Creed 3: Undercover, page 22
“Okay. She’s getting out,” Joe announced.
Donna hopped out of the car and walked into the gas station where she bought a bag of hot Cheetos and a dollar juice. That was the ghetto breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When she walked out of the gas station, Joe was gone. She opened the bag of chips and began her flipflop journey to the target location.
It didn’t take long to make it to the block. She ignored the lookout, and he ignored her as she turned the corner. She popped Cheetos in her mouth and gulped juice until she reached the fence that surrounded the dope house. She leaned on the fence and looked up at the dealer on the porch.
“Wassup, Shorty? Whatchu want?”
“Gimme two,” Donna told him, popping another Cheeto in her mouth. She made a hissing sound with her tongue because the shit was hot. As she stood there trying to buy dope, she wondered to herself why people eat bullshit that burned their tongue. She shook her head and gulped a large portion of the way too sweet blue juice.
“Two what?” the dealer asked suspiciously.
Donna narrowed her eyes at the skinny, barely grown boy on the porch. He needed security, she thought as she took another drink.
“Stop playin’ with me. My motherfuck’n mouf burnin’. Can you give me two so I can go?”
“Bitch, who you talkin’ to?” he blurted with his chest puffed out.
“Ughhh!” she grunted as if frustrated. “Come on, bae,” she whined. “I’m just trying to get you to hit me two times.”
The dealer relaxed and leaned back in the filthy, raggedy ass La-Z-Boy that had no business on a front porch and nodded at his security, who immediately held his hand out for payment. Donna reached in her bra and pulled out a twenty. She handed it to security and waited while he handed it to the dealer. In turn, the dealer slipped a tiny package in his hands. The guy on security walked over to the fence and handed her two, tiny foil-wrapped packets.
“Thanks,” Donna said as she stuffed them in her bra. She went to walk away, but the dealer called out for her to stop. She turned and looked back at him.
“If you need some more, I take other forms of payment,” he said with a horny, sinister look in his eye.
“Okay. I’ll let them other bitches know,” Donna retorted as she walked away.
She made it to the end of the block. Once she passed the lookout, she turned the corner and kept walking.
“I’m headed back to the gas station,” she announced to all who were listening on the COH.
When she arrived at the gas station, she walked inside and watched from the window. She waited to make sure she hadn’t been followed. When Joe pulled up in front of the door and signaled for her to get in, she knew that surveillance had given him the go ahead.
She left the gas station and hopped in the car. “They get it?”
“Yep. Photos, video, everything they needed.”
Since the plan was to survey, make frequent buys, and gather intel on the supplier, there were no arrests to be made. At least, for a while. As Joe drove them back to their office to inventory the dope, Donna sat back in her seat. She relaxed and thanked God for another successful undercover experience. And, by successful, she didn’t mean buying the dope. She meant not getting a bullet to the brain.
32
Lincoln
“How was your flight?”
Donatella smiled. “Pretty cool, thanks to you. Had my nose in the air with all the rest of the folks flying first class,” she joked.
Lincoln chuckled softly. “You got your snob on?”
“Yep. I frowned at everybody walking to the back of the plane.”
Lincoln laughed and put on his seatbelt. Donatella Devereaux could be very silly, but she put on no airs. She was who she was, and he’d never met a woman like her. She could drink him under a table, and she ate more than any woman he’d ever fed. She wasn’t shy about sharing her opinions, but she was still very open-minded. Donatella was fun, intelligent, and ridiculously beautiful.
Since he had to return to Fort Benning, he was only able to see her on weekends. Usually, he flew to Chicago. But, for the first time, she volunteered to visit him in Fort Benning.
“So, what have you got planned for me this weekend?” There was something about her voice and the suggestive way she asked the question that sent waves of desire straight to his manhood. Since she was sitting right next to him, he avoided adjusting his package.
“Dinner tonight and tomorrow, a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
“Don’t care, young lady. I said it’s a surprise, and you're gonna like it.”
He could feel Donna glare as he rounded a sharp curve that led to the road to his house. When they drove down the tree-lined path and through the open gate, she looked out of her window.
“I thought you lived on base. What’s all this?”
Lincoln could hear the confusion in her inquiry. “I have a house here as well. Just up ahead.”
Just as she turned to look ahead, his house came into view.
“Wow!” she gasped. “This beautiful.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? It’s amazing!”
His home was no mansion. In fact, it wasn’t very big at all. It was a comfortable, two-story, four-bedroom house made from logs. There was a pool and a lake, so they shouldn’t have a problem finding things to do around the house. Not that Lincoln wanted to do anything that required them leaving his bedroom.
He pushed a button on the rearview mirror of his Jaguar F-Type and opened the garage. He pulled in next to his pickup truck and killed the engine.
“We’re home,” he announced with a grin.
“Home, huh?” Donatella quipped, grabbing the door handle.
Lincoln frowned. “Hold on.” He got out and walked around to the passenger side. After opening her door, he said, “I do that.”
“I can open my own door,” she scoffed.
“I do that,” he reiterated with his hand out.
She placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her out of the car. He closed the car door and escorted her to the door that led inside. After unlocking the door, he pushed a button on the wall to close the garage door.
“Come on in so I can fix you a drink. I’ll get your bags in a minute.”
She nodded and took the step up to enter the mudroom. Lincoln stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He eased past her to lead her further inside where they stepped into the hall.
Lincoln grabbed her hand and led her to the living room. As she looked around, he was praying she liked the place. Because if she liked it, she’d more likely visit again.
She walked over to the large picture window and stared out at the land.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll get you a drink.”
Donatella turned around and nearly blinded him with a heart-stopping smile. Unable to resist, he walked over and joined her at the window. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, reveling in a feeling of passion and contentment he’d never felt before. When the kiss ended, he stared into her beautiful brown eyes, surely long enough for her to peg him as a weirdo.
“You got Jameson?” she whispered with a smirk.
“Of course.” He chuckled. “I’ll be back.”
He allowed his hand to fall to his sides. It took effort. He wanted to have her right there, right in front of the window. He decided that at some point during the weekend, he would. After all, his land was vast, and he didn’t have a neighbor for miles.
DONATELLA
“So much for dinner,” Donna purred. Hungry or not, she was more than okay being tucked in the nook of Lincoln’s arm. She rubbed the soft hair on his chest and looked into his hypnotic emerald gaze, marveling at his incredible talent for fucking her stupid.
“Our reservation isn’t for an hour. We have time,” Lincoln assured.
He kissed her forehead before flipping the sheet back and climbing out of bed. Even under the dim candlelight, Donna could see the muscular work of art that was his body. Even flaccid, his dick was hanging generously down his thigh.
“I have told you, young lady, I am not a piece of meat,” he teased through soft laughter.
How he knew she was ogling him in the dark, she didn’t know. Maybe he could feel the burn from the desire in her eyes.
He grabbed his still wet dick and stroked the shaft from base to head, putting on a very erotic production.
“Like I said, so much for dinner.” Donna crawled over and reached for him, but he stepped just out of her reach.
“No, no. I have every intention of feeding you tonight. You go get cleaned up. I’m gonna get your bag.”
When he turned to leave, she tore her eyes away from his tight ass and sat up in the bed.
“Lincoln?”
He stopped and turned around. “Yes?”
“Is that a real moose over the fireplace?”
Lincoln looked up at the moose head and grinned. “Sure is. Bagged it myself,” he affirmed proudly.
When he left the room, Donna stopped staring into the marble eyes of the stuffed animal and fell back in the soft bed. Dead animals in a bedroom was definitely a white person thing. Black folks just weren’t down for sleeping in the same room with dead shit.
Donna’s stomach growled. She was most certainly hungry, but she didn’t feel like getting out of bed.
Lincoln walked in and placed her bag on a chair by the bed. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of bed.
“Bathroom! Now!” he ordered in what was supposed to be a serious voice.
She sat up with a huff. “What you ain’t gon’ do is walk in here with your dick bouncing and bark orders at me.”
Lincoln recoiled as if he wasn’t accustomed to anyone disobeying his orders. He leaned over and pulled her out of bed. He picked her up, threw her over his broad shoulder, and smacked her ass.
“What you ain’t gonna do is talk back.” He carried her into the en suite bathroom. He didn’t put her down until they were in the shower.
“Now, I promised to take you out for a nice dinner, and that’s what I’m going to do. You’re gonna get pretty and say things that’ll keep my dick hard all night. And when we get home, if we make it home, I’m gonna lick your sweet pussy until a tear falls from your eye, until you beg me to stop, and until your twin screams out in ecstasy 900 miles away.”
“Damn,” Donna rasped through a heavy breath. “That’s sexy, baby. Well, everything except making my sister scream.”
“Eh, maybe.” Lincoln chuckled and grabbed a bar of soap. “Come here. Let me wash you.”
He pulled her to the back of the shower and turned the knob. After adjusting and testing the temperature, he pulled her in front of him before she could stop him.
“Lincoln!” Donna screamed as the water sprayed over her head.
She pushed at his chest and slid past him. She scurried to the furthest end of the shower and pushed her wet hair out of her face.
“What? Baby, what did I do?”
Donna wiped her face and squeezed lids to expel the excess water. When she finally looked at him, the horrible look on his face made her feel guilty.
He stepped closer and grabbed her shoulders. “What happened? What did I do?” he asked with furrowed brows.
Donna shook her head and forced a smile. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
Lincoln wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his wet torso. “Donatella, tell me what’s wrong. Please…tell me what I did.”
Donna exhaled and snaked her arms around his neck. “My hair,” she responded.
He reached up and ran his fingers through her wet hair, squinting while he checked it out.
“Oh, wow,” he marveled. “It got curly. Pretty.”
Donna looked up at him with disbelief. He couldn’t have been that dense when it came to black women and their hair. Now, she loved her natural curls, but she’d had a whole look planned for the night.
“Lincoln, honey, I need you to get out of this shower and get my toiletry bag.” She tried to keep her tone as relaxed as possible.
“Okay, babe. I can do that.”
