Forty-five minutes later, a buzzing Zekia waved goodnight to Mariposa as she continued down the hall and around the corner to her room. She had sat and listened to the flirting going back and forth between her friend and Lucian. They kept her company while she drowned her embarrassment in the bottle Lucian had brought back with the three glasses. Holding the half empty bottle and glass to her chest, she shuffled down the dimly lit hallway.
Once again, she felt stupid. Her hand rubbed her forehead in frustration. Where the hell did she get off thinking this man was a sexual deviant?
Don’t forget you called him a field hand, the voice in her mind spoke up to make her feel even worse.
She groaned. Pushing her room door open, she stepped in. The stifling heat of the space instantly caused her body to sweat. It felt like she had stepped into an oven. It was even worse than when she had been sitting in the dining room. The temperature in her quarters only added to her wretched state.
“Why, Lord…why?” she grumbled. “First making an ass out of myself, and now this shit.”
Kicking the door closed, she tossed the bottle and glass on the bed, and went over to the terrace to open the windows. A gentle breeze, although warm, rustled the white curtains.
“Stupid! Stupid,” she spat with her eyes closed.
She knew the guilt she felt would take days to go away. The man was turning out to be the best person she knew. How many times had she heard stories or watched documentaries on the sex trade? How many times had she been left with a lump in her throat over hearing about poor innocent kids being sold? Each time, she would take down the number to donate, only to allow life to come and still the desire to do something away. Yet, here Javier had actually put his money where his mouth was. That’s why he lived so far out. It was to keep the criminals from knowing about his operation.
She shook her head in self-loath as she turned back into the room. She tugged at the straps of her dress and stepped out of it while she walked towards the bathroom. The water from the shower echoed through the large space. She needed to get clean after her night of sweating bullets. Quickly, she grabbed the scarf from the sink counter, tied back her long braids, and stepped under the cool stream of water.
She shook her head when the voice tried to drown out all thoughts. It was the mousy tone that she had fought to banish after years of listening to it. It brought feelings of doubt and sadness that over the last years, she had been fighting to overcome. She was a new woman now, she reminded herself. Straightening her back, she recalled the motto she had promised herself to live by. No more second guessing. No more living in fear of not being good enough. No more living a lie instead of facing the truth.
“I was a stuck-up ass who deserved what I got,” she said.
As soon as the words left her lips, she felt a rumble in her gut that she refused to entertain. If she did, she knew it would sap her of the strength she tried her best to portray in front of others. She chewed on her bottom lip while she dried off. She was on autopilot as she stepped into a neon yellow cotton thong and white sports bra.
Turning for the bed, she reached out to retrieve the bottle, then froze in mid-motion. She tilted her head in disbelief of what she was seeing. She blinked her eyes rapidly as she forced herself to accept the object that was now crawling across her bed. She worked her mouth, only for nothing to come out. Suddenly, her jaw became unhinged for her blood-curdling scream to pierce the night. Dancing on her feet, she spun around to run for it.
A set of muscular arms engulfed her. A rock-hard chest collided with her face to stop her cold. Javi glared down at Zekia as she tried to crawl up his body.
“What the hell is wrong?” he grunted, pushing her back.
He was sure she was talking. At least he acknowledged her mouth moving for a brief second before his mind went into overload at the sight of the woman in front of him. His eyes roamed over her smooth brown skin. He knew from what he had spied of her shape at dinner that Zekia was a dime, but goddamn she was fine. He wondered why she would even wear a sports bra at all. It was a shame to wrap up her full mounds. Even with the slight pudge of her stomach, she was still toned. Her ass jiggled from the way she was waving her hands around like a fool. Bring his gaze back to the front, he felt his balls tighten as his eyes lingered on her pussy.
“Did you hear me?”
“No,” he whispered.
“Will you pay attention,” she pleaded.
“I am,” he grinned. He did nothing to hide his interests.
“Not me, fool…but that,” she pointed.
Javi broke contact with her body to glance over at her bed.
“The booze?” he frowned.
“No,” she cried as she stood behind him.
“If you wanted to get me to your room—”
“There’s a scorpion on the bed. I saw it,” she declared as she pushed him forward.
Quickly, he rooted his feet.
“Be quiet,” he commanded.
He approached the side of the bed slowly. On high alert, he scanned the floor and the bed in search of the deadly creature.
“Do you see it?” she whispered.
Her hand pressed on his bare back while the other fisted the waistband of his sleep pants.
“I don’t see…oh, yeah,” he grunted.
“Get it,” she cried as she began to leap up and down behind him.
“Listen, slide that stuff on the bed and I’ll take care of it.”
Zekia moved with caution to the end of the bed. Javier picked up the sides of the comforter. As soon as she was out of the way, he folded the scorpion up in the cover, gathered it up, and tossed it all over the side of the terrace.
“Why were the doors open?” he growled.
He shut and locked the doors when he re-entered the room.
“‘Cause it was so fuckin’ hot in here.”
Now that the room was closed up, he noticed the lack of air within the room. His eyes went to the air ducts in the ceiling. He sighed, only to chuckle.
