by Frankie Love
“Baby gravy,” he growls. “I want to fill you up with it, girl, so damn bad.”
Then his lips are on mine and I forget about the turkey and the green bean casserole. I forget the candied yams and the buttery rolls.
He kisses me and all I want to taste is his mouth on mine.
Chapter Three
Russet
Her lips are like pillows of mashed potatoes. Fluffy and warm. I kiss her soft, knowing my girl has been hurt enough by me already, and the last thing she needs right now is for me to go rough.
Her lips part, and her tongue finds mine and I melt like butter against her. I’m back to where we were four years ago. Her soft, supple body pressed against mine while we explore one another down by the river.
We never went all the way.
But now? Now I’m prepared to go to the ends of the earth to win her back.
“What the fuck?” Her dumbass boy toy, or whoever the shit he is, Tommy, flicks on the lights in the hall, shouting at us. “What the hell, Autumn? You keep your knees closed for me but five seconds in and you’ll let this jarhead face-fuck you?”
I lift my eyebrows. What the hell is he thinking, yelling at my girl like this?
“You can’t talk to Autumn that way,” I say, stepping towards him.
“Who the hell do you think you are? Telling me what I can and can’t do?” Tommy yells.
“She can tell you herself,” I say, stepping out of the hallway and into the living room.
“Tell him what?” Lindy asks, Grayson following her. I see the table has been set — it looks so damn nice; perfect, really, and I hate the idea of ruining any of this hard work.
Hell, it’s what I always do, isn’t it? Ruin the good things the world offers me?
“Mom,” Autumn says, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry, this is totally out of character, and I don’t want to ruin your day …”
“What’s going on?” Grayson asks, looking at me. “What happened?”
“I’m in love,” Autumn says. Her words are so soft, so tender and sweet that my hard heart shatters, but not in a broken way — in a bigger way. There isn’t just one thing to love about Autumn — there are a million ways to love her. A million pieces of glass that aren’t sharp, they are clear. You can see through the shards and at the center is her pure heart.
She knew what she wanted at eighteen and I was a fool to doubt her clarity.
She knew.
She knows.
She fucking loves me.
“I love you too,” I say, turning to her. “I fucked it up before but I won’t again.”
“I know,” she says. She believes in me with a faith I don’t deserve, but hell, it’s the kind of faith I need.
Her.
“You love this asshole?” Tommy asks, his eyes flashing with anger.
“I do,” she says plainly, without apology. “I’m sorry to have ruined your day, but it’s never going to happen. It never was going to happen. I’ve loved Russet for as long as I’ve known what love could be.”
“This is fucked up,” Tommy says, grabbing his coat. He pulls open the door, and before he leaves, he turns to Lindy. “Thanks, for having me. You’re solid, Ms. Wood, but your daughter?” He shakes his head. “She’s a tease.”
He leaves, and the room goes silent.
I want to pull Autumn into my arms, to hold her against me and never let go, but Grayson and Lindy are staring at us, shocked and confused, and they deserve an explanation.
“Well for goodness sakes,” Lindy says. “Dinner is ready. Come eat, and explain yourselves.”
We sit down, the four of us, Autumn and I across from one another, Lindy between us. Tommy’s empty chair an eyesore. Grayson stands and removes it from the table, the plate and silverware too, because it’s awkward as hell just sitting there like that.
“This looks so good, Mom,” Grayson says as we begin passing platters of food around. No one replies and I know everyone is just trying to wrap their minds around the fight that just took place in the living room. Tension was high and I was this close to punching Tommy if he said one more shitty thing.
I’m glad it didn’t come to that. For all of the Woods. They don’t need my bullshit.
Once our plates are piled high with fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing — the works — Lindy tells us to hold hands and bow our heads.
Lindy’s hand is warm in mine, and she squeezes it ever so lightly. “Dear Lord, thank you for bringing us together today, and for helping remind us what truly matters. Amen.”
