I jerk my hips hard, thrusting so deep she thrashes her head against the pillows. I feel her legs wrap around my hips and her feet dig into my ass cheeks, pulling me closer. Deeper inside her.
“Good girl,” I mumble, my vision going dark as I close my eyes and focus on long, slow, deep thrusts. I piston my pelvis, every muscle in my body burning as I try to control my movements. The bed doesn’t creak; Poppy doesn’t cry out. We’re silent, and yet between us, there is a fucking parade of sound and sensation.
I know I’m hitting the right spot when Poppy’s hands claw my back greedily. “Phantom,” she whimpers, her voice little more than a gasp. “You feel so good.”
“How do you want to come for me?” I ask.
She writhes beneath me, working her hips to meet my every thrust. But then something feral unleashes in her. She’s gasping and digging hard at my back, lifting her hips like she’s grinding out an orgasm against my body. I feel her tits smash against my chest, and I lower my mouth to hers again, kissing her lips until our teeth bang together as we fuck.
It’s nasty and needy, hard and quiet. Restrained and yet totally out of control. I don’t bother holding back. I come hard, shaking and dripping sweat onto her. I feel her walls clench as I come, and she’s falling apart beneath me, shuddering and panting, her heavy breaths the only sound she allows herself to make. My good girl.
I want to smack her ass, lick her cunt. Taste her, touch her, and do every godforsaken thing she’ll let me do. But not tonight. Tonight, I’m going to hold her close and fall asleep with her hair tangled on my pillows.
Tonight, I’m going to sleep with the woman I’m going to make mine forever.
Knowing that, I’ll be able to rest easy. We’ve got all the time in the world.
Pretty soon, we’ll be free.
19
POPPY
Eight weekslater
Mondays have become my favorite day. I get up in the morning and take the kids to school, then Phantom comes home, and we make love until he picks the kids up. Sometimes, he goes to work, and other times, he stays with me, and we spend hours in bed.
Today, though, won’t be a lot of fun.
So much has happened fast over the last few weeks. Dylan, the prospect behind the break-in at my house turned himself in to the police. After some tough conversations with Phantom, he admitted to the break-in, the destruction of my property, the break-in here, and the rats in the pool. Both Phantom and I pressed charges, and due to some other minor stuff on Dylan’s record that he was on probation for, he’s waived a trial and negotiated a plea deal. He will be moved to the state prison to start a term of fifty-four months with the possibility of parole in twenty-four.
I cleared out my house and am fullymoved in with Phantom. It’s fast, but I have a tenant renting my place. It’s a good investment, and I’ll hold on to the house just in case I ever need or want it back.
Jax loves his new room and has settled into having stepsisters. He and Daisy are the best of friends, and my mom has come to dinner a couple times. I don’t know what she knows about Phantom’s work, and I don’t ask. She seems to absolutely adore him, and that’s more than enough for me.
Even more amazing is how Mom has taken to Daisy and Holly. While she was strict and downright mean to me and Clara, she loves the girls. So much so that she’s paying for a night in a fancy hotel for all of us tonight, including Mom. Mom will stay with Jax in one room, the girls in another, and Phantom and I in a third. Clara is covering the salon for me tomorrow so I can take the day off. No one is more excited than my baby sister that not only am I doing something for myself, but that I’m doing it with Phantom. She might just be his biggest fan. After me, Jax, and his daughters, that is.
I’ve appreciated their support over the last few weeks. Most surprising is the support coming from my mom. We’re all going to need a little break after today. A little extra time as a family.
We kept all the kids home from school. Jax is up in his room playing, and the girls are on the couch waiting nervously. My mom is already at the hotel and has a dinner reservation for us at a beachfront restaurant. Now, all we have to do is wait.
I pad down the stairs and drop on the couch between the two girls. I stroke the faded blue streak inDaisy’s hair. “We could touch this up or try something new.”
Daisy shrugs and sniffles, then drops her head on my shoulder. “Thanks, Poppy.”
Holly is texting away, not looking up but clearly listening. “I was thinking about color,” she says quietly. “Maybe pink. Do you think I could pull off some pink?”
“Absolutely,” I tell her. “We’ll go over samples when we get back. We can do it over fall break if you want.”
Holly looks up at me, tears in her eyes. “Thanks.” Then she sucks in air, and I have to resist the urge to look at her phone.
“What’s with you?” Daisy snaps.
“I’m excited, okay. Tyler just asked me if I have a date for the winter dance.”
I smile. “You guys just went to homecoming, and he’s locking you down for the winter dance? When is that, like January?”
“Yes,” Holly says, blushing furiously. “That’s not normal, right? I mean, why is he asking me now?”
