by Gemma Weir
I stole her pill yesterday, gave her a fake one today and I plan to do the same for as long as I can get away with it. I want her pregnant, I want her tied to me, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to get my baby growing in her belly. It’s wrong and deceitful, and at some point she’ll figure out what I’m doing, but I don’t care, by then she’ll be so undisputedly mine I know she’ll eventually understand why I’m doing this.
The twenty-minute drive from town to the logging yard passes so quickly I barely even remember the journey, and when I pull into the parking lot I have that sense of amnesia that comes from driving a familiar journey distracted.
Beau pulls up beside me as I’m changing into my work boots and grabbing my hard hat from the truck. “Morning,” he says, slapping me on the shoulder in greeting.
“Hey.”
“It’s your turn to cook tonight, you staying at Cora’s again? I can switch and take over if you want.”
“Nah, I’m gonna bring Cora to the house tonight.”
“She’s got her own place, why would you bring her home to a house with seven other people in it?” he laughs.
“I’m not gonna convince her to move in if she doesn’t get used to the place,” I say on a shrug, shoving my cell into my pocket, locking my car and walking towards the offices.
“It’s like that? You know we don’t just bring anyone home,” Beau says, his voice low and full of warning.
“It’s like that. She’s mine. Everything Dad said, it was true, I am fucking gone for her and honestly, I feel like I’m losing my goddamn mind. She didn’t even flirt with this guy this morning, he just looked at her and she didn’t deny that he might want her, and I nearly lost my shit,” I confess, turning to look at my big brother, my eyes wide and horrified.
“I nearly killed that douche Bonnie went on a date with,” Beau says, nodding as if he understands completely how unhinged I feel.
“I wasn’t looking for this,” I admit, hating the words even though they’re the truth.
“Neither was I, doesn’t mean it’s not the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I’m not sure what expression crosses my face, but whatever it is it makes my big brother smile and shake his head.
“It’s all gonna be fine, just try not to kill anyone while you and Cora get things settled,” he laughs, slinging his arm around the back of my neck and pulling me into a loose headlock as he tows me along beside him, laughing his fucking head off.
The thing I love about my job is that while I’m working, I have to have a hundred percent focus on the trees, the machinery, and everything that’s going on around me. It doesn’t leave a lot of mental space for me to freak out about everything I feel for my woman. Today I’m glad for that focus, as I’m sure I’d have my brothers taking turns going into her store to check on her… and I know that she would probably fucking castrate me if I did that.
When Beau sounds the buzzer for lunch, the cacophony of noise from saws and engines quiets in an instant, and for a moment I enjoy the sensation of feeling surrounded by silence. Pulling my ear defenders from my head, I pull the key from the logger I’m sitting in and slide out of the cab and down to the soft mossy dirt below me.
The weight of my cell in my pocket has me pulling it out almost on autopilot and I check my messages. I have four texts, all from my brothers, and a sense of annoyance that Cora hasn’t reached out with even a text washes over me.
I’ve spent the morning forcing myself to concentrate on work so I’m not contacting her, and she obviously hasn’t given me a second thought. For a moment I wonder if making her come before I left this morning was a mistake, but I immediately push the thought away. Leaving her needy would have only made me like her selfish ex’s. She might enjoy some of the dominance games we’ve been playing, but apparently denying her pleasure was a step too far.
Unable to resist, I click into her name and type out a message.
Me – Are you sore? Can you feel the way I own you every time you move?
The tick icon appears at the side of the message indicating she’s read it, and the dots pulse as she types a reply.
Peaches – I’m a little sore, I think my body understands the point. I’m looking forward to a soak in the tub tonight.
Me – I’ll scrub your back… and your front
