Page 160 of Felonies are Forever

“Where’s your mom?”

He tips his head back and forth. “I took care of her for years after I got out. Once things took off with the business I got her a place, tried to get her help. She didn’t change much, and I decided it wasn’t my job to change her, so I did what I could. She passed away from cancer about seven years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shrugs. “Thanks. It was her life. She chose to live it the way she did. I just choose differently.”

He spins me around, putting his hands on my hips, and I swallow at the way his gaze turns dark.

“Are you sure about all this?” I bite into my bottom lip, feeling his hands on my wide hips. “I mean, you could have anyone. Amanda might not be your thing, but there are swimsuit models, ballerinas, the daughters of billionai—”

He cuts me off with shake of his head and a snarl. “I don’t want them. I want you.” His eyes narrow. “And what’s the deal with you and Amanda? I thought you were friends, but you both act like it’s pistols at dawn or something.”

“Did she tell you we were friends?” I can barely believe what I’m hearing.

He shakes his head. “Your dad thought…”

“He’s heard that from my mom. She got it into her head after Amanda moved in across the street from her that…” I sigh. “Amanda is not my friend. When my dad moved me and my mom out here, I started at the best school he could get me into. I thought it was going to be amazing, but being the new girl sucked. Amanda was already popular, even back then, all the boys wanted her and that made all the girls want to be her friend. I didn’t care about any of that. Boys, I mean. I think she resentedthat I didn’t hang on her every word, and that’s why she started being mean. Or, she’s just mean.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. She’s nothing compared to you.”

I meet his eyes. I want him, I want to believe, but it all still feels unreal. He’s not someone I thought would ever look at a voluptuous geeky girl like me. He looks more like the type that would have ten Amanda’s on call at any time, day or night. She’s a Barbie Doll and I’m a Cabbage Patch Kid.

“She called me fat every day at school.” I tug at the buttons on my hastily donned sweater.

“Baby, you’re perfect, and the outfit you’re wearing looks amazing. You’re hot. She’s not. When you walked in tonight, I had to keep an eye on every other swinging dick in that restaurant, just to make sure they weren’t eyeing what was mine.”

“Really?” I laugh. “You were jealous?”

“Fucking right, I was jealous. Amanda doesn’t even register on my radar. No other girl does. I want you and only you, and if any other fucker ever came for you I’d…” He growls and takes a breath, and I hear the truth in his words. He’d fight for me. Oh. My. God. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life than I am about this.” His words are solid, like tree trunks with roots deep in the earth, and the intensity in his eyes makes me quiver down to my bones.

“What does it all mean though? I mean, like, we’re going to date?”

He makes a choking sound and I nervously shift my eyes, unsure of so many things.

“Date?” He starts, his eyebrows drawing up. “Sure, we’re going to date, as in I’m going to take you out. I’m going to treat you like the precious, priceless gift you are. But, no, we aren’t just dating. You’re mine. You’ve been mine for years. I just tried to hide it. Trust me, if I got wind from your father that you wereseeing someone, or interested in someone?” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Candy Cane, I would have had to end that shit. I tried to give it time. I knew someday we would be here. I just know it’s going to be a bumpy road with your father, but I’ll handle that.”

“But truth is we barely know each other.”

He takes my hand and puts it on his chest, then his falls over mine. “Really? We barely know each other? Tell me you don’t feel what I feel right now.”

“What do you feel?”

He leans down, warm breath at my ear. “I feel forever.”

His hands wrap around my waist until they slide down and grip my rear end, pulling me into him so I can feel the hard length there.

“You feel what you do to me? No one’s ever made me feel like this. I want to be connected to you in every way. Every day. Until time ends. That’s how I feel, as dumb as it may sound.”

He kisses me, softly at first, and my whole body tingles as I feel the connection buzzing between us. I see things in the future, here at this house. Both of us laughing and cooking and fucking and…I see children. Our children.

Wow, that’s some kind of kiss.

I bring my hands to the sides of his neck, his pulse thrumming under my fingers, the rough textures of the scruff along his jaw and this moment would put a Hallmark Christmas movie to shame.

Sliding one hand down between us, I rub the length of his cock beneath his trousers, listening to the low rumble that comes from his chest as I do.

“God damn, Holly.” He rests his forehead on mine. “If your hand feels this good, what’s that sweet mouth of yours going to do to me? Or that tight little virgin cunt? You own my cock already, baby. Now, let’s get those cherry lips wrapped around it and see what sort of holiday magic that mouth has in store.”

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