Creed (The Marquette Family Book One) (17 page)

“It’s good,” she said.

He heard a little something. “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Shada.”

She sighed. “I like some of the dough taken out of the middle so the bread’s not so thick, and you were a little heavy-handed with the oil. Then there’s—”

“I get it. I suck at cooking.”

He reached for the plate, but she raised the sandwich to her lips and continued to eat.

“You don’t have to force yourself, Shada.”

She ignored him and finished the sandwich. After the last bite disappeared into her mouth, she climbed off the bed. He couldn’t help allowing his gaze to follow her movements, enjoying the sight of her naked body as she went into the bathroom. The toilet flushed. Water came on at the sink. He heard her brushing her teeth and recalled how he had helped her do even that after he brought her to his home.

She appeared again, but this time she’d covered herself, wearing a robe he had left on the back of the bathroom door. The material hung well past her hands and almost to the floor. She seemed lost in it, and smaller. A pain tightened the muscles in his chest.

“Come back to bed,” he encouraged her.

“I need to make arrangements.”

“I’ve begun those,” he said.

He started to explain to her that the dead in New Orleans are buried aboveground in vaults and that, because of a shortage in space, the body would only occupy its casket space for a short while before being transferred to a bag and placed in the back of the vault to make room for the next occupant. The casket would then be thrown away. When he had heard about the process, enacted because of an ordinance in New Orleans, he had been shocked beyond belief. He didn’t want to share the details with Shada and wondered if they should just have Marisa’s body shipped back to New York for burial.

“Metairie Cemetery?” she said, surprising him.

“You know about the customs here?”

She swallowed and nodded, but he saw how difficult it was for her. “Marisa learned everything there was to know about her new city and told me. She loved this place from the first moment our plane touched down. I’ll lay her to rest here.”

She wobbled, and he caught her so he could guide her to the bed to sit down. Creed dropped to one knee and cupped her chin in his palm. “I’ll pay for everything.”

“No, I—”

“It’s settled, Shada.”

She glared at him, but the expression faded right away. From the look of it, the death of her sister had sapped all her energy, and Shada couldn’t fight his will in her current state. He knew he took advantage of it, managing what she hadn’t turned over to him. She needed him, the decision had to be made, and he got it done. Period.

Over the next day or so, Creed stood with Shada, along with his brothers and a few of his employees, to say good-bye to Marisa. Creed held Shada while she cried against his chest. He witnessed her weakness and the point when she decided to stand on her own two feet. She dried the tears and raised her chin, but he noted the way she held onto his arm as he escorted her from the cemetery.

“You okay?” Damen asked as they neared Creed’s car.

Creed glanced down at Shada beside him and back to his brother. “We’re fine. You’re…” He wasn’t sure what Marisa had been to Damen, other than a brief lover. Damen hadn’t confided in him, and Creed hadn’t pushed, because he knew his brother could handle the loss. Shada had needed him.

Damen shrugged, but Creed saw a touch of sadness in his gaze before it disappeared. He started to say something, but Damen swung away and headed toward his own vehicle. Stefan joined him, and Tiffany hitched a ride with the two of them.

Creed tucked Shada into his vehicle and slid behind the wheel. When he started the car, she sighed.

He eyed her a second, judging her mood. “We can skip the celebration at the restaurant, if you like.”

She turned a hopeful gaze on him. “That seems so wrong, but I just don’t think I can do it. Do you think the others will mind?”

“No, they’ll understand. If they don’t…” He clenched his jaw, and she tried to smile but failed. Her small fingers curled around his when he took her hand. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

“To your place,” came the rapid response.

He hesitated.

“I want you to fuck me.”

“Shada, I don’t think that’s a good idea with the state you’re in. Remember, we broke it off before this happened.”

“I know. Are you saying you don’t want to anymore?”

His cock twitched at the sheer thought, and she questioned his desire. “I want you. I just don’t want to take advantage of you. You’re vulnerable right now. I’d be a sorry S.O.B. to take you to bed, feeling the way you do.”

“It’s
because
of the way I feel I want to.” She twisted to face him as he idled rather than pull out into traffic. “She fills my thoughts. I can hear her laughter, see the twinkle in her eyes, even when she was at her lowest physically. It hurts so bad I can’t breathe. If for an instant I can forget, I want it like a drug. Can you understand?”

