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“Then why are my balls still full?” I sat up and wrapped my arms around my stomach. “Because I need romance, and you’re not treating me like you want me to be your girlfriend. You’re talking to me like I’m a ho.”
“All the way down,” he ordered, only to force the last inch or so with a mean upward thrust. “You want this dick to be yours, you got to ride it like it’s yours.” “I am,” I whined. “No, the fuck you not,” he
After our shower, I helped Rowdy take out his braids as he sat on the edge of the bed and watched the news. I think a few drops of drool landed on his back, which I blamed on the water from the shower when he flinched and turned to look at me questioningly.
“You can’t just bully me into doing what you want! You can’t even call me your girlfriend without stuttering and making excuses, but you want me to move in? What sense does that make, Owen?” “I don’t give a fuck about any of that,” he said with a curl of his lips as he pressed his forehead against mine. Rowdy was standing so close now that all I could see was the white of his eyes. “Take your motherfucking ass upstairs before I lose my motherfucking composure.”
I had no idea what the fuck she was so upset about, though. I was the one with a black eye and busted lip. She didn’t even have a fucking scratch on her. Secretly, I wore that shit like a badge of honor. I didn’t want my girl to be afraid of me, and it made my dick and heart proud that she wasn’t. There were grown men twice her size who couldn’t say the same.
“I’ll be back before lunch,” I announced as I watched her. “Maybe we can grab some food on your break.” Atlas resembled a damn psychopath when her head slowly turned my way like she was Annabelle or some shit. She was looking at me like she wanted to disembowel me. “Aww, that’s sweet. Eat a dick. I’d rather chew my arm off than talk to you.” “That’s okay, Dream. I’ll still fuck with you with one arm.”
Knowing what type of time she was on, I sighed and rubbed my brow. I know I promised Atlas I’d be good, but I didn’t expect to be put to the test this soon. I didn’t have a type, but if I did, it would be girls like Giselle. Hoodrats were my fucking weakness.
“Is it true you’re fucking some young bitch now?” I didn’t even try to pretend I didn’t know who she was talking about. “Aye, watch who you call a bitch. Matter of fact, who told you that shit?” “It’s all over the city, Rowdy.” “Aight.”
She thanked me before tucking the money inside her handheld safe and reaching for my belt. “Stop.” I knocked her hand away. “Stop?” she echoed with a bewildered look on her face. “Since when do you turn down head?” Never. Not once had I ever turned down a blow job—especially not one from Giselle, who sucked dick like it was her main job.
“It’s because of her, isn’t it? I know you’re not really going to walk away from our thing because of that pigment-challenged bitch!”
turned and snatched her up by her shirt before lifting her until we were at eye level—so much for turning a new leaf. But, for Atlas, I’d be a monster if I had to. “Let this be the last time you disrespect my girl, or I’ll snap your long neck and leave those badass brats of yours without a mother. Are we clear?”
“I guess you don’t need a phone since you don’t like to answer this motherfucker, huh?” My eyes widened, and I silently shook my head, but he held it up in my face anyway, gripped each end with both hands, and snapped it in half. He snapped it…in half.
Rowdy quickly ripped open his belt, and then his jeans and boxers were shoved down around his ankles. I felt his chest at my back a moment later, his dick poking around my wet hole, and when he entered me, it was rough and ruthless. He made me take it all, filling me up, and then he pummeled my pussy from behind and talked shit. “You…” Thrust. “Gon’…” Thrust. “Learn…” Thrust. “Not…” Thrust. “To…” Thrust. “Play…” Thrust. “With…” Thrust. “Me.”
This, fucking me in a public bathroom while she listened on the other side, was bad and embarrassing enough, thank you. Neither of us was even attempting to be discreet as the force of Rowdy’s thrusts threw our bodies against the door, making it rattle violently.
“Chill, Dem,” Rowdy told her, calmer than I expected. “No one is forcing her hand.” That wasn’t entirely true, but I chose to let it slide. I wanted to leave with him, but I also knew I had no choice even if I didn’t.
“You couldn’t find a woman your own age?” Instead of rising to her obvious bait, I looked up at Rowdy, watching for his reaction. He was staring at her like he smelled shit in the air. “It’s wild that you’re pressing me like I owe you an explanation when I don’t even know you,” he flatly stated.
With one kiss, I’d confirmed the rumors. Panicking a little, I pulled away, and his nasty ass chased me to continue. I pressed my finger against his lips and said, “Take me home so we can finish this in your bed.” He stared at me like he was debating taking me right here before seeing the light and pecking my lips twice. “Our bed. And that’s a fucking bet.”
know you’ve been through some shit, so it might take you a while to believe me, but your back is my back, Atlas, and I’ll always have it.” It took a moment longer for the lust fogging my head to lift, and when it did, my belly filled with butterflies. Suddenly, a hot-air balloon seemed unnecessary.
“It looks expensive, Owen.” And nonrefundable. He slapped my ass for arguing before pulling me close again. “So suck my dick while I find us something to eat, and we’ll call it even.”
