23. Ambrose
AMbrOSE
E ric helped me off the couch, and I led him to the bedroom I’d renovated.
I wanted to show it off to him, even though the mattress on the floor might be more practical for our purposes.
The antique bed was smaller, but that meant he’d be forced to stay close to me all night.
I wanted that. After years of spending every night on my own, of being annoyed when even Dax or Beau slept on my couch, I wanted this man next to me.
Fuck, I’d sleep with my cock in his ass if he’d let me.
We showered in the absolutely real shower with hot water and good pressure. Damn, it felt good. Living here might make me as soft as my brother and cousins.
At least I’d still be hunting and fishing regularly. It wasn’t like we could run to the grocery store whenever Eric wanted to order in, and there might be a gator or two to wrestle. I wouldn’t totally turn into a city boy.
I was up before dawn as usual. Eric was sleeping soundly, so I left him a note in case he woke, telling him I needed some things from my cabin.
That was true, but that wasn’t all I intended to do. I was going to catch us some fresh fish for breakfast.
As I sat in my boat, waiting for the fish to bite, I enjoyed the peace of the early morning and my solitude. Could I have these moments and Eric too? Could I really be happy occasionally coming out here in the middle of nowhere even if we had a nice, modern house?
I hoped to hell I could, but as good as things seemed now, I knew everything would change once we faced Carlotti.
First, I had to survive it. The idea that Eric might not was absolutely unacceptable.
I would do anything it took to protect him, even if that meant sacrificing myself, but once Carlotti was gone, everything that had forced me and Eric together would no longer be there.
Would Eric still feel the way he did today?
A tug on my line distracted me. I reeled in a fish, then quickly managed to catch a few more.
I was back at the house and frying up our breakfast before Eric woke. When he made his way into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of athletic shorts, I couldn’t help but stare. He was almost too gorgeous.
“I thought we had to go get groceries.”
“I caught these this morning.” I nodded toward the frying pan. “And I picked up some eggs from my cabin.”
“You’ve already been fishing and started cooking?”
“All while you’ve been lying in bed.”
“I didn’t even hear you get up.”
“Of course not.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tell me there’s coffee because if not I’m going to have to find my way to your cabin to get some.”
“I brought that too, and you’d never find my cabin.”
“Never?”
“Not before something found you.”
When we first met, I would have been sure he was exaggerating, but now… “Is it really that dangerous out here?”
“It can be if you’re not paying attention and sometimes even if you are. Just stick with me and you’ll be fine.”
“As long as you’re giving me food and caffeine, I’m good with that.”
“Have a seat.” I pointed to the kitchen table.
He studied it for a moment. “This table is handmade, isn’t it?” One of the guys from my unit had helped me make it, and it was perfect.
“It sure is.”
He ran a hand over the smooth finished surface. “It’s gorgeous. I love seeing this side of you.”
“Just because I can survive with nothing doesn’t mean I can’t also live like this.” Shit. I hated how defensive I sounded.
I turned back toward the counter, gripping it with my hands. Eric came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. “I know that. You’re so much more than you seem on the surface. I bet you really could do anything.”
I couldn’t speak. Everything that had happened over the last day seemed to hit me at once. I just stood there, trying to keep it from totally overwhelming me.
I heard Eric opening cabinets, then setting a pan on the stove.
He lit the gas burner. Then I heard him cracking eggs.
I turned to watch as he efficiently whisked them and poured them into the pan once it was hot.
I was mesmerized watching him. I’d never been turned on by someone cooking before, but damn if he wasn’t doing it for me now.
“Enjoying the view?” he asked a few moments later.
“I am.”
“I like to cook, you know. Maybe I don’t usually kill my own food, but I can make you breakfast or dinner or whatever. You don’t have to take care of me all the time.”
“I suppose having you cook for me could be useful at times.”
He rolled his eyes. “You really are too much.”
“I could teach you to kill your own food.”
He frowned. “I’m not sure I’m interested.”
“You can at least learn to fish.”
“All right. You can teach me, but first I want a tour of this house.” He finished the eggs and turned off the burner.
I pointed to the table again. “Go sit down.”
“So bossy.”
“Get used to it.”
He pulled me to him for a quick kiss before heading to his seat. “You know I’m not always going to put up with that.”
“Put up with it today. I?—”
His smile was soft and gentle. “I know that’s what you need right now. Control.”
“It’s not just that. I need to take care of you because—” I shook my head, not wanting to think about what could happen if he came with us when we confronted Carlotti. If Carlotti thought we were turning Eric over to him and he got his hands on him… “I need you safe.”
“I’ve never been safer than when I’m with you.”
