CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

NATALIE

"When's Daddy coming home?" 

"Soon, sweetheart. He'll be here soon." 

"But when?!" 

Ari was extra cranky and I had no idea how to soothe her. Her eyelids drooped heavily as she fought to stay awake, combined with her eagerness for Sol's return made her whiny and temperamental for the last several hours. 

"I'm not sure, sweetie," I admitted. "But he will." 

God damn it, Sol. Where are you? You said before the sun sets. We got off the phone hours ago. 

All three of us could only pace the house as we waited. At first, we were overjoyed. I told Netta that everything went perfectly as soon as I got off the phone with Sol, and the kid-friendly version of the same news to Ari. 

We danced and celebrated the victory in the living room. When Ari laid down for a nap, Netta and I couldn't stop gabbing to each other how wonderful that not only was Sol alive, the mission was an absolute success. 

But as the hours ticked by and dusk gave way to nightfall with no word, our joy stripped away and turned into worry. 

"Have you tried calling him?" Netta asked. 

"I don't know if I should," I said as I bit my lip. "What if it's not safe?"

She nodded in agreement, her lips pressed into a thin, tense line. 

We ran through all kinds of scenarios in hushed whispers. What if one of Antigua's men assaulted him? What if he was in hiding for protection? 

I couldn't stand to let my imagination wander without feeling sick to my stomach. I knew what kind of sick torture Antigua was capable of. His trusted soldiers could do the exact same things. 

That wouldn't happen to Sol, I told myself. He's too smart to get captured and too strong to get held down. 

We had no vehicle and no contact information for any of his associates. Calling 911 would likely get him and his business partners in trouble. All we could do was wait. 

It was after midnight when the deadbolt slid out of its lock in the front door. All three of us were camped out in the living room to wait for him. Ari dead asleep, Netta drifted off while watching TV with the volume on low, and me trying to read a book.

I jumped off the couch like I got bit in the ass when the door moved. My first instinct was to grab a weapon so I snatched a fireplace poker and raised it in front of me.

When Sol's handsome face filled my vision, the poker clattered to the floor as relief overwhelmed me.

The five steps it took for me to reach him felt like I was wading through the thickest mud. 

But when my arms finally wrapped around his broad shoulders, everything was right again. 

At the first familiar touch of his warmth and solidness, my body melted. I collapsed completely into him, all my strength gone. I could be weak now. No one on earth could hurt either of us. We won.

His forearms pressed into the curve of my lower back as our lips finally found each other. His stubble scratched my cheeks from the friction and the pressure but I didn't care. My man was home at last and I could feel him. Taste him. He tasted like home and love. 

I pulled away just to give him a frustrated jab on the shoulder.

"What took you so long?" I demanded, my voice just above a whisper. "We've been waiting around for hours!"

"Police reports and transferring of assets. Boring shit, but I had to get it done, babe." 

I cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by transferring assets?"

"Daddy?"

Ari looked sleepily over the couch and her eyes grew wide at who she saw. Our adults-only talk would have to wait. 

"Hey, baby girl!" 

Sol's grin grew as wide as his face as he knelt down and held his arms out. Ari ran to him with a gleeful cry and he scooped her up and spun her around. 

"I missed you, Daddy."

"I missed you too, honey." He planted fat, smacking kisses on each of her cheeks. "Were you good for Natalie and Netta?"

"Yes, but we waited so long! I was getting angry!"

"I know, sweetie," he said, not bothering to hide the laughter in his voice. "It won't happen anymore, though. I promise."

"Better not!" 

Her pout was both adorable and lethal, but it didn't hide the yawn she tried to hold back or how her eyelids fluttered from fatigue. 

"It is way past your bedtime!" Sol kissed her again as he headed toward her bedroom. "I'll tuck you in and we'll head home tomorrow." 

Netta slept through the most dramatic part of the reunion but got her hugs in right after he put Ari to bed. She grumbled about lack of sleep and being inconvenienced on the way back to her bedroom, but the smile on her face was as clear as day. She was just as happy as all of us to have him back. 

But finally, we were alone. 

"So what's this about transferring assets?" I asked the moment he closed our bedroom door. 

He turned to me slowly, peeling off his shirt and bulletproof vest in a way that was downright seductive. 

"I'm giving up the thug life," he said, giving me a serious look. "No more of this criminal shit. My priority is you and our babies."

My jaw dropped. 

"You serious?" 

"As serious as I am about making you my wife officially once I get you a ring."  

He reached out and caressed my hips and belly as he placed a long, sensual kiss on my mouth that made all my insides flutter. His words, his touch, everything he did carried so much weight to me. They wrapped around my heart and set it free at the same time. 

"Do you feel any different?" he asked, tracing his fingers across my lower abdomen. 

I giggled. "It's too soon to tell. Probably hasn't even happened yet." 

He grinned. 

