by Sophia Gray
“Mister Rafe.” A small voice interrupted me as I listened to JC tell me that like the others, he didn’t know anything about the shooting at the mall. When I turned around, the little girl stood in the doorway of her bedroom holding the corner of a worn out blanket up to her mouth. “Where’s Mommy?”
“Let me call you back.” I clicked off with JC and walked over to Madison. She looked just like her mama—big green eyes, light brown hair. Except her hair had soft curls in it, and was a bit disheveled from her nap. “Your mama’s sleeping, hon. She needed a nap.” I squatted down in front of the kid, not wanting to scare her with my height.
“Oh. Like me?” she asked, chewing on the blanket.
I pried it out of her mouth and nodded. “Yep just like you. But she’s not getting up yet, okay? Can you come in the living room and play quietly? Let Mama get some rest.”
“Is she sick? Mommy never takes naps.” She held up her arms and I instinctively picked her up, carrying her to the living room. The little girl already trusted me.
“No, she’s just real tired. You hang with me while she sleeps.” I put her down on the couch and looked at her. What the fuck was I going to do with her while Beth slept? I doubted she knew how to play cards.
“Okay, you wanna watch cartoons with me?” She yanked on my hand, trying to get me to sit with her on the couch.
Cartoons seemed easy. “Sure, kid.”
“I wanna watch Cinderella!” She clapped her hands and scooted off the couch, running to the TV. She picked up a DVD case sitting on top of the set and waved it at me. I plucked it from her hand and looked at the cover.
“Barbie Cinderella?” I asked with a sour taste in my mouth. I had an idea that the next hour or so was going to tougher to get through than I had thought.
“Yep, it’s my favorite.” She nodded, her curls bouncing along with her. Her mouth was screwed up in a smile that I wouldn’t be willing to take away. If the little girl wanted Barbie Cinderella, she was going to get Barbie Cinderella.
I sighed. “Okay. Go sit back down. I’ll get it on.” The set up was simple. Beth had a television set, from ten years ago, and a DVD player. Not hard to figure out. Once the music started to play I went back to the couch and sat on the other end of where the girl sat.
She got up and moved over to me, climbing into my lap before I could stop her. Once she was settled, her head banging into my chin at least three times while she squirmed, she let out a loud sigh and focused on the movie.
I’d had my nose broken twice, fell off my bike out running the cops on the highway and ended up in a ditch, but neither of those experiences were more painful than watching the Barbie version of Cinder-fucking-ella. The little girl in my lap didn’t seem as repulsed though. She clapped during each ear bursting song, and giggled at every corny joke. But even with all of that, it wasn’t a half bad afternoon.
A few guys texted me back after doing some digging. No one was killed at the mall, no one even got shot. What injuries were sustained happened from flying broken glass, or diving behind a car. It made no damn sense. There seemed to have been only three guys from what my guys were telling me, and they weren’t shooting at anything in particular.
“Hey there.” Beth’s soft voice came from behind me. She rounded the couch and put her arms out for Madison to jump into. The little girl giggled then leaped from me to her mama. Watching Beth wrap her arms around the little girl and place several kisses on her face before sitting down and snuggling her up to her chest warmed me in a way I’d never felt before. I’d seen Jason be affectionate with Cassandra but he never treated her like a baby, even when she was one. “Did you really watch the Barbie movie with her?” she asked me with wide eyes.
I shrugged. “It’s what she picked.” Finally, the credits played, the torture was over.
“I told you to wake me when she got up. If you watched that whole thing, she’s been up for over an hour.” She shot me hard glance, but again I only shrugged.
“I told you to sleep, and not to give me orders.” I pointed a finger at her. She cast her eyes elsewhere and kissed the little girl’s head again.
“Mommy, you said I could have a popsicle.” Madison bounced on her lap.
“Yes, I did. It’s almost dinner time, though. You think you can wait until after?”
“No, you said after my nap.” The girl pouted just like her mama did when she wanted something.
Beth laughed. “Okay, you can have your popsicle while I cook dinner.” She set Madison on her feet then stood from the couch. “I’m sure Rafe needs to get back to his club—I mean, his house.”
“Nope.” I shook my head and followed them into the cramped kitchen. Although clean, the tiles were yellowed from age, and the cabinets had an inch of paint on them. Lazy ass landlords, just painted over the shitty wood over and over again instead of replacing the crap. “I’m gonna be staying with you two for a while.”
Beth stopped digging through the freezer to give me a hard glare. She pulled out a popsicle and peeled the wrapper away before handing it to Madison, who had been nearly jumping out of her socks waiting. “Take this into your room, okay, baby girl? No dripping on carpet though, okay?”
“Thanks, Mommy!” She snatched the popsicle before Beth could change her mind and dashed out of the room, leaving her blanket on the floor in the kitchen.
“You can’t stay here.” She slammed the freezer shut, holding a package of hamburgers in her hand.
“Sure I can.” I took the burgers from her and put in the counter.
