Page 8 of Cupid's Arrow

“Because you are one,” he insists in a flat, tired voice.

When I stop at a red light, I turn my face toward him. “I might have been, but I’m not anymore. Don’t insult me.”

He groans, squeezing his eyes shut. “I wasn’t trying to be insulting. I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

“From me.” When I reach out to touch his arm, he swats my hand away like it’s nothing. “Corinne, I’m serious.”

“So am I.” And I didn’t notice him swatting away the girls at the shop. I have to bite my tongue to hold back a bitter comment that I know would only lead to a bigger fight.

“You’re going to do something you regret.”

“You already said that. Repeating it won’t make it any truer.”

“You honestly think I’m the man you need? I just spent six months in prison. You’re too smart for me. You deserve a good life with a good man who doesn’t have a record. The things I’ve seen, the shit I’ve been through… You’re too good for that.” His breathing is heavy, the sound filling the car once he goes silent. The anguish in his voice tells me he means every word. He truly believes he isn’t good enough for me.

“I know you,” I remind him in a whisper. “I know who you really are.”

This time, when I try to touch him, he grabs my wrist and squeezes. “Then you really are a child because you have no idea,” he warns me through gritted teeth before shoving me away and turning his gaze toward the passenger window. Tears threaten to blur my vision, but I blink them back, if only because I’m driving and would rather get out of this in one piece. At least we’re close to home. We can continue this conversation there.

Besides, he’s only doing this for my sake. Some mistaken idea he’s being heroic.

If he thinks I’m letting this go, he doesn’t know me at all.

After ten minutes of driving, I pull to a stop and put the car in park. He gives a little jump like he’s surprised. “Where are we?”

He looks around at the rows of small but tidy houses lining both sides of the street. It’s a quiet neighborhood, dark and peaceful at this time of night. Lights glow behind only a handful of windows.

“We’re home.” His confusion makes me smile. “This is our house. We moved in while you were gone. He used some of the profits from the last couple of months to rent it and buy the furniture.”

“He did, did he?” He still hasn’t moved, his stare fixated on the house, a little rancher with three bedrooms and a cute, cheerful kitchen where I’ve already imagined whipping up meals for the man I love. Having things ready for him when he comes home from a long day. A simple life, but it sounds like heaven.

“I made sure your room was ready while Ben worked on your room back at the shop. It’s yours for as long as you want. Ben will tell you the same thing when you ask him.” I open the door, and the overhead light reveals the tightening of his jaw. “Are you okay? Don’t worry, I do all the cooking and stuff. Ben won’t poison you with his attempts in the kitchen.”

“I wasn’t worried about that.” He sounds rueful, maybe even skeptical, as he opens the door and unfolds his body from the car.

“I won’t maul you, then,” I murmur while we walk up to the front door, and I slide the key into the lock. “You can have your privacy.”

For now, anyway. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to stay away from him, knowing he’s only a bedroom away.

And something tells me he knows it.

6

ARROW

The bed is soft, the blanket freshly washed, and the room is silent. Everything I didn’t have the luxury of having for the last six months. I should be sleeping like a fucking baby, yet here I am, unable to get a second of rest.

How could I possibly sleep knowing Corinne is down the hall, in her bed… willing.

Fuck me. My dick is throwing a two-person tent with the blanket; my balls ache so much it’s becoming unbearable to ignore.

I’ve never wished for Ben to come home to cockblock me before, but right now, that seems like the only way to stop this madness. Every minute that passes, the urge to go to her room and sink my cock deep inside her virgin pussy grows. It grows and grows until I’m so overwhelmed with the thought my body moves on its own.

Sitting up in my bed, I look around the sparsely decorated room. My eyes swing toward the door just as it creaks open.

The only light illuminating the room comes from the streetlight outside the window, but it’s enough to reflect the golden strands of Corinne’s hair as she sneaks into my room. She closes the door quietly before spinning back around to face me.

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