I shrugged. “What?”
“Cinnamon!”
I shrugged again. “And…”
“Beer Belly. The cinnamon house.”
I nodded. “Interesting. We’ll need to look into that. I’m guessing someone got to him, though. Turned him into a snitch.”
“Agreed,” Seton said.
“So where’s the cat?”
“I have no idea. I opened the cage, and it jumped out and just sat down. It looked like it was breathing pretty heavy, and I figured it was scared so I reached down to pick it up. As soon as I touched it, it started swinging its paws at me. Next thing I knew, I was covered in blood and it was gone.”
Jess laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s just. It’s a cat. I can’t believe it did that to you.”
I felt I needed to correct her. It wasn’t a cat. Not even close. “It’s a thirty-pound leopard. They said it’ll get up to fifty pounds.”
She studied my cuts and shook her head. “And you haven’t seen it since?”
I shook my head. “Not once.”
“Did you put some food out for it?”
“That’s another thing. All it can eat is raw chicken.”
“What? Raw meat?”
“Chicken. That’s it. I bought some the other day, it’s in the fridge.”
She laughed. “I’ll put some out. I’m guessing you found the diamond?”
“On the floorboard of the car. I was scared for a minute when I didn’t find it in your purse.”
“I’m so glad this worked out,” she said.
“All I know is I feel like I can only trust two people, and I can’t believe Seton’s one of ‘em,” I said.
Seton cleared his throat. “All my debts are resolved?”
I nodded. “We’re straight.”
“Okay, then fuck you on your shitty remark. There’ll be no more free legal advice.”
“And there’ll be no more loans to support your gambling,” I said. “Your guaranteed pay-offs aren’t very guaranteed, asshole.”
Jess walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and got out the package of chicken. She smiled as she opened a drawer and got a knife. When she got a plate out of the cupboard, I realized she had been in my home enough that she knew where everything was, and I found an odd comfort in knowing that she did.
I had never allowed anyone to grow as close to me as Jess, and seeing her prepare the leopard’s food made me view her in a more maternal sense. I shook it off as being a sleep deprived state-of-mind that I would not have possessed otherwise.
“Seton,” I said. “I’m taking the diamond to the safe, and I’m going to grab you $100,000 for your quick thinking on this deal. Don’t gamble it away.”
“Damn. I wasn’t expecting that,” he said.
“And after I give it to you, you’re going to leave. I’m tired, and I’m ready for bed.”
“What about me?” Jess asked.
I turned around. “You? You’re staying. We’re going to have some celebratory sex.”
“I just have to stay off my knees,” she said. “They’re still pretty banged up.”
“Duly noted,” I said with a laugh.
My sexual interest in Jess had changed so much since we met. I went from wanting to shove her full of dick just to claim her as another notch on my belt to wanting to have sex with her because I cared for her deeply.
I couldn’t pinpoint the moment things changed, but I really didn’t feel the need to. It simply seemed when she found out what I was involved in that she accepted not only my chosen profession, but me. Immediately following, things within me began to change.
I walked to the safe, placed the diamond inside, and grabbed ten $10,000 stacks of the drug money.
Halfway to the door, I stopped.
I turned around, returned the drug money to the safe, and grabbed ten stacks of $10,000 in clean money.
I locked the safe, walked to the door, and looked around the room.
Something in me had changed.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Jess
WE rolled around on the bed naked, wrapped in each other’s arms. The mood was different. We were kissing and playing around like high school kids. It was nice. For the first time since we started having sex, I was sober; so it may have been the lack of alcohol that brought on the change, but I really doubted it. Something, I was sure, had changed.
I couldn’t decide if the change was within me, in Dick, or of was a little of both.
Whatever the case, I liked it.
A lot.
He pinned me on my back, kissed along my upper arm, and eventually reached my neck. Goosebumps rose along my legs while he kissed up my neck until his mouth was against my ear.
I felt his cock pressing the inside of my thigh.
Strangely, I didn’t want it.
At least not in me.
Not yet.
I reached down and gripped it loosely in my hand and began to stroke it until it was firm. With his naked body pressed against mine, I felt like we were preparing to make love. Making love was something I wasn’t sure that I’d ever really done, and I had mentally set it aside as something that might happen when I was married, and not before.
Most of my sexual escapades had been while drunk, and never lasted for any length of time – generally until I had an orgasm or two – and not any longer.
I closed my eyes and relaxed while he continued to kiss and caress me. I felt special. I felt wanted.
I was filled with emotion.
His body seemed to fit against mine like it belonged in the place he had chosen to lay. His hip was against mine, his chest on my shoulder, and his leg bent at the knee, resting on my thigh. I felt comfortable, and had no desire to move in an effort to get comfortable.
I was comfortable.
I allowed myself to get lost in what I was feeling.
I continued to softly stroke his cock, but he seemed to care not. His hand massaged my breasts while he continued to kiss from my neck to my jaw.
“I want to suck your cock so bad, but my knees--” I whispered.
He lifted his head.
