“Yes, I’m going back in a few months anyway, but I’m really thinking about starting my own thing.”
“Wow, whoa… FADE okay with this?” Her brothers wanting to keep his family close was notorious among their friends. Flower waved that worry away.
“Whether he is or isn’t doesn’t matter. He’ll support me no matter what, just like I’ve always done for him.”
“True. I love your family. You guys have always been so solid.” Flower watched tricky emotions play across his face at his words, yet stayed silent, knowing what family had cost him. “Alright, give me a hug and get your tail out of here unless you want the world to know you’re here. That messy-ass Cindy Clark is here from Excess TV and they’ve already put a BOLO out on you.”
Flower rolled her eyes at that. “I know, but good looking out.” The last was muffled as he snatched her into his arms.
“Oh, and some tall Japanese dude has been looking at you the whole time.” He pulled back in alarm as her body went rigid. “Hey, hey, Flower, are you okay? If dude is bothering you, let me know, and I will handle it.”
She grabbed his biceps tightly when he went to make a move around her. “No, he my boyfriend.” She winked. “I was just shocked.”
“You have a boyfriend?”
She couldn’t help but laugh at his high-pitched squeak. “Yes.”
“Do FADE and Ghadi know?” His dimples were gone as worry ticked across his face.
“No, and you better not say anything.” She quirked an eyebrow, coating her voice with menace.
“I can’t promise that, if it were my sister, I’d want to know,” His face hardened at that. “Who is he anyway?”
“Akchiro Takeda.” She watched his eyes grow huge as he made the connection.
“Flower, dude…that motherfucker is ruthless as hell. How did you get involved with him?” His eyes darted back and forth between Akchiro and her. She knew she had to end this before he got even more worked up.
“Long story, but listen, you can’t say anything until you get stateside. Give me that, at least. I’ll call my brothers and tell them myself,” Pleading was not her thing, so it came out more as a threat.
“I’m going back into two days. You have till then,” He sounded worried but still bussed her cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you home? He looks like he’s going to kill me.” He chuckled, “But I don’t care.”
“Hush.” Flower pulled away and turned to see the full force of Akchiro’s seething rage.
* * *
Silence. From the moment she met him at the balcony entrance back at the party and followed him through the crushing throng of bodies that seemed to give way at the mere presence of the head of Takeda Industries cutting a path through them like a katana. Silence again in the elevator and in the limo except when she went to sit beside him, and he said, “You reek of him,” then turned away from her.
She went to the opposite side of the car then looked out of the window for a bit until she felt the draw of his cold gaze on her.
“I know him from home,” she began to explain. She really wanted to make it right.
“Obviously.” He turned back to the window.
“Him and my brothers are friends…”
“Whom you’ve never mentioned before tonight.”
“Yes, well, as to that—”
“Is he the one who taught you how to give head so well? Because virgin, yes, innocent, not by a long shot.” His words were soft, scathing, and dripped with ice.
“No, that was someone else.” That wasn’t true, but she could fuck with him too. His eyes cut to her in a nasty quirk, conveying his disdain and disgust. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how educational online porn was, fuck him. Fucker. In fact…
“Fuck you, Akchiro.” Leaning forward, she wanted to attack him.
His hand whipped out, gripping her chin. “Don’t worry, you will.” He let her go, looking back out the window. “After you wash his scent from your body.”
The apartment was like a tomb when they entered. Anger curled from Flower as she stormed through the living room, noting that he went over to the bar to pour himself a whisky. She was taking a shower because that was what she did, not because he wanted her to, and she definitely wasn’t going to have sex with him. How dare he ask her about her past when she knew he’d been with every socialite from Japan to New York? Who was he to make assumptions about her? Had he been harboring this judgmental point of view the whole time? It must have really bugged him to think she’d deep throated someone else when he was the first she’d allowed inside her body. He should feel lucky, but in typical male fashion, he had to concentrate on what he felt he was entitled. Well, he was in for a rude awaking.
