I arch my back against him and run my hands down his back.

Every inch of me craves him, and usually I’d be too embarrassed to talk like this, but if I don’t voice what he wants to hear he’s not going to give me what I need. “I’m yours.”

“Don’t you fucking forget it, either,” he growls and pushes inside me.

I dig my nails into his back and whimper. I should’ve warned him that I’d only had sex one other time.

He furrows his brow. “Jesus. Are you all right?”

I relax around him, and the burn begins to fade away as I get used to his length. “I’m fine. It’s just been a while.”

He brushes my hair back from my face. “How long is a while?”

I swallow hard. “Over a year, but I’ve only done it one other time.”

He squeezes his eyes tight. “Fuck. You’re probably not on the pill either. I should’ve asked.”

I shake my head, and he begins to pull himself out of me. “Please. Don’t stop. I need this. I need you.”

I can see the conflict in his eyes and for a moment I’m afraid he’s going to tell me no, but then he begins moving inside me.

He buries his face into my hair and whispers, “I’m not going to come in you. I’ll have to pull out before then.”

I nod, understanding. “Okay.”

I close my eyes and bite my lip, as he pumps into me at a deliciously slow pace. When I open them, he’s hovering over me, watching my face as he takes me.

A small bead of sweat forms his upper lip and I lean up and lick it. The salty taste washes over my tongue as he begins to pant.

“Damn it. I can’t believe I’m this close already. It’s you, knowing I’m inside you has me so fucking turned on. It’s too fucking hard to hold back.”

I shudder as his mouth covers my shoulder. “Your pussy is like fucking paradise.”

He growls and lightly bites my shoulder, sliding his cock into me again and again.

I cry out his name followed by a “Yes.” I can’t believe this is finally happening. I feel the same tingle return, and I can tell I’m getting close myself. “You feel so good.”

“Our bodies were made for each other.”

The distinct slaps echo around the hotel room as his thrusts pick up pace.

My core clenches around him greedily, trying to hold him deep inside. “Xavier…”

“Hold on, baby. I want to come with you.” Xavier pulls out of me and begins sliding his cock against my clit. “Fuck.”

The repetitive attention to my clit sends me over the edge just as Xavier groans in my ear and comes on the outside of my folds, slicking my sensitive skin.

Xavier presses his lips to mine. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.”

And I smile at him.

Because I feel the exact same way.

I stare up at the clock and panic washes through me. It’s almost time for her to return. If she comes back and finds this, it won’t be good.

I shake Mama’s shoulders, desperate for her to wake from the deep sleep she’s put herself into once again. “Please, Mama. Wake up. Grandmother will be home any minute. Please.”

Even I can hear the pleading in my voice as I attempt to choke back tears. “She can’t find you like this.”

I yank until I’m finally able to pull her fragile body up a bit. The bones in her shoulders press against my small arms as I cradle her against me. Mama’s head lolls from side to side as I continue to shake her.

Footsteps on the porch cause my heart to leap up into my throat.

It’s too late now.

Keys jingle as the lock turns and the door is pressed open. I glance around my grandmother’s living room, hoping to find an escape route, but I know that even if I find one, it won’t do me any good.

I’ve got no place to go.

Grandmother’s eyes lock onto me the moment she shuts the door behind her. The flowered dress she always wears to church on Sundays still appears perfectly pressed. I can’t look her in the eye. It scares me too much. There’s nothing but hatred for me in them, so I do my best to look everywhere—anywhere—but directly into her eyes.

I concentrate on a wisp of dark hair poking out from her low-set bun under her hat as I attempt to explain myself. “I’m sorry. She just—I couldn’t stop her.”

Grandmother sets her purse down on the coffee table and approaches the spot in the middle of the floor where I’m still clinging to my unresponsive mother. The moment she begins smacking the bible she carried in against her hand, a chill runs down my spine.

“I told you to watch her. Is that so hard?” she asks while she begins circling around me. “You had one job, and you couldn’t even do that right.”

My entire body jolts when she lands the first unexpected blow to the back of my head with the book. Instinctively, I throw up my hands up to protect myself. “I’m…mmm…ssss…sorry.”

“Listen to that stutter. Every time I touch you with the holy word you do that. You know why, boy?” she taunts before she hits me with it again on the side of the face.

I close my eyes and silently beg for Mama to wake up. She’s the only one who can stop this now.

“Answer me!” Grandmother shouts.

“Because I’m evil,” I whisper, knowing that’s what she wants to hear.

She shoves the hard spine of the book into the back of my head, pushing it forward. “That’s right, you little demon spawn. Look at how you poisoned my baby. She wasn’t like this until she ran off and got pregnant with you, by that monster.”