King's Promise Read online

  Cheryl hung out for a little while, listening to Mad Monez’s hard lyrics. To her surprise, he was extremely talented. It was clear why and how Mad Monez made mad money. As for catching sight of any drugs being trafficked at the place, she didn’t have a definite yes or no. But she was curious about the stream of people going up and down the stairs.

  Now that she was off the clock, this was as good a time as any to go check things out. Armed with the convenient excuse of looking for a bathroom, she turned from the outside deck and threaded her way through the crowd and headed upstairs.

  Kendrick turned and followed.

  Chapter 9

  Xavier couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. How could he? He’d never felt or tasted anything like it before in his life—and he’d had his fair share of kisses in his time. Even now when he was trying to describe the feeling to himself, he couldn’t find the appropriate words to capture it. Maybe you just imagined the fireworks.

  Of course he imagined it. There were no real physical fireworks being shot off in his head. That was ridiculous. He wouldn’t have a head right now. What about that heat wave? He rolled that around in his mind for a little while as Mad Monez jumped around, grabbed his crotch and even danced with his future ex-wife. In the end, the heat had to have been part of his imagination, too. Since when does something hot feel good? Usually, that would be just cause to go to a clinic for a shot or a pill.

  But there was definitely something there there.

  So much so that his need to do it again, the craving, bordered on being an obsession. Partly because it felt good, but also to prove to himself that he hadn’t imagined it.

  But you just said that you imagined it.

  He paused and then shook all of that out of his head because it was confusing him. But the memory of that kiss refused to budge. He decided that it was time for him to leave. He turned to leave the deck with the intention of finding Quentin and whatever situation he’d managed to get himself into and then roll out. As he maneuvered his way through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of Cheryl heading in the same direction. He played with the idea of luring her to a private corner somewhere so he could coax another kiss out of her, but his track record with her made him reconsider. In all likelihood, that one kiss was all he was ever going to have to remember her by.

  “Nice party, man!”

  Xavier turned in time to see megaproducer Tygger Johnson strolling over with his high five hanging. “Thanks, man.” They slapped palms and shoulder-bumped each other in greeting.

  “I’m going to recommend you to my whole crew, dog. You really know how to set things off.”

  “Thanks, Tygger. I appreciate that. Love your music, man.” There was another shoulder-bump and they parted ways while still grinning.

  “You’re the man,” a couple of brothers hollered out to him while cocking and shooting their finger guns at him.

  Xavier smiled and nodded, feeling like the MVP of a championship game. A couple of hours later, the cleanup crew would arrive and put the entire house back in order. Given the sheer size of the place, it would likely be an all-day job. While he mused, he spotted Kendrick from the corner of his eyes, quietly but stealthily heading up the stairs. His hackles jumped, and yet he didn’t understand why they were tingling.

  He stopped, looked around and tried to figure out what was wrong or missing from this situation. When he came up empty, his anxiety only increased. Turning, he headed for the staircase. Who knows, maybe Quentin was upstairs. Now that he thought about it, there was a high probability since that’s where the bedrooms were. And where there were beds and women—that is where one would find Quentin.

  Resolute, Xavier climbed the staircase, his sixth sense going crazy.

  There were so many rooms upstairs that Cheryl didn’t know which one she should try first. First off, it was just as loud up there as it was outside. Mad Monez was really getting his money’s worth out of his speakers. Better hurry and make this quick. The best way to tackle this path was just to start opening doors. The first four were dark, but far from empty.

  Springs were squeaking, headboards were banging and the men and women were competing on who could moan and groan the loudest. Those rooms Cheryl backed out of as fast as she could. At one room, she was actually issued an invitation to join in.

  “No, thank you,” she replied sheepishly. “You guys seem to be doing well without me,” she joked, and rushed back out of the room.

  But then a door opened all the way in the back of the hallway and an extremely thin woman stumbled out. Her inability to walk a straight line had her constantly zigzagging back and forth, crashing into one wall after another.

