by Y. L. Stokes
“I’m sorry did she say you were a caterer?”
Cerita smiled, confident in who she was and what she did for a living. “Yes, my sister-in-law and I own and run J & J Catering.” she said proudly. Another woman walked over to them, Cerita knew the woman was the daughter of a senator.
“I’ve heard of your company, you handle the meals for one of my father’s intern’s and he loves you guys.” The woman exclaimed.
“So how do you guys work?” Another woman asked.
“We handle parties for whatever reason, retirement, birthdays, anniversaries, you name it and we handle the decorations and the food and we work the party. We also have clients that we go into their homes and prepare their meals for the week or month, whichever they prefer. All of our meals are freshly cooked and made from scratch.” Cerita gave them all of the particulars as she handed out business cards smiling as Sherri stormed out pissed that her plan had backfired.
Sherri stormed out, she’d get the black bitch if it was the last thing that she did. She smiled when she spotted Dorian standing off to the side. “So your little caterer is in the powder room regaling all of the ladies with her little business. I think it’s a shame they are all pretending that they are truly interested in what she’s peddling.” she said upon reaching his side. Her hand froze in mid air at the cold look in his eyes.
“You may as well give it up Sherri, you tried to embarrass my fiancé and the shit backfired. I’ll give you one last warning, you do anything to harm my wife with your malicious jealousies and I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your life.”
Sherri watched him walk away trying to ignore the cold chill that raced down her back, but his threat struck a nerve and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would follow through on his threat.
Glenda walked into the powder room shaking her head, her new daughter was surrounding by women inquiring about her business. She’d known what Sherri had planned and had waited outside to come to her daughter’s rescue, but as it would have it her daughter charmed the snobbish like she charmed everyone else. “Ladies, I’m sorry to interrupt, but my daughter is needed out in the ballroom.”
Everyone turned at the sound of her voice. Cerita smiled at her mother-in-law knowing that she’d been prepared to come to her rescue. God how she loved her mother-in-law, Cerita thought to herself.
“She loves you also.” Dorian said to her using their private mental path.
Dorian pulled up before the steps leading up to the front door and immediately knew someone had been there. He knew they hadn’t been able to get inside, but the thought that someone had tried to breach their home pissed him off.
“It was Ben he probably planned on trying to pick the locks.” Cerita said as she climbed out of the car. Dorian nodded knowing she was right as he scanned the area to make sure that the bastard was no longer around. Satisfied he scooped her up off of her feet knowing how tired she was now and carried her inside. With a thought he removed her shoes and the pins from her hair. He loved the way her long thick mass cascaded down around her shoulders. Dorian secured the house before flashing them inside their chamber.
Ben walked into J & J with a bouquet of flowers in his hands as a peace offering he smiled when he spotted Cerita coming out of her office.
She stopped when she spotted him. “What are you doing here Ben?” Cerita demanded.
“I wanted to come by and apologize and to offer my congratulations on your upcoming marriage.”
Cerita didn’t buy it for a minute and immediately scanned him and found a flimsy barrier blocking her. Immediately she felt power from Dorian and her brother giving her the power to slip past that barrier without Ben being aware of it. She saw glimpses of his hatred for his father and the conversation that he’d had with his father in regards to find out when the wedding would be, along with his plan to keep her all to himself and away from his father.
“Do you think that you and I can go somewhere to talk and celebrate your upcoming nuptials?” Ben asked.
“I’m sorry Ben, but I have some things to wrap up here before I head home. Maybe we can do it one day nest week give me a call on Monday and I’ll see how my schedule is going.”
He wanted to push, but knew that he couldn’t get away with it today so he plastered on a fake smile and promised to call her on Monday.
Warren watched the guy as he walked out to his car as he’d seen the guy speaking with Dorian’s fiancé and he frowned wondering what the man’s connection to her was. On a whim, Warren decided to follow the man to see who he was, so hopefully he could get close enough to scan him. Lucky for him the guy pulled into a gas station just on the outskirts of town and Warren followed suit. Once inside the gas station he stood next to the guy while he waited in line and waffled through his mind and picked up on his plan on kidnapping Cerita and killing his father. Warren was taken aback at the hatred clouding the man’s mind and he almost felt sorry for Dorian’s mate if this man ever got his hands on her. After finding out what he could, Warren made his way back to his car and back to watch his little prize. He hated to spoil the little sick pricks plans for Cerita, but he wouldn’t be denied a taste of her charms. Maybe after he was done with her he’d pass her along to the little sick prick.
Cedrick walked into his brother-in-laws office with the latest update and noticed that he was on the phone. From this side of the conversation he could hear he was talking to Cerita. Hell just the smile on the man’s face was enough to tell anyone entering that he was speaking with the woman he loved and the love was shining bright as a beacon.
Anthony walked in and rolled his eyes. “Tell Cerita that you have to go.” He demanded loudly, so that she would hear him.
Dorian frowned at his cousin before ending the call.
“Oh man, you are so whipped and the damn shame of it all is that your ass was whipped before you even bonded with her.”
