by N’Tyse
She moved in the direction of the noise, her finger gracing the trigger. She was prepared to shoot anything moving. Her heels clawed at the hardwood floors, announcing her presence on her behalf. She pushed the bedroom door completely open and to her surprise, Tierra was butt-ass naked, gagged, and strapped to a chair.
Fear consumed Tierra once the masked intruder entered the room. The thoughts that charged her, forced her to accept that Duke had sent someone to finish her off. He must have loved her too much to carry it out himself. Trapped between what was actually happening and fearing the unknown, left Tierra completely restless. She tried to convince herself that death would be easier, but the thought of her unborn baby not having a chance at life, revitalized her. Tears flowed like pouring rain down her cheeks as she jerked uncontrollably.
Shinette analyzed the situation, only to reach one conclusion. It wasn’t Tierra that had sent Jason to kill her, it was Duke. He had stolen Tierra’s key and sent his goon after her. But how could Duke have known that they were the ones who killed Keyz and robbed him? She shook her head. The missing piece to the puzzle instantly revealed itself. Tierra had sold Shinette out like the traitor she had become. She had told Duke all about the lick they hit, not realizing that she was in fact, running her mouth to the one they had robbed.
Shinette walked closer to Tierra who she now deemed useless. She had become nothing more than a liability and a lost cause. A snitch bitch. Once Tierra recognized who the assailant was underneath the ski mask, she froze. Confusion registered on her face, but she knew that Shinette had come to her rescue. Her prayers had been answered. She began to breathe in relief until the gun Shinette held at her side, lifted midway in the air. Before Tierra knew it, she was staring down the barrel of her own gun. The gun that had Keyz’s dead body attached to it.
Shinette slowly pulled the rag out of Tierra’s mouth.
“Shinette, what are you doing?” Tierra immediately asked.
Not a single word left Shinette’s lips. She stared at Tierra through the eyes of a serial killer. Neither of them would have been in this predicament if Tierra had not opened her damn mouth. If she had only listened to Shinette, things would not have to end this way. Tierra had proven that she couldn’t be trusted, and if she betrayed Shinette once, she’d betray her again.
“I’m sorry…please…,” Tierra begged for her life.
Shinette pointed the gun at Tierra’s heaving chest.
“No! Don’t do this. Please…please…please…my baby…please…”
Tears formed in Shinette’s eyes. She didn’t want to do what she was about to do, but she had to deal with this now, or risk everything. By nightfall, Duke’s goons would be gunning for them both. Better Tierra catch that bullet than her. “I’m begging you! I don’t want to die! Please…”
“I love you,” Shinette squeezed out right before the gun went off.
Tierra sucked in a large amount of air as soon as the bullet tore through her heart. She got one last look at Shinette before her eyelids folded over the whites of her eyes. It wasn’t long after that before her heart stopped beating.
Shinette removed the ski mask and closed her grief-stricken eyes, unable to bear the sight of her dead friend. She placed the gun near Tierra’s feet. She walked out of that room and did not look back.
Shinette raced down the steps. She had to get out of there. She sorted through Duke’s keys until she found the one to unlock his work truck. She hopped inside and drove half a mile up the road where she had parked her car. She moved swiftly as she transferred the bags into the truck. The farther she got from the crime scene the better off, she would be. She headed straight for the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. She would lay low for a while, but she’d be back. Dallas was home, and after all, she was the Greedy Grove Gutta Queen. But until her return, she was going to continue to do what she did best. CHASE!
N’Tyse is the erotic romance author of several bestselling novels. She is also executive producer and director of the documentary film, Beneath My Skin. While N’Tyse, pronounced entice, spells out exotic seduction, the true significance behind her name takes on an entire new meaning. The acronym translates to Never Tell Your Secret—a message she envelops within her stimulating taboo tales.
The author’s passion for writing dates back to a very young age where she found poetry, music, and creative writing as an outlet. In 2007 N’Tyse ambitiously penned and self-published her freshman and sophomore novels, My Secrets Your Lies and Stud Princess Notorious Vendettas, which went on to grace many bestseller lists, including The Dallas Morning Newspaper.
