"Stop being silly and come with me

There's a new world I wanna show you

That you can't learn in no book

Only needs courage to free yourself, to live, to love

What is worth the city lights

If in my path, the light is natural

Resting in the shadow of a tree

Hearing the birds singing, singing, yeah..."

Hyldon – "By the Shadow of a Tree"

He became his old self.

Disa noticed the change in his demeanor the moment they stepped off the plane in Sao Paulo. Soft samba muzak piped in through an airport gift shop that she stopped in to peruse shot glasses to take back at the end of their trip. Erik danced around her, moving his legs and hips as Marisol and Disa giggled. She playfully jabbed her elbow into his side when he started rubbing against her backside.

He clasped her hand in his and pulled her toward the luggage area where Marisol and his homeboy Afonso waited for them. The shock of Marisol's short 'do threw them both for a moment. She looked so mature. Sophisticated. She wore it slicked back at the sides with tiny sprigs making baby curls above her forehead. Adorned in a floral-print dress and heels, she strolled to them like some runway model, turning heads as she went.

"JaJa!"

She threw her arms around Erik's neck and kissed him on both cheeks before she reached for Disa and did the same with an added tight hug. Erik greeted his childhood friend with a handshake and a shoulder bump. The only thing Disa knew about Afonso was that he got into a lot of trouble with Marisol and Erik when they were younger. Light traffic greeted them in the city, and Marisol drove them to the small rental house she'd been living in for the past few years. It was an adorable home, more like a fancy cottage that she decorated with Candomblé imagery and blown-up pictures of herself dressed as a samba queen. There was food already prepared for them to eat and they tucked in with starving lips and mouths. Erik's stomach was not shy about grumbling loud for seconds. They all stuffed themselves and retired into the living room to lounge around. Erik dozed off before Disa did. She used that quiet time to chat with Marisol and Afonso. Pretty soon, Afonso caught the itis and fell into a food-induced nap on the floor near the chair Erik slept in with his mouth half open.

"You look happy, Disa."

Marisol handed her a glass of wine from the kitchen. They drank together on the soft rug near her coffee table.

"The last few months have been great… more than great," Disa said, glancing at Erik.

"JaJa seems happier too."

"It's like old times… like when we were back in Cambridge. I can't explain how perfect our home life has been."

Disa leaned closer to Marisol.

"He's getting out soon. They only have him training new recruits on base now. I see him every day—"

"—and every night. I know that look," Marisol teased, pinching Disa's arm.

Disa couldn't hide the look of satisfaction on her face. Sex with Erik had become sublime. Every tryst felt like he was giving her a prelude to their future free from the military. She often had to beg off intercourse and give him head instead because they overused her down below. His stamina wore her out. Sometimes she could only handle a quick sprint, but he knew how to do marathons. Disa felt closer to him again than she had ever been while they lived in the south. Although she kept herself productive, making trips to New York and Cambridge often for her own work, there was a balance to them once more.

She spoke with Marisol for another hour about her Globo TV debut and life in Brazil since their last visit. Marisol ran her fingers over her slick hair and lamented over not having luck with men. She did well with her job teaching Portuguese to long-term tourists, but found a disturbing trend of more American men coming to Brazil to use women for sex.

"Last week, I had a tourist group come to town who were supposed to have three days of intensive immersion. A little more than the basics. It was a Black American entourage of twenty men from Atlanta. I was excited because I don't normally see that many Black people from the states at one time."

She sipped more wine and frowned.

"They were gross. Lixo… trash, y'know? Not only were they coming onto me strong, but they kept asking about my friends and taking them on a tour of where I live. They made me feel like I was a pimp buying women for them. Normally they want a garota blanca, the white girls who change their bodies to look like Black girls, but they asked for women who looked like me. One even had the nerve to ask if I knew where the mixed Brazilian girls hung out, the ones way lighter than me."

Marisol shook her head.

"I don't know what made them think I would help them exploit women here. They were only learning the crash language course to hustle women for sex. I gave them directions to a rough area, so hopefully, they'll take the hint. I asked someone else to teach their last course after I beat a guy up for trying to proposition me as I took a restroom break. He pulled out a wad of American dollars like that was supposed to impress me."

