Southern Comfort (Lunchtime Chronicles, #23)

by Loren, L.

“Didn’t you tell me like six months ago that you wanted to get a tattoo?”

  I gave her the side eye. I have never wanted to get inked, despite her fascination with them. Malina made no qualms about telling me how hot she thought guys with tattoos were. In fact, part of the reason my brain fried when I heard she was betrothed to my father was because he had several tattoos. In my twisted head, I thought she would fall for him over me because of that. Truth was, I would do anything she wanted me to, but I was going to give her a hard time about it. That’s just what we did.

  “I don’t recall ever saying I wanted to mark my body. I mean, it’s fine for whoever likes that sort of thing, but I don’t think it’s for me.”

  “G, why the hell are you sitting there lying? You know good and damn well we discussed this, and you said you wanted to get one. Hell, you even said you wanted to get a miniature version of the one on my back.”

  Now that almost made me choke on my own spit. I did recall that conversation, and I never once said I would get that warrior on my body. Malina had a gorgeous piece of art that spread across her entire back. The artist did an amazing job of depicting a black female warrior. The woman was fierce with a bald head, holding a steel helmet in one hand, and a sword in the other. Around her neck was a ring of necklaces fused together to form a choker. Her shoulders were adorned with a fur wrap, that made me imagine her hunting the animal down and removing the fur from the animal’s back, herself. The look in the warrior’s eyes was one of intensity, enough to make the biggest man cower in fear. Fucking badass.

  “Now who’s lying? I distinctly remember saying I would get something small. I never said I would get that warrior.”

  “Ahh, so you admit to agreeing to get one? That’s it. A done deal. We’re getting tattoos.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. She had me in the palm of her very dangerous hands. As we made our way into the Las Vegas city limits, I was surprised to hear the GPS start giving directions. Of course, I followed, because wherever she wanted to go, I would take her. Come to find out, in her infinite wisdom, my woman had made an online appointment for us to get tattoos. She was not going to let me back out of it.

  When we entered the place, the artist knew Lina by sight. Apparently, the lady who had done her back piece was in Vegas working in a friend’s shop for a couple of months.

  “Malina! How are you, honey? You are looking radiant. I bet that fine ass man has a lot to do with that.”

  Okay, I liked this woman already. I’m a sucker for flattery. It was a good thing Lina wasn’t the jealous type.

  “Girl, yes! He keeps putting a smile on my face.”

  “He better! So what brings you in today? What are we doing?”

  Malina grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. I chuckled when she wrapped her arm around mine like she was keeping me from running away.

  “My man wants to get a tattoo but is a little apprehensive.”

  She smirked at me, and then winked. Her friend continued the conversation. Damn these ladies were rude.

  “Why are you playing? Talking about apprehensive. Girl just say what is really happening. Your man is scared!”

  They laughed as I stood there looking back and forth. I could tell Lina really liked this lady. She didn’t have many friends and the ones she did have, were mostly males. She just had more in common with guys who were into weapons, combat training and such. I detached myself from her grasp and snagged a photo album with hundreds of pictures. I didn’t even know why I was looking in there. I already knew what I wanted.

  “G, come on over here and tell Dutch what you want. You are going first since yours will take longer. I just want some script. It won’t take any time to get that done.”

  We spent about five and a half hours in that shop getting my ink. When Dutch was finished, I was in love with my new artwork. As I looked in the mirror at the female warrior that looked just like Malina on my chest, it brought tears to my eyes. Dutch had put a beating heart in the warrior’s hands just like I wanted, and I was thrilled. It signified my love for Lina and how she held my heart in her hands.

  While I was getting mine done, Lina had another artist add a couple of quotes to her body. Under her left breast she had the quote from the bible she read to me the night before. The second quote she had added to her zebra claws. It stated ‘Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive.’ How appropriate.

