She decided he’d gone too far and kneed him as hard as she could in the balls. He yelped in pain and doubled over.
Shada stepped back and raised her fists. While she had a good stance and could do more damage, Arturo was thick-set. If he chose to, he could hurt her bad. Her belly did flip-flops. On the other hand, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“I said get out,” she repeated, “or I’ll lodge your balls in your throat with my next kick.”
She thought he would take the hint. She prayed he would.
“You dirty bitch!”
He lunged at her. She ducked, hit the floor, and rolled to the side. He caught her ankle and dragged her back. Shada screeched and started to kick backward, but his grip was a vice that hurt like hell. The pain lasted only a moment, because both of them were distracted by the boom of her front door exploding inward and slamming against the wall.
Arturo lost his grip on her ankle as Creed’s bodyguard filled the doorway. He stepped aside, and Creed charged across the room to snatch up Arturo by his collar. A well-placed fist sent her attacker to the floor, but Creed dragged him up just to smash his nose a second time. “You dare fucking touch her, you piece of shit?” he roared.
Creed reared back to punch Arturo again, and even Shada started to feel sorry for the man, with his blood gushing everywhere and his head bobbling about his neck.
Pete caught Creed’s arm midswing and didn’t even struggle much against Creed’s momentum. “He’s had enough.”
Creed looked like he was about to round on the bodyguard for daring to tell him anything, but he dropped Arturo and rushed to Shada. She found herself lifted in a tender embrace and carried to the couch.
She pushed at Creed’s chest when he sat down with her on his lap. “I’m fine, Creed. I was taking care of it.”
“You screamed,” he complained. “That’s taking care of it?”
“It was more like a yelp.”
The fact that her teeth chattered from the rush of adrenaline did nothing to help her case.
Creed frowned at her and proceeded to examine her from head to toe.
She slapped at his hands to no avail, but it did feel good for him to come to her defense. “I have to thank your bodyguard for breaking down my door.”
From the sour expression on his face, Creed didn’t like that. “He rushed ahead of me, or I would have done it myself. The man takes his job too damn seriously.”
She chuckled. With each second he was there, she began to calm down more and more. Unable to help it, she lay on his shoulder and shut her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and Creed stroked her back. Not even the sounds of the bodyguard helping Arturo out the door and then shutting the broken thing awkwardly could make her lift her head.
“What are you doing here?” she mumbled into Creed’s chest.
“I came for you.”
She sat up. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not going to have a child.”
She gasped. “What? Creed, you can’t do that. You’ve always wanted a baby.”
“Only in the last year or two.” He shrugged, but she knew it was a huge desire to let go. “I asked a woman out tonight, a black woman.”
Jealousy reared up inside her, but she chewed the inside of her cheek to keep silent.
“She was beautiful and sexy. I knew with a bit of prompting I could get her into bed.”
“But?” She found herself hoping the woman turned out to be a man or that she had a wooden leg, was bald-headed, and dumb as a stump.
“She wasn’t you.”
Her chest constricted. “Me?”
Creed pushed a hand into her hair, half cupping her cheek. “You, Shada. Damen has been trying for weeks to get me to face up to how I feel. It’s got to be you. I’m not asking you to love me… No, I am asking, but I’m willing to wait. I love you right now, today. I never thought it was possible, but I do. I want to be with you so badly, and if it means I have to give up my dream of a child to have you, then I’ll do it.”
“Creed.” She started crying in earnest. “You can’t do that. I don’t want to be selfish. You deserve a cute little mini-Creed running around.”
He chuckled and kissed her lips. A fire ignited in her belly and spread to her pussy. His hand lay on her hip, but she craved it between her legs. Creed massaged the area where his palm rested, stirring her desires higher. He released her lips and touched his forehead to hers.
“Whether I deserve a child or not, or if I will ever have one, right after your loss is not the time to even discuss it.”
She acknowledged that was true.
“What I do know is how I feel about you.”
He waited for her to speak, and she ducked her head, pushing into his chest again. How could she say what he had? Admit to him and herself that she loved him? She had promised herself she would never love anyone again. Sure, everyone went through loss, and most recovered. Logic said this was true, but fear closed her throat and stole her words. She shivered and tried hard to pull herself together, but the more she tried, the more scattered her emotions seemed.
