Page 29 of Abigail
“What are you doing to me, Abigail?” Straw asks her. She tries to pull back, but he holds her head in place. “I can’t think straight when I’m around you. I have this overwhelming need to hold you, touch you. It’s like I need to know you are real, that you won’t suddenly disappear like a dream.” Abigail giggles. He releases her and leans back to look at her.
“I should ask you the same thing.” Abigail smiles at him, shyly. “When we are apart, I can’t seem to get you off my mind. I wonder where you, what you’re doing, and if you feel the same way that I feel. It’s a relief to know the feeling is mutual.”
“Yes, it is. A huge relief.” Straw returns her smile. He can’t remember when he’s spent so much time smiling and laughing as he has in the last two weeks. His need to be closer to her is overwhelming and he can’t do that in this vehicle. “Do you want to go to your place? Get you and Ellie some things?” Abigail smiles bigger and nods her agreement. He starts the vehicle and heads back toward her rundown neighborhood.
Pulling into the parking lot, Straw notes the gang is still loitering around, but they don’t approach the couple as they make their way toward the building. They climb three floors to arrive at Abigail’s door. She fumbles nervously to get her keys from her purse. She’s trembling so that she struggles to get the key in the lock. Straw holds out his hand as she places the keys in his hand. He quickly gets the door opened and they enter her home.
Straw looks around at her humble dwelling. A short foyer leads to living room/open area on the right that bleeds into the dining area that connects to the kitchen on the left. The place is small. The furniture and decorations are sparse, old, and worn. She places her keys in a bowl a small table just inside the foyer. When they reach the dining/kitchen area a short hallway opens to the left. He notices three doors along the hallway.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Abigail asks nervously now that they are inside and alone. As much as he would love to wrap her in his arms and continue what they’d started in the car, he restrains himself. He shakes his head, and she gives him a tight smile. “Make yourself at home. I’ll, uh, just go grab a few things.”
She walks into the kitchen, pulling a couple of plastic grocery bags from a cabinet before she turns to go toward the hallway. He doesn’t want to let her out of his sight. This seems too good to be true; that he finally has her, and she wants to be with him as much as he wants to be with her. He wasn’t bullshitting her early. He truly is afraid this is all going to go away, or he’ll wake, and it will all have only been a dream.
“Can I help with something?” he asks as she passes him. She looks up at him. Her eyes roaming his face. She seems to sense his need to be close, near to her. Biting her lower lip, she nods and motions for him to follow her down the hall.
They stop first at a door on the left. Another door is directly across the hall. He looks into the room on the right to see a small bathroom. It’s dark, but he can just make out a small vanity on the right just inside the door, and the toilet is just beyond it. Across from them is a tub/shower comb. Abigail opens the door on the left to reveal a small bedroom that is obviously Ellie’s room. A twin bed set against the wall with a pink bedspread. Thin white curtains hang at the window. A toy chest sits at the foot of the bed, and small bedside table has a delicate pink lamp with a white shade.
Abigail enters the room and heads to a closet located on the right side of the room. Robert follows her inside. He notes a small book shelf with a few children’s books on the second shelf. A couple of stuffed animals are on the lower shelf. He looks to see what Abi is doing. She’s kneeling in the closet getting some clothes out of a box. He notices she’s made a make-shift chest of drawers out of banana boxes from the grocery store. Ellie’s few clothes were neatly stacked inside the boxes. Abigail gets the girl some clothes and a night gown, placing them into one of the grocery bags she’d gotten from the kitchen. When she’s finished, she gets to her feet and turns back to him. She notices him looking at the closet, and her face flushes with what he assumes to be embarrassment.
“We, um, haven’t had extra money for furniture and the rooms so small…” She trails off in her attempt to explain away the boxes. Straw moves to her and places his hands on her shoulders, dipping his head to look into her eyes.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart,” Straw assures her. “Ellie is well taken care of. She’s clean, has clothes, food, a roof over her head. Most important she has the love of her beautiful, amazing mother. Just because you don’t have a fancy home full of expensive furniture doesn’t mean you aren’t providing for her. She has all the most important things. The other stuff is just icing, okay?” Abigail gives him a watery smile as tears have formed and begin to trail their way down her face, when he speaks. He moves his hands up to take her face in his hands, his thumbs swiping at her tears. He leans down to kiss the remainder of them away. Her arms come out to wrap around his waist. He pulls her to his chest as he wraps his arms around her. He holds her for several minutes just enjoying the feel of her heart beating against him. When she speaks, he kisses the top of her head before pulling back to look at her.
“Thank you, Robert.” Abigail gives him an intense look. “For not judging me and for always knowing just the right thing to say.” Warmth flares in his heart at her words.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Straw squeezes her shoulders gently. “I’m glad I can make you feel comfortable, at ease. Should we get Ellie some toys or anything?” She nods, then heading over to the bed, a brown teddy bear is sitting there propped up on the pillow.
“I can’t forget Mr. Snugglebutt,” Abigail giggles. “Ellie can’t sleep without him.” Abigail tucks the bear into the bag with Ellie’s clothes.
“Mr. Snugglebutt?” Straw asks. His eyebrow arched high in question. He surely didn’t hear her correctly. Abigail laughs at his question.
