Chapter 3 #2
I knew the struggle with the media wasn’t over and, in a lot of ways, it had increased because of Maya.
I wanted to hide her away. Luckily, law enforcement was no longer a problem because I had practically placed half of them in their jobs.
Any media trying to follow us up north was intercepted by the biker associations and criminal operations that I kept in touch with.
I didn’t consider myself a criminal, but I did associate with them and benefited from their loyalty that came from small favors I’d granted.
It was an interesting dynamic and I was glad for it now that I had something so essential to protect.
I was proud of what we had built here and our missing piece had finally arrived.
A small meow had me looking away from the door and shaking my head.
This tiny fluffy creature was the reason I wasn’t in that foyer greeting my perfect sexy mate.
The pulled out drawer had a soft throw pillow in it, with my little babysitting responsibility looking up at me.
I guess it was actually more parenting than babysitting.
This was the shit my dragon got me into. I’d run out for coffee, pissed that the meeting had been moved and passed a pet shelter. Now we had a kitten.
I still can’t believe the massive, savage creature that lived inside of me was happy as fuck that we’d gotten a furball of destruction. A black and white fluffy monster. She even had a pink bow around her neck. I’d agreed to that shit and even picked the color because I knew Maya would like it.
What was happening to me? I honestly should have been embarrassed but all I felt was contentment because I had a feeling Maya was going to absolutely love her.
Atlas, Sai, and even Croy were all fans of the little monster. I was really undecided until I saw Maya’s reaction. Bella was pretty cute though. Yes, Bella. I didn’t pick it out, the shelter had, although I was a fan of the name.
“Marco!” Maya sang happily as my head snapped up, a smile forming on my lips. Atlas, clearly having explained it to the others, kept them talking out in the hallway to not crowd our new little guest. Bella let out a small eager meow at Maya’s voice and my mate froze, her eyes wide with interest.
I took a moment to appreciate Maya. She was beautiful but it was more than that, she always seemed to be glowing.
Her thick dark hair was damp, making her eyes almost appear gold rather than brown, her lips were a bright red.
She was simply perfect. No other word would do her justice if I were being honest.
“What was that?” She asked, nibbling her lip as my cock hardened more than it already was.
Everything. Literally, her breathing created extreme reactions in me. I lifted Bella from the drawer and placed her on the desk. “This is Bella.”
As the kitten stretched, Maya’s eyes went wide, watching as it walked around the top of the desk. The kitten watched Maya as her little fluffy butt sat down, tail swishing.
My mate blinked as her eyes watered and panic hit me in the chest. Even if they were positive tears, I hated seeing her upset at all. She deserved to have a reason to smile every moment of the day.
“You bought a kitten?” She whispered, her eyes hopeful.
I swallowed trying to not sound completely whipped, “I stopped at a rescue shelter and found her.”
“You saved her?” Her eyes filled with an unnamed emotion as I nodded, not understanding fully what was going through her head.
“I wasn’t positive you wanted a kitten but…”
Maya reached forward gently approaching the desk, not answering my lingering words. She swallowed. “What if I hurt her? She’s so tiny.”
I motioned for her to round the desk and I pulled her sexy self onto my lap so that she was relaxed against me.
I picked Bella up and watched as Maya touched her, hesitant at first. I inhaled her scent as her smile widened and she gently pulled the kitten to her, a comfortable happy silence surrounding us.
It was unknown if she noticed, but I was hard as hell under her. It was unavoidable. She was perfect, even her holding a fucking kitten was somehow sexy. This was just getting ridiculous.
“Hey, you,” she petted the kitten gently, “you are the prettiest kitten I’ve ever seen. I love you so much.” It was all mumbled and I felt my smile growing at how absorbed with the kitten she was.
Then, because I clearly have issues, I felt jealous that she was so attached to the kitten. Christ. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Thank you so much, Marco,” she whispered, looking up at me before she nibbled her lip. “I’m worried I won’t be able to take care of her, I’ve never had to take care of something before.”
I went to answer but then she continued and I shut up because I was eager to hear anything about her time before us, painful or not.
