Page 11 of The Killer Cupcake (Poison Cherry #3)
LOVE ANEW IN THE BAYOU
T he guest room Janey had prepared for them was a sanctuary of understated elegance—pale yellow walls adorned with delicate watercolors of French gardens, gossamer curtains that filtered the afternoon light into something soft and golden, and a magnificent four-poster bed draped in creamy white fabric.
Kathy closed the door behind them. For eight months, they had existed in limbo, sustaining themselves on memories and wishes. Now they stood facing each other in the hushed quiet of their temporary paradise, suddenly shy as newlyweds despite everything they'd shared.
“You know we are married,” Carmelo reassured her.
Kathy smiled. “I… don’t think so… it’s not leagal and…”
“We are. Legally. No matter what anyone says to you. We are married. Maybe not blessed by God in a church, but our paperwork is legitimate. It has the state seal. We are married,” Carmelo said.
Kathy nodded to reassure him. The courthouse didn’t have that paperwork he bragged about, nor did the church. To her, it wasn’t sealed until they could be husband and wife properly. But she refused to state that.
"I can't believe you're really here," Kathy whispered.
Carmelo stood by the window, hands clenched at his sides, his silhouette rigid against the lace curtains. "Two hundred and forty-three days. I counted everyone."
The distance between them felt like miles and inches all at once. She stepped out of her shoes, the floor cool beneath her feet. When he began unbuttoning his shirt she moved closer without thinking.
"You look different," she said softly.
"How?" His voice was rough.
"Harder. Like the world's been at you." Her hands replaced his at the buttons, and they both stilled at the contact. His skin was warm beneath her fingertips.
"You look..." He swallowed, eyes searching her face. "Like a woman now. Not the girl I left behind."
"I was so afraid," she confessed, working the buttons slowly, needing the task to steady herself. "That time would change us. You're out there boxing, living a life we never planned. What happened to the zookeeper? The animal doctor?"
His laugh was unexpected, warm. It made her smile despite everything.
"Same thing that happened to the scientist," he teased gently.
"Now I'm teaching Science in Butt’s,” she winked.
He kept smiling.
She tried to speak, but her voice was caught up in emotion. "Waiting. Always waiting. And Big Mama—her sugar's getting worse."
" Cara... " His hand covered hers, stilling her movements.
"She's strong. We're managing." She couldn't meet his eyes, couldn't let him see her fear. "That's why I need to be there. Mama comes every two or three months to help. We're protecting her until..."
The words hung unfinished. His thumb stroked across her knuckles, and suddenly the room felt too small, the air too thick with everything unsaid.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be,” she blinked away the tears and looked into his eyes. She is strong. We are strong together.”
A silence fell between them.
"Mama said DeeDee got married recently,” she chirped.
His brows furrowed, not understanding.
"To an Irish boy." She watched comprehension dawn on his face.
"Oh."
"I lied. I know what you said was the truth, Melo. Mama Stewart was right—that judge José loves, he really did marry us. We could take that paper to the courts, make it legitimate. But it’s not legitimate unless we do that. Do you understand? We aren’t married, unless we take that step.”
"Kathy—"
"DeeDee didn't marry no gangster. And the law in New York don't care about gangsters and Black girls being married." Her voice cracked with heartbreak. "But our families do. They always have. That is why we are here. Hiding, pretending. Because we can’t face them, they hate each other.”
"They always will," he said quietly.
"Even Mama. She told me she's glad I didn't do what DeeDee did." Tears spilled over Kathy’s cheeks. "We're liars, me and Debbie. Lying to everyone. Forever."
"Not forever." He cupped her face, thumbs brushing away tears. "I swear it."
"Time hurts, Carmelo. The longer we're apart, I think maybe this is all we'll ever be. Stolen moments. Secret phone calls. Letters we have to hide." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That scares me. My life is empty in Butts. You’re seeing the world. I see nothing but trees.”
"Scares me too. I want to give you the world, Kathy. I do! I will show you the world. I will.”
"What if you find someone else?" she asked.
