Page 24

Chapter 23

I awoke with a small, warm body plastered to my back. With my eyes still closed, I smiled, loving the feel of Eden’s warmth and her arm wrapped around my waist. Tightly. Some time during the early morning hours, she’d closed the gap between us and cuddled against me, turning me into “the little spoon.”

A quiet noise escaped her, a tiny “hmmm” of contentment that mirrored my own. It had been a long time since I’d slept in a bed with a woman.

Eden’s hand rested against my abs, and I reached down to stroke my fingers over it, taking the opportunity to appreciate the softness, like expensive silk beneath my touch. When her hand absently moved up and down the ridges of my abdomen, I linked my fingers between hers to stop her before she could accidentally go lower and find the morning wood tenting the front of my briefs.

Not that I didn’t have daily fantasies about various parts of Eden wrapped around my cock. Her hand. Her pussy. And let’s not forget about that goddamn smart mouth. So sweet, so luscious, and as ripe as a wild cherry. I suppressed a groan as I thought about filling her mouth while I called her my wife.

Why do I like saying that so much?

Sure, at first it was because it annoyed her, and annoying Eden was one of my favorite things to do. It made her eyes sparkle with indignation and her pretty lips purse.

And now we’re back to the mouth fantasies. Super. My cock swelled, seeking some real action after experiencing nothing except my hand for six fucking months.

I’d never wanted to get married. My mother and father’s union had been arranged by their parents because they were a good match . Which was utter bullshit. My mother had been the kindest, gentlest person on the planet, and Luca was… decidedly not.

Over the years, he’d mentioned finding appropriate matches for Fiero and me, but his pushiness had ebbed a bit after the disastrous results of Amara’s marriage. Fiero would probably end up marrying some Mafia princess to satisfy the old man. As the oldest, there was more pressure on him than me. I’d planned to resist as long as possible, never having any desire whatsoever to get involved in some farce of a marriage.

Ironically, that’s exactly the situation I found myself in now. Only, the farce was seeming less farcical and more… real every day.

My wife— see how pretty that sounds? —nuzzled against my back with her nose and then kissed my spine, mumbling something in her sleep. My ears perked up. Swear to god, if she said some man’s name, I’d have to rethink my whole not going to kill people anymore promise. I would hunt down the person behind any name she uttered while in this bed, and I would fucking end him.

Wow. Possessive much? Damn straight I was possessive when it came to Eden, which was a foreign concept for me. I was the pump and dump kind of guy, not the jealous, covetous type.

But the woman sleeping behind me was different. Perhaps it was just protectiveness because she was vulnerable, but I was pretty sure it was more than that. I’d been attracted to her from day one. To her bravery and sass, which I witnessed long before she’d softened and opened up to me about her nightmares.

I absolutely hated when she had those dreams, when she woke up afraid and crying, but a certain part of me—the part that made me a complete prick—liked that she turned to me. That she curled onto my lap on the veranda in the dark of night and trusted me with her secrets.

Her trust swung open some previously unknown door inside me and let loose the primal urge to shield her from any harm, including the demons inside her.

Unbeknownst to Eden, I had called Dr. Lynch after their first session. The woman then proceeded to scold me until I’d assured her I wasn’t looking for any of Eden’s private information or thoughts. I only wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could on my end. Now I occasionally checked in with the psychiatrist, though there hadn’t been much to discuss recently since Eden was doing so well.

We’d had to share some specifics with the doctor so she could better understand what her patient was going through, but we’d been vague on a lot of the information. She knew Eden had been taken by human traffickers and that we were now in hiding because not everyone involved had been caught, though she had no idea of the Mafia connection or our true identities.

Behind me, Eden let out a sigh, her warm breath gusting over my spine and raising a patch of goosebumps on my skin. My cock made his needs known—the persistent bastard—and I shifted a little, releasing Eden’s hand so I could make a necessary readjustment.

I knew the instant she woke up and realized that she’d turned me into her own personal body pillow because her breathing stalled for a second before quickening. So I decided a little teasing was in order.

“I don’t remember filling out the application to be your teddy bear, but I happily accept the position,” I said without turning over.

Her giggle had a direct line to my chest, causing a rapid staccato beat to form there. “Hush, Dark Lord,” she said, swatting my shoulder before backing away from me. I missed the feel of her warm body immediately. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all up on you like that.”

I rolled over, giving her my finest smirk. “Do you hear me complaining, Wildcat?”

Her eyes drifted down my bare torso, and I subtly pulled the sheet up around my waist since things were so… active down below this morning. I imagined they would be for however long I’d be sleeping in Eden’s bed.

She was lying on her side, one hand tucked beneath her pillow and the other toying with the round neckline of her sleep shirt. “I must have gotten chilly during the night. I won’t make a habit of it.”

“Again, were you under the impression I’d lodged a formal complaint with the HR department?”

Her eyes rolled in a circuitous route inside their sockets. “It’s too early to be dealing with your nonsense,” she snarked, though I saw the corners of her mouth twitch. She liked our banter as much as I did.

“I need to go outside and add some gas to the generator. It’s going to be hot today, so we don’t want to go without air conditioning.”

“And I need to put my contacts in. I guess I’ll have to wear them around the house while Charlisse and Cooper are here.”

I planted my elbow on the mattress and rested the side of my face in my palm. “I’m sorry about that. Hopefully the contractors can get their house done pretty quickly.” My smile turned mischievous. “I know you like to go bare when we’re alone.”

