Page 70 of A Taste of Grace

“No. I asked Him for the person I needed and for the person who needed me.”

“I see.”

He lifted my chin with his fingers and held my eyes.

“What do you see?”

“You continue to teach me that God is gracious and forgiving. He takes imperfection and connects it to goodness so it can be restored. Thanks for being obedient.”

“You are exactly what I needed.” Caleb hugged me and held me close.

“Thank you for saying that.” I closed my eyes and clung to him.

I didn’t mean to cry, but tears of joy rushed down my cheeks.

“It’s okay, Grace. Let it out, sweetheart.” Caleb rocked me as I silently cried, reminding me of how my daddy always encouraged me to release my sadness through tears.

In Caleb’s arms, I let go of a lot of pain I had been holding in.

Although I tried to convince myself this marriage was about the money, it wasn’t. What I had with Caleb soothed my troubled soul and satisfied my body. Caleb Evan Stallings was my person. For that, I was grateful.

Love Language

Grace pulledemotions from me that I didn’t know existed. For the next two days, I tapped into her body, exploring every nook and cranny as she did the same. She made me high like her body was my fix. When I told her we wouldn’t have vanilla sex, I wasn’t lying. Together, we elevated our freakiness to new heights.

I rested my hands on her legs as we sat on the love seat in the corner of her bedroom. We had just finished our morning devotion as she journaled in the notebook she bought for us. I nibbled on her neck as she wrote.

“Baby, I didn’t realize you would be so handsy after we got married. I feel like your body pillow.” She squirmed and readjusted her body in the seat.

“I love pillows.” I sucked on her collarbone and squeezed her breast through her silk nightgown.

“You can’t be squeezing my titties and rubbing my butt in front of the girls. You fell asleep sucking my nipple last night. Back up, bro, and give these titties a break before we go back to the real world.”

I released Grace and frowned.

“I thought you wanted me all up on you with my ‘fine ass.’ What’s wrong with showing you affection? You’re addictive.”

“A sista needs a little space. I have eczema, so my skin is starting to flare up from all this contact. It’s a medical condition.” She pointed to a patch of skin on her arm that looked normal to me.

“You betta get a prescription for that. My love language is physical touch. Ineedlots of hugs and kisses. Blame my mama for holding me too much as a child.”

“Don’t blame Ms. Denise for your problems. Control yourself.” Grace wagged her finger at me. “And don’t take this behavior to church. I’d hate for you to have to call Elder Peyton up again.”

Grace stared at me with a look of genuine concern on her face. I rubbed my hands over her bare legs.

“Give me a little credit, baby. I know how to act in public and around the girls. Your limbs are gifts from God though. We need to show the young folks how to keep things spicy.”

“They got enough spice when I tongue-kissed you and it went viral. Mother Wesley still calls me fast. Next time, I’m sending her to you, Pastor.”

“She’ll just call me mannish and give me a peppermint to straighten me out.”

Both of us laughed.

“I’m glad that you’re working your clinginess out because I received an email about some consulting work in DC. I’ll be away for a week to chat with former colleagues about the potential for remote data science work. It will be a good opportunity with a bigger paycheck.”

“When are you traveling?”

“The week after Mother’s Day. You’ve got all the women of the church to take care of you. Theylovetheir pastor.”

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