“Yes.”
“How do you feel about me? Do I frighten you?”
“That’s the thing. I’ve never felt so comfortable around anyone.”
“That’s good to hear. Then it may have been the positioning. Or the fact we didn’t talk about this first.
“I will never hurt you. Never force you to do something you don’t want to do. If you being in total control is what you need, I can handle that. What I won’t and can’t do is frighten or cause you pain.
“I do need you to know that I love you. That’s not to put pressure on you, but hopefully to let you understand that this isn’t going to drive me away. This is something for both of us to learn about, communicate about and seek help if we need to.”
How did I get so lucky to find such a good man? But then he was a good boy.
He shifts, leaning against the headboard and fluffs the pillow next to him. “Can we talk?”
I nod but end up sitting beside him so I can see his face. He deserves to understand.
CHAPTER 15
Sayer
Someone hurt me.At ten, I didn’t know what she’d meant. Now I do. There were bruises on her wrists, when she took the flowers, and a scrape on her cheek and neck.
“You were fourteen. You were crying. You said someone hurt you. You had bruises. It was Greg Archer, wasn’t it?”
She pales but doesn’t deny it. Of course. Greg dated her sister then pimped her. His father did the same with her mother. Gentry would have been what he saw as his due, the next in line. Her beauty had just started blossoming and it was obvious she’d be a stunner.
I remember her going about her business after that but being more guarded. Fewer smiles. Whenever Greg tried to approach her, she’d become loud and mouthy, calling him out for being a jerk. People would notice, pause and look and she always seemed to sneak away leaving him exposed for the jerk he was. She never kowtowed to him which infuriated him more.
“You left town.”
“I tried. MaryKatherine hired me to babysit, she had an idea about my life and would even let me sleep over sometimes. Her husband was a bully, too.
“I saved every dime for five years toward the day I could escape. I moved to Blue Spruce and registered at the community college. Every time I’d get a decent job, Greg would somehow find out and I’d get fired.
“I knew a girl in class that was an exotic dancer she got me a job with her. We shared a dump of an apartment and a car. Our backgrounds were similar. Greg found out and started coming in to the club where we worked. But the bouncer was a good guy and he always made sure we were left alone. Greg made sure to tell everyone back home I was a stripper and a whore. Some of the guys would come in to check it out.” She shrugs. “Their tips were as good as anyone else’s and paid for my degree.”
She tilts her chin, her gaze daring me to judge. I just wink.
“Mom’s health got bad, and my sister was no help. So, I moved home and was commuting to finish my degree. My sister took off. I was close to graduating when Mom’s trailer caught fire. The arson inspector felt it was deliberate, but he couldn’t find the proof.
“It took me longer than most to get my degree, but I did it. I could have left after graduation. Maybe I should have, but I was so damn angry. So much of our issues were tied to Greg, the whole Archer family and their manipulations. I wasn’t going to let them get off so easy. I’ve been keeping a journal and hoping I could get proof of one of his crimes. I think I was close at the restaurant when I got fired.”
I sit up and turn to her. “You were using yourself as bait!”
“I was fighting back,” she snaps. “The bastard deserves to pay.”
Running a hand down my face, I just stare at her. There will never be a dull moment with this woman. Leaning forward I kiss her forehead. “Can you lay next to me and sleep? I want you close. Ayla will be up before we know it.”
She nods. I lay back. “Cuddle up and put your head on my shoulder.” Inhaling deeply, the rightness of her beside me fills my lungs and chest. Good thing I spent all those years in the military. Because I’m waging war and won’t stop till I win her heart.
Slowly sleep leaves me as I crack my eyelids open. I appreciate the first threads of dawn painting my wall before I recognize the warmth sliding down and up my morning wood. Shifting my attention, I watch as Gentry pulls off my shaft, strokes it a couple times in her palm before wrapping it once again with her lips and sucking my length into her perfect mouth.
“Sweetheart, you can wake me up everyday this way for the rest of our lives. Or better yet, you do me three days a week and I do you the other four.”
She smiles. “I thought I’d practice a bit before you woke. This is new to me, too.”
Sliding my palms behind my head, I grin. “Practice away.”