"Men don't know how to treat women well. Even the good ones fall short."

Disa glanced over at Erik. His face looked young and unbothered by anything in life. Marisol poured them more wine, emptying the bottle.

"I'm thinking about taking acting classes and moving to Rio," Marisol said.

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. I met a film agent recently, and he says I could do a Telenovela first once I take it seriously. I've done plays before—"

"And you're so photogenic."

"Looks go further than talent here. The agent said I have face recognition and maybe with the Globo TV spot, I could use that to break into the industry here or in Rio."

"Marisol De Souza… international movie star!"

"I wish."

Marisol reached over and touched Disa's arm.

"You really do look happy. He's finally treating you well. Putting you first for once."

Erik rolled over and farted.

"I spoke too soon," Marisol said, before falling out with laughter.

Disa smacked Erik's arm, and the two women cackled together.

###

Erik over-consumed food and liquor in Brazil. It kept his mind off of making the final transition to Killmonger mode. He grew his hair out and also his facial hair. On a warm spring day, sipping Calimochos with Afonso on Marisol's porch, he sat between Disa's legs and let her twist locs all over his scalp. Getting out of the military meant he could do whatever he wanted, so he had his woman run her nimble fingers through his hair with chocolate hair butter and palm roll away. Her thick thighs aroused him and he closed his eyes while her soft touches transformed his look. When she finished, he went into the bathroom and inserted his old pure gold slugs.

Disa walked in on him to wash her hands and her eyes filled with lust when she watched him standing there topless, hair twisted, and panther teeth on display. Afonso got an earful because Erik pushed her against the sink and fucked her from behind, palming her overflowing breasts while he bared his teeth and thrust into splashy wetness. He leaned closer to her neck and sucked on it, scraping his teeth across her skin. Her pussy clenched all along his dick as her orgasm made her weep with twisted up lips. She allowed him to ejaculate inside of her and he did it two times in a row. Once with her facing the mirror, and the second time he turned her to face him while he held up one of her legs. His eyes rested on her big titties bouncing on her chest as he spurt his load with desperate whining through clenched teeth.

"So warm," she purred as his cum soaked her walls and then her folds when he pulled out to release on her stomach, too.

He sat his ass on the covered toilet seat and made her bounce on his dick again from the front. Erik almost flooded her with cum again, but Afonso needed to use the bathroom. He dragged Disa into a guest room and ate her out.

They spent a lot of time making love. And straight up fucking.

It was guilt. On his part.

He was about to cheat on her. Again.

Not with sex from another woman, but from accepting a meeting with Tahir and allowing himself to be sneak recruited into a private paramilitary army. Erik Stevens didn't exist anymore. His code name would forever be Killmonger. While Disa rested from all the prime dick he gave her, Erik studied the company he contracted out his skills with. It was one that crossed paths with Klaue before.

He plotted ways to tell Disa while he gave her side dick in the early morning while Sau Paulo snoozed all around them. The one plus side to becoming a mercenary was that he controlled the contracts he accepted. He controlled the comings and goings, and that meant he could also contact her on his terms while away. Erik just needed her to marry him. He toyed with the idea of getting married first, then telling her, but he wanted to be open and honest with her. The next stage of his life was putting all of his years of training and CIA/Black Ops work to use for his personal gain. He was building a future for her to be a queen. More importantly, it gained him entrance into Wakanda that shamed King T'Chaka before Erik killed him and his son. The spoiled Prince T'Challa.

He fucked her good. Nasty. In ridiculous ways. Just to please her.

He rented a hotel in a fancy part of Sao Paulo and took her there so she could watch her favorite Telenovela with fancy room service while he lifted her side saddle up and down on his dick. Erik forced her to watch her show while he slid her up and down on a stiff rod that would not go down. The hotel sheets were thrashed and soaked in cum by the time they left. Disa could barely walk. He ended up renting an Airbnb for the rest of their stay because they did the nasty so much and Marisol didn't need to be privy to all that sex.