  Bingo.

  Cheryl headed down the hallway, stopping briefly to ask the wobbly girl if she was all right.

  “Giiiirrrl, this is a great party.” She erupted into giggles and started rubbing her nose.

  “Can I help you with anything?”

  “No. No. I’m good.” She grinned with her eyes closed. “Better than good.”

  Cheryl lowered her voice. “What’s back there? Anything I can get a taste of?”

  “Honey, when I tell you that they got the best—”

  “Is there a problem?” a voice thundered behind Cheryl.

  She jumped and spun to see Kendrick standing there, looking like something that just sprung up out of the depths of hell. Cheryl swore that her heart had stopped for a moment. And for a full second, her mind had drawn a blank. “We were just talking,” she said coolly.

  “Is that right? Friends, are you?”

  “No.”

  The woman next to Cheryl eased over to Kendrick and slid her hands around his neck. “Calm down, baby. She’s cool.”

  Kendrick closed his eyes as if he was trying to get a hold of his temper. “Alicia, go and wait for me downstairs.”

  “But—”

  “I said go!”

  Alicia jumped.

  “All right. Fine.” Alicia frowned. Her good mood shot to hell and back. She cut Cheryl a nasty look as if she’d been the one to have messed up her high and then stormed off.

  Kendrick turned back toward Cheryl, his lips sloping unevenly.

  Cheryl prepared herself for anything.

  Xavier reached the top of the staircase when he was almost bowled over by a woman who had to be ten pounds shy of a hundred. When he thought he caught the glimpse of tears, he reached out and grabbed her as gently as he could. “Sweetheart, are you all right?”

  Clearly, the woman was just seconds from cursing him out. But when she got a good look at him, she stopped and a smile ballooned across her face. “Ooh. What’s your name, handsome?” She brushed her hair back and then leaned her toothpick frame up against his body.

  Xavier smiled, but stepped back. “I was just checking to make sure that you’re all right, angel. I don’t like seeing women cry.”

  She grabbed a lock of hair and then twirled it around her finger. “I can’t think of a single thing a girl would be crying about when you’re around,” she said, moving forward again.

  “That’s a good line,” Xavier said, winking.

  “I have a million of them,” she said. “Why don’t we go somewhere and I can whisper a few more of them in your ear?”

  “Tempting. But I’m going to have to take a rain check.”

  “All right. Don’t take too long trying to cash it in.” She teased. “It might bounce later.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He winked and then continued onto the top landing. The moment he turned down the main hallway, his gaze zoomed in on the back of a tall figure.

  “I asked you what the hell you were doing up here,” the man hissed angrily.

  Xavier didn’t know what the hell was going on, but his senses and warning bells were going crazy and his feet were propelling forward before he could process why.

  “I’m not going to ask you again!” The man turned to slam the woman up against the wall, his hand wrapped tight around her neck.
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  Screw thinking, Xavier just reacted. No doubt he took Kendrick by surprise when he grabbed him by his neck, lifted him up with one hand and slammed him against the opposite wall. His head hit first, but it and his shoulders made a deep indentation in the wall.

  “What in the hell is going on?” he barked.

  Behind him, Cheryl wrangled out a rough cough.

  “Are you okay?” he asked from over his shoulder.

  “Y-yes. I’m fine.” She coughed some more.

  Xavier’s hand squeezed Kendrick’s neck tighter. “I asked you a question!”

  Kendrick pushed and pulled at Xavier’s hand to no avail and no release.

  Cheryl rushed up behind Xavier and grabbed his hand. “Let him go. It’s all right. I’m not hurt.”

  But what would have happened if it took me a second or a minute longer? He cursed himself for that minute or two he’d wasted with that girl on the staircase.

  Kendrick started turning purple, but try as he might, Xavier was having a hard time getting his hands to unclench. “Xavier, please,” Cheryl begged. “You’re going to kill him.” When his hand started to tremble, she reached up and grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. “Xavier…let him go.”

