Page 2 of Cannon (King Family Saga #3)

Cannon

She opened the supply closet like it was sacred. It wasn’t. It was where I let her pray with her mouth one last time.

The lights flickered overhead, threatening to give out, as I followed Carmen into the cramped closet, the door closing with a muffled thud behind us.

It wasn’t the first time we’d met like this, but it would be the last. I had no plans to take what we did any further once I was on the other side of these concrete walls.

Carmen turned to face me, her eyes all soft and pleading like they always were when we were alone. She reached for the top button of her crisp white nurse’s uniform with trembling fingers, undoing it slowly, like she was putting on a show.

I leaned back against the metal shelving unit, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched her, my expression giving nothing away. The flickering light cast haunting shadows across my face, making me look even more like the savage this place had turned me into.

“Cannon, baby…” Carmen breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as she undid the last button, shrugging the top of her uniform down to reveal the lacy white bra that cupped her perky titties.

They were sexy as fuck but I wouldn’t miss them. There were badder bitches on the outside. But that wasn’t my singular focus. I had other shit to conquer. I had millions of dollars waiting for me.

She sank to her knees in front of me, those wide brown eyes staring up at me like I was some kind of god instead of just another convict trying to get my balls drained.

I shoved my thumbs under the elastic waistband and eased the pants down just enough.

The sound of fabric dragging over skin was rough, too loud in the tight dark space.

Carmen’s gaze darted hungrily to my crotch as I pulled myself free, dick already half-hard just from the anticipation of using her warm, willing mouth.

She wrapped her manicured fingers around my length, stroking me to full hardness.

I kept my face carefully blank, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing how good it felt.

When the first bead of moisture appeared at my tip, Carmen leaned in and licked it up like it was the nectar of the gods, moaning softly as my flavor hit her tongue.

“Fuck, you taste so good,” she breathed before wrapping her painted lips around the crown and sucking, hard.

I let out a slow, controlled breath through my nose but otherwise remained stoic and unaffected, staring down at the top of her head as she started to bob along my length, taking me deeper into the wet silk of her mouth with each pass.

It felt good. I couldn’t deny that, but I refused to let it show on my face. I didn’t want her thinking that she had me. This was transactional for me. Nothing more.

Carmen hollowed her cheeks and sucked harder, fondling my balls with her free hand as she tried her damnedest to coax a reaction from me. But I was a fortress, unbreakable, unshakeable. I kept one hand braced on the shelving behind me while the other guided her head, helping her to deep throat me.

Minutes passed in silence, broken only by the obscene slurping sounds of Carmen’s sloppy blowjob and her muffled moans around my dick.

When I felt that telltale tingle at the base of my spine, I finally looked down at her, meeting her hopeful, lust-glazed eyes.

I held her gaze as I reached my peak, feeling my balls draw up tight just before I let go, flooding her mouth with my nut.

To her credit, Carmen didn’t flinch, just swallowed it down like a good girl, never breaking eye contact. Only when I was fully spent did she slowly pull off, releasing my dick with a wet pop. She sat back on her heels, wiping delicately at the corners of her mouth.

“Was that good for you, baby?” she asked, a little breathless, a little anxious. Like she was desperate for my approval.

I tucked myself back into my pants without a word ,straightening my shirt before finally looking at her again. Carmen was still on her knees, hands fidgeting in her lap. The silence stretched, broken only by the buzz of the fluorescents. I let her stew in it for a long moment before I spoke.

“It was fine,” I said flatly, pushing off the shelving and stepping around her to get to the door.

Carmen scrambled to her feet, a flash of hurt flickering across her pretty face as she hurriedly buttoned her top. “Cannon, wait… before you leave can we finally… you know… You’ve never fucked me.”

“I don’t fuck in prison,” I cut her off.

I just needed my dick sucked from time to time for the release.

But something ain’t sit right with me when it came to fuckin’ in here.

I didn’t wanna take the risk of getting a bitch pregnant nor did I trust where her pussy been.

She was a married nurse, suckin’ the dick of an inmate.

Who knew who else she was throwing that pussy at.

Tears began to form in her eyes but they didn’t faze me.

“But I thought… after everything I’ve done for you, all the risks I’ve taken…Are we going to at least keep in touch?”

I moved closer to her, standing over her tear-streaked face, while shaking my head. I wrapped my hand around her throat, tracing my thumb over her supple lips.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” I said. “It was an honor to have my dick in your mouth. But that’s all it was. An honor. For you. And no, we will not be keeping in touch. This was the last time. Savor the taste of my nut down your throat.”

I released her and she crumpled like a puppet with cut strings, folding in on herself as great, hiccuping sobs started to convulse her body. I didn’t look back as I opened the closet door.

The sound of her crying cut off abruptly as the door swung shut behind me, leaving her alone with her emotions and the bitter taste of my indifference.

I walked down the hall, knowing within a few hours I was a free man. My thoughts were on something more than the prison hoe. I had bigger fish to fry on the outside.

When I headed back to my cell, I began to get my things together. I had thrown everything into the box they had given me. I looked around at my cell one last time, thankful it was time for me to get back into the real world and conquer what was rightfully mine.

“You ready?” BJ, the CO asked.

“Born ready,” I replied.

