“I fucking love this thing on you.”

I squeal as Deklan grabs me from behind, nearly knocking the spatula right out of my hand.  He reaches around and slides his hands under my robe and pulls me against his chest.

“The hash browns are going to burn!”  I laugh as he pulls me away from the stove and sucks at my neck, tickling my sides with his long fingers.

“Can’t be helped.”  He turns me around and presses his mouth to mine, and I feel my body melt into his.

Damn the hash browns.  I don’t care anymore.

I tilt my head back and open my mouth, reveling in the feeling of his hands grasping my ass and pulling me up off the floor so he can better reach my tongue with his.  The kiss is too brief, and when he sets my feet back on the floor, I reach up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.

Deklan grins at me and gives me one more swift kiss before turning me back around to face the stove.  Breathlessly, I go back to turning potatoes.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with work today,” Deklan says.  “It’s been nice having a few days off.”

“I’m not sure what I should do today at all.”  I finish the cooking and load up our breakfast plates.

Other than the one trip to the Foley residence, Deklan and I have spent the last four days together.  He has raved about my cooking and spent a whole lot of time learning every inch of my body, but I still don’t feel like I know him well.  Every time I ask him to tell me more about himself, he distracts me with his hands and mouth until I can’t catch my breath long enough to ask any more questions.

I’m not ready for him to return to work.

“You should relax,” Deklan says.  “Watch some TV.  Read a book.  Take a bath.”

“I do have a book I need to finish,” I tell him.  “I’m in a book club.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.  It’s an online club.”  I look at him pointedly, and he stares back at me for a long moment.

“No phone.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I can take you to a place with Wi-Fi whenever you want.”

“I guess that will have to do.”  I consider this for a moment, and another concern comes to me.  “What if I need to get hold of you when you’re gone?”

“Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot.”  Deklan stands and goes to a drawer in the kitchen.  He pulls out a prepaid phone and drops it on the kitchen island next to my plate.  “If you need something, just use this.  There’s only one number programmed into it, and that will go straight to me.”

I pick up the phone and turn it on, taking note of the single number in the contacts list before turning it back off.  It’s a simplistic phone and pretty self-explanatory, so with a smirk I decline Deklan’s offer to show me how to use it.

“Only if you really need something,” he says.  “I’ll be working and might not be able to answer right away.”

“What if I just miss you?”  I look up at him, already feeling alone.

“Then just hold on to that thought, and I’ll make up for it when I get home.”

I nod.  As usual, I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.

We finish breakfast, and Deklan kisses me slowly one last time before he leaves.  Once he’s gone, I stare at the door for a full minute before I turn around and face the empty apartment.

I don’t want to watch TV.  I don’t need a bath, and I’m not much in a reading mood, either.  I wander around for a bit, but with only four rooms in the apartment, there isn’t much to keep me occupied.

I glance at my phone on the dresser.  I’d like to read, but I realize my only book club is electronic, and I don’t dare turn the phone on.  For all I know, Deklan would know as soon as I did, and I don’t want to blatantly disregard his rules.  Sure, he’s said he wouldn’t lay a hand on me, but I’m also sure he has limits as to what he’ll tolerate.

I go back to the living room, wishing I had another e-reader.  Maybe Deklan would let me get one as long as it couldn’t be traced.

Just to pass the time, I take a long shower, clean up the dishes from breakfast, and then give the whole apartment a good once-over.  It’s already clean, and I’m sitting on the couch, bored off my ass, within an hour.

I literally have nothing to do.

On my phone, there are books, games, social media, and infinite websites to browse.  I’m used to physical isolation, but this is a whole new level.  I stare at my phone, daring myself to just turn it on despite Deklan’s warning, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it.

There has to be a nearby place with Wi-Fi.

Deklan didn’t tell me I had to stay in the apartment, but he also didn’t tell me I could leave.  I could call him and ask, but he said to call only in an emergency, and this clearly doesn’t fall into that category.

Instinctively, I tap my phone to check the time, but it’s off, so the gesture is pointless.  I stand up from the couch and go over to the stove to check the time, finding that it’s only a little after nine in the morning.

I don’t even know what time he’ll be home.

“Fuck it.”  I walk to the bedroom for my purse, toss the burner phone inside, and then grab my jacket from the hook near the door.  It isn’t until I’ve shut the door behind me that I realize I don’t have a key to the apartment.

The door has locked behind me.

“Shit!”

I jiggle the knob over and over again, like a child pressing the button to make the elevator appear faster.  The result is as expected, and I stand in the hallway, staring at the door and trying not to cry.

How was I going to get back inside without a key?  Should I call Deklan and tell him what happened?  Did this count as an emergency, or would it piss him off to be interrupted?

I consider things Deklan might regard as an emergency and decide this isn’t one of them.  I am just going to have to wait outside until he gets home, which certainly won’t be for many hours.  As long as I’m back here by five o’clock, everything should work out fine.  It won’t even be a big deal if I have to wait a while for him to return.

