The Rhyme of Love (Love in Rhythm & Blues Book 2)

by Love Belvin

  I could hear Raj mumble his disapproval to that over me.

  “She was so scared the first night she stayed, she cried out on the couch. I couldn’t bear it and invited her into my room. We were tight ever since. Turned out her mother, Ornetta, was a damn thug and participated in robberies. Reign was officially living at the house. She stayed in my room, and MaMa didn’t mind. She didn’t have to look after Reign. Believe it or not, MaMa intimidated the girl once upon a time, too.”

  I shrugged.

  “I just took her under my wing. That last time, her mother caught a conspiracy charge, which included a gun and got a hefty sentence. To MaMa’s dismay, her stay was long term. I offered to share my room with her, which was Wanda’s before she left as a kid to go stay with MaMa’s sister in Pennsylvania, where she lived for years, up until she went to college.”

  “Why?”

  My eyes squinted and head leaned to the side. “I honestly don’t know. That was before my time. Van said they—MaMa and Wanda—didn’t get along. Wanda had a better rapport with MaMa’s sister. The sister offered to take her in. That’s who pretty much raised her. Van said she wouldn’t put it together. After I met and got to know Wanda, I understood why. She isn’t the sharpest tool in the box. She accepted what was told to her without process or questioning.”

  I shook my head. I loved Wanda, but she wasn’t an integral part of my structure.

  “Because she was my sister, I looked out for her when she got pregnant and fled Pennsylvania. MaMa could be of no resource to her. She had no other help back in Jersey. So, I offered up my place. I had no idea my reward would be her daughter.”

  “Ignorance is bliss,” he commented of Wanda.

  “In my big sister’s case, that’s spot on.” I let go of a dry laugh. I then turned into his arms. “Can I explain the rest later?” I wrapped my arms around his narrowed waist and planted my head on his breastplate.

  “Like you said to me last month, let me be your friend. Let me be here while you get over this hurdle. Don’t overthink the rest.” His soft lips brushed the tip of my nose. “But I do have another question.”

  I poked my lips being silly, but deep down I was panicking. “Shoot.”

  “What’s Ivie’s beef with me? She was throwing crazy energy my way yesterday. She wasn’t like that when I met her. Her and Mya was cool.”

  I tightened my face and exposed my teeth. “I told them the truth about us. That night you sent them to the apartment.”

  His eyes bounced around, in deep thought.

  I needed to qualify. “Ivie is the devil on the left shoulder while Mya’s always the angel on the right. She didn’t take the news of you being mean to me and sending me away well.”

  “But we’re cool now.” His brows met. “Right?”

  I took a cleansing breath. “I damn sure hope so.” My eyes shot to the water.

  His hand was at the small of my back. “Let me feed you now.”

  “You need to sleep.”

  “I’ll sleep after I see you eat and no diet food. You look good. No need to keep skimming. While we’re out here, you chill. Relax and have a good time with me.”

  My neck craned and eyes jetted around. “Where are we?”

  “In the Caribbean now.”

  Holy shit…

  I turned against his arm for the water.

  “Where, exactly?”

  “We just passed The Bahamas about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Oh…”

  My eyes were wild with curiosity now. I never got an answer about the destination of this excursion.

  I could hear his deep tenor when he chuckled. Then his hand covered mine, giving it a light squeeze.

  “Speaking of telling ya girls, I got something to tell you—confess to you actually.”

  My brows furrowed. “What?”

  “There’s no contract.”

  “Contract for what?”

  L.I.T. Music? I knew that.

  “For us.”

  I closed my eyes while shaking my head, my lids stretched. “I’m so confused right now. What about us and a contract?”

  “The one I told you Mike transferred over to me before he left for his trip in January. I lied.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “To keep you near until I could figure out how to keep you permanently.”