  After leaving the shop, we checked into the Golden Nugget into their Scarlett Suite. We didn’t plan on being in the room that much, but I also wanted to have a nice place for us to lay our heads when we did. Lina didn’t know it, but we were getting married, and I needed to have a nice little suite for us to spend our wedding night, without being too conspicuous. I used a credit card with one of my aliases’ names to keep from being discovered by our enemies.

  “This is a decent suite, G! I’m not mad at it. And look!” Her face lit up as she pointed to the chair with zebra stripes. It popped against the red and black motif of the room.

  “I’m glad you like the room, baby, but we aren’t going to see it much. Go get in the shower so we can hit the town.”

  Once we cleaned up, it was my turn to live out a dream. Instead of taking Sophia, we left her in the parking lot of a hotel down the street. I didn’t want to take any chances of anyone spotting the car. After hailing a cab, I gave the driver the address of our next adventure.

  “G, where are we going?”

  “I’m not telling you. It is a surprise. Hang on just a minute. Sir, can you stop really quick at this bank up here? Stay here, babe. I won’t be but a minute. Keep an eye out.”

  I ran inside to get a stack of singles from the clerk. I used some of the money I had stashed when I went on the run. We continued to the strip club that I had heard about since I was a teen. I really wanted to see it before I died. The fact that Lina was coming with me made it even better. You should have seen how her face lit up when the cab pulled into the parking lot.

  “Oh yeah! Babe, I had no idea you wanted to take me to a strip club. You gonna let me hit the pole?”

  Lina started shaking her ass and gyrating her hips better than any stripper I had ever seen. Shit, why was I going in here again? Oh, yeah bucket list. I handed my baby a stack of ones as we entered the place. There was no cover this time of day, just a two-drink minimum. I was pretty sure we could handle that.

  “Listen, Lina, before we get things started, we need to have some ground rules.”

  She laughed at me. “G, we are not about to establish rules going into a strip club for the last time in your life. There are no rules, baby!”

  “Fuck that! There’s one rule. We don’t leave each other’s side for any reason. If you gotta pee, so do I. And we do it in the same place. Got it?”

  “That’s cool. I promise not to leave your side ever again.”

  She pulled me in for a steamy kiss, and then dragged me to the bar to get two of the four drinks we were required to purchase.

  “What can I get you?”

  “Let me get a cognac and an Uncomfortable Screw.”

  The blonde bartender watched my lady. Her eyes never left Lina’s body. The bitch was checking out my woman right in front of me. I didn’t fucking share, not even with another woman. I got pissed and snatched the drinks from her when she brought them over.

  “G, what is your problem?”

  “That bitch was eye-fucking you.”

  “No rules, remember? Come on, caveman. Let’s go sit near the stage and watch the girls dance.”

  I picked this club because it was known for the best dancers in town, plus they exclusively played 90s Rap and Hip Hop. That was my favorite era. I knew every song in that genre during that entire decade. We watched as a stripper, with the fattest ass I had ever seen in person, twirled and danced on the stage. Her name was Miss Pride, and she worked the shit out of that pole. Her isolation skills were stellar when she twerked her ass. How the hell did she learn how to do that?

  I thi
nk I tossed half of my stack of ones on the stage for Miss Pride. I stood up, making it rain down on the dancer. I had always wanted to do that, but never had the chance. Besides, the woman was amazing. She deserved every dollar. Lina leaned over and asked if I wanted to get a lap dance from her when she finished her set, and I was all for it. However, when she came over, I switched things up. I didn’t want her to dance on me. I wanted her to freak my girl while I watched.

  “Babe, let’s get a private dance in the back.”

  “Really?” Lina’s eyebrows shot up in question.

  I smiled at her as she stood without any argument. She whispered something in the dancer’s ear and then grabbed my hand. We followed Miss Pride into a private room. I was surprised that it was very plush in there. I half expected to see discarded condoms. I needed to stop watching so many movies. The dancer walked over to me, but before she could touch me, I grabbed her hand and shook my head.

  “No, this dance is for my girl.”

  “Wait, what? Didn’t you just about snap the head off of the bartender for simply eyeing me?”

