"I'll tell her when I come tomorrow," Penelope said and then stared at me with real fear in her eyes. "You're not going to cut off my money, are you?"
I held her gaze and shook my head. No matter what she did, I’d never leave her penniless. She was the mother of my child. My responsibility, whether I liked it or not. "I won’t."
She sagged with relief. "Thank you." She pushed her chair back and stood up.
I got up too and went around to her side. "Take care of yourself and I hope you have a good time on the cruise," I said.
Penelope looked surprised by my words. "Thank you." She reached out and touched my cheek. "You’re a good man Luke and Ella is lucky to have you." After one last look at me, she left.
Luke
We had a nice evening, though I did notice Ella seemed quieter than usual and pensive. Molly had really come out of her shell and during dinner, she told me about their shopping trip, albeit in halting sentences. I couldn’t believe how far she had come. I hoped Penelope's leaving wouldn’t impede her progress.
After dinner, Molly and I went to the playroom.
Ella joined us a few minutes later.
"Are you all right?" I asked Ella.
She scooted closer to me, so Molly wouldn’t hear us. "I'm fine. It's you, I'm worried about. You look a bit sad.”
Her perceptiveness astounded me. I’d thought I'd done a pretty good job of hiding my feelings. "I'll tell you about it later."
Later, after we'd put Molly to bed, we decided to go up to our room and talk there, rather than sit in the living room.
We slipped into bed and Ella curled up in my arms. "Tell me," she said, "what happened?"
I sighed. "Penelope is leaving on a three-month cruise."
Ella went still. "What about Molly? She can’t just leave her?"
"Apparently, she can. She's going with her new man," I told her while I stroked her hair.
"You’re going to let her?”
"I can’t stop her. She’s a grown woman, and to be really honest, I don't want to. I actually find it to be a huge burden having her around, but I was prepared to put up with it for Molly’s sake. This might work out for the best. I believe this will be the pattern and eventually, Molly will get used to it. I made her promise to speak to Molly about it tomorrow.”
"Molly will be heartbroken," Ella said slowly.
"Maybe not," I said.
I'd never stepped in properly after Penelope ran away with another man. I hadn’t been there for Molly like I should have. I retreated into my own shell and became my father. If I had attempted to fill in the void left by Penelope, Molly wouldn’t have reacted so badly. "She has me and you now. We'll shower her with love and although, she won’t forget her mother, she won’t feel cast aside this time. Especially, if she knows it just for a vacation cruise."
"I think you might be right," Ella said, her hand splayed across my chest. She traced a pattern on my skin with her fingers.
Soon, my breath was coming out faster. I tipped her chin up and brought my mouth to hers. We kissed slowly, exploring each other's lips and then mouths.
I lost myself in Ella’s kisses, kissing her leisurely even though what I really wanted was to devour her immediately. I’d learned that savoring everything left me more satisfied after it was all over. I enjoyed the sweet taste of her mouth and the softness of her body as she melted into me.
I felt her tremor as my hands cupped her curvy ass and squeezed her against my cock. "You're so beautiful,” I whispered to her.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Ella prompted.
I shifted us around, so I was on top. Then I kissed her cheek and trailed kisses down along her neck to her breasts. I thumbed her perfect nipples.
Her hands caressed my back and hair, and then held my head in place as I sucked her nipples.
She rubbed her pussy against my stomach, her wetness coating me like a second skin. I dropped further, trailing kisses all the way, until I was looking at her sweet pussy. I inhaled her sweet scent of arousal.
Usually, I would have dove straight in, licking, and eating her pussy, but I was in the mood to tease her. I nibbled on her inner thighs. She clutched at my head and tried to steer me back to her pussy. But my head remained like an immovable block of cement. She let out a moan of frustration as I continued licking and biting her thighs.
“Please Luke,” she said. “I’ll do anything.”
I chuckled. “What do you need?”
“I need you to eat my pussy,” she cried.
Her words went straight to my cock. I let out a ragged breath and swooped down on her. I dragged my tongue along her slit, as she raised her hips up to meet the onslaught. She thrashed her legs as I devoured her tasty little pussy.
Before she could come, I moved over her, my cock throbbing painfully for some part of the action. I wrapped my hand around my shaft and shoved it into her pussy.
“Yes!” she gasped. “Fuck me, Luke. Please?”
She thrust her hips upwards as I pumped into her. She let out a cry every time my cock hit a certain spot, deep inside her. We moved as though we were born to mate together.
I stared down at her as her orgasm started to tear through her and in that moment, I knew that I loved Ella Cooper.
Ella
As I ironed my dresses, I glanced at my phone fearfully, then remembered I had switched it off. Luke had been going to the office every day this week and it was a good thing he had, because he definitely would have noticed that something was terribly
