Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“Not from where I’m sitting,” she sasses.
Picking her up, I ignore her squeal of surprise. I put her in my lap and lock my arms around her when she begins struggling to move. I hold her down against my rock-hard cock that I know she can feel—even through our clothes. “Then, you aren’t sitting in the right place.”
“Dragon—”
“You belong to me, Nicole.”
“I’m not a piece of meat you claim ownership of, Dragon. I’m your wife.”
“Wrong, Mama. You’re a piece of my soul. We’re a part of one another. There’s no going back. Without you, I don’t have a life.”
“You know what I really hate about you, Dragon?”
“That my dick is so big you have trouble taking all of me into that sweet mouth of yours?”
“Did you literally just complain about the way I suck you off?” she cries, anger firing in her beautiful eyes. Seeing that look on her face makes my dick go harder than it already was.
“I wasn’t complaining.”
“Well, it sure as hell sounded like it. Just so there’s no more misunderstandings, I’ll make sure you never get another blowjob for the rest of your life.”
“You don’t mean that, Mama.”
“Oh, but I do.”
“Bullshit. You like giving them as much as I enjoy getting them. Maybe more.”
“You know, most men would be holding their women and freaking out and telling them how much they love them. Not you. You’re just an ass.”
I curve my hand around the side of her neck, letting my thumb brush back and forth against the apple of her cheek. I stare into her eyes for a minute before I press my forehead against hers.
“I do love you, Mama. Down to my fucking bones, I love you. I just don’t know how to deal with all the shit that I’ve caused.”
“It’s all shit that wouldn’t be here if you’d quit trying to hide it from me!” she huffs. I’ve always loved this woman’s fire. Right now, I find myself wishing it wasn’t quite so intense. I have a bad feeling that I’m the one about to get burned.
“I wasn’t hiding it from you,” I deny at once, shit swirling in my brain so intensely that it is a struggle to breathe.
“Bullshit. At least own up to the fact that you’re trying to hide the fact that you’ve known all along that King was your son. Own up to the fact that I’m the reason you haven’t confronted him about it.”
“Mama—”
“Just do it!” she screams.
Seeing the tears streaking down her face and the pain there is my undoing. I pull away, trying to stop the pain—pain we’re both feeling.
“You can’t leave me again, Mama. I can’t survive without you. I can’t let you go. If you leave, I might as well swallow a bullet. I can’t make it without you.”
“Bullshit. Don’t lay that on me, Dragon. Everything—all this shit—is on you. If you had just been honest with me from the beginning, it could all have been avoided.”
“How was I supposed to do that? The last time I was honest with you, you took my kids and ran! You didn’t even give me a chance to explain!”
“What were you going to explain, Dragon?” she asks, sounding disgusted. I suppose I should be thankful that she’s no longer screaming. “Were you going to tell me that your lips just accidentally fell on Mavis’s? That your hand wasn’t on her ass, and I just imagined it all? Do you think my love for you would make me stupid enough to believe that? C’mon, you know better. We both know you’ve always been an ass man. If I hadn’t shown up that night …” She shrugs, pain laced in her words, but I put my hands on each of her shoulders and shake her slightly, forcing her to look at me.
“Nothing would have happened. Dancer would have made sure of that, Nicole.”
She shakes her head. “So, you needed your brother to pull you back and make sure you didn’t cheat on your wife and fuck that bitch? I suppose I should send Dancer a thank-you card. I wonder if Hallmark has one for this particular occasion? Roses are red, violets are blue, thanks for helping with the small chore of not letting my man stick his dick into that whore,” she singsongs glibly.
“I needed him because she drugged me, Mama.”
I swallow, tasting bile. I fight it down. Uttering those words wasn’t something that I ever planned on doing. Telling her is the last thing I ever wanted to do. It makes me feel too exposed—too fucking weak.
“I don’t … What did you say?”
“She slipped something into my drink when I wasn’t looking. That’s the only reason she got close to me. When you came in, it cleared my brain fog some. Up until that moment, I thought it was you that I was kissing—at least in my head. I shoved her away from me and Dancer stood in and helped me sober her up. I had her and her old man’s club thrown out. I would have never touched another woman, Mama. I haven’t even had the urge since the moment I touched you. You’ve always been it for me. Whether it’s two days or twenty-plus years, it has and will always be you.”