Sawyer

by Kathi S. Barton

  Chapter 7

  The hotel was nicer than he’d ever been in before. Of course, this was only the second time he’d been in one, but he had a feeling that this one was the best there was. Picking up the champagne bottle that was on ice, he read the label before putting it back in the coldness of the icy container.

  There was a basket of fruit too—from the hotel, it said on the label, for their wedding bliss. He wanted to take an apple or two to eat—he’d not eaten enough at home earlier—but he didn’t know what to do to get the basket uncovered. He thought of ripping the plastic off it, but he wanted Raven to pick out what she wanted before he destroyed it.

  “Are you nervous?” He turned to look at Raven, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed. “I am, if that helps. I’ve never been married, but I have a child. It hadn’t occurred to me that you might not want to have a ready-made family.”

  “I love Molly and the rest of your family.” He thought about telling her that he loved her too, but he wasn’t sure that she could handle that so quickly in this relationship. Raven asked him if that meant her mom, if he loved her too. “She might not be one to love me back, but I respect her for having a daughter that I could marry. Why are you nervous? Are you afraid of me?”

  “No. I don’t have any idea why, but I’m not afraid of you. Nor anyone in your family, as a matter of fact.” He sat down next to her on the bed. Sawyer asked her how she felt about being a cat. “I’m not sure on that one either. I’m glad that you saved my life. I’d hate to leave Molly alone. My grandmother wouldn’t have survived having someone taken from her again. She lost it big time when Grandda died. I think that Molly is the only thing that kept her from joining him.”

  “That’s the way our kind is. When a mate dies, no matter how, it is hard on them. They only want to join them in the afterlife. I’m not sure that I believe in the hereafter, not like they do, but I do believe that there is a higher power that keeps us going for one reason or another.” She smiled at him. “I guess I am nervous. I’m a large man, and you’re so delicate. I could easily break some part of you and not mean it.” Raven pushed him back on the bed and sat across his lap. “You’re very aggressive, aren’t you?”

  “I go after what I want.” Raven unbuttoned his shirt, then kissed his chest. He could feel his cock stretching beneath her, and wanted to flip her to her back and take her, but she was having so much fun he wanted to let her have her way with him. “You’re just going to let me do this to you?”

  “Yes, so long as you realize that I get to have my way with you too.” She seemed to think on it a little while, but he wasn’t worried. Either she had her fill of him, or he’d take his fill from her. “What do you think of that offer?”

  “I can live with it. But I’d like it better if you were naked beneath me.” He thought that was an excellent idea as well. “If I get up and off you for you to undress, you’ll let me have my fun, won’t you?”

  “Absolutely.” She got off him, and he watched her as she disrobed. Her body was perfect, he thought. Supple and toned up. He wanted to take her right now. “I do have one request for you, however.”

  “All right. What is it?” Her eyes darkened and her face flushed with need. “You wouldn’t mind if I did the same to you? Swallowed you down the back of my throat.”

  “No. I said you could have as much fun as you wanted. Remember?” Finally naked, he got back on the bed, his body stretched out before her. When she climbed back up him, using his legs as leverage, he nearly cried out when she held his erection in her hand. “You’re killing me.”

  When she had trouble guiding him into her sheath, he held himself up so that she could slide over him. As soon as he moved past the swollen lips of her pussy, he felt her take him into her like she’d just taken him into her throat. Crying out, she sat over him without moving as he tried to catch his breath.

  She rode him as if she’d never done it before. He was happy that she had no more experience, and also thrilled that she hadn’t enough practice at it that she killed him. Christ, she was taking his body to heights that he’d never been to before with a woman.

  Her hands touched him everywhere she could reach. Sawyer loved it when she sipped at his nipples, tweaked them hard then softly. The sounds that came from her throat were hungry sounding, like she had taken him as a cat.

  When Raven began to ride him harder, a little faster, he watched as she cupped her breasts into her palms. The way she played with her own nipples, making them pinker than before, stiffer too. He wanted to sit up and take the morsels into his mouth, to taste her like she had him, but he’d promised to let her play, and he was going to do it even if it killed him.

  Sawyer was on the verge of begging her when she spoke. “Take me, Sawyer. I need to come with you.”

  The thought did occur to him to make her suffer too, to drag out his taking her until she was begging him as well. But as soon as he flipped her and she wrapped her body around his, her slim legs tightening around his hips, it was all he could do not to pound her hard enough to take his own pleasure, leaving hers until the next time. But he should have known she’d still be the aggressor, even though he was on top of her.

  Her body met his with each downward stroke. She moaned each time he pulled her closer to his own body. Taking her mouth, he kissed her with all the need that he had. Raven didn’t back off; she gave as good as she got. And when she dug her nails, the claws of her cat, down his back, he cried out. Not in pain, but from the most intense pleasure he’d ever had.

  “Come for me.” She shook her head, telling him that she needed more. “Come, my love, and I will give you all that I have.”

  She dug her nails deeper, her body bowing up off of the bed. And when he was ready to sob, to beg her to release, she screamed out his name so loudly that he felt his cat roar back at her. It was then that he bit down on her shoulder and emptied himself deep inside of his mate.

