Chapter 25 Reed
reed
Wrapped around Lina the next morning, I woke still exhausted, but I could sleep when I was dead. There was ranch work to do, and we needed to get ready to drive out later. It was getting harder to leave Penn, but I knew she was in good hands with Jude and Romy.
As if my passing thought was a damn broadcast to the world, my bedroom door creaked open to a sleepy little face. Lina yawned beside me, and I pulled her closer to me.
“Daddy?” came a quiet voice.
Lina’s eyes sprang open. “Shit,” she said, diving under the covers.
I chuckled, my arms still around her while she hid under the blankets.
“Maybe if I stay absolutely still, she won’t see me.” Lina’s stifled whisper sounded like there was an edge of panic.
“She’s not a bear,” I told her. “Good morning, princess. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,” she said, pushing the door open wider and stepping in. “Hi, Lina.”
“Hi,” Lina squeaked from beneath the blankets.
“Why are you under the covers?” Penn asked, walking over to the bed.
“Just making a cave,” came her muffled reply. A smile spread across my face.
“Can I come in?”
“No,” Lina said at the same time I said, “Yes.”
“Yay!” Penn jumped onto the bed.
“Reed. No.” Lina sent a quick elbow into my gut.
“Oof! God, your elbow’s fucking pointy.”
“I’m naked,” she hissed quietly.
Penn climbed over our legs, oblivious to our state of undress, wedging between us on top of the covers—thank God. It was obvious Lina wasn’t ready to explain this, even if I was.
“Can I come into your cave, Lina?” Penn asked, pulling on the edge of the duvet to try to sneak a peek beneath.
Lina popped her head out, keeping herself covered. Her hair was wild, and I fucking loved it. She looked good and thoroughly fucked, and it was the most beautiful sight in the world.
“Phew!” Lina blew out. “It was getting hot in that cave.”
“Is that why you don’t have your jammies on?” Penn asked innocently.
I had to hold back a laugh watching Lina squirm.
“Uh … um, yeah. You know,” she said, stumbling on her words. “It was already so hot yesterday, I just couldn’t sleep, so I took them off.”
Penn’s light brow pinched as if considering Lina’s words, but then she nodded. “That makes sense.” And that was all there was to it before she switched gears. “I’m hungry. Can I have pancakes?”
“It may have to be a cereal morning. I have to get to work,” I told her.
Penn’s bottom lip protruded. “Please, Daddy.”
“I can make pancakes,” Lina offered. “Do you have blueberries?”
“Really?” Penn lit up. “Daddy, do we have blueberries?”
“Yes, we have blueberries.”
“Yes!” She pumped her little fist in victory.
Lina laughed that husky laugh of hers, and I couldn’t help the twitch of my dick. I adjusted myself beneath the covers. “Princess, why don’t you pull out the blueberries from the fridge? Lina will be right there.”
“Okay!” Penn flew off the bed, skipping across the floor and out the door.
“That girl doesn’t go anywhere slowly.”
Lina ran a hand down her face. “I don’t have any clothes, just my jacket and panties, and I have no idea where those ended up. I seem to have a habit of losing those around you.”
“Don’t worry, I know where they are,” I told her.
“You do?”
“Uh-huh. And I don’t mind you walking around in just that jacket.”
She slapped my chest with a scoff. “I’m not going out there to make your daughter breakfast naked.”
“If it wasn’t for Penn, I wouldn’t mind …”
“Asshole,” she said with a smile in her voice.
I scooted off the bed, then went to the dresser to remove one of my T-shirts, a pair of drawstring sweatpants, and a lace pair of underwear I had buried beneath everything. I set them beside her on the bed before pulling on my own underwear and sweats.
“I’m not wearing some chick’s lingerie,” she said, crossing her arms over her breasts. She looked so indignant, her brow furrowing. It was so fucking cute.
“It’s not some chick’s lingerie, sweetheart.”
“Then whose is it?”
I gave her a pointed look. “You said so yourself. You seem to make a habit of losing them around me.”
“What?” I watched it slowly dawn on her. “You mean …” She picked up the panties from the bed, holding them up. “Fucking shit. Are these the panties I lost that first night? You’ve had them this whole time?”
I nodded. “I kept them this whole time.”
“Why?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
I shrugged. “Because they were yours. And because I knew I’d see you again.”
“Reed.” There she went again, saying my name the way she did. Making my heartbeat trip up and my dick throb.
“I washed them, so they’re clean,” I told her, gesturing for her to put them on.
She laughed. “So you aren’t some perv who kept them just so you could sniff them?” she teased.
My lips twitched. “I’m a man, Lina. I never said I didn’t do that first before I threw them into the wash.”
She shook her head, still huffing her throaty laugh while she pulled them on.
Her golden skin on full display again, her perky breasts begging for me to touch them.
Fuck! Why did I have to go to work right now?
I could spend all day worshipping that body.
“Fuck, baby.” She pulled my shirt on, her nipples cutting through the fabric.
My balls already felt too heavy. “I can’t wait to have you all to myself again. ”
She gave me a little, seductive tip of her lips, and I couldn’t help it.
Seeing her in my clothes did something to me.
She was kneeling on the bed now, rolling up the waistband of the sweats so they stayed on, and I couldn’t resist. I planted my hands on either side of her, leaning into her, letting my nose drag along the side of her cheek, breathing in her sweet, vanilla scent, until I could capture her mouth with mine.
Lina tipped her chin up, letting me deepen the kiss. We didn’t touch each other, but the way our lips seemed to nestle right between the other was like fitting together two perfect puzzle pieces.
“I can’t get enough of you,” she whispered against my mouth.
“Same, baby, same.”
“Found the blueberries!” Penn declared proudly, skipping back into the room.
Lina started to pull back, but I stopped her by grabbing the back of her neck. Giving her one last solid kiss. I didn’t care if my kid saw it. I was ready to shout to the world that this woman was mine.
“A promise for later,” I whispered, before straightening and turning to my daughter. “Okay, princess, let’s get breakfast started.”