by Alexa Riley
But my woman isn’t crying. Instead she’s got a determined look on her face as she stomps over to where I’m standing.
“He put his hands on me,” she says, crossing her arms and staring him down.
“Where?” I ask, looking back to Mark, who has a bloody nose.
“On my arm. Then he cornered me and tried to feel me up, but I hit him before he got the chance.”
“Good girl,” I say, nodding in approval. “Which hand did he touch you with?”
“His right one,” she answers immediately.
I reach down and grab his first two fingers and he starts to beg.
“No, no, she misunderstood—”
The sound of his bones breaking is drowned out by his scream, and his lies are silenced.
“Now you’re a little man, and I’m a big man. I don’t know if you’re good at math or not, but that means I could fuck you up.”
He doesn’t answer, only cries out again when I break his pinky.
“I’m going to leave your wedding finger alone, because I want to give you a reminder of how sacred marriage is. And how truly precious my bride is to me.” I grab him by the throat and lean in. “You’re going to lose your job, and you’re never, ever going to step foot in this town again. I’ve got friends in high and low places and I’ll make sure you don’t so much as put a toe in the same county as the love of my life.”
“Yes,” he croaks out, but I’m not done with him yet.
“I’d like for you to apologize to my wife, but I don’t want you to speak to her ever again. So I’ll take the apology. Go on, and make it a good one.”
I squeeze his neck a little tighter and he wheezes out an apology. It’s not much, but he’s turning blue, so I think it’s all he can really manage.
I drop him to the ground like a used rag and then turn to my wife. She’s in my arms instantly and as I carry her away, I can hear a soft sniffle. I know she was being strong in the moment, but she’s delicate. That’s why I’m her protector.
“Thank you,” I say to Will on the way out.
“I’ll be in touch,” he says, nodding and patting me on the back. He turns to Nancy and smiles. “Now, young lady, you may call the police.”
“Take me home,” Emily says, and I kiss the top of her head.
“Anything, Button.”
Chapter 10
Emily
Dylan doesn't stop until he has me planted in his truck with my seatbelt on. He fires up the truck and pulls out of the parking lot. As he drives, he picks up my hand and kisses my palm.
“Does your hand hurt, Button?” His eyes are filled with concern, but I can still see the anger simmering below.
Most people might not think so, but I know Dylan showed a level of control in there. We’re all lucky he didn’t burn the whole building down.
I shake my head as he runs his thumb across it. There was a small sting I felt when I smacked Mark, but it’s fading fast. I’m still shocked that I did it. When he tried to feel me up at the same time as making another comment about my husband, I lost it. I didn't even know I was capable of smacking a person. An anger rushed forward like I’d never felt before and I was striking him before I was even aware I was doing it.
I feel a lump start to creep up my throat. The anger I felt moments ago is turning into tears. Too many emotions are flooding me and I try to fight back the tears. But before one can even slip free, Dylan is pulling over and unbuckling me from my seat. He brings me over to his side and holds me in his lap.
“Button.” He places kisses all over my face. “Everything is fine. I promise.” I know my tears are killing him. Dylan can't stand when I cry, even when they’re happy tears.
“I hate my job,” I blurt out. I watch as he tries to fight a smile, and I smack his chest. “Don’t laugh.”
“Then quit.” He says it like it’s so easy. Can I just quit? Do I really want to?
“I put up such a fuss about getting it in the first place, then it turned out to be…” I throw my hands up in the air. “It’s a mess is what it is.”
Now I’m scared Dylan might be in trouble, even if Mark did need his ass kicked. I hate to think about what he might have done to other women in the past. A man in power thinking he can take what he wants is disgusting. I drop my head, but Dylan makes me look back up at him.
“Don’t I always give you what you want?” He gives me that side smile that always turns me into a soft marshmallow.
I nod because he does. He leans in, kissing me, and it’s so soft and sweet. It’s safe, and I know my Dylan would never let anything happen to me. He’ll always be my protector, and I shouldn’t worry about what a piece of shit like Mark is going to think about it.
“Now tell me what you wanted from that job.” I smile at the determination in my husband's voice. He’s trying his best to make sure I’ve got all that my heart desires. How’d I get so lucky?
“I guess I thought I would be reading to kids and maybe stacking books for a few hours every day,” I admit. “I hate being away from home so much.”
“That makes two of us. I want the same thing. Not just you home more, but me too.” I snuggle into him as his hands roam my back.
“I miss all of you guys. I know you have to work and the boys have to go to school,” I mumble into his chest, breathing in his scent. The smell of him calms me down even more. Being close to him always feels like home.
“Okay then. I’ll be home more and we’ll fix your job. It’s that easy, Button. You want it, you got it.”
“I’m not sure I have a job anymore.” Maybe that’s a good thing.
“You’ll have whatever you want.” He says it like it’s just been declared a law.
“You’re crazy,” I say through my laughter.
“Why don’t you become a volunteer? You can make your own hours then. You don’t have to dive into this, you can just wade around a bit. Besides, it’s hard to spend full days watching you and doing my normal job.”