  Their eyes connected.

  “Let him go.”

  Another long second ticked by before Xavier finally relaxed his fingers.

  Kendrick’s gasps for air sounded painful to the ear. When he was released, he collapsed onto the floor. His gasping sounded worse with each inhalation.

  Xavier took a threatening step forward. “If I ever see you around Cheryl again—”

  Cheryl blocked his path. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

  Wheezing, Kendrick pulled himself up from the floor and gave Xavier and Cheryl a menacing glare before half running and half lumbering down the hallway.

  Cheryl tried to get Xavier to focus on her, but he refused to look at her again until Kendrick was out of sight.

  “Are you really all right?” he asked in a low flat voice.

  “I’m fine,” she said, frowning at him. “What about you?”

  Ignoring her question and not wanting to take her at her word, Xavier reached over and tilted her chin to the left so that he could examine her neck.

  Cheryl jerked her head away and stepped back. “You could’ve killed him,” she accused. “He could’ve killed you,” he responded.

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “I thought so, too, but clearly your little kung fu wasn’t working for you tonight. Or was there some Houdini move you were saving for when he was finished tossing you around like a rag doll?”

  “Don’t be glib.”

  “Maybe I’ll stop when you give me a simple thank-you.”

  “Fine. Thank you! Are you happy now?” she snapped.

  “As a matter of fact, I am!”

  They glared at each other and then together realized the absurdity of it all. Slowly, smiles crept across their faces and they both blurted at the same time, “I’m sorry.”

  “Jinx,” Cheryl said, and then laughed. “Seriously, thank you. He was a lot faster than I anticipated.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, and then glanced at her neck again. “May I?”

  She hesitated, but then finally turned up her chin.

  Gently, he ran his finger along the silky column of her neck, relieved to see that there was no immediate bruising. However, the moment he started stroking her soft skin, he had no desire to stop. So when she turned her head to meet his gaze, he felt it again. The mysterious heat gave off the most intoxicating sensation. Then there was this magnet. What else could it be that was pulling him toward Cheryl with such a force he couldn’t break away?

  That is…if he wanted to.

  As their mouths inched closer, he expected her to become defensive and block him once he invaded her personal space. But she didn’t.

  At the first brush of her lips, Xavier was filled with such elation that he didn’t understand why his heart didn’t explode. But what started as a soft breezy kiss soon morphed into something hungry and ferocious. Before either of them knew it, they were clinging to each other and seemingly unable to get close enough to feed what they both knew it was time to satisfy.

  Not wanting to take the risk of either of them coming to their senses, Xavier reached down and swept the beautiful bartender up into his arms and took a chance, kicking in one of the bedroom doors. As luck would have it, the bed was empty.

  Chapter 10

  Passion seized Cheryl with such force that she surrendered without even trying to put up a fight. Vaguely, she was aware of being picked up, a door being kicked in and slammed closed. But as long as Xavier’s soft lips didn’t break from hers, she really didn’t give a damn. She was too caught up in the very taste of this man. Such passion had to have been the original forbidden fruit that felled Eve in the Garden of Eden, and here he was now seducing her, taking her down a road that she knew, even in her lustful state, would be her ruin—her career and as a woman.

  Gently, Xavier pressed her against a mattress that was soft and firm at the same time. He broke their kiss and she moaned with soft disappointment. But in the next second, his wonderful mouth began raining kisses down her neck, particularly where Kendrick had manhandled her. The soreness she hadn’t admitted to vanished under the slight brush of his lips. Her next moan was one of pure pleasure.

  While his lips worked their magic across her neck and collarbone, Cheryl’s mind was spinning with a kaleidoscope of colors until she was dizzy. Xavier’s strong hands pulled her T-shirt from the waistband of her jeans and then slid it over her body.

  “My God,” he groaned.

