I winked. “Let’s go.”
***
When I walked into the house an hour later, chocolate milk in one hand and a fuckin’ dozen cupcakes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors, it was to find Castiel and Turner on the couch, with Theo nowhere in sight.
Castiel looked up, grinned at me, and then looked back toward the television.
Only, that lasted for all of three seconds before he was standing up and staring at me in horror.
“Castiel,” I said before he could speak. “I would like you to meet Linnie, Theo’s daughter.”
Castiel looked like he was about to throw up.
Turner looked confused.
And Theo, who was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looked confused.
“Momma!” Linnie called out, running toward her.
The chocolate milk jug that she was filling her cup with came out faster than intended, causing the cup to overfill. I watched as my white rug got its first stain ever on it.
I couldn’t find it in me to care.
Theo dropped down on one knee and held her hands out for Linnie, who barreled into them. The chocolate milk spilled all down Theo’s side, but she looked like she wasn’t bothered either.
Our eyes met over the top of the little girl’s head, and I winked as I mouthed, ‘later.’
She nodded her head and squeezed Linnie tighter.
“You got me a cupcake?” she asked, pulling back slightly.
“Yes!” Linnie cheered. “We also got Mr. Castiel and Ms. Turner one. Mr. Liner said we couldn’t leave them out since they were staying here with you. Though we got Ms. Turner a special low calorie one seeing as Liner said she had ‘belly’ surgery.”
She actually went as far as to use actual air quotes.
Jesus Christ, the kid was cute.
And talkative for a five, almost six-year-old.
I hadn’t met one that talked as much as that one.
Then again, I wasn’t around kids all that much, either.
I didn’t have any brothers and sisters, which meant no nieces and nephews.
I also wasn’t around the MC’s kids a lot either. Not because I didn’t want to be, but because I worked too goddamn much.
Turner snickered and smiled. Castiel still looked pale.
I gestured for him to follow me outside, and he did.
“What the fuck, Liner?” he asked, looking shaken to the core.
“Before you ask, it’s not his.” I held out my phone, and he looked at the results of the DNA test. “I had them both tested the other day.”
Castiel seemed to deflate before my eyes. “Thank fuckin’ God.”
Chapter 14
Sometimes I think, screw it. I’ll just be a stripper.
Then I remember that my ass is bony and I have stretch marks galore.
-Text from Theo to Liner
Theo
I waited until he was in the shadows with me before throwing my arms around him and burying my face into his chest.
“Thank you,” I said softly to the man that had just given my world to me.
Liner’s arms went around me, and he pulled me close. “Thank you for what? Doing the right thing?”
I turned and pressed my lips to his neck, causing him to shiver.
That had crossed a line, but I couldn’t find it in myself to stop.
Linnie was now officially in my room, sleeping without a care in the world.
The alarm was set, and Monster was at the foot of her bed, refusing to leave.
Monster and Linnie had hit it off well. Linnie had never had a dog before and Monster had never really been around any kids. Seeing the two together you’d never really think that. They looked like they’d been together forever.
I leaned my head back until I could see Liner’s face.
“Did my brother look all right?” I asked, trying to tone down the riot of emotions that were rolling through me at an alarming rate.
I wanted him.
Again.
I wanted him badly, too.
“He was okay,” Liner admitted, letting go of one of my hips so that he could tuck a piece of my hair behind my head.
The door down the hall opened, and both of us looked over our shoulders at the woman that hurried toward the kitchen. She didn’t see us in the shadows, but if she had, she would’ve had some questions. Not that she would’ve asked us those questions.
“I like her,” I admitted softly. “The fact that she cared about Linnie and Linnie only, definitely showed today.”
Liner sighed and tugged lightly on my hand, pulling me into his room.
He didn’t shut the door all the way due to Linnie being down the hall, but he did close it the majority of the way so that we wouldn’t be overheard.
“Castiel’s a good man,” Liner admitted. “But he’s a cop, first and foremost. It’s hard for him to see past the ‘evidence’ so to speak.”
“He looked me up?” she guessed.
I nodded. “I’m sure he did that the moment that he could do it without alerting people that you were alive.”
I sighed. “I don’t like that people don’t like me.”
Liner pulled me into his chest as he said, “What other people think about you is irrelevant. What matters most is what I think about you.” He paused. “And soon, even that won’t matter since you’re going to be gone, starting a new life where none of us—of this—matters anymore.”
I looked around the room at where his wide sweep of his arm indicated and felt my heart clench.
I didn’t want to leave him.
But he was right.
Tomorrow, it was time to think about the big picture—about how my family could very well make Linnie’s life a living hell just like they did mine.
Honestly, I was lucky that they hadn’t seen a use for her until now.
Linnie was five years old. Right now all she should’ve been worrying about was how much television she was watching, what time school started in the morning, and whether or not she was needing to go to bed early or not.
