My love and need for her coalesced into a bright point of burning desire inside me. I had to have her now, had to make her mine. I shoved my athletic pants and boxer briefs from my body and kicked them aside, then I climbed onto the bed. She spread her legs wide for me as I crawled toward her, our eyes locked together, her lust mirroring my own. I knelt between her legs, my body trembling and my cock throbbing.
"Need you," I said hoarsely. "Need you so much, Ella."
"Please Cal," she whimpered in desperation as she reached for me.
I growled and grabbed Ella's ankles, lifting them up to rest one on each of my shoulders. I slid my hands down her legs to grip her still tender red ass. She let out a hiss of discomfort that was swiftly followed by a long moan of pleasure. I leaned over her, bending her legs up toward her head as I wrapped a hand around my erection and brought the head up to the soaked entrance to her luscious body. I pressed forward, the sensitive crown parting her soft folds to disappear inside her tight wet heat. Her body inexorably pulled me in.
I reached the end of her and stilled, tears blurring my vision as the blackened shell that had covered my heart finally shattered apart. We fit together perfectly, my Ella and me. She was my life's blood, my everything. She had always been a part of me, and always would.
"Ella," I sobbed out as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Cal," she whispered back, her own tears welling up in her eyes.
She reached up to cup my face in her hands, her eyes full of so much joy and happiness. I felt it too. I think we'd both forgotten what that felt like. It heightened the pleasure that flooded my body from being inside her, close to her. I couldn't take it anymore and began to move, making love to her with slow deep thrusts in and out of her gorgeous body. I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine, swallowing down her cries of bliss as I fucked her harder, faster. I hit her G-spot over and over again, the pleasure building higher and higher.
I felt my release barreling down on me, the pressure in my balls sending electric heat firing up my spine. I rolled my hips to penetrate her deeper, wanting her to fly apart with me. Her body suddenly undulated under me, her insides quivering in anticipation of her impending orgasm. She gasped in a breath then stilled.
A second later, she was wailing into my mouth, her back arching and her inner walls clamping down hard on my cock. I tumbled over the edge with her, bellowing out her name as the hardest orgasm I could ever remember having in my life fell over me with the devastating power of an avalanche. I emptied myself into her, giving myself completely to this woman, body and soul, heart and mind. When my release had finally wrung me dry, I was left with the sense that I had finally found where I belonged. I'd come home.
When I came back to reality and could finally move again, I pulled out and rolled a practically comatose Ella onto her belly to check her backside. It was still bright red, the skin unbroken with no sign of bruising, but I would take no chances with my Ella. I fetched some aloe vera lotion from the tall chest of drawers that held my toys and other supplies. I sat next to her on the bed and rubbed it gently into her skin. She whimpered and moaned in what seemed like equal parts pleasure and pain as her hips gyrated under my hand. I set the lotion aside and pulled Ella onto my lap and into my arms.
"Are you alright, baby?" I asked her tenderly as I held her close.
She mumbled out an almost unintelligible reply that made me smile. I cradled her close and murmured words of love and appreciation to her until she finally fell asleep. I sighed in disappointment. I longed to take her up to my room now and hold her the rest of the night, then wake with her still in my arms, but Violet wouldn't be ready for that. We had to be mindful of her feelings when we eventually told her about our relationship. I would let Ella set the timetable for that.
I pulled my clothes on, then somehow managed to dress Ella as she grumbled adorably through the whole process. I carried her out of the room and back upstairs to the guest room across from my bedroom. I eased the door open, and peered inside, thankful to see that Violet was still sound asleep in a jumble of limbs and snoring softly. I silently crossed the room and gently laid Ella down on the bed, then carefully tucked her under the covers next to her daughter, who immediately cuddled closer to her mother. I straightened and took a long moment to stare at my Ella, and the little girl who I was starting to think of as mine too. Somewhere along the way in the last few weeks, as I rediscovered my love for Ella, I'd fallen in love with Violet too.
