“No, Carrie. You do what comes natural. Not complainin’ that you beg ’cause you want me to keep at you. That’s hot too. Any man would want you naked, wet, panting, and begging for more. They’d be insane not to. That’s my point. Any man would be insane not to, and if they’re any man at all, they got that, they give it and not get off and sometimes give it back after. That shit’s fucked. But in the now, I gotta know what I got on my hands. I thought I understood where that came from but now it’s certain. And it pisses me off.”

She started stroking his spine as she noted cautiously, “I think we both understand that Aaron wasn’t quite all that in a lot of ways.”

“Well, that one’s important,” he returned. “Then again, all of the ways you can take care of your woman are. He just didn’t do dick about any of them.”

He felt her body tighten then loosen almost immediately under him but he didn’t really register it.

He was focused.

And they had one more thing to go over.

“Now, Butterfly, get it right now I’m good anytime you want me to fuck your cares away. But after I give you my dick, you gotta give me whatever it is you wanted me to fuck away. An orgasm is a very good thing. Two of them are better. But they’ll never clear what’s fuckin’ up your head.”

She stared into his eyes with easy-to-read shock that he’d cottoned on to that before her gaze slid to the side, then to his chin, and finally back to his when she said, “I want this to last.”

What the fuck?

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere,” he growled.

She wrapped both arms around him and held tight.

“I know, sweetie. That’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he’s being nice to me. Giving me money. Showing at the door to take Travis. And you were only around to see the results of the last time he messed with me. I just started to get to the other side of that and now he’s changing tactics and I… I don’t…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to go through it again.”

There it was.

“And I don’t want to drag you through it with me,” she finished.

And there it all was.

“I’ll repeat, Carissa, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“We’re new,” she told him.

“We’re solid,” he told her.

“I… you’re awesome.” Her voice suddenly was pitched louder. “Me? My messes? My baggage? My son? You took it all on. Men don’t do that. When will it be enough?”

He instantly realized his mistake.

No more head space for Carissa.

“Jesus, baby, where did this shit come from?” he asked.

“I didn’t used to have any baggage, and still the man I turned my son over to a couple of hours ago had enough and got rid of me.”