Page 37 of Learn For Me

Her only resistance was when his big hand found the tender spot between her thighs, his fingers rubbing soap all around the nooks and crannies of her pussy. Everywhere but the sensitive inner flesh. She was so freaking tender, just the brush of his callouses was enough to bring a keening moan to life.

Painstakingly thorough, Zeke took the time to rinse every trace of soap from her body before he poured more of it on her hair, his fingers kneading her scalp almost as much as they washed her locks.

Swaying from side to side, she missed his touch when he began his own hygiene routine, but the fact he kept one thigh between hers for support didn’t escape her notice.

The water switched off.

He squeezed the wetness from her dripping hair before wrapping a towel around her head, then she was bundled into another, the soft cotton engulfing her. When he scooped her up, she allowed herself to relax, going lax in his arms.

“That’s it, good girl,” he purred, his voice resonating with pleasure. “It’s okay if you want to sleep. I’ve got you. Let me take care of you.”

It was easy to fall away, surrounded by him.

Chapter Five

Zeke

Zeke,

I feel terrible, sneaking away like this, but you’re sleeping so peacefully after the most awful day, and I don’t want to wake you. I know your dreams are troubled, and sleep eludes you most nights, so stealing that from you feels wrong, even if it means I don’t get to say goodbye face to face.

It’s not goodbye forever.

My mom called with bad news. She’s been diagnosed with bone cancer, and her prognosis isn’t good. They’re starting treatment immediately, trying to stave off the disease, but I know statistics, and they don’t fall in her favor.

I need to go and do what I can for her. Her husband isn’t the caring type, or supportive in any way, and she needs love and care if there’s any hope for her at all.

My heart is torn. I love my mom, I really do, but we lost any closeness we had when she married Jared. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that she is my mother, and I love her. I’ll be there for her as long as she needs me, but while I’m with her, my heart and my thoughts will still be here with you, giving you strength from afar.

I’m not brave enough to say these words to your face, Zeke, but I need to say them one way or another, so I’ll lay them out in black and white where they can’t be lost or forgotten.

I love you.

Every day I’m with you, my love for you grows. It’s not fancy and wistful like it’s described in some of the books I read, but strong and dependable. A bond I didn’t see coming and wouldn’t break for the world. A love I’ve dreamed of but never expected to feel.

I don’t know if you feel the same, if that bond touches you the way it’s claimed me. I can only hope it does, that it tugs at you and gives you the same sense of finally belonging that I cling to every time I hear your voice or look in your eyes.

I want to belong to you, Zeke.

I’ll put my contact details at the bottom of this letter, and if you can forgive me for slipping into the night like this and want to hear my voice the way I crave to hear yours, you can contact me any time day or night.

I’m always here for you, no matter what.

Leaving my heart with you, and thinking about you every day.

Olivia x

He’d read the note so many times, the words written so neatly in Olivia’s graceful handwriting were burned into his memory. The sweet earnestness in each sentence brought images of her sitting beside his bed, glancing at his face while he slept, trying to gather her feelings into something describable, transferable through the pen onto paper.

As Zeke sat on the foot of his bed, note in hand, watching Olivia sleep for going on the seventh hour, he studied himself internally. Taking himself apart piece by piece and examining each bit with genuine curiosity.

What was it about him which inspired such words of love and loyalty from a woman like her?

Physically, yeah, he supposed he wasn’t bad on the eyes. Not everyone’s cup of mocha, but then no one in the world appealed to everyone on the damn planet. Preening in a mirror wasn’t his style; he was comfortable with his reflection for as long as it took to trim his beard in the morning.

He wasn’t ripped like some of the Doms at the club, but he held his own in the gym when he deigned to visit. The scars on his back were a focal point, drawing eyes and judgement. Gym bunnies were either intrigued by them or repulsed, but neither was his problem.

The gift God gave him was likely more of a deterrent than a lure. Both thicker and longer than average by a few inches, he’d been lucky Olivia entertained even the idea of accepting him, let alone doing so fully.

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