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Author’s Notes…

Yes, I used the word moins.

I know this is an ick word for some readers, but it’s there, and I’m not taking it back, unless my editor says so.

And with all the words that you guys have issues with, I’d be all day trying to find a different word.

So yeah, since this is a first draft, I hope you can overcome your ick and enjoy the read.

I have the idea of the story and where I wanna go with this one, but I hope you can endure this journey because it’s going to get dark

Enjoy. Happy Reading. Your author, Sylvia Hubbard

If you read past this point, you’re 18 years or older.

If you’re a pearl-clutching biddie, you should stop reading, too.

(click here to buy me a cup of coffee).

Grammarly Reader Reactions (you might want to come back and read this after the chapter, but instead of putting my stats here, I decided to add this AI feature)

Adult romance readers -The text delivers intense emotional depth, explicit intimacy, and psychological complexity, but some motivations and plot points may feel unclear or unresolved.

Adult romance readers will remember

1 Zuri’s struggle with trust, trauma, and family betrayal.

2The raw, explicit intimacy between Zuri and Magnum.

3Lingering questions about Zuri’s family and Magnum’s dark desires.

Adult romance readers might ask

Character motivation · Why does Magnum resist deeper intimacy with Zuri after their encounter?

Family dynamics · What exactly is Brenda’s role and motivation in the alleged betrayal?

Plot clarity · What is the significance of the contract between Zuri and Magnum, and how does it shape their relationship?

Emotional resolution · Will Zuri find the closure or forgiveness she seeks with her mother?

Magnum’s past · What is the history between Magnum and FT, and how does it affect his actions?

Companion Books

Stealing Innocence 1

Black’s Innocence

Sin’s Iniquity

The Other Side of Love (WIP)

Tanner’s Devil

Dreams of Reality

Emperor’s Addiction / Heart

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…Enjoy. Happy Reading. Your author, Sylvia Hubbard

Chapter 19 – All Skinfolk ain’t Kinfolk

Magnum’s tone reminded her so much of her father’s when he was disappointed with her, but she pushed that memory away. Zuri didn’t know whether to be touched that Magnum had read up on her, probably from some brief Tyler had sent him, or guarded that he was being nosey.

“She’s my mother,” Zuri proclaimed as if that was enough to explain it, but that resting grim look made her want to explain more. “What he’s implying is that my mother is working with my fiancée to illegally institutionalize me for my money. I find it ridiculous and extreme, especially since I’ve blown through the majority of what my father has left me, and in less than a year, I will have almost nothing left of the trust. Not only that, if my mother wanted to get her hands on my money, she could have put me away a long time ago, so she could have had more of it, especially when I was a drug-addicted teen.” Zuri hesitated, adding, “But there are moments when her actions seem too calculated, too aligned with Rodney’s. Despite everything, it’s hard to shake off this creeping suspicion in the back of my mind.”

“But she didn’t, and now you think these allegations from the lawyer are ridiculous,” he responded. “Even with the doctor’s claim about your birth control being switched. A baby from you while you’re institutionalized would have easily given her access to the trust.”

Zuri shifted in her seat uncomfortably, not liking how he seemed to sound like he enjoyed the evilness of the plan. True, she should take into account that claim, and yet again, she was slightly shocked that he paid more attention to her life than she did.

Magnum leaned back in his chair as if pondering her whole mess. “You want to believe because this woman’s blood relation that she has no ill intent, which is understandable, he said, putting down his utensils as if his food no longer interested him anymore. “She carried you for nine months. She birthed you. Wiped the shit off your ass, but at the same time, you’re ignoring the apprehension in your gut telling you they mean you harm. You can’t ignore that fact.”

“This is my mother,” Zuri proclaimed, but it sounded forlornly as if it should all make sense. “But I know I should listen to Mr. Black.” Feeling a little bitter, Zuri asked, “Why do you care?”

