Thong on Fire (15 page)

“She’s hot, y’all! Show her how much ya love her!”

They clapped and roared as he turned and bowed to me, then urged me to bow with him to the crowd. He led me back to my table and pulled out my chair, then put the mic behind his back and whispered, “Get with me after the show.”

Then the beat picked up again and he jumped back up on the main stage rapping.

Now look at Free!

No watch, no chain, but the kicks mean,

Air bling! No cane, wit’ a pimp lean!

No names, can’t bang on the big screen,

Six teams, make dames wanna striptease

Can’t feel ’em with the stains and the ripped jeans,

Ain’t a nigga in the game who can rip Free!

Shawty com’ere lemme feel how them lips is!

The way them hips shift, I can tell you gifted,

You know who the click is,

You know how we get bizz,

And I can put it down, whateva ya twist is!

“Whew!” Tai said, as Free went offstage and Diddy came back up to announce the next act. “You the shit, Saucy. Ain’t no way I could’ve gotten up there and did all that!”

I laughed. Shit, brave wasn’t what it was about. I got energized when I was appreciated like that. That high level of attention was like go-go juice. It got me high and made me wanna burn some energy and fuck the hell outta something!

“You got those backstage passes, right?”

Tai nodded, fanning her big titties with a limp napkin.

“Yeah. They right in my purse.”

“What about him?” I asked, nodding toward the stuck-up-acting nigga she’d said was an executive at her job.

“Oh, it’s just you and me, girl. I wanted Jaheim to come but he’s gotta go somewhere else.” She winked then elbowed me. “I’ma hook up with his cute behind tomorrow, though.”

I nodded. That was all good. Let her worry about Jaheim tomorrow. But whether Tai had the VIP tickets or not, I was gonna get with ol’ Free tonight. Any nigga who could mesmerize a crowd like that, controlling them with just his style and the words coming outta his mouth…well, I was gonna ride high on that performance for a good minute and I had a feeling Free had a lot more power juice left where that had come from.

T
HIS SEEMS KINDA
pointless, but,” Tai said, laughing, “Saucy, this is Freedom Moore. Free, this is my best friend, Saucy Robinson.”

We were backstage in his dressing room and he was sitting on a stool drinking a bottle of Aquafina.

“How you feelin’?” Free stood up grinning, then we hugged and the mood was real light. “You was real good out there. That’s what’s real. Thanks for giving my fans a little extra sumthin’ tonight.”

I smiled. “Yeah. It was your last show, plus it was hot. I bet every girl out there woulda done the same thing.”

“Maybe. But they probably couldn’ta put it down as good as you did.” He took a swig of water then held up his hand. “Damn. ’Scuse my bad manners.” He looked at us and flashed his pretty-ass smile, then turned to a small fridge under the counter and opened it. “Y’all thirsty? Want some water?”

Water?
I know this nigga ain’t just offer me no water! I looked in the fridge and the damn thing was packed with icy bottles of Aquafina.

“Sorry,” he said, noticing my smirk. “I don’t usually drink this here shit. It’s not real spring water. But I guess it’s all they had on the set.”

I shook my head like hell no, but Tai took the bottle he was offering, shocking me half to death. I had never seen her drink no damn bottled water before, and when he twisted off the cap and handed it to her, I stood there with my mouth open as she chugged it like it was full of grape Kool-Aid and a whole bag of sugar.

“So,” I said, looking around. He was fine as hell and could work a mic and a stage, but his dressing area was weak and it was definitely not what I had been expecting from the CEO of no record label, money problems or not. This nigga might as well have been chillin’ in a damn broom closet! He wasn’t lying when he said he was all about “air bling.” He was Ruthless’s CEO and his neck was naked like he didn’t know how to adorn himself with shine! Somebody needed to call Jacob the Jeweler! Free shoulda been chained out and chilling in a phat dressing room with flunkies flocking around him bringing him drinks and boosting his head!

“Where’s the after-party at? I know you hitting the spots tonight, right?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. Most definitely. That’s part of my job, baby. We got a car outside just waiting to go. I’m rolling with my boys, but we always got room for a couple of sexy sistahs.”

Now that’s more like it, I thought when he took me and Tai out the side door and I saw his whip. It was a bone-white stretch Escalade, and some of his boys were already inside drinkin’ and wildin’ with the music loud as hell.

