Chapter 18 #2
Scarlet made it out of the bath before she got too pruney. The book she’d brought with her was good, but she was too nervous to read long. Besides, although Malachi’s bathtub was bigger and nicer than theirs, it still didn’t feel quite as familiar. He was already talking about them moving in, but it had only been a few weeks since they’d gotten back together. It was an interesting idea, but too soon.
Her comfy PJs were missing off the bed, and in their place was a pretty negligee she’d never seen. Now whose idea was that? She had very little use for lingerie on herself. On Reece, though, it was like sexy gift-wrap. It probably wasn’t for her, but for them to admire. And it was white. Very funny.
Scarlet slipped it on anyway. That it fit meant it’d been Reece’s doing. There was no way Malachi could have guessed something as specific as a woman’s lingerie size. Maybe the two of them had gone shopping together when she was at work. She tiptoed across the room and checked her reflection in the full-length mirror. A quick hand through her short hair put it back in order. It was hard to be objective about the rest. Between her thin frame, muscle, and tan from working outdoors, she wasn’t exactly lingerie model material – although the white looked good with her coloring and the way the delicate fabric skimmed over her body was almost sinful.
As she walked down the long hallway, she felt like she was taking the final steps as a virgin sacrifice. To make matters worse, someone had lit an IKEA’s worth of red candles and set them all over the living room. The only thing that made the setting a little less ominous was the big mattress on the floor in the center of the room, made up with every piece of linen Reece could find to make it look like a magazine cover. So much pomp and ceremony for such a silly thing. It was important to Reece, so she kept her complaints to herself.
Reece greeted her and led her into the room by the hand – to Malachi, who stood next to the impromptu bed, waiting for her. Jeans, bare chest, bare feet, long hair and neat goatee, he was the embodiment of evil in looks, but she knew better. This man was funny, intelligent, and kind, but so much more than that. His blue eyes glittered darkly in the candlelight as Reece led her to him. It wasn’t just that he was hot and sweet and slightly deranged. She loved him. That made all the difference.
It wasn’t lust in his eyes – or not lust alone. There was a love and respect there that she was coming to depend on. He could have almost any straight or bi girl he wanted, yet now that he had her and Reece, other girls had turned invisible. Maybe the future would be different, but for now he was almost too good to be true. A little voice told her that in ten years he’d be farting on the couch as kids crawled over him, but she told that little voice to kiss her ass. No one was perfect forever, but that only meant that they’d match.
And the kid thing was a pretty cool idea, if this lasted.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Malachi asked. “This is something you can’t undo, once it’s done.”
“I know.”
“No more gold star for you,” he persisted.
She laughed. “I never aimed to be gold star. I just never liked a guy enough to sleep with him. Not one who liked me, too.”
“But you’re willing to overlook the fact that I have a penis because you love me?”
She felt her eyes widen. He’d been trying to make her say it again since the day at the amusement park, but saying it out loud embarrassed her for some reason. Like he’d laugh at her – maybe it was because he had such an active sense of humor. She’d seen his serious side too, though. It would just take time and trust to let out all the feelings for him that she had pent up. They were there, swirling, behind her closed lips.
She sidestepped the L word. “I don’t have to overlook the fact that you have a penis – he and I have made friends.”
Malachi grinned. Fuck he was handsome. “You do realize it doesn’t actually have a mind of its own, right?”
“Sure he does. I think he likes me, but he’s going to hurt me in a few minutes, so this might be an abusive relationship.”
He stepped closer and ran his hands gently up her arms. “It might hurt a little, but I’ll be careful.”
Scarlet’s heart was hammering in her throat. Girls way younger than her did this all the time. It wasn’t a big deal. She’d even had sex before – a lot of it over the past year with Reece. Just not involving cock.
Who was she kidding? She was scared shitless.