I opened my eyes. Instantly, I was lost. He wasn’t the asshole I met in the alley. He wasn’t the criminal who masterminded the diamond heist. He was a man that I had fallen in love with, and at that moment, I realized I wouldn’t settle for anything short of admitting that I loved him.
I love you.
His mouth met mine. We embraced in a kiss. As many times as we had fucked before that night, we had never kissed, and I had no real idea what I was missing until his tongue began to lightly dance with mine.
Chills ran along my spine.
I began to rub my hands all over his naked body, searching for the perfect place to grab, to hold, to grip, only to realize there was no perfect spot, only the perfect man.
And he was mine.
At least for the moment.
The kiss satisfied me as completely as anything I had ever experienced. My hands eventually came to rest, my fingertips pressed into the muscular flesh of his back. His hands held my face lightly as we continued with the kiss until we could kiss no more.
He gazed into my eyes.
I tingled from head-to-toe.
Without explanation or any spoken word, he turned and positioned himself beside me with his head close to my thighs and his hips beside my shoulder. Flat on my back, I stared up at the ceiling and wondered.
Mentally ill-prepared for the emotion and euphoria I was feeling, I gulped a choppy breath. I wanted to speak, to say something, to tell him how I felt, how he made me feel, and how deeply I enjoyed what we were doing.
But I was afraid.
I didn’t want to change anything.
I opted to keep my mouth shut, and for some reason, he did too. Maybe, I guessed, he felt no differently than I did, and didn’t want it to end.
He lifted his hips and began to climb on top of me, lifting his cock above my face. I craned my neck and encompassed the head
of his dick in my mouth, lightly sucking against the soft flesh as he lowered himself onto me.
A jolt ran through me as his tongue flicked against my clit.
Oh. My. God.
The thought of sucking his cock while he licked my pussy was beyond exciting. I imagined it being a contest, each of us attempting to either match the other’s oral sexual performance or exceed it, and all of it would happen in unison.
Like synchronized swimmers, executing each movement perfectly in time with each other.
I eagerly took him into my mouth.
He slid a finger into my wetness.
I began to work my mouth up and down the shaft while his hips began to softly buck in perfect time with my movements.
His finger worked in and out of my wet slit, and at the same time, his mouth kissed and sucked my swollen nub. I raised my ass from the bed and pressed my pussy against his mouth.
A tingling sensation ran from my nipples to my clit, and returned – repeatedly.
He inserted another finger. In response, I took more of him into my mouth.
He began to moan. The pace of his thrusts increased slightly, ever so gently forcing more and more cock into my mouth. Having the tip deep in my throat turned me on terribly, and I, too, began to moan against the flesh of his swollen shaft.
I felt a fingertip against my asshole. In anticipation of him entering me, I began to suck his cock wildly. He pushed his fingers deep within my pussy and curled the tips of them against my g-spot.
Something I had tried to find with little luck, he had found without instruction.
His fingertips tickled the sensitive flesh, sending a wave of ecstasy through me. I reached up, gripped his tight ass in my hands, and forced his cock deep into my throat.
His finger penetrated my ass.
Dear God.
He sucked and licked my clit while his fingers fucked my ass and pussy at the same time. In and out his fingers worked me into a puddle of emotion while he nibbled and sucked my love button with precision.
I felt myself quickly racing to climax.
I thrust my hips up from the mattress over and over, fucking against his face. The sound of him sucking my pussy alone was enough to bring me to orgasm, but his fingers made it so much more enjoyable.
My body shuddered in orgasm and I groaned against his cock, burying it deep in my throat. I needed a breath of air desperately, but at that moment I would have rather died than stopped short of satisfying him.
Another orgasm shot through me deeply, causing my muscles to contract. I pulled down on his ass, forcing the last inch of his manhood into my mouth.
He let out a groan, his hips made two or three short thrusts, and his warmth filled my throat.
Eagerly, I swallowed him completely, satisfied that I had pleased him.
I relaxed into the mattress. He rolled to the side. A soft moan escaped his lungs.
And, side-by-side, we fell asleep.
***
The feeling of being kissed washed over me and I felt a heavy weight pressing down on me.
I opened my eyes.
Dick was on top of me, and the room was lit only by the little bit of moonlight that shone in through the windows. I returned the kiss eagerly, desiring more. I wanted what we had before, earlier in the night.
Soon, I got exactly what I wished for.
After the passing of another magical moment, I was lost in a state of bliss. I continued to kiss him, grateful he was able to make me feel so special with nothing more than a simple kiss.
His hand fumbled between us. I felt pressure against my throbbing pussy.
Oh fuck.
My eyes went wide as his length slowly pushed into me fully. Being stuffed with ten inches of cock all at once was a feeling in itself, and I never wanted the experience of the first thrust to end.
The kissing continued and the fucking began.
Our mouths parted.
Between his thrusts, I expressed my satisfaction. “Your. Cock. Feels so. Good.”
“It’s your tight pussy,” he assured me.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight as he fucked me deeply. I wanted to feel his body against mine, smell his scent, feel his skin, and listen to him breathe. I got all of that, and more, one thrust at a time.
