I open my eyes slowly, not realizing that I closed them in my rant and stare at a bewildered Garrett who is gaping like a fish on land.
“Do you think…don’t you think that your sexually explicit aunts probably have…butt sex too? It’s not just for gays anymore.”
I throw my head back and howl in laughter, tears start streaming down my face. “That…was…that was like a slogan for anal sex.” I fail to catch my breath, my diaphragm spasming and my stomach hurting. “Oh, fuck that hurts.” I wheeze out. “My family is going to love you!”
Garrett smiles the smile of a man lit from within by a thousand suns. That was poetic as shit, but no less accurate. It brightens the whole room. It brightens my soul.
Ephraim 12.
“What did you get your degree in?” Priscilla asks from my chest, where she has burrowed to get comfortable. I can’t say I mind it in the least. Something about feeling her in my arms, her heart so close to mine…
“Marketing and I have an MBA. I oversee the operation of Maimonides Mitzvot.”
“What do the other brothers do, besides the vigilante bankers?” I snicker at that term again, it’s perfect for Dan and Gad.
“It runs the gamut, we wanted to be self-sufficient for ourselves and the community. Construction, plumbing, electrical. Dan and Gad are both investment bankers, but they mostly take care of the club’s money, the shelters finances and offer economic assistance to those who come through the shelter needing help. Ash handles security and he, Levi, and Zeb teach self-defense courses. And Reuben is a mechanic.”
“It’s impressive what you all do. That you don’t just offer a bed for a night, you offer a new life.”
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I quote Maimonides proudly. We didn’t just sit back and take what was dealt, we learned how to shuffle and deal the cards ourselves.
“Since the shelter is attached to your clubhouse and your home, I guess you were right when you said Golem Guerillas weren’t the type of club to drink and whore around.”
“It’s imperative that we provide a safe space for those who seek our assistance. None of us are much for drinking, at least not more than a glass of wine or a beer at dinner. I can’t tell you what exactly we do as a club, not the specifics anyway, but there is too much to be careless about who might be within earshot. When the guys want some quality time with the ladies, they go elsewhere to find it.”
“And where…where do you usually go to spend quality time with the ladies?” I can hear the strain in her voice.
“The NICU.” I deadpan. Her little hand smacks my stomach, before resting there. I want to be skin to skin with her, but it’s too soon.
“The guys give me a hard time, but…I had a conversation with my dad before my bar mitzvah. He told me to never touch a woman without intent. That there are very few personal firsts in a person’s life that truly matter, but that it’s often not being someone’s first that can matter more. He came to my mom as a man without a past, as she came to him a woman without a past. They were a blank slate from which to carve a future together without the worry of past cracks in the foundation causing harm to what they built.”
“That’s beautiful. And so much more eloquent than the speech my daddio gave me.” She laughs, her puffs of breath tickling my skin beneath my shirt. She sits up a bit, resting her arms on my chest so we are face to face. “Once I’m ready to have my secret garden tended to, it’s best to always use the same gardener for consistency and because Daddio doesn’t look good in prison orange.”
“I’m assuming that you also received sane advice from someone else.”
Her eyes shine bright as they narrow from her smile. “I did, well, sort of. My Uncle Silas. My body is mine to give, mine to share, but to remember that with each person I share my body with, I leave a little of myself behind. When I find my love, do they deserve my whole person or just the bits I managed to retain.”
I grab hold of her cheeks, staring into her eyes for a moment before I slowly descend. I ghost my lips across hers, trying to imprint this moment in my memory, to recall during difficult times in the future when the innocence of our relationship blossomed into more. I pull back, just millimeters to meet her gaze once again, before I dive back in, harder this time. She moans at the firm press of my lips and I realize that I have been keeping my heart and body safe for her. They belong to Priscilla Pipilini.
Priscilla 13.
My God, his lips are soft. The stubble on his face tickles. The warmth from his hands seep into my cheeks. The press of his body against my softer frame. Oh shit, how did I get in his lap?
My arms wind around his thick neck, pushing my chest into his, my nipples ache from the contact. He shyly licks the seam of my lips and I open a little. Our tongues meet hesitantly, at first, then grow bolder with each swipe and slide. His groan has my body pushing down, seeking as many points of contact as I can find.
My hips swivel as my legs widen around his waist. Garrett’s hands move from my face, over my shoulders and down my back. He pulls me impossibly closer as he ravishes my mouth. My body jerks when
