The Pendleton Rule: Prologue

The same memory put Tyrone “Ty” Pendleton to sleep every night.

He took her hand and walked her over to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she stood between his legs. Gathering her waist in his hands, he pulled her close then kissed her navel. Reaching around, he cupped her rear end, squeezing as if his life depended on them being there.

She slid her hands across his shoulders, down his muscle-bound arms, around to his back, touching, feeling, and kneading. He reached into his nightstand and pulled out a condom, which she immediately took from him. “Allow me,” she moaned as she bent down on her knees.  She licked her lips, pleased with the sight that greeted her. Kissing his inner thigh on one leg, his member jumped at the feel of her breath near it. To be fair, she kissed the other thigh sending surges of sensations through his body.

“Kiki.” He dropped his head to touch hers.

“I know, baby. I’m admiring.” He moaned in response. She opened the package, held the latex in her hand, and took his member in her mouth. 

Ty nearly leaped off the bed at her touch, but she held onto his thighs. This was a new experience for her, but it was there, and so tempting, she just had to feel it on her tongue. He withdrew from her mouth, took the latex, and covered himself with the protection. Seizing her waist, he lifted her, kissed her, and entered her in one smooth motion. They both groaned at the touch and began moving to a rhythm as old as time.

Two souls becoming one with a need and hunger so deep they could not have stopped if their lives depended on it. Nothing could have quenched the passion of their two spirits as he drove deeper and deeper into her throne, searching and finding that glory that only he could expose and touch.

Holding on to the feeling of total ecstasy, she screamed out her orgasm. Her inner walls contracted around him, pulling everything he had to give, rhythmically squeezing his member from its base to the tip, demanding his release. He cursed when the release came but reveled in the feel of it at the same time. It was too soon, he was not ready for it to end. Holding her, he turned onto his back bringing her to lie on top of him, never breaking their intimate contact.

They lay there holding, caressing, and kissing each other until he began to grow hard inside her again. Kissing his neck, his chest, his nipples, she slid down his body then sat up, and began slowly moving her body against him. The power and control of the position was what she loved. She controlled how deep he would go, and she wanted him deep, as deep as her body would allow. Taking her waist in his hands he raised his legs behind her as her body bucked wildly, attempting to fulfill its need. Her release came first. He pumped deeper and harder until he screamed her name.

“Kiki!” He sprang up in the bed, with sweat dripping from his aroused body. His morning had begun. Swiping his hand down his dark chocolate unshaven face, he exhaled, then threw the sheet aside. Sitting on the side of the bed, all he could do was shake his head knowing he had to endure yet another day without the woman who crept into his life, then left him shattered. The Luther Vandross song Creepin’ came to mind as it had every morning. The one line, ‘Why must it be, you always creep into my dream’, was now his Achilles’ heel. And as always, thoughts of the last day they were together followed.

“You want me to move to Atlanta to live with you?”

There was something in the way she asked that put his senses on alert. He pulled her body on top of his so he could see her eyes. The truth always resided in the eyes.  “Yes. You could work from here. I’ll help you get office space and get established here.”

Their bodies were still trembling from the explosion that seemed to increase every time they made love.

Her eyes bore into his. “Then what, Ty?” She caressed his chest, as her thighs tightened around his waist. “Will you eventually make an honest woman out of me?”

He closed his eyes. “Kiki.” He rubbed her thighs. “I can’t promise you that.”

The caress stopped. “Then what are we doing?”

Opening his eyes, he was met with questioning ones. “We’re enjoying being with each other, Kiki. Which is about all any human being can ask from another.” 

“I always thought that was love, Ty. The only and most precious thing that’s worth having from another human, is love.” She stared at him. “See, let me show you how it’s done.” She kissed his eyes, his cheeks then his lips. Sitting back up she smiled. “I love you, Tyrone Pendleton. I want to spend the rest of my life waking up just like this every morning.”

“I want that too.” He cupped her face. “That’s why I asked you to move in with me.”

