Her All Along

This was better than porn. This, right here, her standing in front of me, dress bunched at her waist, her wet little pussy on display for me.

“Rub your clit,” I murmured. “Let’s see if you can get yourself off before my come has run down your leg.”

She whimpered and obeyed like the good girl she was. “What if I can’t?”

“I think you can.” I leaned forward and traced a finger along the inside of her thigh. “My baby’s already so fucking wet.”

Her breath stuttered, and she trembled a little. I loved reading her body, from how her pupils dilated and her skin flushed, to the tremors and changes in her breathing.

Elise was, without an ounce of doubt, the most stunning creature on this earth.

So, I leaned back again to enjoy the show.

In Seattle, things were getting too real.

I’d felt it the moment we got in my car that morning to go to the aquarium that this was no longer a secret game of pretend where we stayed hidden in my house to live out our dirty fantasies.

Our entire visit to the aquarium was a family date. Pipsqueak snuck me kisses and the happiest of smiles in between the displays and keeping track of Grace, who oohed and aahed at all the fish. My daughter led the way with both her hands in the air, gripping Pipsqueak’s fingers.

The signature tunnel through a massive tank that I assumed most aquariums had was obviously the most mesmerizing to Grace.

Maybe for me too, because when you stayed in the background, you saw everything. And what I saw was Elise treating Grace like she was the only girl in the world. I watched her pick up Grace in her arms and point at all the fish. For Grace, Pipsqueak never ran out of patience or enthusiasm.

I could also see that Elise was painfully aware that she was leaving soon. She hadn’t let me take Grace a single second today. It was her day with my daughter, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

Instinct told me to capture the moment, and I managed to get one photo that instantly became the background on my phone. Elise had her eyes closed, and she was kissing Grace’s cheek. Grace pointed in awe at a stingray.

I was so thoroughly fucked.

But that didn’t stop me from taking things further, and by the time we were done at the aquarium, Grace was tuckered out and asleep in her stroller, so I swooped in and stole Pipsqueak’s attention. I draped an arm around her shoulders and drove the stroller with one hand, and I pressed a kiss to Elise’s temple.

“Now you can focus on me for a bit,” I said with what I hoped was a charming grin.

She chuckled softly and gestured toward the gift shop. “Just one quick stop before we leave.”

Once inside, she picked two of the same penguin and said she wanted to use them to stay in touch with Grace while she went off to San Francisco. Pipsqueak was going to use her free time to see some sights, and she’d bring her penguin to include it in pictures. In the end, there would be an album for Grace, an album that displayed all the places in which she’d been on Pipsqueak’s mind while they were separated.

I could only stare at her as it felt like my insides shattered into a million pieces. Fucking hell, she couldn’t leave me. Leave us.

“I hope she’ll appreciate it one day, at least.” She bit her lip, hesitant, gauging my expression. Then she mustered a smile and booped the penguin to my cheek. “And I thought we could use the penguins when we talk over a webcam. I don’t want her to forget me.”

I swallowed and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. The whirlwind of emotion within me was demanding to be processed and acknowledged, but I wasn’t sure I could go there if I wanted to keep my composure.

This fucking girl needed to be checked for halos.

“She won’t forget you.” I kissed the side of her head. “Let me get my two girls some penguins.”

She peered up at me with an unsteady smile and glistening eyes, and I shook my head and kissed her.

“Don’t.” I cupped her cheek and rested our foreheads together. “You’re not leaving yet.”

She swallowed, then released a breath. “Right. We have time.”

After we stepped out of the aquarium, we walked over to the waterfront park nearby and found an empty bench under a tree.

We shared the area with plenty of tourists, ice-cream-eating kids, and the occasional jogger in colorful workout clothes.

“I forgot to tell you something.” I grabbed our sodas from Grace’s diaper bag and handed Pipsqueak her bottle. “I made an appointment to get my eyes checked.”

“Oh wow. Only fifty years late, but go you.” She smirked and uncapped her Coke. “What made you finally listen to reason, aka me?”