Rapture (23 page)

~
26
~

Alika

By noon, Rush and I were on our way somewhere. I sat in the passenger seat listening to the Sirius jazz station he had playing. I had never been a fan of jazz before, but now it was music to my ears. I hadn’t realized before just how relaxing the instruments were, and how they had the power to take your mind to places it wouldn’t normally be allowed to go because of too many busy thoughts. My head lay comfortably against the leather seat, as I reflected back on the first night that I was in the back seat on the floor right behind where Rush was currently sitting. I had come such a long way in such a short amount of time, and it seemed that things were only getting better. When I felt Rush touch my hand and start to rub it softly, my eyes glistened. His touch solidified everything I was feeling in that moment. The emotion was overwhelming. I had truly found my way. And even though it had come by way of something traumatic, I was thankful for it. I can only imagine what my fate might have been had I not had the courage to run. I’d heard the story of women being caught up in those types of situations. Lured away from someplace else and then becoming victim to guerilla tactics by pimps like Curtis! I began to shiver at the thought, but was brought right back to normalcy, when I heard Rush speak.

“We’re here,” he said, turning down the music, as he pulled up to valet at the InterContinental San Francisco.

The valet guy opened my door to allow me out and my mouth gasped at the sight of the beauty of the building. It was super tall giving the appearance that it could touch the sky. It was some kind of translucent blue, or maybe even turquoise combined with silver. It was breathtaking! Not that I hadn’t seen stunning settings before, but I had for sure never spent nights in any of them. Looking at the outside, I already knew what to expect once we hit the lobby. At least I
thought
I knew what to expect! It was elegantly designed, with extremely high ceilings and fancy tile leading to an opened waiting area. Right beyond that was a mahogany wood reception desk that had to expand at least thirty feet long, and that was illuminated in the same turquoise that was on the building. The staff behind the desk already wore smiles. It was as though their life depended on it; they were smiling that hard. But then it might’ve very well been that they genuinely loved their jobs.

“Welcome to the InterContinental. How can we help you?”

“Yes, I would like to book one of your nicest rooms,” Rush told them. “Me and this beautiful woman are here to celebrate coming off of a laborious weekend of work. We want to relax at a home away from home.”

“Of course,” the woman smiled, while she began to tap the keys for availability.

“Oh, and please select something that sits on one of the higher floors so that we have a nice view of the city tonight.”

“Absolutely. And would you want a regular room or a suite?”

“A suite would be nice, but if there aren’t any available, we’ll take a room—as long as there are views.”

“Okay!” she said, excitedly. “I found the perfect room for you. It’s a 1-bedroom king suite on the 28
th
floor—four floors away from the tip top,” she smiled. “Just let me get everything secure and you all are on your way.”

Rush turned to look at me and grinned. I was ecstatic, as I slipped my arm through his and held on tightly. I was ready for whatever the day held…as well as the night.

Several minutes later, the woman was handing both Rush and myself room keys. Shortly thereafter, we headed to the elevators to settle into our suite. When we opened the door, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It was gorgeous! Not that where we lived wasn’t a home of all homes, but we sure as hell didn’t have views of San Francisco from three different windows! The curtains were already opened when we entered our suite, so I had a clear view into the Bay Area! It was so pretty! “Damn, baby! Look at this view!” I yelled out. “Look how far you can see!” I exclaimed excitedly. “And, oh my God! Can you imagine what it’s gonna look like tonight?”

Rush came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the side of my neck. I closed my eyes, and leaned back into his chest, and relished the moment—the very special moment—with the man that I…
dare I say it
? It was definitely, love.

“I love you, Alika…” he whispered. And then the world stopped. I mean it stopped dead in its fast-spinning tracks and struck a nerve that pierced me directly through my heart. After the initial shock wore off, I slowly turned towards him, looking up into his eyes.

“It took you long enough.”

He released a light chuckle. “What do you—”

I quickly put my forefinger across his lips to hush him. I leaned against his chest and snaked my arms around him tightly. “I love you too, Rush.”

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing my back.

“I am.”

“What about you?”

“Perfect. I could stay like this all day.”

“Me too, but we can’t let all these amenities go to waste. That lady mentioned an indoor pool, a spa, some fine dining!
Baby
, we have to partake in all of that! Let me rephrase that. Food and
spa
. No pool. I can’t get fully submerged without some braids in this head,” I joked, running my hand across my wrap. So, I’ll just be sitting pretty next to you in the spa.”
Ugh
! As if the steam wouldn’t fuck my hair up! But I had to get a taste of what the hotel had to offer. I’d deal with hair stuff when we got back home.

