The past several weeks have been remarkable. I haven’t seen or even heard from my dad. I haven’t even heard any rumors about him. I’ve only been to the house one more time, and that was to get the rest of my things. We went when I was sure no one would be home. I honestly think Justin wanted dad to show up. He doesn’t try to hide the distain he has for him. Or if he does, he does an awful job of it.

When we were discussing getting my things out of the house, I could see the loathing on his face and hear it in the few words he said about him. “A real man would never lay a hand on a woman. Fucking never! Let alone his daughter. Dirty rotten bottom feeding mother fucker.”

Not that dad doesn’t deserve everything that he would have coming to him. I’m glad he didn’t show up. I only wanted to sneak in get my stuff and to get the hell out. When we were leaving, I stood in the doorway watching the ghosts of the family that once was, but would never be again.

When we carried in the last of my things into the house, I had this euphoric feeling. It was official. My home is now with Justin. I’ve figured out that no matter where we are, as long as I’m with him, I’m home.

Over the next few months, we spend a lot of time at the academy. Justin has taught me some basic self-defense techniques. I taught him the true meaning of what a totally uncoordinated person looks like. It was fun to spend time with him and seeing him in his element. I got to know Jordan and Jenika. My gut was right, they are both amazing people. I learned that Jenika is an RN at Denver’s children’s hospital. I asked her how she’s able to see all those children who are fighting so hard for life. She tells me that she’s simply blessed to be able to spend time with each and every one of them. That no matter what age the child is or what it is that they are fighting, she always learns something from them. It seems to me that it would be impossible to deal with seeing children in such a state. Even though it feels awkward, I ask her how she deals with the children that lose their fight. I can see the sadness in her face. She told me that she goes home to her family. She tells them that she loves them, and then thanks God that has them.

Above the spot where Justin used to fish with his dad has officially become ours. We’ve spent endless hours up there talking, exploring, or simply taking in the magnificent beauty of nature. Hell, a few occasions he even got me to go fishing. Many times, we would be up there so long we’d get to watch the sun set and rise. It’s a place that I can find solace. A place that I feel real, that I have purpose in life, not just the poison that I’d always been led to believe I was.

Justin has fit right in with everyone at Delish. It makes me smile whenever a customer refers to him as ‘the boyfriend.' He has truly become part of our family. Oscar’s happy to have a male around that’s for sure. Endless times he’s informed us that there were too many hormones flying around the place. Typically, that gets something thrown at him, and he says ‘see, case and point.'

Tonight, is no different than any other night. I’ve just finished up a long ass shift at Delish when I hear Justin’s truck pull into the parking lot. Just the sound of it makes my heart start to flutter. When he walks through the door, he greets me in his traditional way. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in close. Then he gives me a kiss that makes that ‘zing’ travel through my entire body.

I grab my stuff and yell goodnight to everyone as we head out the door. I’m dead on my feet and can’t wait to get home and cuddle on the couch. Justin and I walk hand in hand to his truck, and he opens the door for me. I climb in and lay my head against the headrest, closing my eyes.

On the way home, every time I open my eyes, he’s looking at me with the sweetest smile on his face.

I smile back at him. “Shouldn’t you be watching the road?”

All he does is nod his head, glance at the road, then look back at me. Man, I could look into those beautiful eyes for every second of the rest of my life, and it wouldn’t be long enough. He doesn’t even know how beautiful he is. I can’t believe he’s mine.

When we get home, I head directly to the couch. Justin grabs my hand. “Oh no, you don’t.”

I can tell that he is up to something. He starts acting like a child who is trying to keep a secret. He leads me down the hallway towards the bedroom. When we are a few feet from the door, he steps behind me, puts one arm around my waist, and with his other hand he covers my eyes.

I can’t help but start to giggle. “Justin, I can’t see!”

“I know. That’s the point.”

Walking together in unison, he directs my body and then he stops. “Are you ready?”

I put my hand over his covering my eyes. “Well, I can feel you against me, so I know you’re not naked waiting to ravage my body. So yeah, there’s a bit of disappointment, but okay, I’m ready.”

He leans into my ear, I can feel his warm breath against my neck. “I can make that happen too.”

Chills run down my body. My nipples get hard and throbbing between my legs starts at the mere thought of it.

He slowly lowers his hand. “Okay, open your eyes.”