Dorian glared at his cousin threatening to kick his ass.
“What do you have Ced?” Dorian asked.
“It appears that you were right, Warren has been following Cerita and learning her routine. He even followed Ben the other day apparently he has to be close to someone in order to read them.”
Anthony nodded. “He’s a product of an immortal fraternizing with a mortal so his gifts aren’t as strong as a full immortal. And because he refused to accept the help offered to help him develop the gifts his powers are only limited and therefore he depends mostly on the dark arts to assist him.”
Dorian leaned back thinking they needed to take the threats to his mate out of the picture all together instead of waiting for them to make a move. “You know she plans on letting Ben make his move next week.” Dorian said softly.
Cedrick and Anthony both sat forward. “What in the hell do you mean?” They asked in unison.
“That is why she told him to call her on Monday, she’s giving him time to set everything up and she will meet him. She’s sure he will make his move when they meet next week.”
Anthony and Cedrick slumped back in their chairs groaning.
“How are we supposed to protect her if she is going to turn herself over to him?” Cedrick demanded.
“Does the rest of the family know about this?” Anthony demanded.
“We are having a family meeting tonight to plan everything out.” Dorian wanted so desperately to lock her away, but knew he couldn’t as she was just as determined to eliminate the threat to her as he was. Like his father and uncle stated she was stubborn and head strong and if he didn’t work with her she’d work on her own.
Anthony saw the fear and worry in his cousin’s eyes, “Don’t worry cuz, we’ll make sure that nothing happens to her.”
Dorian sighed deeply, “I’m going to hold you to that promise cuz, because if I lose her…”
Cedrick interrupted him, “We aren’t going to lose her to Warren or Ben.”
Cerita knew Dorian was worried and didn’t want her to go through with what she was plannin
g, but she had too. The stress of not knowing what was going to happen or when was making her sick to her stomach. Hell it was even getting to the point where she couldn’t stand the smell of certain foods and that wasn’t a good thing in her line of business.
With everyone at the house that evening they ate the food she’d prepared but she found her stomach didn’t feel up to anything so she opted for a cup of her favorite tea. She missed the looks that past between her mother and Dorian’s mother and aunt.
They all sat and listened to Cerita’s plan and Dorian was glad that he wasn’t the only one against it.
“There has to be a better way, if you go with him he’s the one in control.” Anthony said.
“We have racked our brains since Dorian mentioned this plan to us trying to come up with some way to protect her.” Cedrick added.
“I disagree, since he doesn’t know how powerful I am I think he’ll let down his guard, because apparently neither he nor his father knows how the bonding affects my powers and if his father knows he hasn’t mentioned this to Ben.”
Dorian pulled Cerita into his arms needing to touch her or he’d go absolutely ape shit.
“I say we figure out as best we can what Ben’s plan is and go over every conceivable scenario and plan a counter action for it.” Avery said knowing there was no way to dissuade his new daughter from her plan so they had to come up with a way to protect her.
“Now we know that to get her away from the restaurant he’s going to have to drug her and it will have to be something which will work fast but not knock her out completely. It will give the appearance that she is willingly leaving under her own power.”
Anthony sat forward typing on his lap top. “Something that will give him control over her so he can instruct her to walk out with him.”
Everyone waited while Anthony’s fingers flew over the keyboard.
“Got it.” He exclaimed when he located the drug and the antidote. “Okay, even with the antidote, you will be a little dizzy and disoriented and it will only slow the drug down. Ben will think he is control of you and while he’s taking you to his destination you will need to push the drug out of your system through your pores, which to him it will look like the normal side affect and will appear you are just sweating.”
Clarrisa sat next to Anthony to check the side affects for herself, if what she and Glenda and Kim suspected, she wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t harm their grandbaby.
Dorian set the alarm after seeing everyone out and then he returned to the family room. “Baby, do you want me to fix you something to eat? I noticed that you didn’t eat anything. If you want I’ll make you something else.”
Cerita smiled at his offer but shook her head no. “I want you to come over here and hold me and talk to me. You have been quiet all evening and I know that you are having a hard time with this and if you want me to call it off I will because I don’t like the distance I’m feeling between us.”
Dorian sighed wanting so much to tell her not to go through with it, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d fallen in love with her because she is a woman with a lot of strength to make her act otherwise would change her and that was something he didn’t want to do. “No baby I don’t want you to do it,” he said pulling her into his arm, “but I know it is something that you have to do and I have to allow you to do this. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I’m not scared shitless, because I am, but I will not allow that fear to force you to change who you are and that is exactly what I would be doing if I asked you not to go through with this.”
Cerita cupped his face pulling his mouth to hers and within minutes the kiss turned from comforting to carnal. Their clothing vanished as Cerita turned straddling his hips rubbing her heated wet core against the thick head of his hungry cock drawing a deep moan from him.
He cupped her ass holding her suspended above his rigid cock slowly lowering her down as his hips thrust upward.
