Chapter 9
Nine
June
I’ve been awake for about ten minutes when I hear the door open and close. I would push to sitting, but it’s too much work. Even though I slept hard, I still feel heavy and tired.
“Hey, honey…” Blade has one of my duffel bags slung over his shoulder, and he sets it on the floor near the dresser before coming to me. “Did I wake you?”
“No. I woke up a few minutes ago. You were gone a long time.” I’ve seen the clock. He’s been gone a little over three hours. I didn’t expect him to be away that long.
He sits on the edge of the bed. The first thing he does is rest the back of his hand on my forehead and frown. “You’re flushed. Do you feel okay?”
“I hurt all over, but I don’t feel sick if that’s what you mean.”
“Maybe you just got too warm under the covers.” He busies himself fussing over me, pulling the comforter away and leaving me under just the sheet.
My hackles rise. “Blade…”
He places his hand on the other side of me and meets my gaze. “Someone broke into your apartment.”
I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath. Why am I not surprised?
“I’m so fucking glad you trusted your instincts and came here as fast as you could, honey. I don’t know what time they broke into your apartment, but thank fuck you weren’t there.”
“It had to be Pete. No one else would give a shit about me. What did he take?”
“Not a single thing. Granted, I can’t be sure of that. But he didn’t touch your computer. Did you have any jewelry or anything he would have wanted? Cash? Paperwork?”
“Ha. Jewelry… The only jewelry I had was my wedding ring. I took it to a pawn shop. It was worth about twenty-five dollars. Everything about my life was fake.”
“I’m sorry, Little one. I think he hired someone to flip your apartment on its end and scare you.”
“Hired someone? What makes you think he didn’t do it himself?”
“A professional opened the door. Does he pick locks?”
“Fuck if I know. Maybe he picks locks for a living. Everything I ever knew about him was probably a lie. When I thought he was at work, he could have been robbing banks.”
Blade cringes. “I guess it’s possible then. What took me so long was that I had Cannon meet me there with supplies. He dusted for prints. Do you mind if he comes up to get your prints so he can eliminate you from everything?”
“No. That’s fine.”
“I’ll let him know. Also, he has your computer in a plastic bag. If you need it tonight, he’ll process it quickly. If you don’t need that specific laptop, I’ll grab another one from Mace. Is your teaching stuff accessible in a cloud?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You can manage with a different computer then?”
I nod and then feel mischievous. “I’ll just curl up on that bed I’ll be using in the guest room and set it on my lap.”
He growls. “You’ll do no such thing. I got distracted, though, and didn’t get a desk brought up for you. Can you work at the kitchen table tonight? I promise to stay out of your way.”
“Until I go to bed in the guest room, right?” I can’t help but needle him. I love that growl he makes.
He surprises me by moving lightning fast to kick off his shoes, climb onto the bed, and straddle me. He’s not touching me, just hovering over me with his hands on either side of my head. “Such a naughty girl.”
The man slowly lowers, bending his elbows until his lips brush mine. After that, he moves his lips to my neck and nibbles a path to my ear. “Naughty…” he repeats on a whisper. “So very naughty…”
“Are you going to spank me?”
Who am I? A mystery woman has taken over my body.
Blade growls louder into my ear. He lingers a few moments before bouncing off the bed to stand next to me, breathing heavily. “You are a giant temptation, woman.”
I push onto my elbows. My entire body is tingling from his hovering. I’m disappointed he moved. I stare at him and drop back down because this position hurts.
“How’s your pain, honey?”
“I could use another dose of pain meds.”
“You’re probably going to get sorer before you start getting better.” He picks up a bottle of pills and shakes two into his hands before helping me swallow them with some water from the sippy cup.
“Good girl. Do you want more of the black cherry seltzer?”
“That sounds good. I should get up. I need to pee.”
Blade slides a hand behind my back and gently helps me sit.
I gasp when I realize his T-shirt has ridden up, exposing my pussy. I can’t even tug it down because I don’t have a free hand. He’s holding my good one.
“Honey, I’ve already seen every inch of you, remember?”
“Yeah, but…” I slide off the edge of the bed quickly, letting the shirt fall over my ass. Sheesh.
He chuckles as he guides me into the bathroom and over to the separate toilet room.
And into that tiny room.
When he doesn’t release me, I tug my hand free and shove at him. “Out. I draw the line at you watching me pee, Blade.”
