by Max Henry
As far as I’m concerned, I left his immature arse behind the day school finished. Until now I thought I’d done the same with Kate.
K: Hey. I spotted your mum in town.
Simple, and to the point. Yet the fact she chose to contact me about it has me suspicious. Either she’s worried about how I feel, or she’s fishing for gossip. I choose the safe option and keep my reply minimal.
B: Yeah. She’s back with Dad.
The dots dance across the screen as I hit pause on my show.
K: Wow. Are you okay?
B: For now. We keep our distance.
There have been no mother/daughter days, no girly gossips on the sofa while she catches up on everything she’s missed. Nope. Not with Cerise. Her claws are firmly in Dad, her focus on recreating this perfect ideal she must have of what life with him should have been.
Turns out the split from her sugar daddy was ugly, and he paid a pretty penny to keep her mouth shut about the things she’d seen in her two years at his side. The woman came back with money, and she’s not shy on spending that on things that satisfy her wants and needs.
Namely alcohol.
K: What have you been up to? You’ve been quiet.
No kidding. I roll my eyes and slide to lie down on the sofa as a reply comes through from Zeus also.
Z: Might have to take you shopping with me. Almost done for the day ;)
That’s what I’ve been doing. Spending time with somebody who actually gives a shit about me. I send him a kissy face and then reopen Kate’s thread.
B: Not a lot. Trying to find a job. You?
K: Hanging with Brock, but I’m pretty sure we’re done.
I smile as I type my reply.
B: Oh no. Why?
K: He doesn’t want to travel. I do. We argue more than anything else now.
B: That sucks. Maybe he’ll come around.
K: I don’t think so. Do you still want to travel?
Do I? Given the opportunity I wouldn’t pass it up, but now that Zeus has his place with the studio space I’m torn over what to save my money for when I get a job. Maybe I could do both? Guess it’s something to talk to him about….
B: I’d love to see Canada.
There. Doesn’t say yes, but doesn’t say no either.
K: We should go.
I sigh as the front door opens, Dad and Cerise chatting as they walk in. The idea of a trip with Kate sounds great, but I can’t shake the fair-weather friend feeling. If Brock wanted to travel I have no doubt she would have gone without giving me a second thought.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Dad jerks his chin toward my phone. “Who you chatting with?”
“Kate.”
“She going to come over for dinner one night?”
“Don’t know. Maybe,” I call after him as he takes some shopping through to the kitchen.
Cerise hangs in my periphery, awkwardly still. I glance over, a creepy feeling spreading over my skin when I find her watching me. “What?”
“Do you have any plans for your future, other than mooching on your father’s couch?”
Hi to you too, Mum. I twist around to sit up straight.
Her gaze tracks Dad as he cuts through the living room on his way to the bedroom. “I better get myself ready for work.”
“Okay, love,” she calls cheerily, her eyes warm as she watches him go. The ice returns as her gaze slips back to me. “Your dad can’t afford to carry you forever, you know.”
Is this bitch for real? “I imagine it must be hard for him, given you never sent a single cent to help pay for my upbringing.”
Her lips twitch as she stares me down. “I moved out of my parents’ house at eighteen.”
“You had Dad.”
“You have someone also, don’t you?” She smiles.
I burn alive. “No.”
“Huh.” My stomach knots as she walks to the bay window and sighs. “I may have been gone for a while, Belle, but I still know when you’re lying.”
Fucking ears. “What’s it to you anyway?”
“I’m your mother. I care.”
“I can still tell when you’re lying too,” I deadpan.
She smiles, almost as though she’s proud of my comeback. “His world has revolved around you for the last ten years. You don’t know the half of the sacrifices he’s made for you.”
“And what sacrifices did you make?”
She remains silent. I’ve got the bitch. She did nothing for me. She can’t even spin some bullshit story about how she left for the good of the family. My parents didn’t hate each other, from what I remember of life before the split. Staying together wouldn’t have meant we struggled to get by. She left for her own benefit, fuck what it meant to anyone else.
