I pull their door closed quietly and march down to Brynna’s room, where the door is also slightly ajar, push my way inside and latch the door shut, locking it behind me.
“Brynna.” My voice is hard, but not loud enough to carry down the hall to wake the girls.
She sits up abruptly, blinking at me. “Caleb?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask and cross my arms over my chest, looming over her.
“I live here.” She frowns and reaches over to turn on the lamp on the bedside table.
“I told you to wait for me at your parents’ house,” I remind her, my teeth gritted. I want to throttle her and kiss the hell out of her all at once. She’s tousled, her hair falling in waves around her face. Her skin is glowing, void of makeup.
She’s stunning.
“Where is your cell?”
“In my purse.”
I curse under my breath and pace about the room, unable to calm the hell down.
“I couldn’t reach you.”
“Caleb, I don’t need a babysitter twenty-four/seven.” She scowls and sits up straighter. “We are fine.”
“You don’t fucking get it,” I mutter and push my hands through my hair. “Someone could hurt you! All three of you!”
“Well, they haven’t!” She sets her chin and glares at me.
Damn, I want to spank the hell out of her.
She jumps out of bed and starts to move around me toward the door. “I need to check on my daughters.”
“I already did.” I grip her arm in my hand and pull her to a stop next to me. “They’re sleeping.”
“I don’t think I want you to touch me right now.” She pulls her arm away and backs up, glaring at me.
“But you apparently don’t mind having Levi put his hands on you at work.”
She scowls and retreats further, crossing her arms over her chest. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Isaac told me about Levi coming on to you.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Is this a damn pissing contest?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, ignoring her jab.
“Because it was nothing!” She gestures wildly with her hands and pushes them through her hair as she paces around the bedroom. “He’s harmless.”
“He clearly has an issue with cops, and he put his hands on you.” My voice is low and hard, and my hands are itching to reach out for her. “That’s not harmless.”
“He’s nothing,” she insists.
“I need to be able to trust you.”
Her eyes widen with surprise and hurt, and my gut clenches.
Her jaw drops before she balls her hands into fists in frustration, whispers angrily under her breath and inhales sharply.
“You can trust me.” She stops in front of me, inches away, looking up at me in exasperation and hurt. “I’m not a child. I can take care of myself and my kids.”
“Do you understand what it would do to me if someone got to you?” I explode and grip her shoulders in my hands. “It would destroy me if you or those babies were hurt, Brynna. You are necessary to my survival, goddamn it, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe and whole, but I need you to talk to me when something feels wrong, and I need you to do as you’re damn well told!”
Her big brown eyes are round as she watches my face, her plump lips parted in surprise, and I can’t stand it anymore. I pull her against me, wrap my arms around her and hold on tight as my mouth claims hers, hard and possessive.
Fuck, she’s everything.
I pull back and lean my forehead on hers, breathing her in, relieved that she and the girls are safe. My legs are shaky, and I feel rocked to my core now that the adrenaline from the potential threat is gone.
Like coming out of a mission alive.
“Let me do my job, baby. Talk to me. Please.”
“I’m sorry, Caleb.” Her voice is small. She grips my back firmly, pressing herself against me from her head to her pelvis. “I didn’t know.”
“Now you do.” I swallow, staring down into her sweet face. “Besides, millionaires pay a lot of money for this kind of protection. You’re getting it for free.”
“Yeah?” She smiles sassily and drags her hands down my chest to my waistband. “What else can I get for free?”
“What do you want?” I ask and gasp when she unbuckles my belt, unfastens my jeans and sinks her hand under my boxers to my hard cock, gripping it firmly.
“Hmm…” She moves her head back and forth, like she’s thinking really hard, and then leans in to kiss my chest through my shirt, moving her way down my belly, and kneels at my feet. “I think I’ll just show you what I want.”
After shimmying my jeans down around my knees, Brynna licks the tip of my cock, just like she would her favorite ice cream cone, and then sinks down over me, pulling me as far as she can into her hot, wet mouth, and it’s all I can do to keep my hips still.
“Fuck, Bryn.”
She pulls up and licks down to my sack and licks that, too, leaving no piece of skin untouched by that amazing tongue of hers. Watching her head bob and weave, her hand grip my cock at the base and those big chocolate eyes of hers stare up at me is the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Jesus, all she has to do is breathe and I can’t wait to get inside her.
She cups a hand around my balls and sucks my cock, hard, making my spine tingle and stomach tighten, and I pull her up to her feet before I come in her mouth.
“You’ve really got to stop making me stop before I get the job done.” She pouts, her eyes shining with laughter.
“Can’t come yet,” I growl and push her back to the bed, stripping her nightclothes and the rest of my own clothes off as we move. “Need to be inside you.”
I guide her back onto the bed and follow her, bury my face in her neck and breathe in her fresh, clean scent.
“Smell so fucking good,” I whisper as I settle my cock between her legs, nestled against her pussy but not sinking inside her yet. I brace myself on my elbows and drag my teeth up the side of her neck to her ear, relishing her strong hands gliding down my back to my ass and back up again.
