Chapter Thirty-Four
The Truth at Last
Sammy
Menace went into a frenzy after Octavia left. I knew he didn’t like her being dishonest with Rumi, but I didn’t know how to defuse him. He got rid of sticker bushes around the edge of the property, finished splitting a log someone had left near the wood pile, and just would not sit still in general.
Sometime around noon, he came back in and disappeared into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and the curtain zip across the rod. He hadn’t even said two words to me when he walked through the kitchen. I wanted to join him, but that felt too confrontational. I gave him his space and his shower and poked around the cabinets until I found some soup in a can. I heated it in the microwave and made us some cheese sandwiches to dunk in it.
His brow had less tension when he stepped out, and he paused, looking at the table I had set for us.
“Thanks,” he murmured, wandering over.
“You’re welcome. I didn’t hear much from you, I figured you were working, might be hungry.”
He stared at me, not touching his food.
I knew I hadn’t done anything to upset him, so I chalked it up to the trauma, and tried to spoon a bit of soup in a normal fashion.
“How much of that did you hear?”
I finished blowing on my soup and popped it in my mouth, before casting a glance his way, and mumbling, “Hm?”
I picked up the sandwich, and his hand blanketed mine, preventing its path to my mouth.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t hear anything but you thumping on that damn timber and cussing while you were plucking sticker bushes and weeds away.” I laughed at his dramatics.
He let go of my hand, but now I was curious. “What was I not supposed to hear?”
My brain rapidly fired through the events of the day before I quizzically narrowed my gaze on him, “Did something happen upstairs?”
He groaned and shifted in his seat.
“When Rumi was a baby— I thought Henny didn’t know. It doesn’t matter. I just didn’t want you hearing pieces and– Never mind.”
He focused on his soup while I stared at him.
“You and Octavia–” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my tone.
It made sense, Auggie had arrived while he was upstairs. She gave me the stink face after Rumi explained who I was and promptly took the girl to her car rather than waiting inside for Octavia to finish readying herself.
The animosity she had for Menace meant it must have been a juicy story.
“That why Auggie hates you?”
He bleated with unchecked laughter, “No. Auggie hates me because I grabbed her ass and came onto her the first time we met.”
“Guess she wasn’t charmed.” I flashed a tight, unamused smile.
“No. She wasn’t. She wasn’t charmed, and I couldn’t read the signs with a bucket of glasses back then. Auggie don’t fuck men.”
I raised my brows, not overly surprised by that either. Auggie was broad shouldered for a lady and stood like she was holding down a block. She’d worn baggy camo pants and a hoodie, so I really didn’t get much look at her shape otherwise.
“And– she thought I was a snake that wasn’t worth Octavia’s time.”
“The truth alas,” I teased, nodding my head. “Besties have a way of knowing what's best. Except for mine, who puts photoshopped images of your friend’s bike in my pictures. Wait until I see Maelyn again.”
I smiled and he relaxed.
“I don’t care about your past. You’re mine now, and you haven’t done anything to betray my trust, or snake me around.”
“I wish I could talk to my brother.”
“You need to talk to your brother,” I agreed.
“Huh?”
I stared at him like he was slow to catch on.
“Octavia isn’t doing so hot,” I pointed out the obvious, before thinking out loud, “I hope her friend convinces her to see a doctor while they’re out. You need to convince her to let you call Henny, so he can support his daughter and her while they go through this. My mother’s brother died of a terminal illness. I don’t know if it was cancer or not, but I understand most people are in and out of the hospital in later stages of such diseases. We can’t go there with her and Rumi, but maybe Henny can?”
He slowly nodded his head in agreement, and I let the matter die for now.
“I’m gonna go for a walk,” he announced, after he finished his food.
He kissed the top of my head and left before I could say a word. I watched from the window as he disappeared into the woods, and I’d be a liar if I said a little part of me didn’t panic at the thought of him not returning.
I’d gotten used to his presence and I could feel myself falling for him a little more each day. It was bad enough when we were just writing, but now that he was here and I’d looked into his eyes, I knew there was no going back.
I’d ride with him until the end. Thankfully, he returned with a better mood.
“Did you know it’s mushroom season?” he asked, flopping down onto the sofa with me.
I raised a brow and slowly shook my head, “You like mushrooms?”
“I like hunting them,” he admitted, taking up my foot and planting it in his lap.
He slid his fingers along my sole, massaging attentively while we spoke.
“I saw a few while I was walking. I left them to grow, though.”
The door popped open and Auggie stepped inside, locked her eyes on us, and sniffed like she was unimpressed.
“Octavia was admitted for fluids and I.V. antibiotics. I’m taking Rumi with me. Thought you two should know.”
I glanced at Menace, nervous that there might be a confrontation. Rumi was his blood niece after all, Auggie could have at least worded it better.
“Does Henny–?”
