Page 26 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter thirteen

A shari slowly opened the door, revealing the silhouette of Jediah’s body on the bed.

The room was dark, but not dark enough where she couldn’t see his chest rising and falling lightly.

She entered the room, slowly closing the door behind her before she took quiet steps into the bathroom.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she was removing an earring when movement from the door caught her.

Jediah crossed his arms, his forearm muscles popping as he leaned on the door jamb. “Where did you go?”

Ashari’s face blanked. “You neva have anybody follow me?”

“No… I thought you’d want space.”

“And wa you think now?”

Jediah shrugged and pushed himself off the door jamb.

He took long strides toward her. She didn’t move as he stopped before her.

He palmed the side of her face, angling her head upward to see her more clearly.

His brows knitted. For a moment, she wondered in which world she would’ve reached up and rubbed away the creases.

Because it wouldn’t be this one.

It could never be.

“I’m sorry, Ash,” Jediah said, surprising her with how sincere he sounded. “Everyone makes mistakes. If I’d known…”

“You’d what?” she asked, scoffing before he could answer. “It shouldn’t matter if it was me or not. The right thing to do would’ve been to come help or call the police.”

He gulped hard. “I know, but mi caan’ afford fi live in the past.”

“Why not?” she challenged. “Because you don’t know how long it took me to start showering again.

You don’t know how I had to go to therapy for years of my childhood, and it helped me so good until my mind suppressed most of the memories on its own.

But you, Jediah… Everything you touch, you ruin.

You bring out the worst in me, and I hate that I’m married to you. ”

“You don’t mean that,” Jediah said after a pause.

“I do. I hate you. I hate your stupid face. I hate your entire existence. I hate your father, I hate who was driving, and I hate—” Ashari sucked in a breath, closing her eyes as she tried to steady her nerves.

“Hate what?”

“That I want you,” she breathed out. Her entire body felt lighter as her eyes opened.

Jediah’s brows relaxed as a small smirk grew on his face. Taunting. Too taunting.

Ashari closed her eyes again. She couldn’t look at him. Not right now. Not after that confession. Her heart raced faster than her brain could think. “Kiss me.”

“What?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.

“Kiss me… Right now. Everywhere. I don’t want to hate you for one night, ’cause tomorrow, I don’t know if I can ever look you in the eyes again—”

He kissed her. His large hands cupped the sides of her face, holding her tightly, while she returned the kiss with fervor. He lifted her onto the counter, pulling at her clothes while her hands explored the taut muscles of his body.

Jediah broke the kiss. “Look at me.”

Ashari shook her head and pressed her eyes together tighter. “No. I hate you.”

“You’ll learn to love me.”

He tugged off her pants. A shiver ran through her body as the cold air met her skin. Their clothes hit the floor while he pulled her forward. The counter’s coolness seeped into Ashari’s back. As she wrapped an arm around his neck, something hard pressed against her opening.

“Ash… we can’t go back if I do this.”

“I know. So just do it like you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“You should,” Ashari confessed, moaning as his dick forced its way inside her pussy while his mouth pressed against her lips. “Jed.”

“Queen?” he asked, smirking against her lips as she rolled her hips against him. His hands dug into her sides, controlling the pace as they chased a mutual high.

“I hate you so much!” she screamed and tossed her head back. Her eyes opened as his mouth locked around her nipple. His tongue swirled around the sensitive bud while her nails clawed at his back. She was sure she drew blood, but she didn’t care.

She wanted to hurt him. For pleasing her so good. For doing these foreign things to her body when she was supposed to loathe him with every fiber of her being.

Jediah was poison, and she was allowing him to infect her slowly… and slowly.

“I’m close,” she announced.

Jediah released her nipple to look up at her. She was about to close her eyes, and he gave her a long, hard stroke that made her eyes widen.

“Look me in the eyes while you take me,” he said while his hand wrapped around her neck and squeezed tightly.

“Mm,” Ashari moaned, dots filling her vision as he took her savagely.