When I open my eyes, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. There in front of me is the most beautiful bookshelf. It’s more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen in magazines or TV. The wood is a gorgeous dark cherry color. It must stand more than seven feet tall, and four feet wide. Each shelf has an intricate design running across the front. That’s when I see the script on the front of one of the shelves. I slowly trace my fingers over it. ‘Love is the meeting of two souls.'

I look back at Justin with complete disbelief. He smiles and takes a step closer to me. “Keep reading.”

‘Loving all the dark and all the light in each other.'

‘No two souls were ever more meant for each other.'

Then on the final shelf. ‘My heart and soul are forever yours.’

Tears fill my eyes, and I clutch my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God, Justin!”

He puts his arms around me and pulls me close. “So, you like it?”

“Like it? I love it! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Thank you so much.” I reach out and run my hand along the smooth wood. “Where did you ever find this?”

“Find it? I made it.”

I’m in total awe. “You made this?”

“I know how much you love your books. I wanted you to have somewhere to keep them, where you could enjoy them.”

I love to know that they’re there, but I don’t need them to escape life anymore.

I take his face in my hands and kiss him tenderly on the lips. “I’m living my own fairy tale.”

Justin wraps one arm around my waist, and his other runs up the back of my neck, grabbing a hand full of my hair. He tugs me in so close to his body that I can feel his rock hard cock pressing against my stomach. Pulling gently on my hair, he tilts my head back, then runs his lips close to my face without touching it. I arch my body trying to press it more into his. A low growl comes from his throat. I can feel him smiling by the light brush of his lips against my cheek. I try to turn my head to kiss him, but his hold on my hair is too strong.

He lights my body on fire as he runs his tongue along my jawline, then bites and sucks my earlobe. He continues his journey down to the hollow of my neck. I sink my fingernails into the flesh of his back, raking them down to his waist. I feel him shudder under my touch. I run my fingers just under the edge of his pants from the back to the button on the front. When I try to unbutton his jeans, he quickly let’s go of my hair and grabs my arms keeping me from what I desire.

He takes the edge of my shirt and begins to pull it up, grabbing my bra as he goes. He doesn’t pull them completely off me. He stops leaving my eyes covered. I can feel him twisting the material binding my arms together. While one arm is around my waist, he pulls back on my shirt, causing my body to arch towards him.

His lips pick up where they left off. Tracing from the edge of my shoulder across my collar bone, down between my tits. When he sucks one aching nipple into his mouth and begins to swirl his tongue around the tip of it, my knees buckle. He tightens his grip around my waist, lifting me up. I wrap my legs around his waist as he starts to walk. The only thing between my aching body and his a few thin layers of clothing. I tighten my legs trying to pull him closer.

Within mere seconds, I feel the cool softness of the bed sheets caressing my back. I would have thought that my nipples couldn’t have gotten harder, but with the chill of the fabric against my scorching skin they do. His touch has heightened every sense in my body. Justin slides me up the bed. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but it feels like he’s securing my hands to the frame of the bed. Inch by inch he licks and bites at my arm until I feel his breath against the soft skin under my ear. “You can get loose by yourself if you want too.”

My breathing is shallow in anticipation of what he’s going to do next. “I don’t want too.”

A seductive noise comes deep from Justin’s throat. He immediately moves to my tits, cupping them together. He runs his tongue slowly until he makes his way to my nipples. Taking one into his mouth sucking and biting. He doesn’t leave the other to go without attention for very long. He starts to roll it between his fingers, pulling gently.

I imagine the smoldering look on his face right now. Just the thought of that and the beautiful torture he’s causing me makes me start to beg for him. “Please, Justin.”

I push my hips trying to connect with him. The ache in the core of my body is about to drive me insane. I need to feel him inside me. I want to watch him as he moves, making my body become a slave to his.

“Eager, are we?”

“My God, Justin. Please!”

“Please what, Sarah? What do you want?”

“I want you inside me. I want us to be one. And I want to watch you as you fuck me.”

“All in good time, my love.”

He continues on his journey down my body, kissing and licking as he goes. He stops when he comes to my jeans. I can feel him unbuttoning them with his teeth. Slowly, he begins sliding my pants and panties down my legs, kissing me as he goes.

Running his hands up the inside of my legs, he gradually spreads them apart. “Beautiful.”

