by Tiya Rayne
“What did you find in the apartment?”
“I was never in an apartment.”
He slams his hands down on the table in front of him. That blotchy red color fills his entire face. “I know she sent you more than a text message. I asked your foster parents about that sweet little message. They all say it’s a lie.”
I snort. “And you believed them? Most of them couldn’t even remember to feed us and the ones that did couldn’t keep their fucking hands out of our pants. You think they would take the time to remember two little black girls having a simple uplifting message?”
He narrows his eyes. The look in them suggests this interrogation isn’t going as he’d planned.
“I didn’t kill my sister, Detective Long. I don’t care how you try to spin this. She was all I had in this world.”
Silence edges its way between us. He studies me and I return the favor. I begin to paint him in my head.
The bags under his eyes indicate the lack of sleep. This is new and wasn’t there before. This case or a case must be getting the best of him.
There are no more strands of hair on his shirt. Maybe he and his girlfriend broke up. Maybe that’s why he looks tired.
“Who is the man you’re running around town with?” His question cuts off my painting in mid-stroke.
I’ve done well up until this point, but I can’t help the involuntary flinch his question brings me. Clearly, the subject of Walker is still pretty tender.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words lack conviction and Detective Long picks up on it.
“You have no idea who I’m talking about? Maybe we should dig into his background a little, see what it gives us.”
Despite still being pissed at Walker, I don’t need the cops digging into his background. I imagine there will be a lot of skeletons coming out of his closet, and unlike mine, he could actually get in trouble for his.
Besides, we still have eight days left to clear Walker’s name and find out who killed my sister. I don’t give a shit about clearing his name, but I want to know who killed my sister. And with the circle these cops are going in, it’s going to be left up to me to solve this case.
Before I can say anything to stray him from his plans of researching Walker a knock sounds on the other side of the door. This seems to catch Detective Long off guard.
“This room is occupied,” he shouts to the closed door.
The door opens and in walks Seth. No wait, this isn’t Seth. Not only because this guy is dressed like a businessman and not the biker that I met in the coffee shop across from the bookstore, but there are other small differences. I refer back to the painting in my head of Seth.
This guy looks exactly like Seth down to the kaleidoscope eyes behind the square framed glasses, but there are small differences. Like his mannerisms, the way he tilts his head, the lack of tattoos on his fingers and most importantly the lack of danger in his eyes. This must be Lucien.
“Can I help you?” Detective Long demands.
“No,” Lucien replies before turning to me. “Let’s go, Brooklyn.”
I get to my feet. He doesn’t have to tell me twice. Detective Long stands too.
“You’re interfering in a police investigation…” His last word fades out when Lucien turns toward the detective. I take back what I said, that scary look blazes in his eyes.
“You have had her here overnight without booking her or allowing her to call for representation. She’s here only because you aren’t doing your job. In no way is she a suspect in this case.
“She has an airtight alibi and no motive, all of which I am sure you already know. You’re wasting her time, which means you’re wasting mine, and in general pissing me off. This is bullshit and you know it and if it were solely up to me, I’d have you sitting on the other side of this table trying to explain those hidden files on your personal laptop.”
Detective Long’s eyes get so wide I think he’s having a stroke. Damn, Lucien might be worse than Seth. He handed Detective Long an ass-whooping without having to lay a hand on him.
“Come, Brooklyn.” Lucien turns and opens the door for me. I smile politely at the detective as I walk out of the small room.
“Sorry it took so long to find you,” Lucien says in a much gentler voice than he used on the detective. “I was working a case. Hawk had to go through my brother to locate me. And well, you’ve met Seth.”
I cringe at the mention of his brother. “It’s no problem, but how did you find me?”
If I was never booked there couldn’t have been any documentation of me being in the police station. A smile spreads over Lucien’s face. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s dorky because he is entirely too fine for that.
“It was a bit of a challenge. When I tried to hack into the camera outside your hotel to determine which way you went, I discovered that the hotel camera was being serviced that day. It picked up nothing.
“I then had to check every camera in all possible directions until I finally picked you up outside the bar. I couldn’t get a read on the license plates of the car or a clear shot of who took you. I had to run the make, model, and year through the database and came back with seven thousand possible owners in New York.
“Which I had to narrow down and that led me to this police station. It was a long process, but I got it done.” I don’t even begin to understand all that he explains.
“I’m glad to be out. Hopefully Detective Long will drop this idea that I’m a suspect and move on to actually solve this case,” I say, looking around at all the cops that are watching us.
Lucien holds open the front door of the police station for me and I walk out. Parked right on the curb is the black town car with Steven and Walker both standing beside it. I come to a stop before I reach them. Steven opens the back passenger’s side door for me.
“Here,” Lucien says, handing me the flash drive. I take it from him. “Rose meant a lot to me.”
“Yeah, me too.”
He nods his head and walks over to Walker. “Good luck. If you need me, you know how to find me.” Walker nods and Lucien turns and walks away.