Instead, before she’d fallen asleep, she was worrying about why my eyes were so sad, and why Liner looked like he was readying for a war when he locked down the house for the night.
I really should go back, but I couldn’t pull myself out of his arms.
Not knowing that tomorrow night, I wouldn’t have this for the rest of my life.
“You should go back to your room,” Liner said, echoing my thoughts.
I should.
“I don’t want to,” I whispered. “I want to be in your arms for a little bit longer.”
The brutal honesty didn’t hurt to admit.
And the tightening of his arms around me felt like a whisper, a declaration, that he felt the same.
Not that he admitted it or anything.
He didn’t really need to, though.
I could read between the lines just like he could.
I skimmed my hands down the length of his sides, loving the way he was so hot and warm, hard all over, as I explored.
He allowed me to, running his hands up and down the length of my back.
We both knew where this was going.
Or, at least, I did.
I knew, and I wanted it badly.
Though, saying that, I knew that we shouldn’t.
What it was going to do was remind me of what I wouldn’t have for the rest of my life.
Sure, another man would come along—at least that was what Turner said this morning when she’d heard the whole sordid tale from me. But that man wouldn’t be Josiah ‘Liner’ Paldecki.
He’d be another man. One that didn’t know anything at all about me.
One that didn’t know my struggles.
One that didn’t know anything other than the fake me.
One that didn’t like me despite those things.
Because that was what Liner sho
wed me as he suddenly picked me up and carried me to his bed.
That, despite everything he knew about me, and who my family was, he liked me anyway.
I felt emotion start to rise as it filled my chest and I lost the ability to speak.
Instead, I ran one hand up Liner’s chest and snaked it around his neck, pulling him down so that he’d kiss me and hopefully take away all my pain.
Pain at the thought of losing him.
At the thought of never having his hands run up and down my sides again like he was doing to me now.
“Take my shirt off,” I urged, loving the sensations of his hands sliding up over my cotton pants and my t-shirt, but knowing that the sensation of his hands against my bare skin would feel so much better.
“Probably best if we keep our clothes on,” he suggested. “Or at least most of them,” he said as he pulled my sleep pants free from my body.
I laughed, which quickly turned into a strangled moan as he descended down the bed.
My heartbeat started to quicken as he made room between my thighs with his large, wide shoulders.
I reached up and caught the pillow that he used every night, then brought it down over my face as he took the first swipe of my slit with his tongue.
Oh, God.
That’d felt so good.
Then he did it again.
And again.
And again.
Over and over he licked me, tasting me.
Then he started to swirl that same devilish tongue around my clit, flicking and teasing.
And his beard.
Oh, my God. His beard was divine.
I’d, of course, really enjoyed running my fingers over the neatly maintained beard.
It wasn’t long but definitely wasn’t short.
It was so thick that you wouldn’t expect it to be so soft.
But it was soft…until he was running his mouth between your legs. Then soft became divine.
It was the perfect abrasiveness as he slowly swirled his tongue, and subsequently his entire head, around and around.
My heels dug into the bed and my hands went to his hair, clenching the hair that was barely long enough for me to sink my fingers into it.
And then his fingers came into the mix, just one, swirling around the very tip of my entrance.
I nearly swallowed my tongue when said finger started to slowly sink inside, inch by inch, until I could feel his knuckles against my skin.
I shivered hard as things inside me began to tighten.
That shiver turned to a downright body locking orgasm when he sucked my clit into his mouth and curled the digit inside of me.
The two things sent me catapulting right over the edge.
It wasn’t until he was climbing up between my thighs and angling his cock toward my entrance that I realized that I’d blanked out for a few long seconds.
Though the way my body was still tingling, and aftershocks were still rocking through me, I could see why.
The pillow moved and suddenly I found myself facing a very pleased Liner as he stared down into my face.
Our eyes connected, and he watched me gaze up at him as he slowly settled inside me. His cock was a steady pressure as he sank inside, and my body started to move on its own accord conveying my soundless plea to urge him to go faster as well as help get him inside of me completely.
He reached down and pulled one of my legs up, pressing it out and wide, allowing him more room to maneuver. The movement caused him to descend another slow inch inside of me.
I licked my lips and couldn’t decide where I wanted to look.
His eyes were bright and focused directly on me.
But then there were his abs that were clenching and unclenching as he slowly moved, back and forth, as he worked his substantial length in.
And then there was where we were joined. That? Well, that was something that I couldn’t look at.
Not for more than a brief glance, anyway.
It was too hot. Too perfect. Too…temporary.
He was thick. So thick, in fact, that he looked almost obscene as he worked himself into my pussy.
“You feel so good,” he growled, causing me to move my gaze back to his eyes.
“You feel better,” I countered.
He snorted and dropped down onto his elbows, bringing our faces close and pressing my legs farther into my chest.
My breasts behind my t-shirt felt swollen and sensitive, and I wanted nothing more than to feel his hands on them again.
