"Twistin', kissin', lifted off of your vision
Got me on my knees, you're my religion
Speakin' tongues all on your body, no one's listenin'
Tap out on you, that's a submission, know you give in?
Can't let no time go wasted
This moment, can't replace it
Sittin' around so lazy
Comfortably, we'll fade away…"

Lucky Daye- "Roll Some Mo"

He saw her come home.

With Zachary.

The tension in his face and the accusatory tone in his voice upset her. The high she was on from having him back, having him in her arms again crashed down around her as she saw a glint of anger in his eyes.

"Don't be vex."

"I'm not. I'm asking a simple question."

"You saw he gave me a ride home. I was upset about you being gone. He probably wanted to make sure I was—"

"Nah, he was tryna take advantage of the situation."

Sydette toddled around them both, swinging her doll baby and grabbing for Erik's leg then Yani's. She tossed the doll into the air.

"Mama..Baba…look!"

Yani watched her daughter move around them. She felt the binding of small knots forming in her stomach. The same type of knots she would get when Chez used to accuse her of cheating or flirting or doing anything he deemed inappropriate.

The more niggas changed the more they stayed the same.

She normally checked the security feeds first thing in the morning, and totally forgot about it once she was in Erik's arms again. Zachary meant no harm. She was sure of that. But she also got the feeling that Zachary had grown a pair since their last encounter because he didn't act intimidated by Erik.

"I thought you were dead."

"I know I was gone long. But you just jumped to me being dead so quick?"

He inched closer to her. Sydette's hand held onto his leg.

"I didn't know what to think. Klaue…I've heard him talk of his men being killed after they leave here. You told me bad things happen."

His eyes softened.

"Zachary listened to me. I told him how I was feeling…he listened to me. That's all. I was in a bad way and he listened to me express my fears. I didn't ask him to come back here."

"He should've called you. I don't want him coming up here like that. Shit ain't cool. Why you shaking your head?"

"Mi no child. You talkin' to me like mi Sweet Pea or Bam…like I'm not a grown-ass woman. Acting like you scared of him. Like him come up here and steal mi away—"

Yani tilted her neck.

"Yuh think that, Killmonger?"

Her voice went up an octave and Erik's eyes shifted away from hers and his lips formed a serious pout.

"Serious?"

Yani sucked her teeth and reached out to stroke his cheek. He pulled back from her and glanced down at Sydette who kept patting his leg to get his attention.

For true.

He was worried.

"I ever give you cause for concern?"

His eyes finally settled back on her face.

"Nah. But you didn't have to kiss him."

"It was nothing. A simple thank you. For listenin'. For gettin' mi home safe."

She stepped closer to him and lifted her head up. Her lips touched his, light as a feather.

"That's all it was."

His eyes were closed when she pulled back.

"But mi kiss you like this."

Yani touched his cheek again, then ran her fingers through his hair before she pulled his face down close to hers.

Searing. Wet. Open-mouthed. Tongues dancing.

Yani felt her daughter's hand touch her knee. She pulled back from Erik and his body leaned forward to follow her when she did. His hands cradled her face as he dove back into her mouth.

Shit.

He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Dragging her nails softly along the nape of his neck, Erik's lips enchanted her. Enticed her. Made her push back on the red flags she was feeling when he questioned her at the front gate.

She leaned back from his face and his eyes were still closed.

"Mama, up!"

Yani glanced down at her baby and Sydette had her arms reaching for the sky.

"I got you baby girl," Erik said.

He let Yani drop back down to her bare feet and he leaned down to raise Sydette up.

"Hungry?" he asked Sydette.

"Yes!"

"C'mon, let's make your Mama breakfast and then we can go swim. Okay?"

Head nodding vigorously, Sydette pointed to the floor.

"Bring baby," she said.

"You want your baby to cook with us?"

"Yes!"

Yani picked it up from the floor and handed it to Sydette. She watched Erik waltz away with her daughter and for a moment she thought of joining them. But she wanted to get to her phone first.

Slipping into the master bedroom, Yani snatched her phone from the nightstand. Swiped quickly.

