Page 127 of Bake the Town Red

“Well?” Dahlia screamed. Pinched my forearm for emphasis.

We were standing next to the counter in her kitchen. Aromas of vanilla, strawberries, and melted butter permeated the air. I didn’t think I could ever get these scents off me. Didn’t want to.

I chewed on the strawberry cupcake slower than I normally would. Watching Dahlia squirm had been one of my guilty pleasures for the past few weeks. It’d been feeding my wild fantasies of how she’d look when I finally pounded into her.

The twelve-year age gap made little difference to me by then.

I loved her. Loved her as the woman she’d become.

She’d graduate soon. Stop renting her parents’ shop and become a business owner. Walk with her head held high toward the bright future that was waiting for her.

A fresh start.

I was so proud of her. I was honored to be the first person to taste her cupcakes, too.

And I could’ve told her all her cupcakes were perfect.

Except teasing her was much more entertaining.

For the time being. Just until the right time. Then I’d pin her to the wall and kiss the living fuck out of her. Tease her by licking her pussy slowly, softly. I wanted her to beg for me, even back then.

“Hello, asshole?” She shoved at my chest. I felt that all the way down to my balls. “What do you say? Good? Bad? So gross that the trash would be insulted if I threw it there?”

“Not sure.” My eyes swallowed up the flush on her cheeks. Her round cheeks. Gone were the months when Al starved her. She lived in her family’s apartment, but I brought her groceries at least twice a week. Made sure she ate. “You had better.”

She did not, in fact, have better ones. The cupcake was messing with my head, the sweet taste lingering on my tongue. She baked a masterpiece.

“No.” Her lips gaped, eyebrows rising to her hairline. Her eyes jumped between me and the cupcake. She wondered if I’m teasing her. Wouldn’t be the first time I did that. “No.”

At the sight of her flushed cheeks and the disbelief on her face, I thought of something. I’d keep teasing her. Not to get under her skin.

To look for signs. Check whether she was still into me.

A year ago, my mind started wrapping around the fact that she was growing into a woman. She’d been off-limits back then.

The law hadn’t scared me. I’d have gone to prison for life for Dahlia.

It was her innocence I protected. Too much of it had been stripped away for me. I had no right to demand she gave me a piece of herself when she wasn’t ready.

A year has gone by. I could have this woman now. Thing was, it’d been a few months since she demanded that I touch her.

“Come. Try for yourself.” We were already less than two feet apart in her tiny kitchen area. I needed more, so I kept the cupcake close to my chest. “Something’s missing. You tell me what.”

Nothing was missing.

She bit the corner of her mouth. Sucked on it. A thousand questions chased one after the other in her blue eyes. I said nothing. Didn’t move a muscle as I held the cupcake up for her.

The moment, for lack of a better description, was cute. Fluffy, in a sense. Unlike now.

Tension pulsed between us, sure. Neither of us was innocent back then. My heart would never be the same after witnessing the abuse Dahlia went through. Hers was that of a warrior. Of a survivor.

We were, however, more…pure in a sense. Our desires revolved around pastries, work, and our twisted version of a family. She’d never stopped thinking about Ian. I’d never stopped being her guardian.

We dared to have hope.

“Come here,” I repeated, quirking an eyebrow. “I won’t bite.”

I most definitely would.

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