Bedded Bliss (Found in Oblivion Book 1) (25 page)

He grinned and gave her another quick kiss. “Be right back.”

“’Kay.”

Jogging out to the deck, he gathered up her clothes and took a quick glance at the surrounding buildings. He didn’t see any telephoto lenses trained on his floor, so maybe they’d gotten lucky.

He grinned again. Oh, they so had.

On the way back to Chloe, he stopped off in the bathroom to wash up and take care of business. He’d neglected to put his jeans back on for his trip outside, but eh. He didn’t have anything to hide.

After grabbing the two Dr. Peppers he’d left on the coffee table along with the hopefully not stale cookies, he returned to the bedroom. And found Chloe curled up in the center of the bed, mostly asleep.

He set down her clothes and their snack, then leaned over to kiss her shoulder. She stirred immediately. “Michael?”

“Yeah. Go ahead and rest.”

“Can’t.” Her voice was fuzzy enough to let him know for certain that she already had been. Damn, she’d gone out quickly. Probably exhausted. “Gotta tell you. Lost—lost my job. And my…my place. I lost it all.”

Swallowing hard—and more than a little certain she’d regret being so forthright once she awakened—he crawled into the sheets behind her and drew her into his arms. “Don’t worry about any of that now.” He pressed a kiss to her silky, cinnamon-scented hair. “Sleep, Red.”

“Gotta…gotta call Axl soon. Before bed.”

“I’ll wake you up soon, I promise. Just a little nap.”

“’Kay.” Her softly slurred voice made him close his eyes too.

She filled his arms so perfectly. Just the night they’d gotten married.

The memory of the last time he’d gone to sleep like this with with her tried to tickle the back of his brain, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. Too tired. His body was too warm and relaxed. She’d worn him out in the very best way.

He tightened his arms and smiled against her hair. She was back in his arms, right where she belonged. And he wasn’t letting go.

C
hloe woke
to a furnace behind her and a hand on her boob.

Again.

The recall was swift and immediate enough that she almost kicked out just as she had done that fateful morning. Instead she only moved suddenly enough to clip his jaw.

Michael groaned and cupped the side of his mouth. “Oh, fuck. Is this going to be a thing?
Mortal Kombat
at dawn?”

She snorted and turned in his arms. The tickle of chest hair against her nipples dissolved the giggle on her tongue.

He leaned down to her, nudging his face away just before he kissed her. “I’m not going to get bit or something, right?”

“Depends on your level of dragon breath.”

He rolled his tongue over his teeth. “Not bad.” He pursed his lips. “Maybe. Guess you’ll have to give it a try.”

She couldn’t stop the laugh this time. The kiss was soft and sweet, not the engulfing pyrotechnics of last night. She wasn’t sure she could take that so early in the… “Oh, shit,”

He licked his lips. “It’s not that bad.”

She pushed him back. “No. Oh, crap. I didn’t call Axl last night.” She motioned to the window. “It’s already…I don’t even know what time it is.” She scrambled off the bed. “And where are my clothes?”

He sat up in the middle of the lake-sized bed. “On the chair.”

“No, clean clothes. My bag.”

“Oh, uh…” He looked around, then hopped off the bed. All six glorious feet of naked male.

She shook her head. Axl was the focus, not all of…him. God, she was a terrible mother. How could she have blinked out like that? She turned a full circle and finally spotted her jeans on a chair near the window.

Without curtains, because why would this man-child have curtains? He probably didn’t even have matching dishes. What the hell was she thinking?

She spotted a folded T-shirt on top of a pile of laundry and quickly put it on. She did not need some crazy high powered lens taking pictures of her mom body. She’d been lucky enough that her good genes had helped her bounce back after having Axl. That and walking everywhere kept her body trim and strong. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time in her day to do things like pilates and yoga like all the women with their tight little bodies these days.

Finally, she found her jeans and got her phone out of her pocket. Two missed calls. She curled her fingers around the phone and tapped against her forehead. Bad mom. She blew out a breathy groan as she noticed the time. Seven.

She quickly dialed Lori who picked up on the second ring. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. He and Shelby passed out watching
Finding Nemo
. Everything’s just fine.”

Chloe collapsed onto the edge of the bed. “It was the worst day ever yesterday.”

“I can’t believe that rat bastard evicted you.”

She flopped back on the bed lengthwise and let her head hang off the side. It was rather nice to have so much room to stretch out. Her twin bed definitely didn’t rate against this bit of indulgence. “I can.”

Michael set her bag beside the bed. He gave her a look, then glanced down at his lengthening erection. “We’ll try that position later.”

