A heart chakra couple will have more opportunities for happiness than opportunities for unhappiness. Typically, marriages driven by the heart chakra are long lasting. Together they work through their karma and cleanse their consciousness of negativity.

Over the next couple weeks, we fell into a routine. We’d pick up Lily from school, do homework, play games, and watch movies. This morning, Monet informed me that the last of her tape from her injury had fallen away. A month had passed since the attack, and she was doing really well. Amazingly so. In celebration, we’d picked up The Lego Movie, which I found rather awesome. The new graphics in these films were way beyond my day. And the fact that Lily chose what she considered a “boy movie” just for me made my heart swell. I had to admit, it was a damn good movie. The story was sound and the antics between the Lego characters pretty funny. While we watched, Monet cuddled along my side. Both my girls snuggled right up next to me. It was a surreal moment—one I’d take with me to my grave as one of the best.

While Monet put Lily to bed, I devised my plan for seduction. I wanted inside my woman fully. We’d held off on the more robust sexual activities due to the stitches and her discomfort. The stitches had been out for two weeks now, and the tape was gone. She was free and clear to be ravished and I could not wait. We needed to surpass this last physical hurdle. Tonight, I planned on touching every inch of her body and making her mine. No more worries, just the two of us connecting in the most honest way possible. She needed to know how amazing I found her, scars and all.

While Monet led Lily to her room, I locked up the house, closed all the blinds, started the dishwasher, and made sure everything was put away for the evening.

Walking through the house, it dawned on me how at ease I was in Monet’s home. I hadn’t spent a night in my own apartment in a long time and I did not miss it. Not even a little. My woman had a way of making me feel welcome. Even the decorating was conducive to hanging out and staying a while. The entire house felt like a home; it didn’t just look like one. She had deep, comfortable couches and plenty of pillows that were often thrown to the floor for relaxing on. Blankets in baskets were within reach. Side tables and end tables we put our feet on without worrying about scratching the surfaces. I also appreciated the art on the walls with the muted and cheery vibe.

As I made my way down the long hall to her master bedroom, I noted all the pictures on the walls. Family was important to Monet, even if she didn’t have much anymore. Pictures of her grandparents, her mother, half sister, and an entire wall of Lily from birth to now spanned the long pathway. Mila as well as Atlas had been added to the “wall of fame” as I called it. I fingered the last picture that depicted Mila, Atlas, Monet, and Lily at a pumpkin patch and wondered when I’d be added to her wall. Soon, I hoped.

I entered Monet’s bedroom and tugged off my T-shirt, tossing it toward the hamper but not quite making it in. Sitting next to it I noticed a folded basket of clothes. All mine and all clean. She’d done my laundry and had placed it neatly into the basket. As much as I liked seeing my clean clothes in here, a hell of a lot, it burned that they weren’t inside a drawer or hanging in the closet.

Cringing, I picked up the basket and set it on the bed. Then I went over to the closet, flicked on the light, and walked in. Monet had a lot of clothes, as I imagined any woman would. Suits, skirts, and dresses hung to the far back and blouses on another side. To the right was an open space that had shelving about four feet high where Monet’s shoes were lined up neatly and efficiently. Above that space were jewelry boxes and various knickknacks, but higher up, a solid three feet of hanger bar was empty. It ran along the entire space and would be perfect. For me.

I grabbed the basket from the bed, reentered the closet, and set it on the floor. I hung all my shirts and jeans. I kept aside my boxer briefs and socks. I’d find a place for those too.

“Clay?” I heard Monet enter the bedroom.

“In here, beautiful,” I called out.

She entered the closet and leaned against the doorjamb. I looked at her while I snapped the buttons on a dress shirt. My God, the woman was gorgeous. Her black hair fell in loose waves around her face, the strands a shining, silky ebony, like wet river rock when the mountain water rushes over it. She wore a simple tank with no bra. Her small nipples poked against the thin cotton fabric, making my mouth water. She tucked one of her heels against her ankle, giving me a sweet view of her bare legs in her sleep shorts. The woman was dressed for bed, but she could have been ready for the runway. I was one lucky son of a bitch.