"Yani—"

"What were you doing back here?"

She could hear Zachary still driving in his car.

"Checking on you. That man staying there with you?"

"He works for my boss."

"That's the dude from that night. The one you drove home with—"

"Yeah—"

"He's your man?"

Silence.

"He's the one you were cryin' about? The one who ghosted you?"

"He came home last night."

"Came home?"

Yani rubbed her forehead.

"You moved on fast then. I didn't have a chance."

"You left me, Zachary. I wanted to be with you."

"I was stupid. I should've had you stay."

"You can't come over here again."

"He tell you that?"

Yani couldn't answer. She stared at her reflection in the wall mirror.

"If it don't work out, I want another chance."

"Zachary—"

"I'll wait for you, Yani."

Him so sweet. Still.

Had he been that way on that night, taken his lumps and let her nurse him back, maybe they would've been a real couple.

She could smell frying meat and the rich aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. Her stomach growled. Famished.

"I gotta go."

"Call me sometime. Just to talk or whatever. No pressure."

"Okay."

She hung up.

The walk into the kitchen had her feeling antsy, but when she saw Sydette sitting on the kitchen island watching Erik make the waffle batter, her little doll baby cradled in her chunky arm, Yani felt like the choice had been made for her as to who she was supposed to be with.

"What is this?" Erik asked Sydette.

"Ah egg."

"Where do we put it?"

Sydette pointed to her belly and Erik laughed.

"How we gonna make the waffles without the egg, Sweet Pea?"

Erik cracked several eggs against the mixing bowl and quickly stirred in milk and cinnamon with a touch of vanilla extract. Sydette watched him whip up the batter and he let her stick her finger in and taste the concoction.

"Good?" he asked.

She wiggled her hips.

"Good," she answered.

"Alright, we are ready to pour this on the griddle…hey, baby."

His eyes took Yani in.

"Hey. Smells good in here."

"Bacon and sausage…do me a favor, take that coffee off for me…hold on Sweet Pea, you'll be eating soon."

"Ova there," Sydette said reaching for him.

Yani picked up Sydette and carried her over to the griddle so she could watch Erik pour in the batter and close the waffle maker lid. Her daughter's eyes were fascinated with the liquid pouring over the deep squares, and there was a look of delight when Erik lifted it back up to reveal thick fluffy waffles and not wet batter.

Erik heard Yani's stomach grumble. He grinned.

"Almost done."

"I'm not rushing you."

Yani put Sydette on the floor and handed her a few napkins to carry.

"Take that to the table outside."

Yani grabbed the plates and silverware Erik had on the island and followed her daughter out onto the porch.

She set the small table that they used to eat on and helped Sydette put the napkins next to each plate.

"Get you in your chair, c'mon…"

Erik brought out a serving tray for the meat and a platter of waffles. Yani retrieved butter and syrup.

Their breakfast was pleasant and she couldn't stop staring at Erik. His eyes were bright and playful and he carried on a full conversation with Sydette who kept trying to out-talk him. He was so focused on Sweet Pea that she was able to take in his dangerous beauty. His smiles made her tingle all over, especially when his dimples popped in and out. He had trimmed his beard and mustache giving his face a polished look. When he looked at her there was a sense of peace in his eyes. He was home. With them. She could breathe again.

Yani reached out and touched his hair.

"Lemme, do this for you later," she said. He nodded.

They cleaned up breakfast, changed into swimwear, and walked down to the cove together. Yani carried a book bag, blankets and some coverage for Sydette.

"Bustin' outta that shit girl."

He caressed her breasts inside her bikini top and she slapped at his hands.

Sydette walked in front of them, stopping every few feet to pick up rocks and then broken shells.

"Take that out of your mouth. Not candy," Yani said pushing away a tiny corkscrew shell that Sydette held up to her mouth.

Water in sight, Sydette took off running with Erik right behind her. She fell in the water and Erik helped her back up, while Yani smoothed out two big blankets and the small pop up tent on the sand in a shaded spot.

"Hold on," Erik said.

"'kay," Sydette responded.