  Cheryl’s eyes fluttered open, and as her reward, she saw his magnificent chest illuminated by the silvery moonlight. Muscular and lean, he was the quintessential female fantasy come to life. For insurance, she kept running her hands along every ripple and bulge just to verify that she wasn’t dreaming. When had he removed his shirt?

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered while his dark, twinkling gaze roamed over every inch of her body.

  “So are you,” she whispered back, reaching out a hand and touching his chest. Her lips curled up into a smile the moment her fingers glided over what felt like silk. It seemed inconceivable for something to be that hard and soft at the same time. But there was so much about this moment that wasn’t making much sense to her. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would figure it all out.

  Tomorrow.

  Xavier eased onto his side and took his time running his hands down the center of her body. His smile widened when her taunt muscles jumped and quivered at his slightest touch.

  She liked the way he looked at her. There was something sweet and erotic about it. Like he was trying to etch every detail about her into his mind while fantasizing about what he’d like to do first with her. Hell, her head was cluttered with quite a few ideas of her own.

  Xavier walked his fingers down her hard abs and then circled around the button of her jeans. As if she was watching some sex video, Cheryl’s gaze focused on his fingers, waiting in rapt anticipation for him to unbutton them. She didn’t even know that she had been holding her breath until he gave them a quick tug and the silver button of her jeans easily slipped out of the loop.

  Even then Xavier took his time unzipping her jeans and sliding them down her hips. Thank God she’d worn silk instead of her usual cotton panties, and that they matched her black lace bra. No woman wanted to get caught up in a romantic situation wearing a pair of granny panties. That’s a humiliation one could never recover from.

  Xavier shifted his weight so that he could pull her jeans all the way down her legs, and then tossed them over his shoulder. Then he held her right foot and brushed a kiss against her painted toes.

  A sliver of ecstasy rippled all the way up her legs and hit her throbbing G-spot like a bullet. That certainly had never happened before.

  Xavier lifted her right leg high into t
he air and started raining more kisses along the back of her ankles and her calf. And when he made it to the small dimple on the back of her knee, the crotch of her panties was soaked through and through. Xavier lifted her left leg and repeated the same process. When he hit that second dimple, she was stunned that she was gasping from her first orgasm.

  Hell, he hadn’t even touched her pussy yet.

  “You okay, baby?” he asked rather cockily. He knew what he was doing and he did it well. “How do you feel?”

  Panting, Cheryl wished that she had the words to describe what she was feeling, but at that moment if he’d asked her her name, she wouldn’t have been able to come up with an answer.

  He lowered her legs but he remained planted between them. “You can’t tell me how you feel, baby?” Those wonderful lips started traveling up her inner thighs while his fingers crept toward the thin lace on her hips.

  Cheryl’s breathing thinned and her nipples enlarged to three times their normal size. The honey churning out of her pussy was nothing compared to when Xavier’s teeth latched onto the front of her panties and proceeded to pull them off.

  At the sight of Cheryl’s neatly groomed thatch of curls between her legs, Xavier’s heartbeat shifted into overdrive while his cock finally burst out of the side of his black briefs. He wanted to take his time, but his second head was threatening to veto that notion.

  In fact, it was more than willing and prepared to just dive right in and bask in the warm pool between her legs. Tempting, very tempting—but the desire to do this right won out. As luck would have it, the single hook to Cheryl’s bra was nestled in the front and, with a simple pinch, it sprung open and her beautiful brown cantaloupes bounced free.

  “Oh, God,” he moaned, trying to capture this memory, as well. But he only had a few seconds before he tilted forward and stretched his mouth over a taut nipple.

  Whatever sliver of reality Cheryl had managed to hold on to went up in a puff of smoke when Xavier sucked and spanked his tongue against her nipples. Of course it didn’t help that she could also feel his iron rod pressing against her lower thigh while he slipped one finger in between the wet folds of her pussy.