Chapter 13
Owen
No one is home when we get back to the house later.
I’m grateful. Not because I want to spend all the time I can alone with Mei, but because we need a breather.
Shit has been stressful. There’s no resolution, Jin’s not returning my calls, and the cop who came to file the report earlier said there wasn’t much we could do since the guy didn’t physically harm us.
I’m tired.
“Come on,” I say to Mei, taking her hand once we’re inside the house. “I want to hold you.”
The air is charged with electric desire. Marrying Jin was supposed to be cut and dry. I didn’t mean to lose my mind over her daughter. It’s fucked up, I know, but I can’t stop the momentum of it.
We’re falling hard and fast.
Once in my room with the door locked, I seize Mei’s mouth with mine. She tastes like caramel and coffee and her. I love it. I devour her lovely mouth until she’s whimpering with need.
“Get in my bed where you belong, angel.”
She grins and pulls away. With hooded eyes and blushing cheeks, she slowly starts shedding her clothes. It’s sexy because she’s so unsure and nervous. My cock is about to rip through my jeans.
“You’re trying to kill me,” I mutter, voice hoarse. “So damn beautiful.”
After she’s completely naked, she crawls into my bed, shooting me a sultry look over her shoulder and giving me a prime view of her peach-shaped ass.
She bites on her plump bottom lip, and I want to bite it too.
I rip off my clothes with haste, eager to be skin on skin with her.
This time, when I’m inside her, I’m going to take my time and savor every second.
Her hands greedily find my chest as soon as I slide into bed beside her. I grunt when her palm wraps around my throbbing cock.
“Careful,” I warn in a guttural tone. “I am barely hanging on by a thread here. I want this to last.”
A flash of wickedness shines in her brown eyes as she strokes me hard and fast. I grip her wrist and tug it away.
Then, I roll on top of her, pinning both her arms to the mattress beside her head.
She wraps her legs around my waist and lifts her hips as if to urge me to drive into her.
My cock settles against her pussy, and I teasingly rub against her clit, not giving her the instant gratification of what she wants.
“Tease,” she murmurs breathily. “Need you inside of me.”
As much as I want to give that to her, I like prolonging it, too. She squirms with need and it turns me the fuck on.
“This isn’t just sex for me,” I tell her, gaze burning into hers. “I’m addicted to you. You’re so fucking sweet and smart and kind and loving.”
Her eyes well with tears. “Really?”
“Yes. Of course, the first time I truly connect so deeply with a woman, it’d be with my own stepdaughter.”
She laughs and I can’t help but kiss her pretty mouth. I steal the laughter from her when my cock slides between her pussy lips and into her body. Slowly. So fucking slowly I stretch her with my thickness. Her moan is my undoing.
“I like being right here,” I hiss against her lips. “Feels so right and perfect.”
She digs her heels into my ass, causing me to slide all the way into her. “Me too.”
I don’t move or try to get off. My cock throbs angrily but I ignore it. Her lashes flutter when I stroke my thumb through her bangs and then along her cheek and jaw. I could stare at her all damn day.
“I like you because you see me,” Mei says, dark eyes boring into me. “All of me.”
“I love all the parts you share with me,” I murmur, slowly moving my hips. “I want all of them.”
She spears her fingers into my hair. “Take it all, Owen.”
I kiss her deeply and then fuck her at an almost lazy pace.
It’s incredible to just enjoy each sensation her body creates with mine, all her cute mewls and moans, and the sweet words that tumble past her lips.
If I thought quick car sex was great, I now realize it was only an appetizer.
The main course—this—is everything. She shows emotion on her face and lets me know what she likes.
I’ve never had a lover so open and vulnerable.
In the past, I’ve attracted, cold, closed-off women.
Mei is everything I didn’t know I wanted.
Everything I desperately need and more.
“When this is all over,” I vow to this sweet girl, “I’m keeping you, angel.”
This sets her off because she claws at my shoulders and trembles as her release nears.
I pinch one of her pebbled nipples and then slide a hand between us to take care of her clit.
My gentle lover cries out with her orgasm and her entire body quakes.
It’s so hot, I’m unable to keep delaying the inevitable.
I come with a snarl, bucking my hips, hoping I fill her with every last drop.
This is reckless and stupid.
I barely know her.
I’m old enough to be a grandfather.
