Page 54 of First Time

“He punched her again with enough force to snap her neck.”

“Oh, God.”

“He’d gone too far in his anger—and he knew it within seconds. Unfortunately, that time, his pleading for forgiveness, his begging her to stay with him didn’t work. She didn’t respond. Couldn’t.”

The memory, the nightmare that visited me some nights, flashed through my head, and same as always, I couldn’t remember what had prompted my actions. I’d said instinct when interrogated by the police. I’d claimed it had been a need to protect even though she’d already been gone when I’d moved across the kitchen.

“I picked up the cast-iron skillet off the stovetop,” I told Becky what no one else in my adult life knew. “Kneeling in front of my mom’s corpse, screaming, my father didn’t hear me come up behind him. He deserved to suffer tenfold what he’d rained down on my mom, but I just wanted him gone. He took my mom from me—so I exacted vengeance without remorse.”

I opened my eyes, expecting to see judgment. Horror at the very least.

The softness in Becky’s gaze remained. She didn’t suggest I’d done the right thing, didn’t say he deserved what he got.

She fucking knew firsthand.

“What I feel for you,” I stated slowly, studying every line of her face, “is more than an instinct to keep you safe, Becky. I don’t want you to think that I’m drawn to you simply because of my past. Everything about you calls out to me—entices me to snake closer. Touch and taste. Share your breaths and listen to your voice. I long to drown myself in your sweetness and never come up for air. Ever—if you’ll let me.”

More tears slid down her cheeks, and I tucked her in close against my neck, her warm exhales ghosting over my skin.

I’d fallen hard for Becky, and nothing would keep me from providing for her. Loving her.

Protecting her.

Chapter 22

Becky

I drifted off to a dreamless, easy sleep after hours of talking with Daniel, my mind quiet and peaceful for the first time in years. When consciousness returned, I found myself still wrapped in strong arms, cocooned in warmth and safety.

A sigh shuddered through me, and I turned to rub my face against Daniel’s hard chest. Soft skin over steel…like the length of him digging into my thigh.

I pulled my head back a bit.

Sleepy dark eyes, long reddish eyelashes, and a killer smirk greeted my bleary eyes.

“Morning,” his deep voice rumbled, pebbling my skin with goose bumps.

My nipples ached for attention, and heat settled between my thighs. “Morning.” I had never appreciated the thought or feel of a morning erection before, but Daniel’s hardness pressing against me had all sorts of naughtiness flooding my mind.

On a whim, I reached my hand between us and wrapped my hand around him.

He groaned and closed his eyes, shifting his hips back to give me room to play. Pre-cum smeared along my palm as I rubbed over the head of his thick length.

Mouth watering, I slid downward, intent on coating my tongue with his flavor. The thought of his cock filling my mouth sent a rush of wetness to coat my thighs. I couldn’t get down there fast enough.

“You don’t have to do that, Becky,” he said but didn’t try to stop me.

“I’ve never actually desired to do this before, but with you?” I shoved at the sheets to bare him in the morning light. Flushed and veined, his cock beckoned like the sweetest lollipop.

I closed my mouth over him, the slightly bitter tang of his pre-cum hitting my taste buds. “Mmm,” I hummed, taking him as deep as I could go. My gag reflex kicked in, making my eyes water.

“Oh, fuck,” he growled, his hands grasping the sides of my head as I slid down over his length once more. “God, Becky.”

He allowed me control, simply cradling my head in his huge hands as I swirled my tongue around and down, hollowing my cheeks and sucking every drop of pre-cum I could entice from his drawn-up balls.

My vaginal walls clenched and released on their own, and I pressed my thighs together, a maddening need for him spurring me on. The head of his cock rubbed against the back of my throat, but I exhaled through my nose and relaxed so I wouldn’t gag again.

Daniel thrust gently once—twice—before I lifted up and swiped my tongue over the weeping head of him. A soft graze of my teeth, and I sank to swallow around him, tugging on his balls with my hand.

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