Erik held Sydette and waded out to his chest before he let her go. Yani felt proud at how well her daughter could tread before she was dog-paddling to hold onto Erik's neck again. She joined them and they frolicked in the water a long time until Sydette grew weary.

Back on land she and Erik watched the baby play in the sand until it got too warm and she grew sleepy. Yani placed Sydette inside the pop-up tent in the shade and zipped it shut to keep mosquitoes away from her.

Sprawled out next to Erik, Yani stared up at the sky with him, the sun hot but not scorching yet. His hand reached over and held hers.

"I'm sorry."

Erik's voice was small.

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry I couldn't contact you. Sorry for questioning you about Zachary. I wish I could tell you everything about my life, but it isn't safe. At least not now. I wish we could stay like this forever—"

"But we could. Leave Klaue."

"I can't. Not yet…"

Yani watched a slow cloud drift in a lazy swirl across the sky before she closed her eyes. She wished he could stay with them forever. He was there with them for a little longer. That would have to be enough.

###

Erik turned his head on the blanket to stare at Yani. Her eyes were closed and her face was relaxed. Her skin was sun-bronzed to a rich hue.

This could be his life.

Erik imagined them getting their own little house on another hill somewhere. He could work on the island while she became a nurse. They could raise Sydette together. He could bring them to Oakland to meet his grandpop, or take them to D.C. to see his play Uncle Bakari and Aunt Shavonne. There was London and his play Aunt Serah and Uncle Addae. He could take them to Brazil, teach Sydette capoeira with his play cousin Marisol…

He could live a life. A real one. He could have what his parents never had.

He shocked his own mind with his other thoughts.

A child.

He could have a child with her. His very own. He could give Sydette a sibling.

His eyes trailed up and down Yani's body.

The idea sprouted.

Yani carrying his child.

Their lovemaking was already intense and often beyond wild, but what would it feel like to intentionally want to place his seed in her womb to take root?

Blood rushed to his manhood.

What would she look like with a swollen belly that he caused?

He could taste his own baby's milk first.

He could cook for her and his child.

He could make Sydette his.

A family.

He could have it.

"Whew..getting hot now. I'm going in the water…what?" she said.

Yani sat up rubbing her arm, her skin darker. She moved to get off of the blanket but he pulled her arm toward him.

He sought out her mouth and when they connected, he pushed her back onto the blanket. His lips burned with the need to keep her close, and when he heard her groaning, his tongue went deeper. He shifted above her and her legs opened allowing him to rest his erection on her mound. He held his weight up with his hands as he continued ravishing her mouth, his full lips overpowering her into submission.

His fingers slid to untie her bikini bottom. He wasted little time plucking off her top and letting her heavy breasts go free.

Releasing her lips, he sat back on his knees and looked down at her vulva.

So fat. So juicy. Her inner labia wings plump and wide open for him.

He pulled off his trunks and her eyes flicked over to the baby's beach tent.

"She's fine," he said.

Pushing her thighs wide open he felt his mouth water. Her eyes gazed down at his thick shaft and he stroked it for her. Her lips quirked.

"Killmonger."

His eyes blinked hard, her voice bending him. He prayed to God that she would never say his name like that when she begged him to quit his life with Klaue. All his years of preparation and sacrifice could go up in smoke. It almost happened once, but he forged ahead, never thinking another woman could ever put him in that position again.

He squeezed the tip of his dick, let her see how hard he was for her. His body was on fire and it took little time for his pre-cum to spill out. He slid it up and down his rigid cock, and when he had it fat and glistening, he tapped it gently on her clit.

"Oh!"

Her gasp made his balls jump.

He sank down and pressed his lips into her folds, her legs reaching up to the blue sky. Smacking his lips, he spit on her clit and traced an infinity sign with his tongue up and down her wet pussy. Moaning her name while he drank from her center, he felt the growing need to enter her. He raised above her again and nibbled on her earlobes, running the tip of his tongue along the shell.
"Yani," he whispered.

Her moans of pleasure tickled his ears and made his dick bob with desperate anticipation.

