TWENTY-FIVE
Splice
Had his well-used dick killed his woman? Logically, Splice knew that wasn’t possible. And Lisa was still breathing; he’d checked on her several times, passed out in his bed.
But it was almost midday, and his energetic sex all night long had worn her out. He couldn’t wipe the smug smile off his face.
If he were a peacock, he’d be flapping all his fucking feathers right now and doing some happy squawking. Christ, he’d never had a more perfect night with a woman before.
As Splice was fitting a coffee pod into the machine, he heard movement from the top floor of his house.
Smiling, he wondered how brave his shy woman would be today.
Last night, she sure as hell was his goddess, wielding his body for her own use until he thought his dick might need resuscitation.
Even as spent as his dick was, Splice still felt a rumbling of lust when, some twenty minutes later, his wet-haired woman came down the stairs.
His house was open-plan, and he could see the stairs from his position in the kitchen as he griddled bacon and fried eggs.
He smiled, watching her walk toward him.
She was his, wasn’t she?
Finally, he had his woman all to himself.
And nothing was going to tear her away from him again.
“Get over here and hug your man, sweetheart.” He said, and moments later, two arms came around his waist from behind, and then Lisa pressed her face into his back. “Morning, did you sleep okay?”
“Good morning,” she rasped, “I slept like a zombie. Your bed is really comfy.”
“Just my bed?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at her cuddling him. “Thought my incredible body would have done some of the work to give you a good night’s rest, baby.” He teased and earned a pinch on his stomach.
“Don’t be rude. I’ve only just woken up. Anyway, I have a question for you.”
“Shoot,” Splice said, plating up the food.
Lisa was still snuggled into his back when she said, “Did I just shower with another woman’s products that are exactly like the products I use at home?”
He wondered if she’d noticed.
“I never had a woman stay over.” He shared truthfully. “I took a picture of your things and brought them to the store. I wanted you to feel comfortable when you were here.”
She was silent for a second. “How long have you had all my products?”
“A few weeks.”
Splice felt Lisa hug him tighter. “You are a sweet boy. But now I’m hungry.
That bacon smells good.” She detached herself and slid onto the island stool.
She was only wearing one of his T-shirts he’d left out for her to use.
On Splice, it was a tight fit, but on Lisa, it draped over one shoulder and nearly reached her knees.
She had her legs crossed, exposing creamy skin, and once more, a shot of lust swirled around his gut.
But his woman wanted to be fed first.
It didn’t stop him from leaning over her from behind, tilting her chin back, and kissing her until she was breathless.
“Now, it’s a good morning. Eat, sweetheart. While you were sleeping, I ran down the block to the bakery and picked up some blueberry muffins you like.”
“Ooooh. They’re my one weakness,” she said seriously as she tore the muffin in half, popping a bite into her mouth. Splice smirked at her antics. She was such a cute thing.
“When am I gonna be your one weakness, huh?” he straddled the stool next to hers.
“Maybe next month.”
Fine. He now had a timetable; he could work with that.
“We’ve got the whole day. Is there anything you wanna do, or do you trust me to figure it out?” he asked once they’d eaten their fill.
Lisa was sipping coffee while he loaded the dishwasher, smiling to herself as she watched him. Not gonna lie, he loved her eyes on him, no matter what he was doing.
“If we’re spending the day together, it doesn’t matter what we’re doing, so you decide.”
“Got it.” He winked at her, then leaned over and planted a lingering kiss on her lips. “Had a great time with you last night, baby.”
Her pleased smile lit him up. “Me too.” And then. “Where are my clothes, by the way? Or is leaving me a T-shirt your way of saying I’m basement-bound?”
Splice chuckled. Now wasn’t that a great dirty idea, huh?
“I washed ‘em. They’re in the dryer now.”
“Wow,” Lisa remarked, a little smile playing on her face as he came back over and cupped her face. “You’re very domesticated, Ryan. That’s incredibly attractive, you know?”
“If I get the vacuum out, are you gonna attack me?”
She burst out laughing and patted his chest without reply. So, his shy girl was back.
He loved all the different facets of her personality.
How she came into her confidence within the bedroom but was happily shier when it didn’t involve sex and would defer to him. Splice’s woman was gonna keep him on his toes for a lifetime, and he was looking forward to every second.
Back in the bedroom, he showed Lisa where all the hair tools he’d bought for her were, then he sat on the edge of his bed watching how she got ready for the day.
