by Levine, Nina
I rolled my eyes and shooed him into the hallway. “Maybe she’ll tell me I should look for a man who’s not a fucking pussy.”
He stopped and turned, backing me up against the wall. He placed one hand on the wall above me and the other around my waist. Pressing himself into me, he growled, “You feel that, darlin’? That’s what’s waiting for you when you’re ready to acknowledge how much you fucking want me.” He bent his mouth to my ear and added, “When you’re ready to leave behind a man who doesn’t even have the fucking balls to tell me to back the fuck off when I’m watching you like I wanna run my tongue through your pussy before I fuck you into unconsciousness.”
My legs turned to jelly.
I forgot how to breathe.
No words came.
I was a mess.
An achy, needy mess.
Devil let me go, and I watched as he walked the short distance down the hallway to the front door. He exited the house without a backwards glance at me, which was a good fucking thing. If he had looked back, he would have seen how desperately I wanted to beg him to come back.
“I like that man,” my grandmother said, causing me to jump.
I stood straight and ran my fingers through my hair. My senses were scrambled, and I fought to unscramble them. “Huh?”
“I said, I like that man. He has some fire to him. You should dump Wayne and date him. What’s his name? You never did introduce us.”
“That’s because you two were busy with your conversation,” I muttered.
She stared at me. “Well, his name?”
God how I loved her, even when she was bossy and cantankerous. “Devil.”
Her forehead crinkled in a frown. “Devil? What kind of name is that?”
“It’s his nickname. I don’t know his real name.”
She hobbled back into the kitchen, throwing over her shoulder, “Find out his name. I want to know what it is. And invite him to dinner next week. I’ll cook.”
My eyes widened. She never cooked anymore. Hadn’t in the time we’d lived together. I’d begged her numerous times, because she was the best cook I knew, but she always fobbed me off with an excuse.
“Only if you cook roast pork,” I called out, holding my breath. She didn’t like roast pork, but she used to cook it for our family, and hers was the only one I loved. I could practically taste the pork crackling while I stood waiting for her reply. I’d invite Devil over, encouraging him further, against all my better judgement, just for her crackling.
“You buy it, I’ll cook it.”
Oh. God.
Devil was coming for dinner.
Devil
“You don’t like that King is looking after me, do you?” Jen said early the next morning when I dropped in to check on her.
I rubbed the back of my neck. Not a conversation I wanted to get into. Especially not at eight in the morning, after only a few hours sleep. I’d spent half the night thinking about Hailee, finally jerking off to those thoughts at around three and then falling asleep.
“It’s none of my business what King does,” I said, taking in her exhausted state. She’d looked tired the night before also, and I wondered if she’d had any sleep at all.
She ushered me into the house, and I followed her into the lounge room. Sitting on the couch, she curled her legs under her and rested against the arm of the chair. “It mightn’t be your business what he does, but if you’re gonna come over every day and check on me for him, I’d prefer you to not look at me like you’d rather be anywhere else but here. And I’m guessing you do that because you don’t like me.”
I sat on the edge of the couch opposite her and rested my elbows on my legs. “I don’t know you enough to decide whether I like you or not, Jen. But yeah, I guess I’ve formed an opinion of what you did to King all those years ago. Leaving a man for another man isn’t high on my list of honourable things to do.”
She watched me silently for a beat. “No, I guess it isn’t. But you don’t know the full story, so I really wish you wouldn’t form an opinion.”
Fuck, again, not a conversation I wanted to be having. Ever. What King chose to do in his life had nothing to do with me. He could have allowed his women to fuck around all they wanted on him and I wouldn’t have cared.
I stood. “Do you need anything? I can swing by later and drop it off if you do.”
She joined me. “I loved King, still do. I would never have left him if he hadn’t given me good reason to, Devil.”
“Yeah, King said as much.”
“But you didn’t believe him?”
“Look, Jen, honestly I don’t care what went on between you two. And I don’t care that you’re back together n—”
“We’re not together.”
Her words caught me by surprise. I didn’t know why I thought that because they were having a child together, they’d stay together, but I had. I’d figured that’d be King’s style.
She must have clued on to the thoughts running through my mind. “I’m not pregnant with King’s child.”
I stared at her. There was another guy involved? Fuck, I was way over this conversation. “Okay.”
She grabbed hold of my arm as I turned to leave, stopping me. “The guy that I left King for? The one who was hitting me… he found me again…” She let me go and covered the sob escaping from her mouth. Tears slid down her cheeks as she tried to get herself under control. Her efforts were in vain, though. A moment later, tears gushed down her face and her body crumpled.
I caught her and held her while she sobbed. I didn’t say anything, but rather waited for her to cry it out, at which point I hoped that she’d just want me to leave without ending the conversation we’d been having.
No such luck.
She pulled out of my hold and wiped her face. “This baby is his.” She paused for a moment. “He forced himself on me about a month and a half ago. I didn’t tell King because I didn’t want to drag him into it any more than he already was. I really didn’t want to cause him any more problems. The only reason he found out that Shannon was still threatening me was because my friend rang him about it.”
