15. Fred
15
FRED
H e’s back, and he’s more adorable than ever, in the T-shirt he had made. The fabric is covered in the girls’ artwork. After he took pictures of their creations, he sent the photos to a screen printer. Now he’s covered in crazy-looking tigers, and all I want to do is get closer to him, but it’s not as easy as I wish it were when we’re hanging out at home with the kids.
Because everything about Vince is big.
I almost forgot how big, but seeing him up close again — feeling him up close — has it all come rushing back to me. His warmth. His smile. His tender heart. And the giant bulge that tents his jeans every time he gets wind of my steamy thoughts or gets within a few feet of me. He basically has to leave the room when it happens, so it doesn’t garner attention from the children, but they adore him, so his absence is a tragedy each time. Something must be done about it, if we’re going to maintain a G-rated household, and I’m pretty sure I know the solution.
I corner him in the kitchen and set a bar of goatmilk soap on the counter next to him. “Freesias and lilies. That’s my scent. All the bathrooms have a lock up high. You’re welcome to shower or freshen up as much as you need to, so you can spend the rest of the day with us in comfort.”
He stares at me, and then lifts the soap to his nose and gives a happy rumble.
I kiss his chest, press myself against him, and stroke the straining front of his jeans, before I turn to scoop up Luna as she comes stomping and growling through the door. “Let’s give Vince a chance to use the bathroom.” I distract her with a slice of apple, so we leave Vince to himself. “He’s traveled a long way to see us, and he’ll need to wash up.”
Oblivious, she waves her piece of apple in the air like a wand. “ Rawr .”
“Exactly,” I say with a grin.
The rest of the day goes wonderfully, with the children playing in the sunshine and Vince working with me in the gardens. He’s so helpful, and working with him miraculously gets four times the amount of work done that I could do myself. Which means we get to take lots of breaks to do things like watching the clouds with the girls, playing tag and hide-and-seek, and fitting them all with daisy-chain crowns.
It’s like a dream.
Until Mom comes home, and everything gets more tense.
We adults are keenly aware of it, but we silently agree to disguise the unease so the children won’t notice it; it’s not for them to feel. The chatter remains upbeat and jovial, but no adult topics are discussed until they’re fast asleep in their beds.
We sit around the big table, sipping our herbal teas in silence.
“He smells like you,” Mom says eventually, without looking at me.
“Good. I want him to.” I press my face to his big bicep and breathe him in. “He also smells of dirt, hard work, and sunshine. Did you see the gardens on your way in?”
Mom nods and keeps her gaze low.
Vince takes an audible breath, runs a hand through his hair, and re-ties the bun at the base of his skull. His big arm comes around me, and he gives my hip a gentle squeeze before leaving his hand to rest there. “I have some good news,” he says. “If anyone wants to hear it.”
“I do.” I look up and search his face. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“It wasn’t appropriate to discuss in front of the kids,” he says. “It’s about your father.”
Mom’s head snaps up, her eyes wide in alarm. I reach across the table, rest my hand over hers, and turn back to Vince. “ Good news?”
“Well, not for him,” he says with a half-shrug. “He’s dead. So you can stop worrying about him, finding you. You’re all safe.”
Safe? No need to keep watching over our shoulders? No need to ever find a new home? It seems so unreal that the monster we’ve been running from no longer exists. I grip Mom’s hand a little more tightly. “He’s really dead ?”
Vince nods. “For a long time now, if my research is accurate — and I like to think it is. I’m kind of a pro when it comes to solving mysteries.” He watches my mother, and she hangs on his every word, as if she can’t believe what she’s hearing either.
I lean back against Vince and blow out a sigh as I shake my head. “A long time? How long? Years? Have we been safe for years ? How many times have we moved, to stay undetected? He hasn’t been chasing us?”
“Oh, he definitely was when he was alive.” Vince takes another sip of his tea. “After I saw y’all react to my job like he’d set me on you, I looked into it, so I could make sure you were safe. He’s been gone about a decade, and you’re moving around doesn’t matter so much, if you think about where all that running brought you.” He gestures at the house and out the window. “And it may be of some comfort that justice caught up with him in the end. He died younger than most, but if you ask me, he earned that bad karma. Should we talk about other things now? Like how awkward it is for us all to be in the same room together?”
“I… Thank you.” I pull his hand to my lips and kiss his knuckles. “I’m not sure you realize how badly we needed to hear that.” I look at Mom, who still seems to be in shock. Does she need more closure? Can’t trust the truth? I turn back to Vince. “How did he die? Do you know?”
“All signs pointed to natural causes.” He sips his tea. “Can I get you anything?” he asks when I shiver. “A sweater? I think I saw a throw on the armchair by the?—”
I stay him with a hand on his arm when he gets up to fetch a blanket for me. “I’m fine, thank you,” I say. “ Summer’s finally arrived and it’s perfectly warm. It was a different kind of shiver — the kind that are best shaken off. Perhaps we should change the subject,” I say, looking at Mom, who seems slightly more relaxed now.
