When Joy woke up, her face felt taut. She touched it, trying to figure out the dry, shellac-like coating, then smiled.
She'd nearly fallen asleep between his legs last night. Her face had been wet with tears from choking on him, and when she'd lay there in his pubic hair, with his flaccid penis resting in her mouth, she'd felt the wet of her spit beneath her cheek. It was dry now and tight, pulling on her skin in sweet reminder.
"Mmmm," she started to roll over, and bumped into him.
"Good morning, little kitten."
She wiggled around to face him, then laughed to herself, thinking she might look like a kitten that got its face wet in the milk.
"Mew, mew" she tucked her hands up between them like paws. "Good morning, Daddy."
He put his hand on her shoulder, then slid it down to her flank, and then her hip. She closed her eyes and let him rouse her body with his touch.
He stopped there, though, and after a moment she looked at him again.
He was just looking at her, calm and neutral.
"Shall I make us some breakfast?" she offered.
"You said yesterday that we don't know each other well."
Joy nodded quietly. She still couldn't tell how he was feeling, but he didn't seem upset.
"I think you're right," he continued. "I have the day off. So let's get to know each other."
A thread of guilt spring up. She hadn't meant to make Lawrence feel like anything was wrong. She just wanted him to understand why she'd taken the pill, and was worried he'd be upset with her. But he'd hugged her, and everything was alright, wasn't it?
She nodded again, unsure of what to say.
But then he smiled.
It was okay.
Of course it was; he'd done nothing but take care of her since they'd met, and given her everything she'd wanted. More than she'd dreamed of.
He sat up, rising from the bed and coming around to her side, extending his hand. She looked over him-- his hairy chest and flaccid penis-- and felt the flutter of arousal in her belly again. She belonged to him, and it was her calling to please him. She wondered if she should lick and suck on him again.
But he was waiting for her hand, and when she didn't hold his quickly enough, he did it for her, sliding his palm around hers and pulling her up.
"Let's go out for breakfast, kitten."
~~~
"Remember the tall guy at the cafe?" Joy paused cutting up her pancakes to check his face.
Lawrence frowned briefly, so she assumed he didn't remember. "He served us cocoa the first day we met. Oh! You left the letter with him-- that's Cam. And his wife Kashvi was there when I was moving out."
"He seems pretty young to be married, doesn't he?"
He wasn't wrong. And it was even more surprising than he realized: "He's 21 and she's 24. I think they've been married for two years already, and they own the cafe together."
"Impressive."
"Yeah, they work really hard. And they live with her parents. That's why they don't need the room above the cafe."
"You were helping them pay the bills."
"Yeah, but they didn't make me pay much. Cam's kind of like my brother. He was my next door neighbour growing up. It was still nice of them, though, helping me move away from home."
"They must be worried about you moving in with me."
"Cam will worry about it. But I think Kashvi calms him down. She's so nice. And, um... I think they're used to people saying things about them. So they don't say too much about anyone else. You know?"
Lawrence nodded then took a sip of his coffee, so she took another bite of her pancakes, too. They were so sweet and so good. They'd put little sprinkles on top, which had melted into delightful swirls in the butter.
For a little while, they ate and sipped. It was nice to be quiet together, and Joy realised suddenly how uncommon that was; to not feel like someone was waiting for something from her, or vice versa.
She was halfway through her pancake when he spoke again.
"Why did you go with me that night?"
Joy looked up.
"From the store. Why did you get into my car? Weren't you scared?"
She shook her head a little. "No, I think you--"
She paused for a moment, trying to sort out the thought. She'd been excited by the scene they'd witnessed, but a bit ashamed of her pleasure.
Lawrence had been exciting, too, though. Something about him. But then, he'd also been...
"I think you're honest."
It sounded anticlimactic, and she made a face. Her thoughts raced, trying to rectify it. "I mean, I think-- the choices were that you were honest, or that what we'd seen was--"
He waited patiently, sipping his coffee again.
She scrunched up her face, trying to think it through, then went back to her first thought. "It was exciting. You were exciting. I think I--"
She tried to start a sentence a few more times, then dropped almost to a whisper so she could: "I think I hoped you'd take advantage."
