“No, man, you don’t understand. If I go with Cass, they’ll gang up on me. You don’t know what that’s like.”
“Do they usually hit Cassandra?” Xavier wanted to know. He let Cameron stand on his feet.
Cameron laughed. “No, bey, they all scared of her. You should have seen what she did to T. The guys came at her one night, and T thought he could take her on his own. She moved so fast T never touched her. Cass always fight dirty. She had him on the floor, sitting on his chest with his hands trapped beneath her knees in seconds. T couldn’t move.” Cameron chuckled at the memory. “Every time he opened his mouth, Cass slapped him.” Cameron stopped smiling. He dropped his shoulders and lowered his gaze. “I’m not like Cass.”
“So learn how to fucking fight.” Xavier bent until he could look him directly in the eyes with a hard glare. “Don’t put her through this shit again.”
“I—” Cameron started.
“She is mine now. Don’t make me fuck you up,” Xavier growled.
Cameron stared back at him and flinched. “Alright, alright, Cass will get no more crap from me.”
Xavier walked back to the driver’s side and got in the vehicle again. He leaned over and caged Cassandra in, completely ignoring Cameron as he climbed into the backseat.
Cassandra frowned mutinously back at him.
Her scent had already been playing havoc on him in the small confines of the cabin, but this close to her was pure torture. She had an alluring scent, ultra feminine, and it was making blood pool to his lower region. So when he spoke to her, his voice may have been a little harsher than he intended.
“Just so we’re clear, I don’t give a shit if you don’t listen to any other man. But that stunt you pulled tonight will never happen again,” he told her.
“I’ve known you all of five minutes!” She moved closer to him, staring him down. “I don’t even know your last name. What in those five minutes of knowing me makes you believe that I’m that girl?” Cassandra yelled.
“I know how stubborn you are. But if you ever go into such a dangerous situation again like tonight, I’m going to tan your ass.”
“I—”
Xavier didn’t let her finish. He knew she would only piss him off further. She had come too close to being hurt. He covered her lips with his. She was just as sweet as he remembered. She sputtered in indignation at first, but he persisted and seduced her with his tenderness. Moaning in surrender, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He sank into her softness and deepened the kiss.
“Ew! Hey, man, cut that shit out. That’s my sister.”
Xavier reluctantly released her lips. He placed his forehead against hers and held her gaze, stunned that he was having so much trouble moving away from her. It was like a magnetic force field was surrounding them, keeping them in a drugged cocoon. She stared feverishly back at him. Their gazes locked, they were drowning in their own private world. He started to lower his lips back to hers.
“Can we go home now please?” an irritated Cameron interrupted them again.
Xavier closed his eyes briefly and then forcefully pulled himself away from her. He slowly eased back into traffic. With each of them in deep thought, the remaining miles to Cassandra’s house was done in silence.
As soon as the car came to a stop, Cameron jumped out and stalked into the house.
Cassandra sighed as she watched her brother march toward their home. “Let me get in there before I have to kill one of them. Thank you for going with me.”
Xavier shook his head at her.
“What? Why are you shaking your head at me?” Cassandra asked.
“You’re not staying here tonight,” Xavier told her.
“What? Why the hell not?”
“Nado and his gang know where you live.”
“So what? You think Nado, who is badly injured, and a number of his men, who you totally incapacitated, are going to come here in such a state?” Cassandra shook her head in disbelief. “Those guys aren’t stupid enough to come here.”
“After what we did to them tonight, on their home turf, they will want to save face.”
“Look, X, I know you’re probably aware of it, but my brothers are drug dealers, armed, and extremely dangerous, despite how inept they acted tonight. Besides, my sisters and their children are in that house as well. I’m not leaving them if there’s a chance of danger, especially since I created it.”
“How many children are in the house?”
“I have eight nieces and nephews under the age of ten.”
“Can you convince your sisters to relocate for a few days?” Xavier asked.
“They would all laugh in my face. Do you realize how small this island is? There’s nowhere to hide. It’s best that we confront those idiots if they do come at us anyway.”
“I’m not prepared to leave you here.”
Cassandra opened the car door, climbed out, and slammed the door behind her. Before she could take two steps away from the SUV, Xavier planted himself in front of her and blocked her progress.
“Xavier, I’m not leaving my family to deal with this alone,” she hissed.
“I’m not asking you to do that. I understand your desire to protect them, however ill advised. I need to ensure that you’re safe. Which of those bedroom windows up there are your sisters’ and yours?”
Cassandra told him while frowning at him in confusion.
“Go in. I will see you later,” Xavier said softly.
“What are you going to do?” Cassandra asked him.
Xavier pulled her against him. He covered her lips with his and kissed her softly, and only when she was straining to get closer to him and mewling as if she was a satisfied cat did he put her away from him. “Go inside, it’s very late.”
Giving a sigh of exasperation, Cassandra turned and stomped toward the house.
Xavier watched her enter the house before pulling out his phone. The usual shadow of men stalking Cassandra was nowhere in sight. Good.