He opened the car door and put me and Tai inside, then sat between us with his arms around our shoulders.

“Oh, shit!” some light-skinned dude sitting across from us shrieked when he saw me. “That’s the bitch in them Birthday Cakes!” He shook his head, looking at me like I was bad for real. “Damn that jawn got it. She got it! Free need him a fuckin’ tester, I’m his man.”

“Sorry, baby,” Free said, looking at me. “Sometimes my dawgs get stupid and they just be barking for no reason.”

Then he turned to his boy.

“Nah, man. No testers needed,” he said real easy like. “This ain’t no jump-off, nigga. But yo’ ass is about to get dropped off. Yo, Feety,” he said to a thick-necked guy sitting near the door. “Eject this stupid-mouthed nigga for me, man.”

I laughed my ass off as the guy Feety, who musta been one of Free’s bodyguards, opened the door then picked that yellow nigga up by his shirt and tossed him.

We rode through the city with the windows down and the music crazy loud. Free’s boys started sparking tips, and I reached for a honey berry dutchy when it came my way and tried to smoke that shit down to the end.

“Take your hair down,” Free whispered in my ear. He was rubbing the back of my neck, his fingers massaging my shoulders and then moving up to my scalp. I reached up to undo my platinum clip, and I felt his tongue on my earlobe when my hair fell. He was nuzzling my neck as I smoked the blunt and shook my ass in the seat to the music. He was nibbling and sucking all over my earlobe and that shit was making me hot.

With his lips still teasing me, he took the smoke from my hand and passed it to Tai. Then he touched my chin with two fingers and turned my face toward him and covered my mouth. My pussy was thumping and leaking as he entered my mouth with his tongue. I slid my fingers across his thigh loving how hard his body felt. I tried to squeeze his dick, but he grabbed my hand and stopped me and put it back on his knee.

Then he ran his hand up my bare arm and slid his fingers past my shoulders and back into my hair. I opened my mouth wider to him, and we kissed deep and hard. Just the way he handled my tongue let me know what kinda rhythm he had going in bed. He was strong and a giver. He liked pushing meat and making a chick feel what he was holding.

Tai busted the mood when she reached across him and pulled on his arm.

“Damn, y’all can cut the act now,” she laughed. “The show is over, Free. Saucy don’t perform for strangers unless she’s on a stage, right Sauce?”

Free kissed my lips again, then wiped his thumb across them before sitting back.

“My bad, Saucy,” he said, looking at me with heat in his eyes. “My bad for getting carried away like that. That ain’t proper treatment for a lady like you, and I’ma come correct from now on.”

I grinned but I coulda kicked Tai’s ass. I didn’t need her to tell me how to handle my action with no man. I had been enjoying Free’s sexy-ass tongue. I gave her a shitty look then started grooving to the beat again.

“I know ya’ll got something to drink in this big-ass whip,” I said, grinning at Free’s boys. They broke out some Hypnotic and I made sure I was first to get some. Yeah, I thought as I laughed and balled with this nigga like I did it every night. Free and his boys was real cool. I was about to become the life of the party and if Tai didn’t like it she was gonna have a real short night.

We hit every damn party we could find.

I was really feeling that nigga, Free. I liked the way he moved through the clubs like some kinda strong, sexy black panther. He looked dangerous and confident, like he could handle his with no problem, come what may.

And I was right on his elbow too. Blocking bitches who was trying to run up on him and get in his face like they couldn’t see he was with me. But I liked the way he deflected that shit though. As soon as one jumped in his grill and tried to press her titties on his chest, he would step back and take my hand, urging me forward and say to her, “Hey baby! Damn it’s good to see you out tonight. This my girl, Saucy. Y’all met yet? You probably seen her doin’ the damn thang in that hot
Birthday Cake
video. Aiight, Shawty, be cool. Be safe out here tonight. Don’t get in no trouble.”

And we’d stroll off together, both of us looking fine as hell and letting everybody know we was together. At least for the night.

We was sitting in a booth at Club Xctasy just drinking and chilling. We had danced for about five songs straight and Free was so cool with his shit that his moves looked smooth and tight. I’d showed him up though, giving the crowd a real good look at what I could do, then I got thirsty and we went back to the booth so I could order another drink.