The moment that his mouth touches me, shocks start pulsing through my body. Not being able to take it a second more, I work my arms until they’re free. When I look down at him, he’s looking back at me. It’s as if his dark eyes are gazing into my soul. I’m clutching the sheets in my hands as he continues to move his mouth and tongue against my flesh.

“Justin, I can’t hold on much longer.”

His tone is deep. “Then let go. I want to watch you. I want to know that I’m the reason that you’re in ecstasy.”

Before the words completely leave his mouth, the room starts spinning out of control. I soar high into the heavens, then he slowly guides me back down. He’s in complete and total control of every fiber within me.

I feel the bed dip as he crawls up the bed and lays right next to me. Moving the strand of hair that clings to my sweaty forehead. “You okay?”

I know that he’s talking to me, but I want to bask in this euphoric state for as long as humanly possible. I finally muster up enough energy to smile and nod my head yes.

When I finally open my eyes, Justin is perched on an elbow looking down smiling at me. “Hi.”

I smile back at him. “Hey there.”

I rise up, wrapping my hands around his neck, pulling him close. Tracing his lips with my tongue, tasting myself as I go. It doesn’t take but a moment for him to allow me access. I kiss him, passionately, with fire, demanding more of him. Wanting him to know without a doubt that I’m nowhere near done with him.

Slowly, I slide my fingers down his chest. I watch them rise and fall as they trace each muscle. Even though his chest is as hard as steel, I touch it as if it were delicate crystal. I look into Justin’s eyes, and they seem to be absolutely ignited with passion as I unbutton his pants. Reaching down, I wrap my hand around his rock hard cock. I begin moving my wrist, rubbing the swollen head within in my fist.

I gasp when in one swift move, he has me on my back and has positioned himself between my legs. He braces himself above me with one arm and pushes his jeans down with the other. He gazes down at me. “I swear you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

He reaches down between our bodies and guides his cock into me. Just the feeling of flesh against flesh is enough to take me directly to the edge again. When he begins to move slowly and purposely, I have to pull him down to me, smashing my mouth to his to muffle my cries of pleasure.

When I know that I can’t take another moment, I desperately cry out his name, “Justin.”

He stares at me with a seductive smile. “Come for me.”

Wrapping my legs around him to pull him into to me as far as possible, I dive off the cliff who’s edge he’s taken me to. Even though my mind and body are in a state of frenzied bliss, I feel his body becoming tenser with each controlled thrust. Then his entire body start to shudder, and he lets out an amazingly sexy noise from low in his throat. I can feel the heat that comes from deep within his body flood into mine.

Rolling to his back, he pulls me close to his body. Wrapping his arms around me, I snuggle into his chest. I listen to his racing heartbeat slowly calming down. He takes me by the chin lifting my face so that I’m eye to eye with him. He kisses me sweetly on the lips. “I love you, Sarah.”

“I love you too. With all my heart.”

Resting my head against his shoulder, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

When I wake up the room is dark and deathly quiet. I reach over to feel for Justin but he’s not here. The cold sheets tell me that he hasn’t been here for a while.

Sitting up, I look around the room to find him sitting in the chair at the edge of the room. “Why are you over there and not in bed?”

“Just doing some thinking.”

The tone of his voice makes my stomach churn. “Is everything alright?”

“No, Sarah it’s not. There’s something that we need to talk about.”

I don’t let the fact that I’m nervous as fuck reflect in my voice. “Well, why don’t you crawl back into bed with me and we’ll talk about anything that’s going on.”

He walks over to the bed, turning on the bedside light before he crawls into bed next to me. “It’s been eating at me for too long, and I love you too much to keep this to myself. The reason I haven’t talked to you about it before now is because I just wasn’t sure how you’d react. I wasn’t sure if you knew that we were fighting the same darkness, if would bring us closer together or push you away.”

My mind scrambles trying to figure out what he’s talking about but comes up with nothing. “I don’t understand.”

“Remember the night, I told you about my parents? You asked if that bastard got what he deserved and I said he did. He did, but not before he caused more destruction and ruined more lives. The man who shot my parents was the same man who killed your mom and sister.”

I sit there stunned at what he just told me. It’s taking me a minute to process it all.

Justin’s brow lowers, he looks apprehensive. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a little surprised that’s all. So, we really do share the same darkness.”

