Black said I should enjoy the peace while it lasted. But I wasn't built like that. I enjoyed my family, but right now peace felt like a setup. I would still try to embrace it though. I helped Nova pick out names for the baby. We had narrowed it down to two each for a boy or girl. I listened to Timberly retold the same Bluey episode like it’s classified intel. And was letting Pops win at dominoes on the back patio and drank bourbon with August while the sun set over this big-ass estate.
This was life. Not the one I planned but the one I’d kill to protect.
Nova caught me staring off in space, jaw tight, hand twitching near my waist where my gun usually sits now. I never thought I would go back to the day when a gun was necessary.
“You okay?” she asked, soft and sweet, pressing her body against me.
“Yeah,” I lied. “Just thinkin’.”
She didn’t push. Just leaned her head against my chest and whispered, “Let me make you forget tonight.”
And I let her do just that. I wrapped her up in my arms and made love to her like the world wasn’t sharpening its knives. Because sometimes… that’s all you could do. Nova was already waiting for me on her knees beside the bed, hair wild around her face, silk robe slipping off her shoulders like an invitationdipped in sin. Her eyes were lowered in submission, but the flush creeping up her chest told me everything. She needed this, needed me. I shut the door with a solid click and removed my shirt slowly, my gaze never leaving her.
“Strip,” I said, voice dark and thick with command. “And keep your eyes on me.” The way her breath caught, the way her fingers trembled just a little as she undid the robe. I felt it all, felt her surrender before I even touched her.
“Crawl.”
That one word held weight, and she moved instantly, dragging her body across the plush rug until she reached me. I unfastened my belt with a hiss, letting it fall into my palm with a heavy crack like a promise. I grabbed a fistful of her curls and tilted her head up. “You trust me?” I asked, my thumb stroking her jaw.
“Always,” she breathed.
That was all I needed to hear. I kissed her hard, deep, claiming and then wrapped the silk scarf from my back pocket around her wrists with precision, binding her hands behind her back as he backed her toward the wall. My mouth explored her skin like it was sacred, licking and biting over every bruise, every mark I hadn't put there but now would cover with my own. I lifted her up on her feet and spun her to the mirror, pressing her bare front to the cool glass, making her see what I saw, a woman owned, desired and worshipped.
My hands roamed freely, one wrapped around her throat just enough to make her pulse race, the other trailing between her thighs.
“Say it,” I growled. “Who do you belong to?”
“You,” she gasped. “Only you.”
I bent her over the foot of the bed, gripping her hips like they were made to fit my hands. I stripped out of my jeans, leaving me in my boxer briefs. Pushing them down until my dick poppedout hard, heavy and leaking pre-cum, I stepped behind her dick bobbing. I gripped it in my hand and ran it through the wetness collecting between her thighs. When my dick was properly lubed, I thrust into her with slow, deep, deliberate strokes that made her forget everything but the ache and the fire of what we were creating.
Her moans echoed off the walls, each one rougher than the last. I whispered filthy promises against her ear as my thrusts deepened, reminding her exactly what submission meant in my arms. I tugged her bound wrists upward, pressing her deeper into the mattress, and praised her between every breathless cry.
“That’s my good girl… takin’ it just like I taught you… every damn inch.”
She sobbed my name as her body trembled, unraveling for me completely. Her orgasm hit like a wave, shaking through her, legs buckling and I caught her before she collapsed. I kept up a steady pace of deep hungry thrusts as I chased my release. She was so wet and tight and the feeling of her walls clamping down on me as she came was fuckin my head up. The sound of me pounding into her wet pussy was all it took for me to bury myself balls deep, giving her everything I had. I pressed against her back, placing soft kisses on her neck.
I eased her back onto the bed, untying her wrists and kissing each one gently before pulling her into my chest.
“You okay, baby?” I murmured against her damp skin.
“More than okay,” she whispered, voice wrecked and sweet.
I kissed her shoulder, palm resting over the curve of her stomach. “I don’t care what’s coming, Nova. You’re mine. This family. I’ll destroy this world before I let anyone take it.” I said against the curve of her neck.
She nestled into me, heart still racing. “Then let it burn.”
I kept my eyes on Nova from the kitchen as she sipped her slightly sweet tea and looked around at the group of womenseated at her kitchen picnic table. Mecca was painting her nails electric blue at the table. Anesia scrolled through her phone, showing Tyra the new items on the menu at the brunch spot they were going to on Sunday.
“I’m just saying,” Kema grinned, “we need waffles, gossip, and a little light day drinking before we go back to kicking down doors and interrogating bitches.” She giggled.
Nova laughed. “I already told Crew I wanted Sunday Funday at Harper's. He rolled his eyes but didn’t say no.”
They better have our table ready.” Mecca added, “You think Crew and August gonna let us go alone?”
Nova grinned over her cup. “Hell no. But they ain’t stopping us either. I’m overdue for a virgin mimosa and some real conversation.”
The women clinked glasses filled with orange juice and plotted their escape, brunch style.
