A Wicked Beginning (41 page)

“It’s the same one, big brother.” She and her brother watched Cam for a reaction.

Cam just stood there, gritting his teeth, an awkward silence settling over the trio like a giant weighted cloak. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t know what she said to you, but it was only a couple of dates, that’s all. It was while Chér and I were split up. But we’re back together, and we’re going to stay that way. I even asked her to mar…to commit…I even popped the question to her,” he added, struggling to find meaningful words to whatever it was he and Chér had decided to do. “We’re going to do it when we get back home.” Cam looked over at Angela. Her eyes gave off a chill colder than Natalie Epic’s big freeze at the car. He swore he could even feel the sub-zero frost rolling off her skin.

“Angela, I’m sure there was just a big misunderstanding,” Mark soothed. “Why don’t you go wait in my office for a minute, and I’ll tell Cam what he needs to do next. Then, I’ll be right in to get you settled and oriented. Okay, sweetie?” He gave her a warm smile. “Will you do that for me?”

Angela smiled back and nodded. “You’re a good brother,” she said, touching his cheek. “I’ll be waiting.” She turned back to Cam and switched to her evil persona. “I’ll be waiting for you, too. Tonight…”

After she was out of earshot, Mark turned to Cam with an angry frown. “What did you do to her? What did you do to hurt my sister?” He leaned in towards Cam menacingly.

Cam’s neck corded, and his breath quickened. His muscular body tensed. “What did I do to her? What did I do? She was lonely when I saw her in San Diego. I was missing my girlfriend – we’d just broken up. Me and Angela - we got together a couple of times. That was that. She seemed sort of predatory, Mark, no offense meant. I had to block her number when we stopped seeing one another.”

Mark blew out his bluster with a sigh. “My sister’s got some problems.” He rubbed his face. “She told me that she’d met the love of her life, and she was going to do whatever it took to get him. She’s been pretty obsessive about it. I thought she’d met ‘the one,’ and that she was taking her medication and pursuing therapy – for herself, I mean, not her own practice.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe she made it through college and all her exams. The Gods either blessed her or cursed her.”

“What medication is she on?” Cam asked.

“She’s way bipolar. If she stops taking her meds, look out.”

“Frankly, I think she’s beyond bipolar, Mark. I think she’s more of a witch, to tell you the truth. She’s been doing some strange spells to enter my dreams. And I don’t…I didn’t, that is…I didn’t used to believe in that kind of thing. But my face here is testimony enough. I dreamed she was dragging me through the woods and woke up looking like this.”

Mark brought his hand to his chin. His dark brown eyes were lined with sorrow. “If you were anyone else, Cam, I wouldn’t believe you for a second. But being here this week, I’ve come to respect you. I don’t think you are making that up.”

“Angela even confirmed it when I met her in the parking lot. She said something like, ‘I’ve been trying to tell you that I want you in your dreams.’ It’s freaky, Mark. Pure sci-fi freaky.”

“Sounds like it. When she was a teen, she dabbled in the occult. My family…my parents and my two brothers and me…we all thought that was just a phase.” Mark dragged a hand along his face again. “Well, darn it all anyway. I can’t just send her home. It’s a tricky situation. Let me see what I can come up with as a way to deal with this. I’ll try to coordinate the rest of the day so you two aren’t in each other’s orbits.”

Cam clasped Mark’s shoulder. “Thanks, man, I appreciate that.”

The two men shared an uneasy silence for a few. Then, Mark said, “The kids should be waiting in the meeting room with Lightning Rod. Go get started with the last day’s trust exercise, and I’ll meet you down there.” He started to walk away, and then stopped and turned. “Don’t worry about Angela, Cam, alright? These kids need all our focus in preparing them for returning back to their sorry homes. I’ll give Angela something to occupy her zany mind. I’ll put her in the kitchen with Hank or something. She can help prepare dinner. I only brought her here so she’d feel useful. Now I think it was a huge mistake. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah, well, we all make mistakes, don’t we?” Cam retorted, wishing he’d never laid eyes on Angela. “The best we can do is learn something from our screw ups.” He let out a derisive laugh, void of any mirth. “That’s what they say anyway.”

