Athena's Raid: Book Two Perdition MC (6 page)

This time she shut him up by kissing him. She tilted her face up to his, her soft hand cupping his jaw, her thumb brushing over his cheek in the gentlest, most tender kiss he’d ever received. “This is like some stupid romantic comedy.” She muttered against his mouth, and he chuckled with a handful of her ass, “What?”

“Totally. Get a letter from a stranger, get in deep, do impossible things to be with them, even on the off chance that there’s zero chemistry when you meet. Or that they’d be monstrously hairy, and sweaty, and that you discovered you’d have been better off with a waxing license than a massage therapy license. You’re not, right? Not rocking a full on bear skin rug under that thermal, right?”

“Baby, if you want to touch me, you go right ahead. You just remember turnabout is fair play.”

“So noted. My bed is a tempurpedic too.”

After another hour or so spent on the couch, murmuring to one another, trading kisses back and forth, he could tell that she was beginning to wilt. She nuzzled like a sweet little kitten against his chest, and he convinced her it was time for bed, though it wasn’t that hard to do. He chuckled at her when she carefully got up off of him and held her hand down to him to help him up. He did an ab curl to sit up and stood to twist his fingers in her curls and touched a tender kiss to the corner of her kiss stung lips. “I did the work, sweetheart. I’ll have to continue to do the work for a long time. But I’m good. I know my limitations, and have no desire to go back to that hospital bed. It feels nice, that you’re worried about me.”

“It’s not hard,”

“That’s what she said.”

She laughed her gorgeous ass off all the way to the kitchen to deposit their dirty dishes into the sink, and all the way upstairs to her bedroom. He’d been expecting a temple to feminism based on the softness of the rest of the house. But her room was…sensual. The walls were a deep purple, which he knew was her favorite color, her bedding a dark silver with purple pillows mixed in. A king size bed, up on a platform that looked easy to roll in and out of, and at the perfect height to stand off to the edge while he drilled his cock into her beautiful body.

A trickle of sweat rolled down his spine just thinking about it, and about the soft pink silk nightgown lying across the end of the bed. He forced himself to look further around, quirking an eyebrow over the tall pink pillars, made out of rock or something, that stood on black bedside tables, lit from the inside, casting a soft glow to the room. There were thick candles on black wrought iron stands, tall stands, more candles on her dresser and a handful of crystals, and a big black vanity in one corner where she had her girly potions and lotions that probably were her secret for such soft, beautiful skin.

She showed him the bathroom, which was done in slate grey and silver, more masculine than he would have thought her to like, but the massive tub that was the perfect size for two, was totally her style. Especially with all the candles and crystals around the edge. “Here’s a new toothbrush, paste, whatever. I’m going to get ready for bed.” He nodded, following her to watch her snag up her nightgown, head into the walk in closet, shut the door behind her, and a few minutes later come out in that pink gown, a matching robe around her body, looking like a movie star. A star sitting down to her vanity to use some little cloths to clean up her face, her bright eyes catching his in the mirror every so often, and a blush of embarrassment touched her cheeks, but she didn’t stop her routine.

She plucked up a blue tube like glass bottle and popped the cork out of it, pouring a careful few drops of liquid into her palm and rubbed that on her face, wiped her hands off and got up to come to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her fingertips trailed along his belly as she passed, and he watched her brush her teeth, then wet a clean wash cloth to wipe the oil off her face and rub something else in that left her skin rosy and glowing. She arched a brow at him, squirted some toothpaste on his toothbrush, and he grinned while he stuck it in his mouth and started to brush, still following her with his eyes.

She lit a long match and went to the candles on the stands to touch the flame to each wick until a tall spear leapt to life and soon the room was filled with the scent of geranium and rosewood. Shit. She was going to totally unman him. He rinsed and spit, coming back in time to see her toss her robe away and pick up the skirt of her dress. Her back was to him, and he almost swallowed his tongue to see that the gown had virtually no back to it, leaving her pale, beautiful skin on total display. “Jesus, do you wear that to bed every night?” He wheezed from the bathroom, and she glanced back at him with a blink of those long, crimson lashes of hers. “No. I have other ones. Why?”

He shook himself and stalked to the bed, reverently trailing his fingertips up the long line of her back, brushing her hair aside to see it all and marvel at that white skin with not a freckle on it. “I think maybe it’s a good idea for me to sleep in the guest room,” He said it, with his other hand around her belly and pulled her back until her ass snuggled up to his cock so she could feel for herself, why that was a good idea. “That’s um, up to y-you. I promise to behave,” She murmured a little breathlessly, and he tried. He valiantly tried to tear himself away, but it was no use. He’d slept alone for too long, he was here with her now, this angel in a soft pink nightgown pressed back against him and the scent of her candles filling the air around them. “Get in,” He murmured, whipping his shirt off while she was busy pulling the sheets and blankets back, watching that silk pull taut over her round ass when she bent to toss some pillows onto a curved chair nearby.

Fuck.

His fingers curled with the need to touch, but somehow he managed to restrain himself and crawled in after her. At first the mattress felt weird, but once she snuggled up to him, her cheek resting on his chest and her shoulder up under his arm, he felt completely cocooned and the normal twinges of pain he’d experienced while sleeping, the trouble of trying to get comfortable, vanished. She sighed a soft sound, her finger tracing a scar he’d gotten from one of the pieces of shrapnel tearing into his side, and for the first time it didn’t cause him to remember the agony and the horror of what had happened. He just felt her fingers, the gentleness of her touch,

He fell asleep in what felt like no time at all, a smile on his face and damn glad Athena was so insistent on him sleeping in a good bed. She didn’t know it, but she’d just screwed herself.

