"It's cool. I could probably eat that whole stack and still be hungry with this little one." I pat my tummy. "Now that he's discovered food, I believe he's become an addict."
"Or just has his daddy's appetite." Baz pulls the knife from between his lips and cuts through all the sandwiches at once.
"Could be that, too." I accept the triangle he offers me. Taking a bite, I realize how much I missed this. Naked peanut butter and jelly with Baz. How something so simple could bring me so much joy. I'm still getting used to that emotion. Joy. Happiness. Genuine, untainted, uncorrupted contentment.
"What are you thinking about, Stevie?"
"You." I smile, chewing my sandwich delicately. Ladylike, the way I was taught. The way I was conditioned.
"What about me?" he inquires almost self-consciously.
"How old are you? Benny wasn't very old when he died. Only forty-five, and you don't look all that young."
"I'm twenty-eight. Benny knocked my mother up when they were seventeen. Young and stupid." He takes a frustrated, meaty bite of his sandwich. It's clear talking about his father puts him on edge. A very steep, jagged, poisonous edge.
"Sort of like us." Considering we're in the same situation.
"I'm nothing like him," Baz sneers. "I won't ever abandon my family. Even if something's wrong. Even if he's different, every child deserves to be loved. No matter what. No matter if they're different or not," he proclaims like it's a declaration.
I cover my lips so he can't see them twitching.
"Did I say something funny?" He's genuinely offended.
"No. Not in the least bit."
"Then why the fuck are you laughing at me?"
"I'm not. I'm touched. I'm moved. I love your passion. And your warmth. But-"
"But?" he bites.
"But that statement reminds me a lot of him."
Baz's green gaze narrows. "I'm nuthin' fucking like him, Stevie. I couldn't be, even when I tried."
"It's true, you don't share his asshole qualities. You're not a ruthless killer who cares more about the designer of his shirt than most human lives. But you do have his tenacity. And his presence. The ability to captivate a room whether there is one person or one hundred people in it. You captivate me, much like he did." Baz stares at me, a little stunned and a little perturbed. "Not all of Benny's qualities were bad. And I think you inherited a majority of his good ones." Baz's eyebrows turn down as he considers this.
"I never got to see any of his good qualities. I was always his reject son."
"Well, I did on occasion. So I can recognize them in you."
Baz steps closer to me, pressing his forehead to mine. "Thanks, Stevie," he breathes.
"For what?" I ask curiously.
"Not giving up on me." He looks me in the eyes, our heads still pressed together.
"I'm not a quitter. And I'm a little addicted to naked PB&Js." I press my hands against his smooth cheeks.
"I'm a little addicted to you." He licks my bottom lip. "Scratch that. A lot addicted. Completely hooked."
"I'll never send you to rehab." I tilt my face up to kiss him. To taste his sweet mouth and toy with his talented tongue. The tongue I want running along my entire body and teasing my sweet spot until I come.
"Stevie," Baz moans my name, burying his fingers in my hair. Our kiss becomes aggressive, charged with adrenaline, need, and want.
"Baz, I want you."
"You don't even need to ask." He sighs with sheer masculinity as he strokes his cock.
"No." I break our kiss and press my index finger to his lips.
"No?" he questions, confused.
"I want this . . ." I clarify, slipping the tip of my first finger into his mouth. I touch his tongue, and he swirls it around. "Here." I run my fingertips down the center of my naked body and cup myself right between my legs.
"Do you now?" His arrogance is obnoxious but warranted. "You like my mouth on you?" I nod. The man is a wizard when he goes south. The night on his dining room table will go down in history as the most erotic experience of my life.
Oral sex was never generously bestowed on me, but when Baz splayed me on that table, took his time, and made me come in a way I never had before, the act became something entirely new. It was like an electric chair for my senses. And I was a killer who deserved the death penalty repeatedly.
My entire body is throbbing by the time he runs the tip of his tongue down the same course my fingers took.
"We're in the perfect place for a midnight snack." He kneels on the floor, his face perfectly aligned with my pussy thanks to his height. He kisses my bare lips, and I drop my head back in pure, unadulterated bliss.