With a deep breath, I stand up straight and try to pull myself together.  There isn’t much of a choice now, so I might as well find the nearest coffee house or bookstore.

I walk out onto the street and figure out pretty quickly that I have no idea where I am or what direction I should go.  The street in front of the apartment is a fairly busy one, and there are sidewalks leading in either direction but no indication of which way would be the best.

Hoping that I’m far enough away for Deklan’s tastes, I turn my phone on and open an app to locate nearby businesses.  I’m in luck and find a coffee shop only a few blocks away.  I quickly turn the phone off again—just in case—and head that way.

I find myself in a strip mall with a laundromat and what I assume to be the convenience store where Deklan bought my toothbrush during our first night together.  The obligatory nail salon and Chinese takeout joint are also present.  At the end, I see the coffee shop and head that way.  When I get there, I see there are more shops around the corner.

It’s actually a nice little area—lots of mom-and-pop boutiques, a small movie theatre, and green space complete with trees and park benches.  I spend a few minutes walking up and down the sidewalk, peering into shop windows before returning to the corner.

I head into the coffee shop and buy a mocha latte with the small amount of cash I have on me.  One of my Dad’s credit cards is also in my purse, but I have no doubt Deklan wouldn’t want me to use that.  The barista calls out my name and gives me a big smile when he holds out my drink.

“Hope you enjoy it,” he says pleasantly.  “I gave you a little extra whipped cream.”

He winks, and I smile back tentatively.  The name tag on his uniform says “Terry.”  I make a point of taking the coffee from him with my left hand, hoping the giant rock on my finger is noticeable enough to deter him from further conversation.  He doesn’t say anything else, so I guess it worked.

I find a small table by the window and turn my phone back on.  As soon as I start up my favorite chat app, a dozen messages from Kathy appear.

TKbitch: So, did you go through with it?

TKbitch: I want to hear all about this guy!

TKbitch: Hellooooooo?

TKbitch: Hey, answer your damn messages!  I sent you one on FB, too.

TKbitch: Kera?  Kera?  Come in, Kera!

TKbitch: Listen here, you bitch—I’m starting to get worried!

TKbitch: ANSWER ME!!!!

And there, two days later, is the final message.

TKbitch: I broke down and called your mom.  I really hope everything is okay.  Please, please, please call me when you can!

Kathy is the single person I have kept in constant contact with since I started home-schooling.  Though she was ahead of me in school, we played together on the playground in elementary school and even had some of the same classes my first year of high school.  Despite her moving off to college a few years ago, we talked almost daily, and she was my best friend in the world.  I feel instantly guilty for being so preoccupied with Deklan that I hadn’t even thought to call her.  I quickly type out a reply.

Bookwhore72: I am SO SORRY!  Crazy few days and way too much to type.  Having coffee now.  Call if you can!

My phone rings about twelve seconds later.

“For the love of God, woman!” Kathy screams loud enough that I have to pull the phone away from my ear.  “Where the hell have you been?  I was about to hire a dude in a fedora to go look for you!”

“I’m so sorry.  Really, I am.  The past few days have been nuts.”

“Spill it!  The last I heard, you weren’t marrying that Foley guy but some other dude on steroids.”

“He’s not on steroids.”  I roll my eyes and sip a bit of my coffee.  “He is built like one of those large, earth-moving machines, but I’m pretty sure it’s all natural. His name is Deklan.”

“And?”

“And, he’s…well, he’s quite nice.”  I pause.

“Nice?” Kathy snorts into the phone.  “I don’t hear from you in almost a week, and all you got is ‘nice’?”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Try the beginning, bitch.”

“Ugh!”  I sigh loudly, but I can’t stop smiling.  I didn’t realize how much I’d missed Kathy, and it feels good to hear her voice.  “Okay, here’s the short version.  I didn’t even know his last name until the middle of the ceremony.  He’s got dark hair and blue eyes.  He’s about a foot taller than I am, and his hands are huge.  When he’s around other people, he looks like he’s four seconds away from literally ripping people’s arms off, but at home, he’s quite different.”

“Different how?”

“He’s…sweet.  He’s gentle.  He likes my cooking and draws me baths—candles and everything.  I conked myself on the head, and he insisted on taking me to the hospital to get checked out.  He’s got some strict rules, which is why I didn’t message you back, but he says...he says he’s going to take care of me.  He says he wants to be a good husband.”

“Whoa.”

“Whoa what?”

“Are you falling for this guy?  Already?”

“I don’t know if I’m falling for him,” I say, “but he’s a lot better than I thought he would be.  I thought things were going to be a lot worse.”

I consider telling her about how I thought he was going to kill me but decide to keep that tidbit to myself.

“I’d laugh my ass off otherwise,” Kathy says.  “All those times you’ve bitched about ‘instalove’ in romance books—I’d give you serious shit if it happened to you.”

We both laugh.

“So…tell me about the wedding night!  Did you go through with it?”