He could. Still, he hesitated. If she should change her mind half way through or afterward and get angry at him for giving in to his weakness, then what would they do? The will to say no crumbled with each passing second, and he opened his mouth to tell her.

She rested her hand over his crotch and gave his cock a squeeze.

Damn!
“Shada.”

She rubbed his shaft until it hardened, then shifted in her seat until the form-fitting black dress she wore rose up her soft brown thighs.

Need robbed him of the ability to speak. The word
no
was the farthest it had ever been from his lips. Creed leaned across the seats, turned her chin up toward him, and claimed her mouth. She’d better not tell him no, he decided as he thrust out his tongue. Her soft moan tightened his cock even more, and he jerked away to force the car into gear. Fifty minutes later, they arrived at his house, and he pulled into the gravel drive.

Creed escorted Shada inside. Where he normally would have taken her the second they crossed the threshold, having ripped off every shred of clothing, he kept firm control of his desires until they reached his bedroom.

She tossed her purse on the settee and strode to the bed. Creed followed, watching the sway of her hips. His cock, which hadn’t softened since she first touched it in the car, tented his pants and strained to be set free. He moved up behind her and lay his hands on her shoulders. Dipping at the knee, he brought his erection into contact with her round ass and almost moaned with pleasure. Shada arched her back and ground into him. All of a sudden, a desperate need to take her from behind came over him. They had had anal sex plenty of times, so he knew she liked it. He ached to possess her, but he wasn’t sure if that was what she needed. Perhaps she longed to take it slow and easy.

When she pulled away from his grasp, Creed let her go with reluctance. With her back turned to him, Shada unzipped her dress and drew it over her shoulders. She stepped out of it and tossed it to join her purse. Black matching panties and bra met his gaze, made sexier by her bare legs and high heels. She flattened her hands on the bed and pushed out her ass again. Creed didn’t have to guess what his woman asked him for. She was so in tune with his sexual desires, it was uncanny.

Creed dropped to his knees and ran his fingers over the lacy material of her panties. He thrust them aside and kissed one rounded cheek, then the other. Shada rocked her hips. He licked a finger and then thrust it between her crack to massage her anus. Her moan pleased him. A little bit of pressure got him past the barrier’s edge, and he felt her tremble.

“Lean forward,” he ordered, instilling gentleness in his tone.

She did as he asked. The fact that his bed was a high one allowed for her ass to be raised enough so he didn’t have to bend down too much. He positioned himself to the side of her and leaned on the bed. Easing his finger deeper, he watched as he invaded her body, loving every second of it. She squirmed, and he liked it. Shada incited his passions even more when she pretended to try to escape him. Yet she couldn’t help reacting to his touch. He loved that too, the way her pussy wept at the slightest manipulation of any one of her erogenous zones.

While he thrust his finger in and out of her ass, Creed spread her legs with a knee. He found the sight he’d been hoping for, come moistening her pussy lips and wetting the tops of her thighs. “Mmm, look what you have for me, baby.”

“Creed, don’t tease me.” Her lips parted, and she shut her eyes.

He paused to stare at her.
Damn, she’s beautiful and sexy. I can’t get enough. I want all of her.

“You like when I tease you,” he said, and he twisted his hand so that his finger rotated in her ass. He pushed deep, and his palm met with her cheeks. A gentle squeeze and a wiggle had her scratching at the sheets. Creed leaned down to kiss her back while he worked her tight ass. Her anus pulsed around his digit, seeming to beg for more. He couldn’t go deeper until he filled her with his cock. A desperate ache said to do it now, but he liked to torment himself, to drive his lust to stir-crazy mode. “Think about me, Shada. About how it’s going to feel when I get my dick in you and fuck you hard. Is it going to hurt or feel good?”

“Both,” she pleaded.

He grinned. “Is that what you want?”

“You know what I want, damn you!”

Mine.
He kissed her back again while he worked his hand. The tiny noises she made caused his cock to twitch in his pants.
Wait a little longer.
He nipped at the spot just above her shoulder blade, then sucked the skin into his mouth. By the time he let go, the area was reddened. He licked it and gave it a kiss. She murmured softly and sweetly. His tolerance ended.

