by Tiana Laveen
“Hi, Promise,” Rebecca answered while simultaneously speaking to someone else in the background. “You need anything, honey? I’m in a meeting.”
“Um, I have a couple coming in less than five minutes. The Andersons. Her stepfather died, but my stomach is upset and I’m feeling pretty sick. Maybe it was something I ate.” It wasn’t a complete fib; her stomach was in knots, but it damn sure wasn’t because of that croissant she’d wolfed down. She hated lying to Rebecca, but what could she do?
“Oh, no. Do you need to go home? If so, I can get Greg to help them.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I think I need to leave and get some rest.”
“No problem. You have plenty of sick time accumulated that you’ve barely used. If you can, forward my calls to Beverly before you go.”
“Sure, I’ll do that. Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Feel better soon, honey.”
Rolling waves of guilt consumed her as she hung up the phone, pressed a few buttons to forward Rebecca’s calls, grabbed her purse, and made a hasty beeline out of there.
“You’ve been avoiding her, too.” Gutter stood outside of Promise’s apartment building, trying to recall which unit number she was in. He’d never been inside before, and the little vixen had never invited him over. This was important though.
“I have.” Zach sighed. “This is really heavy for me, Zake. I’m not as strong as you.”
“Bullshit. Just call her, okay? She’s getting worse.”
“I know. Zina spoke to her a couple of days ago and said Mom said she’s on another medication for the pain. I’m glad you two are getting along better.” He could hear the smile in his brother’s tone.
“Too much has happened, man. That shooting and some other shit made me evaluate certain things. Not saying’ I’m glad that some motherfuckers tried to rob and kill me, but situations like that tend to shake shit up.”
“I definitely understand, and you can ask Sandra, I was a mess! I thought my brother was dead! The news at first didn’t know you’d lost consciousness at one point, and I was tryna call Dad but he wasn’t answering, which I found out later it was because he was on the phone with Mom.” Zach went on and on, detailing his pain and concern over and over again. Gutter had heard his brother tell this story a million times in the past few weeks, and that let him know for certain that Zach was truly beside himself, even after he’d assured him that he was fine.
“Anyway, I love ya, big bro.”
“I love you too, Zach. Tell Sandra hello. I’ll call ya back later in the week.”
“Okay.”
Gutter disconnected the call. He looked at the dwelling, noting there were only eight apartments in this building. It was more than apparent that the dwelling had been a house and was converted into units. She mentioned she’s on the top floor, so that means she’s either in apartment 7 or 8. Which one? Why in the hell wouldn’t they have names on these? He pushed one of the buzzers.
No answer.
He waited, then tried again.
Still no answer.
Okay, that was apartment 8. Let’s try 7.
He pushed the buzzer.
“…Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
His lips curled into a smile.
“Can you see me clearly? Or is this one of those grainy, old ass cameras? Make sure it gets my good side.”
“Gutter, what? Why in the—? What’s going on?”
“I should be asking you the same thing. I went to your job to take you to lunch, like we’d planned, and I walked in there, listening to a horrible elevator music version of Elton John’s, ‘Tiny Dancer,’ only to be told that you’d left early for the day.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot! I am so sorry, Zake. You know that’s not like me. Yeah, I uh, I left early. I’m not really presentable. Give me a few minutes to get myself together and I’ll let you up. Hold on.”
“I don’t care about you being presentable, C.B. You saw me getting blood drained from my body at one point… and let’s not discuss the catheter removal. I don’t think I’m in any position to judge you.” He smiled when he heard her laugh.
“I was a nurse, baby. That’s nothing. I get your point just the same, though. Come on up.” A few seconds later, she buzzed him in. He made his way up the steps, four flights, and rapped on the door. Moments later, a beautiful woman, her face free of makeup, her hair, frizzy, voluminous, and gorgeous, greeted him in a crop top and oversized blue jogging pants. “You didn’t.” She smiled sadly.