"Still love me?" he asked.

Yani's fingers reached up and gripped his erection and they both watched the pooling of pre-sum seep from his slit. Her touch was electric and Erik lined himself up with her throbbing opening and rested his glans there. All her juicy pink flowered open with sticky abandon.

A life with her.

Putting life in her.

"Ooohh…." she moaned.

Yani's hips buckled when he pressed into her, stretching her opening, his girth pushing in slow inch by inch. His hands caressed her breasts and when his dick bottomed out, he gave slow deep thrusts.

Big thighs slick with sweat, breasts pliant in his hands, her hips winding and her pussy surrounding his shaft tight, Erik couldn't help but moan and groan as he pumped into her with a purpose.

"Damn, Yani…fuck me baby…fuck me…"

His eyes felt like liquid as his strokes were hitting their mark, Yani's head whipping back and forth from the sensations he gave her. Rich gushy sounds came from their joining, and when his fingers pinched her nipples, thoughts of impregnating her ran wild in his head again.

"Oh shit!" he cried out when she lifted her legs higher and held them with her hands.

They could hear his balls smacking her cheeks and her pussy was creaming on his dick. Looking down he could see her juices coating his long shaft, the glossy slickness making him slip and hit the side of her walls. He was working her pussy hard and her back was jammed down onto the blanket and on the sand underneath. Her fingernails raked at a few keloids on his arms, and the sensation was both pleasurable and a little painful.

Her eyes held his in a powerful gaze when he locked her legs around him. He wanted to flood her womb. Swiveling his hips, he hit another side of her tight walls and she yelped with surprise when he sank further in. He was hitting her cervix and he pressed deeper to get his spongy tip right against it.

"Killmonger…God…my pussy," she whimpered.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and his eyes traced the horizon of the sea before him.

How was this possible?

To be here like that with her and wanting to make a baby?

Him.

A baby.

His fucked up life and past. His brutal work and destruction across the globe. His burning rage for revenge and putting King T'Chaka and Prince T'Challa deep in the dirt of his father's homeland. He was going to be a King one day soon. He was going to shake up the world.

Now was not the time to make a child. It was time for plotting. A time for taking. Not making.

But her eyes were on him, those eyes that made him weak every time he looked at her damn face. Fucking Yani.

Why the fuck did she have to be swimming naked in the sea that day? Why did she have to be here? She twisted up everything, spun him out of control. Made him question his whole life trajectory.

"Shit!" he yelled.

He pumped harder into her, a tinge of anger heating his thrusts. She was fucking up his mental state. She was fucking up his legacy. He had gotten past it with Disa, but this beautiful bitch taking his thick dick right under him was dragging him back into uncertainty.

"You take this fucking dick, baby…look at you taking this big dick!" he shouted.

He lifted up and pinned his fists onto the blanket and slammed his erection into her. Her breasts bounced wildly and her thick cheeks smacked so loud against him. She was uttering sounds that had him on edge and ready to spill his cum so deep inside of her.

"Yeah…yeah…I know you missed Daddy's dick…I see how you acting wit it. Pussy swallowing my shit…"

He wanted to create something precious with her.

For once give life instead of snatching it away.

Yani's arms clutched him tight, her body submitting to his desire for her.

"Baby…got my balls soaked!"

Blood thundered in his ears and face. He felt his nuts tighten, along with the cords in his neck.

"I missed you so much Killmonger…"

Her face was angelic, her plump lips parted and so ready for more sloppy wet kisses.

"I'ma nut so deep in your pussy, Yani…so fucking deep."

His groin was soaked with her fluid and more sticky juices flowed out from her pussy. He couldn't keep his eyes from watching his shaft sink in and out of her with wet sounds erupting with each pump. How was this girl getting wetter? His throat grew tight and his moans were more drawn out until he sounded like a child whining for more candy. It made Yani squeeze her eyes shut and her pussy tightened around him more.

"Oh, fucking take it…take it…oh yeah…take this fucking dick…give it to me baby. Give me that pussy…fuck…you so good…open those fucking legs wider for me…just like that…I want you to cum on this dick. Cum on your dick, baby."