Disa wore skimpy things for him, and he kept her hair disheveled and her pussy lips stuffed around him. She liked to act like she was his concubine and sat in front of him while he watched sports on TV. With his dick in his hand, he would edge himself and Disa played with her breasts for him. He'd tell her to just suck his dick head, and she'd do it tortuously slow. Her tongue licked all around it until he'd nut on her face. Then they'd start all over. He'd scream, "Baby, I love you," and spray her face and tits. She'd seduce him over and over with her eyes and her mouth work wrecked him. They started making pornos so he could relive their debauchery.

He was inside of her balls deep the night before Marisol's TV debut. Slow fucking, he stretched her pussy and her limits on how much good dick she could take. That night he was filthy with her, treating her like some random jump-off, and she loved it. Of course, she controlled the parameters of what he could do because he always let her dominate him first during sex. But this time, she said some slick shit that upped the ante of his lovemaking.

Their bodies smacked together hard, sweat dripped everywhere, and his eyes locked with hers as he pushed her legs back to get inside deeper.

"You gon' need to call 911 after I get done with this pussy," he bragged.

His dick was frothy from her creamy insides. Disa's eyes narrowed, and she fixed her lips in a pout. She was about to break apart all over his shaft.

"You betta hurry up then cuz my man bet not catch you all up in this good pussy."

Erik and Disa had done plenty of role-playing games that got them both off, but something about the way she said it that time felt… wrong. Felt… real.

Erik pretended to go along with it.

"Your man, huh?"

"Yeah," she grunted.

He gripped her waist, and she held up her legs for him. Putting his back into his strokes, he gave her rough dick.

"He not takin' care of this gushy pussy?"

"Not for a long time… ooh shit… you in there… fuck," she panted.

He bared his slugs, and she reacted to the appearance of menacing teeth by squeezing that pussy around him tight. She almost threw him off his game.

"He don't fuck me like this. You take care of this pussy by putting in work. He only plays with it."

Her eyes flashed with serious intent. He slid out of her and pushed her legs to the side, forcing her to twist her waist at an angle, where he stayed on his knees with her back still flat on the bed. He thrust back in and the new angle made her pussy feel even tighter.

"Sound like he don't treat you right. Daddy gotta make up for all that neglect, huh?" he said.

"Yesss," she hissed.

Her voice changed on him. It sounded like she really was talking to someone else. She even looked at him as if he was some other dude. He became irritated. Started fucking her with abandon. Erik palmed a breast, then lowered his mouth to engulf as much as he could to suck on with his heart's delight. He widened his thighs and let her have all the dick. Her eyes bulged, and she grunted with exertion to take all of him so deep. Disa's nipple made a sloppy wet popping sound when he released it from his lips with saliva dripping all over the dark berry plumpness of it.

She scared him.

Once, when they had been drinking shots of Tequila back in the early days of their platonic friendship after a brazen dinner party of seafood and conversations about sex and relationships, Disa let slip that she had cheated on her ex-husband, Hollis. It was in the last waning days of their marriage when she knew it was over and plotted to take her leave from him. She met a man online who admired an exhibition she had taken part in on the M.I.T. campus. The brief affair lasted all of three days, but it was enough to push her away from Hollis for good. She never told Hollis about it, but she suspected he knew because she spent a few weeks being an emotional wreck, not because she stepped out on a husband, but because it took her so long to realize the marriage was dead.

Erik watched her swirl her shot glass of amber liquor and grow teary-eyed. She was so beautiful. Her hair was a fluffy cascade of curls and her lips were painted mulberry with a light gloss. He ached to kiss her. Her sloe eyes and perfectly arched eyebrows had his jeans growing tight in the crotch. He kept pulling a football jersey lower over his waist as he sat propped comfortably on her couch. The dress she wore matched her lipstick and her voluptuous figure screamed, "Take me." He sensed she liked him for more than a friend. Her affections wavered between friendly touches to seductive strokes on his arm whenever he made her laugh in close proximity. He worshiped her then. That feeling grew stronger once he had her for himself. But before that, he clung to every word she spoke and every soft chuckle she blessed him with.

"Every man or woman I've been with, I prided myself on being honest with them if things were not working for me," she said.