My hands worked my way up and down his body until they came to rest against the cheeks of his ass.
With his muscular butt in my grip, I became the driving force behind his thrusts. Pulling against his flesh, I timed them perfectly, hiking my feet high into the air and spreading my legs as wide as I was able.
I wanted all of him that he was able to give.
His balls slapped against the sensitive skin between my butt cheeks, driving me wild in anticipation of each penetration. I wrapped my legs over his shoulders, and relished in the sight of the shadows the moonlight created along his muscular silhouette.
I wanted him in my ass, but didn’t dare ask. I was sober, and I didn’t want him to think lesser of me.
He reached beside the bed as he continued to fuck me, seeming to be fumbling for something. In a few seconds, I felt his hand along my thigh, and then a cold wet substance on my ass.
Oh God.
Please.
He slowly withdrew his cock from inside me.
He stroked it with the lube, driving me insane with anticipation. His finger first, and after a few preparatory strokes, his pushed himself into me slowly.
I closed my eyes.
I needed nothing but a few strokes to satisfy me completely.
What he gave me was so much more.
He pushed each of his thumbs into my pussy, and his cock deep into my ass. With his hands, he thumb-fucked me, the web between his thumb and forefinger pummeling my clit with each stroke of his digits.
At the same time, he fucked my ass like it was the last time he was going to have a chance.
I would have guessed ten inches of cock deep in my ass would have killed me, but it was nothing short of perfect. I focused on the shadows cast on his perfect physique, alternating to his handsome face as he fucked my ass like a man possessed.
I have no idea how much time passed, but whatever the length, I was in ecstasy the entire time.
My clit began to tingle. What felt like an electric shock danced between my pussy and my ass with each stroke of his manhood.
My satisfaction came to a head, and I felt myself begin to explode. “I’m going to come. Hard.”
I closed my eyes tight and tried to focus on the feeling of his cock deep in my ass, but instead found myself incapable of focusing on anything but my love for Dick.
Everything slipped away from my mental grasp.
My muscles tensed, loosened, and tensed again. Confused, I opened my eyes.
His back arched, and his breathing became choppy. I watched the muscles in his chest and arms become tense.
The warmth of his cum filled me, and as soon as I felt it within me, I burst out in an orgasm of my own, crying out into the silent room for nothing more than to provide him with an assurance that he was wholly and completely the man of my dreams.
His upper body came to rest on my chest, and once again our lips pressed to one another. Passionately, we kissed for some time.
When he pulled his mouth from mine, I returned his passionate look, wanting to say something to give what we shared a label, recognition, something…
“Jess, I love you,” he said.
My lip began to quiver. I raised my index finger, knowing an immediate response was impossible. Tears were welling in my eyes and I was busy processing what he had said. A tear rolled down my cheek.
The moment I had waited a lifetime for was well upon me. My lips parted. “I love you, too. But please, be gentle with my heart.”
“I will,” he assured me with a nod. “Because you’re all I have.”
And I began to softly cry.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Dick
JESS and I sat on my back deck
enjoying the sun and eating lunch. Seton was on his way over, and I was anxious to learn what he had found out regarding the people I assumed were business associates, but was afraid had all turned snitch.
After hearing his car in the drive, I sent him a text message.
Come around through the yard. Leopard hates men.
I chuckled a laugh at the thought of the leopard warming up to Jess and not allowing me within twenty feet of it.
“What?” Jess asked.
“Your cat,” I said.
“She loves me.”
I shook my head. “Hates me.”
Seton came around the corner of the house. “Lunch in the sun?”
Jess raised her half-eaten sandwich. “Hungry?”
“Just ate, thank you.”
Anxious, I turned toward him. “So, what’d you learn.”
“A considerable amount, actually. Some of which I know, some I’ve assumed.”
“Tell me what you know.”
He removed a folded sheet of paper from his jacket. “Well, Drake Allen Shuck was detained, questioned, and scared shitless to the point that he turned confidential informant on a state level. Bartholomew Bright, no middle initial or name, was charged with possession of stolen diamonds, and he turned confidential informant for the federal government. Bartholomew, in an effort to minimize his exposure to prison time, set up William James Patterson, aka Fat Willie, up on a reverse sting.”
“Holy crap, I knew that fat fuck was a cop,” Jess said excitedly.
Seton nodded. “Well, he is.”
“I can’t believe this shit; my entire support system has gone snitch. So, who busted me in the head and took the diamond?” I asked.
“Well, based on what I know, this is what seems to have happened,” Seton said. “Your jeweler is on the up and up from what I can see. It seems somehow, by happenstance or because he simply followed you, Duc took your diamond at the jeweler’s. He then met with Drake regarding the stone, which was made a matter of record in Drake’s case. Drake then set Duc up on a sale to the feds, which was their hope and intention the entire time. They were after him, and didn’t want to get him on the purchase, but the sale of the stone. The courts prefer to prosecute sales over purchases. A bargain purchase is often lost in court due to either entrapment or the deal simply being so good it lures the otherwise law-abiding citizen to break the law. Sales, on the other hand are a slam dunk.”