Page 106 of Secondhand Soul

I start to dial, then hesitate as Vic hisses, “Wait, text and see if we can call. Maybe they’re with the baby, and she’s asleep.”

Lazarus: This is all good news. We can run things for however long you need us to, but we miss you. Can we call? Should we call?

Rhea: Wait, and we’ll call you. It’s seven, and there is a shift change. We are meeting all the new nurses coming in.

I put down the phone with a sigh. As I stare at Victoria, I think about how every text message I’ve sent in the last few days is ‘we.’ She’s part of me now. Stitched into me, a scar I will proudly carry for my whole life. One that I want the world to see.

“You are the beautiful part of me,” I murmur, thinking aloud.

“Oh. Oh, babe. That’s so beautiful. You are the beautiful part of me, too. The good part.” Victoria slowly rises out of the sheets, some perfect, pale goddess of the bedroom, hugging me tight, pillowing my head on her breast.

My mouth wanders across each one, tongue flicking over a nipple as they tighten. My hands skim down her back and land on her cheeks, massaging. My cock wakes up as she slowly settles deeper onto my lap, straddling me. My tip presses against her pussy, rubbing her warmth until it becomes evident that she wants more than just a cuddle this morning.

Her wetness slicks over me as we grind together, kissing, unspeaking. My hands tangle in her hair and tug, because I suddenly find my tongue isn’t content dueling with hers. It has words to get out. “Want to marry me when Rhea and Manny are back in town?” I pant.

Victoria doesn’t look shocked; she looks a little confused that I interrupted foreplay to ask, but her answer is quick and positive. “Let’s give them time to settle in. April, maybe?”

“April is good.”

She’s kissing me again, and my mind wanders off into happy spirals, only to get pulled back to reality when Victoria stops kissing me and glares into my eyes. “What?”

“Yes, I will marry you. I love you. But I want an on-one-knee proposal.”

“With moonlight and roses, baby. I promise. I just... I just wanted to know. Right now, for sure.”

She grins at me and lowers herself down on my cock, pulling long, low moans from both of us as I fill her, connecting with her. She takes more of me each time, her body shaping to my width and length. My fingers sneak down to tease her clit and help her over the widest part.

“I’m so sure,” she whispers, head back.

I cup her breast as she bounces, one hand squeezing her softness as her heat wraps around me.

All the good things. The softness and the love, the warmth... She’s all the good things.

I was never going to have those good things.

They came in a decidedly dangerous package.

“You’re making all my dreams come true, you know?” Victoria whispers, forehead to mine, our eyes so close that we have to giggle as we go cross-eyed looking at one another.

“I was just thinking the same thing. I was just going to— Oh, my gosh, Emma isn’t even in the state, and she’s cock blocking me,” I grumble, but playfully, as my phone buzzes again.

“You call this cock blocked?” Vic protests, gyrating on me, hips thrusting up and down hard, like she’s determined to take my cock away with her, some kind of trophy. “Fuck, you feel so good,” she whimpers, and I know she’s enjoying the little lines and textures she feels rubbing her upper wall.

I glance at the phone, just in case it’s urgent. I’m not going to 100% rest about the baby’s safety and health until I see her out of the hospital, I realize.

But it’s not Manny or Rhea. It’s Graham.

GRAHAM: WANTED TO MAKE sure there were no loose ends. Hope this helps.

“Is the baby okay?” Victoria pauses her erotic ride.

I nod. “Graham sent me a link to some California news station.”

“California?”

That name will probably always give us a split-second splash of adrenaline.

“We can watch later.”