“He knows it’s not his, right?”
“Yes, absolutely. And I never told Shannon I was pregnant.”
Thank fuck King knew this. I’d hate to see what he’d do if he thought the baby was his, only to discover later it wasn’t.
“King’s a good man,” I murmured, deep in thought. I wasn’t sure too many men I knew would do what he was for Jen.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her body. “He is,” she said softly, her voice cracking a little. “I just wish things could have been different between us.”
“You’re not going to do anything crazy, are you?” I remembered the way King had said he wanted Jen to stay pregnant. Looking at her, all I saw was despair, and I had to wonder how her mental state was.
Sighing deeply, she said, “I’m not going to do anything crazy. I know King thinks I am, but I won’t. This baby may not have been conceived in love, but it doesn’t deserve to die because of that.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Fuck, what a fucked-up situation. No wonder King was on a rampage to find this motherfucker.
“I’m sorry to drag you into all this.”
Something told me that as much as she made that conversation about my opinion of her to begin with, what she really wanted was someone to talk to. I couldn’t blame her.
“King gave you my number, right?” At her nod, I continued, “Call me whenever you need to, okay?”
Her eyes widened a touch—in surprise, by the looks of it. “Thank you,” she whispered, and I noted the tears that leaked from her eyes.
I nodded before turning and leaving. I still didn’t understand the whole King-and-Jen dynamic, but like I’d said to her, I didn’t need to. But fuck, to carry a child who was the product of rape, and to say what she’d said about that child… Jen had my respect for that.
* * *
Saturday passed
way too fucking slowly. I couldn’t get Hailee out of my mind, so to pass time until I saw her, I decided to head over to my sister-in-law’s and hang out there.
“Are you psychic?” Sonya asked when she opened her door to me mid-afternoon. “These kids are driving me crazy, and I think that uncle time is just what they need.”
I grinned, stepping inside her house. “You wanna go out for the afternoon?”
As I made the short trek into her kitchen, I noticed the messy state of the place. Strange, because Sonya was a neat freak. Lego, dolls, and other toys littered the living room, and dirty dishes were stacked in a chaotic fashion in the kitchen.
“No, can you just play with the kids for a bit while I clean up? Adam has been sick the last couple of days, so I haven’t had a chance to do anything.”
“Fuck, Sonya, you should have called me to come over. When does Campbell get back?” Campbell was my brother and worked away from home most of the time with the navy.
“Oh, God, he’s not home for another three weeks.” Exhaustion and stress filled her voice, and I decided it was way past time for me to step in.
“Uncle Dominic!” Kylie squealed when she caught sight of me and threw herself into my arms.
I held her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Hey, princess. What you up to?”
Her tiny mouth spread out into the biggest smile. God, she was precious. The last four years with her in my life had been some of the best years I’d known. When she was a baby, I used to lie next to her for hours while she slept. Just watching her. Making sure no harm came to her in her sleep. While they could be loud and demanding, children were so fucking peaceful. They didn’t yet carry the baggage of hate and fear and hurt and distrust and doubt. And while they often had a temper, they didn’t yet know anger.
Threading her little fingers through my hair, she gripped a few strands and said, “I wanna play on the swing!”
“Okay, we’ll take Adam and go outside to play while Mummy cleans up inside.” Sonya gave me a look of complete relief and thanks.
Kylie began kicking her legs in excitement. “Put me down! Put me down! I’ll get Adam.”
I let her go and watched as she ran out of the room in search of her brother. Glancing at Sonya, I said, “You do what you need to do here, and then I’m taking everyone out for dinner so you don’t have to cook.”
“Thank you, Dom. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you most of the time.”
“You’d get by.” And she would. Sonya was a strong woman. I just liked to be able to help her where I could.
“Yeah, but Campbell wouldn’t recognise me when he came home from sea. I’d be a messy, grumpy wife. Maybe even an alcoholic, too.”
“You wouldn’t be. You don’t have time to drink.”
She laughed. “True!”
Kylie came back into the kitchen, her brother in tow. Two years younger than her, Adam was often dragged around by his sister. He adored her, though, and never complained. She grabbed my hand. “Let’s go!”
I allowed her to pull me with her and a couple of moments later, we were at the swing in the backyard. I’d bought it for the kids a couple of weeks ago, and it had fast become Kylie’s favourite thing to do. Sonya both loved and hated me for that swing.
We spent the next hour playing outside. After they’d had enough of the swing, we kicked a ball around for a while, and then I chased them around the yard in an effort to wear them out for Sonya. When we went back inside, we found their mother asleep on her bed.
“Shh,” I said to them with my finger against my lips. Once I’d herded them out of the bedroom, I quietly closed the door and led the kids to the living room. Change of plans for the night. “Who wants macaroni and cheese for dinner?” I knew it was one of their favourites, and I knew how to cook it. They both squealed their delight, and when I added, “After dinner, we’ll watch a movie, your choice,” they were completely sold on leaving their mother to sleep. And I managed to hold my title of favourite uncle for another day.
