Professor X

by Kiki Leach

  "Shouldn't have been you at all, Mariah."

  "Maybe not, but it happened. And maybe it needed to."

  "You don't mean that shit, darlin'."

  "What if I do?" she said. "That man had been a terror for as long as we've known him, Xavier -- far beyond the Kings. Rocka's death only made it worse, something that was bound to happen with or without you being involved."

  He lifted her hands to his mouth and kissed the tips of her fingers; she whimpered and curled them around his own. "How'd you take him out?"

  "A pair of scissors on his desk," she said. "I jammed them into his temple and he fell out."

  "Jesus. He bled out right goddamn there, yeah?" he asked. She nodded. "Fuck."

  "When the Kings find him--"

  "We're gonna be good out here. I'm gonna keep you safe like always."

  "I trust you with my entire heart, Xavier, and with my body more than anyone else -- always. But what about that 2%?" she questioned. "If his name was the only other one on the contracts, does it die with him?"

  "Yeah darlin', if the shit was true. LapDog not knowin' they existed gives me pause 'bout it bein' promised to that asshole like he claimed. Either way, we gotta find what we can and get it to the club 'fore his VP finds it first." She bobbed her head and leaned aside as he lifted his hand to her throat and brushed his fingers across her neck. His eyes darkened as he noticed a ring of bruises darkening her skin. "That asshole did this shit?" Her eyes dipped from his face as she swallowed. "That asshole hurt you like this, Mariah?"

  "I'm not in any pain now, X."

  He pressed his mouth against her throat and dropped soft kisses across her bruises, then tucked his fingers inside the rim of her skirt and pushed until it fell to the floor. "We need to get you outta all this," he said. "Get you cleaned up and in somethin' more comfortable."

  She leaned away from him and removed her tank, tossing it into a corner of the room.

  His eyes scanned her bare breasts and sex before returning to her face. "He made you come see him like this--?"

  "It doesn't matter anymore, especially since nothing ever happened and never would've." She cupped his cheeks and brushed her thumb across his mouth, watching his expression darken with hunger as she rolled her tongue between her own. "I don't want to think about anyone else but us for the rest of the night, Xavier. I just want you to hold me and keep me safe like you promised, that's it." He removed his cut and draped it across her shoulders. She pushed her arms though each hole with pride and wrapped her hands around his neck, lifting to her toes as she tasted the wisp of heat floating from his tongue. "Clean me up," she muttered.

  He gnashed his teeth as his nostrils flared in sync with his growing erection and plunged his tongue between her lips, exploring every taste of her mouth with the heat of his own. She removed his shirt and unbuckled his pants, then pushed her hand behind his underwear and stroked the underside of his penis with her thumb, swirling it around the head as he jerked against her and suckled her bottom lip. "Fuck, Mariah." He lifted her into his arms after tossing his clothes aside and carried her into the shower, turning the knobs for water and shoving her back against the wall as waves of warmth washed between them.

  As she closed her eyes and ripped her mouth from his, moaning as the steam filled her lungs, he pushed inside of her with an ease that left her body shaking; left her skin tingling and her heart fluttering against his chest. "Make love to me," she told him, her quivering mouth hovering above his parted lips as water coated his tongue.

  "Always, darlin'." He pulled back and stared into her face with a growing smile that left her helpless to more of his touch. "Motherfucker like me ain't ever gonna stop..."

  "Don't."

  And he didn't.

  Not for hours that soon turned into more worthwhile days on end.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Xavier

  "FUCK!" Tractor barreled into chapel like a wayward bowling ball and fell into his chair behind the table as the brothers eyed each other with contempt and groaned. "These fuckin' bitches," he hollered over an excess of voices and slew of music playing from the juke box in the main room. "Nothin' but the same ol' pussy out here pissin' me the fuck off as usual."

  Xavier peeked at him and muttered. "What the fuck else is new with your ass, VP?"

  "Not a goddamn thing with these busy bee bitches runnin' through here like always for the parties with their tits to their goddamn knees suddenly puttin' up limitations with their fuckin' kids around; can't even get my cock sucked like it needs to be 'cause they fear 'em walkin' in on some shit."

