Novel Straight 28_I Ran From My Ex, Straight Into My Best Friend’s Father

Come on. Make the right choice. Give me the go ahead.

 This is a big step. I wish there was a way to make her understand what it means for me to leave this in her hands.

 Control is my thing. Before I met her, it was the one sure thing that would always get me off. Knowing I called the shots, that held lives in my hand. Everything happens ording to my schedule–when I’m damn good and ready.

 Then alonges this girl, and everything I thought I knew about myself went out the window the moment I stopped thinking of her as a child and saw her as the witmani she is. It’s times like this, sitting on the edge of the bed and waiting with bated breath for her to make up her mind, that I almost wish we’d never met.

 But that would be a mistake, like cutting off my nose to spite my fate.

 In the end, this is for her sake. A small sacrifice on my part, so she feel like she has the room to make choices for herself. 1 know how important that is to her. And if it means making sure she doesn’t get it into her head to run off again, it’s worth swallowing my pride and risking sparing that murderous motherfucker’s life.

 He sped up. The son of a bitch sped up, probably once he saw her crossing the street. He sped up because he wanted to kill her.

 My Caterina, my little bird, a woman he never knew even over the course of five years. He never leamed the first thing about her, or else he would never have wasted the chance to love her.

 I’ll give her credit. She gives it real thought, her brow wrinkling, teeth digging into her lip. That she’s even thinking about it tells me I haven’t imagined the darkness lurking inside her. She has a gentle soul, but somewhere in there is a streak of darkness. There has to be. Why else would she be so drawn to me even when she knows the man I truly am?

 “Part of me wants to see him dead,” she admits, using her free hand to pick at the duvet. “Does that make me a bad person?

 “Are you really asking me that? Because you know what I’m going to say.”

 Her lips twitch in the beginnings of a smile that never quite forms.I know. But that’s what I have to ask myself.”

 “You’re human, and you just found out your ex tried to run you over. I would have to wonder if you were telling the truth if you said you didn’t think about spitting on his grave for at least a second”

 “Oh, I was going to do that I just figured it would be years from now.” My brave girl tries again to smile, but she doesn’t quite get there.

 “What you’re telling me is I should leave him alive.

 “Not because I care about him,” she insists, squeezing my hand tight enough to grind my knuckles together. “You have to know that I don’t want you getting the wrong idea. I just don’t want it on my conscience, you know?”

 “Tunderstand.” I don’t want it on her conscience, either. She doesn’t need that. I’m the one dready damned after all the things I’ve done. Twouldn’t put her through that because we aren’t the same. Her pure soul might have a dark streak, but mine is entirely dark—if it still exists at all, something I questioned more than once over the years.

 If anything, she’s proven to me I do have a soul, and it belongs to her.

 “Are you disappointed?”

 The innocence behind that question makes me chuckle before I can hold back. Her brows draw together in pain, and I raise her hand to my lips to press a kiss against it “I don’t mean tough at you. That question makes me sound like a psycho.” 

 “That’s not what I think of you.”

 Thave to wonder. I haven’t done much to prove otherwise.

 “But are you, though? I know you want to get back at him. But don’t do that for my sake, please”

 28

 “Are you that concerned? You don’t have to be.”

 “It’s just…” She sighs, looking toward the window. It’ste afternon on a hot summer day, and there’s a haze hanging over the grounds. “It’s really beautiful out there, n’t it?”

 The abrupt change of subject makes me follow the direction of her gaze. “It is. I’ve always thought so

 “You worked really hard to put everything in ce, didn’t you? The house, everything.”

 “It took a lot of work and a lot of oversight. When bought it, this was nothing but a plot ofnd surrounding an old house. A few small outbuildings and a lot of weeds”

 “What put it in your mind? Your vision, I mean. Where did ite from?”

 Why is she asking these questions? “You need to get some sleep”

 She only clutches my hand tighter, swinging her head from side to side. “No, I’m serious, Where did it alle from? I really want to know.”