“When I was stuck in that basement, this little stray came through the window and I created a small comfortable corner for her with some cardboard and fabric torn from my dress.
She ended up having these tiny little kittens and I was so scared my mother or father would find them and hurt them.
I did my best to protect them and the mom cat would come back with food every day.
“I remembered thinking that I wanted to be a good mom like that one day since my mother was never like that. I was…heartbroken when they didn’t come back one afternoon. It was what taught me to be careful about getting attached…”
My skin boiled with fury at her parents and I couldn’t help but bury my nose in her hair while trying to not squeeze her too tightly. My sweet Maya. Even being held captive in a basement, she was taking care of fucking kittens and putting them above her own safety.
“You don’t have to ever worry about that again,” I whispered into her hair, “you can become as attached to her, or us, as you like…preferably us also because I can’t imagine not seeing your gorgeous face every day, honey.
Plus, you have seven of us to help you with her.
” I tucked that streak of pink hair behind her ear.
Her eyes, flashing with a wisdom that seemed far older than I would have assumed possible, searched my face to see if I was bullshitting her. I had nothing to hide from her though. Absolutely nothing.
“Don’t worry, Bella,” she looked back down at the cat, “I promise I’ll be the best mom ever.”
I could hear the truth in those words and I felt like this meant way more to her than I realized. The determination to be better than…well, her mom no doubt, was all over her face. I could relate to that though, my father had always been a bastard.
Then I nearly groaned because the idea of Maya as a mother was not one I fucking expected.
My dragon loved the idea, offering an amused look at my slight panic.
Not at the idea of having a kid with Maya but at having to add another person that we needed to watch over and protect.
I had no doubt we could do it…but yeah, sometimes it just seemed like a lot.
I think Atlas was probably one of the only ones to realize how often I felt like that.
I had the random urge to tell Maya about my worry but I didn’t want her to doubt me.
Didn’t want her to ever think I couldn’t handle something for her.
Because I could. I would handle anything and everything she ever needed, or problems she faced.
“You will,” I agreed and then chuckled, “plus she has seven dads.” My smile widened as Sai narrowed his eyes at me from where he could no doubt hear me.
I knew the fucker wanted to be in here and he thought I was purposefully taking my time.
And I was. The twins and Henry spent all day with her, I was bound to be a bit selfish.
“Can I bring her into the meeting?” She asked curiously.
“I want you in there, so yes,” I explained as the kitten crawled her way up Maya’s shoulder between us and buried her nose in the same hair I was. I smiled at that because even I had to admit it was cute.
“Are you sure you want me in there?” She asked seriously, “I don’t know anything about your business, Marco. I would love to learn but…”
“No ‘buts’,” I ran a hand over the back of her neck and examined her face.
“If you are interested in the company then I want you to be able to work next to me. Even if it takes a bit of a learning curve. And if you aren’t interested, no big deal.
Either way, the paperwork is being drawn up to make you a co-owner. ”
Her eyes rounded as a panicked expression crossed her face. “What? Why?”
Alright, I almost laughed a bit at her expression but tried to rein it in, figured it wouldn’t do any good.
“Same reason you are being put on everything else. Every property and asset, you name it, you have legal rights to it, or will soon,” I smirked at her shocked face.
“Marco, I have no idea what to even do with any of that,” she frowned, looking overwhelmed.
“Still, I want you as an equal, baby girl, in all things. On top of that, if anything ever happened to me or any of the others, I would always want you to be settled and safe,” I stated softly.
Her eyes softened and she pressed a kiss to my lips. I tried to deepen it but she pulled back offering me a teasing smile. “Not in front of Bella.” She chided, sliding off my lap to go show the others in the hallway.
See? The cat was a cockblock. I muttered a curse and sat back in my leather chair, running a hand over my still extremely frustratingly hard cock.
Alright. I lied. Not in all things.
Equal except for when I had her bent over my lap, spanking her sweet ass for being a tease.
And when I’m buried inside of her and she's moaning my name. When we’re in bed together I plan on absolutely owning her, to the fullest extent.
I closed my eyes so I could stop imagining ripping through those delicate tights and flipping up her school skirt, fucking her right over the desk.
Shit. This was bad.