He pulled me back down. “I never thought you were. I’m thinking of all the terrible jobs you probably had to do. Don’t put words in my mouth, woman,” he growled at me, giving me a stern look.
“Fine, they were sucky jobs. I cleaned motels, truck stops, and waitressed here and there. I admit I even had to beg a couple of times, which I hated. It was hard because I had to find people who were willing to let me have Hope with me. Some were nice enough to do it. So, now that you know the whole story about me, are you sure you wanna try and have a relationship with me?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer me. He sat there looking in my eyes. I started to get nervous. Oh shit, he didn’t. Maybe he thought I could have done something more to stop Todd. Maybe he thought I— My thoughts were interrupted by him growling then taking me down to the bed. His mouth took control of mine and he kissed me until I was weak, breathless, and dizzy. When he lifted his head, his eyes were blazing.
“Don’t ever think that what happened makes you any less in my eyes. I’d have to be dead not to want you. If you can take me like I am, I can more than take you. I’m getting the good end of the bargain. You’ll have to live with a possessive man who will want to protect you every moment of the day and make love to you every chance he gets, while we raise our daughter to be a strong woman like her momma. Think you can handle that?”
I answered him the best way I knew how. I kissed him until we were both weak, breathless, and dizzy again. He laughed when I let him up. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes. As much as I want to take this further, you need rest and I need to get myself back under control. Let’s get some sleep then we’ll start out the day fresh tomorrow. You have some moving to do,” he teased me. I smiled and didn’t argue. I fell asleep in his arms, trying to believe I wasn’t dreaming and in the morning, I’d wake up to reality.
Ilara:
I cracked my eyes open and groaned. It was daylight, which meant my day was starting. I stretched and rolled over. That was when I realized I was in a huge comfortable bed and not in the front seat of my cramped car. I sat up with a gasp and frantically looked around for Hope. Where was she? Where was I?
As my heart raced in alarm, it slowly came back to me what had happened last night—not only the two men attacking me at my car, but afterward with me and Bear. God, had I really agreed to move here to the compound and try to have a relationship with him? Was I nuts? This didn’t have a hope in hell of working. He needed someone much more in his league. I didn’t even know if I could let Bear do more than kiss me after Todd.
I jumped out of bed and looked around for my clothes. I was wearing a huge t-shirt that hung to my knees again. It was Bear’s. Something in me was thrilled by the fact I was wearing his clothes. Wearing a man’s clothes was a sign of belonging. I hadn’t belonged in a very long time, not even before Todd.
I looked but didn’t find any other clothes, not even the ones I had on last night. I tamed my hair with his brush and brushed my teeth before I went looking for Hope. She should be up by now. I wonder if she slept in because of the later bedtime?
When I got to the open door of the bedroom I’d left her in last night, my heart jumped when I saw her bed was empty. I was about to holler for her, when I heard Bear’s voice downstairs and then her tiny one giggling. I hurried down to see what they were doing.
In the kitchen, which I found by following their voices, he had her tied in a chair. He’d wrapped a bed sheet around her, so she wouldn’t fall off the chair and he was feeding her. She was smiling and opening her mouth wide. I couldn’t help but laugh at the picture. He looked up and grinned. “What’re you laughing at there, Beloved? Don’t you like my new high chair idea?”
“Oh yeah, it’s wonderful, though I don’t know what the police will think, if the neighbor calls them, reporting you’re holding a kid hostage. Just might wanna think about that.”
He laughed. “That’s why it’s best to have neighbors who don’t call the cops. On a compound, behind walls, no one can see in, no one calls cops, see the advantage?”
I shook my head at his comeback and smiled. I walked over to peer into the bowl he had in his hands. He was feeding her what looked like fruit, scrambled eggs and tiny pieces of bacon. My stomach growled seeing it. He grinned wider. “Maybe I need to tie Momma to a chair, so she can eat. What do you think, Sugarplum?” he asked Hope. She took another bite and simply nodded. Right now, she’d agree to anything because he was feeding her.
A shiver went through me as an image popped into my head. It was of me naked on the bed, tied to it as Bear stood over me. He was naked and looking down at me with lust in his eyes. Oh my God, where did that come from? I’d never let a man tie me down. I’d never thought of doing it until now. Would I be able to do that if he were to ask? Why wasn’t I running out of the house screaming at the thought? I was shocked it didn’t freak me out after what Todd did.
His hand on my arm snapped me back to attention. He was no longer smiling. “Hey, baby, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’d never do something like that without your full agreement. It was a joke.”
“Too bad, I was considering it for a moment. I’ve never done that,” I told him flippantly, as I walked around him to go to the fridge. I didn’t get a chance to even open the door, before he was behind me, pressed against me. I could feel what felt like his cock pressing into me. He was hardening! His hands landed gently on my upper arms. His mouth nuzzled into my hair by my ear.
“Beloved, you can’t say things like that. It makes me crazy. We’re taking things slow, remember?” He almost groaned.
I swallowed and grabbed some courage. Here was a chance to experiment and see what I could or couldn’t do. If I stayed, there was no way he didn’t want us to progress to having sex. I pressed back into him and rubbed lightly back and forth across his hardness. He groaned softly then his teeth nipped my earlobe. I jumped more in surprise than alarm.
“Stop. I can’t take it, baby. I see you there in my shirt. I know all you have underneath is your panties. It’s making me think dirty thoughts that we can’t do anything about. Not with your daughter in the room, and us taking things slowly.”
I eased away from him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m not a tease, Donovan. I know it’s impossible for a guy not to have sex when it’s offered. I was trying to see if it would cause me to freak or not. I won’t do it again.”
He turned me around to face him. He was frowning. “Babe, no, I don’t want you to stop doing things so you can see if you like it or can handle it. Just remember, I’ll play, but I don’t wanna push you too fast or too far. I want you desperately, but not at the cost of scaring you or rushing you.” His mouth landed on mine and he kissed me. It was a slow, passionate one that told me what he wanted. When he broke away, we both groaned.
“Let’s finish breakfast then we can go,” he said as he stepped back. “I have eggs, bacon, and potatoes for us. It’s in the oven to stay warm.” He opened the oven door. We spent the next fifteen minutes finishing feeding Hope and devouring our own breakfast. I was surprised at how he was with Hope. He didn’t get upset or impatient with her. I tried to take over feeding her and he refused. He seemed to be enjoying doing it.
When everything was cleaned up from breakfast, I went to find clothes. Bear followed me to the bedroom with Hope in his arms. I looked around again. “Where are my clothes? I couldn’t find them.”
“I put them in the laundry.”
“I need them. I have nothing else to change into unless my car mysteriously appears here. If not, then we’re going out with me, in what I have on.” I gestured to myself. His eyes ran up and down my body.
“I love what you have on, but I prefer no one else sees you like this. I’ll get your clothes. They should be dry by now.” He sauntered out with Hope. I found myself looking at his ass in the jeans he had on. God, he filled them out perfectly. I was still thinking of his ass when he came back with my clean clothes.
As he handed them to me, I told him, “I’ll dress her as soon as I get done.” I was embarrassed that he’d touched my panties and bra, not that they were sexy or anything. They were just plain ones that I found cheap. I headed for the bathroom to change.
“Baby, I’ll get her changed while you get ready. I don’t have to do much. Come on, Sugarplum, let’s get you ready to go bye-bye.” Hope squealed and clapped her hands as he walked out with her. I shook my head in wonderment. He seemed to truly like to do things for her. I’d never met a man who was into kids like he appeared to be, not even his own. What planet was Bear from?