“Hey. Slow down.” I cup her cheeks. “I’m not mad, and I would never send you to a shelter.”
Her eyes water. “B-but you said–”
“The animal shelter.”
Her teary eyes light up. “Oh.”
“Has someone treated you like this? Thrown you away?”
“No, well, I mean, yes. My mother gave me up, and I bounced around from one foster home to another. I think a lot of the parents didn’t understand me, or maybe they didn’t want to. It doesn’t matter, I guess.”
“It matters. You matter.” I’ve never been surer of anything in my life, and I’m not a man to make bets lightly. But this sweet girl with the pink hair and the big heart–I’d bet it all on her. “Don’t ever think for a second I’d toss you aside.”
“Really?” She blinks, a tear falling down her cheek.
I wipe it away with my thumb. “Really. Believe me, little bird, I want you to be happy. This arrangement of ours isn’t going to be just for my benefit.” I glance at her lips again because I’m a bastard. Even when she’s in distress, I want her.
“I’ll get benefits?”
I smirk. “All the benefits you can handle and more.”
She leans against one of my palms. “It sounds kind of dirty but also kind of hot. Wait, did I say that out loud?”
“You did.” I lean closer, our lips almost touching. “I can make it as dirty and hot as you like. I can have you crying out in pleasure. I can lick you until you collapse from too many orgasms, and I can give you every hard inch until you think you can’t take anymore. But you will. You’ll be a good girl for me, won’t you?”
“Y-yes.” She swallows hard, her fear gone and lust in its place.
“That’s what married people do, right?”
“Right.” She agrees easily, and I love the feeling that I could get her to agree to almost anything right now. I drop one hand from her face and run my fingers up her thigh.
Her eyelashes flutter.
“As husband and wife, you should expect my touch.” I slide my fingers higher, and higher still until I’m almost at her panties. “Everywhere on your beautiful body, little bird. I’m going to touch and taste each inch of you.”
“Because that’s what married people do?” she breathes.
“Exactly.” I push farther, and when my fingertips find her soaked panties, I groan. I want to suck all her sweet honey from the fabric and then feast on her.
Antony coughs into his hand. “Sir? We’re here.”
Fuck. I’d forgotten all about him.
She turns to look out the window and gasps. “Kitties!”
An entire crew of felines sits in the front window of the shelter, the falling sun hitting them perfectly. They’re lounging like a pride of lions.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” She bounces in her seat. “Can we go in?”
“The entire shelter is yours for however long it takes for you to decide which one you want.” Antony gets out and opens the door for us.
I step out, then offer her my hand. She takes it and stands, then practically runs toward the doors.
Antony gives me a strange look. I don’t blame him. He’s never seen me so much as look at a woman. But, of course, that’s because no other woman deserved my notice. Maddie is different.
She squeals as she presses her palms to the glass, the cats waking up and prancing around in front of her, their tails high and straight. “Look, they’re excited to see me!”
I glance down at my pants, and if the state of affairs there is any indication, she’s absolutely right.
Taking her arm, I lead her inside. The lady at the desk gives us a curious glance, but she doesn’t say anything except ‘welcome.’ My sizeable donation to the shelter brooks any argument or prying questions.
“Look at this one. Oh, and that one!” Maddie is bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I’m sorry. I know I’m acting kind of crazy, but I’ve never been able to have a kitty of my own. I love them, that’s why I cat sit, but I’ve never had one to snuggle with and love on and spoil.”
I open the door to the cat room and usher her inside. “Look around, make friends, do what you need to do to pick the right one.”
Another message from Claudio arrives.
“I don’t know how I’m going to choose.” She reaches out and pets a striped creature sitting on the middle tier of a cat tree. “They’re all so precious.”
I get another message, this one flashing “911” from Claudio. I silence it, then lean against the glass as Maddie sweet talks each cat and hands out treats from her bag like a feline Santa Claus.
“I love you. And you, and you. You, too. I love you!” She scratches one behind its ears.
I watch the happiness inside her multiply with each new cat she meets. Somehow, her happiness is infectious. I find myself smiling at her, enjoying her glee almost as much as if it were my own. For the first time in my life, I feel almost … content. Maddie’s given me this, and I intend to give her so much more.