By the time night fell, Rush and I had dined at Luce, the hotel’s onsite restaurant, where I had the King Salmon, and he had the Pan Roasted Pork Sirloin. Of course we topped it off with a dessert wine. Although I was nice and tipsy when we were done, my melancholy state had me wanting to remain in the magic of the moment a little longer, and before we turned in for the night.

“Do you realize that this is our first real date, babe?” I asked Rush, as we strolled hand-in-hand through South of Market.

“I know. It’s been kind of a whirlwind for us. You literally came…no
crashed
into my life in the middle of everything and fit right in.”

“Crashed, huh? I guess that would be a good way to put it,” I laughed.

“It’s the truth!” Rush guffawed. “But now that things have slowed down, we can have a lot more time like this. And even when we’re deep, deep in our relationship, I will not stop dating you. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he responded, softly squeezing the hand he held, in affirmation.

When the chill began to set in, we made our way back to our suite, and by the time we had made it through the door, the passion had taken us over. It had been building up since we first spoke, “I love you,” to one another, so foreplay was already out of the way. We wasted no time removing our own clothing and going for each other like two hungry animals who hadn’t been fed in days, but who needed to feast for survival.

We were frantic in all our movements. When I hopped onto Rush’s dick, it was without caution drawing him inside me with the first thrust. I rode up and down his pole, lubricating him with each movement of my hips. The swishing sound that I could hear as we crashed together in synchronized patterns drove me wild! “Rushhh!” I grunted, as my titties bounced up and down to the beat of our pumps against one another. We were grinding against each other with enough friction to start a small fire.

“Ohhh baby! Ohhh
baaabyyy
!” Rush groaned. “Turn over for me,” he panted, through labored breaths. I was all too happy to submit to his request.

The moment I assumed position, Rush grabbed my waist and rubbed against me, his dick sliding across my ass got me worked up, and I was ready. Not in the mood for teasing, I wanted to finish what we had started. “Rush, baby…put him—
Aahhh
!!” My request was cut short by the fierce thrust. It shut me all the way up. My monster moans were the only sounds I could summon. “
Mmmm
…” I managed, rolling my eyes with each moan. I backed into him at the same time he moved inside. His thrusts were a combination of speeds, as he intermittently hit my spot. He knew what he was doing—
always
. He knew my body. From the very beginning he made it a point to know my body. He knew that repetitive moves only sought to prolong the inevitable, so he was played around with me, controlling my body to react the way he knew only he could. I enjoyed every single moment of it. When Rush hit it doggy style, it was my absolute favorite because I could feel
all
of him. Not to mention the direct access to my pearl tongue from that angle! It always gave me an orgasm that weakened me. When the first smack came against my ass, I squealed, but it sent Rush’s dick vibrating inside of me and before I knew it, I was coming all over him.

Before I could react, Rush had retreated from my hole and lifted me from the bed. I had no idea where we were going, nor did I care to protest.
For what
? Seconds later, we were inside of the see through shower and I was in Rush’s arms, locked against the wall by his strength, being plunged into, with masterful love strokes. Our days and nights were spent making some serious magic that brought some of the best sleep I had ever had. When we came together, I swear that each and every muscle and nerve in my body joined in because at the end, I was always met with euphoria.

At the end of our two days in paradise, I awoke feeling brand new. I couldn’t explain it, but things felt differently. Having the love of a good man was something that I was feeling for the first time and even if I wanted to pull back and shield my heart, I was unable to at that point. I was too far in. All I knew was that I wanted to be the best woman that I could be for him. For the first time I felt that I was coming all the way into my own. I had someone who saw all the beauty inside of me, and by that happening, I had been able to see it for myself. It was all that had been missing. I was ready to return home, not because I was tired of the InterContinental, but because I was ready to begin my life with Rush. We were now permanent fixtures in each other’s lives and happy was the only word that could describe me.

~*~*~

Rush

The first thing I did when Alika and I had returned to the house was head into my office to check for emails. I had been off radar since our mini-vacation, and had charged Gigi with handling small items in my absence and had told her that if things were urgent then to call the hotel. I hadn’t gotten any calls, so I knew things were running smoothly.

Emails were the regular, and no priority situations, which was also a good thing. In fact, since Temptation was now open for business, thankfully, the demanding emails had drastically decreased. Before there were always an abundance of meetings to attend, periodic checks to ensure that liquor licensure was in place, that permits had been obtained, and that designs were approved. And now I could actually sigh in relief and just allow Temptation and Chaos to become larger than life.

Whew
!
Nothing like stress-free
.

