by Lee Savino
Love? I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. "Gramps used to say something like that. That we were his patriotic duty. He'd say he had orders to 'keep his women folk happy.'"
"I'm glad your nan had that. You deserve it, too. Okay?"
"Okay." And I was.
Dane lifted my chin. "Besides, if I left now, half your stuff is at my apartment. I'd just be going home to you." He rested his forehead against mine. "I like going home to you, Cassandra."
Warmth spread through me, and I was back in happy Cassie land. It was a quieter and gentler place than it had been last night, but it was the same place. His arms slid around me again and I relaxed against my Devil Dog, feeling more content than I had in a long time. Since before Gramps died, actually.
"Whatever happens, we'll deal with it," Dane's voice rumbled in his chest, under my ear.
I lifted my head and wrinkled my nose at him. "You certainly dealt with Chad, with your Marine super powers."
He cocked a head at me, smiling.
"Gramps had those, too. Though I don't think he could throw a man across his front lawn with a single push. That was… impressive."
"Glad you think so." He squeezed me and sighed, and I realized Dane was in his happy place too. With me. Maybe he needed someone to look at him like a hero again.
Maybe we both did it for each other.
He misinterpreted my faraway look. "You miss him?"
"Chad?"
"No. Your gramps."
"Yeah. You remind me so much of him."
"That a good thing?"
"Definitely." I stayed quiet for a pause and Dane did what he did best; held me tight, his entire being focused on me. "But I feel really guilty, actually. The last time we had a real conversation, I was here, and we fought over Chad. We disagreed, of course, and I walked out and moved in with Chad. Gramps and I spoke a few times after, but I never got to tell him 'I'm sorry.'" I stared up at Dane, my voice hitching again. "I don't know if he ever forgave me. I don't know if I forgive myself."
"He did," Dane rumbled. I stared up at him, wanting to believe.
To my surprise, he let go of me. "Wait here, baby." He walked off in the direction of the living room and returned from the living room with two framed pictures in hand. He had a funny look on his face as he handed me the frame.
The first was the picture from the storage unit, Gramps in uniform, looking so fierce and proud. The second was of Gramps outside his garage, in more casual clothes. He had his shirt sleeve rolled up to show off a tattoo—a bulldog tattoo exactly like the one on Dane's arm. Beside him, a much skinnier Dane with a shock of brown hair and the same white-toothed grin stood in a mirror pose, shirt sleeve rolled up to show his own bulldog tattoo.
My mouth fell open. "What the—"
"Your nan took that. Few days after I got the tat. I based mine off his."
"You knew him? I mean, I knew that you'd met them, but you knew him?"
"Hung out with him all the time. Just out of high school, helped my brother set up the auto shop. Felt like I was spinning my wheels, killing time before I got to do what I really wanted to do. Your gramps saw me hanging around the VFW, took me under his wing." Dane lifted the picture out of my hands and I let him. "We'd shoot pool, then go home and your nan would have the table set and dinner waiting... or the grill set up for us to cook. Sometimes he'd bring her daisies, and when your gramps walked in they'd both be wearing these incredible smiles." Dane had a smile of his own when he handed the picture back. "Told myself when I found a woman, she and I would have a setup like that."
Staring at twin devil dogs, separated by three generations, I couldn't speak.
"Cassandra, he talked about you all the time. You could've walked out a hundred times and he'd still think you hung the moon. He went on and on about your straight A’s in math, high marks in debate—he was so proud."
"Oh, my god. That day in the coffee shop… did you know who I was?"
"I thought you looked familiar, but I didn't put it together until I was on the front stoop of your house, and you opened the door looking cute and pissed off."
"I wasn't pissed off…"
"Baby."
"Okay, I was."
"I will say, I didn't know you in the coffee shop, but I was drawn to you. And not just because of your fine ass."
I swatted his bicep, and he caught my hand and squeezed.
"I wanted to know you."
"Dane…"
"I'm right here, baby." He dipped his head and kissed me.
I rested my forehead on his chest for a while, my arms twined around his neck. His hands loosely cupped my bottom.
"What you thinking, Cassandra?"
