Claiming Carter (18 page)

Kelvin didn’t respond, but the look on his face told me that he really wanted to.

“Well, that was awkward,” I said to Kelvin as I heard the police drive away. “What the hell was that all about?”

“Nothing. He apparently knows my dad.”

“Seemed like he knew you pretty well, too.”

“Actually, I have no clue who that guy was. Never seen him before in my life.”

“Well then, how did he know your name?”

“My dad has had some cop trouble in the past. Chicago PD knows my family pretty well.” I immediately thought about what Tim had told me. “That’s nothing, though. I’m much more concerned about you. How are you feeling?”

“Well, physically I’m fine, but I’m not so sure about staying in this house tonight. It just doesn’t feel safe,” I said.

“I don’t blame you. Why don’t you come stay with me for a couple of days? You know, until you feel ready to come back.”

The thought of staying at Kelvin’s penthouse for
any
amount of time was appealing. However, I’d known Kelvin for less than a week, and although things were going well between us, I wasn’t sure I was comfortable staying in his house.

“That’s nice of you to offer, Kelvin, it really is, but I don’t know. Seems kind of fast, doesn’t it?”

“I’m not asking you to move in with me. I’m just offering you a free place to stay for a night or two. Once you feel good to come back here, you’ll come back and I won’t be offering you a key to the penthouse, either. This is temporary and strictly due to the circumstances.”

“Won’t your other lady friends get mad?” I joked—at least I was half joking.

“I know that you find this hard to believe, but there are no
other lady friends
. You are my lady friend.”

It my head, Kelvin had just called me his girlfriend, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of how excited I was on the inside.

“Well, since you put it that way, I suppose a day or two wouldn’t hurt. Let me go pack some things.”

I packed a bag big enough to fit a couple of days’ worth of clothes plus my womanly essentials, then made sure Meghan had plenty of food and water, and fresh kitty litter, before finally following Kelvin in my car back to his place. The entire ride over, all could think about was how awkward things had gotten in my house. The cop knew who Kelvin was, but Kelvin said he had no clue who the cop was. And to make matters worse, Kelvin admitted that the cops knew his family well. I didn’t want to buy into anything that Tim had told me, but there seemed to be a rather large coincidence forming.

When we arrived at Kelvin’s penthouse, he escorted me up once again, holding my bag for me the entire elevator ride up. The suite was just as clean and well-kept as it was when I’d seen it the first time, and I couldn’t contain my smile as I watched Kelvin take my bag and put in his bedroom, when he could have put it in either of the two unoccupied rooms next to his.

Kelvin decided he’d had enough of wearing the fancy red suit and quickly changed out of it, opting to wear red basketball shorts and a white-and-red Derrick Rose jersey instead. As he came and sat down beside me on the couch, I marveled at his heavily tattooed shoulders and arms. This man was the very definition of sexy. His biceps bulged as he lifted his champagne glass to his mouth, and his triceps grabbed my attention when he lifted his other arm to change the channel on his sixty-inch TV that was mounted above the small fireplace.

As I marveled over his muscles and his tattoos, I couldn’t help but glance down at the small tattoo that was on Kelvin’s left hand. Now that I was sitting closer to him, I saw that the tattoo was script—three letters that spelled
Fab
. I thought for a second that the word was obviously short for the word fabulous, but fabulous didn’t seem to fit the kind of thing that Kelvin Carter Jr. would have tattooed on himself. When my curiosity became too much, I finally built up the courage to ask the question.

“So, what does Fab mean?” I took a nervous sip of my Dom Perignon when I saw Kelvin’s expression harden. He seemed to be gathering himself and contemplating whether or not he wanted to tell me the answer to my question.

“My brother,” Kelvin replied dolefully.

“Oh. I didn’t know you had a brother. Is he older or younger?”

Kelvin shifted in his seat and stared at the TV in obvious discomfort.

“He was older,” he answered.

I immediately noticed that he said his brother
was
older, which meant that he was no longer living. I didn’t want to make Kelvin anymore uncomfortable than he already was, so I sat there in silence, kicking myself for asking the question.

After about two minutes, Kelvin finally broke the silence. “His real name was Frank. Fab was just a nickname. He was twenty-five.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or make you feel bad.”

