A voice in my head was screaming, never let her go. But if the past ever taught me anything, it was that I didn’t get to keep the prize. She deserved someone that wouldn’t leave her to meet someone at a sex club.
“I’m sorry you had to see that in there.”
The sound of my voice was whinier than even I expected. It didn’t matter she kept staring straight ahead. I was afraid to look in her eyes and see the disgust in them.
“I’ve got to go work. Can I call you later?”
“Yeah,” she said, shrugging her shoulder but still never looking at me. “Drake, I mean it. I can’t take much more, and now my kids are involved. If you hurt us.”
“I swear, I’m here because there is nowhere else I want to be.”
Cherry Webb
The tightness in my chest had finally eased by the time I pulled into the driveway of the house. Drake was really good at pleading the innocent thing. He even knew when to drop his voice to a low, sexy rumble.
“Mom, did you see me jump off the cliff,” Noah said as he climbed out of the backseat of the car. “Billy said Thomas and Jeff can come over sometime. I hope you’re cool with that.”
“I’m cool.” I picked up a sleeping Henry from his car seat, and slammed the door shut with my hip. “Grab the bag of snacks, Noah.”
“Why? That’s Ruby’s job.”
“Because Ruby went to Matt’s house hours ago. I’m sure you’ll be leaving me for some cute girl soon enough.” Why not everyone seems to leave me? “But right now grabbed the bag.”
The day had been hard to wrap my head around, from the return of my panties, to him showing up at The Falls, to the girl and her talk of threesomes. Now he was at work. Did work involve the club, and maybe, unleashing some punishment on the blonde from the restaurant. But as Drake said was it really punishment if your body craved it.
I’d never dreamed I would enjoy punishment. Hell, I never dreamed I would cry out for a man’s touch. Even more desperately want to return that touch. There was a lot I didn’t think about or want before Drake entered my world. Sensations, emotions, needs threatened to overwhelm me, and possibly even drown me.
“I’m going to put Henry in bed then I’ll come in to read to you.”
I climbed the stairs, my arms giving out from the weight. The weight of holding Henry and the weight of trying to keep it all together.
Pulling back the covers, I laid Henry down in the bed, and twirled one of his brown curls around my pinky before slipping off the t-shirt and swim trunks he had worn all day. I pulled his favorite batman shirt out of the dresser and tugged it on his body, relieved he didn’t stir. The boys had been through enough already. Now they had found a new hero in Drake. Was it right? After all, I had no idea where Drake was leading me.
A stool scraped across the tile floor, followed closely by a loud crash. Got to quit trying to balance on the thing, I thought with a chuckle.
I went to the bathroom to check on Noah when he bounced out into the hallway and caught me by the leg. I limped along to Noah’s room, knowing the days of this game was limited. He crawled into bed and flipped through the stack of books laying on his bedside table, before settling back on the headrest, growing uncharacteristically quiet, and letting his big green eyes study mine.
He swept the bangs off his forehead, wiping away the serious face and replacing it with a snaggletooth grin. “Mommy, is Drake going to be my new daddy?”
I forced myself to smile back and sat on the edge of his bed. “Baby, you have a daddy. And I know he is doing things right now that are confusing and makes you sad but he is still your daddy, and he loves you.”
“I wish Drake was my daddy instead.”
He couldn’t be his daddy. He deserved a daddy that would be there for him at night not running off to some club to play his games.
Noah sat up and hugged my neck. “I love you, Mommy. You’re enough.”
“Am I?” I asked as I tucked him in tight and placed a kiss on his cheek before completely losing it.
Drake Hart
I glanced at my watch for the hundredth time. She was late, and I didn’t take kindly to tardiness.
The Dungeon held a magic I could never explain to an outsider. I felt freer here than any other place in the world. It had been my medicine. When I took over all this from my father, I was determined to build more than a club but an empire. Too much blood, sweat, and tears had been poured into this place to walk away from it now.
A faint tap at the door caught my attention. Not assertive. That was a good thing.
“Come in,” I said, taking a seat at my desk.
She closed the door behind her and took in the view of Beale Street out the picture window that took up the entire south wall of my office. In the center of the room stood a large heavy wood desk my dad made when this was his. I tapped my fingers over it, annoyed at her hesitation.
I started to roll the sleeves of my dress shirt up, bored my eyes into hers, but didn’t say a word.
“Sir,” she said, her breathing labored. “There was a wreck on I-40 and I sat in traffic for over an hour.”
I held up my hand, not caring in the least what she was saying. I wanted the job done and over. I had a skype call to make.
She lifted her chin and walked over to where I sat.
Without meeting my stare, she started to lay out an array of folders and pictures across the desk. “Sir, if you would like I can start.”
I didn’t respond aloud, I simply gestured toward the materials before me. She didn’t deserve my words.
She cleared her throat and began discussing the aspects of her presentation. As she showed different details and discoveries, I remained silent.
She leaned over the desk to grab a drawing, when I made my first move. It felt wrong. Was it even worth it? No matter how much I would lose could I truly hurt Cherry this way?
“Turn around, Mrs. Manning.”