  Rider lifted the back of his head from the floor, opening his eyes to peek at his brother as he grinned. "You'll get it, motherfucker -- You'll fuckin' get it from one of 'em with enough beggin' and patch flashin'."

  "Yeah, asshole, you'll fuckin' get it; only been six goddamn days out here." Coco took a hit from his joint and smirked. "Some of these new bitches still need to get adjusted to bein' locked down in a single place with more than just cock for once. But if not, you can always find a tailpipe out back to use. Maybe get one of 'em to flip an engine and make your goddamn day."

  Rider lifted his hands and snapped them shut to motion the start-up of a motorcycle. "VROOM fuckin' VROOM, motherfuckerrrrr!"

  The brothers burst into a fit of laughter as Tractor flipped them off and turned his head.

  "You know..." Xavier smoked the remainder of his joint and blew out the smoke. "Pussy don't come as free as you'd like anymore, brother. Sometimes you gotta pay a hefty goddamn price just to see one in person nowadays; put in the goddamn work, cut or no fuckin' cut."

  "That so?" Tractor shifted in his chair and glared. "And what the fuck kinda price have you been payin' for Mariah's since she's been back?"

  "None." He dropped the ashes of his joint into a tray and jumped to his feet. "Ain't gotta pay for somethin' that's always been mine."

  Coco snickered. "Listen, why don't you head into the kitchen and see if your girl and the others are done with breakfast yet. Trac's probably more pissed than usual 'cause his goddamn belly's empty."

  "I ain't hungry for anything more than pussy right now, asshole."

  "Seems like the eggs and bacon are gonna have to do in the meantime, VP." Poke leaned across the table and lowered his head as it pounded between his ears. "Maybe stop walkin' around here snarlin' like some kinda angry ass animal and you'll get some pussy before lockdown is up."

  Tractor rolled his eyes to the end of the table and frowned. "I know your pale as fuck ass ain't tryin' to talk shit?! Not with all the shots you took last night just to get even half of Dakota's lopsided pussy in the back of her own goddamn car? That's why you woke up lookin', soundin' and smellin' like a bag of shit today."

  "Least I can say I'm still gettin' some on the regular while we're out here like X and Cheddar, yeah?"

  "Like X and Cheddar." Coco climbed on top of the table and took another hit from his joint, then peeked over his shoulder to stare at X and lifted his brow. "But not like Scooter."

  "Fuck that asshole." Tractor leaned into his chair and slapped his hands across his stomach. "Notice how real fuckin' quiet he's been since his bitch went AWOL the minute she was told about lockdown? All that bullshittin' about her not bein' involved with this shit."

  X folded his arms and flexed his shoulders. "We still don't fuckin' know if he's aware of any shit she might be involved in."

  "Feelin' like VP mighta been right and he's aware of somethin', brother," said Rider. "Bitch knows what the club's about, knows what the fuck bein' on lockdown means for all of us out here. She took off with a goddamn purpose before he could keep her ass in check."

  Coco nodded. "I been thinkin' so now too. Trust me on this shit, X, somethin's up with that asshole and his bitch."

  X rolled his eyes into his head and reached for the door. "Think I've done enough trustin' with your ass for the time bein', motherfucker--"

  "Hey." Coco sat up and swallowed hard as X turne
d back to him and glowered; he clipped his joint between two fingers and pointed. "My girl ain't the reason we're locked up in this bitch."

  "And my woman ain't the motherfuckin' reason we were thrown into this shit to begin with."

  "Who the fuck are you tryin' to blame for this shit?" asked Tractor. "'Cause if I can motherfuckin' recall correctly, it was your ass bein' seen on that goddamn campus takin' Mariah's back home that set shit into motion with Rocka in the first fuckin' place when all you were supposed to do was just 'check it the fuck out'."

  X sneered. "If it wasn't for Mariah, we wouldn't have learned what the fuck we did about the goddamn Kings from that asshole. Don't go blamin' her for the reason we were stuck with a buncha half-wit pricks initially usurpin' our coke."

  "I don't know, brother -- maybe we should be askin' her more about that shit. Maybe Rocka lettin' her know what was goin' down with those assholes was too fuckin' convenient."

  "What the fuck are you talkin' 'bout?"