She hurt the ones who loved her, all for her own selfish need.
“Don’t be a burden, Belle.”
I open my mouth to give her what for, yet Dad walks back in, dressed in his work clothes. “Everything okay?” He glances between the two of us.
“Fine. Right, Mother?”
“Yes. Lovely.”
Dad looks at the two of us, his brow pinched, and then turns for the kitchen with a huff. “Women,” he muses. “I’ll never understand you lot.”
TWENTY-SIX
Zeus
“Kate visited today.” Belle lifts a box from the back of the car and heads toward the house with it.
Official possession was earlier in the week, but work ran overtime trying to make up for rainy days, and left hardly any time to do any shifting.
“Yeah? How did that go?” She told me a few days ago that the girl had got in touch with her out of the blue.
Maybe I’m too protective, or maybe I’m being selfish with my time with Belle, but I’m not convinced this is a good thing.
“Okay.” She shrugs as she sets the box down on my new dining table, free of any connection to Jodie. “It was awkward at first, but I don’t know. She seems genuine.”
“Yeah, well, tread carefully. She ditched you when you needed her most.”
“I know.” Belle stares down at the pile of flat pack furniture stacked against the wall and sighs. “You know Dad calls these divorce kits.”
“I can understand why.” There’s always an extra bolt or two, half the instructions you need, and a fucking Allen key that’s too stubby to get a proper grip on. “Which one do you want to do first?”
“I think we should start with your bedroom furniture.”
“Agreed.”
Belle smiles as she skips past me. “Come on. Sooner we start, sooner we can chill out afterward.”
By the time I’ve shut the car and closed the front door, she’s already standing in the middle of the bedroom with her hands on her hips. I take a moment to watch her from the doorway, amazed by the headstrong young woman she is. Belle might feel insecure at times, tell me that the loss of her friends and the way the jerks at school treated her in the past has left its effects on her. But she can’t see what I do.
Bravery.
Her dark hair hangs straight, brushing her lower back as she picks an instruction sheet off the end of the unmade bed and reads the diagrams. My gaze traces a path down her slender arms as she reaches for the first board that’ll become my nightstand, and then skims over her hips to the line her black shorts cuts across her upper thigh.
Her soul is what I fell in love with first, but her body is what sings to me when I’m alone at night. If there was ever something that would be a blatant reminder of what’s wrong with this relationship, it’s the fact she can’t stay and sleep beside me. What would John think if he found us? What would he say seeing his daughter tucked in my arms?
“Are you going to help me, or stand there all day?” She doesn’t turn around, addressing the square of board in her hand.
“Can’t blame me if the view is one I want to enjoy a bit longer.”
She reaches for me with her free hand as I step into the room, tucking her small hand behind my neck once I’m
close enough. “Maybe. But if you stand behind me, then I miss out on my favourite view.”
I lean in and brush my nose against hers. “Why are you here?” I murmur against her lips.
“Because I want to be.”
It’s as simple as that—we both want this. That is why I keep on going, despite the fear that I’ll fuck things up forever if John catches wind.
“I love you, dove.”
“I love you, too.” Belle drops the board, and then turns her body toward mine. “Don’t forget that. Okay?”
I settle my hands on her waist and lift her off the ground. Her legs tuck around my middle. “How could I?”
“Just promise me.” Her eyes hold the truth that neither of us wants to acknowledge.
The risk is too great, the chances too high. A fire that burns as bright as ours will barely last the night.
“I promise.”
She hums, tucking her face into my neck as her hold on me tightens. “Let’s make the furniture later.”
“If you’re sure.” I walk across to the bed and lay her down.
Belle spreads out before me on the unmade mattress, her arms stretched over her head. She smiles at me, the afternoon sun casting shadows across her face, and fuck it all if that isn’t reason to throw caution to the wind right there.