“Amen,” we repeat. None of us are exactly religious, but today, I guess, there is a higher power at work. Somewhere, somehow, here I am. Holding Autumn’s hand and knowing she loves me the way I love her.
There is plenty to be grateful for.
“So,” Grayson says, looking between his sister and me. “So you guys are in love?”
I look across the table at Autumn. Her eyes are bright and so damn beautiful. Turning to my oldest friend, I ask, “Is there going to be a problem with that?”
Grayson exchanges a look with his mother. “If you hurt her, yeah.”
“I won’t. I mean, I won’t ever again.”
Grayson’s eyebrows knit together. “You saying you’ve hurt my little sister before?”
My jaw tightens, I set down my fork. “Yeah, before I left for the Marines, I pretty much broke Autumn’s heart.”
Lindy gasps. “Is that true, sweetheart?” she asks her daughter. “You and Russet were a thing?”
Autumn’s cheeks burn. She licks her lips, that cute pink tongue of hers reminding me just how innocent my girl is. “Not really. I wanted to be, but Russet …”
“What did you to her?” Grayson asks, getting protective, just like he should. I wouldn’t think I’d see anything less. He is a good man, loyal and knows what matters. Family.
“I was a fool,” I say. “And I left scared. Autumn was ready to marry me … but I was a stupid kid without any understanding of what really matters in life. Autumn believed in me before I believed in myself and … well that is why I came back. To try and find out if there was a sliver in her heart that might still hold space for me.”
“There’s more than a sliver, Russet,” she says, reaching across the table for my hand. “You can have the whole thing.”
“Oh you two,” Lindy says, covering her mouth. “I just had no idea, all this time …”
“I didn’t want to deceive you, Mom,” Autumn says. “Or you, Grayson. But when Russet left I was so embarrassed … that he didn’t want me.”
Pain seizes my heart, my regret damn deep. “I wish I hadn’t needed to leave to know I wanted to stay.”
Autumn’s eyes reach the torn up places in my heart. “You had wild oats to sow,” she says. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you came back.”
“I love you, Autumn, so damn much. I know we’re here, in front of your family, that we haven’t spoken in four years, that we’re sitting at a table with a turkey and mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy — but I have to say it. I have to say it now.”
“Say what?” she asks, but I know she knows.
She knows me.
“I want to make a life with you, give you a family, make a home. I love you, Autumn.” I reach into my pocket, and pull out a diamond ring. It glitters and shines, reflecting all the love I have to her. “Marry me, be my wife. I’m a better man for knowing you, I can’t imagine what I might be if I had you by my side, for better or for worse.”
“Till death do us part,” she whispers, tears filling her eyes.
“Is that a yes?”
She nods and then looks at her brother and mother for affirmation. They’re dumbstruck and smiling, and I know we have their blessing.
“It’s a yes, Russet. It’s all my dreams come true.”
I take her hand, and over the gravy boat and the green bean casserole, I slip the gold band on her finger.
“I love you, Autumn,�
� I say, standing and walking around the table, pulling my fiancée in my arms. She is all I’ve wanted since the day I left. And now, she is mine.
Grayson clears his throat. “Well, hell.” He leaves for the kitchen and grabs drinks. He hands me a beer and then pours his mom and Autumn glasses of white wine.
Then he raises his bottle. “Mom said grace, I’d like to make a toast. That’s a Thanksgiving thing, isn’t it?”
“It can be,” Lindy says, pulling her little girl into a tenderhearted hug.
Grayson nods. “You were always like family. And now, I suppose you really are. You take care of my sister, you hear? But hell, I don’t think I could wish my little sis to have a better man.”
His words mean more than he knows. I’ve never had family that stood up for me, stood by me.
But as he clinks his bottle to mine, I think maybe that isn’t true. Maybe he does know how much this means to me.
“Okay, kids, you need to eat,” Lindy says, wiping her eyes with a napkin. “I spent all day on this food.”