  I swear I wanted to be mad. I should have slapped the shit out of his conniving ass. Should have made them stop the boat and let me off at the nearest island. But I’d be damned if learning that act of trickery didn’t make my belly leap deliciously. All I could do was shake my head as my eyes stretched with impressed disbelief at the church boy’s handiwork.

  “C’mon. Breakfast should be up any minute. While I’m sleep, Thomasina can take you for a tour of the boat.”

  Boat? This was no boat. But I caught his deflection game and was okay with it.

  “Thomasina?” I asked on his heels.

  “Yeah. Her family owns it. She’s our hostess while here.”

  “What’re we supposed to do out here?”

  “Absolutely nothing…and everything we want to.”

  Looking at all the cuts in his back, I felt pathetic for the only thing I wanted to do.

  Ragee…

  We ate, and he slept. And I eventually slept, too. Directly on top of him. Yup. As the poor guy finally succumbed to shuteye, I lay on top of him and humped until I realized he was lost in siesta. I then followed him, still exhausted myself.

  When I aroused, it was to him tossing clothing on me. Turned out, they were bikini pieces I’d packed. He found them in my luggage and wanted me up and suited. I took from the bed while mumbling a string of expletives under my breath. Shortly after, Raj led me by the hand to the second level deck where a giant ass inflated water slide stretched out into the water. As my eyes perused the aquatic scene, I could see an island ahead. We’d reached our first destination—yes, first.

  We were docked near a small private island well south of Inagua Island, the last of The Bahamians. It was a small key surrounded by the clearest water I’d ever seen. I leaped in place when Lil Bruh and some girl I’d never seen shot past me while giggling to their heart’s delight and dripping wet. They climbed the mouth of the slide and cannonballed all the way down until their bodies that looked like sticks from a distance, were spit out into the water. They screamed deliriously mid-air.

  “C’mon, baby,” Raj egged me on with the most jocund expression I’d seen of him to date.

  He was handed a life jacket and began arranging me inside of it.

  My brows lifted. “You expect me to end my life here? In the middle of nowhere?”

  “You’re with me, Blue!” He uttered that name with such ease.

  “I will be blue if I drown out there.”

  “You ain’t drowning.” He held out his hand. “Trust me!”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Trust? Wow! Can you spell it?”

  “Argh!” his roar was so big and alarming, my heart stammered in my chest.

  Then I was off my feet, in the air moving toward the slide.

  “No.” I panted. “No!” Raj settled me between his legs. “Ragee!” I screamed.

  “I’m right here, baby,” his whisper was almost soothing. If we weren’t so high in the air, I could be convinced. “I gotchu.” His lips pressed into my ear.

  And then we were off. I don’t know if I ever moved that fast, but my body jerked then zipped down the tongue of the slide as Raj tried to lift my arms in the air. Pushing against the air at that speed lifted my belly and I felt…high. Exhilaration flowed through me, and the fog I still carried from the copious amounts of sleep I fell into since leaving Garfield had evaporated. Dopamine released and I felt fluttery in an instant.

  My body smacked into the water and I could hear Raj’s behind me just as I was going down under. The water was warm and unctuous against my floundering limbs. It was suddenly soundless and slow although I knew my body was still
sinking. I loved it, was thrilled by it. Then the course of my direction changed and I felt a sucking sensation as resonances returned. Next came the splash of water. I sucked in a hefty breath as my head swung from left to right until it landed on a long cinnamon striated arm.

  Raj…

  I was pulled to him and studied his saturated beard and white smile. His lashes were darker and curled like a baby’s.

  “Told you I got you,” his voice was confident and too steady compared to mine. “You good?” He wrapped one arm around me as we floated in the water. I nodded because I was okay. “C’mon.”

  Raj gave me a push and we swam toward a destination unknown to me. That was until I saw bodies near the shore. He helped me stand and we walked up on a barbeque. Lil Bruh and Danny G were both there with women, behaving in a manner I didn’t think I’d ever seen of them. Loose. They finally had time for leisurely pursuits: laughing, singing, and even dancing. Who knew Lil Bruh liked house music? His footwork was practiced. And Jashon was there, too, talking to the person manning the grill.

