by Brynne Asher
“Gem,” he starts, his voice rough with emotion, but I wouldn’t let him finish.
“No, I don’t know what state I’d be in right now without you. And when I look back, you did it perfectly. Every step you took with me was what I needed. You gave to me in every way when I had nothing to give back and I took everything you gave. I need you to know you already make me happy. I feel a peace I shouldn’t feel but I do and it’s all because of you.”
Tony is looking into my face with a mixture of relief, surprise and pure possession. The look on his face touches me deeply because I needed to say what I said to give him that relief but I hate the surprise in his features because that means I haven’t given him anything in return. But my favorite part of his look is the pure possession.
I’ve been possessed in many ways by many people. Preston possessed me with fear and control. My mom and sister possessed me with guilt and obligation. My dad, even though I hardly remember him, possessed me in his own way with abandonment. It’s never felt good to be possessed but the way Tony does it feels amazing. He has made me his by caring for me, being protective of me and loving me. And after tonight, he’s possessed me in every way possible and nothing has ever felt better. Ever.
“I’ve never been happier, Tony. I don’t think I’ve ever been happy now that I know what this feels like. Really honey, you’ve got to quit knocking yourself out. You being you makes me happy, so you just need to be,” I say.
“You’re happy,” he states, in a rough voice.
“Honey, yes,” I repeat.
He looks down at me and lowers his mouth on mine again. Rolling me to my back his tongue pushes mine back into my mouth as he kisses me. His hips fall between mine again and I feel him hard again against my thigh.
“Fuck, I’m gonna need another condom,” he says into my mouth.
I smile against his lips as I feel his one hand move down by body as he supports most of his weight on his forearm beside my head. I lose his mouth as he tips his head down to watch his hand move down my body.
Not taking his eyes off the trail of his hand, he murmurs, “You know what makes me happy, sweetheart?”
“What makes you happy, Tone?” I ask softly. With everything he’s given me, I’d do backflips to make him happy.
With his head still tipped watching his fingers trace my pubic bone to between my legs where he’s making me moist and fidget again, he answers with one word, “This.” He looks up at me with warm dancing eyes as he keeps at me with his fingers and grins but goes on with, “This is a surprise. And Gem, I haven’t had you but I have had my hands down your pants, so I know this is new.”
I feel my face flush because, yes, he has had his hands down my pants many times over the past few weeks but I’m also really happy it makes him happy. But it’s still a little embarrassing, so for some reason I blurt out, “Well…Gabby went to get a wax for the honeymoon and talked me into going with her.”
His demeanor changes immediately and I feel his hand cup me firmly between the legs making me gasp. His mouth gets tight as he bites out, “That is shit I do not need to know about my cousin who I just walked down the aisle tonight.”
Because I can’t help it, I smile biting my lip trying to control my giggles. When a giggle escapes he says with dancing eyes again, “You think that’s funny?”
I nod my head through my laughter and my body keeps shaking. He looks down at me with a grin on his face now while slowly shaking his head. But I feel his firm hand that’s cupping me between my legs move and he fills me with two firm fingers with a firm thumb running over my clit. I have to suck in a breath of surprised air and my eyes go big.
“I know you’re thick as thieves with my cousin, but that shit is off limits, Leigh,” he warns through his grin. “But, this still makes me happy,” he says on a delightful inward thrust of his firm fingers.
“I’m glad you’re happy, honey,” I say as my hips start to move with his hand, hilarity all gone because he’s making me wet again. “I want to make you happy, too.”
“I’ll be happy as long as I’ve got you, gem,” he whispers.
He leans in to kiss me as he creates more heat that eventually travelled and shook my body. Tony ended up needing another condom. Later, after being possessed by Tony in his perfect way, he wrapped me up wedging a thigh between my legs just like always when tucking us in for bed. But this time we did it sleeping naked. And just like all things with Tony, it was amazing and I fell into a deep sleep thinking in some remote part of my brain that this is so good, there has to be a way to sleep naked after having kids. I just hope Tony can figure out a way to make that happen.
