Page 43 of At Last

Who am I to argue? I wouldn’t mind being comfortable before discussing Houdini, but first I walk over to drop down next to my girl and slide her onto my lap to cover her in kisses. “You and Duke have a good time?”

“He made me chicken noodow soup for dinnew. And biscuits. He makes weally good soup.” I don’t remember seeing any cans of soup in the cupboard. I guess its fine, not like she can’t breathe from the preservatives. Some light sniffles and watery eyes won’t kill her. I’m thankful for his help.

“Alright Peaches, let’s get you ready for bed, yeah?”

“Okay,” she sing-songs, bobbing her head as she skips to her room.

Before he leaves to get her sorted, he bends down to kiss me. “Honey, why don’t you get comfortable. Go change into your pajamas or whatever, then I’ll feed you.”

Instead of answering, I hold my hands out to him so he can help me up. I peck a kiss to his cheek, pat his bottom and move down the hallway. Last night, I wore my satin nightie in honor of our first night here because I knew we’d end up doing what we did. Although I had no idea it would be as mind blowing, as life altering as he made it. Tonight I opt for comfort over sexy and pick my pink nightshirt that hangs to just above the knee. It’s T-shirt material, though it’s fitted and has a slightly deep V-neck. So I guess there’s a hint of sexy. After I drop my clothes into the hamper, pull my hair from the bun and wipe the makeup from my face, I head back out to the sofa, stopping first at Jade’s room to kiss her goodnight.

Half her bedroom from our house is in her room. Her toys. Her comforter. Her pink, princess flat screen and DVD player. “Is this what you and Duke did today?” I ask her.

My half-asleep daughter yawns. “Yeah. He said I needed my stuff to make me feew at home.” I bend down, push her hair back then place a kiss to her forehead, each cheek, her nose, and finally, her lips. Our usual bedtime routine.

“Night baby.”

“Night Mama.”

Duke is at the stove ladling out big bowls of soup. From a big pot. There’s a folded fleece throw on the sofa now, too. I walk over, shake it out, then sit down and tuck the throw around me. And my man, bless his beautiful heart, walks over with a tray for me. On it is that big bowl of soup, a hot buttered yeast roll, not a biscuit as Jade had suggested, and a Guinness.

Egg noodles. Rounds of carrot. Dices of celery. Kale. And large chunks of chicken. “She said you made her soup. Youmadeher soup.” I inform him of something he clearly realizes, because hemade soup.

“Eat honey,” he orders. Then he turns to me. “Got some shit to discuss before we settle in. Know Elise called you. Smart not sitting on that, honey. Not sure what was in Elise’s head not calling Blue in right away. Anyway, debriefed him. Says no man went into that toilet. Only a woman. He don’t remember much about her, wasn’t guarding against a woman. So now we know he’s getting others to harass her for us.”

“What does that mean, then?”

“Nothing for you to worry about right now. Stay diligent. Stay with Jesse. And donotever fucking hesitate to call me or tell Jesse about any potential threat, yeah?”

Immediately I answer. “Yes.”

“Good.” He sifts his hands through my hair until it reaches the back of my head. He grips it to pull me forward, and kisses my forehead. A quick kiss. Then he drops his hand. “Eat.” He orders me again, which means the Houdini talk is over.

I take a bite and almost orgasm while he watches.

“Shit, woman. You keep making faces like that, you won’t get the chance to eat because I’m gonna fuck you on the sofa.”

That idea has merit. After the day I’ve had, the day we’ve had, I’d welcome his fucking. But we need sustenance first.

Duke walks back into the kitchen, ladles his soup, grabs his beer and rolls, then walks back in to sit next to me, placing his beer and saucer with two rolls onto my tray. He flips the throw up, settles beside me and flips the throw back over the both of us. Though, he doesn’t eat right away, pressing the remote to find another movie. A thriller new to pay-per-view that I’d been wanting to see, but with no one to watch Jade for me, I never got to see when it was in the theaters.

Only after he hits buy and the opening credits start, does he tuck the remote between us and begin to eat. When we’re both finished—he’d gone back for seconds for the both of us because his soup was that good, and he’d grabbed us a couple fresh cold ones, too—when we’re both finished stuffing our faces, Duke sets the tray on the coffee table and shifts us so we lay on the sofa, my back tucked against his front, under the throw. His arm draped around my waist, our heads share his other arm as our pillow.

The movie is incredibly scary, but I’m ready for him to fuck my day away. So I shift around on the sofa to face him and kiss my man. Slow and long. Slow enough and long enough for me to feel him harden.

“On your back,” I order him, for once.

Then I stand and shimmy out of my panties. My nightshirt, I whip over my head so I stand buck naked in front of him. He rolls on his back. While I unbuckle his belt, unbutton and unzip his jeans, he rips off his Tee, then together, we shrug him out of his jeans so he’s lying on the sofa buck naked in front of me.

Thank goodness he’s hard, and has been pressing himself against me the whole time we’ve been watching the movie. Thank goodness women come with a self-lubricating function, because I don’t have any foreplay in me tonight. So I mount him, holding myself above his straining cock, gently grab hold to position him and glide down, taking him to the root.

We both groan. I have to take a moment before I move because he’s just so big. Only after my moment do I ride him, rocking front to back. Sliding up and down. Not fast tonight. Though, with every downglide, I grind hard.

Oh lord, he feels great. And he makes me feel greater when he digs his fingertips brutishly into my hips, stinging the flesh there from the pressure. Pain and pleasure. The man has mastered the art of pain and pleasure. I bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out too loud, so as not to wake Jade.

My muscles tense. The first orgasm of the night hits on one of my downward glides. He growls, digs his fingernails in harder and thrusts upward to impale me as he throbs inside me. I guess we’re going rough tonight. And I’m plenty okay with that. My head falls back. I close my eyes. My body begins to shiver from his raw power.

Duke inside me is totally consuming, all encompassing. Every sense in my body becomes overwhelmed by all that’s him. He won’t let me come down, drawing out one climax into the next to the point that even that teeters on painful. Right when I feel close again, he flips us so my back is to the sofa. My calves rest against his shoulders, and he goes at me with such ferocity, I swear he moves the sofa with every thrust.

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