He runs his hand lightly along my shoulder. “And the same light.”

I entwine my body with his and nuzzle in next to him. “Absolutely.”

The next morning when I wake up, we are in the same position as we were when we fell asleep. I study all of Justin’s fabulous features. From his long dark lashes that caress the skin under his eyes to the stubble on his chin. I run my hand along the curve of his jaw and chin. His entire being says beautiful, yet strong. It’s still hard for me to believe that he’s mine, that all of this is real.

I scream when he says good morning. He hasn’t moved a muscle. Hell, he didn’t even blink his eyes.

“You ass! You scared the shit out of me! How’d you even know that I was awake?”

“Well, you were staring at me, right?”

“I wouldn’t call it staring. More like looking at you intently.”

“Okay, so I see in your world that’s completely different than staring. You were touching my face. When I realized that your beautiful body was still lying next to me. That you weren’t trying to put your pussy in my face, I thought I’d say good morning.”

I smack him in the chest. “Oh my God, Justin! You are so fucking rotten.”

He pulls me back into his chest. “Oh, a potty mouth! I love it.”

I smack him again and then work my way out of his hold to get out of bed. I grab the shirt he had on last night off the floor, turning around to make sure he gets a full view of my tits.

“Exactly where do you think you’re going?” When I finish pulling my head through his T-shirt I see the shit eating grin on his face.

I try to ignore him and go the search for his boxers. When I find them, I seductively step into them, then return a grin back to him. “Who me?”

He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Remember that I too can be a smartass Mr. Troma. I’m going to go make us some breakfast.”

Before I’m able to turn around and consider the conversation a win for me he throws the covers back, exposing his dick which is obviously wide awake. Thrusting his hips forward just a bit. “Guess I’ll just have to take care of this little issue that you’ve caused on my own then.”

It’s taking everything I’ve got to not give into his little game. I slink my way back across the bed to him. Licking my lips when I glance down at his dick. I lower myself so that our lips are just about to touch. I kiss him, biting and sucking on his bottom lip.

I jump off the bed as fast as I can. He tries to grab me, but I get away. “Yep, I guess you will.”

He starts to laugh. “Who’s rotten now?”

As I walk out the door, I stop and look back at Justin. “Score one for Sarah.”

When I get to the kitchen, I start rummaging through the refrigerator trying to come up with something to make. I find enough to make a decent omelet. I get everything ready and in the pan. I stand back and admire my work. I must say it looks pretty damn delicious. While I’m waiting to flip the omelet, my mind starts to wonder back to Justin lying in bed. ‘Take care of business myself.’ I start to imagine him doing just that. His hand wrapped around his rock hard dick. A continuous rhythm of stroking it up and down. Then the closer he gets the more tense his body becomes and the faster he strokes. Jesus, what was I thinking jumping out of that bed?

The smell of something burning pulls be out of my blissful daydream. I’m trying to get the stupid, now slightly burnt breakfast flipped when I suddenly feel a hand slide down the front of my shorts and immediately to my clit. I drop the omelet to the floor as soon as he starts to rub in circles. My knees are becoming week, so I try to balance myself using the door handle of the oven. He works his hand further back between my legs, plunging his finger deep inside me, moving it in the same rhythm as I imagined him doing to himself.

My body starts to tingle, and my legs start to shake. I know that I’m so close. “Oh God!”

That’s when he stops and pulls his hand away. I spin around to face him. Christ, he looks sexy as fuck. His sleep pants hang off his hips showing that sexy ass V.

“What the hell was that all about? And why did you stop?”

He takes me in his arms. “You see, if you’re going to be so kind to leave me to think about nothing but being inside you for the rest of the day. Then I want you to think of nothing but having me inside you all day.”

“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing ever?” I hope he hears the sarcasm that I added when I said it.

He looks down at the floor. “Think you dropped something.”

I stare at him. “Yeah, that one’s yours.”

He goes to the refrigerator acting very nonchalant. “Nah, I’ll just have some orange juice. Oh, Jordan called and wanted to know if we wanted to go out tonight with him and Jenika.”

Oh, he’s good! “For sure. That sounds like a great time. Let’s do it!”

Taking his glass of juice off the counter, he heads towards the door. He smacks me on the ass as he walks by. Laughing all the way to the door. He stops and looks back at me. “Score one for Justin.”