Temptation: Part Four - Forbidden Flash Romance

Bargaining

“What?” She grabs my face, confusion plain in the way her forehead wrinkles. Reaching for my underwear on the deck, I pull out of her and catch the mess in the thin cloth before pulling her back down into my lap.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she assures me when I don’t answer. But she’s got her whole life ahead of her and I have no right to ask her to tie herself to me any longer than she has.

Her bathing suit still hangs low on her stomach, and I reach around to undo the second tie and toss it aside before rubbing my hands up and down her arms.

“I know I can’t ask you to stay. But I…” But I adore you. But the thought of losing you makes me sick to my stomach, even if I didn’t have to find a way to console the kids when you go. But I don’t ever want another man inside you because I’m a possessive little shit. 

“I know you have to go to school.” I can’t tell her everything I’m thinking without sounding like an idiot. For all I know this was just a fuck for her. Now that the sexual tension is eased, maybe she’ll want to leave. 

“About that.” She bites her lip and looks away, curling up closer to me. We should really go inside, but I don’t want to let her go yet. She’s so warm and small and so magnificently naked, her skin almost as warm as mine, but then I’ve always run hot.

Slipping my arms around her slight frame, I hold her close and kiss her shoulder. “Absolutely fucking not. You have to go.”

“Okay, Mr. Bossy,” she laughs, “hear me out.”

The look on her face makes me laugh. She has all the ferocity of a lost kitten with her big eyes and full lips. “Alright,” I allow, working to keep my face even so I don’t look like a pathetic schoolboy.

“I was going to say I’ve been looking at schools. And I think I could go to a state school and still watch the kids on the weekends.” Her head settles into the crook of my neck, and she looks up at the sky while she sells the idea.

“I mean, I’m sure I could watch them during the week too, on the days I don’t have class. I don’t want to leave them, you know? They need stability.” The longer she talks, the further her eyes drift away.

Christ, she can’t know what her concern does to me. If I had anything left I would fuck her all over again. Worship her for everything she’s ever done for them. For me.

“That’s not a bad idea.” I rub my chin, pretending to think it over when the fact is I’d sell my left nut to keep her around. Especially after tonight. “But I have some conditions.”

“Oh?” At last, she turns from the stars, fixing her beautiful gaze on me. I nod, taking a deep breath to brace myself. 

“College comes first. I can find someone to fill in the gaps with the kids. But I don’t want you failing any classes because the boys won’t let you get an hour of free time.” And they won’t, with what I have planned. They’re so obsessed with her, I can’t imagine they’d object to seeing her around more often.

She traces a finger over my chest, following the divot beneath my pecs and then moving onto my collarbone. “Deal.” 

The smile on her face is radiant. She really does love the boys. But what does that mean for us? I have no idea if I’m about to fuck things up or get everything I didn’t know I needed.

“And…” I start, about to chicken out before I can even get the words out. Since when did I become so shy?

I don’t want you to be alone. I want you to find someone else.

No one could ever take away what I had with Maria. She was more than I deserved, and if I could go back and do it all over again, even knowing what would happen, I would do it in a heartbeat.

But she’s right. I’m tired of living in a waking nightmare. And if I’m not careful, it’s going to fuck up Will and Finn before they even get a chance to get started. 

“And?” she prompts when I don’t answer. Grow the fuck up, Rhett.

“And I want you to move in with me.” 

Pure silence hangs between us, her mouth open while no words come out. My chest feels tight, my pulse hammering in my ears while I wait for her to answer.

“You don’t mean that,” she says at last, looking down with a blush.

Taking her chin in my hand, I tilt her head up to look at me. “Yes, I do. You practically live with us already.” And this way I don’t have to find another sitter just to go see her.

It must seem sudden to her. But I’ve been in awe of her since day one. She could never replace their mother, but second to Maria, she is the only person who understands the boys like I do. The only person who loves them like I do.

Please say yes. Waiting for her to respond is absolute torture, the rise and fall of my chest like an ominous drum beat. Fuck me. What if this is a mistake? She’s barely nineteen. She doesn’t want to be a stepmom overnight.

“Do you really want this?” She brushes my hair back, sitting up to look at me square on. Instead of answering, I pull her down to me, grabbing the back of her neck while I press my lips to hers.

She sighs into my mouth, pressing her breasts against my chest. A shiver trembles through her and I grab her by the thighs, lifting her out of the chair without breaking our kiss.

Her arms hang over my back, her tongue insistent on mine. I feel like a fucking teenager, making out with her like this. All the way inside. To my bedroom, where I close the door behind us and lock it.

“What do you say?” I ask again, laying her in my bed and then crawling over her, planting kisses all across her collarbone and down her sternum. 

She is breathless, wrapping her legs around my waist as I settle some of my weight on top of her, licking the line of her jaw.

“Okay,” she breathes. 

Okay. My new favorite word. I won’t make the same mistake twice. Come what may, now that I’ve got her in my arms, I plan to never let her go.

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