The Golden Chalice (3 page)

“Mmm, morning.” Sasha dropped back to the bed. The sheet slipped, revealing her breasts.

“Morning,” Kumar mumbled in a hoarse whisper. His dark, curly head lowered and he swiped his tongue over her nipple.

Sasha smiled. She combed her fingers through his locks and spread each digit through the silken thatch of hair at the top of his head. Kumar drew her nipple into his wet, heated mouth. He licked and sucked with such sweetness her back bowed from the bed. His breath was both warm and moist against her skin, his tongue masterful. His body moved over hers, hard and firm.
My lord, he has a magnificent body
. Sasha parted her thighs and scooted down a bit. He was so tall. She let her lids flutter shut to the delicious current his semi-erect length stirred as it rubbed and slipped along the folds of her pussy.

“Kumar, I miss you, baby,” she moaned, rotating her hips. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. If he were to slip in, she’d rock his world. She hoped he’d do so soon. He’d denied her sex for weeks after their big fight. And the brief encounters they shared had been fraught with frustration. She wanted her sweet, gentle lover again. Suddenly, he was in the mood.

Kumar’s head lifted. He hovered and stared with eyes as dark and beautiful as black satin. He had olive-brown skin; born of East Indian descent, his curly fro was almost blue-black. His features were sharp and strongly chiseled. He possessed a courageous masculinity. To Sasha, he appeared like a tribal warrior from an exotic land.

She blinked away her disappointment over his hesitation and summoned her teasing, sex-kitten voice. “C’mon, baby, what you waiting for?” It used to work, when he thought her pure, and misunderstood. Now that he knew all her sins, their bond had weakened.

Sasha ran her hands up and down the sides of his chest. Her fingers splayed before gripping his clenched buttocks in an attempt to drive him forward. He really did have a gorgeous body in a this-guy-can’t-be-real kind of way. Kumar Suresh had been her fantasy, from the day he rescued her to now. The first real love of her life.

“I’m sorry,” Kumar whispered.

“Sorry? For what?” Sasha froze.

“For using again. The way the job went down when we stole the Chalice could have gotten your sister killed, or worse. We haven’t talked about it. We need to.”

“Now?” Sasha groaned, her body on fire for his touch.

Kumar dropped on her. His dick remained painfully erect, pressed hard against the warm lips of her core. He wanted to make love to her, but for weeks he’d been unable to do so without anger and jealousy driving his emotions. He had to let go or he’d use again. Already he had that itch to do so. He lifted and forced himself to look her in the eye when he spoke.

“Let me finish.” He brushed away stray strands from the left side of her face. He kissed her nose, and the small wrinkle between her perfectly arched brows. Sasha, and what they shared, surpassed sex or companionship. She had become his nirvana. It burned his gut to know Lee had touched her, hurt her. Even now the chambers of his heart weakened over the mere thought of her vulnerability. After the score, Lee had been consumed with Michelle’s recovery. Her release meant business would begin again. Well, it would have to go on without Sasha. He planned to make sure of it.

“What happened between you and Lee happened before we knew each other,” he continued. “I had no right to treat you the way I did.” A soft sigh escaped her when his lips brushed hers. “I love you, Sasha Dixon. I’ve never loved a woman as much. I got crazy, but I’m not using that shit anymore. I need you to believe in me again.”

Sasha had to fight her own battle of personal restraint against exclaiming with joy over his profession of love. She felt astonishment over the sense of fulfillment Kumar brought to her life. How had she become so lucky? After her sister’s shooting, they all moved through the days pretending they hadn’t changed. Kumar busied himself with work. He’d watch TV with her, fight with her over a dinner choice, and never mention the source of his pain. She even feared he’d started using again. But if he said the worst had come and gone, she would believe him.

“I’m sorry, too, Kumar. I love you. Only you. I never had sex with Lee. That’s the God’s honest truth. You do know that, right?”

“I do.”

For long, breathless moments, neither of them moved. She lay in the drowsy warmth of their bed with his cock pressed into her throbbing center. Desire bloomed in her pelvis and filled her channel with wet heat. She couldn’t part her thighs wide enough to remind him of the invitation. With slow precision, he plunged into her deeply; he claimed her. A soft sob shook her slender frame. Long, hard strokes sent him so far she felt sure he had lodged himself in her heart.

