AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Forever.
“Uh, hello?” she says, when I just stand there like a weirdo, staring at her.
I smirk to push away the awkwardness. “Hello, Callie.”
She steps aside, waving a hand. The corridor is narrow, dark, the only light flickering from candles set on the counter. “Do you want to come in?”
I nod and walk forward, gesturing to the room in general. “What happened to your lights?”
“Just the cherry on top of this crappy day, I guess,” she says, closing the door behind me. “The power company shut off our electricity.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what happens when you don’t pay your bills.”
She brushes by me, her breasts caressing my side. I have to clench my fists to stop from leaping on her and squeezing those large fuck-me tits, from caressing them until her whole body is a riot of tingles and she can’t deny that she feels it too.
She has to feel it, otherwise, I’ll go insane.
Goddamn, what am I going to do if she doesn’t feel the same? How am I going to be able to live with the thought of another man claiming her?
I won’t be able to. I’ll end up turning into a complete savage, hunting down any bastard who dares to touch my woman and make him pay.
“Try to be quiet, please,” Callie whispers as we walk down the corridor into the small living room. “Mom’s sleeping.”
It’s cramped, the walls almost pushed together, but clean and well-kept. A dark sadness washes over me as I take in the room, making me want to grab her and pull her out of here as fast as I can.
“Quiet?” I laugh gruffly as music pounds through the thin walls, as more obnoxious voices fill the air. “Nothing could be louder than those assholes.”
She sighs, folding her arms, and stands on the other side of the couch. It’s like she knows she has to put an obstacle between us or I won’t be able to control myself.
“I guess you’re right. It’s so freaking annoying, isn’t it? But they won’t stop, no matter how much the other residents and I complain. The police don’t seem to care about this neighborhood. But…”
“What?” I growl, taking a step forward.
Her eyes glimmer with tears. But then she bravely forces them back, swallowing and nodding shortly, as though trying to convince herself of something. “I can still pay you for the car.”
“What happened to your car?”
“I had to leave it there and walk home. My boss fired me because I couldn’t make tonight’s deliveries. And then there was the power. But none of that’s your problem, of course.”
Pride grips her features, the desire to handle this herself blazing across her eyes, her full cheeks flushed. It’s the sort of pride that tells me she’s going to make an incredible mother, always doing her best to provide for our children, no matter the circumstances.
I glance at the closed door behind her, presumably her mother’s room, and then look around the tiny apartment. There’s an adjoined kitchen area and a bathroom, but I don’t see another bedroom.
“Where do you sleep?”
She taps the back of the couch. “Right here. Well, until they kick us out. Can we discuss a payment plan for the car?”
“You’re not paying for the damn car,” I growl. “Not a single cent. I’ll handle it. And I’ll get your car towed. Or I’ll destroy it and get you a new one. Fucking hell, Callie, you shouldn’t be living in a place like this.”
She gasps and her mouth hangs open for a few moments, time seeming to stretch. “Why do you care where I live?”
“Because…”
I try to stop myself from blurting it out, from telling her the truth, from telling her she belongs to me now.
But I can’t.
It’s like my seed is sending messages through my body. As insane as that thought is, I can’t fight it.
I can’t pretend otherwise.
“Because I need—”
Suddenly the apartment door slams open behind me, the wood cracking as the flimsy lock breaks.
I turn swiftly, adrenalin coursing through my body, to find a man standing there with a stupid look on his face. People fill the doorway behind him, laughing and swigging from bottles.
“Told ya I’d do it,” the man says, turning to his friends. “You owe me five bucks, Todd.”
Chapter Four
Callie
I stare in disbelief at the man, vaguely recognizing him from one of the other parties my neighbor – Todd – has held over the past few months, ever since we moved here. The man who broke down the door is tall and wide, looking like a bodybuilder, probably using the steroids that Todd sells out of his apartment.
Todd swaggers forward and throws his arm around his friend. Todd is even taller, wider, swollen with his own steroid use.
“Jesus, man, that was really something.” Todd chuckles, his glazed eyes lighting up for a moment. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
