Her mouth fell open and she looked up at Ree. His eyes were red, they were glassy, and they were piercing through to her, not hiding it. He had cried on her stomach. She had never seen him cry, not even for their babies.
“Ree,” she whispered, bringing her hand to his face as they stared each other in the eyes. She brushed her thumb across his right eyes and felt the wetness from his lashes fall onto her finger. “Ree,” she repeated.
He took the same hand, holding her wrist and began to kiss each fingertip softly, never breaking their eye contact. He then brought his head down and kissed her palm. He brought his face to hers and kissed her forehead with passion. He kept his lips there for a while, not believing she was there, and then he moved to kiss her eyelids, one by one.
Tatum took a deep breath and held onto his shirt with strength, scared that he’d fade away. He kissed the tip of her nose and while her eyes remained closed, he stared at her unblinkingly. She was so beautiful. Ree brought his lips to hers and kissed her gently on them, and then he kissed her chin….her neck….her earlobes.
“I’d die for you,” he whispered in her ear knowing at that moment he meant it with all of his heart.
He picked her up swiftly and Tatum panted.
“Ree, what are you-”
“I’m taking you upstairs, baby.”
Tatum sniffled and allowed her head to fall into his chest as he carried her like a baby. She felt his strength, smelled his natural scent that was like an aphrodisiac. Never had she felt so protected, so loved, so safe. The love she shared with Ree was unlike anything she had ever saw, felt, read, witnessed. It was almost religious, the amount of devotion and belief she had in him, to him. It was unbreakable.
Up the long stairs and finally reaching the bed, Ree gently placed her down and lowered himself on top of her. Tatum stared up at him.
“Make love to me, Ree,” she whispered tears rolling down her face and hitting the pillow. He kissed her tears.
“I plan to.”
“For the rest of the night,” she urged, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of his lips on her face.
“For the rest of your life,” he corrected.
He kissed her lips deeply and Tatum allowed her tongue to intertwine with his. Tasting him was like water that her body needed to survive. Ree pulled away and sat up, moving down her body and removing her shoes. He kissed her toes gently and caressed her feet. Allowing his hands and mouth to roam, he trailed kisses all up one leg to her thighs and down another. Ree brought himself up again and removed her clothes slowly, studying every curve on her body as if they were miraculously formed like the dips and valleys of the Grand Canyon. He placed each of her blackberry flavored nipples into his mouth, one by one kissing, licking, and nibbling on them. He kissed underneath, in between and around her breasts. His lips trailed south as he coated her stomach with sweet kisses as well and then dipped his tongue into her navel with ease. He kissed the results of the Caesarean that had been performed as if it were just as beautiful as any part of her body, and then finally after separating her legs and kissing her bare pussy as if he’d missed it just as much as her lips, he slid his tongue into her sweetness and savored everything from being with Tatum in this intimate way. He loved the way she tasted, adored the way her body responded to him, he was obsessed with pleasing her. As he slid her soft clit in between his lips and sucked, Tatum’s body tensed and she pressed her inner thighs on the side of Ree’s face.
“Relax, Tatum. Open up…let me take you there.”
Tatum parted her thighs further with the assistance of his strong hands and that’s what she allowed him to do. Take her there.
Ree licked, and probed, and sucked on her like eating her pussy was a class he was trying to pass with flying colors.
“Ree,” she called out, feeling the moisture travel from between her legs to the crack of her ass. “Ree!”
Her body shuddered as she felt the perfect orgasm approach. It was great in intensity but superb in length. Ree’s pace was steadied, and whatever he was doing now, with these gentle tongue strokes mixed with quick flickers prolonged it for twice the normal span. Tatum closed her eyes tight and squeezed, feeling like she’d never stop cumming.
“Ohhhh!” Just as her clit began to beat like a drum, Ree gently took it between his teeth and Tatum damn near passed out.
“Ree! I can’t…I can’t… No more!” He sucked, slurped and gave it one more quick kiss before coming up, obeying her orders.
Tatum squeezed her legs together, trying to subdue the throbbing as her pussy whispered for Ree to return to her. She stroked his chest with her hand as he unbuttoned his shirt and her eyes lay open half mist.
“Give it to me, Ree. Give me King. I want King.”
Tatum had named Ree’s dick King because it reminded her of King Kong, big, black, and destructive. And it was no secret that he was the King, so it worked.
Ree placed both hands on the side of her gorgeous face as he allowed his dick to guide itself into Tatum’s tightness, a place easy for it to find since it belonged. He closed his eyes and relished the moment.
“Ahhh, shittt,” he groaned, while beginning to glide in and out of her, enjoying the gushy sounds and feeling. “And if I needed one more reason why I couldn’t let your ass go,” he chuckled, licking his lips and feeling a chill go through his body. This pussy belonged to him. He knew it as well as it knew him. Tatum smiled and gripped his hair, throwing her hips to him regardless of the painful pleasure.
