JARROD
Leah's body was an uncharted territory of erogenous zones and freckles.
I didn't know how I earned the privilege to touch her, to memorize each of her buttons and take full advantage of them, but I lived for very second of it.
Pleasing her was like obeying a law of nature. I was compelled to make her moan and writhe under me beyond reason.
Our chemistry felt natural yet compulsive. I couldn't stop myself around her. Each little cry she uttered while on my cock only spurned me on.
I stared longingly at her soft figure while she slept, naked and damp from the shower we'd taken minutes before. I was exhausted, too. Once we started, we couldn't stop until our bodies became physically undone.
I'd never experienced anything like this. Leah was her own breed of woman. She was my breed. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was going to save me.
She didn't know how beautiful she was. I honestly hadn't known either until right this very moment.
She became more and more beautiful to me every day. Each encounter we shared showed me how stunning and powerful she was. I felt like I was on a cloud just thinking about her and about this thing between us.
When I'd gotten out of my car earlier tonight and she'd said that we needed to talk, her face had shattered me. She looked so wary and confused.
I never wanted to see her that way again. She needed to know that I would never lay a finger on her and that I never had before.
Even when Tiffany had done her worst to me, I never considered it.
Tiffany.
Stifling a groan, I pressed my hands against my face.
I couldn't believe she knew about Leah. I couldn't believe that she had harassed my sweet little blonde.
My blood raced at the thought of anyone threatening her. The only reason I could think of Tiffany doing that was to get back at me.
For what? I had no clue.
She got her happy ending. She ran off with the man she was supposedly in love with. It must not have been so happy if she was dedicating this much effort to stalking my girlfriend.
If I didn't know better, I'd call that bitch myself and give her a real reason to be afraid of me. I would never call her, though. That's what she wanted and I was done giving her anything.
I'd been young and naive when we met. She was the epitome of sex, physically beautiful with a wicked tongue.
She made me realize that I liked control in sex, that I wanted to overpower my partner in every exchange. I never realized that she had the upper hand every time. She'd played me over and over and I would've let her until the end of time if she hadn't left me.
Part of me would always love Tiffany, as much as I despised her. She'd devoured my soul with her reckless, overwhelming love.
I would like to believe that she did love me once in her own way. She was a tumbleweed, loving each second as it happened and letting it go in the next.
Loving a woman like Tiffany was thrilling but dangerous. It always had its end.
The rage I'd felt at seeing her pleasure someone else maddened me even still.
I knew she'd been sleeping with people. She told me time and again that she stopped, but I knew otherwise. She would come home with her excuses and repent, make it up with sex and promises she never fulfilled.
Still, catching her in the act was different than just knowing. Witnessing it was a completely other type of pain.
I had been a fool to believe I could change her ways.
All the lies she had fed me while hooking up with other people. She'd brought filth into our marriage.
Everything I did had been for her, for us. I should have realized before we married what a disaster she would be for me. Everyone tried to warn me but I didn't listen.
Leah sighed and turned onto her side, facing away from me.
I ran my hand down the dip in her side between her hip and ribs.
This woman was nothing like Tiffany. She wasn't self-absorbed and entitled. She didn't want into a room and expect everyone to notice her.
No, Leah was confident in her own ways.
When she held me, when she looked into my eyes, I could feel how much she cared. She was so genuine. I trusted her more than I ever had someone outside my family. Even when I was a controlling ass, she put up with me.
Her phone dinged from the table beside her bed. I glanced at her face. She breathed steadily, unaware and still asleep. My eyes wandered back to her phone.
Who was texting this late? I wasn't suspicious—I just didn't think it would do any harm to see. Slowly displacing my weight, I stretched my arm over her and grabbed the device.
I settled back in the bed and ensured I hadn't woken my sleeping beauty. I turned on her screen. The notification had been for a text but the number wasn't saved in her phone.
UNKNOWN: thinking about u
My guard instantly flew up.
Who the hell was thinking about her?
This late at night, it had to be a guy. Friends didn't text each other like that, even for women.
Maybe it was a family member but why so late? Why wasn't their number saved in her phone?
It has to be him, I thought. Her ex. Danny or whatever.
My hands gripped the phone tighter. I tried to unlock her phone until it locked me out. My eyes squeezed shut. I couldn't stop my brain from overthinking.
Had she been talking to him again? Did she miss him? Did he come over while I was gone?
She'd promised to behave. Then again, she hadn't been happy with me when I left and I still didn't know why.
Had she called him over?
I shook my head. She wouldn't. Leah wouldn't betray me like that.
Moaning, Leah rolled over to face me and wrapped an arm around my chest. I set her phone down with a sigh. She was too precious to hurt me.
Leah was not Tiffany.
After tossing and turning for awhile, I grabbed my phone off the night stand and looked up the unknown number. It didn't link to anything. Whoever was texting Leah wasn't using a secure line. I set my phone back down and turned to look at Leah again.
She looked like a angel. I ran my hand along her bareness, soaking in her warmth. Her muscles quivered under my touch. I wondered if she was dreaming about me. About our sex.
Brushing a finger along her silky hairline, I breathed out a sigh. I held her against me and closed my eyes. The only thing letting me fall asleep was the belief that she would clear everything up in the morning. We would talk and sort things out. We had to. I couldn't let this woman go. I needed her and her outstanding faith in me. As I drifted off, my thoughts echoed one last familiar plea: Don't leave me.