“You’d be safer if you stayed away from me when I go after Carlotti.”
“You can’t be sure of that, and I want to be where I can protect you too.”
I placed the fish on our plates and reached for the spatula to scoop up the eggs. “I don’t want to argue.”
“I don’t either.”
“Good. Eat so I can show you the house.” I set his plate in front of him.
When he took a bite of the fish, his face lit up. “This is amazing.”
“Great-Uncle Etienne taught me most of what I know about feeding myself. The rest came from Corbin’s mom.”
He seemed to be considering my words. “Is Corbin’s mom…”
“Remy and Lance’s stepmom.”
“Okay.”
“She’s amazing, and her cooking is superb.”
“I would think she had servants for that.”
“She could, but she likes to do a lot of the cooking herself. She gets restless if she sits too much.”
“Like you? I can’t imagine you ever just relaxing and not being busy.”
“Neither can I. I get bored way too easily.”
“I’ll have to find plenty of ways to keep you occupied.”
I looked up at him and realized he had meant that to sound as dirty as it did. He grinned at me, then focused back on his breakfast.
When we finished eating, I showed him the house, including the still very creepy attic where generations of my relative’s treasures sat in trunks and boxes.
“If there are any ghosts in the house, I’m betting they live up here.” Eric shivered, which made me laugh.
“This is the perfect place for them. Remind me to have you help me clean it out one night after dark.”
He flipped me off, and we went back downstairs. It had started to rain, hard and steady.
Instead of a fishing lesson, we curled up by the pretend fire and watched the rain, then he perused the collection of old books I’d cleaned up and found a copy of Half Magic by Edward Eager. “Wow. I loved this book as a kid.”
“Me too.” I studied the book, then looked at Eric. Would he laugh if I said what I was thinking?
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re scheming.”
“Not really. I was just thinking I could read it to you.”
“Really? You would do that?” Eric looked excited rather than judgmental.
“You’d like it if I did?”
“Yes. Do I get to lay my head in your lap?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever you want, Your Majesty.”
He handed me the book, then stretched out on the couch, using my thigh as a pillow. His legs were too long to fit. He placed one foot on the floor and let the other dangle over the arm.
The day turned into the best one I’d had in ages.
No one disturbed us, and being with Eric was easy.
He didn’t complain when I wanted to take a walk in the rain by myself, and he had hot coffee waiting for me when I got back.
I introduced him to the small grocery store slash fruit stand slash sandwich counter that was a few miles from my place if you knew the right way to go.
We spent most of the next day in the boat. He took to fishing quickly. We floated and drank beer, then came home and fucked each other senseless before cooking up the fish we’d caught.
Dax checked in with me periodically. I tried to keep my phone close, but I was dreading getting the word that everything was in place. I was in heaven staying at the house with Eric. I didn’t ever want our time to end.
While I was there with him, I could pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist. Carlotti would never find us if we just stayed put, but I knew we’d have to venture out eventually.
We couldn’t settle in with each other until we knew Eric—and the people he’d sworn to protect—were safe from Carlotti.
After that, we’d still have to deal with his job and my family.
Eric and I were having a lazy afternoon, watching movies on my laptop and periodically making out with no real goal other than to tease each other. We’d just started The Bourne Identity when my phone began to buzz. It was Dax.
I grabbed it from the coffee table and took the call. “You better have a good reason for bothering me.”
“It’s time.”
“Already?”
Dax laughed. “It’s been two days.”
I knew that, but I wanted more time.
“I thought you were anxious to do away with this son of a bitch.”
“I am.”
“But?”
I scowled at the phone. “It’s nice here.”
“Nice?”
“With Eric.” I tried to keep my voice low, but I could tell by the way his lips quirked up—despite the tense action scene he pretended to be absorbed in—that he’d heard.
“You like being alone with him.”
“I do.”
“Are you at your cabin?”
I glanced around. “I’m at an undisclosed location.”
“You better not have taken him too far. Remy wants us to gather in an hour.”
“Where is this meetup taking place?”
“There’s an abandoned barn about five miles from the shed LePlatt used. Down the Fontenot.”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Good. Be there.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to go to a stupid family meeting, but I could tell Dax really needed me to agree to this, so I did it for him. He’d given up the trip he’d been planning for ages to come home because I needed him.
“Is it time to go?” Eric asked as soon as I ended the call.
“It is. We’ve been summoned.”
“Right. Should I get my things?”
“No, we’re coming back here when this is over.” Hadn’t he said he wanted?—
“I know, but I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone. There might be a lot of things that need taking care of.”
“No. I’ll need to bring you here.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”