She giggles and shakes her head as she sits down, and I close the door before jogging around and getting in myself. I adjust the seat way back, my heart swelling with the way Edison tries to hold her laughter in as she watches me.
She snorts, “Sorry. It’s not funny.”
“You’re right, it’s not funny that you’re this short,” I deadpan.
She throws her head back and laughs with abandon before slapping my chest playfully. “Rude,” she admonishes me, but there’s no heat to it.
We make it home fairly quickly and I’m struck again with how massive Jude’s place is. I haven’t been here long, but I do consider it my home. I can see us here and the family we’ll build. It has plenty of room for little ones.
My hands start to sweat with the thought of showing Edison the primary bedroom. I’ve been able to cut back on going into work since we moved in, happy to let the people I employ take up the slack. I was able to finish the giant fucking bedframe I built and installed it today. I got it done just in time for the new mattresses to be delivered.
There’s nothing else in the room, not yet, but the bed is done and we’re taking our woman home to it. Our house.
I hope it doesn’t freak her out.
When I reach over and place my hand on her thigh, I give it a squeeze. “I’ll make sure to reward you, Edison.”
Her tone is curious and a little husky, “Why would you need to do that?”
“For your trust and because you might have some surprises waiting for you tonight,” I tell her honestly.
After she makes a humming sound, she leans toward me slightly. She’s close enough that I feel her little breaths of air against my cheek. She whispers, “Want to know a secret?”
“Yes, please,” I groan.
“I love surprises.”
I give her thigh a squeeze and think about what Jude hasn’t told her yet. Then there’s the fact that she probably doesn’t really know the extent of Killian’s obsession.
As long as she listens and doesn’t react before having time to process, I think we’ll be okay. Even if she does, I’ll be right there. To hold her close. To be the steady she needs.
When we pull up to the house, Edison’s jaw drops open and she sputters something that might be words, but it’s questionable. At best.
“Woah,” she breathes out, her head darting between looking at the house and then back to me.
“It was Jude’s. The morning we woke up alone, we went back to the house Killian and I lived in. We sat around and talked. Jude told us about his house and showed us some pictures. We thought you’d love it here, so we decided to move in and get it ready for you,” I explain.
She squeaks, “For me?”
I chuckle, “Yes, you.”
She turns toward me, and her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “You gave up your house?”
I turn off the car and turn toward her, reaching up and smoothing the space between her eyebrows. “We didn’t care about the house; it wasn’t where we grew up or anything. I own my own construction company, starting it after I worked my way up on someone else’s crew and learned everything. I bought our old house to remodel and flip. I got the remodel done, but then just stayed.”
Her eyes flick down and take in my hands, calloused from years of working with them. I didn’t use to care or even think about how someone else would like my rough hands. When I start to pull my hand away from her thigh, she grips my wrist and stops me.
“I love your hands,” she muses, one of her fingers tracing over my skin. “They’re big, strong and I remember how they felt against my skin considering it wasn’t that long ago.”
“Thanks, pretty girl.” I flash her a smile before getting out of the car and going around to her side to open the door. “Come on, let us show you our house.”
She nods eagerly, but I don’t think she has any idea we want to move her in here. I hope it’ll be soon. We need her close.
We need to keep her safe. We need to be able to pleasure her, anytime and anywhere.
CHAPTER 13
JUDE