“So sweet, Cairo.” Her foot stroked my pecs.
“—so you might as well understand the truth about Nora now,” I continued. “She likes life to be on the right side of perfect. Perfect education. Perfect career. The perfect jet-setting guy she falls in love with during the perfect trip to Egypt. All very romantic and shit. You could make a movie about it.
“But wait, the handsome Jack Sharpe isn’t so perfect. He hits the bottle a little too hard, has no ambition, and only went to Egypt because he was between jobs and didn’t know what else to do with his life. Don’t get me wrong, he worshiped the woman. Would’ve done anything to make her happy, but he just wasn’t quite—”
“—perfect,” she whispered.
I inclined my head. “She was fucking around with Isaac before I was a thought. It’s only by chance Jack’s sperm got there first. Nora got it right on the second try, and then she had the hook to make him leave his wife for her. Took a few years but she finally got it.” I swept the space. “Big house. Rich husband. Perfect daughter. Unfortunately, there was still me.”
“Paris said her father wouldn’t agree to custody of you.”
“Paris knows Nora’s version of the custody battle. Family court is backward and sexist, Rain. Constantly swinging rulings in the mother’s favor because of an outdated fantasy that pushing a kid out of your vagina magically transforms you into a nurturing feminine goddess. Those fools never met Nora. If she wanted me, her second husband couldn’t say shit about it. It wasn’t up to him.”
She defied my attempt to put distance between us and rested her chin on my chest. “What’s the real version?”
“I was ‘a behavior problem.’ Acting up at school. Picking fights. Throwing bags of dog shit at Isaac whenever that fucker was in range.”
Her eyes bugged. “You what?”
“Got the wettest and rankest just for him.”
“Cairo,” she cried, giggles leaking through her lips. “You pelted the man with shit?”
“Bet your ass. Got him three times in the same day once.”
She howled, shaking on top of me. A beat after I was laughing too. I said this woman was magic.
“Anyway, with all that going on, Nora stood up and told the judge the best thing for me was stability. A new home and stepfather were too much during this time of upheaval, and I was better off living with Jack. She’d revisit custody when I was ready. In other words, when I was willing to sit down, shut up, and play happy family.”
“I’m sorry, Cairo.”
She rubbed my chest, trying to seep comfort into my bones. Rain was ten years too late from the time that could’ve made a difference.
“So what’s all of this now? Is it possible she wants to reconcile? It’s not about custody anymore. You’re a grown man. Nora doesn’t have to care for you or be responsible for your actions. She can be a mother to you without... being a mother.”
I traced her lips. “You are perceptive, Rain. Hit it right on the head, and now I’m wondering if you already know this story,” I said. “Yes, that’s exactly why she’s playing the role now. Nora isn’t a favorite of the Bay Avenue wives. She stole one of their husbands and abandoned her kid like a puppy in a cardboard box.
“Wasn’t much she could do about that before since neither one of us wanted me in this house, but I’m twenty-one now. I can be her ‘baby’ again.”
“Oh, my wolf.” She kissed me. “I can throw dog shit at her if it’ll make you feel better.”
I cracked a smile against her lips. “Nah. I’m good. She lives her life, I live mine. Gotta be here right now for Paris, but a few more days and we’ll be out of here.”
“I’m coming too?” She pecked my mouth, nose, and cheeks.
“You’re with me. Always.”
She cheesed like I said I loved her. Why should I? She was saying it for me.
“Whatever you say.”
“Why weren’t you this agreeable in the beginning?” I positioned her over my cock.
“I’m not this agreeable now.”
“No? We’ll see about that.” I lurched forward, catching her bottom lip between my teeth. “Under the water, bitch. Suck my dick.”
She slapped me. “Fuck you.”
Rain shrieked as I leaped on her, sloshing half the water out of the tub. We wrestled ferociously—stiffening my cock painfully. I needed to be inside this woman like I needed her screams, her tears, her touch, her taste.
I bent her neck back, pressing my dick to her bared teeth.
Maybe this was love.
RAINEY
Roan crouched in front of the door, screwing in the new electronic locks complete with camera. Cairo stuck it out for a week in his mother’s house. I endured the frosty dinners—Nora chattering on about work and everyday life while Paris’s dad glared daggers at Cairo. He finally voiced his thoughts the night before, whipping out a snide comment about Paris transferring to another university where she couldn’t get caught up in Cairo’s messes.