“There is a clause in our contract if you come to harm, I am to blame,” he pointed out. “This lawyer was very clear about this clause.”

Changing the subject, she questioned, “Why do you call him only the lawyer?”

“Disassociating myself from his name makes it easier for me not to see him as a human,” Magnum growled, then he grimaced as if that was not supposed to come from him.

And rightly so, because immediately Zuri felt very uncomfortable. “Isn’t that what a psycho killer would say?”
He responded without hesitation, “I don’t know, I’ve never met one.”

“Your brother said it’s normal to feel uncomfortable with you.”

Immediately, he tightened. “You met FT?”

Zuri remembered the name, but she corrected, “No, Dylan Knight.”

“That is no family of mine. They only adopted us.”

To keep the conversation going, she asked, “Do you have any more siblings?”

“Gawd, no,” he responded flatly as if he hated the very idea. “I didn’t want the one I have.”

Zuri didn’t take his bad mood to heart. “I always wanted another sister when I was younger, but seeing how distant and toxic my parents stayed, I knew that would never happen.”

“Is that why you started drugs? You felt it was all your fault?” he questioned, seemingly content that the conversation wasn’t on him anymore.

“Avoidance in my family seems hereditary,” she grumbled.

Magnum finally looked intrigued, as if seeing her misery brightened him up. “And why weren’t you institutionalized for your drug use?”

Zuri shrugged off his sarcasm. “That time in my life is rather cloudy. I barely recognized myself. My hair was falling out, my eyes were sunken in, and I didn’t even know where I’d wake up every morning, while I was practically skin and bones.” She paused, feeling the slight headache from trying to remember the drugged memories and then the sex addiction. “And then I somehow convinced myself that maybe if I found something else to get addicted to, so my parents wouldn’t institutionalize me, that I couldn’t stand drugs. In my foolishness, I felt sex was the better choice.” Grimacing, she admitted. “That comes with its own repercussions, and by the time my father found me, I wasn’t myself and barely remember anything, and I was pregnant. Two weeks in a hospital, I lost the baby, but I gained myself back.”

“Which do you think was worse? The drug addiction or sex addiction?” Magnum inquired.

“The sex,” she answered without hesitation. “And I know if I could come close to liking sex more than drugs, I wouldn’t go back to drugs, but I wasn’t there. With drugs, I could at least feel my soul, but with sex, I couldn’t, and that scared me the most.”

“It seems odd you agreed to a contract with me then.”

Zuri responded, “Mr. Black says it’s a means to an end. I don’t dislike sex, but I think as long as I’m removed from it, I can’t lose myself in it.”

“Hence, the four-month agreement. Something longer might scare you.”

“Becoming attached to you might scare me,” Zuri corrected. “At least knowing it’s only lasting for so long, I can know not to expect much. Plus, I’ve been told you aren’t a very likable person, so that makes it easier.”

Again, her discomfort seemed to excite him. There was a glistening in his eyes as if he saw a billion dollars being placed in front of him. “Come here,” he ordered.

Why did his salaciousness about her discomfort make her snatch tingle? Her trauma should not bring him joy, and his reaction to her trauma should not turn her on.

Zuri wasn’t nervous as she stood in front of him, wondering if she should have put some of the powder in his drink. Yet, he had not touched his wine; Only the glass of water that had been provided.

His legs were already turned to the side of the table, and the minute she stood in front of him, he spread his long legs wider. His hands slipped into her split to move behind her thigh.

He didn’t make eye contact with her as he moved his other hand through the slit and raised the dress away, revealing her underwear. Zuri had not worn stockings since the dress was long enough, and her legs were shaved.

Plus, she had been hoping to give his fingers very easy access. Her breathing deepened, feeling him pull her underwear down until he took them off and stuffed her panties in his pocket.