Rowdy’s stern expression broke, and he smirked. His grip on me gentled before he pecked my lips. “You sure?” he whispered. “Don’t do this for me, Dream. I’m too far gone. Nothing you do will make me less obsessed with you.”
“I want to give you shelter and be your peace. I want to take care of you, Dream. I want to be yours. I won’t ask if you like me too because I don’t waste time with stupid questions. Instead, I’ll only ask one.” I held my breath and waited even though I already knew what his question—and what my answer—would be. “Can I be your boyfriend, Atlas Ilana Beck?”
“Um, don’t you mean will I be your girlfriend?” “No.” When he didn’t elaborate, I sighed. “Explain.” “Aight, it’s simple. You were mine from the very first day. From the moment I tried to fire you, and you begged me not to. Deny it or reject it—it makes no fucking difference. I’m the unshakable truth that will haunt you forever.”
“I thought fucking you would be enough, but I was lying to myself. I started to enjoy the chase a little too much, Dream. Suddenly, I had this endless patience like I’d follow you forever until you said yes, and I knew I wasn’t running you down just to fuck you. I was looking to make you mine. I kept forcing myself inside your head, not knowing I was pulling you into mine. His lips brushed my ear, and then he whispered, “You own me.” My lips parted, and I couldn’t quite catch my breath after his quiet confession. “You temper this animal inside of me, Dream, but you match it, too. My obsession
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I haven’t felt this passionate about something since I fixed my first car. I can’t stop, Atlas. I will never stop. I need you to claim me too.”
“You always said you hated how I treated the women I’ve fucked, but you never asked me why,” he continued. I gasped when he added a third finger. “It’s because of you. I didn’t just wait my entire life for you, Atlas. I saved all my kisses and compliments. I swallowed every promise. I guarded my loyalty…for you. I kept my heart hard as stone so that when the day came I found the woman I couldn’t hold any of that back for, I’d know without a doubt that I’d found the one.”
“Ever since I brought you home, you’ve had one foot out the door, and I didn’t like that shit. I kept telling myself you weren’t going anywhere, and it wasn’t because I wouldn’t let you but because you wouldn’t want to. And then you did. Keeping it real, you proving me wrong wasn’t even that big of a shock. Fear of who I am doesn’t stop you from calling me on my shit. It’s what drew me to you. That…and this,” he said, lightly tracing the discoloration on my face that, until recently, had been a great source of insecurity for me.
“Do you believe in fate?” he asked me when I just gaped at him. “I’m not sure. Maybe?” “What if I told you the markings on your face follow the same pattern as one of the constellations?” My belly dipped, and my breath rushed out of me as I searched his gaze for the answer. “I’d ask what constellation you’re referring to.” But I didn’t. Because I already knew. Leo. The markings on my face made the Leo constellation. I’d known the moment he’d posed the question.
The final straw came when I tried to spruce up our bed with these cute decorative throw pillows I’d found. Rowdy made me watch while he cut them up with a kitchen knife until the stuffing and feathers littered our bedroom floor like a second rug.
I was starting to suspect that there was more to Joren’s drinking. Whatever it was, judging by Rowdy’s reaction, I’d also guessed that Joren hadn’t shared his woes with his friends. I still didn’t like his ass, but I could empathize, which was more kindness than he’d ever shown me. Joren hadn’t been cruel necessarily, just indifferent. I couldn’t understand why it grated on me. Nevertheless, I knew what it was like to walk through hell and feel like there was no one or nothing to turn to except your own self-destruction.
“Hell nah. Where the fuck is Jada?” he asked no one in particular. My heart dropped, and my ears started ringing at the sound of that familiar name. Jada. Could this be the same girl from the photo? Could Jada be Unrequited? I’d already figured out that the sender had to be someone who knew the Kings personally—someone who knew all their secrets. Who better than the girl who’d been their centerpiece for so long?
Jealousy as green as Rowdy’s eyes reared its ugly head at the casual way she stood so close to him and uttered the name his mother had given him. The fact that Rowdy hadn’t corrected her as he was known to do only fed the monster awakening inside of me. Not even his friends called him Owen, preferring O or Rowdy instead.
It was hard to believe that Demi and Roc hadn’t created Halo together. They weren’t even dating, fucking, or anything in between, yet they insisted on upholding this weird dynamic where they argued incessantly to hide the sexual tension so thick it was almost stifling.
And then I remembered what happened after I’d plunged beneath the water. How I’d sunk to the bottom, feeling the air in my lungs dissipating the longer I lingered. How I’d looked to the surface and salvation but saw only my father’s and mother’s ethereal faces and decided to stay with them a little longer. Even when my lungs had begun to burn, and I knew I’d stayed too long, I still didn’t swim for the surface. I’d let myself drift away until all the pain, grief, and uncertainty of where I belonged finally, blissfully, stopped. It was yet another truth I would have to take to my grave. But as
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Heard about the nasty spill you took. That’s what happens to whores who take what doesn’t belong to them. I have to say, I’m disappointed in you, Atlas. I thought we were friends. See you soon. Love, Unrequited
“I brought my girlfriend to meet ya’ll, but she won’t get out of the car.” My father’s green eyes, which I’d inherited from him, assessed me. “Why? What did you do to that girl?” “Me? Pops, she’s the one you need to talk to. I swear this girl wakes up every day thinking of ways to piss me off.” “I see.” He chuckled. “Well, your mother mentioned that she was young.”