“What are you doing?” Her nose crinkled up the exact same way Lily’s did, only Lily did hers in irritation. Monet’s showed uncertainty.

“Hanging my clothes up.”

She nodded. “I can see that.”

“Thank you for washing them. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m grateful.” I winked at her while folding a pair of jeans longwise before looping it through the hanger and placing it on the rack.

Monet took a full breath. “You’re welcome, but, I can’t help but notice you’re hanging them in my closet.”

I grinned and hung the second to last one up before finding an additional hanger for the last. “Observant, my girl,” I joked.

Again, nose crinkle. “And why are you hanging them there?”

I hung the last and picked up the basket. “Because that’s where I want them to be.”

She backed up as I exited the closet. She moved to the ottoman at the end of the bed and fingered a chunk of her hair. Her fingers moved in circles around the hair while I opened and closed a bunch of her drawers.

“Uh…Clay?”

“Just a second, babe.” I found a drawer that was less full about two drawers down. It was where she kept her sexy nighties. As much as I didn’t want to touch that drawer but rather fill it up with more silk and lace, I needed somewhere to put my socks and underwear. So I took the sexy things from there, shoved over the nightshirts in the second drawer and placed them to the side. I gathered my socks and underwear and put them in the new drawer. “Perfect.”

Monet watched me with widened eyes while I took the basket and put it in the closet. Then I picked up my stray T-shirt and chucked it into the hamper. It went right in. “Score! Now what’s up?”

“Clay…” Monet’s voice was strained.

I went over to her, grabbed her hands, and lifted her to stand until her front was smashed against mine. Her pretty fingers splayed out against my bare chest, and she played with the little bit of chest hair I had.

I kissed her forehead.

“Did you just move in?” she asked, tipping her head up so I could stare into her coal-black eyes.

Without saying anything, I took her mouth in a searing kiss. After a few moments, she relaxed into the kiss and moaned her pleasure. I pulled away and rested my head on her neck, laying sloppy kisses on my spot. “Yeah, beautiful, I kind of did.”

“Why?” She ran her hands up and down my back. I wanted her hands on me all the time. Her touch made everything better, more focused. Knowing I had her to touch and hold, to come home to… It eased me. I wanted that more than I’d ever been able to truly admit before meeting her. I never realized how much I desired it until now.

“Tired of seeing my stuff in a basket or on the floor and living out of a gym bag.”

Her body seemed to jerk as she processed what I’d said. “Clayton…we have to talk about this.”

I curled a hand around her nape. “Do we really? I’m here. Do you like me here every day?”

“Yes.” Her reply was instant.

“Does it bother Lily?”

She shook her head. “My goodness, no. She loves you and you’re so good with her. More than I ever could have hoped.”

That sunk in and seared me deep. That little girl was quickly becoming everything to me, but hearing her mom say it went both ways…did not suck. “And I love her. And more than that…” Beads of sweat tingled around my hairline, my palms got sweaty, and my chest felt nailed down with so much pressure. I just had to get it out. Put it out there no matter what the repercussions. “I love you.”

Monet gasped and her head dropped forward. “It’s too soon, Clayton. We’ve only been together a month, and two of those weeks I was healing.” She shook her head against my chest. “It’s too soon…right?”

I cringed and lifted her face with my thumbs. “Beautiful, are you seriously going to stand there, wrapped in my arms, looking into my eyes, and tell me you don’t love me back? It’s written all over your face. In every glance. Every smile. Every sweet kiss. You can’t hide from me. From this. I don’t care if it’s only been a short time. Who decides how long it takes to fall in love with someone? I’m in love with you, and I don’t care what anyone but you thinks about it.”

She swallowed and licked her lips.

“Say what you want to say. Don’t leave me hanging alone. Not now.”

“I…” Her voice shook like a leaf dangling in the wind.