And yet, I hope I put a baby in this fertile, young body.
For me. For her. For decades of a loveless, passionless life.
I bury my face in her neck, not making any moves to pull out of her. “I think I’ll nap like this.”
She laughs and cum trickles past my softening cock. “You won’t hear any complaints from me.”
Playful and fun. Who knew sex could be like this?
Despite my age, I now realize I’ve been deprived of something for so long. My relationships thus far have been essentially transactional. Leah gave me my wonderful children, but she never gave me happiness.
Mei makes me feel light and young and full of joy.
I wake when pleasure seizes my body. It takes a second to realize I’d been sleepfucking. Definitely not telling my doctor about that one.
“Hey,” Mei says, grinning at me. “So happy you decided to join us.”
I chuckle. “Us?”
“Me and your dick.”
“Is it weird to be jealous of my own body?”
“We had a lot of fun without you.”
I kiss her sexy mouth. “Now it’s my turn to love you since he’s gone back to sleep.”
My cock jolts as if to protest, but remains soft and warm, nestled inside her still trembling body.
“Was that okay?” I ask, anxiety creeping in. “I hate that my body does shit on its own while I sleep.”
Mei cups my cheeks and stares deeply into my eyes. “I trust you whether you’re awake or asleep. I’m safe with you.”
I let loose a sharp breath of relief. “I would never hurt you. Never.”
Jin finally comes home with Penny, later that evening, and there’s a tension in the air that hasn’t existed between us before. Things need to be said and I’m tired of avoiding the subject. In order for us to figure out the camera guy shit, we need to be frank with one another.
“Where are your kids?” Jin asks after putting Penny to bed.
“The two younger ones are at Leah’s. Rhett went to Riko’s.” I motion for Jin to join me in the living room. “Come sit.”
Her eyes dart over to Mei who’s sitting beside me on the sofa and she scowls. “Mei, go to your room.”
“She’ll stay,” I bark, voice firm and unyielding. “You’ve kept her in the dark long enough.”
Jin gapes at me but then quickly schools her features. “I need wine for this.”
She disappears into the kitchen. I take Mei’s hand and bring it to my lips to kiss. It was nice spending the entire day, uninterrupted, in bed with her. We even ate lunch and dinner both in bed. I can still taste dessert on my tongue. Mei’s pussy is sweeter than any cake I’ve ever eaten.
Jin returns with a wineglass filled to the brim with wine. I arch an eyebrow at her. She rolls her eyes at me as she sits in an armchair. When she notices me holding Mei’s hand, she takes a long swallow of her wine.
“I knew it,” Jin says, ice in her voice. “Should’ve known better.”
“We’ll get to this,” I say as I hold up Mei’s hand. “Start from the beginning. Who is Penny’s father?”
Jin’s tough exterior melts a bit and she frowns. “Don’t play ignorant. You both know it’s Christopher.”
Mei lets go of my hand and sits straighter, glowering at her mother. “Why lie? Why let me think Penny was an accidental pregnancy from a one-night stand?”
Jin huffs. “Because she was an accidental pregnancy from a one-night stand.” She pauses to drink another gulp of wine. “I didn’t know he’d last past that night or let alone I’d fall in love with him.”
Mei softens. “You love him?”
“Of course I do,” Jin clips out. “My life has been a mess since I crawled into bed with him. Love has me going back to him again and again.”
“Why all the secrecy?” I ask, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. “From what I’ve witnessed, he loves Penny dearly. I guess I don’t understand why the two of you aren’t together.”
Jin checks her phone, replies to someone, and then purses her lips. “It seems simple to you. It wasn’t always simple.”
“Explain the complexity then,” I urge. “She’s family. I’m at the very least your friend, Jin. You can confide in people and not die.”
Jin snorts with what might be humor. Mei stifles a giggle.
“After a particularly difficult work day, I went to the bar to unwind. Met a handsome guy with an intensity I was attracted to.” Jin’s eyes glaze over as if she remembers that night like it were yesterday.
“He was perfect. I haven’t ever felt so…
smitten over a man.” Her barely hidden pleasure is wiped away by a flash of regret.
“Should have known it was too good to be true.”
Mei shoots me a frown and I shrug. I have no idea what’s the problem so far.
“Christopher was married,” Jin says simply. “To someone in an influential family.”