She held his hands to her face. “What about marriage, the house, white picket fence, two point three children?” 

“That’s not for me, Kiki.”

“What do you mean it’s not for you?” She dropped her hands.

“That’s life for Jason and Eric.” He exhaled. “I’m a different breed.” He dropped his hands to her thighs and continued to talk freely. “Jason writes the love songs Eric sings. I can’t recite a love poem and don’t want to. It only leads to pain.”

She moved from the position of straddling him to sit on the bed beside him.

“What about the pleasure of love?” 

He interrupted before she could finish.  “The pleasure eventually turns into pain.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood. “Those two point three kids you talk about are usually not wanted and their parents end up leaving them behind. Believe me, I know.” He picked up his shirt and slacks that were thrown on the floor, folded them neatly and placed them across the arm of the chair next to the entrance to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower. Think about where you want to have breakfast,” he said as he walked into the shower.

Ty turned off the shower, walked back into his bedroom to find it the same way he did that confusing day empty.  

Durham, North Carolina

“Once we go down this road there is no turning back until the deed is done.” The person known as Rupid A. Mann sat in his vehicle outside the office of the man he had been hired to punish. His job was to right wrongs. Whose right or wrong depends on who was depositing the payment into his offshore accounts. “Be sure this is what you want.”

“Complete this task the way I requested, and your payment will be doubled.”

“Let me reiterate, this type of revenge has a way of backfiring.”

“My money, my way.”

“As you wish. From this point on there will be no contact. Confirmation of the initial deposit into my account will set things in motion. Once the last task on the list is complete, you have twenty-four hours to submit the final payment. If the deposit is late the penalty is death. Are we clear?” The sound on the disposable cell phone he bought for this job indicated a message had come through. Checking the screen, he found a deposit of two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars had been deposited into his account.

“I don’t like being threatened,” the voice on the other end replied.

“Nature of the beast you unleashed,” he replied then disconnected the call. It never ceased to amaze him how often people wanted to dictate how he did his job. They hired him to eliminate issues in their lives because he was the best in the business. If they could handle the situation, he would be unemployed. 

Parked in a rental car, several buildings down from his target’s office, Rupid observed his surroundings. There was a clear view of the front entrance to the building. Surveillance of his target showed his normal path was a walk across the street to the parking deck where his vehicle was located on level three. The target would not reach his destination tonight.

The rain was relentlessly coming down in sheets as Rupid continued to survey the area. Yes, this first deed would be easy, he thought, while adjusting his seat back to relax. His target worked late regularly, and tonight was no different. It was a Thursday night around eight-twenty, with a steady down pour of rain. The combination rendered the streets practically deserted. Parked directly in front of him was a small vehicle, a mid-size in front of that and a large white van in the front at the entrance into the parking deck. The size of the van was a perfect obstacle to shield him from the target’s view, giving him the option of taking the man out before he reached the parking deck. If that didn’t pan out, he would go with the original plan to take him once inside the deck. For now, he sat and waited.

An hour later, the door to the office he was watching opened and the target stepped out, locking the door behind him. Rupid watched as he ran across the street in a trench coat and hat, with a soft briefcase in his hand. Easing from the vehicle, Rupid walked briskly on the blind side of the van ensuring he would not be detected by the target. When he rounded the van, the target was just at the entrance to the parking deck. He wasn’t two steps from his target when he called out.

“Roy Kelly.” The target turned just as he clicked the released to the four-inch jagged blade. 

Roy Kelly stopped, but before he could respond the blade was shoved into his belly and twisted upwards. Roy Kelly’s eyes widened at the shock and pain of the action. “You’re not going to die. You will only wish you had.” The flash of confusion appeared in Roy’s eyes. “Backstabbing a partner isn’t cool, Roy.” He twisted the blade upward. “Karma is a bitch.” He shrugged his shoulder and pulled the blade from Roy’s body, turned then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.