Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
KODIAK
We pull up to my house, and I look into the back seat. Oly is sound asleep, her little head tipped forward. It looks so uncomfortable, but she’s young, so it probably doesn’t hurt her as much as it would me or her mom.
I turn back and see Marnie taking in my house. Looking at it, I take it in like a stranger would. The large two-car garage is up front, and there’s a third garage door to the side with a tall opening for my work truck or a trailer. The covered porch wraps around to the back.
I worked hard for this land on the small lake and to build a home I’m proud of.
But honestly, if she doesn’t like it, I’d sell it in a heartbeat to get her whatever she wants.
When I built the house, I never thought I’d want a family.
Now I’ll have an instant one, and I’m okay with that.
But is a three-bedroom home going to be big enough for us?
I can always add on. It’s what I do, and I’m good at it.
I want to ask her what she thinks of her new home as soon as I can talk her into moving in, but I don’t want to scare her away. I’m at a place she isn’t yet.
“So, it’s true, just put them in a car and they sleep?” I snicker at the thought.
“She didn’t sleep very well last night. Neither of us did.”
“Everything good?” I hate the thought of her struggling to sleep. “If you want to take a nap too, I can get you settled and keep an eye on Oly for you.”
I fold my arms over the steering wheel and lean on it, taking her in. I want to lay her out on my bed and taste every inch of her.
“I’m good.” She doesn’t really answer the question. “I don’t need a nap. You can take me home if you have things you need to do.”
“I only have you and Oly to take care of. Wait there.”
I get out and walk around the truck to her side. Opening her door, I take her hand and help her out of the truck. When she’s standing before me, I cage her in between the door and my body.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” I warn her before lifting her chin and leaning down.
I’ve been wanting to taste her lips for so long now that it feels like forever.
My lips glide across hers, and she gasps at the soft contact.
I can’t stop myself. I grip the back of her head, where her hair is contained in a bun, and hold her chin as I dive into her open mouth.
My tongue glides along hers, and when she moans, I press my body closer, holding on to her as I consume her.
Her sweet taste bursts along my taste buds, and I can’t get enough of her.
Her arms wrap around my waist, and her hands slide up the back of my cut. I pull my mouth from hers, and her eyes remain closed. Her lips are swollen from my kisses. Her face is flushed, and her breathing is labored. She’s the sexiest sight I’ve ever seen.
“Sugar, we are going to go inside with Oly. If she stays asleep, we’ll explore this some more. If she wakes up, you can help me get things ready for the barbecue in a couple of hours.”
I pause as her eyes focus on me. The pupils blown wide as she stares up at me.
“Okay?”
“Yes.” Her voice is huskier than normal as she drags out the single word.
I release her but make sure she’s stable on her legs. She touches her lips and breathes deep, as if savoring me and my taste.
“You okay?” I look down at her, wanting to kiss her again. Wanting to consume her so that I’m all she ever thinks about.
“Uh huh.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her speechless, and I can’t stop the chuckle. My chest warms at the look on her face.
“I’ve never been kissed like that before,” she confesses, and it warms my heart.
“You deserve so much more, Marnie.”
“I want more, but I can’t.” She drops her head and squeezes past me.
I gently move her toward the back and open the door to get Oly out. Marnie reaches for their bags while I hold the sleeping baby. I take some of the bags from her. Two backpacks stand out from the rest. She won’t let me carry those and keeps a tight grip on them.
We head for the front door, and I press my thumb onto the pad, waiting for the lock to disengage. As I open the door, the alarm announces, “Home disarmed. Please state your code.”
I state my access code, and the alarm fully disengages.
“That’s neat,” Marnie says, glancing around the room.
It’s a great room, with the kitchen off to the right and the main living area on the left.
A wall-mounted television sits above the fireplace.
The house is decorated in brown leathers with a cream area rug over the wood flooring.
The ceiling is dark wood, matching the floor, with a large fan hanging from the cathedral ceiling.
I’m waiting for her to comment on how definitely male it is, but she doesn’t. She turns toward the kitchen, with its marble countertops and large island.
“This is beautiful,” she says.
I don’t know why, but I let out a breath of relief, glad she likes it.
Now I just need to talk her into moving in with me.