“Yep. Ellie changed his name about 6 months ago,” Abigail informs him. “He was Mr. Snuggles for a long time. I had gotten him from a yard sale when Ellie was about two years old. I called him Mr. Snuggles. Recently she’s become obsessed with the word butt. One of the kids at her daycare was cursing using the word ass all the time. The daycare staff keep redirecting him to say butt. I guess that’s what got Ellie started on it. I don’t know, but one night she started calling him Mr. Snugglebutt. So that’s who he is now.” Abigail shrugs. Straw loves it when she shares little things like this with him. She feels comfortable enough with him to share about her life and not just superficial stuff, but meaningful things. His heart feels a little tighter once again. Yeah, he’s definitely hooked. He smiles warmly at her story. He throws his arm over her shoulder as they exit the room to head into the other bedroom at the end of the hall.
This room is only slightly larger than the first. It has a full-sized metal bed frame with a navy blue spread on it. A little table sits near the head of the bed with a lamp. The single window has a broken venetian blind partially blocking out the sunlight. Abigail once again goes to the closet and rummages through some boxes getting things out to put into the other grocery bag. In just a few minutes, Abigail is back at his side.
“Okay, I’m ready.” Abigail looks up at him expectantly. He drinks in her sweet beauty. He can’t wait to get her to his room, his bed. The things he wants to do to her have been clouding his mind all day. He wants to take his time with her, but it’s been a good long while since he’s been with a woman. Abigail is a knockout. She has him hard and throbbing with need with all her clothes on. He can’t imagine how much stronger that need will be to see her in all her naked glory. He’s likely to blow like a teenager seeing aPlayboymag for the first time. “Robert? Everything all right?” He looks down at her. Her face is frowned in concern. He realizes he’s been zoned out as he thinks about getting her naked.
“Yeah, everything is more than all right, sweetheart.” Straw pulls her into his arms, dips his head, and kisses the hell out of his woman. He’s caught her by surprise, and she seems shocked at first. Her lips hesitant, but she opens for him. In moments, she’s dropping the bags, wrapping her arms around him, and holding him tight to her as they kiss. Her hands begin to roam his back, which turns him on even more. He lets his hands do a little exploring of their own, sliding down to squeeze her butt cheeks in his hands. Abigail moans, and Straw is gone. He’s ready to strip her and take her on the floor. Abigail’s stomach growling brings him out of his lust induced haze. They’ve been out all day. He needs to feed his woman some food before he feasts on her body. He grudgingly breaks the kiss, pulling back to look at her.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but we need to stop right now, or I’m going to take you right here.” Straw’s voice his strained with lust. Abigail giggles and rests her head on his broad chest. “Come on let’s head to the hotel. I need to feed you, so we have the energy to continue this. You’re going to need it.” Abigail sucks in a breath, but desire is flaring in her eyes. Oh yeah! His woman likes that. Straw bends down to grab Abigail’s bags in one hand, then takes her hand in his other one. They make their way back down the hall after stopping by the bathroom to grab their toothbrushes and paste. He secures her door when they exit. He can’t wait to get her and Ellie out of this place and get her home. His home.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
A few hours later, after they’d returned to the hotel and had dinner in the restaurant, they head up the elevator to Robert’s floor. Abigail is so nervous about what is coming in a short while. He’d asked if she wanted to go by Hawk’s room and check on Ellie before they head to his room for the night. Abigail had wanted to check on Ellie and drop off her pjs and Mr. Snugglebutt.
Robert walks them down the hall. He stops to knock on a door. Squeals and laughter can be heard inside. The door jerks open, Hawk’s massive frame is taking up most of door. Abigail can’t get over how all these men are so big and handsome at the same time. The poor man is looking a little haggard. A sharp shrill draws the man’s attention. Behind him is total chaos. Kids jumping on the two queen beds, pillow fighting, and laughing loudly. Abigail is not at all envious of the couples trying to wrangle all these kids. Deadeye and Elise are sitting on a sofa watching all the hoopla with amusement on their faces. Lisa and Charlotte are laughing along with the children when a wildly thrown pillow misses its mark and connects with the back of Hawk’s head. His eyes close, and his hair fans in the breeze created by the pillow. Deadeye with his usual scowl in place breaks, character for a moment, when his lips tip up as Hawk turns to glare at the guilty party. He turns back to the couple waiting at the door.
“Welcome to the jungle,” Hawk says as he sweeps his arm wide inviting them in to the room. Robert places his hand on Abigail’s lower back to guide her in to the room. Ellie sees them as they enter. She leaps off the bed she’s been jumping on and into Abigail’s surprised arms.
“Hi, Momma!” Ellie shouts. “We’re having fun! Jessie, Josh, and I are playing war against Emir and Derifa and we are winning!”
“I see that.” Abigail’s face is lit with amusement. “I think you need to calm down a little and use your inside voice, though.” Ellie frowns up at her mother.
“But Mr. Hawk said we can be as loud as we want.” Ellie pouts. Abigail swings her head around to look at Hawk. He just shrugs his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
“It’s a slumber party and they are hyped up on soda, pizza, and ice cream,” Hawk answers. “You can’t expect them to be quiet.” Abigail laughs and shakes her head. Charlotte gets up and places a sleeping Lilly into a pack ‘n play in the corner. Abigail can’t believe the baby can sleep through all the noise. When Charlotte sees her looking bewildered, she shrugs.
“Lilly can sleep through anything,” Charlotte chuckles. “She’s had to learn how with the boys as rowdy as they are and we often let them have friends over, so it’s usually always loud at the house.”