  Sawyer took her three more times, bringing her to peak each time he commanded her to come. And when her arms went limp on the bed, he dropped onto her, unsure that he could move for the rest of his life.

  When he woke the room was dark except for the moon shining into the window and across the bed. Raven was still asleep, so he just watched her. There were marks on her body, small bruises that he’d put there when he’d gotten too rough. Sawyer knew that she’d heal quickly, so after kissing her creamy shoulder, he got out of the bed.

  Not bothering with clothing, he made his way to the basket of fruit. Starving, Sawyer unceremoniously tore the plastic paper off the entire thing. Grabbing two of the apples and a handful of grapes, he turned when the light came on.

  “Christ, you are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. If I could paint, I’d paint you as you are now. Naked, with only your fruit to feed you.” She grinned at him. “Bring me something too. I’m starving.”

  Grabbing more of the fruit, he thought about it and shoved all the things he’d taken from it back in and took the entire basket to the bed. Raven pulled the two glasses from the drawer, and he snagged the champagne from the now melted ice as he walked by it.

  Climbing onto the bed with her, he thought about getting them a towel so as not to ruin the sheets, but he saw that they’d torn them up a bit when their cats had marked their mates. Grinning, he found a knife buried deep in the basket, and started cutting pieces of apple and feeding them to her.

  “I think we’re going to owe a deposit or something for this room. We’ve made a mess of it.” She told him that her grandma owned it. “Well, that clears things up. I just noticed that the basket’s card said the Addington staff. I guess that’s not going to be your staff at your home.”

  “I’m sure they’re planning something. By the way, I was going to ask you something earlier and got sidetracked. My dad has it in his head that he’s going to have you come and work for him. While I think that you’d be good
at what he has in mind, I was wondering if you could tell him that you’d like to divide your time between his offices and ours.” Sawyer told her that he’d not mentioned what he’d be doing. “Oh, sorry. Security. He wants you to get his in shape. There have been a few incidents over the last few months, and it’s because the security team was so lacking in knowledge about things. Since he and M other are divorcing, I’m betting that he wants to make sure that she can’t get into the place. Not that I think she’s ever been there before, but he loves the people that work for him as much as I do.”

  “I can do that. But I’m not as sharp on it as someone with experience would be. Can I have a couple of those grapes before you eat them all?” Laughing, she fed him some of them like in the pictures he’d seen in the museum once—the man draped out on a couch and a woman feeding grapes to him from above. “I’d like to talk to you about adopting Molly, too. I want her to be my child in name, if you’re all right with that.”

  “I am, but you’ll need to speak to her about it as well. That’s a big decision, and I think that she should be able to answer for herself.” Raven kissed him and laid back on the bed. “I’m stuffed. Exhausted too, I think.”

  He put the basket on the floor with the now empty bottle, and laid down with her. She was warm, thanks to her cat, and she curled around him as if they were in the deep woods trying to keep warm. Raven asked him to tell her about being a cat.

  “I don’t know what I could tell you, honey. I’ve been one all my life, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin in telling you about my other half. I can tell you about myself, if you want. Your grandma, she and Molly, gave me a lot of details on you.” She told him she doubted any of it was true. “I think everything they told me is true. You’re kind and generous. You’re also strong, and aren’t afraid to step in where there is an extra hand needed. Molly thinks that you’re super mom.”

  “She would. I love that child so much, Sawyer. I never thought, after her father told me that he was married, that I’d love anything or anyone again. It was in my head to put her up for adoption when she was born. But the first time she moved inside of me, I knew that I could never do that to us. Then when Schaller was killed, I started thinking that she’d be my only love. Then you came along.” Sawyer pulled her chin up so that he could look her in the eyes. “I didn’t think I was going to like you, much less love you, Sawyer. When I found out that you changed me into a cat, I wanted to hate you for that too. But all I could think about was that I’d not died. That I was going to live for a while longer. Falling in love with you was easy after I saw the way you stood up for Molly and myself. My mother is not one to back down when she’s cornered.”

  “Neither am I. I’ve been around the worst kind of criminals and come out on top. Not always unscathed, but a better man for it. When I retired, it wasn’t because I’d had enough of the job, but because I’d had a stupid partner who thought that his way was the only way. He wasn’t the first new guy I had, but he ended up being the last. I was not going to be shipped home in a box because some idiot decided that firing his weapon was easier than talking things through.” He pulled her closer to his body. “I love you too, Raven. I think I have since the first time I saw you. You were hooked up to machines that were breathing for you, something to keep track of your heart beats, and a couple of machines that I have no earthly idea what they did except sing a song that told me you were alive. Despite all that, I knew from the moment that I saw you in the parking lot of your building that you were my mate.”

  “Oh, so it’s just my money you don’t care for, is that it?” He wondered where she’d gotten that. “You told my grandma that we weren’t suited to each other because of how we were different classes or some shit. I’ll have you know that even though I came from money—we’ve been rich since way before my mother was born—I’ve always worked hard. I do a lot of charity works. I donate a great deal of my time and efforts to other—”

  He put his hand over her mouth. When she kissed the palm of his hand, he pulled it away and kissed her mouth.

