Page 10 of Kaede
She’ll be mine.
My mission is set.
7
WILLOW
I throw my coat over the back of a stool and go to work. I didn’t eat dinner because I was exhausted, but now I have an appetite. Kaede looks at me like he wants to eat me. But I’m thinking it’s in a way I’m not familiar with.
I think he’s a lot older than I originally thought. All that facial hair covers most of his face so that I’m not getting a good read. I’m not opposed to an older man taking me with his sexual expertise, but I don’t know if he knows how young I am and if that matters to him. I’m not young enough to be his daughter.Thank God.But I’m not exactly worldly either. I have experience, but he’s seen the world… and war, the ultimate duty.
I saw the medals. The one that’s purple with a heart doesn’t come without some cost. And my father has the Bronze Star, so I know that one speaks to a hero status. But what they both say is that he’s seen things I can’t imagine, and I wonder if a person can ever find a normalcy after that? I don’t know, but I’m not afraid of him.
I know what spices he has, so I find the ground mustard and cayenne pepper, quickly. “I like mine a little spicy, is that okay?”
“I like it hot, Willow.”
Everything the man says sounds suggestive, and I have to stop every reaction of my body. My pussy is pulsing in these leggings and I can imagine that he can smell how soaked my panties are.
“Good to know,” I choke out the words as my body feels like Jell-O inside.
“You live in Helena?”
“Yeah. I’m a web designer.”
“Cool. I don’t have internet. Don’t really need it.”
I add the cheese to the rue and start stirring. “Yeah, I noticed, but you know that’s okay. I needed to get away from all that this weekend.”
“What about your family? You know it’s Christmas in two days, right? Why are you here versus there?”
“I know. My parents live in California and I didn’t have cash to fly there this year. I’m paying down student loans.”
That’s really the financial side. I don’t want to share the relationship side and how I thought I’d be staying here with Jerkface so I paid extra on my student loans. With those payments, I’ll be done by May and I can’t wait to figure out what to use the money for after.
“How old are you?” he asks.
“Twenty-four, but almost twenty-five next month.”
“I’m thirty-six.”
Age is just a number in my mind, but I wonder if it’s more in his.
“You don’t look a day over twenty-nine, Kaede.”
He harrumphs. I look over my shoulder and notice that he has to bring his gaze up from looking at my ass. Normally, I might be offended, but for some reason when it’s this mountain man, a shiver blasts up my spine in a happy shooting-star effect.
His gaze meets mine, but there’s not one ounce of guilt in it. It’s almost adorable. He owns his actions, no apologies and no remorse. And I like that. It’s definitely a refreshing change.
“Do you know who the Goo Goo Dolls are, Kaede?” I ask, as I pour the drained macaroni into the cheese sauce.
“Nope. Should I?”
“Definitely not. Midnight dinner is served.” I set a bowl filled with the creamy and carb-laden dish in front of him. “It’s really hot.”
I pass him the salt and pepper. He leans over it and inhales. “Smells perfectly seasoned.” He pushes the seasonings away.
I’m not sure if he’s real.
