Page 84 of Newly Tied

I was out there, sitting on the swing with Etta, loving the fans Lang had paid to put in the year before.

“This house was always beautiful,” Duke mused, staring at Etta.

“Yes, it is.” She nodded. “But you know, it’s not the building; it’s the love inside.”

“Yes,” he assented, and took a step forward, as though to walk over to her, but hesitated.

“They’re waiting on you at the gate,” she told him, and waved.

I saw Selah wave back.

He nodded. “Thank you again for your hospitality. It was so kind of you to pack up food to take with us. I promise to send all the Tupperware back.”

“Oh no,” she said, using the fan in her left hand and taking hold of mine with her right. “I don’t expect anything back.”

After a moment he said, “Etta, I⁠—”

“Have a great trip,” I called over. “Drive safely now.”

He looked from her, to me, back to her, smiled, and left.

“I think he was havin’ second thoughts about leavin’,” I told Etta as I watched Duke jog over to the large SUV his family had already loaded into.

“No,” she said, moving her fan so she was putting air on both of us. “He had a twinge of nostalgia, is all. Happens to the best of us. We long for a past that never actually existed.”

“Not me. I much prefer the here and now where your son seems to kind of like me.”

She chuckled. “Please. My son has been lovin’ on you since the start, Delroy McCabe. I have never seen him want to be around anyone else more.”

That was very nice to hear.

“And I couldn’t be happier. I like having another son.”

And that was even better.

We had to go to get clothes from my place, and on the way there, he asked me why I was always so on top of his calendar. “More specifically, why were you keeping such a keen eye on all of my dates?”

“You know why,” I replied, glancing out the window, thankful I was in a nice cool car instead of outside, walking down streets covered in hot pavement.

“No. Tell me.”

Turning to look at him, I smiled. “The truth is, I always wanted to make sure I didn’t have any plans when and if yours went sideways. I wanted to be there to fill in and spend time with you.”

I was surprised when he pulled over, unclipped his seat belt, and leaned sideways to first take my face in his hands, and then kiss me.

My body heated so fast, and I whimpered into his mouth, unable to stifle the sound.

“Good noise,” he teased, smiling against my lips before he kissed me again, harder, with tongue and teeth.

“I…could you drive to my crappy apartment, please,” I pleaded, barely getting the words out when he broke the kiss to stare into my eyes. “There’s a bed there.”

“I’m aware,” he rumbled.

My cock had thickened with his attention and closeness, and when he began stroking me through my pants, I had trouble sitting still. “We’re really close and⁠—”

“I want you to know,” he said, his hand sliding from my dick to my balls and then under my ass, “that there won’t be any more dates, not for either of us.”

“I do not date,” I whispered, moving on the fingers sliding over my crease.