Duke (10 page)

Creed turned toward his office. “What the hell are you doing here, Basil?”

Takiyah pressed a hand over her mouth, but not missing a beat, Duke left her side to stroll back to Creed’s office. “I told him he could wait there until you got out of the bathroom. Looks like he’s come to grovel for his job back.”

“Why should I—” Creed began.

“You’re going to need an experienced waiter, cuz. He’s not much in the size department, but he’s strong.”

Creed bared his teeth in disgust. When Takiyah couldn’t help sneaking back just to see what would happen, she found Basil gazing at Duke like he was a god. Great, another fan.

“I guess I don’t have a choice,” Creed snapped. “You’re rehired. Get changed
now
.”

“Thank you so much, Creed,” Basil gushed. “You won’t be sorry. I promise, I—”

“Cut it!”

Basil scurried away like a frightened rabbit, and Takiyah, figuring the drama was over for the moment, went off to get her tables straight. She consulted briefly with Damen about the order for the presentation of the gifts and for final instructions. While she made last minute preparations, Duke sidled up behind her. He stood so close she felt the heat coming off his body, and he set his chin on her shoulder. She wiggled her shoulder to shake him off.

“Go away, Duke.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me why you were being naughty?”

She glared at him. “I wasn’t being naughty. You make me sound like a child.”

“Tell me. I can’t stand it.”

“Go
away
. I’m busy.”

He spun on his heel. “Hey, Creed.”

She squeaked and grabbed his arm to drag him back. He grinned down at her, and she wished she believed in fighting so she could belt him in the mouth. Problem was, his head was so hard she’d probably crush her fingers before he felt a thing. Looking past his shoulder, she discovered Creed wasn’t even in the dining room.

“All right fine, but later. Okay?”

He looked like he would kiss her. She ducked away.

“Sure, you can tell me tomorrow night over dinner.”

“I have to work.”

He winked. “It’s arranged. We’re both off. I’m working the morning and afternoon shift. Tomorrow night, you’re mine.” His gaze swept her from head to foot and lingered in particular spots. Her body came to life, and she was thankful for wearing a padded bra today. Her hard nipples were hidden.

Before she could answer, he left her standing there, completely sure she would comply with his high-handed ways.

T
akiyah walked
into Duke’s house with her steps echoing and emphasizing the fact that he still didn’t have a lick of furniture. She gazed around the living room and found that he had laid out a blanket in the middle of the floor. All around the blanket were lit candles, which flickered in the waning illumination through the windows.

She breathed in, and something soft and inviting warmed her all over. Either the candles were scented or he had sprayed the aroma into the air. Nice touch, she thought. Trying to hide her grin, she advanced farther into the house and left him to shut the door. When she reached the edge of the blanket, another smell tickled her nose—food.

“You cooked?” She glanced at him over her shoulder.

He winked as he usually did with that smirk on his sexy mouth. “Catered.”

“Marquettes?”

His eyebrows rose. “Is there any other?”

She laughed. “Y’all are so biased it’s not even funny.”

“Hey, I’m just supporting the family business. It’s only right.”

“Yeah, okay.” She hesitated. “I like this. Very romantic.”

He formed a bow that made her crack up again. “Men are far more romantic than women.”

“Boy, don’t make me get into a debate with you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Sit down, and let me seduce you with my food.”

“Oh, all of a sudden it’s yours?”

“I chose what Shada cooked.”

“Wow, now I really feel special. Shada herself cooked my food?” She bit her lip. “Did she know you were asking for it for me?”

“Are you ashamed of me?”

“If she wasn’t ashamed to help you out, why should I be ashamed? That’s not my point. I don’t want complications at work. Contrary to how you act, I’m serious about not causing waves. I can’t afford to get fired.”

“Whoa, easy, baby. You don’t have to be scared of getting fired. I’ll protect you. Even from big bad Creed.”

She sank to the blanket and removed her shoes. “That doesn’t give me a bit of confidence because everybody knows you get in to trouble with him all the time. That night when you got arrested—” She broke off what she intended to say because of the ache in her chest. Whenever she thought of how irresponsible Duke was, it scared the crap out of her. She tried to convince herself to leave him alone because he was the farthest possible from her ideal man. Yet, she couldn’t stop wanting him—to talk to him, to joke with him, to have him touch her, and on and on. He was a force she couldn’t seem to fight.

Duke took off his shoes as well and stretched out on the blanket as if he were on the beach somewhere. He appeared to be completely at ease. Even with her obvious doubts about him, he stayed relaxed. She had to wonder if he truly was like that inside, or if he was putting on a mask like most other people.

“I know how far I can push Creed. He won’t give up on me.”

“Is that fair?”

