Over the Hedge: Part 2- The Finale (Lucky in Love) Read online

  “Fuck, he’s going to kill him,” Brent said before taking off after Sean. I ran after them too.

  I could hear Sean talking to himself. Voice low and dark with a quiet rage that scared me.

  “He put his hand on my woman? Nah, can’t be my woman.” He shook his head as if answering his own question. “A man had the audacity to put his hand on my woman. Shit like that doesn’t go unanswered.”

  “Sean, yo, bro ease up,” Brent yelled.

  Sean’s eyes shifted from side to side as he scoped out his target. The left corner of his lips hitched, when his gaze landed on the guy in the blue shirt sitting in the front seat.

  “Perfect position,” he said.

  “Brent, get him!” I hollered coming up behind them.

  Brent grabbed Sean’s shoulder, but he brushed him off. Brent wasn’t a small man, but Sean had mass and height over him. Not to mention the added adrenaline coursing through his body. He wrapped the shirt around his fist, stepped up to the car and tapped on the window. Before any of us could react, Sean pulled his cloth covered fist back and punched the glass. Tiny cracks appeared in the tinted surface.

  “What the fuck?” Brent gripped his hair and jumped back.

  Sean’s target attempted to put the car in gear. Sean quickly landed another punch to the glass, this time effectively putting a hole through it. Another blow and the car window had a hole big enough for him to reach in, open the door, and pull the guy out.

  Everything was happening in slow motion. It was like watching a movie in freeze frame. Sean was the only one in action and everyone else was stuck in the same position. The other people in the car looked on stunned. Not one of them attempted to stop their friend from being dragged out of the car. I couldn’t blame them. A man who could put a hole through a car window with his bare fist was one you didn’t want to mess with.

  “You put your hands on my woman?” Sean asked, shoving the guy against the car.

  “What the fuck are you talking about, man?” He held up his hands in surrender, eyes wide with fear.

  “Did you put your hands on my girl, asshole?” Sean asked again, stepping closer to him so they were chest to chest.

  The shock finally wore off for Brent, and he sprang into action, grabbing Sean’s arm. “Sean…don’t do anything you might regret.”

  Sean ignored him. “You like hitting women?” he asked again.

  Tam sat in the back with Brian, nursing his wounds. Not sure why I looked at her, but I didn’t miss the look that said this wasn’t the first time he put his hands on a female.

  Sean didn’t wait for his answer. He pulled the man up by his collar and placed his hand around his neck. His fingers gripped him so hard I was certain he could feel the rapid staccato of the blood rushing through his jugular. The veins on the man’s forehead and neck bulged, as water sprung to his eyes.

  “Sean…” Brent said in warning. Sean didn’t flinch, just tightened his hold like a predator going in for the kill. His prey’s eyes bulged and watered as his ability to breathe diminished.

  “Sean?” I called, voice soft and pleading. I couldn’t stand in front of the building and wait while Sean did something he could regret. I placed my hand on his back and stepped closer. “Babe…please let go.”

  “No,” Sean responded as he gripped his prey even tighter. “He put his hands on you.”

  “Please, babe, don’t do this. I’m not hurt.” I stepped closer and touched the side of his face, turning his head so he could look at me. “I’d be hurt if something happens to you. Please, just let him go.”

  “Listen to her, Sean,” Brent added.

  “Please…for me,” I said, rubbing circles on Sean’s tightened jaw. His beautiful, green eyes slowly changed back to their normal color. The tension in his jaw eased, and he gradually loosened his grip. “Thank you.”

  I jumped back as Sean gripped Demetrius’s head and forcefully brought it down to connect with his rising knee. The sound was sickening. I gasped as the man slithered to the floor in a limp heap.

  “Sean! What the heck?” I screeched smacking him on his upper arm.

  “What? He put his hands on you,” Sean answered with a shrug. He pulled my body into a tight hug, planting a sloppy kiss on my upturned mouth. I attempted to pull out of his embrace, but he held firm. “You don’t mind driving home, do you? My knuckles are kind of sore.”

