Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“Want me to lick it better?” I heard myself grunt out.
“Yes, thank you.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Dallas
It could be claimed, with some justification, that I often overestimated my acting abilities. But not today. I did something a little bad. Okay, a lot bad. I faked a tear. What can I say? After Romeo chose a company he hated over SIDS prevention, it was a cathartic experience watching him fall all over himself because he thought I was distraught.
I wasn’t distraught. Not at all. In fact, I loved it when he grabbed my throat, adored it when he bit my nipples, and got off on it when he thrust into me so hard, I felt him reach my belly. And when he lowered to his knees, licked his own semen from my legs, and trailed his tongue further north until it disappeared inside me—licking, suckling, kissing my clit, and scraping his teeth on it until I came on his face—I was just about ready to donate both my kidneys and my liver to get a repeat.
Could goading Romeo with Madison for the millionth time be classified as immoral? Sure. Was guilt-tripping my husband into considering babies a new low? Perhaps. But did I feel bad about it? Not in the slightest.
Hours later, I pranced around the house in Disney pajamas I’d bought on the Internet. No way would Romeo approve of them—an extra bonus that led me to purchase the set in all colors.
After dinner, which he’d taken in the dining room while I ravaged mine straight from the oven, Romeo tucked himself into his study, probably doing boring, grown-up things. I gossiped with Frankie on the phone, munching on a sugar cane. Each time I remembered my agreement with him, a smile lifted my cheeks.
Sure, my first full-blown sexual experience was … weird. I never orgasmed. Well, not until he ate me out after. And the too-tight fit pained me. But there was something thrilling about seeing my husband truly lose control for the first time since we’d gotten married.
“Is he still giving you a hard time?” Frankie cooed on the other line. “The hot, irritating bastard.”
I couldn’t very well tell her he’d given me a few other hard things. She wouldn’t understand. In fact, I didn’t understand what was happening between me and Romeo, either. I knew a fat red line existed between love and lust, but what happened when you straddled it? I didn’t want to find out.
“He’s horrible!” I said cheerfully, crushing the cane between my molars. “The absolute worst. I constantly do things to make him mad. Just today, I went on a lunch date with Madison. And invited the paparazzi.”
“Ugh. Madison.” Frankie gagged. “He was in Chapel Falls last week. Did I tell you? Went around moping about how much he misses you. The lying scumbag. Took both Deidre Sweeting and Jean Caldwell into his bed with his crocodile tears. Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Frankie. Mean gossip is beneath us.”
“Aw, Dal.” I could picture her exaggerated frown. “But nice gossip is so boring.”
We both giggled.
“How’s school?” I changed the subject, from fear that if we spoke about Romeo for too long, I’d break down and confess that no matter how much I hated him outside of bed, inside of it, I was his number one fan. “Anything interesting happen?”
“I failed most of my midterms, which I guess is fascinating. At least to Momma, Daddy, and our nosy neighbors.”
I sighed. “You need to make an effort, Frankie.”
“Oh, but I am. I’m making an effort not to lose my V-card before marriage. And that’s plenty difficult.”
“Frankie. You know what happens if you give the milk before he buys the cow.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be bought. Maybe I want to partake in the goddamn twenty-first century.”
If only things were that simple. We both knew we were products of our upbringing. That we played by the rules of the place we came from. Human nature, for all the progress it had made, was still tribal by nature. Moving to Potomac had freed me, though I’d exchanged one cage for another.
“Is there anyone in particular that tickles your fancy?” I glided down the banister from the second floor to the first, just to see if Romeo would bark at me for doing so. To test whether he’d stopped watching me through the security camera. The house remained eerily quiet. So far, he was fulfilling his part of the bargain.
My sister’s grin traveled through the line. “There are lots of somebodies.” Her voice became somber at once. “Are you sad, Dal? That you might never have sex because you are married to a man you hate?”
I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t tell her I’d already done the deed. That it was primal and exhilarating and celestial. That all I wanted to do was have sex with my husband—and the things that came with it. I especially didn’t want to tell her how fun sex was when she toyed with the temptation of having it herself—and out of wedlock. I was no prude, but I also knew what troubles awaited her if Chapel Falls deemed her compromised. Unfortunately, I knew it firsthand.