Reece moved up behind her and kissed up her shoulder to her neck. Her mouth, the brush of her breasts against her back, her warm breath at her ear. Scarlet’s body responded to Reece as it always did and her anxiety retreated to a more manageable level. Malachi’s fingertips skimmed over her face, feather-light, calming away the frown she hadn’t realized was there. Being touched like that was more intimate than she would have guessed. He tickled at her lips, making her laugh, and when her mouth opened he kissed her. The kiss was gentle, undemanding, and soon she was helplessly reciprocating. Reece had raved about how good he was at oral – even kissing him had made her more than curious.
She could do this.
“Don’t leave, okay, Reece?” she whispered when Malachi’s mouth had left hers to trail tiny kisses down her neck. Having the two of them touching her was crazy sensory overload. Her body didn’t know what to feel first or where to focus. She didn’t have a thing for giving up control, but this felt too good for her to object.
“Where do you think I’m going? We’re in this together,” Reece whispered in her ear. Her hands slipped under the hem of Scarlet’s almost see-through dress top thingy and skimmed up her belly to cup the undersides of her breasts, holding them but not touching her nipples. Scarlet squirmed and Malachi stepped back.
He looked them over and groaned. “You two are the picture of pretty much every wet dream I’ve ever had. Do you know how intimidating that is?”
“If you’re too intimidated by us, I’m sure we can find some other guy to take Scarlet’s virginity,” Reece said archly.
“Behave, Reece,” he growled. “I don’t want to have to stop to spank you right now.”
She giggled and slid her thumbs over the tips of Scarlet’s breasts. Scarlet sucked in a breath.
“You’re very beautiful, Scarlet.” He stepped closer again, rubbing the pad of his finger over her lips. “How did you ever get men to leave you alone?”
“I’m built like a boy and I have small tits. It wasn’t that hard.”
“You are not built like a boy. Your body is subtle where it curves, but there’s no missing it. And I happen to be a breast connoisseur, and yours are perfect for you. If all breasts were the same, it would get boring.” He lifted her top and stared at her chest for a minute, making her blush and want to hide.
“You’re an artist. You see beauty even when something is ugly.”
“I see you, Scarlet. You’re beautiful, but it goes far deeper than that.” He kissed her again, his lips patient, loving. He cupped the back of her head with his palm and nibbled at her mouth for a moment before letting her go. If she had any state secrets she would have spilled them all to him now. His mouth was a weapon – his words as devastating as his lips. There should have been a warning label.
She was about to complain when Reece’s hand inched down and found its way into the wispy mockery of underwear she was wearing. She teased her fingers up and down Scarlet’s slit, frustrating her. Malachi’s rougher hands slid up her sides. He drew slow circles around her breasts, then leaned down and brushed his lips over them until she tangled her hands into his long hair and shoved a nipple at his mouth.
“Demanding little thing,” he laughed. “I may not be your Dom, but you sure as hell aren’t mine. Wait like a good girl.”
She growled low but complied.
Reece’s light fingertips surrounded her clit and gently stroked and toyed until her moans escaped her control. At her breasts, Malachi lightly suckled and bit. None of it was hard enough and she whimpered.
“What’s the matter, Scarlet? You sound unhappy.” He was mocking her – he knew what he was doing.
“You’re both evil, evil teases.”
“Is there something you want?” Reece asked, using her best Domme voice, which wasn’t very convincing.
Months ago, that simply wouldn’t have worked for Scarlet. Now it made her want to turn the girl over her knee to remind her to be respectful. “Yeah, I want my bitch’s tongue between my legs.”
Reece squirmed against her back. “Fuck, that’s hot,” the girl murmured.
“Kneel at the foot of the bed and wait.”
“But I hate waiting,” the girl wheedled. “Let me do what I want. I promise I’ll make you like it.”
Scarlet turned and glared at her. For a moment Reece was caught in Scarlet’s gaze and couldn’t seem to break free. She swallowed convulsively and scurried off to do as she’d been told.
“Good kitten.”
Without warning, Malachi swept Scarlet up in his arms and carried her to the bed. She squeaked in alarm, and struggled, but he ignored her and did it anyway.
Men!
