Page 27 of His Forever

Marleigh: That sounds wonderful. I have Sheba with me. Should I just take her down to the house?

Zeus: Yes. That’s why I’m headed home. I had to stop and get stuff for her.

Marleigh: Then I’ll see you when I get there, okay? I’ll warn you, I’m a hot mess.

Zeus: Don’t talk about my girl like that!

Marleigh: Bye Zeus, see you soon.

She smiled as she drove home thinking about her day. While the money had been good, again, she was more thrilled with what happened between her and Zeus.I’ve got a boyfriend.One who shows me every way he can that he respects me and likes me and even though he wants me, he’s okay with waiting.

Pulling into the driveway, she left the car running and dashed upstairs to feed Harry and Nabisco and make sure she put a light on. Back in the car, she drove down to Zeus’ house and saw he was already there. As she put the car into park, he came out the front door and over to her door, opening it and helping her out before he kissed her. “Hey, mi siempre hermosa, how was the rest of your day?” he asked.

“It was good. Yours?”

“Same stuff, different day. Even Carlos needs new jokes,” he replied as he went around and got the box holding Sheba out before he took her hand in his and walked her to the porch. “I swear he goes to sleep with headphones on playing jokes so he is prepared. Only he needs to change the tape.”

Giggling at his description of his cousin, she walked through the door he opened, stopping to slip her shoes off inside the door.

“Hey, Duke,” she said, crouching down as the dog walked over to her, wagging his tail. “You’ve got a houseguest, Duke, I hope you can handle her.”

Putting the box on the floor, Zeus carefully opened the flaps and they both watched as Duke stuck his head inside only to pull it out quickly and huff as Sheba meowed. He stuck his head in again and licked the top of the kitten’s head, causing her to stumble back. “I think they will get along quite well, mi siempre hermosa,” he finally said as he got Sheba out and she and Duke laid there nose to nose staring at one another. Duke’s tail was wagging and the kitten was purring. “Let’s show her where the important things are, alright?” he asked as he picked her up and carried her back to the half bathroom where he had set up the litter box. He had put a small gate up to keep Duke out and he watched as Sheba checked out her new room.

***

Dinner done and Sheba firmly snuggled up to Duke, he led her out to his back porch and his swing. Taking in the size, she looked at him and said, “You could sleep on this, Zeus! It’s huge!”

“Si, and I have napped out here a few times,” he replied, leading her over and getting them comfortable with her curled up against his chest. “You feel good in my arms, mi siempre hermosa,” he whispered in her ears as he set the swing to gently rocking.

“Mmhmm,” she said on a sigh. There, quietly rocking and just enjoying being held, she thought about everything. She was definitely attracted to him and had been having increasingly hot dreams that had her blushing at the memory. Glad that the sky had darkened so he couldn’t see her blush, she looked up to see him watching her. “Zeus? What are you thinking?”

“Thinking I like my girl curled in my arms like this,” he said as he leaned down to capture her lips. She lost track of time, cradled in his arms and surrounded by the totality that was him. As her heart raced and sensations she had never felt before threatened to overwhelm her, she felt him ease back from their kiss before leaning his forehead against hers and taking a deep breath. “Mi siempre hermosa, I don’t want to stop, but it is the right thing to do,” he told her as he caressed her cheek. “Soon, si?”

Unable to speak, she looked at him and he saw the look in her dazed eyes – passion, desire, and a small hint of fear at the unknown she was feeling. “O-okay, Zeus,” she finally replied softly.

He took her hand and placed it on his chest where she could feel how fast his heart was beating. “This…this is what you do to me, Marleigh,” he told her honestly. “And as much as I would like nothing more than to carry you to my room and make love to you all night long, we need to wait.”

She could feel him beneath her and briefly wondered how that was going to work because he felt huge. Blushing at where her thoughts were going, especially since he said they weren’t going any further, she finally nodded. Moving to get up, he helped her before pulling her close for a hug as he whispered in her ear, “See what you do to me, mi siempre hermosa?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Come, I will walk you home, okay?”

Taking her by the hand, they walked back through the house and he waited with a smile on his face as she nuzzled the kitten and patted and rubbed Duke and praised him for being a good boy with the new kitty. As they walked back from his house through the path to the garage apartment, they talked about the upcoming weekend. “I’ve got a command performance at my parents’ house on Sunday,” she said.

“Command performance?”

“Yes, my Mother has insisted I come for Sunday dinner. I haven’t been home since I left and have limited speaking with her after she made it well-known she couldn’t believe that I called off the wedding two weeks beforehand. It will be manageable because Paulie will be there, as will my aunt and uncle, but my parents don’t believe in his lifestyle so Gray will stay home,” she replied.

“I’m sorry, Marleigh. While that’s not my lifestyle, I don’t understand it when others won’t let folks live their lives and try to put them all in the same box and when they don’t or won’t fit, they toss them away.”

“We’ll get through it. We always do.”

“Do you need me to look in on the cats for you?”

“They should be okay. I’ll leave early that morning and probably come home late that night, so I’ll make sure they have plenty of dry food to last them the day.”

“Promise me you will drive carefully,” he said in what she called his no-nonsense voice.

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