Rapper's Delight: The Mogul Series Book One

by Kenya Goree-Bell

  “Sure. Lovie-Belle said that FADE said I could sit up here, but I just didn’t want to leave you alone.”

  She nodded her mind a whole lot of “wow” right now thinking her baby sister had taken pity on her so she wouldn’t be left alone or not come to see the movie she’d written.

  She made her way to the back of the room. She looked around and noticed that the lounge had the best view in the house. The chairs were all in a huge semi-circle facing the screen, there were two tiered rows so no one would be in another person's way. The back area had a bar and buffet with attendants.

  She saw that Kris had led Miracle to an end chair and sat on the floor beside her. An attendant rushed over with a folding chair, but the gesture still impressed her. People spoke of his kindness, but to see it in action was marvelous. He was the real deal.

  “I’m glad you came.” She jumped, startled to see Flower had come up beside her.

  “I’m very surprised to hear you say that.” She turned fully to face her. “Since you were the one who insisted I never see FADE again.”

  “I did not but I won’t apologize for telling you to get yourself together before you end up hurting him again.” Flower put her hands on her hips like a little general. FADE and Ghadi were at fault for letting this little hellion get crazed with power, she thought. She just ran around regulating like a miniature Olivia Pope or something.

  “If that’s the way you see it.” Delightful nodded and kept her voice low. She didn't need to make a scene, and she was at a disadvantage. Flower held all the power here, all five-feet-two of her in Louboutins. She was his sister and the boss at events like this. “I see he’s doing just fine, so you were obviously right about me leaving him alone.”

  It hurt her to say it, but other than that look, he’d not given her any indication that he wanted her. There was a big difference between wanting a person for sex and wanting them to have a significant presence in your life.

  She knew what leaving him could mean, and she did it. For him. Part of her wanted to shout and rail at Flower, but there was nothing she could do when the woman was right. She’d been nothing but toxic the moment she’d come back into his life. The one selfless thing she’d ever done was leave him to heal without her. She didn’t want him to think he owed Justice anything more. He never did in the first place. Now maybe he could see that. Now when his emotions for her weren’t tied up in promises he made as a seventeen-year-old kid, would he still choose her? If tonight was any sign, she had her answer.

  “Well, look who the cat dragged in.” She turned to the good-humored voice of Lyric, her brother’s former girlfriend.

  “Wow, Lyric, you look amazing as usual.” She hugged the woman to her. Seeing her was always bittersweet.

  “I know, right?” The super star preened as she did a slow turn so they could check out her outfit, which was sure to be on every fashion blog come tomorrow. She also had on a jumpsuit, but the pants were tied like harem pants and every seam had crystal embellishments. She was stunning, her skin sparkled with diamond dust that accentuated the dark hues. She always embraced her curves and sex positivity. She was both loved and reviled for her frankness about her life and displayed it in her art unapologetically.

  Delightful knew that Justice would have been proud of the woman the girl he’d loved since six grade had become. He would have cheered her on with unrestrained pride.

  When Lyric finished her turn, they all laughed at her antics.

  “Splendid,” Flower smiled, her eyes glowing with warmth. “I think FADE is saving the seat beside him for you.” She nodded toward the center of the first row. Delightful couldn’t resist looking in that direction and see him now talking to his mother who was to his right and yes, there was an empty seat by him.

  “I need food first,” Lyric said, moving past them.

  “You better hurry the movie start in five minutes,” Flowered warned, looking at her watch. No smart watch for her but a vintage Longines graced her thin wrist before she looked back up to her again. “You did a brave thing, Delightful. That’s what I came over her to say. I’m proud of you for that and what it meant for my brother. He has his life back now. After tonight he will be back on top.”

  She looked back down where FADE sat watching as Lyric moved to sit beside him. They allowed the press to take pictures of them before being ushered out with promises of interviews later.

  “He won’t be happy without you though.” She didn’t bother to turn and watch Flower walk away because whatever Lyric said had FADE looking over his shoulder at her.

  The lights dimmed, but not before she felt the heat of his glare. She wanted to shrink into the wall and disappear. That look spoke of a promise of dark things. Things she’d craved. Things that would leave her longing for him forever if he chose not to stay.

  Chapter 19

  Just Us

  “So you’ve decided to stop running?” The movie was almost over and Delightful tore her eyes away from the screen to look at him. She’d watched him more than the movie. She knew she would find herself face to face with him. It wasn’t until he’d gotten up to talk to some of the critics assembled that she allowed herself to focus on what they had created. The film was magnificent. It was a poignant portrayal of the artist and the man. FADE was shown as he was — a hero to many and reviled by some. He was flawed and fascinating. The depiction would rival any Oscar winning performance and would probably earn the entire team a golden statue.

  “I’m not the one who refused to answer my texts last night.” She pressed her lips together to shut off the words that wanted to spill forth. Not the time nor the place to have it out over their past. Plus, she sounded petty when he’d allowed both Miracle and her to come.

