Black Desire (A Kelly Black Affair Book 1) Read online

  Black Desire

  A Kelly Black Affair

  CJ Thomas

  Contents

  Copyright

  About the Author

  Free Novel

  Quick Note from the Author

  Black Desire, Book Description

  Chapter 1

  2. Kelly

  3. Kelly

  4. Kendra

  5. Kelly

  6. Kendra

  7. Kelly

  8. Kendra

  9. Kelly

  10. Kendra

  11. Kendra

  12. Kelly

  13. Kendra

  14. Kelly

  15. Kendra

  16. Kelly

  17. Kendra

  18. Kelly

  19. Kendra

  20. Kendra

  21. Kelly

  22. Kelly

  23. Kendra

  24. Kelly

  25. Kendra

  26. Kendra

  27. Kelly

  28. Kendra

  29. Kelly

  30. Kendra

  31. Kelly

  32. Kendra

  33. Kelly

  34. Kendra

  35. Kelly

  36. Kendra

  37. Kelly

  38. Kendra

  39. Kelly

  40. Kendra

  41. Kelly

  42. Kendra

  Afterword

  Also by CJ Thomas

  Acknowledgment

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2017 CJ Thomas

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  [email protected]

  About the Author

  CJ lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont. You can find CJ skiing, hiking, and spending time with family when not typing away on the latest hottest read.

  Connect with CJ:

  [email protected]

  Free Novel

  Join my newsletter and read my never before published novel, Boss Me, FREE!

  Quick Note from the Author

  Hundreds of requests flooded my message inbox over the past year from fans requesting to hear one character’s story in particular—Kendra Williams from my On My Knees series.

  I could see why she was so popular. Her spunk, carefree, take-no-prisoners attitude resonated with not only me, when telling her best friend Alex’s story, but with you as well. That’s awesome and why she needs her own series.

  Thanks to you, my wonderful and loyal fans, I’m here to tell her story, let Kendra find her love, and fight for the man of her dreams. It’s all here in an action-packed romantic suspense that is sure to keep you turning the pages.

  If you’re not familiar with the infamous, Kendra, I suggest you get caught up and learn her and this series’ backstory by first reading both Beyond Tonight and On My Knees series. So, without further ado, here is the much anticipated story of Kendra.

  Buckle in, and get ready for one hell of a ride. CJ.

  P.S. This book is intended for mature audiences only and contains scenes and flashbacks to childhood sexual abuse, which may cause trigger reactions.

  Black Desire, Book Description

  I did it for a friend. But he was the reason I stayed.

  Criminal defense lawyer, Kelly Black, came into my life as I was on my way out. He was infuriatingly handsome, except the Madam said I couldn’t have him. And no matter how many dates I had to keep my mind off of him, Mr. Black was the man who dominated my thoughts.

  Then it happened. Ignoring the warnings that he was dangerous, I let him into my life not realizing that his touch would be the reason my broken past resurfaced. Determined not to lose the man who turned my life around, it was up to me to let him know who I truly was. But when he presented me with a demand of his own, I wasn’t sure I was ready to agree to his terms.

  Submitting was never my strong suit.

  1

  Kendra

  “Shut up!”

  “I’m not kidding. He really did that,” Alex said, giggling like a fool in love.

  The driver made a left turn and a block later we entered the neighborhood that housed Madam’s office. She said it was urgent and that she needed to see me. I didn’t ask any questions. The Madam wasn’t a woman you questioned too often. Besides, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do today, and it gave me an excuse to see her bodyguard, Jerome. He always managed to make my day brighter.

  Alex kept talking my ear off while I exchanged friendly glances with my driver. His eyes were soft and dark with crinkles at the corners that made me think he was a man who liked to smile, laugh, and have a good time.

  “And after he slipped the furry socks over each of my feet, he demanded that I go to bed with him.”

  “Well, nothing has changed there.” I rolled my eyes and leaned further back in the solid black leather seat. I was happy for Alex. I really was. What she had with film maker Nash Brooks was what any woman would dream of having. Hell, even in the beginning I’d wanted to sleep with Nash. And that was no secret. Even Alex knew that. But in the end, he had his eye set on her.

  “Except it’s not what you’re thinking.” Alex’s voice nearly cracked in embarrassment. “He didn’t want sex.”

  My brows squished. “Nash Brooks. The man with the third leg didn’t want sex?”

  “Nope.” Alex’s lips popped as if proud of this.

  My mind raced to understand. Nash was a man with an appetite. A real man with the kind of muscles to prove it. “Then what did he want?”