Creed pulled his finger from her ass and straightened. Shada complained, but she waited where she was, leaned over the bed. He shuffled out of his clothing, tossing away each article to land where it may. When he had removed his socks and shoes as well, he scrounged up a condom from the bedside table and rolled it into place. Lubricant, which he also kept on hand, coated her rear entrance. He dropped to his knees, spread her legs wide, and nosed in to eat her pussy, but he didn’t stay long. His cock couldn’t stand being outside her body much longer. He gave a through swipe at her cream and coated his tongue, then swallowed as he stood up. Shada begged him for satisfaction. He positioned himself behind her and allowed the head of his cock to graze her anus.

“Right here?” he asked, knowing the answer.

“Yes!”

He gave the smallest of thrusts, and his shaft pierced her hole. She screamed his name and arched her ass higher. Creed let out a groan of his own. He had trouble not spilling his load with just that bit. She felt so good. Her body always gripped him like it would never let go, and he didn’t mind at all.

“Damn it, Shada, you feel good.”

“I want more,” she whimpered.

“Easy. I’m not rushing this.”

She reached for his wrist and gave it a tug. He resisted. Creed never let her control the rate at which they enjoyed sex, but he did all in his power to please her. Inch by inch, he sank into her, watching as his cock disappeared. Just seeing her body stretch around him, accommodating his thickness, set his teeth on edge and pulled at something buried in his core. He felt like any second he would explode and fill her with his come. That was impossible, of course, because he wore protection. That fact didn’t stop him from imagining it and taking his desire for Shada to unheard-of levels.

Creed flattened both hands on the bed as he leaned over her and thrust forward. His cock sank to the hilt, and he withdrew until just the head pierced her ass. She wiggled her hips until he almost lost her, but he grabbed hold and ground in again. His mind blanked. Pleasure engulfed him. He could hardly draw in a breath, but when he could, he claimed her. Over and over, he pounded deep, pulled back, and drove into her again. Shada cried out his name. She thrashed on the bed, pushed against him one minute and seemed to try to escape the next. Creed ran a hand beneath her and splayed his fingers over her belly. He brought his weight down on Shada and buried his dick as far as it would go. Leaning to the side, he watched as his crotch curved against her ass. They ground and plunged together, gasping and struggling. He loved the way their bodies moved in unison. Just seeing it turned him on, especially with the contrast in their sizes and even their skin tone.

Creed pumped into his lover and listened to the slap of their bodies coming together. The feel of her soft thighs against his prompted him to take her faster. He slid his hand down, from her belly to her pussy, and parted the lips to drive in two fingers. Hot wetness surrounded his digits. He squeezed her mound in his palm. She shuddered. He knew her body well enough to know she would come any second. Creed wrapped his other arm around her waist and let most of his weight come down on her. He rotated his hips to plow in and out of her ass. She screamed once and shook from head to toe. Just as he predicted, she came, her come dripping onto his hand.

When Shada was done, Creed took her with a few more pumps. Then he held his cock deep inside her. Seconds later, he emptied into the condom, imagining he’d lost his load in his sweet Shada. She made a small sound, and he pulled out, then rolled over. As he knew she would, she climbed onto his chest. He repositioned them both to lie the length of the bed. After he had discarded the used condom, he checked to be sure there were more.

Shada’s drive matched his own, and they were far from done.

Chapter Fourteen

Creed stood in the kitchen, trying again to create a dish Shada might like. She’d eaten his sandwich and even said it was good, but he found himself questioning whether she’d said so because she was being kind. The doubt stirred his anger, but he swallowed it. This wasn’t about him. She needed to eat, and he had to be sure she did. Simple as that.

When he carried the tray into the bedroom, it was just after eight in the morning. He had visited Marquette’s the night before and bribed Rene into sharing a breakfast recipe or two with him. Today, he had made Shada an omelet with fresh lump crabmeat, finely chopped green onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers. He had added salt and pepper to taste and cooked the whole in butter—“not margarine!”—as Rene instructed. Creed had decided to serve the omelet with a side of spicy breakfast potatoes and sour cream if Shada wanted it. He added a pot of coffee with cream and sugar.