“Yeah.”  I’m pretty sure she can see my blush through the phone, but Kathy doesn’t squeal or cheer or anything.  That’s not her way, and I love her for it.

“And?” she says simply, prompting me to continue.

“And it was kinda incredible.”

“Hold on.” I hear a click and realize she’s lighting a cigarette.

“Are you at work?”

“Yeah, just taking a break.”

“I thought you were going to quit smoking.”

“I did.  Then I realized I wasn’t a quitter.”

I roll my eyes and listen to her puff a few times before she starts talking again.

“Now that I have a smoke, give me the deets on ‘kinda incredible.’”

“Um…”  I look around the coffee shop, wondering if anyone is within earshot.  The tables closest to me are empty, and I don’t think I’ll be overheard.  “After I had my usual freak-out moment over the fact that Mom didn’t put anything useful in my travel bag, we talked a little.  He was kinda pushing to hold off on the whole consummation thing, but I wanted to get it over with.”

“‘Get it over with?’”  I can practically hear Kathy rolling her eyes.  “How romantic.”

“Hey, I wasn’t so sure I was going to live through the night at that point.”  I cringe when I realize what I’ve said.  I don’t want Kathy to sense how serious my fear was, so I laugh it off.  “I could have died of embarrassment or something.”

“But you didn’t, and you did go through with it.”

“Yes.”  I take a sip of coffee and turn toward the wall a little.  “He had me get on top.  He said it would be easier that way.”

“Ride ’em, cowgirl!”  Kathy snickers.  “What does his cock look like?”

“Kathy!”  I laugh and look around me, paranoid that someone might have heard her through the phone, but there isn’t anyone close by.

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you to lose that cherry for a long-ass time!  It’s time to compare some notes.  How big is it?”

“Um…I think it’s pretty big.  I don’t have anything to compare it with.”

“How about comparing it with a damn ruler?”

“Ya know, next time I’ll ask.  ‘Hold on a sec, Dek—let me grab this measuring tape.’”

“Ha!  You should at least be able to estimate.”

“Geometry was never my strong subject.”

“Ugh, Kera!  You’re killing me here!  Could you get your hand around it?”

“Barely.”

“Damn!

“Well, he’s not circumcised.”

“Really?  You married a hood-rat?”

“Hood-rat?”  I laugh out loud.  “I dare you to say that to his face.”

“I’ve never done a guy who wasn’t cut.  Does it look like it’s wearing a sweater?  One of my co-workers is married to a Brit.  He’s not cut, and she says it looks like a turtle head poking out of the sleeve of a sweater.”

“Um…kinda.”  I laugh again and shake my head.  It feels good to talk to Kathy.

“Is it straight?  Curved?  Does the end bend over into a hook?”

“Enough!”  My sides are starting to hurt from laughing.  “Tell me how you’re doing.  How’s the new job?”

Kathy finished her nursing degree just a few months ago and was working her first serious job at an OB/GYN office.

“Full of baby goat heads,” she says bluntly.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’d think that all women would take care of their hoo-has, wouldn’t ya?”

“Um, I suppose so.”

“Well, that’s a crock of shit.  You wouldn’t believe some of the things I have seen.  I’d send you pictures, but I assume you’ll probably want to eat again someday.  Just believe me when I say there are women out there who wait way too long to see their doctor.”

“What does that have to do with baby goat heads?”

“If someone comes in with some serious weirdness going on down there, you’re supposed to take notes in the system for the doctor to see.  The problem is, the patients can see the notes.  They get all offended when you write ‘Moron noticed her labia was producing large, purple growths about six months ago and can no longer pull her pants all the way up.  It’s occurred to her that maybe that ain’t normal.’  So we’ve got a code: baby goat heads.  If there’s something seriously freaky going on, the doctor gets a little advanced warning, and no one knows what the fuck we’re talking about, so they can’t really get offended.”

“Oh my God!  You are not serious!”

“I’m completely serious.  That shit happens every week around here.  That isn’t even the worst of it.  There are people who have inserted—”

“Enough!” I yell into the phone.  “I don’t want any more details!”

Kathy laughs.

“Overall, I really like it.  It’s pretty much what they told me it would be.  I spend more time dealing with bodily fluids than I might prefer, but the people I work with are awesome.  Everyone has a sense of humor.”

“That’s great, Kathy.  I’m so happy for you.”

“I’ll get vacation time after I’ve been here for ninety days.  I might have to come and visit you.”

“That would be awesome!”

“I was thinking I’d try to be there around your birthday so we can hit the bars.”

“Kathy,” I cry with mock indignity, “are you already plotting to get me drunk so you can take advantage?  I’ve only just lost my virginity this past week!”

“Oh, baby, you know it!”  We both laugh, but my laughter is cut short.

“Jesus fucking Christ!”

I jump and swivel in my chair to see Deklan standing in the doorway of the coffee shop, glaring at me with piercing eyes.