“What…what is it?”
“Zekia, there’s no way I would own all this shit and not have air condition in all of the rooms.”
She stepped back out of his way.
“I didn’t mean to offend.”
“Hm,” was his response with an upward eyebrow.
Leaning over, he picked up a wooden chair.
“What are you doing?” she questioned as she followed him.
“Fixing one of your problems,” he remarked.
Javier positioned the chair under the air duct. The chair creaked under his weight when he stepped up. Zekia bit down on her lip as the sight of the muscles in his back flexed and gave way as he stretched.
“Oh.”
With a start, she ran to the dresser where her things were. Pulling out a t-shirt, she pulled the thin material on. It stopped just under her plump ass.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that you pissed off the wrong people.”
“Meaning?” she asked, coming close.
“Meaning my girls have blacklisted you.”
Zekia crossed her arms over her chest. A sinking feeling bubbled up in her gut.
“Makes sense,” she mumbled.
Javi glanced over his shoulder to find her staring at the floor in thought. Looking back up, he went back to his task of unscrewing the two nails that held the metal covering to the ceiling. He took note of the fact that she had come to her right mind and put something on.
“So, they’re really protective of you?”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “A few see me as their father figure.”
“And a few see you as a fantasy.”
He paused to steal a quick glimpse of her. There was a strangeness that had entered her voice. He was slightly surprised to meet her eyes before she looked off.
“Yes, I guess there are a few that may have that ill-placed feeling,” he shrugged.
I can see why…my God, the voice in her mind moaned.
Seeing that he had gone back to his task, Zekia allowed herself the pleasure of watching him again. His tan skin had taken on a light shine from being in the stifling room. The plaid night pants hung low on his hips. His tight ass cheeks kept them from falling any further. Now that his shirt was off, she was able to see just how defined his torso was. Needless to say, the work he was doing had given him a body she was enjoying beholding. If she had ever wondered if she was truly a lesbian, the fact that she was greedily eating up the sight of his body was proof that it was just a phase she had been exploring.
“Ah,” he sighed.
He reached into the air duct. The deep sound of his laughter created a flurry of butterflies in her stomach.
“I’ll have a talk with the girls in the morning,” he laughed.
“I know they didn’t,” she grunted.
“Yeah, they did,” he chuckled as he swung the hand towel he had pulled out of the air duct in front of her face.
Zekia snatched it out of his hand. She could already feel the cold air entering the unclogged air duct.
“Thank you,” she hissed.
“It’s nothing,” he replied, stepping down.
An awkward silence stretched out between them.
“I think you’re good to go, so—”
“One second,” she stated.
Javier held the laughter that threatened to spill out while he watched her check the room. The way she slapped the bed with the pillow in her hand was comical. Finally, she nodded.
“Goodnight then.”
“I’m really sorry about…everything. I really got you wrong.”
The smile he gave her was disarming. Grabbing the door, he opened it and backed into the hallway.
“Let’s see how you do tomorrow. Oh, I would lock the door if I were you,” he added before he closed the door.
As soon as he was alone in the hallway, the smile slipped from his sensual lips.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
Giving his stiff cock a hard squeeze, he started back for his room. The sound of her locking her door gave him a sense of security for more than one reason.
Lucian knew the instant Mariposa had awakened from her slumber. Her deep, even breathing had quickened slightly to a labored pace. He had come into her bedroom over an hour ago. After placing the cover tray of her breakfast on the hutch at the foot of her bed, he had taken great pains to slide in the bed next to her. He was thankful that she had stayed asleep. He enjoyed the silence while he watched her sleep. His fingers itched to touch her bare skin. He took a chance by pulling the covers back just enough to spy the swells of her breasts in her sleep tank top. He narrowed his eyes. He indulged in the warmth that flowed through his loins to harden his cock.
In her next breath, she knew she wasn’t alone. The heat of his body invaded her along with his scent. Mariposa felt her heart rate accelerate over the knowledge of who she knew was in her room.
“You couldn’t have waited until I came downstairs,” she grumbled as she sank lower into the comfortable mattress.
“And miss out on seeing you in your sleep clothes,” he replied.
The cool air caressed her skin when he began to pull back on the covers to take a peek. Mariposa tugged the comforter out of his hand to hide herself.
“Are you still horny first thing in the morning?” he teased.
Lucian shifted closer to her body. He pushed the hair that had fallen out of the ponytail on top of her head to stare into her face. Taken aback, she leaned away from his handsome grin.
“Shut up,” she spoke.
“You know the best way to get me to do that, right?”
His deep voice rubbed her in all the right places. Beyond her better judgement, her lips had parted just a fraction when he ran his calloused thumb over her parched bottom lip to drive home his offer to lick her pussy until she came.
“Stop joking around,” she snapped.
His hand dropped with a sigh at her comment. Mariposa rolled onto her back and sat up in the bed.
“So, it’s going to be like that, huh?”
“Like what, Lucian?”
“You playing like you don’t want me while I lose my breath running you down,” he smirked.
She glanced over her shoulder at his lounging form against the headboard. Her eyes roamed over his body to his bare feet back to his eyes.
