Her fingers went to her neck, touching the gold butterfly charm that hung from the thin necklace.

“I don’t want it,” she whispered, but her heart was fluttering. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared at Messiah’s reflection. “I don’t want anything from you,” she said stubbornly.

He stared back, moving her braid out the way as he placed his lips to the nape of her neck. It felt like the kiss of death. She spun on him.

“Don’t,” she warned, pushing him backward. He stepped toward her anyway, and Morgan pushed him again. “I don’t want shit from you. Stop coming around like things are good between us, Messiah,” she whispered. “I can’t even stand the sight of you.” Her voice trembled.

“I know,” he answered as he lifted her onto the sink, opening her legs so he could slide between her thighs. “But you gon’ end up fucking with the kid anyway, so might as well stop playing tough, shorty.”

Morgan was livid at his arrogance. Before she could even stop herself she spit in his face. Messiah pulled back and froze as Morgan stood. She watched him process the disrespect in his mind. She saw the anger flicker in his eyes like a light bulb struggling to illuminate. He used his tongue to lick her spit from around his mouth and then wiped one hand down his face. Anger dissipated, and amusement pulled at the corner of his lips. Nothing about Morgan disgusted him. No part of her turned him off.

“Let me taste something else wet, shorty,” he said.

Morgan turned red, inside and out. She hated that he loved every part of her. She bled for this nigga here. Through the good, bad, and ugly, she loved him. Even when she hated him. There was no part of her that disgusted him. Messiah advanced on her, wrapping one hand around her neck and forcing her against the wall as Morgan’s eyes lifted to the ceiling.

Please, God, she thought.

She needed God to shake the table, open the floor, and swallow her whole, shit, something! Anything! To stop her from wetting for him, because her body ignited. There was an exhilaration about the danger of Messiah that pulled her to him like metal to magnet. It didn’t matter that she hated him. She resented him with her entire soul, but her panties still soaked.