She moved from the back of his chair to the side so that while she kissed his neck and ear, she could run her hand over his chest and down to his groin. She found and caressed that summit until it grazed her palm, until Rashad groaned and spread his knees for her touch, until his hard crest jutted out from his blue slacks.
She swiveled his chair toward her and claimed his lips. He reached for her, but she moved his hands back down to the arms of his chair. Then, with her mouth still locked on his, she stooped down between his knees, unbuttoning his shirt and spreading it open. When her lips hit his chest, he shuddered, and when she ran her tongue over his nipple, his head went back and his hands formed fists on the arms of his chair. His excitement was turning her on more and more.
As she ran her tongue over his chest, stopping to suck his nipples into her mouth, she unzipped his pants and dipped her hand inside. His hips thrust forward as she ran her fingers along his shaft. She pulled her lips from his and searched his back pocket for his wallet. When she found it, she took out a condom and opened it. Then she peeled back his briefs, released his sex and rolled the condom onto it in time to dip her head and capture it between her lips. Rashad groaned and buried his hands in her hair.
His sounds and movements and being in control of him this way was making her wet and needy. She toyed with his body with her mouth, with her tongue until he stopped her, suddenly pushing her back and pulling her upward.
“You can’t do this to me,” he said. “You’re so beautiful, and it’s been so long.”
“It hasn’t been that long—a couple of weeks, max,” Michelle said.
Rashad was breathy. “A couple of weeks is long with you.”
Michelle pushed Rashad back into the chair and took off her yellow, crochet-trimmed pullover, her black flats and her yellow jeans. Rashad watched her with passion in his eyes.
“You’re beautiful.”
Michelle couldn’t help smiling.
In only her bra and panties, she sat down on his thigh, her legs between his knees, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him.
His one hand found her breast and stroked the crest, making her moan, and his other trailed up her leg to the center of her womanhood, making her shiver.
He stood, lifted her and carried her to his bed, where he removed her remaining items of clothing as well as his own.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
“What?”
“Close your eyes.”
Michelle looked at him for a moment and then closed her eyes.
His mouth covered hers and opened hers, exploring it. She felt him next at her breasts; his hot tongue roused them to taut pinnacles. She felt him next on the top of her thigh, moving up her leg to her moist center. Then his mouth covered her womanhood, and a hot rush came over her. Her back arched off the bed, and a hand palmed her breast. He sucked gently on her sex until it throbbed heavily, until her thighs trembled, until she cried out in pleasure, until she thrust upward against his soft lips and piercing tongue. His mouth was driving her toward the edge, and she clung to his spread, wanting to go there. No one before him had ever taken her that far. No one had given her that much.
She gasped when he took his mouth away, and her eyes flew open.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I want you so badly. Do you want me to—”
Michelle pulled Rashad up toward her, letting him cover her with his body—her lips, her chest, her thighs. His pulsing sex touched hers, setting her on fire. She moaned and drew him inside her—just at her very entrance. Feeling him there made her moan again. Her hips bucked involuntarily.
He was poised to enter her fully, but he stopped, letting her rotate onto him, letting her bring herself just over his crest and back. He must be able to tell that she liked that. She liked it enough to call his name and start to tremble.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
When he finally thrust inside her, it was in long, slow strides.
Michelle felt herself clamp down on his shaft. Her breath was coming out in short pants. Her body was being pulled toward unspeakable pleasure. She ground her hips against his onslaught and cried out in pleasure as waves of contractions rippled through her womanhood, dropping her over the edge.
Rashad pulled his mouth from hers and called her name, still striding within her as he lost control.
“You are so amazing,” he said once he caught his breath.
“So are you,” she answered.
He fell upon the bed beside her, and she curled around him. He pulled off the spent condom and took her in his arms. They felt like sanctuary.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms, their naked bodies pressed together, her head cupped in the dip of his shoulder, her hand resting on his chest, his arm around her hip. Sometime later, he must have gotten up and pulled the covers from underneath them and covered them because when she awoke in the night, she was covered and warm, still sheltered in his arms.
When they woke in the morning, they showered together and made love again. Then they showered again and got dressed for the day. She petted Shaka while he made breakfast. They both couldn’t stop smiling.
By the time Michelle got to Nigel and Regina’s to pick up Andre, she was almost an hour late, and she hadn’t stopped at the office supply store for the things she needed for her final project or the grocery store for the things she needed to finish the lasagna she’d started to make.
She and Andre ran errands, and she got home with enough time left to help Andre with his homework, lay out clothes for them and do some studying of her own.
She carried all the bags in at once, entered the code for her alarm and went into the kitchen to put the cheese in the fridge. She came back into the living room to—
There he was, strolling toward her from her bedroom—Lucius.
“How did you get in here?”
