by Angela Foxxe
“How are you, Kibwe?” Josie asked him, trying her hardest not to remember the Christmas party last year when Kibwe had almost raped her.
He was a large man with skin as dark as mahogany and a soul as black as the void. She didn’t like him, but as the head of Clan Jaguar, he was deserving of her respect.
“I’d be better if you’d help me with an ache I’m having,” Kibwe said as he scratched his crotch. Josie didn’t waste her time looking at him or paying attention to the gesture. There were more important matters to worry about.
When King Ronald of the Lion Clan took the stage, everyone stood and Josie was one of the first on the Council to rise under the spotlights of the stage and applaud the King’s arrival. Ronald was an older man who had been more than welcoming to Josie when she arrived. She remembered the night she had arrived on the island by boat, having turned herself over to hunters, looking for safety and peace the rest of her days. Ronald had welcomed her personally and he had seen to her needs, whether it was a roof over her head or a job in the Royal Palace. She owed everything to him.
“Thank you,” Ronald waved his hands and sat down, not looking a day over thirty-five but easily eighty years old. Shifters didn’t age normally and it showed most in the elderly who looked young and vibrant. “Now, I know that there is much to do and many of you have given up your breaks and lunches in order to attend this meeting, so I will do my best to make it quick.”
What followed was an hour of boredom and drudgery that all Shifters were forced to attend if they wanted to live in peace. The Treaty of Warco was instituted by the neighboring island of Warco’s fierce hunting lodge that would rather live in peace than hunt Shifters for a living. Josie had learned that handing herself over to the hunters was the fastest way to get to Tarobi and King Ronald’s sanctuary.
When she turned herself over to them, she claimed sanctuary after her own Clan in Wyoming had turned on her. The fact that she had chestnut hair made her old clan ostracize her and she had finally left before she was brutally killed by them. The Lion Clan had been respectful of her and so long as she showed them the necessary respect and honor, they had treated her kindly. She was adamant about keeping the peace and there was very little that she disagreed with in the treaty.
But like all Shifters, she disagreed a little.
When the meeting was concluded, the Shifters in the crowd all swore their allegiance to King Ronald and the peace of the Lion Clan’s sanctuary. Josie recited the vow with them gladly and looked at King Ronald with a smile on her lips. She had given everything to find this home and she was glad to be here. For the past ten years, Josie had lived in peace without having to sleep with one eye open or fear of being attacked.
She made small talk with the other heads of the clans, each of them insinuating that she should spend some more time with them in less than innocent ways. Avoiding them, she made her way to King Ronald who was discussing things with Timbu of the Crocodile Clan, who was negotiating the arrival of a new clan to the island. King Ronald seemed hesitant about the whole thing and grateful to see Josie as she arrived.
“Hello, my beautiful rose,” King Ronald said, holding up his hands to welcome Josie.
Timbu got the hint and slowly turned away, eyeing Josie ravenously before he walked off the stage with the others. Ronald stepped forward and embraced Josie, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her close to him. She could feel his entire body against hers and his hand slowly sliding down the small of her back. She could feel his cock swelling with each frantic second of the hug. Josie gently stepped back just as his hand cupped her sculpted cheek.
“How are you doing?” He asked her, not bothered at all by her stepping back. He was one of the exclusive few who could claim to have tasted the elusive fruit of Josie.
Being a Shifter was being in tuned with the primal side of the world and understanding that there were alpha males, and females were rarely given the opportunity to refuse them. If sanctuary on the island was available to Josie and the price of her getting Ronald’s support was sleeping with him, then she had gladly done so. He had claimed afterwards as he smoked a cigarette that it was the best night of his life.
She was sure he said that to all the ladies, but there was doubt in her mind. There was a sort of glow in his eyes whenever he saw Josie that the other women of the Clans didn’t receive when he saw them. There was something special about Josie to him. It made her uncomfortable, because there was envy among the other women. Especially Narla, Ronald’s significant other, whom he’d used as a surrogate three times for his own children.
“What can I do for you?” Ronald asked her.
“Nothing,” Josie smiled warmly. “I’m just saying hello.”
“Please, feel free to visit me any time,” Ronald said in his thick Zambian accent.
His dark eyes flickered with that unusual fire that she always felt around him. She grinned as he hugged her again, making sure that her breasts pressed against him hard as he clamped down on her. She could feel the envy in the room as the other men watched their king hugging Josie so tightly. They all wanted that and it bothered her more now than it had in a long time.
For Josie, she wasn’t opposed to sex, but she did want to be more than that to the man who found her appealing and alluring. There were far too many men in these Clans that saw women as nothing more than sex machines for them to use and then throw away to go about their business. Josie wanted more than that. She wanted to be something more than just a great body for them to rub one out in. For her, she needed a lover who wanted to spend time with her and wanted to fulfill her needs just as much as she wanted to fulfill his needs.
But beyond that, Josie was all about sex. She loved it and craved it. She knew from a very young age she wasn’t going to have any problems when it came to alcohol or drugs or stealing, but that she was going to have a problem when it came to sex.