Yani's eyes were open and staring at his cock ramming into her. Three goddamn weeks away from her. He made her cry and think he was dead. He opened up a door that Zachary thought he could slip into.

Zachary.

Erik rested his eyes on Yani's face.

What if he had been gone longer? Would she have let Zachary back into her life? Moved on and he'd be left to mourn another failed love?

The look in Zachary's eyes let Erik know that he would be on the sidelines waiting for his chance to be with Yani. He was bold enough to tell Yani to call him in front of Erik's face.

The thought of that young pup being on top of Yani irked the shit out of him. He'd been that way once himself-wanting a girl who was with someone—and letting her know he was there when she got tired of the bullshit.

"This my pussy, right?"

He flexed his back muscles and shifted his weight to bear down on her. Her soft sighs made the hair on his neck raise.

"Tell me," he pleaded.

"It's yours…"

The arch in his back dipped more as he plunged to the root of his dick and held her hands down against her sides with his own. His thighs held her legs wide open. He was ready to cum. But he wanted her to climax first so he could witness her pleasure before his own.

"Erik…"

Fuck.

She said his name like it was a supplication, an entreaty to his soul. The lump in his throat made him bite his lip as he felt the small prick of tears form in his eyes. The weight of his dick tugged on her clit and he saw it pulling the hood down. She was so swollen around him. His woman.

A wave crashed on the beach and Erik watched a wide swathe of water snake its way closer to their blankets. The mid-day tide moved in fast around the cove.

He moved slow but pressed hard inside of her.

Lips touched and he slathered her mouth with slow wet kisses that punctuated the slow deep thrusts he gave her engorged folds. He vacillated between kissing and plunging balls deep into her until Yani's heated body catapulted him beyond what he could handle.

"Shit…oh shit…girl…"

The first hot spurts of his semen released and he gasped along with her as he felt her walls spasm along his brick-hard length. It felt like a tight rippling of several soft wet lips sucking him off in an even rhythm along his shaft.

"Yani!"

He clutched her hands tight and pushed his glans deeper so he could get against her cervix…wanting to drench her womb with all of his seed.

Have my child.

Yani's breasts heaved against his hot sweaty chest and a splash of seawater hit the back of her head. She lifted up by clinging to his shoulders, the drops of water trickling down from her scalp, and for a single moment of time, Erik thought she knew what he was trying to do. Her legs squeezed around his ass and her sweet shouts of his name made him release even more semen.

Panting and holding her against him, so deep down in her pussy, Erik watched the sea once more.

He thought of his father.

His mother.

Was this what it was like for them when they made him?

Did they just decide to create him even if they knew that things might not be the way they wanted it to be?

Did they even suspect the ending that befell them was a possibility?

Erik wiped the tears from his eyes before Yani saw them.

To want something and know you couldn't have it was killing him.

He rested easy inside of her body until he felt his penis become flaccid and he pulled out from her. Yani laid back onto the damp blanket, not caring about water rushing around her head.

His Black mermaid.

Sated.

Her pussy full of his hot essence.

Her thighs fell open and he could see how much he put in her. Thick pearly white cum sat in the entrance of her wet pink slit. When he thumbed her opening, she took her fingers and held it open for him to see.

"Fuck, girl."

Dipping two fingers into her, he felt how much he put in Yani. She was full of him. He bent over her and kissed every inch of her, stopping at her soft round belly, his lips hesitant to release her.

She played with her breasts for him until the water got to be too much. She jumped up and peed near a shrub, then moved over to Sydette's tent.

Erik slipped on his trunks and folded up the soaked blankets. Sydette fretted from being woken up.

"Hold her for me," Yani said.

He watched her pack up the tent and her bookbag, and he handed her the baby in exchange for the bag and blankets. He felt his dick thicken again as he watched her walk back up to the main house naked, big hips swaying, cheeks jiggling, tits bouncing…

Sydette fell back to sleep, her head rested on Yani's shoulder.

His throat grew tight again following them.

His beautiful woman. His precious little girl.