"Well, we just have to try again to make sure, don't we?" 

 My gasp escaped into his mouth as he caught me in a passionate kiss again. As my hands searched under his clothes for his warm, firm body, I realized this was it. 

This was the rest of my life. 

Being passionately loved and cared for by this man and the family that we made. The family that I never had before. 

He suddenly pulled away before we could get too hot and heavy. 

"I have something for you." 

From his pants pocket, he produced a long, golden metal chain. It was at least an inch thick, stamped with intricate designs, and carried a large teardrop diamond pendant at the end. I recognized it immediately.

"Antigua's necklace," I gasped with wide eyes. 

"Your necklace now." 

Sol unhooked the clasps and refastened them around my neck. It felt heavy and far too ornate that what I'd usually wear, but it filled me with pride. 

The necklace was undoubtedly an ancient heirloom that belonged to royalty and in that moment I felt like an absolute queen. 

I survived this man and had this trophy to prove it.

"I want to fuck you wearing this," Sol said in a low, lusty growl. "What better way to honor that fucker's memory." 

"I couldn't agree more, my love." 

Our next kiss was a tight clutch of teeth and nails as we hurriedly tore each other's clothing off. Fueled by pure passion and filthy, hungry need, this moment sang a different tune than our last one together but felt just as meaningful. 

When we made love to conceive our child, we did so thinking it could be our last day together. But this could be our last night together too, even if he was out of the game for good. That night taught me to cherish and savor every moment of love and life. 

I was done waiting for a tomorrow that might not be a world of pain or might never come. Going forward, I would live my life one sweet moment at a time. 

Starting with this one. 

The metal felt cool against my skin as Sol lifted my shirt over my head and freed my breasts from their lacy prison. 

"Oh my God," he rasped, stepping back to look at me completely naked except for the gold, ornamental chain around my neck. 

"You're stunning, Natalie." He moved in to capture my mouth again with fierce, possessive kisses. "You're a queen. A goddess."

"All because of you," I whispered back, digging into the hard muscles of his back before I reached his waistband and tore apart his belt buckle and clasp on his pants. 

"No." 

He paused to cup my chin, tilting my face up to look at him. His lips hovered inches away from mine as his lusty gaze burned into me. 

"You're an amazing human being even without me." He caressed my neck and cheek as his forehead pressed to mine. "That's why you're the only person I trusted to raise my kids if I weren't here." 

"But you are here," I replied. "And you're mine." 

Trembling slightly, my hands caressed over the coarse hair of his thick, powerful thighs. His eyes rolled back and he moaned as I massaged his heavy balls, teasing him by staying away from the massive cock that pointed straight at me. 

"You've got me by the balls, so I'd say you're right about that," he smirked. 

His mouth returned to mine with enough pressure to crush me. Heat surged through me and my knees buckled, drunk with desire but he was right there. 

He lifted me off the floor, supporting me under my thighs with his powerful hands and carried me effortlessly to the bed. 

He laid me down on the mattress but kept his grip on my thighs as he knelt at the edge of the bed, his lips never losing contact with my skin. 

My wetness spread around from my pussy to my inner thighs from his rigid shaft rubbing the tender flesh and teasing my entrance. 

The necklace shifted and bounced on my chest, making delicate metallic sounds as I writhed under his grasp. There was something so incredibly erotic about wearing a huge, expensive piece of jewelry while fucking the man who killed its previous owner. 

I really did feel like a queen.

And Sol worshiped my body like one. 

He trailed searing hot kisses over my skin, sending my nerve endings into overdrive with sensation. His lips never missed a curve or a crevice. 

When his mouth sealed over my entire vulva, my hips bucked so hard and I had to bite my fist to keep from screaming. 

He smiled as he pulled away, gently tugging my labia as he did so. 

"You're getting good at stopping those screams." 

"I still like it better when you do it," I answered. 

He grinned as he returned to devouring my pussy, smoothing his palm up over my body and cupping my breasts before reaching my mouth to cover it. 

His tongue zeroed in on my clit and a loud moan escaped my mouth into his palm. My head was thrown back and the pressure of his hand on my mouth was heavy. I couldn't see him but I could feel it all oh so very good. 

As he pressed down deliciously on my hard little clit, I felt his fingers penetrate me and press up against that sensitive top wall. He stroked in and out of my pussy as he kept that pressure constant.

I began to pant as my orgasm built up high and fast. And this was just a fraction of how good his cock made me feel. My moans grew erratic and desperate. My skin tingled with sensitivity everywhere, especially under the necklace which laid over my right breast and nipple from all my bucking. 

When my orgasm exploded from my clit, it felt like my nipples came too. 

My pussy suddenly clenched around nothing, feeling aching, desperate emptiness. 

Until Sol's mouth covered mine and he plunged all the way inside me again and again, filling me to the brim with pleasure until I overflowed.