The fear and anxiety she displayed shredded my heart and sat like lead in my gut. I never wanted to see my woman so lost. I softened my tone. “What are you so afraid of?”

Her eyes filled with unshed tears, and I cupped both of her cheeks. One tear slid down and another followed. I swiped them away with my thumbs.

She sniffled but continued. “One day you won’t like what you see, or I’ll do something wrong, and then…” She choked on her words.

A twenty-pound weight falling on my foot wouldn’t have hurt as badly as what I saw in her eyes. The demons of her past were a heavy burden on her soul, on her future. Demons I needed—no, would—work to obliterate for good.

Finally, she laid it out. “You’ll leave me. Us. Me and Lily.” She sounded gutted, ravaged by something that could destroy her, which hadn’t even happened yet.

Somehow, I had to get it through to her that it never would. I shook my head furiously and pulled her mouth to mine. I kissed her hard, harder than I ever had. She needed to feel what I’d say next, in her mind, heart, and all the way down to her fucking marrow.

I brought our faces so close together our noses practically touched. “Listen to me and listen good. I’m here now. I’ll be here tomorrow. And I’ll be here every day after that. You and Lily, you’re mine now. My responsibility. I’ll spend every day of my life worshipping that gift.”

More tears fell from her cheeks, and she licked her lips. Our mouths were so close I could feel the slip of her tongue and the moisture it left in its wake.

My grip on her tightened. “You hear me? Let it sink in, Monet, because I’m not going anywhere.” I gritted my teeth and then took her mouth again.

She sobbed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer until our bodies melded into one another. Time ceased to exist as we gave and took from one another, sealing our commitment the only way we knew how.

I walked her to the bathroom, never letting her go, my lips glued to hers along the way. When I stopped and sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes were giant pools of love and desire. She closed them for a moment and then opened them dazedly. Determination and grit stared back at me.

“Clayton, I love you too.”

There was no stopping the giant smile that spread across my face and the behemoth of fear that dissipated around us.

I hugged her to me and kissed her neck. “You love me?”

She nodded and placed her own face into the crook of my shoulder and neck. I could feel her smile against my bare skin. “Yeah, I do.”

---

Steam billowed around the shower stall as I held my love’s hand and led her in. Monet had an enormous shower with two heads that blasted mightily against the dark multicolored tile, which gave the impression of walking into a heated private cave. Hot water sluiced down my back as I grabbed the shower gel and poufy sponge. I poured a liberal amount and set the bottle on the shelf. Monet plastered herself against my back, her lips a welcome pressure between my shoulder blades. Tiny kisses rained down my spine and back up. My cock hardened painfully, a vortex of need following the line of her lips and imprinting everywhere those plump bits of flesh touched down.

Monet’s voice was but a murmur through the sound of the water coming down. “You know, you always call me beautiful, but you’re absolutely magnificent, Clayton.” She ran her fingertips along my back and down each arm, caressing the muscles as if committing them to memory. “Most men don’t look the way you do. Not even close.”

Damn straight. I worked fucking hard in the gym and kept my body fit, toned, and packed with lean muscles. I grinned and turned around, looping my arms and crossing my wrists at her lower back. She was gloriously naked, and her pretty brown nipples puckered sweetly against my chest. I lifted one hand and cupped a breast, watching the tip tighten further as I rubbed my thumb across it. She shivered in my arms, her pelvis slamming against my cock.

“Cold?” I smirked.

“No, the opposite.” She half moaned as I sucked the wet tip into my mouth and tugged with my teeth. “I’m so hot,” she finished, tipping her head back and arching toward me. The second showerhead drenched the black waves of her hair, transforming it into a long flat sheet of flowing black silk.

I took the invitation from her body and sucked on her tits, nipping and pinching the way I knew she liked. I’d learned a bit about her body in the past month, and my girl loved nipple play. It got her wet almost instantly. After I toyed with her breasts, getting her nice and worked up, I moved a step back and rubbed the poufy thing across each sensitive peak.