“Oh,” Mei says, voice soft.
“I saw the ring, saw the torment in his eyes, and pursued him anyway.” Jin downs the rest of her wine. “It was good, but the next morning, he expressed his shame for cheating on his wife.”
She disappears to grab her wine bottle and returns a few seconds later. I take Mei’s hand again, stroking her skin with my thumb, hoping to offer comfort as her mother tells her deepest secrets.
“As much as I liked him,” Jin continues, “I didn’t want to be that woman. We agreed not to see one another. That was that.”
“Until…” Mei encourages.
“Until seven months later when he showed up with his wife at my practice. I was her doctor and it took me by surprise to walk into the exam room that day. Christopher was handsome as ever, but he was with the reason we couldn’t have more.
Her.” Jin lets out a sad laugh. “By then, I was obviously pregnant. Somehow, Christopher knew it was his. I tried to play it cool, but I think my eyes gave it away. After work, he was waiting outside for me. Alone. I told him it was his baby, but I was fine with raising the child alone.”
Obviously, that didn’t happen, because Penny is two and they’re still very much involved.
“He didn’t like that,” Jin says with a sigh.
“He wanted to help me. Went to a few doctor appointments, brought me stuff for the baby, and even took me to dinner a few times to check in on me.” Jin bites on her lip and her eyes shine with tears.
“And then it happened again. We had sex. I knew he was married and continued to sleep with him because I was selfish.”
“You weren’t the only one in the wrong, Mom,” Mei says, coming to her mother’s defense.
“He’s no longer married, is he?” I ask.
Jin shakes her head. “They got divorced not long after Penny was born.”
Mei stiffens. “The postpartum depression…”
“Was more complicated than just that,” Jin admits. “I hated myself for destroying his family.”
“So, if you love him, why aren’t you with him?” Mei’s question is one I want the answer to as well. “Why all this?” She waves a hand around indicating this house and me.
“It’s a scandal,” Jin explains through gritted teeth.
“Christopher is on track to become the sheriff when McMahon retires. If anyone finds out, and does the math, they’ll know I slept with him while he was married to Amanda.
Not only will this town drag him through the mud and ruin his chances for sheriff, but they’ll destroy my practice.
I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am. ”
I thread my fingers with Mei’s ignoring Jin’s critical stare. Just like we knew Christopher was Penny’s dad, she knows we’re together. All secrets come out tonight. All of them.
“So, marrying me wasn’t just for saving Carol’s house?” I ask. “It was for optics? For you and Christopher’s careers?”
Jin chugs down more wine. “No one has to suffer that way.”
Mei scoffs. “Mom, you suffered. Penny suffered. You’re with Owen, playing pretend, but you want to be with Christopher. Who cares about what people say or think?”
Unfortunately, Mei is being na?ve, because it’s not that simple. It’s a gray area. I get it.
“I’m barely holding onto my clinic and patients as we speak,” Jin admits shakily. “Add in a public scandal, and I’ll lose it all.”
Mei releases my hand and walks over to her mother. She kneels down beside her and puts her head in her mother’s lap. Jin’s eyes widen as she shoots me a panicked look. I arch an eyebrow, indicating she knows what to do. Awkwardly, Jin pats Mei’s head.
“Mom, if keeping your practice means you’re unhappy and living a lie, is it even worth it?” Mei looks up at Jin. “The truth will set you free.”
Jin blinks back tears but one sneaks free, racing down her cheek. “You’ve always been too smart and good. I’ve never deserved you.”
Mei starts to cry as she crawls into her icy mother’s lap. “I never needed you to deserve me, Mom. I just needed you.”
As if she sheds a shell of ice, Jin hugs Mei to her and sobs loudly.
I quietly slip out of the living room to give them their space.
Jin’s secrets are in the light and aren’t as bad as she thought.
Maybe she can move past the stress of it and actually have a relationship with her oldest daughter before it’s too late.
And while this answers so much, I’m still left wondering why that guy is following us. My thoughts direct me back to Leah each time. Somehow, she must’ve figured out that Christopher is Penny’s father and Jin’s secret lover. She’s been stacking up the evidence to take me down in court.
I make a quick call to Dane, my attorney.
I’ll be damned if I let Leah destroy my life again.
I’m done letting her get away with this shit.