In the last moments before he lost control a second time, he moved from inside her and flipped her over. Angela kneeled on the bed waiting for him to enter her, pushing back to take him deeper in her pussy when he did. He didn’t stop his hands from running along the red prints on her cheeks, impacting the marks again to darken them.
“Royce, make me come, one last time,” she told him, as she moved her hips against him.
He’d grabbed her sable curls and wrapped them around his hand, her head, and upper body pulled back by his motion. “Are you sure, Angela?”
“Yes…Major.” Her groan of disapproval was short lived when he pulled away, replaced with a sigh when his tongue replaced his cock, licking her pussy and anus. Royce felt the throb of orgasm starting to overtake him. He moved away and grabbed her hair a second time.
He groaned aloud and tightened his grip on her hair. His cock fucked her pussy several strokes more before he pulled his glistening slick erection from inside her and, without warning, plunged back just an inch higher, filling her like never before. No toy or even his large finger could have prepared her for the invasion his cock made in her body. She let out several ragged breaths before catching his rhythm and, slowly moved against him, allowed him to invade her body and mind one last time.
When he came, he did so with a cry of his own, her name dying on his lips. He’d slipped his thumb in her vagina after she’d adjusted to his invasion and that was what pushed them both over the edge into the abyss of pinpoint lights and patterns on closed eye lids. She crumpled under him, and Royce dropped with her. He dislodged himself from her with minimal movement and stayed on top of her.
Neither said a word nor dared break the intensity of their act of total abandon. Royce shifted slightly beside her and pulled her, his arms banded around her holding her to his chest. Her hands slipped up to hold his hands in place. They lay quietly with their own thoughts until each of them drifted off to sleep.
She let out a small giggle and he smoothed his hand along her arm.
“Sleep, Angela.”
Closing her eyes, she snuggled closer to his body, the imprint of her locked in his memory.
Royce was exhausted in too many ways to count. He was physically weak and his mind was exhausted. His leg muscles were aching and his arms felt like dead weight. Yet his cock was stirring again, lying with her reddened buttocks against him. He willed it to stop, yet it stayed semierect, as if to remind him that his cock really was in charge.
Chapter Eleven
Royce woke alone in Angela’s bed and didn’t like it. He could smell the coffee brewing and gave himself a minute to regroup before leaving her bed. She’d come up the stairs quietly and placed the mugs on the side table before slipping back under the comforter while he’d been in her bathroom, almost hesitant to wash away her scent from his skin..
“I come bearing gifts, coffee.”
“You are my queen,” he teased and pulled her close. Angela automatically wrapped her arms and legs around him. He dropped a quick kiss on her nose, rolled her onto her back, reached for a mug, and drained it in two gulps. He rolled back and took her with him.
She simply shifted to capture him and slid over his length. She hadn’t sheathed him with a condom, and the difference was intense.
“Angel?”
“Quiet, Royce. It’s all right, I promise. I’m on the pill.”
He pulled back, studied her face, and spoke before thinking. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to be protected. I like the idea of being able to choose when I start a family instead of leaving it to chance.”
“But if there’s nobody else?”
“Besides just birth control, it makes my cycle much more predictable.” Watching him closely, she added, “Just once I wanted to feel you inside me, just you against me. I’m due soon, that’s probably why I’m so horny.”
“That’s why?” he teased as his lips ran along her forehead.
“Of course, it has nothing to do with you or your equipment.”
“I see, it wouldn’t matter if I pulled out and used your dildo?”
“Why use rubber when I have the real thing?” Her words were punctuated with her inner muscles tightening around him, pulsing while she made no external movement.
“Why did we use condoms all weekend?”
“I wanted to be sure there were no accidents.” Angela reached up and pulled his mouth to hers ending their discussion.
They moved slowly with each other, both knowing this was one last time. He let her ride him, watched as she threw her head back, felt her hair tickle the tops of his thighs. She moved with grace and her movements intensified. Royce rolled her under him and took what she offered. He grazed their joining with a finger, which pushed them both into one last mindless moment of lust and abandon. His body was in a complete sweat by the time his breathing returned to anything resuming a pattern.
“Thank you, Royce,” she whispered, holding him tight when he went to pull away. She reluctantly loosened her arms from around him and let her legs slip open. Royce stayed locked with her only a moment before dropping beside her. He knew in that instant if he didn’t leave now, he never would.
———
Their shower wasn’t sexual. It was sensual, last touches and strokes to memorize. They moved together in a sort of automatic wave of dressing and long, soul-wrenching kisses that left Angela drained and Royce mind-boggled. Angela braided her hair and applied minimal makeup while Royce shaved. She went to start breakfast but didn’t fuss when he turned her down flat. Something in his tone made her relent. Standing beside his rented car in the early morning while Prima chased leaves and retrieved sticks, Angela let out an anguished groan and hugged him tight.
“Angela,” he started only to have her look up, her eyes glassy.
