Bayou Bruiser

I lean back and see him up close, in the light, for the first time. And automatically, my thighs jolt around his hips, liquid heat slicking my folds. Lord above, he is so big and male. Strong features, a thick neck, a brow that might cause people to mistake him for angry, but I just see him as thoughtful. Intense. Those dark green eyes make my heart pump faster. His shoulders are broader than the side of a barn and I trace them now, eager to touch, eager to lay down somewhere private and have him touch me. Everywhere.

“You’re perfect,” I whisper, rubbing my lips on the rapidly beating pulse on his neck. “In every single way.”

That hard part of him, his cock, lifts another inch. A spear trapped between us, nudging the crotch of my underwear. Shouldn’t he have taken me into one of the bedrooms and put it inside of me by now? I’m beginning to get…restless and frustrated.

I want to belong to him completely. Now.

I want to be naked in front of him, have him feast on me.

“Now, Fawn…” His fist twists in the skirt of my dress. “I will rescue you either way. Whether you want me or not, I’m going to make sure you’re safe. You don’t have to…do this. You don’t have to pretend you’re interested in me like this.”

“Pretend?” I lean back to study him, finding his face redder than usual. “I don’t understand.”

He huffs an unsteady breath. “Look here, girl. I’m one ugly motherfucker and you…well, you…” He’s breathing hard, his massive chest puffing against mine. “You’re the prettiest little thing I’ve ever seen in my fucking life. So beautiful you’re almost painful to look at.”

Euphoria sweeps through me, carrying me away on a pastel cloud. “Then why don’t you want to be inside of me?”

“What?” He shakes his head hard, as if trying to snap out of a trance. “Be inside of you…now? Girl, I’d sell my goddamn soul. But you don’t want that with me. You just can’t.”

I suddenly have the urge to throw a tantrum. A screaming, door-slamming fit. “In the stories I found in the basement wall, the man doesn’t wait this long. Is it so easy to resist me?”

“No,” he responds raggedly, his hands dropping down to cup my bottom beneath my dress, lifting me higher on his hardness and grinding upward. “No, baby, it ain’t easy at all.”

A purring sound is coming from my throat without a formal command from my brain. “Can I call you Daddy like the women in the stories?”

“Christ.” Groaning, he squeezes my buns tight in his hands. “This has to be a dream.”

“It’s not a dream. I need to be alone with you.” Following instinct, I close my teeth around his ear lobe and tug. “Now.”

“Fawn—”

“See, what did I tell you?” My father stumbles out into the hallway, wiping away blood from his mouth. “She’s exactly like her mother. Offering herself up to the first man who pays her a little attention. Her mama done run off years ago. Hopped right into a passing boat and never looked back. These women who share my last name? They’ll suck the life right out of you and laugh as they move on to the next target.” His voice drops to a whisper. “They’ve got the devil in them. Women aren’t supposed to need fuckin’ so much. Her mama was on me day and night and Fawn, she hasn’t even lain with a man yet and she’s already buck wild.”

Very slowly, Benny sets me down, holding me around the waist until he’s sure I’m not going to fall or lose my balance. Then, his hand shoots out like a bolt of lightning, wrapping around my father’s throat. “You run your mouth a lot for a man who doesn’t want to die.”

Watching my father’s eyes bulge out of the sockets, his fingers clawing at Benny’s immovable grip, I gasp. “Benny!” I pull at his arm. “No. No, you don’t hurt people.”

There is a third man in the room. He has been staring at me with wide eyes since we entered the room, but now he breaks into laughter. “That’s all he does, darling.”

A snarl rips out of Benny, his attention shooting toward the other man. “You talk to her again and I’ll drown you in the fucking river for the crocodiles.”

My mouth drops open, the room spinning around me.

No, my giant is gentle. And kind. He is not this violent man the other man claims he is. He must just be upset that my father was saying those bad things about me. Things I’ve grown so used to over the years, they don’t bother me anymore.

I don’t like violence.

My father used to inflict it on my mother. Every once in a while, I don’t manage to escape his anger and take a slap or two. Then there are the men in the bayou, fighting over money. Fighting to make money through cock fights or card games. Before my father made me drop out of school, the boys in my classes were always so aggressive. Angry. Entitled. My whole life, I’ve been surrounded by furious men and I don’t want that anymore. My aspirations for a happy, loving life are why I’m so attracted to my giant from the forest. My giant who helps animals heal from wounds and treats them with such care.