With no barrier, Magnum took his thumb slowly over her most sensitive area and back again. Her breath hitched in her throat with each stroke he made, warming her arousal like tending a new flame. Magnum looked focused as he brought one of her legs to the outside of his thigh. At the same time, he leaned forward, licking his tongue from left to right at the entrance to her heat. His hot breath and the softness of his tongue, along with the occasional flick of his thumb, heightened her more, making her hitch and huff. Zuri used the table to hold herself up, unsure how much she could touch of him. When his tongue began to intermittently circle around her clit while his thick bottom lip dragged between each thigh.

Zuri couldn’t stop her soft oohs and ahhs, loving the slow arousal. He was deliberate, and since this was not his first time with her, he was familiar with her body. Was this when he would make love to her?

Would he soon unbuckle his pants so she could slide down on his shaft?

His ministrations yanked her back to reality as he dipped his finger repeatedly between her folds, while continuing his oral delight.

“Ohhh… huuuuhhh,” she moaned. “Ahhhhhh, sooo… .ooooh.”

By this time, his head was tilted to the side, which gave his tongue ample room to make longer licks, slurping up her juice loudly, making sure nothing got away.

From listening and feeling his mouth, Zuri was grinding her moins into his face. It wasn’t until she looked down and met his eyes. He had been watching her. His other hand shot up, rested on her chest, and it was then her orgasm exploded from her waist to her chest, then her brain. The air shot from her entire body as she wailed her pleasure. Forgetting herself, she gripped the back of his head, holding him tight until her orgasm dissipated.

Yet as soon as it was over, her legs gave way, but Magnum caught her, letting her body slither down into his lap. Her head pressed against his chest, and just like before, he held her until she could get her breathing together and think straight.

Again, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip as he softly caressed her face. Greedily, she licked and tasted herself and then suckled on his index finger that was coated in her essence.

“Mmmm,” she hummed.

Looking up at him, their eyes met, and she could feel herself being shut off. A flicker of something crossed Magnum’s eyes, a shadow of hesitation or conflict. He stood up abruptly and gently moved her off his lap. Once she was on her feet, Magnum stepped away from her and straightened his clothes, as if trying to compose not just his appearance, but also his tumbling emotions.

Magnum led her to the elevator, yet she realized he wasn’t making eye contact.

To keep him talking and not disconnect from her, Zuri asked, “Can I call you Magnum, or do you have a nickname too, like your brother?”

“No nickname,” he gritted through his teeth as the elevator opened on her floor and he led her to her room’s door.

Zuri was excited about the possibility of having sex again. Real sex. With a man who could make her naturally wet, and not with a lot of lube. Magnum did the work her body needed. And she hadn’t thought about Rodney one time. Perhaps they’d kiss, and she’d suckle remnants of herself from him, and he’d let her taste him and more!

Pressing her body to the side of him, she trembled as she pushed her key card against the lock, and the door popped open.

Magnum walked into the room with her, but stopped before the door closed on him and released her hand. “Have a good night, Zuri,” he said diplomatically.

Zuri was left slack-jawed as Magnum promptly turned and closed the hotel door behind him.

Standing there for a long moment, thinking maybe he was going to come, Zuri repeated over and over in her head, “This wasn’t happening.”

But he didn’t come back.

That was the end of the night.

Should she be upset?

The night was filled with only her pleasure. What more could a woman ask for?

Yet Zuri was left with a well of unfulfillment inside of her and had had every intention of jumping his bones.

She remembered the doctor saying the alcohol would make him less responsive, but no response? Zuri felt a tension between them, an unspoken riddle she couldn’t decipher. Was Magnum’s sudden withdrawal because of the doctor’s warning, or was there something deeper in his hesitation? Perhaps it wasn’t simply the alcohol that held him back, but a complex mix of professionalism, personal restraint, or even a past wound she was unaware of. The confusion gnawed at her. And then there was the relative who was shocked she was allowed to be near Magnum? Was the man anti-people, whether or not he was drunk?