Her abdomen tightened, seconds before her orgasm washed over her in waves of pure bliss.

Jediah stared into her eyes while his dick throbbed inside her, but she couldn’t break the stare from shock or hatred as warmth filled her up completely.

His grip loosened around her neck. They panted, both refusing to break the stare first.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Ashari Richardson,” Jediah said, rubbing his thumb across her bottom lip.

“Payne,” she corrected. “And people say to be careful what you wish for.” She pushed at his chest, overcome by disgust at what they’d done.

Jediah pulled out. He watched his cum leak out of her and pool beneath her ass on the counter. “I wish you’d give me a chance.”

Ashari froze. She dragged her gaze to meet his. His lowered eyelids and droopy shoulders made her sigh. “You do things that make me can’t love you, Jed. And why did you say love? I don’t even like you.”

“So, you’d love me?” he asked, and after a brief pause, she nodded slowly.

In another life, maybe… One where he wasn’t a criminal, and she wasn’t an agent. They’d be free of familial obligations, and could be and love whoever they wanted to.

“I’m a very patient man, Ashari,” Jediah added. “So, I’ll accept that for now.”

As a grin broke out on his face, she chuckled. “Why do my feelings matter this much to you?”

“How much time mi tell yu seh yu leff a mark pon me? Plus, you keep playing hard to get.”

“Your file said you love shy women.”

He chuckled. “You really paid attention in class, huh?”

“I did,” Ashari said, and he grinned. “Shut up.”

“Your teachers were wrong,” he said, and her brows furrowed. “The public labels me as a player, so the last thing I want to hear is that I’m putting my dick in just any kind of woman. I won’t taint my family’s reputation that way,” Jediah explained.

Ashari’s brows furrowed. She wondered what else she got wrong about him.

“The truth is everything you do makes me want you more. Especially after how you just—” He chuckled as she put a finger to his lips.

Ashari smiled, loving his chuckle. It was deep. His posture wasn’t as rigid. She liked seeing Jediah this way. She preferred this over when he was brooding, always clutching a cigar as if his life depended on it.

Ashari slowly moved her hand away, and Jediah stepped forward. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her upward. Ashari sighed before laying her head on his chest. She closed her eyes while listening to his heart beat.

“Mi know we get off to a rocky start, but I want you to love me. I know you can. But… I’m not sure if I can right now. Mi never raise pon love, mi raise pon survival. So, when I do things sometimes… it’s not me trying to say I hate you, it’s me saying I want you in the only way I know how.”

“By taking away everyone else in my life?”

He kissed the top of her head. “Yes. I hate sharing, and I want you to myself.”

Ashari didn’t answer. She leaned off him. “I need to have a shower.”

Jediah nodded. “Okay. I’ll go shower in another room, then I’ll be back.”

“Could you bring me a pill, too?”

He chuckled. “You know you won’t need it.”

Watching him bring his shorts up to his waist before hurrying out of the room, Ashari smiled a bit. She thought he would’ve asked to shower with her. Him not asking made her feel a tinge less bitter toward him.

Removing her other earring, she laid it on the sink before hopping off the counter. A slight throb remained between her thighs as she stepped away from it. The bathtub caught her attention, and she gulped before taking quick strides into the shower.

After she was done, she returned to the room, where Jediah was already waiting. He lifted the blanket, and she crawled beneath it, snuggling close as he pulled her to him by the waist. His comforting warmth made her sigh.

“Why you a sigh so heavy?” Jediah asked.

“I’m thinking,” she answered, trying to ignore his dick pressing against her lower back through their clothing.

“About a while ago?” he asked, then placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. “Do you regret it?”

“No,” she admitted. “I… loved it.”

Jediah held her tighter. Ashari knew he was smiling while he replied, “I know you did, queen.”

She darted up with a scream. Looking around, she realized she was saturated in water. She screamed louder, slapping and kicking while her throat tightened.

Her hearing was muffled.