“Yes, baby,” she breathed, running her tongue over her top lip to the feel of the delicious thickness that filled her, stretching her channel without mercy.

Kumar’s rapid thrusts drove him in and out so her legs were tossed upward. Lifted to a V, her ankles rested on the outer curve of his shoulders. He gripped her under her butt cheeks, parted them, and kept with the hip thrusts once she opened wide enough to receive him. His testicles slapped at the seat of her ass, and she dug her nails into the mattress. Sasha rotated her hips against the ensuing pressure and let pleasure rip through her.

“So good, so good,” he grunted through clenched teeth.

Sasha felt her climax mounting, waves of pressure starting from her tender sex, and spread outward in a burst of sensations that forced her to arch up into him.

“I want to taste you,” Kumar said. He lowered her legs and came down hard on her, thrusting his dick in and out of her as he ran his tongue under her neck, sampling her sweat. They found a shared groove that made the mattress squeak. The sound of wet flesh smacking against wet flesh, along with pleasured moans and groans escaping them both, created a sweet symphony that flowed throughout the room. She released and a galaxy of stars burst under her closed lids. She gripped his sweaty shoulders. She shook hard through her orgasm as he kept going, riding her toward his long-awaited climax. He pumped a release that had him repeating her name over and over until every drop of his seed was spent.

He collapsed on her, wheezing out deep breaths. Sasha smiled. She ran her hand down his spine. “I got a good feeling about us, sweetheart. Things are going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

Kumar nodded. “I feel it, too, beautiful. We are going to be just fine.”

She floated on a cloud of contentment.

***

“Stop pacing, babe.” Kumar looked up from his laptop.

Sasha worried. The frown lines deepened across her brow as the seconds ticked into minutes. “Can you put that up, please?”

“Why?”

“She’s on her way in. Home. Well, I guess this place is home. I mean I miss Chicago, yes, but this place is just as good. The ocean is here. I know she loves the ocean. And it’s so peaceful. Do you think she will be happy here? Maybe. Maybe not. Oh hell, I don’t know.”

Kumar lowered the lid to the laptop and smiled. “You want a celebration? A parade, I know. How about just a big ole
Welcome Home
sign? Streamers. Balloons?”

“Very funny. I’m so nervous. It’s been so long since this nightmare began. I just don’t know how she will react to me.” Sasha turned from him, wringing her hands. Michelle
heard us. She knows our secret
. No matter the excuse, she’d hurt her sister again, deeply.

“Hey.” Kumar had risen. He dropped his hands to her shoulders. She lowered her gaze and relaxed. “She’s your sister. It’s going to be okay. We’re okay, right?”

“Right.” She quickly pulled her drifting insecurities together and straightened. Michelle was her blood. Pops had taught them
family first
. Michelle believed this. Even if disappointed, Michelle would never truly abandon their sisterhood. She needed to be confident in the bond they shared.

Turning, she slipped her arms around his narrow waist and pressed the side of her face to his chest. “I’m so happy it’s over, and she’s coming home. So happy.”

***

The limo door opened and the morning chill called for her. Michelle switched her gaze from the scene outside the window over to Lee. He remained near despite her request for space. For a brief moment, she felt gratitude. Facing her sister and everyone after nearly dying had her questioning her own strength. Her eyes burned, dry from sleeplessness. Her whole body seemed engulfed by tides of weariness.

“You okay?” Lee’s voice was soft and concerned.

“I think so.”

A hand appeared, which she accepted. She eased out of the open car door. The new place looked like the others. A fortress to keep her locked away. She didn’t bother to wait for him. He’d be on her again soon; of this she had no doubt. Michelle needed to buy herself enough time to take her heart out of the equation. To deal with him the way she’d planned.

Michelle walked through the front doors. She stopped abruptly. Sasha stood there with Kumar a step behind her. Abahti lingered near the stairs. The three people she wanted least to see.

“Welcome home, Michelle!” Sasha hurried over and threw her arms around her neck. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I would have visited, but Lee…well, I’m glad you’re out of that place. How do you feel? You look good.”

Michelle forced her sister back, freeing herself from the unsolicited hug. She looked her in the eye and felt nothing. “I’m fine. Excuse me.”