I pressed a soft kiss to Ella's forehead, then reached over to brush gentle fingers along Violet's cheek. I turned, crossed the room to the doorway, and paused to look back one more time. "Goodnight, my lovelies," I whispered with a smile, then went to my own room. I crawled into my bed and fell almost immediately into the first uninterrupted and dreamless sleep I'd had in twelve long years.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
____________________
Violet
I blinked my eyes awake and wondered where the heck I was for a moment before I finally remembered. I grinned. I'd spent all day yesterday swimming at my new friend Calder's house, and then stayed up late watching movies in his movie room. The day had been epic. It was just like being home in our mansion again with all the things I missed.
I sat up and looked at Mom, ready to wake her up and thank her for bringing us here, but paused. She looked so peaceful curled up on her side facing me, and she was smiling in her sleep. I couldn't remember the last time Mom really looked happy like this, or slept in either. Nope, I wasn't going to ruin it for her. I smiled and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Love you, Mom," I whispered, then crawled out of the big comfy bed and tiptoed out of the room.
Through the open door across the hall, I could see that Calder's bed was empty. Cool. I whirled and ran for the stairs, then hurried down to the first floor, curious to see what Calder was up to this morning. I jumped past the last few steps at the bottom and landed with a loud thump, then skipped across the house and into the living room. I spied Calder standing in front of the massive room-wide windows with a steaming mug in his hand as he stared outside with a soft smile. He turned at my entrance, and his smile widened into a welcoming grin.
"Good morning, kid," he said as his mouth twisted into a smirk. "Your hair looks like a tornado blew through your room."
I giggled and touched my hair. It felt like it was sticking out all over. "Mom says I roll around like a deranged spider monkey at night."
"I bet," he said with a laugh, then cocked his head curiously. "Are you hungry?"
"I'm starving," I said dramatically, rolling my eyes heavenward for effect.
He snorted out a laugh as he shook his head, his eyes dancing in amusement. "Want to help me make breakfast?"
"Yes, please," I replied excitedly as I bounced on my feet. Learning to cook all this vegan stuff from Calder was awesome. He made it fun, and the food was delicious.
"Alright," he said with a nod, then walked toward the kitchen with me a close shadow behind him. "How do some pancakes and a tofu scramble sound, kid?"
"Perfect," I said with glee as I rubbed my hands together. "Let's do this."
A little while later, we were both eating and laughing at the kitchen table as we surveyed the mess all over the counter and stove that I had to admit was mostly my responsibility. I was in the middle of asking Calder if he liked seafood and showing him the partly chewed contents in my mouth, when Mom walked into the kitchen with an amused grin. She looked happy and rested, and I was glad I'd let her sleep in this morning.
"What the heck happened in here?" she asked as she looked at our mess.
"She happened," Calder said as he grinned and nodded in my direction.
"What do you expect when you ask a kid to help you cook?" I shot a playful scowl at him, but he didn't notice. He was too busy grinning at my mom instead of looking at me.
"Let me get you some food, ba-" he snapped his mouth shut abruptly with a sheepish expression, the
n stood to go make a plate for Mom. She smiled softly after him then jerked her eyes away when she noticed me watching her. O-kay. They were acting weird, and I frowned at their odd behavior.
Mom sat down next to me and grabbed the front section of the newspaper that was spread across the table. I glanced over her shoulder, and my eyes widened as I saw the date on it. I didn't even realize that it was The Fourth of July today. That meant fireworks. Giddy excitement hit me at the mere thought of going to see them. I snatched up the living section and found the calender of local events. Oh boy, there was a whole festival this afternoon with street vendors, food, and music, then fireworks afterwords. I wanted to go more than anything.
I was staring intently at the page trying to come up with a way to get Calder to take us without Mom saying no, when I realized that he had come up behind me. I glanced up to see him looking down at the paper in front of me. He met my eyes as he put a plate of food in front of Mom, then winked at me. I grinned. It looked like I already had an ally in my scheme.