“Yesss, ooohhh I love youuu, Reee,” Tatum squealed feeling her clit swell up on the verge of another explosion.
“I love you more.” The words caused Tatum to burst, soaking his thighs and the sheets with her juices. “God damn, I love you more.”
The ringing of the cell phone awakened Sasha out of a deep sleep. She had made it to her father’s apartment in Highland Park, NJ, found out that Tatum had returned to Atlanta from a message left with her dad, threw her phone on the charger, and passed out with Aubrey on his pull out couch.
Now it was 5:23 a.m. and some psycho was calling her back to back.
“Who is this?” She asked groggily, removing her sleeping mask, not recognizing or studying the number too much.
“Sasha? …Is this Sasha?”
Sasha sucked her teeth and sighed.
“Well, who did you call?”
There was a nervous giggle that followed.
“Right…Look, I’m sorry Sasha, but…this is…this is Adrianna, the nurse from Grady Memorial Hospital. I really need to talk to you about your friend…Jayde. I know I’ve been missing you the last times I tried to get in contact with you.”
Sasha huffed and threw her head back against the pillow, not believing this shit.
“Listen lady. Like I told you, I really have no interest in anything that has to do with Jayde! She gets herself into shit all the time and I really want no part of her. If you were smart, you would follow my lead. I mean, I’m sorry I haven’t called you back but I really just wanted nothing to do with her. Now if you’d excuse me, it’s five-something in the morning and I’d like to get back to sl-”
“Did you know a girl named Penelope?”
Sasha’s eyes shot open. Had she heard her right?
“Excuse me?” Sasha asked, her heartbeat speeding up rapidly.
“Penelope...Penelope Daniels,” Adriana repeated, now in a hushed whisper. “She died at this hospital and…and I really think I have something you need to listen to. I think you may be in danger.”
Sasha’s breath caught in her throat and she quickly sat up, turning on her father’s end table lamp.
“Okay. What is it?”
***
Tatum’s eyes fluttered open and a smile crept across her face. Ree was seated in the chair in the corner, facing her with a bunch of papers in his hand. The morning sunlight crept through the window, illuminating his rugged, handsome face.
“Mmm,” she moaned sweetly. “What are you doing up s
o early?”
He stared at her for a while, smiling with his eyes. Finally he grinned.
“Just…thinking.”
“Just thinking, huh?” Tatum’s wavy hair was loose and wild scattered over the pillow and she was topless, the sheet covering her waist down as she lay on her stomach. “What are you thinking about?”
He shrugged.
“What are we going to do after this is over, Tatum? I’m basically done…like I told you I would be. Now what?”
He hoped she would say she wanted to leave here. But he would leave it to her. Tatum took a deep breath and looked off. She thought of everything that had occurred, Trinity, the trial, Johnny, Chauncey, Bleek, her babies, it had all been a genocide of death and turmoil.
“I want to go back…home. To the coconut trees and to being the street girl,” she smiled slowly, looking at Ree. He smiled too and Tatum giggled.
“That’s why I love you.” He leaned over to kiss her and one of the papers he was holding fell to the floor. Tatum sat up, scrunching her face and holding the sheet across her chest. She bent down and picked it up in confusion.
“Ree…what is this?”
He stared at it and ran his hand over his mouth before replying.
“That’s yours.”
Tatum stared at the picture for a while and tried to fathom why this would be hers.
“Ree? A hot air balloon? Why would I…I mean, it’s nice…but…”
“Tatum. Remember how you were telling me…you know, we can do anything. Put this money to other things. Remember you said to reach for the clouds?”
Tatum nodded reluctantly. She remembered, but she didn’t mean for them to reach for the clouds by buying a hot air balloon. Ree could see the question on her face and he laughed.
“Look, hear me out. Basically, the hotel burned down and we’re going to rebuild it right? But in the meantime, I thought it would be good for you to have your own business as well. I run the hotel, and you run…”
“A hot air balloon? Oh, so you giving me the chump change huh?” Tatum joked. Ree laughed again smoothly.
“Tatum. There are no hot air balloon attractions on the island, yet everyone always has been interested. So what I did is I purchased you twenty hot air balloons, starting off small. They will go up twice a day, once for a group that wants to watch the sunrise another for the sunset.” Tatum’s interest became piqued once she realized he had so much thought and planning behind it. A business of her own did sound intriguing. Ree continued. “Each balloon seats twelve but will require a minimum of ten before we lift off. The average price for a hot air balloon ride is between $200-$450. However on an island like Jamaica, $350 a person is easily a steal. So that’s twenty balloons, ten people per balloon, at $350…that’s…”
“$70,000 a day, Ree!” Tatum exclaimed wide eyed. Ree shrugged.