  I let out a heavy sigh, shaking my head at his feigned expression of innocents.

  “Come on,” I ordered, pulling him back around to the side of the building where he parked the truck.

  I was surrounded by violent criminals. Will chose the wrong moment to let go of Stacy’s hand. Before he could stop her, she ran out and kicked the guy in the crotch.

  “Fucker!” she yelled as he curled into a ball and groaned in pain.

  “Was that really called for?” Will asked pulling her toward Crystal’s car.

  “What? He hit my girl.” Stacy responded in mock innocence.

  Brent gave her a low five on the sly.

  “Y’all enjoy the rest of your night, now,” he said in amusement. He looked at the people still sitting in the car and gave them a friendly wave.

  Not much was said on the ride home. I caught Sean watching me out of the corner of his eye. I did my best to keep my face expressionless. I focused my eyes on the road, but the gears were grinding upstairs. Did Sean really think this level of violence was normal? I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and chewed on it nervously.

  When I finally pulled into the driveway, and cut the car off, I turned to look at Sean. “We’re home.”

  “Lashawnda—”

  “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Without another word, I opened the door to the truck and carefully stepped down. Usually, I would wait for Sean to help me down from the large Ford F-250. I just needed a few seconds to process everything. I heard him let out a frustrated breath before opening the door and following me inside.

  I kicked off my shoes and left them on the bottom step. I heard him groan, and I turned to see him bending down to pick them up to bring to our bedroom. Most nights I got the speech about someone falling or the importance of putting things back where they belong. After the stunt he pulled, he better not even think of lecturing me about a pair of shoes.

  I went to the bathroom to get supplies out of the medicine cabinet. Sean turned for the walk-in-closet and took off his clothes. I needed a shower. The scent of the smoke-filled bar had saturated my outfit.

  “Hey.” Sean’s voice was dark, sending a shiver down my spine.

  I turned to see him standing in his boxers. Faint bruises were etched across his shoulder, chest, and neck. This wasn’t the same man that nervously asked me out on our first day in the parking garage. Definitely not the same man I went to bed with every night. Choking another man without so much as batting an eyelash was uncharacteristic of the man I knew.

  “Come here,” I ordered, getting the antiseptic wipes from the cabinet.

  He walked into the bathroom and stood in front of me. Slowly, I eased back onto the granite countertop, spreading my legs so Sean could move closer. Even at this level, he was still taller than me.

  Dampening a cotton swap with the brown liquid, I began dressing his wounds. The cuts and scrapes weren’t deep on his face. He had a split on his lip that would most likely sting for a few days. But luckily it wasn’t enough for him to go to work looking like he’d just gone ten rounds with Tyson. His knuckles got the worst of it. They were raw and bleeding. Which didn’t surprise me as I recalled the force with which he had pummeled Brian and his friends.

  “Hey, what’s going on up there?” Sean tapped my temple with his forefinger. “You haven’t said two words to me since we left the bar.”

  Holding on to Sean’s bruised hand, I lightly caressed around his knuckles with my fingertips. I brought his hands up to my lips and kissed them.

  “You know what I was just thinking about? The night we first made love. We
went to the movies and then out to dinner. I remember sitting at the table with you, and you told me you were very protective of what’s yours. I never thought you meant like this.”

  Sean placed a finger underneath my chin and raised it, so he could see my eyes.

  “You know I would never put my hands on you…don’t you?” Sean’s voice was even, calm as if he was talking to a frightened animal.

  I looked at Sean’s worried expression. His eyebrows furrowed, and his lips stretched into a thin line. Never had I thought of him being physically aggressive toward me. Even in the bar, when that girl had her hands in his face, he hadn’t reacted.

  “No, babe…I know you would never hit me. I know you were just protecting me,” I answered honestly, thinking about the reasons for us ending up in this predicament.

  “Then why do I get the feeling you’re angry with me for some reason?”

