Saved and SAINTified by Tiana Laveen Page B

feel his dick stiffen against his pants as thoughts of her dripping wet pussy gripping his dick that morning flooded his psyche.
    “I’m weak when it comes to that —when it comes to you . We have to be a team here, Xenia. If I try to get some, you have to tell me ‘no’ and stick to it.”
    “But you were able to wait after I had both kids, and after ... ” She looked away; still, after all of these years, she struggled with the fact he’d been shot, almost killed.
    “ Shot baby, you can say it. It’s part of our story and I’m okay with it.  ...  It made us that much stronger, that much closer.” He traced her cheek with his index finger. “Now, as far as waiting—actually, not completely. Think about it. We had oral sex almost every day and you gave me beautiful hand jobs to help tide me over.” He grinned. “Be warned in advance, I know me. I will come after you, Xenia. You have to be strong, for the both of us.”
    “Seven days?” she grimaced.
    “I know … we may have to sleep in separate rooms!” he half-joked.
    “Even oral is off limits?” she whispered as she looked around them, making sure no one heard or was in close proximity.
    Saint nodded. “Even dome—for me, anyway. I can do you though.” He winked as they began to walk again.
    “Oh, well , everything is fine then!” Xenia laughed boisterously. Saint shot her a faux angry glare. “Anyway, there are some other things we will try during this process, but I don’t want to get into a long, technical discussion.” This time, she was the one who glared at him. “Anyway, I think it is worth a try. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a small sacrifice.”
    “For something that may or may not work.”
    “Right—but I’m just trying to give you what you want.” He stopped and turned to look at her.
    They stared at each other for a few moments.
    “Saint, I know that you are.” She took his hands into hers. “But this isn’t about that. I want to have one more baby, but I want you to want her … or him, too.”
    “I do. I wouldn’t be down for this if I had any reservations.”
    “Well then, what is that look in your eye?” She smiled at him then briefly looked down at their sleeping boys.
    “What look?” S aint stood closer to her, pressing his chest into her body as he hugged her with one arm and held the stroller in place with the other.
    “You know. There is something about how you look, when we talk about this . What are your concerns, Saint?”
    He sighed and walked closer to a bench. S aint sat down, locking the stroller in place as Xenia joined him. “You know, I’ve been honest with you. I do want this.” He gave her a candid look and placed his hand on her thigh. “It’s just that I think it kind of scares me to have a daughter because … I know how men can be. I know what we do to women. At the Queendom conference, I could feel all that torn up energy, Xenia, and I had to think about my life, with the whole Payton shit—and how she became that person, that fucked up woman that she is, because of men. I know that as adults, we still have to take responsibility for our actions, we choose how we respond to the shit, but as men, we have so much control over y’all. It’s like what we do determines if you smile or not. If we have a little girl, she will be depending on me to show her how a man is supposed to conduct himself and one day…” He looked away then back at Xenia. “One day I will have to tell her some of the shit I did—terrible things, to so many women. She’ll know her father wasn’t shit, and that really upsets me, Xenia. I don’t want her to think of me like that...”
    I can’t believe I’m admitting this to her ...
    “If anyone ever hurt her … or…”
    Xenia ’s eyes glazed. She smiled and slid her hands around his neck. “I knew it,” she said with light humor. “You have a heart after all.”
    She kissed him on the cheek. “Saint, you know all of this is normal. Look,