Creed raised her up in his arms and carried her toward the bedroom.
“The door,” she protested.
“He’ll keep watch until we can get someone out here to fix it in the morning.”
“That’s unfair.”
Creed set her gently on the bed and knelt down before her. His hands moved toward her pants to undo the button, but he stopped and looked into her face. “Do you at least accept me as your lover?”
Her heart hurt. “Yes.”
“I want to make it clear,” he said. “I’m not going to sleep with anyone but you, and no other man gets to touch you.”
She grinned. “Do I get to kick your door in and beat her up if you try?”
He chuckled. “If you think you can.”
She smacked his shoulder, but he moved over her like a predator, eyes narrowed. Shada lay back and slid up the bed. Creed followed. He paused, hovering over her, and the expression on his face changed. She had never seen him look so tender toward anyone, but for the first time she saw the love he professed reflected in his eyes. Her heart raced. She found it hard to breathe.
He ran gentle fingertips along her face, down to her collarbone and lower, to her breast. “Shh,” he whispered.
A soft squeeze sent a pulse through her pussy. She squirmed and lowered her eyelids.
He called out her name, and she looked up at him.
“I’m not going easy.”
The look in his eyes contradicted his words, but she believed him. Shada didn’t want coddling. She waited for him to shed every stitch of her clothing. When he finished, he reared back to remove his clothing as well, his gaze never leaving her body. She watched as his cock rose, tight and hard, straining in her direction. She licked her lips.
Creed focused on her ankle and brushed a thumb over the one that Arturo had grabbed. She hadn’t bruised, and any pain she experienced was long gone. Still, a flash of anger surfaced in Creed’s eyes, and then it was gone. He moved to the side of the bed and faced away from her. A pat on his lap brought her to him, and she lay down across his lap. Anticipation made her arch and raise her hips. Her pussy gushed at the first smack to her ass cheeks.
“Creed,” she moaned.
“You’ve been a very naughty girl, Shada.” Another sharp smack. “Taking this beautiful body from me.”
“Yes.” She wiggled in his hold, her breasts crushed against his hard thigh. “I deserve a good, hard spanking.”
“Or two,” he said.
His hand rose and fell a half-dozen times, and she begged for more. He spanked her again, and her lust blazed white-hot. She dug her nails in his thigh, holding on and squirming. Creed landed the last smack and leaned down to kiss her ass cheeks. He gave them a gentle lick and stilled. Eyes shut, she lay panting.
“You need to come,” he said. The words weren’t a question, but a reflection of his intimate know
ledge of her body. All he had to do was reach under her and touch her throbbing center. A convulsion of muscle, and seconds after his fingers sank into her heat, she came, screaming his name.
Creed flipped her over and tossed her onto the bed. He spread her legs and buried his mouth between them. His noisy laving at her wetness set her off again, and she moaned through the aftershock of an orgasm that seemed as strong as the first. When her lover raised his head, she marveled at the moisture on his face. He ran a hand over it and licked away any excess.
How long could she keep a man like Creed? He was so wild and strong, so full of life. Forever wouldn’t be enough, but an instant, what about that? “Creed, I—”
“Shh,” he whispered a second time. He moved above her and guided her legs around his waist. With one violent thrust, he plunged his cock inside her. So cruel and wonderful, all at the same time. She closed her eyes and encircled his neck with her arms. Creed drew back and pushed in again. Her pussy walls gave way to the invasion. He lifted one of her thighs high enough to bring her ass up off the bed, and he spanked it once. She shook with pleasure. Then he began a slow and easy stroke, in and out. When she didn’t think she could hold on any longer, he picked up the pace, pounding into her, guiding his cock so he didn’t cause damage but just enough of an ache to drive her crazy. His throaty growl in her ear let her know he loved the sensations, and in the next instant, he emptied himself inside her.
