Raeann

I lower myself on Micah while he’s still asleep. When I’m about halfway seated, his eyelids flutter, and he grips my hips with a strength he shouldn’t possess after just being woken up. It’s as if he’s always waiting for me.

“I want to move in. With Athena.”

His eyes flash. “Done.” His gravelly, sleep-roughened voice spurs me on.

“I want an armored tank like Edward gave Bella in the Twilight series.”

His gaze narrows.

He hasn’t seen Twilight? We’ll have to fix that.

“It wasn’t an actual tank. It was an SUV that was bullet-proof, accident-proof, basically ensured she would stay alive.”

“You have my credit card.”

“And I want one for you, too.”

I ride him slowly, my pussy yielding to his length and girth.

“What else?” he asks, squeezing my hips.

“A state-of-the-art security system.”

“Already installed.”

“Cameras in every room.”

He points to the corner of an inconspicuous shelf. “How do you think I got by when you stayed the night but didn’t sleep with me?”

“Naughty,” I playfully chastise. “In my room?”

“ This is your room,” he growls. He shifts his hips to meet mine, examining where we come together. “And there’s a tracking app on your phone.”

I force his hips down, keeping him in place. “I’m the one making demands.” I should feel violated. My brain tells me I should, at least, but instead, more heat douses my core.

“I wanted to make sure you were safe. Plus, I had the added benefit of listening to every toy you tried not live up to me.”

I lift up, slowly lowering over him again. He’s not wrong. Nothing ever compares. The toy doesn’t want to possess me. It doesn’t talk dirty in my ear or fuck me with passion.

I run my hand over his tattoo for me. “I want a tattoo that represents you.”

“I hesitate to mark up this perfect body.” He admires my rib cage with his hands, his thumbs skimming my bare breasts. “But if you want it, it’s done. What else?”

“A tornado shelter.”

“Done.”

“A signed, written statement that you won’t unnecessarily put yourself in danger.”

“Done.”

“I want your last name.”

His slow perusal of my body stops and his gaze shifts to mine. My words stun even me. They weren’t precalculated, just one thing on the list of the many things I want to do with this man. “Are you asking?—”

“No,” I blurt out. “I’m waiting for you to ask me. Spoiler alert, my answer will be yes. And when. And how quickly.”

“You should probably meet my family first.”

“Probably.”

“I also want an all-access pass to this cock whenever I want.”

He groans, lifting into me while I lower. “I don’t even need to answer that one.”

“What about you? Any demands?”

“Just you.” He meets my stare. “Just you for as long as I can have you.”

The intense look in his gaze increases my movements. I ride him faster, harder, while he praises me.

“Look at you take me.”

“You’re beautiful fucking me like this.”

“Damn, Raeann, your pussy is perfect.”

I grind down on him, so incredibly close. His brows pinch together as he meets my hips. Micah can usually outlast me several times over, but something about the look on his face tells me that this morning, I have him panting for it. “Fill me,” I order.

His hips buck when he starts to lose control.

“I want to feel you.”

“Raeann,” he warns.

“Please, Micah.” I grind down on him, my orgasm close.

He pins my hips, thrusting upward. A defeated groan passes his lips.

The pulsing of his cock follows quickly after, triggering my climax.

I suck in a breath. The feel of him and me coming together at the same time prolongs my pleasure until I collapse on top of him. “Mmm.”

He holds me to him, his strong embrace a cage I don’t want to free myself from. This is where I want to be. Forever.

Hours later, when we’re sitting outside on Micah’s terrace and looking at all the things people can do to a car to make them invincible, his phone pings with an incoming email.

“Who’s that?”

“Big Al.”

“Al Totso?” I nearly shriek. “The owner of the Wildcats?”

Micah chuckles as I stare down at his phone, wide-eyed. “That’s the one.”

He taps on the notification and starts to read. I pull away, not wanting to invade his privacy, but he grips my hip, holding me in place. “I’ll give you space to read it.”

“Why? It’s about you.”

“Me?”

Micah hands me the phone, and it takes a second for my eyes to focus on the email in front of me.

Freeman,

Coach informed me about the bullshit trade ordeal. Rest assured that the first person leaving out of this scenario would be the GM and not you.