Her shower was hot, thorough, and quick. She donned her pajamas and bonnet for good measure as an added layer of protection. She wanted to kick herself for not thinking to lock the bedroom door. Her mouth pressed into a line when she emerged from the bathroom and saw him standing before the windows completely naked. Despite her anger and reservations, she felt heat low in her vagina at the sight of him. He was gorgeous. He turned, his whole body rippling with the movement. His dragons battled, entwined against his skin, highlighted by the dim glow of the Tokyo night sky. His dick stood out proud and strong against his belly. Her mouth watered, but she swallowed against that temptation. He didn’t deserve her mouth.
He sauntered over to her and eased her bonnet from her head and tossed it to the side. “It seems that you forgot tonight to whom you belong, Flower. You’re mine and after tonight, you will never forget.”
She stepped back, but he caught her braids at her nape, holding her still. He made her pussy so wet. She met his eyes unwaveringly, watching the cruel smile that played around his lips. “Let me go.” She stumbled when he released her quickly then gasped when he swept her up, tossing her on the bed. Stunned momentarily from the breath that was smacked out of her, Flower then recovered and scrambled up to the head of the bed, watching him with a wariness she never felt before.
Akchiro sauntered over to the bottom of the bed. “You think to run from me?” His hand reached up and pulled the tie from his hair. Flower watched the glorious cloud of ebony fall along his shoulders. Muscles rippled and clenched as strong hands rubbed up and down the plains of his chest and belly. Flower was helpless to do anything but watch as those strong hands reached the coarse spirals leading to his dick. His eyes never left hers as he took himself in hand and began to stroke his thickness. He hefted his dick. “I don’t have to take it, because you crave this dick. Just like I long for your tight little pussy, or mine, rather, because it is mine. Come here, Flower.”
Why she did it, she’d never know. Maybe because at that very moment her pussy ached for him, maybe underneath the cold words he uttered, she caught the desperation or the glimpses of hurt in his eyes he struggled to hide from her. She knew his tells now. She knew that the pain she felt mirrored his own. Not to mention the guilt tearing at her from never having told him her true identity. Maybe that was what propelled her forward until she knelt before his towering form at the foot of the bed they’d shared for months.
Then she found herself before him wondering why she was there, but before she could change her mind, he swept down, grasping her face with his big hands and kissed her. His lips touching hers were like ambrosia. Soft, firm lips pressed hers open, and he dipped his tongue within. She opened for him and sucked him deep. He groaned against her lips, nipping the slightly plumper bottom, then licked the sting away.
A strong hand pressed just under the hollow of her neck, pushing her back onto the covers. He prowled over her, covering her completely with his body. He claimed her lips again and got to work unbuttoning her pajama blouse and helped her shimmy out of her pants. The cool air caused her nipples to prickle. A warm hand cupped then massaged one breast then moved over to the other. His legs were wedged loosely between hers. The heaviness felt good. She loved when he draped
his whole body over hers like that. She felt completely his. She was caged by him, but she knew she owned him as well.
Reaching up, she pulled his head down to her breast and gasped when he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking it deep as he molded the other in his hand. Then he moved on to the other side, giving it the same treatment. She squirmed, hearing him groan against her. But then he nipped her hard and flipped her over onto her stomach. Flower turned, and her breath caught at the sight of him. He cast a shadow over her but loomed like an avenging angel with his hair flowing behind him in a dark cloud. That is if angels were going for come down from heaven and fuck you within an inch of your life. She knew this should give her pause, but it didn't.
Akchiro looked down at Flower. His dick had never been so hard. He was angry, yes, but he would never hurt her. He held himself in check, forcing the need that shouted at him to heel. She was too precious to him. Yet seeing another touch her, seeing her smile into the baller’s face with happiness and familiarity tore into every fiber of his being with a taunting hiss as if she wasn’t his and his alone. His heart ached, the hurt and humiliation coiling into a thrumming need. A need to possess every inch of her. She was his. To be touched, kissed, and fucked by no one but him. It seemed she had forgotten to whom she belonged, and who belonged to her. She must now accept all of him. If she flinched from him, he would have let her go, but no, she lay before him. Had even raised her sweet plump ass up for him in welcome.