The African man who had been monitoring Xavier for years smirked as yet again Xavier failed to detect his presence. He had come from a long line of men who knew how to live in the shadows, so he took pride in his ability to remain hidden while he was stalking his prey. Tonight, the African hung back in his car park several houses down. He wasn’t worried about losing the man he had been trying to kill for years. Xavier was predictable in his bleeding heart need to protect his woman. Wherever the woman was, Xavier would be also.
Chapter Eight
Cassandra opened her eyes and stared into the dark murkiness of her bedroom. She had no idea what had woken her up, but something had. Very soon her eyes adjusted to the limited lighting coming into the room through the window, and she saw the outline of a large man sitting in the armchair next to her bed. She opened her mouth to scream, but the figure moved too swiftly, overpowering her and covering her mouth to prevent any sound.
“Shh, it’s me, honey,” Xavier whispered. He removed his palm from her mouth when she pushed at his wrist.
“What are you doing in here?” Cassandra asked as she became more alert. What’s going on? Is everyone okay? What the hell…?
“Ensuring you’re safe,” he murmured.
The gravelly sound of his voice vibrated through her, making the butterflies in her stomach buzz in excitement and her nipples throb in awareness. “So your idea was to sit in that chair all night?”
“You have a twin bed. Somehow I don’t think I could fit in that cot.” He caged her in with his elbows bent on either side of her head. “Go back to sleep.”
His warmth and masculine scent enveloped her. Cassandra wound her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer.
He didn’t budge.
“What time is it?” she breathed out, lifting herself closer to him since he wouldn’t come to her. The thin material of her sheer nightgown did nothing to shield her beaded nipples from the hard walls of his chest. The sensitive tips grazed the hard co
ntours of his chest, making her shiver from the sheer bliss of it. This relentless need for him was playing havoc with her years of blind focus on succeeding. Nothing and no one had ever distracted her or drawn her interest like this before. She had been so busy with her basketball training and school that the closest she had come to a relationship was with a college soccer player. They had dated for two months. His attempts at seduction had been clumsy and had left her cold. It wasn’t long before he lost interest in her insistence on remaining a virgin. After him, she told every guy up front who asked her on a date that she was going to remain a virgin until after college. I used to think that I had too much to lose. I couldn’t risk being distracted from my goals or, worse, get pregnant before I graduated. Xavier is making me rethink all of that. With him, I’m already willing to risk everything.
“Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Nado and his gang ain’t coming here. I’m not complaining about your presence, but you’re wasting your time.” She peppered his face with soft kisses to his cheek, his eyes, his forehead, his chin, and finally the corners of his lips.
“I know they won’t be coming here tonight,” he said, his voice deepening even further. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her into him for a brief moment. His arms were like warm bands of safety, contentment and strength surrounding her. She rested against him in dreamy delight.
Arching her back, she sensually rubbed her nipples against his hard body like an affectionate feline to assuage the need blossoming through her in waves. “How do you know they won’t be coming?” She nibbled his lower lip.
He released her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”
She wiggled out of the sheets and climbed into his lap, straddling his thighs. “X, I can’t let you sleep on that chair. You won’t be able to walk in the morning.”
“Trust me, I’ve slept in far worse places.” He tried to lift her off of him without hurting her. She crossed her legs at his back and put her arms around his neck, clinging to him like a vine.
She moaned lustily at the friction that created. She wore only a T-shirt nightie and a sheer panty, and the rough material of his jeans was an unexpected stimulant against her inner thighs.
“We’re not doing this, baby,” he whispered harshly. “It’s late. Get some sleep.”
“X, I’ve been making decisions about my life for years. I think I can decide if I need to go to bed.”
He grunted and stood, but still she hung on to him determinately as he paced up and down the carpeted floor.
“I just want one kiss,” she murmured in a coaxing voice.
“No.” He gripped her bottom and halted the movement of her hips.
“I’ll go to bed, X. I promise.” Massaging his close-shaved head, she kissed the side of his lips before running her tongue along the seam of his closed mouth. “Just one itsy, bitsy kiss,” she begged softly.
He groaned deep in the back of his throat as his cock pulsed harder, pressing insistently at the apex of her legs. His big body shuddered against her, and he dug his fingers deeper into the lush roundness of her flesh.
She covered his lips with hers. He did try to stop her but let her do what she wanted. She moaned in satisfaction, kissing him for all she was worth.
He soon took over the kiss, plunging his tongue deep into her mouth.
Angling her head, she sucked on his tongue and ground her hips against him. Cassandra shivered in ecstasy as his hard muscles rippled beneath her. Her clit throbbed in response. Feeling the answering pulse of his stiff cock against her, she aligned her damp flesh to the thick length. She moaned as she rotated her hips, ratcheting up her lust further.
He tightened his grip, sliding his hand into her panty and palming the naked globes of her ass. He lowered her to the bed without breaking the kiss.
Cassandra held onto him, loving his bulky weight on top of her. The hem of her nightshirt gathered at her waist as he wedged his hips between her thighs.
He slid his palm over her naked butt cheeks and glided a thumb between her damp folds.