He was dying to reach out and touch her hair. The desire to twist his fingers up in thick textured softness burned in his digits.

"Why didn't you tell Hollis you weren't happy before you snagged side dick?" he asked.

"I was careless. Uncaring. I could lie and say, being young and dumb, but I knew what I was doing. I wanted to cause irreparable damage. If I talked to him about my unhappiness and dissatisfaction, he would've talked me out of it. We would've gone to couple's counseling and hung in there longer. Become bitter. Shitty to say, but I wanted to hurt us, not him. He needed to let me go, but he would never do it. Hollis loved me too much. The idea of me, really. I was his prized possession, and I didn't love him anymore. I fucked another man and the coldness in my heart seeped out. Hollis must have suspected. He never said anything. Maybe if he said something… asked me about it…. perhaps I could've confessed and maybe deal with it. He never fought for me in that way. I mean… it devastated him when I finally told him I wanted a divorce, but it drove me nuts that he never asked me about anything when it was so obvious that something was wrong with me… with us."

She drank her tequila and lowered her eyes.

"Would you ever cheat again?" he asked.

"I would never want to. I'd hope that my next partner would see that something was wrong and ask me about it so we could solve the issue."

Her voice echoed in his head nearly six years later as he moved her legs over his shoulders.

Had she cheated on him?

Their life together had been better and being back in Brazil was keeping him on an ultra-high. She kept his dick wet and his mouth full and they had hit a new stride. They talked for long hours. Discussed all the things that made them attracted to each other's minds. The sultry role-play talk from her had his dick like a stone. Why his brain went back to their past talk of her cheating worried him…

There was that one time he came home from a critical mission and she looked a mess. She cried in the bathtub with him and moped for many days after. She acted almost the same way she did with Hollis. Disa had been cool towards him and made Erik wear condoms every time they had sex for over a month. Maybe she had hooked up with someone, caught something, and was ashamed to have him know it. Her hair was patchy and lifeless, and her energy was scattered. It felt like guilty vibes to him.

Of course, he would be traumatized if she had let some new dick take his place while he was absent. Cheating was something he had never done to a woman. He may have been with women who were cheating on their boyfriends or husbands, but Erik had never set out to cause a woman pain on purpose. It was why he was non-monogamous for so long except for two blips on the radar. His old Stark Internship fling with Tony's secretary Devika and his grad school hook-up with Chloe.

Erik moved Disa's hair from her eyes and slowed down the speed of his hips, then rested inside of her. Planting kisses on her chin and nose, he caressed her cheek. He played with making his dick move within her snug walls. His balls pressed into her backside, and she squirmed under him to get more friction from his chest against her tits. Teasing her with shallow thrusts, he watched her struggle not to cum so fast.

"Your man stretch you like this?" he asked in the shell of her ears.

Shudders under him made him feel powerful. He was breaking her down slowly. All it would take was for her swollen walls to throb and he would start throbbing too and spilling into her like it would last forever.

"No," she said.

"You like it when I sink this thick dick in you? Huh?"

A vigorous head nod was her answer as she pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Look at me, Disa."

She turned her right cheek into the pillow and her body stiffened when he gave another tiny thrust and held his position at the bottom of her pussy. He made his dick jump and his balls made that gradually rising motion when he was ready to push out a creamy release.

"Disa. You heard what I said."

She whimpered, and he pushed his weight down on her. She gasped for air and her eyes fluttered open. Another uneasy feeling crept over him again.

"You ever cheat on me?" he blurted out.

She stopped writhing under him.

"Are you serious? Asking me that?"

"Have you?"

"No."

He gave a sigh of relief.

"Why would you bring that up… in the middle of all this?" she asked.

"I dunno. Maybe cuz I was talking to Afonso, and he was telling me about his girl stepping out on him because he was always away on construction jobs. He didn't think she'd do it because they've been together a long time and things seemed good."

"I'd never do anything like that to you."

"Promise me," he said.

She touched his face. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead into hers.

"I love you so much, Disa and things have been great and I'm… I guess I'm projecting from Afonso's situation. Then you talked all that nasty shit I like, but it sounded a little too convincing."