I sighed. "I wish I could go back and never make the mistake of being with Chad. I'd always wanted to meet a man in high school and marry for life, just like my grandparents."
"Not too late for that. We both have our lives ahead of us."
My eyes widened. Was he for real?
"Are you—"
"Absolutely. The way this is going, you'll meet my whole crew, and it won't be long before they're lining up to throw rice or whatever."
"I'm not even divorced yet…"
He shrugged, his arms still around me. "I can wait. I'd like to be a few years sober before we have kids. As long as we do the wedding before you give birth."
I gulped. "You want to have kids with me?"
"Baby, I want everything with you." A sweet smile played around his mouth. "We're both looking for something. I've found it."
I checked in with my brain, but the snarky commentary had completely disappeared. I realized in that instant, that the awful things I said to myself weren't really me. They were Chad, or some part of me goaded by him. And now that my ex was gone, I didn't need to criticize myself anymore.
There was a devil in my head now. The good kind. And he was there to stay.
"I think I found it, too," I said.
"Good." His hold on me tightened, and he bent his head closer. “Because you owe me for last night. I don’t like it when my woman ignores me. Like it less when she runs towards trouble, after I told her to stay put. Babygirls who pull stunts like that get punished.”
Whoosh! There went my stomach. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” I whispered, suppressing the urge to giggle and shiver at the same time. “How do I make it up to you?”
“I can think of a few ways. Your pretty ass won’t like it, but I will.”
And there went my panties.
“Okay, Daddy.” I smiled.
"Gonna take you back to upstairs and deal with you now," he growled. "Then I’m going to fuck you. You're gonna feel me for a week. I'll make you cum a few times so you know who you belong to. What do you say to that?"
I was speechless.
He picked me up, took me to my room, and did just that. I felt him for a week, right in my happy place. I knew who I belonged to.
A week later, the papers came from Chad, all my demands satisfied. I moved my stuff out of storage, and in with Dane. I still 'lived' at Nan's to keep an eye on her, but he could always come home to me.
Six months later, Dane came with daisies and a jewelry box.
The daisies were for Nan.
The ring was for me.
The End
***
A note from Lee
Check out www.leesavino.com to download a free book...once you do you’ll be added to my mailing list, where you can get sneak peeks at new books, exclusive offerings such as secret chapters, and whole books for FREE...just as a thank you for being a super reader. <3
If you liked Devil Dog and want me to write more contemporary romance, please write me (Lee) at [email protected]. I always have tons of stories in my head clamoring to get out onto the page, but want to know what you like to read! :D
Here are some other books of mine you might enjoy:
Contemporary BDSM romance:
Rescuing Regina:
A woman on the wrong side of the law.
The sheriff who demands her submission.
Regina doesn’t want to steal, but after losing her job, she has no other way to pay the bills. Her crime spree ends when she’s caught by Cole Townsend, the local sheriff. He’s hot, he’s dominant, he’s decided to claim her, and he won’t tolerate anything but her perfect obedience.
After delivering a harsh spanking, Cole gives Regina an ultimatum: Submit to him or go to jail.
Menage Shifter Romance:
Sold to the Berserkers
Sold as a slave, she becomes their salvation…
***
I’ll never forget the first time I saw them, warriors moving like shadows from the trees. Their eyes seemed to glow with a fierce golden light, moving more like beasts than men. I trembled, every hair on my flesh prickled in the age old response of the hunted. They were predators and I was prey.
They entered the clearing and brought with them the smell of blood. Clad in furs and leather, bristling with weapons, they were warriors the likes of which I’d never seen. Huge, hulking forms, dark shapes pricked with those glowing pairs of eyes.
I could not face them properly, for I was bound to a tree, in the middle of a wilderness, helpless as I waited to be sold to the Berserkers.
***
When Brenna's father sells her to a band of passing warriors, her only thought is to survive. She doesn't expect to be claimed by the two fearsome warriors who lead the Berserker clan. Kept in captivity, she is coddled and cared for, treated more like a savior than a slave. Can captivity lead to love? And when she discovers the truth behind the myth of the fearsome warriors, can she accept her place as the Berserkers' true mate?
***
Check out of Lee Savino’s books here