  “That was the bartender. Miss Pride is clearly not into you. She is just doing her job. There’s a difference. Now, sit your beautiful ass down and let me watch her dance for you.”

  To my surprise, Lina followed my command, allowing the dancer to give her the most amazing lap dance I had ever seen. The woman was completely gifted in the way she moved her ass up and down on Lina. The sight of her jiggling ass combined with the way Lina was looking at me, had me rock hard. After about two minutes, I wanted Miss Pride to get the hell out of the room, so I could handle my business with my lady.

  “Miss Pride, can you excuse us, please?”

  She spun around, looking at me in shock. “You don’t want me to finish the dance?”

  “No, I want you to leave this room, so I can fuck my woman.” I never took my eyes off of Lina as I spoke to the dancer. At this point she was just another prop in the room. Hell, she could stay and watch if she wanted, as long as Lina didn’t mind.

  “Come here, Lina. I want you to ride my cock like she just rode your lap.”

  My baby shot me a wicked grin and dropped to her knees in front of me. After unzipping my pants, she reached in and released my hardness. I watched her lick those sweet lips of hers before she made my cock disappear down her throat.

  “Fuck, Lina! That shit is amazing, baby.”

  I closed my eyes, to prevent an early release. She was just too damn beautiful, on her knees, pleasuring me. I was one lucky motherfucker, and I knew it. This woman was amazing. She worked my cock doing some tongue-thrusting lick thing that made me raise up out of the seat!

  “Oh my God! Please do that again, baby.”

  Just as I thought I was about to burst, she released me, hiked up her skirt and slid her thong to the side. When she placed me inside her, and started bouncing on my lap, my life flashed before my eyes.

  “Oh shit, Lina.”

  She rolled her hips and then did this move that I’ve see Island girls do in music videos. I didn’t know what it was called, but she wound her hips so damn good I had to grab her to keep from passing out. That was it, I couldn’t let her outdo me. I stood lifting her with me and bounced her on my cock as I thrust up into her. I could feel my head hitting her spot with each thrust, and she started screaming for me. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

  “G! Oh, fuck. G that’s it. I’m about to cooooome!!!”

  Yeah, I loved it when she lost control. My baby came all over my dick. Those tight walls gripped me so hard that my own orgasm was pulled out of me. I didn’t want to come yet, but there was no stopping it. I tugged Lina to me, and kissed her hard.

  “Got damn, I love you woman.”

  “You guys are hot as fuck!”

  Shit, I almost dropped Lina. How the hell did I forget the dancer was still in the room. Good thing she wasn’t an assassin because we both would have been dead. But what a way to go.

  eight

  Last Night of Freedom

  We spent hours in that damn strip club. By the time we exited the building, the sun was going down. After stopping for something to drink, Lina and I headed over to the Cosmopolitan to get in some gambling.

  “Babe, let’s hit the Blackjack table.”

  I couldn’t believe Lina wanted to play the tables. Usually she only wanted to sit at the slots and take her chances. I was overjoyed because I loved playing twenty-one.

  “Have you ever played before?”

  “Only online and at home. I have never sat at the tables in a casino.”

  “Okay, Lina there are a few things you need to know before you sit down. The most important thing to remember is once the hand starts, do not ever touch your bet. The object of the game is to get as close to twenty -one as possible, but not to go over. The best hand you can get is a face card and an ace. There are other things I can teach you along the way, but for the most part you can survive with this. Oh, and make sure not to verbally answer the dealer when they ask if you want another card. If you want a card, tap the table. If you don’t, wave your hand.”

  “Cool, I think I got it. Let’s go play. I feel like having some fun tonight.”

  Lina threw her arms in the air and started swaying her hips, as she guided us toward the blackjack area. We took our seats and I got us $5000 each in chips, to start. We placed our bets, and the fun began. Lina and I were the hot ticket. If she wasn’t winning, then I was. We were stacking chips left and right, which caused us to gain a bit of attention. Something we did not welcome, considering our predicament.