  The smoked aroma alerted me of my empty stomach. I observed the small land. There were trees and a few pieces of weathered furniture, but that was pretty much as far as my eyes could take me. It was clear to me the chairs and tables the guys sat at were from the yacht. The barbeque equipment couldn’t have been there before we arrived either.

  “You hungry?” his thick chords trickled above me.

  I didn’t peer up to face him. “You did this?”

  “What?”

  “You brought everyone out here?” That was very sweet of him.

  “No. I brought my lady out here. But because of work and the nature of my business, I had to bring my staff. Then I couldn’t bring them out here to all this beauty and have them watch me all day.” He shrugged.

  So, they were allowed to bring company. Double sweet.

  I was still out of breath when I uttered, “This is really cool of you, boss.” Then I finally turned my head up to see him.

  “It ain’t for them. Matter of fact, the plan is for you to forget they’re with us most days.”

  My face contracted into an “awwwwww” expression. “That’s sweet of you, too. Mean, but sweet.”

  Raj snorted. “You wanna eat or not? Wanna drink?”

  I sucked in my lips and glanced around to the festive bodies inhabiting an empty island then back to the yacht that now seemed miles away.

  “How do we get back?”

  Raj turned and tossed his head toward the shore. “Jet skis.”

  A devilish smile opened on my face. “I wanna slide again.”

  He did a reverse nod. “That’s my girl.” His grin tickled something in my belly. “Let’s go, boss.”

  “You think I’m getting in that?” I looked over the pool of gray grease.

  I hate the color gray…

  My feet lay an inch off the shore of it. I wondered where did Jashon hear about this place.

  “Ah, c’mon, Raj!” Wynter waved on, her arm covered in mud.

  “Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m good from here. Just don’t go out too far.”

  Her face brightened in a clever smile. “Like this?” She ventured farther out.

  “Don’t play, girl!”

  “Don’t be a wuss!” she charged right back. “Just let it get up to your knees.”

  My shoulders and back began to burn from the unforgiving sun. I decided when we walked upon the mud pool here, inland of Montserrat, I was just a chaperone. I couldn’t see myself getting in dirt. But the sweat trickling down my face had my brain retracting that decision.

  “You’re sweating, Raj!” there was a bit of unease in her cry. “Just take a step in to cool. We don’t have to stay long; I promise.”

  Man…

  This was a getaway for her. To trick her into thinking I could be a good dude. I’d tricked myself into believing just that and didn’t want to be alone in the fallacy. I had to at least try.

  “Yay!” vibrated from her lungs when I took the first step.

  The thick mud wasn’t all that promising in temperature.

  “C’mon! It’s really cool. Not radioactive and as you can see not smelly like other ones.”

  “Why would it be smelly?” I tried distracting myself as I moved in a few feet more.

  “Oh, my god! Have you heard of The Fanghi di Vulcano in Italy?”

  “Nope.” I moped.

  “Well, I read it smells like stinky boiled eggs. Yuk!” she hurled a fake spit.

  That almost made me laugh. But I kept my focus as my body cooled from my ankles to my knees.

  “Come on,” she urged then did a shimmy in the mud. “It feels good. Right?”

  “I ‘on’t know about all that,” I lied in motion.

  When the mud was just above my abs, Wynter moved toward me, her hands nearing my arms. Then she yanked me smack against her and laughed. I was heated, feeling like a sucker. She only got it off because I was off guard in this sludge.

  When I thought I was good with the mud being chest level, Wynter climbed me like a tree. Her soft lips brushed against mine as they touched; she smiled, looking into my eyes.

  “You’re not fully appreciating the wonder of Montserrat, Gee-Gee,” she teased, her mouth making mine move.

  Her fruity breath made my dick lurch.

  But I pouted. “I was good with the black sand beach, coral reef, cliffs and shoreline cave.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she breathed. “That black sand! I thought that was only in Joe’s song.” She giggled, and this time I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of “All the Things.”