Shit, he looks tasty…and I’m so fuckin’ horny.
In spite of the fact that her mind was ready and willing, she made sure by the disgusted expression on her face that he didn’t know the truth.
“I’ll pass. I’ve been disappointed enough,” she mocked.
Lucian laughed. “I was young, Mari. I promise that I can go more than once.”
“That’s what all that practice got you, I bet.” She frowned before she rolled out of bed.
Lucian refused to walk into that trap. There was no way he was going to confirm that he had his fair share of pussy over the years. Instead, he leaned over. His strong hand gripped her waist to keep her from walking away, while he slid his hand between her thighs from the back. Something akin to lightning shot through her core at the feel of the heat of his open palm on her cunt.
“When you tire of running, I’ll show you,” he whispered against her ass cheek before he dropped a kiss on her round ass.
He made sure to remove his hand in a way to cause friction on her pussy and to gauge her wetness. She was left stunned by his actions, while he seemed to pretend as if it was nothing. She stared at his back with longing when he got out of the bed. She had no way of knowing that the reason he took his time to glance out the window was because he was trying to keep the love he still held for her from betraying him when he spoke.
“I assumed you wanted an early start concerning your dad,” he said at last.
“Yes,” she responded, a bit too loudly.
“Sit, eat, and listen,” he ordered.
She debated arguing, but he didn’t give her a chance. He strolled over to the tray, lifted the top, and waved her over with his tattooed hand.
“I wish you would have reached out to me about your dad, but I understand why you went through Javi first,” he began.
She waited while he prepared her coffee. She couldn’t help but be impressed that he still remembered how she took it after so many years.
“I went to him because I knew he could help.”
“Whatever you say, Mari,” he smirked, as he handed her the cup.
She wanted to punch him in his wicked grin. Grabbing a chair, he sat down.
“He doesn’t know anything about your old man,” he announced.
“Why the hell didn’t he tell me that?” she fumed.
“He doesn’t know, but I do. I’ve seen that he has stayed out of trouble and cleaned up his messes when he didn’t.”
Mariposa plopped down on the bed. “Why would you do that?” she questioned.
Lucian shrugged. He lowered his gaze to hide his thoughts.
“I promise you I would when you left.”
“True—”
“But you never thought I would keep it.”
Lucian lifted his eyes. The deeper meaning behind his words hung between them.
“We were young, Lucian,” she pointed out.
“Is that why you never married?”
“So, you’re telling me—”
“Yes.”
She would be lying if his admission didn’t affect her. If what he said was true, then that meant he had been waiting all these years. Being the sane person she was, she pushed that idea out of her mind.
He saw it. The second her brown eyes had taken on a warmth, only to turn cold. He had to try. He had to get her to see that he wasn’t the same young boy from years ago.
“You’ve done really good for yourself…you both have. Is it all legal?” she inquired as she sipped her coffee.
She had no desire to slip down that rabbit hole and into Lucian’s bed…no matter how enjoyable she knew it would be. His sex appeal was off the radar.
“Now, yes. You know how we used to ride, but a lot of that changed after Javi went down,” he answered.
“Then how did all of this come about?”
“You never knew, but he had rich grandparents.”
Mariposa’s mouth fell open.
“Then why the hell were he and his family living like bums?” she shrieked.
“Something about his mom and her mom falling out. While he was doing time, all he had was time. He would watch the stock shows, read the paper, and when he would call, he would babble on about it. I told him I would invest on some of the things. Shit, I was just pissing my money away with those assholes in the biker gang, so why not?” he explained.
“You’re telling me in the five years he was in, you made a fortune?” she said doubtfully.
“No. I did good enough to share with him when he got out, but his grandfather caught wind of it. The old man was so impressed that he came here and got Javier, took him back to his big ass mansion, and cleaned him up. The man wanted to give Javi a place in his business, but he turned him down. He said he wanted to make his own way. I honestly think the man liked that. So, he picked out a falling business, bought it, and told Javier to turn nothing into something, and that’s what we did. The rest is history.”
“A regular rags to riches,” Mariposa replied in awe. “Congrats, Lucian.”
Getting to his feet, he smiled.
“I had to do something if I was ever going to fulfill your list of demands. Get dressed and I’ll take you to your dad’s house so we can begin solving this mystery.”
Mariposa remained motionless long after Lucian left. She knew the list he was talking about. The thought that he remembered floored her. It had been a joke at the time, but he had taken it to heart then, and he still held the ten things she had dictated to him on the day before she left town.
“What will it take for you to fall in love with me, Mariposa?” he had asked her.
She had turned his question into a joke by listing ten things she demanded of him before she would marry him. At the end of her list, Lucian had folded the paper he had written down her demands on. There had been a determination in his eyes. He was just as poor as she was, yet there was a confidence in his stance.
“When you come back, I’ll be ready,” he had promised.
Thinking that it was impossible for him to ever accomplish the things on the list, she had smirked.
“And when you do all of that, I’ll give you my heart, soul, and body,” she had agreed.
“I’ll hold you to that. When you come back, I’ll be waiting…and you will be mine.”