  "Maybe we shoulda been questionin' why the fuck Mariah was so goddamn eager to get back in with us in the first place, just like Gabi. She knew this Pugh motherfucker just as much, yeah?"

  "She wouldn't do shit to fuck us over. And sure as fuck not with an asshole like Pugh."

  "You really fuckin' sure about that? Or you just guessin' with a goddamn side of hope?"

  X walked around the table and stood in front of him, wrapping his hands around the edge of his cut to keep from throwing them around his VP's throat. "You know that she was lookin' to return to her goddamn job for money to stay in school. You ain't gonna put this shit on her like you've been tryin' to do with Gabi's ass."

  Tractor sighed and opened his hands. "Maybe if you don't want your bitch bein' accused of shit, you should start pressin' that other motherfucker on his own."

  "I've fuckin' tried--"

  "It ain't been hard enough."

  "He's right on this shit too, X," Coco mumbled around the tip of his joint. "Hate to keep agreein' with this shit, but Scooter needs to start bein' pressed harder than fuck on Gabi's shit; Prez tries to do it and he clams the fuck up; the rest of us start askin' about her and he takes off like a goddamn rocket. We need to know if she's involved with some shit that could keep us fucked from here on; this disappearin' act of hers makes no goddamn sense otherwise."

  "Just like the fuckin' Kings still bein' MIA makes no goddamn sense," said Poke. "For all we know, she could be holdin' 'em off for the time bein'."

  Tractor barked with laughter. "Pussy like that ain't gonna have the kinda power to keep an entire fuckin' club from makin' its way down here to rip our dicks off in thinkin' we bombed their Prez; 'specially if they thought we maybe did it in retaliation for Rocka and nothin' else."

  "They wouldn't be that stupid -- not now. My guess is they still don't fuckin' know who took him out." Rider shrugged. "Maybe for once in his sorry ass life, T was tellin' the goddamn truth and those cams were actually off. And with nobody else out there that night, they realize they can't be reckless in makin' accusations against the Devils; they'd need concrete proof with how they're goin' about tryin' to get us the fuck outta Pink."

  "Hey, maybe they've gotta reason to be quiet -- maybe they don't." Coco lifted his chin and looked to X as his eyes narrowed. "Either way, we need to fuckin' know and only one motherfucker in this room can get close enough to find out."

  X glanced at his brothers and quickly bobbed his head in silence before trailing out of the room and moving into the kitchen.

  As a multitude of half-dressed women bounced around him with hearts in their eyes and lust on their tongues while stirring pancake batter and rolling dough for bread, he grabbed Mariah's hand as she stood near the fridge with Kyla and dragged her into the hallway of the club.

  "X..." She fell against the wall as they huddled near the apartment and pressed her lips together as he encircled her waist and leaned into her face, brushing his mouth along her jawline as the tip of his tongue trailed her skin. "Mm."

  "You taste salty and goddamn sweeter than usual..." She grinned. "You almost done in there?" he muttered against her skin.

  "Almost. The girls are making banana bread with rum for Boone as a peace offering and apology for 'seducing' Smoke on the clock."

  His hands tightened as he glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. "Smoke is alright, just a dumbass that needs to curb bein' ruled by pussy."

  Her nose crinkled as she slipped her arms across his shoulders and palmed the back of his neck. "You wouldn't know anything about that?"

  He flexed his jaw and bit back a grin. "I need to ask you somethin'," he said. "Gabi."

  "I still don't know anything about where she is right now, Xavier. Even talking with some of the girls on campus that have emailed the work I've missed, they haven't seen her hanging around out there. Apparently the UC has had to put someone else in her position because she hasn't shown up in over a week; no calls, no warnings about taking off -- nothing."

  "Well the brothers are shovin' a pipe up my ass to get more info on this bitch, Mariah; with the Kings still not makin' their way out here, paranoia is flyin' sky high with Trac and the rest."

  "What do you want me to do that I haven't already tried?"

  "You gotta try callin' her again, darlin' -- maybe from a burner this time."

  "She won't answer a number she doesn't know."

  "She will if she don't think she's bein' traced. We at least need her answerin' for Tech to track her ass down."

  "I'll do what I can, but won't make any promises."

