Siobhan paused momentarily. She had already banned crying from the situation before she’d set foot into his hospital room. She inhaled a deep breath and continued on.
“You’re the devil. You stooped to the lowest level, Lance, by keeping Rush from his child because that child was black. You stooped even lower than I thought you could. Nothing could bring me out of hiding quicker than seeing my child wronged, in front of the world. You fucked with the wrong one, and I think it’s time for your reign of terror to end. You’re a fucking despicable human being and you’ve breathed healthy air for far too long. I don’t care about any punishment I might receive if they find out what I’ve done to you because it will all be worth it. You robbed me. You robbed Rush. You robbed that poor little girl of her father, and you sent yet another young mother out into the world feeling hopeless and worthless because of your bigoted ways.”
Lance stared daggers through his ex-wife. He had come to loathe her in the time they were married, and now even more so. Even with as much cheating as he’d done, he knew that she would be well within her rights to one day take a lover on some level. But doing it with a black man! That was unforgivable. She should have been satisfied with the lifestyle, but she wasn’t. And the constant whining about quality time and being a real married couple had gotten boring. But to be so bored that she laid down and allowed a black dick to penetrate the very walls he frequented! Hell fucking no! Disgusting!
Lance began to quiver at the thought. He wished he could put his hands around her neck and watch the life leave her body. He wished he could go back twenty-seven years and just have her come up missing. But he hadn’t, and now…
Siobhan was done talking. She had said all she needed to say, and she had shown her face. Now it was time for the finale. She walked next to Lance’s bed, and ran a perfectly manicured fingernail across the IV bag dangling from the silver pole. “I see you’re on the mend. Now you just have to get enough nourishments to return to your old self again. That’s impressive.” She snatched his cover and sheet away from his body, and watched as his mouth moved and his eyes pleaded with her to spare him. “There’s just one problem. I don’t intend for that to happen.”
She walked to where her purse was and slowly retrieved a perfectly secured syringe, tapping the side with her finger as she made her way to the foot of his hospital bed. She ran the sharp tip of the needle slowly down the arch of his twitching foot, and smiled at him a final time before she plunged it into the base and pushed against the lever until all the contents were emptied into his blood stream. “There you go, Lucifer. Sleep tight.”
Siobhan quickly pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. She placed the blue cap that she had removed earlier over her head to conceal her identify. She then opened the hospital room door, casually looked from side to side, then turned right toward the elevators. When she had safely made it to the parking lot, she started her car, and immediately began crying, as she pulled from the lot. She knew it wasn’t right, but she felt free for the first time in her life. Her tears were fierce and heavy as her chest heaved up and down through the sobs.
After driving several blocks, she pulled over to the side of the road and commenced to removing the blue scrubs and the cap from her head.
Home safe.
TWENTY-FIVE
Rush
Alika moved just a little bit, and that was all that was needed to awaken my dick. It never took much when she was near—whether I was asleep or awake. Watching her walk past me, feeling her touch, or just smiling at me. She always stirred something inside, and then sent my member straight to fucking attention. This morning was no different. We had fallen asleep after making love earlier. Not that we’d meant to; it was just that we were like a fire…hard to extinguish when we came together—literally—and it tended to burn us out. But after a short rest, we always found our way back to the abandoned passion. Her thigh was stacked on top of mine. Her arms were wrapped around me from behind and her head was where it was most nights…safely tucked against my back. I could hear her lightly snore, and smiled because she always denied that she snored at all.
I stroked up and down her hip, then ran my hand softly around her ass. When I felt her stir, I maneuvered my body so that I could face her, and immediately brought my lips to hers; morning breath and all. The room was still, and the only sounds were our light breathing. For some reason, love in the wee hours was a major turn on, and my erection had certainly gotten the memo. It had already begun to rise like the sun against Alika. She had summoned it without even trying.
“She’s ready too,” she groggily alerted me, while smiling against my lips. “Run your finger down there, you’ll see,” she teased.
“Mmm, I see…” I smiled stirring around her juices. “Would you be disappointed if I skipped foreplay? I don’t know that I can wait.”
“You’re cute. When have you ever asked? Just take it. It’s all—”
In mid-sentence, my cell phone began to ring. I got an instant attitude because it was just a few minutes after three in the morning. What the fuck?
“Aww,” Alika moaned. “No, baby…Nooo.”
I weighed my options and went with choosing to finish what I started. However, just as I was about to pull my baby to me and have her ride me into the sunset, my phone blared again.
Unfuckingbelievable.
“Baby…”
“I know,” she said. “You should answer it.”
When I reached over to my nightstand, it was in slow motion. Something inside didn’t feel right. I knew I had to answer because ignoring calls were no longer an option now that I had a little girl that didn’t live with me. Attention had to be paid all the time now. There was no other choice.
I looked at the screen and saw that it was Gigi. The last time she had called at this hour, it was with news about my father. But last I’d heard, he was in full recovery, so it had to be something else.
“Gigi…hey, what’s going on?”
“Hunter, I’m sorry to call so late. I mean, so early.”