She loved it and all the different variations of it. She loved it all and that was what she found her weakness to be. It was something she wasn’t proud of, but at the same time, when she saw someone she really liked, she couldn’t help but chew her lip and wonder what his tongue would be like against her clit.
Walking off the stage, she couldn’t help but feel the scornful eyes of Tendai, who had taken it upon herself to become Josie’s one and only nemesis in the room. Sure, there were women who didn’t like the fact that their men were fantasizing about Josie while they were making love, but that was nothing compared to the hatred that Tendai had for Josie. Tendai, with her dreadlocks pulled back in a thick ponytail, glared at Josie as she passed.
“Slut,” Tendai snapped at her.
“Excuse me?” Josie turned to her, not willing to start a fight with Tendai, but not willing to let Tendai get away with that. It was rich being called a slut by Tendai, the woman who was notoriously sleeping with every man she could get her legs wrapped around.
“I called you a slut, Night Hawk,” Tendai said, mocking Josie’s name. It was the name of her family, of her people. Josie felt a fire spreading inside of her. She hated when people mocked her heritage.
“You would know, after all.” Josie turned and left Tendai to stew in her own anger and her own rage.
Josie wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of an argument and she wasn’t going to fight her, not in front of everyone else. Josie would love nothing more than to put Tendai in her place. Every morning, Josie spent an hour and a half in the gym and she had a stronger punch and kick than most men. She had honed her body into a weapon and while most people saw her as a sexy piece of eye candy, they would be lucky to never learn the true extent of Josie’s power.
Walking out of the hall, Josie made her way down the long corridor where each of the closed doors went off into conference rooms and meeting halls for anyone who wanted to come for social events or conferences among peers. She walked down the hallway, heading deeper and deeper into the darkness, walking past vacant rooms and the sounds of the resort van
ished behind her.
The voices were farther away, muffled and distant. She felt like she was away from everything down here, alone in the midst of the bustle of one of the largest resorts in the Caribbean. It was the eye of the hurricane and she felt more alone and at a sort of peace that was tranquil inside of her, and welcomed.
Opening the door to the last conference room, she stepped into the darkness of the room and looked at the long table made of the finest dark woods that the resort could import and immaculately polished with loving care and precision.
She walked toward the table and spread her arms around the lips of the table, leaning on it and arching her back, rolling her neck and feeling the tension bursting from her joints with each pop. She opened her eyes and looked at the far side of the room, hearing his breathing as he approached her from the rear and put his hands on her hips.
She smiled at the feeling of his hands on her waist and couldn’t help but feel the grin spreading across her lips, welcoming his presence and his firm touch. He was a loving man and it was the kind of loving introduction she enjoyed. Sure, she liked strength and she liked it rough, but she always preferred the sensitive, loving touch. Passion was meant to build and the fires were meant to grow.
She didn’t want to be scorched in the beginning and as his lips pressed against her shoulder and up her neck, she liked the slow burn. She liked the rise of passion. Her ass pressed against his crotch and she could feel how stiff and excited he already was. He was always eager for her and she loved that. She loved how much he wanted her and that she was undoubtedly his one and only.
“How was the meeting?” She asked him, a smile solidified on her lips.
“Boring,” he whispered into her ear with his thick accent. “All I could think about was how long your legs are and how desperately I need to kiss them.”
“Yeah?” She whispered as his fingers slid around her hips and over her flat stomach, the tips digging into her and making her want to squirm. She pressed her ass against his cock and felt his fingers slipping under her shirt and pushing up.
“They want your lips on them,” she told him, as she felt his fingers slowly drifting downward, drifting underneath her shorts, beneath her thong. She closed her eyes and sucked in her breath as the tips of his fingers brushed across her slit.
God she wanted him. She always wanted him.
“It’s been a while,” he whispered in her ear, kissing just behind her lobe, making her squirm and smile, resisting the urge to giggle with glee and delight at the sensation that he sent blossoming throughout her. God, she could tell she was wet already.
“I’ve been pulling double shifts,” Josie told him, her fingers digging into the lip of the table as she felt his soft fingers tracing the line of her pussy’s lips, teasing her and tempting her. She needed him inside of her and she needed him to stay there forever.
There was an intimacy that she wanted with him that she had never wanted with anyone else before. She felt his fingers slipping inside of her and the brush of his fingers against her clit sent a tremble through her body that made her groan. She wanted him to keep doing it and as she felt his chest pressing against her back, her ass rubbing his blazing cock, she knew he wanted more too.
“Keep doing it,” she whispered, breathy and elusive.
He kept rubbing her, knowing that when a woman said keep doing it, it meant to keep it up. He didn’t press harder and he didn’t rub faster. No, he kept it just right and the build was like a glacier cracking and falling free, plunging into an ocean of lust. She leaned her head back and felt his lips pressing against her neck, the warmth of his body filling her up as he continued to rub her.
She flinched, her knees getting weak as he played with her, slowly slipping his fingers inside of her and she loved the feeling, wishing that there were more. She wanted him all the way inside of her. She wanted to take him there and now. “You’re so good to me,” she exhaled.
