“He’s living with us too.” She looked at him. “I can’t protect you if you’re in another home. And I have enough people, pack and the ambush, right there if you ever need them. Plus, plenty of land surrounding us so that you can run if you wish. And if you want to sleep with me, I’m just down the hall from your room.”
“I don’t like this.” He wisely, he thought, didn’t say anything. “I don’t have anything to wear home. I’m sure that the things I came in here with aren’t wearable either.”
“My mom got a few things out of your clothing at your rental. She said that it would be better to get it before it was boxed up rather than after. I think they’re in that closet over there.” She walked over and bent to get them. He smiled when her bare ass was shown to him. “You might want to remember that you’re naked under that gown. It was easier for us to put meds on you when you came in.”
Her face was as bright red as he’d ever seen a woman’s. She didn’t say anything more to him but walked to the bathroom facing him with the gown clutched in her hand in the back. Rogen was adorable. And he
could not wait to learn all he could from her.
“I thought that once you got home you could talk to Mrs. Beasley. She’s our cook. I’m not home all that much, it seems, and she might be better cooking for you instead of me most nights.” She said something, but he didn’t know what it was, so he continued. “There is a maid service that comes in daily. And I have a butler that also drives me when I don’t want to drive myself. It’s a nice perk, but I keep Rankin around more because he’s a funny man than because I need him to drive me around. Plus, I think his family could use the extra money.”
The door opened, and Thatcher knew right then that his mom was doing this on purpose. The clothing that Rogen had on was a running outfit, skin tight, and the prettiest shade of blue he’d ever seen. Clearing his throat several times, he asked if she was ready to go.
“I don’t usually wear this kind of stuff unless I’m running. I was amazed that it didn’t hurt my skin when I put it on. It’s really tight, isn’t it?” All he could manage was a strangled yes. “Now what I have done?”
“Nothing. It’s me. All me.” Thatcher cleared his throat. “We really should be going if you want to get out of here. I mean, you do, don’t you?”
She crossed her arms in front of her, and all it did for him was make his cock harder and his breathing more difficult. He wanted to beg her to stop torturing him, but he knew that would lead to more questions. And right now, Thatcher wasn’t sure he had enough blood in his head to even tell her his name.
Instead of getting into any kind of argument, and he knew there would be with her, he left the room. He could tell the moment that she started to follow him, and he knew as soon as they were in the elevator or the car, she was going to start on him again. This time, he told himself, he’d be ready for her. As soon as the doors closed around them, Thatcher reached for her. He was more than happy that she came willingly into his arms.
The kiss wasn’t hot, it was volcanic. Her touch was like having a mark with a hot branding iron touching him. Everywhere she touched him, every breath that blew over his face, was more than he could handle, yet not nearly enough. Thatcher wanted it all, right here, right now. If not for the sound of the elevator dinging to signal a floor was being stopped on, he was positive that neither of them would have made it out clothed.
Breathing hard, he pushed her against the wall. It didn’t escape his notice that she too had to hold onto the railing. And as soon as the doors opened, Thatcher groaned. It was his brother Beckett. And he knew that he could smell them both.
“Going home?” He nodded at his brother, wanting to knock him on his ass right then. “You might want to find someplace for a few hours. Your home is being invaded by the Feds. I think they’re setting up your mate’s job.”
“I have to be there.” He nodded at Rogen. “You don’t have to come if you have better things to do.”
Beckett burst out laughing, and Thatcher did hit him, but not hard enough to do the damage he wanted to do to him. Beckett was going to pay, Thatcher thought. He didn’t know when it would be, but he would surely pay for this.
“I’ll take you there and show you around after they’re finished up. Winnie said that they’d be there for a few hours anyway. And she also, after looking my house over, said that the basement would be the best place for you. She said it would be expandable for you.”
“Yes, thank you.” She was embarrassed and he didn’t blame her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“We’ll talk later, Rogen. There is nothing for you to be sorry for.” He looked at Beckett when he apologized as well. “We’ll go to our home, look around, and get you set up. I’m to understand that there are some unfinished projects that you have to get to as well.”
He drove them to their home, his mind simply doing one thing at a time. Breathe, turn here, keep the speed down. Don’t hit a tree. These and other things looped in his mind until he pulled up in front of the house and saw that the Feds really had invaded his home.
Chapter 4
The room was coming along—or she should say rooms. The team had come in and were following her directions without question. And when she looked at Thatcher to get his permission on the installment of a wall, he said so long as it didn’t mess with the structure of the house, whatever she did was fine by him. He’d even put her chair together for her.
So far all she’d been able to see of the mammoth house was the basement level. They had even entered the house by the lower level. When she was asked to okay a delivery, Thatcher said he’d take care of it for her, and she hooked up the second in a long line of monitors. Which, she thought, were all new.
When the air-conditioning unit was finished being installed, the man who had put it in, another government worker, showed both her and Thatcher how to keep it at a certain temperature. It was to keep her servers cold, and she hadn’t had that before either. Taking Winnie aside while a huge refrigerator was being put in, she asked her what was going on.
“You have someone to keep you safe now. And not only that, you’re in a secure house, not one that you’re renting. You have room for all this, as well as more should you need it.” She asked about the fridge. “That is all on Thatcher. I told him how you sometimes forget to get food and water when you’re working, and he said he’d make it easier on you. I believe there is going to be a bunch of snacks put down here as well that you can munch on.”
She didn’t like this. Not him knowing her habits, but also the way he was avoiding her, the short answers he was giving her, as well as the fact that she’d catch him staring at her like she was some sort of bug under a microscope or something. Finding him outside with another one of his brothers, she walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face.
“What, may I ask, was that for? If it was for kissing you, you’re a little delayed on that.” She drew back to hit him again when his brother walked away. “Once was enough if you were only trying to get my attention. What is it, Rogen?”
“Why are you treating me this way? I didn’t do anything but kiss you, and now you’re acting like I’m some sort of—I don’t know, hooker that you’ve paid off. And now I’m hanging around you and you hate it.” Thatcher told her that she wasn’t correct. “Then perhaps you can tell me why you’re treating me this way. You know, I could just move to my other house. I might not have as much equipment or room, but I’d have my fucking dignity.”
He didn’t answer her. No, instead he pulled her up off her feet and into his arms. The kiss this time didn’t seem to be as tempered as before, like he wasn’t holding back, and he had no intentions of every stopping. When he set her down on her feet and stepped back, she wanted to hit him again. But then he spoke through clenched teeth before she could do anything.
“I’m hanging on here by a thread. Your scent, your arousal, is driving me and my cat insane. I want you so badly that I’m tempted to throw you to the ground and have you right now. But I’m holding on so that I don’t embarrass you when I have you screaming out your releases so that everyone in this house can hear you.” She said oh. “Yes, oh. And you might want to warn your fucking boss that if he doesn’t keep his hands off you, I’m going to shift, tear him apart, then eat him for my dinner. I’m a jealous man, and my cat is worse.”