The One, page 18
“What did she want?” Who was he talking about? I didn’t answer and couldn’t anyway after he buried his face in my neck and sunk his teeth into my flesh. That sent another river of shockwaves rushing through me, and I lost my voice screaming.
I think I blacked out for a minute or so, only to awaken to him pounding his cock into me with a rhythmic speed that kept me on the edge before his fingers on my clit sent me headlong into another intense orgasm. I never thought I’d be the girl who had to ask for a break to catch my breath from too many orgasms, but here I am.
“Please….” What the heck was I begging for again? I’d already forgotten.
“Please what?” Now even his voice was making my skin tingle.
“Please, what, what?” He snorted at my inane answer and just kept going.
He twisted himself around enough to reach one of my nipples and sucked it into his mouth. This move had him reaching other as yet untouched places deep inside me, and my eyes rolled back in my head. I’m pretty sure I looked possessed, like I needed an exorcism, with my head thrown back, mouth wide open with no sound because my voice was trapped in my lungs. But I didn’t care.
All that mattered was what he was making me feel. If nothing spectacular ever happens in my life ever again, I’ll always remember that someone had wanted me this much, had loved me like this, as if he couldn’t get enough of me. And that growl at the end when he came was just the icing on top.
“Fuck, forgot the condom again.” How many times have I heard that now? And why couldn’t I bring myself to care? Ever since I met him, I’ve become the poster girl for irresponsible behavior, me, the girl who always did everything right.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, because he drew me into his arms and held me. That’s something else about Mace; he understood the assignment. He knows that the after is just as important as during. His fingers playing with my hair almost put me to sleep, and I was halfway there until I heard the doorbell ring.
You have got to be kidding me. She wouldn’t dare. Who am I kidding? I know from experience that there isn’t much my ex’s mother wouldn’t do to get her own way. I felt the bliss wear off as cold dread overcame me. This is not good.
I started to get out of bed, having no idea that he’d been watching my face and seeing the reactions as they crossed it. “You stay here; I’ll get it.” I started to object, but he was already hopping out of bed and into his pants, no shirt. Oh crap!
MACE
I took my sweet time walking down the stairs and even remembered at the last minute to unbutton my pants for better effect. I had a pretty good idea who was on the other side of the door, and it was all I could do to keep myself in check. The more she pressed on the bell, the slower I walked; then, I stood on the other side of the door just for kicks until she stopped because I was pretty sure she’d seen me through the glass panes that lined either side of the thick mahogany door.
I opened the door and looked down at the withered old face that peered up at me. She had to be about five-six or thereabouts, but the way she flung her shoulders back and puffed up her chest, you’d be tempted to think she was much bigger than her stature.
It didn’t take much to read her; she’s just one of many typical old bullies who use money and status to keep others in their place. Stephanie is not built to deal with this shit. It’s a wonder she was ever brave enough to file for divorce from this one’s spawn. My respect for her went up another ten notches.
“Who are you?” She tossed the words at me with a glare before I could utter word one.
I slammed the door shut and locked it, and started to walk away. She laid on the bell like it was her lifeline, and I snatched the door back open again but still said nothing.
“How dare you?” She looked me up and down with distaste for my state of undress, I guess.
“Lady, you came to my door and asked who I was. How dare you?” The pleasantness of my tone seemed to rile her up even more, which was fine by me. There’s nothing I like more than making other people show their ass while I come off as the perfect gentleman, and from what I know of her, she deserves it.
I’m sure her nosy-ass friends must have a front two seat because she seems like the type to brag about what she was coming here to do. And since they were the ones to call her ass in the first place, I’ve got something for them too.
“Your door? This is my daughter-in-law’s house.” Oh, she was getting heated. I guess no one has ever thwarted her ancient behind in the process of a takedown before. From what I’ve learned, she’s the type that has been getting her way since she learned to walk and talk; today was not her lucky day. She’d just met the only person in the universe willing to take her blinders off and drag her ass back down here with the rest of us.
“Since you’re not my mother and the only woman who lives here is mine, I think you’ve got the wrong house.” I started to close the door in her face again, but she put her foot in the doorway and a hand on the door to stop me. I let her have this one because I wasn’t quite done with her yet, but I guess she thought that I was like all the others she’d bullied in her two hundred and twenty years on the earth.
“I’m quite certain this is Stephanie’s home; now, where is she? And I don’t appreciate your rudeness, whoever you are. I’ll be sure to have you tossed out of here on your ear. Now I demand to see my daughter-in-law.” She tried pushing past me, which wasn’t going to happen, but I have to applaud the audacity.
I guess this is how she bulldozed my girl in the past and who knows how many others. But unluckily for her, I’m from the school of thought that you have to give respect to gain it. I could give a good damn if she’s trying to outlive Methuselah; I have no respect for a woman, any woman, who’d treat another the way she’d treated my girl when she was in her care.
