“I—um—I don’t. Not really. It’s just Mallory being overcautious because she thinks everyone sees the world the same way she does.”
“Being casual about sex?” I figured I might as well jump right to it. No sense in pretending I hadn’t heard everything and taking time to drag it out of her.
Penelope gasped and tried to look away, but I still had a strong hold on her chin. “Yes. She thinks I need to go on birth control since, in her words, I’ll ‘be old enough to fuck around’ and need to protect myself.” Her face twisted in disgust, which gave me a small measure of comfort.
However, rage warred with desire, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I counted to twenty, hoping it would put a damper on both emotions. Hearing such filthy language falling from the lips of my angel was like an injection of lust straight to my cock. I loved how sweet and innocent she was, and I didn’t want to hear her talk like that to anyone else. But the thought of dirty talk coming out of her sexy mouth while I played with her tits and she bounced up and down on my dick was almost enough to have me coming in my pants like I was fourteen again.
The other part of me, which helped to control the lust, was furious with Mallory for even talking to my girl about casual sex. And for trying to stop my boys from knocking her up the first time I got my fat cock balls deep in her virgin pussy. I wanted Penelope’s body ripe and ready for breeding because I had every intention of filling her teenage womb with so much come, it would be sliding out of her for days.
“I don’t want you on birth control,” I growled.
Penelope blinked rapidly; her expression confused. “Well, um...I told her it wasn’t necessary.” Her lashes lowered, and her hands fidgeted at her sides as twin spots of pink appeared on her cheeks. The way she was always blushing around me gave me a perverse sense of pleasure. I liked seeing her squirm, especially when I knew it was from desire. “I don’t plan on having se...um...sleeping with anyone anytime soon.”
How wrong she was. Now wasn’t the time to tell her that, although I decided to confirm my suspicion. I let go of her chin and took her hand before leading her over to one of the large, overstuffed couches. “Have you ever been with someone like that, angel? Are you a virgin?” I asked as I gently pushed on her shoulders until she took a seat.
She cleared her throat and looked everywhere but at me, leaving me free to smile at her shyness. “Yes,” she whispered. Then she peeked up at me through her lashes, and her bee-stung lips turned up into a coy smile. “Are you?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. She was so fucking adorable. “No, angel. I wish I had waited for the right woman, but honestly, it’s been so long, I might as well be a virgin again.” She giggled, and when her head lifted, her blue eyes danced with happiness even though I could tell she was trying to hide it. I loved that she couldn’t shield her emotions from me. I moved to stand directly in front of her, letting her see just how much she affected me. “I think someone is going to be popping your sweet cherry very soon, angel,” I said in a low, gruff tone.
I don’t know what possessed me to say that because it certainly had all the blood in my brain rushing straight to my cock. My eyes strayed down, and I swallowed a groan when I saw the amount of cleavage on display at this angle. Her tits bounced a little with each rapid breath and...fuck. I needed to get the hell out of there. Her pert nipples were hard and poking through her orange striped tank top. I whipped around and stalked toward the door that led to the kitchen. “Thank you for staying a little later today. You can go home.”
There was silence behind me, and I felt a pang in my chest knowing I’d confused her, at the very least, and probably hurt her. There was a covered dish sitting on the island, and I sighed. My sweet girl had left me dinner again. I swore to myself that once she was mine to take, I’d make up for every bit of hurt I’d caused while I’d struggled to keep her at arm’s length.
My phone buzzed on the end table, but the soft knock I heard on my front door had me glancing at my watch in surprise. It was almost eleven at night. Who would be at my door at this hour? Luckily, they hadn’t rung the bell and woken my son, or I’d have been kicking someone’s ass up and down my street. My phone buzzed again, but I ignored it. I’d just finished feeding Tucker and was about to take him upstairs, so I cradled him in one arm and padded down the hall to the front door. I looked through the peephole, and my breath caught when I saw Penelope standing on the other side. The moonlight was bouncing off her auburn hair, making it even more red. It floated around her shoulders when she turned to glance back toward her house. She was wearing a thin, faded T-shirt, some kind of tight, stretchy pants, and pink flip-flops on her feet. She looked comfortable yet so sexy, I wanted to slowly peel every article of clothing from her body and feast on what was underneath. The train of my thoughts had me cursing softly, then glancing down at Tucker guiltily. “Sorry, little man,” I whispered.
With a deep breath, I steeled myself against her allure and opened the door. A quick, closer visual inspection made me realize she wasn’t wearing a bra. It looked as though she’d just rolled out of bed. I frowned and looked around to make sure no one else was seeing my girl in a way that should be for me alone. When my eyes landed on her face, my frown deepened. She looked...uneasy...and the smile on her lips was forced.
She spotted Tucker sleeping in the crook of my arm and sighed. “Oh good, I didn’t wake him. I’m so sorry to bother you. Especially this late.”
“You’re never a bother, angel,” I declared, and her smile became slightly more genuine.
“Hey, Penny!” A male voice had my head whipping to the side. “Where’d you go, babe? I found a bottle of wine.”
The owner of the voice was standing on the porch of Mallory’s brownstone, looking around until he spotted Penelope. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but from the expression on Penelope’s face, it was clear that this asshole made her uncomfortable. If it hadn’t been for Tucker and Penelope, I’d have marched over there and broken his nose, but my son and my love would always come first. “Inside,” I commanded as I stepped away from the door.
“Penny…”
I almost slammed the door but caught it at the last second and shut it quietly, cutting off whatever else that son of a bitch was going to say. Penelope shifted from foot to foot, chewing on her plump bottom lip. I both hated and loved when she did that. Loved it because she looked so fucking adorable. Hated it because I was ridiculously jealous of that lip. “Wait for me in the den,” I ordered. “I’m going to lay Tucker down, and then we’ll talk.”
Assuming she would do as she was told, I didn’t wait for an affirmation and jogged up the stairs. Tucker could sleep through a freight train in his room most of the time, so he didn’t stir in the slightest on the trip up or when I gently lowered him into his crib. I flipped on his noise machine on my way out the door and logged into the monitoring app on my phone as I descended the stairs.
As expected, Penelope was in the den waiting, curled up on one of the recliners. Forgoing any small talk, I began pacing in front of the fireplace and jumped right to the point. “Who was that?” I grumbled.