“Just because I’m small doesn’t mean you can pick me up and carry me around,” she grumbled.
“You didn’t safeword.”
“I’m not your sub. You’re not the boss of me. I’m just your bottom for pain.”
“You’re a pain in the bottom, alright.” He tossed her onto the mattress and followed her down. “I’m a take-charge kind of guy in the bedroom, if you hadn’t noticed, Scarlet. Even if I was seeing someone vanilla I’d still be like this. It’s just part of who I am.”
“Yeah, well part of who I am says that you’re not going to get away with that shit with me.” Her eyes narrowed to slits and she could see Malachi’s struggle to fight back his Dom instincts.
“What’s wrong with being the Beta Domme?”
“Nothing. I hope you enjoy the position.”
They were sitting together on the bed, glaring at each other. Fuck, she was horny, but if she let him win this it was setting a bad precedent.
“This was supposed to be a nice evening, you two,” Reece said from where she knelt at the foot of the bed, “not a gladiator grudge match. Does it really matter who’s in charge?”
Scarlet lifted a brow at Malachi, who in turn made a face that implied their sub was a little odd. How could they not care who was in charge?
“Go stand in the hallway, kitten. This is between us and it might get ugly.” Scarlet stripped off her top so it didn’t get in the way.
“You have lovely tits, but you’re not going to distract me from this, little girl.”
“And you don’t scare me, Malachi Johansson.”
His eyes gleamed and for a moment she considered recanting her statement, but the rest of her had other ideas. Her whole body felt the menace rolling off of him and reveled in it.
Reece looked back and forth between them for a moment, then shook her head and walked into the hallway, watching them but at a safer distance.
Unceremoniously, Scarlet shoved Malachi off of the mattress. He rolled onto the floor, then came across the bed at her and grabbed her by the hair. She faked a punch at his privates and he let go of her to block. She tried to shove him off the bed again, but he grabbed her by the upper arms and flung her onto her back. He came down over top of her and kissed her hard, bruising her lips. She wriggled her legs up between them and pushed him away with her legs. He landed, bouncing, at the end of the bed.
Rather than going for the direct approach again, he hooked his fingers into her delicate underwear and tore them away. In a panic, she kicked out and caught him on the chin. The way his head snapped back scared her for a second, but he just lowered his head again and glared at her. He stood and stripped off his jeans, his cock already hard. Fuck. In her head she tried to scramble away, but she just sat there and gawked. Naked, he was very intimidating. How had she fit that thing in her mouth?
Without any apparent fear for his unprotected genitals, he jumped her, tackling her to the bed again. She scratched and bit, and landed a few punches, but soon he had her pinned to the mattress. His knees wedged between her legs and he fended off her attempts to kick him away until he was comfortably settled between her thighs, his cock pressed against the top of her slit and pelvis. Gripping her short hair, he kissed her again, amused that she couldn’t stop him.
She went quiet beneath him and let him kiss her, reciprocating and sliding her tongue into his mouth. Between them, his cock pulsed, reminding her she was living dangerously. Sweat mingled and dripped. Slowly his body relaxed, and his kisses became more sensual. She moaned into his mouth, and without meaning to, she ground her hips up against him.
He chuckled.
How dare he trick her with kisses!
She shoved him off of her, intending to make a run for the hallway. Before she was all the way upright, he grabbed her ankle and yanked her back down. She landed hard on her hands and knees on the hardwood floor, and she tried to scramble away. He went to his hands and knees above her, covering her, his cock prodding at her unprotected sex.
“Plead for mercy.”
“You first.”
“I could shove my cock into you right now,” his voice rumbled in her ear. “You know I won.”
“In your dreams.” She dropped to her belly and rolled, but he caught her when she tried to get past his arm.
He pinned her to the floor on her back and slid down between her legs. Shoving him with her feet got her nowhere, and he grabbed her wrists when she tried to smack his face. Roughly, he yanked her hands under her bent knees and held them there.