"Never." The word came out fierce, certain. He captured her wrists, made her meet his eyes. "You're written on my soul, Kathy. Eight months, eight years—it makes no difference. My plan is working. It keeps shifting, but it's working."
He was close enough to see unshed tears making her eyes luminous, and the tremor in her lips portrayed her desperate need. If she knew the truth, her guarded love might shrivel and die.
His greatest sin was the burden he couldn't share—his mother's suicide note, her final plea. As a Catholic, she'd sacrificed her soul, knowing she'd be barred from heaven. Honoring her request meant betraying every vow he'd made to Kathy.
He wanted to drop to his knees, confess why he hadn't fled to Mississippi, climbed through her window, and stolen her away to the life they'd dreamed of. Maybe she'd forgive him if he explained it right.
But he was a coward. Better to trap her in this limbo than risk losing her entirely.
He pressed her hand against his racing heart. "Feel that? That's what you do to me. Always have."
Then his gaze fell to her hand, where a ring sparkled brightly.
How had he missed it before? He lifted her hand to his lips, planting a tender kiss on the ring.
The last barrier between them seemed to dissolve like morning mist. Whatever happened beyond these walls—the danger from their families, the complexities of Janey's world, the uncertainty of their future—none of it mattered in this sacred space they'd created together.
"Carmelo," she breathed. “Tomorrow morning, there is no hurry. And the next day, and the next. Every night you’re mine.”
Then words became unnecessary.
"Don't undress me," he said roughly, pulling his half-open shirt over his head. "Undress for me." His hands moved to his belt as she stepped back, and suddenly the shy veneer lifted from her features like a curtain being drawn away.
She held his gaze with newfound boldness as she reached behind her neck, her fingers working the delicate buttons at the back of her dress with deliberate slowness.
The white satin whispered down her body and pooled at her feet like spilled moonlight.
Next came the slip she wore beneath, the fabric sliding over her curves like a caress.
When she reached for the clasp of her bra, he was already bare below the waist. Eight months of separation and longing were written in every uncharted inch of his erection.
He saw that she noticed.
Carmelo’s breath caught when his eyes lowered.
Her body was unveiled as the last barrier of modesty fell away.
His appreciation for her lovely breasts and shapely thighs caused his erection to throb with heat.
He’d seen her body before but had been too anxious and too virginal to know what possessing someone so beautiful could mean. He understood that now.
She took a moment to breathe. It was all the permission he needed.
He pulled her against him. His mouth slammed down on hers.
His kiss was urgent, desperate. Months of longing poured into that single kiss.
His manhood felt painful to resist because his loins remembered her touch, the sweet heat of her wet and tight vagina with aching clarity.
Every fiber of his being demanded the pleasure and relief that only being inside of her could bring.
Like every other time, her kisses were a slow burn until it was a wildfire. Guiding her backward toward the four-poster bed, he cupped her rounded buttocks, her ass fully seated in his hands, while he lifted her effortlessly.
Kathy’s legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, locking him close.
They sank onto the mattress in one fluid motion, his weight pressing her deep into the soft sheets.
He entered her with a single, powerful thrust—no teasing, no foreplay—just the raw intensity of their emotional and physical bond manifesting in a union.
She felt seized, needed, and deeply fulfilled.
And he could tell by the way the tension in her pussy released, and how he was granted deeper access than he ever had before.
Did she want a seduction? The timid, clumsy sweetness of their first time.
The exploration he performed on her body that awakened them both after their marital ceremony in Debbie’s place.
Yes. He was certain she did. But this was what he hungered for.
Reality, authenticity, complete dominance, and unfiltered devotion were all needed to refill his soul after so much loss in just eight months.
His deep, smoky voice was in her ear. “ Cazzo! I missed this, you. ”
The proclamation shot down her spine and arrowed through her pelvis, extending, heightening the explosion of delicious, sensational currents distressing her vagina as he pumped his dick in and out of her and pinned her thighs far apart to make sure she felt every strike.
She gasped for relief, but the pressure, the tension, the pure unfiltered rawness of it all stole her breath. She gripped the sheets and then clawed at his back, not sure what to do to survive the storm.