Center of Gravity (Marauders Book 3)

by Lina Andersson

  “I’ve missed out,” I admitted. “The fishing wasn’t really my cup of tea, but this is nice. Thank you. Really. For trying to... I don’t know... make me see...”

  “There are other things in life than dance?” he tried to help me. “Ever had sex outside?”

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I have.” Once, but he didn’t need to know that. “That question seems a lot more like you than this,” I said and swept my hand around us.

  “Hey! Just trying to widen your horizon,” he laughed. “And what do you mean by that? ‘A lot more like you than this.’”

  “I don’t know. We don’t usually hang out.”

  “You’re the one who asked me to show you things you’ve missed. Just trying to oblige you. Besides, considering all my work, I fully expect to get laid,” he said with a smile and licked his fingers. Then he pointed at the fish. “Want more?”

  “Yes, please.” I actually liked it. “It tastes better than it looks, and you’ll get laid.”

  He just laughed and gave me more fish. We sat there for a long time. He kept throwing logs on the fire, then went to his bike and came back with another blanket, told me to lean against him and swept the blanket around both of us. I felt him nibbling my ear.

  “Ever had sex outside in Arizona?”

  “No. And never in December.”

  “No?” He moved around and gently laid me down on my back, resting between my legs.

  “Never in front of a campfire.”

  “Girl,” he murmured into my neck while trying to unzip my jacket, “you’ve been missing out.”

  “Starting to realize that.”

  I helped him with my jacket, and then got to work on the buttons on his jeans. He didn’t take off my sweatshirt and also only pulled down his own jeans to his knees. After putting on the condom, he grabbed the blanket, threw it over his shoulders, and lay down on top of me. I caught his mouth and moaned into it when I felt him pushing inside. I’d definitely missed out.

  -o0o-

  He woke me up by carefully tugging my hair.

  “Need to go, babe. How’s the leg?”

  I’d put my jeans back on once we were done, since it was pretty cold. We’d been talking for a while before I fell asleep. It seemed to be early dawn, and when I sat up, I noticed he’d already packed everything but the blankets on the bike. I carefully moved my leg.

  “Think it’s okay.”

  “I’ll give you a quick rub. Need more than okay to hold on while you’re on the bike.”

  It was a quick rub, but it helped, and I realized that he’d paid attention to where the bad spots were. When he was done, he helped me up, turned around, and I got up on his back.

  “You could just help me by letting me lean on you,” I said with a yawn.

  “Nah. If you take a gimp’s cane you better carry her around.”

  “I’m not sure I like you calling me ‘Gimp.’” I chuckled and bit his ear. “But I’ll drop it for now.”

  “Smart move, or I might drop you.”

  He put me down by the bike, then went for the last blanket and stuffed it into one of the saddlebags before handing me the backpack. After helping me with the helmet, he took his own.

  “Thank you, Mitch. I had a really good time.”

  “Good. That was the point.”

  I climbed up and put my arms around him. This time it was more relaxing, since I wasn’t nervous, and I noticed how the bike vibrated in a very... exciting way. I leaned closer and put my chin on his shoulder. I saw the smile on his lips. He knew what was going on—I was sure. I bet he took girls on rides all the time just to get them worked up.

  The picnic still had me confused. It wasn’t that we hadn’t talked before, because we had, but so far our meetings had mainly been booty calls. We met, we had sex, and that was it. This was not just sex, it was much more like a date. The main point with this hadn’t been the sex, and I couldn’t really figure out what he was up to. If it truly was just to show me what I’d missed and make me feel better about things. I appreciated that, absolutely, but I was also a bit scared that us having sex might be turning into something else. And if it was, how I felt about it.

  I was also starting to understand what Lisa’d meant about him being fun to be around, and how he was curious about things. He had knowledge about an impressive variety of subjects, and he loved talking, but not in an annoying, self-absorbed way. He just seemed really thrilled to share what he knew, and it was so easy to be relaxed around him.

