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God, he was everything she desired and more. The man was fun, funny, sweet, dependable, kind, and his body…made her eyes cross just thinking about it. And there he was not only ready to bear his soul but change his life for her. What woman in their right mind would say no to him?
Yet she had to. Because how could she bring him into her life? A life where they hid from her psychotic family. A life where the money never met the demand. A life full of responsibility from the second she opened her eyes until she finally passed out each night. Yes, Thunder had a few years on her, but he shouldn’t spend the rest of his twenties shackled to someone with a mountain of baggage. Hell, she shouldn’t be spending her twenties as a mom to five kids, but they were her blood.
They were her everything.
But as she looked at the sincerity and desire in her eyes, she found herself saying, “Tell me.” Because she desperately wanted to know him and learn everything about this incredible man lying naked in her bed.
She couldn’t seem to stop touching him, stroking her fingers over his chest, his arms, his abs. That thigh between her legs was doing insane things to her. It kept her aroused, riding the line of desire. Every so often, her hips rocked against him, completely out of her control. And it felt so damn good.
Thunder seemed reluctant to stop touching her as well. His hands roamed her back, stopping to squeeze her ass every so often.
“It’s going to be impossible to concentrate on what you’re saying if you keep doing that,” she said as her eyes fluttered closed. Who knew having a man’s hands on her backside would drive her wild?
He hummed out his agreement then slid his hands up her back. “My mother was a prostitute,” he finally said.
The confession wasn’t exactly a bucket of cold water on her arousal but did shift her focus to his words. Thankfully, she’d already known that much from Cassie, so the news wasn’t a complete shock.
“Wow,” she said softly. “That must have been difficult growing up.” Her heart ached for the little boy whose parents didn’t give him what he’d needed.
He nodded. “Yeah, and I’m just getting started. I have no idea who my father was. Some trick she fucked. She worked at an illegal cat house in Kentucky. The place had apartments attached, so we lived there. From as early as I can remember, I was exposed to fucking in all its forms. Some of the shit I’ve seen would make your eyes bleed.”
“God, Thunder, I can’t imagine what that was like.” So different from her own upbringing, yet just as dysfunctional and emotionally scarring for a child. It strengthened the bond she already felt with him. Two souls wounded by their pasts. If her past didn’t run the risk of endangering their future, this moment would be perfect. She tried not to feel angry about that fact. Now wasn’t the time, but still, she couldn’t help but experience some bitterness knowing she was the one who’d ruin what she had with Thunder. Either by turning him down now, or later when she had to leave.
He played with a lock of her hair, staring at the strands as they sifted through his fingers. “It wasn’t pretty. I saw the working girls get eyes blackened. I saw them steal from johns. I saw men screaming, violent, drunk, high, you name it. But I never saw a healthy relationship. Not one. My mom eventually married the asshole who owned the brothel.”
“Did she stop working after she got married?”
He snorted as though it meant nothing, but his eyes held the pain of painful memories. God, she understood that.
“Nah. That’s when she became a cash fucking cow. You got any idea how much these pieces of shit were willing to pay for an hour or two with the owner’s wife?” He whistled. “A pretty penny, and let me tell you, there were hordes of johns willing to pay. Can’t tell you how many times I’d be doing homework while listening to some guy give it to my mom as my stepdad grinned and counted his fucking Benjamins.”
“Oh, Thunder, I’m so sorry.” Her insides bled for the boy forced into the dark side of an adult’s world way before his time. Along with the heartbreak came a kind of understanding. While different circumstances, she’d not been allowed a childhood, either. She also witnessed the ugly underbelly of life before she’d been old enough to grasp the repercussions.
“All I’d ever known were men and women who made each other miserable. Who tore each other down, broke each other’s hearts, and destroyed each other’s lives.”
She cupped his face and pulled him down for a quick kiss, trying to pour all her understanding and caring into the act. “Yet you grew up into such a good man,” she whispered against his lips.