  “La…la…la…la…lah…

  I’ll put a string of pearls right in your hand…

  Make love on a beach of jet black sand,” I sang, remembering how dope that track was.

  “Ut!” She tensed around me. Her little giggle did things to me. “Damn, Raj! What can’t you sing?”

  My attention went to her hair. It was up in a high ponytail.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Your hair… It’s different,” I observed. “Curly.” It was wavy when I saw it a few days ago at her family’s spot.

  She smiled. “It’s a weave. Wet and wavy, baby!” Her head tossed back as she laughed. “You said there’d be water and I knew what to do with my do!”

  “Cute.” I gave her a fake smile.

  Then I swung us around.

  “Wait!” she shrieked. “We’re leaving already?”

  “Yup. I’ve cooled down.”

  That was a lie. Every time she touched me, I was hot. For her. Today made day three on the water and I hadn’t been inside her yet. I didn’t want to bother her after that episode with her family. The goal for the first day or so was to get her back to the old Wynter, which happened day one. But when she hadn’t initiated anything since, I took it as a sign of her not wanting to or not being ready. This was strange for me. Sex was never a gray area for Wynter, one of the many reasons I was crazy about her. She made me feel taken care of. I told Ezra how Wynter was the more dominant one with sex, which was something that scared me at the beginning. She was so forward and down for whatever. If I had a lover like that in the past, I couldn’t recall because I didn’t stick around long enough to know. Sex had been that irregular for me before my fake wife.

  “We can rinse off in the ocean before we head back to the boat,” she suggested.

  “Shoot. We gotta rinse somewhere. This junk is kinda thick.”

  Wynter laughed at my pouting as I put her down and took her by the hand.

  We made it back to the beach where she stopped, causing my arm to jerk. I glanced back at her.

  “Thank you.”

  My face went tight. “For finally getting in mud?”

  “No. For this.” Her arm circled in the air. “For the travel. The beauty. The escape. You’re making me a sharper me.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I’d like to make you a real McKinnon.”

  She heaved a b
reath, her face lifting, too. “Raj…”

  I shook my head. “Last one on the jet ski gotta be the one to swim up to the yacht when it’s parked—”

  I broke out in a sprint, hearing her laugh and scream behind me all the way to the water where we rushed a hand bath, scrubbing the mud from our bodies as fast as we could.

  Damn, this feels like a dream…

  I gazed out of the floor to ceiling window of the dining room on the main deck, which resembled a small ballroom. That was the best way to describe this. Even well after the sun had set, I could see an island from afar. Not clearly, but enough to make out bright lights and movement. My spine was straightened by the built-in girdle of the gown I wore. A fitted sheath that flared at my ankles. The heart line corset had a crease at the breast, revealing my chest bone. And no shoes. It was weird, but I decided to go without them since we were eating “in,” just formally.

  I felt…sexy. And lonely at the table as I waited for him. I went back to my phone, returning texts and a couple of emails. Laura, my former supervisor reached out again. Oddly, this time via email. It was time for me to bite the bullet and reply. She asked to get together, perhaps for coffee just to talk. I explained I was away and would reach out to her with a few dates when I returned. I had no idea why she’d taken such a strong interest in me. There was no way I’d go back to the program. Although still unsettled, my life had changed so drastically since then.

  Then there was Van, Ivie, and Mya. They were still upset about not being able to touch me since the blowup at MaMa’s. It was frightening for all, I now realized. She’d never admitted my true place in her family before then. Ivie and Mya didn’t know. When I met them, I told them what everyone else believed and never corrected it. It was too messy to share. So understandably, that episode in Garfield shook them both. And Van felt helpless to deal with MaMa’s drunken meltdown. He was typically my protector. But what could he do to avenge his sister against his mother? He’d still been up in arms about it. The crazy guy texted me every day, sometimes several times a damn day.