N’Tyse currently juggles her writing career as a full-time mom, wife, and documentary filmmaker. She is the author of Twisted Seduction and Twisted Vows of Seduction. Her literary contributions have been featured in magazines and several bestselling anthologies, including Zane Presents Purple Panties 2: Missionary No More, and Zane’s Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3. N’Tyse currently resides in Dallas, Texas where she is hard at work on the next installment in her Twisted series. Vist the author at www.ntyse.com; www.facebook.com/author.ntyse; www.twitter.com/ntyse; ntyse.amillionthoughts@ yahoo.com
IF YOU LIKED “CHASERS,” BE SURE TO CHECK OUT N’TYSE’S FULL-LENGTH NOVELS. ENJOY THIS TASTE OF
BY N’TYSE
AVAILABLE FROM STREBOR BOOKS
1
Three years earlier
It was so dark and windy that night. Nadine planned on leaving right after choir rehearsal and heading straight home because she had an early morning briefing with Denise, her business partner and best friend, and the rest of their staff. They were going to discuss a strategy to save the $6 million dollar portfolio they were in danger of losing to the bank.
The car alarm to Nadine’s Inuit white Audi made a chirping sound when she pressed the keyless entry remote to deactivate it. Just as she got ready to open her door, Jeff Jackson, Denise’s husband, appeared out of nowhere with his arm graciously extended in Nadine’s direction.
“Here, let me get that for you,” Jeff offered, stepping in front of Nadine before she could reach for the door handle. “Woman, you know better than to come out here all by yourself while it’s this dark,” he playfully chastised.
Nadine worked up a yawn. “Isn’t this sacred ground?”
Jeff let out a loose chuckle. “Yeah, but I can tell you right now that doesn’t mean anything to a base-head.” Jeff was born and raised in the hood and wasn’t afraid to face the facts. It was a cruel world and the church they attended just so happened to be located in one of the worst parts of it.
Nadine smiled at Jeff’s sincere concern for her safety. She leaned over to place her purse on the passenger seat. The fruity air freshener that hung from the neck of her rearview mirror had the entire car smelling like a watermelon patch. The scent was so strong, Nadine instantly regretted choosing it over the jasmine floral deodorizer she normally bought. She slowly turned back around to face a tower of smooth and handsome dark chocolate. Jeff was well dressed as always, wearing a black, two-button, single-breasted suit jacket; underneath it a white French-fly dress shirt. Blue denim instead of dress pants. Nadine never thought a pair of jeans could look so damn good on a man. She struggled to keep her gaze from settling on Jeff’s lower half, allowing her eyes to take in his large white patent leather Jordans; at least a size twelve in her estimation. Not only did Jeff have a natural swagger, he had a sense of style, too. Old school flava with New Age spunk and looks that could conjure the panties right off a woman.
Nadine’s eyes hungrily examined him from head to toe. Something was missing and then it hit her at once; his glasses. With the bit of light from her car, she was able to look straight into his mesmerizing chestnut-brown eyes.
“Where’s Denise?” she inquired finally. “I thought she’d be here tonight.” She pushed her hair behind her ears. It never failed. Every time she found herself in Jeff’s presence, she grew nervous. Out of the six years she’d known him, that butterfly feeling still swarmed aro
und the pit of her stomach, holding her accountable for all of her woulda-coulda-shouldas.
Jeff folded his arms. “I don’t know where my wife is. She said she needed to take care of some things at the office and then she’d be heading over afterwards, but”—Jeff scoffed as he looked around the empty parking lot—“I guess we can see she never got around to it. So she has me running her errands.” He raised a stack of Christmas programs bound together with a thick rubber band. But even if Denise hadn’t asked him to drop off the programs, he probably would have volunteered, knowing that Nadine would be here. He relished every chance to see her. He just wished that one day he could work up the nerve to tell Nadine how he’d truly felt about her all these years.
Nadine’s furrowed eyebrows showed her suspicion because Denise hadn’t mentioned missing rehearsal when they spoke two hours prior. Or maybe Denise had and Nadine was just too tired to remember. But had Nadine known in advance, she would have considered skipping rehearsal herself. She could barely stay awake. She glanced down at her watch, blinked sleepily.
