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  Mavis wasn’t here, and he couldn’t stick around. He needed to go and make sure she was all right.

  Heading back toward his home, he had this feeling of dread settle in the pit of his stomach. There’s no way he’d ever be able to come back from this. Not even a little bit.

  He was so pissed off at himself, with everything for what had happened.

  Gritting his teeth, he headed inside the kitchen and stopped when he caught sight of Mavis. She stood near the counter, a toaster in front of her, and she looked up at him. She wore a pretty little pink dress that only seemed to enhance the blue of her eyes and her blue-black hair.

  “Morning,” he said. His voice croaked.

  “Morning.”

  She didn’t sound bitter or angry.

  He watched her as she leaned over the toaster, watching the bread. There was so much he wanted to say, and yet not a single word came out. Her hair was once again tied back, and as he moved around her, she seemed to bend over just a little to showcase her rounded butt. He wondered if her ass was still red from his smacks last night.

  Watching her run from him had infuriated him. He’d never known such rage like he did last night. If she’d have fallen or hurt herself, he’d never have forgiven himself. Not ever.

  She was a virgin last night, and you stole that, asshole.

  She could be hurting, and you’re standing there admiring her ass. Get with the program! Ask her how she is.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  Now she was back to the one-word answers.

  “Do you want a cup of coffee?”

  “Please.”

  He grabbed two cups from the cupboard and placed them on the counter. He’d not set up the coffee machine, but that was okay. He scooped up the instant stuff and dumped a couple of spoons into his cup before adding one for her.

  Glancing behind himself, he saw that she was looking at him, and quickly averted her gaze to stare back into the toaster.

  When the toast popped up, she grabbed each slice, dropping them onto the plate and kissing the tips of her fingers as they burned.

  He wasn’t in the mood for toast, and poured some cereal.

  Luca moved around the kitchen, keeping an eye on her, aware of every step she took and where she moved while also keeping away from her. He wasn’t afraid of her or anything like that. No, he was scared of himself and his reaction to her.

  He’d never fallen for a woman so fast and so hard.

  She wasn’t even a woman yet. Most would probably see her as a girl.

  A girl who’d lost her parents.

  From the moment he got the phone call, he’d been out of his depth. She slathered peanut butter on each slice of toast before sitting down at the counter. Sitting opposite her, he put the coffee near her plate, and took a seat with his cereal. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke.

  The silence seemed like the curse of death to him. He couldn’t handle it, didn’t want to even deal with it. He was so pissed off at himself and his complete lack of control.

  “Do you want me to call someone?” he asked.

  She looked at him with a frown. “Who would I call?”

  “I don’t know. Social services? A lawyer? The cops?”

  “You didn’t rape me. I’m over the age of legal consent. That would be wasting police time, so unless you want me arrested, no thanks.”

  “Look, I don’t, I shouldn’t have done what I did last night.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Do you regret it?”

  She was always doing that head tilt where her head would lean a little to the left as she looked at him. He found it so fucking cute, as if she was trying to figure him out, and he wondered, not for the first time, if she really was.

  “Yes.” He saw the flash of hurt before she bowed her head.

  “No, it’s not that it was with you. You’re young, Mavis. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Last night you gave me something that wasn’t mine to take.”

  “What if I gave it to you though? I didn’t want it. I found it rather boring to be a virgin, and I wanted it.”

  “No, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

  She smiled then. “You know what I’ve noticed is that a lot of older people, like yourself, seem to know exactly what we’re thinking. The younger generation. I imagine you don’t, otherwise we wouldn’t have all the problems we do.” She lifted her head back up and took a bite of her toast. “I wanted last night.”

  “Mavis—”

  “No! You don’t have the right to tell me what I can and cannot enjoy. That’s just not fair. I wanted last night. I was right there with you. Seeing you come from watching porn aroused me. I wanted that to be me with you. I wanted you to grab me and take me. I’ve never been with anyone. I’ve never wanted to be with anyone, but you’re different. You don’t look at me like I disgust you. You don’t look at me like anything. You see me. Do you know what it’s like to go through life not being seen? Being overlooked because you’re not this pristine, perfect copy of your mother? Or of a stupid model in a magazine? I thought you were different. I thought you cared, but all you’ve proven is you’re exactly like them.”

  With that, she got to her feet, and was once again out of the house via the kitchen door.

  He watched her walk away. She went in the same direction.

  He’d only taken a few bites of cereal, but he’d lost his appetite.

  Dumping the remnants in the trash, he started to follow her. He couldn’t let her go, not after last night.

  ****

  Mavis stood at the edge of the pool, staring into the water. She hadn’t run this time even though she wanted to. She’d wanted to scare him or to do something that would annoy or irritate him. She wasn’t sure what the hell was going on in her head, just that she wanted to shock him.

  He’d hurt her last night and then this morning.

  How could he regret something so wonderful?

  Yes, it had hurt, but she’d loved that pain.

  It finally made her feel something, anything.