The rough pad of his thumb strummed against her sensitive clit. She cried out in his mouth as he slid a thick finger in her sleek opening while scraping her clit. Writhing violently against him, she almost dislodged him from the intense need he wrung out of her.
“Ah hell,” he growled as she tightened her muscles around his invading digit. He trailed his lips over her cheek, the column of her neck, over the globes of her breasts, and pulled a pebbled tip into his mouth while sliding his finger shallowly in and out of her heat.
She cried out loudly. Grinding her hips against his hand, she tried to draw his fingers in deeper.
He raised his head and looked down at her. The moonlight beaming through her window gave her a hazy view of his feverish gaze.
“I’m not fucking you tonight,” he warned, obviously trying to convince himself of his intent. He greedily returned to sucking on her nipple through her thin nightdress.
“As long as you keep touching me and kissing me like this, I’m good.” She picked up the speed of her hips, impaling herself harder on his finger.
After torturing one hard peak, he released it and rooted to the next tip. He worried the nipple between his teeth at the same time he pinched her clit.
She writhed and cried out loud, stopping mid-screech as she realized that anyone in the house could hear the amount of racket she was making. She grabbed her pillow from beneath her head, pulled it to her face, and bit on it to stifle her cries.
He released her nipple and laughed huskily. His warm breath abraded the sensitive, making shiver further with desire. He gently kissed the soft skin of her stomach, and then removed his hands from between her legs.
“No, X,” she sobbed. “Please don’t stop.”
“Shh, baby. Trust me.” He grabbed her thighs with his rough hands and pulled her panty from her, throwing it to the floor. Gripping her thighs again, he dragged her hips to the edge of her bed, got down on his knees, and widened her legs before him. “I’m not going to fuck you, but I’m going to taste you.” Xavier lowered his head and licked the lips of her folds.
“Xavier?” Cassandra breathed in surprise.
He opened her sex for better access and licked her from top to bottom.
“Oh God,” Cassandra exclaimed and gripped his head, uncertain of whether she wanted to push him away or pull him closer.
Another lusty lick accompanied with a pinch of her pebbled nipple.
The feel of his broad tongue on her throbbing flesh and the rough pads of his fingers on her breasts made her eyes roll back in her head in exquisite pleasure.
Xavier savored her and licked her clit slowly. “So sweet, baby,” he growled, “nectar of the finest wine.” His warm breath and goatee provided an additional stimulant to her aroused flesh.
She keened in distress as he repeated his sensual assault over and over again. He pulled the taut pink bundle of nerves between his lips, nibbling and sucking her clit into the warm cavity of his mouth. When he thrust the hard tip of his tongue into her core, she splintered, completely melting onto his mouth. For what seem like forever, she trembled uncontrollably in mind-numbing ecstasy.
Xavier kept his tongue pressed into her heat as the tremors from her orgasm receded. He gave her one last lick before rolling to his feet. He gently lifted her back upon her pillows and pulled the covers over her sprawling figure. He meticulously tucked the sheets around her and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. “Go to sleep,” he murmured.
Cassandra couldn’t respond, as she had yet to catch her breath enough to speak. She remained still, breathing deeply in and out, trying to regain her equilibrium. “Wow,” she finally breathed and smiled shyly up at him. God, I’m so much his. Can someone fall in love so quickly?
“Despite what we just did, I want you to be absolutely sure about us, about wanting to be with me. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?
”
“Yes, X. How many times do I have to tell you that I want you?” She peered up at him, trying to see his face through the limited moonlight floating through her window.
“You have no idea who I am,” he reminded her softly.
“I know that you’re absolutely amazing, and someday soon I’ll be able to convince you of that.”
Xavier’s only response to her soft vow was to kiss her on her lips, not yet willing to dissuade her of her positive opinion of him. He sighed at his predicament. How do I tell her? He stood from the bed in a moment of dejection and a feeling of inevitability. I’m going to lose her when she learns about me.
“Where are you going?” Cassandra seemed agitated, trying to get up from the bed to follow him.
“Go to sleep. I’ll be here in this chair.” Xavier was holding onto his control by a thread. She looked so soft and sweet lying there in the bed. He wanted nothing more than to join her.
Cassandra rolled her eyes at his determination to sleep apart from her. She threw the covers from her and stood on unsteady feet. After a few deep breaths, she grabbed the quilt and sheets from her bed and spread everything on the carpeted floor to make a neat bed. Going to her closet, she grabbed an additional two pillows and threw them to the floor. She then took the pillows from her bed and then lowered herself to her new makeshift bed.
Xavier watched her silently with his arms folded to his chest.
Curling her finger at him, she invited him to join her.
“Not happening,” he muttered and retook his seat in the armchair.
She crawled to kneel between his legs. “X. I’m really sleepy. Come to bed, please,” she said softly.
“Cass, ease the hell up. I can only take so much, baby.”
“I just want you to hold me, X.” Cassandra reached for him.
Xavier was determined to keep her at arm’s length. He gripped her shoulders and held her away from. Although his grip was firm, he was also gentle. “For the last time, go to bed. I won’t just lick you next time,” he warned. “Please, I need you to listen to me.”
Xavier: (Indestructible) Page 7