Jeff tried not to stare at Nadine, but failed terribly. His disobedient eyes scanned her 5’8” frame. He was checking all of her out and with God as his witness, Nadine was still the finest woman he’d ever laid eyes on. “So where you heading off to?” he asked, examining her from a new angle.
Nadine’s reply was uneven. “I’m headed home. It’s so late.” She stifled a yawn. “Excuse me. Not only is it past my bedtime, but your wife and I have an early meeting tomorrow with a client that wants us to analyze his accounts. Can you believe that after all the time we spent winning him over, he continues to make us jump through hoops and over hurdles to maintain just a piece of his portfolio?” She shook her head, allowing the frustration that had been lurking all day to show its ugly face. “All the money we made for him and now he’s ready to bail out on us. Some people are so damn ungrateful—!” Nadine caught herself, raised her right hand to the sky, bit down on her tongue as a faint smile appeared. “Lord, forgive me. That was so unladylike.”
Jeff shook his head, smiled. “Don’t worry about it. You must have forgotten that I’m married to a woman that cusses like a sailor. Besides, if something is on your mind, let it off.”
Nadine inhaled as much of the polluted night air as she could take in at once. “It’s just”—she raised her hands and then dismissed the thought altogether once she felt herself getting worked up again—“Never mind.”
Jeff stood directly in front of Nadine, taking in her radiant smile, sexy aura, and the beautiful personality that had first attracted him to her way back when. He often wondered what would have happened between them if he’d confessed to her early on that she was a longing desire he kept tucked in the nest of his heart. He imagined what it would have been like marrying Nadine instead of Denise. He envisioned Deandra, his daughter, having Nadine’s brown, narrow eyes, round nose, and smooth butterscotch skin so enticing it was only a fraction away from appearing edible. And since the day they’d first met, he often fantasized about making love to Nadine whenever he was intimate with Denise. He imagined making memories between her legs as she counted backwards from ten, a digit for every inch of his blessings. He fantasized about stroking Nadine so deep that in the middle of her climax she’d call out his name in a cursing fit because he was fucking her so damn good. Then before she could even cross that finish line, he’d deepen his thrust, harden his stroke, grab her by the waist and force her warm erotic passion to surrender to his own as they rode the waves of ecstasy together. Jeff couldn’t get Nadine out of his head and the only thing he felt guilty about was the realization he didn’t want to. She supplied him with peace and didn’t even know it.
“Oh! Have I lost my mind?” Nadine blurted, breaking Jeff’s concentration with a smile that exposed straight white teeth shaped by childhood braces. “How could I stand here and not congratulate you on the new promotion? I hear you’re running things now, Mr. General Manager.” She straightened her posture. “So when I’m out of a job tomorrow,” she said, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at herself and then at Jeff, “I’ll be running over to your job. Sell a few cars, sweep some floors, hang balloons or something.” She laughed. While Nadine was only joking, the weight of her last comment forced her to lean back against her driver door. It was as though she just set off an explosive the way the words ricocheted from her mouth, leaving a terrible aftertaste. The uncomfortable thought of working for anyone other than the extremely wealthy clients who bankrolled her lifestyle was depressing, not to mention a hard pill to swallow. She could never go back to the clock-punching days that barely financed a third of her wardrobe. She could barely eat off of those checks, she remembered painfully. If it hadn’t been for the aunt that raised her and put her through school, she didn’t know how she would have managed.
Before allowing the threat of losing their most prized client take hold of her, Nadine switched her mindset back to the present. She sucked in her lips. Now what were we just talking about? she thought. Finally remembering, she said, “So I guess everybody’s hustling nowadays to maintain what they have. This recession has really hit us in the financial industry.”
Listen to her. Jeff laughed inside at how she carefully pronounced every word. Even when Nadine tried to fit in and speak the lingo, the slang, it just didn’t sound right coming out of her mouth. But her attempts were always flattering. “Yeah, everybody’s gotta have a back-up plan to stay on top of all this madness,” he replied. “But speaking of hustling, Denise and I just got into an argument about that the other day. She thinks I’m working too much overtime, but hell, that was in my job description. She was unhappy with me just selling cars. Now that I’m managing the dealership, she’s still unhappy.”