I also received a lovely email from a woman named Tabitha Riley who claims she runs a pet fashion store with your significant other, Raeann Gorman.

Lovely girl. I’ve seen her on TV. As far as licensing the Wildcats logo, I’m all in.

I’ve already emailed her back, but I wanted you to know I also have contacts in the league.

I’d be happy to put in a good word for the duo for merchandising rights…

as long as the Wildcats will always be their number one.

Why don’t we all sit down for dinner sometime this week?

“This week?” I squeak.

“Oh, he’s going to love you,” Micah says.

My stomach tumbles in knots, but I can just imagine telling Pawpaw who I got to hang out with. Actually, an idea pops in my head. “Can I bring Pawpaw?”

Micah takes the phone back. “I’ll text Joey to set everything up.”

“I have to tell Tab. She’s going to freak. You should probably drop me back off at the store.”

Micah checks his watch. “Yeah, I have a team meeting in an hour.”

I go to get off the couch, but he tugs me down, his hand resting on the nape of my neck where he draws me closer for a kiss. His lips tease and torture until I’m breathless. He pulls away, looking smug. I swear he does this on purpose. So he can keep me coming back, missing him, wanting him.

And it works. Which is a good thing. My brain is a liar and will try to convince me of anything else.

At the store a little later, Tab practically screams in my face. “You’re kidding me!”

“Nope. He wants to have dinner with all of us to set it up, but it’s a done deal for the Wildcats.”

“Can you imagine?” Tab asks, a dreamy look crossing her face.

She peers away as if she’s staring into Narnia from the interior of the wardrobe.

“Athena will be our dog model. You and Micah can be our people models.” Suddenly, she points to an empty space on a wall.

“There. We’ll get a huge print of you guys and Athena looking adorable while she’s wearing the cutest Tennessee Wildcats outfit…

that I’m sure you will design soon. Maybe before the dinner so we can show him? ”

She looks at me expectantly, and I blink.

“Katya is getting really good at reordering our current designs, so that frees you up to work your creative magic.” Suddenly, she shifts her stare to the floor, shuffling her feet.

“I was thinking since all of this is going to end soon with you moving in with Micah, we could turn your old bedroom into your design studio.” Finally, she looks up at me with watery eyes.

“Tab.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” She wipes at her face furiously. “We could even get a bigger place if you want. It is getting a little cramped here, and then maybe your design room could be on the same floor as the store. Lots of decisions to be made...”

“I’m…sorry,” I tell her because I don’t know what else to say.

“Don’t say that,” she scolds. “I’m… It’s the end of an era, and since you haven’t denied the fact that you’ll be moving in together soon, I’m guessing you guys already talked about it.”

“Just this morning,” I confirm.

She nods. “I figured it was coming.” A genuine smile pulls her lips apart. “The best thing I ever did was answer your email about the vacant room, even if you did have a dog.” Athena nudges her hand, and Tab pets her before getting some wrist kisses.

Athena’s tongue lolls out of her mouth. Truthfully, Tab saved us. She befriended us in this big city. She believed in me when I was at my lowest. “That’s the best thing that ever happened to me, too.”

“Liar. It’s Micah and we all know it.”

“But I wouldn’t have even been here to meet Micah if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t be in Nashville. I wouldn’t have had this store. I wouldn’t have had a meddling roommate who posted an embarrassing video of me that started everything.”

“That’s all true. Maybe I should be recording this for Micah. Show him where his real place is in the hierarchy of things.”

“It’s best we keep it between ourselves,” I whisper.

She leans in conspiratorially. “I wouldn’t want to go missing.

” Her fingers bend in air quotes around missing , but when it comes to Micah, I’m not sure that’s beyond the realm of feasibility…

but I laugh along anyway. “Okay, you,” she says, “Your job is to go design something amazing with the Wildcats on it so we can bag this humongous deal.” She turns me around and gives my shoulders a shove toward the door.

“Pushy!” I joke.

“You better believe it. Let’s go!”

Athena stays at my side. When I get to the door, I turn, studying the thing that Tab and I built. The store might be a little on the small side for our sales volume, but we get most of our sales online. I would miss this place if we had to give it up.

“Hey, Tab?”

She peers up from putting shirts on hangers. “Yeah?”

“I think we should stay here.”