She rolled her eyes at him. Seriously, he only thought with that thing. She ignored the fact that her body fluttered in reaction. Taking him in her mouth last night had been far more exciting than it should have been. Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed giving a man a blow job. Then again Michael had been very focused on her. She barely remembered if she’d managed to pleasure him. His taste flooding her mouth was proof that he’d enjoyed himself somewhat, but then again most men

It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a satisfying sex life before Michael, but…

Yeah, well but.

Not the same. Not at all the same, which also worried her. What exactly did they have when the sex faded? Because sexual afterglow always faded.

“Where are you? Who’s that?”

She shook off that line of thought. It sure as heck wasn’t helping her right now. “I’m with Michael.”

“Ohh.”

“Don’t get excited.”

“I do believe I overheard something about a position. I expect details, because I’m living vicariously through you.”

“David will be home soon.”

Lori sighed. “Not soon enough. Now that you’re not here, I’m thinking about going back to base housing.”

“You hate the base.”

“I know, but the neighborhood is getting worse. You were really the only thing keeping me here.”

Chloe flipped over onto her stomach. “I don’t know that this will be permanent. I could be right around the corner again in a week.”

Michael tugged at her hair, then crouched in front of her. “You, me, and the kid. It’s permanent. I swear it, Red.”

Chloe had to blink away the quick rush of tears.

Lori laughed. “Girl, you’re toast.”

“Shut up.”

Michael stood. “Meet me in the shower, Mrs. Shawcross.”

“Toast,” Lori said in a singsong voice.

Chloe firmed her voice. He wasn’t going to dictate where and when she was doing anything, dammit. “I’ll be there to get Axl in an hour.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Lori was still laughing when she hung up the phone.

Chloe let her arms dangle off the bed. She was not going to go have sex with Michael in the shower. Nope.

She didn’t have time for that. She rolled off the bed and into the ridiculously huge bathroom. Her tour of his apartment had been minimal at best. She remembered stumbling in there sometime in the middle of the night to take care of business, but she’d been beyond blurry.

Right now there was a wall of glass, multiple shower heads going, and blessed steam filling the room. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had a hot shower that lasted more than seven minutes. Usually, because her hot water didn’t last much longer than eight, but more often than not it was because Axl didn’t allow such luxuries.

Water and mint-scented suds slid down Michael’s muscular form.

She did have an hour to get to Lori’s. She flipped off his shirt, letting it drop to the floor.

“Fuck it,” she said and opened the door.

Michael was dipping his head back under the rain hood and shampoo was foaming off his neck and down his back. He had such wide, strong shoulders. A light dusting of freckles came into view. He rolled his neck to get rid of the rest of the soap and a simple triangle tattoo was revealed.

She stepped inside and slid her hand up his wet back. “There’s quite a bit of room in here. Just one problem?”

He turned and drew her under the rain shower head. “I can’t see a single one, except that you’re not slick everywhere just yet.”

She tipped her head back with a low groan. “That’s a whole lotta wrong.”

“Everything looks right to me.” He dipped his head and took her nipple into his mouth.

She slid her fingers into his wet hair and let a moan sigh out of her chest. He knew just how much pressure to exert before pulling back. She’d tell him about needing a tub for Axl later.

When she could think again.

Twenty minutes later she landed in a heap on Michael’s bed. He’d wrapped her in a towel the size of a damn blanket and carried her out of the bathroom.

He had to. She couldn’t feel her feet.

Between the steam and his relentless need to give her three orgasms for his one—good ratio as far as she was concerned, not that she’d tell him that—she was spent. Someday it would be lovely if she could just sprawl out on a huge bed and sleep the day away.

She’d gotten to do that in Vegas, of course, but drunk sleep was not the good kind of sleep. Not the kind that followed an orgasm and a day of pampering.

Actually, she was pretty sure she’d never had that kind of a day.

“We have to go get Axl.”

Michael opened up her towel and kissed her inner thigh, then her belly. “We sure do.”

“Do you mind?”

He peered up at her. “Of course not.”

She pushed his hair off his forehead. “I know it’s an imposition.”

He caught her hand and brought it to his cheek. “It’s not. I want to do things for you guys. It’s my job now.”

“It’s not your job to take care of me—of us.”

“I want to.”

She sighed. “I’ll find a job as soon as I can, then we’ll be—”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” She struggled to sit up, and tugged the towel closed again. Being naked with this man often put a halt to conversation. And she needed to be clear-headed just now.

“Look at this place. It’s huge. I have another bedroom that we can turn into a nursery, or big boy room or whatever. You know, for Axl.”

“Michael, we’re moving so fast.”

