Page 4 of Swamp Kings 1

“The ability to Fetch and Fathom and Finish,” he said, like that should be painfully obvious.

“Did I have it before?”

“Rightup until you fucked her,” he said, zipping a hand through the air. “Then… it went every which kind of way it could.”

Kaphas considered what he was saying or not saying about it.

“She split us,bruv,” he finally said. “Officially andliterally. The problem is, you still have demons in this vessel. And without me helping you control them, they will utterlywreckyou.Andher.”

Kaphas’ Kevlar spiked with his sudden panic.

“Calm down, lil’bruv,” Handy said quietly. “I got this.”

CHAPTER TWO

Phelony’s legs quit working at seeing all the people.

“What’s wrong?” Theodore wondered, their arms stretched between them as he gave her a little tug.

“Biscuits,” she gasped, getting Theodore’s full attention as he turned and aimed his sexy smile right at her. “What a crowd,” she said. “I mean, which is good.” She couldn’t be ruining moods. “I just need to find my grits and my girls.” She tiptoed, trying to see their little hideout. “We have a secret meet and greet planned from the roof of the soap house. Binoculars and everything.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and stepped in front of her, that beautiful face smiling right at her, so much more than curiosity in his soft chocolate eyes.

“Binoculars?”

Her pulse leapt when his humored gaze lowered to her mouth. “For the… the robot people. Mostly.”

His smile turned into a laugh as he covered her mouth with his, turning her into a melted marshmallow. “Robot people, huh?” he muttered on her mouth. “Maybe I can get you personal introductions. I might know a guy.”

She sucked in a breath at the terrifying idea, and he pulled back, grinning at her. “No?”

“From a distance is plenty,” she thought, getting his hungry mouth and moan again.

“Why are you so fucking edible? I always want to eat you.”

The hot accusation brought a sizzling zing in her blood as she remembered how very good he was at that. Followed by a wave of shame that he’d even dared to! She’d never known the sexual things he did to her. Never even heard of them. He’d found that sexy. He was constantly making her realize how very little she knew about most things. Particularly herself. She’d had an immaculately hideous image carved onto her mind before he got miracled into her life. Every day he shattered this view and everyday she’d build the ugly picture back.

But Lord oh lord, the hope and glory of his words were more terrifying than her pathetic, hopeless existence she’d come to accept.

Dear God, thank you, thank you, thank you for my Bacon miracle. He was the first food she could consume without gaining anything but spotless pleasure and speechless joy. She hoped he keptshattering her to pieces every day. She prayed he never stopped ‘til she saw the beautiful woman he did in her.

He pulled her off the path and she wondered, “Where we goin’?”

“You’ll see,” he said, tossing another one of those smiles that said there would be a fire coming. But sweat-n-swamp, all his smiles meant that. Every day she pinched herself to make sure it was all real. She just wished her stomach would eventually unknot. It was on constant standby for a fatal punch in the gut. Because he shouldn’t be with her. She shouldn’t be with him. When would the clock strike midnight and everything get returned to the sad, dirty things?

It was wrong to dwell on the negative, she knew that, and tried diligently to change it. Didn’t need to be plantin’ and watering such godawful things.

She watched Theodore’s fine butt in his blue jeans as he led her to a small building just off the main Bishop’s property. Her pulse hammered when he stopped and turned.

His mouth landed on hers with a hot hunger that melted her like a stick of torched butter. Her brain split into a dozen dirty pieces, not all of ‘em the nice kind of dirty. It was especially hard not to think negatively about herself when he put his hands all over her like that. Feeling what she was. It wasn’t theworst thing unless you had a beautiful man feeling you up all over the way he seemed to love doing. He explored every inch of her imperfection with the kind of measures not evenshemade. There was something wrong with him, finding all her lumps and rolls even remotely acceptable. She refused to label them sexy or hot, not on planet Earth. In fact, ifhewere her size, she wouldn’t find it sexy at all. She’d told him so. Which he found funny, but it was the swamp sinner’s truth. She’d always wanted to change it, and now she had all the incentives in the world she could ever need. Even if it was painfully slow, she’d get there. She’d done the math even. Being five foot five inches, she could get to a size ten in… realistically, six months’ time if she was diligent. And she was.

“I’m not interested in anything but your health, baby.”

Precious peanut. She loved that she was able to believe that with him. She wasn’t about to be a Negative Noony on the matter, she knew the truth when she saw or heard it and when he spoke to her about those things, it was straight up truth with no seasoning.

“Damn, baby, relax,” he softly begged. He pulled up, staring down at her.

“I’m sorry,” she lamented, breathless. “You tell me to relax, and it makes it worse!”

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