Hailee
As I entered the pub on Sunday afternoon, I adjusted the straps on my dress. It was hot as hades, so I’d worn a short flowy black dress to meet Devil for drinks. I’d paired it with flat sandals, which was not my usual style, but in this heat, I just wanted comfort and air on my skin.
I’d spent the weekend going back and forth in my mind between Devil and Wayne. My brain had whiplash over it, and I was thankful to be seeing Devil that afternoon. Perhaps spending time with him would push my mind in the right decision. The thing was, I knew it was my fear holding me back more than anything. And fear needed to be banished from my life. I’d worked hard over the last two years not to let it in, so I’d be damned if I did now.
Scanning the pub, I found Devil kicking back on a lounge, watching me with those eyes that told me how much he wanted to fuck me. He wore jeans with a black fitted T-shirt and a wicked smile. Jesus, the man was sin personified.
He didn’t stand to meet me, just waited where he was, not moving an inch. His eyes moved, though. All over me. So much so that when I finally stood in front of him, my carefully constructed thoughts about how I’d handle him were flailing helplessly. No way would today go the way I planned. Devil had taken charge without even uttering a damn word.
He did stand when I met him at the lounge. His hand slid easily around my waist, and he pulled me close so he could place his mouth near my ear. It seemed to be his favourite thing to do. Possibly because he’d worked out that it put me off my game. “Anyone ever tell you how sexy you look in that dress?”
I pressed a hand to his chest. His rock-hard chest. His chest that I wanted to get a glimpse of. Fuck, I needed to keep my thoughts in check. Pushing him away, I found his gaze again. “I can’t say they have.”
His hand lingered on my waist. “That’s a damn shame. A woman like you should hear that all the time.”
Guilt washed over me as I basked in his compliment. There was no more denying it—I liked Devil. More than I liked Wayne. It was time to end whatever it was I had going with Wayne, because I was definitely not the type of woman to lead a man on. Or the kind of woman to cheat on a man. Regardless of where this ended up with Devil, Wayne was not the man for me.
Devil’s eyes narrowed at me. “What are you thinking, darlin’? Looks serious.”
“I was thinking that you should get me a French Martini. And that I want to know everything there is to know about you.”
His fingers dug into my skin at my waist and he lowered his mouth to my ear again. “You wanna know what my thoughts were?” At my nod, he said, “I was thinking about how much I want to fuck you with my tongue.”
Burning hot need slid through me, straight to my core. I squeezed my legs together at the same time that I ran my hand down his chest and gripped the side of his shirt. When our eyes met again, I said, “I was thinking more along the lines of you fucking me with your cock, but we could begin with your tongue.”
“Fuck,” he hissed.
I let him go. “You should go get the drinks so we can get started.”
He did, and when he returned, I’d kicked off my sandals and settled on the lounge with my legs tucked under me. Sunday afternoons were for comfort as far as I was concerned.
Devil returned, and I watched in fascination as he folded his body onto the lounge next to me. I’d never been with a man who was as built as he was. My eyes were glued to him—his ass, then his legs, his thighs—oh, God how I imagined them in bed—his chest and finally, his arms. It was like muscle heaven.
Lifting a bottle of beer to his mouth, he spread an arm across the back of the lounge behind me and drew my attention back to his face. “Say the word, gorgeous, and we’ll get out of here. I’m all yours.”
In an effort to buy some time and find my words again, I took a sip of the cocktail he’d bought me. The thought of having all of him—every inch of his body—made my pulse speed.
He’d twisted slightly so he faced me. He was so d
amn close I fought the urge to run my fingers over his lips. Instead, I said, “You’re intent on driving me insane with lust, aren’t you?”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Yes, but I’m guessing you already know that.”
He leaned even closer, his eyes fixed firmly on mine. “I don’t know anything for sure with you, Hailee.”
While Devil was fun and flirty, every now and then he gave me a glimpse of the intensity I was beginning to think burned through him. I’d sensed a dangerous undertone to him before, and I wondered how deep it ran.
I decided to let him in on my thoughts. Playing with men wasn’t my style. “I’m not going to see Wayne anymore.”
Approval flared in his eyes. “Good.”
“And my grandmother wants you to come to dinner one night during the week.”
A smile touched his lips. “I’m free any night. You tell me which one and I’ll be there.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it wasn’t the easiness of his reply. I still couldn’t work out if he was a player or not. His smooth manner made me think he was, but everything else about him made me feel like he was chasing me for more than sex.
I decided to be completely upfront with my thoughts. “Are you just after sex here? I mean, if you are, I’m on board with that, but I’d rather know going in what this is rather than thinking it could be more when that’s not what you’re thinking.”
He smiled harder and leant forward so he could kiss me. His lips on mine blazed a line of hunger along my skin. I wanted more. And he didn’t disappoint.
Parting my lips, he deepened the kiss, his tongue searching for mine. He took my face in his hands, and his body slid across the lounge towards mine until we were touching.
I wanted to crawl into his lap and never let him end this kiss.
I wanted to rip his shirt off and put my hands all over his body.
God, I wanted to do so many dirty things to him—things I’d never done to another man, but had dreamt of.