His Reason, Her Choice Read Online Free PDF Page B

neither will I.”
    Great, now he made her feel stupid because what he said made sense. Knowing it, irritated her all the more. “Well, fine. If they get on your nerves, don’t complain to me!”
    She marched out the doors ahead of him. If he wanted to take all the bags and act like some knight, he could do that too. She knew the truth. From today, she was a kept woman, and her responsibility at home aside from taking care of the girls was to satisfy him sexually.
    The thought made her stumble, and she glanced over her shoulder to see if he had noticed. He appeared deep in thought, so she hurried ahead to catch the girls before they got it into their heads to walk too close to the street.
    “Freeze,” she called, catching Nicolette doing just what she thought. Denita grabbed her younger sister’s hand and dragged her back. Joy took hold of both of their hands and followed Russ to his car.

Chapter Eight
    H ere she was again. Joy stood in the bathroom before the mirror. She had just showered. Earlier she had bathed the girls—or rather watched Denita take a bath because she “could do it herself.” After they were tucked into their new beds, separate but in the same room to their delight, she had turned off the light.
    Russ had agreed to let her use the third bedroom for now and later if everything worked out, she would move to his room. She hadn’t wanted to look like she was jumping from one man’s bed to the next in front of her girls. Of course she was, which depressed her, but they didn’t need to know.
    Now he waited for her to get up the nerve to come to him. She expected any second for him to bang on the door to tell her she was taking too long, but silence reigned. At last, deciding she was better off getting it over with than to stand there tense and scared, imagining the worst, she walked out to his room.
    Russ stood near the door as if he had just shut it. He wore jeans but no shirt, and his feet were bare. His chest was hairless, and his skin paler on his stomach.
    A white boy. What did it look like? Of course she had seen white men’s dicks in the porn Isaac had liked her to watch with him. She had never seen one close up in real life. Wait, did he want her to give him a blowjob? Isaac hadn’t cared about that, thank goodness, but hadn’t she heard white men liked it?
    “You seem ready to panic,” he said. “Easy. It’s me, Russ. You know me.”
    “The Russ I know wouldn’t—”
    “Joy.”
    She hugged herself. “Sorry. I agreed. Yes, I’m nervous as hell. I’ve never, you know.”
    “Me either.”
    She shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “Same parts.”
    His gaze dropped to her breasts. She had worn a nightie, a delicate one that was see-though. He must be getting a good look at her nipples. She dared to check out the front of his jeans and yup, he was.
    He strode over to her and laid a hand on either arm. She let them drop to her sides. His thumbs caressed her skin, causing goose bumps to rise. “I’m not backing off. We’ll get past your fear by going through with this.”
    Tears filled her eyes, and she ducked her head so he couldn’t see and blinked them away. Just as determined, she stepped in closer to him and breathed deep. He smelled good, freshly showered and minty.
    “Kiss me,” he said.
    She raised her chin a couple inches, and his mouth descended on hers. When the tip of his tongue touched her lips, she parted them with reluctance. He slipped inside, and she got her first surprise. Russ didn’t taste like stale cigarettes or whiskey. She wasn’t sure other than toothpaste what he tasted like, but it wasn’t bad.
    He moaned and grasped the back of her head to hold her in place. His tongue swept the interior of her mouth, and he wrapped his other arm around her waist to flatten her to his chest. She brought her hands up, fearful she would thrust him away and fail the terms of their agreement.
    Instead, she stood like a statue. After some time, Russ raised his head,