She stares around the space, her lips turning up into a smile. “Yeah. I think so, too.”

I give her a wave, and then continue outside, then up the staircase with Athena trailing behind.

The feel of the apartment hits me hard, too.

I was so shy in the beginning that Tab had to coax me out of the room.

Everything was so big here, and there were so many people.

But she treated me like an injured dog, and I’m pretty sure she used treats to do it, too. Chocolate chip cookies, to be exact.

“Well, girl,” I tell Athena, “it’s the end of an era. But people have to grow, right? Move on.” She licks my hand, and I smile at her. “Don’t worry. You’re coming with me.” I kneel to kiss the top of her head and give her a good rub.

Inside my room, I sit at my little desk and start to draw.

Like usual, I sketch whatever comes to mind first, then I start narrowing choices by the vibe I’m loving best, the cut that makes the fabric shine.

What I come out with first shocks me. Instead of drawing an adorable outfit with a mascot on it, I make Athena the mascot.

Black hood, pointy ears, a superhero cape of black and turquoise.

I take my sketch to the bed and lie down, staring at it a little, shading here and there. Soon, my eyes grow heavy, and since rest only spurs creativity, I allow them to shut.

Sometime later, I awake to thick, dark smoke and the smell of burning wood.

My eyes fly open, and immediately tear up. A cough sputters from my chest. On instinct, my hands move to the side of the bed, searching for a paw, a head, anything with fur. “Athena!”

The dense air chokes my lungs. I crawl over the bed and throw myself onto the floor, heart pumping a feverish pace. I land on my face in a heap of limbs against hardwood, my knee stinging as it makes contact with a thud.

The air is a little clearer here, the corner of my lips pressed into the floor while I draw in a shaky breath. Eyes squeezed shut, I draw in another and another, panic spiking. “Athena…?”

My head starts to whirl, a million fractured thoughts hit me all at once until I’m spiraling. My breathing hollows out, palms turning sweaty. I’m going to die here. Athena’s going to die here.

As usual, the image of my father being swept away hits fast until a wailing cry is torn from my throat. Then it’s quickly replaced with Micah. Oh, Micah. I’m never going to see him again.

He said he would be lost without me, living a life filled with pain. My heart nearly cracks in two as images of him flick by in a timeline of our short, intense relationship.

Micah when he showed me the tattoo he got in honor of me.

Micah sitting on his outdoor furniture when I waded into the hot tub.

Micah staring at me as if I consume him, not the other way around.

And the last image I see is of him and Athena. My girl.

My fingers flex into the hardwood, my stomach convulsing as I drag in air that’s getting thicker and thicker by the minute.

No, I can’t do this. I can’t just lay here.

Tears leak from my eyes. I take in a deep breath, count to four, and then let it out again.

I repeat it a couple of times to wrangle my breaths under control.

When that doesn’t work, I know I need to push through anyway.

Limbs like lead weights and lungs bursting, I army crawl toward the door. “Athena?”

It’s like crawling through molasses in January. My very body fighting me every inch of the way. I keep the picture of Athena and Micah in my mind. I need to save her like she saved me, like she continued to rescue me day in and day out.

Muscles flexing, I use all my strength, my hands searching in front of me and to the side.

They keep coming up empty. I start to choke again, the smoke heavy like tar.

I surge forward and… “Athena!” I grip a foot, then scramble forward, hope leaping in my chest as I find her ribcage, then her neck and head.

“Athena, Athena,” I whimper like a prayer.

She doesn’t move. She doesn’t alert to her name.

I bury my head in her neck, kissing her soft fur, and still, she doesn’t stir. A sob wretches from my body as if expelling a bad dream.

“Wake up,” I weep, shaking her.

With a wail, I grab her two front legs and yank her forward. I move toward the door, pulling her with me. Tears and snot trickle past my lips. My lungs protest every inch of the way until my shoulder hits a solid surface.

Relief floods me. Keeping one hand on Athena, I place my palm against the door. Relief washes through me when it’s not hot. Reaching up, I twist the doorknob and yank, only to be met with even thicker, blacker smoke. A gasp floods my lungs with soot, suffocating me until I sputter and cough.

I pull my shirt up to my face to use it as a mask but it’s no use. It’s too much.