Lauren's Black Owner. Black Demon Stories

The late Georgia sun bled gold across the quiet cul-de-sac, painting the new two-story colonial in warm, lazy light. Brian Thompson stood on the front porch with a cold beer in one hand and his wife's waist in the other, breathing in the scent of fresh-cut grass and the faint vanilla of Lauren's shampoo. She leaned into him, soft and warm in a simple white sundress that clung to the full curve of her breasts and the gentle flare of her hips.
At thirty-one she still looked like the girl he'd fallen for in college-blonde hair loose and sun-kissed, bright blue eyes shining with that shy, happy glow, fair skin already turning a delicate pink from an afternoon in the yard."God, Bri. it feels like a dream, " she murmured, tilting her face up to kiss the underside of his jaw. "Our house. Our street. Just us."Brian pulled her closer, letting his hand slide down the small of her back until his palm rested possessively on the swell of her ass.
She was perfect. Soft where a woman should be soft, loyal to her bones, the kind of wife other men only fantasized about. He felt a surge of pure, uncomplicated pride as he kissed the top of her head. From next door came the low rumble of a truck door closing. Brian glanced over and saw him-Darius Washington-tall, broad-shouldered, dark skin gleaming under the sun as he lifted a heavy toolbox from the bed of his truck with effortless power.
The man moved like he owned the air around him, every muscle carved from years of real work. When Darius turned and caught them watching, he flashed that wide, white smile and lifted a hand in greeting."New neighbors?" he called, voice deep and rich, carrying easily across the driveway. Brian waved back, feeling suddenly smaller beside his own wife. "Just moved in today. Brian and Lauren Thompson."Darius's dark eyes drifted to Lauren for a beat longer than necessary-slow, appreciative, lingering on the way the sundress hugged her body in the humid breeze.
Lauren blushed faintly and offered a polite little wave, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear the way she always did when she was nervous. Brian felt it then, a tiny, nameless knot low in his stomach. Nothing serious. Just the heat. Just the newness of the neighborhood. But as Darius nodded once and turned back to his truck, Lauren's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on Brian's shirt.
For the briefest second her breath hitched, and her blue eyes stayed on their new neighbor a heartbeat too long. Brian told himself it was nothing. He had no idea that the quiet suburban street they had chosen for their perfect life was already beginning to pull his sweet, faithful wife toward something darker, thicker, and far more powerful than anything he could ever give her. And that the woman melting so sweetly against him right now would soon be moaning another man's name in the very bed they shared-while he watched from the corner, broken, aching, and unable to look away.