Slowly she turned to face me.
Cherry Webb
I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping instead of the sound of kids. Unusual, considering it was after one before I even went to bed. I read not one but three stories to Noah, I took a long, cool shower to wash the day off, both physically and figuratively, had coffee with Ruby after she got home, anything to keep from staring at the cellphone, and waiting on a call that never came.
I stretched and sat up, noticing the large box of gifts Drake had sent over in the corner.
I got up, purposely avoiding it, and stepped into my en suite bathroom. Brushing my teeth, I studied myself in the mirror. The dark, swollen circles encompassing my eyes was still present even after five hours of sleep. I pinched my cheeks to bring some color to them, flashed a big fake grin in the mirror, and then shook my head. Maybe, our biggest hurdle was not the unknown but the known. We had to look utterly ridiculous together. I was ten years his senior, and our appearance had an even greater divide than our age. There was no way we wouldn’t cause a disturbance if we were out and about together. I rinsed my face and tossed my dark brown hair back in a messy bun, realizing focusing on the obvious would only drive a wedge deeper between us.
Drake Webb
That night I dreamed I was on top of the cliffs. The waterfalls spraying my flesh with its light mist, rocks piercing my bare skin as I moved over them, a woman’s weight baring down on me. She lowered her mouth, sliding her tongue between my lips. I tugged at her hair, looking deep into her green eyes. The green of a budding leaf on the first day of Spring, a symbol of hope and life. And looking into those eyes, I could see it, the hope of a future.
“Love me,” she breathed into my ear.
I woke with a start, gasping for air, my nipples painfully hard, my pulse skyrocketing between my legs, the name, “Cherry,” on my lips.
I sat up; naked and tangled in the sheets.
It had taken longer than I ever dreamed to finish the job, and I missed calling Cherry. I had let her down in more ways than one, and would continue let
ting her down.
Less than a minute from my eyes opening, my cellphone chimed. Per his usual self, Billy text me at dawns early light the flight plan for our next step.
Billy: Flight #813
A.A. departing Memphis
At 7:55
TODAY
I will email tickets.
Me: Thanks
Billy: You are going to hurt her.
Me: I know, but I have to do this.
Knowing this would destroy Cherry, I still had to do it.
After one final text to Cherry:
Me: Thinking of you
Yours, D
I closed my eyes reliving the only other memory that hurt as bad as leaving her.
Drake Hart
Five-years-old
New Year’s Eve 1994
The house was extra smelly that day. It’s normal smell of urine and cigarettes had some other unfamiliar smell to it, I think it was hamburgers. I couldn’t tell you for sure though if it was hamburgers or not. Mommy had sent me to my room and pulled the curtains closed, causing it to be extra dark. She told me if I left the room she would spank me. I wanted to go see what everyone was laughing about. I really wanted to see if there was food. I hadn’t eaten all day or I think the day before and my tummy was really hurting.
Uncle Gavin, he really wasn’t my uncle he was the man who helped Mommy make money, came in to check on me. At first I thought he was going to spank me but he didn’t. He invited me to the party and told me he had a big surprise for me. My stomach rumbled and I prayed it was food.
He led me into the living room. And there, among the sea of empty beer cans, overflowing ashtrays, and nasty food wrappers was my Mommy laying on a torn, old, mattress. I thought at first she was dead but she started to moan every few minutes. Uncle Gavin gave me half a hamburger and it was so good. But it caused my stomach to feel funny. I thought it was going to make me sick. My Mommy even looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at her. She was worried about my stomach.
“Baby, Uncle Gavin has been good to you. Right, sweetheart?” Mommy asked, and I nodded, hoping Mommy would smile again.
“Now it is your turn to thank him,” she said. “Make his friend happy and you can eat anything you want in the kitchen.”
“Suck it, you little bastard,” Some dirty man said, and pushed my head frighteningly, squashing my face into his groin.
His pants were unzipped and his wiggle wink was slapping against my cheek. “I said suck it not breathe on it,” the man said, and shoved it into my mouth.
I gagged, wiggled, and looked for my Mommy. She was kissing Uncle Gavin and laughing. I couldn’t understand what was happening and why Mommy was not helping me.
“Do it right, pervert,” Uncle Gavin screamed at me. “Or you won’t eat for a week.”
The man punched me in the back, causing his thing to shove father down my throat. I started to struggle causing my mom to crawl over beside me.
“Baby, do this for Mommy,” she whispered in my ear. “Be good and make this man extra happy. If you do this, he is going to give Mommy some medicine. You know Mommy needs her medicine.”
What could I do except what Mommy wanted. So I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of Santa. My teacher said he would bring presents to good kids. I hoped maybe I was good enough for one present. I was helping Mommy get her medicine. And I really wanted her to have it too. Sometime when she had taken a lot of them, she would cuddle with me and even talk to me. So I just got on with it, hoping it would make Mommy hug me. The man got rougher. I prayed really hard that it would be over soon. And I wouldn’t get sick – I knew I would really be in trouble if I did.