  “I didn’t leave you before what could have been an epic Netflix binge session topped with more awesome sex.” He put his arm up, partly shielding, partly caging her. She inhaled his scent. He smelled delectable. His wrist was exposed and the tendons there flexed and she wanted to sink her teeth into that space.

  She nodded. What else could she do? There was no denying his words. At least he was not attempting to eviscerate her before the entire entourage. Because that would go bad for them both. She wasn’t about to be publicly humiliated.

  “You’re looking stunning.” His eyes looked like he wanted to eat her up. She would let him. She would let him do anything if it meant she’d get a chance to touch him once again. She shouldn’t she knew that. She was setting herself up for an enormous heart shattering disappointment.

  “You’re looking pretty fantastic yourself,” she kept her voice light and unbothered. Not taking anything too seriously would probably be the only what she didn’t come away from this situation a crippling heap of tears. She felt a visceral reaction with that thought. That was who she had been the first few months she’d left him in the suite. Doing nothing but keeping her therapy appointments and working on her projects. Her work had been what had seen her through those darkest times.

  Staying off social media had helped, but there were always trickles of information finding their way to her. The various women he’d taken up with. All of them models or the usual brand of actress. She did her best to ignore it, but it grated all the same. Then she would remind herself that she had no claim on him. She had walked away from any right to him.

  “I’m surprised you don’t have a date. I thought you and Angelica Rose were all hot for each other.” She just couldn’t help herself, it seemed, she thought, sounding pathetic and jealous.

  The corner of his mouth kicked up. He blinked slowly, assessing her in a silence that made her feel like she’d been split wide open in the scorching Alabama sun.

  “Is that how you see me?” He nodded his head toward the movie screen. Dread crept up. She’d taken liberties. She wanted people to see the person she now knew him to be. Maybe it didn’t totally jive with what he wanted the public to know.

  “I thought you saw the dailies? We could have changed it if there w
as something you didn’t want shown,” she hedged.

  “I don’t like to micro-manage. I wanted to see it for the first time with mom and dad. I wanted my response to be genuine when I did the shows and interviews afterwards.” He shrugged.

  “I wanted people to see some of the good that you’ve done. I think kids need to know that you got your degree in music and that education matters. I think folks need to know about your support for the military and how your dad was a hero with a Purple Heart. I-I know how private you are about all of those things but it painted a fuller picture of your life and some of the things that motivated you. Your fame didn’t happen because of Justice’s death, but despite it. You were right to not want it in there. I insisted then I realized that I was making the story about him and not you. That was unfair of me and I apologize.” Her hand twisted over and over like she’d been called to the principal's office as she waited for his response. His jaw ticked. He swallowed as he seamed to struggle with some emotion unknown to her.

  “I’m not that heroic. It was good cinema.” His tone was low, but the look in his eyes conveyed so much more. He was giving her hope. She dare not grasp it. To give it a name and then see it fall apart would be her undoing. She tried to hold on to the affirmations. She tried to fight back the fear that ate at her and the what could have been recriminations if she’d only trusted just once and not fucked it all up. This would not do. Nope. She needed to leave, to get away from him and the temptation he presented. She ducked under his arm and skated around him, heading for the nearest exit.

  “Twelve years…” She stopped hearing his voice over the loudspeakers, “so many tears. So many fears. Then I saw you for the first time in twelve years. I’m never letting you go. No matter how many times you walk out that door. I will be here waiting. Anticipating, longing for you.”

  Tears swam in her eyes as she heard the song that he was working out the beat of the first night they made love.

  “Now that I have you, I’m never leaving you, You don't have to run anymore, I’m your home, you never have to be alone, you have a home. After twelves years, so many tears, so many fears, I’m here waiting, anticipating, longing for you.”

  She turned back to him. Her heart was thudding. It was the only thing she could hear. She could barely see his face, but she saw him move her way.

  Fade asked himself what the hell he was doing when he caught up with her but deliberately held back a few feet. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights hearing that song. Nobody wanted it in the film. Sadiq, Hasan even Lovie-Belle said it was too raw. It was too revealing, they said. He realized as he approached her, he probably always knew why he insisted they keep it. For this very reason — for her to finally see.

  It didn’t matter if she didn’t come to the movie premier or saw it in video at some point she would hear this song and know without a doubt how he felt. How he fucking ached. How much she was loved. He knew she was going to run again. She wasn’t ready to face what they could be, what she could possibly lose.

  “You wrote this song for me.”

  “You wrote this movie for me.” He dipped down to look in her eyes. He saw her fear and her hope.

  “I’m done waiting Didi,” he said watching her brush tears out of her eyes. He watched her finally walk over to him and look up at him.

  “I not fucking running anymore, FADE.”

  “Come home with me.” He wasn’t asking.

  Chapter 20

  Just Keep Me

  Delightful took a deep, shaky breath. She could not believe she was coming to FADE’s penthouse that was in a mid-city high-rise. Never dreamed after what happened between them he’d allow her near him, let alone invite her back to his home. She knew from everything she’d read and all the interviews she done. No one entered his sanctuary.

  The place looked like a palace in the sky. No brash displays of toxic masculinity here. Any woman would find comfort in his home. Linen, vegan leather and glass were the main decorative elements.

