Page 36 of Cannon

“I said do you understand me?” I spoke a little louder this time.

She cleared her throat and replied, “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir…”

I released her slowly, letting my fingers drag across her skin. “Check your tone with me, Queen.”

Then I turned and walked out, leaving her speechless for probably the first time in her life.

The cool night air hit my face as I exited the club, but it did nothing to calm the fire in my blood. Part of me wanted to go back up there, press her against that desk and show her exactly what happened when she tried to play me like some regular nigga. But I had to maintain.

I slid into Reese’s car, gripping the steering wheel tight. Later I’d have to deal with Smoke and whatever bullshit he was trying to pull me into. But tonight? Tonight all I could think about was the way Queen’s pulse fluttered under my hand, how her tough girl act crumbled with just one touch.

She’d learn. I wasn’t here to be bossed around or dismissed. And something told me she liked that shit, even if she’d never admit it. The way her thighs pressed together when I grabbed her throat didn’t go unnoticed.

I wanted to fuck her and put her in her place. I also wanted to fix whatever the fuck was wrong with her. She was distant all night.

But for now I needed to see what Smoke was talkin’ bout.

Chapter 14

Queen

My throat still burned where his fingers had been.

I sat frozen in my chair, fingertips pressed against the spot he’d claimed, feeling the ghost of his touch like a brand on my skin. My pulse hammered against my palm, wild and desperate, and I hated how my body had melted under his grip. How I’d gone soft and breathless when he’d leaned into my space, all that controlled danger wrapped around me like smoke.

“Daaaaamn, Queen.” Nori’s voice cut through the haze, sharp with amusement. “You okay girl?”

“I’m fine,” I responded breathlessly.

She laughed, the sound bouncing off my office walls. “Girl, you look like you ’bout to combust. I ain’t never seen nobody put you in check like that.”

Me either.

But I grew defensive. I wanted to cuss her out, tell her she was seeing things that weren’t there. But my thighs were pressed tight together under my desk, and the ache between my legs told a different story. No man had ever put his hands on me like that. Not with that kind of quiet authority, that certainty that I’d submit. And the fucked up part? I had submitted. Completely. In front of my best friend, no less.

“He disrespected me,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as her.

“Baby, that wasn’t disrespect. That was discipline. And judging by how you’re squirming in that chair, you liked every second of it.”

My face burned. “I don’t?—”

“You don’t what? Get wet when a real nigga puts you in your place?” Nori leaned back in her chair, studying me like I was a puzzle she’d finally solved. “Queen, honey, you been running everything and everybody for so long, you forgot what it felt like to let someone else take control. And that man? He ain’t asking for permission.”

The truth of her words hit me like ice water. I had been in control of everything, the club, my life, my emotions, for so damn long that I’d forgotten what it meant to surrender. Even for a moment. Even when every nerve in my body was screaming for more of whatever the hell Cannon was offering.

My hands shook as I reached for my water bottle, trying to wash away the taste of my own submission. But it lingered, sweet and bitter on my tongue.

“I can’t be thinking about him like that,” I muttered, more to myself than to Nori. “He works for me.”

“Since when has that stopped anybody from getting their back blown out by the help?”

“Nori—”

“I’m just saying. That man looked like he wanted to bend you over this desk and show you what real power looks like. And you looked like you wanted to let him.”