I accepted.
How could I feel this deeply without knowing everything about her?
I knew she preferred her left hand even though she was dominant in both. I knew that she held onto her grudges because she hated the truth that she was hopelessly forgiving. I knew she took her coffee black, gorged on action movies, and preferred sleeping in the nude until well after noon. I knew she didn’t wholly believe in the God she prayed to when she thought no one was looking. I knew that her voice’s pitch had been perfected by the synesthesia she’d only hinted at when she told Loren the lyrics he was working on sounded blue.
I knew all of that, yet there were large and notable gaps that needed to be filled. I was also sure there was nothing else I could learn that would alter my course and that scared the shit out of me.
“I have a younger sister,” she supplied with a nod. “Her name is Rosalie.” Standing with the items she needed for her shower, she stared at the floor as her mind turned over the thoughts and fears plaguing her. “She wanted to be a doctor someday.”
I wasn’t sure how many dots she expected us to connect with that, but Braxton made it obvious she was done sharing when she disappeared inside the bathroom before closing and locking the door.
My eyes had barely opened the next morning when I was thrown on my back by Houston, who I’d apparently draped half my body on top of while I slept. He quickly settled between my legs, keeping me trapped with his weight as he peered down into my eyes.
He was angry, and I understood why.
Last night, I refused to talk when I knew they were eager to listen. I’d made demands with no explanation of why I needed them. They hadn’t complained. They simply gave. The only exception had been letting me run away from my problems.
The sweet and woodsy scent of his clove soap wafted off his warm skin, so I knew he must have taken a shower last night. Combined with the intensity of his green gaze, I felt like I was standing in the middle of an evergreen forest. If that forest also smelled like vanilla.
“I know you’re mad,” I blurted when he shoved his sweats off his hips. He then reached over Loren, still sleeping deeply next to us, to flip open the wallet he’d left on the nightstand. I knew already what Houston would grab from inside.
“Mad? No.” Plucking a condom free from Loren’s wallet, Houston tore it open with his teeth before I watched him roll it down his long, thick dick. “I’m livid, baby.”
I tasted cherries on my tongue while my head was scrambling to figure my way out of the trouble I’d landed myself in.
“Okay, I hear you, and I’m ready to talk now.”
“I’m sure you are,” he returned dismissively.
I felt him tug my panties to the side, the only thing I’d worn last night, before testing my readiness with the head of his dick. I was wet for him, but he already knew that.
He slowly pushed inside once he was done teasing me, and he didn’t stop until I’d taken every inch. Still unused to him, he stole my breath even as my legs fell open to make room for him. I felt his mouth skim my neck as he took his time fucking me, and lost in the sensation, I turned my head to kiss him.
As if the war he waged on my body wasn’t enough, he chose to play with my heart as well when he dodged my lips.
“Houston,” I heard myself whine.
I tried to kiss him again, but he continued to elude me. Turning my head away in frustration, I saw the hint of his smile from the corner of my eye and hated him even as I loved what he did to my body.
Houston inevitably picked up the pace, making the bed rock and the headboard slam into the wall as he fucked me harder and deeper under the covers while Loren and Rich slept next to us. I knew I must have worn them out yesterday since they didn’t stir once the entire time Houston fucked me.
We didn’t even try to keep quiet.
If Loren and Rich woke up, I’d let them have a turn too until they were sated, and I was drained of every drop.
I was the whore of Faithful, after all.
The scarlet who’d corrupted good Catholic