“They’re a five-man police force, Ian. What do you think?”
“Six if you include Chief Montgomery. Not enough to take down a drug ring on their own.” Ideas manifested in my head.
“Oh no. No, no, no, man. I know that look on your face. I know when you’re up to no good. We’re not a two-man SWAT team. We’re not police investigators or whatever you’d call the drug folk—”
“The DEA,” I chipped in to be helpful. Russell growled and shot a dirty look at me.
“Either way, we’re not them. We’re military operatives currently enjoying some relaxation from our last job fighting insurgents.”
“You live here too, Russ. You think Dani wants to pick up and leave?”
“I really don’t,” Dani called from the grill.
Russ’ consternation failed to wipe the smug look off my face. I knew I had him from the moment his girlfriend stepped over to join us and turned her brown eyes his way.
“Russ, I love living out here. Remember the murder in town we heard about a month ago? It was drug related. Safety and security is the whole reason people move to small towns like this. We leave the cities like Houston behind to be safe.” Dani shivered. She kept a couple guns of her own in their house, and boy did she know how to use them, but it didn’t change that our peaceful community had transformed.
“Fine. I’ll do some sniffing around when I’m in town too,” the disgruntled bear shifter agreed.
“Why don’t you do something about it, Ian? You’re skilled. You have decades of leadership under your belt,” Dani suggested.
“I’m skilled at military command, sweetheart. What are you suggesting for me to do with it?”
“Well, I heard that Sheriff Vasco doesn’t plan to run again. He’s going to retire.”
I stared at her. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Russ had invited me to join the volunteer fire department weeks ago, and I’d told him I would consider it. Becoming Sheriff MacArthur would allow me to help even more people.
Dani grinned and lingered near Russ to tousle his hair. “Give it some serious thought at least. So how’s Leigh? I thought she could use a friend and maybe I’d stop over to talk to her some.”
I shook my head. “She’s handling it all okay, but you’ll have to wait. I sent her out to go shopping since the social worker plans to officially return Sophia to us today.”
“You’re letting her drive your vehicle?” Russ stared as if the shocking news was on par with letting her run free with my bank account.
“Yes. She’s a grown woman. If I don’t show she can be trusted, why should anyone else believe it?”
“Hey, darlin’? Would you go see where Trigger got off to?”
Dani arched one of her dark brows at Russ. She didn’t fall for his excuse to get rid of her, but she humored him by walking away from the deck and into the grass, whistling a few times.
I knew the question was coming before it even left my pal’s lips.
“Did you bond fully with her yet?”
“Not yet. Ever since my eagle recognized her I can’t get her off my mind. The more I do for her, the deeper it pulls me in. I wanna tear the clothes off her most days, but she’s in no shape to be feeling that kind of way.”
Russ nodded. “It’s like when she’s hurtin’, you’re drowning in her pain, and her happiness is the only thing that can help you to breathe again.”
“Yes.” I sagged into the seat and let out a frustrated groan.
“It’s about time, old man. Revel in it and be happy you found her.”
“Yeah. You’re right. Maybe it’s about time I told her what I am, too. I gotta let her know it isn’t about wanting to get her on her feet anymore.”
I needed to let her know we were soul mates.
~Leigh~
Dad and I used to joke about Target being a middle-class Wal-Mart. Growing up the only child of a widower made me close to him, and in the final weeks of his life, I’d never felt more lonely. I should have realized it was time to cut Dennis loose from my life when he didn’t try to help me through my grief, but if I had, I wouldn’t have Sophia. She was my bright star and the one accident in my life I didn’t regret.
I stared at the condoms on the shelf. We weren’t using protection when we conceived Sophia, and I was sure we were both high when it happened anyway. Sex with Ian was inevitable in our near future. I knew we both wanted it, and it had to be safe between us.
I blindly grabbed a box and stuffed them beneath a box of diapers. After a few steps down the aisle, I considered my memory of Saturday morning. I scurried back to the display and swapped them for the larger size.