"I was thinking," Calder began in a casual and matter-of-fact tone, "that maybe I could take you two to the fireworks festival today if you're interested."
"Really?" I asked curiously, playing along. "That sounds fun." I gave Mom a pleading expression. "Could we go, Mom?" I asked. "I don't want to sit at home just the two of us doing nothing."
Uncle Evan and Aunt Beth went camping with my cousins this week. Mom insisted that we couldn't go with them since she had to work, but I think it was mostly because she felt guilty horning in on their family vacation. I didn't want to make Mom feel bad, so I didn't complain even though I'd never been camping before and really wanted to go.
Mom looked thoughtfully back and forth between Calder and me, then to my utter surprise a slow smile spread across her face. "Okay," she agreed as she fixed her eyes on Calder for a long moment again. She caught me staring at her with a frown, then blushed and looked back down at the paper.
"It's a date...um...uh...I mean it's a plan," Calder replied stiltedly with an uncomfortable expression. They were acting weird again. What the heck? He grabbed his empty plate and pointed at mine. "Grab your plate, kid," he said, "Let's go clean up your mess."
"Hey, it's not all mine," I grumbled out in a mock angry tone as I stood and picked up my plate.
"Just the messy parts, right?" he asked with a wink, then laughed when I shot a scowl at him.
Calder helped me clean up while Mom finished eating, then he ran upstairs to shower. I loaded Mom's dishes into the dishwasher, and beamed when she thanked me for being so helpful. When Calder came back downstairs, we left to go to our house, were Mom and I got cleaned up for the day. I stared longingly at my tablet sitting on the nightstand next to the bed as I got dressed, but knew I'd have to wait to use it until after we got home tonight, and Mom had fallen asleep.
The day passed in a blur of fun and excitement as Calder and Mom let me drag them all over downtown to see all the street vendors. We ate French fries, and cotton candy, and Italian ice. We watched the bands play as I danced along to the music with Calder laughing at me and Mom smiling happily. The day was perfectly topped off with the most awesome fireworks I'd ever seen at the end of the night.
Calder drove us home afterwords as I drifted in and out of sleep in the backseat, exhausted from the long day and lulled by their low murmured conversation. When the car finally pulled to a stop in front of our house, it woke me up just enough to crack my eyes open a little. Imagine my surprise when I saw Calder kissing my mom, like really kissing her. It was so gross. I frowned in disapproval. That wasn't good, wasn't good at all. They pulled apart, and I snapped my eyes back closed again so they wouldn't know I was awake and had seen them kissing, not knowing what else to do. I continued to fake being asleep as Calder pulled me out of the car and carried me into the house.
He took me up to my room, laid me in the bed, and pulled off my purple flip flops. Then he tucked me in and whispered goodnight as he brushed my hair away from my face. I cracked my eyes open enough to watch him walk out of the room, then grab Mom's hand as they moved down the hallway murmuring quietly to each other. I frowned again. I really liked Calder, but this wasn't good at all. I was still lying there fretting about it when Mom came back into the room alone a few minutes later. She climbed into bed with me, and I felt her leaning over me.
"Goodnight, baby," she whispered. Her lips gently touched my forehead. "I love you."
The mattress shifted as she settled onto her side of the bed. I continued to pretend I was sleeping, and waited for her to fall asleep. It seemed to take forever, but eventually Mom's breathing slowed and evened out. I risked opening my eyes and glanced over at her. She was on her back, sleeping now with that same peaceful smile she had on her face this morning when I woke up. I slowly pushed my blankets down and sat up, watching her like a hawk, but she didn't stir. Good. I eased out of the bed and grabbed my tablet off the nightstand, then crept quietly across the carpet and out of the room.
