Chapter 27
Damon watched Marlie out the corner of his eye as much as he watched Santa chopping people and wrapping them into small packages.
The woman was making him crazed. He wanted her all the time, and it was all he could do not to confess how much he loved her.
Everything about her made him happy. Seeing her win, watching her with the girls on the basketball court, showed a woman who gave her all.
She understood competition and the thrill of victory. And she lived to win.
They had so much in common. He’d been trying to show her how great he could be as her partner—her equal—in little ways. Marlie worked hard. Teaching, coaching, and she had time for her parents or Jeff whenever they needed her.
Jeff had been doing a great job with intel. Like tips about where to go for Marlie’s favorite drink or treats. What she liked to eat, things she enjoyed doing.
The woman loved her family. That meant a lot to Damon. He’d been raised to be loyal as well. His parents drove him nuts, but he’d do anything for them and Grace. He loved that Marlie was the same.
The kittens curled up next to them, one sitting in his lap and one in Marlie’s.
He had trouble telling them apart, but Marlie said Larry walked with a definite curl in his tail.
For all that he was fostering them at her place, he had a feeling they’d become a permanent fixture with Marlie.
Enamored with the furballs, she catered to them like the big old softy he knew her to be under all the bluster.
“If you stare at me any harder, your eyes will dry out.”
“Whatever. I was just looking at your boobs. It’s not my fault they’re perfect.”
She snickered.
Not that he was lying. Her tits were full and ended in perfect, rosy nipples begging him to suck.
The movie wrapped up, and he took the kittens to their tiny pen in her bedroom, a spot he liked to think of as their bedroom. He appreciated the size of her queen bed. They had to sleep close together so he wouldn’t fall off.
Her whole house charmed him, mostly because it felt like Marlie.
Would she like his place in Portland? How would she feel about living in both until he retired from hockey?
Would she mind that he had money? Marlie, unlike a lot of woman he’d dated, wasn’t impressed by wealth. Jeff had already warned him about that.
Yet that wealth allowed him to buy her dinners and treats. And it would help when they had to find a new place to live together in Hope’s Turn, because as much as her cottage charmed him, it was way too small for them and the kittens.
No way Marlie would let Larry and Bird go. And if for some reason she did, he planned on keeping them. Who knew he liked animals? He’d always thought himself a dog guy, but the cats and their cute viciousness charmed him.
“You’re thinking pretty hard over there.”
He turned around to see her standing in the doorway of the bedroom, totally naked.
He groaned. “I’ve been hard half the night. Why are you torturing me?”
“Because I can.” She gave an evil laugh and cupped her breasts. “Want some?”
He dragged her with him to the bed and stripped down in seconds. Then he took a good long look at Marlie Reynolds, committing the image of her smiling eyes, full lips, and gorgeous body to memory.
“You want to get fucked, woman?” he growled.
She spread her legs. “Why? Know anyone who can get the job done?”
“So brutal on my ego.”
She snorted. “I doubt anything can get that monster down.” She nodded to his dick, that was full and thick.
“What do you think it’ll take for me to come inside you?” he mused.
Her eyes darkened. “I don’t know. I’d have to trust you first.”
“You don’t trust me?” He wasn’t bothered, respecting the wary woman. “What if I told you I’ve never wanted to come in a woman without a condom? Well, not counting high school and Lara Flowers. But since then, no one. I don’t trust women either.”
“Because of disease or pregnancy?”
He lowered himself on top of her, conscious of how well they fit together and how soft she felt under his hands. He kissed across her shoulders and down to her nipples. “No. Because they always want something from me. A tie to a fat wallet. A hook into a moneymaker.”
“Hmm. Suck harder.”
He did, ecstatic when she arched up into him and wrapped a hand around his dick. “But not you.”
“Not me.” She dragged his head to her other breast. “Fuck.”
He smiled around her nipple then sucked again, grinding his erection against her clit, staying away from penetration as he rubbed against her mound. Faster and harder.
“Yeah, I want to fill you up with a lot of cum, Marlie. Just me and you. Wet and messy.”
She dragged his mouth to hers and shifted so that he slipped down, his tip poised at her entrance.
He froze, wanting to push inside her so badly he shook.
“Can I trust you, Damon?” She stared into his eyes.
“I’d never put you at risk.” I love you too much.
She bit her lip. “I can’t.”
Disappointed but resigned to grabbing a condom, that was if he didn’t come first, he wasn’t prepared for her to move so that he slipped inside her.
“Marlie—”
“I can’t wait. Do it. Come in me,” she growled.
He moaned as he pushed all the way in, the heat of her around him so fucking good he lost his mind.
Damon fucked her hard, raw, plunging in and out with a desperation that had him rubbing against her in all the best ways.
He wanted to drag the pleasure out, but too caught up in lust, lost himself and came inside her as she clamped down on him.
Marlie cried out his name and clutched him tightly while Damon released, his vision going dark as he emptied into perfection.
He blinked his eyes open, breathing hard, and felt her rubbing his back while she planted kisses on his chest and shoulders.
“Damon, that was amazing.”
He couldn’t help shoving deeper as he pushed up on his hands to stare into her face. “I came in you so hard.”
“It was sexy.”
“So sexy.” He sighed and kissed her. Then ruined it with a yawn.
Marlie yawned back at him. “Long day. Best way to end it.”
He nodded and would have pulled out, but she held him to her. “No, stay.”
He smiled and, still inside her, rolled them over so that he didn’t crush her with his weight. “Have I told you you’re perfect?”
“No, tell me.”
“You’re perfect.”
“And?”
“And hot, and fuckable, with the best tits and an ass I plan to conquer.”
“Conquer? What am I, Mount Marlie?”
He laughed. “Mount Marlie. Yes, I think I will.”
It took her a moment. “Funny.”
Being with her, laughing with her and liking her so much, it was all he could do to hold his love inside.
Then another thought hit him. “Marlie?”
“Yeah?” she said sleepily.
“Um, I came inside you. I’m clean, and I know you are. But, ah, babies?”
“I’m on birth control.” She yawned again. “And I figured you’re clean or I wouldn’t have said we should go bareback. Maybe I can go down on you next time.”
Unfortunately, she moved, and he slid out of her. He hurried to grab a towel, because he’d left a huge mess behind. She was half asleep and so beautiful his heart hurt.
He promised himself not to screw this up. He couldn’t.
Not when images of Marlie, pregnant with their babies, felt so real he swore he envisioned the future and not just what he wanted with his last breath.
But first, he had to survive the gauntlet of possible doom—dinner with her family in less than twenty-four hours.