Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
The door knob is cool beneath my sweat-damp palm. It’s locked. Good. She listened.
“Mari, it’s me.”
I sound like hell. Probably look like it too. I’m filthy, my feet are hamburger, and I’ve been sweating buckets.
A few seconds later the door rips open. A shampoo bottle bounces at my feet as Marianna launches herself into my arms. “Oh my god. Are you okay?”
Her hands fly all over me, like she’s kneading dough.
“Just angry.” I try to squelch her wiggling by pulling her tighter against me. “Babe, what are you doing? I think we might have to save a massage for later.”
“Checking you for holes.”
I grin. “None that I didn’t have earlier.”
After patting my bare chest and back down and looking at her hands she finally seems satisfied I’m not bleeding. “Whew. That’s better. I can breathe again.”
“I’m fine, sweetheart.” I jerk her to me and bury my nose against her neck. “Are you okay?”
“I wasn’t, but I am now that I know you’re safe.”
Ooof.
Talk about hitting me in the gut.
Damn.
I squeeze her to me with a warm glow pulsing inside my chest. “As much as I want to stand here holding you until the sun comes up, you’re gonna need to get dressed. The guys are here.”
When I set her away from me she clings to my arms with her brows pinched in confusion. “Who are you talking about?
“Ahem.” A loud clearing throat behind me makes my spine snap straight and my head swivel around.
“You better cover your eyes now, motherfucker!” My patience is GONE.
Vik smirks as light from the hallway spills around his massive frame. “Such a grouch. No appreciation.”
Burying her face in my chest, Marianna hides from him.
Everything about Marianna being naked and damp, with Vik standing in her bedroom door is pissing me the fuck off. “I’m serious, Viktor, get lost.”
“We’re rolling in five. Either you’re in or you’re out.”
No hesitation to my reply. “I’m in.”
He tips his chin, and spins around. His heavy feet clunk on the floor as he returns to the kitchen where I left him a moment ago.
Where he should have stayed. The asshole.
I reach an arm out and slam the bedroom door closed. Then I lock it for good measure. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed.”
Marianna, still a little dazed, wanders around her bedroom for a minute. When I flip on the light on the nightstand, she freezes in the middle of the floor.
We stare at each other.
Clearly, both of us are jacked with angsty energy.
Twisting her hands together, she shifts from foot to foot. “I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“We did have an intruder.” I move to the dresser and start jerking open drawers. “Vik had just pulled up here when he caught sight of someone exiting out of your side door.”
She catches a black T-shirt I toss at her even though her mouth is hanging open in disbelief. “Someone was really in the house?”
“Yes, but he was already outside by the time I went after him.”
The leggings I toss her way land short and hit the floor because they are not aerodynamic at all.
She bends to snag them. “What happened after that?”
“Vik and I chased him, but he managed to disappear in the dark. He circled around and got on a motorcycle he had stashed.”
“I thought I heard a chainsaw.” She points to the bottom drawer. “Bra…and panties.”
“No chainsaws, but it would have been entertaining to see Vik chasing him with one.”
I jerk on the knob and freeze when I see the explosion of colorful silk and lace.
Well, now! My head fills with visions that I don’t have time for. “You like lingerie, babe?”
“Guilty as charged.”
I groan and stare at the ceiling as I try not to think about her in those sexy little snips of fabric. She’s laughing as I fish around, muttering, until I land on the shape of a bra. Then grab the first pair of panties my hand lands on. “Sorry, no matching right now. I’m running on adrenaline and that only amps up my libido. We don’t have time for me to fuck you until you pass out.”
She looks mischievous as hell when she catches both pieces of lingerie. “ Pass out … I’ll remember that. Maybe you can rip them off me later.”
A growl forms in my throat. “Marianna…”
She shrugs innocently.
I shove my fist in my mouth and turn away as she dresses.
“I kind of like torturing you.”
The little she-devil. “You’ll pay for that, my dear. Get your pretty little ass ready. Scout is here. Vik called him as back up when the guy got away. And Vik’s team just pulled in.”
“I’m dressed.”
I turn and swallow roughly.
She looks lethal. No, she is lethal. “You look good in black.”
She glances down. “Am I going to be part of some kind of night op?”
“I’m not leaving you here. Do you have a black jacket and boots?”
She leaps into action, disappearing into her closet. Something bumps around. A few seconds later a boot flies out, landing with a thud. Another boot follows, this one landing on my bare foot.
When she hurries out of the closet, the arm of her jacket is flopping around as she tries to find the hole.
“Here, let me.” I help her in and kiss her on the brow.
“What about you? You don’t have black clothing and where are your boots?”
“Scout’s got gear for me and grease paint for your face too.”
“Makeup?”
“Black and green stuff. Now, let’s roll.”
There’s a spark in her pretty golden eyes.
“Roger that.” She shrugs and lifts her hands in a cute expression. “Or whatever.”
Too damned adorable.
Shaking my head, I loop my arm around her neck. “Woman. You’re just trouble. You look sexy as fuck. And talking like that…”
I growl against the crown of her head. “We need to play dress up. You can be the thief, I’ll be the cop.”
The thief of my damned heart.
Marianna’s laugh is light and surprising given the situation. She falls into step beside me, but then she pulls me to a stop, all playfulness gone.
“You don’t think Vik really saw me naked do you?” She cringes and shudders. “That’s kind of freaking me out. You’re the only man I want to see me without clothes on.”
I’m more than good with that.
I capture her chin and kiss her. It’s not a long kiss, but it’s full of possession.
Yes, I’m a caveman.
Not that I have ever been before. But this is… different.
I pull back and drag my thumb across her lower lip, my focus on the smooth, damp texture. “Only me, babe. I’m too big. I shielded you.”
Her expression softens. “You did go all wolverine-mode.”
“You have no fucking idea. Now let’s go. I’ve got work to do.”