*****
“Did I do something to you, man? Do you hate me for some reason?”
My brother-in-law shakes his head no as he looks at me smiling, his body shaking with silent laughter.
“I told you what I wanted,” I say, not finding one fucking thing funny right now.
“Tone, this is a good dog. He’s house trained, but still a puppy at just eight months old. Since he’s my patient, I can vouch for his health. He’s from a good home with little kids so he’s a family dog. Lord knows we have enough kids for him to be around to keep him kid friendly until you have your own,” Lanny says.
“I cannot fucking believe you,” I mutter under my breath as I look out to the yard where Leigh is sitting, ass to the cold ground with a half grown puppy jumping all over her licking her face.
Leigh.
Making her mine last night for the first time was better than I ever imagined. Better than it’s ever been for me without question. Finally having her, tasting her, making her come while I’m moving inside her, I thought I knew before but I know now more than ever, I want her in my life. Forever. Now I just need to get her to take the next step.
After I made love to her first thing this morning, we showered together and had breakfast delivered to the cottage. Lanny called me yesterday before the wedding saying he had a good dog that needed a home he thought I should look at, so we came straight to his house after checking out of the cottage.
Lanny is married to my oldest sister, Sophia. They live on a ranchette outside of town. It’s not big enough to be considered a ranch but no one in this neighborhood owns less than three acres. Lanny’s a veterinarian, always seems to have extra animals here and loves to train hunting dogs. They have a small barn, not to mention the trees and woods surrounding their home are sweet. Their house, like many in this area, is a sprawling ranch with a basement.
“I really need to know if you want him today,” Lanny continues. “My client has been looking for the perfect home for him. They start packing the week after next and don’t want to put the dog through the stress of being there with the movers in the house. They’re heartbroken they have to give him up, but he’s being transferred overseas. They’re moving to London, livin’ in the city and won’t have a yard. Feel it’s not fair to the dog, especially a puppy to not have that room to move and run. Their kids are heartbroken. I told the mom about you, she’s happy he’ll continue to be my patient with you bein’ my family. They aren’t even asking for a rehoming fee, just the perfect home.”
“I told you I didn’t mind buying a dog,” I reiterate, for the millionth time.
Lanny sighs and turns fully to me and says, “Listen, Tone. You never know what you’ll get with a puppy. I should know, I’m a vet. Plus you work long hours. I know you told me the other day you plan on Leigh moving in with you soon, but I heard her talkin’ about a new apartment at the reception last night, I know that’s not a done deal. If that happens,” I slice a menacing glare his way and he immediately puts up a placating hand and continues quickly, “sorry, man. When that happens, she works long hours, too. You two have no time to housetrain a puppy. This is the perfect scenario.”
I look back out to Lanny and Sophia’s back yard from the patio where we’re watching the show Leigh, my nephews and the puppy are putting on. I sigh and cross my arms. Leigh takes th
e tennis ball, throws it again and the damn puppy runs after it in his puppy gangly klutzy way with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Grabbing the ball, he heads straight back to Leigh, where he slams into her, rocking her back with all his puppy force sending her laughs ringing through the air. My nephews are running circles around them playing tag and screaming.
Leigh catches my eyes, throws me a big smile and yells, “He’s so sweet! Come play with him!”
“Dude, look at her. She loves him,” Lanny says from beside me.
I frown back at my brother-in-law saying, “Don’t call me ‘dude.’”
Lanny laughs at me and slaps me on the back saying, “Whatever. Congratulations, daddy. You got yourself a new puppy!”
I shake my head and look back to Leigh as I mutter, “A Golden-fucking-Doodle. I hate you, Lanny.”
“How can you hate me when your woman looks like that?” he asks back.
He should know. He’s been married to my sister almost ten years. They just had their third kid and he’s as whipped as he was the day Sophia brought him home to meet my parents.
“Can we at least change his name?” I ask with my eyes still on Leigh.