“Caleb,” she whispers, tilting her head to give me better access to her skin.
“Yes, baby.”
“Make love to me, okay?”
The question is soft and sweet, and I pull back to look down at her, brushing small strands of hair off her cheeks with my thumbs.
“In a minute,” I whisper and glide my hand to her perfect, round breast and palm it in my hand, rubbing my thumb over her nipple.
She has great tits.
My hand pushes down to her sweet, hot pussy to find her wet and her clit already swollen and ready for me.
“You’re so wet, Legs.” Two fingers slip between her lips, and my cock twitches and throbs at the way she clenches around them. “Does fighting with me turn you on?”
“Everything you do turns me on,” she replies as she pants and writhes beneath me.
I grin against her neck and work my fingers fast, thumbing that clit. Jesus, there’s nothing like Brynna when she’s turned on. She’s so open and giving and so damn responsive.
“Caleb. Ah babe, I’m gonna come.”
“Do it,” I whisper and push my nose up her neck.
“I want to come when you’re inside me.” She pouts with a groan.
“Oh, trust me, Legs, you will.” She tilts her pelvis against my hand and bites her lip. “Let go, sweetheart.”
And she does, moaning and hanging on to me tightly, riding out her orgasm. My hand is soaked as I pull it away and settle my throbbing cock against her again, slipping against her.
“Make love to me, Caleb.”
“Happily.” I grin at her, and when she smiles back at me, with complete trust and love shining in her eyes, it’s almost my undoing.
I grip my cock in my fist and guide it inside her, slowly, inch by inc
h, groaning her name as I sink into her wet heat.
“So fucking tight,” I murmur through gritted teeth. “I’ll never get enough of this, Bryn.”
When I’m buried balls-deep, I tip my forehead to hers and brace myself here, seated inside her, surrounding her.
Shielding her.
Her pussy muscles squeeze and tug as she slowly circles her hips, and I can’t help it, I begin moving in and out furiously, glorying in the way those tight muscles tug on my cock, milking it in the best way possible.
I push my hand between us and press my thumb against her hard clit, and she clamps down on me even more, making me see stars.
“Ah baby, you keep gripping me like this and I’m gonna lose it.”
“Do it, Caleb.” She pushes her hips faster, rocking and clenching, her hands kneading my ass, and I know it’s only a matter of seconds.
“Come with me,” I whisper and kiss her, press my thumb against that nub even harder, and her legs spasm, hitch around my hips, opening her up to me even more, and I can’t hold it back any longer.
I have to bite my lip to keep from crying out as the orgasm gathers in my balls and explodes out of me, inside of this gorgeous woman.
Her hands grip my ass even tighter as she comes, pushing against me shamelessly and, to my utter shock, she bites my shoulder.
Hard.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
I grin down at her as I pant, exhausted. I rub my nose against hers and then kiss her softly.
“You amaze me,” I whisper.
“Back at you, sailor,” she whispers back, her eyes still closed, making me chuckle.
Somehow, I find the strength to reverse our positions, cradling her on top of me. She drifts into sleep quickly, breathing deeply, draped over me.
This is where I lie for a long while, rhythmically combing my fingers through her long hair, listening to her breathe and the settling of the house.
How did she and the girls come to mean so much to me in such a short time?
And what am I going to do when it’s time to leave them?
Fuck, just the thought of it hurts more than any wound I ever received in the field.
Losing them will kill me.
Chapter Nine
“What is up with the early-morning questions?” I ask the girls as I dish them up some scrambled eggs.
“They ask questions any time of day,” Brynna informs me as she joins us in the kitchen, fresh from her shower. She stands next to me to grab a coffee mug and grins up at me. She smells like lavender and vanilla.
And my heart stumbles in my chest.
“You are beautiful,” I whisper down at her. She lowers her gaze, a rosy blush tinting her cheeks. I lean over and kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Cocoa Puffs, please!” Josie calls out and grins sweetly.
“Are you made of Cocoa Puffs?” I ask Josie and pull a cereal bowl down from the cupboard.
“No, silly.”
“I think you might be. You eat enough of them.” I wink at Maddie and dish up my own breakfast.
All this sex I’ve been having leaves me starving.
I’m not complaining.
“Eggs?” I ask Brynna, but she shakes her head and sips her coffee.
“Mommy doesn’t like eggs,” Josie informs me. “Only Cocoa Puffs.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s true,” Brynna replies drily. “Mommy just doesn’t want anything to eat yet.”
“Do you think your butt looks big in those jeans?” Maddie asks Brynna with a tilt to her head, and I almost choke on my bacon.
Brynna lets out a long, loud laugh and shakes her head. “Where did you hear that?”
“Mason at school said his mom always says her butt looks big in her jeans.”
“Well, I am just not hungry yet,” Brynna responds with a grin.
She better not think her ass is too big in anything. Her ass is perfect.
“I think we should get a dog,” Maddie announces and munches on her bacon.
“We’ve had this conversation,” Brynna begins.
