Sometimes the sight of her stole my breath. The feeling was stronger than the first time I had ever laid eyes on her, but her body made me think wicked thoughts.
Her straddling me, head tilted back, mouth parted, breasts quivering with our momentum. Cool fingers fluttering likefarfallawings over my skin, but the friction of our bodies always hot, slick with sweat, the taste of her mouth against mine sweet. Then she’d arch backward, taking all of me even deeper, sensual noises coming from her—
“Brando?” she whispered.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”
She smiled, running a finger along the scoop of the top. The smile disappeared from her face as I pressed her against the house.
“I don’t like this outfit,” I said, looking her up and down with a slow gaze. Then I slipped my hands around her waist, paws in comparison to her petite frame, rubbing my thumbs against the concavities there made by years of dancing and training. “Go change.”
“I don’t have time,” she said, standing on her toes to press her lips against mine. Her mouth tasted of pear. The juice was still fresh on her lips. “Besides,” she said as she brought her arms around my neck, “I smell like you. I don’t want to hide it.”
The horn honked from behind us, and Scarlett’s hand went up in a gesture that meant—coming!
“I’m about to give birth in the back of this car!” Violet screamed out of the window. “I’m on borrowed time here!”
Scarlett smiled up at me, the gold specks in her eyes matching the gold strands of hair mixed in with auburn and her sweater. Her smile fell when my mouth claimed hers, and she started to make noises that spoke to me in a language only I understood.
Her eyes were still closed when I pulled away. Her hand went directly to her lips.
“Nino goes where you go,” I said.
“Mmhm,” she said. “Whatever you say.”
I watched her walk away from me, almost dazed.
“Yeah, I belong to you, too,” I said to myself. “The taste of you will be in my mouth all day, like the reminder of me will be with you.”
As if she could hear me, she met my eye before she got in the car. She watched me until she couldn’t anymore.
A heavy breath left my mouth after the car had gone. I was left alone with the cat. A small patch of woods stood to the west of our house, and she was creeping in ankle-high grass, stalking something too small for me to see. I had been keeping an eye out for Scarlett, the doe named after my Scarlett, but she hadn’t been around.
The hum of a motor and more crackling made me turn as the sound of a horn blasted through the air. Everett. Delilah and Sampson each had a head out of the SUV’s windows, ears pointed back, tongues wagging.
Sampson gave a deepwoof!of acknowledgment before Everett put the gas guzzler in park and then let them out. Both dogs took off into the patch of woods, a screechingRARRR!echoing a minute later. Jet came shooting out, waiting to be let in the front door.
“I was hoping to catch you at home,” Everett said, shielding his eyes against the sun.
“It’s not a big town,” I said.
He nodded, catching my meaning. “How is she?”
Though her parents’ had called, neither one of them had been to the house to see Scarlett since the issue with Charlotte. In fact, her mother had never been over, and her father only once before this.
“She’s been keeping busy.”
“I see that,” he said, nodding toward the porch and all its decorations. “The girl has good taste. Like her mother. This place looks fine.”
“If you came here to see Scarlett, she’s gone. She’s spending the day with the girls. You just missed her.”
He became quiet, staring at the house. “No,” he said after a minute or two. “I came to see you. Are you alone?”
I gave him a subtle nod.
This meeting had been coming, but I was still affronted on Scarlett’s behalf. After the scene on the porch at her parents’ house, after Charlotte had confided in Scarlett about her husband’s infidelities, she was close to confronting Everett about his own. He stayed away because he was worried that she was close to speaking about the forbidden subject. His daughter had shaken him.
I invited him in and he followed me, whistling for the dogs to come along. Jet took off into our room as the dogs sniffed around, getting used to all of the new scents. After a few minutes, they each took spots on the rug in front of the fireplace, resting their heads against their giant paws.