And then, suddenly it was done, and the smelly man pushed me off of him. I scrambled over to Mommy, trying to wipe the salty liquid from my mouth as I did. But she just pushed me off of her, and went to the man herself to kiss him.
I didn’t mind though. It was over, and I could go into the kitchen to eat.
I did eat too. I got two hamburgers and some chips, curled into the corner of the couch and watched Mommy do the thing I just did to the same man and Uncle Gavin. It must not be a bad thing to do she was enjoying it.
Mommy did it for hours to a number of men before she finally came over to me. It was my turn to get cuddles. But there was no more time for hugs.
“C’mon, baby,” she whispered in my ear. “It is time to get ready for school. Remember do not tell anybody what happen here or they will take you to a place that hurts you every minute of every day.”
I tried to argue. I really wanted to cuddle with Mommy and stroke her mass of shiny red curls for just a little while. But Uncle Gavin kicked my legs and said, “Get your lazy ass up and go to school. And if you talk, I will do worst to you than any of those places will.”
I wanted to cry. She held those men and kissed them in yucky places. I just wanted for her to hold me for a few minutes. But I did what I was told.
My clothes were crumpled on the floor in the corner of my room. I kicked the dog off of them. Mommy loved that damn dog. I bet she would find time to cuddle him.
Luckily, after the hamburgers last night I wasn’t hungry because as usual there was no more food in the house. I walked passed Mommy in the living room. She was already asleep.
“No talking, you little bastard,” Uncle Gavin warned as I walked out the front door.
I was sneaking down the back alley, trying again to not be late.
“Hey, loser, nobody wants you here. So leave.”
I turned to see two boys who lived in the house down the street from mine. They had a daddy and a Mommy.
“Sor . . . Sorry,” I said.
“Damn right, you’re sorry,” the littler of the two said.
The police were at their house all the time. The oldest brother could not even go to school anymore. Mommy told me they're bad and to stay away from them.
“You’re a fucking, nasty piece of shit,” said the bigger one. “And your mom’s a dirty whore.”
“Don’t talk about her,” I screamed out, not wanting them to talk about Mommy. “Or she will come to your house and get you.”
“She will come alright, and give my dad another blow job,” the little one said. “My mom said for the right stuff, she is one hell of a pussy licker too.”
I couldn’t stop them from coming but I busted into tears. “Just leave me alone. I want to go home.”
The boys laughed and one of them kicked me in the knees, making me fall over. I didn’t move, just crawled into a ball until they left.
“Bye, freak, see you around,” they each chatted as they walked away.
I was already late for school, so I crawled behind the dumpster and fell asleep next to the lady that lived there.
I didn’t know what time it was when I woke up but I was cold and someone had spilled sticky stuff all over me. I got up and limped home to find Mommy on the doorstep.
She was happy, and patted the spot beside her. I snuggled down beside her then she told me something that would forever turn my world upside down.
“Congratulations, baby, you are going to be a big brother. I sure hope it’s a girl. You know I really hate little boys.”
Cherry Webb
Thinking of you, my ass. I kicked the box of unwrapped gifts to the farthest corner of my closet, not having opened a single box in one week and three days. The same amount of days since I had heard from Drake. Where the hell was he? What was he doing? Was he even thinking of me?
I threw the bracelet he had bought me on top of the box, not understanding why it hurt me to the level it did. I was used to being hurt. James Webb had disappeared on me before, but even after a sixteen-year marriage it never hurt like this.
But I had gotten closer to Drake in such a short amount of time, more so than I had with any other person in my life. I had fallen in love with him. Deep down, I knew I would always love him too.
Drake Hart
I had no idea how much more I could take, and had pi
cked up the phone over and over again to call her, but I couldn’t, knowing what I was doing would hurt her.
No one understood what I felt for this woman.
Hell, I didn’t understand it myself. And I didn’t want to understand it either. I just wanted to feel it.
All I knew was when I first looked in her eyes, I felt something I had never felt before.
Cherry was mine.
And it had been nine long days since I had touched her, and here I stood overwhelmed with the urge to consume her.
Never being one to deny myself anything, I traced a finger down the silky, softness of her shoulder.
Cherry Webb
Roused from sleep by the feel of rough hands running over my shoulder, panic set in before my bed dipped, and I smelt him. His thick, muscular body slid in behind me, and his strong arm came around my waist, pulling me against the warmth of his chest. My traitorous body betrayed me yet again as it relaxed in his arms.
Kissing my bare shoulder for a solid minute, Drake whispered, “Sorry, I was working. Are you okay?”
Am I okay? Hell, No! You walked away from me over a week ago and now you crawl into my bed like it was nothing.
I turned on my side to face him, and was briefly taken back by the way he looked at me as if I was actually precious, and for a moment, I held out hoped I was more to him than a convenient fuck. “I’m okay. We shared a moment, I don’t own you.”
“What I feel for you is greater than any moment.”
I opened my mouth to say something when he kissed me. It was a kiss full of desperate hunger. It was unlike any kiss I had ever had before. That was maybe why I didn’t know how to respond. I stiffened except for my lips that gladly molded into his. It was unfair that he could make me feel this way with a simple touch of his lips.