 And I reallyavish she would let it go. This is Caterina, the woman will spend the rest of my life with. It’s only right that she would want to know me, isn’t it? This is how so–called regr relionships work. Two people share with each other, give and take, back and forth. They open themselves up and make themselves vulnerable.

 I am not vulnerable. I have no intention of being vulnerable, even bother

 Still, it clearly means something, this line of questioning. There must be something behind it

 “I’ve never told anybody,” I admit. “Then again, nobody’s ever asked.”

 “You can tell me,” she whispers, trying and failing to hide her interest. “It’ll be our little secret.”

 Her youthful innocence and excitement do something to me. I can almost believe it’s safe to open up and share myself. “TV. When I was a kid, way back in the day, prime–time dramas were the big thing All these shows with wealthy families in huge mansions, living incredible lives. There I was, living in a house where we froze in the winter and roasted in the summer, and it seemed.”

 My chest is so tight I have to look away from her. Away from the curiosity another.”

 Ther

 t stare. “It seemed like they were living on

 “It isn’t easy imagining you as a little boy.”

 “I was, once. The girl who lived across the street woulde in and sit with me at night while my dad worked. She was the one watching those shows on our old console TV. You know, the kind with the wooden cab around it?” She frowns, but nods. She’s probably never seen one but is toond to tell me so

 “And that’s where you got the idea you wanted to be wealthy one day?

 “Who doesn’t want to have money? But looking back, I think that was my first glimpse at the way life could be Otherwise, I would’ve ended up working myself into an early grave the way my old man did.”

 “You still work really hard. You’re in your office all hours.

 “Not the same,” Imurmur, shaking my head. Strange, but the stench of my father’s work coveralls seems to hang in the air around me now. I’m almost afraid to blink. If I do, I might find this was all a dream, that I imagined my life up to this point. I’m still sitting in that old house built for families working at the retinery that sprawled upward like a gothic castle. Like so many other tiny houses built for the workers, men and women who couldn’t afford to think past today, maybe tomorrow. Scratching out a living and fighting to survive.

 None of them could’ve dreamed up what I’ve built. No matter how was forced to build it.

 “What made you ask about that? I can’t go down memoryne anymore. Not when the memoriese back so clear. I left all of that behind and made it a point not to look back.

 26

 was thinking about the risks you take in your business. I don’t want you taking more risks than you need to.”

 “What, you’re afraid if I killed your ex, it would be the end of me? I stifle myughter for her sake, but it’s difficult “You don’t think I could take care of somebody like him with a snap of my fingers?”

 “I know you could,” she whispers, looking green. “But I would rather you not take the risk. I wouldn’t want to be the reason anything happened to you.”

 This is the second time she’s said something like that, the first being the day she warned me about her father. How he woulde after me he knew we were together.

 “Do you think your dad would take it personally? If Luciano disappeared, would he try to find him?”

 “Why are you asking me that?”

 “Curiosity.”

 “Maybe. He’s not a fan of Luciano after what happened. I don’t think he ever was.”

 There’s one thing we can agree on, even if that’s the only thing. But I still think he’d want to get to the bottom of it. “Be honest. Is that part of the reason you don’t want me going after him?”

 “No, really, I didn’t even think about that.”

 Her teeth sink into her lip while adorable worry lines etch themselves between her brows. “But now that you mention it, that’s another reason. I don’t want anything bad happening to you, especially not because of me.”

 Her skin is so soft. It reminds me of a ripe peach. Usually, I want to sink my teeth in and let the juices run over my chin and coat my tongue. Right now, it’s enough to stroke her cheek and admire her beauty.

 Even if she tries to turn her face from me.

 “Don’t do that.”

 The sadness in her voice keeps me from taking it the wrong way. “What? Touch you?”

 “I don’t want you to stare at me. I’m so ugly.”

 “You couldn’t be ugly if you tried.” She tries to turn away again when I gently brush my lips over the scrape at her temple.” Remember, don’t hide from me. Even the parts you think I won’t like because you don’t like them. I want all of you.”

 “Like this?”

