She nodded, and he pulled her close, kissing the tip of her nose, as he pulled on her long braids, causing her to crane her neck backward as his rough hands gripped her fragile neck. He kissed her, again, on the neck and she lowered her gaze to look him in his eyes. This was the feeling that she was supposed to feel when she invited a man to explore her. She was positive now that Lucas had raped her. He had taken liberties over her body that she hadn’t granted. This chemistry, this message, this silent permission that she was giving to Messiah was unmistakable. Lucas had taken her virginity, and it saddened her, because now she couldn’t give it to Messiah.

“Go upstairs and rest. You’ve been through enough today. Your head is all over the place. What feels right might not be right. If it’s meant for us to fuck with each other, then it’ll be. In the morning, I’ll take you home,” Messiah said. His lips were so beautiful to watch, and she was, briefly, grateful that she couldn’t hear; because if she didn’t have to look at them, she wondered if she would notice them at all. They were full and dark, as if he had smoked 100 blunts. She wondered how many women he had given the honor of tasting his lips, and a twinge of irrational jealousy ran through her. The way he bit his bottom lip, and then licked them, made her swoon as she sighed deeply, while acknowledging his words. She walked away, looking back at him, coyly, before disappearing up the stairs.

Messiah was going against everything he stood for. Money over women. He had never thought twice about a female. They were good company at night, but none of the many he had sampled had ever brought him back for seconds. He hadn’t even touched Morgan and already he was ready to body niggas over her. That type of affection was scary. It was crazy and dangerous. It was irrational; but still, he felt it. It was forbidden but he knew he was still going to pursue her. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Ethic. If he was going to do this, he had to face his mentor, man to man. It was only right. He only hoped Morgan was worth it.

Darkness encompassed Ethic, as he stepped into his home. The beep from his alarm system sounded, lightly, causing a sleeping Dolce to stir on the couch.

“It’s late, is everything okay? You called me over here and then you rushed out without explanation.” She stood and walked over to him, his silhouette illuminated slightly by the light that filtered inside from the porch. She touched him, but pulled back when she felt something wet.