Chapter 23
“Seriously. I don’t beg.” ~ Harper
Harper
I cuddle into the warmth behind me, and it moans.
Moans? How does warmth moan?
I force my eyes open and scan the room. Wait a smuggler’s minute. This isn’t my room.
The memories come flooding back. Knocking on Kai’s door in the middle of the night. Practically begging him for sex.
I wanted it to be romantic. I did not achieve my goal.
But the sex. Holy mermaids flirting with pirates on the sea! It was hot and satisfying and made my toes curl. I may have even screamed in pleasure. I won’t be admitting that to Kai, though.
My gaze lands on the clock. Eight a.m.
“Smugglers!” I screech and try to sit up. Kai’s arm holds me down. “Let me go.”
“Not a chance. I warned you, if we had sex, I wouldn’t let you go. ”
I slap at his hand curled into my side. “We can discuss our relationship status later. I need to go.”
“Where do you need to go?”
“Kai, if you don’t move your hand, I’m going to remove your balls with the dull, rusty knife we use to cut lemons at the bar.”
He snatches his arm away. “You have a scary imagination.”
I jump out of bed and my breasts bounce with the motion. I’m naked. How did I forget I’m naked? Did Kai perform some kind of sex magic on me last night?
“Where are my clothes?”
“Calm down, Slugger.”
“You did not just tell me to calm down. I knew it.” I shake my head. “This was a mistake.”
He growls before launching himself out of bed and prowling toward me. “You promised me you wouldn’t think this is a mistake.”
I throw my arms into the air. “I also didn’t expect to fall asleep and forget all about my dad. He’s probably lying in a pool of his piss now.” I groan. “I really don’t want to clean up piss this morning. At least the Moonshine & Merriment Festival doesn’t kick off until noon today.”
Kai shackles my wrists. “Slugger.”
I yank my hands away but his grip is too strong. “Let me go, Goofy. I have to get home.”
“I already phoned and checked on your dad. ”
My brow wrinkles. “Dad answered the phone? He never answers the phone. He claims there isn’t anyone he wants to speak to unless Mom is reaching out from beyond the grave.”
“I spoke to Carl.”
“Carl? Carl the caretaker? He should have gone home by now.”
“When you fell asleep last night, I rang him and asked him to stay over.”
“You did what?” This time, I’m strong enough to yank my hands away. “Carl doesn’t work for you. He works for me.”
“This is why I tried to wake you. I knew you’d go full on Mermaid frenzy on me.”
“Hold on. You tried to wake me?”
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to. I wanted to sleep next to you all night long.”
He wanted to sleep next to me all night long? And here I was worried he would chase me away once he got into my pants. Maybe Kai is more mature than I give him credit for.
“I didn’t get here until three in the morning. All night long wasn’t possible.”
“Nonetheless. I didn’t want you to leave. I tried to wake you since I knew you’d want to get back to your dad. But you were out cold.”
“I was out cold?” I don’t believe him. I’m not a sound sleeper.
“Yep. I took a selfie as proof.”
“Kai Raider. If you took a naked selfie of me, I’m going to throw you to the sirens without any clothes on.”
He smirks. “Sounds like fun. ”
I glare at him. “And I’ll phone your mother and tell her what you did.”
“You play dirty.” He picks up his phone from the nightstand and hands it to me.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Look at the picture so I don’t have to answer to my mother why I have a girlfriend she hasn’t met yet.”
I freeze. “Hasn’t met yet? You want me to meet your mother?”
“Duh. You’re my girlfriend. You’re not getting rid of me. Of course, I want you to meet my mother. I’d say meet my family but you already know my brothers.”
I’ve never met the mother of a boyfriend before. Probably because I haven’t been in a relationship that lasted more than a few hookups. It’s hard to find love when you work sixty hours a week and care for your father during every free moment.
I can’t deal with this now. One thing at a time.
“Show me the picture.” I try to hand the phone back to him.
“The code is 1101.”
“1101 isn’t a very secure code.”
He shrugs. “It’s the day I first saw you.”
Kai being sweet and romantic is another thing I absolutely cannot deal with now. I tap the security code and open his gallery. Sure enough, there’s a selfie of us. There’s a sign with ‘I fell asleep’ written on it on top of me, while Kai makes a crazy face next to me.
“You made a sign? ”
He shrugs. “I figure our kids will get a kick out of the picture someday.”
The list of things I don’t want to deal with is piling up. Kids someday?
“Your clothes are folded on the chair.” He points to the corner. “The bathroom is behind the door next to the chair. I’ll go make you some coffee and put it in a travel mug.”
“Make me coffee in a travel mug? Are you trying to get rid of me?” What is going on here? I’ve obviously been out of the dating scene too long. This is confusing me.
“Harper. Harper.” Kai taps my chin and I blink my eyes until I can focus on him. “I’m not trying to get rid of you.”
“Coffee in a travel mug doesn’t say: Welcome. Stay for a while. I’ll make you some breakfast before I rock your world again.”
His eyes flare and he steps close. Since we’re still naked – why are we still naked!? – I can feel his dick hard and heavy pressing against my stomach.
“Harper Poole, my little slugger, I would love to make you breakfast before rocking your world again.”
“But you’re making me coffee in a travel mug instead.”
He palms my neck. “You are obviously freaking out. I don’t want to push you. I want to give you space to calm your mind.”
This is why I’m falling for him. He gets me. I don’t know how or why, but Kai Raider understands me. This man, who is eight years younger than me understands me better than any man my own age I’ve dated .
I need to stop using his age as an excuse.
He’s not the same kid I thought he was months ago.
A kid wouldn’t have found help for my dad, mowed my lawn, insisted on working at my booth at the festival to give me a day off or done any of the other wonderfully insightful things he’s done for me without asking.
I’m definitely falling in love with him.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He kisses my cheek before strolling for the door.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed?”
“And miss you drooling over my body?”
“I’m not drooling over your body.”
“And you didn’t beg me to let you touch me last night either.”
“I didn’t beg.”
He smirks. “Sure, you didn’t.”
My stomach rumbles and he frowns. “When was the last time you ate?”
I scrunch up my nose as I try to remember. “I had a bunch of junk food with Blossom and Dakota, but I think I skipped dinner. It was packed at Rumrunner last night. Trent had to turn customers away when we reached capacity.”
“I should have helped.”
“Um, you did help. You worked the booth all day. You can’t work the booth all day and then work the bar until closing.”
“Who says? ”
My stomach rumbles again and I place a hand over it in an effort to quiet the traitorous organ down.
“Do you want a breakfast sandwich to go or pancakes?”
I’m confused. “What?”
“Not a pancake lover? I can make eggs and sausage.”
“You can cook?”
“All of the Raider brothers can cook. Mom was too busy working after Dad fucked off. Everyone pitched in to help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s done and dusted. Nothing to be sorry about.”
I disagree but I don’t get a chance to question him before he speaks again.
“What do you want for breakfast, Slugger?”
“Eggs and sausage.”
“Go. Get dressed. I’ll have your breakfast ready in a few minutes.”
“You don’t have to take care of me all the time.”
He smiles. “It’s my privilege to take care of you.”
I wait until he leaves before collapsing on the bed. How am I going to resist this man if he continues to be this sweet? The heroes of my romance books don’t have anything on Kai Raider.
And – spoiler alert! – I did not resist him last night. Or any of the other times he’s kissed me or touched me.