“It’s fine. It’s just tough to talk about because it wasn’t that long ago.”

“Wow. I’m sorry, Kelvin. I feel so bad for asking.”

“How could you have known? It’s perfectly fine, Lilliana. Don’t feel bad. It’s probably better for me to talk about, rather than keep it all bottled up.”

“Okay. Well then, if you don’t mind me asking, how did it happen?”

“I haven’t talked about this with anyone since it happened, so you’ll have to forgive me if I get a little choked up. Deal?”

I couldn’t imagine a man as masculine as Kelvin actually shedding a tear, especially in front of a woman. “I will totally understand if you get choked up.”

Kelvin took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “He was shot. We both were, actually. I was just lucky enough to have survived.”

“Oh my gosh! Why would somebody shoot you? Was it a robbery?”

“Umm, something like that,” Kelvin replied bitterly, before pausing to steady himself. “Anyway, I got the tattoo in his memory, obviously. Everything I do now is to try to make Fab proud of me. He was my absolute best friend.”

“I’m so sorry, Kelvin. That is so sad. How long ago was it?”

“It’s been a little over three months now. Sometimes I feel like the places where I got hit still hurt, even after three months.” Kelvin lifted up his jersey and showed me the three bullet wounds on his torso. He had taken one shot to the inner shoulder, and two to the stomach, from what looked like a small caliber pistol. The tattoos on his body did a great job masking the wounds, which would explain why I didn’t seem to notice them before.

“Holy shit. I’ve never seen real bullet wounds before, and I didn’t even see this earlier. I can’t believe that happened to you. Did they at least arrest the guys that did it?”

Kelvin put his head down and paused. After a second, he lifted his glass of Dom and chugged what was remaining, and poured himself another. “You could say they’re still working on it.”

“Damn. Well, I hope they catch them. That’s just crazy,” I said.

“Yeah. But, enough about me. Tell me a little more about you.”

“There really isn’t much left to tell. My job is my life. It’s all I do, really. The rest of my time goes to the gym and trying to convince my mom that it’s okay that I’m not married at twenty-two.”

Kelvin let out a soft chuckle. “One of those kinds of moms, huh?”

“Yeah, she’s very interested in my love life, to say the least. She wanted me to stay with my last boyfriend, even after I caught him cheating. She thinks he’s my best chance at love.”

“Interesting. I beg to differ,” Kelvin said with a broad smile.

“You know, Kelvin, I don’t want to be a broken record here, but why would a rich, gorgeous man like you, be interested in a little third grade teacher like me?” I wasn’t sure why I’d asked the question, but I seriously wanted to know the answer.

“Okay, I can tell that you really need to hear this, so I am going to be one hundred percent honest here, okay?” Kelvin exhaled loudly once again before beginning. “I’m interested in you because everything about you is different in every way. You are nothing like the women I have been with in the past, and nothing like the women I see my friends and family members hooking up with. You barely seemed fazed by all of the flash, and you didn’t jump out of your seat to try to talk to me when you saw me at Applebee’s. You’re confident, yet not full of yourself, but in that confidence comes a humbleness that shines through. You’re patient, and kind, and you love kids. You’re extremely mature, especially for only being twenty-two. You’re smart. Like, literally educated, with a degree and everything. And I recognize all of that before I even get to how physically beautiful you are.

“When I talk to you, I feel grounded. I feel like everything that may have been stressful in my day is suddenly lifted the second I hear your voice. You’re the kind of girl that me and Fab would talk about. Someone who doesn’t care about the money, and isn’t distracted by our name and the casinos. If Fab were still alive, he’d be telling me to hang on to a girl like you.

“I haven’t made the best decisions in my life, but I’m making up for that now, starting with you.
Because when I look at you, it’s like I’m dreaming with my eyes open. Dreaming to be better—to do better. When I look at you I want to be better than what I am.”

There were no words. No one had ever thought so highly of me, and then phrased it so eloquently. I was completely floored. I tried to think of how to respond, but my mouth wouldn’t work. My brain felt frozen. I couldn’t think of anything to say, so instead of thinking, I kissed him.

