He stifled a grin and scratched his facial hair. “Heard. Now, I need to teach you some new words so that you can stop burning that one out.”
“I’m open to it. Then, me and Jah can say whatever we want around people. Shit! I forgot to call him when we got back. Do you think he’s still up? I’m about to send him a text real fast to—Relic!”
Kennedy squealed when he hoisted her out the water without warning to plop her on the natural stone deck and then climbed out next. He didn’t wait for her to attempt to stand but scooped her up instead, carrying her toward the cabana daybed that glowed from the string lights tied onto its wooden structure. Her legs wrapped around him while her cheeks rose to the point of aching after he swiped the canopy drape aside to fling them onto it, pushing pillows out of the way before rolling on his back to position her on top.
“You are so jealous! You brought me over here ‘cause you didn’t want me to call Jahleel.”
“I brought you over herbecauseyou wanted to call my son. It’s going on two in the morning, and we were having a deep ass conversation, yet you were about to put the shit on hold for him. Ask me what’s on my bucket list.”
Her head shook vehemently at his abrupt shift in the conversation. “I have a feeling, I don’t want to know.”
“I’m going to tell you, anyway. This trip was on it. It wasn’t for my brother or to throw Tek in your face. Those ideas came afterward.”
“So, Shabu and P didn’t lie? It’s a baecation.”
“Whatever the fuck you want to call it,” he grumbled, and she squealed a laugh. “The second thing on my list is what we’re about to do.”
“Fuck? Nigga, we do that often.”
“No, make love. A baby is up there, too, but since it’s Jah’s request, I won’t put pressure on you about that.”
“Boy, go to hell.” She laughed in genuine amusement that slowly dwindled when she noted the fixed position of his brows.
The corner of his full lips didn’t twitch, and his bright eyes didn’t blink once but remained obsessively fixated on her. Her heart pounded against her breastbone so goddam hard, she was certain it shook her entire core, and he felt it through her bare pussy that sat on his stomach.
Relic discerned each not-so-subtle change in her body language but didn’t point it out. He rested an arm behind his head, relaxed, and waited for a response that wouldn’t coincide with the shit she’d pulled on him at dinner. She’d try to shut the door before he could sneak his foot over the threshold, but he wasn’t going for it.
“You can’t be serious, Relic. You know what you’re asking for is not bucket list type shit, right?” She stared at him, receiving a dull expression in return like his request wasn’t absurd.
“Your opinion is subjective.”
“It’s not! And did you not listen to what my parents told you? Loyalty and love are better when you don’t pay for them. Making love falls in those categories.”
“Well, guess what? I don’t have time to find either for free, so congratulations, Larenn. You’re my lucky winner. What’s your prize?”
She sucked her teeth at his determination and tossed out, “A million dollars.”
“Done.”
“Yea, that’s what I tho—huh?” She stumbled over her words, expecting the opposite response. Her eyes shut as she tipped back her head and muttered, “This nigga has to be mentally insane.”
“I mean, technically...”
She snapped her head up and grilled him. “Relic, I’m not playing with your ass! The stress of making sure your family is taken care of, and going to prison soon, has you losing your mind.”
“The only thing we’re losing is time,” he retorted and flipped them over. The sheer panic written over her pretty face made him chuckle before he pecked her lips and then reminded her, “I don’t have much of it left, Kennedy. Why are you wasting it by arguing with me because I have a lot of fucking money to blow and want to spend it on you? I didn’t put my pride aside to ask you to stay for the hell of it. I told you, I’d make it worth your while.”
He nibbled her chin and then trailed soft kisses down to her breasts that rose and fell in heavy pants. Relic knew it was more so from the anxiety of his request than his lips planting teasing pecks on her skin. When he gravitated to her nipple and sucked it in his mouth, she arched her back off the bed while her palm landed on his head to keep him there.
“Didn’t I tell yo ass from jump what this was? I know we don’t love one another, but this is what I think it’d feel like if we did,” he told her, circling his tongue around her hardened peak. Relic pinched it between his lips and then substituted his mouthfor his fingers, tweaking her nipples while trailing his kisses south before he expounded, “This push and pull we do. The way you challenge me but never try to change me, or how we get on each other’s last damn nerves but can’t pull away.”
“That doesn’t sound like love, Relic. It sounds toxic.”
“Whatever it is, I want that shit until the day that I’m taken away,” he swore, diving his tongue inside her belly button on his path to her pussy. He rubbed his nose on her mound and vowed, “I want us until they put me in a box, Kennedy. Prison or pine... whichever comes first.”
His mouth found the pearl hidden between her thighs to latch onto after his decree—sucking in eagerness as his hands did their job, stimulating her nipples to prepare her for what was to come. The faint whimpers above his head sent blood flowing straight to his dick, engorging his shaft as he disregarded his needs in order to satisfy her because that got him off just as much as being inside her.
“Talk to me,” he uttered between French kissing her clit and stuffing her leaking hole full of tongue. A guttural hum rumbled at the back of his throat before he lauded, “I can eat you all fucking day, I swear. Love how this pussy tastes like water.”