All she saw were his wicked eyes gleaming at her before he lowered his face between her legs. With his shoulders in the way, there was no way she could close her legs. She was trapped. Was there even such a thing as forced oral?
Safewording occurred to her, but punishing herself to teach him a lesson was ridiculous.
She struggled, panting. Grit from the floor scraped at her back. She was well and truly stuck.
“Poor little Domme,” he whispered against her.
She groaned.
“Do you need my tongue?”
She didn’t answer. He couldn’t win.
Malachi placed a tiny kiss on her exposed clit and she growled and wriggled in frustration. “You don’t want this?” He flicked his tongue over her and she gasped. Her hips strained to get closer, but he held her in place.
“Lick me, bitch,” she snarled.
He did just that, teasing, never keeping a rhythm, and frustrating the hell out of her. Four times he did the thing with his tongue that Reece had tried to explain to her. Each time her eyes rolled back and she screamed, helpless in her pleasure. He brought her to the brink and let her cool off, then started again. At some point Reece was there, kissing her, playing with her nipples.
“Please! Please, I need to get off. I need it,” she begged. “Fuck I’m going to die!”
His chuckle was husky. “Who’s the bitch, Scarlet? Say it.”
“Reece! Reece is our bitch!”
“Nice try, little Domme. Who’s the alpha, you or me?”
“Me!” It came out weaker than she’d meant it to, but she was determined.
His mouth lowered to her again, driving her mad. Reece kept kissing her and trying to persuade her to give in. Malachi brought her to the brink and stopped again. Tears of frustration trickled into her hair.
“Bitch!”
He lifted his mouth from her. “What’s that?” When she didn’t answer he lowered his head again.
“Me! I’m the fucking bitch, it’s me,” she babbled. She had to stop him before he did it again.
His grin was dazzling. “Good girl. What do you want? Do you want me to fuck you?”
“Yes, yes!”
He tore open a condom – where had he gotten a condom? – and rolled it on. So close... Her hips rose to meet him, but he toyed at her entrance, dragging his cock through her wetness and spreading it around.
She struggled and swore. “Fuck me, you bastard!”
Malachi just smirked and rubbed his cock against her clit, making her eyes roll back again. “In my own good time.”
In her haze of need, she started fighting him, trying to impale herself, but he wasn’t ready to cooperate.
“What do you want?”
“Your cock, Malachi, please!”
Reece leaned down and sucked one of Scarlet’s nipples into her mouth. Scarlet writhed and more tears came.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “I’m sorry, Mal. I love you. Please...mercy.”
Malachi kissed her, then placed himself at her entrance and pushed, her body tried to stop him. It burned! He withdrew a little and pushed again. He paused and let her body adjust.
She whined. “That’s all of it, right?”
Reece started to rub Scarlet’s clit, and her arousal spiked again. Her hips wanted to buck, but she was too scared to move.
“No, little one. I’m sorry. That’s only about half.” His teeth were gritted, distorting his words.
“Nooo! Let’s do the rest another day. It’s too big. You should have used a plug first, like we did with Reece’s ass.”
He winced and chuckled and she complained at the way his laughter made him move inside her. “You can take this. You’ve taken a lot more pain from me than this.” But for all that, he waited.
Better to just get it done. The heat of his cock inside her felt foreign and forbidden. She nodded to him. “Do it.”
He withdrew a little then put his mouth over hers as he rammed the rest into her. Her muffled scream was still loud in her ears. Fuck, fuck. Shit. She panted as her body tried to adjust to the huge intrusion.
She whimpered. “You should have traded that in for a normal-sized one.”
“You’re good for my ego, girl, but I hate to have to tell you that I’m not huge.”
“Liar.”
He started to move inside her, and after a few moments it didn’t hurt as bad. Reece was lying alongside her, kissing her mouth and still torturing her clit.