He sighed.

"We hit that bad patch a while back, and I went down a rabbit hole for nothing."

"Yeah, you did. I love you. What is it? You don't trust me anymore?"

"I trust you to be honest with me about everything."

Her eyes darted away for a second, but she held onto him.

"We did hit a bad patch, but that was just me dealing with being away from you for so long and not knowing anything."

"It affected your health. I hated that."

"I'm good now. We're good now."

She lifted her head and kissed him. He circled his waist and made his dick go back to work.

"Oh, fuck, Erik!"

"Nobody else betta be in this pussy," he huffed.

"No. just you… just you…"

Disa panted and whined his name, their intimacy revving back up until he was humping her fast and reckless. Their hard body smacks motivated him to give her his best. She reached for his new locs and pulled on them.

"God, I'm finna cum, girl! Lemme cum in your pussy, baby… please…"

All of his exertions flung sweat all over her body and he couldn't stop begging her for release, pushing his dick in and out of the heaven between her thighs. He fondled her clit to take some control back, but she was way ahead of him, pulling all the strings once more. His homeboys would be shocked at how much pleasure he derived out of begging Disa to cum in her pussy. The build-up drove him insane with lust for her. Looking down at her, all he could do was watch her breasts bounce and his thick dick stretching her out. She shifted her hips with the help of the pillow under her and he hollered her name when he sank further into her depths. He pushed the back of her thighs back and her orgasm rippled around his shaft.

"Cum all over my dick! Cum all over my dick… dassit… fuck your man good… work Daddy's dick… fuckin' nuttin' all in you girl… pussy gon' be so messy and full!"

The flood of cum cut off his ability to speak, and he smothered her body to get all of his semen deep down in her. Her warm thighs wrapped around his waist and wouldn't let him go.

"Goddamn, I'm fillin' this pussy up… ooh shit!"

Unintelligible mumbo jumbo fell from his mouth into her ear and she laughed with so much joy he almost started crying. He smothered her lips with his and kissed out the last of his release. She jumped up quickly to pee and cleaned herself up a bit before she sat on his face for the rest of the night. Licking and sucking on her folds was another delicacy with her, especially when he combined it with jerking off at the same time. She'd talked dirty to him with that sultry voice and he ejaculated as if he hadn't already spilled a gallon-sized load earlier.

When they finished, she reached for her cell phone.

"Who you callin'?" he asked, irritation in his throat because she was moving around while he was trying to cuddle with her.

"Calling 911."

He laughed, and she snuggled in his arms.

"Are you really worried about me cheating on you? You're out of Black Ops. We're getting married. We'll be together," she whispered in the dark.

Tell her.

She smelled like home. Their home in Cambridge. Lemon trees and wild clover and good times. He couldn't spoil the moment of caressing her in the dark with his job news. She'd flip and not hear the parts about him having control of his new venture, unlike the CIA. Erik reached under his pillow and pulled out an envelope. He flipped on a night lamp and sat up. She stared at him with sated eyes and the black satin negligee he asked her to put on for their love-making made her succulent breasts dangerous to his mouth again. The stirring in his loins almost forced him to groan. He would never tire of loving all over her. Handing the envelope to Disa, he did his best to suppress the smile that fought to spread up to his eyes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Some paperwork that came in for you. I forgot to give it to you earlier."

Disa took the plain white envelope with her name on it, written in his handwriting.

"How did paperwork come for me here?"

Her puzzled voice sounded apprehensive.

"Open it."

She slid the flap of the envelope open and pulled out the paper folded in thirds.

"Are you playing with me?!" she shouted.

He grinned.

"Nah. Two open tickets ready for after we get married," he said.

She squealed and threw her arms around his neck before jumping up from the bed and dancing around the room. Erik rattled off all the things they would do on their honeymoon listed on the papers.

"First-class tickets, five-star hotel accommodations, full private day tours of the pyramids with a renowned Egyptologist from the University of Cairo, and a high-class camping trip/night tour with camels. Everything you dreamed of, baby. Ten whole days of sightseeing and love-making in the desert," he said.