He blocked her way to the bedroom, so she couldn’t run in, lock the door and phone the police. But then Andre was still on the living room couch, and she wouldn’t leave him behind. Lucius was too close for her to get to the alarm keypad, unless he was drunk. He reeked of alcohol, but his stance was firm. She couldn’t tell. Damn him.
“Get out,” she said, “before I call the police.”
His hand came out from behind his back. He had her phone in it.
“You won’t be calling anybody. Will you?” he said.
He started stepping toward her, but she didn’t back away.
“Andre, stay right there on the couch.”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“You,” she said to Lucius. “What do you want? Why are you here? You want to stop paying alimony? You want to get out of child support? What? What do you want?”
He was in front of her now, and he banged his fist into his palm in front of her face as he had done before. Michelle squinted so that she wouldn’t cringe, and she didn’t back away.
“You think you’re as strong as me?” he asked. He was getting frustrated because she wasn’t showing her fear. She felt it, but she was tired of hiding, of running away.
“You’re nothing but a whore who’s paid for,” he said. “And I’m tired of paying. You can’t keep my son from me, and you’re not as strong as I am.”
Lucius was yelling in her face, and when he was finished, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down. She fell backward onto the floor, the back of her head grazing the door of the front closet.
“Mommy, Mommy,” Andre yelled and started to cry.
“Stay where you are,” she said to him. “It takes a big man to knock down someone almost half his weight. Doesn’t it, Lucius?”
She scrambled to her feet. She didn’t know what she would do, but she was looking around for something to hit him with. There was nothi
ng within reach.
He took another step toward her, and this time she stepped back.
Then there was a knock at the door. She looked toward it and then at Lucius. Then she dashed for the door.
He caught her by the waist and flung her to the floor, but she was up again, pummeling him with her fists. Lucius took her by the shoulders and pushed her down again, and this time he raised a hand to strike her. She scooted back on the floor, lifting her arm to protect herself and trying to get ready for whatever came next.
Her mind flashed to the night before, to the comfort of Rashad’s arms, and she missed that sanctuary.
Chapter 16
Rashad had only planned to check on Michelle, but it was early enough that maybe he could take her and Andre to dinner. If not, he might be able to start the model plane with Andre and give Michelle time to study.
He didn’t expect Andre to get the door. And it wasn’t long before he realized that Andre was crying. Between his tears, he said something, but Rashad couldn’t understand what it was. Something was wrong. The door only opened as far as the chain would let it go, and Andre wasn’t big enough to reach the chain. He stood inside the apartment, crying loudly.
Rashad backed up and landed with all his weight against the door, shoulder first. The chain didn’t break, but it was ripped out at the doorjamb, and the door flew open.
Inside, he saw what Andre was crying over. Michelle was on the floor, and a man squatted over her with an upraised palm.
“Oh, hell no,” Rashad said, stepping past Andre and around the coffee table.
He caught the man’s upraised arm and pulled him back from Michelle. This must be her ex, Lucius. He was toppled backward, landing on his rump. He sprawled awkwardly for a moment, enough time for Rashad to lift Michelle from the floor, stand her on her feet and usher her to the side.
“Get up and get out,” he said to Lucius. “Or you’ll have me to deal with.”
Andre had run to his mother, and she scooped him into her arms and quieted him.
Lucius got up from the floor, and Rashad could see that this man had an inch or two on him in terms of height. Lucius also had more on Rashad in terms of weight; his shoulders squared off like a brick wall, and with such a bulky frame, he might have had seventy or seventy-five pounds on Rashad. Rashad didn’t care.
“You’re taking up for this whore?” Lucius said. “Maybe you don’t know that I pay for her.”
“Who,” Rashad said, “are you calling a whore, and—”
“She knows who I’m talking about. That whore.”
“Get out, Lucius,” Michelle said. “Get out.”
The alarm started to beep, and the phone that Lucius had placed in his back pocket started to ring. Lucius hurled it across the room, and it went dead.
Lucius took a menacing step toward Michelle with his fist balled, but Rashad stepped between them.
“No you won’t,” Rashad said. “Not while I’m here.”
Lucius lunged at him, and Rashad put up his fists.
Then Michelle was at Rashad’s side, holding his arm and shoulder.
“Don’t,” she said. “He’s armed. He could hurt you.”
“Bring it,” Rashad said. “You may kill me, but that will get you life behind bars.”
Rashad moved Michelle aside, but she got in front of him, between him and Lucius. Lucius grabbed her hair and yanked her backward, toppling her onto the floor.
That was it. Rashad was finished trying to get the man to leave. It was time for a good, old-fashioned whooping.
He stepped around Michelle and landed a punch on the side of Lucius’s face. Lucius let Michelle’s hair go and reeled sideways. When he regained his footing, Rashad was in front of him, leveling the next blow. Lucius stepped back, and Rashad stepped forward. Lucius stepped back again, and his back bumped the wall behind him. He turned his face to the side when Rashad neared, and he put his arms up in front of him, as if he were under arrest.
“Okay, okay.”