It’d be a shame to upset her by asking Vince to stay over. I’m not sure she’d ever be comfortable enough to sleep with a man in the house. It’s taken me years to want to try it. Paul didn’t count, since he was so elderly and frail by the time we moved into the big house to help him.
The awkward silence continues. Mom looks between me and Vince, her thoughts unknown as her expression flits from concern to resignation. “I’m going to bed,” she says, standing. She meets Vince’s gaze. “You are not to stay in the house.”
He nods. “I was going to stay with my friend. Until we’re all comfortable with something more inclusive. I understand the girls will need time to adjust.” He stands too. “ All the girls,” he adds, nodding at Mom before turning to me. “I doubt your mother will be able to rest easy with me in the house, so I’ll politely take my leave.”
“But…” I look from him to Mom, and then back to him. My legs want to jog on the spot, and I want to pout worse than Luna does when bath time is over.
“You’re adults.” Mom sighs. “If you insist on rushing into this insane arrangement, then as long as you’re elsewhere, what you do together is up to you. I’ll mind the children,” she says before heading for the door.
I hurry behind her and give her the biggest hug my swollen breasts will allow. She tilts her head to mine and nods. “You mind that man keeps his promises, or I’ll gut him with a rusty axe. ”
Vince chuckles behind us, and I kiss Mom’s cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”
She grunts her approval, and then tips her head at my chest. “You may want to lay off the lactation herbs, Frederica. You’re bigger than ever.”
“It’s fine.” I wave her off. “I’ll switch to something different as soon as I’m pregnant, but I don’t want to give up my ability to breastfeed yet.”
“As long as you know what you’re doing,” she says, as she starts to climb the stairs. “Make sure you get enough sleep.”
“I will,” I call after her before snagging Vince’s hand and pulling him out the back door.
By the time I’ve led him to the soft grass under the big tree, out in the field, my dress is in his hand, along with his tiger T-shirt. I spin to face him and unbutton his jeans to free his big cock.
He drops our things, picks me up, and nuzzles his beardy face between my full breasts, breathing me in. He lowers my feet back onto the grass, toes off his boots and strips naked in the moonlight. “I fucking love the country,” he rumbles, sinking to his knees before me. “No neighbors. No bright lights. Night flowers, scenting the air.” He presses his face to my curls and inhales with an appreciative hum, before he spreads my folds and takes a big, swirling lick of me.
My legs buckle, and he supports my weight and lowers me down on top of him as he lies on the ground, so I’m straddling his stomach, and my breasts are crowding his face. He laps at my nipples, teasing them into needy peaks. “ Vince . ”
“I know, beautiful angel. Everything’s going to be wonderful.”
He latches onto my breast and tugs hard, like he was teasing himself and now can’t wait any longer. He wants his milk.
And I want to give it to him.
The letdown hits in a heady rush, and I spray into his mouth. He rumbles and claws at me, pulling me closer as he devours my flow like a man possessed. He thrusts his hips, and I slick his abs while his massive dick smacks at my ass.
He releases one breast and takes the other into his mouth, sucking and drinking my milk like it’s going to disappear before he can get his fill.
“I made you plenty,” I whisper, rocking my clit against him, and then wriggling my ass closer to his dick. I trap the bulbous head of his cock between my thighs and soak it in the juices he’s inspired. I love how thick and big he is. It makes my pussy gush when I think about him driving into me. I buck, trying to coax him inside.
He moans into my flesh and grips my hips in his big hands. He pushes me at his cock and tugs at my breast, until I start to pant and whimper and spread for him.
My pussy stretches to its limits, and I try to take him inside in a rush, the way I did last time, but he’s stronger and keeps me from doing so. I’m forced to take his slow, torturous pressure that pulls my entrance so taut, I feel wrong for loving that it’s starting to hurt.
But then he rocks my hips and switches breasts again, confusing my body with an intoxicating mix of rhythm and pleasure .
The urge to come sneaks up on me in a rush. The tugging at my breast intensifies, and it’s hard to catch my breath, as I pull tight inside.
Vince grunts and forces his fat cock a tiny bit deeper, stretching me even more, until I can’t bare it.
I cry out and come on the head of his cock in powerful, jerky waves, and he moans like I’m the most wonderful thing in the world. Cum shoots from his dick so hard, I feel it. Warm spurts, spreading through my pussy as it flutters and spasms.
The pressure at my entrance increases and then eases. Once, twice. He pushes inside me, lubricated by his own seed. My pussy clamps around his girth, rippling with delight at having him home at last.
“I love you,” I say on a moan.
He stills. My breast slips from his mouth, and he licks his lips as he meets my gaze. His cock strains within me, and I shiver until another thread of spasms settles around the throbbing fullness.
“That’s the first time you’ve said that.”
I nod and press a kiss over his heart. “And I mean it.”
The corners of his mouth twitch in an almost-smile, as if he’s not quite sure if he believes me, but then he beams fully, his whole face aglow in the light of the moon. “I’m glad.”
“Good.” I slide upward, to kiss his lips, and then I ride his semi-hard cock for a while, loving the way he fills me so nicely, and the way his slippery cum cools on my skin in the night air. “I’m keeping you, Vincent Monaghan.”