Malachi went slowly, his face a mask of concentration and mute suffering. Reece’s fingers, the full and burning sensation of him filling her, sore nipples being sucked and bitten, skin sliding against skin. He sped up slightly then fucked her hard. She clutched at his back, her short nails digging into his flesh. A soft mouth against hers, a probing tongue. With a strangled cry, her body bucked then froze beneath him. Her eyes were unseeing, and her body clenched in orgasm around his cock. She could do nothing but feel. He shouted then buried his teeth into her shoulder as he came, the pain driving her over the edge again.
He collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Grit stuck to her here and there. She was wrung out, exhausted, and sore. And so very satisfied. Malachi withdrew and she gasped as her body tried to adjust then winced at the pain between her legs. Her hips felt like they’d popped out of their sockets and she gingerly drew her legs together.
Mal got to his feet, and pulled her up to stand on wobbly legs, then led her to the bed. He brushed the grit from her back and urged her down onto the mattress, then called Reece over to join them. When had Reece gotten naked?
He positioned Reece with her knees either side of Scarlet’s head and urged her down to rest on her hands. Scarlet grabbed onto Reece’s thighs and pulled her down more, until her mouth could reach Reece’s sex. Her Reece was starting out hot, wet, and frustrated, poor girl. She felt Malachi move over her, behind Reece. Together they teased and licked at her – Scarlet a little jealous at the screams he elicited so easily. They were going to have to compare notes.
Not to be outdone, she redoubled her efforts. The sexiest sound was Reece begging and making no sense. Malachi moved up and moments later his condomed cock thrust into their girl. Reece’s cry of pleasure shot straight to Scarlet’s groin.
She watched for a few minutes, her vantage point making things even more interesting. He grabbed Reece’s hips and pounded into her, the rhythm quite obviously working for Reece. Scarlet leaned up again, swirling her tongue around Reece’s swollen little clit. Reece squealed and pressed against Scarlet’s mouth. She sucked and her kitten froze like she was suspended in time. Two more hard thrusts and a keening wail was forced from her. Scarlet slid upward and watched both of her lovers as they came together. She pressed a hand between her own legs to try to curb the ache there. Her clit wanted another orgasm, but the rest of her heartily protested.
Not tonight. She smirked. They were going to have to figure out how to get everyone off at the same time one of these days.
When they had subsided into a pile of panting, sweaty people with roaming hands, she was glad to see that everyone was looking blissful. She’d somehow ended up in the middle, Mal and Reece’s faces close as they kissed and nuzzled at her.
“Was that okay for you?” Malachi murmured. “Are you sore?”
“Very sore, but I’m not sorry.” She smiled and he kissed her, his lips lingering there as they breathed each other’s air. He was even beautiful this close up.
He made an amused noise and broke the kiss. “So you’re my submissive now, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Nice try, buddy. That statement was made under duress.”
On her other side, Reece laughed. Malachi’s responding grin was the kind of sexy that made her melt. “Good.”
“Good?”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to having that debate with you again. Often.” His voice was already sounding interested again. Someone needed to make that kind of energy illegal – weren’t guys supposed to need a break in between? He’d gotten off pretty much twice in a row. By now he should have been tired and ready for a nap.
“Often?” She was annoyed by the quaver she heard in her voice, and she tried to sound braver. “It doesn’t hurt as much after a while though, right?”
“No. And when it stops hurting, I won’t have to be so careful.”
She gave him a dirty look but squirmed. For some reason she liked it when he was rough.
Reece rolled her onto her side and spooned up behind Scarlet, lacing their fingers together. Their girl made a contented sound that was almost a purr. It should have been their kitten cuddled between them, not her, but for now she was too lazy to move. A lock of Reece’s hair had tumbled onto Scarlet’s shoulder, and she pressed it to her face and inhaled. Blissful.
The small whispered kisses Reece placed on the back of her neck made her shiver. Mal was lying on his side now, facing her – his free hand tracing tickling lines over her skin, sliding to do the same to Reece, then returning to her.
She was getting sleepy, but something was still bugging her. “So that thing you do with your tongue, Mal, can you show me how to do it?”
He thought about it for a minute. “You’d have to pay.”
“With?”
