Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
When I turn back, I see Arlo pulling down his bottom lip. I’m confused at first until the tattooist lifts the gun and begins a freehand tattoo on the inside of Arlo’s lip. Curious, I step closer. It doesn’t take long for him to finish, and when he rolls back on his stool, I see one word inked there.
Hers.
Arlo wipes his mouth and then turns to face me.
“Did it hurt?”
“No, surprisingly not.” He stands and pays the tattooist before we leave.
“What does it mean?” I ask, nervous excitement vibrating through me.
“Yours” is all he says in response. I’m so stunned by his words that, without thinking, I grab him by his collar, take him around the corner of the tattoo shop, and lean in to kiss his neck. He lets me, and his mouth finds mine as I push him against the brick wall and start to grind myself on him. He takes that invitation as all he needs, lifting me and slamming my back against the wall. The skirt I was wearing bunches up, and I try but fail to reach between us so I can feel him. Instead, he knows exactly what I am doing, and I hear the sound of his zipper as he continues to kiss my neck before I feel him pull my underwear to the side, and he slams straight into me.
Relief floods through me, hard and long, filling every fiber of my being.
I love this man with every part of me.
And he loves me.
Arlo is what I have been chasing to feed my naughty ways, and I didn’t even know it.
But he knew it.
He slams into me as his mouth devours mine, and I have to remember not to bite his bottom lip as he fucks me up against the brick wall, which is scraping against my back.
But fuck, it’s hard not to do.
My nails dig into his back through his clothes as we both come hard and fast, neither of us able to catch our breath as our lips stay connected.
“And you didn’t even need the beads.” I joke.
And with those words, he pulls back and winks at me.
FORTY-SIX
ARLO
It’s been close to four weeks since we buried Delaney, and I haven’t had the urge to wrap anything around my hands since then. I think it’s because my mind is so preoccupied with a certain woman who constantly fills my thoughts. I literally can’t get enough of her, and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about me.
Cora tries not to spend every night with me, and sometimes, I abide by her rules, knowing it won’t last very long. I think we’ve spent two whole nights apart, and she complained to me both times about how she couldn’t sleep and that I should spend the night again.
Soren has mentioned her a few times and even hinted at marriage. But I have assured him that it will come. I just have to do it at the correct time. I didn’t want to ask her to marry me when she was burying her best friend. I may be “slightly” obsessed with her, but I have enough common sense to know that wasn’t the time. And then someone mentioned that maybe she’s trauma-bonding to me, but it’s not that either. We simply enjoy each other’s company and can’t get enough of touching one another. If I could spend every night burying myself inside her, I would gladly do it. When we’re out in public, she has to repeatedly brush my hands away from her because I’m constantly touching her.
She took me to a work event once, and I fucked her in the bathroom. When we were done, she made me promise only to touch her hand for the rest of the night so that we wouldn’t end up right back in the bathroom.
I’m wildly in love with her. I never once thought I would love a woman the way I love her. Sure, I always loved fucking them, but there was nothing beyond that. I was terrified to let a woman in because of the abuse I endured at the hands of a woman. But I can tell when I’m spiraling now, and I know how to pull myself out of it. When I’m with Cora, she puts me at ease, and that’s something incredibly new and refreshing for me. I’d always needed my own space and never wanted anyone else to come into it, but I have welcomed her with open arms into every aspect of my life.
She has her belongings here in my bathroom and clothes in my closet that she’s left behind over the past few weeks. I had a new chest of drawers brought in just for her. I don’t think she’s even realized it. Maybe she thought it was there all along, and I don’t plan to tell her any different.