She raised her fingers to his lips to stop his words. She cupped his face and directed it toward her. Standing on her toes to reach him, Angela kissed Royce good-bye. When she finally pulled away, she didn’t care that he saw a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek. Turning, she headed toward the garage and did not look back, only whistled for the dog to join her.
———
Royce watched her wait by the door for the dog and slowly go through it, all without looking back. He slipped behind the wheel of the rental and left her. Only he couldn’t help himself from slowing just as her house went
from sight. His head pounded with an ache that matched the one in his heart. Royce never loved before, and he never lost before. In a few days, he’d experienced both. He wanted to hate Angela for both experiences but had to shoulder half the responsibility.
———
Four days later, Angela automatically shut off the electric typewriter before answering the phone. She took a deep breath and pressed the receiver to her ear.
“Hi Angie,” the deep voice said.
“Hi, Tony, how are you? Where are you?” She hoped her voice sounded light and breezy. Anything else would be a disaster.
“Hi, baby girl.”
She smiled at the affectionate term even though at times it annoyed her.
“How goes life in the academic world? Any new funds dispersed because of your research and carefully worded applications?”
She laughed and told him she was on track while not giving him any real information. There was an obvious pause and she decided to cut through the chitchat and get to the point. “So, I assume you heard from Royce. Did I pass his inspection?” She heard Tony draw a breath and knew she’d put him on the defensive.
“Hey, kid, come on. It wasn’t like that,” he said quietly.
“Yes, it was. So, did I pass?” She pictured her older brother and the grimacing face he’d be making attitude.
“Yeah, of course, it’s not like I sent him to check on you. He was going to be in the area and…”
“And you sent him to check on me. So?”
Finally, he laughed, knowing he’d been caught and owned up to it. “A
ll right, so I worry about you out there in the woods all alone.”
“As my older brother, I can’t stop you from worrying, but I think it’s about time you gave me credit for being able to take care of myself.”
“Chill, Angie. It wasn’t like that. If I could have gotten away, I would have come myself.”
“To inspect my home and my lifestyle. Damn it Tony, sometimes you’re worse than Papa!”
“Hey, settled down, kid. There’s no need to start calling me names.”
“Back off, Tony, and tell the rest of the family the same thing. I’m sick of getting summoned back to Brooklyn and being told my life choices don’t count because they’re not yours or Ray’s or Charlie’s or even Vito’s.” Angela took two cleansing breaths and tried to adjust her tone and her attitude.
She’d been on a hormonal rush the last two days, her period starting on schedule leaving her no doubt as to her status. And while she wouldn’t have wanted to trap Royce into a relationship because of a baby, the idea of having his child was always appealing. Her flow was a reminder that it would never be.
“Pop call again?” he asked, not letting her bait him.
“Yeah, at seven this morning.”
He laughed knowing never to approach her until she’d had coffee.
“Angela, you need to come home, now. This silliness is over,” she said mimicking Vito’s tone.
“And you told him?”
“The same thing I’m telling you, to back off or you’ll lose contact with me completely.” She allowed herself to laugh remembering her father’s stunned reaction. “I told him if he bothered me anymore, I’d turn my house into a commune and let all the hippie friends he thinks I have live here too!”
“That must have made his day.”
“He made mine. I figured it only fair to reciprocate. And since you’re on the phone now, I’ll warn you, you’re probably one of his calls for tonight.”
“Living in the woods has toughened you up, kid.”
“No, living in the real world has made me responsible for myself.”
“Yeah, why are you raising horses?”
She laughed and realized Royce had used the dog to escape Tony’s questions and concerns. “Yeah well, she eats like a horse, but as Royce probably told you she’s still afraid of her own shadow. But she’ll come into her own, just like I did.”
“Royce said you cut your hair.”
“And? What’s the matter with that? Every woman changes her hairstyle occasionally.”
“Yeah, I just can’t picture you with short hair.”
“It’s shoulder length, Tony, not chopped to shreds! And if you’d get your ass back here for a few days, you’d see for yourself.”
“It’s not that easy to manage right now, kid.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s always complicated with you. You want to know every detail of what’s going on, but you don’t want the responsibility of the day-to-day annoyances that goes along with the family.”
“Yes.” He answered. “Angie, I didn’t call to annoy you, just to say hi.”
“And that means you won’t accept any lectures on family responsibility. So, I’ll make you a deal. Come to visit me and I won’t tell anyone in Brooklyn that you’re in the state…unless you piss me off!”
The rest of their conversation went smoothly and ended quickly. Angela knew that if he agreed to visit her, he’d have to accept she was capable. And while she was thankful Royce had kept her secrets, she’d been slightly depressed that he’d gone and hadn’t contacted her since. She’d known from the start that this was how it would be and went into the situation with her eyes open. Knowing only time would ease the feeling of loss, she’d buckle down and get back to work. At least in her novels she could control Heath and his actions.
———
Volume three had been finished before his visit, and now, she wished she could add to it. Instead, she decided it might be better to start fresh with a new and completely educated perspective. For the past few days, she’d been jotting notes and reminders for a new story.
