Chapter Four
Ox
I have a feeling I’ve ruined Jo’s beauty sleep. It’s two a.m. and though we’ve both pretended to fall asleep, I can tell she’s wide awake. Every two and a half minutes, the bed creaks as she rolls to the left or the right and then back again.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but the last sigh seems like a cry for help. “You okay?”
She fakes a groggy tone as though I’ve woken her up. “What? Yeah, you?”
I try not to laugh. “You’re tossing all over the place so I figured you couldn’t sleep.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Well, there’s a stranger in my bed and he’s got a gun on his hip. Forgive me if that’s not part of my typical nighttime routine.”
“Can’t change that, little one. You want a glass of tea?”
She sighs and rolls to face me. “You said little one again. Why are you calling me that?”
Why am I calling her that? Truthfully, I don’t know. It rolled out earlier, and it happened again now.
“I’ll get us some tea,” I say, rolling up from the bed.
She grips my arm. Her hands are small and soft. “No. You ran away last time you said it. Tell me why you’re calling me that.”
Her touch alone is enough to arouse me. Not only because she’s beautiful, but because there’s something innocent about her that makes me want to keep her safe, know every detail of her life, and give her the world.
“I don’t know why I keep saying it. Does it bother you?”
She looks away, her cheeks red. “No, but… I want to know what you mean by it.”
My palms ache to reach out and cup her face, but I hold still. “I think it means that you’re little and mine to protect.”
She swallows hard. “I’m not little.”
“You are to me. Do you want some tea? It’ll help you sleep.”
Her gaze meets mine in the dark room. The only light is from the small crack in the curtain. It looks like there is a bend in the rod.
“Thanks for being here and for… caring . You don’t have to be so nice.”
“I want you to feel protected, little one.” The words come out again, and like the beat of my heart, I can’t stop them.
She glances toward me. “How are you not married with like ten kids? You’re really sweet when you want to be.”
Half a smile lifts my cheek. “Can you imagine being married to an ogre like me? Shit, I wasn’t made for that.”
“Says who?”
“Says me.” I stroke my hand over my beard, allowing myself a second to imagine what she’s asking. “I’m too old now, anyway. Middle age isn’t the best time to start a family. Your knees start going and your back feels like it’s on the verge of quitting daily.”
She laughs. “Whatever! You’d be a great dad.” Her gaze meets mine. “A good husband too, I’d guess. I mean, I’d like a big guy like you around.”
“Until I eat all the food in the kitchen and miss all the feelings you needed to talk about.” I follow it up with a brief laugh.
A slow smile stretches onto her face, and it takes everything inside of me not to devour her. “I think I could keep you fed, and I’m pretty straightforward about my feelings so you couldn’t miss ‘em.”
I lean in. “What are you feeling right now?”
“I’m feeling safe.” Her gaze drops to my lips and up again. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she wanted my lips on hers. Then again, I’m not good at this shit, so probably not. “I can’t tell you the last time I felt like someone else was looking out for me.”
“It’s been nice for me to care for you. I’m glad you’re letting me. A lot of women these days like to push against men who want to care for them.”
“I get it. Women don’t want to be seen as submissive.”
“Why isn’t it bothering you then?” I shouldn’t ask, but the words slide out before I think them through.
She shrugs. “Sometimes I don’t like it either. I mean, I spent years traveling on my own, taking care of myself. And now, I run this yoga studio. I feel pretty dominant in everything I do. But…” Her cheeks turn red again. “But when I’m out there being a boss-bitch, I’m thinking about this.”
“What’s this?”
“This.” She wets her lips. “I’m thinking about a big guy who’ll take the burden off my shoulders. Someone who wants to keep me safe. Someone who’ll put his hand on my throat and tell me I’m his,” she laughs, “but I think I might be describing a book boyfriend.”
I swallow hard and will my cock to stay asleep. Is she asking me to grip her throat and make her mine? Reality mixes with fantasy and I lose myself in a haze of feral desire.
My heart rate picks up, my palms ache, and without thought, I roll over and pin her to the bed. My hand is in hers and the other frames her wide hips. I snarl, “Like this?”
The words linger in the air for a long while as our gaze stays locked on one another. Her eyes are shiny, glossy, and soft despite the fact that I’ve pinned her down. Her skin is flush, and her breath is held. She could be resisting, but she’s not.
Hair rises on my arms and the nape of my neck. I can feel my fingers ache with need.