“I wouldn’t come here empty handed. Gotta feed my baby. I promised you lunch, remember?”
He’d brought shrimp wontons and vegetable fried rice from a little Chinese joint she loved near her job, and all her all-time favorite: Lahore Deli. The Indian food from a hole in the wall in Soho was out of this world. “I had to scurry, then hurry, and bring my baby the fucking curry.”
She cracked up as she closed and locked the door behind him. The place smelled of sweet candles, perhaps rose, and as he glanced at the small, but cute, kitchen, he could see she had a pot of tea on the stove.
“Set it here on the counter?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
The aromas of soft naan and chicken saag filled the air. He placed the bags down and pulled her away from the counter as she stirred her tea to take her in his arms.
“They said you weren’t feeling well when I stopped at the funeral home. What’s wrong?”
“Zake, I just had a really shitty day.” She went back to preparing her tea. He leaned against the wall as she poured tea into a black mug with a sugar skull on it. Steam drifted from the cup, covering part of her face and making her almost appear surreal. Angelic. “Do you want some?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll just get some water.” He went to wash his hands in the sink then searched her cabinets and drawers to find dishes and cutlery to use for their food. Moments later, they were in her living room, curled up on her couch, eating and talking. Laughing. Relaxing.
This is perfect. Just what I need.
“So, what happened at work today, baby?”
Promise told him about her ride on the train. “…So, that lady was loud and obnoxious and causing a scene about it; then the nursing home had lost all of the paperwork, and it wasn’t even the end of it…” She paused for a moment, then continued, “So, she accidentally told him where I worked. I just didn’t want my ex-husband havin’ my information. You can understand that, right? It was just a stressful day. I needed some R&R or I was going to burst.”
She rested her head against his shoulder as he lazily looked at the television, his fingers covered in curry sauce from dipping his bread in the spicy goodness. He looked down at her to find her attention on the television, too. His desire for her stirred, like the way she’d been stirring her sugar in her tea. That feeling quickly transformed into an all-out tornado…
I’m horny as fuck. She’s driving me crazy. If I don’t get laid soon, I’m the one that’s going to burst. My hand can only do so much…
“Is that it? Anything else happen?”
She popped up off his shoulder, her eyes wild and her brows dipped.
“Yes, that’s it. Why would you ask me that? Wasn’t what I said enough?”
“Shit, calm down.” He looked her up and down, confused as hell. “I’m asking because first of all, it’s just polite to ask if there’s anything else before changin’ the fucking subject. Second of all, I asked because I know you work well with difficult people and situations. I’ve seen you in action, Promise, and what you described, though annoying, doesn’t seem like the type of thing to drive you out of there. You’re dedicated and calm under pressure. The shit with your ex-husband doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that would make you leave work either, unless he was a stalker, and you said he wasn’t. I can understand though that sometimes all it takes is a bunch of little things to add up and create a mountain.”
She visibly swallowed and began rubbing her
arms, as if suddenly cold.
“I’m just a little jumpy. I’m not even used to being home this time of day.” She chuckled nervously. “It feels… strange.”
He cleaned up their dishes and mess, regardless of her protests that she could handle it, then returned to find her staring into space. Expressionless. Zoned out. Grabbing a throw blanket, he wrapped it around her and pulled her close to him. They held hands and then started kissing, tasting the exotic spices off each other’s mouth. Cupping the back of her neck, he put his all into that kiss, his passions sending him into overdrive, his need for her all-consuming. Touch her. Taste her. Feel her. On the inside…
“Come here, baby. Don’t fight it.”
He laid her down on the couch and turned the television off. They moved like velvet shadows in the dimly lit room. Curtains drawn. A chill in the air. Sliding against one another like silken strands of longing and yearning. Womanly moans erupted as he reached inside her crop top to massage and rub on her heaving breasts while grinding against her zone.