“It’s okay. You got me. What’s up?”
There was an elongated pause on her end of the line. And I wasn’t sure, but it sounded a little like she was holding back from crying. As I was about to nudge her, she finally spoke.
“Hunter…I…I’m…”
“Come on, Gigi,” I said, becoming slightly annoyed. “What’s going on?” I inquired. “It’s three o’clock in the—”
“Your sister just called me in hysterics. I barely got out of her what she was trying to say. I’m afraid it’s your father, Hunter. I’m so very sorry. He…ummm…he passed away a short while ago.”
PART TWO
TWENTY-SIX
Rush
The church was alive with people. Some were seated, and there were even some standing, and looking to the rear of the church revealed people even into the hallway. Media was even present. They were all there to see Lance Michael Cambridge before the casket closed. I couldn’t believe just how many lives my father had touched. It was evident that he was much better at being somewhat of a public figure than he was at being a father. It was just a shame that we would never get the chance to talk through our differences as men—or should I say, his differences? Because I hadn’t been the one who looked down on him, or taken shots at him every chance I got. No, that had always been me on the other side of that.
I sat in the front pew reserved for family with a feeling of numbness that I hadn’t felt before. I mean, shocking moments weren’t virgins to my life, and certainly not loss, but this feeling was indescribable. I didn’t know what it was. And that might very well have been because I never really reconciled what my feelings were toward my father. On the one hand, without his DNA contribution, I wouldn’t be among the living, but aside from that, what could I really say about being his son? I was at a loss which was why I opted out of speaking on his behalf, at all. He had thousands of colleagues that had flown in from around the world to pay their respects
to him. It could never be said that he wasn’t a connected man. Even with the Illusion exposé, revealing him as the racist I’ve always known him to be, he had lost no footing with his crowd. But did any racists? Not really, so that wasn’t surprising.
Sitting in my same section were Jamie, her mother, Laurie, who I hadn’t seen in well over five years. My little brother and his mother, two of my father’s brothers who I hadn’t seen since I was a kid, and a slew of cousins, were also there. What was clear when I looked around was that my family really was separated. It was no wonder that while growing up I had so much adopted family in my circle of friends. The awkwardness of the moment was thick, but I was determined to make it through so I could head home.
I saw the periodic looks from Jamie as the service progressed. As it neared the end of the service, I felt her place her hand atop mine. She had Greg sitting to one side of her, and me on the other. Alika had chosen to sit in the pew directly behind us because she didn’t feel comfortable knowing that Jamie wasn’t too fond of her at present. I respected her decision even though I’d told her that she had every right to sit with me, since she was with me.
After everyone had their viewing and had spoken their condolences over my father’s body, the church slowly emptied, and everyone headed to my father’s for a repast that was organized by Jamie, her mother, Penny, and my father’s current girlfriend. Yeah, go figure. Can we say things that make for good fiction? The house was filled to the brim with people, and they even had a live band out on his massive lawn and plenty of food. I had to admit, they had sent him off with a stylish party.
“How are you holding up, baby?” Alika asked, rubbing her hand down my suited arm.
She hadn’t let go of me since we left the funeral. I think she thought that I was in deep mourning, but I don’t think she realized that as odd as it was, I wasn’t. Or maybe it was me who hadn’t yet realized that I actually was. Nonetheless, it was comforting having her so close.
“I’m good,” I responded, smiling at her. “About ready to take off. You ready?”
“I’m ready if you are. But if you want to stay a little longer, then I’m okay with that too.”
After I had made my way through the thick clusters of attendees, saying a few goodbyes and making a few promises to hang out with cousins, and uncles, Alika and I headed out.
“Rush!” I heard from the front of the house. Both Alika and I turned around to see Jamie quickly approaching. “You guys leaving already?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, Daddy is dead, Rush. You can’t spend a little more time with your family and people who cared about dad? It wouldn’t kill you to stick around for a little bit…would it?”
“Don’t tell me how to mourn, Jamie,” I said, firmly.
Clearly, she hadn’t taken heed during all of our other confrontations, and it was starting to get to a point where I wanted to curse her the fuck out, but I’d refrained.
“Mourn? Seriously? You’re joking, right? We both know that you aren’t in mourning, Rush.”
“Okay, so if that’s the case, why would you want me here, Jamie?”
It was the most I’d said to her in a long while, but since she insisted on coming in my face every free chance she had, then maybe this would finally be the time where she got the message that I had nothing to say to her.
I inadvertently tightened my grip on Alika’s hand as I battled the urge to spew venom in Jamie’s direction. Just as I was about to respond, I felt a light tug from the hand I’d squeezed a little too tightly. Alika knew what I knew…my temperature was rising. I turned back in my original direction and headed to my car.
“I’m sorry, Rush! I didn’t mean to say that! I’m sorry!” she cried, in the distance.
Alika slowed her pace alongside me and then looked back over her shoulder. “Baby…are you sure you don’t want to go back and talk to your sister?”
“You know what? I think I will,” I told her, doubling back. “Jamie!” I yelled out.
Alika stayed behind while I went to say what I had to say to Jamie.
