She reminded me so much of my grandmother. Not because she looked like her-Grandmother had been real light and thick with big hips and a slamming shape for an older woman, and this woman was tall and skinny and almost bald-but it was something in her voice that was sweet and comfortable. I felt like I could go into her house and lay my head in her lap forever.

“Did he seem all right when he was here?” I asked her, stepping from behind Gino. “Jimmy is my brother and I’m worried about him because he should have been home two days ago and nobody’s seen him.”

She shook her head. “No, he seemed fine, with his sweet little self. That boy sure is mannerable! He been raised right. You kin tell!”

She stood out on the porch in the cold, waving as me and Gino pulled away through the snow. “She sure was nice,” I said waving back until I couldn’t see her no more. “She oughta be careful about opening up her door at night like that, but at least she was nice though.”

Gino gave me a crazy look. “Juicy, you can’t be that damn blind. That old lady is the connect! One of the biggest rollers in New Jersey. You must didn’t see that Glock sticking out under her housecoat, huh?”

“Boy, quit it!” I said, laughing and punching his arm. “Grandma wasn’t strapped!”

Gino nodded. “Oh yes she was. And so was all them niggahs hiding behind curtains and checking us from the windows.”

All I could do was shake my head. She seemed so sweet and grandmotherly I figured one of her kids was working for G. I woulda never guessed that Grandma was the drug queen, but then again, if Jimmy had come down here to do a pickup from her, what else could she have been?

Gino didn’t know what to do next and neither did I.

“I’ma call G,” he said, pulling over on the side of the road. The embankment was piled high with snow that passing cars had managed to clear as they cut a trail through the road. “Maybe Jimmy made it back by now.”

My stomach sank as I listened to Gino’s conversation with his father. The way he was talking I could tell that Jimmy wasn’t back, and G was mad as hell.

“It’s snowing pretty bad down here, G. The roads are so bad and cars are moving so slow it’ll take us five or six hours to get back to Harlem. By the time we roll up it’ll be daylight.”

Gino paused, listening. “Where? You sure? Aaight. Yeah. Nah, I’m cool with it. Aaight, later.”

“What?” I said as he turned toward me.

“Check this out. Jimmy’s not there. G thinks he dipped on his money and then cut out. Somebody said they heard he was hiding in Brooklyn. G is sending Moonie down there to look for him, but he said we should stay at the Taj Mahal for the night and then try to make it back to Harlem in the morning.”

I have to admit it. As scared as I was for my brother, the thought of staying all night in a phat hotel with Gino helped me feel a little better.

“You know we gotta get two rooms,” I said, grinning.

Gino grinned back. “Yeah, but we only have to sleep in one.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Taj Mahal was one of G’s favorite hotels. I’d come with him once or twice when he got the urge to do some big-time gambling with the high rollers of New Jersey. G would hit the casinos and stay at the tables for hours, leaving me on my own to get into whatever I wanted. He’d tear me off a huge chunk of cash and I would shop my ass off. For me and for Jimmy, and every now and then I’d even pick out something nice for G, too.

Walking into the lobby with Gino felt funny though. Good, but funny. G had connects at the Taj and he’d told Gino to charge our rooms to his account, and as much as his operation had infiltrated New Jersey, the management knew he was good for the money.

We decided not to go all out and get suites. Two regular rooms with king-sized beds would do. But even a regular room at the Taj Mahal was the shit, and I looked forward to loving my man down in a nice soft bed that came with the most expensive sheets and blankets.

Gino was given room 202 and I had room 204. Both were lanai suites.

“We don’t need suites,” Gino explained. “Double rooms will be cool.”

The young white guy at the desk shook his head. “These are the rooms set aside for Granite McKay. The computer won’t let me change them, and even if it did, with the weather being so horrible we’re booked solid.”

We took the elevator up to the second floor. The halls had mirrors and cherry wood everywhere. “Yours or mine?” I said as we stood outside our rooms.

Gino laughed. “Always yours,” he said, sliding the card key into room 204. “Always yours.”

The suite was sweet. There was a fluffy white 100 percent down comforter on the bed, and the thread count on the sheets had to be somewhere near a thousand. The bathroom was marble and onyx, and the view was like a postcard.

I plopped down on the thick mattress and laid back staring at the ceiling. Gino sat down next to me and squeezed my thigh, then slid his hand between my legs and rubbed on my stuff.

“You wanna take a shower before I get me some, or you want me to hit it just like it is?”

I pushed his hand away, squealing. “Quit, nasty! Why you so damn nasty, huh? Why you so damn nas-”

Gino covered my mouth with his lips, his tongue swirling around so gently inside my mouth that it made me dizzy. He climbed on top of me and started moving his hips, the thickness of his dick pressing into my stomach. I grabbed his ass with both hands and matched his pace, my pussy on fire as I aimed his dick where I needed it to be. We lay there grinding into each other for a long time. By the time Gino stood up and pulled me to my feet my panties were soaked and my lips felt swollen from his kisses.

“C’mon,” he said, leading me toward the bathroom.

We couldn’t even get into the shower good we were kissing and touching so much. This was the first time we were able to really be together without sneaking, and it felt so damn hot. Gino rubbed soap all over me from my neck down to my feet, and even washed between my legs and seemed to like doing it.

My hands were all over him the entire time. The sight of suds dripping from his dark skin turned me on, and I squeezed his hard arms and played with the hair on his chest as he slid two fingers into me and made me come standing up.

There were two plush white bathrobes hanging behind the door with the initials TM over the breast pockets. Gino dried me off like I was a baby, then rubbed some expensive hotel lotion on my arms, ass, and legs before helping me into the robe.

We came out of the bathroom together, laughing and looking forward to what we were gonna do once we got between those sheets. As soon as Gino sat down I dropped to my knees and opened his robe and held his thick dick in both hands, then went to work licking and sucking it like it was made from sugar.

Gino was moaning out loud and I was moaning right along with him, slurping that thang to death, my head bobbing up and down faster and faster as he fucked up at me and held me by my hair.

A moment later Gino pushed me away and stood up. “Take that shit off,” he told me, nodding at the robe and panting as he closed his fist around his wet dick and held it tight.

What I felt next was indescribable. Gino took his time working on me. He sucked my toes and put hickeys on both cheeks of my ass. His tongue moved down and licked behind both of my knees. My titties were past swollen as he turned me over and licked at them, nibbling on my nipples as they stood straight up in the air. For the first time in my life I was being done totally right. Sexed and loved at the same time. Hickeys on my arms, my ass, and my stomach. Gino licked my pussy for an hour straight, stabbing it with his tongue and gently sucking on my clit. I must have come about five times before he finally let his go, and when he fell on top of me I squeezed my pussy muscles trying to milk every single drop of cum from his nuts.