A stop at Redbox on the way home yielded a newly released horror movie from some big Hollywood studio with a monstrous special effects budget. After a few days of Ian’s spy thrillers, I needed a break.
I wasn’t the type to conduct frivolous shopping sprees. Ian had another plan and forbid me to return until I spent at least a grand. He claimed it would distract me until my 4 p.m. appointment with the social worker. With a trunk load of groceries and new clothes, I pulled into the drive an hour prior to the lady’s expected arrival.
“Do you need help?” Ian called from the door.
“Yes, please.”
We unpacked it all in record time. I’d run every kind of errand imaginable from visiting government offices to following up at the bank to finish paperwork for my new account.
The doorbell rang after I put the fresh crib sheet on Sophia’s mattress. I beat Ian to the door and came face to face with the social worker charged with my case.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. MacArthur. Someone here is very thrilled to see you.”
Eager to hold her again, I reached out and took my daughter from the caseworker. The woman entered after I stepped back to make room. I struggled to maintain my emotions and failed, tears sliding freely down my face no matter how I tried to keep them in.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Mrs. MacArthur. You fulfilled the court’s obligations.”
At some point, I’d ceased to exist as merely ‘Leigh’ and had become the responsible and respectable Mrs. MacArthur.
“Is there something for me to sign?” I asked.
“No,” she assured me. “You’ll find everything has been handled regarding this matter. Enjoy your life with Sophia. I’m proud of you for coming so far.”
“Thank you,” I whispered again. I touched my cheek to the top of Sophia’s curls and closed my eyes before sinking to the couch. We lay on the sofa and snuggled until Sophia’s belly made her kick and squirm with hunger. The rest of my evening with her passed like a dream. She ate and received a bath before I dressed her in a pink onesie I’d washed the previous day. After a few soft coos and a cherubic smile, my baby fell asleep without a fuss.
I could have stood beside her crib watching her sleep for hours, but I rewarded myself for a job well done by unwinding with a cup of yogurt and a movie. Ian settled beside me as I pressed play. My dog lifted her head to look at Ian then collapsed into her bed again, too tired to approach for ear scratches. She had settled by my feet between the couch and Daddy’s old coffee table. Ian leaned down to rub her.
“Where have you been all evening?” I asked.
“I thought I’d give you some space to be with Sophia. How’s she liking it here so far?”
“She’s a baby, silly. She’ll like anywhere as long as she’s dry, warm, and has a full tummy.”
Ian chuckled. “Then maybe I should ask how her mama likes it here.”
“Her mama loves it here,” I replied. I pressed a few buttons and skipped to the main feature. Ian didn’t budge from beside me. “I thought you hated horror movies.”
“I like them from time to time.” In other words, he didn’t want to make me sit downstairs alone.
“You don’t have to babysit me every night, Ian. I’m fine. I can watch a movie on my own.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes. Crap. I swor
e internally at myself a few times for my poorly worded dismissal. “Ian, I’m sorry. I mean you don’t have to feel responsible for entertaining me every night on top of everything else you’ve done.”
“It’s fine,” he assured me. “I’m not your chaperone.” The man rose from his seat despite my clumsy protests and apologies. He took his unfinished beer with him.
“Honestly, Ian, you’re welcome to stay. You don’t have to leave on my account.”
His crooked, half-hearted smile didn’t assuage my guilt. If anything, I was even more of a jerk for chasing him out of his own living room. “I have to leave early in the morning for work related stuff anyway. I really should get to sleep.”
Long after he left, I still felt like an ungrateful bitch for chasing him off. Ian was a good man who deserved a lot better than what I gave him in return. I watched the rest of the movie without receiving any actual satisfaction then took a hot shower to ease my nerves. I soaked beneath the steady spray for longer than necessary then retired to my bedroom. Restless, I spent the next hours tossing and turning in bed.
No matter how long I tried, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to sleep. I didn’t want him to go away on one of his trips before I had the chance to apologize again.
