Nine #2
“Say whatever it is,” I urged him because he needed me to hear it.
“Kevin,” he whispered as he began nibbling up the side of my neck, “always wanted me to be calm and not yell and not grab him or hold him down.”
“Huh.”
“He said I was loud and my temper was volatile.”
My chuckle was low and dark, and I felt the tremor run through his massive frame.
“He wanted to be on top. He thought if I loved him, I should let him. He said that a true partnership meant that I should open myself to him in every way.”
I leaned my head back so I could see into the smoky-blue eyes, and I really tried to keep a straight face. “And?”
“And fuck that! You’ve never said a word to me like that—ever!”
“So …” I started chuckling as I saw the beginnings of a scowl. “He found you scary loud, and he wanted to fuck you.”
He grunted.
The laughter came bubbling up.
“Jory!” he snarled, shoving my legs apart so he could get them where he wanted, wrapped around his hips. “What do you—I—”
“He never really knew you at all.”
His breath was warm on the side of my neck. “No.”
“And that didn’t bother you because you didn’t care.”
“That’s what I want you to understand. He meant nothing to me.”
I was quiet for a moment. “You’ve been worried about this, about what I thought.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry I teased you and called him your boyfriend.”
“He was never that.”
“I know, and stop worrying about this. I know my value, and I know I belong to you, Sam Kage,” I murmured, pulling him down into a kiss.
He devoured me, and I whimpered and whined, tightening my legs, wriggling beneath him, burying my hands in his hair.
“You,” he said, his mouth hovering above mine, his tongue sliding over my bottom lip, “are fucking mine, and you’re the only person who gets me and lets me be me.”
“I know that, which is why you should never ever leave me. Right?”
“That’s absolutely right,” he agreed before he kissed me again.
It built again, that desire, the same one I had felt the first time I ever saw the man, the one that had kept him returning to me over and over, the push and pull that had flared and burned and now constantly smoldered, ready to catch fire at any given moment.
I ended up in his lap at an angle, my right leg draped over his, my left thigh pressed to the rock-hard muscles of his stomach, as he held the same leg tight in his iron grip under the knee.
His right arm was around my side, pinching and pulling on my nipple as he sucked on the other and drove up into me.
My head fell back on his shoulder, and I was lost. My vision went white; there was only me coming and the cold sweat and the heaving of his chest against my side.
I called his name over and over, and the kiss, as my head was wrenched sideways, was hot and wet.
“Sam,” I managed to get out in a croaking whisper.
“Mine,” was the only reply.
I hadn’t realized I was so tired, but when you were the only parent, you sort of slept lighter than usual, knowing that if an intruder broke in, you were the only line of defense.
An hour later, when there was a knock at the door, Sam slid me tenderly from where I had been dozing on his chest and eased me down onto the pillow. I heard him pulling on clothes and then the squeal of delight after the click of the lock.
“Daddy!”
“Hi, buddy,” he said softly to Kola, quieting him before the door closed and everything was muffled.
A while later, there was a hand in my hair, gently petting, curling long pieces around my ear, tracing over my eyebrows.
My eyes fluttered open, and I saw my girl looking expectantly at me, chin on one hand as she touched my cheek with the other.
“Hi, B,” I whispered.
“Daddy came home.”
“Mmhmm.” I smiled at her.
“Kola told him about his finger.”
I didn’t even want to deal with that. I was too sleepy.
“I told Daddy that the man pushed you.”
He had poked me, not pushed me, but to my daughter, it was probably the same thing.
“Daddy’s taking us to school now, but not to go, just to visit. He said we have to go talk to everybody.”
Oh dear God.
“His friends are here,” she said brightly.
Which meant that Chaz and Pat were out in the living room, ready to go kick some ass with Sam.
“That’s super.”
“I told Daddy to call Uncle Dane, and he is.”
She was good, my girl. Thorough.
“That’s good, B.”
“Love?”
Hannah turned her head with the call.
“Come out here.”
“But, Daddy, Pa—”
“It’s okay. Pa’s sleepy.”
She leaned up and kissed me and then scrambled down off the bed. Seconds later, I had lips pressed between my shoulder blades.
“I need to get up,” I muttered. “I can go with you.”
“No,” he rumbled and kissed my temple, his hand sliding down my back before his lips followed. “Go back to sleep. I’ll bring lunch when I get home.”
My eyes were so heavy.
“I promise not to shoot anybody.”
I smiled, and he turned my head and kissed me.