  She walked around the steps, and gripping the handles, she climbed into the water, not even caring that she was in her dress. The water was cold, but then it was nearing winter. She liked this time of year, especially when the snow fell. Snow had a way of making everything look so pretty. She wondered if it even snowed here.

  The ranch itself was a beautiful place. His home was amazing, and she’d found some of the before and after pictures of what he had to work with. The ranch wasn’t always perfect like this or even fully up-to-date with electricity and things like that.

  Walls had been missing. There hadn’t even been a bathroom.

  Luca had worked tirelessly to make this place a home.

  She loved it.

  The love and devotion he’d put into it had really shone through. It made her believe he wasn’t superficial. He didn’t just look for what was beautiful, but he saw hidden depths. Standing in the center of the pool, she stared down at her feet.

  Her pussy was still sore from last night, and she had some bruises around her nipples and her wrists from his possession.

  She loved it though.

  Her body was like a blank canvas, and all he needed to do was paint her to find out just how much she could take. To show him that he wasn’t ugly. She’d seen the news articles that described him as hideous and ugly.

  Luca was far from that. He wasn’t a monster or a demon. He was a man to the core.

  The world that had tossed him aside didn’t deserve him, not even a little bit.

  Holding her hands beneath the surface of the water, she began to move them backward and forward. Feeling the water run through her fingers, as she stared out across the yard. She saw the moment he started to advance toward her, and she watched him, unable to look away. Why would she want to look away?

  He was a sexy man. His body was so hard and muscular. He’d lifted her up last night
without even a struggle, and being a size eighteen, she’d expected him to struggle.

  She’d loved being in his arms, feeling his hands run up and down her body, touching, stroking.

  He’d lost his mind last night with her, and she’d not wanted him to find it.

  Calling the police or anyone else was stupid.

  Mavis thought about the blonde social worker who have given her, her cell phone number. Mavis had deleted the number the moment she arrived at Luca’s.

  There was nothing and no one that she needed.

  “You walked away again,” he said.

  Luca stood at the edge of the pool. He wasn’t wearing any socks or shoes, and she wondered if he felt the cold.

  “I didn’t run.” Part of her wished she had.

  There were no red marks on her ass from his last spanking. She didn’t even know why she wanted to push him or to wear his marks when he clearly didn’t want to give them.

  “Mavis, this can’t happen again.”

  She reached behind her back and loosened the strap of her dress. Pulling it over her head, she stood in the pool completely naked. She didn’t have on any underwear.

  “Okay.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” he asked. “Put your dress back on.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  He pressed his fingers to his eyes, and she hated that he was hiding from her, from this.

  She wasn’t going to let him hide.

  “Look at me,” she said.

  She waited a few seconds, but he still hadn’t lowered his hands.

  He gritted his teeth but lowered his fingers, finally staring at her. “What is your question?”

  When he looked at her, he didn’t appear repulsed.

  Glancing down his body, she saw the evidence of his arousal, and she smiled.

  “Are you disgusted about last night because you’re worried what other people would think of you? Because I’m your ex-best friend’s kid, or because you hated fucking the fat girl?”

  Each suggestion she gave him seemed to make him angrier.

  “I wasn’t fucking disgusted with you. You think I hated last night?”

  “You ran off without even waiting to see if I was okay. You were my first.” She put her hands on top of her head. Her tits lifted up, and his gaze caught the movement. “You should have stayed with me last night, and instead you ran off. I can only imagine you were disgusted.”

  “I wasn’t disgusted. Not even a little bit. I was angry with myself.” She stayed silent as he ran a hand down his face. He looked ready to snap. “I haven’t been around anyone for a long time. When I need sex, I pay women to help with that.” Jealousy burst inside her, and she hated it. “I’ve not been with anyone important for a long time. You’re different, Mavis. Finding out that Ryan died, yeah, it tore me up. Knowing I’m responsible for you in some way pissed me off. I didn’t want it. I don’t want to deal with kids. Then I saw you, and … the thoughts I have about you are not what a guardian should be having.”

  “What things?” she asked.

  “Dirty things, Mavis.”

  She licked her lips.

  “Things that an eighteen-year-old girl shouldn’t have to deal with.”

  He turned his back, and she wondered what he was thinking.

  “What if I tell you that I want them?” she said. “That I want to be your everything. That I want a man with experience to show me how good fucking, making love, and getting my brains screwed is exactly what I want.”

  “Mavis, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Because I’m eighteen?”

  “Yes.”

  “News flash, Luca, I believe some porn stars that are doing BDSM and some heavy gangbang stuff are eighteen. Adult video stores and even porn sites have an entire section for it. Some men get off on seeing younger women used like that.”

  She moved toward the steps of the pool. Gripping the handles, she took each step. Swaying her hips, she walked up beside him.

  All of her life she’d been told to hide her curves, to exercise to make them disappear. She’d refused to conform, to do as she’d been told. Luca wasn’t like all those people.