“You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It can take a couple months for dogs to learn a new name. It’s not a nice thing to do to the dog if you don’t have to.”
“But, his name is Finland,” I bite out. Looking back to him, I go on, “You got me a Golden Doodle named Finland. I hate you and I mean it.”
“Good boy Finny! Get the ball!” I hear Leigh yelling from the yard.
“Finny? Fuck me, it gets worse,” I say.
“Man, don’t talk that way around my kids, your sister’ll have your balls,” Lanny says, as he starts walking out into the yard toward my nephews, my woman and my new dog that from the sounds of it, Leigh has nicknamed Finny.
I’m not calling him Finland. And I’m definitely not calling him Finny.
Fin will have to do.
I move my legs to my damn designer dog with his silly ass name. His only saving grace is he’s already big and he’ll get bigger. Shit, Jude is stuck with Gabby’s small silly ass designer dog, it could be worse.
But I look at Leigh again, who looks nothing but happy at the moment and I can’t help but smile. I guess I shouldn’t complain about Fin if he’s gonna move my master plan along faster.
Leigh smiles big at me as soon as she sees me approach and asks, “Are you going to take him?”
Leigh is still sitting on the ground but now the dog is on his back with his head lying across her lap and she’s scratching his belly. He looks like he’s in Golden Doodle Heaven, which I understand since I felt that way last night and this morning when Leigh had her hands on me.
“Do you like him?” I ask, standing over her.
She tips her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at me telling me she’s totally on to my master plan and mutters a knowing, “Tony,” communicating way more than her just calling my name.
I bend to squat down next to them and scratch the dog’s ears but don’t take my eyes off of her when I repeat, “Gem, do you like him?”
She lets out a puff of air as she shakes her head at me saying, “What’s not to like, Tone? He’s perfect.”
“Then, yeah. I’m takin’ him.”
I barely get a chance to see the perfect happy smile creep over her face before I’m tackled from the side by my six and four year old nephews.
“Uncle Tony!” they both scream and before I know it I’m on the ground. I hear the dog bark and jump in to join the fun.
“That’s it,” I yell and roll to my side and before they can escape. I grab my nephews by their waists and stand picking them both up, one under each arm. I ask, “Who wants to go shopping for dog stuff?”
“Me!” Cayden yells.
“I do!” Noah yells louder.
“Go tell your mom. We’ll bring you home after,” I say and set them down to run in the house. I put a hand out for Leigh to pull her up off the ground and into my arms. I kiss her and whisper, “After we go shopping, I’m taking you home with me.”
“But I haven’t slept in my apartment yet.”
I sigh. Here we go again, back to two beds.
“Fine,” I say. “After shopping, we’ll go to your apartment. But tomorrow, I want you in my bed.”
I lean down to kiss her and the dog starts jumping on our legs barking. A smile spreads across my lips and I say against hers, “I told you not to get an apartment. Fin comes home in a week, what are you gonna do then?”
I feel her slump a little in my arms and her head falls, resting her forehead on my shoulder. She shakes her head no while saying, “I don’t know.”
But her ‘I don’t know’ is a resigned ‘I don’t know’ which means she knows exactly what’s going to happen in a week.
I give her a squeeze and chuckle when I say, “Come on. Let’s go shopping. Then we get to christen your apartment, not many more days to do that sweetheart.” She looks up at me in a glare this time, not resigned but definitely vexed.
“Fine,” she huffs and pulls out of my arms and starts to march away. I lean to grab her hand, not liking her marching away from me and pull her to my side as we walk to the house to get the boys with Fin lumbering at our feet.
I keep chuckling at her and say, “I’m glad you like my new dog, gem.”
“Don’t ‘gem’ me, Tony Carpino. I know what you’re doing. I cannot just move in with you.”
“You can,” I respond easily.
“Well, I won’t,” she corrects me. I put my arm around her neck to pull her to me and kiss her temple. I can’t help but smile because she’s cute when she’s pissed.