Her pretty lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. “You’re awfully cheeky this morning.”

“I live to entertain you, Mrs. Osbourne.”

She snorted. “You live to aggravate me.”

My hair, which was now about chin length, fell over one eye, and Eden lifted her hand and tucked the errant strand behind my ear. Then she scowled, as if she hadn’t meant to do that.

“Thanks, wife,” I told her before kissing the tip of her nose. “Why don’t you shower first?” Because I have a giant boner that needs to go down before I can get out of this bed.

Thirty minutes later, I was across the street at Charlisse’s house while the ladies made breakfast. In the light of day, the sight was chilling. The tree had fallen directly on her bed. If she and Cooper hadn’t been in the closet…

“Hey, you need protective gear if you’re gonna be in here,” a man with a clipboard said, rapping his knuckles against his hardhat for emphasis. “We can talk outside.”

I led the way to the front porch where we stood in the shade. “I’m Dane. My wife and I live across the street.”

“George Baron,” he said, shaking my hand before removing his hat. “Are you related to the home’s resident? Miss…” He consulted his clipboard. “Miss Michaels?”

“She’s a friend and neighbor. She and her son are staying with us until their house is done. I’m assuming you’re the contractor?”

“Yep.” He ran a hand over his jaw, which was covered with salt-and-pepper stubble. “Her insurance company contacted us. Fourth house this morning, and I’ve got five more to get to today.”

“How long will it take before this house is livable again?” I gave two sharp knocks against the doorframe.

“The work here should take about a month once we get started on it, but like I said, I have several houses in front of hers.”

“I understand that,” I said, lowering my voice and putting on my metaphorical businessman hat. “But how much will it cost me to get Miss Michaels’s house moved to the front of the line?”

He shrugged. “It’s only fair that I go in the order I assessed them.”

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my cargo shorts and rocked back onto my heels as my eyes locked onto his. “Look, George. My wife and I are newlyweds, and while I like Charlisse and her son, I would appreciate them getting back to their own home as soon as possible. Do you get my meaning?”

A sly grin took over his face. “Totally understandable, Dane. But like I said…”

“You seem like a smart businessman, so I have a business proposition for you.” His forehead furrowed, but I didn’t let that deter me. “If you get this house done in three weeks, you’ll receive a little… bonus for your efforts.”

He lifted an intrigued—and very bushy—eyebrow. “A bonus?”

“How does ten thousand sound?”

“D-dollars?” he stuttered.

My head tilted to the side. “I’m very motivated, George. Three weeks. Ten grand.” My gaze turned into a cold glare that had frozen many a man in place, and I watched George’s throat work in a hard swallow. Could he read me? Did he know what I really was on the inside? Is he afraid of me? “And I do expect your best work. I’ll have an independent contractor check everything over to make sure it’s done to my satisfaction.”

“I…” His beady brown eyes darted around the yard, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m a legitimate business owner, Dane.”

“As am I, George. Nothing shady going on here.” Okay, maybe that was stretching it a teeny bit, but what-the-fuck-ever. Eden needed to be comfortable in her own home, and I was going to make it happen. “This is simply a bonus for a job well done. Quickly.”

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his jaw once again. “Three weeks?”

“Not a second more.”

He propped his clipboard on his ample belly and scrawled something there before looking back up at me. “You got yourself a deal.”

George was true to his word, and on a mid-October evening, exactly twenty days later, Charlisse and her son moved back into their home. It actually belonged to her parents and they had great insurance, so she only had to pay a deductible. The work was impeccable, and I transferred the money to a very happy George.

Charlisse and Cooper had been excellent houseguests. The kid had energy out the wazoo, that was for damn sure, but his mom insisted on helping out around the house, cooking dinner several nights a week.

Once I’d helped them carry the last of their personal belongings back to their house, I felt a hint of bittersweet energy course through me. Though I was glad things would return to normal, it also meant I no longer had an excuse to sleep in Eden’s bed.

A devilish voice inside my brain whispered, You don’t need an excuse. She’s your wife, remember?

I let that thought settle in, gelling into an ill-formed plan as Eden and I ate dinner and watched a movie. Then we got ready for bed.

When she came out of the shower, dressed in a purple T-shirt and tiny sleep shorts that always made my eyes bulge, I was lying on her bed with the covers pulled up around my waist. Just like I had been for the past few weeks, as if nothing had changed.

Her mouth dropped into a tiny O, an indentation forming between her eyebrows as she processed what she was seeing. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and I waited for her to tell me to go to my own room.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she straightened her shoulders, adjusted the low lighting in the room, and finally climbed in behind me without a word. When her hand slipped beneath the covers and rested on my waist, I imagined this must be what it would feel like to win the Super Bowl.

A victorious smile crossed my lips as I reached for her hand and tugged until her body was snuggled right up against my back. “We both know this is how we’re going to end up anyway,” I said into the dim gray of the room.

She sniffed in indignation, curling her legs until they molded to the backs of mine. “It’s not very nice to point that out.”

“Yeah, well you should be aware by now that I’m not a very nice guy.”

“Hmm,” she hummed against my back, and I felt the peaks of her nipples harden against my back.

Perhaps I hadn’t thought this plan all the way through. Every fucking night for the past few weeks, I’d lain with this woman against me, and it had been the sweetest torture imaginable. I loved her warm softness, but it wasn’t mine to touch.

Though I wished like hell it was.