My entire body freezes when I see who it is. It’s the man who can make everything better for me.
My husband.
He’s standing at the threshold, his palm wide open on the glass door. Our gazes collide through the space — his intense, filled with need, and mine must be shimmery, shining with love. He tips his chin at me and rumbles out my name. “Pixie.”
My muscles loosen up and the tray almost slips from my hand. But let’s face it: it wasn’t going to stay in my hold for much longer anyway. I catch it though and it comes down on the table with a thump and a clatter.
I grin. Why wouldn’t I? It feels like I can breathe for the very first time in hours, in days, even. I know Milo’s grumbling behind me and the couple on the table are looking at me weirdly. I don’t mind. I leave everything and run to him. He clutches me in a tight hug as soon as I touch his body.
God, his smell, his soft t-shirt, his strong, powerful arms. Everything makes me want to abandon the world and be with him, locked up somewhere for the rest of my life.
“You wanna get out of here?” he murmurs in my hair.
I kiss the center of his chest before looking up at him. “Yes.”
Then he’s giving me a boost and my thighs go around his waist and my ankles cross at the small of his back. We’re walking out in the wake of Milo’s shouts.
Something comes over me and I do what I’ve never done before. I flip the bird. Literally. I tell Milo that I don’t need this job or him by showing the most important finger of the human hand. I tell him that I have something better. I have my Abel, and he’s taking me away.
When we’re out of angry Milo’s sight, I move back and look at Abel. The sun is shining down on him, making his hair glow like a halo.
“I’m a bad waitress.” I kiss his nose.
Chuckling, he kisses my nose back. “I know, baby.”
I hit his shoulder. “It’s a stupid job, anyway. I don’t want it anymore.”
“Yeah? What do you want?”
There’s a ton of weight in his words, in his look. Maybe he’s been feeling the same thing that I’ve been feeling. Maybe he wants to continue this fantasy, as well.
“You didn’t say anything. You didn’t talk. I thought… I thought you were mad at me or something.”
“No. Not at you. Maybe at myself, though.” He swallows, his gaze flicking all over my face. “For thinking about doing it again and again and again. For thinking about never stopping.”
A relieved smile blooms on my lips. “Me too. I don’t want to stop. Not yet. Not when it makes me feel alive. Not when it makes me feel so close to you.”
He’s relieved too; I can see it. “Then we won’t stop.”
“But promise me that we’ll always talk to each other. We’ll always tell each other what we’re feeling.”
“I promise.”
I kiss his cheek. “Now, take me home and fuck me like a good husband.”
“Ah, bossy. Did anyone ever tell you that, Pixie?”
“Yes, my husband.” I grin.
“Smart man.”
“Eh, he’s all right.”
He bites my lower lip, making me squeal. As he starts walking, I remember something. “Oh, I have some ground rules.”
That amuses him. “Okay.”
I bat at his chest. “I’m serious.”
“Me too.”
“No coming inside me.”
He frowns, still walking. “Fuck that.”
I knew it. I knew it. I knew he loved that. I loved that too. I don’t know what happened to me back there. I was in a trance, too much in the moment.
“Abel, what we did was stupid, okay? It was beyond stupid. I’m not on the pill, and you’re such a freaking baby about wearing condoms.” I press my forehead against his, trying to get my point across. “We need to be smart. We’re so young. We’re not ready for a baby. How are we ever going to raise a child?”
“If you think I’m coming anywhere outside of your tight little body, you’ve lost your mind.”
I can’t believe we’re having this discussion. On a sidewalk. People brush past us, some bumping into our bodies, but Abel’s like a rock. His steps hardly falter.
He thinks the world’s only made for the two of us.
“Fine. Then I’m going on the pill.”
He shrugs. “Sure.”
“Really?” I am suspicious. “You don’t mind.”
“Nope. Can’t say that I do.”
I study his face. “Oh, I know. You’re planning on doing something fishy about it, aren’t you? If I find my pills missing or if I find out that you’re switching them, I’m going to kill you.”
He smirks. “I don’t need to do that.”
“Why?”
He presses a hand on the back of my head, bringing me closer. “I don’t need to do any of that because every time you take a pill, I’m gonna pump you so full of my cum that your body’s gonna bend to my will.” He captures my gasp with his mouth. “Don’t you know that by now, Pixie? If I want you knocked up, you’re gonna get knocked up.”