I was about to walk out of my office when I noticed a fax on my machine. I walked over and picked up the single sheet of paper and immediately recognized the sender’s fax number, as my father’s. I took a seat in my leather chair and scanned the form in its entirety. After I had gone over it twice, I smiled. My clubs had been cleared. The form was documentation obtained from sources working for state agency citing: “…the arrests of several men, and women in connection with…Chaos Sports Bar & Club Temptation, owned by Hunter Michael Cambridge…cleared.”

Cleared
!

“Baby! The coast is clear!” I yelled into the house for Alika to hear.

~
27
~

Rush

Thursday, October 30, 3014

It was the weekend of Alika’s 28
th
birthday and I really wanted to do something for her that she hadn’t done, and make it special. She loved the time that we spent at the InterContinental, but I had already planned some time ago that I would take her to Disneyland and Universal Studios since she had told me those were places she wanted to see as a kid, but never got the chance to. We were due to leave on our flights into Orange County on Friday morning so that we could be down there for Halloween, and on her birthday. I hadn’t told her where we were going because I wanted it to be a surprise for her. I had the full weekend planned out, complete with a stay at the Grand Californian which opened right up into Downtown Disney. She would love it and I was happy to be able to share a first with her.

But first I had a little bit of business to conduct that I hadn’t shared with anybody. There was really no need to do so because it would be a one-time deal and it was just to close up a loop in my life that needed closing.

Unbeknownst to anyone, I had put in a request to visit Jacob who was in Santa Rita Jail awaiting his trial and subsequent sentencing. I was shocked by some of what I had heard once the dust had settled. Bart and I were speaking again and he had found out from sources close to Jillian, the whole breakdown on Jacob. Apparently, he was a kingpin that the police and feds had been unable to catch up to for the longest of time—dating back to his days in the NFL. There had been too many layers to peel back to get to him, so he had been untouchable until he had gotten bored and decided to get involved in the low-end part of his business. I guess it could be looked at like I was the one who brought him out into the open, because for some unknown reason, he wanted to personally involve himself, where I was concerned. It wasn’t anything that I had been told, it was pure conjecture, but I suspected that there was something to my theory.

I sat on the other side of the window, tapping my foot up and down, slowly losing patience. I had gone to visiting early so that I could get in and get out. I looked around at the other visiting spots and saw that everyone was already in deep conversations with the inmates they had come to visit.
He’d better hurry up, or I’ll be leaving this trap any minute now
.

I had just finished cracking my knuckles and stretching out my neck and shoulders when Jacob came walking toward the plexiglass. The minute I laid eyes on him, I instantly began to regret even showing up. I had no idea that all these years he held deep resentment for me behind his eyes. Looking at him now was like looking at a total stranger. Our stares matched. He wasn’t smiling, and neither was I.

“S’up? What the fuck brings you here?” he snapped.

“Trust me, I didn’t want to come. I just needed to look dead ass in the face of the dude I grew up with. The dude who was like a brother to me at one point, but who tried to get everything I worked for taken from me. I thought maybe I could come and see if you would give me a real answer as to why the fuck that was.”

“I told you already. What part didn’t you understand when I told you the first time?” he asked, sarcastically.

“I know what you told me, but I ain’t buyin’ that shit, Jake. I don’t see you for years, you don’t call me for years, and the first time I see you—”

“What the fuck you want from me, man? As usual, you won. So, what’s keepin’ you from just living ya damn life? I came to take you down; and in the end, you turned the tables—without even trying. I guess there’s something to being Lance Michael Cambridge’s son, huh? All these years you despised his ass, but being that muthafucka’s son—”

“Being his son, what? Because you know it’s not like that. Me and that man don’t have that kind of relationship. So, this has nothing to do with him.”

Jacob got quiet and blew a frustrated sigh, shaking his head side to side. “That’s where you’re wrong. This shit has everything to do with his ass.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You don’t follow, huh? And you’re lookin’ for me to give you the answers. You got me fucked up right now, Rush. I don’t owe you shit.”

“You kinda do, though, Jake. You really kinda do. However your life turned out in the end, I don’t have shit to do with that, and I don’t know what led to it. But I do know that because of me and the brotherhood I shared with you, I helped get you some of the opportunities you almost lost out on.”

“Yeah…” he said, looking around. “And look what it got me.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Dead ass serious.”

It didn’t take long for the security guard to tap Jacob on the shoulder and notify him that he had five minutes left. I had already accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to get any answers from him. And that was fine; I just knew that it would be the last time I laid eyes on him. I had nothing to say to him after what he had done. I stood when the guard walked over a final time signaling that Jacob’s time was up. Just as I was about to hang up the receiver, Jacob motioned for me. “Yeah…?” I posed, putting the receiver back to my ear.