I wanted his hands everywhere, in fact.
On my breasts.
On my ass as he pumped away inside of me, clenching and unclenching his fists.
On my legs, spreading them apart.
Everywhere all at once.
I wanted him.
Twice wasn’t going to be enough.
I knew it deep down to the bottom of my soul.
I pressed my lips to his and curled my tongue around his, tentatively at first until he was taking control of the kiss.
His hips met the back of my thighs, and suddenly I felt every single one of his solid inches exactly where they were supposed to be.
He broke off from the kiss and looked down into my eyes.
“Feel okay?” he asked.
I loved that he was concerned.
I loved even more that he was once again inside of me where I felt like he belonged.
“Yes,” I whispered, eyes soft and pleading. “Now get back down here and kiss me some more.”
He snorted but gave me what I wanted.
His hips moved, slow and steady, and it wasn’t long at all as we were kissing and touching that I realized his movements were getting a little less unsteady.
Squeezing my muscles, I caused him to groan and pull away from the kiss.
“No more of that,” he ordered gruffly.
I squeezed again, testing his limits this time.
What I hadn’t expected was for him to pull out, drag me off the bed, and then take me to the floor.
“Liner,” I gasped as quietly as I could. “What the hell?”
“The fucking I want to give you will be loud as hell on that bed,” he explained as he moved me until I was up on my knees beside the bed. “You can’t voice any of those sighs of pleasure out loud, though. Just FYI.”
I felt him line his cock up with my entrance, and before I could agree or disagree, he was once again inside of me.
This new position felt like he’d gotten even farther inside of me. I felt like I could feel him in my throat.
It was everything to me.
Everything I’d ever imagined and wanted rolled all into one exquisite test of torture.
His thrusts were long and hard, slow and sweet.
His large hands framed my hips, and with each thrust of his cock, he pulled them backward so that I was taking all of him and more.
I dropped down onto my elbows, and then even farther so that I could wrap my hand around the base of the nightstand.
When I grabbed hold of it, something underneath of it rolled, but I was too caught up with what was going on between my legs and inside my body to pay attention to what it was on the floor.
Instead, I held on for dear life as he gave me everything he had to give.
I had no clue how long it was until I was on that brink…the one where I knew I was about to come. A couple of minutes. Hours. Hell, it could’ve only been seconds.
My eyes were closed, and my face was rubbing against the rough carpet that seemed so soft beneath my feet but wasn’t so soft when you were touching it with your face.
His knees between my thighs shifted, and all of a sudden one of his feet was now planted beside my knee instead, causing a whole different level of penetration that made me nearly scream as the pleasure of the act assaulted me.
Waves of agony and bliss crashed over me all at once, and I had to turn my face so that my teeth latc
hed onto my arm, muffling my cries of euphoria.
Liner reached forward and brought me back up to my hands, then went a step further until his hands were resting on my shoulders, giving him even more purchase to yank me back into his thrusts.
The pure torture turned into something more, and had he not been holding me up, I would’ve fallen face first onto the carpet and laid there as everything rolled through me.
I heard him grunt in pleasure. Heard him curse.
Then felt the splash of his release hitting my back.
I arched it in reaction, loving the way that he marked me as his.
And I knew that was what it was.
A claiming.
Our breathing was harsh in the darkened room, and I couldn’t decide whether or not to stand up and risk allowing his juices to slide down my back and possibly hit the floor. However, before I could make the decision to stand, he was there helping me by wiping me down…or rubbing it all in.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go back to my room smelling like sex, so he pulled me into his shower—his wonderful shower that I was going to miss very much right along with him—and washed me off.
Being careful not to get my hair wet, he thoroughly cleaned and washed every available surface…then fucked me all over again against the tile wall.
What really was an hour later, he led me to his bed, and I crawled inside, loving when he curled himself around me seconds after climbing in himself.
I pressed a kiss to the bicep that sneaked its way under my head, then closed my eyes and wished my life was different.
That I could have this happy for the rest of my life.
Things inside of my chest were tight, and I was finding it hard to draw air into my lungs through the constriction.
“Just breathe,” he whispered into the darkness.
I laughed, and it came out sounding watery and pitiful.
“You don’t know me, Josiah,” I breathed.
It hurt to breathe.
“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I haven’t known you for long…but I’ve known you long enough to deduce a few things.”
“Yeah?” I asked, trying to sound like I wouldn’t start crying at any second. “What things?”
“I know you’re a good mother. I know that you’re a caring, devoted sister.” He paused. “I know that you care about me and the lives of my friends. I know that you could’ve been like them, or worse after all that they’ve done to you, but you’ve instead turned yourself into someone that your daughter can be proud of.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “I also know that when you’re gone, I’m going to have a hole in my heart shaped like a perfect Theo cutout.”
Snitches Get Stitches (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 8) Page 12