  This was what Lisa had warned me about, though. He was a really charming guy, and I shouldn’t read too much into things, so it was probably better if I just accepted that there wouldn’t be more than this. He’d show me a good time, and that was enough for now. I needed sex, I needed good times, and he provided both. So maybe I could just enjoy it and not mess it up, or turn it into something huge in my head.

  He parked outside the house, and I got off the bike and waited for him to take me inside. When I got up on his back, he squeezed my behind. He definitely knew the bike worked me up, so I took a shot.

  “Want to stay what’s left of the night at my place?”

  “You okay with that?”

  “Yes. Besides, I think Irina knows we’re seeing each other—Or whatever we’re doing—considering how you barged in and basically kidnapped me for a picnic.”

  “Probably,” he agreed, as he carried me into the elevator. “I’ll stay.”

  -o0o-

  When I woke up with his morning boner pressing against my back, I decided that having him stay had been a great idea. We’d just had really quick sex the night before, since we’d both been pretty tired, and I was hoping he’d make it up to me. He seemed to have the same idea.

  “Gotta keep quiet, I think Irina’s up,” he whispered into my ear and pressed harder against me. His hand was traveling down my stomach and through the curls between my legs. “Can I try something?”

  “What?”

  “I massage you while fucking you. I’ll give you a proper one afterwards.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  His hand squeezed the back of my leg for a while, before gently moving it over his hip so he could reach the inside of the leg. It wasn’t the best massage, but it got rid of the worst cramps. When his hand slipped between my legs, he kissed the side of my neck up to my ear.

  “You really are the worst hogger ever, baby.”

  “Yeah,” I moaned. “That’s why I gave you your own cover.” I was interrupted when he pinched my clit a little. “Oh, god!”

  “You took that, too,” he mumbled in a hoarse voice as I felt his rock hard dick moving back and forth along my slit, but it was just teasing me, not entering me. “So you owe me.”

  I angled my hips so he’d slip inside, and we both let out a groan.

  “Shit!” Mitch said and pulled out. “Hang on, need a condom.”

  It was a good thing that one of us was on top of things in the morning, because I hadn’t thought about it for a second. I turned to face him, and he was going through his jeans pockets. He took a condom out of his wallet, and smiled.

  “Sorry.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about it either,” I said and pulled him in for a kiss.

  “How’s the leg?”

  I moved it, and it was stiff as hell, and actually hurt a bit, but I didn’t want to complain. I didn’t have time to say anything, though.

  “Give it here,” he said and tossed the condom to the side.

  “I’ll be okay,” I tried.

  “I kind of like you flexible as fuck, Gimp, so I don’t mind taking a few minutes to make sure you get there.”

  I laughed and watched him gently start with my calf and move his hands up the leg while squeezing and rolling my muscles between his hands. When he was at the inside of my thigh, I moaned a little, and he smiled, but instead of commenting on it, he leaned down and licked my clit.

  “Oh!” was the only thing that slipped out of me.

  S
till massaging the leg, he continued to lick me, and it was by far the best morning massage I’d ever had.

  “Damn it, Mitch,” I mumbled. “I’m gonna start getting turned on when I massage myself now.”

  “Good,” he chuckled, moved up to lie between my legs, and reached for the condom. “If I fuck you now, do you promise to do the rest of the exercises later?”

  “Yes,” I laughed. “Is this out of concern or do you just want to make sure I stay flexible for you?”

  “Both.”

  He kissed me and was finally inside me again, but it wasn’t a frantic, hurried thing, it was slow and measured thrusts. Every time I opened my eyes, I noticed him looking at me with a smile. Finally he leaned down for a kiss—a long, deep kiss. He grabbed ahold of my ass and kissed my earlobe with a groan.

  “Come with me, baby.”

  I closed my eyes, tightened my arms around him, and buried my face in the side of his neck. I loved how he smelled there, and how it let me feel his rapid pulse against my cheek. His panting got louder as his dick got even harder inside of me. That’s when I felt my own insides tighten around him, and I hugged him harder.

  “I’m coming.”

