Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Just being with Tabitha feels like a gift.
“Of course I have to ask,” she says. “I’d never assume anything.”
“Okay, if you’re asking, then I need you to know that if you asked me to stay, I’d stay forever.” I smile, resting my chin against her hair. She fits into my arms perfectly, this woman. All of the ramped-up stress I felt earlier is gone, and not just because her hand is still on my cock. It’s because she’s here in my arms, and she’s relaxed and happy. A relaxed, happy Tabitha makes me happy, too.
“Then stay forever,” she says, voice soft.
I go still, stunned into surprise at her response. “Wait. Really?”
Her sticky fingers move over my cock, sending prickles of heat through my system again and making my tail twitch. “We could try it, couldn’t we? I like you being here. And I kept thinking today that I would rather have you around than anyone else. You’re the only one I trust. The only one I like.”
I’m flattered, but at the same time… “That doesn’t mean we have to be romantic. We can just be friends if you’re more comfortable—“
“I like this, too,” Tabitha confesses, glancing up at me. “When you marked my door, it made me want more than I’ve wanted in a long time. I liked seeing you lose control. I liked seeing it again tonight.”
My mouth goes dry. “Well, all right, then. As long as it’s your call and not mine.”
Her eyes take on a flicker of hurt and she withdraws her hand. “I want you to want it, too.”
I’ve said the wrong thing. I’m trying to be so very careful with her that I’m making her think I don’t want her. Nothing could be further from the truth. I want her so much that it’s utterly distracting. I want her so much that my hunger is completely taking over my every waking thought. Before she can pull away further, I lean in and close the distance between us, kissing her again. “I want you. I want this. I want us.”
“If you’re sure—“
I kiss her again, just so she knows I’m absolutely sure.
Thirteen
TABITHA
My heart is fluttering in my chest with a mixture of excitement and arousal.
He asked to stay.
He doesn’t realize that I’m obsessed with him, and that I might not ever want him to leave again. Maybe he doesn’t get that this is big for me, that when I let him past the front door, I was letting him into my life in all ways. I’m nervous as we eat dinner after we clean up, and sit on the sofa for a little while and talk about my day with the visitors and his day at work. He rubs my feet and tells me all about the things the baker had at her cart, and how she’d laughed at him when he asked what sweets were “best for humans.” I nibble on a bun that has a spicy-sweet glaze and think I might be in heaven.
“I’ll need to set an alarm for work in the morning,” Jrrru says casually as he rubs one of my feet. “If that’s all right.”
Because we’re together now, I realize. Because he said he would stay forever and I said yes and now we have to think about the mundane bits and pieces. My face feels hot as I think about waking up with Jrrru in the bed with me. Why that feels more intimate than me sliding a hand into his pants and jerking him off, I’ll never know.
Hearing that solidifies that he really does intend to stay, though. That he wants to be with me. That my weapon and pit-trap enthusiasm hasn’t scared him off. I lick my lips. “Okay.”
He starts purring again, loud enough that I hear it from my end of the couch, and his hands become distinctly caressing on my feet. “Shall we head to bed?”
Heat curls in my belly. I nod, getting to my feet, and then indicate the bedroom door with a tilt of my head. “Follow me and I’ll show you where you can put your shoes.”
Jrrru follows me into the bedroom, and pauses in the doorway. His purring rumbles into a laugh, and when I glance over at him, I see his gaze is locked on my bed. My very small, very narrow, possibly-a-twin-size-if-one-squints bed. He’s much bigger than I am, and it never occurred to me that we’re both going to have to squeeze onto the mattress tonight. “Oh. Um.”
Before I can panic, he wraps his arms around me from behind and nuzzles my throat. “I hope you like snuggling in bed.”
I hope I do, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve snuggled anyone. When I was a slave, I’d wedge myself between two cattle at night to stay warm, but sleeping in a barn is very different from sleeping with a sexy man. The heat in my belly turns to curls of nervousness as we get ready for bed. I wash my face and brush my teeth, and when he’s in the bathroom, I change into my favorite sleep-shift, the one with the deep neck and no sleeves, and my pulse throbs between my thighs, because it means all that bare skin is going to be pressed up against Jrrru.