“Yes, Rush,” she sniffled.
“Listen. Let me say this to you and hopefully you’ll get the point. You’re devastated by our father’s death, right?”
“I am. I miss him already. I won’t lie about that.”
“And I don’t expect you to. But that’s not why I asked. I asked because you’ve always…your entire life been Daddy’s little girl. He treated you like a queen from a little girl all the way to a grown ass woman, didn’t he?”
“He did. Yes.”
“Exactly. So for you and him to rob me of the opportunity to give that same kind of love to my own daughter is unforgivable. Un…forgivable. She’s beautiful, Jamie. Absolutely beautiful, and she’ll never know you because I have to keep her away from someone who never wanted her—you. Because however you’ve managed to justify your actions, the bottom line is you helped send my child away and she could have potentially gone through life thinking that she had a father who never loved her. How fucked up is that? I’ll answer it. Very. Yet, every single time you’ve reached out, your worry was how you were feeling. I saw your emails. The same pattern was across all of them. You never once offered to help me find my daughter. You never once asked if I’d found her or would I try to find her, and if I had already, how things were. Do you know why? I’ll tell you. It’s because Lance built you into that person where the only feelings that matter are your own. So do me a favor and leave me alone until I’m ready. That time may come and it may not come because fortunately for me, I’m in the process of building a relationship with my daughter,” I smiled. “Thanks for asking.”
I walked away knowing that Jamie realized all her mistakes in that moment.
~*~*~
When we got home, there were no words that I felt like speaking. I only wanted to feel loved. I wanted to feel at one with something that I knew to be mine wholly. I wanted to feel warm because my heart was cold. The moment we were out of the dark clothing that we’d worn to symbolize death, I led my love into the shower where I could come alive and love her as sensually as I could. While the warm water caressed our bodies, my mouth luxuriated around Alika’s nipples, her areolas and the flesh that made up her voluptuous breasts. I pinned her hands above her head as I went on an expedition to any body part within my mouth’s reach. She felt good beyond measure, and the trickle of the water against us only added to the intensity of the desire I had built for her. It seemed every negative thought or feelings of sadness were quickly running down the drain as I brought us both to heightened ecstasy.
As lost as I became every time I explored her body with my mouth, I wanted inside, and my throbbing member let me know that if I didn’t shelter him soon, he’d explode around me. So, I lifted Alika and slid inside of her warm spot and moved in and out of her with long, deep strokes. Alika grabbed the sides of my face and pushed her tongue into my mouth with aggressive hunger, and we became one in a synchronized pattern of lust and surrender. I walked us over to the shower bench, and sat down with Alika now on my lap. I laid my head against the shower wall, as she rose and fell on top of my dick until we reached climax.
Long after we were done, I held onto her kissing her as though it was the last kiss we would share. I didn’t want to be free of our embrace. Not yet.
“I love you, Hunter Michael Cambridge,” she whispered into my ear, as she kissed along my lobe. “I love you forever.”
“I’m right there with you,” I replied.
She rose from my lap and went to turn the water off, then grabbed a towel from the shelf inside the shower. She commenced to drying me off, and then herself, and I watched in renewed awe as the towel graced areas of her body. Areas that I just couldn’t seem to get enough of—even in times of what should be grief.
“Come with me, baby,” she said, taking me by the hand and leading me to our bedroom, and directly to our bed. “Get comfortable.”
“I’m comfortable wherever
you are,” I insisted.
“But I want you comfortable. Where you’re not holding me up, or where your ass isn’t trapped on a marble bench. Get comfortable,” she repeated.
I obliged.
I lay on my back; my dick already facing north. I couldn’t help it. She smiled at the power she held, and then came for me, mouth first.
Fuck…
Several hours later, after we had indulged in enough sex play to last us until the evening, Alika and I were downstairs tearing relentlessly through one of Hazel’s masterpieces. She had prepared black beans, garlic-sautéed lamb slices, Jasmine rice, kale, and homemade rolls. To top it all off, Alika had given Hazel the recipe to a Blue Hawaiian, and she had blended us a pitcher to perfection. I didn’t even like girlie drinks, but that shit was good! Or maybe the sex was so good that nothing could be bad.
Coming up for a few seconds of air, Alika took her eyes from her plate and with a semi-full mouth of food, she caught me looking at her.
“What…?” she asked, innocently, and bringing her hand to cover her mouth. “Rush!” she shrieked, her eyes lighting up. And still, I couldn’t turn away. Her beauty shone through more and more every day that I was with her.
“It’s nothing. You just sparkle, baby. You’re beautiful, and everything a man could ever want. From head to toe: the beautiful brown eyes and down to your perfect toes. You’re just amazing.”
“Aww,” she softened. “Thank you, baby.”
“No. Thank you for being all that you are, and all that you have been to my life.” Silence loomed for a few seconds between us, neither of us returning to our courses. “What were you about to say? I think I interrupted you,” I chuckled. “You had just looked up from your food and then I dove in.”
Rapture 2: a BWWM, Alpha Male Romance Page 14