  "Alright. Get with him for a bit and try callin' her up in Prez's office for privacy. Need to find Scooter and talk to him 'bout the same shit. LapDog too."

  "LapDog is out front with Cheddar," she said.

  His brows arched. "Is the motherfucker still tied up?"

  "As far as I could see. I think it's possible that they're spending most of their time talking about Kyla."

  "How's she doin' with this shit? The other girls and all that?"

  "Better than she thought she would." She paused. "She told me that the nightmares have subsided but it helps having Cheddar with her. I think she's going to start pushing for them to become more serious after this."

  "Yeah, Cheddar's been wantin' the same goddamn thing; just waitin' for her to catch up so he don't push her ass away by bein' too fuckin' much."

  "I don't think he could push her away if he tried; she doesn't seem like the type to go running from him or what they might have in spite of the chaos."

  He brushed the tip of her nose with his own and grinned. "Shit sounds fuckin' familiar."

  She smiled in return and kissed him soft, deeply until her lungs nearly gave out, then rested her hand on top of his excessively beating heart and scurried to the bar in search of Tech.

  After watching them move into the back and Prez's office, X shuffled through the dancing crowd of brothers, women and children and rushed outside to see a drinking Cheddar and sleep deprived LapDog.

  "Am I interruptin' some shit with you two assholes out here?" he questioned, shoving a cigarette between his lips and lighting the tip as he strolled to the picnic table.

  LapDog lifted his tightly bound wrists and ankles, and grumbled.

  "Nope." Cheddar took a swig from his beer and wagged his head. "Boone said this prick might need some fresh air to keep from stinkin' up the basement any further, so that's what he's gettin' before we eat."

  LapDog wiggled his jaw and gulped. "I was also told that I could be fed, be able to take a goddamn shower... I'm barely gettin' a goddamn glass of water every fuckin' night."

  "Motherfucker, be lucky we don't piss in it first before shovin' it down your goddamn throat. Remember this shit ain't supposed to be the lap of luxury when your ass tried blowin' us up and when that didn't work, tried blowin' off our goddamn heads. Be fuckin' grateful ain't nobody tried to do the same to yours yet." Cheddar finished the remainder of his beer and stood up from the bench. He turned to X and jerk
ed his chin. "Breakfast ready yet?"

  "Nah, they just started bakin' some bread."

  "Shit. I am hungry as a goddamn hippo." He tossed his bottle into a trashcan near a set of bikes and pat his stomach. "I need to head inside and talk to Kyla for a bit -- You got this motherfucker out here?"

  "Yeah, brother, I got him. Go see 'bout your girl."

  "Thanks, brother."

  He slapped a hand against X's back before returning to the club.

  "So." X's gaze drifted to LapDog's face as he glared. "How's Mariah continuin' to hold up with this shit?"

  Xavier frowned. "Don't you worry with how my woman is doin' with anything, asshole -- worry 'bout your ass makin' it outta all this shit with your goddamn head still attached."

  He bent his head aside and furrowed his brows. "Fair enough."

  "But I gotta few goddamn questions now that we're alone out here. Startin' with why the fuck you've managed to keep quiet 'bout me bein' the reason Rocka's dead."

  LapDog leaned against the table and eyed him for a few seconds, then sat up straight and jerked his shoulders. "What the fuck good does that shit do for me now?" he asked. "Your club ain't gonna believe that shit and would take me out sooner before later for bein' a goddamn liar... Ain't no point."

  "But if you could, you'd say some shit."

  "Doesn't fuckin' matter now, X."

  "It'll matter in the goddamn future if the club doesn't take you out once all this shit is done. We're keepin' you now as an asset. You don't fuck around, fuck up or piss us off, Prez has got no reason to gut your tongue and throw your ass in the goddamn river like he probably should..." He paused. "Does Flex know the same shit?"

  He shook his head. "Just me and T."

  "You're fuckin' sure? Not even the motherfuckers you had out there takin' him out?"

  "All they knew was that he had to go. As far as Flex, he'd have been out here wavin' his dick if he knew the truth on that shit; motherfucker woulda been ready to blow your ass out the water with the club rippin' it to shreds and implodin' once you were out. He'd need proof though, and he ain't got it."