Huffing loudly, she stomped to the bathroom for a cold shower because her arousal level was still high. Was there any need for him to finish with her? Maybe she was being weird because, whether she thoroughly enjoyed herself with Rodney, his completion felt satisfactory.

Your pleasure shouldn’t be based on their release, Zuri scolded herself as she scrubbed herself hard enough to peel a layer of skin off her body in the coldest water she could run.

With only a towel on, she flopped on the bed, grabbed her phone, and logged into the camera system at her mother’s house.

Since it was evening, she could see her mother and Rodney lying in bed. The night camera system worked perfectly, and Zuri had no trouble looking into her mother’s room to see them in bed together.

Yet, her mother suddenly sat up and got out of bed without waking up Rodney. She bent down to slip her hand into the mattress to get something from there and then seemed to sneak out of the room, trying not to disturb Rodney.

Since there was no audio on these cameras, all Zuri could do was watch her mother leave the camera, then look around to see her mother walking up to the hallway camera.

Brenda waved her hands at the camera for a moment, then held the papers up toward it.

‘I’m not trying to hurt you, Zuri. I was wrong.’

Zuri read the message over and over again until her mother dropped that paper to reveal another message.

‘Go to your father. Tonight. I’ll prove it to you. This is all a misunderstanding.’

Everything in her told her not to believe her mother, but then the importance of family made her feel she needed answers. She needed to give her mother the chance to explain herself.

How was she going to get out of the hotel?

Calling Lucas, as soon as he picked up, she said, “I need some ice, and I don’t know if I-“

Lucas sounded half asleep as he cut her off. “No, I’ll get it. Give me a moment.”

Zuri hung up the phone and hurriedly put on leggings, underwear, and the thick hotel robe. Before he arrived, she put the dress she had worn that night for the date, her old work shoes, and her phone and purse under her coat.

When Lucas knocked on the door, she answered, looking remorseful. “I’m sorry to bother you,” she said, receiving the bucket of ice.

He was wearing only a tank top and some blue jeans, looking disheveled but alert. “No problem. You have a good night, miss.”

As soon as he went down the exit door, Zuri dropped the robe, grabbed her dress, coat, and shoes, then made a mad dash to the elevator.

To her luck, the elevator opened in seconds, and Zuri flew in. If he returned to his room and immediately checked the cameras, he would have seen her getting on the elevator. Hopefully, he’d think she wouldn’t be crazy enough to leave the room half-naked.

Her heart was beating a hundred miles an hour as she put on her dress and coat, close to the door, where the elevator camera could hardly see her.

As soon as she got to the second floor, she jumped off the elevator and went to the emergency stairwell to catch her breath and put on her everyday shoes.

When she’d left the other day for the Bellini appointment, she remembered seeing some staff coming into the lobby from a long hallway. Coming to the first floor, where it opened onto the side hallway, she went down and saw another exit door leading to an employee parking lot. From there, it was easy to get down to the street.

‘Go to your father,’ her mother had said.

Zuri tucked her hands into her pockets after putting on her coat’s hood. As soon as she was a little further away from the hotel, she’d flag a cab. They could receive digital payment to get her to where she was going.

As she sat back in the cab, Zuri knew she’d successfully ducked away from Lucas and could be the cause of the man losing his job because she had tricked him. Only a little regret filled her, but the yearning for answers was more.

Not only for this betrayal, but also for what her father had written. Why had Brenda never said anything about any letter? And why was she sneaking around behind Rodney’s back to talk with Zuri?

Zuri felt seeing her mother face-to-face could give them answers and possibly the forgiveness needed in this situation. Maybe Zuri’s life could go back to almost normal. She missed the familiarity of home, and the only frustration she had to deal with was with Rodney, while listening to her mother drone on about never being satisfied with anything in life.

All her life, Brenda had never been satisfied with anything, and Zuri had always wondered why her father stayed. She was too young when she realized that her parents were miserable together because of her, even though her father said it wasn’t. Zuri had always known this to be a lie. Perhaps that was why she threw herself in with the wrong crowd, which started the downward spiral.