“You deserve the best,” he whispered to her, his other hand running up her stomach, cupping her breast and squeezing it as she moaned, smiling at the feeling. She wanted more of it. His fingers found her excited nipples, feeling like they were charged with electric lust as they brushed over her nipple. He cupped her again and again, feeling her nipples and pinching them lightly between his fingers.
She liked the soft jolt of pain that burst with each of the little pinches and she wanted more of it. She could feel the hunger rising inside of her. She wanted more of it and she wanted him to have her. Slipping two of his fingers inside of her, she moaned as he slid his fingers in and out, rubbing her clit with his thumb, working with such diligence and focus that she thought he was a wizard, working with multiple hands.
She could feel his tongue on her neck and his lips kissing her over and over again, kissing along her jawline. She moaned as she could feel wetter and wetter with each passing second, not wanting any of it to end. “You’re naughty today,” he said with a sort of wicked lust in the back of his throat that she couldn’t avoid. She liked the sound of his voice. It was deep and foreign, exotic in all the ways that made her want to take him inside of her. She wanted to kiss his soft lips and breathe him in.
It wasn’t long until she was leaning her head back over the nape of his neck and arching her back, grinding her hips against his strong arm and trying to take his fingers inside of her as deep as she could. His cock was pressed against her ass, pushing harder and harder as she kept pushing against him, wanting to take more and more of him inside of her.
She was moaning as he kneaded her breast, squeezing her nipple and running his hand up along her neck, bracing her as his body gave into the lust and she could feel the orgasm billowing up inside of her, rising with a vengeance. She smiled and moaned, digging her fingernails into his jean clad legs, begging for that sweet release—begging for that bliss that only he could give her so lovingly.
When it came, she felt her whole body go numb and as she sank into his arms, he caught her and held her against him, his cock still as hard and as blazing as it had been before her orgasm. She smiled and tried to catch her breath. Everywhere he touched her felt like bombs bursting across her skin and she snuggled up against him, trying to push against him as hard as she could.
Kheem was her lover, but no one could know it.
Kheem liked to stay in the shadows and she liked to slip into his dark world and having him explore all the sensuous places that only they could know about. She liked throwing him against the wall and going down on him or having him grab her like this in an abandoned room.
They played this game for years now, ravaging each other like animals and keeping it only to themselves. She would find notes from him tucked inside of books she read or hidden in her desk. In the same fashion, she would leave him little origami figures that she made when she was bored at work and hid them in the kitchen where he worked. His dark eyes and his ebony skin were as black as the darkness that surrounded their secret affair.
“God, you’re amazing,” Josie turned around and shoved him against the wall, placing her lips on his and loving how he always tasted of fruit.
She took his lower lip between her teeth and chewed it passionately, slipping her hand under his waistline and feeling his bare cock, loving the heat that was radiating it. It was so hard. He never had a problem feeling so hard around her. It was amusing. She’d never known a man who was so eager to be excited around her. She grinned and wrapped her fingers around it.
“I have to go back to work,” he lamented.
Dropping to her knees, Josie unzipped his pants and unbuttoned it, looking at the outline of his cock behind his briefs and wanting so badly to take it between her lips and to lick it, to taste the heat and the warmth inside of her. God she wanted to make him feel as amazing as he made her feel. She rubbed it with her index finger, tracing the length of his cock and looking up at him.
“Why are you so cruel?” She asked him with her large, doe eyes.
He ran his fingers thr
ough her dark, crimson hair and she loved the strength of his hands. Kheem was the son of Raffu, an aged, tired man who was no longer interested in the politics of the Clans. He would sit in the meetings and just nod when someone asked for his agreement. Kheem would be the head of his clan one day, but until then, there was no way that he would ever be an alpha that she could submit to.
She wanted him so badly, but as long as she was the head of her own clan, King Ronald would never let her have him. It was the worst feeling in the world to be refused the love and the companionship that you longed for.
She looked up at him and stuck out her tongue, the tip of her tongue touching his cloth clad penis and tracing it as she slowly stood up. When she reached the tip of his cock, she started kissing his stomach, feeling the abs beneath his shirt with her lips and kissing him all the way up to his neck and until she was kissing his earlobe. He smiled with bright, beaming white teeth as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. His hands were clamped down on her arms and she liked feeling that strength pushing through her. She wanted him. She wanted all of him. She couldn’t wait for King Ronald to finally see he was worthy of her. He was tired of waiting for his aged father to abdicate his position. One day, they were going to run away together if they had to endure this much longer.
“I want you to be my surrogate,” Kheem said with his deep, low voice.
Pulling away from him, Josie looked at him and stared at the tranquil features of his chiseled face. There was a peace in his face that made Josie feel nervous. The lust and the ecstasy that he’d just unleashed upon her dried up and she felt the sobering reality of what he just asked her.
It was wrong on so many levels. He wasn’t an alpha, which meant that he couldn’t find a surrogate. He couldn’t demand that from her and that was something that would get him in serious trouble with Raffu. He could petition Raffu to take her as a surrogate, but that was the beginning of problems that no one wanted to deal with. Josie wasn’t willing to be Raffu’s surrogate and even if she were, how would she ever be able to face Kheem?