“You don’t need to.” She tried again as I opened the bottom cabinets to search out a frying pan. Three pans and two pots, that was her entire inventory of cooking equipment. She was a damn nurse, how did she not have a better house and more up to date equipment. I didn’t even see a microwave in the small kitchen.
“I do need to. As far as I can tell, there was no target at that shooting. It wasn’t a biker fight, or a gang fight, or a lunatic just gunning down pedestrians. It was a message.”
“What message?” She put her hand son her hips.
“Not sure yet, that’s why I’m staying here. I want to make sure you and that little girl are safe. I’m afraid that my involvement with you might have spurred a few sides.”
“Involvement? We aren’t involved. We will never be involved.” She tried to shove my away from the stove, but I only looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. She took the hint and backed away.
“We are involved. I told you, you’re mine.”
She rolled those beautiful green eyes and sighed. “What are you, a caveman? You can’t just club me over the head and make me yours.”
“Sure I can, but I didn’t club you over the head…I think it was more of a pleasurable experience for us both.” Her cheeks blushed when I winked at her. The memory of her chanting and racing toward her orgasm still fresh in my mind made my cock start getting hard for her.
“Whatever. If our involvement is what has you so worried, then don’t you think you being here is worse?” She pointed her finger at me.
“No. If I’m here, you’re safe. Your daughter is safe.” I turned the dial on the stove to ignite the starter and placed the pan back down. “Were you planning on making anything else besides burgers?” I asked with a blank look.
Her lips pierced together and she took a deep breath through her nose. “If anything happens to Madison…”
“Nothing will happen to you or that little girl in here. I promise you that.” I meant it, too. Anyone who laid one fucking finger on either them would pay with their fucking life. Period.
She stared at me for a long minute. Obviously thinking. “You’re being here will confuse Madison. I haven’t had a man here since her dad.”
“Where is that son of a bitch anyway?” I moved out of the way when she lightly shoved me from the stove. I watched her as she reached up into a cabinet and took out a can of green beans and a can of fruit.
“I told you, I don’t know. He
didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address after he bailed. I tried finding him at first. Called his friends, even reached out to his parents. No one could or would help. Either he really did run far away, or no one who knew where he was, was willing to help me find the idiot.”
“He didn’t leave right away, though? He was around for a few years?” The smell of the burgers filled the kitchen as she pulled out a spatula to flip them. Something about watching her make dinner for us made me want to grab her and kiss her senseless. Maybe bend her over the countertop and pull down those shorts and sink myself into her
“No. When Maddie was three he just said he couldn’t do it anymore. Packed his bag and took off one morning. Maddie just watched him walk out the door. Fucker didn’t even kiss her goodbye.” She put her hands on the counter and took a deep breath. “But she doesn’t remember him, not really, and I haven’t had another guy here since. So you staying here will be confusing.”
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine.” I put my hands on her hips, standing behind her and kissed the back of her head. “I’ll go check on her while you finish up in here.” I gave her ass a squeeze and walked away before she decided to argue.
When I found Maddie, she was sitting on her bed with an empty popsicle stick. Most of the popsicle had melted on her shirt and onto her bedding. To her credit the floor was spotless. “What happened there, little girl?” I asked with a grin.
She looked like she was about to cry. Her bottom lip shook. “It melted.” She sniffed.
I took the stick from her and tossed it in the small can by her night stand. “It’s okay, sweat pea. No crying.” I scooped her up into my arms and headed to the bathroom. Her hands were all sticky when she wrapped them around my neck.
By the time I had her cleaned up, Beth came into the bathroom to see what was going on. I had Maddie standing up in the sink while I cleaned her hands and face with a wet cloth and she was giggling so loud when I washed her neck that Beth had been alerted to our antics.
“What happened?”
“The popsicle melted. But I didn’t get it on the floor.” She sounded awfully proud of herself for that fact.
“She did get it on the bed though.” I grinned. “And all over her clothes.”
“I can see that. Well, dinner’s ready. C’mon, let’s change your clothes and have our burgers. After, we’ll change your bedding. Okay?”
“Can I put on my pajamas? I wanna wear my Barbie gown.” She let Beth pick her up from the sink and carry off down the hall. I heard Beth agree to the little girls demands and head off into her bedroom.
I didn’t understand my reaction to the situation. Her having a kid was a clear cut sign that said run the fuck away. I didn’t need a kid in my life. Hell, I’d only just accepted the fact that I’d be taking Beth into my bed on a more permanent basis. A kid coming along for the ride hadn’t been in that picture.
But my panic button wasn’t tingling. Instead I watched Beth carry that little girl off to her room and wondered about helping her in the kitchen while she took care of the kid. I also wanted to find that fucker who walked out on them and put my fist through his face, repeatedly.
No one hurt my girls and got away with it.
Chapter Eight
BETH
Putting Madison to bed never had been so difficult. Usually she was tired enough to lie down and fall right asleep after a short book and a snuggle, but that was before Rafe entered our lives. The man didn’t understand kids, or boundaries apparently.
