Smokey was already unbuckling his seatbelt.
After climbing out of the car, she followed him into the house. He didn’t have a key. He’d mailed it back through her letterbox after he let himself out and locked the house.
He was like an entirely different person. Sometimes, she wasn’t entirely sure which part of him was real or not.
Smokey closed the door behind him. She slipped off her shoes, put her jacket and bag on the hook by the door, and went to the stairs.
He’d done the same and started to follow her up.
Opening the bedroom door, she stepped inside.
She’d stopped painting several days ago and there was no lingering smell because she’d kept the window open the entire time. Even as the weather had gotten cold, she’d simply donned a sweater.
“What do you think?” she asked.
She’d gone for neutral colors. A sunshine yellow that made her think of lemons. She’d found some little heart glow-in-the-dark stars that she’d put on the ceiling. The walls were plain as she couldn’t draw at all.
“I’d love to have some pictures on the wall, you know. I thought about a tree, but I think plain works for now.” She had a small chest of drawers that she’d struggled to assemble but she’d got it working. Abriana had asked Ugly Beast to come, and he’d tightened up the screws and attached it to the wall so it didn’t move.
She could bake and cook, but decorating or assembling wasn’t in her repertoire.
Clasping her hands together, she turned to look at Smokey and waited.
He touched the walls, saying nothing.
Did he hate it?
It was her house. She could decorate however she wanted to, but it was really important to her that he like it.
“You hate it?”
“No.”
“What?” she asked.
“It looks amazing. I wish you’d let me do this for you. I don’t like the thought of you decorating anything without me here.”
She went to him, touching his arm. “It’s fine. I don’t mind doing some painting. It gave me something to do.” She’d been thinking about him, wondering what he was doing, imagining all the women who wanted him.
There were plenty of women at the club who would love to be with him.
“What don’t you like about it?” she asked.
If he really didn’t like it, she’d change it for him. They were both having a baby after all. They weren’t together, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t compromise.
She knew how to do it all.
“It just hit me. We’re going to have a baby.”
Ava frowned. “It has only just hit you?”
“You know what I mean. Sure, I saw the ultrasound image and everything, but this is real. There is no backing out of this. We’ve made a baby, and one day soon, we’re going to be able to hold it.”
He put his hand on her stomach and she covered his with hers. “I know what you mean. Some days, I find it all a little surreal, but I love it. I really do. I want this baby so much.”
Smokey cupped her cheek and brought her in close. Her heart started to race and heat flooded her pussy. Need consumed her. She glanced down at his lips.
Would it hurt to have one little kiss?
Ava watched him.
Kiss him.
Sucking the corner of her lip into her mouth, she resisted the temptation.
Each second that passed, she convinced herself to step back and create some distance. She did neither.
She took a step close to him. Her body flush against his.
“Ava?”
She covered his mouth with the tips of her fingers. “Don’t.”
Gripping the back of his neck, she pulled him close, pressing her lips against his. Smokey let go of her stomach and he sank his fingers into her hair. With the other hand, he grasped her back, drawing her close.
The evidence of his arousal pressed against her swollen stomach.
In the back of her mind, she kept screaming at herself to stop. It wasn’t fair.
What wasn’t fair was the loneliness. The pain. Wishing he was close but hating him all at the same time. She hated how they’d turned out.
Each day, she grew bigger with their child, and she felt this distance between them. Smokey had hurt her once, and it wouldn’t take him long to hurt her again. He’d done so last time so easily.
Forgive him.
She couldn’t just forgive him.
He hadn’t trusted her.
He’d pushed her aside.
Ava screamed in her mind for it to shut up. She didn’t care that he’d hurt her. All she cared about were the feelings he inspired at that moment. The way he touched her.
She pushed him back until he was against the wall.
Tugging at his shirt, she eased it up and over his head, throwing it to the side.
Smokey did the same, tearing her shirt open so the buttons flew all over the place. She’d pick them up later.
For now, she wanted his hands all over her.
He cupped her tits, pressing them together, and she moaned. He flicked the catch of her bra, and it fell open. She helped him take it off her. Ava threw it to the floor, and Smokey held beneath her breasts, lifting them up.
She watched him as he leaned in close and slid his tongue across one of her nipples. She cried out.
“No, don’t close your eyes. Look at me. Know it’s me doing this to you.”
Ava couldn’t look away as his tongue danced across her nipples. He held them so close together for each touch. They were so sensitive, she cried out for more.
“Please, Smokey.”
“Tell me what you need. Just say the words and it’s yours.”
She shouldn’t say it. All it made her was a weak woman. She didn’t want to be a doormat, but his tongue. The very essence of him, she couldn’t deny him.
“You, Smokey, please, I need you. Fuck me.”
He released a growl but didn’t take his time removing her clothes. They all fell in a heap on the floor. His hands were everywhere. Touching her face, down her body, cupping her pussy.
When his fingers delved between her slit, she couldn’t take that kind of pleasure. His name was a mantra on her lips.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about you. How I’ve craved for this very moment.”
She had a rough idea because she’d been feeling it too. Even when she hated herself for yearning for him. This man hadn’t trusted her. He’d been the cause of her pain, and yet, as he took her to the floor, she couldn’t think of a single word to say to tell him to stop.
He slammed his lips down on hers, and she cupped his face, never wanting him to let go.
Smokey broke the kiss. His lips created a path of intense pleasure as he glided down to her neck. He had some stubble, and the roughness of it made her melt. The slight pain mixed with the pleasure was almost too much for her.
Down he went, lavishing her tits with equal attention. Sucking on them deeply before he let them go with a plop. He captured her hands, keeping them locked at her side. His lips trailed down her stomach, and he took his time, kissing her rounded bump.
Her pussy was already soaked, so when he got between her thighs, she spread herself open to him. All sense left her as his lips finally touched her, and she knew what heaven was like once again.
****
This wasn’t their beginning.
Smokey knew that.