Page 46 of City of Gods

“Ugh, yo. That’s some nasty shit. Don’t ever let me hear anything like that come out of your mouth again, Sanai.”

“Then watch what you say to me.” I rolled my eyes. “Now, are you coming over or do we have to have two completely unnecessary meetings with each other?”

“Man, bye. If I show up, I show up. If I don’t, I don’t.” Eli ended the call and I felt tension creeping into my shoulder muscles. He always got on my nerves so fucking bad. Was it so hard just to do what made the most sense?

The sound of a running shower snapped me out of my thoughts and I padded into the bathroom to find Bakari taking his clothes off. I’d opened my mouth to say something but when I saw the gorgeous smooth mocha God in front of me, I paused.

His muscles were so defined and chiseled but he wasn’t too bulky. He was the right kind of muscular. The kind that you saw on the block playing ball. Effortless and strong.

“Were you able to convince him to come over?” I blinked at Bakari’s words then closed my open mouth.

“Um…I’m not sure. Eli does what he wants when he wants and refuses to listen to logic.” I shrugged my shoulders, trying to offload some of my frustration.

“Sounds about right for a Sinclair,” he offered.

“Whatever. We’re not doing this right now. I’m going to call Zee and Ken and see if they’d be down to come over. If they are, you think we can all just put everything on the table between our two families?” I was hopeful but I wasn’t going to be shocked if he flat out told me he didn’t think our siblings would work well together.

“We’ll have to see. I know Maasai would be more willing than Hakim.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Well, let me call Zee. She’s the voice of reason on my side of things.”

“Yeah. You do that.” I detected a hint of attitude in his tone so I paused on my way out of the spacious bathroom.

“Are we cool, Bakari?” He stepped into the shower and closed the glass doors behind himself.

“I don’t know right now, Sanai. I’m still fucked up. This shit is fresh and I don’t know who to trust.” I watched the water spill over his granite body and swallowed the tight knot in my throat. My eyes instinctively dropped to his dick and I pressed my thighs together. Even soft, it was impressive and made my mouth water. My body played back memories of the way he fucked me in Marcus Jackson’s earlier. I wet my lips and turned my stare to the marble floor under my feet.

“Who do you want to trust?” I asked quietly. My stomach was in knots waiting for his reply.

“You. I want to trust you. Everything in my gut is telling me to.” He let out the saddest chuckle. It was hollow and void of emotion. “I want to give Rob his Cubans but I don’t know right now.” He passed a hand over his face and turned to look at me through the door.

I nodded my head in response and took a step backward.

Steam inched up the glass from the bottom. I could still see his beautiful face, though. Something tugged deep inside of me and urged me to go to him. I didn’t trust myself, though. Bakari did something to my body and I knew now wasn’t the time to act on those impulsive feelings.

I walked forward. One foot in front of the other until I was at the shower door. The heat from the water wrapped slowly around my legs.

Those piercing bedroom eyes locked onto mine and my breath stuttered. What the hell was happening to me? I actually liked this motherfucker. I wanted him to trust me. I wanted him to see that my word was solid. I wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him. I didn’t even know what the fuck wanting him meant but the desire was potent and pumping through me.

“Can I wash your back?” I asked in a quiet, sweet voice that usually never came out of my mouth.

“Don’t you have business to take care of?” His question wasn’t accusatory so it didn’t put me on the defense. Instead, I heard an unspoken want in his voice.

“It’s not more important than making sure you’re not alone.” Something flashed in his dark eyes. Something soft and vulnerable that I couldn’t let get away.

I stripped off my clothes and set my phone on the edge of the sink before opening the shower door and stepping inside with him. As much as I loved feeling Bakari fucking me, I was content washing his back and allowing him to set down his burdens again.

I washed him in the silence of the rushing water. I let my fingers slip in the soap coating his strong back as I studied the tattoos beneath the suds. It was my first time looking at the art on his body.

He had an intricate caduceus tattoo running down the length of his spine. The snakes wrapped around the staff were ferocious looking with venom dripping from their fangs and scowling faces that looked ready to attack. The wings of the staff were bold and prominent with weathered feathers that looked distressed.

“Why is your tattoo so…dark? I thought helping people was your life,” I asked.

“It’s dark because I learned a long time ago that helping people isn’t always light work. It’s heavy. I wear the motherfucking crown when I do it and you know what they say about men who wear crowns.”

“Heavy is the head…” I said, dragging the soapy washcloth down his back then taking it up to his broad shoulders.

“Exactly.” He turned to face me, water streaming down his face and beard. The crystal-clear droplets looked like sparkling diamonds. He was something out of a fucking dream and my pussy was aching for him. “Thank you for this, Sanai,” he said before reaching around me to shut off the water. He tossed a look to the edge of the sink where I’d put my phone and said, “Your phone has been lighting up ever since you stepped foot in the shower.”