Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I suck on her clit, and she convulses again. She’s so wet now that I can add a third finger.
My dick is itching to get back inside her, but if I do that, her orgasm will eventually stop.
As her contractions start to wane once more, I flip her over onto her stomach.
But before she can say anything, I slide my tongue through her pussy folds from behind and then jab my fingers back into her while I lick her ass again.
Again, she explodes.
And again…
Again…
“Henry…please…”
“Come again for me.”
“No. No more. Need you. Inside me.”
“Not until you come again, amber eyes. You come for me. I want to suck every bit of cream out of that hot pussy.”
“Oh God…”
“Do it,” I command. “Come for me.”
I suck at her folds, bite them, fuck her with my fingers.
Until—
“Fuck, Henry! Fuck!”
I pull one more orgasm out of her, and this one… This one…
This one makes her body shake with tremors.
She clutches at the bed linens as she quivers, murmurs unintelligible words.
I can’t wait any longer.
In a flash, I’m on top of her with my cock inside her warm and inviting pussy.
Fucking paradise.
I thrust, thrust, thrust…
Until—
“Tabitha!” I cry out as I release.
Every pulse, every contraction of my cock that gives me that euphoric feeling I know is a hundred times better than it ever was before.
I almost feel like I’ve been propelled out of my own body. Circling the stars with Tabitha, our two bodies joined together in one unique entity.
A moment—or an hour; time seems to have lost all meaning—later, I turn Tabitha to face me and kiss her lips for what may be the last time.
She falls asleep in my arms.
But I don’t fall asleep. I just lie there next to her, staring at her beautiful body, savoring every minute with this perfect woman. This woman I don’t deserve.
Hours pass, and finally the first glints of sunrise slink through the window.
Morning.
I rake my gaze over her one more time and then rip myself away. I silently gather my clothes, get dressed, and leave without saying goodbye.
I slump into Aunt Melanie’s kitchen chair wearing a comfortable pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. The coffee mug in my hand is warm, but I feel cold. Aunt Melanie pours herself a cup and slides into the seat across from me.
She eyes me over the rim as she takes a sip. “You look like a man who didn’t sleep.”
“I didn’t,” I admit. “My head’s been on overdrive.”
She nods like she’s been expecting this.
I run a hand through my hair. “I told her to go.”
Aunt Mel raises her eyebrows. “Her?”
“Tabitha.” Her name feels heavy in my mouth. “I… Well, that’s a lie.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I didn’t tell her to go. I just left.”
“Back up,” Aunt Melanie says. “Yesterday you were tied up in knots about your birth mother, and today…”
“I’m tied up in knots about Tabitha Haynes.”
She cocks her head. “Tabitha?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I’m feeling something I’ve never felt before.”
“Yet you’re saying you pushed her away.”
“I had to.” I set the mug down too hard, and coffee sloshes over the side. “I haven’t dealt with everything. With what happened that night. What I did.”
She doesn’t flinch. “You protected your sister.”
“I killed a man, Aunt Mel.” I meet her gaze. “No matter how justified it was, it doesn’t just wash off. It’s still on me. Every damned day.”
She takes a breath and sets her mug down. “Trauma doesn’t make you unlovable, Henry. Nor does it make you unable to love. It makes you human.”
I shake my head. “She deserves someone better. Someone whole.”
Aunt Melanie leans forward, eyes sharp but kind. “No one is whole. Not really. And no one who’s worth loving expects you to be.”
I look away, jaw tight. “I didn’t treat her the way she deserved to be treated. She was starting to see the cracks.”
“Good.” Her voice is gentle but firm. “Love isn’t about showing someone your mask. It’s about letting them see behind it.”
I’m quiet for a moment, staring at the table.
“I really think I may love her,” I whisper.
Aunt Melanie touches my hand. “Then go after her.”
I blink.
“You’ve been through hell,” she says. “But don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to come out the other side alone. Love doesn’t wait around forever. And it damned sure doesn’t knock twice.”
I swallow hard.
She squeezes my hand. “Whatever else you’re going through, don’t turn your back on love.”
And just like that, I know what I have to do.
I stop back at my parents’ house to pick up Zach, and then I take the long way to my house on the ranch, winding past the old cottonwoods and over the cattle guard that still rattles like it did when I was a kid. Dust kicks up behind my truck as I pull into the driveway, the tires crunching over gravel. The house looms ahead—half covered in Tyvek wrap, half framed with fresh cedar planks that haven’t weathered yet. It smells like sawdust and sunbaked wood. The front porch is littered with ladders, stacked two-by-fours, and a forgotten Red Bull can. No one’s here. It’s Sunday.