His eyes studied her face. “We’ll discuss my terms another time – once I’ve decided what they are.” He winked at her.
Scarlet had a sneaking suspicion that whatever the terms were, he’d make her love it.
***
Avoiding her hadn’t been very nice, but Scarlet had to admit that was precisely what she’d been doing. They’d always gotten along so well – talked about everything.
Even when she was in middle school she’d had no hesitation in being honest with her. But knowing that she’d disapproved of Malachi and had been happy when he’d gone back to Ivy and wasn’t coming over anymore made things difficult. She hadn’t told her yet that he was back, let alone that he was back for good.
Her mother answered the door and hugged her immediately.
“Where the hell have you been? You two are never home anymore. I keep trying to call, but it’s like you’re on a permanent vacation from your voicemail.”
Guilt twinged. Her mother was one of the most open-minded people she knew. It wasn’t fair of her not to give her a chance. Sometimes it just felt easier not to have to deal with the possible fall-out. Now she knew how Reece had felt about introducing Scarlet to her family. With a smile, her mom pointed to a stack of magazines that were sitting on the table in the foyer. “I got those for Reece. I thought she might enjoy them.”
When Scarlet fanned them out to see what was there, she realized they were all wedding magazines. Subtle, Mom.
Jeeves, the resident yellow lab ambled up and leaned into her for a scratch, which she complied with before he got insistent. He trailed after them as her mother led her into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee.
“So she’s gone to Los Angeles again?” her mother asked.
“Yes. She’ll be back again late tomorrow night though. Short trip this time.”
“Oh good, you don’t have long to be lonely then.”
Actually Mom, about that... She let the chance slide past, waiting for something better. Tonight she and Malachi were having an all-night Skyrim thing, since neither had to be up for work in the morning. No sex – they only did that when they were all together, but it was getting to the point that Scarlet knew that was eventually going to change.
Her mom went on to talk about Scarlet’s aunt and her latest dating debacle, then about her work, then about her rhubarb, then about Jeeves digging up a flowerbed.
“How’s work?”
“We got a lot done this week. Jude and I busted our butts to get the reno done on the Kirkland house, and that means I get an extra day off tomorrow. He wanted to get Friday off because there was no one to watch Zenobia, since Q and Sabrina are both working, Reece is gone and I was working.” She’d asked Jude why he didn’t bug Malachi to watch the baby, and he said it was because Malachi kept trying to teach her how to swear. She smiled to herself. Their guy could be such a goof.
“What’s that face for? Are you falling in love with that baby, young lady?” Her mother grinned.
“If I had the right equipment, you’d probably have a grandchild on the way already. Reece is so in love with that kid they worry she won’t give her back sometimes.”
Her mother’s expression turned serious. “If you’re thinking of taking that step, Scarlet, you should ask Reece to marry you first. Your children deserve that stability.”
“A family can be stable without a wedding, Mom. Look at Jude, Q and Sabrina. They’ve been together longer than half of my cousins’ marriages lasted, already. Besides, you wouldn’t be pressing for me to marry her if she was a man.”
Jorah was quiet for a moment and looked like she was choosing her words carefully.
“Weddings make relationships harder to set aside. You make a promise in front of your friends and family that you’ll do your best to make this relationship last. It makes it harder to walk away, I think. You’ve won the right to marry to her, and I think it’s a waste if you don’t take advantage of it.”
“I’m not going to marry someone to make a political statement, Mom.”
“I know, I know, but you love her. I know you do.” She took a sip from her steaming mug and slid a plate of cookies in front of Scarlet. “Eat. I think you’re even skinnier than the last time I saw you.”
Too much sex. Scarlet forced down a laugh. The three of them had been in bed so much since they’d gotten back together a month ago that they’d all lost weight. She assumed that would slow down, eventually. It was a good thing that her construction job gave her an excuse for all of the bruises.
Out of politeness, she took a cookie and thanked her mother, not that she was particularly hungry. “The way things stand at the moment, Mom, Reece and I can’t get married.”