I give Lindy a hug. “Thank you,” I say. “Not just for dinner, but for giving me a second chance at a family. At love.”
“You’re going to make her cry,” Autumn says, beaming up at me.
“Too late,” Lindy says, dapping her eyes. “Now I mean it, this dinner isn’t going to eat itself.” Then looking at the table, she exclaims. “Oh, I forgot salt and pepper.”
Grayson follows her into the kitchen claiming he needs to find the carving knife, even though the turkey is already sliced. I think they just wanted to give us a moment alone.
I’ll take it. I pull Autumn close so I can whisper in her ear. “I’m saving most of my appetite for dessert.” I pinch her ass, and she bites her lip.
“I know,” she says with a smile. “But I’ve saved myself all this time so you could be my first course.”
I growl in her ear, so ready to have my way with her.
Chapter Four
Autumn
After we clean up from dinner, Grayson falls asleep on the couch in a food coma, and Mom says she’d like to close her eyes for a few minutes before dessert.
“Russet and I are going to go on a walk, if that’s okay?”
Mom pats my arm. “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t have to ask permission. You’re a grown woman.” Then taking my hand in hers, she admires the glittering ring. “An engaged woman to boot.”
“Are you hurt I kept it from you? That I shared a summer with Russet after high school?”
Mom sighs. “I trust you had your reasons, but sweetheart, I would have loved to be a shoulder to cry on.”
“I felt like I messed up after he left, and then I wondered if my ambition — wanting to be a mom and wife — wasn’t quite enough.”
“I think those dreams are beautiful ones.” Mom tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “You and your brother are my whole world. I’ve had work to provide for us, but if I could have stayed home and cooked from up, taken care of the house … been there for your school field trips and recitals, well, I would have seen that as a privilege.”
I blink back tears, wishing I’d opened up with my mom earlier.
“Besides, your dreams are no big secret, Autumn. You’ve been a nanny since you graduated. You love taking care of children. What a blessing it will be to take care of your own.”
I smile, my cheeks heating up. “Well, I have to actually sleep with him first.”
Mom lifts her eyebrows. “You and Russet never …”
I shake my head, not ashamed, and not feeling like this is something to hide. “I’ve never…”
She wraps me in her arms. “Oh love, how sweet to have the man you marry be the first man you share that with.”
“Is this weird, talking about all this?”
Mom and I laugh. “It can be weird if you want it to be.”
“I don’t want it to be,” I tell her.
“What’s so funny?” Russet asks, walking into the kitchen.
“Oh nothing,” I say, as Mom covers her mouth.
“Well, I did realize we’re out of whipped cream, maybe you guys could take a long drive and pick some up on your way back, instead of a walk?”
I chuckle. She is being so funny about all this. “Okay, Mom, we’ll get right on it.”
“I bet you will.” Her shoulders shake she’s laughing so hard.
In the car Russet asks what that was all about.
“Oh, my mother just knows we’re about to have sex for the very first time. That was her way of blessing the situation.”
Russet lifts an eyebrow. “Is that a thing? A sex blessing?”
“It is Thanksgiving,” I say, laughing as he puts the car in reverse. “Maybe it’s another way of saying grace?”
Russet grins, looking over at me. “So you said something about us having sex?”
I nod. “Is this too much, too fast?”
He shakes his head, looking so handsome, so in control. “Too fast? We kissed, confessed our love and got engaged an hour after we walked through your mother’s door. I don’t think we can go any faster, Autumn.”
“Good. Because I really, really want to finish what we started in the hallway.”
Minutes later he’s swiping the keycard to his hotel room door, and picking me up, carrying me to the bed. He is so strong, and in his arms I feel so beautiful. He’d never mention my muffin top or say I don’t need seconds. Russet looks at me and loves what he sees.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I really am. Leaving you was the stupidest thing I ever did.”
“We both had growing up to do,” I tell him, slipping off my shoes and unzipping my dress. I’m so glad I put on these lacy panties.