  “I love that you have money. Does that calm you down a bit?” She nodded. “I don’t know how good I’ll be at being rich with you. I mean, I can stand where you tell me. Wear what you want me to. I’ve become very good at following directions. But I have to have an income. I don’t mind helping you and your father out, but I do need to have a job.”

  “Did you think that you were being asked to do this security detailing because you’re married to me?” He told her that he didn’t mind doing it, but no, he didn’t expect anyone to pay him for it. “Why not? I mean, you’re offering us your expertise. Of course you’ll be paid.”

  “It’s all right. I don’t mind.”

  He held her to him, hoping that he could change the subject. He loved that she had money. But for him, it wasn’t pride that had him wanting to work. It was the need to feel useful to himself. He didn’t think that would go over any better than him doing the work they asked him to do for free. The Addington’s were sure funny about their money.

  ~*~

  “Sir, there is a suit there for you to wear should you want. Mrs. Addington said that she’d prefer that you wore it, but you could come as you are.” Since Dwayne had no idea what he was going to be doing, he pulled open the box and whistled. “If you don’t mind me saying, sir, I think that will look very nice on you. Not many men can pull off a three piece pinstriped suit.”

  “Thanks.” Dwayne was a cat, and not at all shy about his body. Pulling off his clothing, he decided to ask Carl, the driver, what was going to happen today. “I mean, am I going to be a secretary or a mail boy? If you ask me, this suit screams something like a bauble. You know, a younger man to hang on the arm of a very beautiful older woman.”

  The man nearly wrecked the limo, he was so shocked. Laughing a little as he pulled off his jeans, Dwayne told Carl that he was sorry, but he was very nervous. The pants fit him well, as did the white silk shirt and pants. The shoes were a little tight, so he wore the ones he had on. But he did try and polish them up a bit with his old shirt.

  “I believe that you’ll be going to meetings with Mrs. Addington at first. She did mention to me that she thought that you’d be a powerhouse in making people see reason.” The first thing that popped into his head was that she’d hired him as a hit man, so to speak. Bring out his cat and people would do what she wanted. “She’s a good woman, Mrs. Addington. But men tend to see her as a doddering old woman who is only playing at being head of a multi-billion dollar company. Mr. Addington, he knew who ran the company, and would seek her advice on every detail that was brought up. After he died, she sort of lost interest in a great many things, including life. That was until little Miss Molly came along.”

  “I don’t think she needs me as badly as she thinks. I’ve seen her take command of a room and hold their attention until she made her point.” Carl said that she was good at that, but what she lacked, in his opinion, was the nerve to tell a man to sit down and shut up. “So, I’m the heavy in this?”

  “I don’t know that for sure, but if she sees something in you that made her hire you, then you can bet that you should have been that all your life. Take me, for instance. I was a homeless man just back from a tour of duty. My wife and children had left me. My house was repossessed because as a service man, my checks didn’t make it to the bank on time and the bank foreclosed on it. I was ready to chuck it all and be done with it when she picked me up and shook some since into my noodle, and hired me as her driver. She said that a man that had lived on the streets as much as I did must know them pretty well. I did, and we’ve been working well together since, I think.”

  “What do you see me as?” He glanced at him in the mirror next to him. Dwayne was trying to get his tie to work, never having worn one before, when he looked at the older man. “That bad, huh?”

  “I see you as being anything you wish to be. And if you don’t mi
nd me saying so, you could run the company for her and do a good job of it.” Dwayne asked if he thought she was going to give him some kind of head job. “I don’t know. But as I said, you’ll be good at it.”

  When they pulled to the curb, he was still fussing with his tie. Carl opened the door for him and took Dwayne’s tie off him and threw it in the back seat of the limo. Brushing some lint off his coat jacket, he told him he looked fit for any job.

  Entering the building, he was met by a woman by the name of Nancy. She looked like one of the schoolteachers that had been in story books he’d read as a child. All she needed to fit the part was a ruler in her hand. She was spouting off things that he was doing today like he knew what the hell he was doing. He put up his hand, and she stopped talking.

  “I was to meet Mrs. Addington here this morning.” She said that her meeting was where they were headed first. “Okay then. Perhaps you can tell me what it is I’m going to be doing for her.”

  “She told me to tell you to be yourself. That was what she had hired you for.” Dwayne said that he wasn’t sure that was going to work, he was a farmer. “Yes, but I’m to understand that you have skills that will suit this company well. Mrs. Holly also said to tell you not to knock, but to come right in as if you own the place. That is what, she told me, you were good at. Taking a passion for something and making it yours.”

  “I don’t understand.” They were moving again, and entered an elevator all by themselves even though there were several people waiting. The beautifully decorated cavern shot up the shaft, and they were getting out again in only seconds. Nancy led him to the door. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.”

  “You’ll do fine, Mr. Bishop. And if you need anything, just ask anyone for Nancy and I’ll be there for you. Your office is on the seventh floor, and your secretary is Lisa James. You do us proud, Mr. Bishop.”