“We’re here, ma’am,” the driver said. “Do you want me to wait?”

Of course, the driver had a reason to be wary. Zuri had given him directions to a cemetery. One that was closed to cars at night.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she assured him after sending the digital payment. “I have arranged a ride back.”

“I’ll be in the area for a while if you need me,” the driver responded.

He said something else, but she slammed the cab door and walked through the pedestrian entrance to the cemetery, a route often used by joggers or relatives of the deceased. This pathway led all the way around.

You need answers that only Brenda can give you.

Her father was buried in the edge plot on the other side of the enormous graveyard, and Zuri could find him even in the dark. She came to this place at least three times a year. One for his birthday, death date, and Christmas, which was his favorite time of year.

The cemetery was silent, and the walk gave her time to reflect, especially on Magnum Knight. She had been heavily warned that the man was strange, restrained, and most likely an alcoholic with a libido problem. Yet, she did not expect to find herself needing more from him.

You don’t want more. He is a means to an end. And when her four months were over, that was it. You’re done with men!

They were users, and she was never going to be used again!

Zuri stopped walking because, even though she hadn’t heard anything, she felt something. A pull on her core. Looking behind her, she saw no one; looking around, nothing moved, but that pull was there.

Something from her past was trying to come through the fog, but she shook her head as if that would stop that feeling.

Maybe she was feeling her mother. Brenda could be close!

Excitement filled her, and she hurried her pace towards her father’s grave site.

Finally, she would get the answers she needed and get back to a somewhat normal life.

***

Just as he arrived home, his phone was vibrating. It had been tempting to find a bar and drink himself under the floor, but for some reason, he wanted to be clear-headed. All he thought about was Zuri on the way home.

He’d even taken the panties out of his pocket and pressed them to his face while he drove, needing to be consumed by her scent again.

All while she spoke, he wanted a drink. He’d been imagining guzzling down a whole body of vodka, but then, when she had that delusion about her mother’s intentions, something dark in his soul stirred. How silly it was for her to believe family cared?

He wanted to smack her across the face for being so stupid, while feeling some dark pleasure knowing how miserable she would feel when she saw the truth. He wanted to be there and watch her reality crash.

His shaft flinched? Fuck!

Was it her scent? Or the misery?

He was thirstier even more now, but it wasn’t for alcohol. Magnum wanted to drink her again. Slurp every drop her body gave him like it was his last drink.

Did she even know how fucking sweet she tasted?

And damn, when she had sucked on his fingers.

The flinch! Yes, that’s when it happened for the first time and terrified the shit out of him. He hadn’t felt anything in that region in a very long time.

‘You set her up, and I’ll finish her,’ he remembered FT saying back in the day. That’s how it had always been.

The thirst was getting stronger. Magnum should have brought her home instead of dropping her off.

Fuck!

Her circumstances were strange, and if it took paying off her mother and this ex to stay away, then that wasn’t a problem, but Magnum had a feeling this duo needed more than money. There was an unsettling feeling that Brenda and Rodney’s motivations ran deeper than mere financial gain.

Before he looked at his phone, Magnum knew who it was and was tempted to ignore it. Reluctantly, he put down the panties and looked at the screen to see a location being sent, and then the burning in his chest.

Damn!

He needed to stay away from his brother, but a graveyard? Why would FT send him coordinates there?

End of This Chapter | Post your thoughts in the comments | Let the author know what’s going on in your head

He Touched Me (c) 2026 Sylvia Hubbard All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your personal use, please visit the author’s website book page and buy the book.  Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.

• Companion Books
  • Stealing Innocence 1
  • Black’s Innocence
  • Sin’s Iniquity
  • The Other Side of Love (WIP)
  • Tanner’s Devil
  • Dreams of Reality
  • Emperors Addiction / Heart

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