Chapter 31
Reaper
She loves me.
Scars and all.
Tension leeches out of my body that I didn’t even realize was there. I’m about to kiss her when I hear Void’s little meow.
We both look toward the coffee table, and I can’t stop my smile when I see him peering over the edge of the coffee table as he and Igor sniff each other.
Void hesitates for a moment, but then he jumps down and Igor lays as low to the floor as he can in response.
They both sniff each other a little more before they do the usual butt sniffing thing pets do.
The knot in my chest loosens at seeing Igor and Void getting along so well.
I press a quick kiss to Lark’s forehead. “Why don’t you hand me Void’s leash and I’ll give you guys a tour as well as show Void where the food and litter box is?”
She smiles up at me as she hands me his leash and stands. She stumbles a little and I reach out to steady her. We both look down and chuckle. Apparently, Igor had laid down on her foot and neither one of us had noticed.
We step over them and they both perk up before following after us. I gesture around me.
“So obviously, this is the living room and kitchen,” I start before guiding Void to the spot where I put his food and water, which is right next to Igor’s.
Then I slowly lead her toward the hallway as I let Void investigate a bit.
“Down this hallway, there’s a half-bathroom, an office, two bedrooms, and then a full bathroom for any guests to share,” I say as I point out each of the rooms before pointing to the last door.
“And this door, here, leads down into the basement.”
I scoop up Void in my arms before leading the way downstairs.
“It still amazes me to see houses with basements around here, even though ours is one of them.”
I nod. “It took a lot of effort and money to clear all the rock away, but in the end, I think it’s worth it. I’ve mainly been using the space for my weights and treadmill since I wasn’t sure what to do with the space, though I did put in a full bathroom down here.”
I pause as I look around the space and nod as resolve fills me.
I’m not going to mention it yet, because I don’t want to overwhelm her, but I think this space would do nicely for her beer making.
As for her wood carving, I don’t think that will work down here since we’d need to keep the dust out of her beer but I’m not against building a shop for her if she wants one.
Walking over to the area under the stairs, I set Void down so he can sniff around. I’d put his litter box down here, but it may need to be moved later on if Lark does end up using this space for her beer.
Void rubs against my legs before he does the same to Lark, and surprisingly, to Igor.
“Well, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with them after all,” Lark says as she crouches down and pets both of them.
I mirror her and Void purrs loudly as he goes up on his hind paws and puts his front ones onto my knee. I scratch under his chin and Lark laughs.
“This will be fun for the next couple of days.”
I frown in confusion. “Why?”
She laughs again and scratches the back of Void’s head. “He’s getting spoiled by all these pets. He’s going to turn needy for attention for a few days, but hopefully, it won’t be long before he settles back down.” She turns to me, her eyes sparkling. “Don’t be surprised if he joins us tonight.”
My dick twitches in my jeans. Fuck. I’ve been half hard since I’d felt her gaze on me outside her family’s house, but that saucy look she just gave me has me so hard that I’m a bit lightheaded.
Void hops up onto my leg which brings me out of my thoughts. I scooped him up and tilt my head toward the stairs.
“How about I show you the upstairs.”
Lark blushes again, and fuck do I want to know how far down it goes.
She turns and pats her leg for Igor to follow, who is more than happy to oblige.
I follow behind them and bite my lip to keep from groaning out loud as I watch her perfect ass sway in her skinny jeans.
Reaching down, I quickly rearrange myself while also trying to get ahold of myself.
I’ll wait for Lark to let me know she wants to take things further, but I won’t push her.
However, judging by her blush when we get to the top of the stairs, I’m pretty sure she knows how she was affecting me.
I pause in the landing area at the top of the stairs. “There are three bedrooms up here. The master bedroom has its own attached bathroom, but the other two share a bathroom which is here,” I tell her as I point out each of the rooms.
“I love how spacious everything is,” Lark says as she peaks her head into each of the rooms before heading down the hallway to our room.
She walks into my room and my muscles tense when she gives a little sigh.
Walking up behind her, I wrap my arms around her waist as I try to look at my room through her eyes.
There’s a king bed with nightstands on either side of it and it has a dark navy comforter over it.