“Not exactly. That’s $70,000 that morning. Another $70,000 for sunset. As a nice little side business, which is 100% your own, you should pull in at least $4 mil a month…on a slow month. Although, the way the tourist have been showing interest and flocking to the island, I doubt you have a slow month anytime soon. The workers are ready to be hired, insurance is already purchased, and you don’t have to do anything but sign the ownership papers, baby.” Ree smirked at her and shot her a wink while Tatum tried to close her mouth. “How’s that for chump change?”
She jumped up and straddled him, kissing his face.
“I love you, I love you, I love you! Do you seeee what I mean, Ree,” she exclaimed to him. “I told you….you’re a genius. You don’t have to hustle in the streets. You’re just a hustler period. Your mind is out of this world.”
His kiss was his response. They sat there for a minute wrapped up in each other before Ree tapped her, signaling his need to stand.
“I gotta go handle something and then I’ll start getting everything ready for us to go back home. You got anything you need to do?”
Tatum stood as well.
“Yeah, Dr. Patel called while I was gone so I’m gonna make an appointment to stop in and see her. After that, I need to have a long talk with Sasha, see how she’s feeling especially after all of this Chauncey nonsense.”
“You haven’t talked to her?”
“We talked real quick, but she was driving and all I could really do was tell her how sorry I was…I still can’t believe Bleek is dead.” Tatum stared off deep in thought. Ree put the papers in the top of the dresser and slammed it shut, then walked over and kissed Tatum on the lips.
“Yeah well, we getting the fuck outta here before any more shit happens.” He headed for the door and Tatum silently agreed.
“I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t come to me first Tatum? As your doctor, it looks like I didn’t properly advise you of the risks and procedures, you know?”
Tatum didn’t understand why the doctor was so upset. She had only been her doctor since they had moved to Atlanta. And it wasn’t like Tatum and Ree were trying, so what would she come to her about? Tatum sat across from her with the desk in between them, her leg bounced in anticipation as she tried to keep up with Dr. Patel dancing in circles around what she had to say.
“Svelta, I wasn’t trying to get pregnant, it just…happened. I don’t understand.”
Svelta Patel reached into the manila folder which held the results of Tatum’s lab results from the hospital. She was visibly upset and continued to shake her head and sniffle. She wanted to birth those twins.
“Tatum, do you realize as a result, you…” Her voice trailed off and Tatum became tense, rigid immediately.
“I what?”
“I mean…let me rephrase. As a possible-”
“No, no rephrasing, give it to me straight Svelta, no chaser! What?” Tatum’s lip trembled as she assumed what was about to be said. She immediately regretted telling Ree not to come with her.
Dr. Patel looked Tatum square in the eyes and took a deep breath.
“Tatum, you may never be able to have children. Your uterus lining is too thin. You may never be able to carry full term.”
Tatum shut her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. Straight, no chaser, she had asked. But she wasn’t ready for that.
“I don’t…why…” Tatum’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Dr. Patel crinkled her brow at her and shook her head.
“Tatum…if you wanted to get pregnant I don’t think you should have gone straight to a fertility drug. Not to mention, that one. It already is very controversial and given in small doses. The amount you consumed, I mean my god! Like I said, you should’ve come to me and I would have advised you…”
“Svelta, what are you talking about! I wasn’t on any fertility drugs! You have my files mixed up or something.” Tatum hoped that was what it was. And maybe the thin uterus lining part was wrong too.
“Tatum…Aliya…Knights,” Dr. Patel spoke, holding up her file and standing in aggravation. “You my dear, had a ridiculously high amount of clomid in your blood stream. And while it does help to increase egg production it also thins the lining, which is why it is usually countered with another drug and is a last resort. Why in the world would you take so much?”
Tatum stared down at the floor and wondered what was going on. She was in a bad dream. She hadn’t heard anything past the first sentence. After trying to get over this last blow with her brother, she was sure the ill fates had stopped. But now…this. Clomid? The tears poured and wouldn’t stop.
Tatum had been calling Ree like crazy since she’d left the doctor’s office. She cried the entire time she drove and she was in amazement that she hadn’t wrecked the car and made it to the mansion in one piece. She finally decided to calm down and try to put her thoughts together. Making decisions and trying to piece together a puzzle while upset was as useless as hanging clothes to dry in a rainstorm. After the fifth call, she finally left him a message of three short words. “Get home, now.”
Tatum whipped the Range Rover that s
he’d chosen to drive that morning into the circular driveway and hopped out before she could barely get the key out of the ignition. Her thoughts raced at top speed.
TTW 3 ( Thicker Than Water 3 ) Page 33