GAVIN
THREE MONTHS LATER
The defiance that I had experienced when I first met Althea all but faded once she moved in. I thought she'd be pissed at me when I showed up at her mother's apartment, but as soon as we were out the door, she flung her arms around my neck and kissed me and told me how perfect I had been. My heart soared from pleasing her.
Living together hasn't been as much of an adjustment for me as I thought it would be. I don't mind sharing my space, as long as it's with her. When I smelled my scent on her skin, it filled me with pride. I love her natural clean scent, but having her smell like me is the next best thing. I can only hope that my masculine scent wards off other males, not that I worry much about that with as little as Althea goes out.
She kept her job until they tried calling her in on her day off. That shit didn't fly, especially because she was nestled in my arms on a Sunday when it happened. She frowned all the way through the call but agreed like the perfect little employee. When she hung up and nuzzled against me with a pout, I knew it would be easy to make her stay home.
“You could...not go into work,” I suggest as I draw a circle on her bare shoulder with my thumb.
“I already told them I would,” she grumbles.
“I mean indefinitely.” I kiss the top of her head.
The air is filled with the scent of sex from our recent coupling. I know she has to be exhausted from me riding her so hard. This is usually what we do on Sundays. Stay in bed all day, only getting up to eat before we return to business. I like her to be walking bowlegged at work on Mondays so that all the guys at the restaurant know she's already been claimed.
She doesn't respond, mulling it over.
“I know you hate your job.” I glance down at her. “I know you'd rather stay here with me.” I slide my hand to her side and gently claw my fingers up it, making her squirm.
“I would rather stay here with you.” She giggles from me tickling her, pressing closer to me. Her soft skin molding against me makes my cock spring to attention. It never takes long before I'm ready to go again.
“So stay with me.” I roll on top of her, pinning her beneath me, my dick slipping into the space between her legs.
“If I stay with you, I might lose my job.” She gives me a coy look.
“Staying with me is your job.” I lean in to kiss the curve of her neck. She lets out a heady moan in reply.
“Okay,” she agrees finally. “But what will I do with myself when I don't have a job anymore?”
“Pleasure me. Bear my children. Be my wife and a mother.”
Her body tenses. When I look at her, her bottom lip is clipped between her teeth. My mouth crashes down on top of hers to reclaim it.
We kiss for several moments before she pulls away breathily. “If I stay with you, will you stop being a paranoid brat and take the tracking app off my cell phone?”
“Are you trying to hide something from me?” I quirk an eyebrow.
“You know I'm not.” She frowns. “You know where I've been every second of every day since you bought me. If you don't trust me by now, I don't think you ever will.”
“I trust you.” I grin, rolling off of her to walk to the closet, open it, and pull out the gift bag inside before bringing it back to her and setting it on the bed.
“What's this?” She sits up, looking at the bag.
“Open it.”
Althea pops the tape on the bag and sticks her hand in to fish out the box within, pulling out the latest model of the iPhone. “I was going to buy a new one myself,” she tells me. “I guess now I know why you refused to let me.”
“The old phones have nostalgia.” I look at mine still sitting on the bedside table. I'll stick both of our phones in a keepsake box now that we won't need them anymore. I should probably get rid of them, but they remind me of our first connection, so the sentimental value is too great.
“I feel like this somehow has significance,” she stares down at the phone as she powers it on, “more so than the jewelry and car and clothes and candy you've bought me thus far.”
“It does.” I sit on the bed beside her, gazing down at the phone. It's such a simple thing, but it means a lot coming from me. “It means I trust you. There's no tracking app on it. If you want to escape me now, you're completely free to do so.”
She chuckles, leaning over to kiss me on the lips. “As if I'd ever want to escape you. You're wonderful. And I love you.”
Heat circles my heart. “Did you just say you love me?”
“I did.” Her eyes flutter beneath thick lashes, and pink comes to her cheeks.
“I love you, too.” I place my hand on top of hers and give it a gentle squeeze. “But don't think this new freedom comes without a price.”
She rolls her eyes, pulling away from me, but I know her well enough to see that she's not really upset—that she expected this. Every freedom I've given her so far has come with a stipulation. Why should this be any different?
“Please tell me I'm not going to have to start cooking for you.” She gives me a side-eye. “You remember what happened the last time I tried to make you breakfast.”
“No, you don't have to start cooking for me.” I laugh. “I would not dream of that.”
“No, you wouldn't. It would be more like a nightmare.” She scrolls through the phone, checking out its interface.
A few weeks ago, Althea tried to surprise me by getting up early to make me breakfast in bed. I awoke to the sound of the fire alarms going off and ran downstairs naked to find her trying to put out the fire she had somehow made of our eggs. When she threw water on the grease, the flames licked up at the ceiling. I ended up having to bust out the fire extinguisher. She called me her naked fireman for about a week afterward.
“What I want is something a lot more laborious.” I pull her onto my lap.
“Like housework?” she groans, not even bothering to look back at me.
“No. Laborious.” I rub my hand over her stomach. “I want you to let me put a baby in here.”
Her entire body tenses and her breath stills. The only time she's ever betrayed my trust was shortly after she moved in. On one of her days off, she went to the doctor and had an IUD put in. I wouldn't have even known had I not felt the strings poking my dick during sex. It wasn't until I threatened to pull the damn thing out myself that she confessed. It was a fight that almost did us in. She cried, telling me that she wasn't ready for children. I was so furious that I slept on the couch. She wanted to move back home, but I wouldn't let her. I demanded she have the IUD removed, but she refused. We didn't speak to each other for nearly a week.
The silence was killing me, and I missed the feeling of her lips pressed against mine and her soft little body clinging to me at night, so I caved, telling her that I was willing to wait for kids, but not for very long. I knew I still didn't have her trust back then. We were practically strangers. Even though I owned her, everything was still new and scary to her. I had to give it some time. Demanding something like that when she still wasn't certain about my true intentions was unreasonable.
But now...she knows I love her. She knows this is for life. The ten carat diamond ring on her finger should tell her that. And now I'm giving her the last thing that she had to want for. Her freedom. I think it's fair that she gives me this.