  “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

  I could hear Alex drop her face into her hands. “You can’t stop now. You have me heating up. Hell, girl, I’m rounding first base and on my way to second.”

  Alex laughed.

  “Spill it.” My voice was firm, meaning business.

  “He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you.”

  “My lips are sealed.” I held my hand over my heart. “It’s me. Your friend who uncaringly tells you everything.”

  “Okay. All right.” Alex paused as if already regretting what she was about to lay down on me. “He said he has trouble falling asleep without me there.”

  I burst out laughing, taking the phone away from my ear for a second. The driver’s eyes locked on me and were perfectly framed by the rearview mirror.

  “I knew telling you was a mistake.”

  I fought hard to control my fit of laughter and, finally, after a minute, I wiped the tears of amusement from my eye and said, “You really have broken this man.”

  “Hardly.” Alex chuckled. “If he finds out I told you this, he’ll make sure to punish me.”

  “Then I’ll be sure to tell him.” I smirked. For as much shit as I was giving her, it was nice to know that someone like N
ash Brooks had a softer, kinder, more compassionate side with the woman he said he loved. That filled me with hope that maybe this world wasn’t as fucked up as I sometimes thought it was.

  “Where are you, anyway?”

  “On my way to the Madam’s.” I leaned toward the center seat and looked through the front windshield. Town cars lined the street and palms swayed against the gentle breeze. It was just another sunny day in southern California, and we were nearly to my drop.

  “You slut.”

  “Hey now!”

  “What?”

  “That was my old title.”

  “And your new one?”

  “Still working on it. But I’m a professional now and I think I deserve to be called something a bit classier than whore, or slut.” I felt my eyes smile.

  “She’s working you hard.”

  The corners of my lips curled into a devilish smile. “Just what the doctor ordered.”

  Working for the Madam had been incredible. It was the best solution to helping Alex get out of her situation and back in the arms of Nash. And the pay was excellent, too.

  But money wasn’t my reason for wanting to do this. And I knew that it was early for me to say this, but for me, escorting had been an excuse to go out several nights a week, taste a variety of different flavors, and be taken into worlds I otherwise would have never been invited into. That was it. That was all I’d ever wanted. It wasn’t so much to ask, right?

  “She has a new date for me,” I said, feeling my heart skip a beat.

  Alex gasped. It was barely audible, but enough for me to catch it through the phone. “Do you still like it?”

  I had a feeling I knew why she was asking me. She didn’t want me to regret my decision, and I could appreciate that. But I had no choice in the matter after what I mistakenly got her caught up in. She was lucky to have come out of her ordeal as well as she had. Hell, we were both lucky she was still alive.

  “Are you kidding me? This is way more exciting than pushing papers at the corporate law firm.”

  Alex was far too quiet.

  “Alex, baby, you all right?”

  “Yeah,” she said so softly even I wanted to cry.

  “Thank you. I owe this excitement to you.” For once in my life I was serious, and it was important that she knew I wanted to be here and not because I had to be here.

  “You’re doing it to get laid,” Alex said and we both started laughing.

  “That too.” The driver pulled to the curb, looked me in the mirror, and I nodded. “Now, if only the Madam will let her clients sleep with me, then maybe I’ll be able to start sleeping again.”

  “I’m sure when the right one comes along, she’ll give you your snatch back.” We both laughed again.

  “Hey, I got to go.”

  “Give Jerome a pat on his butt for me.” Alex snickered.

  “That boy could use a spanking.” Alex dissolved into hysterics. “Call you later,” I said as I killed the call.

  I stuffed my cell in my handbag, opened the door, and thanked the driver for the lift. “Maybe I’ll see you around,” he said.

  I didn’t respond, not wanting to open up any doors that might come back to haunt me later. Maybe our paths would cross again or maybe they wouldn’t. In a city the size of Los Angeles, Uber drivers came and went.

  As soon as I shut the door he pulled away and took his first right.

  With my sunglasses pulled over my eyes so I wouldn’t have to squint in the intense sun, I slipped my handbag over my shoulder, looked up and down the block, and marched up the front stairs of the gorgeous red-brick building that acted as the Madam’s world headquarters.

  I didn’t know what to expect. I listened to my heels clacking over the concrete. The Madam communicated to her fleet of escorts through a variety of different ways, and being called in for a face-to-face meeting, I could only assume the worst.

  My vision tunneled as I focused on the entrance. Time seemed to slow and I couldn’t stop the pellets of sweat from falling down the center of my back.

