He studied me a moment. Then he pressed his body closer and cupped my left cheek in his hand. He bent down and pressed a kiss to my mouth. “You own my heart. Love seems too weak a word for this Beulah. But if that’s what you need to hear. Yes, I love you.”
Love wasn’t a weak word. It was powerful. It was the most important thing a human being could experience. Love was precious and unique. And once you experienced it, you were changed. There were different levels of love. There were loves you’d never lose. There were loves that came for a time and marked you. There were loves that were beautiful and fleeting. But each one was important. Each one the grandest part of life.
He ran a hand through my hair. Letting his fingers tangle in the locks. I leaned into his touch. “Loving someone is as close to heaven we can experience on earth,” I told him.
He gave me a crooked grin. “No, Beulah. When I’m deep inside you is as close to heaven on earth as it’ll ever get. Hell, baby, I’d argue that even heaven isn’t that sacred.”
I slapped his arm. “Stone, don’t say that.”
He leaned down and kissed me. Long and slow. Sweet and soft. I wrapped my arms around his neck and enjoyed the taste and emotion that came from the connection. His hands ran down my body, cupped my bottom and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked me over to the table.
“How much longer does the pasta have?” he asked.
“Twenty minutes,” I told him. “Longer if I put it to simmer.”
“Twenty minutes is good,” he said. His pants were already pulled down and he was inside me. Slowly he sank in, and I winced but it was a delicious feeling. “I swore I was going to give you time before I was inside you again but I can’t. I want to stay up inside you. No end.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “I love being sore from you,” I told him. “It excites me. I feel naughty having been used so much it hurts.”
He growled and his jaw clenched. “I’m going slow this time. Stop taunting me. You make me lose it and it hurts you. If you’ll keep that naughty little mouth shut we will do this slow and easy.”
I ran my hands over my breasts as he watched me, sliding my right hand down to touch where he entered me. He froze and watched as I began playing with my swollen clit. When he started moving again he was breathing hard and his eyes were on me touching myself.
The excitement in his gaze only added to the way it made me feel. I was showing him how I pleased myself while he pleased me even more.
“Do you touch yourself when you’re alone?” he asked huskily.
“Yes. When I’m in the bath,” I admitted.
“I want to fuck you hard. Watch you scream. Watch you come apart under me. Keep touching that pussy and I will. My restraint is almost gone, baby.”
I lifted my hand away and his eyes followed my finger as I moved it to my mouth and licked it.
“Jesus,” he muttered.
I stuck my tongue out and ran the finger over it to the tip then used the finger to begin to play again. That was his breaking point. He grabbed my thighs and rocked deep into me with no restraint. When I moaned his name, he moved faster. His eyes glazed over from the building release we both knew was coming.
I held my knees up to his waist and he grabbed my left one and pulled my ankle up to his shoulder. He was deeper now. I sucked in air at the shock.
“Do you think about this when you play with that pussy?” he asked.
“Yes!” I admitted. I had thought of him many times even when I felt guilty for it.
“You’re gonna play with it tonight. I’m going to stand over you and watch until I shoot my load all over your hand and thighs.”
The idea of that made my body hum with more wicked heat. “AH! AH!” I was so close. “Stone! Yes! Oh, oh!” The light shattered around me. I grabbed at his arms and felt my nails sink into his skin.
“GOD! FUCK! I CAN’T,” he yelled and the heat from his release was shot inside me as his body shook. “HELL!”
The heat and simple knowledge he was coming inside me was intense. His release of pleasure in my body sent me spiraling further into that world of ecstasy. The one I wanted to live in.
Stone lowered his body over mine and his face buried in my neck. “Jesus, Beulah. I can’t do that again. But you make it so hard to pull away. I want to be inside you when I come. That is love, baby. Pure fucking love.”
I giggled and pressed my lips to his head. “When you let me leave this apartment again I will get birth control. It takes 30 days before it works though.”
He lifted slightly. “There’s a shot that works immediately. You need that. You’ll be pregnant in a month.”
Although he was teasing he was also serious.
“Okay. I’ll get the shot.”
He sighed. “Thank you.”
“I should check on the pasta,” I reminded him.
“Sorry I forgot,” he said moving off me. “Need me to get you a towel for between your legs?”
I stood up letting the T-shirt slide back over me. “No. I like how it feels.” I walked past him and went to check the fettuccini. After taking it off the stove and stirring it I looked up to find him watching me.
“It’s ready.”
“I won’t be able to eat thinking about my come dripping down your thighs.”
“Why not?”
He ran a hand through his hair and groaned. “You are going to kill me.”
Laughing, I grabbed plates from the cabinets and wondered if I should fear the future. Could I face losing him? Or should I enjoy the present and forget about the pain I might face one day.
“Beulah,” he said my name and I turned to him.
“You, are my fate.”
I stood there a moment and let that sink in. Then I realized I was wrong. Maybe there was something stronger than love.
Stone
I WATCHED HER CAR DRIVE away from the window of my apartment. When I’d woken up in the middle of the night with an ache for her I’d fought it off. She needed her rest. Keeping her home with me locked away from the world two days in a row was selfish. I had to find a way to go through the day without having her right there beside me. This was new for me, the constant yearning.
Gerry would fill her ears full of stories from her day out shopping before she forgot what year it was and began planning some event or a visit where dead people would be involved. Seeing her with Gerry had been the last straw for me. Fighting this thing that pulled me to her had been hard enough. Reminding myself that Jasper loved her and although I knew he’d never be able to be the man she deserved, I tried to be a good man. The kind that didn’t go after the woman his best friend loved.
Eventually, that didn’t matter. When your fate is made clear, you can’t run from it. It owns you. And you want it to. You fucking thank God for it.
Once her car was completely out of sight, I sighed and stepped away from the window. I had to get my head clear enough to focus on work. I also needed to plan how to deal with Jasper. This wasn’t something he needed to find out through our social network. Because I didn’t plan on hiding this. Beulah would be with me publically. I had a charity event that my father expected me to attend here in Savannah next weekend. Beulah would go with me. Jasper would know within hours. That is if he didn’t come himself.
I walked back to the kitchen and cleaned the cup I’d used for my coffee. I loaded the dishwasher with my cup and Beulah’s. Her scent was all over the place. As much as I loved it, the sweet lingering fragrance made it hard to think of anything else. She had work. I should work. Tonight, however, I’d take her on the balcony. Late. In the darkness. Covering her mouth so no one could hear her cries of pleasure.