I shouldn’t touch her. Fucking hell… don’t touch her. I say the words to myself over and over again, but as she parts her pretty lips, I’m gone.
I grip her throat before diving in to kiss her lips. I wish there was something gentle about it, but there isn’t. I’m a savage, lost in the hormone imbalance of the moment. Lost in the overwhelming need raging through me.
She moans into my mouth and the hunger that had been lying dormant comes pouring out all at once. Her hips rise and press against my frame, so I grip her waist with my free arm and grasp her tight.
All she can do is hum and struggle for breath as I kiss her. With all my energy, I try to will my body to not go as hard as I can, as I feel my arms tightening with the need to hold her close.
“Oh my God,” she cries out as I snag the neckline of her nightgown with my teeth and tug it off her shoulders. “What are we doing?”
“You want me to stop?”
Her body rocks up against mine with purpose. “Don’t you stop!”
Her breasts fall from the thin fabric, and I lick over each nipple, scraping my teeth against the bud as she jumps.
“More!” she pants, drawing her small hands over my shoulders and through my hair. “I need more!”
This probably shouldn’t be happening. I swore off sex a long damn time ago. It only complicates things. If you have sex, there’s a relationship. You have a relationship, there are problems. I don’t need that.
It’s the beginning of my business. I need to make this a success. A relationship only makes things more complicated, especially one with my ex’s sister.
That said, I keep going. Complicated or not, I’ll figure it out later.
I focus on her movements and the look of her face as I bite and tickle my way down her frame. She smells like a sunset just before dark. Like flowers blooming in a soft breeze.
I bite and suck my way across her stomach and the inside of her elbow. “Are you wet for me, little one?”
She sucks in air and scrubs her thighs together. “Soaked.”
“Mmm…” I palm over her panties, watching her face as I press a finger into the wet fabric.
She trembles. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“You’re right. We shouldn’t,” I pause and circle her clit through the thin cotton, “but do you want to?”
Her pussy leaks for me. “Yeah, but it’s fucked up. I mean… Siren . She’s my sister. If she finds out I’m fucking her ex, she’d lose it.”
I ease my fingers behind the soaked wall of cloth and pet her soft, little pussy. I was never this close to her sister. I haven’t been with anyone in years, maybe a decade. “You want me to stop?”
“No,” she pants harder, “I want you to fuck me.”
I slide my finger through the pool of moisture and watch as she whines and moans for more. I attempt to memorize every sound she makes as they happen, but she’s making so many, I fear it’s impossible.
“I’ve never… I’ve never gotten this far with anyone,” she moans.
My chest tightens as she speaks. Is she saying she’s a virgin? I thrust my fingers in her deeper as my cock grows harder. “What? How? The guy with the ropes…”
“We dated for a couple months. I thought we were going places, so I went with it.” She hums and wiggles her hips as I slide my fingers in and out of her tight, little pussy. I don’t know what’s getting me so fucking excited, but the fact that no one has touched her like this has me more desperate than ever.
I need to be her first. Her only.
My mouth waters and I want everything all at once. I need to taste her, fuck her, spread her open, own her, and fill her with babies.
I’m moving too fast. I need to slow the fuck down!
I lean into her neck and kiss her mouth before moving to her ear with a growl. “Have you been a good girl, little one?”
She squeaks. “No. I’m being pretty bad right now.”
I tap my hand across her soft pussy and growl, “That’s not good. You need to be punished?”
“Yeah,” she whines, “hard!”
I pull back and slap her a little harder between the legs.
She’s panting now, her chest rising and falling with each smack, her pussy growing redder with each strike.
“Do you like being a naughty little girl?” I snap my hand against her mound again. She’s soaking wet, glistening with need.
“A little,” she whines as goosebumps ripple up her arms and over her chest. I’m not sure what I wouldn’t do for her at this point, but the chemistry in me has changed and shifted to a place I can’t control.
I slap her pussy again, nearly coming in my jeans as the sound of her gasp rockets through her frame.
With this last move, I lean in and kiss her soaking slit, licking the length of her folds. “You’re so soaking wet, little one.” I lap at the silky pleasure she’s made for me, circling, nibbling, biting her little clit as she jumps and squirms beneath my touch.
I didn’t realize I’d been so hungry.
Her thighs squeeze against the sides of my face, and she presses upward and scrubs against my beard as I suck her nub.