“I can tell you from experience that it’s because your girl wants to know she can. You’re my son, so I know you,” he said—a fatherly way of admitting he knew I wasn’t shit. “If you didn’t care this deeply about her, you wouldn’t get so upset, and she knows it. I’m guessing you haven’t told her you loved her yet?” Uncomfortable with the subject, I shifted my feet. “Nah.”
“Good. My son has never brought a girl home to his mother before, so she’s dying to meet you. Been cooking all morning. Nice girl like you, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?”
“Stop, Owen,” Atlas whined as soon as I got a little frisky. My hands were shoved so far up her shorts now that my fingertips had burrowed under her thong, teasing her wet folds and spreading her arousal around. “You’re going to get us in trouble.” It was times like this that I was reminded of her age—more like punched in the dick with it.
“Hold that thought,” he murmured, kissing me when I looked at him. “I need to take care of something really quick. Go upstairs and wait for me in my office. I want to pound that pussy for a few before we go.” The visible shiver that turned my bones to jelly had him smirking cockily. “Okay.”
“No.” I held the box tighter as I backed away. “You’re lying to me. What’s in here that you don’t want me to see?” Rowdy growled, looking and sounding so much like the lion of Idlewild as he stalked me around the room. “Your front teeth if you don’t stop playing with me.”
“Okay. Bye, baby,” I said without taking my eyes off the TV. This was my third time trying to beat this damn level. “I should be home by one.” “Cool.” “You going to miss me?” “Yup.” “Are you giving me short answers so that I’ll leave faster?” “You so pretty, baby.”
“What do you want, you psycho?” she screamed at the top of her lungs. I rubbed at my brow and sighed. “You know what I want, Atlas. Bring your ass back here.” “No.” She whimpered. “You tried to kill me.” “I did not try to kill you, you fucking crybaby. I tried to kill your car. Why would I hurt you when I love you? Just come home to me so we can talk about this.” I didn’t realize what I’d let slip until I heard her tiny gasp. “Fuck,” I mouthed.
When she told me she was saving her virginity for love, I backed all the way off and never thought about her again. After high school, Sissy had left town to go to college up north, and then I heard she’d gotten a teaching job a few hours away, but we didn’t keep in contact.
“You can’t ignore me forever. We need to talk about us. We need to talk about her. There’s something you don’t know, Owen.” Jada paused and inhaled deeply when she realized she had my attention. “Atlas isn’t who you think she is.” I cackled and stepped around her before she could say more. These bitches would find any reason to stay on my dick.
Instead of answering, she shook her head and looked off with her arms crossed protectively. “I can’t tell you that. You’ll just have to trust me.” “Well, clearly I can’t,” I threw back sarcastically. “You be easy.” I chucked the deuces and started toward my car again. “You need to break up with her, Owen!” “I’ll pass. And chill with that Owen shit. My girl doesn’t like it.” “Rowdy, please!” I ignored her and kept walking. “Rowdy, you need to listen to me!” “Go home, Jada.” “You’re fucking your own daughter!”
My breath hitched in my chest when my gaze landed on the short dark-skinned girl wearing large, round glasses and standing between Rowdy and Jada. She seemed out of place amongst the group. More than that, something about her seemed familiar. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I flipped the photo over to see if her name was written on the back like before, but it was blank. I flipped it back over and stared at her image, trying to figure it out until I noticed the direction of her gaze. She was the only one not looking at the camera. Her gaze was fixed on Rowdy.
Atlas had left me. Every moment since I came home two weeks ago and discovered her stuff missing had been a constant struggle to ignore my instincts—the animal prowling in my chest demanding I find his mate. Atlas had taken only what she came into the relationship with, making her “fuck you” even clearer. Still, I didn’t go after her. I was listening to a different set of instincts now. The ones that demanded I protect her—even from me. So, I drank.
had been twenty years, but I still remembered those months she’d left to live with her aunt out of the blue, only to return less than a year later. It was the only time I’d been able to look Joren in the eye after fucking his girl behind his back.
“And we’re supposed to believe you?” Joren snapped. “Do you know how that sounds?” He took a threatening step forward, just as Roc had, but before I could react, Rowdy’s head snapped in his direction. “You must want to die today.” It was all Rowdy said. All he needed to say, apparently.
Seething, Joren turned to square off with his boy. “I know we discussed you handling her yourself,” he said to Rowdy, making my heart fall to my stomach, “but fuck all of that. She lied, so she needs to be dealt with. Why are we even letting this bitch explain herself? We shoot first and never ask questions. That’s how this shit works!” The silence that followed was so heavy that you could hear a pen drop or, more accurately, the sound of Rowdy switching the safety off his gun. “Call her a bitch again,” he said through gritted teeth, “and I’m going to show you how this nine works.”