There was no telling if he’d come back at all. With his dangerous career, anything could happen and I’d receive a knock on our door one day to see a uniformed soldier on the porch. He’d share his bad news, telling me my new husband wouldn’t be coming home. Then I’d be a widow who regretted the last thing I said to my best friend was that he didn’t need to babysit me.
Without another thought, I slipped from my bed and hurried across the hall into his room. He slept with his door open, the lights off, and the parted curtains allowed pale silver moonlight to shine over the large bed. His chest rose and fell with the even breathing rhythm of a deep sleep, so peaceful in his expression I hated to wake him at all.
“Ian?” I whispered in the dark as I laid my fingers over his bare arm. He was a slim man, but his build and preferred style of clothing painted a deceptive picture, concealing the muscles beneath.
The ground flew out from beneath me as I tumbled through the air. I hit the mattress beside him with the wind knocked from my lungs, his thick bicep across my neck. I couldn’t even squeak, let alone scream. My hair fanned across his second pillow as the cool, untouched side of the bed cradled me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, beneath the absolute terror of course, I realized he had the softest mattress I’d ever felt.
“Leigh?” The pressure eased from my throat then rose completely away. “What the hell, woman? Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
“No. You gave my heart a workout, but I’ll survive it. I think.” I hoped. I knew for damn sure the stiff object against my hip wasn’t a gun.
“What’s wrong? Why are you here at—” he glanced at the digital readout from the alarm on his bedside table “—almost midnight.”
“I couldn’t sleep, and I knew if I didn’t come talk to you now, I might not have the chance until your business is settled and you come home and... that could be days from now.” He’d warned me sometimes his contracts could take him away for a couple weeks at a time.
“I’ll be back by Thursday. It’s not a long trip. Mostly, I need to ask a favor from Argus, and if I don’t spend the evening in San Antonio, he takes it as an insult.”
He hadn’t moved. Neither had the unyielding presence beneath the blanket. Only his sheets and a light comforter separated our bodies, my nightshirt shifted to an embarrassing level above my waist. He could see everything, from my chunky thighs to my plain white and blue striped cotton hipsters. At least they were brand new.
“Ian?”
Despite the darkness, I saw the way his eyes roved over me, slowly digesting my current state of undress. One of his hands gently tugged my nightshirt back into place.
“Didn’t mean to scare you so bad, Leigh.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered back. I waited for him to say something, but he never did.
His mouth crashed against mine in a sudden kiss, the lack of warning offering me no time to prepare. It took several pulse-pounding seconds until my brain caught up with my body and realized my sexy as sin phony husband was kissing me.
I moaned beneath his mouth and twisted to face his body completely. With a couple kicks, I managed to dislodge the blankets from beneath me until they were at the foot of the bed, confirming my suspicions. Every hard, muscled inch was exposed to my questing fingertips.
Our mouths broke apart, each of us dragging in a gulping lungful of air, but Ian didn’t stop there. The scoop neckline of my shirt gave him free access to my throat. He nipped my collarbone and ran his hand over my thigh, raising goose bumps on my skin. “Are you on the pill, Leigh, because I don’t have any—”
“I bought some. There’s a package in my top dresser drawer.”
“You bought condoms?”
“For us.” His cock twitched against my hip. Apparently I’d given him the right answer, but as far as I was concerned, it was the only one.
He kissed the pounding pulse point at my throat before descending lower, reaching my left breast. His lips sealed around my nipple for a teasing suckle through the soft jersey cotton while I moaned and writhed beneath him.
“Wait for me,” he whispered against my tit.
Bare as the day he was born, Ian left me behind and slipped from the room. I had the tantalizing view of his deliciously muscled naked ass, at least before he was out of sight.
While he was gone, I laid there fretting in bed, wondering what he thought of me. Each precious second played against my insecurities until he reappeared in the doorway less than a minute later. To say his absence had dulled the mood would be a lie — it worsened my anticipation. His hard cock bounced with his movements, swaying as he came to a stop beside me on the bed. Foil tore then I watched him glide the latex ring over his dick and wished I’d done it for him.
