by Drea Riley
He tapped softly and then walked away, sure Jonica wouldn’t open the door until he was gone. After sliding on a pair of baggy sports shorts himself, he made his way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and steel himself for the lecture/cussing of a lifetime. The first of many to come, if he had his way.
He went to the den first to check on Jonica’s dog. He wasn’t surprised to find the large dog sprawled tip to tail over the end of the chaise lounge.
The first night he’d brought Jonica home, he’d been awoken at midnight by a pounding on his door. When he’d given her parents his address and telephone number, he’d never expected to find the older man standing at his door with a full grown beast at his side. There was no other way to describe Jonica’s dog. Claymore was the canine embodiment of his name. With his large build, the dog looked menacing; when his teeth were bared, he could easily make people back away. Apparently he also had a tendency to be a klutz. Pablo had simply handed him the leash, which consisted of a very large rope attached to a studded rhinestone collar. Zeke had started to protest, but Pablo had quickly interrupted.
“Son, my daughter is a package deal. You get me, her mother and the dog. Welcome to the family. And remember: you hurt my baby, I’ll give Claymore here the secret order to eat your nuts for dinner.”
Turning, the debonair older man had walked down the drive with his hands in his pocket, whistling merrily before getting into his luxury sedan and driving away.
Zeke paused in the doorway, watching the dog. He slept much like his mistress, sprawled wildly, limbs akimbo and snoring soundly. A smile tugged at Zeke’s lips. “Breakfast in ten, dog.” He spoke loudly enough to wake the beast. Claymore simply cracked one deep brown eye and looked at him with what Zeke could only describe as sheer disinterest.
“Hey, suits me fine if you sleep the day away. I don’t care if you eat or not. But your mom’s awake, and she might like to see your face.”
Zeke turned and walked away from the dog. He’d taken to speaking to him like he would a person. Though Jonica had been in his home for nearly a week, she’d been suffering from a serious case of exhaustion. With the exception of brief trips to the restroom and the times he forced her to wake and drink water or broth, she’d barely stirred. According to her mother, she worked too hard and often sacrificed quality rest for long hours in the office. Add the stress of Lloydia’s recent illness, and it was no wonder her body had conked out.
Zeke intended to rectify that. He was going to be looking out for her from now on. He was sure that with her parents and friends on his side, Jonica would only maim him slightly. Maybe if he disguised his efforts in acts of devotion and pampering, she would be more receptive. If anything, in the short time he’d known Jonica, he’d learned that she was strong willed and fiercely independent. The only thing she truly needed to survive was herself. But that was going to change. She was his now, and she was going to just have to get used to him. Where she went, he would go also. And there would never be anywhere he would go without taking her with him. He never intended to leave her side.
***
I followed my nose down the hall and into the kitchen, where the smell of bacon and coffee lured me from the safety of the large master bath.
After a long, hot shower and brushing my teeth, I suddenly felt as if I hadn’t eaten in several days. In fact, I couldn’t really tell what day it was. The last thing I remembered was finally being able to see Mom after the surgery. I vaguely recalled someone making me drink a really lame excuse for broth. What I did remember was the dreams. Someone…some male, big and strong, rocking me in my sleep. A deep baritone singing beautiful arias and haunting ballads. The voice thrilled and soothed me. But my favorite was when it sang some of the more popular country love songs.
I knew now that I was in Zeke’s home, and I wanted more than anything to believe my dreams had been real. That it had been Zeke singing to me. But in the harsh light of wakefulness, I doubted it was so. Sure, there was a desire, a chemistry, but that was just hormones. Love took longer, didn’t it?
Rounding the corner into the kitchen, I stopped in the doorway, laughter bubbling through me. Zeke and Claymore were sitting at opposite ends of the breakfast table, Zeke eating from a punch bowl filled with milk and cereal, and Claymore happily munching away at an equally big bowl of kibble. The two eyed each other as if having a telepathic conversation. Both males seemed as if they would be completely content as long as the other stayed at their end of the table and didn’t attempt to filch food from his bowl.
“So did the two of you save me anything?”
Zeke immediately dropped the serving spoon he was eating from back in the bowl with a loud clang and turned his attention to me. Claymore, however, only made a slight snuffling sound of acknowledgement before diving face deep into his bowl.
“Wow, I see where your loyalties lie, dog.”
Claymore didn’t bother to respond.
“Just wait till we get home—I’’m gonna let Rachel bathe you and paint your nails again. Mangy no good fleabag.”
Claymore lifted his head and gave me his biggest doggy grin. Zeke tossed back his head and roared with laughter.
“Listen, tell me what’s so funny, and make my plate at the same time, okay? I’m starved. What time is it? I gotta hurry and go check on my mom and get home.”
Zeke’s laughter faded instantly at my mention of returning to my own home. His honey eyes narrowed and darkened, and the muscle on his chiseled jaw ticked. Spinning on his heel, he presented me with his back, toned and rippling with tensed muscles covered in tanned skin.
When he spoke, his voice was low and deep and deceptively calm.
