“I said shut it.” His mouth comes down on mine, his tongue seeking entrance.

I open my mouth under his. My hands go to his back, feeling his warm, smooth skin under my fingers. His fingers go to my center, where he pulls my panties to the side. Then his fingers run down my slit, causing my h*ps to jerk at the contact.

“Lift your hips.”

I do what he says, raising my h*ps off the bed. His hands pull my panties down my thighs, his weight leaving me only to drag them off me. As soon as they’re gone, his fingers go right back to where they were, making my h*ps shift and jerk once again.

“I think it’s time I get your mouth. What do you think?”

My pu**y convulses, sucking his fingers deeper.

“My girl likes that idea,” he says, licking up my neck before rolling to his back.

I watch as his h*ps lift and he pulls his boxers down, kicking them off the bed. His hand wraps around his cock, stroking twice and causing a bead of p**cum to seep out of the tip. My mouth waters and I lick my lips. His groan has my eyes going to his as I bend forward on my knees to lick the tip. His taste bursts on my tongue, and I want more, so I wrap my hand over his and close my lips over the tip, swirling my tongue around it.

His fingers run over my cheek, around my ear, and down my neck, shoulder, back, and ass before hitting me just right. I moan, taking more of him into my mouth.

“Com’ere,” he groans, shifting my h*ps over his head. The second his tongue touches me, I cry out, forgetting what I’m supposed to be doing. “You stop, I stop,” he growls, slapping my ass. I moan, taking him as deep as I can, causing him to hit the back of my throat, which makes me gag.

I can feel his fingers holding me open while he licks and sucks, not missing any part. I feel my orgasm approaching and know that it’s going to be huge. My h*ps start bucking against his face, my hand working fast with my mouth. Do I know what I’m doing? No, but I know him, and I know the noises he makes when something feels good. I know we’re both close, but then he lifts me off his face with an order of, “Ride me.”

I start to turn to face him, but his hands hold my h*ps in place.

“Reverse, baby.”

I can feel more wetness build between my thighs. One of his hands holds his c**k upright, the other wrapping around my hip. I position myself over him and sink down hard. My head flies back and a loud moan leaves my mouth. I just found my new favorite position.

The head of his c**k hits my G-spot on each downward thrust. His hands slide around my waist, one going up to cup my breast, the other down to roll over my clit.

“Shit. I need a mirror.”

I look over my shoulder and down at him. His eyes are at half-mast and his cheeks have a slight pinkness, and I know I did that to him. I made his hot even hotter just by f**king him.

His hand wraps around my hair, pulling my head back, and I hold the position for a minute before leaning forward. My hands go to his shins as I start to ride him hard and fast. I can feel myself getting closer the harder I ride. When his h*ps start lifting to meet mine, I cry out my orgasm as he grunts his.

“Wow,” I breathe into the crook of my arm, where my face had ended up.

“Fuck yeah. Perfection in everything you do, baby.”

I smile into my arm before lifting myself off him and turning around to lie against his chest with my chin on my hands. “I love you,” I tell him, looking into his eyes, my finger tracing first one eyebrow, then the other, and then around his lips, which I love so much.

“Love you, baby.” He leans up, kissing my mouth. “I gotta clean up. You wanna come, or do you want me to bring you something?”

“I wanna come,” I smile.

“Smartass.” He smiles back, smacking my ass lightly and shaking his head.

I follow him into the bathroom, where he cleans me up before smacking me on the ass as I walk back into the bedroom. I don’t even bother saying anything when he does it; I know it’s pointless to tell him to stop. Instead, I pick my panties up off the floor, toss them towards the closet, and grab a new pair from the drawer before stepping into them.

“I f**king love those.”

I look down at my underwear and feel my eyebrows draw together.

“When the f**k did cotton panties with flowers become sexier than lace shit? Do not f**king ask me, but those are hot, and you in nothing but them is even hotter.”