After some time, Creed sat up. He raised both her legs and pushed them against her chest. Quiet, he stared at her pussy. She looked down to find they were both so wet. His cock glistened with a mingling of their juices. He guided his shaft forward and back over her slit, never looking away. She moaned each time the head touched her clit. While they both watched, he grew hard again. Creed directed his slick shaft farther back and let the tip touch her ass opening. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
His gaze met hers. He waited a beat. Then he pushed in, slow and easy. Shada couldn’t keep her eyes open. In fact, she couldn’t do anything other than lay there and let her man pleasure her. He thumped his dick deep inside her ass and pulled all the way out. Somehow he got off on popping it past her barrier. Going slow until her muscles relaxed a little more, he sped up when she was ready. Their bodies banged together over and over. Being deeper in the back, she could take all of Creed, and he could pump faster and harder.
She scratched at the sheets as he ravaged her hole, giving her pleasure until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Look at me,” he demanded.
She met his gaze, and they stared at each other as he reached his release.
After a long and satisfying session, Creed pulled out of her body and rose. He held out his hand, and she took it to join him. They stood in the shower moments later, allowing the warm water to cascade over their heads. Her hair would be a royal mess in the morning, but she didn’t care.
When they were clean, Shada snagged towels for them and handed one to Creed. He tossed his aside and snatched her into his arms. With purposeful movements, he dried her off and cocooned her in the towel. After she was done, he worked on himself.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I’ll make you something to eat.”
“No. I just want you here.” He pointed to his chest.
She grinned, and they strode hand in hand back to the bedroom. “Um, wow, those sheets are pretty gross.”
“Whose fault is that?” he quipped.
“Yours. I guess you didn’t notice me on my tiptoes.”
“I noticed and felt proud of myself.”
“Bum!”
He tapped her ass with a soft palm. “Well, we could change them now or get them dirtier.”
She shook her head. “You’re impossible. You know that?”
His eyes twinkled. In the end, they changed the sheets, dressed, and headed to the kitchen for her to cook for him and his bodyguard. After she made up the couch for Pete, she and Creed returned to the bedroom, and she spent the rest of the night folded in his arms.
* * * *
“More compliments to the chefs,” Tiffany called to Rene when she banged through the door.
Rene nodded his acknowledgement, pink tingeing his cheeks. Shada smiled. She had to admit it was nice to be back in the restaurant. The few days she had taken off, with Creed caring for her after Marisa’s death, had been needed, but after she had gone back to her own apartment and threw herself into her work, what she loved soothed her. She recalled the many times Marisa had chirped over a new dish and told Shada this was her calling. Marisa had convinced her to go after what she loved, and doing so made Shada feel like she made her sister happy in heaven. Thinking that way eased the pain a little more every day.
Not to mention Creed’s touch and the way he looks at me.
Thinking of the devil brought him through the door, and her heartbeat sped up.
He raised dark brows in question. “I believe the compliments were to the chefs, plural? The mayor and his party are waiting.”
Shada rolled her eyes. “He’s been here fifty times.”
“Yes, but this is a new set of ‘friends’ that need to be impressed with who he knows.”
Shada removed her apron. “A chef?”
“The chefs of the famous billionaire restaurant owners,” Stefan announced when he walked in on the tail end of the conversation. He grinned, too pleased with himself, apparently. “We were featured in an article recently. Not so flattering for hothead over here, but great exposure nonetheless.”
Shada had seen the article, a write-up of Marquette’s, exposing them to a broader audience and coupled with a picture of Creed squaring off against Arturo. The picture pissed Creed off, made Shada laugh, and had Stefan declaring they were just about where he envisioned them to be, whatever that meant.
“Are you coming?” Creed asked, holding out his hand.
“We can’t go out there holding hands, Creed.”
Amusement filled his eyes, but he conceded, and she started ahead of him. His presence behind her bolstered her and made her feel loved and cared for. She paused at the door before pushing through, and she looked back at him.
Confusion clouded his beautiful eyes. “Is something wrong?”
She swallowed. “I just wanted to say…I love you too.”
The End
About the Author
Tressie Lockwood is the national bestselling author of interracial erotic romance. She has always loved books, and she enjoys writing about heroines who are overcoming the trials of life. She writes straight from her heart, reaching out to those who find it hard to be completely themselves no matter what anyone else thinks. She hopes her readers enjoy her stories. Visit Tressie on the web at www.tressielockwood.com or on her blog at tressielockwood.blogspot.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Creed (The Marquette Family Book One) Page 16