Mine.

###

Four times.

He fucked her four times that day.

His return and his encounter with Zachary changed Erik.

Yani felt it on the beach when he made love to her. The sex was way different. Like he had something to prove. As the tide rolled in for the afternoon, his release triggered an intense climax from her. Cumming together was always a special treat, but the way he growled her name in her ear after his loud shouts made her heart skip.

She read a new book while he surfed the net, and after they ate a late lunch and Yani fed the baby, they showered together and she dropped to her knees to suck him off before he had her up against the glass shower door taking her hard and fast from behind. She washed his hair with her cherry herbal shampoo and they sat out on the porch with him sitting between her legs as she palm rolled his locs.

Sydette came running out with her doll baby and sat down in front of him watching Yani separate new growth and conjoined locs.

Fingers dipping into the homemade loc butter she made, Yani was gentle with Erik's scalp.

"Hold this Sweat Pea," Yani said allowing her daughter to hold the container of loc butter.

Erik's hair was soft at the root and course at the tips. She gently pushed his head down and dipped a finger into the jar Sydette held. When she separated some new growth, she noticed a patch of hair that was lighter in color. A coppery reddish-brown. Almost auburn.

"Did you dye your hair before?"

"Nah."

"You have a patch of red hair."

"Birthmark. From my Mom. She had red hair. Black ginger."

Yani coated the hair with loc butter and let her soft palms roll over the strands until the new growth was twisted in neat against his scalp. The muscles in his back flexed as he held his head down for her. Sydette stuck her fingers in the hair cream and stood to wipe it on Erik's hair.

"Not too much," Yani said.

She took the jar from her daughter and placed it on the table near them and cornrowed the hair she had already tended to.

"Look at this girl," Yani said, still holding onto a loc.

She watched Erik lift his head up and look to his side.

Sydette had pulled aside her bikini top and was sucking on her nipple.

"Sweet Pea, let your Mama finish my hair first," he said.

Yani continued rolling the strands of Erik's hair as her daughter ignored her work and fed from her.

"What was your Mom like?"

Yani finished the last two locs on his scalp and Erik tilted his head back up. She lifted Sydette onto her lap and tucked her bikini top back over her breast.

Erik never said much about his family. Just that his parents were dead. He shared one picture of his mother with him when he was about three and that was it. He looked like her.

His eyes focused out on the water.

"She was…hmmm…my whole world. Had my Pops wrapped around her finger. Me too. She was powerful…loving. Funny. She used to make me and my father laugh so hard. She liked to cuss. She was a dancer in college. She taught me to fight and to dance. She was beautiful. Really beautiful. She had this big ass 'fro that looked like…fire. I wanted to be her so bad. We used to dance together a lot—"

"Oh yeah?"

"My father loved to watch my mother dance. I guess it was an aphrodisiac for him, but she always had music on in the house and once she got to rocking her hips…it was on. She was larger than life. Sharp tongue. Independent. You remind me of her sometimes."

His eyes glanced at her.

"I miss her. But that little patch of red in my hair, it's like she's with me, y'know? For always."

His eyes darted back to the sea.

She stroked the small patch of red in his hair and he took her fingers and kissed them.

"They would've loved this…my parents. This view is amazing."

He said no more about his mother. Or father. And Yani felt like she had pried open something too tender for him to talk about much further.

She rocked Sydette and watched the sea with him.

###

The two weeks after his return were the best times of Yani's life. They had a routine once more. She did whatever she wanted while he worked on whatever new project Klaue had him on. They spent time with her family, and even her parents came around to tolerating him.

Zachary still checked on her through social media and an occasional text message. She said nothing to Erik about it. He was happy. She was happy. Sydette blossomed with them both together.

All was well until her period didn't come on time.

Two days after her due date, Yani panicked.

Erik became so caught up in his work that he didn't really notice her falling apart.

She snuck away from the compound and bought a pregnancy kit, the most expensive kind on the market. She hid it in her purse and once she arrived at the compound, she stashed it in the middle house bathroom.

This couldn't be happening.

Again.