Page 19 of Strike a Chord
She did taste bad.He went to brush his teeth or find a Tic Tac.She knew it.
“Here,” he said, coming from where he said his recording studio was.He handed her a glass of water and draped a blanket over her.“There’s a sink and toilet just in there so I don’t have to run all the way into the house to pee or make tea.”He sat down on the couch beside her, reached over and tucked a loose strand of her dark blonde hair behind her ear.“Want to talk about what just happened?”
“I um …” She sipped her water.“I come with some baggage.”
“I’m fifty years old.I haven’t met a soul over twenty-five who doesn’t come with some kind of a suitcase.It’s what makes us who we are.It’s part of our story.”He shrugged.“I used to be hardcore into drugs and in a metal band called Chiseled Gizzard.I don’t remember a good three years of my life after Amy left.I also had a deadbeat dad who used to use my mom as a punching bag.My mom died a few years ago after a terrible battle with ALS, and it damn near killed me, too.Watching a loved one, particularly someone who for my entire life had been nothing but a pillar of unwavering strength, go through what she did, was traumatizing.I would have done anything to take away her pain.”
She reached up and cupped his jaw.He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist.
“I still have the odd beer or glass of wine, but I haven’t touched drugs in almost eight years.I’ve never been so close to using as I was that first month after my mom died.Just to numb the pain, even temporarily.”
“I’m really sorry, Dax.”
He cleared his throat.“All I’m saying is that we all come with baggage and trauma and hangups.So if you think telling me you have baggage is supposed to scare me away or something, then you need to try harder.”
“I’ve never met anybody like you.You’re so … open and honest.You own your past, your mistakes, your pain.And yet, you’re also one of the most altruistic, kind people I’ve ever met.All your baggage hasn’t done anything to harden your tender heart.”She laced their fingers together and brought the back of his hand to her mouth.“I really like you, Dax.”
“Well, I really like you, too, Jennifer.And my life has done a number on me.I wasn’t always like this.I’ve had to do the work to find the peace I have now.I just know that this life, and living to be fifty is a gift I’m not necessarily sure I deserve.I made some stupid choices in my younger years.Made some mistakes that should have gotten me killed.But I’m still here and I don’t take a day for granted anymore.”
“That’s a very peaceful way to live.”
“I try to live peacefully.Just me, the goats and the chickens.”He did the cute nose wrinkle again.“I want a dog.But any rescue I’ve brought for a visit has tried to kill my chickens.So they haven’t stayed.We need to all coexist in peace here.And if you’re trying to kill a family member, then you get voted off the island.”
“The tribe has spoken.”
They both laughed and she leaned her head on his shoulder.“Do you um …”
“Hmm?”He kissed the top of her head.
“Do you have condoms in the house?”
His chuckles made her pussy throb.“I have a whole box.”
Theywerestillwithoutpower by the time everyone retired to bed.
Gloria and Levi made delicious ginger crinkle cookies and an even more delicious apple pie, which they all decided was a perfectly acceptable dinner.Jennifer, of course, made them all eat some chopped up raw veggies, too, as they all sat in the living room and watched a movie.
After a bath, Levi retired to bed by nine, a severe case of the yawns interfering with his speech.Then Phil and Gloria followed by nine-thirty.
Luckily, Dax had two spare rooms in addition to his own bedroom.
He had a double bed in one room, which he gave to Phil and Gloria, and a day bed with a trundle in the other, which he gave to Levi and Jennifer.
Though, he and Jennifer had other plans, because in his opinion, the trundle was just a step up from a bed of nails.
He wasn’t expecting what happened in the loft that afternoon.
Sure, he was attracted to Jennifer, but he never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable, or like she owed him something.
His heart broke for her after she confessed how her past lovers treated her.No woman should ever be made to feel so insecure or undervalued.But he wasn’t lying when he said he was enjoying himself.Because he absolutely fucking was.
He loved eating pussy.
It truly was a hobby.
And Jennifer neither tasted or smelled bad.
In fact, he could have forgone dinner and dessert altogether and just dined on her all night.
