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PROLOGUE
VANN
Gripping her hips, I slid into her tightness, releasing a low groan as I eased back and dove forward. She was calling my name and clutching the sheets. Between that voice of hers, the smell of her pussy, and the way it felt to be inside her, I was experiencing a bad case of sensory overload. Knowing this was going to end prematurely if I didn’t calm myself down, I pulled out of her, smacking her ass before dipping down to taste her from the back, and that only made things worse because she tasted just as good as she smelled and felt.
“Fuck,” I muttered when I came up for air. What the hell was going on?
I stood on my knees and stared down at her, taking in the flawless chocolate skin that traversed her ass and back, the plane of obscene curves that was her body, the braids that were wild, spread around her head.
This was too much; SHE was too much…
She flipped over, brows knitted as she gazed up at me. “Is something wrong?”
I shook my head, my thoughts muddled with the idea that this was so damn right, frighteningly right. But I couldn’t say the words. So instead, I kissed her for long moments, still trying to calm the beast raging inside of me. When that didn’t work, I said fuck it and slammed back inside her, making both of us scream…
CHAPTER1
VANN
THREE YEARS AGO…
The highway stretched before me, the familiar winding and twisting of the asphalt offering me no comfort. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done this, come home. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d even considered it.
Despite my long absence from the lowlands of my home, muscle memory took me from the interstate to the county road that would eventually lead me to Guilty, Mississippi, a tiny town full of rich culture, melanated people, connected lives, and inhumed secrets. A town that demonized my angelic mother and ostracized me and my baby sister. The span of my time growing up in this town was spent planning my escape, and I had escaped in a way. But can one really escape their roots when they are inextricably tethered to them?
Miles of trees and not much else passed before the marker for Bonjou County came into view. It was a new one, proudly proclaiming the region as the birthplace of the current occupant of the Magnolia State’s governor’s mansion—Lincoln “Link” Oswell. Bonjou County was home to Guilty among other towns, so I was close to home, which offered little comfort to me since I had no idea why I was in Mississippi. I just knew I needed to come, that there was something here calling to me, pulling on me like a magnet to metal.
Passing a sign announcing my arrival at the place that bore and raised me, I traversed the streets, passing the mostly modest houses as the terrain grew more and more coastal by the meter. Before long, I was turning onto a slim road that led to one house and despite my trepidation and uncertainty, I can’t deny the sense of peace that fell upon me when my childhood home came into view. It was as if time had stood still in this place. Nothing had changed while at the same time, so much had changed.
I parked my rented SUV around back, stopping behind my mother’s pickup truck. Smiling, I sat there for a moment, taking in the vast backyard framed by forest, the barren clothesline suspended from two rusty poles, abandoned long ago after my grandmother bought her first washer and dryer units. The lawn chairs, the dirt path that led into the woods where I earned many scars exploring nature. Yeah, there were some good memories attached to this place too.
I heard a door slam shut and looked up to see my Uncle Rabbit standing on the back porch staring at my car, a frown on his face as he turned and yelled, “V! I told you somebody was out back! Come see!”
Now I was grinning from ear to ear as I took in his appearance. He was just as tall and wide as me, wearing faded jeans, a blue Guilty High School t-shirt, and a Jackson State ball cap. Opening the door, I slid out of the driver’s side, giving him a full view of me.
“Vann-Vann! V! It’s Vann-Vann!” he announced. “He came just like you said he would!”
Before I could move a muscle, my uncle was down the steps, lumbering toward me. He trapped me, pulling me into a hug, heavily smacking my back as we embraced. “Uncle Rabbit!” I greeted once he let me go.
His smile was wide as he informed me, “V said you was coming. She say Cake coming, too.”
I hoped that was true, and knowing my mother, it was. I missed my little sister, just like I missed my mom. I just didn’t miss this damn town or the man who provided the other half of my DNA but he’d moved long ago, leaving only a bad taste in my mouth and an anger inside me that just wouldn’t die.
“Vann! Boy if you don’t get in here!” I peered past Rabbit to find the most beautiful woman in the world standing in the back door. My mama. Following Rabbit into the house, I soon found myself in my mother’s arms, her energy making me feel like a boy again, loved and safe.
“Hey, Mama,” I said as the much smaller woman held me tightly.
“Hey, baby.” She backed out of my arms, taking my face in her hands. “My baby boy. You don’t have any idea why you’re here, do you?”
Damn, she always kneweverything.
“No, ma’am,” I admitted.
Patting my right cheek, she said, “We’ll get to it. I’m gonna have to deal with Cake and her fellow first. Once I’m done with them, I’ll take care of you.”
I nodded, although I had no idea what she was going to take care of regarding me. I just knew I woke up that morning with an inexplicable need to come home. So I did.
CHAPTER2