I made my way downstairs, wincing each time the steps creaked under my bare feet. I paused at the bottom and heard nothing but silence upstairs. I nodded in satisfaction then tiptoed to the downstairs bathroom and closed the door before flipping on the light. I plopped down on the toilet seat and powered up my tablet. A few moments later, I was opening my messaging app. I grimaced at all the missed messages from last night asking where I was and why I wasn't replying to any of them. I immediately sent a quick message explaining that I didn't have my tablet since we didn't spend the night at home. Within seconds of sending my message, a video call came through. I sighed in relief and answered it.
The image of a man popped up on the screen. He had dark wavy hair, a short beard and mustache, and intense dark-green eyes that looked just like mine. A broad smile spread wide across his face.
"Hi, Daddy," I said with a grin of my own.
"Hi, pumpkin," he replied in a familiar and deep male voice.
It was so good to hear his voice. I'd missed him so much these last few weeks after he messaged me and told me he was still alive. We'd been messaging everyday since. It had been horrible torture all this time being unable to see him and having to keep this a secret. I hated keeping secrets from Mom. My smile instantly disappeared.
"I miss you," I said in a sad voice. "When are you going to come get us?"
Dad sighed as his face softened. "It's not safe yet, Violet," he answered. "The bad men I told you about are still after me, and they could hurt you and your mother."
"But if I could just tell Mom-"
"No, Violet," he cut me off sternly with hardening eyes.
I pressed my lips together as tears filled my eyes.
He gentled his tone, even though his eyes still flashed with irritation. "If you want your mother to be safe, pumpkin, then you can't tell her about me yet."
"I know," I said as I started to cry. "But she...she thinks you're gone, and...and she kissed someone today."
Dad stilled, and his face turned to stone. "What?" he asked sharply as his eyes grew ice cold.
I started babbling through my tears about our visit to Calder's house yesterday and how we ended up spending the night there. I told him how weird Mom and Calder acted this morning, and about the kiss I saw them share in the car too. By the time I was done, Dad was scowling and his eyes were burning with green fire. He looked so angry.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," I sobbed out as I cried harder, thinking he was mad at me.
"Don't cry, pumpkin," he said softly. "You did nothing wrong." A calculating expression fell over his face. "I'll tell you what, I'll come see you right now, and we can talk. Okay? Would that make you feel better?"
I nodded. "But Mom-"
"No," he cut me off again. "Mom can't know about me. You don't want her to get hurt do you?"
"N...no..." I answered sheepishly.
"That's my good girl," he said with a smile. "I'm leaving right now, and I'll be there shortly. Watch for my car in the alley behind your
uncle's house and meet me out there."
"Okay," I agreed, feeling relieved and eager to see him after all these months without him.
After we ended the call, I set my tablet on the vanity and carefully sneaked out of the bathroom. I went through the kitchen to the back door, and shoved my feet into my other pair of purple flip flops that were on the floor nearby. Then I stood fidgeting nervously as I looked out the window and waited for what felt like forever.
Eventually, a car drove slowly up the narrow alley, and came to a stop directly behind the house. Its lights winked out a moment later. My heart leaped with happiness. Yes. With a huge grin, I slipped quietly out the door into the night and ran across the yard toward my father.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
____________________
Ella
I woke from the most delicious dream about Calder with a smile on my face, the phantom sensation of his hands still ghosting over my skin as his sensual and sonorous voice still echoed inside my head. I hummed in contentment and stretched languidly on the bed. I remembered spending all day yesterday with him as he spoiled and doted on my little girl. I remembered the night before when the sharp and wondrous sting of his paddle had finally quelled the guilt of leaving him that had been eating at my heart for so long. I remembered when he told me that he forgave me and loved me, then showed me with his body how much that was true.
I felt whole and happy for the first time in so very long. I loved him so much, and I couldn't wait until we could share a bed every night and wake up together every morning. I desperately wanted to wake up to the feel of Calder's hands on me for real, but we had to be patient and wait until the appropriate time to tell Violet about us. We talked about it before he left last night, and I was grateful that he agreed and understood that. The last thing I wanted was to upset her so soon after losing her father, even if Ray had been a bastard.
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