Chapter 43
EVER
The instant the bouncers see me with my hands balled at my sides and my jaw clenched, storming to the back door that’ll take me to Bobby’s office, they get out of my way.
Midnight called Gage, and Gage called me, telling me where I could find Bobby. I don’t knock. I open the door and barge inside.
Bobby’s head is down. He’s concentrating on whatever is on his tablet. “If you’re here to beat the shit out of me again, have the common decency to gag me first, yeah? It’ll keep the screaming down and not scare away my customers.”
Beat the shit out of him? Again? Oh God, my father’s men. I hurry to him.
“Bobby?”
His head snaps up. His face is black and blue. I grit my teeth. I am going to ream my dad on his next call and threaten never to visit him if he ever orders his men to lay a hand on Bobby, ever. I grab the sides of Bobby’s face in my hands and push my way between his legs. His hands go to my waist.
“Did my father’s men do this?”
He smirks. “Something like that.”
Damn him and his “something like that” line. “That’s a yes in my books.” I skim my finger over his swollen and cracked lips, the gaping skin over his non-scarred eyebrow, and his blackened eye. “Did you put up a fight at least?”
“Nah, baby. I deserved the hits for breaking your heart.”
“About that.” I let go of his face and step back. After what I tell him, Bobby could still reject me.
He’s right. Our age gap is the difference between marriage and settling down, and not putting down roots and exploring the world instead. I start with that first.
“You’re right. I could travel the world, make new friends, and fall in love many times over. I want those things.”
His jaw tightens. A storm brews in his sea-glass eyes.
“I want to travel the world with you, make new friends together, and fall in love many times over with only you, Bobby Bliss. Can we do that? Or we can settle down first.” I shrug. “We have the rest of our lives ahead of us, and I’m not in a rush to decide, as long as we’re together.”
“I saw you, Ever. I drove over to surprise you at work. Two weeks was too long not to hold you. I saw you with my fucking brother.”
“Braxton,” I say to make sure we’re speaking of the same brother.
“Yes, Braxton.”
I lift my shirt and run my fingers over the tattoo along my side.
“You asked before what this said. I couldn’t tell you.
” I shake my head. “That’s not true. I wasn’t ready to tell you.
Telling you would mean I was letting go of Carlos and replacing my memories of him with memories of us, of you, and I wasn’t ready. ”
“And now you are?”
“Yes. You’re all I think about, Bobby. You’re who I see when I think about today, tomorrow, and the next day.
” I move closer so he can see the writing.
“It’s in Spanish. It says ‘live for me, Ever.’ It’s what Carlos said to me in the two moments when it was a matter of life and death for me.
You said the same when the medics rushed me to the waiting helicopter. ”
He laughs, then winces, his hand going to his stomach.
“Ironic. All of this”—he sweeps out his arm—“is fucking ironic.” He tips back in the chair and runs the back of his hand over his eyes.
“The night I met you at Crimson, I was at home, intending to drown my survivor’s guilt with booze.
Except, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Carlos came to me in my dream the night before for a reason.
” He tents his hands in front of his mouth and stares at something over my shoulder.
He’s seeing, but not really. “In my dream, he said, ‘Tell her to live for me, always.’”
I suck in a breath, remembering that moment. “You did. You said, ‘Live for me, Ever,’ and I said back—”
“Always.” His gaze returns to my face.
It’s time I tell him about how I met Braxton.
I step back and run my palm over the scar, lowering to my haunches to remind him how far the scar stretches on my right leg. I rub my ankle. “You’ve asked about this scar. I couldn’t tell you because I was ashamed. This scar is the shame I live with for sending Braxton to prison.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t believe you. You’re the kindest person.”
“I was a monster, Bobby. I hurt Braxton. Or at least, I thought I hurt him. I blamed myself for the accident. It rained, a rain squall. I loved the sound of rain, and I laughed, so happy to hear it from inside Braxton’s fast ride. He looked at me and missed the curve. I caused the accident.”
“The reason you’re always checking the weather app and insist I keep my eyes on the road rather than look at you.”
“Yes,” I answer. He’s a great observer of my flaws.
“It wasn’t your fault, Ever. He stole a fucking car to prove he can and make money off it.
He knew someday his recklessness would cause harm.
He fucking crashed the car with you in it.
Even if he hadn’t looked at you, he drove too fast and recklessly in the fucking rain. Curve or no curve, he was at fault.”
I nod. “That’s what he said. That’s what he came to say before he followed the twins to California.”
My knees are weak, and my nerves are frayed from driving in the rain. I rest my hip on the corner of Bobby’s desk before continuing.
Bobby doesn’t fill the silence. He lets me work through my thoughts and emotions. He is such a good guy.
“You must have seen him with his hand in my hair and my face close to his. It wasn’t intimacy that you saw, Bobby.
I was asking for forgiveness. He was pissed that I’ve held on to my remorse for so long when I had nothing to be remorseful for.
