He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you drink scotch?”
I stood. “I do.”
He waved his hand at me. “Sit. “I’ll bring the bottle.”
In a moment he returned with three glasses and a bottle of Jonnie Walker. He poured the glasses half-full and handed each of us one.
He set the bottle on the end table and reclined in his chair. He raised the glass to his nose, drew a slow breath, and closed his eyes. “I like smelling this stuff a much as I like drinking it.”
“I love the smell of good scotch,” I said.
He opened his eyes. “I found out there’s some truth to my gang theory, but I’m not one step closer to bagging these pricks.” He sipped his scotch. “It’s frustrating.”
“You’ve blamed that gang for every unsolved crime since before I was in college,” Reggie said. “You don’t even know if they exist. I think you’ve been blaming them for everything because you want a reason not to retire.”
He took another sip of scotch and then smelled the glass. He looked up. “They exist.”
“Have you seen them?” he asked.
He smiled. “Every night in my dreams.”
“You’re not going to be serious about what’s bothering you, are you?”
“Probably not.”
Reggie looked at me, and then at him. “Men are idiots sometimes.”
“I won’t argue that,” he said.
I tilted my glass toward him. “Neither will I.”
“What are you blaming your little gang for now?” she asked.
“Wreaking their havoc on the innocents of this fine state.”
Reggie rolled her eyes.
“I shelter you from the details because I love you.” He finished his scotch and poured another glass. “You’ve always asked for details, and I’ve always given what I think you can handle, and no more. It’s what we do for those we love.”
“Oh. So, this tight-lipped life you’ve been living is to protect me?” she asked in a snide tone. “All of the vague stories after your late nights and long weekends?”
“When a man loves a woman, he’ll do anything to preserve that love,” he replied. “The love between a father and daughter is no exception to that rule. If anything, that bond is more sacred. Stronger. So strong, it’s impossible to sever.”
“Impossible, huh?” she scoffed. “I could go rob a bank, and you’d forgive me?”
“You’re my daughter.”
She leaned forward. “You didn’t answer me.”
“I shouldn’t have to, but I will.” He leaned forward. “Yes, I would.”
“You’d forgive me?”
“Absolutely.”
She studied him for a moment. She relaxed into the loveseat and let out a sigh. “I wish you’d retire.”
“I wish I could.”
“You can. That’s the sad part. You could have years ago.”
“Not until this case is closed,” he argued. “It’s a promise I made myself years ago.”
“You’re alive and healthy,” Reggie argued. “What if your pursuit of these fictional characters takes you into a world of reality? One where someone pulls out a gun and shoots you? Then, there’s no retirement, no fishing boat, no daughter, and no miserable son-in-law sulking on the loveseat.”
“Son-in-law?” his eyes darted between us. “Is there something I should know?”
Reggie shook her head. “I was being facetious.”
“I thought I missed the boat.”
“If that boat ever sails,” I said. “I’ll be sure to get you an invitation.”
He grinned. “I’d appreciate it.”
“Will you consider retiring?” Reggie asked. “Please? I don’t want you obsessing about your work any longer. It’s unhealthy, and I’m afraid something bad is going to happen to you one of these days.”
He lowered his glass. “That’s a risk I suppose I’m willing to take.”
“It’s not one I’m willing to take,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “My life is headed in the right direction, and I want to make sure you stick around to enjoy our journey with us.”
“Journey?” he asked. “Where are you two headed?”
“Nowhere in particular,” Reggie replied. “We announced our love for one another. Who knows where we’re going from here.”
She no more than spoke and the doorbell rang. Ted leaped over the edge of the recliner without lowering it and yanked the door open. “Here,” he said, handing the delivery guy a few loose bills from his wallet. “Keep the pizza. We lost our appetite.”
He shut the door.
“What are you doing?” Reggie asked. “What do you mean, we lost our appetite?”
He faced her. “You two are in love? I know what comes next,” he said, his face glowing with pride. “After an announcement like that, I’m not eating fucking pizza.”
“Are you cooking steaks?”
“No,” he replied. “We’re going out for seafood. My treat.”
I hadn’t eaten any solid food for a week. Excited that I felt fractionally more at ease, I stood upon hearing his offer.
“Yaaaaay!” Reggie leaped from her seat. “I know the perfect place. The waitresses are kind of old, though.”
“Sandy’s?” he asked.
“How’d you know?”
“Eating seafood is like living life,” he replied. “There are only two options, right and wrong. Fresh seafood is right, and everything else is wrong.”
“Sandy’s is where Tito took me on our first date.”
He gave me a prideful look and patted me on the shoulder. “Another good reason to welcome you to the family. You know right from wrong.”
33
Reggie
Awakened by the craziest dream I’d ever had, I sat up in bed and looked around the moonlit room. Wide awake, breathless, and petrified by the insanity of the lucid tale, I feared the dream would return if I fell back to sleep.
I glanced at Tito. Exhausted from a week and a half without sleep, he was lying flat on his back, dead asleep. The sound of his light snoring was hypnotic and peaceful.
