Page 4 of Condemned Soul

“And what if it doesn’t? What if we have the same problem as Troj and Shaniya?” she whispers, and when her eyes start to well up I quickly shake my head.

“Hey, hey… you’ve been off the pill less than four months, and for most of that time, I’ve hardly been around. You just gotta have a little patience.” I kiss her forehead.

“You still want this, right?” She frowns at me like she’s uncertain.

“What?” I laugh at her because I have no idea how she could even doubt it.

“There’s just so much going on right now. The whole Cliff and Long Beach thing is messy. What if Prez wants you to leave here and fix that charter? Isn’t that how your dad ended up in Utah?”

“My dad chose to go to Utah because that was where me and my mom were.” I put her straight. “Prez would never make me go anywhere I didn’t want to, and he has his plans for Long Beach. They don’t involve me.”

“And what if those plans fall through?” She looks at me anxiously. She knows as well as I do that Prez still hasn’t got a straight answer outta Raze about becoming the charter’s new president.

“They won’t, and we sure as fuck ain’t movin’ to Long Beach. This is our home,” I promise her.

“And you still wanna?—”

“Do I still wanna make a baby with ya?” I finish the sentence for her, dragging her onto my body and kissing her lips. It don’t matter how many nights I’ve held her in this bed, I still feel like the luckiest man breathing. Maddy even considering having a kid with me feels like a blessing I don’t deserve.

“Maddy Donavon, there is nothin’ I want more in the world,” I tell her, moving her hips to roll against mine, and when my cock starts to stiffen, feeling the way she soaks through her panties against it drives me fuckin’ insane.

“I love you. Jessie,” she whispers as my finger hooks those panties aside to give me access. When I slide up inside her, the hum of satisfaction she makes has me gripping onto her hair a little too tight. I use it to pull back her head so I can look inside her crystal blue eyes and when I do, I feel something that outweighs love. Something that feels wholesome and yet hurts at the same time. It’s an obsession and a burden, but I never wanna be without it.

“I love you too.” I watch those perfect eyes sparkle as she moves her body and takes pleasure from me. I mean every fuckin’ word. I love the way she smiles when she’s close to coming for me. I love the way she still gets a panicked little look in her eyes because she knows how intense it’ll be, but most of all, I love the way she looks at me like I’m the start and the end of her world when she comes apart. I let her finish and catch her breath before I flip her onto her back and grip the headboard behind her head. Slowly taking my time, I thrust back inside her, pinning her hip to the mattress with my other hand while I kiss her mouth and throat.

“You ready, darlin’?” I ask when I’m getting close. I want her to come with me.

“I’m ready.” Her hand slides up to frame my bristly jaw, and I press my forehead into hers and let it all go. My cock releases while her pussy pulses tight around me. I grip at her skin to ground myself as her body turns rigid and she moans her own pleasure into my ear. There’s a long silence while we both hold each other and when I pull my head back and see the tears in her eyes, I don’t wipe ‘em away because they look real pretty.

“You okay?” I check.

“Fine.” Maddy nods. “I just…”

“We ain’t movin’ to Long Beach, we’re gonna stay right here and we’re gonna raise a beautiful family together.” I dash away any doubts she’s got before kissing her tears and burying my head into her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asks when I start moving slowly inside her again.

“I’m workin’ on makin’ sure that family gets started real soon, darlin’.”

* * *

“Does anyone around here know how to knock on a door?” I shake my head when Alex lets herself into our cabin the next morning.

“It seems not.” She smiles unapologetically, before dropping a brown file onto the table in front of Maddy’s cereal bowl.

“I found it.” Alex folds her arms, looking mighty proud of herself.

“Found what exactly?” I look cluelessly between the two of ‘em.

“Just some stuff Prez had us look into.” Maddy brushes it off as irrelevant as she reads over all the highlighted sections on the information in front of her.

“Alex, this is great. You must have been up all night.”

“It’s amazing what caffeine can do.” Alex shrugs as she heads over to the coffee dispenser to help herself. “My body clock is still in teething mode, anyway.” She flaps her arms like it’s no big deal while Maddy continues to read.

“What, exactly, has Prez had you lookin’ into?” I snatch one of the papers from under Maddy’s nose, feelin’ a little pissed that this is the first I’ve heard about this.

“Just some of the local gangs who Cliff might have been working with in L.A.,” she explains.

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