Page 47 of Every Breath

“Will I live with them again? They were nice.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. Without their house, they might not be able to take care of you anymore.”

“I’m all alone now.” Tina burst into tears and Paul felt such an acute pain in his soul that it almost felt like he was alive again. He took the sobbing child into his arms.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay, sweetie. Uncle Paul is here and he won’t leave you alone.”

He stroked her head and rocked her back and forth in his arms. At times like this, he wished he were alive again so that there was more that he could do. If he could, he would go back in time and find a way for Rodney to stay away from the police force then Damon might be alive and Tina would be okay.

No, he thought, chiding himself, maybe if Tina had been left alone, she would still be in an abusive home and perhaps her father would have eventually turned the gun on her.

There was really no point in wondering about the what-ifs. He had to trust that everything really did happen for a reason.

When she finally stopped crying, she looked at him.

“I’m scared of the bad man.”

“I know you are, sweetie, but I have a friend who will make sure that the bad man won’t hurt you anymore. I just want you to know that when you wake up, even if you can’t see me, you will never be alone.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

* * * * *

When they said goodbye that Saturday morning his heart felt like it was breaking. He couldn’t stand not being around her, so Mason called her and asked if she could drop the kids off somewhere for a couple of hours. He said it was important for her to come over to his place because he needed to show her something. He wouldn’t say what, but it sounded serious, so she had gone.

“I’m here. What was it you wanted to show me?” Brandi walked into his house.

Mason pulled her against him and brought his mouth down on hers. He cupped the back of her head to kiss her more deeply. His tongue slid between her slightly parted lips and explored the warm, wet cavern.

Brandi moaned into his mouth before wrapping her arms around him as she pressed her body against him, molding her tiny frame to his. She returned his kiss eagerly, her tongue darting forward to meet his.

The scent of her floral perfume was playing havoc with his senses and her lips tasted of peach lip-gloss. He pulled back slightly to trace them with his tongue and then repeated the process because he couldn’t help himself. Brandi shivered with obvious pleasure. “You taste delicious as always,” he said, grinning down at her.

“So what was the emergency?”

“I needed a kiss.”

Her jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I never kid about needing a kiss. Wasn’t that kiss worth the trip?”

“Mason, as wonderful as your kisses are, that was a dirty trick you pulled. It’s a school night and my sister reamed me out for dropping the twins off with such short notice and not telling her where I was going. Here I was thinking something was terribly wrong, but you called me because you wanted a kiss?” She placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at him.

“Never underestimate the power of a kiss.”

“We would have seen each other next weekend. You could have had all the kisses you wanted then.”

“I couldn’t wait until next weekend. Besides, this was an emergency. My cock has been hard as a rock from just thinking about you all day. If I don’t get some relief, I may get blue balls. I thought you were a woman of compassion. Blue balls are a serious medical condition, you know.” He tried very hard to keep a straight face.

“You have got some nerve, do you know that, mister?” Although the tone of her voice was stern, Mason saw the hint of a little smile growing on her face.

“But why shouldn’t I have called you when you’re the cause? Can you imagine what it’s like to walk around all day with aching nuts? My pants were rubbing against me all day and I had to walk with my hands in front of me. Some little old lady called me a pervert at lunch today as I was standing in line at a fast food place. My erection was so huge I had to leave the damn place.”

Brandi burst out laughing.

“You think this is funny?”

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