  “I can feel,” he groaned. “Fuck, you feel so good, baby. Always.”

  I wrapped my right leg around him, held him tight, and tried to contain my scream when I came. With a few grunts, he came just after me.

  We lay still for a few moments, and then he gave me a kiss before moving to lie next to me. He got rid of the condom and pulled me closer.

  “So I took your cover as well?”

  “Yup,” he chuckled. “Threw yours on the floor and then took mine. For a while there I think you actually had both of them.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No worries,” he said and sat up. “We have the Christmas party and Dad’s birthday party next Friday. Think you can come?”

  “Will Lisa be there?” I didn’t want to go if she wasn’t there; that would be strange.

  “She’ll be there.” He was standing next to the bed and had just pulled up his jeans. Then he got down on the bed again, leaning over me. “I’ll be there, too.”

  “I figured you didn’t invite me just to not be there.”

  “So why do you think I invited you?”

  “To get some,” I said and pinched his nose. “Which isn’t something I guarantee.”

  He laughed and gave me a kiss. “I need to get to work.”

  “Are you ever really at work? As in working, I mean. You usually don’t leave until around ten.”

  “We have people who open up for us. I work when I’m there, and I have club stuff most days and often pretty late. So I work.”

  Club stuff was work, too? I didn’t really get a lot of these things and frankly, I didn’t really care. If I could wake up like this with him, and he wasn’t in a hurry to leave, that was good. I usually worked nights, and got home around ten or eleven, which was a good time for both of us to meet.

  “My parents are coming next Thursday, but I’ll come by if I can.”

  “Your parents?”

  “Yes, they are coming here to celebrate Christmas. They’ll be here until the beginning of January.” He pulled down the cover, and I laughed when he licked my left nipple with a groan. “What?”

  “What are the chances I can convince you to spend a night with me while they’re here?”

  I thought about it. The fact that my parents had left before I was even a teenager meant I had never really grown up in their eyes. They’d been a bit shocked when they learned I had moved in with a man a few years earlier (that didn’t last more than two months), or that I had boyfriends at all, and trying to explain to them about Mitch wasn’t something I wanted to do. They also had their mind very set regarding the MC—and it wasn’t a positive view.

  “I’d say pretty slim.”

  “Hmm,” he mumbled, lay back down, and sucked on my nipple. “Next Thursday? Think you can save some nights for me until then?”

  “I might be able to do that.” I grabbed his cheeks and pulled him up for a kiss. “Let me know when you’re available.”

  “I will.” He gave my nose a kiss and got up. I kept looking at him, I couldn’t help myself, he really had an amazing body. “Have you ever been to an all you can eat buffet?”

  “No,” I laughed. “That’s your next idea?”

  “Yeah.” He pulled the hoodie over his head. “That okay? Thought we’d catch a matinee afterwards.”

  “Okay. Guess I’ll be able to sit still after gorging myself at a buffet.”

  He smiled, put on the last of his clothes, and threw his backpack over his shoulder.

  “See you tonight then?” he asked when he stood at my door.

  I couldn’t help smiling. “Yes.”

  Once he was gone, I lay back down to start with the proper exercises, and I was smiling my way through them. The thoughts from the night before came back, and I knew something was changing, but I didn’t want to mess around with those thoughts, yet. Trying to analyze... it felt like it would just complicate things. Even if I tried to remind myself about what kind of a guy he was, I also felt like he was what I needed right now—someone who just made me feel good. And more importantly, someone who made me feel good about myself.

  I took a shower when I was done and got dressed. I didn’t have any big plans, but wanted to go into Phoenix for some shopping, since I never got around to it the day before, and I figured that missing nice clothes was a bit stupid. I could just buy some. Not a tutu, but just some nice dresses that made me feel as if I at least had some flair in my life.

  I heard voices in the kitchen and was surprised when I saw Mitch sitting and talking to Irina.

  “She caught me in the hallway,” he said with his mouth full of food while pointing at Irina when he saw me. “Lured me in with pancakes, but said I should leave you alone so you could do your morning stuff.”

