Chapter 9
Ravage loaded the last of the end tables onto the bed of his truck. Making sure they were strapped down securely. They had primed well, and he couldn’t have been happier with the way they turned out. He was going to surprise Karter with them, and he hoped she would like them.
Getting into his truck, he backed out of his driveway and headed toward her house.
He’d sent her a text earlier, asking if she had any plans for the day.
When she told him that she was going to hang around the house, he decided that he’d go keep her company.
Possibly even get her out of the house to do something.
Traffic was scarce, and it didn’t take him long to get to her apartment building. He backed into a spot closest to her apartment and got out to unload the tables. He carried one up the stairs, setting it beside her front door before going back and getting the other one.
Ravage knocked on the door, only having to wait a few seconds before she pulled it open. She wore a purple sundress. Her curls pulled up messily on top of her head, and her feet were bare. As usual, she looked absolutely beautiful.
Leaning in, Ravage kissed her, one of his hands going to the back of her neck. She allowed him to lead the kiss; he knew well that he was devouring her at her front door, where anyone from the parking lot could see, or any of her neighbors could walk out and witness, but he didn’t care.
“Hey, Kaere,” he greeted once they pulled apart.
“Hi, Creed,” she responded before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. He reached up, using his thumb, and gently removed it. He didn’t know why, but every time she did that, it stirred something in him.
It only took a moment for her attention to go to the two end tables that he’d brought along with him.
“What are these?” she questioned. “They’re gorgeous,” she added.
“These are for you. I know you were looking for something to go in your living room, and I came across these.”
“You redid these for me?” she asked, as if she were surprised that he had. It wasn’t as if it was the first time he’d repurposed something for her, but he supposed it was his first time doing it without her asking.
“I did. I figured this would go with the theme you have going.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you. I’ll help you bring them inside.”
Ravage lifted a brow at her before shaking his head and turning her back towards the living room. She should have known him well enough to know that he would not let her do that. He chuckled to himself when he heard her huff, but she eventually walked out of the doorway back into the house.
Once he’d brought both tables into the house, he closed the door behind him. He set a table at each end of her couch and watched her as she stood back and took them in with the rest of the furniture she had.
“You were right; they fit nicely.” She walked over to the couch and sat down, patting the spot beside her. “So, how was your playdate with my dad?” she inquired once he’d sat beside her.
Ravage laughed. “Is that what you call them?”
“Yes, because there isn’t that much work in the world that the two of you could be doing, spending so much time together.”
He scoffed. “He’s redecorating his office again and wanted my help.”
“So, you stood there and listened to him give other people orders, like he usually does.”
“Pretty much.”
“Hmph. Honestly, you could have been somewhere else. He didn’t need you for that,” she responded before turning towards the television and unpausing whatever she had been watching before he arrived.
“Are you jealous, Kaere?” he questioned with a smirk.
“No,” she responded, glancing at him before focusing her attention back on the television.
Ravage knew better than to believe her, but he also didn’t want to pick on her too much.
He’d already considered the time that he spent with her father and how it could affect their relationship if she felt neglected.
However, it wasn’t something he was worried about.
Ravage was a firm believer that people made time for what they wanted to make time for.
Therefore, he would make all the time necessary for Karter. It was as simple as that.
They had been watching the science fiction movie she had on for about fifteen minutes when she moved from where she was sitting into his lap. She sat cross-legged, laying her head back on his shoulder, and Ravage wrapped his arms around her waist.
He had mildly wondered how long it would take her to initiate physical contact between the two of them.
He was well aware that Karter was pretty affectionate.
He’d often found her crawling into either her parents’ laps, or lying her head in her mother’s lap.
Sometimes she’d jump on his back as they were walking somewhere, or times when she’d walk up behind Ilia and hug the taller woman, laying her head on her back.
All of her interactions with him for affection had been platonic, naturally, before they started dating. He’d assumed at first that it would take her some getting used to before she was ready to switch that up. Though they had kissed, he’d been the one to initiate it each time.