“Grab a seat and I’ll feed you before we go see your parents. Your mom should be released from the hospital soon. And you’re right about getting home. I want to get you back here as soon as possible.”
“Hello, delusional, I said I was going home after I see my mom. I said nothing about coming back here,” I challenged as I took the seat he’d abandoned and absentmindedly rubbed my feet over Claymore’s prone body. The dog groaned aloud from his position under the table.
Zeke placed a plate in front of me without commenting. I wasn’t fool enough to believe his silence was agreement, but I was too hungry to bother with it. I downed my orange juice and waited as Zeke poured more for me. I was munching away on the best bacon I could ever remember having while slathering a piece of toast with apple butter, when Zeke’s phone rang.
I idly listened to him answer the phone and speak briefly to whoever was on the other end of the line.
“McAllister...yes. I’ll tell her. We’ll be right there.”
Butterflies and dread immediately settled in the pit of my stomach, causing it to pitch and roll. Something wasn’t right—I could tell just by the tone of Zeke’s voice. My hand stopped with the piece of toast midway to my mouth. Forcing myself to swallow the mound of food I’d been chewing, I waited for Zeke to hang up.
“Jonica, we have to go. Rachel was attacked at work today.”
I didn’t wait for Zeke to finish before I was out of the kitchen and heading for the front door, Claymore right on my heels. He caught up to me just as I was about to open the door and bolt for my vehicle.
***
“Motherfucker, you need to move, and you need to move right fucking now.” The venom in Jonica’s voice stirred something within Zeke. The tone even set Claymore on alert, and he growled a warning deep in his throat. He knew how much she loved her friend, but he couldn’t let her go half cocked, and surely not by herself.
“Baby, listen, that was Rob. Rachel is okay and we are going to get to her, but you need to get your shoes and I need to get dressed. I promise you we will take care of it, but I’m not letting you go by yourself. You will wait right here while I get your shoes and put on a shirt, and we’ll go together.”
Zeke could feel the energy rolling off of Jonica; she was stiff as a board, and he could feel her heart thundering so hard it f
elt as if it might beat right out of her chest and into his. His heart ached for her. There were silent, hot tears running down her face, and she was virtually vibrating with pent-up rage. He didn’t know what had happened to Rachel, but when he found the cunt motherfucker who’d caused his woman this distress, he was going to rip his spinal cord through his belly button, deep fry it and feed it to Claymore.
“Jonica, baby, look at me. Give me two seconds and we’ll go.”
She didn’t speak, but she did nod her head. So slight was the move that he almost thought he imagined it. He didn’t hesitate any longer. Running down the hall, he slammed his feet into his favorite running shoes sans socks and snatched up Jonica’s sandals. Striding back down the hall, he was met with an open front door and the sound of two running engines.
Jonica had started his truck and left it running, and she and Claymore were sitting in her SUV. She revved the engine before peeling out of his driveway. He barely had time to slide into his truck before he saw her blinker come on as she turned out on the road and disappeared. Pulling his tee shirt on, he threw the big vehicle into drive and shouted at the hands free system, calling Rob and alerting him of Jonica’s arrival.
***
By the time Zeke and I arrived at the leasing office, Rachel had already headed downtown. Apparently she had been to the police department and was on her way to meet with the punk bitch’s lawyers. I slammed into my office. After questioning every employee, I called the cops back to witness the eviction of the resident. There were extra officers dispatched too, and the city of Dallas definitely earned their money. Every employee was lined up as they escorted the young man off the property. The maintenance crew brought over a trailer, and in twenty minutes flat, all off his possessions had been packed and loaded. I didn’t care about the legality of it. I wanted nothing more than to smash his face into the cement, but between Rob and Zeke, I barely got more than a glimpse at him.
Zeke would have stayed with me, but he was paged to the hospital for a meeting. He left reluctantly only after Rob assured him he’d look after me. Frustrated with the two men talking about me as if I wasn’t there, I stormed into Rob’s apartment and slammed the door. But I barely made it across the living room before the door was kicked open, the heavy metal hitting the wall so hard the doorknob stuck into the sheetrock. I turned to see Zeke, and I was so angry that I launched myself at him.
He caught me up in his strong arms and crushed me to him. The kiss was rough and volatile and fierce; we clamored and clawed at each other. I wrapped my fingers in his hair and pulled. Zeke braced himself against the doorway and pulled my legs around his waist. Locked in each other’s embrace, we let a long, passionate moment pass before the applause of the leasing and maintenance crews registered, and we sprung apart as if burned. I searched Zeke’s face, hoping to find answers to the questions I couldn’t ask. The desire I saw in his eyes had me fighting to keep from molding my body back to his.
***
Zeke would have rather fallen on a sword than walked away from Jonica in this moment. She looked so—damn. Like love. He wanted her. Wanted to soothe her fears with his body, wanted to slake his lust over her. Wanted to battle her for dominance. Wanted to fuck her until passion had slain them both. He knew if he didn’t leave immediately, he’d take her right there in front of God and everyone. He’d mark her as his own, and in doing so make every man there want to sign up for courses on how to claim a woman. If he didn’t leave, he wouldn’t stop until he was deep within her and she was screaming his name. And if it hadn’t been for Rob stepping between them and closing the door, he wouldn’t have left.