“But, Mom,” Maddie interrupts. “We need a dog.”
“We do?” Josie asks, and Maddie elbows her in the side. “Yeah, we do! It would keep us safe, and we would love it and feed it, and you can pick up the poop!”
“I do not want to pick up any poop.” Brynna laughs. “I told you we’d talk about it in the summer.”
She looks up at me and shrugs. “They want a dog.”
“I see.”
“Who was the man at our house yesterday?” Josie asks and dribbles milk on the breakfast bar. I frown at Bryn and back at the little girl.
“What man?” I ask her calmly, but my body is instantly on high alert. I set my plate aside and focus on Josie.
“The man who was looking in Mommy’s mailbox when we got home from school,” Maddie responds.
“What?” Brynna lowers her mug. “There was a man looking in the mailbox?”
“Yeah. But we don’t ever have mail in that mailbox, do we, Mommy?”
I turn my eyes to Brynna, raising my brow in question.
She shakes her head slowly. “No, sweetie, we don’t.”
“With me. Now.” I grip her hand in mine and pull her out of the kitchen to the living room. “Do you have a post office box?”
“Yes. That mailbox by the road never has anything in it. Even Nat and Jules’ mail has stopped altogether.”
“So it wasn’t the mailman,” I murmur and process everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. “I need to get you three out of here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Brynna…” I grip her hands in mine and pull her close. “I have Matt running a more intensive background check on that fucker at your job, but I don’t trust him. My dad got a weird phone call last night…”
“That’s why you freaked out,” she whispers, but I keep talking over her.
“And now we find out that the girls saw someone snooping around here. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t love it either, but we can’t just leave.” Her brow is furrowed, and her hands shake as she holds on to mine.
“It’s Friday, Bryn. Pull the girls out of school, and we will get away for the weekend.” I lean in and kiss her forehead, trying to keep calm, to keep her calm, but my fight-or-flight instincts have kicked in, and all I can think about is getting my girls as far away from here as possible.
As fast as possible.
“Okay,” she whispers and pulls away. “When?”
“Now.” My voice is hard. “The girls are dressed and ready. Run up and pack a bag for them and for you, and we’ll go.”
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“I know a place,” I respond. “Hurry.”
***
“Uh, Caleb?” Brynna asks drily from the passenger side of my car.
“Yeah.”
“We are less than ten minutes away from the other house.” She frowns as I stop the car.
“Did you think I was whisking us all away on a European vacation?” I ask with a chuckle and push out of the car, opening the back door for the girls to climb out.
“Is this your house?” Josie asks and holds her doll close to her chest.
“Yes, jelly bean,” I respond and usher them all to the door, carrying our bags.
“Why are we at your house?” Brynna asks.
“Because no one would expect to look for you here,” I respond and pull the door closed behind us, locking it, as Brynna drops her purse on my couch and takes a circle about the living room.
“This is nice,” she murmurs and smiles at me.
I shrug and glance about the place. It’s not messy, because I’m never here long enough for it to get messy. The furnishings are practically brand new, although I bought them several years ago. There is nothing hanging on the walls.
It’s not even close to being goo
d enough for her and her daughters, but it’s all I’ve got.
“It’s small, only two bedrooms.”
“That’s all we need.” She shrugs and flips her hair back over her shoulder. “How long have you lived here?”
“A couple years.” I shrug. “I just rent it.”
“It’s definitely a guy place.”
“A guy place?” I ask with a grin.
“Yep, no woman lives here, or has been here recently.” She raises an eyebrow in my direction, and I know exactly what she’s asking.
In the past I would have evaded the question like the plague, knowing that it was time to move along. But I am compelled to reassure her.
“Girls,” I call out, my eyes still trained on Brynna’s deep brown ones. “Why don’t you take your bags to the bedroom with the green comforter on the bed and get your dollies settled?”
“Okay!” Maddie exclaims and jumps off the couch, where she had been testing it out.
“Let’s go!” Josie agrees, and they are off. Their voices carry into the living room as they talk to their dolls, explaining where they are, and I grin at their beautiful mama.
She stays rooted in place as I move close to her and slide my hands up her arms, over her shoulders and pull my knuckles down her cheeks.
“I have never brought a woman here, Legs.” Her eyes widen, and I know she’s about to tell me she doesn’t care, but I lay my finger gently over her lips, stilling them. “You are the only woman I want here.”
“Why?” she whispers from behind my finger and watches me closely.
I swallow and bend slightly to rest my forehead against hers.
“Because you’re more than a quick lay, Bryn. Even without the sex, at the core of it, you’re my friend. You’re my family.” She wraps her arms around my waist as I straighten and gaze down at her. I run my fingers through her soft hair and exhale slowly. “I can’t lose that.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Caleb.”
“We’ll see.”
“I’m not…”
“Mom! Caleb has a TV in his room! It’s really big. Come look!” Maddie hurries in and then stops cold, watching us carefully. “Why are you hugging Mommy like that?”
Come Away With Me Page 9
