The Man Who Has No Love (Soulless 3)

I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her, holding just as I did our first time at the cabin together.

She tilted her head back, looking up at me. “What do you want to do first?”

I kissed her neck. “Well, it’s late…and dark, so I think there’s only one thing we can do.”

There was a big fireplace in the living room, so we lay on the rug in front of it, wrapped in blankets to keep our naked bodies from getting cold. A bottle of wine was on the coffee table so we could easily refill our glasses.

She sat up and stared at the fire, her naked back visible.

My hand moved up her skin, feeling her softness, her warmth. “I really like being with you, Deacon.”

I sat up so I could be beside her, look into her face as she spoke.

“But I do miss Derek when he’s not here…”

“Yeah.” My hand moved to the back of her neck and gently rubbed. “I know what you mean.”

“How do you feel about him starting school?”

I watched the reflection of the flames in her eyes. “Not sure. I’m happy he’s starting school…but I’m also sad he’s growing up. I want him to be a sweet little boy forever, but I’m excited for him to be a man. It’s been the greatest privilege of my life to watch him crawl, then walk, and then run…”

She looked at me with sweetness in her eyes, like she understood exactly how I felt without having experienced any of that herself. “Yeah, I can imagine.”

I turned back to the fire. “I know he’ll do great things, and I can’t wait to see them. But for that to happen, he has to get older. He has to move on, become more independent, need me less. The thing I’ll miss the most is the way he says my name when he sees me, with such excitement, like he just can’t contain his joy. But when he’s a man, he’ll sound nothing like that.” I watched the flames dance and move. “That’s something I’m not looking forward to.”

Her hand went to my back, and she rubbed me gently. “I’m sorry, Deacon.”

“And you know you did your job right when they don’t need you anymore. But that accomplishment feels empty…because you have to let them go.”

“But he’ll have kids of his own someday, and you’ll hear that same sweet voice again. Except it’ll be ‘Grandpa’ instead of ‘Dad.’”

“Yeah…maybe.”

She moved into me and kissed me on the cheek. “I told you your intelligence is sexy, your looks are sexy, and your pure soul is the sexiest thing of all. But I think seeing the way you love your son is my biggest turn-on.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded.

“Even though he’s not yours.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t make a difference at all. I never thought the single dad thing would be so damn hot.” She scooted closer to me, her lips brushing against my shoulder. “I guess it makes me want to be a mom…and have you as the father to my babies.” She dropped her gaze for a while, like she was afraid to look at me after the confession she’d just made.

It was unnerving, but it didn’t scare me so much anymore. If we got married and started a family, that meant we could do this every day. We could be happy like this—all the time. What was scary about that?

She finally lifted her chin and met my gaze, unsure.

I didn’t have the words to respond, so I leaned in and kissed her.

She kissed me back, hungry for my kiss.

I pulled away slightly, looking into her blue eyes. “You’d be a great mom.”

Her blue eyes looked so gentle, so touched. Her thumb brushed across my bottom lip as she stared at it, like I’d just said something that really turned her on. Her hand cupped the back of my neck, and she pulled me in for a harder kiss, a hungrier kiss.

We lay on the loungers next to the pool, sitting directly in the sun. We’d both applied sunscreen all over, but our skin was slowly tanning. My skin naturally darkened quicker than the average person, so I was already getting some color.

Cleo looked sexy as hell in her pastel blue bikini, her skin shiny from the lotion, her floppy hat covering her face. She had a book on the table beside her, and the ice had melted in her drink.

A nice breeze blew, so neither one of us got too hot.

She turned over, lying on her stomach so her back could get some sun.

My eyes immediately moved to her perky ass.

Cleo’s eyes were on me, so she watched the whole thing. “You’re definitely an ass man.”

My hand went to her cheek and gave it a squeeze. “I’m a Cleo ass man.”

She smiled. “I guess running around in those heels all the time really creates a nice caboose.”