“Depends on what it is.”
“Promise me that when you’re ready, you’ll do a showcase of your work. You’ll share this with the world.”
He laughed. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Fine. When I’m ready, I’ll do it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Give me your word.”
“I give it to you.”
I bit my bottom lip. “How much does your word mean to you?” I asked him, echoing one of the first things he’d ever asked me.
“Everything,” he whispered, his stare falling to my lips. Then when his eyes rose once more and locked with mine, he said it louder, “It means everything.” He stood and walked out of the room, then walked back in with his camera in his grip. He gestured it toward me. “May I?” he asked.
I sat a bit straighter and shifted on the cushion. “How should I pose?” I jokingly started tossing my arms around in the air striking ridiculous poses.
“Just be yourself,” he said as he began snapping pictures. I laughed, feeling goofy and a bit shy. He smiled and bit his bottom lip. “Yes,” he whispered. “Just like that.”
I felt a pool of heat fall to the pit of my stomach as I smiled his way, watching him fall into his passion, the same passion I’d watch Kevin partake in my whole life. Even though he never knew his father, it was no secret that pieces of Kevin still existed within Damian’s soul.
And at that moment, with the camera in his hand, Damian appeared happy. Free, even. He looked more like himself than ever before.
Just like that, Damian.
Just like that.
Sometimes, our evening conversations went places I never thought they’d go.
“What do you mean he’s never gone down on you?” Damian asked, looking extremely concerned. “That’s the bare minimum of what a man should be doing to please his woman.”
I shrugged. “We were young when we first hooked up. He said he didn’t like the idea of doing it. Said it was gross and never changed his mind.”
“Only an idiot would say some stupid shit like that. Going down on a woman is like going to your favorite restaurant and finding out it’s a luxury all-you-can-eat buffet.”
I laughed. “You make it sound like Disney World—the happiest place on earth.”
“Trust me, Stella, eating a woman out is guaranteed to be better than any ride at Disney.” He paused and then sat up on his elbows and studied me. “Wait. How many men have you been with before Jeff?”
“None. He’s my one and only.”
His concern grew deeper as he pushed himself to sit up from the couch. “So, not only hasn’t Jeff not gone down on you, but you’ve never, in all your years of life, had a guy go down on you?”
I shook my head.
He sighed and then began to unbutton the cuffs on his button-down and rolled up his sleeves. “All right. Let’s go.”
I sat up on my elbows. “What?”
“I’ve never heard such a depressing thing in my life, so as your husband, I am going to fix this harsh news. I’m going to show you what you’ve been missing.”
“You can’t be serious.” I lightly chuckled even though the butterflies in my stomach were going wild. Of course, he was kidding.
He cocked an eyebrow at me and tilted his head in confusion. “Of course, I’m not kidding.”
My heart was running wild within my chest as I stared at him in complete disbelief.
He grimaced. “Unless you don’t want to—”
“No!” I remarked, shaking my head. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
He stood from the couch and held his hand out toward me. “Your room or mine?”
“Are you sure you don’t want the lights off?” I asked, feeling my nerves building as I sat there in my bra and panties, covering my body.
“I definitely don’t want the lights off,” he said confidently. He sat on the bed. “Now, come sit on my chest.”
I did as he said, feeling chills racing through my system.
“Stella,” he sternly whispered, sitting up as I straddled his lap. I was hovering over his body, making sure not to put my full weight against his chest in fear I would crush him. His hands landed against my waistline. “When I say sit on my chest”—he gave my body a small tug, lowering me more so I was fully sitting on him—“I mean sit on my chest.”
I bit my bottom lip. “What if I hurt you?”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“But—”
“You can’t hurt me,” he repeated with a confidence that somehow turned me on even more than I already had been.
I fully relaxed my body. The more I relaxed against him, the more he smiled. The more he smiled, the more I relaxed. It was wild to me how we worked together in that way. How we both made one another feel safe just by being ourselves.
“Good girl,” he said as he bent forward and traced his tongue against the curve of my breasts which were perked up from my push-up bra. A pool of heat fell between my legs as he called me good girl, making me want to be nothing less than a perfectly obedient student in his classroom.