“Don’t stop!” she pants. “Please!” The sounds she makes are desperate and more perfect than any music I’ve ever heard. I want them in my ear as I fuck her hard.
I pull off her mound and kiss her dark, pink pussy. “You’re coming on my dick, little one. Bend over with your ass up. I want to watch you drip.”
She tugs off her nightgown and slides her panties to the floor. The room is dim but there’s that glow from the crack in the curtain that I still haven’t attended to. I make another mental note to fix that damn thing when we’re done.
Her back is down, her round little ass is up, and I lay one hard smack onto it, watching as her skin vibrates up her back before stroking my cock at her entrance. She’s so fucking wet.
“I need to come, Ox. It’s so bad.” I love the needy little sounds she makes.
My cock is aching like it never has before. All rational thought is gone.
I grip her hips and slide the tip of my dick into her pussy. I’m barely marinating in the silk when a pop hits the window, and a bullet flies through the bedroom wall.
Immediately, I know what’s happened. That stupid fucking window!
I pull Jo down to the ground and hover over her small frame. She’s terrified. This isn’t what I wanted for her. Not even close. I wanted her to feel special, needed, desired. I wanted to take my time and hold her tight. I wanted to finish what we started. I wanted to make her mine.
As the high comes down and my alertness goes up, I’m not sure what I was thinking. I should’ve closed that curtain first. The fact that I didn’t is the reason that bullet went where it did. This could’ve ended so much worse.
Fuck! I need to get on my game.
“Can you crawl under the bed?”
She shakes her head. “No. It’s a platform.”
“The closet?”
Banging ensues on the outside door, and though I’m usually good at keeping my cool, this dude has crossed a line.
“I can get in the closet,” she grips my arms, “but I don’t want you to go out there. What if he hurts you?”
I tip her chin up until her gaze meets mine. “I’ll be back for you. You’re safe. I promise.” We were always told in the military not to make promises. You never know with life and death. It’s fragile… but this is a promise I intend to keep. “I’ll be back. Do you know how to army crawl?”
“Hands and knees?”
“No.” I stay low, pulling my jeans back into place. “Like a snake. Pull with your elbows and keep your head down. Stay there until I come back. Tell me you understand.”
“Like a snake.” She nods as I pull my gun from my jeans and crawl back into the hallway.
The aggression on this dude has gone up tenfold from his past visits. I imagine my presence has something to do with that… which I hate. I didn’t want to bring more drama into Jo’s life. I wanted to lessen it. That said, now that he’s acting like a crazy man, it’s going to be a lot easier to catch him.
I release the safety on my gun and slide out the back door onto the screened porch. It’s a dark night and clouds are rolling in, suddenly blocking any brightness from the moon. “Let’s do this, Paul!” I holler, hopping down into the heavy brush surrounding the trailer. “I was in the middle of something I need to get back to.”
His gun fires again. I figure a man like him is easy to rile up, so I keep going.
“Her little pussy is really fuckin’ tight. I hear you couldn’t satisfy her.”
He fires again. This time the shot comes from a closer location, near the forest line.
I step sideways into the line of trees, using the fat tree trunks as guards.
“You should have seen her shaking for me. Oh, the sounds she made…”
An early autumn wind rustles through the leaves and the man who’s been shooting charges from behind a line of ferns that dance in the distance. He’s thinner than the photo and his beard is shaggier, but that’s the man. The bull tattoo on his arm gives him away.
I let him run, watching through the light of my phone as he crushes over a path of wild mushrooms and goldenrod. He’s so fucking stupid. Then again, they all are. It’s surprising how little people think things through. Instant gratification is a killer. Contrary to what just happened in the bedroom, I don’t live like that. I take my time and think things out.
His boots kick up an earthy scent of decomposing leaves and rotting wood until all at once he’s two feet from the barrel of my nine-millimeter and I shoot.
It’s a point-blank shot to his shoulder, and it takes him down immediately.
“Her virgin pussy is mine. She belongs to me.” He spits out the words like he has no idea how fucked he truly is.
I hadn’t planned to kill him, but he’s sealed his fate.
A strong gale wind pushes a creak through the trees as I aim for the man’s head. In this moment, I suppose some would question themselves.
I don’t.
Maybe it’s the way I was raised. I was taught to respect women, to protect them, to never leave a job unfinished. Whatever the reason, I don’t feel an ounce of guilt pulling the trigger.