Unraveling Midnight (16 page)

“What? Am I hurting you? I’m too big—”

“I’m not ready to have puppies, Scott,” she wailed.

“Puppies? What the—”

It hit him—he wasn’t wearing a condom and of course to her since they’d spoke so much about fertility and mating, it meant he was a walking breeding machine. He knew very well she wasn’t near her fertile cycle and there was no way in hell she’d actually have puppies, but she probably didn’t.

“Puppies? No, no puppies, honey, and you’re not—”

Instead of trying to explain, Scott stopped and reached into his nightstand. Not that he had a huge assortment of condoms waiting for him. He’d bought some after Lucy had started staying over, just in case. He was glad he’d had the foresight to make the purchase. Pulling out was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he smelled Lucy’s immediate relief when he sheathed up with the little piece of plastic.

“Okay, come back, right now,” she commanded.

He didn’t love the condom, but the added lube around it made things more slippery and gave him all sorts of wicked ideas for future nocturnal activities. Lucy moaned and tried to pull him tighter with every thrust. Her nails caught on his back and butt, dragging over his flesh and threatening to take him over an edge he didn’t want to cross until Lucy was screaming his name over and over.

“Scott, Scott. Oh, a little harder, a little—oh, oh.”

There was one orgasm, he thought, setting a new goal to help him focus on not losing his load yet. She deserved more from him and he wanted her to think back on their first time together and get so hot she clawed him down again. He thought her yelling would ease back as the orgasm did, but she kept crying out, the muscles surrounding his cock never ceasing to contract. She grabbed him by the ears and pulled him down, devouring his mouth. Her tongue invaded his mouth like he was invading her and his control snapped. Why the hell had he thought he could hold back?

He planted his hands on either side of her shoulders and braced himself as his hips took on a mind of their own, slamming harder with each move. She took every inch of him, meeting him with every thrust and encouraging him to do more.

Even with his mouth on hers, she managed to scream and, even muffled, the jubilant cries were music to his ears. She jerked and moaned hard in his arms and he had to be done. He would have loved to hear one more yell and feel another climax around his cock, but he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Oh hell,” he muttered, biting back the need to growl in case it startled her out of their intense moment. “Lucy. Hell.”

He braced on his elbows and stayed deep inside her, but finally let his body relax as he strove to catch his breath. There was so much more he wanted to do. He hadn’t kissed her nearly enough and he was certain only one nipple had gotten moderate attention. That left multiple delicious square inches for him to lick and explore as soon as he had fifteen minutes to recover.

* * * *

It came from nowhere and erupted before Lucy could even attempt to stop it. The giggling. She slammed her hands over her mouth as the situationally inappropriate laughter bubbled out of her. The last thing she wanted was for Scott to think she was laughing at him and she wasn’t sure the words were lined up in her mind yet to explain it all. He shoved up on his hands again, sweat rolling down the sides of his face. He wasn’t the only one who was sweating, but Lucy preferred to think she glowed in the moonlight shining through the bedroom window.

His cocked eyebrow did little to help her gain composure, and she giggled more. “I’m sorry,” she said through the laughter. “I just, I think I’m slightly overwhelmed.”

He grinned. “You know, a lesser male might get a complex if his female started laughing after finishing their first sexual encounter. Luckily, I know how you work.”

He dug his fingers into her sides.

She giggled and squirmed. “You’re not helping!”

“Why would I?” he asked. “Hearing you laugh is the best sound. And did you know your whole body laughs?”

There was no forgetting about the part of him that remained buried within her, but the reminder and wiggling dislodged him. She wished him back. Immediately following a long shower and some sleep, she’d have him there.

Scott propped up on his elbow, only half covering her with his body. The giggles slowly ebbed, but looking at him made her so happy she knew she still grinned like a fool. He ran a gentle finger down the side of her face, tucking a strand of her hair away from her eyes.

“I love seeing you this happy. I’m going to remember this moment forever.”

His loving words sobered her up. He was so romantic, so…everything.

“I love you. I can’t wait to make tons of memories like tonight’s with you.” She stroked his ribs with her palms. “I want to say I wish we hadn’t waited so long because that was awesome and I know we’ll never get enough, but I’m really glad everything happened like this. I love you.”

He leaned down and rubbed his nose to hers, the gesture as special as the man himself. “I love you too. If the giggles are done, can we lie down together and relax? I want to spend the rest of the night petting you.”

“Petting me?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Yep. I didn’t get to touch you all over last time. I want to now.”

“Oh.” What a lovely idea. She’d let him pet her wherever, whenever he wanted. “Sounds good to me.”

Chapter 16

Lucy woke with a sleepy yawn. She smiled and yawned again. Sex was supposed to be good, but she hadn’t known what else it could be. The whole mating-for-life thing suddenly made a whole lot of sense. With a first and second time so good, she could only imagine what lovemaking would be when they actually knew what each other liked. Petting—the man was a genius.

She looked over at Scott, still asleep and taking up more than his fair share of the bed. She didn’t mind. He’d already shown her in the past when they’d slept together that there was always room snug in his arms.

They were going to have so much fun together. She couldn’t wait to find out what she liked with him because she knew the list was going to be long, varied and entertaining. And knowing she wouldn’t have puppies took a lot of the worry out of the wonderful act. They had three kids—plenty for the moment. When they did decide to have more, Scott had assured her she would have a perfect little baby—not a puppy.

