“It gets better.” I’ve heard those words before, but it’s the first time I believe them. “Not today. Not tomorrow. Not anytime soon. But it does start to fade until you can manage it.”
“How?” I breathe the word through my tears.
“I can’t tell you how. It’s different for every survivor.”
The word survivor makes me reach for his hand. He tightens his fingers around mine, and for a while, we sit together.
“I’m a survivor,” I whisper.
Marcus stands up and gives my hand a tight squeeze. “You’re a survivor, Della.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead before he starts to walk away.
“Marcus,” I call out to him.
“Yeah,” he says from over his shoulder.
“You should come visit more.”
A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “Sure.”
***
CARTER
Della started working last week. She’s only been going in half days. At least I got her to compromise on that. If it were up to her she would’ve worked full days.
Next week Jamie starts school. Della couldn’t go with me to enroll Jamie because the marks were still too visible.
I sit and watch as Della and Jamie look at a shirt for school. Danny’s sitting at my feet, and playing with a doll.
Jamie grabs a dress and holds it up against her body. She starts to walk funny, and when she swings around, she squints her eyes and pushes her front teeth over her bottom lip. I chuckle at the funny face she’s pulling.
“I’m gonna be the prettiest gal at the ball,” she says in squeaky voice.
Danny starts to laugh next to me and then Della laughs.
Emotion wells up in at the sight of her smiling face. Fuck, I missed hearing her laugh.
***
Later when the girls are both asleep, I sit on the bed looking over some documents for the takeover we’re busy with.
The bathroom door opens and when Della comes out naked, the papers fall from my hands.
She crawls onto the bed and over my legs. She keeps her eyes on mine while she shoves the papers onto the floor.
She unzips my pants and I let her pull them off. I yank my shirt over my head and lean back again. She places a kiss to my thigh, then her fingers wrap around my cock. She strokes me lightly and it sends tingles of pleasure racing over my skin. A moan bubbles up from the back of my throat as she starts to stroke me faster.
I’ll do anything she wants, and it’s not because she’s literally got me by the balls, but because I love her with every ounce of my being.
She leans a bit forward and my eyes widen. Fuck, she’s going to take me in her mouth. The thought alone makes my cock jump with anticipation in her hand. My breath hitches and my stomach tightens.
She pumps my cock once more time before her lips wrap around me. A breath of hot air bursts over my sensitive skin, again making my cock jerk.
She starts to suck while twirling her tongue around the sensitive head of my cock, almost making me come right then.
“Fuck, Della. It feels fucking good. Don’t stop,” I growl as my hips start to thrust, wanting to plunge my cock deeper inside her mouth.