I studied him for a moment, finding solace in his state of being. Then, the answer to my concern came to me. I pulled back the covers and exposed his naked body. Sleeping in the nude had its benefits, and Tito was about to find out what they were. I took his flaccid girth in my hand and began to stroke it. I found it fascinating that his facial expression changed from stoic to smiling even though he was asleep at the time.
I wondered what he was thinking while in his state of slumber. While I carefully yanked his dick into a rigid state, were his dreams blissful or was he being accosted?
In no time, his thick shaft filled my hand. Using caution, I wrapped my lips around the tip, being careful not to wake him in the process. After receiving no objection on his part, I took him into my mouth a little at a time, watching him the entire while. His facial expression changed without warning or reason, going from expressionless to smiling at random times.
Knowing I was pleasuring him—albeit in his sleep—drove me wild with desire. Driven by that sexual longing, I continued my oral onslaught with a fervor. Although I was prepared for him to awaken, he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even stir in his sleep. Excited beyond comprehension at the possibilities of what I could get away with, I ached in all the places a woman yearns to ache.
Thirty seconds later, Tito was as hard as a rock. My panties were soaked. I lifted my head and checked his status. Finding him fast asleep excited me even more.
I slid off my panties and tossed them aside. Soaking wet and ready to try my luck at fucking my sleeping lover, I carefully straddled him in the cowgirl position. Shaking with desire, I guided his bulging cock between my legs.
With the tip of his cock nestled in my wet folds, I paused. Still fast asleep, his snoring gave proof as to the depth of his subconscious state.
I lowered my weight onto his swollen shaft. With my eyes closed and my puss
y throbbing with desire, I took his entire length in one motion. When my butt met his thighs I shuddered, nearly reaching climax in that first stroke.
About to burst with equal parts pleasure and excitement, I rode his rigid dick slowly and methodically. Each stroke filled me with a unique sense of pleasure that could only come from sexual contact with the man who soundly slept beneath me.
Illuminated by the faint blue luminescence from the night’s full moon, the outline of Tito’s facial expression was clear. Wearing a slight smile—but undoubtedly dead asleep—he seemed to be at peace with my sexual offering.
Considering his state of subconscious bliss, I decided to step up my sex game. If I was going to get away with using his dick without him knowing, I needed to make it a memorable occasion. I flexed my thigh muscles and drew a deep breath.
I commenced to ride my tattooed lover like a rented scooter.
Taking his entire length deep into my vaginal walls with each thrust of my hips, I fucked him like a woman possessed by sexual demons. The muffled sounds of my moaning filled the room.
I lasted all of thirty seconds, reaching an unexpected climax long before I was mentally prepared. The orgasm took me by complete surprise, all but crippling me from doing anything but allowing it to envelop me completely.
With a cramping calf muscle, worn-out pussy, and an insanely sensitive clit, I rolled off my lover and onto my back.
Feeling a slight bit guilty, I glanced to my left. Still passed out completely, Tito was catching up on the sleep he missed out on for the previous ten days.
Wondering what it was that troubled him, but glad that it seemed to be over, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
He fidgeted a little and then turned to his side.
Grinning from ear to ear at my night’s accomplishment, I nestled against him and draped my arm across his chest. Incapable of recalling the nightmare that snatched me from my sleep and completely exhausted from my sexual adventure, I fell asleep with the man of my dreams wrapped in my arms.
34
Tito
While Reggie and I shared our morning cup of coffee together, I received a text from the automated maintenance system warning me that a pump had failed in a north San Diego car wash.
Disappointed to cut our morning short, I finished my coffee and gave her a kiss. “Sorry, I’ve got to take care of this.”
“I understand.” She looked up and smiled. “I guess I’ll see you after I get off work.”
Reggie wasn’t a morning person. She often took an hour or so to crawl out of the shell that a night of sleep left her in. For some reason, however, she was in an exceptionally good mood for being awake no more than ten minutes.
I looked her over. Dressed in sweats and a weathered tee shirt, she was wearing her hair in a sloppy bun. She looked adorable.
I grinned at the sight. “For just waking up, you’re rather spry this morning.”
“I had really vivid dreams last night,” she explained. “In one, I lived in a treehouse. I had this crazy long hair. Like, thirty feet long. It cascaded out the window of the treehouse and all the way to the ground. Down below, there were flowers everywhere. I think it was in a forest. A flower forest. Anyway.” She shrugged. “Maybe those dreams made me happy.”
“Like Rapunzel,” I said.
She gave me a confused look. “Huh?”
“Your hair. Sounds like Rapunzel. The fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. Rapunzel. Yeah. I never put two and two together.” She sipped her coffee. “I’ll give that some thought while you’re fixing your pump.”
I kissed her. “I love you, Rapunzel. See you this evening.”
She smiled. “Love you, too.”
By eleven o’clock the pump was repaired, and I had nothing else to do. A ride along the coast brought a sense of peace, but not what I was accustomed to.
Our botched robbery left each of us searching for a way to rid our minds of what happened. It seemed the only thing that worked for me was to spend time away from the club. In the absence of the members of the MC, I was able to deny my participation in the events of that night, leaving me to dwell in a fictitious world where they were responsible, and I was nothing more than an innocent bystander.