“Mmm…” She sighed, her chest rising and falling with her breathing, which became more labored with each pass. I squirted more soap on the pouf and swirled it around her belly. I kneeled down and started at her feet. I scrubbed each leg thoroughly, wanting to show her how much I loved her.

Once I’d soaped her legs so they were nice and slippery, I ran my hands up and down them. On the pass up the back, I gripped her ass and squeezed each globe, bringing her pussy forward to hover a scant few inches away from my mouth.

Monet slapped her hands on my shoulders, and her chin shifted toward her chest. Her eyes were dark pools of lust. She licked at the trickling water running down her face and onto mine below.

“What do you want, beautiful?”

She bit down on that bottom lip, and for a moment, I was jealous. I wanted to bite her lips, suck them into my mouth until they were as red as little cherries.

Widening my stance so I was at the perfect height, I sank forward until my nose was an inch from the perfect landing strip of black hair at the apex of her thighs.

“I’m waiting…” I rubbed my hands up and down the backs of her thighs.

“I want you to make love to me.” Her words were soft and sweet, the loveliest thing she’s ever said to me.

I grinned. “And I will. But right now…is there something else I can do for you?”

She nodded but didn’t speak. She pushed her hips forward so that her clit bounced against my chin. “Please,” she begged.

Instead of responding, I gripped her ass hard and buried my face in her cleft. She was slick and sweet. Water ran down her body and mixed with her natural taste, allowing me to physically drink from the heart of her. The experience was exhilarating and exotic. I spread her lips with my thumbs until her pink parts darkened, and then I went to town. I’d never been so animalistic in my desire to please a woman orally, but something about knowing this was my pussy…for life…fuck. It changed everything. She tasted sweeter, her skin was silkier, and when my tongue fluttered over and over her clit, she came harder. I sucked her honey down my throat and went back for seconds until she rocked against my face like a bucking bronco, practically screaming out her second orgasm.

My cock was so hard it could have pounded nails through concrete. I stood, wrapped my hand in her wet hair, and slammed my mouth over hers. She opened immediately, rubbing her succulent body all over my rock-hard dick. I groaned, my knees weak when she wrapped not one but both hands around my cock. The crown stuck out at the top of her hold, but that didn’t stop her from jacking me until my balls tightened and my hips jerked along with her movements. I was too far gone. I needed to come.

“Baby, if you keep that up, I’m going to come.”

“Then come,” she stated flippantly before sucking the flat disk of my right nipple. I also liked a little nipple play, and my girl knew exactly the right combination between suction and biting to drive me wild.

A fire built in my groin and spiraled up my spine from my lower back. “Wanted to come inside you,” I growled angrily while still pumping into her slick hands.

Without a word, my goddess dropped to her knees, wrapped her perfect lips around my cockhead, and sucked the daylights out of me. I slammed one hand to the tile wall to hold my weight and the other to the back of her neck. She was not going slow. Something untamed had ignited within and seemed to give her the clearance to lay the hoover down on my cock. I gripped her hair in my hands, tugged at the roots, and fucked her face. She mewled and bounced along with each thrust. At one point, I saw her small hand go down between her legs and start circling. That’s when our lovemaking turned to straight fucking.

“You like touching your hard little clit while I fuck your mouth? Christ,” I rambled. “So sexy on your knees, taking my cock.” I thrust until I slipped down the tight channel. Her eyes widened but she didn’t stop. They were glazed and lust-drunk. I’m sure mine were a perfect match.

“Yeah, you like it when I take you hard.” I pulled back so she could flick her tongue against the tip while I watched. She closed her eyes and hummed, her hand moving at the speed of light between her thighs. “Does sucking your man off make you hot?”

She nodded around my cock and then sucked me back down. “Fuck yeah it does! Take your man. This is your cock now. All yours.”