Fingers drifting low, he pushed gently against the plush lips of her nature. The warmth between her thighs turned him on impossibly more. Slipping against her folds, he stroked her core, the key to her physical desires, driving her pleasure up a notch. She didn’t resist when he slid her shirt over her head, exposing a sheer black bra that could barely contain her supple breasts. He sucked, licked, and kissed them through the soft material, then worked them out of the barrier that slowed his wish to fully devour his twin prize.
“You’re so beautiful, baby.”
Casting the bra aside, he sat up on his haunches and removed his own shirt, letting it slide languidly to the floor. She looked up at him, and even in the darkness, the whites of her eyes shined bright. She smiled, her want for him clearly in her gaze, urging him on. She traced his chest with her fingers, then his abs, exploring him. When she appeared satisfied, he pressed his weight into her. She sighed and gyrated as they grinded against one another like perfectly oiled gears.
In no time, he’d removed his watch, rings, socks… but left his necklace on. Now he was down to his boxers. He wanted to annihilate anything that dared come between them. She pulled her pants down, shimmying them around her wide, beautiful hips and revealing a matching pair of sheer black underwear—a window to a peach.
Pushing her back down on the couch, he reached into that cookie jar between her thighs, the lace material of her panties rubbing against his knuckles as he teased her nature, sliding his finger back and forth against her wet love. Decorating her neck, face, and breasts with urgent kisses, he found himself in desperate need, clawing at the door of indulgence. He needed room to spread out, to show her what he was really made of, and what he could provide… in more ways than one.
As if reading his mind, she stood, took his hand, and led him to her bedroom.
“Go ahead and get comfortable,” she said as she opened up her computer and turned on some music on low volume. Low enough so he could hear her breathing. Moaning. Screaming. Calling his name. He sat down on the bed and watched her, never wanting to miss a thing.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the bathroom while he decided to return up front to grab his wallet and phone. Back in the bedroom, he removed a couple of condoms from his wallet and set his items on the nightstand. Humming to the music—‘Happy,’ by Surface—he made his way to her computer to see what type of music she had on her playlists. It was all sorts of tunes: old school R&B like the current song, as well as new music, and even a couple of jazzy classics.
He slipped off his boxers and got under the sheets. In the near distance he could hear her taking a shower. Moments later, the woman emerged, her shoulders damp. In her birthday suit. No lingerie. No barriers. She smiled at him in such a sexy way as she sauntered past, drying her tresses with a towel, then placing it over a chair.
This woman’s body is fucking sick. She looks so damn sexy…
Her breasts were large, but not too big for her average frame. Wide hips, thick thighs, small waist, long legs, big ass, all natural in all the right places. Everything about her turned him the hell on.
“Do you have protection, Zake? If not, I have some.”
“Yeah. I’ve got it.” He pointed to the Durex XXL condoms on the nightstand, then patted the bed. She curled against him when he grabbed her, kissed her, and sucked on the side of her neck. Her eyes fluttered as he caressed her and squeezed her tight, their bodies wrapped around each other like ribbons, chains and ropes. With a gentle yet firm nudge, he pushed her against the pillow and drifted down… down… down…
“Oh, shit…”
Spreading her silky lips, slipping his pink pointed dagger along her sleek folds, he introduced her weeping pussy to Mr. Tongue. He shuddered with lust as soon as he got his first taste of Promise.
“So fucking sweet, baby…” he managed to blurt between greedy swallows.
She caught the cream sheets in her fists, body arching like the Brooklyn Bridge. Sucking her pussy slowly, he kept his eyes on her, getting hard by the sounds she made. He cupped her ass to elevate her just so, building his pace every few minutes until he reached a rapid, ravenous speed. Juice gushed from her blossom and he was rendered deaf from the compression of her thighs against his ears. Muffled screams and cries of ecstasy filled the room as he kept sucking her sweet candy until her voice was hoarse, and she trembled, her body contorting in strange yet beautiful ways. Resting his mouth against her wetlands, he swirled his tongue around and around in small, then big, circles all over her pussy until she came down from her orgasmic high.
