Page 84 of Sweet Little Thing

Although he was teasing, he was also serious.

“Okay. I’ll get the shot.”

He sighed. “Thank you.”

“I should check on the pasta,” I reminded him.

“Sorry, I forgot,” he said, moving off me. “Need me to get you a towel for between your legs?”

I stood up, letting the T-shirt slide back over me. “No. I like how it feels.” I walked past him and went to check the fettuccini. After taking it off the stove and stirring it, I looked up and saw him watching me.

“It’s ready.”

“I won’t be able to eat thinking about my come dripping down your thighs.”

“Why not?”

He ran a hand through his hair and groaned. “You are going to kill me.”

Laughing, I grabbed plates from the cabinets and wondered if I should fear the future. Could I face losing him? Or should I enjoy the present and forget about the pain I might face one day?

“Beulah,” he said my name, and I turned to him.

“You’re my fate. That’s a more accurate description. I love your pussy and I fucking love being inside you but what I feel for you, what we are. You’re my fate.”

I stood there a moment and let that sink in. Then I realized I was wrong. Maybe there was something stronger than love.

Chapter

Fifty

Stone

I watched her car drive away from the window of my apartment. When I woke up in the middle of the night with an ache for her, I fought it off. She needed her rest. Keeping her home with me, locked away from the world two days in a row, was selfish. I had to find a way to go through the day without having her right there beside me. This was new for me, the constant yearning.

Gerry would fill her ears with stories from her day out shopping before she forgot what year it was and began planning some event or a visit where dead people would be involved. Seeing her with Gerry had been the last straw for me. Fighting this thing that pulled me to her had been hard enough. Reminding myself that Jasper loved her, and although I knew he’d never be able to be the man she deserved, I tried to be a good friend. The kind that didn’t go after the woman his best friend loved.

Eventually, that didn’t matter. When your fate is made clear,you can’t run from it. It owns you. And you want it to. You fucking thank God for it.

Once her car was out of sight, I sighed and stepped away from the window. I had to get my head clear enough to focus on work. I also needed to plan how to deal with Jasper. This wasn’t something he needed to find out through our social network. Because I didn’t plan on hiding this. She wasn’t going to be a secret. I wanted everyone to know she was mine.

I walked back to the kitchen and cleaned the cup I’d used for my coffee. I loaded the dishwasher with my cup and Beulah’s. Her scent was all over the place. As much as I loved it, the sweet, lingering fragrance made it hard to think of anything else. She had work. I should work. Tonight, however, I’d take her on the balcony. Late. In the darkness. Covering her mouth so no one could hear her cries of pleasure.

Fuck, now I needed a cold shower. It was like I was fifteen again, and the house cleaner that my dad eventually married was bouncing around in low-cut tops and no bra in front of me daily. She had kept me in a constant state of arousal. I’d masturbated to the image of her tits for weeks until she walked in and caught me. She went down on her knees and sucked me off that day. Shaking my head, I shoved that memory away. Hilda had become one of my stepmothers a few months later—just more of my twisted childhood.

I was walking out of the kitchen when the front door swung open. “STONE!” Presley’s voice echoed through the apartment. Nothing could have gotten rid of my hard on any faster. Motherfucker, I wasn’t in the mood for this.

Rounding the corner, I found her there with black streaks of mascara running down her face as she sobbed dramatically. This was an act. I knew it just like I’d always known her fake displays of emotion. I watched her as she put her show into motion.

“He took my money. Stole from me! Then left!” she wailed.

I wasn’t surprised. The man was a con artist. I had tried to tell her that when she moved in with me the last time, he had abandoned her. This time, I wasn’t wasting my breath.

“Why are you barging into my home unannounced? I wasn’t aware I needed to change the locks. There’s a doorbell. Use it.” My tone was cold. Flat. Bored.

She paused a moment. Not prepared for that response. She had hoped for concern. Sympathy. And I wasn’t reacting the way she wanted. Her routine would need a last-minute adjustment. I could see it in her eyes as she quickly changed her course. “I know you warned me, but I was hurt, Stone. You had that woman here. You know how I feel about you. And she was thrown in my face, where I lived. It hurt me. I wanted to feel loved, and Wesley made me feel that way.”

They were a good pair. Presley and Wesley. They both used others for their benefit until they were finished with them. I had no time for this. I was used to being alone here. Now, this was Beulah’s home, too. I wanted my life with her to be just that. With her.

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