The moment our skin touched, it was like a bolt of electricity sparked between us and we were both filled with an immense passion as we aggressively kissed each other. Kelvin’s lips were as soft as rose petals and I moaned lightly as he pressed them firmly against mine. My heart rate quickly climbed, and I could already feel Kelvin’s hardening cock pressing up against my leg as I sat on top of him. He was so strong and in control, and I was willing to do whatever he wished. And Kelvin was ready to lead me.

As we kissed, Kelvin firmly ran his fingers across my back, pulling me closer to him as he buried his face in my chest. I brushed the back of his head with my fingers as he lifted my shirt and exposed my breasts. The warm sensation of Kelvin’s mouth aroused me as he sucked on my nipples, lightly biting one before moving on to the other. I felt like he was a professional and I was just an amateur trying to keep up with him, yet marveling at how skilled he was.

As we continued kissing, I slowly thrust my tongue in and out of Kelvin’s mouth. It caught me off guard when he wrapped his lips around my tongue and sucked it aggressively. It was a very pleasant surprise and I rolled with it by continuing to stroke my tongue back and forth between his lips. As he sucked my tongue, I reached down and slid my hands under his loose basketball shorts, taking him firmly in my hands. His cock was unbelievably hard and I felt like I could feel every vein running from the base to the shaft of him. Kelvin was the perfect combination of thick and long, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I stroked his erect cock with my hands and moaned as he sucked my tongue.

We were in perfect harmony with each other. Everything that we did felt like it was happening in unison and couldn’t be duplicated by any other two people. When Kelvin grabbed my hair and tugged it, it was unlike any other time anyone had ever attempted it before. When Tim tried it, it was weak and insecure. He was testing the waters to see if I would be offended, which only served to make me offended at his inability to take control of the situation. When Kelvin pulled my hair, he pulled it until my face was pointed at the ceiling and held me there while he slowly kissed my neck. He wasn’t interested in if I was offended or not. He was only interested in showing me that he was in control, and he pulled my hair like he knew I would love it. It was amazing how well he knew me.

As Kelvin slowly let go of my hair, I climbed off of him, sliding my legs down his until my knees hit the floor. I could tell from the look on his face that he knew what was coming next. I was so eager to taste him, I didn’t waste any time pulling his shorts down to his ankles and sliding his hard cock into my mouth. It took a moment to get used to the size of him, but I settled in, sliding his perfect dick between my lips in harmony with my hands. The sound of his moaning was especially arousing. His deep, mellow groan was like music to my ears.

“Oh my god,” Kelvin moaned. “Shit. That is so good.”

I was no expert in this department, but I was no slouch, either. I quickly picked up on what Kelvin liked and how he liked it, and I took my time, alternating between my mouth and my hands, twisting my wrists as I stroked his dick and he tensed and tightened his body in response.

Then, Kelvin turned the tables on me. As I was taking him in my mouth, he stood up and quickly positioned himself behind me, pushing me from behind and forcing me to kneel in front of the couch, while my upper body rested on the couch. My initial thought was that he was going to fuck me from behind. It was what I wanted him to do as he started to pull my pants and panties at the same time. It was what I was yearning for. But, as usual, Kelvin surprised me when I felt his hot tongue slide across my wet pussy from behind. I gasped out loud and tried to grip the cushion on the couch as he sucked on my clit, and licked my pussy like he’d been doing it for years and knew exactly how I loved it. I felt my back arch and tighten as he took all of me in his mouth, sucking and vibrating his head back and forth. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

Then, I moaned as Kelvin slipped his thumb into my pussy, catching me off guard.

“Damn, baby. You’re so wet,” he said.

Kelvin began fucking me with his thumb while rubbing my clitoris with his pointer finger at the same time. As he quickly picked up speed, my toes curled and my breathing raced with his fingers. Suddenly, I was overcome by a vigorous orgasm, and I screamed in delight as he stroked his thumb in and out of me.

Before my orgasm could completely subside, Kelvin promptly slipped on a condom and pushed his hard cock inside of me. It was the first time I’d felt him from this position, and the size of his dick seemed to expand as he pushed deeper into me. The sensation was a painful bliss that I didn’t want to end. Kelvin stroked in and out of me with god like precision and gripped my ass tightly with both hands. He wasn’t in any sort of a rush. The speed at which he moved was perfect and I felt every inch of his erection pushing deep into me.