  This building brought back memories of the first time I visited. A day I’d never forget. Alex had gone through it before and no matter how many times she explained to me what to expect, there was no way to mentally prepare for it. Being stripped down to your birthday suit and letting a complete—male—stranger inspect my goods for market had to have been one of the most bizarre things I’d ever experienced.

  And that was saying a lot.

  I was an open-minded kind of girl who’d been around the block. But then again, without going through that initial interview process, I wouldn’t be here today waiting to be called in for duty.

  I reached for the door handle, pulled it open, and let the cool air-conditioned air hit my face and cool my heated core.

  The fact was, I wanted to make a name for myself. It was important I established a reputation, something people would know me for, all while not wanting to disappoint the one woman who gave me the chance to become one of the city’s finest highly paid escorts—the Madam.

  “Ms. Williams,” the front desk receptionist greeted me with a smile.

  “Janine, please, my name is Kendra.” I tapped her desk as I walked by. “Ms. Williams is my mother.”

  “The Madam is expecting you.” She smiled, turning her attention back to her computer screen.

  Nothing gave me the chills like when someone addressed me by my last name. My mother had been absent from much of my adult life, and I preferred to keep it that way. There was no sense in having reminders of why I didn’t have a relationship with my own mother. It wasn’t Janine’s fault. She didn’t know, and was doing as she was told.

  I walked up the two flights of stairs, cursing under my breath as I neared the top, thinking how the Madam micro-managed every last detail of everyone and everything that entered this building, from how we were greeted at reception, to what we wore on our dates. She ran a tight ship and I supposed that in this line of work, we all had to take it as seriously as she did.

  Jerome must have heard me coming because as soon as I hit the floor, heading in the direction of Madam’s office, he stepped out, crossed his arms and stood with a wide stance.

  I removed my sunglasses and set them on top of my head, smiling. There was a subtle smile tugging his lips when he saw me and I knew he liked me. And not just because he’s seen me up close and personal, either. I was sure that helped with his decision but I kept him on his toes and I was sure I was more comfortable around him than some of the other girls.

  I sped up and rounded my shoulders back. His eyes moved over me, taking in the dress I was wearing, and I wasn’t sure if he approved or was surprised that I disobeyed the Madam and came here wearing my own outfit of a semi-sheer blouse tucked into a gorgeous sun orange skirt. And when paired with my sunglasses, there was no doubt whoever glanced in my direction knew I was making a statement—like, try to beat this, bitches.

  “Would you like for me to go ahead and strip?” I stopped close enough to easily tug on his tie. There was no doubt the Madam dressed Jerome, but I liked to humor myself thinking that his style was uniquely his.

  “Not today, sweetheart,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.

  My eyes traveled up the center of his broad chest, over his strong jaw, before landing squarely on his light brown eyes. “But then you wouldn’t have to look so hard.” I bit my lip and angled my head to the side.

  That had him laughing as he shook his head.

  “Kendra, darling.” The Madam stepped out from her office and greeted me with open arms. “What a lovely day, isn’t it?”

  I looked back at Jerome. “Not bad,” I said, winking.

  “Thanks for coming down. As soon as I discovered it, I knew that it couldn’t wait.” The Madam whisked me into her office where she picked up a carefully selected stack of papers, each ear-marked with a brightly colored sticky note. “It seems that a line in our contract was skipped when you first signed on.”

  I tho
ught back to the seemingly endless papers I signed that first day. “And here I thought you had a special date for me.” My gaze browsed her walls. Her office was modern with little décor, but enough to keep things interesting.

  “My dear—” She lifted her head and smiled. “I have that for you, too.”

  I plucked a pen from her desk and said, “Good. Tell me where to sign.”

  The lines around her eyes crinkled.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” I said impatiently.

  “Please,” she lifted a paper up off her desk, handing it to me, “read it carefully before signing. I don’t want you thinking that I never told you what was coming.”

  My gaze narrowed as I read the detailed document line-by-line. The further my eyes traveled down the page, I knew that I would have remembered seeing something like this before. Nothing I read jarred my memory. It was talking about my comfort level and how far I was willing to go sexually. “Is this specific to tonight’s date?”

  “You’re moving up in the world, my dear. Placing you with the right client is essential.”

  My eyes moved away from the Madam and back to the contract. “Nothing is too surprising here other than the fact that I’m having to sign a contract saying what I’m comfortable doing. Tell me more about my date and maybe it will help me decide which boxes I should tick.”