“Ian?” I murmured shyly as he lowered one knee to the bed and leaned over me. Our lips touched in another electrifying kiss.
“Shh.”
My nightshirt rose a little higher until I had no choice but to raise my arms and allow him to remove it. I wore no bra beneath the cute pink and white shirt, but I trusted in the darkness to hide my imperfections and round belly from his eyes. Silver stretch marks became the most prominent across my wide hips, something I wanted to conceal from him.
Ian eased back to kneel between my legs. He clicked the light on.
“Ian?”
“I want to see you.”
A euphoric tingle of pure pleasure spread across my body from head to toe until fire seemed to consume every fiber of my being. I’d never felt particularly unattractive, but motherhood had added inches to my frame. Aside from my doctor, no man had seen me unclothed since the beginning of my third trimester, before the worst of the changes transformed my body. Ian was the first to see me this way. I wanted him to be the last.
His attentive eyes infused a sense of unfamiliar vulnerability, urging a hot flush to warm my cheeks. When I blushed, my entire upper body seemed to glow with color. He peeled my panties off last, and then there was nothing else to hide.
“You’re breathtaking.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’ve never told an unnecessary lie in all my life, and I wouldn’t now. You’re beautiful, Leigh, and I love everything about the way you look. Every inch.”
He bent above my body like a worshipper attending prayer at an altar. His lips skimmed my right hip and then my left while his thumb parted my folds. A little nibble to my thigh caught me off guard as much as the pressure circling my clit. He was an expert with his hands, merciless as he teased, using his fingers and mouth. Both of my nipples had hardened to unbearably tender peaks by the time his ascending path rose from my hip to my breast.
Moaning out his name was the proper encouragement. He filled me with one finger and then a second, pump
ing both digits in and out of my pussy. Eight long months had passed since the last time I had sex with Sophia’s father, making me starved for the intimacy promised by Ian’s touch.
“Ian. Ian, please.”
“I don’t think you’re ready for me yet.” A teasing tone filled his voice, accompanied by a husky hint of laughter. I twisted beneath him and raised my hips to the rhythm he set while plunging both digits in and out of me. If I wasn’t ready now, I never would be. His fingers glistened on each stroke backward.
“Ian, if you don’t fuck me right now, you’re going to need those special operative skills to fight me off.”
“You’re adorable when you threaten me.” Whether intimidated or not, he acquiesced to my demands, trading his fingers for his latex sheathed dick.
I’d always been afraid sex would never be the same again, but Ian proved me wrong from the moment he began sliding into my pussy. Even soaking wet and ready for him, he was a tight fit my body struggled to accommodate. I stretched around his unyielding width and pleaded for more.
“God, you feel so sweet, Leigh,” Ian breathed out. He wore an expression of immense concentration on his face.
His rhythm was slow and sensual, testing the way our bodies fit together. My nipples rubbed against his sculpted chest, tickled by the few black hairs scattered over his pecs. Over and over again, he brought our bodies together, taking me as his wife in body as well as in name. Within moments, he lost the careful composure and snapped his hips forward to bury into me full tilt. Bliss consumed me, curling my toes and making me cry out his name in a jubilant shout.
“Oh, baby. We haven’t even started yet. You’ll have a lot more to scream about in a minute,” he promised.
I shivered beneath him in delight. My pussy clenched around his girth, a reflex brought by the sexy whisper. Ian chuckled and kissed my ear.
Ian shifted to stretch his body over mine, finding the perfect angle. With his hard muscles pillowed against my softness, I ran my fingers up and down his back and felt the way his back flexed beneath my fingers each time his body rolled forward.
With my legs around his waist, I yanked Ian in closer and rolled him beneath me. The struggle slid him from my body, but a thrust of my hips reseated Ian’s cock and reintroduced us to ecstasy. Before he could try to get the upper hand again, I leaned forward to brace my weight against his shoulders and undulated my hips until he swore and his eyes rolled back in his head. I wanted to lay my own claim.
Let Us Prey: BBW Military Paranormal Romance (Wild Operatives, #2) Page 8