Her comment about wanting more but not being able to hurts me.
I’ve decided that even though everyone before her left me, I’m going to keep her and make her mine. I’m not letting her get away.
Part of it might have something to do with the fact we found out Jerry had Marnie in his sights too.
He was planning to drug and rape Harlowe.
We discovered his online journal, where he wrote about wanting to drug and have Marnie gang raped while he watched and got off.
He felt that she thought she was better than him, so he was going to show her she wasn’t.
It freaked both Shock and me out to learn the fucker planned to hurt our women.
I walk into the spare room and lay Oly on the bed. Using the extra pillows, I block her in so she doesn’t roll off and hurt herself. Glancing around the room, I think of all the ways I could decorate this space for her. I bet she’d love a pink unicorn room, just like her little swim set.
“Thank you,” Marnie says softly from the doorway. “You’re really good with her.”
“I used to help with Harlowe when she was younger.”
“Well, you’re good at it. You’ll be a good father someday.”
“That’s the hope,” I say as I stalk toward her.
I reach down and grip her ass incased in the high-waisted bikini bottoms. I lift her up, and she wraps around me, her head going to my neck. She starts licking and kissing me, and I almost stumble from my need for her.
Somehow, I find my way to the sofa and sit down with her straddling my lap.
My hands slide up her warm back to her neck, and I can’t stop my fingers from untying the bow at the back of her neck.
She starts moving her hips against my cock, through my jeans.
When her top gives and starts to fall away, she sits up.
I make a beeline for those perfect, rosy nipples and suck one of them deep into my mouth.
The purr that escapes from her throat as her hands go into my hair has me sucking it in deeper.
I release her nipple and move to the other.
She’s now full-on riding me. Rubbing her cunt against my hard-as-fuck cock.
I need inside her body. But then I remember the little girl in the other room.
“How long will she sleep?”
“I don’t know.”
She gasps as I pinch her nipple and leave a hickey on the side of her breast.
My hands slide down her back, and I notice scars I missed the first time I touched her.
A large black-and-gray tattoo stretches across her back.
I saw it at the beach and have caught glimpses of it under her clothing over the past couple of months.
The design covers thin scars that I want to inspect.
I drag a finger over one. It’s long, thin, and jagged at the end, as if something struck her skin and tore it apart. It only takes me a moment to realize what it's from. She must sense where my thoughts have gone because she stops moving her hips and pulls away.
I hold her tight against my body. “Don’t run from me. I want to know.”
“I can’t tell you.” Her voice trembles as she shakes her head.
I can’t stand her being upset. I pull her into my chest and just hold her for a moment.
“I have scars on my body too. I used to fight a lot. I was a troubled youth. I was twenty when Harlowe’s mom was killed.
I rebelled so much. I lost the woman who was like a mother to me, then my father and sister had to leave.
I had no one, or I thought I didn’t. So, I fought.
I couldn’t stop, even if I wanted to. I was so angry all the time. Now my body bears those scars.”
I pause, giving her a chance to share something with me.
“It’s how I got my nickname. Kodiak grizzly bears are the most dangerous, biggest bears. They are notoriously badasses. I’ve fought men off with knives and got cut by a few.”
“It wasn’t a knife. They’re old, and I don’t want to think about them right now.”
“Will you give me a chance?”
She tips her head back and looks up at me. “I want to, but I have to think of Olympia. And I’m not sure I’m in the right space of mind.”
“Are you still in love with your husband?”
“How do you know I was married?”
“You didn’t deny it,” I say. My heart clenches slightly at the possibility she could still love him. “Why are you divorced?”
“I didn’t get a divorce.”
She drags her finger against my cut, and I need to feel her skin against mine.
I shift and slip off my cut, then my T-shirt beneath. She takes in my chest, with a thin amount of hair across my pecs. Her fingers glide through it, and I can’t hold in the moan from her touch.
“Jean-Louis didn’t have hair on his chest. He was a very good friend, and it hurts that he will never know Olympia. But no, I don’t still love him.”
She looks at me with a faraway expression in her beautiful golden-amber eyes.
“Is it bad to say I don’t know if I ever loved him?”
I shake my head, not wanting to speak, afraid she’ll stop if I do.