Rashad backed off a bit but kept his eye on the other man.
“You hear that beep?” Rashad said. “How long you think it’s been going? The police are already on their way. You just sit tight, and we’ll see what happens next.”
That was when Lucius drew the gun from the waist of his jeans.
“Oh, my God,” Michelle said. She had gone to Andre, and when she saw the gun, she pushed Andre under the dining table and came back to Rashad’s side. “Lucius, please don’t do this. Don’t hurt anyone.”
Rashad was in front of him and stood his ground.
“I’m not scared of you. You think that’s a toy? That’s life behind bars.”
Lucius started sidling away from Rashad and then started backing toward the door.
Rashad turned, watching Lucius as he backed away, watching him as he edged toward the door, watching him as he disappeared through the frame.
He went to the door and followed Lucius downstairs, keeping his distance.
“Don’t go out there, Rashad,” Michelle cautioned.
Lucius got into an old Ford pickup truck and tore out of the lot. Rashad ran outside but missed the license number in the dark.
He returned to Michelle, took her in his arms, brushed back her hair and squeezed her. Her shoulders had started to shake, and she clung to his neck, crying silently.
Andre had come out from under the table and was standing next to the counter dividing the kitchen from the living room with tears running down his face. Rashad motioned to him, and Andre ran over and hugged his legs. Rashad held Michelle with one arm and lifted the boy with the other and moved the three of them to the couch.
They remained there until the police arrived a few minutes later.
It was not unlike the last time, but they had a little more information to go on. They started canvassing the surrounding neighborhoods for the Ford pickup immediately, and since it was probably one of Lucius’s vehicles from the construction company, they could have the Charleston police do some investigating to try to determine the license number. Rashad had also seen the gun. He didn’t know guns, but it had a cylinder, so it was a revolver; it was small and had a black handle.
They both described the events they’d experienced, and Rashad was relieved to find out that Lucius hadn’t had a chance to strike Michelle. He was disturbed, however, by the way she’d been handled. Given Lucius’s size and girth, Rashad could see why anyone would be frightened and overcome. If Lucius wasn’t so easily cowed, he probably could have even taken Rashad.
It had all happened quickly. They spent more time telling the police what happened than it had taken for the events to unfold. It took even longer for the detectives to collect prints.
“How did he get in?” an officer asked.
Rashad looked at Michelle.
“I don’t know. The alarm was on when we came in, and I rearmed it before it went off. He was already here. He came from the bedroom.”
“Do you mind if we check your apartment?”
“Not at all. Go ahead.”
Rashad rubbed Michelle’s shoulder. She had taken Andre onto her lap once her tears began to subside. He could see that both of them were still shaken and that Andre was groggy.
“You want to lie down for a little while before dinner?” Rashad asked, patting his head.
Andre nodded, and Rashad took him from Michelle’s lap. The two put him in his bed and came back to the police.
“It was a window in the bedroom,” an officer said. “It was broken into from the outside. He climbed through to get in without setting off the alarm.”
“But I’m on the second floor,” Michelle said.
“He must have used a ladder. Anything outside?” he asked another officer.
“No,” the o
ther officer said. “It’s too dark to see markings, but he could have had a ladder in the truck.”
Michelle put her face in her hands and shook her head. Tears stood out in her eyes but didn’t fall. “I don’t have an alarm in there. I didn’t think of anyone getting in through a second-story window. I need a new alarm.” She shook her head again and turned to Rashad. “I may need to relocate. If it’s not here, it will be at my job, at Andre’s school, when I’m at school, at my car before I get up here. How can I keep Andre safe?”
Rashad didn’t like what he was hearing, but he understood Michelle’s point, and he nodded his head in understanding.
“If we need to, we can move you to Baltimore. You can stay with my parents until you get settled. You can transfer your credits to Towson University and finish up there. I can come along once I get a job.”
“Baltimore may not be far enough. What if Nigel and Regina drive up? All he has to do is follow them.”
“We can make arrangements for that. We can be more careful. And right now, you’re coming home with me.”
“No, you’ve already done—”
“At least until you get a new alarm system or you find a new place.”
“We’ll stay with Nigel. He and Regina won’t mind.”
“If it helps,” the detective said, “we have the make of his car now. Our chances of apprehending him just went up considerably. Either here or in Charleston, we’re more likely to get him into custody.”
“But when?”
Rashad heard the anguish in Michelle’s voice and rubbed her back. He drew her closer and tipped his forehead to hers, stroking her cheek.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out. Hey, I’ll stay on the couch tonight. You can pack bags for you and Andre, and tomorrow you can come over and stay with me or go stay with your cousin. Either way, I’m not letting you slip away from me.”
“He could have—”
“But he didn’t. Don’t think ‘what if.’ And look, this man lacks the force of his convictions. He’s not trying to use that gun or he would have. He’d rather intimidate you than fight with me.”
In His Arms Page 15