Reaching down, he smoothed his hand along her back, rubbing it before gripping her hips and putting her in her favorite position. He knew she loved to take him this way, and he was fine with it, though he preferred looking directly into her eyes as he made love to her. She moved her knees apart, and he could see her wet, slickened thighs. His dick pulsed hard. Touching her then bringing his soaked fingers to his mouth, he tasted what was meant only for him and sighed. Tonight was going to be hard. The desire to mark her as his beat hard into him, making him desperate to claim her like never before. He felt an urge to make her realize unequivocally that she belonged only to him, just as she held him in her thrall.
Again his fingers delved inside, only to plunge back in over and over again, fucking her with his fingers, pressing her G-spot with each pass, not so hard to make her come but enough to make her want it, reach for it. He was methodical. He watched her as she fucked his hand, swerving her hips, chasing her own pleasure. Crowding closer to her, he reached around and swirled his thumb over her clit and pumped hard against her G-spot. “Akchiro.” His name spilling from her lips almost made him come. He loved hearing her call out to him when he brought her pleasure.
“Akchiro.” This time it was more of a plea as he eased inside of her, pressing relentlessly until he was at the hilt. She was so fucking tight that his back threatened to bow. He reined himself in, using every bit of his control to hold himself still and not unleash every drop of his passion and anger into her. He had to catch his fucking breath or this was going to be over too soon. He closed his eyes and buried his face into her beautiful hair. A mistake because he loved the way she smelled. He loved the way she trembled under him as he forced her to be still. Her body was begging him to fuck her.
“Can you take it, Flower?” he whispered in her ear, giving her a hard pump an indication of how he intended to proceed. Her head turned. Her eyes searched his. Whatever she saw there had her nodding to him. He kissed her hard as his arm snaked around her middle to hold her in place and he began to drive into her. She was so wet. The harder he fucked her, the messier they got. He wanted to pull out and lick her up, but he was committed now. She felt so fucking good. He wanted to find his home inside her. Her grip was so tight as she took him. She reached for his other hand and brought it to her throat. He knew she was close then. He didn’t think his dick could get harder, yet it did as he fucked her like she liked it—hell, demanded—with his hand on her throat.
“Never let another touch you.” He hardened his words, releasing her waist, and brought his hand down and slapped her pussy. He felt her gripping him in a vise as she came, crying out his name as he relentlessly fucked and spanked her until his own pleasure took him over the edge.
Chapter 13
She was, in a word, sick to her stomach. Flower watched the muted entertainment TV news program with little interest, thinking about the sheer mess she’d created for herself. Akchiro had left without a word this morning at four thirty. That was simply the time he always left for work. He’d not slept and had in fact just risen from her body after having wrapped her legs over his shoulders, encouraging her in dirty whispers to make him hers. Then he exited the shower, face hard and with nothing save a cold glance her way as he left. She didn’t ignore him or try to fool herself with what that look might have meant. She knew. No matter how he felt, he wouldn’t allow her to shame him. She’d not slept after having had sex with him all night, and when it ended like that this morning, she just couldn’t. He was still hurt and angry, and he would only be more so when he came back and asked her about her family. She would not lie, so that would only lead to more animosity between them. She resolved to tell him. She had no choice and cursed herself for a coward. She should have just told him from the start. He hadn’t brought up the corporate espionage thing again, so that wouldn’t have been a factor. Sure, her brothers had branched out into tech, but they weren’t competitors of Takeda. They specialized in music apps, synthesizing music for movies, TV, and games. Nothing near the vastness that Akchiro’s company prevailed in.