“Look, I’ma give you something to take with you because for some reason I really don’t think you know. I can’t undo shit that’s been done, but I’m feeling slightly fucked up that all this time I held a grudge against you when it wasn’t never you to begin with.”

That shit was sounding mysterious as fuck and I had never felt fear like I was feeling in that moment—of the unknown. “What is it Jacob?”

He must’ve had some kind of pull with security because just as the dude nudged him again, Jacob signaled him with a finger to hold on, and he did just that.

My heart was beating a thousand miles per minute, as I held a stare without so much as a blink. The phone was starting to stick to my ear, so I lifted it slightly, just as Jacob told me: “Hunter Mikaela Lawson.” He saw the look of confusion on my face when he spoke the name. “
Hunter Michael
…
Hunter Mikaela
. You getting it yet?”

I nodded my head slowly. “No, I don’t—”

“Come on, Rush. You’ve always been a smart guy. You got yourself a daughter. Janae had your baby, my niece. She’s nine now, and years ago, your daddy paid my sister big ass bucks to keep it to herself.”

Everything was immediately silenced. I saw Jacob replace the receiver in its cradle. I saw him leave the glass, and I even saw him go back through the doors from which he came. But although I had seen him moving, all else had stopped. I didn’t even realize that I was still holding the phone until a guard tapped me on the shoulder to let me know that it was time to leave.

I drove in a daze. No music, no phone calls, no nothing. I tried to play everything over in my head, back to that time. Janae and I had never been in a relationship. At least not anything serious, but I did remember the time we had a condom malfunction.
Oh shit
!
Shit
! I knew I needed to get home so that Alika and I could get all packed up for her surprise birthday trip, but I absolutely had to see my father first. God help me that this meeting goes well. God help me, I repeated to myself as I drove deep into the Castro Valley Hills to his home. I had to pray for strength. Praying was something completely foreign to my life, but in that moment I needed it because I hoped with everything in me that he wouldn’t admit to me that I had a child in this world that he had never told me about.

I was stopped at security briefly before driving through to my father’s lavish estate. Before I could even cut the engine, my father was standing at the end of the long driveway smoking a cigar. I exited my car and left my key inside because I had no intention of going into his fortress. There was no need.

“Rush, what brings you here?” he asked dragging on his cigar. “I didn’t know you’d be coming and I have company inside.”

“I’m not here to visit, so you don’t need to let me know in subtleties that I’m not welcome. I just came to ask you a yes/no question.”

He stared at me with a cocky smile in his eyes. “I’m listening,” he announced.

“Do I have a daughter? And did you pay her mother to keep her and the information from me? I don’t want beating around any bushes or none of that shit. I just want a yes or a—”

“You absolutely do,” he answered, without so much as a blinking eye.

I took two steps toward him. I had no idea what I was gonna do to him, but my immediate plan involved knocking the look from his face. But just as I was about to react, the front door of my father’s house opened up and my sister emerged.

“Rush!” she excitedly exclaimed, coming towards me with her arms opened. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

I was at a loss for words, but thankful that Jamie had interrupted an obvious black out moment. I couldn’t afford that. I decided right then that he had already had enough control over my life and that if there was any truth to me having a daughter, I would put Oscar on it and find out for myself.

Jamie pulled away from our hug and stood near our father. “How’s Alika? Her birthday is tomorrow, right?”

“It is. We’re going to LA.”

“Awesome. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home getting ready?” she asked.

She looked from me to my father, and with a delayed reaction, she asked: “What did I walk into? Rush…dad…? Answer me,” she demanded.

I turned to leave to keep my angered state from returning. “I’m gonna get going, sis. I’ll talk to you after we get back.”

“Oh, your brother was just here to ask about his daughter, Jamie. That was it. He wanted to know about his one-night stand’s baby—”

“Dad!” Jamie yelled out, causing me to turn back towards them. Her interjection was clearly an effort to keep him from completing his sentence.

“So you knew, Jamie? You knew!”

“Daddy! Why did you do that? Rush…!” she cried, in a panicked tone. “Wait a minute! You gotta hear us out. You
have to
hear us out.”

But I didn’t have to hear either of them out. I didn’t owe them that at all. All I needed to do was get as far away from them both before I did things I could never take back. I hopped in my car and sped off as fast as I could. My plans hadn’t changed. I was going to go home to Alika. We were going to bring in her birthday in style, and after the trip concluded, I would sit down with her and let her know what was going on and we would decide as a couple what next steps would be.

In the meantime, I was done with both my father and my half-sister. There was no turning back, only going forward, and I was perfectly fine with that.