I stare at him, then it dawns on me. “You’ve been watching me? Like surveillance and sitting outside the library?” He doesn’t answer me, just gives a small shrug.
“You’re not crazy, you’re insane.” I lean in, brushing my mouth against his.
“From the moment I met you.”
“I love it.”
“I love you.” He slides his hands into my hair, kissing me deeply, and I know everything is going to work out like it should.
I groan when I hear Dylan’s phone ring. He ignores it, but I pull back. “It might be the sitter,” I say, wiggling off his lap. He fishes out his phone and answers it.
“Will,” he says, and my eyes lock with his.
He plays with the top of my dress, pulling it down a little to show more cleavage. He’s acting like he doesn't have a care in the world as he listens to Will tell him about the fallout from what just happened.
“Thanks, man, I owe you,” he says before tossing his phone onto the dashboard.
“How about I take my wife home, we can have dinner with our boys, then I can have you?”
“You already have me,” I remind him.
“How about—”
I cut him off. “How about you tell me what Will said?” I raise an eyebrow and wait.
“Like I said, Button. Everything is fine. I don’t want you to ever think about that fuckhead again.”
“Fine.” I roll my eyes like I’m annoyed. Dylan just smiles as I get in my seat and buckle up.
“You’re really going to cut back at work?” I ask him.
I like the idea of just volunteering at the library. It will give me more freedom and they won’t pile me down with other projects. I can’t have something that’s consuming my life. I miss my family and all the little things I enjoyed doing for them. I can see how lucky I was to have all that free time to begin with.
“Yeah. I’ve let Jonathan know things are about to change. I can’t keep going like I am. I miss you too damn much.”
I rest
my head on his shoulder. Jonathan might annoy me at times, but I know he’s driven. It’s why Dylan hired him. He’s trying to find his place in the mix just as we are. But I know that Dylan and I will make this work. We always land on our feet together.
I can’t wait to get out of Dylan all the crazy stuff he’s been doing over the past few days since I started working at the library. Aside from the creepy boss, this was all kind of fun. It reminded me of when we were younger. The past five years everything has been about us and the boys. It’s different to it only being about the two of us, even for a short time. I like knowing that while we both have changed a little over the years, we’re still the same.
When we pull up to the house he comes around to open my door. “Don’t change out of that dress. I’ll be taking it off you tonight after the boys go to bed.”
I really like this dress and I know from the look in Dylan's eyes it’s probably going to be meeting its end tonight.
Before I can respond the boys come racing out of the house, yelling for us. They rush into me and if it wasn't for my husband I would have landed on my ass. The twins might only be five, but they are well on their way to being their father’s size.
They each grab one of my hands, pulling me into the house. Dylan follows us in. They are talking a mile a minute about their day, as Dylan suddenly picks me up and sits me on the kitchen counter.
“How about we make Mommy dinner while you tell her all about the play you’re going to be in?”
My ears perk up at that. “What kind of play? You’ll need costumes!” I start to slide off the counter and Dylan laughs.
“Sit, Button. We’ll get to that.” He kisses me on the top of the head as the boys start arguing over what they are going to help Dylan cook. I watch them move around the kitchen knowing life can't get better than this.
Chapter 11
Dylan
She’s standing in the kitchen when I come back downstairs from putting the boys to bed. She’s leaned over the sink, washing her hands, and I stand there just a second to watch her. The water runs down her hands as she hums to herself, and the soft light makes her cheeks glow.
I think I recognize the song she’s humming. It’s the one we danced to at our wedding. We went back and forth for over a week on which one to choose, even though I told her from the beginning as long as she was in my arms it didn’t matter. Every time I catch her singing it, I smile.
Her dress is still on like I asked her, but she’s barefoot. Her hair is piled up in a knot and she’s taken off the jacket that covers up the top half of her body. Her neck is exposed, and I want to kiss her there. My eyes linger on her shoulders and then her back, and I ache to bite my way down it.
“What are you staring at?” she says, not looking up from her hands.
We’ve been together so long she knows the second I’m near her. I think I could be across the state and still know exactly where she was at. Something about that makes me feel like we’re connected by so much more than a piece of paper. We’ve built more than just a marriage, we’ve built a world with the two of us in the center of it. Tonight proved that anything coming to threaten it will be taken out, and peace will be restored. My wife is more than just my bride, she’s the reason I breathe.
“The most beautiful woman in the world,” I say, still not moving.
She glances back and she gives me a look like she thinks I’m teasing, but she likes what she hears. “You like what you see?” she asks, giving me a wink.
“You damn well know I do.” I let her know how pretty she is as often as I can, and I know it’s still not enough. She deserves more, and I will always try to give her that.
My eyes move up and down her body as I think about where I want to start. It’s then I notice on the counter beside her is a balled-up little pile of cotton. I recall that same little ball from earlier in the day being left on my desk at work.
“Emily,” I say, my voice deep and full of warning.
