Bounty(169)

“Totally?” he teased.

“Totally,” I snapped, though it was a little breathy.

Suddenly, his face was closer and his thumb was sweeping my jaw, my chin, and up, catching on my lower lip.

“Totally?” he whispered.

Okay.

Not totally. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Not a thing.

Being Deke thus being awesome, he didn’t push it, make me admit it out loud.

He just asked, “You love me, Jussy?”

Now I could say it. I could say it not in the middle of fantastic sex through which Deke was claiming my pussy, my body, me.

I could just say it, right out, all for him.

For Deke.

“Yeah, baby, I love you.”

I watched that settle in his face, and doing it, I watched the miracle of this place that gave things like Deke to me and things like me to Deke at work.

This latest miracle being watching the edges life had cut into his face smooth out, not from sleep, not from sex.

All from me.

Shit.

I was going to start crying again.

To control that, I pulled in a ragged breath while Deke ran his thumb from my lip, over my chin, down my throat. “Thinkin’ a’ buyin’ you champagne every night.”

“I like champagne, honey, but you really wanna get in there, you get me bourbon.”

He pressed his hips into mine, my lips parted at the sweet feeling, and he asked, “Can I get in deeper?”

I was utterly serious when I looked right into his eyes and answered, “No.”

He read my serious.

Totally.

“Rooted in you,” he stated, his eyes gleaming, predatory, possessive, making the point he’d made with his cock, his hand around my throat, everything he’d just done to me.

The point he’d made our first time, sinking his teeth into my skin.

I’d been his then.

We were just making it official.

“Rooted in me,” I breathed.

He wrapped the leg he had hold of around his back and used his now free hand to slide up my neck, his fingers going into my hair, his other hand leaving my throat to follow suit on the opposite side.

“Only roots I want, me in you, you in me,” he said quietly.

Fuck.

He was going to make me cry again and I wasn’t going to be able to control it.

He watched my face.

Then he said, “Shit, you’re gonna start up again.”

“Am not,” I snapped, though the words were shaky.

He grinned at me teasingly, but that was a front, giving me what I needed to pull myself together. I knew this because I also felt both his thumbs stroke behind my ears soothingly.

“I need champagne,” I declared.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Do you drink champagne?” I asked.

“Tonight I do,” he answered.

Tonight he did.

Tonight, a night for a lot of celebrating, for me, Deke drank champagne.

I lifted up and touched my mouth to his before falling back into his hands in my hair. “Then pour, honey. I’ll get cleaned up. We’ll toast my pad being done then pulled pork.”

“You got it,” he murmured. “I’ll grab the pumpkins then hit the champagne.”

He slowly slid out and then pulled me up so I was sitting on the counter.

He kept us there, me in his arms, my head tipped back, his chin dipped down.

He studied my face, liked what he saw, showed me that with his expression, and then he kissed me, long and sweet.

When he was done, he helped me off the counter, yanked up his jeans, tucking his cock inside, but helped me grab my jeans and panties before he did his up.

“Be back,” I told him.

“Gotcha,” he replied.

“Always, Deke.”

It came out as a blurt, and his gaze, having roamed to the bottle of champagne, came to mine.

“Yeah, baby,” he whispered, his mouth soft, his look warm.

I gave him that back.

Then I dashed to the bathroom to clean up. Having had my period in the interim (so no baby after the time Deke did me ungloved), I was now on the Pill.

No more condoms.

Just Deke and me.

That was good since we’d run out.

This thought gave me a grin.

Thoughts of the last twenty minutes made that grin turn into a big, fat smile.

Thoughts of pulled pork made my stomach start grumbling.

So I cleaned up, pulled on my clothes, grabbed a new pair of warm socks and tugged them on.

I took only a second to look out the windows to the flurries that had become full-blown snow falling down, thick and heavy, on my patch of mountain.

“I’m happy, Daddy,” I whispered.

The snow kept falling quietly, beautifully, peacefully.

I took that as Dad’s answer that he was glad.

Then I did what I said I would do.

What I would always do.

I went right back to my man.



* * * * *

Deke



Later that night, Deke felt Jussy relax in his arms and heard her breaths even out in sleep.