  “I’m not. I just…I just didn’t expect to see you like that. So…so…so enraged. Would you have done it? Really hurt that guy or kill him?”

  Sean didn’t want to answer my question. But my eyes pleaded with him; I needed to be reassured he wasn’t some psychotic maniac.

  “We don’t have to worry about something that didn’t happen,” he said dismissively. I cocked my head to the side and looked at him like he had just said the dumbest thing possible.

  Those green eyes of his narrowed into slits, and I could tell that he was picking and choosing his words very carefully. “I don’t know what I would have done if he had hurt you. And, I know that’s not an answer, but it’s the truth. I do know, as your man, it’s my duty to protect you at all cost.”

  “But I wasn’t in any danger,” I countered.

  “You don’t think he could have hurt you?” Sean barked, voice coming out gruff and condescending.

  “But, he didn’t. Brad came and pulled me out the way.”

  “Well, he’s lucky Brad saved his life, because if he did more than what he already got away with, then he damn sure wouldn’t be breathing right now.”

  “Sean…are you serious?” I asked incredulously.

  He turned his back to me, pushing his hands through his hair in frustration but quickly pulled his hands away. The raw skin on his knuckles must have stung. He turned back to me and placed both hands on either side of my face, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

  “Listen to me, I love you. My role as your man is to profess that love, so you never doubt how much you mean to me. I’m supposed to provide for you out of love, so you’re always taken care of. And, with that love comes a part of me that will always want to protect you, no matter how great the danger or the cost. I’m not some violent thrill seeker, Lashawnda. I’ll be damned if I let some reckless fucker think he can disrespect you in any way. If suffering the consequences for my actions tonight landed me in jail, then so be it. I’d rip his fucking throat out with no remorse.”

  Sean slowly eased his hold on my face and stepped back.

  “That’s how I feel about the situation, and I’m sorry if you don’t agree. But I don’t plan on changing my stance. Either you’re going to accept that part of me or you better do a damn good job of keeping me in the dark when it comes to shit like this,” he explained.

  I gulped audibly. His speech hit me like a ton of bricks. It reminded me of the speech my father gave at our first family dinner about the role of a man. No wonder my father liked him so much. He was more than filling that roll. I reached out and pulled him by his wrist until he was once again standing between my open legs.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay, what?” Sean asked for clarification.

  “Okay, I accept this is who you are. I know you’re not violent. I guess it just took me by surprise to see you like that. However, you can’t be so quick to react with violence. Think first, Sean. Think about the consequences and the position you’ll put us in as a family if something were to happen to you.”

  I pulled his face down until our lips touched. It was a petal soft whisper of a kiss, a light caress of our mouths that held a promise of all the love I had for him.

  “Thank you for protecting me.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sean answered leaning his forehead against mine. “But, if you ever hide anything like that from me, I’ll have to tan your hide.”

  I gasped in mock outrage. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Sean smiled at my indignation. “Oh, I would. Now how am I supposed to be a good man if you inhibit me from doing my job?” he asked.

  “You got a point.” I chuckled slightly as Sean rubbed circles up my sides. “But the only time you’re spanking anything is when you’ve got my naked booty tooted in the air with the purpose of making me cream all over myself.”

  “Mmm…duly noted.” Sean groaned.

  I leaned back and captured his lips in a deep kiss. Sean was the first to pull away. I was so in love with the taste of him.

  “Come, let’s take a shower. I smell like smoke.” He helped me off the countertop and went to turn on the shower. By the time he walked back, I was just removing my shirt. Sean assisted by pulling it over my head. I, however, didn’t expect him to roll it into a tight ball and toss it into the trash.

  “Sir, what was that for? You just threw my shirt in the trash,” I exclaimed.

  “I told you it was too revealing.” He reached around and unhooked the prongs on my bra. “After all that bouncing up and down you were doing, your breasts almost spilled out of that shirt. That asshole Brad could barely keep his eyes off you; and it wasn’t just him either.”

