Malone's Fate (Haven, Texas Book 14)

Chapter 43

You’re family now.

“He really meant that, didn’t he?” she said to Tanner as he set her down on the bed.

“What?” he asked.

“Alec. He really meant that I’m family now, didn’t he?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby. Of course he did.” He drew the covers back and lifted her again, placing her in bed.

“I don’t want to go back to bed, Tanner. I’m sick of bed.”

He tucked her in, then sat facing her, cupping her chin. “I’ll make a deal with you. Today, you rest and let me feed you. Tomorrow, I’ll take you outside to see the horses.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really. Maybe a picnic?”

“Okay. I like the sound of that.”

“Good girl. Now, how many strikes are you up to? Seven? Eight?”

“What? Why? I’m not up to that many.” She pouted. Whoa. She didn’t think she’d ever pouted in her life.

“Let’s see. Getting up on your own. Showering on your own. Dressing on your own. Not following the instructions I left you. And walking down the stairs. On. Your. Own.”

Gulp.

“And that’s without even talking about you going to Alec to convince him to let you help with Stefan. I think we’re far past eight. But I’m being generous, considering you haven’t been well.”

“This is you being generous?”

“It is. You can thank me later.” He gave her an overexaggerated wink and wriggled his eyebrows. In case she couldn’t decode the wink.

“I’ll be sure to get onto that,” she said dryly. “Can’t wait.”

That part was true. Lilac couldn’t wait. In fact, she thought she could get into that right now.

“Did you just lick your lips?” he asked.

“What? No. I didn’t do that.”

He grinned. Placing his hands on either side of her hips, he leaned into her. “You did. You licked your lips. Baby, were you thinking about sucking my dick?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Well, so what if I was?”

“Then I would tell you that I spend most of my time thinking about eating you out. Wanting to taste you. To hear you scream as you coat my lips in your pleasure. I want to fuck you bare and possess you. To have everyone know that you’re mine. I want to tattoo that onto your skin and slip a ring on your finger.”

“Tanner,” she said faintly.

“Too much?” he asked.

“No. It’s really not.”

He smiled. “Good. Because I meant every word. Once you’re better, I’m going to fuck you until neither of us can walk.”

“I’m feeling better already,” she told him.

A knock on the door interrupted them before he could reply. “That will be Mia.”

Great. What would Mia think of the fact that she was having to make her food? And bring it up to her?

She felt awful.

Tanner got up and opened the door and a kind looking woman with red-blonde hair stepped in. She didn’t look much older than Lilac, which surprised her.

“Hi! I’m Mia.”

“Hi, I’m Lilac. I’m so sorry you had to bring that up to me. I promise, I’m going to be moving around tomorrow. I can help with the cooking. Although I’m not very good at that. I am good at cleaning, though. I can do the cleaning around here.”

“Um.” Mia handed the tray over to Tanner, looking from her to Tanner.

“Baby, you’re not here to fucking clean.”

“I need to help out,” Lilac said, almost desperately. “I promise I’ll pull my weight. I know all these people descending on you must be an inconvenience.”

“Whoa, baby?—”

“Lilac,” Mia said gently, interrupting Tanner. She walked over to her and took hold of her hand. “You’re not an inconvenience. And you’re not here to work. I understand wanting to pull your weight. But you’ve been in the hospital. You need to rest and get better. I came here needing a safe place, somewhere to hide, and these guys all took care of me. They’ll look after you too. Okay? Just have some faith. We’ve got your back.”

“T-thank you.”

“What’s your favorite sweet thing? What do you like that I could bake for you?”

“You want to bake me something?”

“Mia always bakes our favorites,” Tanner told her. “Mine is chocolate chip cookies so of course she makes that the most since I’m her favorite.”

Mia rolled her eyes at Lilac and, to her surprise, Lilac giggled.

“He thinks he is. They all think they are. So, what do you like?”

“Do you know how to make red velvet cake?”

“I sure do.” Mia patted her hand. “Don’t you worry, we’ll have you feeling better in no time.”

“She’s really nice,” she told Tanner after Mia left.

“All of the women in this family are too good for their men. Including you. But that’s the thing about Malone men. When we find something we want, we grab hold. And we don’t let go.”