Dropping his head, he breathed deeply for several moments. He could hear Rob on the other side of the door complaining about how Jonica was going to have to repair the hole in the wall. Looking down at Claymore, he sighed dejectedly and headed for his truck. Once inside, he turned on the a/c full blast. Claymore sat panting in the passenger seat.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Zeke said to the dog as they pulled out of the parking lot.
***
Rob stood staring at me for a long moment before going to his wet bar and pouring himself a whiskey. He turned and looked me, his brow raised askance. When I nodded, he poured a second for me.
“Double it,” I snapped.
He did so without question and handed me the glass. Simultaneously we knocked back the drinks.
“So when’s the wedding?”
I didn’t bother answering, but the one-finger salute I gave caused him to laugh.
“Honey, no man kisses a woman like that and doesn’t plan on marrying her.”
“Oh yeah, you kiss Rachel yet?”
Rob wrinkled his brow and poured himself another drink.
“I didn’t think so. Like I said, stop fucking around and fuck her already.”
Rob didn’t say anything, just turned his back and sat heavily on the piano bench, hand on his lap and fingers twitching. I sighed deeply.
“Let me go get my tool belt and I’ll patch that hole up.”
Rob glanced up at me as he began to play, his fingers dancing over the keys of the piano. “Fix my toilet for me and I’ll play at your wedding for free.”
We shared a moment, small smiles dancing on each of our faces before I slipped out to gather my tools.
***
I was just packing up after having fixed both the hole in the wall and Rob’s toilet. We’d had a five-minute spat about my leaving before Zeke got back, but I’d promised Rob I was going to go home and shower and then go directly to the hospital and visit Mom. In turn, Rob promised to not go seeking the resident who’d tried to feel Rachel up, and to make sure that he made Rachel his.
I’d just stepped out of the apartment when I was confronted by an angry Rachel.
“You have ten seconds to tell me why the hell you are coming out of Rob’s apartment this late. Is he the new mystery man you’ve been seeing? Is he?!” Rachel screamed.
“You’d better back up right now, Rachel. You know I would never do anything like that to you.” I’d never stolen anyone’s man—well, any friend’s man—and I wasn’t going to start now. I wanted to laugh but knew it would further enrage Rachel.
“So then what the fuck are you doing in his apartment?”
“Bitch, don’t you dare take that tone with me. I was coming into the office, after finding out you were almost assaulted, when I ran into Rob and stopped him from going after the asshole. He needed someone smaller than him to squeeze in to fix his toilet and fix the hole Zeke left from pushing open the door, hence me wearing my belt.” I watched as Rachel looked down and saw the purple tool belt riding low on my hips. “But since you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask him?”
I’d had enough. Grabbing Rachel’s arm, I pushed her into Rob’s apartment. “Rob, you’d better fuck her brains out before I beat them in. You’d better set her straight. And then I want you both to be in my office tomorrow at eight a.m. sharp for apologies.” I slammed the door behind me and headed to my truck. I felt like punching something. Rachel was damn lucky I loved her to death, because if it had been any other woman, I would have punched her face in for false accusations. Stomping to my truck, I thought of ways to make Rachel beg for forgiveness.
I was going to make her pay for thinking the worst of me. After all the stress I’d been under—the busy leasing season, and my mother’s illness as well as my own. And then having my sister attacked, on top of dealing with the feelings I was developing for Zeke—a man I’d only known a few days. I was furious; how could Rachel ever have thought I’d betray her? No, this was not going to be a simple “I’m sorry.” Rachel was going to be groveling for the rest of her life. Maybe I’d let one of the girls in the office be my maid of honor when Zeke and I got married.
I slammed on the breaks as I pulled into the hospital parking lot. Where the hell had that thought come from?
The man kisses my panties off, and I’m talking about marrying him. What the hell! N
O! The most this is gonna be is some hot sex. Who cares that he talks to my dog at the breakfast table? If Claymore loves him so much, he can go live with Zeke. Save me on my grocery bill. I mean, no one told him to bundle me up and take me home. They could have just checked me into the hospital. Just because I woke up with his dick in the crack of my ass. And it was big and...
I tossed my head back and screamed at the roof of my SUV. This conversation with myself was going nowhere. I was confused and pissed and “WHAT THE FUCK….”
Having rolled my head to the side, I looked through the passenger window and saw Zeke wheeling my mother out of the hospital. Pablo was standing
next to the open passenger door of his car wearing the nicest tuxedo I’d had ever seen. Mami was dressed in a simple cream sheath dress and had the hugest diamond ring on her left hand.
Muttering to myself, I slammed the car into park and jumped out. “I can’t take any more damn drama or surprises or anything. I am stressed and tired and...”
“Horny?” Mami interrupted.
I stood before the trio, chest heaving, mind racing and mouth open. Pablo wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.
“Don’t talk like that in front of Jonica, Lloydia—you know how sensitive she is.” He leaned in and kissed me on the forehead.