“Besides, you smell like cum and sweat.”
I sighed deeply, and then Kola was there, kissing my cheek.
“We’re going to talk to the principal, Pa.”
I bet they were.
An hour later, I got up, took a shower, stripped the sheets off the bed, changed them, and added Sam’s clothes from his duffel to the load of laundry. The coffee I had made hours ago was cold, so I dumped it and made some tea instead.
When I heard keys in the lock another hour later, I turned from staring down at the Magnificent Mile to the door.
It was just Sam and the kids, no Chaz or Pat with them. Sam set a large white shopping bag on the kitchen counter. The food smelled wonderful, even from across the room. I saw Sam’s gun safe in one hand, along with more clothes on hangers that he had brought from the house in the other.
“We’re not going home?” I asked him as Hannah streaked over.
“No,” he informed me, walking down the hall toward the bedroom.
“Would you like to elaborate?” I called after him.
“No!”
“I see you picked up your spare!” I yelled, going to my knees in front of my girl so I was ready for my hug.
“Of course!” His voice carried back.
I hugged Hannah as Kola joined us. It looked like his cast had been changed.
“Hey, buddy, what happened there?”
“Daddy took me to the doctor after we saw Mrs. P.”
“Oh, I see.” I smiled at him, letting Hannah go so I could cuddle my boy. “You like the new color?”
He nodded. “Purple’s your favorite, so I got it for you.”
“Thank you.” I sighed, squeezing him tight, loving the way he leaned and gave me his weight, his head heavy on my shoulder.
“Daddy yelled at Mrs. P,” Hannah told me.
“Did he?”
She pursed her lips like I did, and it was funny to see her do it.
“What else?”
“Daddy had Uncle Dane’s friend with him when he went to see Mrs. P,” Kola reported, leaning out of our hug to look at my face. “They both looked kind of mad.”
My eyes fluttered because really, poor Principal Petrovich. Sam Kage and Rick Jenner in the same room—it was too horrible to contemplate.
“Daddy told us we could go back to school next Monday.”
“Good,” I said as I stood up.
“Oliver and his mommy came and saw me and Kola when we were leaving. She said she was really sorry for what Mr. Parker did.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“What’s divorced?” Kola asked me, looking worried.
“Divorced means that your parents don’t live together anymore,” I explained to him.
He took a breath. “Will you ever get a divorce?”
“No divorce,” Sam declared as he walked back into the room. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and he was barefoot. I could barely breathe. Even his hanging-out-at-home clothes made me hot. “Right?” he asked, stopping in front of me.
“Right,” I agreed as he curled a hand around my neck and eased me forward into a kiss.
The silence surprised me, and it must have been odd for Sam, too, because we separated at the same time and looked down at our children.
“Not making you sick today?” I asked them.
Kola shook his head.
“No.” Hannah smiled up at us. “It’s okay.”
Apparently, displays of affection were sometimes good.
Sam had Hannah up on his shoulders, and I held Kola’s hand as we walked to meet Duncan Stiel.
When I’d heard that Duncan was going out of town on a task force starting the following day—he was flying out to New York—I had insisted that Sam invite him to dinner.
Duncan had agreed, picked The Char—a steak place he liked—and we had headed out.
When we got there, I realized it was a little fancier than I had expected, but the decor inside—the lighting, the jazz, the murals on the walls—and the smell of good food all gave me a warm feeling.
It felt upscale, but not too refined for my family.
“Sam?”
When we turned, we found Detective Duncan Stiel waiting for us at the bar.
“Jory?”
And there, at the other end, as requested, was Aaron Sutter.
“I’m hungry,” Hannah said, putting her chin down on the top of Sam’s head.
“What’d you do?” Sam was instantly suspicious.
“I’m sorry, what?” I opened my eyes wide.
But Sam so wasn’t buying it.
Well, yes, I was doing a little matchmaking, but really, was that a crime?
The muscles in Sam’s jaw started to tic.
“Just hear me out. I had an epiphany.”
“Have you lost your fu—”
“There’s a kid on your head,” I reminded him.
His growl was deep.
“Ooh.” Hannah was pleased. “Do it again, Daddy. Your whole body shook.”
I was about to be murdered, and she wanted the man to keep snarling?
“What’s going on?” Duncan asked as Aaron joined us, stepping into the circle we’d made.
“Hey.” I beamed at Duncan. “I hope you don’t mind us being six for dinner.”
He turned and looked at Aaron. “Oh … no, I just … fine.”