CHAPTER 27
Naomi stepped out of the master bedroom wearing Asher’s T-shirt, her hair still damp from the shower. As much as she wanted to lose herself in the comfort and passion of his arms, her thoughts were also on the little girl inside the house with them.
She crept up the hallway and smiled to find Penny sound asleep on the sofa, Sam’s big body wedged tight against her on the thin cushions. The child slept as if she hadn’t had a good rest for weeks, and maybe she hadn’t. As quietly as she could, Naomi walked over and retrieved a crocheted afghan and placed it over both the snoring dog and the girl.
She stepped back, simply gazing at the peaceful scene, her heart clenched with contentment.
“Hey.” Asher’s low whisper caressed her senses as he came to stand beside her in nothing but a loose-fitting pair of gym pants. His wounds were all but vanished now, the worst of them nothing but raised pink marks on his golden skin. “Sam’s in his glory.”
Naomi nodded. “I can’t stop thinking about the rest of them. The other kids back in the city.”
He placed a soft kiss to her shoulder. “We’ll go back tomorrow night, as soon as the sun’s down.”
“What if we don’t find them all, Asher?”
“Then we’ll go back again the next night, and the one after that. Until we bring them all home.”
“Home,” she murmured, turning to look at him. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.” He lifted her chin and brushed his lips over hers. “Come with me, Naomi. The girl will be asleep until morning.”
He brought her back to the bedroom and closed the door silently behind them.
His kisses were passionate, yet tender. Reverent. Worshipful.
As weary as she was from their ordeal, his mouth on hers awakened a feverish desire. She wanted him. Each touch left her on fire. Each kiss left her desperate for more.
And he wanted her too.
Naomi slid her hand beneath the slack waistband of his pants and took his length in her grasp. He was pure steel as she stroked him, yet velvet and hot against her palm. When he reached under her T-shirt to caress her breasts, she sagged against him. Then he moved his hand to the drenched and aching juncture of her thighs and she was lost, whimpering softly with longing.
There was no hesitation once he brought her to their bed. He entered her with a long, slow stroke that nearly made her come on the spot. They made love quietly, chasing a swift, shared release that left both of them shuddering with the intensity of their need for each other.
It was some time before either of them moved or spoke. Naomi had never felt more joy in all her life. Nor more fulfillment. But her thoughts kept coming back to Slater and the unforgivable price Michael had paid for participating in her pointless quest for vengeance.
The souvenir tote bag full of Slater’s money sat in the corner of the bedroom. She stared at it, hating the sight of it now.
“I can’t keep any of his money,” she murmured. “I meant it when I said I didn’t want anything from Slater, not even the money.”
Asher rose up on his elbow and gave her a sober nod. “We don’t need it.”
“We don’t, right? We’ll figure it all out. I can get work somewhere.” She smirked at him. “Work that doesn’t require wigs or a dozen fake IDs. I’m going to go totally legit from this point on.”
He smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Yes, I do. Taking care of half a dozen kids doesn’t come cheap, Asher.”
“I realize that,” he admitted. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t we going to make room for more than that? I was thinking we’ve got room here at the ranch for at least eight to start. More, once I outfit the spare rooms with some of Ned’s furniture and make a few more bunkbeds. At some point, we could even add an addition to the house.”
“Are you serious?” Naomi stared at him. “I love that idea. But, Asher, unless you’ve discovered gold out here or you’re sitting on some oil rights, I don’t think we’re going to be able to do any of that.”
“I don’t have either of those things.”
“Then what?”
“When Ned died, he left me this house and the land that came with it. He left me that beat-up truck and that old yellow dog out there too. But he also left me something else.”
He rolled off the mattress and strode gloriously naked over to the bureau and took something out of the top drawer. In his hand was an envelope bearing the return address of a bank in Las Vegas. He handed it to Naomi.
“Open it.”
She tore it open and pulled out the folded sheet of paper inside. “It’s a bank statement from last month with your name on it.” Her gaze drifted to the account total. “Holy shit. That’s a lot of digits.”
He chuckled. “We’ll get by. We’ll more than get by.”
“But where did—”
“One of Ned’s passions was making furniture. Another was playing the lottery every week without fail. Two years after Ruth died, he hit big. A million and a half, plus change.”
“Oh, my God.” Naomi sat back against the pillows, her fingers trembling as she stared at the total again, which had compounded with interest into a figure teetering near twice that amount.
“He didn’t spend a penny of it,” Asher said. “He told me that without Ruth around to enjoy it with him, what did he need it for? I don’t think anything would please the old man more than to know his windfall was going to help give a bunch of kids a new start in life.”
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing. “Asher, I don’t know what to say.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, his gaze intense. “Say you’ll let me share it with you—and those kids. However many you want.”
An image flashed through her thoughts—through her heart and soul. She saw Asher and her some years into the future, a house full of chattering, wild kids and a ranch full of animals. She saw herself holding a tiny baby in her arms, one with beautiful glyphs like his father and her own black hair and tilted almond eyes.
Asher nodded. “I want it too. I want the whole thing . . . with you, my amazing Narumi . . . as my woman and partner, the only friend I’ll ever need. As my blood-bonded mate.”
Her throat clogged with joy. “I can’t think of anything I want more.”
A low groan vibrated in Asher’s chest as he moved closer to her and brought his wrist up to his mouth. With eyes flashing bright and hot, his pupils as thin as razors, he sank his fangs into the corded muscles and tendons and opened his vein for her.
“Drink,” he said tenderly. “Be mine forever.”
“Asher,” she whispered, lowering her head to accept his gift—and his bond. “I have been yours all along.”
He dropped his head back on a hissed curse as she took the first sip. His blood rushed hot and tingling across her tongue.
Each swallow was a revelation, sending heat and power roaring into her with the force of a tidal wave.
She moaned and took some more, her thirst uncoiling, awakening something inside her that she never even knew existed.
It was him . . . Asher.
She felt him in her senses, in her marrow, in every shimmering, unfurling particle of her being.
She felt his love braiding together with hers as their bond took hold.
Asher eased her back down onto the bed beneath him and entered her while she fed, her hungry mouth still latched on to his wrist.
She couldn’t get enough of him, this incredible Breed male.
Her man.
Her love.
Her eternal mate.