Erik reveled in her joy as she looked over each sheet of paper.

"I can't believe you took care of all of this without spilling the beans!" she whooped.

She clutched the papers and envelope to her chest and closed her eyes. He teased her.

"You betta be careful, girl. I might get you pregnant out there. The way we've been fucking lately, it's going to get nastier out in Egypt," he said.

She stared at him for a second and her eyes grew watery.

"This is just the best, Erik. Why did you give it to me now?" she asked, glancing over the papers again.

"Showing you the future," he said, feeling pleased with himself.

Her face glowed with excitement, then it slowly faded. Her eyes skimmed across another page and she dropped her hand down to her thigh.

"What, baby?" he asked, his wide grin still plastered on his face.

She pulled a sheet of paper away from the others.

"What is this? A ticket to Iraq?"

Dammit.

Erik jumped up and tried to take the paper from her hand. She snatched it away from him and read it again.

"Erik?"

He sat on the edge of the bed in front of her. Drinking and screwing the entire day made him careless. He accidentally stuffed his new job flight info in with the honeymoon paperwork.

"Well?" she demanded.

"I took a new job."

"You promised me you were done with Black Ops—"

"I am. This is a private company that recruited me to do contract work. I have a meeting in Iraq right after we go back to the states—"

Disa threw the papers in his face and stomped back to the bed.

"Baby, listen to me—"

"You said you were done with this work!"

"I said I was done with the CIA—"

"So what happened with this whole Wakanda thing? Wasn't that the plan? Claim your title, get what's yours and stop doing this killing and shit—"

"This is the final step to that."

"You're a liar!" she screamed.

She held up the Egyptian Honeymoon papers.

"This was just to butter me up so you could keep running around the world and leaving me behind… again!"

She smashed her face against her pillow. Erik crawled over to her and rubbed her back.

"Baby…" he whispered.

"You won't ever stop! Will you?"

"This is the last leg. I promise."

She balled up the envelope and all the papers and threw them at him.

"Disa—"

"Get out! I don't want to see your lying face right now!"

The sorrowful, shrill tone in her voice raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Disa sounded just like his mother when she screamed at his father after finding out about Wakanda when he stole N'Jobu's kimoyo beads. Betrayal. That's what it sounded like.

His woman fell out on the bed and wept into her pillow.

"You don't want us, Erik. You just want to chase this hero fantasy world in your head. Is some stupid kingdom more important than me? Is it?!"

"You're my everything, girl—"

"Then act like it!"

Disa ripped her engagement ring off her finger and threw it at his face.

"Go marry those fucking assault weapons you love running around with so much!" she screamed.

Erik grabbed for the ring before it got lost in the twisted sheets. He placed it gently back on her finger.

"You don't want what I want, Erik—"

"Yes, I do… I do…"

He tried soothing her with kisses on her face and neck, but she shoved him away until he pushed her down on the bed and trailed kisses across the soft spots on her clavicle.

"Don't cry, Disa. This is just the last part of a long journey… baby… trust me…"

A kiss on her shoulder.

Another kiss on her throat.

He slipped the thin straps of her negligee down and used his full lips to coax trust in her by sucking on her breasts… licking down her stomach, pushing up her sexy bedtime garment, and kissing her slick folds.

"I love you, Disa. This is my last gig, I promise… I promise… you're my queen…"

Her body went limp and soon she was thrusting her pussy into his mouth, his tongue jammed inside, his thumb and index finger pinching her clit with expert touches. When she was close to cumming, he parted her folds with a stiff erection that ended all conversations for the night.

He hated himself for doing it. But he did it anyway. One day, she would thank him for persevering and sticking to his guns.

At least that was the lie he told himself.

Just like his Baba.

####

A.N.:

Hey loyal readers! This book only has a few more chapters left, then I will be focused on completing Volume 4 (which is already at 31 chapters). The next book after Volume 4 is the new continuation series "King Killmonger: The Golden Jaguar". You could start Volume 4 now if you haven't already. But please make sure you have read "Wet Sugar" after Volume 3. It is the prelude to Volume 4 in the Black Boys Bloom Thorns First Series.