AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh shit!” I released his hand as soon as my brain caught up to the fact that I’d assaulted my guest. Gripping his shoulders, I help him get back to his feet.
“Fucking hell,” he whimpered. “Did you have to go for the family jewels?”
“What?” I tried to keep a straight face since he was still grimacing in pain while holding his two fingers in a death grip. Unfortunately, I failed horribly and my lips twitched in amusement. “Family jewels?”
“In my line of work, my fingers are my most prized possessions. Hopefully, they’re not sprained.”
During all this, Rick had grabbed an icepack from the freezer and was pulling the now red fingers toward him for examination. He curled them and wiggled them around before pressing the pack to it. “They’re not broken. You’ll live.”
“Yeah, thanks for that diagnosis,” Fletcher sneered as he walked back to his stool and flopped down. “I was about to say that I’d take care of the dishes. I don’t want either of you to think I’m dead weight around here,” he finished rather grumpily.
I mostly suppressed the snicker as I approached him. “I’m sorry. Occupational hazard. When I’m unexpectedly touched, my first thought is to protect myself. I’m usually a little better in the house, but Rick was already touching me and my instincts took over.”
“You’re forgiven.” The skin around his eyes crinkled as his mouth slowly edged into a grin. “But you can still make it up to me.”
This man, he was an obsessive flirt. He’d probably hit on the lamp if it was pretty enough.
“I’ll make it up to you, I—” Rick started, only to be interrupted by Fletcher’s horrified gaze.
“You will not. Sexual favors only.”
Rick ground his jaw. “No. I’ll do the dishes so you can get your road warrior packed up.” He slanted his gaze my way as if to say,really? You’re taking this guy with you?
This was the weirdest and funniest conversation I’d ever encountered. I couldn’t help it, I snorted. “I need to grab my purse from my room. Fletcher, can you be ready in fifteen?”
“Of course,” he said as he pulled the ice pack away from his pinkened fingers.
It wasn’t a surprise that Rick followed me up the stairs. As soon as we were in my room, he shut the door behind him. “Are you sure you want to take Fletcher with you today? I’m concerned he’s going to be more of a liability for you than an asset.”
Walking back to him, I loop my arms around his shoulders. “We’re going to the storage unit and to see one of my associates. There will be minimal opportunities for him to get us in trouble. If anything goes wrong, I promise I’ll call you. But I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I know what I’m doing.”
He closed his eyes, and then dropped his forehead to mine. “I know. I know you do. He’s just so flippant and clueless outside of his work, that it scares me.”
Rick was really struggling with this. I hated it for him, especially since he seemed to be taking this harder than when I went out on my own. We had to start somewhere, and though he’d never seen Fletcher much outside of our private encounters with him, I knew he could be a completely different person.
Just then, a thought dawned on me. Fletcher was different in public. A little flirty, sure, but nothing like the character he was here with us. The more he was with us, the more he let his colorful personality slip out.
Happiness suffused my chest, knowing he felt that comfortable with us.
“How about this. If he so much as twitches a pinky toe in a way that could unduly endanger us, I’ll have you start training him early.” Under my supervision, of course. Otherwise, he could end up beating Fletcher bloody.
Serving as the motivation he needed to settle down, Rick grinned. “That works.” Then he sobered. “I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”
“I’ll miss you too.” I tipped my head back to receive his kiss. The first gentle brush of his lips turned heated in an instant. He cupped my face, his fingers warm where they pressed into my skin. The massage of his thumb against my jaw had my mouth opening beneath his and his tongue plunged inside. A groan vibrated from his lips to mine, all the way down to my core and ignited a wave of pure lust.
All of my good intentions were going up in flames. I didn’t need to go to the storage facilityrightnow, we had time to fall back onto the bed and mess the sheets up. They weren’t even freshly laundered.
The storage facility could…
No. I groaned again, this time more in regret and unrelieved desire than anything else, and when I flattened my palm against Rick’s chest, he retreated and took his skilled tongue with him. Goddammit, the flames of desire he kindled decimated me. Thankfully, Rick seemed far more at ease after the kiss and when I managed to open my eyes and meet his gaze, his grin was slow and devastating to my senses.
The storage facility had been Daddy’s secret. His place. I had to go. Ineededto go, and the more I thought about Daddy, about the last time we’d spoken before—even now, drunk on Rick, I couldn’t go there. The grief and pain didn’t go well with lust and they both sobered me like the icy water of a shower.
“I’ll miss you,” I confessed and Rick brightened a bit more. “But I don’t know if I can concentrate with you there, too.” That was way more honest than I’d intended to be. ‘That wouldn’t be safe for you and I refuse to risk you.”
“Then I’ll stay here.” If anything, he seemed even more determined. “Don’t lose focus, Vienna. I need you to come back.”
I wasn’t sure he understood how much I needed to come back to him, too.
