Chapter 10
TEN
Darkness coated the room. Stillness surrounded me. Content surrounded me. Gratitude surrounded me.
Deep, long breaths escaped in the silence of the early morning hours. They were the most precious sounds I’d ever encountered. They warmed me from my head to my toes.
Though the room was practically void with sound, my thoughts were loud. There wasn’t one that didn’t include her.
Flawless.
Pretty, inside and out.
A giver at heart.
Unafraid to protect her assets.
Her heart. Her head. Her body.
A gem.
Bistre-colored skin pressed against mine. Long legs wrapped around mine. A round nose laid on my chest. Spiraled hair tickled my chin. And, long arms hugged me all through the night. It was the longest, softest, and most inviting hug I’d ever experienced.
Kit.
Her name in diamonds flashed before my eyes. With a smile, I closed my eyes to allow the vision time to marinate. I could feel the cold ice against my chest.
“Mmm.”
A soft groan led to the depletion of my sanity. Kit loosened her grip around me. Rapidly, my heart punched at my chest. Unsure of what was happening or if Kit had stirred awake, I waited in silence.
Her body was tense. Her breathing had halted. Her head had lifted from my chest slightly.
She maneuvered in an attempt to free herself from my grasp. I rejected the soundless request by tightening my arms around her. Her absence wasn’t an option at the moment.
She was too warm.
Too comforting.
Too soft.
Too relaxing.
“Mmm.”
Another grown escaped those lips of hers. A long, exaggerated sigh followed.
“Fohr–” she whispered.
I contemplated keeping quiet, but ultimately decided against it.
“Yes?”
“What time is it?”
“Time for you to go back to sleep,” I explained.
My lips pressed into her forehead. Another sigh left hers.
“I have to get up. Your breakfast– And, my breath,” she yawned.
Disregarding the second simple issue she mentioned, I lifted her chin with my index finger. I parted her mouth with my tongue. Slowly, she came around, indulging as shamelessly as I was.
My dick hardened on her leg. My hands roamed her frame, cupping her ass in the process. Because I’d stolen the very oxygen she needed to live, I pulled away slowly. Taken aback, she struggled to restart her breathing cycle.
“This is the first, but it won’t be the last time I greet your morning breath. It’ll be my pleasure, sweet baby.”
She pushed her lips forward, landing on mine. I accepted the invitation and allowed her to have her way.
“And, as far as breakfast, I have something else in mind for protein this morning.”
“Fohr–”
“Shhhh. Go back to sleep, Kit. You deserve to sleep in for once and I deserve the torture of your snoring.”
“Snoring?” She shrieked.
“I’m just fucking with you, baby. You don’t snore,” I paused to yawn. “Loudly.”
“Oh Go–”
“Shhhhh.”
I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead a second time.
“Shhh. Sleep.”
She didn’t protest. Instead, she snuggled against me, getting comfortable again. I wasn’t prepared for her departure. I’d starve before I allowed her to empty the bed. Even the gym would wait this morning. I wanted nothing and to do nothing other than Kit.
When I reopened my eyes, I had plans to fill her belly with as many inches of my dick as her body would allow. For now, sleep was the goal.
The chiming bell caught my attention. I was unsure who Fohr was expecting, but company was highly unlikely with all that was going on around us. With furrowed eyebrows, I placed the baked salmon on the stovetop and removed the oven mittens.
Ding Dong.
“Fohr!”
I bowed my head, getting a good look at both hands of my watch.
7:02p.
I strolled out of the kitchen to tackle the lengthy hallway that led to the gym. When I rounded the corner, I peered through the glass that ran the length of the wall to find the room completely empty.
Ding Dong.
7:04p, my watch read.
He’s showering.
Had I rounded the corner four minutes prior and I would’ve bumped into him on his way out of the door. I headed for the door upon realizing Fohr would not be able to answer it. I removed the apron from my body and swung the door of the coat closet open. It slid onto the desired hook with ease.
I exchanged it for a mandatory face mask and a pair of latex-free gloves. Protecting Fohr and I from Blunder was my top priority. I didn’t want either of us doubled over with stomach pains and neither did I want our lives to end. It would be a pathetic way to leave this earth.
I’d dreamed of a more fitting death. Possibly one in bed, surrounded by my surviving siblings. Possibly during childbirth. Possibly in my favorite chair. Or, in a garden on a hot summer’s day.
Ding Dong.
“Coming!” Straining my voice to yell was as close to torture as I’d ever come. I disliked it with every fiber of my being.
When I pulled the door open, I found a gentleman accessorized with gloves that climbed his sleeves, a mask covering his entire face, and a bouquet of red roses. His right arm was limp, bringing my attention to the size of the delivery in his hand.
“Oh, my apologies,” I expressed, pulling the flowers into my arms. “Oh my.”
Fohr. My smile reached my eyes. Butterflies flooded my stomach. A tingling sensation formed throughout my body. I could feel the highest points of my cheeks as they pierced the air from expansion.
This man. He was undeniable. Even in the state of the world, he was still thoughtful. His mind was an interesting place that I wanted nothing more than to explore every day above God’s green earth.
The weight of the bouquet was unsettling. I hadn’t imagined roses having much of any weight to them. I’d had a number of bouquets in my lifetime and nothing compared to this.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Stay safe.”
“Will do.”
He was short, polite, and direct. I wasn’t alone in the world after all, it seemed. I closed the door behind me and made my way back to the kitchen. Ridding my hands of the bouquet was my first order of business.
I trashed the mask and gloves immediately after freeing my hands. With handsoap, I scrubbed away at the germs I might’ve encountered during the swift retrieval. Once the water shut off, the bouquet was in my hands again and my feet were tapping against the floor in pursuit of the master suite.
Running water led me to the bathroom. I opened the door, letting fresh air inside as the steam traveled out. I prayed for the integrity of my bantu curls as I closed the door behind me and pushed forward.
Outside of the shower, I stood with a smile creasing the corners of my eyes. Fohr’s eyes were on me. Penetrating me and doing things to my body that were downright unfair.
My eyes traveled the length of his upper body, ending where my fantasies began.
Fohr was hung like a horse. Tall like a tree.
And, during our time in the house, I wanted to climb him until the skin of my hands and feet became raw.
And, even then, I’d lay on his branches and bask in the comfort his log brought me.
“It amazes me, Kit.”
“What is that, Fohr?”
“How much more stunning you are by the minute. I saw you an hour ago, baby, and you’ve managed to improve since then. Your ability to blossom so swiftly should be studied at the universities,” he explained.
His words came down on me like the sunshine after a storm that had uprooted an entire town. They were nourishing. They were necessary. And, so damn good that they were nauseating.
“Risking our lives for flowers?” I recovered to ask with a smile.
“Was it worth it?”
I nodded, admitting the obvious. I wanted to keep him safe, but he would make the task difficult. I could see it in those dark brown eyes of his.
“Yes. Thank you. I love them. They’re so heavy.”
“There are a hundred of them, sweet baby. They’re supposed to be.”
“Explains it,” I chuckled.
I waited, unsure of what to say or what to do next. Fohr had a way of shaking my thoughts right out of my head. Confusion plagued me. Comfort saved me. I was in no rush to leave Fohr’s side.
“Talk to me, Kit.”
I shook my head, admitting, “I– I have nothing to say.”
“You’re just going to stand there with those heavy ass roses, watching me?”
“Is that an issue?”
“Not at all, baby.”
“Okay, because I’m not ready to leave. Not yet.”
“Then stay.”
I obliged. Roses in hand, I observed the man before me cleanse his body and palette for the night ahead.