“Right,” agreed Mark. “Them…”

“I say, the best I can do is performing triage or damage control on the messes I make and see what’s salvageable.” He gave Mark a nod before heading down the trail to the waiting kids. “Let’s hope for the best,” he called over his shoulder.

Chapter 38 – Chérie

Zuri and I were giddy with delight as we headed over to the Re-Fly High Club. We were on our way to dance, dance, dance.

Zuri looked awesome in her short, low-cut, strapless, sin-worthy black dress with lacy panels cut across the midriff and hip. The panels gave an eyeful to the admirer, and I was sure she’d have plenty of ogling eyes following her tonight. Zuri delighted in male attention. She could strut her curves around a dance floor like a diva.

As for me, I’d chosen a frisky, sleeveless, short tribal print jumpsuit that hugged my body, but gave plenty of room to move. When I went to a club, I was all about the movement, nothing more.

Zuri sat next to me, talking excitedly, high on weed and happy. “I can’t wait to see Mad Juju. I’m ready for some excitement. My life has been a little ho hum lately. Honestly, Chér, I’m getting so tired of men who can’t express themselves in bed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, I’ve been with Tony for
weeks
now. He loves to let me be a dom. He’s a great bottom. But when he comes, it’s just a little grunt, and he’s done. That’s it. Sometimes he’s so quiet I think that nothing has happened.” She giggled. “He’s like a chipmunk when he comes. Remember Chip and Dale?”

“Those cartoon chipmunks? Uh huh.” I turned on the blinker and prepared to turn left.

“Imagine Chip is on his back and Dale jumps on top of him. He’d probably make a sound like an ‘Uh’ or an ‘Oof.’ Then he’d start to chatter at Dale. That’s Tony.”

We both burst out laughing at the image.

“What’s it like with you and Cam? Any noise? Any expression at all? I mean, can you at least tell when he’s coming?”

I flicked my eyes over to her, and then back on the road. “Oh, you could say that.” I blushed. “This ka business makes sex…well, it’s hard to describe.”

“Do tell,” Z urged.

“Zuri! I’m shy about my personal business.”

“Come on, Chér, I tell you everything.”

“Okay…you do tell me things…okay…well…” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “It’s hard to describe. This is one of those situations that Kayden says words don’t do justice.”

“Ooh, that makes it sound even more enticing. Keep going.”

“Okay, imagine this. When the ka unfolds inside of me, and I’m with Cam, I become pure earth. I’m a roaring river, a thunderstorm, a giant weather event. Think big waves, wild winds…things like that.”

Zuri wiggled excitedly in her seat. “I’m starting to get all turned on. Keep it rolling, Chér.”

“And Cam and I…well, we turn into beasts moving through the landscape. We growl, moan, roar, scream, yell…whatever arises in us is A-Okay.”

“Oh, yeah, Chér, I want some of that.”

“And with Kayden...” I began. “With Kayden, it’s more like shifting through the galaxy. It’s quieter, but just as intense. I feel like I become pure energy. And with the two of them together…” I focused on the road ahead; my face flushed a bright pink.

“What do you mean, ‘with the two of them together?’” Have you had a three-way, Chér? Where did my innocent little friend go?” She laughed.

“No, it’s not really like that. Cam would die if that were to happen. He’s not thrilled knowing Kayden is a constant in my life. Anyway, the last time I was with Kayden…you know, since we can’t get really physical with one another…I brought Cam to mind. And I experienced that ecstatic pleasure of being with Kayden, coupled with the physicality of Cam. I tell you, Zuri, I lost consciousness for a while, it was so amazing.” My body glowed with the memory.

Zuri was quiet for a while. I saw her looking out of the window as if she were far, far away. “Z? Still with me?”

“Yeah, Chér, sorry, I was lost in thought. You know, I’m not ka material; I’m just a girl here on planet Earth. But I’d like to think there was a guy out there who wanted to really let go when he’s sexual with me. Like, not hold back…at all. Not do the Chip and Dale thing all the time.”