He crosses the street and climbs into the baddest looking car I have ever seen. It’s a smoky gray, two-door sports car with tinted windows. It’s a beauty.
I climb into the backseat of our borrowed car and Steven shuts the door. Walker climbs into the other side and Steven gets behind the wheel. We pull away from the police station in silence.
I stare out of the window, not because the sights have my attention, but because I can feel the heat from Walker’s eyes on me. Those annoying ass flutters are swooping in the pit of my stomach like bats.
I have nothing to say to him.
We finally pull up to the hotel and I climb out of the car before Walker or Steven can open the door. I head into the hotel toward the elevator. I’m craving a hot shower and food.
I hit the button on the elevator, and it opens. I step in and Walker joins me. I don’t want to be in another confined space with him but until this case is solved, I’m stuck.
I can work with him without liking him. I can do anything for Albany. Even be in this horrible, awkward situation. I punch in our floor number and move to the back corner away from him.
Once the car starts moving up, Walker goes to the panel and hits the emergency stop bottom. We jerk to a stop.
“What the hell?” I shout.
“You will listen to me.” He turns toward me and those piercing eyes cause me to seal my mouth shut. “I was in love with Red.”
That twisting in my stomach comes back with his admission. Jealousy. I can finally put a name to the annoying feeling.
“I don’t want to hear this—” My words are cut off when his hands land heavily on either side of my head caging me in.
“I was eight when the Church took me. I had no idea how to love or what love was. I was a child that they taught to kill. The only relationships I fostered were with the men you’ve met.”
I don’t tell him this, but that’s fucked up. None of the men I’ve met so far are sane enough to be in relationships with, except for maybe Lucien.
Walker continues. “When you turn sixteen in the Church, they round you up and take you to the Nunnery. They line up women and you pick whoever you want. That’s the closest I ever came to dating and forming a relationship.
“When I met Red, everything changed. She knew that sex wasn’t the only form of intimacy. She gave me something so much more valuable than sex. She was funny, attentive, she took her time getting to know me. She learned me and my needs.
“It was like being in a real relationship without sex. In the back of my mind, I knew that she was playing a role. That she was the same way for every man she spent time with.”
He removes one hand from the wall by my head and runs it gently down my cheek.
“Yes, I asked Red to leave with me before I left the Church, she told me that she wasn’t for me. She said that she had given me the best version of her and that the person for me was out there. That she was waiting for me and needed me.”
I’m even more confused now than I was before he got on the elevator. Who was he meant for?
“That last night,” he continues. “I asked Red for one thing. I wanted her real name. Something to take with me out into the real world. Do you know what name she gave me?”
My head shakes because I honest to god don’t know what she would have told him. He exhales and places his forehead to mine. “Brooklyn. She gave me your name.”
I shake my head. “You’re not making sense.”
“Think about it, why do you think she talked about me to you?”
I don’t even have to think about it. That canvas pops up in my head. Albany is lying on my bed.
That open magazine and her legs swaying. The scene is painted so clear before my eyes. I can hear her soft laugh and smell her perfume. Always the same scent, May Rose and Jasmine with a touch of vanilla. Her long black hair in a ponytail at the top of her head. That conversation comes back to me, but this time it’s earlier in the conversation.
“Don’t worry, Brook. I’m going to pick the perfect man for you.”
“What are you supposed to be, my fairy godmother?”
She stuck out her tongue at me before turning back to the magazine. “No, I’m going to pray the Lord sends you one.”
I laughed so hard I had to stop folding the clothes. “What do you know about praying? You don’t even go to church, Albany.”
Her chin jutted out and a smile lifted her lips. “The Church comes to me.”
At the time I laughed at her little joke, but now I see it. Everything she did was for this moment. All those conversations about Walker were her way of getting me past the stage in a relationship I would usually shy away from.
The part where I have to let down my guard long enough to get to know someone. She introduced us before we ever met. She talked about him so often that he felt so familiar to me when I first met him. I ran away from my home with this man, but I won’t even go on a date with a guy I’ve worked with for years.
She told me that I needed to let my guard down. That one day a man would come that would fight for me. Walker has been fighting since he met me. Not just my physical battles, but he’s fought against all the walls I’ve thrown up at him. The times I’ve pushed him away, he’s always remained resilient.
“She picked you for me.” Another Canvas comes to mind in my head and this time it’s that apartment. And I gasp at the realization. “I’m Red.”
“All the way down to your laugh.” He exhales against my forehead. “Priest was telling the truth. I did come back for Red.” He drops the hand he’d been stroked my face with to my waist. He grips it tight, tugging me into him. “I came back for you. I followed the name she gave me, thinking it would lead me to her, but it led me to a middle school art teacher. I’ve been following you around for the last year and a half, waiting for the right opportunity to be with you. I can’t wait anymore.”
His lips seal to mine in a kiss that has my soul lifting out of my body. I wrap my arms around his neck as my fingers find his soft hair. I moan into his mouth as he devours my lips, sucking the bottom one into his mouth.
