Chapter 25

"I love you, too, Hector."

I raised my head to look into his eyes. He smiled at me and I kissed him softly. I put my hands on his chest and carefully sat up, sliding to my knees, not breaking our connection. I pushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ears and smiled down at him. I squeezed my muscles around him and was instantly rewarded with his hard erection. I began to move my hips forward and back, slowing riding him. I leaned forward and kissed him, my tongue begging entrance to his mouth. He parted his lips and our tongues dueled. I sat back up and started moving on him a little faster. His hips were pushing against mine and he grasped my hips as he thrust upward inside of me.

"Estephania! You are going to kill me!" he groaned.

"Yeah, but you'll die happy!" I threw my head back and cried out and let my release come. My legs began to shake and I clenched tightly around him. I felt his hot release flood inside of me. My eyes closed and I lowered my head to my chest. My body trembled twice again. Mmmmmm. Aftershocks.

Hector rolled us again so that I was on my back. He slowly slid out of me and turned on his side, taking his weight off me. He gently caressed my breasts and traced little circles on my belly.

"Querida, I am sorry mama scared you last night. We are not ready for that yet, but I cannot stop thinking of our child inside of you," he said softly.

I took a deep breath and said, "I have to be honest, I have thought of it too. This has all happened so fast with us. You know how I have been so afraid of committing to a relationship. And you know how my mother has been so awful to me about it. But everything feels so different with you. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Estephania. We do not have to do anything until we are ready. We will know when the time is right," he said.

"How do you always manage to say the right thing?" I asked him.

He chuckled and hugged me against his chest. He kissed my forehead and said, "Because we are right for each other. And I need to go to work or we could end up making a baby today!"

"Hector!" I squealed and slapped his arm. I collapsed on him and giggled.

He unceremoniously dumped me on my ass and got out of bed. He went into the bathroom and I heard the shower start. I could go in there and help him. Mental head slap. I lay back in the bed and stared at the ceiling. Every time I thought I was in love, it was so much work. There were tense moments, times when I wasn't myself, trying to be someone that they wanted. Trying to fit into a mold that their life allowed. With Hector, there was no game playing, no pretending. He was street-smart and unpredictable. I was uncontrollable Burg. We were perfect for each other.

Hector came back into the bedroom and I caught my breath. Holy crap! His body was amazing. He grinned at me as he put on clean boxers. I hopped out of bed, kissed the cat eyes on his back and picked up my t-shirt and pulled it on. He had put on jeans and a t-shirt. He was looking pretty bad-ass. I don't know where he put his weapons but I was sure he was armed to the teeth.

"You're not playing RangeMan today?" I asked him.

"No. I am going in for a while but then I am going out see some of my friends," he answered.

"Your friends?" I asked.

"Si. You will meet a couple of them on Saturday," he said.

I didn't want to sound like the clingy girlfriend here but I asked him, "Should I be worried? You're not going to kill anyone are you?"

"No, querida," he laughed. "Most of us have outgrown that."

Smart-ass!

I followed him to the door where he pulled me into his arms and gave me a mind-boggling kiss.

"Try not to blow anything up today, querida." He turned and left my apartment before I could grab anything to throw at him.

I headed back to the bedroom and tossed our dirty clothes in the hamper. I went into the bathroom and took a nice, long hot shower. I wonder how big the water heater is in Hector's apartment. Excuse me, our apartment. Ooooh, and the jetted tub. I can't wait to try it out.

I pulled my hair back and tied it loosely. I put on some shorts and a sports bra.

In a couple of days, I would be living in a completely different place. No more Burg. No more gossip. I would no longer be the subject du jour. Well, at least I wouldn't hear about it as it happened. I needed to tell Dillon. I ran through a mental list. I needed to tell Connie and Lula. And Mary Lou and Joe. Hell, I needed to tell my family. Shit.

I padded out to the kitchen and fed Rex. I refilled his water and dropped a couple of grapes in his cage. He poked his head out of this soup can and blinked at me. I took that as a thank you.

I might as well get it started. I called the bonds office. I was shocked when Lula answered the phone.

"Hi, Lula," I said. "Why are you answering the phone?"

"Cuz Connie just painted her nails, white girl! Tankie says you are moving! Tell me 'bout that! Where you moving to? When you moving?" Lula was practically yelling.

"Hey, calm down, Lula!" I yelled back at her. "We just decided the other night."

"Well, Tankie said you was moving in with Hector! What's that all about? What's Batman going to say?"

"I don't give a flying rat's ass about what Ranger thinks. Hector and I are moving to an apartment together. The guys are moving me on Saturday." I replied.

"Damn, white girl! Connie said somethin' was going on with you two but I told her she was crazy. Ain't he gay?" Lula asked.

"Nope, he's not. Far from it."

"He does have one hell of a fine body! Spill!" Lula demanded.

"Nope. The only thing I'll spill is that we are together and I've never been happier."

"What yo' mama say about that on account he's one scary dude?" Lula asked.

"I don't know. My mother doesn't know about him! Yet. I'm sure someone will call her soon enough." My brain blanked out there for a minute as I recalled this morning.

"You tell Dillon yet? What you gonna do with your apartment?"

I blinked and cleared my head of the Hector induced brain fog. "I thought I'd see if Grandma Mazur wants it. My dad would love it if she moved out. She and Mrs. Brestler should get along great. RangeMan has my rent paid up for a few months. You want to go with me to tell Dillon and Mary Lou?"

"Heck, yeah! I'm up for a little excitement. Ain't no tellin' what will happen with you!"

"Come by in about 30 minutes. I gotta finish getting dressed," I said. "And bring coffee!"