He kissed her forehead, gave her butt a little squeeze, and stepped out of the shower. Donna grabbed the bar of soap he left behind. She took one whiff of the soap. The clean masculine aroma made confirmed that she definitely needed her bag.
Donna gave herself a once over in the mirror. For the evening, she’d chosen a slimming wintergreen, knee-length bodycon dress that perfectly matched Lincoln’s beautiful eyes. The plunging square neckline and “trick-a-fella” pushup bra gave her cleavage that she didn’t normally have. Before leaving the bathroom, she finger-styled her curly hair one last time. Since there wasn’t enough time for her to dry and straighten her hair, she was rocking her natural curls. So, she used pins to create a cute updo, pinning the back and leaving soft curls to bounce in her face.
She padded on bare feet out of the bathroom, taking shorter steps because her dress was a little tight around her knees. After grabbing her purse from the nightstand, she left the bedroom and went into the kitchen. When she walked over to the freezer, the sound of Lincoln’s voice made her turn around.
“There you are. Oh, wow. Donatella, you look…you’re…breathtaking.”
She would’ve said thank you, but the sight of him standing in the kitchen wearing a perfectly fitted black suit with a charcoal dress shirt underneath was paralyzing. From head to toe, he was perfection, even down to his black leather dress shoes. She would bet a finger they were made by some fancy designer she couldn’t afford.
Donna couldn’t ignore the butterflies in her stomach as he stood there with his gaze locked intently on her, probably not realizing exactly how drop-dead beautiful he was. His thick, ink black hair was pushed back from his face, enhancing the beauty of his striking green eyes, a masculine jaw that was somewhat covered by a soft, neatly trimmed beard, and his perfect jaw-dropping smile.
“Thank you.” She finally managed, although her words came out breathless and awkward.
She turned quickly and opened the freezer. After grabbing her shoes, she walked over to the island.
“You clean up well, Colonel,” she told him.
She spread a towel over the island and placed her black, stilettos on top of it.
“Ummm… thanks.”
He joined her at the island and sat on a stool across from her. “Donatella?”
“Hmm?”
“Why were your shoes in the freezer?”
“Oh,” she chuckled, “they’re new.”
“Oooo-kay?”
She looked up at him and grinned. His confused expression was too cute for her to bear.
“So, when women get new shoes, they can be torturous before they’re broken in. And, for people like me who don’t wear dress shoes all the time, it could take years to break them in. Since I don’t have years, I have learned a trick.” Donna reached inside her shoe and wiggled out a sandwich bag with a block of solid ice. “See? First, you get two Ziploc bags, or really, any kind of storage bags. Second, you fill them with water until they’re completely full. Third, you place the bags inside your shoes. Then, you stick the shoes in the freezer. You wait a while. You see, water expands when frozen. Then, after all that, you take the bags out of your shoes. And, voila! You’ve stretched your shoes.”
Donna pulled the bag out of her other shoe and tossed it in the sink. “See?” she asked, holding up one shoe.
Lincoln stared at her with squinty-eyed confusion like she hadn’t just explained the logic behind her actions.
“What?” she screeched with a grin.
“You’re batshit crazy,” he quipped before leaving the kitchen. “We leave in five!” he shouted from the hall.
Donna smacked her lips. “Crazy? Hmphh!”
She placed her shoes on the floor and slid her feet inside. “Whew! Gotdamn, that’s cold!”
“This is so amazing.”
Donna took a sip from her fourth glass of Rosé while admiring the beautiful scenery. Their table was on a patio lit by candles, torches, and decorative lighting. They were enjoying dinner and wine with a perfect view of a lake. About twenty-five feet away was a beautiful bridge covered with what looked like thousands of twinkling lights, reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower after dark.
So far, her visit had been extraordinary—from the moment she landed, to the hot welcome to Georgia sex, the redfish cooked by the Gods, and the stimulating conversation and romantic atmosphere. Lincoln did not disappoint.
“I’m glad you think so. How’s your Crème Brûlée?”
“Mmm. It’s perfection,” Donna gushed.
Her eyes went from Lincoln to the beautiful view. It was then she realized that she would’ve been happy without all the bells and whistles. They could’ve been having dinner at a hot dog stand, and she would have been content with just being with him. Unlike her sister, she didn’t run from love. Bella had been hurt, so she avoided romance like the plague, but Donna was different. She was willing to find the one. Although, she knew that with the job she did, it was unlikely.
For months, she and Lincoln had been spending every moment of free time that they had with each other. In his eyes, she could see that he cared for her. His actions confirmed it. In her heart, there was absolutely no doubt that she was falling for him. However, the sad reality was that they both could be called away at any time, and neither could predict how long they would be gone. They’d never sat down and discussed the dynamics of their relationship, but she knew that the conversation needed to happen.
“Lincoln, I—”
Donna was suddenly hit by cold feet, not so literal as before. He placed the spoon on the table and looked pointedly at her, giving her his undivided attention.
“What is it, Donatella?”
She chuckled nervously, surprising herself. Nervous wasn’t one of her personality traits. “Why do you insist on calling me Donatella?”