  There were crystal and quartz tables and a whole wall of windows facing the city.

  “Do you like it?’ he asked in her ear. They’d not touched, not once since he told her she was coming home with him. She was nervous. Anticipation cloaked every movement. She knew trembled with it. The lightest brush of his touch would be her undoing. He was setting out to punish or pleasure. He probably planned both. Her breath caught a little at the thought. She wanted that and more. She would present her body before him as an offering to his every desire. He’d given her no indication despite the heated looks here and there.

  “It’s beautiful. Did Flower help you decorate this place?” She turned and followed him deeper into the space.

  “No,” he chuckled. “She has great taste, but she has more a books and bohemian vibe. Clean lines and cut glass are my speed. Flower likes plush.” He poured them two fingers each of Laugavalin.

  She drank the whiskey, looking at him over the rim. His eyes never left hers as they sipped.

  His lips on the glass had her mind tracking back to the way they felt on her body. Her breath clouded the glass. She licked the rim, wishing it was him. His eyes narrowed as he watched.

  He tossed the rest back.

  “You wasted it.” She murmured.

  “I have better uses for it.” He put the glass down on the other side of the quartz counter and turned towards her. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her to him. His lips tasted smoky, a hint of vanilla, sherry and peat. His tongue plunged, taking complete possession of her. She reveled in the command he took, loving the way he gripped her by the back of her head as he took her mouth again and again. She couldn’t shift or move to her left or right. She had to take him. No retreat. Only surrender. No fucking running. He wanted her mouth, he could have it. He wanted her body, he could have it.

  “I want you so fucking bad,” he growled in her ear.

  His beard scraped her but it was so soft that she wanted to nuzzle him. He rubbed down the side of her face and neck, eliciting all types of tingly sensations that made her skin prickle.

  “Can I have you, Didi? Like I want?” He pulled back to look in her eyes.

  She swallowed, knowing that he was going to put her through her paces just based on the ask alone.

  “Nothing that you don’t want,” he murmured, his eyes blazingly hard.

  He was so close she could feel how hard his dick was. She wanted him. “I want you.” She tipped her mouth for him to take again.

  He slow walked her until her back was to the counter. She gasped when he lifted her placing her on the counter and stood between them pressing her knees farther apart spreading them wide.

  Her pussy was pressed tightly against the linen. She could feel her own wetness against the material. He rubbed the inside of her legs, beginning at her knees with a slow drag until his fingers met at the apex of her thighs.

  “You’re so fucking wet. Why is your pussy so wet Didi?” He looked down at her as he touched her, rubbing his fingers over the material in maddening swirls. She didn’t try to hide her moans.

  “Where are you panties?” he growled, concentrating his fingers on her clit, stroking with barely there touches.

  “I can’t wear them with this outfit.” His fingers stopped at her words.

  “So all night you’ve been sashaying this ass — my ass around with no panties?” He quirked his eyebrow as he reached around and gripped her plump cheeks.

  She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

  “And had the nerve to have nothing covering you but this thin ass material. Look at how soaked it is. I can see your sweet little pussy begging for me to touch it, kiss it.” He shook his head sadly. His gaze crawling slowly from her center to her eyes, then back again.

  He reached behind her and unzipped the jumpsuit. Unsnapped it just above the cut-out that left her back bare. “No bra either,” he mused, sounding ominous and sexy. If it were possible, her body responded more. Her nipples budded and hardened more wh
en the cool air hit them as he pulled the bodice down over her shoulders, leaving her bare to him.

  “Up,” he ordered as he pulled the pants along with the top down and off lying it over one of the bar stools.

  “Let me see how much you want me.” He gently urged her legs open, spreading them wide for him.

  He pressed his hand on her tummy. She rested on her elbows and watched him as his fingers moved lower and lower still. He caressed the sides, slicking wetness allover her. He delved into the center with one long finger swirling around only to push deeper then retreat. She panted, canting her hips toward him, chasing the sensations he was evoking, meeting each thrust of his fingers. She felt so close. She cried out when he withdrew and screamed his name when he covered her with his mouth as his tongue did tortuous maddening things. She opened herself further, completely surrendering to him. She was cresting when his fingers entered her again, taking her over the brink as he thrust inside, pressing against her G-spot. The pleasure made her see stars against tightly shut eyelids as her essence drench his hands. She watched through dazed eyes as he sucked them clean before placing gentle kisses on her thighs.

  He ripped his shirt over his head. She marveled at the chiseled planes of his chest. He was magnificent. He looked completely recovered from his ordeal. The only signs were the faint lines where his incisions were and she could see the bullet hole in his chest.

  She came back up to her sitting position that had her eye level with him. She leaned forward and whispered. “Can I kiss you?”

  He leaned in and let her take his lips. His mouth was soft as she teased and tasted him. He close his eyes on a groan and she matched with her own. Their tongues tangled again. Her core clinched in anticipation. She had been without him too long and her body was demanding more than just his mouth and fingers. She wanted all of him.

  “I need you inside me.”