Cerita threw her head back moaning deeply at the wonderful feel of him filling and stretching her.
“Oh God Dorian,” she screamed as pleasure coursed through her body. Using the back of the leather sofa as leverage she rode him hard and fast driving them to the edge.
“You need to feed love,” she said nipping at his bottom lip.
Dorian felt his fangs lengthen and he gently raked them across her full breast nipping gently at her ripened nipples before tangling his hand in her hair pulling her head back exposing her neck, where he sank them deep and fed. Her body exploded and her walls contracted around him triggering an explosive climax within him.
Cerita collapsed against him resting her head against his shoulder as she tried to get her heart rate and breathing under control. “Do you have any idea of how much I love you?” she asked softly.
Dorian smiled wrapping his arms around her holding her tight, “I know that it is equal to how much I love you, baby.” he responded smiling. The fear wasn’t completely gone but it no longer controlled him because he knew that no matter what he wasn’t going to lose her. “I guess by the sound coming from your stomach, you’re a little hungry now.” He commented laughing at the loud rumble coming from her stomach.
Cerita giggled not believing how loud her stomach was being.
“You stay right here and I’ll fix us a quick snack.” Dorian instructed as he headed toward the kitchen.
Chapter Sixteen
Ben worked the entire weekend to set everything up at his little place, the place his father had no idea he had. He’d stocked the place with everything he would need for him and Cerita to live off of until he could perfect his control over her and once he had complete control, he’d use her powers to finally destroy his father to finish what was started so long ago. He couldn’t wait to see his old man’s eyes as he died slowly suffering all the while knowing that the woman he’d wanted to heal him, will be the instrument of his destruction.
Dorian sat next to Cerita inside her office as she called Ben to set up a day to meet for lunch along with Anthony, Cedrick and Stephanie. Once he gave the name of the perfect place for them to meet, Anthony immediately pulled up a map highlighting the surrounding area and immediately did property checks to see if the little prick had purchased anything in the area. “It will have to be some place close to where he wants to meet her.” He muttered while he searched. When nothing came up Anthony modified his search using Ben’s father’s name and hit the jackpot. “He has a place just a few minutes from the restaurant. It will probably take him all of twenty minutes to get you out of the restaurant and into his car with you under the influence of the drug.”
Dorian frowned when he realized that Cerita had set the meeting up for three days early than planned. “Baby, why did you change the date of the meeting with him?”
Cerita sighed, she’d hoped he hadn’t picked up on it, but she should have known he would. “With my powers and yours combined I picked up on some residual tainting left by Warren. Apparently when he followed Ben, he scanned his mind and gathered what Ben was up to and his plan is to make a move before Ben and take me for himself.” She didn’t mention everything she’d picked up, but she wasn’t quick enough to block him from seeing them.
“That sick son of a bitch,” Dorian snapped letting out a slew of curses, “Cedrick I need for you to get some of your best guys to pick Warren up and keep him under wraps until this is over. I don’t care what you have to do, but I want his ass taken out of the equation.”
“Done, but I think we also need to let the information find its way to Ben’s father so he can show up there and we can eliminate that double threat at one strike.” Cedrick stated. With their plan in place they left to head to the mansion to inform their parents in on the final plan.
Dorian sat with his arms around Cerita with his head buried in her hair as he listened to Anthony and Cedrick explain step by step to their parents. He couldn’t shake the fear even though he knew they were taking every precaution to keep her safe.
“S
o how are we going to locate Eustis?” Clarke asked.
“I already know where he is dad, one of my guys followed Ben to where the old man is held up. Apparently he doesn’t trust his own son, because the bastard has a man that he keeps at his side. He’s never alone with his son. The old man has two keepers, one that’s with him during the day. And the other one that’s with him at night, who watches over him while he sleeps. . The guy that I have watching him has slipped inside his keepers mind and planted the idea that he overhead the son making his plans and he knows the details that we’ve pulled from Ben.”
“Since Ben hasn’t seen me, I’ll be in the restaurant with Cerita and Ben, my guess is he’s going to administer the drug, probably to her drink before she arrives. Now Cerita I need for you to drink whatever beverage he has ordered for you because his backup plan is to inject you and we don’t want that to happen. What he puts in your drink will be diluted and will be easier for you to push out of your system on the drive from the restaurant to his little hiding place.”
“Son what is the difference between what he puts in her drink, versus the injection?” Austin asked.
“The injection will be more powerful than the diluted drug in the drink. Lucky for us my little cousin likes her sweet tea and the tea will start to breakdown the drug making it less potent.”
Dorian signed, wanting desperately to call a halt to everything and just take Cerita away from here. Just the thought of her being drugged was enough to kick his fear up another notch.
Cerita felt his shudder and knew he was holding on by a mere thread and she couldn’t blame him because she knew that if the roles were reversed she would be feeling the same way.
“I promise not to take any unnecessary risk, love.”
“I know baby, but it doesn’t make it any easier, but I know we have to go through with it.” He whispered before returning his attention to Cedrick who was wrapping things up.