  A strange looking man sided up to the table and took a seat next to Lina. He had what I refer to as a reverse mohawk. The middle of his head was shaved, but the sides were full and styled with a ton of hair gel. His head was oddly shaped, and he had the nerve to have one of those nose rings in his septum. He reminded me of a damaged rodeo bull who has been put out to pasture. The man was throwing off bad vibes. I made it a point to keep my eyes on him. After making eye contact with Lina, I made sure we were on the same page.

  “Babe, let’s make this our last bet, yeah?”

  She met my question with a curious look, so I looked from her, to the man next to her, and back. She slightly nodded, and I could see the understanding in her eyes.

  “I was on a roll. I guess I better stop while I’m ahead.”

  I had been so busy watching mohawk boy, that I hadn’t seen the man who slid onto the seat next to me. Fuck! This one was even more menacing than the one next to Lina. He was tall and big. The man fit in better with the rest of the patrons, but there was something dangerous about him. He was the one I really needed to concentrate on. The weird dude was a distraction. The hulk was the real threat. I would need to take out his knees to get away from him. Nodding at my girl, I stood as she reached for her chips. She had just placed her bet, but the hand hadn’t started yet. She had every right to pull her chips back, but the man next to her took exception.

  “Hey, you can’t touch the chips after you place your bet. What’s wrong with you?”

  He was loud and obnoxious. Instead of paying attention to the loud one, I turned my attention to the big man. He made a point to stand up, as well. I stepped back, pulling Lina back with me. Usually, I would step in when a man was confronting my woman, but this was a setup. As soon as I turned my back, I would be dead, and I knew it. Plus, Lina could handle herself without question.

  The mohawk man continued his rant until the dealer called security. Once they arrived, they confronted the weirdo, and Mr. Big took his exit. Lina and I quickly walked away, cashed in our chips, and left the casino. As we made our way across the parking lot, I caught a glimpse of a man that looked eerily like my brother. No, it couldn’t have been.

  “Malina, we need to go shopping.”

  “Shopping? What for?”

  My girl was not one who enjoyed the pass time. In fact, she hated it, so I knew this would be a challenge. I hoped when I
told her why we were going, she would be in a great mood.

  “We have a few things to get. First, we need some jewelry. Once we find the perfect items there, we both need a special outfit for tonight. I’m talking new lingerie, clothes, and shoes. After we get all that, you need to get your hair and makeup done.”

  “What are we doing tonight that I need to get hair and makeup?”

  “Blowing all this money we just won. Nah, I’m just playing. We are completing the best thing on my list, tonight – I am going to marry the most beautiful woman on earth.”

  “A wedding? Are you serious? You saw how my last one turned out.”

  “That’s not funny, Lina. You can’t tell me no. It’s on my list. The most important thing on mine. You promised we could do whatever was on our lists.”

  She smiled at me while running her hand down the side of my face. I loved when she did that. Her gentle touch was such a stark contrast to her rough demeanor. I stood there staring into those molten brown eyes, unable to control myself. I leaned forward and kissed those delectable lips.

  “If you keep kissing me like that, you can have anything you want. Where are we starting?”

  I pointed at the high-end jewelry store across the street, with a variety of diamonds displayed in the window. We must have looked at every ring in the store, but none of them were right for my baby. She was unique and deserved her dream ring.

  “Sir, can I show you something else?

  “We can’t seem to find what we are looking for. I think we need something less traditional and more outside the box.”

  “Yes, of course. I can show you our latest rings. They haven’t been placed on display yet, but they are very unique.”

  The man left and came back with a tray of uncut diamond rings. He said they were the latest trend, but that didn’t matter to me. What did matter was the look on Lina’s face when she saw them. This is what had been missing. She selected a 3-carat beauty in a platinum setting that was so her, it should be named Malina. Once we had her ring, I chose a black band that had stripes etched into it that reminded me of Lina’s tattoo.