At the foot of the bed is a little staircase with a ‘landing’ for lack of a better word that runs all along the foot of the bed.
Timber had built it for me years ago and secured it to the bed, so that there was no chance Igor could fall in between the stairs and the bed.
Off to the side of one of my nightstands is a door leading to the bathroom.
Behind us is a walk-in closet and along the rest of the wall are more bookcases.
The walls are painted a sort of blue-gray and the floors are hardwood.
In fact, all the floors are hardwood except for the bathrooms which have tile flooring.
“Is that a good sigh or a bad sigh, Darlin’?” I ask tentatively.
Lark relaxes into me. “A good sigh.” She turns in my arms and once again wraps them around my neck while her fingers play in my short hair. “If you haven’t noticed, this is very similar to my own tastes. So yes, it’s a very good thing.”
She pauses and goes up on her toes to give me a quick kiss.
“I love everything about your house, Anthony.” She pauses again before smirking. “And I’m almost a hundred percent positive that Void loves it here too.”
Lark points toward the bed and I turn, smiling when I see Igor and Void snuggled up together on the padded landing of his stairs.
A moment later, Lark looks shyly back up at me. “So, what was your plan for today?”
“I figured we’d head over to the clubhouse later and hang out with the guys.” I pause and internally grimace. “If you want, there’s a party tonight at the clubhouse. There usually is at least one a week—either on Friday or Saturday or both. It kind of depends on what’s all going on.
Lark’s body stiffens in my arms for a moment before it relaxes. She swallows hard and even though she tries to mask it, I can see she’s worried about something.
And I think I know what.
Or I should say, who.
“I’d like to hang out with everyone and get to know them a little more.” She pauses again as she swallows a few times. “Will the bunnies be there?”
“Yeah, they will, Darlin’. Once the party starts that is.
They’ll probably try to stir up shit when it finally sinks in that I’m taken.
” Pausing, I cup her cheek and raise it, so she has to look at me.
“Darlin’, what I told you at your house that day, is still true.
I’m yours and only yours. I haven’t been with any of them since that day at the supper club. ”
Pausing again, I cock my head as I think. “Actually, that isn’t true.”
Lark’s body tenses, and I give her hips a gentle squeeze. I hadn’t meant to scare her.
“It’s been longer than that. It was a bit after New Year’s. I felt like I was just going through the motions, and I felt worse afterward than I did before.”
She blinks a few times in shock and her mouth parts slightly. She seems to shake herself mentally and she licks her lips as she stares at me, almost as if she’s trying to find the lie, but she won’t find that.
“You really mean that,” she all but whispers and then exhales slowly as she gives me a slow smile. “Though you almost had me freaking out there for a moment.”
I brush my thumb across her cheek and shake my head. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Lark. Especially about something like that.”
She gently tugs on my neck, and I bend down, kissing her.
The kiss turns heated, and I reach down, grab her ass and lift her. Lark squeaks a little in surprise and pulls away from the kiss while tightening her legs and arms around me.
“Anthony! Put me down! I’m too heavy, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
I scoff as I carry her over to the bed. “Darlin’, like I told you earlier, you are most definitely not too heavy for me.”
Her grip around me loosens slightly. She stares at me for a beat, but then must come to the decision that I’m telling the truth because the next second, she gives me a sassy look.
“Well then, Hercules, why don’t you take me to bed.”
My cock twitches at her breathy voice and her eyes widen slightly when she feels it. Her eyes heat with desire and she leans forward, kissing me.
I walked around to the bed, and lay her down, not breaking the kiss. She moans and rolls her hips against me. My cock throbs with need and I can’t stop myself from rolling my hips against her in response.
“Anthony,” she rasps as I kiss down her jaw and down her neck.
“Is my woman feeling a little needy?”
She whimpers and rolls her hips against me again as she claws at my shoulders.
“I need you, Anthony.”
My body goes still, and I glance up at her. She nods as she licks her lips.
“I mean it, Anthony. I love you. Make me yours.”
My lips slam down on hers in a bruising kiss that she returns just as fiercely. My hand drifts down her chest, but then I pause and pull back from the kiss.
“Darlin’, I need to know, how sensitive is your skin? I refuse to hurt you.”