Ravage figured it would take some adjusting for her, since they’d known each other for almost nine years. He’d known Demetri for almost three years before the man ever introduced him to his family. He pulled her tighter against him, focusing his attention back on the movie.
“Get out, Creed,” Karter demanded, glaring at him. She could tell he was doing everything in his power not to smirk or just outright laugh at her.
They had finished the movie she’d been watching when he’d gotten to her house, and then watched another one.
When it had gone off, he asked her if she wanted to get something to eat.
She hadn’t really wanted to leave the house, so she’d declined and volunteered to cook for them instead.
Her offer posed a slight problem, as she realized she had nothing thawed that she could cook.
He told her his offer to get food still stood, but she declined again and said they would just wait for something to thaw out.
Creed had raised an eyebrow at her and questioned if she was going to make him starve until then.
Karter told him he would live, and he said he’d go hang out with her dad, since “Demetri will go eat with me and I won’t have to suffer”.
The last thing she wanted was her father encroaching on the time that she was supposed to be spending with him, so she had immediately told him they could order takeout instead while grabbing his bicep.
“So, you are jealous.” Had been the words that came from him, immediately following the action that brought them to their current situation.
“I’m just kidding, baby,” he told her, and Karter felt that in the pit of her stomach.
It was the first time he’d ever called her that.
Normally, when he addressed her, he used Kaere, which she knew meant dear or sweetheart depending on the context, and sounded much better in Danish. She enjoyed it when he did.
But baby hit a bit differently with the huskiness of his voice, and the inflection that was only noticeable when he said certain words, his accent brought to it. It caused heat to bloom in her stomach and between her legs. Karter cleared her throat, and he raised a brow at her.
He closed the distance between them, and she squealed slightly as he picked her up, not having been expecting it, and placed her on the bar top behind her.
“I have no intention of ditching you for Demetri. We can order food, Kaere,” he said before leaning in to kiss her. Karter, however, pulled back, avoiding it.
“And dessert,” she added.
Creed gripped her chin, holding her in place, and he leaned in again. This time, he placed his lips to hers. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and as she prepared for him to deepen the kiss, he pulled away.
“And dessert,” he responded.
She smiled at him, reaching for her phone that also sat on the bar top. She scrolled through the many options that were available to them before deciding on a place. One that had the best cheesecake she ever had. Though they also had good food as well.
She tapped in her order before handing her phone to Creed, who was still standing between her legs. As he scrolled through the options, she placed her hands on his chest. Wanting him to step back so that she could get down.
Instead, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and carried her back over to the couch. Sitting down with her straddling him as he placed his order. When he finished, he leaned forward, placing her phone on the coffee table.
“So, my mom is planning the family vacation. Well, I say she’s planning, but she doesn’t actually know where we’re going yet.”
“Sounds about right,” he responded, running his hands up and down her sides, causing her dress to rise the slightest bit each time he moved them up.
Karter paused for a moment. She wanted to know if he planned on coming with them, but she didn’t want to seem clingy or needy, as her mother had put it.
It was simply that she hadn’t dated too many people.
If she were being honest, none of her relationships had been serious, especially since she was trying to keep them from her father and was a teenager at the time.
“I’m sure she’ll let us know when she has everything figured out,” he stated. “That way, I can make arrangements at Purgatory, and we can enjoy our first vacation as a couple.”
“That’s if I haven’t broken up with you by then,” she told him teasingly, but she was glad to know he planned to come with them.
Creed squeezed her sides. “Don’t play with me. That’s never going to be an option.”
Karter wondered how serious he was about that.
He told her that once she got into a relationship with him, there would be no turning back.
She may have been new to serious relationships, but she knew all relationships came with their difficulties, and sometimes things just couldn’t be worked through.
“And if something arises that we absolutely can’t work through, then what?”
Creed shrugged. “Then we’ll go to marriage counseling.”
Karter raised a brow at him. “But we aren’t married.”
“Yet,” he told her before leaning in and kissing her nose.
With that, he picked up the remote and began surfing through the channels as if he hadn’t just made her heart flutter.