I roll my eyes and pull them up my legs before climbing into bed. “You’re such a guy.”

“But you love me,” he says, and I smile.

“I do. I don’t know what that says about me, but I do love you.”

“It says you’re smart.” He turns off the light and pulls me to him so my head is on his chest and his hand can wrap around my hair like it always does when we sleep. “You gonna be able to sleep?”

Hearing the concern in his voice has me pressing closer to him. “I’ll be okay. I haven’t had one in a long time,” I tell him quietly, tracing random patterns on his chest.

“I wonder what triggered it.”

“I think talking to your mom last night,” I say softly.

“What did she say?” he growls.

“She told me about your work.”

“You already knew about my work,” he says, confused.

I press closer. “I know, but I guess I never thought you could get into trouble.”

“Baby, if we were having this conversation a few years ago, I wouldn’t be able to tell you that you have nothing to worry about, but I’m no longer reckless. I take risks, but they are all calculated, and the worst-case scenario is thought of and worked around before every situation.” His hand moves to my cheek. “I don’t want you to worry about any of that. Things can always go wrong, and if they do, we figure it out when it happens. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nod against his chest.

“Night, baby.”

“Night,” I whisper, listening to his heartbeat, letting it lull me to sleep.

Chapter 9

Shit Hits The Fan

“Shhhhh,” I whisper to the little ball of fur I just set down on the floor of my old room. He whines at me, and I can’t help but pick him up again to give him a cuddle. “Sorry, baby, but you need to be in here until I can figure out how to tell Kenton about you,” I tell my new puppy before setting him down on the ground.

I was at the mall when I walked past a pet store. I looked into the window of the shop and a little white fur ball caught my eye. He was tugging a large, red chew toy around the pen that was full of wood chips while all the other puppies fought amongst each other. I went into the store to have a closer look at him, and the minute I stood next to the pen, his head came up, his eyes met mine, and I fell in love. He ran to me, his little puppy body so round that he had a hard time running straight. I picked him up and started laughing. He was so wiggly and loveable, and I knew right then that I was taking him home with me.

I look around the bedroom, making sure there’s nothing for him to get into while I’m downstairs trying to think of a way to tell Kenton that we got a dog. The last few months have flown by. Not long after I agreed to move in, Kenton and I took a trip out to Vegas, packed up my condo, and put it on the market. When we got home from our trip, Nancy got her nephews to come over to gut the kitchen. It took about a month for them to completely renovate it.

The counters are now dark granite, the appliances are stainless steel, the cupboards are dark wood, and the floors are slate. Nancy wanted to redo the dining room, but after the kitchen ordeal, I was over renovating for a while. We did get a new set for the deck—a large, metal table and six chairs—and we also got a large, round outdoor bed that has a top that flips over to block out the sun. It’s the perfect place to read a book or make love under the setting sun, which has happened more than once when Kenton’s caught me out there reading.

I come out of my thoughts when I hear a quiet snore. I look down and see that Tubs is sleeping. I shake my head, laying him on his bed before closing the door carefully behind me, hoping that he doesn’t wake up until I can tell Kenton about him.

I hear the alarm system sound, letting me know that the front door is open, and I run down the stairs. My feet hit the bottom landing with a loud thud when I jump off the last step.

“You’re home,” I say breathlessly as soon as his head turns my way.

“I am,” he says suspiciously.

I feel myself start to squirm under his gaze, and I dig my nails into my palms to keep from blurting out about Tubs. I need to figure out how to tell him, and I’m thinking a blowjob may ease the blow. A smile twitches my lips at that thought and his eyes start to narrow.

“What’s going on?” This time, the words are impatient.

“Nothing,” I reply immediately, and his eyes narrow further.

“Then why are you over there and not here?” He points to the floor in front of him.

I go to him like I normally would, lift up on my tiptoes, and tilt my head back, waiting for him to bend to kiss me.

“Okay, what the f**k is goin’ on?”

