Bayou Bruiser

I want to lie to her. To tell her the world is a magical place. She deserves to live in a utopia filled with sunshine and comfort. But I’ll never tell her another untruth. I’ll never go back on my word to her again as long as I live. “Yes, there are a lot of bad men out there, baby.”

The towel comes loose and sags. She scoots closer in my lap, blinking up at me with her big, gorgeous eyes. “Don’t let them get me, Daddy.”

“I won’t,” I promise ardently, sucking down her fragrance. “I’ll strengthen the gates. I’ll make them ten feet higher. No one will ever go near you again.”

Her warm breath coasts up my throat and my cock stiffens. Now is not the time to get turned on. I’m a bastard for panting after her pussy when she’s still upset. But God, I want to feel her around me. Reassure myself that this miracle is happening and I get to keep her, despite what I’ve done. Despite who I am.

“Good,” she whispers, reaching down to unbutton my pants. A moment later, she shifts her hips and slides me into her hot, wet cunt and I cry out like a fucking animal, shaken by the sheer intensity of my passion for her. My angel. “You’re not a murderer, are you? You’re a guardian. A hero. You hurt those who deserve it and care for the ones who don’t. Like me, like your animals. Maybe violence is okay if it’s for a righteous cause.”

I can’t speak. I can only pant into her neck and nod.

“Be violent with me,” she breathes, flexing her inner walls around me, rocking her hips. “And when you’ve filled me up, we’re going to figure out how to make you the new boss…” Her tongue drags along my jawline. “Because that’s what you were meant to be.”

Epilogue

Fawn

Five Years Later

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

My husband comes in through the front door of our house. Before he sees me, there are a few seconds where I notice the tension bracketing his mouth. But it drains away when we lock eyes. When he spies me sitting on the edge of the dining room table in one of his shirts, the white garment hanging off one of my shoulders.

As usual, he stops in his tracks.

Watches me play with a lock of my hair, twisting it around my finger.

“Goddamn,” he says quietly, love radiating from his soulful eyes. “You make everything worth it, Fawn.”

“What’s everything?” I ask. “Did you have a hard day?”

Benny nods once, adjusts the growing protrusion behind his fly. “Like I said, hard days are worth every damn second when I come home to you.” Briefly, he glances past me. “Are the kids asleep?”

“Uh-huh.”

With an unsteady exhale, he strides toward me and I take a moment to marvel over my giant bayou bruiser husband. His powerful thighs, so thick and sturdy. Those meaty fists and mile-wide chest. His hungry countenance.

Was this man ever meant to be anything but a boss?

God no.

There have been two moments in my life when the path in front of me became crystal clear. One: the first time I saw Benny in the woods, I knew I’d love him forever. And two: when that man Frank pointed a gun at my love’s back, I knew I never wanted to feel that helpless again. Ever. In that moment, it became so obvious that I’d been at the mercy of others my entire life. In a way, so had Benny. Following orders. Going where asked and collecting money that ultimately lined another man’s pocket.

Five years ago, shaking in that towel on the ground of our compound, I decided we were going to be the ones who gave the orders. If we are going to live in this world full of corrupt men and people clawing to survive, then we needed to be on top. Not only for us, but our future children. No more having our fates decided by evil men with guns. Or drunk men with tempers. Or even soulless mothers who would throw their son out on the street or abandon their daughter.

We’d been betrayed enough.

Now our walls are too high to scale. By anyone but each other, of course.

There isn’t a single barrier between me and Benny.

No, those have been knocked down since day one. Demolished with love.

With an obsession that has only grown over time.

Benny stops in front of me and reaches inside his suit jacket, removing an envelope full of cash and tossing it onto the table beside me. “Might have been a tough day, but at least I have something to show for it,” he says gruffly, removing his jacket and letting it fall to the ground. “I’ve got a mind to spoil my little girl tonight. But not with money.”