“I wish I didn’t have to take you home tonight,” I admit as I reach down and pop her shorts open.
“I wish you didn’t either.” Belle lifts her hips, helping me to slide the black fabric off her legs.
She’s chosen dark grey panties today, a beautiful contrast against her pale skin. Cupping my palm to her pussy, I slide my hold up and across her stomach, making her lift her hips for more. So greedy. She looks good enough to eat. In fact, I will.
“You’ll have to tell me what the sunrise is like in here.” Her head turns away as she looks across to the tall windows that showcase the tree-lined backyard.
“You’ll have to see it for yourself,” I counter.
A sigh falls from her lips as I repeat the action in reverse, applying pressure to her mound as I slip my hand past, and then run the tips of my fingers over her panty-clad pussy. Belle’s eyes hold mine as I push the fabric aside and tease her opening.
“Always wet and willing, aren’t you?”
“Always have reason to be.” She cocks an eyebrow, tucking her lush bottom lip between her teeth.
Doesn’t she know it. I hook my thumbs in the waist of her panties and guide them down her legs. Belle pulls one foot free, and then the other, her long legs coming to rest either side of mine as I lean into the end of the bed. I slide to my knees, yet don’t make it all the way to the floor before she stops my descent with a carefully hooked foot under my arm.
“Not this time.”
I’ve been respectful, keeping our interactions to foreplay; a kiss down here, a hooked finger in there. My thin tether to control frays every time she bares herself to me, and it’s only a matter of time before I lose any and all grasp I have on consideration.
“What do you want, dove?” I ask, rising to lean over her. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
She pushes up on her elbows to place a soft kiss on my cheek before whispering in my ear, “I want to suck your cock.”
Jesus. Somebody save this girl.
“I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I tease as she pushes against my chest to make me stand tall.
My dick strains in my jeans, my beautiful girl rising to her knees as she reaches for the hem of my T-shirt. I lift both arms, aiding her as she peels the cotton from my body. Belle pauses, her lips parted as she runs her eye over my torso. I spend a ridiculous amount of time in the gym to stay in this shape, and this girl, she makes it all worth it with one satisfied “Hmm.”
Hands linked behind my head, I tuck my chin to my chest to watch her as she carefully unbuckles my belt, seated on the side of the bed. The leather falls to the sides, her fingers making quick work of the zipper as she reveals her prize.
However she might have imagined this would happen, I’m resolved to make sure it’s ten times better. I want this girl going to bed tonight with the feel of my cock still in her mouth and the taste of my cum still on her tongue.
I want her hungry enough to come back for more.
“Lie down.” Belle jerks her head to the mattress, switching positions to stand as I do what I’m told.
My gaze catches the small damp patch she left on the side of the bed. Fuck, yes. She’s barely holding on too.
“Boxers off,” she instructs.
Her T-shirt hits the floor, followed by my boxers, and then her bra. The sight of Belle standing at the foot of my bed, dark hair resting on her pert breasts, has me reaching for my cock. Maybe she’s going to bed with the memory of my dick in her mouth, but fuck, I’m going to have my cock permanently in my hand if the memory of her standing here like this serves me well.
“Fuck, baby,” I grit out as I slide my fist over my length. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
She smiles, but what pisses me off is she also drops her chin. My girl has nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be embarrassed about. She’s gorgeous, with a heart of gold. She should be proud.
“Look at me,” I demand.
Her gaze fixes to my hand pumping slowly over my thick erection. Lust fires behind her eyes before she drags them to mine.
“Don’t you ever act shy around me, you hear? You never have reason to be.”
Belle nods, taking a bold step forward to reach the edge of the bed. She sets a knee down between my legs, and then the other beside my thigh. One delicate hand rests atop the bed while she lets the other drift over my hip, across my stomach, and to a stop on my chest.
I flex my pec with a smirk, earning a giggle in response.
“I’m trying to be serious here,” she complains.
“So am I.” Taking her hand, I guide it back down to rest over top of mine.
