“That’s it. Show me this pussy mine.”
And when she broke apart beneath him, trembling and crying out his name, Rolani smiled against her lips—because he knew he’d never let her go.
Her body was still trembling, little aftershocks running through her thighs as he slowed his strokes and finally pulled out, breathing heavy.
“Damn, baby,” he whispered, brushing her hair off her face.
Neither of them moved for a moment.
He pulled back, cleaned her up with his handkerchief, straightened her dress, and turned her around. She turned her head, unable to keep eye contact. But he brought her chin back to him.
“Congratulations, Ken, go do your thing in Colorado.”
She slipped from between him and the desk, smoothing down her dress with shaky hands. “I need to get back to my girls.”
“Go. Before I lock yo ass up until Tuesday.”
He wrapped his hand gently around her neck, pulling her back into him. His thumb brushed her cheek as he leaned down and pressed a slow kiss to her forehead, then her lips.
“When you’re ready to stop running,” he murmured against her skin, “I’ll be here. I ain’t going nowhere.”
She didn’t move immediately, frozen by his proximity. By the weight of what she was choosing. By the fact that the safest she’d felt in years was in the arms of the most dangerous man she’d ever met, and she was about to walk away from both.
She slipped past him, her heart racing, and didn’t look back until she reached the stairs. When she finally glanced over her shoulder, he was still standing in the doorway, watching her leave—blunt between his fingers, wearing an unreadable face.
She climbed the stairs on legs that didn’t feel like hers and dropped into the VIP booth beside Carmen.
“You okay?” Carmen asked.
“No,” Kennedi said honestly, she needed to call it a night. “But I will be.”
Shadow looked at her, then down at the section where Rolani had disappeared back into his crew. “Ken, what happened?”
“He asked me to stay.”
The table went quiet.
“And?” Isha asked softly.
Kennedi finished her champagne in one long swallow. “And I’m leaving Tuesday.”
Nobody said anything for a while. The music played. The club moved. And Kennedi sat in a booth surrounded by the women who knew her best, but her mind was no longer on partying or celebrating.
Chapter Eight
“You ain’t hadno dick since LA?” Shadow asked, causing Kennedi to roll her eyes.
“Why are you always playing? You know my situation.”
She hadn’t told anyone about the backroom at Velvet.
“Not you saving yourself for the man you ghosted. Girl, please, the delusions.”
“This is why I don’t call your ass. I’m not saving myself, I know I have unfinished business, and I don’t need anything else on my plate.” Mind or heart is what else she wanted to say. “I need to stay focused.”
“He’s still single, you know?”
She did know.
