Wicked Things We Crave

Chapter Twenty-Three

They'd stayed awake until close to sunrise, Jonah determined to catch up on all the orgasms she'd missed during the week of celibacy. Astrid had to hand it to the guy. He had the stamina of three men.

He made love to her for the first time last night, taking his time with her body and worshipping every inch of her skin. Until then, Astrid figured he didn't have it in him to go slow and gentle.

After that, they had passionate sex. Fingers entwined, mouths unable to separate, every movement intense. Not gentle, but not rough either. Once they'd both showered, he massaged her body with oil. That was the round that officially caught her up on her orgasms and then some.

When Astrid did wake, she found the side of his bed cold and the drapes closed to keep out the light of morning. Still exhausted and sore, she would have been happy to sleep for another few hours. But yelling in the distance wouldn't allow for that.

It took a minute to notice the yelling wasn't so far in the distance, and another minute to register one voice was Jonah and the other belonged to her father.

Astrid flung the sheets from her body and rushed to get dressed in yesterday's clothing, then tossed them aside in favor of something else when she noticed the potent smell of sex clinging to the fabric. She chose a dress with a built-in bra so she wouldn't have to figure out where he'd discarded hers the night before.

The volume of the argument increased as Astrid left the bedroom and made her way down the steps, seeing the shadowy figures of two men on the front porch. Her heart was beating a hundred miles a minute as she pulled the door open just as her father pushed Jonah against it, causing him to stumble in her arms and Astrid stumbled to the ground. They knocked the wind out of her body and her elbow seared with pain as she slammed against the hardwood flooring.

Jonah hurried off her and cradled her head in his hands. "Jesus, Astrid, are you okay?"

She nodded, the act causing her to feel light-headed. "I'm fine."

Jonah pulled her up off the ground and checked her over for any injuries while Astrid kept her eyes on her father, whose eyes remained on the ground between them.

"I didn't mean for you-"

"I know," she assured him.

Her dad nodded, then leaned against the doorway. "Went by your place to see you this morning. When you didn't answer, I let myself in."

Astrid knew where this was going. He'd seen her house full of boxes; her life packed away inside pieces of cardboard. Though her father must have already realized why her things were packed away in boxes, not that it wasn't self-explanatory, Astrid swallowed hard and spoke the words. "Jonah and I have appointments to look at houses later today. We're moving in together."

His eyes moved upward to look into her own. "You're rushing into shit a mile a minute like you got something to prove. It's been a week, Astrid. Slow the hell down, take a breath, and think about what you're doing."

Everything between her and Jonah was moving fast, so she wouldn't bother arguing. But Astrid knew she loved him, knew it was real, and knew that although they had only been together for a week, knew she wanted to spend her life with him. "I love him, dad, and this town doesn't understand that. Every time I leave the house to go anywhere, everyone looks at me like I'm the damn plague.

"For the last few years, whenever Jonah and I went somewhere out of town, I've been mistaken for his girlfriend. They never looked at either of us with judgment. They just assumed we were a normal couple. To the outside world, it doesn't look like that big of an age difference. No one knows our story. I can have a life and be happy, but I can't do that here."

Her dad slid down the doorway, resting his arms against his knees. "You're still a child, Astrid."

"She's not a child," Jonah said, seeming to feel the need to intervene.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, dickwad."

"You were married with a kid by the time you were her age," Jonah reminded him.

Astrid sucked in a slow breath. "I know I'm young," Astrid cut in, trying to bridge the gap between everyone, "but I'm not a child. I'm a college graduate, kept a steady job until this week, pay all my own bills, and I don't fall in love with every guy who walks passed me. This is moving fast, but nothing's happening on a whim. I fell in love with a man who would do anything for me. Jonah isn't the guy you would have picked for me, but you don't get to pick who I fall in love with, dad. I don't even get to pick. The only decisions I can make is what I do with that love, and those decisions are my own to make."

Her dad did a lopsided nod as he sat on the ground, not looking up at either of them. "You're right, Astrid. You aren't a child. If you were, I could ban you from seeing him. I could ship you off to the other side of the country to go live with a bunch of nuns or something. But you're a legal adult, and I know I got no say in how you live your life. Just do me a favor and slow the fuck down. I don't want you getting knocked up, finding out this doesn't work, and being tied to this asshole for the rest of his life."

Astrid had no intention of getting pregnant right away, not that they'd been super cautious to avoid it. Truth is, minus the birth control she was on, they'd been damn careless. Not that her father needed to know about any of that. "I've always been tied to him."