“I imagine there are guys out there like that. I mean, I’ve got Cam, right? He’s just a human…or so he says.” I peered out at the road. “You seem to keep men at a distance, though, Z. All that stuff with top and bottom and whips and pain. I don’t understand it.”

“Oh, Chér, you’re wrong. S&M can be quite tender…being a submissive, while being a vulnerable role, can mean being the one in charge. Being the dominant one can just be a game of submission. It’s hard to explain.” She picked up her small purse and dug around for some lip gloss. “I do keep myself from getting too close to a man, that’s for sure, though. You know…since Antonio.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Zuri had been married for a short time to a day trader in New York. It turned out he was an addict.

“Yeah, that was a charming mess. I don’t know what I was thinking marrying that asshole. The jerk was high all the time, shooting speedballs at night, and gobbling Suboxone and Adderall during the day when he couldn’t cop a bag of dope.”

“I know, you told me that story many times. Keep an eye out for a parking spot, okay?”

“I know I’ve told you. It just makes me broil thinking of him. Oh, look, right there,” Z said, pointing to a place to park. “But still…back to what we were just talking about. I’d love to find a man who really knew his stuff in the bedroom.”

“How about the rest of his life?” I asked, backing the car up into the parking spot. “Can he only be good in bed?”

“Oh, sure, he can be handy at other things.” Zuri laughed. “You know, fixing things.”

When we walked around the corner, we were confronted with a long line snaking out from the front of the club.
Boy, Mad Juju must be a sought after band
, I thought. I’d never heard of them until Mano had told me about them. We looked towards the front of the line. There, towering over the crowd, was Mano. “Hey, there’s Mano,” I said to Z. “Let’s go to the front of the line.”

As we approached, we noticed that Mano looked especially fetching tonight. He had his usual loose cargo pants on. Even though the Seattle night air was a bit cool, he had a black sleeveless cotton t-shirt stretched over his muscular torso. The lighting in front of the club was such that the tattoos along his golden-brown neck and face appeared to be lit by a spotlight, while his gold hoops and red-silk braid glinted and winked as he moved. A group of giggly young women, who must have just turned 21, hovered around Mano. They wanted his attention, big time.

“Hey, girls,” he said to us as we approached. He gave us a sweeping up and down appreciative glance. “Nice apparel.”

“Thanks, Manoko. Did we disturb your groupie fest?” I asked.

“Nah. Just keeping the peace out here, like usual.”

“Is that what you call it?” Zuri cooed.

Uh oh
, I thought.
She’s turning on the charm.
Zuri was a big flirt, as well as a big woman. A wicked little thought appeared in my mind at the thought of her and Manoko getting together. What a match
that
would be!

“Hey, Chérie,” Mano said, not taking his eyes off of Zuri. “Isn’t a proper introduction in order here?”

“Oh, sorry…Manoko, this is my best friend Zuri Davidson. Zuri…Manoko. Sorry, Manoko, I don’t remember your last name.”

“It’s Magnetic,” he said to Zuri. “But you can just call me Mano.”

Geez.
I rolled my eyes.
He’d never said I could call him Mano, and I was the ka, after all. And I was the one in a relationship with his close friend. And Magnetic? Good grief…whatever…

“You, too, Chérie,” he added, as if sensing my reaction. “Start calling me Mano.” Still, his eyes never left Zuri’s.

“Well, hello, Mr. Magnetic,” Zuri said, extending her hand. “Pleased to officially meet you. How are you tonight?” she said, giving him a coy look.

Mano took it and brought it to his tattoo encircled lips. “Charmed.”

The two of them exchanged a heated look. The crowd was humming like a bee hive, restless to be allowed inside. I felt like a third wheel. I watched Zuri reach out to finger Mano’s braid. He clasped her hand and gently extracted it from his hair.

“Not so fast, girl. We don’t know each other all that well…yet.”

“Are you saying that we might get to know each other better?” Zuri gushed, her voice a sultry purr. She stalked around him in a circle, brushing his body with her hips.

“You do have ‘hotential,’” Mano said, his voice low and rich. “We may just have to find out if there’s more than meets the eye.”