She walked briskly for the stairs. Abahti glowered down at her but moved when she approached. She climbed the treads, feeling everyone’s eyes on her retreating form. She didn’t care.

***

“What’s wrong with her? Is she okay?” Sasha asked.

“She’s fine,” Lee mumbled. He walked off to his office. Abahti followed. Alone with Kumar, Sasha pouted. The big welcome home had been a bust.

“Should I go up there?” she whispered, her eyes lifting to the ceiling.

“I don’t think so, babe. She needs time to get her head in it. You know how that goes.”

“Did you see how she looked at me? She’s angry with me still. I can tell.”

“Anger and love are two sides of the same coin. Give her a little space and time.”

“Yeah, okay, you’re right. Space and time.”

***

Somewhere in France

“Get out.” Eddie rose. He tossed back another swig of lukewarm beer. He didn’t bother to zip the pants that rode his hips, just tucked his penis down and inside. The nameless woman nodded her obedience, collected her things, and hurried out of the suite to the bathroom. He walked over to the deck, slipping past the French doors. The city awaited with honking horns and street life. He’d been hiding like a coward for months. Hiding had never been his style. He’d reached his limit.

The phone rang.

Eddie finished off his beer. He returned inside and plucked it from its receiver. “Yeah?”

“She’s out.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“Will Escobar meet with me?”

Silence.

“Will any of them meet with me? Hear my side of things?”

Silence.

“Fine. I’ll finish it. I just need one more favor, Monk. Get word to Abahti, I don’t care how. If I can bring the Golden Chalice to The Order, they’ll pardon the killing of Rawhead. I’m sure of it.”

“Thought of it already. Abahti is refusing to meet. There’s another option.”

Eddie gripped the phone tightly. “What? What the fuck is it?”

“The techie, the computer guy. Kumar Suresh. He’s using smack again. I know where he scores his drugs.”

Eddie smiled. “Ah, that is promising. Very-very promising.”

Chapter Four

“Where is he? Where is the fucking weasel?” Lee paced his office. His agitation had little to do with Eddie Cumminskey and more to do with his woman and her silent treatment. He lifted his gaze and fixated on the ceiling. Maybe he should go to their bedroom and make sure she was okay. Lee clucked his tongue at Evita, who licked her paw in the corner of his office. “Evita, go find Mama. Take care of her.”

The Doberman rose, shook her head, and strolled out. Abahti closed the door behind the animal. “We aren’t sure, boss.”

“About what?” Lee grumbled, having forgotten his rant.

“Cumminskey. No one’s talking, at least not to us. They know we have the Chalice and I think….”

“Go on?” Lee asked.

“I think they want to make a move. To strike against us.”

“They? Again with the ‘they’. Is that what you think?” Lee lowered to a chair, his chest tight with contempt. Abahti stilled.

“Yes, boss, it’s what I think.”

“Shall I share my thoughts? Interested? Good. I think I’ve been distracted since the shooting. Trusting. Too forgiving. Eddie had inside information the night of the heist. I
think
the traitor is near. Maybe Eddie isn’t my problem, friend. He’s gone rogue with killing Rawhead unsanctioned. The Order will deal with him. I need to focus on the betrayal. Find out who the motherfucker is who would dare try to harm Michelle.” Lee picked up his scotch and took a sip. Over the rim of his glass, he fixed his glare on Abahti.

Abahti’s stony expression of innocence made Lee doubtful.

“What is it you want me to do?” Abahti asked.

“Nothing, friend.” Lee set the crystal glass down on the coaster. The diamond ring on his pinky sparkled. “I’ll take this one on.”

He gave a nod and Abahti walked out. Lee rocked in his leather office chair and drummed his fingers on his desk. “Interesting.”

***

“Knock, knock.”

Michelle turned from the window. Her sister opened the door and stepped inside. “What do you need?”

“To talk?” Sasha asked. “You came up here in such a hurry I didn’t get a chance to catch up.”

“A chance? Oh, that’s right. You want a chance to explain?” Michelle slapped her hands to her thighs. Her temper smoldered with caged fury. She touched her heart and feigned interest. “To help me understand how stupid you are? Or how evil Lee is. No, I got it. How much of a fool I am.”