Her only rationale was that this relationship was not supposed to be permanent, so why not just enjoy it while it lasted? They made no promises aside from being monogamous while together, but the look on his face last night gutted her. He’d shown a vulnerability that she had not ever seen from him before. Though knowing him as she did, she doubted he would even want to talk to her ever again for what he perceived as a lie. Well, she grimaced, it was a lie by omission. That was why she felt so miserable. Dread. She was going to wear those big girl panties all the way over to Bridget’s and Evangelina’s after he asked her to leave. Face him she would.
It felt like waiting for an execution because she knew it would play out one of two ways. Akchiro was going to barge in with all the info that he could glean from his brothers and the Tokyo high society gossip mill that was at the party or the investigation she was sure he began once he got to work, because she knew there was no way he was going to just leave things unknown. The second option was that she was going to have to confess all to him as soon as he stepped through that door because there wasn’t going to be another sunrise where she had not told him the truth of who she was.
Her phone started ringing the moment the breaking news pinged her phone just as the television screen filled with images of her brother FADE. Hands shaking, Flower pressed the volume, her heart dropping as the words blared throughout the flat. “Sources say that the rapper turned business mogul was hit with a barrage of bullets as he exited a charity event in his hometown; no one else in the entourage was hit, it is believed from firsthand witness accounts that Fernando Anthony Duke Ellington Carrington known to the hip-hop community as FADE suffered a shot to the head, but that has not been confirmed by doctors this moment.”
Flower barely heard the words as she flew to the bedroom and into her closet. God, her body was on fire like she had a fever and her stomach cramped in what she figured was fear. Pushing through the twinges of pain and ignoring the sweat popping out on her forehead, she grabbed black jeans and hopped around on one foot, stuffing her legs into them, then pulled on a black long-sleeved T-shirt, black Chucks and jacket and began throwing her ID and other essentials into her Birkin.
This couldn’t be real. This could not be happening. FADE shot? Like, how had that even happened? Even before they had money, he had never been in that life. He had done everything in his power to make sure that none of them were ever touched by the criminal element. He’d lost his best friend, Justice, with whom h
e’d begun his music journey, to senseless violence and that had never left him. She didn’t know what happened to her brother, and she’d been dodging him for months, not wanting him to know what she’d gotten up to in Japan, and he’d given her space. He just wanted her to be happy. A sob caught in her throat as guilt assailed her. Crumbling to the floor, Flower allowed all the sadness to take hold of her. Rocking back and forth, she cried, and even thinking of how she let her brother down, it was Akchiro’s face that she saw. She let him down too. Cupping her forehead, she inhaled a shuttering breath.
Feeling the phone vibrate, Flower grabbed it, answering without even looking at who called. She already knew. “Yes,” she whispered into the line.
“Everything is going to be okay, he’s strong, you know that.” The words were tense but reassuring nonetheless, but that was Ghadi, always sure. “There is a plane ready and waiting on you at the Narita Airport. Marchellis is flying back with you.” Flower's heart dropped at those words, but she breathed a sigh of relief at his next. “He said he saw you at an event and he’d make sure you made it back with him okay. So, just get there. He’s waiting for you.”
“I will.” His words always comforted her. She had to know the worst of it, “Did he get shot in the head?” her voice cracked on the words. She could barely push them past her lips.
“Yeah, that was just a graze. It’s the body shots they are concerned with—look Flower, just get here. We need you.”
Hearing the pain in his voice spurred her into action. “I’m on my way,” Looking around, she knew that she wasn’t going to have time to pack, so she just grabbed what she had and headed to the door. Stopping at the geode table by the sofa, Flower took stationary out of her purse and scribbled, I’m sorry, and left the folded note on the table. He’d probably know everything by the time he got there. Briefly she thought to call him but threw that idea out along with what was left of her hope. Getting on the elevator, she looked one last time at the place she’d spent some of the most joyous moments of her life and knew she would never forget this place or the man who dominated every inch of it and her.
Lotus Flower Bomb: The Mogul Series Book Two Page 11