“Oops,” she says, sass clear in her voice. “Must have left those there by mistake.” She glances over at them and then back to me. She turns off the water at the sink and grabs a towel to dry her hands, but she doesn’t make a move to turn around.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” I say as I push away from the wall and walk slowly towards her.
“Playing a game? Funny. I thought I was poking a bear.” Again, she looks back at me over her shoulder and smiles at me like a siren.
The buckle on my belt makes a loud clank as I undo it and toss it on the ground. My boots are heavy on the hardwood floors as I come up behind her and unzip my jeans.
“I’ve still got your pussy on my dick from earlier today,” I say as I pull my cock out and grab her hip. “But I need to get it wet again. Don’t I?”
“Yes,” she breathes when I pull her ass back so she’s gripping the edge of the counter and bending over.
“All this running around today and me coming to the rescue has got your pussy soaked. Hasn’t it?”
I push her dress up, exposing her bare ass, and slide my hard dick between her lips. Her pussy creams the head of my dick and I grunt as a little cum leaks out.
“Fuck, you don’t even have to answer me. Your pussy is doing all the talking for you, Button.”
I slide it in a few inches as I grip her hips. Then I sink farther in as she lubes up my cock.
“Dylan,” she grits out as she goes up on her tiptoes.
“It’s always deep when I take you from behind. Just relax and let me at it.” I thrust in all the way and feel her tight pussy clenching me to my balls. “Goddamn, that’s it.”
I throw my head back and thrust in and out a few times, letting her pussy milk me. I’ve got her hips so tight her feet aren’t on the floor anymore and my arms are holding her up. Looking down, I watch as my dick disappears inside her, and I use her pussy to jack me off. Her legs are closed tight and I have to fight my way in, but it’s heaven when she lets me.
“Dylan,” she pants, and I can hear she’s close by the sound of her plea. “I can’t—”
“Shhh,” I say, still fucking her. She’s wound up so tight she’s scared to cum. But when she does it’s going to feel so good.
I pull out and set her on her feet as I kneel down behind her. “Let’s slow you down,” I say, and she whines right before my mouth lands on her pussy.
She’s all warmed up and tastes a little like my cum as I eat her cunt from behind. She’s sweet and sticky as I suck on her clit and she spreads her legs wider. I grab one of her thighs and spread her more by making her put a knee up on the counter.
This way, I can lick every inch of her, and she can move her hips over my face. She was too sensitive before, and now as she rolls her hips, she’s begging for me to get her off.
I slide two thick fingers inside her and she moans as I suck one pussy lip, then the other. I nuzzle her clit with my nose then suck on it until I feel her pussy start to cream.
She shouts my name as her honey drips down and I’m right there to lick it up. When she starts to put her leg back down, I put my hand on it to keep her in place.
“No, stay just like that.”
I stand up behind her and slide into her still-pulsing pussy. My cock wants to cum on the second pump, so I don’t even try to stop it. I groan as I spill into her and reach around to pet her pussy from the front.
I play with her clit as my cock pulses, and I send her into another orgasm.
“That’s it, Button. Cream it up. I want to pull out and look at how much you love me.”
I can hear the sounds of how wet she is as I thrust into her. My orgasm is over, but my cock is ready for round two.
When the last of her pulses have stopped, she starts to fall. I pull out and help her take her knee off the counter. Her legs are wobbly, so I pull her into my arms and lift her off the ground.
“I think it’s time I got you to bed,” I say, and she wiggles her ass against my dick.
“What about
that?” she says, her eyes heavy with sleep.
“Oh, I’m going to take care of that as soon as I put you to bed.”
“Without me?” She pouts.
“Oh no, I’m going to fuck you with it. But you’ll probably sleep through it.”
She giggles because she knows I’m right.
“It’s okay, Button. You sleep. I’ll be quick.”
When I carry her to bed, I strip the dress off her and toss it on the floor. I kiss her naked body before I get on top and slide into her. I do as I promise and cum quick before I roll us over. I’m completely wrapped in my wife as my eyes close and I fall asleep.
Being married really is the fucking best.
Epilogue
Emily
One year later…
“Mrs. Wallace, are Daniel and David going to be at the fair this weekend?”
I look down at little Emma, her bright blue eyes staring up at me. Her cheeks are a rosy pink and her blonde curls are going in every direction. She looks like a doll. She’s the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met before, and a feeling of longing hits me.
“I’ll have the boys with me,” I tell her.
She claps excitedly, jumping up and down before turning to run over to her mom. I give her a small wave and she does the same back. I try not to have favorites with the kids at the library, but Emma pulls at my heartstrings. Not just mine either. She has captivated my boys, too. When they come to the library with me for circle time, they’re always sitting right next to her. It’s kind of adorable. I know when they get home from school today the first thing they’ll ask me is if I saw Emma. Maybe I should reach out to her mom to have a standing play date.
She makes me long for a daughter, something I didn't think was going to be in the cards for me. Dylan and I didn’t protect ourselves against having kids after the boys, but we were never trying either. We said if it happened it happened, but it never did. I knew when I had the twins I tore one of my ovaries and it had to be stitched up. I thought maybe that might be the reason.