Page 55 of Love Bank
I smiled. “Yes. Now that I’m sexually active, I intend to stay that way.”
He stepped forward, his erection brushing against my stomach. “Oh, you do, huh?”
I nodded again. “Yes.”
“And just who will be giving you these orgasms?” He lifted his hand and traced a finger down from my collarbone and between my breasts.
I shivered, my brain already going soft around the edges. “That remains to be seen. Preferably someone equally inclined to experience orgasms.”
“I’m inclined, Lucy.”
His finger tracked lower over my belly and then dipped between my legs, prompting a gasp to leave my mouth. He dropped to his knees and shouldered his way between my thighs. I grabbed his broad shoulders and hung on for dear life. He used his thumbs to spread me open and he dove in, licking, nipping, and rubbing me dangerously close to the edge in a matter of a few seconds. My eyes rolled back in my head and goose bumps covered my skin.Dear God, I hope my knees don’t buckle.
Then he stopped and looked up at me. My eyes fluttered open and I would have agreed to anything so he’d keep going.
“You ever heard of a reverse cowgirl, Lucy?”
20
Lucille
I pulled into my own driveway, right as the last rays of the sun set into the ocean, that golden hour that lit everything on fire. My limbs felt lethargic, heavily worked and completely spent from an hour tangled up with Bain. My cheeks hurt from smiling, yet I couldn’t seem to wipe the expression from my face. I was giddy. I was happy. I was a new woman.
And then my mom whipped open the front door, standing there on the threshold, like I imagined many parents did when their kids were teenagers, up to no good and well and truly caught. Only I wasn’t a teen and my mom had no right to have that stony look on her face or that hand on her hip.
All those feelings of contentment from just moments ago left in a mad rush, not wanting to stick around and feel her wrath. I didn’t blame them.
I pushed open the door to my Ghia and grabbed my tote bag.Act normal.This was my house and I had every right to go out after work.
“Hey, Mom,” I called out as I walked up the cracked cement pathway to the front door.
She didn’t answer, just stared me down like I’d crumble under her bad mood. The thing was, the last few days had been a revelation. I’d grown up indoctrinated in the belief that men were bad, yet Bain had put a crack in that belief, treating me well and opening my eyes to another side of the story. It was a small crack, but it spread quickly, making me wonder how much of what I believed was my own actual belief or some leftover grudge of my mother’s that I’d taken on myself.
I kept walking, shoving past her as she twisted at the last minute to let me through the door. She trailed behind me as I dumped my things on the old Formica kitchen counter.
“Where’ve you been, Lucille?” Her voice was measured, controlled, assessing the situation before she let the accusations fly.
“Out with a friend. How was your day?” I opened the refrigerator and took out the ground beef I’d taken out of the freezer that morning so I could make spaghetti for dinner tonight.
“I heard a rumor today.” She flat out ignored my question.
“Oh, well, a rumor in Hell. That’s shocking.” The beef began to sizzle as the pan got hot.
“It’s Auburn Hill and don’t take that tone with me. I didn’t raise you to be crass, Lucille Eureka.” She stood up to her full height, which wasn’t that impressive at five foot four. “I heard you were dating the warden. Is that true?”
I rolled my eyes, glad my back was to her as I tended to the meat on the stovetop. “No, that’s not true.” And it wasn’t. We weren’t dating, we were fucking. I almost let out an ill-timed giggle at the shocking nature of that statement. I was kind of proud of myself. I was having an affair and I’d never felt so liberated.
Mom sighed, exasperated with me and my lack of drama. I wasn’t going to be drawn into her man-hating spiral. Not today.
“I come home and you’re dressing different, your hair is lighter, you’re going out with friends late at night. Something’s changed, Lucille, and I don’t know if I like it.”
I did turn around at that. I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m sorry to hear that. I like my new clothes, my new hair, and my new friends. I’m living my life, Mom, and I hope you’ll learn to see that me branching out and finding myself doesn’t need your stamp of approval. I love you and I hope you can love me back no matter what.”
She looked away, her jaw set, but her eyes misted over. When she didn’t answer, I got busy grabbing a box of pasta and throwing it in a pan with some water. Her silence hurt me. We’d been friends as adults for as long as I’d been her daughter as a child. Yet she still saw me as a child. The minute I did something she didn’t understand, she got angry with me. I wasn’t normally on the receiving end of her anger, and while it didn’t sit well with me, I wasn’t going to back down on this one. The pit in my stomach wasn’t from being hungry.
When I finally plated the spaghetti, she answered me, her voice softer but still reserved.
“I do love you and Lavender no matter what. But as your mother, I can’t stand by and watch you throw everything away for a man. Mark my words. Men can never be trusted.”