One of Free’s boys asked Tai to dance and I laughed my ass off when she took her shoes off and ran out there on the floor. It was good to see her moving some muscle and working up a little sweat.

“Yo, where you stay at, Soy Saucy?”

“Hottt Saucy,” I corrected him, but I thought real quick before I answered. Niggas would try to get all up in your crib if you let ’em. Free was a straight baller, and he didn’t strike me as the type who needed to ride on anybody’s dime, but Marshall George was footing the bills in my apartment and he was the only nigga who got to slide up in that spot.

“I’m right in the city,” I said. “Off Central Park. I ain’t there that much, though. You know, I travel a lot on shoots and stuff.”

He nodded and killed his Corona.

“I rest in Jersey,” he said, and right away I pictured one of those phat-ass estates out there where Whitney and Bobby had stayed. I was betting it was real hot.

“Jersey is cool,” I said. I’d met a few older cats in the industry who had cribs in Jersey, and I’d spent a couple of nights with a professional football player who lived out there too. “They got some nice houses out that way.”

“Oh, yeah,” Free said and nodded again. “They do.”

“I ain’t been out that way in a minute,” I said, throwing him a hint. “Maybe one day I’ll come chill with you.”

He laughed. “You got a blank check for that, Soy Saucy. You can cash that shit anytime.”

We jumped over to another club, and then hit a couple of private parties in some phat hotels. I stuck by Free’s side the whole night, and he seemed to like having me there. Every now and then we would get our kiss on a little bit and he would touch my hair and tell me I was fine, but I felt like he was holding back on me. Shit, I woulda gave that nigga the best brain he’d ever had in his life if he had wanted me to, but for some reason Freedom Moore was keeping me at a distance. I mean, usually niggas would be trying to trick up on me before they found out my name, but not this one.

Shit, Free was hard. He was G, he was respected by niggas in the game. He was paid, he was fine, he was sexy as hell and he was a big executive on the music scene. But as much as he seemed to be feeling me, and as hot as he had made me feel up on that stage, did a nigga try to palm my ass once the entire night? Nope. We had the motive and the opportunity. He’d sucked my tongue and licked my ears, but did he try to feel some titties or rub my pussy through my shorts? Hell no. I had practically invited myself to his crib tonight. He had to know what time it would be then. Butt naked, spread legs, big black dick down my throat. But did he jump on it? Nope. Not really.

I was still trying to figure him out when his driver dropped me and Tai at her apartment.

“You sure you don’t want me to take you downtown?” he asked, holding my hand when I started to get out the whip.

I shook my head real quick, then let him get a small kiss.

“Nah, baby, but thanks. Tai had a lot to drink tonight, and I gotta make sure my girl gets in and gets straight, ya know?”

He seemed to like that. “I can tell you a real good friend,” he said. “Lemme get your digits and I’ll get back with you, okay?”

Now I liked that shit!

I gave him my cell number and he programmed it into his phone, then got outta the limo and started walking with us up to my old building. I forced myself to act chill when I saw Frank standing outside in his big blue suit and shiny gold buttons. He had watched us pull up and get out the car, and stood there staring with his face all twisted as we approached the building. He saw me looking and stood in front of the doorway and crossed his arms over his big-ass stomach like I wasn’t getting in.

“I had a good time tonight, Saucy. I wouldn’t mind chilling with you again,” Free said and grabbed my hand. He had stopped so I had to stop too. Tai kept walking and I wanted to tell her to wait up just in case Frank got stupid on me.

“I’ma buzz ya,” he said, then kissed me lightly on my lips. He let my hand go and nodded toward the building. “Be cool.”

I knew he was probably gonna stand there and watch until I was in the building, so I ran behind Tai trying to catch her before she got through the door, but I was too late. Frank was standing out there looking at me with that same disappointment on his face that was there the morning he caught me fucking Dante in his bed.

“Where do you think you’re going young lady? You don’t live here anymore.”

“Move!” I said, pushing past him and throwing my elbow at his nasty belly as I went through the door. I’d partied all night long and this crazy bastard wasn’t gonna ruin the mood for me. “Just move, you fat fuckin’ child molester! Get the hell outta my way!”