He shrugged. “My cousin is wound so tight he can’t stand to let anything get out of control. Sometimes I do things just to rile him. He needs the excitement, the break from routine.”

“So all your crazy is for his benefit?” Her words dripped with skepticism.

He chuckled. “Thirty percent. Anyway, the point is Creed always had to be in control for his brothers.
Always
. Does that sound familiar?”

She glared. “Don’t even try to psychoanalyze me.”

He rolled over to his back and tucked his hands behind his head. “Okay, tell me more about you.”

“There’s nothing to share. I think I told you my father died, and my mother got sick. I had to take care of the family finances, and with Ed and his issues with his dad, I had that too.” She shrugged. “I’m strong, and it’s what I do, so—”

“So you can’t afford to let anything go off course.”

She clenched her teeth. He was right of course, but she didn’t see anything wrong with it. Hell, she began to see Creed in a better light. At first it annoyed her to think Creed was standing in the way of Stefan’s dream. Then she recalled how he’d said Stefan had purchased Marquette’s without telling him. The fact that Creed managed the place meant Stefan had dragged Creed into the venture. Creed must see the new thing Stefan was doing as the same situation.

A pain started in her temple as she thought of it, and she rubbed the spot. Duke reached over and tugged her hand away. He kissed her fingers then reached into one of the dishes sitting on a small low table. When he pulled out a tiny biscuit, she opened her mouth to ask about it. She had never seen anything like it.

Before she could speak, Duke popped the mini-biscuit into her mouth. She bit down without meaning to and moaned as she chewed. “Oh wow, what in the world is that?”

“What does it taste like?”

She tested the flavor on her tongue. “Honey, and maybe buttermilk. I don’t remember it being on the menu at the restaurant. Mmm, it’s so good.”

“Stop that moaning before I stop you from eating.” The intensity in his eyes shocked her. She licked her bottom lip and lowered her gaze, but she could almost feel his desire across the space between them.

“Can I have some more?”

“You can’t fill up on bread. I have other goodies. Shada is always testing various recipes and modifying the familiar ones. Every type of biscuit has been done before, but this one is just fun to eat.”

He popped two in his mouth, and she watched him chew. His full lower lip arrested her attention, and she couldn’t help staring. Duke caught her doing it, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. The man thought a lot about himself.

She raised her chin and openly took in the sight of him, from his handsome face to the hard muscles of his gorgeous body. He wore jeans that were loose enough not to restrict his cock but still managed to show it off. The way the material fell over his muscular thighs had her panties wet in a heartbeat. She craved him. Duke had claimed he wouldn’t let her eat if she kept exciting him, but she was tempted to do it anyway. The desire wasn’t all on his side that was for sure.

“Tell me about the closet,” he said as he dished out food for them.

Takiyah took her plate and tested the spice-rubbed southern fried chicken and tortellini pasta salad. She resisted moaning again and just ate a few bites, enjoying each slowly until she could bring herself to stop being a pig and get back to the conversation. “Not much to tell. I went to see if I could find the gifts Damen had bought for two of my customers. I heard a noise in Creed’s office and thought he fell or something.”

Duke interrupted her dialogue to snort before cracking up. She figured he was imaging the dignified Creed being that clumsy. When he settled down, she continued.

“Basil was in there snooping around and had knocked some pens over. I was in the middle of demanding to know what the hell he thought he was doing when we heard voices.”

“And you decided to hide?”

“No, that idiot Basil threw me in there.” Her anger rose again at the memory. She set her plate down. “He looks all scrawny and acts cute, but he’s strong. He held me down and covered my mouth—”

She couldn’t finish as Duke sprang to a sitting position. He’d still been reclining on his side, leaning on an elbow as he ate. When she said Basil held her down, murder entered his eyes, and his plate fell, a bit of the sauce spilling onto the blanket. “He fucking did what?” Duke growled.

Takiyah gasped. She set her own plate down more carefully and reached out to try to calm him. “I made it sound worse than it was. I think more like we both fell on the floor because we were scared. He covered my mouth, but it wasn’t painful. He wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was just afraid of how angry Creed sounded. We both were.”

Duke still simmered, but he looked less like he’d charge out of the house to go find Basil. She began to realize the fact that Basil was gay was the only reason Duke didn’t flip out more. In a way, the thought warmed her. He might be really in to her.

Stop thinking, Takiyah.

“Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal. Come to think of it, how did you know we were in there when no one else did?”

“I was in the hall.” He scrubbed at the spot on the blanket with a napkin. She brushed his hands away to do it herself.

“You weren’t in the hall. No one was around when we went in.”

“I mean after the guys went in. The bear commanded I stay out of that meeting with him and his brothers. I heard him say his office was unlocked. Because he was so angry, he didn’t think about the significance. I don’t miss that kind of thing.
Ever
.”

