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“I don’t think…” she started to say.
“You don’t have to think.” He stopped her. “It’s just a massage. Sexy as you look in that bra, even I would not try to take advantage of you when you’re hurting.” He pointed to the bed again. “Lay back down.”
She did, moaning as his hands ran over the muscles of her back. He gently attacked each muscle, working until he felt it relax.
“Do you tell Sarah stories as she goes to sleep?”
“Yeah. Sometimes. Why?” she asked against her pillow.
“I’m going to tell you one, now. While I have a captive audience,” he replied.
“You can do anything you want as long as you keep doing that,” she said, gasping as he found a sensitive spot by her shoulder blade.
Brody started. “Once, in a different place and time, there was a little girl named Lou. Lou lived with her mother, who was too wrapped up in her own addictions to properly care for Little Lou. Lou’s mother had no education and no family to help her, so she did what she could to take care of her daughter to the best of her ability. Despite this fact, Lou still felt misplaced and unloved because they moved from place to place, never having one true home to call their own. Lou did the best she could, getting good grades and working part-time jobs to buy groceries and gas.
“She hated the men her mother brought home from the clubs and the way they would leer at her. But they never stayed very long. Then, when the rent was past-due and the lights turned off because no one paid the electric bill, they would move again.
“Then, when Lou was nineteen, her life changed. Someone gave her a baby.”
Lou rolled over and looked at him. “Her mother gave her a baby,” she supplied. “Lou’s mother asked to be driven to the clinic for the abortion she had scheduled. Lou refused. Lou begged and begged for her to keep the baby. She wanted a little sister, you see. She made a deal with her mother. If she would just carry the baby to term, Lou would raise the baby and be responsible for her care. Lou threatened and stomped and told her mother she would leave if the baby was aborted. Lou’s mother needed the income Lou brought home to pay the rent.”
Lou’s tone changed to one of sorrow, but she continued. “Little did I realize at the time that my mother would be forced to quit her job when she started to show. She was a stripper after all, and men just didn’t want to see a pregnant stripper.”
Brody nodded thoughtfully, urging her to continue.
“My part-time job couldn’t pay all the bills. We were sitting there with no lights, no food, and no dignity. Then, one day, my mother came home with groceries. The rent had been paid and the lights were back on. She had bought new clothes for both of us and she’d had her hair and nails done. I had no idea what she did to get the money but I noticed she had a new, haunted, look in her eyes. She was constantly looking over her shoulder. We moved again to a tiny little trailer out in the middle of nowhere.
“She went through the pregnancy and was healthy. She even stopped smoking and drinking. She was clearer than she had ever been.” Lou smiled. “Then Sarah was born. I was there in the delivery room and was amazed when they placed her in my mother’s arms. I was even more surprised when she passed her to me and said, ‘I hope you’re ready for this, ‘cause she’s yours.’ From that moment on, she was. I woke up at night to feed her and to take care of her.”
Lou shivered just a bit as she continued. “Then one night, these men came to the trailer and started beating on the windows and doors, trying to get in. My mother looked defeated. She threw Sarah in a bag and told me to run like hell which I did.” Lou’s eyes met his. “You know the rest. John and Jeb found us, and we have been here ever since.”
> Lou lay on her back, her head on her pillow and her forearm over her eyes. She used her arm to wipe the tears away and looked up at Brody.
“How’s your headache?” he asked softly.
“Better, actually.” She sighed and rolled over, facing away from him. “I’m going to take a nap, though.”
She felt him slide in behind her and pull her close to him. She snuggled closer and put her head on his arm, his chin resting on the top of her head. His legs twined with hers.
“Me, too,” he said.
****
Lou woke slowly and stretched languidly in his arms, her body lengthening against his own. His hand splayed against her naked belly, still clad only in her lacy bra. She could wake up like this every day and wouldn’t complain.
“What time is it?” she muttered.
“Who cares?” Brody asked as he kissed the back of her neck and her shoulder.
She reached back and patted his thigh. “We need to get up.”
“Why?” he asked, his mouth tracing her collarbone.
She smiled into her pillow, feeling her pulse quicken. She turned over slowly to face him. He nuzzled her forehead and breathed in the scent of her. “Because we just should,” she whispered.
His kisses trailed down her hairline to her ear. He grasped her earlobe firmly with his teeth and tugged. She giggled and brushed him off with her hand. She felt him smile against her skin. His trail of kisses continued down her jaw until they reached her chin. Then his lips touched hers, firmly. He captured her mouth in a kiss that had her reeling.
He moved so his head was above hers. He supported himself on one elbow and reached the other hand to trace a slow line along the lacy edge of her bra with his fingertips. His kiss deepened as he used his tongue to trace her lower lip. He drew it into his mouth and sucked lightly. Her tongue raised and met his. They tangled in her mouth until she lightly caught the tip of his tongue between her teeth. She sucked the tip of it gently and felt his hand begin to shake on her breast. She released her hold and softened the kiss, her lips firmly yet softly slowing against his own. His mouth lifted from hers and they touched, nose to nose. They both breathed heavily.