“And I don’t appreciate being interrupted when I’m making love to my woman. As to your daughter-in-law, there’s an ex in there somewhere, isn’t there? Which means you don’t have any right to be here or to demand anything. But while you’re here, I have something to say to you.”
She didn’t like that I wasn’t letting her pass. It was obvious, and I guess she must’ve hated even more the fact that the neighbors, possibly the same ones who’d snitched to her, were now peeping through their curtains at her. “What could you possibly….?”
“As much as I’d like to, I don’t deal with women, so the next time you do anything to hurt Stephanie, I’m going to take it out of your son.” That stopped her tirade, and she just looked up at me with her mouth open. I knew that would get her since she’s so fond of her darling boy. She should’ve kept the placenta and flushed him if you ask me.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you even call her again, your son is going to pay the price. Now go home, and forget you ever knew her. She doesn’t want your pansy-ass son. She’s got me, and I’m going to make sure she’s taken care of. You know what that means don’t you? No more handouts.” I made sure to raise my voice there at the end and kept it raised for the rest. Hopefully, this would put an end to the neighbors doing her dirty work for her.
“You and your welp took her for everything you could in the divorce; now you’re after her company, the company that’s been in her family before she even met your worthless piece of shit, son.” Thanks, Nat, for sharing that bit of information with my boy.
The way she looked around, all flustered, I knew she didn’t want the neighbors to hear that part because both she and her offspring had been telling anyone who would listen how my girl had robbed him of what was his. I guess most people didn’t know the real story because those curtains were pulled back, and no one was trying to hide the fact that they were listening. I pretended not to notice, even when I heard footsteps behind me.
She noticed Stephanie at about the same time I did and started in on her with the name-calling. I reached for my phone and put it to my ear. “You can start with the place on Stanton.” The old lady’s eyes grew wide, and she stepped back. I put my phone away and smirked down at her.
“What have you done? What does that mean? Stephanie, are you going to let him….”
I reached for the phone again, “When you’re done there, you can head over to the one on Sycamore as well.” I raised my brow at her as if to ask if there was anything else.
“I…what…you….” Now she was stuttering and trying to find a thought because I’d just named the two places where her son’s car dealerships were located. I hadn’t planned to deal with him this soon, but since she wanted to play hardball, why wait?
She took one last look at me, then looked over my shoulder and started to say something. “If you say anything else to her, anything at all, even hello, you’ll only make it worst. Stephanie is off-limits to you, your son, and anyone you’re acquainted with from today onward. What I just did to your son is nothing compared to what I will do in the future if you hurt her again. Now get the hell out of here, and don’t ever come back.”
I knew from the nasty smile that came across her face that she wasn’t going to stop until her son was six feet deep with this shit. “You don’t know what she’s like. She….” Since she was addressing me and not Stephanie, I guess she thought she had me. Nice way to get around me, lady.
“Uh-uh-uh, that’s not allowed either. You’re not allowed to talk about Stephanie, don’t even mention her name. If I hear any more whispers about her, whether you were the one to start them or not, I’ll take it as you are, and your son will pay the price. Your phone’s ringing; your son needs help.”
I slammed the door again and turned to Steph, who was standing there in tears. I thought she would light into me, but I was ready for her ass, too, because I was not in the mood. I know I don’t have to fight all of her battles for her, but when she’s too cowed to face this one and others like her, that’s where I come in.
I get where she’s coming from, she doesn’t want to disrespect the old lady or burn any bridges, but that way of doing things has only allowed the woman to become bolder in her actions. Maybe now the neighbors know the truth, they’ll stay the hell out of her shit, or they’re next.
I walked over to stand in front of Steph, who was still crying with her face hidden in her hands and her shoulders shaking as she tried to stem the flow of tears.
“Look, Steph, I know….” Before I could get another word out, she flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my chest. “What is it, baby? Stop crying; she can’t hurt you anymore. Come on now.” I petted her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, and nothing; she still bawled into my chest.
I picked her up and headed for the living room and the couch, where I sat with her on my lap and let her cry herself out, and I still didn’t know why she was crying. “Thank you!” She sniffled out the words.
“For what?” I was truly at a loss here. I thought for sure she’d be yelling at me, but instead, she seemed pleased. Now I’m really glad I held back with the old lady because I’d had that planned out way differently in my head.
I thought for sure I was going to let her have it with both barrels, but that would only satisfy me. As for my girl, she’d have felt guilty for the rest of her damn life even though she had no need to.
Now, as for the son, well, he’s a whole other story. Today was just the beginning. His mother had only given me the excuse I needed to go after him, but I was going to anyway, just for the way he’d treated her when they were married and the way he and his mother were still trying to blacken her name.
After today I just hope he has the good sense to stay the hell away from my woman so I don’t have to break the damn law, but something tells me he’s not that damn smart. And after what I’d just done, I was pretty certain he was going to show his face before long.