The Weeknd’s, ‘Take My Breath’ played at low volume. She breathed in tune with the beat, eyes closed, becoming a part of the melody. He kissed her pussy, then again, cradling her thighs, loving her flavor on his tongue and her scent. She blinked a couple of times, then rose slowly onto her elbows and looked down at him.
“Tannin demon.”
“What?” he asked with a chuckle as she sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at him.
“You have a Tannin tongue… It’s the demon associated with bringing chaos to the sea. It looks like a serpent.”
“…Okay, that’s some weird shit to just know off the top of your head.”
Her forehead wrinkled as she laughed.
“And you’re offended by me calling you Corpse Bride, and Morticia. Who the hell walks around knowing specific names of demons, Promise, and what they do?” She was laughing all the harder now. “I’m gonna have to call my father and have his priest check you out. Exorcism time.” He shook his head in mock disapproval, and she lazily slipped the pillow from behind her head and flung it at him. Catching it, he set it down and yanked on her ankles, causing her to squeal, then started to nibble on a couple of her dark-red-painted toes.
“That tickles! Oh my God.” She tried to scoot away, worming towards the upholstered silver headboard, but he pulled her back and sucked softly on her baby toe while cupping and squeezing her pussy. “You’re a freak.” She tilted her head to the side and her black natural curls swayed, still somewhat damp.
He didn’t miss how she shuddered and exhaled. She likes this shit… She smiled at him like he was the best thing to ever walk through her door and grace her bed. He kissed the top of her foot then set it down. Calum Scott’s, ‘You Are the Reason’ was now their serenade.
He climbed atop her and she grasped his face, framing his cheeks with soft hands. Their mouths met, heat and need feeding their inclinations. The woman’s body moved like a wave against his, up and down, long legs with strong calves wrapped around his, bringing him impossibly closer. They whispered words of connection, of need, words he understood on a deeper level…
“I need you…”
“I want you…”
The words became double-jointed and filled with thunder and lightning. Twisting and booming, meandering inside their souls. She rubbed his shoulders, arms, and back as he pumped his hips and hard dick against her lo
ve. Teasing her for what was to come. A beautiful flood moistened Promise’s thighs—the slight stickiness of her juice, making him aware of the taste of her lingering on his tongue.
And he longed for more of her. He pulled back, flipping her over unceremoniously. Sheets flew in the air as her satiny brown limbs landed like mahogany feathers against the light bedding. He buried his face against her pussy from behind, his eyes looking right at her pussy lips and ass. Darting his tongue in and out of her, he moved fast and hard until she exploded and screamed harsh, lovely obscenities in his honor. When he rose, he didn’t bother wiping her sweetness from his lips. He flipped her onto her back and reached for a condom. The woman’s eyes strained to focus, as if she were fighting to stay awake from her last orgasm.
Her eyes darted to his dick as he sheathed himself. He then fell down on her and sucked and kissed her neck, gripping her ass with one hand and squeezing the pliant flesh for dear life.
“God…” she murmured as he kissed all over her delicious body.
“I’ve never waited this long for pussy. You must be special, baby.”
“I’m real special,” she slurred in a sexy way.
“I know you are. Gutter’s home now though, baby. Knock… knock… knock… I’m coming in…”
“Ahhh… God!” she screamed when he entered her, his first thrust famished and severe from the gate. Her eyes grew wild and big as she wrapped her satiny thighs around his waist and fastened her ankles against the small of his back. The woman was trembling, her eyes watering and hips gyrating, hunger and lust on overdrive. Pressing his forehead to hers, he looked into her eyes, and then, they dared each other to go the darkest depths of pleasure. She felt like warm butter and hot caramel sauce dripping down a chocolate glazed pint of debauchery.
