Chapter 13
Savvy
Surprise registers on his face when he sees me standing on his doorstep.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing here either.
I left the pub not long after him and went straight home. I took a quick shower to wash the day’s grunge off before putting on my pj’s and slipping into bed. But it was clear to me twenty minutes later that sleep wouldn’t come. Not with my mind refusing to quiet down.
So I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie, fully intending to try and get some work done, but once my feet were moving, I walked right past my laptop and the case files I’d dumped on the coffee table and out the door.
And now here I am, without a clue what to say to Nate when he looks at me questioningly.
Then his expression softens and he steps aside, motioning me in.
As I pass by, he gently grabs hold of my wrist as he closes the front door.
Then he pulls me toward him, sliding his other hand under the loose curls at the back of my neck where his long fingers cup the back of my head.
When his lips hit mine, I’m ready, already experiencing the inevitable charge surging through me from his touch.
It’s surreal how well the body remembers what the mind worked so hard to forget.
I willingly give up control, letting myself float on the wave of sensations.
His kiss so achingly familiar but also provocatively new. The taste richer and his tongue bolder as he claims my mouth.
I’m floating, held in place by an arm pinned behind my back and a hand cradling my head, while his mouth devours me, leaving no room for any coherent thought in my mind.
This. This is what I was looking for.
I manage to slide one of my hands between us, and rub the heel firmly along the hard ridge of his cock. I can feel his responding moan in my mouth all the way down to my core. I’m instantly wet, or maybe I was already when I knocked on his door.
Not that it matters. The only thing that matters right now is the slide of his callused palm into my waistband and down the curve of my ass. My fingers curl around his length, as his brush my crease, slipping into the wet of my arousal.
All I can think of is having this man inside me. Clearing my mind and filling that void I’ve been living with for too long.
I’m so focused on reaching that goal, it startles me when Nate abruptly stops kissing me. Next, he pulls his hand from my pants.
“Wait,” he whispers.
The first word spoken between us.
We’re both breathing heavy as he leans his forehead against mine. I’m starting to feel a little self-conscious with my hand still wrapped around the outline of his dick through his sweats, so I drop it to my side.
“I’m sorry,” I start apologizing automatically. After all, I’m the one who showed up on his doorstep unannounced with need in my eyes. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Stop.” He grabs hold of my chin and tilts my face up.
“I’m not sorry about anything. But…I have a teenage daughter who is right up those stairs, and as much as I’d love to strip those yoga pants off you and fuck you up against the front door, it doesn’t seem like a good idea with her in the house. ”
His crass words do little to settle the wobble in my knees and, in fact, make my heart race a little faster.
I’d forgotten how direct he could be, or how much I liked that about him. But the point he makes gives me pause. The mention of his daughter is a good reminder life isn’t as simple as it used to be when it was just him and me.
I’m not quite sure what—probably need— drove me to his door at almost eleven at night, but I’m positive Tatum was not part of the equation. It’s a bit embarrassing, and a lot sobering, making me realize perhaps getting involved with Nate in any way deserves a bit more thorough consideration.
“Maybe I should go,” I offer, trying to slip from his arms I’m wrapped in.
“No.” He buries his face in my neck and holds on tight. “Stay a bit. Come out on the back deck with me. It’s a beautiful night.”
“It’s a little chilly, don’t you think?”
I know I was cold coming here just in a hoodie.
“I’ll grab us a blanket.”
His lips brush mine before he releases me, takes my hand, and leads the way through the living room, grabbing a throw off the back of the couch in passing.
There’s a dining set on the deck—a table and four chairs—and one lounger, which is where he leads me.
“Here, sit and I’ll grab us some drinks. Beer?”
“Sure.”
I lean back and let him arrange the blanket over me before he disappears back inside.
I lift my eyes to a clear sky, dotted with countless stars.
It’s one of the many perks of living in a small community in the mountains; there is little to no light pollution like you’d see in the more populated areas and bigger cities.
I hear the sliding door and turn my head to see Nate approach.
“Scoot over.”
I sit up and shift forward, making room for him to slip in the chair behind me.
“Lean back, Sav.”
It feels a little like coming home, leaning back and feeling his solid body behind me. He reaches around and hands me one of the bottles he was carrying.
“Now, relax,” he whispers by my ear. The light brush of his breath is like a caress.
Then his free hand slips underneath the blanket, stroking down my chest and curving around my breast. He finds my pert nipple through the thick fabric of my sweater and tugs lightly, sending a signal straight down between my legs, and I shift my hips restlessly.
