Your chum,

The SML

P.S. I saw those pictures of you and Annie kissing in the park yesterday. Holy shit, they were hot! My mermaid may have had some happy time in the shower after seeing them. Enjoy the visual.

I was grinning like a fool by the time I got to the end of her message. Annie had a wicked side, I’d give her that. Still, the body of her message had been too casual and friendly, and I craved something more. This was why I pulled out my phone and typed a message to the real Annie.

Ronan: I miss your taste. Come over.

Her reply was almost immediate.

Annie: I’m working. You’ll see me tonight.

Oh, no way was she getting off that easily. I went into full-on sext mode.

Ronan: I want to make you come with my mouth.

Annie: Ronan! I’m at the office and Gerta is RIGHT BESIDE ME!

Ronan: Gotta say, that kinda makes it hotter.

Annie: *squints eyes* Do you have a thing for Gerta?

Ha! I knew she didn’t like how friendly I’d gotten with her assistant.

Ronan: Jealous, love?

It took a while for her to answer that one, and I liked to imagine she was cursing how transparent she’d been.

Annie: No.

Ronan: Good, because it’s not Gerta’s tits I fantasize about coming all over.

Another long pause. She’d seen the message, but she wasn’t typing back yet. Then finally her response came.

Annie: Please stop texting me. Gerta thinks I might be coming down with the flu. Your last text caused a coughing fit.

Ronan: Got you thinking, though, didn’t it? ;-)

Annie: Yes. Too much. You’re too much.

Ronan: I’ve actually been told I’m just the right amount :-D Admit it, you’re missing me as much as I’m missing you.

Annie: Maybe. Just a little.

Ronan: Tell me what you miss about me.

There was an even longer pause this time. I could just imagine her fretting over whether or not to indulge me.

Annie: I miss how you smell. How your body feels against mine.

Okay, I had not been expecting her to play along. And yeah, I was already hard.

Ronan: You gonna let me inside you tonight, love?

I could just imagine her blushing.

Annie: Isn’t that more of a fourth or fifth date kind of thing?

Ronan: I’m Irish. We don’t adhere to that shite.

Annie: I have to get back to work now, Ronan.

Ronan: Okay, then. See you tonight. xxx

Ronan: Keep thinking of me.

Ronan: I can’t stop thinking about you.

When it was finally time for me to get ready for my date with Annie, I put an inordinate amount of time into my appearance. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever put this level of effort into looking good before. In the end, I settled on a fitted white shirt and a pair of dark blue trousers from some designer or other. Aside from the fact that you could kind of see my tattoo through the shirt, I looked pretty fucking respectable.

I was addicted to the way Annie’s eyes drank me in whenever she saw me, and I wanted to encourage more of it. I’d insisted I be the one to pick her up, and she’d grudgingly provided me with her address. She lived in a nice building in a very upper-middle-class area. It wasn’t over-the-top fancy—which I imagined she could well afford, given the extra income from her blog—but it was cozy. I found myself smiling. I liked it before I even stepped inside the building.

I wasn’t smiling for long because when I knocked on Annie’s door, she wasn’t the one to answer. Instead, some blond prick stood before me, one eyebrow raised as he assessed my appearance. In my opinion, no man should be assessing the appearance of another man unless he bats for the penis squad.

“Can I help you?” the man asked, arching a brow.

“No, you’re all right, mate. I think I have the wrong apartment,” I replied and turned to try the next door when Annie called out. “Ronan, is that you? Come on in.”

Her voice sounded a touch strained, and I noted she was calling me Ronan rather than Mr. Fitzpatrick. Stepping past Mr. Peroxide, I walked into the lovingly furnished apartment, taking it all in. It was so warm and lived-in that I felt like staying here with Annie for the evening rather than taking her out as planned.

Fuck, it smelled faintly of her perfume, too.

It was so perfect that I almost forgot about the arsehole standing behind me. I ignored him and turned to Annie, who was wearing a knee-length midnight blue dress that fit her perfectly, highlighting her little waist and generous breasts, though I wished it didn’t flare out and hide her shapely legs and thighs. But it did dip attractively at her cleavage, displaying her gorgeous creamy skin to perfection. Her long hair was down, and she’d put on a small touch of makeup. I stepped up close to her and took both her hands in mine, noticing her nervous swallow. I rested them on my chest and rubbed my thumbs along the inside of her wrists.