But she wasn’t thinking about that anymore. She was famished and the need for food drove the deeper thoughts aside. She hadn’t eaten much pizza at dinner and according to the alarm clock, breakfast was too far away to try to sleep. Her system wasn’t accustomed to the late-night acrobatics and demanded sustenance. Pudding. Suddenly ravenous, she could no longer resist the allure of the waiting chocolate pudding. She kissed Scott’s cheek. He smiled but didn’t bother to open his eyes.

Since he wasn’t offering to join her, she wasn’t going to bring him a snack. Fighting a naughty giggle, she climbed over him. After she finished eating she was going to spend the rest of the night keeping him awake.

The house was quiet and dark as she made her way through the hall. The space had been kept pitch black at night when she started spending more time there. Scott had taken pity on her and added a few nightlights after she stubbed her toes. The kids didn’t need the light with their freaky awesome eyesight, but her poor human eyes weren’t up for the challenge.

She followed the dim lights to the kitchen and went straight to the treats drawer. There were fruits and veggies in the crisper, but they weren’t going to cut it for late night decadence. Those could wait for another time. Chocolate pudding, however, could not. She jumped up and sat on the counter, her feet swinging well off the floor. When was the last time she’d been so completely happy and free?

Her feet paused. Never. She’d never felt so wonderful. Scott gave that to her by loving her, she realized.

She’d always thought she loved and took care of herself. She’d certainly respected herself, but now she could very clearly see there was more. So much more. Brad had loved her and she’d adored him, but this was different. It should be. Scott wasn’t Brad, would never be him and there was no use feeling guilty. She’d loved him the best she could and she was going to do the same for Scott.

He said she didn’t have to change, but she would. She’d take a few cooking classes and maybe take a parenting class as well. She wanted to be an effective stepmother. Their own mother had been ill—Lucy had to think of her as such, otherwise the facts she knew made her want to dig up the woman and smack her. Anyone who could treat their daughter badly and try to hurt her sons… It was wrong. Lucy’s own mother had been ill as well. Drugs had done her in eventually, but Lucy’d had her grandmother. Lucy knew she would never really be the kids’ mom, just as her grandma wasn’t her mother. Still, she could do her best and they had every opportunity to do great together.

She licked the back of her spoon, her pudding depleting rapidly. Maybe a book. She could get a few books on parenting and cooking and read them while the workmen finished the shop details. Her adventure could be one more goal to keep her focused and busy until the shop was ready. She laughed to herself, careful to stay quiet with the kids down the hall. With her luck she’d get hit with everything at once since she was actually making plans. Oh well, family was worth the stress.

And Scott, he definitely was worth any late-night studying she might undertake. She wondered if he’d be interested in joining her in her educational journey. She could find a few other kinds of books too. Perhaps something about pleasing a big man in bed. She grinned, feeling very naughty as she licked the last of her pudding from the cup. Or maybe she’d nix the last book. Some things were better discovered through lots and lots of experience.

She tossed her trash in the garbage and took a little drink of water with her new endeavor in mind. There was never a better time to start learning than the present. She set her cup aside and froze when something out the window caught her eye. Scott had joked about how no raccoons or squirrels hung around their house anymore, so she knew the movement hadn’t come from them. The backyard was fenced in and whatever had moved was within its barrier. She ducked to the side of the window, but kept watching, hoping she was wrong.

Nothing moved. While Lucy knew her imagination could be wild, she also knew a real bump when she heard it. Outside the kitchen door was a patio and she heard something…something that was turning the door handle. Damn Scott for never locking the freaking door.

There was no time to yell for Scott and if whoever was at the door actually came in, the kids were only a room away. Her breath caught in her chest and she looked for some kind of weapon. Knives would have been the logical answer, but the first thing she saw was her new knitting tote. She’d only just bought the needles. They’d been wicked expensive, but she’d looked at them as an investment and when she pulled them from the tote, she was grateful for their length and unrelenting points.

The knob on the door turned in earnest, her heartbeats marking the moments in suspended time. No one was supposed to be coming. Scott had made it very clear that he was a lone wolf and had to take special care with his kids. Whoever was entering wasn’t welcome.

“Lucy? Are you up?”

The sound of Jessie’s voice did what nothing else could have done when it came as the door opened. Spurred on by the feral need to protect the child, Lucy launched at the dark figure entering in the house, slashing blindly with the heavy needles. Lucy continued to stab at him despite his yelling. Jessie screamed and within moments, the kitchen exploded into a frenzy. It wasn’t safe yet, her mind shouted as she kept striking out. The intruder was a threat to her family, her pups, her mate. There was no way in hell she was going to let him hurt them.

Someone grabbed her from behind and Lucy fought the new attacker, trying to pierce the hands with the bloody needles so she could get back to the real threat.

“Whoa, whoa. Lucy, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Let me go. We can’t let him hurt the kids. Jessie—”

“You got him, Lucy,” Scott said, his voice calm and soothing, like he was attempting to calm a crazed animal. “You got him good and there’s no way he’ll ever hurt the kids now.”

“So why is he still there?” she demanded, kicking her feet out at the man groaning on the ground. “You’d better run before he lets me go.”

“He’s a friend, honey,” Scott said and she froze, suddenly feeling like a fool. She’d overreacted and this time she’d hurt a friend. “You didn’t know. All you knew was that he was coming in the back way and being sneaky. You couldn’t have done a more perfect job. He deserved to be skewered, right, Owen?”