She walks rigidly in my arm and I move her toward the house, “Whatever you say. But you promised not to take yourself away from me, I’m holding you to that. And now I have Fin. What are we going to do without you?” I hear her sigh her resigned sign again.
We walk in and I yell, “Soph, is it okay if we take the boys shopping with us?”
“Twist my arm!” Sophia yells back from the kitchen.
I grin down at Leigh and say, “Come on, let’s go shopping for my new dog.”
Leigh gives me a half grin while shaking her head.
Yep, totally resigned. She’ll admit it soon enough.
I pull her to the door where my nephews are jumping up and down waiting for us and we all go to the pet store.
Chapter 13 - The Ugly Road
“Hurry up with the key, sweetheart, I’m gonna drop the salsa.”
“I’m coming, sorry,” I call from behind Tony as I climb the stairs to get to the door of my new apartment where he’s waiting while balancing Mexican take-out with four bags of groceries dangling from his arm.
I’ve also got three bags of groceries, along with my dress from the wedding and overnight bag. My overnight bag that’s getting more use than it should lately going between whatever bed Tony and I decide to sleep in. It’s past dinner time and we’ve had a busy day.
After meeting Finny (who honestly, is the sweetest puppy ever and even though I know what Tony is doing by getting a dog, there’s no way I can be mad at him anymore because I’m going to love Finny way, way too much to hold a grudge), we went to the pet super store and spent too much money. Noah and Cayden came with us and Tony let them pick out whatever they thought Finny would like. He’s going to have more toys than any puppy could ever play with. I got into the fun as well and picked out collars, leashes, doggie shampoo and a dog bed. The bed is too big for him now, but he’ll grow into it. It’s chenille in the perfect color of grey with a smoky blue piping around the edges. I’ve decided not to think about why I picked that specific bed and told Tony it was the perfect color for a boy dog. Heck, I won’t even admit to myself why I picked that color (even though it’s because it matches Tony’s house perfectly and I’ve come to love Tony’s house way, way more than I want to think about loving his house). Tony put himself in charge of choosing an e
normous dog kennel, stating resolutely, “He’s gonna be too big. He is not sleeping with us.”
After our Finny Shopping Spree, Noah and Cayden wanted ice cream, so off we went to the ice cream shop. Cayden, being four years old, made a hellacious mess of his waffle cone and was blue from his nose to his waist with Birthday Cake flavored ice cream. I guess kids mature into ice cream eating somewhere between four and six years old because Noah only made a mess from his nose to his chin and was much easier to clean up. They were hilarious, ornery but cute, and talked a mile a minute sitting across from Tony and I in the booth at the ice cream shop.
Once Cayden was mostly mopped up (he still had blue stains all over his shirt) we took the boys home and Sophia didn’t blink an eye when she saw him. She jabbered with me, never breaking eye contact while whipping his shirt off and tossing it toward the laundry room while holding little 5 month old Isabella on her hip who was pulling her hair the whole time. She’s honestly the definition of a multi-tasking mom.
We stayed to gab with Sophia and Lanny for another hour when I looked over at Tony because he had started to play with the ends of my hair where we were sitting on the sofa. His eyes swept my face, but when he finally looked into my eyes, his were heated in a way I knew exactly what he was thinking about. When he announced, “We need to go,” I couldn’t help but smile because by the look on his face, he was remembering last night and this morning. There was no way I could resist the look. Of course I agreed and off we went.
Tony wasn’t happy when I told him I had no food at my new apartment so we had to stop by the grocery store. His face went tight because I can promise you this, he did not look like he was in the mood to go grocery shopping. I honestly have no idea what’s in my seven bags of groceries, because Tony literally drug me through the store at the speed of light.
Once we loaded the groceries up, I mentioned I was getting hungry so Tony asked, “What are you hungry for?”
“What do you want, honey?” I ask.
“Leigh, you’re the one who said you were hungry. What do you want?” he asks again, as he pulls out of the grocery store.