I wouldn’t believe him. He made me look into his eyes, into his soul, and see the truth.
He doesn’t hate me for sending him to prison, away from Gwen and his family. ”
“You didn’t cheat on me with Braxton?”
“No. I love you, Bobby.”
“You broke my rule.”
If he does the breaking up, there’d be no contact.
“I did and will continue to. You said if I want something outside the bedroom, I have to give up something in return. I gave you my happiness for more time with you and gave up control of my life to you in exchange for one time of dominating you. Will it always be like that?”
His answer is important. There’s no right or wrong answer from him, but I need to understand where we stand with one another.
He shakes his head, this slow side to side, like he’s made up his mind and he’s sticking with his decision.
“We do what feels right for us and what makes us happy. You’re my girl.
I’m your guy. Yeah, I’m dominant when it comes to sex, but I also got off harder than I’d ever gotten off when you took over the reins, baby.
” He pats his thighs. I take the step forward that separates us, and cocooned between his thighs, there is no space between us anymore.
His large hand cinches my waist. “I won’t ask you to give up something to have what you want from me. We talk, we compromise, we get real with one another, yeah?”
I nod. “About the 5K, it wasn’t for me. It was for Gwen’s overdue tuition.”
“I know, baby. Gwen told me.”
“That’s what she said, but I want you to hear it straight from me. I’m sorry for lying to you, Bobby.”
“You’re forgiven.” He murmurs on my forehead. “Plus, I got the better end of the bargain.”
“You did?” How can he say that when he shelled out five thousand dollars?!
“Fuck yeah. Pay up, Ever. Stay.”
My brow furrows. “Wait, you want your one day and one night now?”
He pulls me to him, and his fingers tangle in my hair.
My head is tilted back. I gasp. Bobby takes advantage, crushing his mouth over mine.
Our tongues tangle and taste. My body is mush from his expert mouth and tongue, and I relax into him.
He cups my ass and brings my lower half close to his crotch.
“Bobby,” I murmur on his mouth.
“I want more than one day and one night, Ever. I want all your days and nights, sweetness.”
“You do?”
“I do, baby.”
I do. Baby. Babies. Fur babies.
Oh my God. I put him at arm’s length. “The house. Tell me you didn’t rent out or sell the house.”
“None of that, sweetness.” He drops a kiss on my mouth.
“It’s still yours?”
“Ours, baby. From now on, what’s mine is yours.” He traps me with his thick thighs. “Why, what are you thinking in that smart head of yours?”
I avoid looking at him. He grasps my chin between his fingers and forces me to look at him. “Speak.”
“Well . . .” I draw out the word. “There are these puppies at the Humane Society. They’re a mix and they’re big. I mean, they’ll be big when they grow up.” I look shyly at him. It’s like I’ve gone from speaking about puppies to talking about something else.
He chuckles. “You want them?”
“Yes.”
“Done.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Um, they’re in Montgomery.”
“No probs.”
“Bobby, that’s a four-hour drive.”
“Then we’d better get our asses up in time to be the first ones in line. I ain’t letting time and distance rob my woman of getting what she wants.”
“Bobby.” I melt into him.
Faster than I can blink, I’m spun around. He sets my hands on the desk and kicks my legs apart. My heartbeat is loud in my ears. Butterflies collide in my belly. Bobby yanks my pants down, and I glance over my shoulder. His slacks are pooled at his feet. His cock is fisted in his hand.
“You gonna come hard for me, Ever?”
“Only when you say, Bobby.”
“Good girl.” One thrust and he’s inside me, stretching and filling me full. “That’s my girl.” He leans into me. Teeth graze the curve of my ear.
Bobby bites down on the sensitive flesh at the same time he pulls out and thrusts inside me. I let my head fall. He fingers my slippery knot. His other hand lands on my ass cheek with a resounding smack.
My flesh stings and my back arches.
“You close, baby?” He moves in and out of me.
“Yes,” I rasp.
He slows his thrust. No, no, no. I back my ass into him and grind on his groin. “Deeper, harder.”
“You telling me what to do, sweetness?”
“Yes!”
“Good girl.” He smacks my ass. “That’s my girl.” Smacks the other cheek. “Command me. Dominate me.” His words are a sexy rumble next to my ear.
My insides coil tightly. My pussy throbs. I need more. I want to make him feel so good he begs me to take control of our lovemaking.
I shove him away so hard his cock slips from me. I push him onto the chair, and he opens his mouth. I jump his bones and ride his dick until my pussy clenches around his big cock and my tits bounce. My insides coil. Heat washes over me. All the tension in my body releases, and I moan my climax.
Bobby isn’t so quiet. He roars his orgasm, and I’m sure the customers in the club heard him over the music.
Good.
I have nothing to hide.
No secret to keep.
Bobby Bliss is my guy. He’s the bad boy of my fantasy and the villain of my fairy tale. And I am his Ever After. His sweetness.