent over at the perfect angle, hitting her spot. Indie’s dick was wide, strong, thick . . . it was everything, and YaYa hadn’t realized how much she had missed his touch until now.
Green Eyed Monster Page 11
