“You’ve been asleep a long time, Baby girl.”
She rolls to the side, shoves the covers down, and crawls onto my lap, hugging my neck.
I close my eyes and thank God for gifting me this amazing woman who is in my life for good. I love that she feels comfortable enough to wrap herself around me, to lean on me for support—both emotional and physical.
Before she went to sleep, I handed her a lavender cotton nightgown and told her to change in the bathroom. I didn’t think the frilly dress would be comfortable for napping in. She obeyed me without question, which was a relief because I still haven’t actually seen my girl naked. I’ve grazed her clit blindly, I’ve stroked her nipples over her bra, under her sweater, and I’ve palmed her pussy over her leggings. That’s the extent of our sexual contact.
She slept in my arms last night, but she was wearing a similar nightie to this one, and I was in shorts.
“Have they found him yet?” she asks.
“Not yet, Baby. They will.”
“And then what? You’ll immediately leave and go cut his balls off?”
I chuckle. She’s kind of cute when she says that. I’m pretty sure she means it. But I don’t think it’s a joke to her.
She leans back, lifts one knee over my thigh, and straddles my leg. Her palms come to my face. “Do you think he has shared those videos of me with anyone else?”
“It’s not likely, sweetheart.” I fucking hate that this is happening to her. “Men like Samson are greedy. They like to keep their perceived conquests to themselves. If he intended to share the videos, he would have blackmailed you. But that was never his goal. He probably wouldn’t have told you they existed. His intent was to swoop into your life and become the most important person in your world. He wanted to make you feel like you needed him until you fell in love with him.”
She smirks. “That would never have happened in any universe because I was already in love with someone else.”
I smile. “Convenient.”
She shrugs. “Yeah. Plus, the man I love is ten hundred thousand times more attractive than Frank.” She shudders and squishes up her nose. “Gross.”
My chest is tight from all this tossing around of the L word. She just said she loves me. Twice.
I decide to give it back to her in the same fashion, as if we’re discussing people who are not us. “I know what you mean. I’m in love with this amazing woman with the prettiest auburn hair I’ve ever seen. She’s also ten hundred thousand times more attractive than Frank.”
Autumn snorts. Then she inches forward, still holding my face. When her knee rubs against my cock, my breath hitches.
I grab her waist. “Autumn…”
She cocks her head to the side. “What?” Is she batting her eyes?
“You naughty little imp.”
She smooths her hands down to my shoulders and fingers my collar. “I was dreaming about you.”
“Is that so?”
She nods. This silly coy side of her is adorable, but if she thinks I’m going to make love to her today, she’s wrong.
I grab Autumn’s hips, lift her off me, and stand her on her feet on the floor. “Go into the closet and put some clothes on. You need to eat. I made dinner.”
She stares at me, frozen, not blinking at all now. Eventually, her cheeks turn red, and she drops her head. Before I can stop her, she turns and runs into the walk-in.
Fuck. I didn’t handle that very well.
I shove off the edge of the bed and follow her, finding her standing in front of her drawers with one open. She’s not reaching for anything, though. She’s trying to pretend she’s focused on undergarments.
I come up behind her and haul her against me, kissing her temple. “Hey…”
She says nothing. Her arms are limp at her sides.
With one hand, I push the clothes on the rack aside so I can set my girl on top of the dresser. I cup her face. “Look at me, Baby girl.”