They dropped in at her place so she could change into something more comfortable, and once he zipped her into a jacket and helped her on with a helmet, they took off for a ride, knowing his woman loved being on his bike. He kept going for ages, only stopping when he wanted to get her ice cream.
Major fucking mistake, he realized when he watched Lisa’s tongue lick around the waffle cone like a seductive serpent for a third time, and his dick was straining against his jeans, eager to answer to the siren’s call. Being in public, it wasn’t as though he could drop to his knees for her.
“You’re teasing me, woman.” He groaned close to her ear and watched how she smiled, continuing her licking.
“How am I teasing you, Ryan? I’m eating a chocolate cone; you know it’s my one weakness.”
“Woman, you and your weaknesses are gonna be the death of me.”
“I don’t want you to die,” she said, almost fluttering her lashes at him, definitely teasing him, the little minx. And then she ran her finger along the back of his hand, tracing one of his tattoos. “I really like you. Really, really like you. So, I can’t kill you with my feminine wiles just yet.”
Before heading off, he went inside to stand in line to get Lisa a bag of blue cotton candy to take home. He cast a glance outside and saw she was on the phone.
It was only a few minutes later, with the goods in hand, that he strode out to continue their ride along the mountainside. But seeing Lisa’s pale and drawn face, he immediately went on alert and looked around to see what could have caused it.
But nothing seemed weird enough to make her look that way.
He tossed the cotton candy onto the umbrella table and went down on his haunches in front of her.
“Are you not feeling well, sweetheart?”
“I. I... Ryan.”
He knew then it was some shit.
The phone call? Had a client gone off on her again?
“Who called you?” he asked in a steady voice, but inside, Splice was ready to slay demons for her.
When she raised her head, he saw the fear instantly, and Splice cupped the side of Lisa’s face.
“Tell me, baby.”
“That man,” she croaked. And he didn’t understand for a second. What man? The jerk from the restaurant who’d belittled her? “It was an unknown number; I thought it was for work. It was that man from years ago, the one who told me to get out of town, to leave you.”
“You recognized the voice as being the same as before?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. It only lasted about ten seconds.
He said… he said I better listen to him this time, that he’s already given me warnings I didn’t take notice of, he’s not playing around, and he’ll kill you if I open my mouth.
” He was trying to keep his anger in check so he wouldn’t freak her out but seeing how terrified she was made him feel sick.
After a shaky breath, he pulled her in for a hug.
Lisa hugged him tight, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Why is this happening again? He cut me off and hung up before I could explain he had it wrong.”
“No one is gonna get to you, baby,” he promised, knowing he’d do any-fucking-thing to protect his woman. There was no ceiling on that.
His gut feeling was spot on; this clown was linked to all her accidents. He was primed for murder, his nervous system clicking into high gear and locking onto his target.
He had to find out who it was and do it soon.
“Did you recognize the voice at all? Someone you might have come into contact with?”
“It sounded like he was using one of those voice modulators.”
Stroking her back, Splice soothed his woman in the only way he could.
“He’s going to hurt you, Ryan.” She sounded close to tears, and he pulled back to cup her face gently, smiling, even though he felt nothing close to happiness.
“That isn’t gonna happen, sweetheart. It’s an inept scumbag who probably wants to extort money, or something like that.”
“Do you think so?”
“There are always scammers out there preying on the weak. But it tells me it’s someone local, someone who’s seen us together again, that I can work with.
Trust me, okay?” he kissed her gently on the lips, then on the forehead.
Her eyes were no longer carefree and full of joy from a few moments ago, and for that alone, Splice was gonna rip this guy apart.
“I got this. No one is getting close to you, except for me, yeah?”
She nodded and stroked his face; he felt the touch deep in his gut. “I don’t want him to touch you either. So, while you’re protecting me, please protect yourself, too, Ryan.”
“Always,” he promised.
The ride home was done in almost silence, Lisa not speaking to him via the helmet’s internal microphone, and when he helped her down from the bike, she looked at her house as if it contained unknown monsters.
“We set the alarm, remember, baby?” he reminded her, a hand around Lisa’s nape. Then he pointed out the very visible cameras he’d installed. “A prick would be dumb to creep around your house.”
She visibly exhaled, but it was Splice who took her house keys and went in first. The place was secure; he’d made sure of it.