Make You Mine by Niobia Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

him want to walk back to the Motherland. His newly renovated kitchen, complete with Viking appliances, granite countertops, and tiled floors looked like a tornado had gone through it.
    A tornado named Caress.
    Irritation caused his jaw to tighten as his hawk-like eyes took in every infraction on his peace.
    The dishes on the counter. The wet dishcloth balled up on the edge of the sink. The few sandwich crumbs in the center of the island. The row of empty Snapple bottles lined up by the back door like prisoners. The haphazard way the slats of the wooden blinds hung at the window over the sink. The random items atop his normally clear and clutter-free countertop. The boxes of cereal atop his fridge. The sticky stains on the floor in front of his fridge.
    Julius’s frown deepened. Is that Kool-Aid?
    He thought back to the night he spent at Caress’s apartment. True, most of his focus had been on tasting and touching every inch of her body, but he hadn’t missed that her little studio apartment could use some work.
    At first he attributed the mess to a working woman rushing to get ready for a date; now, however, he realized he’d sniffed out a slob.
    Julius turned on the WBGO’s Jazz 88 station and turned up the classic Miles Davis joint as loud as it would go before he got to work making his kitchen look like it was ready for a photo shoot in Architectural Digest again. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself as he worked. He felt like a bear coming back to find Goldilocks had taken up residence in his house.
    A piece of him was tempted as hell to leave the mess for Caress but maybe this was clean to her. The thought of that made him nervous as hell. He’d left the rats and roaches behind a long time ago. Living in a hellhole was not his idea of upward mobility. Far from it.
    â€œDamn,” he swore, as he continued to work.
    Â 
    Caress left the movie theater and couldn’t for the life of her describe the flick she’d just sat through. Images of Julius making love to Karina with the same ferocity and passion he had with on her all those months ago had her head good and messed up. Especially since she left them to do the do.
    What right did she have to throw Karina out on her ass?
    What right did she have to demand that Julius send her and her too tall, too thin, too hungry-looking self from there.
    No, instead she took the high road and left her baby’s daddy to his booty call…and he let her go.
    Caress rolled her eyes as she felt the need to pee. That and the constant morning sickness—that wasn’t isolated to just the mornings—was her reminder of the baby she carried. She wasn’t showing yet at just twelve weeks but her body was starting to feel it.
    She turned around and went back inside the movie theater on Springfield Avenue and Bergen Street. She decided that trying to risk getting back to the house before she relieved herself was risky.
    â€œWhat’s up, mami?”
    Caress saw the tall dark-skinned brother trying to get her attention as she practically ran to the ladies room, but she ignored him. She didn’t mean to be rude, but when you gotta go…you gotta go.
    She was walking back out of the bathroom when she almost walked into the same man. She stopped short and the bathroom door swung closed and bumped her solidly against her full behind.
    â€œHow you doing?” he said, his white teeth shining brightly against his smooth, dark complexion.
    â€œUhm, I’m good,” she said with obvious hesitation before she took two steps over to get some space.
    â€œI—”
    Caress held up her hand and released a breath. Her nipples were starting to throb and she really wanted to climb into bed and forget about Karina, Julius, Karina and Julius, and everything else too. “Listen, I’m pregnant and I live with my baby’s daddy,” she told him with no nonsense. His whole face changed just like that as his eyes darted down