“Patience…” I can feel the rumble of his voice against my back. “Take a sip of your beer, baby, I will get to your pussy when I’m done playing here.”
I can feel the cold liquid slide down my throat as Nate builds the heat in my body.
His hand is now on my bare skin, working its way down to fulfilling his promise.
My beer bottle hits the deck boards when I try to set it down next to the lounger, but I need my hands free.
With one hand I grab hold of Nate’s neck, pulling him down as I twist my head to reach his mouth.
My other hand moves down, covering his as he easily slides one, then two digits inside me.
I come embarrassingly fast. Already well-primed, it doesn’t take much.
I’m grateful when he doesn’t retrieve his hand right away, but leaves it where it is, gently cupping me. It feels nice, unhurried, and safe, which allows me to let all tension drain as his body cradles mine.
I close my eyes, only for a minute.
Nate
“You’ve been awfully chipper this week.”
I immediately wipe the grin I’ve been wearing off my face.
Brenda isn’t the only one who’s commented on it, Tate has too.
The difference is my daughter was simply curious, but that’s not the vibe I’m getting from Brenda, who is flashing me a knowing smile.
I almost get the sense the woman has a decent idea where my good mood comes from, although I doubt she’d have found out from Savvy.
I still can’t believe how responsive she was, and how easily she fell asleep in my arms after.
I sat there with her in my arms for a good hour and a half, enjoying the feel of her and allowing myself to fantasize a little about what a future might look like for us, before I woke her up.
It was tempting to carry her inside and let her stay the night in my bed but—aside from the fact I’d need to prepare my daughter for any kind of sleepover—I didn’t think Savvy would want to wake up in my bed.
Not yet, anyway.
I walked her out to her SUV and kissed her goodnight before she got behind the wheel. I haven’t seen her since, but I know she has her hands full with these murders. We did exchange a few brief texts, just checking in, but I’m hoping I can catch up with her sometime this weekend.
“Always nice to make a new customer happy,” I deflect Brenda’s comment. “Do you mind if I take a few pictures for my new website?”
“Go right ahead. I didn’t even know you had a website.” She steps out in the hallway to give me room to take a few shots with my phone.
“I don’t yet. My daughter is setting one up for me as part of a project for one of her elective courses. I wouldn’t even know where to start, but apparently my fourteen-year-old’s technical skills far outweigh mine.”
Brenda chuckles as she hands me the check she’s been writing.
“Trust me, I know what you mean. My guys are a little older than your daughter, but I’ve been turning to them for years for any issues I have with my phone, or my computer or even TV.
And it’s not that I’m clueless, but technology changes at a pace I can’t seem to keep up with. It seems so effortless for them.”
“I hear you. Anyway, thanks for this.” I hold up the check. “I appreciate you picking a virtual stranger to do the job.”
She waves me off. “I should be thanking you. My husband, Jim, kept saying he was gonna do it, but he’s been on the road almost nonstop this past year, and I got tired of waiting. It helped your price was reasonable.”
She follows me as I head for the front door.
“Glad I was able to help.” I turn and grin at her. “And feel free to recommend me if you hear anyone is looking to get some work done.”
She studies me, her head slightly tilted to one side. “Actually, I may have someone in mind. They bought an older house a few years ago they were going to do some work on themselves, but I guess life got busy. I’ll put a bug in their ear.”
“Appreciate it.”
Half an hour later I’m at home, putting the tools away in my garage when I hear movement behind me, but before I have a chance to turn around, something hits me in the back of the head, knocking me to the ground.
My face hits the concrete floor hard and the pain is intense. I hear footsteps approaching and try to push up, but my body won’t cooperate. Then a growling voice sounds right above me, cutting through the black fog that’s closing in on me.
“You should’ve stayed away.”
The next voice I hear is Tatum’s.
“Daddy. Oh my God, are you okay? Dad?”
It fucking hurts when I try to open my eyes, and all I see is a blurred shape leaning in. After a few blinks Tate’s face comes into focus, tears running down her cheeks.
My poor girl. After what happened with her mother, this must scare her.
“I’m okay,” I reassure her in a raspy voice.
To be honest, I’m not sure I’m okay. My ears are ringing, my eyeballs are throbbing, and my head feels like it’s caught in a vise and someone is turning the wheel.
When I try to push up off the floor, the pain is intense and a wave of nausea hits me suddenly, forcing me to drop back to the ground.
Pressing my cheek against the cold concrete, I suck in air through my nose.
“I called 911,” I hear a man’s voice I don’t recognize. “Don’t move, an ambulance is on the way.”
Not moving won’t be a problem.