Nadine’s face showed her concern. Denise normally shared everything with Nadine about her marriage, but surprisingly she hadn’t mentioned anything to Nadine about this. As far as Nadine knew, Denise was ecstatic about her husband being promoted to general manager; at least proud enough to share the news with the entire staff one day in a board meeting.
“Well, you guys will work it out,” Nadine assured him with a questionable sincerity in her voice. She allowed herself a brief pause, then continued. “Seriously, how long have I known you two to go through these periods of being mad over nothing?” She answered for him, her neck moving with each word. “Too long. It must be a marriage thing,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, at a loss for a better explanation. Before the sentence left her mouth though, Nadine knew she was lying to Jeff. She tried coaching herself on the next best thing to say until she saw the look of unhappiness swell in his eyes. What had she gotten herself into now? Jeff and Denise’s marriage wasn’t any business of hers, she kept telling herself, and it would only complicate things if she stood there and allowed him to express himself in a way that made Denise look like a foolish woman undeserving of a good man. Because that would open up doors. Doors she knew should remain closed.
The wind sent another invasive chill and, instantly, Nadine’s nipples hardened into bullets as thick as her pinky. The swell of her breasts made the silver, buttoned-down blouse she wore dislodge itself from the waist of her pencil skirt. That should have been her cue to leave but instead she reached in her car, started the engine, and permitted the heat to circulate between them.
Jeff stared into thin air, then back at Nadine. “I just don’t know sometimes.” He tilted his head. “It’s like whatever I do, it’s just not good enough anymore,” he exclaimed honestly. He couldn’t figure out where he’d gone wrong in their relationship but it was apparent that Denise was so wrapped up in herself and everything else that he didn’t even exist in her world. That was why it was so easy for him to put in fifty to eighty hours a week and not feel missed at home. When Denise did decide to throw the shit up in his face, it was right before they became intimate. But Jeff was no fool. He knew that it was just another lame ass excuse to keep him from bothering her for sex. So before the night wa
s up, they would be screaming and shouting, then to the couch he would go to finish himself off alone. There was nothing about their marriage that felt special anymore; nothing that gave him a reason to come home every night or a reason to remain faithful. Everything leading up to the point he was at now had been a living hell. And while the pussy coupons women threw his way should have been the quick fix he needed, they did absolutely nothing for him. His only true interest was in one woman—Nadine Collins.
Nadine couldn’t help but wonder where all Jeff’s complaining was coming from. It was all so sudden, and not that she minded being a listening ear, tonight was just not a good night for it. She had no choice but to refuse to listen to his gripes about Denise, because she was already yawning and struggling to keep her eyes open, and also struggling to keep them from drifting down to the fly of his jeans. That may have actually been the bigger struggle. Oh how she wished just for one second that she had X-ray vision. She moved closer to him.
“Jeff, honey, I want you to try to relax,” Nadine said in her calmest voice. She began rubbing his shoulders. He was tense, almost as tense as the muscles in her pussy. She focused on those stubborn knots, massaging her fingers deeply in and out of every groove. Before she knew it, she had gotten herself wet. She looked around the parking lot, which thankfully was now empty except for Jeff’s black BMW parked in the far corner under a leaning thirty-foot elm tree. She didn’t want to risk someone coming out of the church and seeing the two of them alone.
Jeff tried to loosen up under Nadine’s irresistible touch. He didn’t want her to feel sorry for him, or maybe he did. He wasn’t sure what he wanted Nadine to feel. As long as he had her attention, he was content. “Nothing I do is good enough anymore,” he went on to say. “All Denise does is nag. It’s like she creates reasons to be pissed at me. And do you know how long it’s been since we had sex? Y’all are girls so I know y’all talk about it.” If Nadine didn’t know, he was about to enlighten her. “Three months! She tell you that?” Jeff held up three stiff fingers. “Not one, not two, but three!”