She follows my movement, continuing to jerk me off after I slide my hand out from beneath hers. Eyes shut, I groan behind closed lips. She’s touched me before, run her hands over me, but until now I’ve never been fully naked with her and at her whim. Until now I’ve focused on her and what makes her happy, not pausing to think that maybe making me happy is what she wants too.
Her fist tightens on a slow stroke and she gives a satisfied hum as pre-cum beads at the tip of my cock. Her pink tongue wets her lips before she ducks and sucks the drop from the head. I fist my hands against the bed in an effort not to thrust back and bury myself in her hot mouth.
“That tastes really good,” she muses, stroking for more.
Another bead forms, another swipe of her tongue. I’m ready to beg for mercy. Just wrap your lips around it already. I’m rewarded on the third taste, Belle keeping her mouth securely around my shaft as she lowers her head to take me as far as she dares. The head of my cock touches the back of her throat; goosebumps erupt across my flesh.
Fuck, this girl has no idea what she can do to me. One glimpse of her naked, one feel of her over me, and I’d give up everything just to go that little bit further.
“Fuck, Belle….”
“Mmm?” she hums in question around my dick.
“Jesus. Do that again and you might get dinner early.”
She rears back, hand still on my cock as she laughs. “Really, Zeus?”
I shrug with a smile, loving the fact that even in the heat of the moment we haven’t lost the ability to joke around with one another.
“Carry on what you were doing,” I say before tapping my lips. “But get your pussy over here while you do.”
Belle positions herself top to tail, both legs to one side. Not quite what I had in mind, but as she sinks that heavenly mouth back on my cock there isn’t much that I wouldn’t forgive her for. I run my fingertips through her slick pussy, teasing, coaxing, and massaging until she rocks her hips in time with my movements.
Her mouth widens on a moa
n, my dick still buried inside, as I push two fingers into her cunt. It’s one thing to finger-fuck a woman, feel her muscles as they pull you in for more, but to watch it as you do… magic.
“Oh, fuck, Zeus.” Belle comes up for air, her fist crushing the base of my dick. “Fuck that’s good.”
“I know, dove. I know.” My fingers slide in and out of her channel, her juices slick on my knuckles as I bury them to the hilt.
She quivers when I pick up the pace, her bobbing head growing frantic as I thrust harder, no doubt bruising her swollen pussy while I pull her thighs apart with my free hand. Nothing else matters in these moments with Belle: no doubts, no worries, not even time. The sun coats the room in a dull orange glow as I twist and duck my head between her legs. Belle’s knees slide farther apart of their own volition; the sound of her slick lips sucking on my cock as she chases her mouth with her fist is enough to drive me crazy.
I might not have been hungry before, but one taste of her sweet juices on my tongue and I’m a starved animal. She mewls around my dick, pulling off as I bring my fingers out of her cunt and spear her with my tongue instead. Belle tosses her head back, which in turn arches her back and tips her pussy so that she’s perfectly positioned over my mouth. Her hand slows, groans spilling from her lips as she’s lost in her pleasure.
“Keep stroking me, baby,” I coax. “I want to come when you do.”
She hesitates, the slightest tension in her hand. It’s barely noticeable, but enough for me to rub the heel of my hand over her pussy while I twist and peer out at her.
“You okay?”
“I love doing this,” she purrs, eyes on mine. “But I don’t know if I want to swallow yet.”
God, she’s so cute when she worries about shit that doesn’t matter. I slide out from beneath her, Belle pulling back to kneel as I do.
“So we swap,” I tell her as I lift her hand and coax her to the middle of the bed.
She lies flat, legs slowly inching apart, and damn well licks her lips. My cock jumps at the fresh memory of that mouth of hers. Her hand finds her breasts as I slide my fingers inside her again, palming the soft flesh while I coax her back to where we left off. It doesn’t take long before her hips buck and she’s licking those fucking lips while her gaze fixes on my dick.