“Mama, I wanna stay up. Rafe said I could.” Maddie bounced on her bed. I managed to grab her before she fell off and put her on the ground.
“Rafe doesn’t make the rules, Maddie. I do. And I say it’s bedtime. You can play with him tomorrow if he’s still here, okay?” Play with him. Like he was a new toy I’d brought home for her.
She climbed up into bed, wiggling her way under her covers giving me her I’m gonna do it, but I’m mad about it look. “Mama, why were those mean men making all that noise today?”
I sat on her bed and took a deep breath. She hadn’t mentioned the parking lot so foolishly I had hoped she would forget all about it. Tucking her hair behind her ear I tried to make my voice light. “They were just screwing around, baby girl. But sometimes when you play around people get hurt.”
“Like when I was playing tag with Justin and he pushed me down when he tagged me?”
I grinned. “Yeah, something like that. They were just being rowdy boys. But we didn’t get hurt, did we? We are safe, right?” I laid her blanket over her, tucking it into her comforter.
“Rafe saved us.” She nodded matter-of-factly.
“Well, I guess, sort of.” As far as little girl logic went, he had in fact saved us.
“He said nothing will hurt us when he’s with us. He’s like our body guard.” She explained to me. It was getting harder to keep a straight face. I wondered what Rafe’s reaction would be to hearing her description of him.
“I guess that’s right. Now, it’s time for bed. No messing around, you go right to sleep.” I tapped her nose and gave her a kiss to her forehead.
“Okay, Mommy.” She let out a sigh and turned over to her side, pulling her blankie up closer to her chin. I turned her light off and quietly closed the door.
“Your body guard?” His deep voice whispered from behind me, startling me.
I spun around and slapped his chest. “Don’t do that!”
He gave a hearty laugh. “Sorry, was too easy.”
“I’m going to take a shower. I put a blanket and a pillow on the arm chair in the living room for you.” I pushed my way around him and headed to the bathroom. I could feel his eyes on me and imagined his look of annoyance at my dismissing him so easily, but nothing waylaid me. I wanted my hot shower, and I wanted to sleep for a week.
***
The shower did just the trick. My muscles softened, the soft pounding in my head finally simmered down, and my racing thoughts slowed to a trickle after standing under the hot water. Once I was dried off and slipped into my pajama shorts and t-shirt, I tiptoed down the hall to see if Rafe was still up.
The couch was empty. The blankets I had left out were still folded on the armchair. I hadn’t heard the door open, but it looked as though Rafe had left. I couldn’t lie to myself and say I was thrilled about it, a small part of liked having him in the house with us. His presence seemed to make my nerves settle, and the little touches he gave me throughout the night had kept my body responding to him.
Before I took Maddie to bed, he’d given me a kiss and sent me on my way with a pat to my ass. Which of course reminded me of the spanking he gave me earlier. I should have still been pissed at him about that. My mind told me to be angry, to kick him out of the house for laying a hand on me. But my body overruled it and reminded me of the tender way he treated me after the awful spanking. His fingers had worked so nimbly, so skilled at bringing me to one of the strongest orgasms I’d ever had. He wasn’t wrong about my attitude, and I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit his take charge personality turned me on.
“Goddamn cave man,” I muttered to myself, trying to ignore the heaviness in my chest at his disappearance. Checking to make sure the front door was locked, I decided to forgo the dishes until morning and go to bed.
I checked in on Madison once more to be sure she was sleeping soundly, then headed to my room. I had the morning shift the next day and needed to get up early. I turned off the bathroom light, and went to my room.
I pushed the door to my room open and jumped at the sight of Rafe sitting on the bed, his back pressed against the backboard and his legs crossed at his ankles out in front of him. He’d taken off his kutte but left on his black t-shirt and jeans. His boots were lined up next to my nightstand on the floor.
“Shit!” I shut the door to make sure Madison didn’t hear me. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“That seems to be happening a lot lately.” He quirked an eyebrow at me. �
�I wasn’t in the mood to watch TV and you looked tired.”
“You aren’t sleeping in here.” I tried to sound firm and formidable, but his expression didn’t convince me I’d been successful.
His lips curled into a slow and easy grin. “I sure as hell am.” He slid his legs off the bed and stood up. The muscles in his arms strained against the thin material of his shirt as he stretched his arms. “And before you get any ideas, you are, too.” His fingers gripped the hem of his shirt and he yanked it over his head. I tried to look away when his hands moved to the button on his jeans, but I seemed content to keep gawking at the man.
He pushed his jeans down to his ankles. Stepping out of them, he grabbed them with one hand and tossed then onto the hope chest sitting at the foot of my bed. The only thing left was his boxers. The length of his cock couldn’t be mistaken as it pressed against the black cotton material. A small wet spot appeared on the material at the head of his dick. I could feel my own moisture begin to slicken my thighs at the sight of his hard body in front of me. The dark black tattoos covering most of his upper body didn’t distract away from the ripples of his muscles, but instead accentuated his strength.