“Um…I… Well, we…um,” I start, trying to tell him about Tubs, when all of a sudden, there’s a loud bang upstairs and both of our heads tilt towards the ceiling for a second before he looks back down at me. When our eyes meet again, I see hurt hit his eyes. Then rage.

“Stay here,” he growls, setting me away from him before I can explain what’s going on.

“Wait!” I yell when I see him pull his gun out from behind his back. I run after him up the stairs and yell, “No!” as he pushes open my old bedroom door when he sees all the others are open.

“What the fuck?” he asks, stopping dead, causing me to run into his back.

I slide around him into the room, seeing that Tubs has pulled the lamp off the bedside table and onto the ground. Luckily, it didn’t break. I pick him up and pull him into my chest.

“Bad puppy,” I mutter, kissing his furry little head.

“What is that?” Kenton asks.

My eyes go to him and I smile. “This is Tubs.” I hold him out to Kenton and he wiggles in my hands, his tongue coming out, trying to reach Kenton’s face. I look from Tubs to my confused man, who is looking at the dog like he’s some kind of alien.

“How did it get here?”

“He got here in my car,” I say, bringing him back to my chest, petting him behind his ears when he whines.

“Put him back in your car and take him back to where he came from.”

I lift my eyes and narrow them. “I’m keeping him.”

“Baby, do you know how much work a puppy is?”

No, I don’t know, but I talked to a very sweet girl at the pet store and she made sure I had everything we needed—from food to a rhinestone-studded collar.

“It’s a lot of work,” he says, watching me.

“But I love him,” I pout, tucking his tiny head back under my chin.

His eyes drop to my mouth then to Tubs. “Fuck.” He shakes his head then reaches out his hand, petting the top of Tubs’s head. “What kind of dog is he?”

“American Eskimo,” I whisper as he takes Tubs from my hands and pulls him to his chest. My heart melts at the sight of him cuddling the puppy.

“Okay, baby.”

“What?” I ask, thinking, This is way too easy.

“We can keep him.”

“Really?” My eyes go wide.

“I’ll probably regret this after the first time he pisses in the house, but yeah, we can keep him,” he says, bending towards me, kissing the smile off my face. “None of that,” he tells Tubs when he tries to get in on our kiss.

I laugh and wrap my arms around his waist, looking up into his eyes. “Thank you, honey.” I give him a squeeze.

“You owe me.”

“Anything you want.” I smile and his eyes heat.

“Remember you said that,” he says with a wicked grin, but then I remember the look on his face before he ran up the stairs.

“Did you think I had someone here?” I ask him, my eyebrows coming together, thinking the look of hurt I caught.

“No, but you were acting strange, and then the crash happened, so I didn’t know what to think.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you,” I tell him softly. The thought alone feels like a lead weight in my gut.

“I know that”—his hand comes up, cupping my jaw—“but sometimes when you have something that seems too good to be true, you start waiting for it to crumble to pieces around you.” My breath catches in my throat and tears fill my eyes. “You, Autumn Freeman, are the most important thing in my life.”

“Stop,” I choke out.

“I love you, baby.”

“Love you too,” I sob, burying my face in his chest, and Tubs takes the opportunity to start licking me, making my sobs turn into laughter.

Kenton tilts my head back again, kissing me. “Where’s his kennel?” he asks when his mouth leaves mine.

“Kennel?” I ask dizzily.

“Where he sleeps,” he prompts.

“Oh, I got him a bed.” I point to the large, fluffy dog bed that is now in the middle of the floor, where I’m sure Tubs dragged it.

Kenton looks at me then the bed and shakes his head. “Get his leash and collar.”

“Why?” I ask, going over to the bags I put on the bed with all his stuff in them. I dig through until I find his baby-blue collar with rhinestone studs and his leash that matches. I turn around, my head bent as I take the tags off both items.

“Hell no!”

I jump at his voice and lift my head. “What?” I ask, looking down at my hands, where his eyes are pointed.