Guided by my nothing more than my heart’s desire, I rode all the way to El Cajon. As I came to a stop in the shopping mall’s parking lot, I smiled to myself. I hadn’t made a conscious decision to see Reggie. I’d ridden the thirty miles to her place of work without a moment’s thought of where I was going or what I was doing. Eager to see her—and hoping she could slip away to the food court for lunch—I meandered into the mall.
Upon seeing me walk into the store, Raymond looked up from organizing a display of surf attire. “Hey, Taddeo.”
“How’s it going, Raymond?”
“Splendidly,” he replied. He cocked his hip and gave me a quick once-over. “Do you feel strangely unsatisfied this morning?”
He was wearing a pair of turquoise-colored pants and a yellow tee shirt, both of which fit him like a coat of paint. As always, his hair and makeup defined perfection. A pair of spotless Old School Van’s completed his wardrobe.
Brows raised, he waited for me to respond. His eyes glistened with guilt. He looked like the cat that got away with eating the canary.
“Not particularly,” I responded with a laugh. “Why?”
“Oh, no real reason.” He diverted his attention to the shirts, but it didn’t last long. He adjusted the same stack that he was messing with when I arrived, and then looked up. “Do you have, I don’t know, a lot of pent up frustration, or anything?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “What going on, Raymond?”
He examined his cuticles. “Oh, nothing.”
I raised my other brow. “Spill it, Raymond.”
He looked like a suspect that had been interrogated by police for six solid hours and was on the cusp of telling them everything they wanted to know.
He looked away. “I can’t.”
“You will,” I demanded, trying my best to keep from laughing.
He met my gaze. “Promise you won’t tell her I told you?”
“I won’t say a word.”
His eyes darted around the store. After locating Reggie, an exaggerated sigh escaped him. “I’m such an awful friend when it comes to keeping secrets,” he said, meeting my gaze. “I keep them about as well as Tristan Thompson keeps his penis in his pants.”
“Who?”
He looked at me like he’d caught me fucking his cat. “Khloe Kardashians whore of an ex,” he exclaimed. “Hell-o.”
“Cheated with her sister’s best friend. Sorry, I didn’t recognize the name.” I stole a look in Reggie’s direction. She was flipping through a rack of shirts while a college-age girl waited impatiently. I looked at Raymond. “Back to the secret you can’t keep. Spill it, Brother.”
He glanced left and then right before cupping his hand over the side of his mouth. Filled with giddy excitement, he leaned forward.
“Come here,” he whispered.
I laughed to myself at his theatrics. Excited for his revelation, I closed the gap between us. “Let’s hear it.”
“While you were sleeping last night, Miss Reggie rode you like a rented scooter,” he whispered. He leaned away. “Those are her words, not mine.”
I gave him a look. “What?”
“She gave you a blowie while you were snoring away,” he whispered. “Then, she used you for her sexual gratification.” He nodded toward my crotch. “So, if you feel an uncanny desire to relieve yourself, don’t be surprised. I’m sure the buildup is horrendous. She said it was quite the event.”
I gave him a look of disbelief. “She fucked me while I was asleep?”
He raised his extended index finger to his pursed lips. “Shhh.” He scowled. “Don’t let her hear you.”
“There’s no way she fucked me without waking me up,” I insisted. “I’m a light sleeper.�
��
He gave me a sideways look. “Reggie’s got her faults, but she’s not a liar.”
“Seriously?” I asked, still not quite believing it. “She fucked me while I was asleep?”
He nodded like he witnessed the event himself. “She rode that big dick of yours like a stolen bicycle.”
I laughed at the thought of her accomplishment. “Can I joke about it with her? As long as I don’t ever tell her you told me?”
“Like how?” he asked, looking me up and down. “Give me an example.”
“Jokingly,” I replied. “Like, saying something about my aching balls. I don’t know, just joking around about it.”
“As long as you don’t tell her,” he said. “I swore I wouldn’t tell. If she finds out, she’ll just die.”
“You said you can’t keep secrets. Surely she’s aware.”
“She is,” he admitted. “But, one of these days she’s going to stop telling me anything if she keeps finding out that I can’t even last until lunch break without telling someone.”
“I won’t do anything to compromise our secret,” I said.
He smiled. “You’re a sweetheart.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said.
“Well, I do.” He raised his recently waxed eyebrows. “I saw the Copte Passementeries.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “The what?”
“The little yellow sandals,” he said. “They’re adorable, by the way.”
“Oh, those. Yeah, they’re cute.”
“Cute and expensive,” he replied.
“I’ve saved my entire life with one real purpose in mind,” I said. “To one day be able to treat a woman the way she’s always dreamed of being treated.”
A surprised look overcame him. “Here she comes,” he whispered. “Remember our agreement.”
He scurried away, glancing over his shoulder every few steps.
Reggie walked through the maze of clothes and met me at the entrance. “What were you guy talking about?”
“Your yellow sandals. He loves them.”
She rolled her eyes. “He would so wear a pair of them. He can’t stop talking about them.”
Tito Page 20