Oh God.
Yeah.
“Honey,” I whimpered.
He slid his lips up my chest to under my chin. “Fuck me, Pepper. Faster.”
I did.
He cupped a breast, finger and thumb to a nipple, rolling, and went after my clit with his other hand.
I went faster.
“That’s it,” he murmured. “Fuck yeah. Christ. Tight. There you go, baby.”
He was right, there I went.
I came, gasping and trembling.
Then I was on my back, perpendicular in bed, and Auggie fucked me until he found it.
I was shivering in the aftermath and trolling his body with my hands, discovering the side of his neck and ear with my nose and lips, when he demanded, “Mouth.”
I turned my head, he took what he wanted, and when he was done, he slid out of me and rolled us both to our sides, tangled in each other’s arms.
The rain was still falling.
“How do I get a magical alarm that makes the entire room sound like rain?” I asked.
His lips hit mine, not for a kiss. It seemed the sole purpose was so I could feel them smile.
I was at one with this purpose.
“I’ve got a smart home system that connects to the speakers Indy and Lee installed throughout the house. It plays music. Connects to the TV for surround sound. There are hidden monitors around the house so you can ask it to do shit, like tell you the temperature outside or time something when you’re cooking. It controls the thermostat. Shit like that.”
“I want one,” I declared.
“Good that I know a guy,” he replied.
I grinned at him and snuggled closer.
But, sadly, it had to be done.
So I did it.
“Do you have to go to work?” I asked.
He sounded as disappointed as I was to ask the question when he answered, “Yeah.”
I gave him a squeeze. “Thanks for the bird’s-eye view of a spectacular hand job.”
I heard and felt him chuckle. “Thanks for accompanying my hand job with a phenomenal blow job.”
“My pleasure.”
“I noticed.”
“I have an IUD,” I announced, because things were going to keep up like this, and that had to be said too.
His voice lowered when he replied, “It’s been a while since I had a physical. You want me to get tested?”
“Can you do that quickly, like, say, today so we don’t have to interrupt you fucking me to deal with that business?”
I could hear the humor come back when he said, “Maybe not today but I’ll fast-track it.”
“Awesome. Now it’s time for you to get creative, since I have Juno and I work nights, so this week you’re going to have to find a way to spend your lunch hour in me.”
That made him bust out laughing.
And there it was.
The real start of my day.
During it, he kissed me.
And after it, he said, “That will so not be a problem.”
“Excellent. Now let’s do this morning stuff so you can take me home so I’m closer to seeing you again when you come over tonight.”
I again heard amusement, but there was something deep and resonant, warm and beautiful, when he said, “She’s bossy in the mornings.”
“Not usually. But I’ve got myself a bossy lover and it appears he’s fucking the bossy into me.”
“I like it. I’ll have to keep doing it.”
“I hope so.”
“Stop being cute and get up, Pepper.”
“Stop being hot and get up with me, Auggie.”
Apparently, my bossy worked.
Because that was what he did.
* * *
There was someone else I hung out in the office in wait for when they arrived.
And as usual, on the Mondays she was back, lugging the bigger backpack she took that carried anything she didn’t already have at Corbin’s, I was out the door the minute I saw the school Twinkie drive down the street.
It let out five houses down, and I was at house three when my baby dropped down from the bus.
I smiled big at her.
She smiled bigger and ran to me, her backpack bouncing.
Then Juno hit me and hugged me around the hips.
Okay.
Now my week could begin.
I curled over her and hugged her around her backpack.
As I was doing this, my earlier meditation came to me.
In thinking about all that went down during our Sunday, and the things Auggie had shared with me, I thought about the things I had missed from my family once we went into the church.
And affection was one of them.
We’d been a touchy, cuddly family before the church.
But it wasn’t slowly that the cold rushed in, forcing out the warmth.
It’d never returned.
Juno tipped her head back and I straightened up, but she didn’t let me go.
Yes.
I had missed that affection.
And I was so glad I fostered it in my daughter, and she took to it.
“Did you have fun at your dad’s?” I asked.
Her face clouded over.
Shit, shit.
“It was all right,” she didn’t exactly lie.
I pulled at her hold so I could move to her side to head us home, but we walked close together toward our place.