Her mother’s dark eyes widened and she leaned back in her chair. “But why not? Are you two going through a rough patch? God, just don’t tell me you’re breaking up. I adore Reece! It’s that Malachi’s fault, isn’t it? I knew he was trouble from the moment I laid eyes on him. Men like that are always more trouble than they’re worth.”
Scarlet’s brows shot up. That was automatically where her mother’s mind went, of course. “Men like what?”
“You know, the handsome ones that swagger.” She grimaced “They walk around like they own the place and turn everyone’s lives upside down. Your father was like that.”
She tried not to snort. The man she had spent time with on vacations when she was a kid was a balding plumber whose demeanor had never made her think he’d been trouble in his day. She’d always kind of assumed her parents had broken up because he was too staid for her mom, who would have been a bra-burning feminist if she’d been born in the right decade.
“It’s because of Malachi, but it’s not his fault.”
Her mother grabbed her hand and squeezed it within an inch of its life. “Oh, honey, I knew it! As soon as he came sniffing around Reece, I knew he was going to make a move. What are you going to do?”
“Mom, Mom, stop!” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s not like that.”
“You’re too willing to forgive anyone anything, you know that? Maybe she didn’t see it coming, but if she was truly committed to you, she wouldn’t have fallen into his trap.”
Scarlet’s mind immediately jumped to the vulnerable position Malachi had tied Reece in the night before. They’d done all sorts of naughty things to her and made her come until she begged them to stop. It was true that the man had all sorts of traps in mind for Reece, but Scarlet was heavily involved in his depraved plots, and had many of her own. Besides, when Reece complained, there was never a safeword that followed to back it up. An orgasm, yes, but not a safeword. Then there was the cuddling and talking until the wee hours.
This wasn’t how she’d envisioned telling her, but the woman’s imagination was running rampant. “Mom, listen. We both love him. He’s part of our relationship now. I just wanted to come by and tell you that this is working for us and is probably going to be long-term.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “He’s...you...” Whatever she was going to say either got lost on the way out of her mouth, or she didn’t have a whole question formulated yet.
“Yes, I love him too. Romantically, not platonically.”
She shook her head. “It’s those friends of yours that have convinced you that this is normal. You don’t have to follow the crowd, Scarlet. You can choose your own path.”
“Good, because that’s exactly what I’m doing. Reece and I can’t get married and leave Malachi out like that. It’s too soon to think of marriage with him, but we wouldn’t marry each other and leave him out. That’s cruel.”
Her mother was quiet for a few minutes. “But you have to think this through. Society may never accept your relationship. What about all the things that are legal for couples that you’ll never be able to do? Marriage, adoption, qualifying for health insurance, so many things – all of that will be off the table for you. You’ll permanently be in a relationship that’s not recognized by society. People will discriminate against you. Reece could even lose her job.”
“I should worry about that because we’ve never been down this road before? Ten years ago, who would have guessed that me marrying a woman would have been legal? Maybe that fight will open people’s minds to this.”
Jorah snatched a cookie off the plate and nibbled at it, lost in thought. In her head, Scarlet went through about a million things to say – some of them angry and unkind. But her mother wasn’t rejecting them, she was processing. It was time to stay quiet and let her think. Maybe she wouldn’t accept them today, but knowing her mother, it would come eventually.
“You really love him? Even though he’s a man?”
“Yes.” She sipped at her cooling coffee.
“Is he good to the two of you? He’s not bossy or abusive?”
Scarlet almost spat her mouthful of coffee out on the table. Um...hm...maybe a little bossy, but so was she, and Reece liked them that way.
“He’s good to us. He’s a sweet and decent man, Mom. This isn’t about us being a novelty for him. He cares about us deeply.”
Her mother sighed and leaned back in her chair again, then stuffed an entire cookie into her mouth. When she’d chewed for a while and swallowed, she looked at Scarlet and grimaced.
“Whenever I think I’m open-minded, daughter mine, you come by and force it further open.”