He pulls away for only a second to restart the elevator and then returns to my lips. We don’t stop when the elevator starts to move up, we kiss like the end is near. I drown in his embrace.
His grip tightens on my hips to an almost biting pain. When the elevator dings open, we stumble out into the hallway not breaking our kiss. Walker lifts me and I wrap my legs around his waist and lock my hands around his neck. He carries me with his lips still connected to mine as we make our way to our door.
I don’t know how Walker gets in. All I know is we’re in the foyer of our hotel room, and my back is pressed up against the wall while he turns me into putty with only a kiss. He breaks away from my lips and snatches my shirt off of my body and tosses it to the floor.
He hikes me up the wall a little higher and bends his head down. Pulling my breast out of my bra cup, he latches onto my chocolate tip. I cry out as his tongue flicks back and forth across my pebbled nipple. My head hits the wall and I close my eyes as he takes his time giving my breasts attention.
“I need you out of these clothes,” he growls as he kisses his way back up my neck to my mouth.
He lowers my feet to the floor. I take off my bra as Walker helps me out of my shoes and leggings. Once I’m free, I snatch his shirt up over his head and toss it.
He spins me around so that I’m facing the wall and commands, “Keep your hands against the wall.”
I oblige and he tugs my hips making me arch my back to push my ass out. He kicks my legs apart and smacks my ass. The plump flesh shakes on the impact. He bends at the waist and plants a kiss on my reddening flesh, swirling his tongue around to soothe the sting.
I feel him squat behind me. He opens up my cheeks and blows a breath on my little rosette before his tongue flattens across my soaking center. He dives in, eating me with the same feverish desire he did Saturday night. I toss my head back and cry out.
“Oh god, oh god, Walker.”
He drags his tongue from my clit then sucks my folds into his mouth. When I don’t think I can take anymore, he stands to his feet, turns me around and with a hand on my neck he takes my lips in a brutal kiss. With his other hand, he releases himself from his pants.
The heavy weight of his cock hits my stomach. I never got the chance the other night, so I push him back. He looks down at me quizzically before I switch positions with him pushing him back against the wall.
I drop to my knees in front of him and tug his pants down to his ankles. He steps out of them while I grip his heavy shaft in my hands. I push it up toward his stomach and flatten my tongue to run it up the underside of it.
He hisses and I smile up at him. His eyes are closed, and his head is back against the wall. I work my hand in a circular motion up his length as I flick my tongue against his balls, and then suck them into my mouth.
He widens his legs when I wrap my lips around the swollen head of his dick, then slide down as far as I can go until he hits the back of my throat. I gag and my mouth pools with saliva lubricating him even more.
I suck his length like I’m trying to win a medal. Pulling out all the talents I have. He put it down the other night, I want to show him that I can do the same.
He moans and grunts as I fuck him with my mouth. I knew he wouldn’t let me take control for long. He fists my hair, holding my head still as his hips move, sliding his dick in and out of my mouth. I can only take him and slob as he continues to push his head to the back of my throat. He finally pulls out of my mouth and pulls me up by the hair in his fist.
“My cum goes in your pussy, not your mouth,” he growls against my lips. The next thing I know I’m leaning against the wall again.
He grabs one of my legs and lifts it up to his chest while the other is planted on the g
round. I’m practically doing a split. My ankle is by his ear, he tilts my hips toward him and surges into me. I gasp at the sudden intrusion. I use the wall as a brace as he fucks me until my knee starts to shake.
I cry his name like the lyrics to my favorite song. He wraps his arm around my thigh, hugging it to his chest as he rocks into me. I come for him quickly, soaking him with my wetness. He grabs my breast in a tight squeeze as his hips smack into me, stretching out my orgasm.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he claims, and I feel absolutely the same way he does.
He steps back, pulling out of me. My pussy greedily clenches the emptiness where his dick once was as if it misses him already. He leans me back against the wall, grabs me under my thighs and lifts me up. My knees are over his forearms. I hold onto his neck with my hands as he seals his lips to mine and pushes back into me.
I’m open so wide to him that he slides all the way in, making sure I’m getting every inch of him. I scream into his mouth. He fucks me against the wall like I’m being punished.
I dig my nails into his back as he takes me on a high I’ve never been on before. He pulls me from the wall holding me up, using his strong muscles to lift and drop me onto him.
I can tell when he gets close to coming. His hips move so fast my breasts are knocking into my chin.
“That’s it, baby. Come for me,” I plead.
My back hits the wall again. His lips seal to mine and he grinds into me, his pelvis brushing against my clit. I come for him, soaking his dick so much it drips down to his balls.
That’s all Walker needs because he bathes my walls with his cum soon after. He continues to kiss me as he slows his thrusts but doesn’t pull out. When he walks me from the foyer into the living room and drops down on the couch with me, I know he isn’t done with me yet.
Chapter 19
We Meet Again
Brooklyn
Okay, my body is speaking to me. It’s yelling at me to calm the fuck down. Walker had me in positions I don’t even think a body should be in. I feel fully sated but completely worn out.