“Hey, babe, why don’t you come home with me for a few days?” She pretended to give it some thought, not realizing that I could feel her heartbeat accelerate against my chest and see the light that filled her eyes.
“Sure, let me go grab some stuff.” She got off my lap, and it was then I noticed what she was wearing.
I guess it was the first thing she’d got her hands on, a thigh-length silk robe in tiger print with some kind of fur around the cuffs and down the front where it closed. Her ass bounced and rolled when she moved, and I was off the couch before she took the third step. I took her down before she reached the stairs and was balls deep in her before she could form the first word.
STEPH
I’m not too dumb to know why Mace took me to his place after his little confrontation with the monster-in-law. There’s no doubt that had we stayed there; she’d have found a way to torment me for the rest of the night. She’s not known for backing down from anyone, no matter the situation, especially when it comes to me, so who knows what she would’ve come up with. I’m sure Mace had only fobbed her off for a little while before she regrouped.
At first, I’d thought he’d fought with her because she’d interrupted our fun time, but his actions afterward have since led me to believe that he knew more about her than I thought. He’d squared off with her like an old combatant, and when I look back on it, there was way more anger than was warranted over a phone call as inopportune as it was. I’d go so far as to say he actively despised her.
Who told him what or where he got his information from is a mystery since I don’t recall sharing much about my past life with him, and certainly not the fact that that woman has been the bane of my existence for the last twelve years or so, before, during, and after my marriage to her son.
The only other person to stand up to her has been Nat, but that’s because Nat has no filter, and she fears no one, not even the two people who had tried their best to dehumanize me for the entirety of my excuse of a marriage and beyond. But even Nat hasn’t faced off with the old deviant the way Mace had, and I know she hates her guts.
Still, I didn’t question him or the fact that he stayed close even after taking me home with him, almost as if he was protecting me from something. We spent the night wrapped around each other the way I like, and in the morning, I woke to him moving inside me, which is the best way to start any day.
I forgot all about the ex-mother-in-law and that whole ordeal until I arrived at work a few hours later to find two very burly, somewhat familiar-looking men standing on either side of the door to my building like sentinels.
“Excuse me, may I help you?” I asked when one of them opened the door for me. I would’ve remembered if I’d hired a doorman, especially one who looked like a mercenary moonlighting as a security guard.
“Good morning, ma’am; Mace sent us.”
“Mace… why?” I wasn’t sure I should believe him since Mace hadn’t said anything to me when I left him not too long ago, but he did look kind of familiar.
“You’ll have to ask him that, ma’am; we just follow orders.” I hurried inside to my office to do just that.
Mace answered on the first ring as if he was expecting my call. “Yes, I sent them, and no, you can’t fire them or send them away because they work for me, not you.”
“What? What’re you talking about? Why do I need security guards staking out my business?”
“They’re there for my peace of mind. If you’re not comfortable with them there, you can always go back to my place and work from home for a while.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“You seriously don’t know? Do you really want me to believe that old woman is going to leave you alone?”
“You did this because of her?”
Yes, and her son. Shit’s about to hit the fan, and I don’t want you getting splattered. You’ve dealt with it enough; I’ve got it from here.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“That’s none of your business. Go to work, Stephanie.”
“That’s the answer he gave me every time I asked him what exactly it was that he’d done on the phone and who it was that he’d called. I hadn’t heard anything, so it can’t be that bad; if it was, she would’ve called me by now, I’m sure. But he was acting kind of suspect, so I don’t know what the heck to think.
I hung up the phone no wiser and got to work, ignoring the men at my door, and the questioning looks from my staff. My no-nonsense VP, Xavier, waltzed into the office not long after. “What did you do last night that you need the two avengers to protect you this morning, and was my sister involved?”
Xavier is Nat’s little brother in age only. At six-three, he’s almost as built as the two at the door, but he’s as cuddly as a teddy bear with those he loves. I happened to be lucky enough to be numbered in that bunch and had been lucky enough to snag him to come work for me instead of heading off to New York or L.A., where he would’ve soared in his professional field.
I’d asked Nat for help, and she’d shanghaied poor Xavier into interning for me, but it was soon obvious that he was worth more than even me at the company. He must be the first person in history to climb the ladder as fast as he did. I don’t think it had taken six months for me to see his worth and make the best decision in my professional life by making him my VP.
“It’s not us this time, I promise.” He didn’t look like he believed me, so I explained what was going on. His eyes lit up when I told him about Mace and my ex-mother-in-law. “Finally, I gotta meet this Mace guy. I heard Nat talk about him, but I didn’t think he was worth my time, but now, he sounds like good people.”
“What did he sound like before?”
“I don’t know, you know I can’t trust Nat’s taste in men, and you’ve proven to be just as bad as she is. But anyone who can put that hag from hell in her place has got my vote. I wonder what he did to her and her spawn?”