As we walked down the hall so that I could go through processing, I thought of the new life that awaited me on the other side. There was some serious work to be done, but I was up for it.

I kept my spine straight, head high, shoulders rolled back.

Every step I took was calm, controlled, and full of quiet threat.

The CO kept his distance, but I felt his eyes locked on the back of my head.

Waiting. Hoping I’d try something. He didn’t need to worry.

If I wanted him on the ground, twitching and gasping, he would’ve been there already.

But I wasn’t a dumbass. Why the fuck would I start something on my last day in here? Sure, I had caught three bodies while I was doing time, but that’s cuz other niggas tried me.

Niggas assumed I was soft and came at me first. I had to establish early on that I wasn’t the one to be played with. I spent a lot of time in solitary and that broke me in ways unimaginable.

We passed a row of cells full of niggas I was happy to never have to see again. Many of them was cool with me once they realized who the fuck I was.

But I caught bits of their conversations, half-whispers about my release. I’d run this block so long they couldn’t imagine it without me. Probably made them nervous. Probably made them hopeful. The CO must’ve been thinking the same thing, because that’s when he spoke.

“The other guys will probably breathe easier with you gone,” he said, trying to sound casual. “Might even be able to get some pussy from Carmen, now.”

I smirked and shrugged. “Carmen is all theirs.”

Everybody wanted her from the moment they saw her. She was fine. I couldn’t lie. And she had turned down the other inmates. I couldn’t blame her.

But the bitch threw herself at me. She’d heard about me from the streets and wanted me from the moment she laid eyes on me. So, I let her suck my dick a few times a week for the last five years. She begged and begged for me to fuck her and I always told her no.

In all honesty, I felt bad for her husband. His precious wife was coming to work everyday to suck me off. The least I could do was not fuck the bitch. Besides, having sex put me in too much of a vulnerable position.

This place had already taken so much from me. Now, five years later, I was walking out with everything they couldn’t take from me.

The hallway stretched like it didn’t want to let me go. But I didn’t slow down. I’d already drained this place dry and spat out the bones. All that was left was the door.

We reached it, finally. The CO stepped up, swiped his badge. The lock clicked open with a soft beep that sounded like freedom.

My lips struggled to crack into a grin as a free man for the first time in years. I hadn’t really smiled in years. Prison took away my joy. But I was finally free.

They say every dog has his day. Well, I was off the leash now.

And I was fucking starving.

I scanned the parking lot and spotted my sister Reese’s champagne colored Benz near the curb. She had just visited me about a month ago trying to convince me to take the King’s money, but I wanted nothing from them.

A crooked smile tugged at my mouth as I made my way toward the trash can near the gate, cardboard box in hand. My so-called belongings clattered inside, scraps of a life I’d already buried.

I dumped it all without hesitation. Prison sweats, paperbacks that’d passed through too many hands, creased-up photos that didn’t mean shit anymore. Each thud in the trash was a clean cut, another chain I didn’t need dragging behind me.

Then I saw the letters.

Two of them, folded soft from being handled too many times. They were from my nephews, Hunter and Josiah. I held them for a second. Thought about tossing those too. But my hand paused.

I opened Hunter’s first.

Hey Uncle Cannon, it said. Momma says you’re coming home soon. I can’t wait! I been practicing my free throws like you showed me and I can make ten in a row now! Josiah says he can beat me but he can’t. I miss you. Love, Hunter.

I didn’t realize how tight my chest had gotten until I exhaled. Folded it carefully. Slid it into my pocket.

Josiah’s was next.

Uncle Cannon, I hope your ok. Momma says your coming home and i wanna see u but im also kinda scared. You been gone so long and i don’t remember u much but hunter says ur cool and i believe him.

That one landed different. Hit a nerve I didn’t know was still raw. I folded it just as neat and tucked it beside the other.

When I looked up, Reese was already walking toward me, smile wide, eyes bright, arms stretched ready to hug me. She hit me full force, wrapping me up like she was trying to squeeze five years of absence out of her bones.

I hugged her back, stiff at first. Didn’t know what to do with softness anymore.

“You smell like freedom,” she said with a laugh, pulling back.

“Not until I take a shower on the outside,” I tried to smile back at her.

She swatted my chest, still grinning. “You look good. Def got swole while you were away.”

As if there were much else to do.

We stood there for a second, silence settling in around us like dust. Too much to say. Too much we didn’t have words for. Eventually, she nodded toward the car. I made my way to the driver’s side.

I slid behind the wheel like I owned it, even though I hadn’t touched a gas pedal in damn near five years.

Reese opened the passenger door and hesitated. “You don’t have your license on you.”

I looked at her, one hand already gripping the wheel. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m not lettin’ no woman drive me around.”

She didn’t argue. Just climbed in and shut the door.

I pulled us onto the road, smooth and steady, like I’d never been gone. The prison shrank in the rearview, turning into a gray smudge on the horizon. A stain I had no plans of bringing with me.

We rode in silence for a minute. Then she said it.

“Have you thought about Riot and Creed’s offer?”

I didn’t answer. Just cut my eyes at her real slow, the kind of look that let her know to drop that shit.

I didn’t want King money. That shit was blood money and it couldn’t pay for what was taken from me.