“No, Henny don’t know, and it’s gonna fuckin’ stay that way.” Auggie raised her brows, waiting on him to take the bait.
“Great. Thanks for letting us know. She needs to get home so Rumi can get her rest for school tomorrow,” I pointed out, hoping to keep Rumi at the front of Menace’s mind. She was probably in the car outside.
“Mhm. Sure do.” Auggie nodded and slammed the door behind her.
“Fuck, I hate that bitch,” he grumbled.
I teased my fingers through his hair, giving the short strands a little tug. He cut those deep-blue eyes toward me and smiled, “Sorry.”
I straddled his lap and lazily wrapped my arms around his neck. He gripped my hips, making them sway in his hands as he stared up at me.
“What’s going on in that mind of yours, Menace?”
He gave a subtle shake, and I captured his jaw, kissed him and asked again.
He laughed and shook his head again. “I’m good. I just wish I could talk to my brother, that's all.”
He snaked up and nipped my jaw, “Never mind all of that, though.”
He rocked to his feet, picking me up with him, and I locked my legs around his waist and hid my face in the crook of his neck when I realized he actually meant to go down the stairs like that.
“You’re crazy,” My words stretched in panic when he took them faster than I expected.
“The name didn’t give that much away?” he asked, dragging his tongue up my neck and latching on tightly just as he planted a knee on the bed. I was instantly between him and the mattress, flat on my back. I thought he was just maneuvering my legs around, but then he hooked sleeping shorts, underwear and all and stripped me, leaving my legs dangling over his shoulders. His fingers tangled in my hair, arching my head backwards while he nibbled on my lower lip and ground against me.
Just the smell of him was enough to make me squirm, he had a woodsy, masculine scent that left me coming back to his neck and shoulders once he loosened the grip on my hair. I tugged at his jeans, shoving them down his hips to get to my prize.
Menace laughed and captured my hands, bringing them over my head for a moment. He held them captive and massaged my pussy with his other hand, while he watched the torment play out on my face, a smirk resting on his lips. I tried to kiss his mouth, but he kept his lips just out of reach, flicking his tongue out and nipping me in my efforts when it pleased him.
“Menace,” I pleaded, my body bucking and writhing to his tune.
“Mhm?” he murmured, lowering his head to kiss my neck.
“I need you.” I pressed into his palm, and he hugged my pussy in return.
“I can see that you do.” He brought his hand up and licked it clean, a taunting laugh catching his throat.
I heard the tiniest pop, but when I tried to glance down toward the sound, he kissed me deeper than ever, preventing me from seeing the source. It wasn’t a guess for very long, his lube slicked fingers painted my asshole without warning, smearing it in a firm circle that left me hitching and bucking with a squeal against his lips.
He shushed me and much to my mortification, stuffed his fingers inside me. My breath caught and my eyes widened as he started finger fucking my ass and kissing away my panicked attempts to spit his name out.
Eventually I accepted that it didn’t hurt, embarrassed as I was by his actions.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I hissed, when he finally let my lips free and the fingers buried and momentarily stayed, deep in my ass.
He stared into my eyes and smirked, making the heat in my cheeks double. He let go of my hands, but before I could sit up, his fingers were curling around my throat. The gesture alone caused my breath to hitch.
“Don’t move,” he growled.
I should have been offended or at least slap happy. Instead, a little shiver ran through me, and I obeyed, shifting my thighs a little to accommodate his shoulders when he kept lowering his body. His tongue dragged up the length of my pussy and he slurped my clit into his mouth. My hips shifted, and his fingers started to swerve and fuck again.
It didn’t matter how much I wanted to hate it, I was fucking feral, my hands scrambling to find hair, shoulder, blanket, I didn’t give a damn I just needed to tangle and grip something before my soul came out my body and I was ripped right off the face of the Earth.
He murmured and slobbered while I shuddered and came so many times my body went limp. I was dazed, in a bliss that still had my eyes half rolled back, when he slunk back up the length of me, sprinkling kisses on my chest and throat.
I lazily draped my arm over his shoulders and smiled as I felt him nudge against my ass again. That smile was snatched off with a quickness when my body swallowed him with one smooth thrust. I sank my nails into the back of his neck and stole all the air between us.
“That’s not fingers,” I panicked.
He laughed, and kissed me firmly on the mouth, his nose teasing mine gently as he started to patiently fuck me. I clung to him and waited for the worst experience of my life, my eyes clenched.
His nose tipped against mine again and his thumb slid over my clit, making me shiver and open my eyes.
“I got you,” he whispered.
Heat flooded my body, chased by that little shiver of need, and I kissed him, deciding to trust him instead of giving into my uncertainty. He battered my clit and made love to my ass in a way I didn’t even think possible. I’d have never believed a woman could come with a dick in her ass, but I did.
Twice.