He’d been expecting to have to charm his way into her home, her bed, but that soft spot of hers was so sweet and tender, so giving, that after she’d gotten wicked pissed at him she’d brought him home.

Home. And he was going to stay.

TEN

Raid had woken her up with sweet, gentle kisses and she’d opened her eyes to the sight of him up on one arm, rubbing a lock of her hair between his fingers with this odd look on his face and a smile curving the edges of his mouth. “What?” She’d asked, and he’d shaken his head and simply said, “Beautiful.” She enjoyed the flutter of arousal that hit her square in the belly, the way his dark eyes looked like liquid metal in the sunlight. “Can you take a few days off?”

“Run my own business, make my schedule.”

“Good. I want to take you home.”

“Home?” Her stomach did that flopping thing again, only harder this time. “Yeah. My home. My brothers are waiting for me, been gone a long time, and I want you to meet them.”

“You want me to meet your family.”

“Course I do.”

“I’ve never met anyone’s family. Seems fast.”

“Babe, we’ve been talkin for a year. Even though your letters didn’t get to me, and mine didn’t get to you for six months of that year, we’ve been talkin. It’s time for doin, now. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Pack up some stuff, and some clothes for Cruncher. We’re drivin.”

Raid took her Jeep to go get it serviced and the tires rotated before they started their drive down to Texas. She’d argued with him about it, because it was hardly his responsibility to do that, but while she was taking a shower, the sneak stole her car keys and took off with her dog. It both irritated and amused her, but it gave her time to pack up some stuff and go next door to pay the neighbor boy to pick up her mail, water the plants inside and stuff.

Which was how she spotted a familiar black sedan parked a block down across the street. She knew who was inside, knew who was watching her and wanted to run inside. She made herself walk up to the house calmly, but once she was inside she armed the alarm and stood in the shadow of the hall to watch the road. Watch that sinister black sedan.

Thankfully it wasn’t long before Raid got back with Cruncher, but the black sedan was still there, and he watched Raid come in and disarm the alarm. She knew he was watching. He was always watching. She needed to start looking a little harder for a new place. “Babe? Got your shit together yet?” Raid’s voice was like a soothing balm to the nerves that jangled with every wild heartbeat. “Yes! How’s my car, thief?” She called back, turning away from the window to force a smile on her face when he came in, glad for the distraction of Cruncher’s eager greeting to hide what she was sure was fear in her eyes. “It’ll make the trip. You ready to go?”

“Definitely.”

She must have answered to quickly, or too brightly, because when she stood up Raid was right there and sliding his hands over her arms to rub up and down soothingly. “What’s up?” He asked, in a tone that said he knew something was wrong. “Nothing, I’m ready.” He tilted his head to search her eyes thoroughly, “Babe, if you don’t want to go, or your nervous about being in a car with me for-“ She stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, tilted her head back to look up into his face and smiled. “I’m ready, Raid. Just need to pee, and then we can go.” He smiled back, slow and easy, dipping his head to kiss her.

She forgot about the black sedan, she forgot about being afraid, she forgot about everything but the feel of his lips caressing hers and how he slid his hands up, caressing her so gently until he got to her hair. He stroked his palms down the messy length of it all, then bunched it tight in his fists and pulled her head back. The sharp suddenness of it, the desire that flared instead of fear, it made her gasp in surprise and gave Raid the perfect opportunity to slice his tongue between her lips and maraud his way into her mouth. She’d never enjoyed such deep kisses before, never thought she would, but the way he kissed her, the force of it and the desire behind it made her head spin. Made her whimper and moan softly as her knees threatened to give out. He must have known, because he walked her back a few steps to press her back against the wall.

That was the moment she froze.

Raid did too as the passion bled out of her, and the combination of his hands fisting tight in her hair, the press of his body holding her there and his mouth hard on hers, left her cold. “What’s wrong?” He whispered, his hands gentling in her hair, his lips softening on hers so that his words were brushed into the kiss, “Please don’t push me against the wall like that,” She murmured, sighing softly while she tried to distract him by touching kisses up the side of his cheek, “I’ve never liked the way it feels.” He nodded, shifting to wrap his arms around her and turned so he was the one leaning against the wall. “Alright. Thank you for telling me.” She smiled at him, feeling the relaxation returning. “No problem. I’ve got to pee, then we can go, yes?” He nodded, meeting her for a soft, sweet kiss. “Yeah. We can go. I’ll lock up and meet you at the car.”

“Okay.”

ELEVEN

She relaxed as soon as they passed the city limits, and she must have thought he was a fool that he wouldn’t notice. Something else was wrong, not just the deaths of her Uncle and her ankle biting little dog. Something that made her go cold as ice and shiver with fear when he pushed her against the wall. Two ways that kind of fear was created, and both kinds were born from someone else’s hands. Namely a man’s hands. He had time now to solve the riddle, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that the next place she called home, was safe, and with him.

It was hell, the three days it took to get to Austin, sleeping beside her on shitty motel beds and feeling her nuzzle against him all night. Rubbing all her gorgeous curves and soft skin against him. He played the gentleman, he got to know her during the drive, which in his opinion was the best way to get to know anyone. Sit in a car with them for a few days to learn whether or not you could stand to live with them for longer than that. Athena was just as amazing as she’d been in her letters, but even more so because they were able to banter back and forth and laugh together. Torture, because she was everything he’d ever wanted, only he hadn’t known just how bad he’d wanted it.