She shook her head, amazed. “But still that doesn’t prove we were there.”

“I heard you.”

“Now you’re going to tell me you have supersonic hearing? Are you a superhero?”

He grinned. “Yes, would you like to play with my cape?”

“I have no idea how that could sound dirty, but it does.”

They both laughed.

“You or Basil cried out. It wasn’t loud, but I happened to be nearer to the closet at the moment. The others didn’t hear it. I suppose it was fortunate because I was only there for an instant before I led them all out. I did so because I knew someone was in the closet. Since I wasn’t sure who it was, I thought I’d come back to find out on my own. If the bodyguards had gotten to you first…”

Her mouth went dry. “They’re kind of intense.”

“Exactly.”

“And you had that stupid look on your face.” She glowered at him.

“I’m hurt.”

“Yeah, right.” She pointed. “That’s the look right there, the one that says you know everything.”

“I know everything now, don’t I?”

She threw a biscuit at him. He caught it and popped it into his mouth.

“Okay, so even before I told you what happened, you had to suspect we were up to something.”

“I never suspected you.”

“You don’t know me that well. I could have been looking for money.”

“Doubtful Creed would leave anything in there.”

“I might not know that.”

“Your point?”

“We—I mean that idiot Basil—was doing something he shouldn’t. So why did you cover for him? You even got his job back?”

“I’m a sucker for the underdog.”

She blinked at him. “Really?”

“Really. I have a weakness for the weak. I can’t help myself.”

He made the claim lightly, but she saw in his expression that he was dead serious.

“So the time you were arrested, that night you were helping someone?”

He seemed to think over how he should answer. After a moment, he set his plate aside and grabbed hers to do the same. When he opened his arms to her, she couldn’t resist scooting nearer to him. Duke ran his hand down her middle and set his fingers just above her snatch, which did cruel things to her core. Yet, she would have stopped him if he tried to move away.

The strength in his chest held her upper body without a problem, and she settled into his hold and breathed in his natural male scent. Duke let her enjoy him for a while and then raised her chin so he could kiss her lips. He tasted like honey, and she resisted gobbling him up.

“That arrest and every other one was about me helping someone in trouble. I don’t advertise it. Most of the time I just react without thinking. I admit it gets me in hot water more often than not.”

“I guess I should have known after what you told me about the army and why you were discharged.”

He shrugged.

“So what happened that one night? You kept joking around talking about you helped an old lady cross the street. Nobody gets into trouble for that.”

He grinned. “Do you really want to know?”

“I guess so.”

“It’s not as interesting a story as a few others in my past. In fact, it’s boring and straightforward. An old woman was trying to drive the wrong way on a one way street.”

She gaped. “How could she not know? Almost all the streets here are one way!”

“Doesn’t mean you know which way they head. Unfortunately, her car chose to break down at that moment. I stopped to help. Her son, who she had dropped off at some shop not too long before, came running up and started berating his mother. She was already confused and crying, so I busted him in the mouth. After that, I pushed her car with a couple other men who were around at the time. We got it out of traffic, and that was that.”

“Do you always have to fight?”

“Not always.”

“It wasn’t over because you were arrested. Did the old lady charge you for something?”

“No, the son brought the cops back later.” He shrugged like it was no big deal and stretched.

“If you didn’t have Creed’s money to back you up, would you be so careless?”

For an instant, annoyance flashed in his eyes. “I spent years out of contact with my family. I have always supported myself. The only times I called Creed for help was when what I did could reflect badly on my cousins.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate—”

“Didn’t you?”

She pulled out of his hold and stood, but he reached up and dragged her back down. She landed on her ass, and he flattened her and rolled atop her to pin her to the blanket.

“Duke!”

His voice was low and dangerous. He stared into her eyes, and she swallowed a few times at what she saw there. “Do you think just because you made me angry, I’ll let you go?”

“I…”

“Angry sex is the best kind.”

“Who said anything about—”

“Tell me now, Kiyah.” He nosed her chin up so he could get to her throat. His tongue shot out and scorched her skin. Her pussy clenched in anticipation, and she squirmed beneath him. “Tell me no, baby. Otherwise, I’m going to strip off your clothes and take that sexy body of yours again and again.”

Was he insane? There was no way in hell she’d tell him no. Just like he said, he’d only gotten hotter in her eyes when she made him mad. She wanted to beg him to do what he threatened, but she tried to play it cool.

She tapped his hip, and when he made to move, probably thinking she was saying no, she reached for the button on his jeans and pinched it open. In seconds she had the zipper down and was inside his boxers, seeking the treasure she’d enjoyed the last time.

Duke stiffened and shut his eyes. His jaw went slack, and he groaned. Her fingers slid over his shaft, stroking him from base to tip. He arched his hips a little, encouraging her movements.