Angela didn’t recognize the return address on the manila envelope that had been stuffed into her mailbox. She’d taken the whole stack of mail upstairs and tossed in on the dining table while she heated tea water. Absentmindedly, she warmed her hands on the mug.
Ridiculous as it was, her hands were cold, and she shook by the time she lifted the envelope. Her stomach somersaulted as she sensed trouble inside it. Sliding her finger under the flap, she turned it upside down, shook out the contents and was immediately puzzled when she saw the comic book, Ram McCloud. She’d never been into comics and had no idea what this one was about. Peeking out from the front cover was a sheet of white paper.
Angela, it’s taken me a long time to come to terms with sharing this with you. I knew the moment you saw this you’d realize you were the inspiration for Agnes. I trust you to keep my secret, Angel. Like you, nobody knows who writes Ram McCloud, and I’d like to keep it that way, (even from Tony). I think of you often, Royce
The tea was long forgotten as she sat snuggled up in her reading chair, the comic book now closed on her lap. She was stunned to say the least. Royce Merrill had developed a new comic strip super hero. Ram McCloud worked for the White Agency, the last of the defenders of peace and freedom in a world where many would rather chaos reigned. His navy training and years of ultra secret work have left him the one man whom the Agency could count on in dire times. His nontraditional ways and gruff exterior clashed with his Agency contact, Agnes.
When he was approached, he was never specifically informed who his ultimate boss was. He’d been in too deep when he found out the plain, nondescript Agnes turned out to be the brains behind the whole operation. Their clashes were both verbal and bordering on physical, and Angela realized the sexual tension he was creating between them. Agnes was tall and well endowed, with dark hair and dark brown eyes that drilled through Ram’s defenses.
Her hard edge annoyed him, and he vowed to never take another assignment, yet with each crisis, he found himself across the desk from Agnes, each jockeying for position, both professionally and sexually. The story ended with Ram saving the world from evil, but only with Agnes’s help, a fact that annoyed him to no end and pleased her.
Angela stared at the cover and laughed as she glimpsed the dark-haired, pointy-breasted Agnes in the background, with dark glasses shielding her expression.
In the foreground was an over-muscled version of a brown-haired, black-eyed Ram McCloud, his expression a grimace while he glances over his shoulder at the folder Agnes is holding. Not a single word in all this time, and now she knew why. Knew why he was so dead set against telling her where his future lay. Angela was both proud of and angry with Royce.
She’d trusted him with her creation of Evangeline and Heath. Why couldn’t he trust her with his? Yet, he had, but only in his own time frame. She thought to write back, but she realized the address was a business and didn’t want any personal correspondence to cross that line. Instead, she’d jotted down a simple note and mailed it to the last address she had. Whether he still got mail there remained to be seen. Remembering her promise to let him go, she knew that if there was ever to be contact between them, Royce had to initiate it. She had to assume now was the time.
In her sprawling handwriting she wrote,
I’m impressed! Thank you for trusting me.
Under it, she only added her initials.
The following day she was at the newsstand finding out where she could buy the comic book. After being sent to another store, she managed to get a copy of the three following chapters. She hurried home and read each with delight and awe. Royce’s imagination was much more vivid than she’d imagined. While his plots were superhuman, she saw the relationship between Ram and Agnes deepening and let out an automatic sigh when she read the last one.
Carefully, she went to the office and put the rest of them in the clear plastic holder she’d stored the first vol
ume in. It sat on the credenza behind her desk, always within sight.
Chapter Twelve
The call annoyed her, so Angela didn’t answer. She looked away from her typewriter and waited for the answering machine to pick up, thankful she had indulged in the expensive machine. It was her house line, but an extension ran to the office. It would probably turn out to be a sales pitch about dirt! At least that was the way her day had been going, and her week, and summer, and the past months.
Since spring, she hadn’t been able to get back into her normal routine. Her work was suffering. She had no imagination left. Thank God, she was still getting grant work to keep her busy. Prima had grown another six inches in height and about thirty pounds in weight. She was still afraid of her own shadow. Sleeping in the center of the office, her breathing was heavy in the humid room around them. The earlier breeze had died down and the air was now hot and sticky. After the fifth ring, the machine turned on, Angela listening with half an ear.
“Angela?”
She dropped her feet from the desk beside her and leaned forward, not sure who she heard.
“Angela, if you’re there angel, pick up. It’s Royce.”
Her heart lodged in her throat, and her hands started to shake as she reached for the receiver. Again, she heard him say, “Angel, pick up. I need to talk to you.”
She grabbed at the receiver and knocked over her half-empty coffee cup in the process. “Royce, I’m here, hang on.” Angela grabbed at tissues to mop up the coffee and forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath before trying to talk. “Royce, I’m here. How are you, where are you? Is something wrong?”
“Calm down, Angel, something’s up, but nothing’s wrong. How are you, Angela?”
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