 “Like this.” I’ve never wanted her more. She wouldn’t believe it if I told her, and I’m not sure I could find the words to say it. The feeling builds in my chest, though, awakening a hunger deeper than anything I’ve felt for her before. Stronger.

 I came so close to losing her forever. All the steps I’ve taken to keep her with me were almost for nothing

 But she’s here, and she’s soft and warm, and now she catches my mouth with hers, and a deep, aching desire blooms between

 “God, I want you,” I whisper against her lips. The past few days, I’ve treated her like a porcin doll for fear of hurting her. There’s a beast inside me, fighting to w its way out, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep him locked up.

 “Me, too,” she admits, then slides down the bed until she’s on her back and pulling me closer. “Touch me. Please ”

 “I don’t want to hurt you.”

 “I know you won’t

 I have my doubts but want to live up to the trust shining in her baby blues. It’s the only reason I’m able to keep my touch gentle as I drag a hand down the side of her body. I almost lost this. I almost lost her.

 My touch has its usual effect on both of us. My cock immediately rings to life, weeping cum into my shorts after days spent outside her heat. Her head falls back while her legs fall open, hips biting like she’s offering her pussy. Or demanding I take in

 “Make me feel good,” she whimpers, taking my hand and guiding to her covered mound. A downward nce reveals how wet she’s already be, and touch my fingers to the growing dampness. Her frustrated groan threatens to break myself control. All see in my head is me mindlessly rutting her, driving, her into the mattress, uning her body for my release

 –

 Instead, I’m careful to remove thecy thong without scratching br braised thigh, even though her quickened breath signals how desperate she is for more. She’s too precious to take advantage of, which is what I’d be doing if spread her legs wide and devoured her dripping pussy. I don’t know if I’d be able to contains the beast if I started out that way

 So instead, I work her clit in slow circles with my thumb, watching her every move. Every muscle twitch, every lip bite. Her nipples stand out against a thin T–shirt, and I tease them with the other hand until she arches her back with a pitiful cry

 “You’re killing me…”

 No, she’s killing me. Her slow descent into bliss is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever watched. That this perfect creature could trust me with her body, with all of her. It’s almost too much to handle and enough to make me want to stop thinking, to take, to im, but that would be too easy. I fight my way through it, rasing her into pleasure even when my cock aches to be free.

 “Is my little bird ready toe? Does she want toe for me?”

 “Yes, please!” She grips the pillow, hands on either side of her head, her face flushed and teeth gritted.

 I quicken my pace, my thumb gliding over the bundle of nerves slick with her juices. The wet spot grows under her ass, and the aroma of her need fills my every breath. Breath thates faster, the way hers does, and by the time shees, we’re both panting and straining.

 This isn’t enough. I can’t stop at watching her hole pulse. Thave to leel it pulsing around me.

 Her eyes open as I’m tossing my shirt aside, and the slow curving of her full lips sends sizzling bolts of fire straight to my throbbing member. It sways slightly once I’ve freed it, the angry head shining and slick with the excitement that oozes from the tip. She wees me with open arms, winding her legs around my hips and drawing me closer.

 Tcan’t speak and can’t promise I’ll be gentle, all my concentration is centered on taking it slow. The wee grip of her fluttering cunt is bliss, enveloping me, drawing me deeper until I’ve sunk in to the hilt. “Fuck, “I groan, letting out a deep sigh while staring down at her.

 Her satisfied smile widens “Just like that,” she whispers. “Slow. I want to feel every inch.”

 That’s how I give it to her. Achingly slow, grinding against her clit with every roll of my hips. She moans into my mouth while I kiss her slowly. Deeply. My tongue mimics each stroke from my cock, dipping in and out until we’re bath hall–crazed and about to explode.

 And when she clenches around me, I let go, my aching balls releasing deep inside her core while she moans my name. “nni Gianni…”

 My Caterina. My everything wrapped around me, clutching me. Body and soul, she’s mine…and I’m hers.

 I’m starting to forget where she ends and I begin

 I only know as I roll onto my side and draw her into my arms that burn the world down if it meant saving her

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Novel Straight 28