  He didn’t want her to hide or to pretend who she was.

  Flicking her hair off her shoulder, she stepped up to him. Lifting a hand, she placed it on his chest.

  The shirt he wore didn’t hide the rapid beating of his heart or the hardness of his chest.

  “I’m not a little girl. I haven’t been for a long time. The first time I saw my parents fucking other people, I was ten years old. I want to know every kind of dirty you’ve got. I am yours, Luca. To do with as you wish. All you’ve got to do is take it.” She ran her hand up his chest to cup his scarred cheek.

  The line had faded some. Even in the pictures she’d seen from days after to a couple of weeks after the accident, she’d not found it repulsive.

  The world though, couldn’t handle this kind of realness.

  Luca was real.

  He was whole.

  He stood right in front of her, and she saw the yearning in his eyes.

  Eighteen years separated them, but they were alike in so many ways.

  Going to her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his.

  One of his hands went to her hips while the other cupped the back of her head. She gripped his shirt, closing her eyes and losing herself in the kiss.

  His lips were firm, and as she ran her tongue across them, he opened up. She met his tongue halfway, tasting the coffee on his breath.

  He made really bad coffee. She’d have to remember to do that for him.

  Stepping away, she smiled at him.

  “All you’ve got to do is take, Luca. I’m not calling anyone, nor am I going anywhere. I’m yours for the taking.” She forced herself to step away. Turning on her heel, she walked back toward the house.

  All she wanted to do was look back to see if he was watching her.

  She kept on walking.

  Once inside the house, she allowed herself to hope. She’d expected him to call someone to come and collect her, and he’d not done that.

  She wasn’t going back to boarding school, nor was that blonde witch coming for her. They could have some fun, if he only saw past his own moral dilemma. She wasn’t a little girl. She hadn’t been for a really long time, and she never would be.

  Chapter Six

  Sitting at the dining room table the following day, Luca was very much aware of Mavis. She wasn’t wearing jeans anymore, and the clothes she wore seemed to be getting either smaller or tighter or a combination of the two. She sat opposite him at the table, twirling her hair.

  She’d opted to leave it down as she worked, her pen going across the page. She leaned forward and the dress gaped open, and he stared at her large tits. He’d not spoken to her since her revelation. Work had come first, and by the time he finished with the problem, night had already fallen, and he didn’t want to wake her up.

  What was he to say?

  The good part of his brain was telling him to fucking run because she deserved someone better. Someone who wasn’t scarred and didn’t hate the world. Then he had the bad part that was ordering him to take her, to make her addicted to him, and he was struggling between the two.

  No, that was a lie. He wasn’t struggling at all.

  He wanted her.

  She released a sigh and put the pen down. She rubbed at her hand, and he didn’t like the thought of her being in pain.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  “You can do all of this work on a computer,” he said.

  “And when computers finally crash and no one knows how to use a pen and paper anymore, we’re all doomed.”

  “You’re a little young to hate technology.”

  “Not really. I guess I just like what I do.” She shrugged. “And it’s fun to make the teachers work to grade my work.” She held the
books up. “I don’t trust computers as they could have some kind of software that helps teachers grade.”

  He burst out laughing. “You’re crazy.”

  “Nah, just bored.” She pushed her schoolwork to one side. “Are you going to pretend that nothing is going on between us, or do you need me to climb onto this table and show you that I don’t have an issue with what is going on between us?”

  He pressed his hands together, watching her. “Are you doing these things now to surprise me?”

  “No. I’m generally curious. If I shock you even just a little bit, that’s kind of cool.” Her eyes sparkled with laughter.

  She stood up, and he watched as she walked toward him. The dress she wore skimmed mid-thigh. Her thighs were nice, full, and the kind he wanted wrapped around his waist as he fucked her hard.

  “Do you think about me when I’m not with you?” she asked.

  “Mavis.”

  “Why fight it? Why fight this?”

  He leaned back, staring at her.

  He took her hand, locking their fingers together. She was so much smaller than he was.

  Pulling her in front of him, he moved her so that she sat on the edge of the table. Letting go of her hand, he placed his on her thighs and spread her legs wide.

  She wasn’t wearing any panties, and his dick liked that.

  It began pressing against the front of his jeans, and he licked his lips. Slowly running his hands up her thighs, he moved the dress out of his way and stared down at her pretty, wet pussy.

  He didn’t touch her, just looked at how wet and perfect she was. Her clit was already swollen.

  “Have you played with your pussy today?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “When?”

  “This morning when I woke up.”

  “What were you thinking about?”

  “You. I imagined they were your hands. Your fingers. I wanted you so badly.”

  Unable to help himself, he slid a finger down her slit. He brushed past her clit and went straight down to her cunt. Plunging a finger inside her tight heat, he added a second one, stretching her and listening to her cries of pleasure. He couldn’t look away as she opened up for him. Pressing his thumb to her swollen clit, he rocked it back and forth, feeling the answering pulse inside her pussy.