  “So, you’re going to tell me what to wear, now?” I stretched my arms out so he could pull the straps down.

  “Nah…I know nothing about women’s fashion, except how to take them off.” He shook his head while sliding my panties down my legs.

  “You’re jealous,” I accused, standing naked in front of him with my hands akimbo.

  “Do I have a reason to be?” He cocked his head back as though I’d told him his favorite baseball team was giving away lifetime passes.

  “No, you don’t. I’ve known Brad for a while, now, and I’ve never thought about him that way. I really don’t think he’s interested in me like that either.”

  I wasn’t even going to play with fire by taunting him, especially after what had happened tonight. Yes, I had a little crush on Brad when he first started at H&G; who didn’t. The guy was gorgeous. But Sean came along and knocked him out of the running for any affections I might have had.

  “He’s a guy, sweetheart, and you’re an attractive woman. Of course, he is interested in you.”

  “Well, he doesn’t have a chance. I love me some you.” I eased up on my toes and kissed his lips. “Besides, I don’t think he’s used to having female friends; maybe that’s why he seems interested.”

  “I don’t care what the reason is. He just better not cross any boundaries beyond friendship with you.”

  I poked Sean in the ribs as he pulled me into his arms. I caught sight of our bodies entwined in the bathroom mirror and smiled. Leaning my head on his chest, I sighed with contentment.

  “We look so good together,” I said bringing his attention to our reflections. Sean met my eyes in the mirror and smiled. He palmed my booty cheek and pulled me flush against him.

  “Yeah, we look amazing together.”

  He kissed a path down the side of my neck and nibbled on the outer shell of my ear. The warmth of his mouth made me tremble with need. Nipples pebbled and other parts of me displayed my arousal. Earlier, I got that amazing mouth work, but I wanted to feel him inside of me. His tongue, his fingers, that muscle between his legs slapping against my leg. I needed all of him. His caveman antics was an aphrodisiac.

  Sean hummed the melody of Brown Skin as he kissed all the way down to the valley of my breasts. I giggled when he came to the second verse. Stacy was right, he didn’t know the words to that part. But, when he slowly kneeled before me, lifted my right leg and placed it over his shoulder—I
completely forgot the words too.

  CHAPTER 22

  SEAN

  Monday morning found me doing something I had never done in my entire life.

  I called in sick to work. While technically, I still planned on getting some paperwork processed and looking through a few potential candidates for the open lab positions, I wouldn’t be going to the office. The bruises on my knuckles were still sore, and my face looked a little worse for wear.

  But, on the upside, I got to enjoy one of the best performances ever. I sat in bed watching Lashawnda as she got dressed, from getting out of the shower dripping wet to putting on her body butter. At one point she spilled a glob of oil on her blouse and had to change it. Then her hair got tangled in her beaded necklace.

  Like a good boyfriend, I offered to help, but she shooed me away when her nipple ended up in my mouth.

  My morning wood was in full effect from start to finish. It was like our early morning session didn’t even happen. Lashawnda without any clothes on was a head rush. But, Lashawnda dressed in a pencil skirt and one of those silk blouses did something to me. I loved that she had so much going for herself. I was proud of her professionalism.

  She was so precious to me.

  For the last few weeks, I kept thinking about how content I was. My musings, and Lashawnda’s little mishaps while getting dressed, reminded me of our first date. So much had changed since then; yet, so many things were the same. Lashawnda and I were still learning the little things about each other’s personalities and habits. But, most importantly the one thing that hadn’t changed was we were still very much in love.

  “Alright, my big, strong macho man…I’m off to work.” Lashawnda poked fun at my actions on Saturday night. She sat on the side of the bed and leaned forward until our lips connected. I took my time enjoying the taste of her.

  “Mmm…stay home with me,” I pleaded.

  “If I stay home with you, I wouldn’t get any work done,” Lashawnda murmured against my lips. I smirked at her coquettish facade. She was teasing me and knew it.