Page 28

They made it to the parking lot. The heat of the club still clung to her skin, mixing with the night air. Malik’s hand was in hers - warm, calloused, and familiar. But just as they reached his car, she yanked it back like it burned her.

“Hold up,” Aku snapped, stepping to the side with her arms folded, eyes sharp and steady on him. “Before I go anywhere with you—before I sit in your car, your energy, your mess—you gon’ have to hear me.”

Malik tilted his head, his mouth twitching like he was trying to keep the hood in him at bay. “Here we go.”

“Nah, nigga. Here you go. Dippin’ out my bed like you was late to a block meeting,” her neck rolled. “Left me a weak-ass note like that was gon’ hold me over.”

Malik exhaled, already annoyed. “I had shit to handle.”

“I ain’t one of your lil side hoes you hit then ghost,” she snapped. “I’m not Crescent pussy on demand. You not gon’ slide up in me, kiss my spine, then leave a damn thank you card on the nightstand.”

She was being dramatic, but he still needed to feel her. Understand what she would and wouldn’t stand for.

He stepped in closer. “I told you, I had to go.”

“And I told you—I’m not one to play with,” she said, jabbing a finger into his chest. “If you can bend me over, you can kiss me goodbye. If you can put your tongue on my soul, you can at least shoot me a damn text .”

His jaw clenched, but he didn’t interrupt. Even though he wanted to remind her that he did text her. It shouldn’t matter if it was hours later. Still, he let her talk. Anthony had taught him to be quick to listen and slow to respond.

Aku was on a roll.

“You think I’m pressed over dick? Please.

” She mushed his head. “I get offered trips, dinners, business deals, and Bentleys in my DMs, Malik. But I’m trying to choose you .

I let you in my space, in my body….gave you my energy .

And all I got in return was a stupid ass note like we friends and you ain’t just baptize me in your demons. ”

Malik blinked. “Damn, baptize?”

“Don’t play with me,” she warned, her voice softer but just as deadly. “’Cause I liked it. I like you. And that’s why I’m pissed. ’Cause I can’t afford to keep liking you niggas.”

Malik rubbed the back of his neck, guilt creeping into his shoulders. “I ain’t mean to make you feel played. I just…I don’t know how to do this shit the right way.”

She scoffed. “Nigga, you know how to do a whole app from scratch. You taught yourself to code, built some hood-ass encrypted system to keep yo’ people connected—but you can’t send a good morning text?”

He laughed under his breath. That was funny. “Aku?—”

“No,” she cut him off. “You need to get this. I ain’t no halfway type of girl. If you want me, really want me , then you gotta come correct. I’m talkin’ real effort. Real energy. You gotta unlearn that ‘fuck bitches, get money’ mentality and show up for me like I’m worth it.”

She stepped even closer, her voice now laced with heat and heartbreak.

“Love me wrong, Malik…and I’ll disappear so fast, you’ll think I was a dream,” she said, her voice sharp but trembling. “But love me right? I’ll turn your life into a legacy.”

Malik didn’t breathe for a second.

Didn’t blink.

Because she wasn’t just talking shit—she was telling the truth. Her truth. She knew her power. The type of truth that made your lungs tighten and your past feel heavy.

He looked at her—her lip gloss still poppin’ from the club, her eyes rimmed in a fire that looked too much like love to be safe, and he knew. This wasn’t a woman you fumbled, not twice.

He nodded once, slow. “I hear you.”

“You better,” she said, snatching the passenger door open.

Before she slid in, she paused and looked back at him. “’Cause next time, I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. I’m just gon’ be gone.” She slammed the door shut, folding her arms and kicking her shoes off. Malik had her fucked up.

All he could do was smirk a little as he rounded the car to get in. He heard her—felt what she said—still he felt like a winner because she was in his car and not slow grinding on some lame ass nigga that didn’t know what to do with a woman like her.

The car was thick with silence at first. Aku angled her body toward the window like she was still heated - arms folded, lips pursed, giving him just enough profile to let him know the cold shoulder was intentional.

Malik peeked over, smirking to himself like he didn’t just get his entire soul chewed out in the parking lot. “You always this fine when you mad?”

She didn’t say anything, only huffed.

“I’m serious,” he added, playfully. “That lil blue dress? Shit dangerous. You knew what you was doin’.”

Her mouth twitched, but she held her expression…only reaching over to unlock her phone and queue up some music.

Burning Blue, again.

Malik cut his eyes at her when the soft piano came in. “You gon’ play that damn song all night?”

“Yup.” Aku leaned her head against the window and started singing loud and off-key on purpose. “ I got that blue fever. Cold as ice till you came near… ”

He laughed, deep and low. “Your throat sore? Sound like it,” he clowned.

“You sound like a nigga who ghosted me after getting the best pussy of his life,” she shot back, not missing a beat.

He chuckled, letting the wheel glide through his palm as they cruised slowly through the dark night. Streetlights flickered like they were trying to stay up just to witness whatever was about to happen next.

After a beat, he asked, “You gon’ be mad all night?”

She turned her head slowly, her mouth curving into a devilish grin. “You gotta kiss it to make it better.”

His eyes slid over to her again. “That right?”

She nodded, slow and smug.

At the red light, he leaned over, palm brushing her thigh as he kissed her lips—slow at first, like he wasn’t trying to mess up her lip gloss. Then she opened for him, kissed him back deep, tongue lazy and taunting.

Then she pulled back just enough, eyes hooded. “Nah, kiss it… for real. ”

Her knees parted, dress hiked up.

Malik’s breath caught.

She didn’t blink. Just looked him dead in the face and said, “Pull over.”

He didn’t hesitate…swerved to the side, tires whispering against the curb. The second he shifted the car into park, she reclined her seat back, twisting so her back was on the door and spread her legs wide, that blue dress now nothing more than a suggestion and her thong soaked too.

“I’m right here,” she said, voice low and smug. “Kiss it like you mean it, too.”

Malik leaned over the middle console, one hand gripping under her thigh to hold her still while the other slid up her inner thigh - fingers slow, teasing, savoring every inch like it was holy. He pushed her panties to the side.

“Show me how sorry you are.” His tongue met her folds, and she gasped—sharp and sweet.

He licked her like he missed her…like he was apologizing with every stroke.

Long, deliberate swipes up her slit, before locking onto her clit and sucking soft, then harder, tongue rolling over it until her hips were twitching.

“Malik…” she moaned, head tilting back against the window, hand threading into his braids.

He hummed against her, the vibration sending shivers through her thighs.

He flattened his tongue and dragged it up slow, letting it rest there for a second, before he circled her clit with the tip like he was spelling his name in cursive. His fingers slid in next—two, then three—curling upward with every thrust while his mouth stayed locked on her.

“Oh fuck,” Aku whined, her breath hitching.

He kept going, eyes glued to her face while she unraveled. Her legs shook., her body jerked., but he held her down, and didn’t let up either…just kept licking and stroking until her thighs clamped around his head like a vice grip.

“ Malik— ”

He didn’t stop until she came - loud and hard, one hand pressed into the dashboard.

Didn’t stop until she pulled his braids and cried out his name like it was the only thing she had left to give.

Only then did he rise up off her, licking his lips and sliding his fingers up her stomach, his chest rising and falling like yeah, I meant that.

She looked at him, dazed but satisfied, lips parted…breath caught somewhere between disbelief and do that shit again.

Malik leaned over her, eyes dark. “Still mad?”

She smiled, wild and breathless. “Shut up and drive.”