“You look beautiful, love,” I murmured.

Mr. Peroxide cleared his throat, and I turned my head to him, feeling a scowl coming on.

“This is my neighbor Kurt,” Annie began, her voice faltering. She seemed to be having a hard time with this situation for some reason, so I kept rubbing her skin with my thumbs in an effort to relax her. “Kurt, this is m-my, my…my Ronan.”

Her eyes widened; she looked like she wanted to facepalm, but her hands were unfortunately otherwise engaged. My grin spread wide across my face.

“Fuck yeah, I am.”

“I mean, he’s my….”

“I’m her boyfriend,” I finished for her before she started to ramble.

“Kurt lives next door. He just came over to borrow some sugar. We were laughing at the fact that we’ve lived next to one another for so long but only met recently. It’s crazy living in a city this big. You never get to know your neighbors, you know? Anyway, enjoy the sugar, Kurt.”

I chuckled quietly. God, this woman was going to kill me, she was so cute. I wanted to see her get all flustered like that when I tied her to my bedpost, wanted to see how quickly she’d shut up when I put my mouth on her.

“Yeah, Kurt, enjoy the sugar. Wouldn’t want you suffering a cup of unsweetened tea, now, would we?” I added and then gave him a wink that said I found him adorable. His posture grew stiff, and his mouth formed a thin line. I knew exactly what this fuck was up to. Sugar, my arse. Such an obvious ploy to try to wheedle his way into Annie’s apartment. In fact, it pissed me off to know she’d let a man she barely knew into her home. I might have to punish her a little for that one.

“I’m actually having a dinner party tonight and needed it for a dish I’m preparing,” he replied smoothly.

“Well, don’t let us keep you,” I said, my expression hardening now.

A silent staring contest ensued. He was the one to look away first, ignoring me and focusing his attention on Annie. “I’d love for you to come over later. It’s just going to be me and a few close friends. Good food, good wine, intelligent conversation.” His sharp blue eyes flicked to me for a second, and I swear to God, I was ready to deck him. He was clearly insinuating I wasn’t capable of the latter.

“We actually have plans,” Annie answered, giving him a small smile. “But maybe some other time.”

Kurt looked like the cat that got the cream, smiling back at her lasciviously. “Yeah, I’d like that. Another time then.” Shooting me one last hostile glance, he turned and left the apartment. The moment the door clicked shut, I began walking Annie backward until her back met the wall.

“Some other time?” I said, cocking an eyebrow.

“I was being polite.”

“You smiled at him.”

“Yeah…he’s my neighbor.”

My tone was tender but firm when I replied, “Annie dearest, forgive me for being blunt, but he wants to fuck you. Something you’ll need to understand about me—I won’t tolerate men like that, especially not in your apartment. You’re mine. I told you this. This is the way it works.”

Her voice was tiny but distinctly outraged. “Are you fucking serious?”

I was surprised by how easily she’d cursed and how natural it sounded slipping from her lovely lips; it seemed my Annie had a dirty mouth. But being this close to her, having her smell surround me and her pliant body flush with mine, it wasn’t a surprise that I grew aroused.

I pressed the evidence of this hard into her thigh, and she let out a little gasp.

“Let go of the righteous indignation, Annie. We’re together now, and there are going to be rules. I don’t want other men alone with you in your apartment, but it goes both ways. I won’t have women at my place, either. Shit, I don’t even want to look at any other woman but you. I feel…very protective of you. Irrationally so? Yeah, maybe. But it’s just the way it has to be. I promise you, once you realize all I want to give you, you’ll like it. Hell, you’ll love it. This is us, and this is permanent.”

Something in her melted. I could feel it in the way her body lost all tension. She sank into me, her hand pressed firmly into my chest. I didn’t want to talk anymore, so I brought my mouth to her swan-like neck and licked a line all the way to her earlobe. She trembled and gripped my shirt. Grabbing the back of her knees, I easily pulled her up, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. It was the perfect position for me to grind my erection right into her sweet spot.