  Irina held up a cup and a plate with an innocent smile. “There’s enough for you, too.”

  I knew she hadn’t said that to Mitch out of the goodness of her heart just so I could do my morning stuff in peace. She’d told him to leave me alone so she could grill him. When I glared, she just winked. She would never apologize no matter what, so I sat down and grabbed some pancakes. Mitch took my cane and started to play around with it while I was eating. He was still talking to Irina, and they seemed to be on the subject of oligarchs. I had no idea why he was so interested in them.

  “If Russian mothers had kept reading Afanasyev to their children, there wouldn’t be that many oligarchs,” Irina said.

  “What?” Mitch asked.

  “Alexander Afanasyev,” I clarified. “He’s to Russia what the Brothers Grimm are to Europe. He collected Russian folktales, fairytales, and fables.”

  “Yes,” Irina said and waved her finger towards him. “And in those stories taught you that if you cheat, steal, and lie, you always get what’s coming to you. Or that Baba-Jaga gets you.”

  “Baba-Jaga?” Mitch chuckled and looked at me. “Wanna explain that one, too?”

  “She’s a witch in the Slavic folk lore. She can be good or evil, but she always punishes those who try to deceive her or have done wrong in some way. She’s in quite a few folktales, in some of them she flew in a mortar and used the pestle as an oar. But she’s not in my favorite tale about the fiddle-playing soldier.”

  “Ah,” Irina sighed. “Beautiful, but so sad. It too teaches that there are no short cuts, though.”

  Mitch laughed. “I’m gonna wanna hear all of these, and that one especially.”

  We were interrupted when his phone rang, he picked up, and all he said was ‘yes’ and ‘I’m on my way.’ He stood up, emptied his coffee and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

  “Call ya, Gimp.”

  “Stop calling me Gimp!” I yelled after him, but he just waved.

  When I turned my attention back to Irina, she had her eyebrows raised.

  “So how long h
ave you been seeing him?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re seeing each other, per say,” I tried. Irina gave me the ‘Russian’ look. You did not mess with her when she did that one. “About two months. Don’t read too much into it.”

  “I see what I see, a man makes my girl smile.”

  It wasn’t really that easy, but I didn’t want to argue with her. I dodged the rest of the questions and went to Phoenix for some shopping and work.

  -o0o-

  I found some really great dresses, and one that I was definitely going to wear to the birthday party for Brick. It was red lace with a very low cleavage, and the hem ended just over my knees. I’d seen the girls at the clubhouse. I’d be considered a prude in this, but I didn’t care either way because I looked great in it. It would also cover the worst scars and the rest wouldn’t show if I had stockings. At least I hoped they wouldn’t.

  Work that night was calm. There would be a premiere of a new play in two weeks, and the people who wanted to see the current one and still hadn’t, wouldn’t come running until next week. I’d figured out that the week occurring two weeks before a premier was the calmest one.

  Mitch texted me that he was at home, and that he’d be waiting for me. So I went there, rang the doorbell, and... nothing. I rang again and when he still didn’t open, I took a few deep breaths, swallowed the disappointment, and turned around. I was halfway to the elevator when I heard the door opening behind me.

  “Hey, babe.” Mitch was in the doorway, wearing nothing but his jeans. “I fell asleep. You leaving?”

  “I thought you weren’t at home.”

  “Told you I was.” He came towards me, turned around, and indicated that I should get up. “Next time, call me and give me a shot at least.”

  “Okay,” I said and jumped up. I was starting to really like piggyback riding on him. “I’ll call you next time you don’t open the door and you’ve told me to come.”

  “Good.”

  “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  He dropped me off outside it, gave me a kiss, and then turned to go up the stairs to the loft.

  “I’ll wait for you upstairs,” he said. “If you take too long I’ll come and haul you away.”

  When I came upstairs, not fifteen minutes later, he was sleeping again. I didn’t want to wake him up, so instead I removed my clothes and slipped under his cover next to him.