He narrows his gaze, but he does back out of the small enclosure. I flip on the light, shut the door, and lock it for good measure. I can see the shadow of his feet under the door. Why am I not surprised?
I can’t pee with him standing so close that he can hear me. My bladder is shy. “Blade! Move away.”
He finally backs up, but I doubt he goes far. Infuriating, bossy man.
I finally do my business, awkwardly wipe with my non-dominant hand, and flush before opening the door. And nearly run right into Blade’s solid body. “Grrr. Did you time how much came out of me so you could be sure I’m emptying my bladder enough?”
He grabs my shoulders and slowly grins. “It’s not a bad idea. How yellow was it?” he teases.
I roll my eyes. I want to protest, but the truth is I like his overbearing ways. He’s nothing like Pete, as he pointed out earlier. He…cares. He likes me. His bossiness is totally different.
He didn’t drag me up to his apartment and then demand I cook him breakfast and suck his cock.
He hasn’t let me lift a finger yet. The man gave me a bath.
He kisses me senseless. He’s doted on me hand and foot.
He went to my apartment to get my things and called in reinforcements when he found my place had been ransacked.
I will not compare him to my abusive ex.
I step around him and head for the sink to wash my hand. He joins me, standing behind me to reach around and help me soap and wash my fingers. It’s so intimate.
When he’s done, I turn around while he grabs the towel. “I should get dressed. Let me guess, you brought me four short tank tops, no panties, and no pants.”
He snaps his fingers. “Why didn’t I think of that? Darn. Missed opportunity.” He spins around, heads into the bedroom, grabs my duffel, and dumps it on the bed.
I follow him, stunned, as he sorts everything and folds my clothes. “I’ll empty a few drawers for you until we can get you a dresser of your own.”
My heart is racing.
When he glances over his shoulder, his eyes narrow. “What’s wrong? Did I choose the wrong things?” He looks back at the clothes. “It was hard to know what you might prefer. Everything was on the floor. Whoever broke in dumped your drawers out. Spiteful fucker.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I mumble. I haven’t even looked at what he brought. I’m too busy looking at him, wondering if he’s real.
“Hey…” He comes to me and pulls me into his arms. He pushes my messy hair from my forehead. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, not wanting to cry. “Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. There are tears in your eyes.”
“Can you not be so…nice?”
He smiles. “I’m not usually known for being a softie. If you tell the guys, I’ll deny it, but you bring something out in me that’s been dormant for years.”
“Why? Did someone hurt you?”
“No. I just got busy, and time went by, and I never met the right woman. Granted, I didn’t do much looking for her, but it didn’t matter. When I set eyes on you, I knew my lack of searching was over. Maybe I was waiting for you to step into my path, and now you’re here.”
Tears run down my cheeks. “See? Stop that.” I lift my one hand to swipe at them.
“I can’t, Little one. It’s natural.”
I swallow back my maudlin and shake it off as best I can. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have any vibrators in the apartment or they would have been on the floor, and then Cannon would have seen them.”
“Yeah, I’m glad about that, too. I wouldn’t have wanted any of my men to know anything that intimate about you. Oh, and I didn’t get to search your cabinets or fridge for outdated condiments either. Darn it. Cannon would have had my hide if I’d touched anything besides clothes.”
I giggle.
Blade laughs at the same time, and then a grin spreads across his face. “But…”
He backs us up as a unit until we run into the bed and then reaches behind him and brings something around between us. “I found this little guy.”
I gasp and snag him out of Blade’s hands. Without thinking, I bring him to my face and rub my cheek with his paw. I can’t believe I didn’t think of him first. I would have been sad if he’d been lost.
Blade says nothing about my reunion with Tedbear. He simply holds me while I start crying again. Shoot.
I can’t stop, not when Blade is so fucking kind. He strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. “I figured he was important. He’s so well worn. What’s his name?”
I’m too embarrassed to tell him.
“Let me guess. Billy Bob?”
I giggle through the tears and shake my head, not meeting his gaze.
“Jimmy Joe?”
“Blade…” I lift my face. “Promise you won’t laugh.”
“I would never laugh at a Little girl’s stuffie.”
I draw in a breath. “Tedbear. I was a baby when my mother got him for me. Apparently, I thought it was one word, so Teddy Bear got shortened to Tedbear.”
“That’s so sweet. I bet you miss your mom.”
“Yeah, sometimes. I have some memories of her that aren’t tainted by my dad’s abuse.”
“Tedbear is one of them.”
“Yeah…”