“I know, and I don’t want to scare you. Really, I don’t, but I like being needed.”

“That is not the basis of a relationship.” She slid off the bed and hauled her suitcase onto the chair in the corner. She pulled out underwear and dragged them up over her damp skin.

He moved to his wardrobe and started tugging out clothes. “I said we could go slow last night. I meant it.” He hopped into jeans, tugging them up over purple boxers. He left them unzipped as he walked to her. “But why not just chill out for a little while? You’ve been working your ass off since before the little man was born, right?”

She snapped her bra, and pulled her shirt over her head before turning to him. “I’ve been working since I hit double digits, Michael.”

He closed his eyes for a second then crossed to her. “You’re more than due for some Mom and Axl time, don’t you think?”

“Of course I’d love to stay home with him.” She’d missed so much. Lucky for her Lori had FaceTimed Axl’s first steps, but there’s been a hundred other milestones she’d failed to be a part of. She tried like hell not to think of them as failures, but there’d been so many she’d lost count.

“Then do it. I can afford to do this.”

“I’d be taking adv—”

He grasped her upper arms. “Don’t even say that word. The mere fact that you are so worried about it negates the whole aspect of taking advantage of anyone.”

“Were you a lawyer in a past life or something?”

“Mathlete actually.” He hauled her into his arms, holding her close until she curled her arms around his back. “Caltech if you want the down and dirty details. Though I prefer our kind of dirty details.”

She dropped her forehead against his chest. “I knew that. I Googled you remember?”

He laughed. “I only lasted two semesters. The guitar was way more interesting.”

She peered up at him. “You still had to have the grades to get in.”

“Somehow I doubt your grades sucked.”

“Advanced placement for everything. Even got a scholarship, but then the funding got cut and I couldn’t get enough loans to cover.”

“Then go back to school.”

“Michael…”

He cupped her face. “We’ll take it a day at a time for now, okay?”

She blew out a breath. “Okay.”

“Now let’s go get him.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Because she’d need the rest of the day to figure out how she was going to get everything out of her house by the end of tomorrow.

She was texting Lori and her father as they left the apartment and went down the elevator. Michael stopped at the front desk and set her up with access to the building.

“What’s your license plate?”

She blinked at him while mid-text with her dad. “What?”

He laughed. “Your license plate. You have a car right?”

“No. It was pay for an apartment, or car and car insurance. Apartment won.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Well, we’ll be fixing that.”

“No. We’ll be fine.” No way she was going to allow him to buy her a car.

“Chloe, I live in Malibu. There’s no busses. At least none that come up here.”

“Oh.” The busses went everywhere, dammit. She’d never had to worry about it. Sure, she had to carry mace and learn a bit of self-defense, but she hadn’t been hassled overmuch when using public transportation.

The guy at the desk cleared his throat. “Miss Adams has been added to the system. We’ll have a key ready for her by this afternoon.”

“Great.” Michael smiled at the man, then eased her away from the desk and through the lobby. “You’ll have access to the gym and the café, both are twenty-four hours. There’s a daycare on the third floor as well. I don’t know much about that part though. We’ll look it up on the building’s website when I get home tonight.”

Her head was spinning with all the info.

Michael took her hand as they left. He smiled at Barney and Chloe gave him a distracted half wave.

“The parking garage has an elevator that goes right upstairs. That’s why we went out the front. I wanted to make sure you could get in.”

“Thanks.” Michael always managed to keep her off-balance with his endless kindness.

Then again, it seemed like he had a whole checklist going on in his head.

“How long have you been planning this?”

“Hmm?” He was checking his phone with his free hand.

“You are way too good on the details, pal.”

He stopped and slid his phone into his pocket. “I told you I wanted you to live with me.” He shrugged. “I looked into it.”

“And I walked right into your master plan.” She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t get me evicted, right?”

“No, but that would’ve been pretty genius, if a bit creepy. I don’t want to control your life, Red. I just want you to be in mine.”

“What the hell am I supposed to say to that?”

“Thanks?” He tipped his head, giving her a grin. “I promise to pay you back in sexual favors?”

She tugged her hand out of his and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m no whore.”

“Oh, Jesus. I didn’t mean it like that.” He grabbed both of her hands. “I swear.”

She couldn’t even pretend to be upset. Michael didn’t have an asshole bone in his body when it came to them as a couple. He just expected sex because he was a horny male that loved having sex with her.

And she liked having sex with him, too. “Forget I said that. I’m just being sensitive.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I love all your sensitive parts.”

“And there’s the pervert.”

He clasped her hand again. “I’m your pervert.”