“How did you grow up?” he asks, pulling off his shirt and pants. His muscles are taut and corded and send a ripple of want over me.
The dress is set aside and I run a hand over my breasts. “I grew a little more after you left.”
He groans, taking in my now DDs. I had a growth spurt a little late. “You like them?” I ask, knowing he does by the way he moves to the bed, pulling me into his arms. He massages my tits, and pulls down he lacy cup, his fingers on my hard nipples.
“I fucking love them. They doubled in size,” he says.
“Are you nervous about committing to me without ever sleeping with me first?” I ask. I know that before me he had several girls.
His jaw tenses as he cups my face. “Autumn, it never crossed my mind. All I’ve thought about was this, holding you in my arms, filling your slick pussy and taking good care of you. Never once did I think it might be bad. That’s impossible.”
I nod. “Prove it,” I say playfully.
He laughs. “I love you so damn much. Four years is way too long.”
“Never again.”
“When I’m deployed, you’ll be alone, months at a time, can you do that, Autumn? I mean, have you thought about that?”
I nod. “I’ll be waiting for you, knowing you’ll find your way home.”
He kisses me, and this time it’s harder, with intention and need and I run my hands over his bare back, his muscles so large, so demanding. It sends a thrill through me that I am in the arms of my sexy Marine. My fiancé.
My forever.
“I’m laying you on your back now,” he tells me. “I need the panties off.”
I nod, wanting this so bad. “No fair unless you do the same,” I tease.
He obediently pulls down his boxer briefs and I whimper at the sight of his big, thick cock. He tears off my panties and spreads my knees. I reach for his thickness, wanting to feel the weight of his perfect cock.
It’s smooth and velvety soft, yet a rod of steel, ready to make me his woman.
“Oh God, girl,” he groans, taking a look at my pink pussy. He leans his mouth to me, tickling me with his tongue, his lips, making me squirm as he licks my pussy. It’s better than imagined, it washes me with pleasure I’ve never known before. Whole and real and so sweet.
“I can’t believe you saved yourself for me,” he says, looking up into my eyes.
“It was always you, Russet,” I tell him.
He presses a finger inside me and I gasp, the finger alone making my core tighten. There is no way all of his length can fit inside me.
“How?” I ask, and he grins.
“We’ll get your sweet cunt nice and ready, that’s how.”
His words send a thrill over me, and he begins to open me up nice and slow. My back arches as he moves gently inside me. He kisses my tummy, my pussy, my nipples, my neck. He fingers me slowly, knowing that we are in no rush. We are together now, that means we have forever.
I shiver, my entire body awake and perked up under his touch. “Oh, that feels so good,” I moan, reciting again for his cock, wanting to hold it — but then he adds another the finger to my entrance and there is nothing I can focus on except the rush of euphoria that rolls through me as Russet takes me to the edge.
I come against his hand, knowing my pussy is dripping, knowing everything within me is his.
“I want to feel you,” I tell him. “Feel you in me.”
He runs his hand over my hair, smoothing it down and then he kisses me again. My body is jelly in his hands and yet somehow I am more alive than I’ve ever been.
“Knock me up,” I tell him. “Fill me with your baby gravy.”
“Damn, girl, I love you,” he says, leaning over me and not making me wait any longer.
“I love you more, my sexy Marine.”
He blushes at that, and I like it, seeing the way my compliments affect him. He lowers himself over me and begins to ease his massive length inside my willing pussy.
I close my eyes, bracing myself as he fills me up. It’s not painful in a hurtful way … it’s in a pleasurable way. And then, I relax, the sensation so new and delicious that I can do nothing but laugh.
“Don’t laugh at a guy when he fills you up, that’s rule number one,” Russet says playfully.
“I wasn’t laughing at that … I was overwhelmed with all of this. With today. You. Us. Now.” I sigh, his cock deepening its hold on me. “Oh, God, Russet, this … oh…”