The space was dwindling. Closing in on her. She couldn’t breathe—

Hands grabbed her, pulling her away.

“Ash…” came a voice, and she sucked in a big breath. Her frantic eyes met Jediah’s worried ones. He ran a hand down the sides of her face and said gently, “You’re okay. See?” He looked around, and she did, too. “There’s no water. You’re not drowning.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried, now feeling the cold porcelain of the tub. Tears rushed to her eyes as she buried her face into his chest. “I-I thought—”

“Shh, it’s okay.” He lifted her out of the tub and brought her to the bed. He held her close and she cried against him until her sobs died to sniffles. “Yu usually sleepwalk?”

“Only when I’m off my meds.”

“You take meds?” he asked, and she nodded.

“I used to, but I stopped…”

“Why?” he asked, and she gulped. He tried pulling out of their embrace, but she tightened her grip around him, not wanting to break the proximity.

“’Cause someone took care of me.”

“Who?” he asked, jealousy in his tone.

“A woman…”

“Wait… Yu bi?” he asked, and she nodded. “So, me have fi go worry ’bout if a gyal a try tek mi wife?”

She chuckled, knowing that he was jealous, yet still trying to distract her. She pulled away and wiped at her eyes while staring at him. His brows were furrowed, and she pressed her thumb against it. She rubbed the area until his features relaxed. “No. When I’m with a man, I don’t mess with women.”

“So, it’s before me?” he asked, and she nodded.

“They gave me sleeping pills when I started therapy after what happened. When my memories got suppressed, I couldn’t remember why I needed them, but, overtime, I didn’t think much about it ’cause it helped with being restless from training.

When I got on your case, I wanted to do good— No, better.

I needed to do better than my brother ’cause our dad always brags about him.

So, I stopped taking them so I could stay up late and study you until I knew you like the back of my hand…

” Ashari trailed off and sighed. “I developed nightmares whenever I managed to sleep, and I told my partner. I can’t remember exactly what led to this part of the conversation, but she suggested giving me my favorite food to distract my mind before my body fully wakes up, and it helped, but I don’t have her to watch over me anymore. ”

“Where’s she?” Jediah asked.

She stopped playing with his brows to look into his eyes. “You made me kill her,” Ashari said, seeing a flash of guilt in his eyes as she resumed playing with his brows.

“I’m sorry…”

“I don’t want to live so much in the past tonight,” she said. “So, for the future… If you happen to hear me twisting or turning too much, just force strawberries topped with coconut flakes into my mouth, and gently talk me out of it. It might sound crazy, but it’s what works for me.”

“Why don’t you go back on your meds?”

“I was becoming too dependent on them. Besides, my nightmares and sleepwalking don’t happen as often anymore.”

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “I thought you went to use the toilet… Sorry it took so long to get to you.”

She smiled. “You’re apologizing.”

Jediah scoffed. “How low do you think of me? Mi don’ heartless, Ashari.”

“Well…”

Jediah’s mouth loosened. “Don’ tell me seh you did have access to all a mi health records?”

She grinned. “ Most of them. Me think you woulda figure that out by now.”

“Don’ start wid the bad Patois again,” he said, then muttered something inaudible before asking, “So, why unu caan’ arrest we?”

Ashari shrugged. “Your father is very smart,” she said, and his eyelids lowered.

“You’re smart, too,” she rushed out, and his brow raised slightly.

“I mean, it was your idea to distribute drugs in specific foods instead of running the risk with mostly corner boys, right?” she asked, and he nodded.

“See? No one in the F.B.I. knows that. It’s all you, and if you were still using Kayon’s old method after his secret got out, then everyone who works for the Richardson family would’ve been arrested already. ”

Jediah held her by the waist and pulled her closer. He kissed her neck and mumbled, “This is why you’re my queen.”

It took a few seconds, but she returned the hug.

Jediah was right. No one was here to watch. No one was here to lecture her into guilt.

Just this once, she didn’t have to pretend that she was enjoying his hold.