Her suction got stronger, and I lost the ability to think straight. My mind was focused solely on the woman I loved giving me the best head of my fucking life. As I started to lose what little bit of focus I had been able to maintain, I wrapped both hands around her head, one on her cheek, keeping her mouth nice and opened wide for me, and the other behind her head so I could go deep. She took it all like a champ. Then I became a sap and started up with the filthy sweet nothings.

“You suck me so good, Monet,” I groaned.

“I’m going to come hard for you.” A trail of fire licked up my spine.

“Love your mouth. So fucking tight.”

“Pinch that clit like I would. Yeah, like that,” I moaned, losing another ounce of control.

“Oh Jesus, your fucking mouth,” I grated through clenched teeth.

“Going to come down your throat.”

“Mark you as mine.”

Once she’d gone over the edge, she clamped her hands on my ass and worked the same finger she’d used to get herself off between my cheeks until she found the pucker of my anus and pushed it deep inside me. She followed that move up by swallowing me all the way down her throat. I tipped my head back and roared my release, shooting what felt like weeks of pent-up tension down her throat. She took it all, sucking me until I had nothing left to give.

Complete and utter nirvana coated every pore and nerve ending.

Slowly she stood and rested her head against my chest. “Best. Shower. Ever,” she announced and kissed me over my heart.

Damn perfect woman. I’d scored the perfect woman. I laughed, holding her close. “Yeah, it was. Now I need to take care of you.”

“But you already did…three times.” She winked saucily and shimmied her hips.

I kissed her mouth in several hard pecks. “I want to wash your hair for you.”

“That sounds almost as good as you talking dirty to me.” She turned around, presenting me with her back. The wound looked a lot better without the stark black stitches.

“Looks really good. I think you’ll be pleased with how well it’s healing.” I kissed the ball of her shoulder.

“I’m trying to gear up to look again, but I’m scared,” she admitted.

I wrapped my arms around her upper body and let her back rest against my chest softly. “It’s normal to be scared. But I promise you, it will heal every single day. The line will get lighter. You will have a battle scar, but we all have those. It’s part of what you’ve survived up to now.”

She nodded. “It’s just hard. I keep thinking that I’ll be too ugly to wear tank tops or spaghetti-strap dresses. And if Lily sees it”—her head tipped down—“I won’t even know how to explain that.”

I shifted her hair to one side, soaped up the pouf, and ran it down the spots that hadn’t been wounded. Then I poured more soap in my hand and lightly ran it down the wound. Monet stayed perfectly still but let me tend to her.

“She’s going to understand that Mommy got hurt. Mommy is fine now, but she has a scar. I’ll show her some of my scars and explain it to her. It will be fine. Kids are resilient like that. And she’s really smart.”

I could feel the tension pouring off her as I poured shampoo in my palms, rubbed them together, and got to work on her long hair. She groaned a sexy, scintillating sound that made my dick harden again.

“What else?” I murmured into her ear and nibbled the curve down her neck until she relaxed.

Her voice was but a whisper. “I don’t want to be ugly to you. You’re so perfect, and I didn’t really have a body-image issue before, but now…”

I tossed the pouf to the floor and turned my girl around. “Let’s get this straight right now, Monet. I fell in love with you after you were wounded, not before. Sure, I was absolutely attracted to you before. You’re drop-dead gorgeous. Any man with eyes wants you. Period. And they still will. That isn’t going to change because you have a scar.”

“You say that now—” she started, but I cut her off.

“No. I’ll say that a year from now too when I’m tracing your naked back in our marital bed.”

Her gaze flew to mine, the truth in my words hitting her upside the head. I waited to see if she’d call me on it, but I didn’t think she was ready for that admission. Because I did see us married in the future—in the not-too-distant future. Tonight we’d already laid some heavy shit on one another and admitted our love. Now was the time to rejoice and focus on the good we had.

She still seemed down, and I didn’t want that for us after what we’d confided. Her fingers traced my side where my tattoo resided. “What do these letters mean?”

“You’re Chinese. Don’t you know?” I quipped.

Her nose crinkled up and she frowned. “I’m a Chinese and Caucasian… American. I don’t know Chinese.”

I laughed hard, knowing she was going to come at me fast, but she needed a subject change to get her out of her funk. I kissed her pretty nose in apology. “I know you are. I’m messing with you. Relax.”

“Seriously, though, what does it mean?” Her fingers traced each of my ribs in a sensual assault. I sucked in a calming breath and let it out.

“Pursuit of happiness.”

Her gaze ran over the symbols, and it gave me an idea.

“You know, if you don’t like your scar when it heals, you could just get a tattoo to cover it. Make something you despise into something you love, something you made your own.”

She blinked a few times, smiled widely, and then kissed me hard once. “You are so smart!”

I shrugged and turned off the water. “I try.”

As we dried one another, our hands strayed. I tickled her, finding the spots that made her laugh. She pulled back the bedsheets as I stepped into a pair of clean underwear I’d taken from the drawer I’d confiscated. That’s when I heard a blood-curdling scream and the home-alarm system blare. The scream came from inside the house.

Monet’s head snapped up where she stood naked. “Lily!” she cried out.

I was out the door and down the hall as fast as my feet could carry me. Her bedroom door was open, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs while pointing at the window. The alarm blared, sounding like a banshee piercing the quiet of the night. I scooped up Lily and held her to my chest. She wrapped her legs and arms around me like a monkey.

“Baby, what happened?” I tried to use a calm voice, but her fear and the alarm had my adrenaline pumping and my heart pounding.

“A man, a man! He broked my window!” she cried into my chest. I could see the curtains moving across the room.

I flicked on the lights and handed the sobbing little girl to Monet, who’d just run into the room wearing my dirty T-shirt from earlier. I stomped over to the window and opened the curtains with a snap. Nothing was there but a hole the size of a person’s hand near the lock. There was glass on the windowsill inside, as if someone had used a hammer or a tool of some kind to break it.

The phone rang as the alarm continued to blare, adding to the overwhelming onslaught to our senses.

I stroked Lily’s head and kissed her temple, and then her mother’s, before walking into the kitchen, both girls hot on my heels. I picked up the phone and gave the alarm code.

“Yeah, send the police out. We had an attempted burglary and possible attempted kidnapping since it was a child’s room that was breached.”

Tears rolled down Monet’s face as she whispered to her daughter. Blessedly, the alarm shut off.

I curled a hand around Monet’s nape and squeezed. “Be strong, beautiful,” I reminded her. “I’m here, and nothing is going to happen to my girls on my watch. Nothing.”

She nodded furiously.

“I’m going to grab some clothes really quick. Stay here for a minute.” I ran back to the room, tugged on a pair of plaid pajama pants and a white T-shirt, and then hightailed it back to the kitchen. Monet had Lily on the counter and was holding her close. Fuck, she probably hurt herself carrying her. A knock on the door startled both my girls, causing Lily to cry out in fear.

“That will be the cops. Just stay behind me as I check.”

I looked through the peephole and then opened the door to two cops in uniform on the porch. A cruiser was parked in the drive.

“Thanks for coming so fast.” I opened the door wider and let them in. “Guy tried to break into my little girl’s room. It’s down that way.”

“Okay, we’ll check it out. This way?” One of the officers pointed and I nodded.

“You might want to call Detectives Richardson and Bolinsky. They’re already on the case. My girlfriend here was attacked about a month ago.”

One of the police officers pushed a button on his shoulder mic and started speaking.

“Come with me.” I tucked my arm around Monet. She still held Lily, who had her thumb in her mouth and her face buried against her mom’s chest.

A rage like I’d never known simmered in my veins as I took Lily into my arms and led my girls to the safety of the back bedroom. My little girl’s room had been broken into. If I hadn’t had the alarm system installed, that fucker could have taken her, hurt her, or worse. I didn’t want to even imagine the unthinkable.

If I ever saw Kyle, he was a dead man.