It’s the pitter-patter of little feet slapping quietly against the hard wood floors of the hallway that wakes me out of a dead sleep. I don’t have anything in this house that would make that type of noise. No children, no pets.

Then again, the warm body draped across my chest begs to differ.

Her leg is so tightly wrapped around mine that I feel like I’ve been wrapped up by a boa constrictor. It’s a silky-smooth leg at that. The kind of leg that is graceful, yet has underlying muscle to it.

Fuck, just the thought of her leg is making my morning erection feel like a steel log sticking straight up.

The feet pass outside my door as they head towards the stairs. Amy isn’t stirring though, if anything she looks like she’s dead to the world. That tends to happen when I put a woman through her paces twice in one night.

I wanted to try for a third go of things this morning when we woke up, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.

Gently removing her head from my shoulder, I slide my leg out from under hers at the same moment.

The dawn light coming through the window gives me the opportunity to see how amazingly beautiful she is. She’s had a rough night, no doubt about that, but here, sleeping in my bed with her makeup messed up, hair everywhere, and a small bite mark on her shoulder from last night, she’s fucking gorgeous.

Fuck me. I’ve never seen a woman as attractive as she is right now in my life. I can only imagine how much better it will be when she is showered and fresh.

Fuck, just thinking about that keeps my dick hard. I really need to master the fucker before he stays like this for good.

Every part of her last night begged for me to take her, to take control. Some primal instinct reared its head inside of me. The bite on her shoulder was a small mark, but it’s something I know she will see in the mirror. I want her to see it.

Fuck, I want the world to see it. She’s mine now.

Grabbing a pair of jeans from the dresser and a t-shirt, I throw them on quickly and head out of the room to find the wayward imp.

Heading back the way she came, I see her little brown head bobbing up and down to some song she is singing to herself as she climbs up the stairs.

“Hey Abigail,” I say quietly to her.

Her head snaps up with a small gasp and she squeaks out, “Where’s my mommy? Is Johnathan here?”

Motioning for her to follow me, I say, “No, he went home last night, and your mother is in her bedroom. Want to see where it is?”

Nodding her head, she follows me as I lead her to my bedroom.

Opening the door quietly, I point to the sleeping beauty in my bed. “She had a rough night last night. I think we should let her get some good rest.”

Leading Abigail downstairs to the kitchen, I’m sitting her down at the table for some breakfast when her little lip starts to quiver. She looks like a little replica of Amy, except this little one is on the verge of tears.

Fuck. I don’t do tears.

“What’s wrong, princess?”

“My Molly is at home. She didn’t get to sleep in my bed last night.”

Well, fuck. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. Taking her mom as mine means I take her too. Fuck… Girl needs a doll or some shit, then she’s going to get it.

“Oh, that’s a pretty serious issue isn’t it?”

Nodding her head solemnly, she says, “She gets real scared and sad if I’m not home with her.”

Damn, just hearing about the doll brings up a very big problem for me. We don’t have any clothes here for either of them and if I plan on keeping them both I need to fix that.

I pull my cellphone from my pocket. Scrolling through my contacts, I need to figure out how to get the doll and some clothes for them.

Looking over at my little princess, I can see that little lip quivering again. Shit, I need the kid on my side of the fence. I want her mommy too much to let a doll get in the way of things.

“Would you want a new Molly?” I ask, and even as the words come out of my mouth I can see her eyes getting a little glassy from the emotions ready to burst out.

“No…that… no, my Molly needs me.”

Nodding my head, I push the call button on Johnathan. “I promise she will be here before bedtime then. Sound good, princess?”

Her eyes light up at that. “Oh, yes!”

“What the fuck are you calling me for?” Johnathan growls loudly into the phone.

Glancing at the clock on the stove, I do notice it’s a bit early. “I got a job for you?”

“Fuck, what is it? This a job from Lucifer? I’m supposed to be off for a couple of days.”

Shit, that’s right. Still, he’s one of the guys I trust the most to get a shit job done.

“Five large to do a pickup.”

“What the fuck do you want me to grab?” he asks, and I can tell he’s getting clear-headed.

“I need you to—”

He interrupts me before I get to finish. “Fuck it, dude. You pulled me into a job last night a half hour after I got off an eighteen-hour flight. I’m fucking drained and need to sleep.”

“Six large and get the fuck up, asshole. It’s a simple job, and one I can call on the higher power to have assigned if I need it to be.”

“Seriously? Fuck, this better be good, Andrew.”

“I need you to go to the girl’s house and grab clothes for them. Then I need you to go to Abigail’s bedroom, there’s a little…”

I trail off as I hear Johnathan muttering very dark words about my parentage.

Smiling at Abigail, I ask, “Exactly who is Molly, princess?”

“She’s my panda!”

“Grab one Molly the Panda bear from the bed. Get some clothes of hers too… anything else, Abigail?”

“She likes her pink umbrella!” she giggles as she goes back to placing her silverware by her plate.

Sitting there so prim and proper like, she looks like a little cartoon princess. Big blue eyes, chocolate brown hair, and fair skinned.

“Get Molly’s pink umbrella too.”

The mutterings of my parentage have changed to my empty brain capacity.

“Have James drive you too, and keep an eye out. I’m thinking there’s going to be some serious heat around the apartment.”

Instantly he stops his muttering.

I can hear a grin in his voice as he asks, “What kind of heat are we talking?”

“Russian kind. We borrowed one of their big backers. The guy was sweet on Amy.”

“Hmph, should I expect a welcome party?”

“Probably. But I want you to keep this as quiet as possible. If there are any obstacles, you need to get rid of them. I want this quiet, ghostly fucking quiet.”

“Got it. I’ll take Peter instead, he’s better at the quiet job types. Fucker would be a hell of a cat burglar.”

“Sounds good. I want it all before bedtime.”

“Dude, you sound like such a pussy.”

“Fuck you, biker-boy-asshole.”

He hangs up his phone and I only realize my side of the conversation wasn’t so quiet when I turn around to see Abigail’s eyes go wide.

We stare at each other for a moment and then she says….

“I’m hungry, Andrew. That ice cream was yummy last night; do you have any?”

Laughing at her big blue puppy dog eyes, I shake my head. “Sorry kiddo, no ice cream here. I have stuff for breakfast though if you feel like you would want some of that.”

We’re about halfway through breakfast when I hear feet running across the upstairs. A second later, I hear them coming down the stairs.

“Your mother is awake,” I announce to Abigail as Amy comes to a screeching halt in the kitchen. She looks wide-eyed at both me and the little girl.

“Hi, Mommy!” Abigail giggles as she jumps out of her chair and races to hug her mom.

Hugging her daughter tight to her side, Amy looks at me with worried eyes. “What have you two been up to?”

“Andrew made me pancakes and bacon! Lots of milk, too!”

Tugging away from her mom, Abigail grabs Amy’s hand and pulls her to our table.

Grinning at Amy, I point to the plate I set for her. “Yeah, you missed out on our early breakfast. But I can make you some too if you want.”

As soon as Abigail slips from the table and shoots off to the couch for her morning cartoons, I stand up from my place at the table. Amy hasn’t moved from her spot near where Abigail was sitting. She looks pissed and scared at the same time.

I see the fight in her but I can tell she genuinely fears for her life. She has a right to be both, but not with me. I would never do anything to hurt her or Abigail, they’re mine now.

Standing up from the table, I walk over to Amy. I take her by the hand and she stands up hesitantly. Abigail can see us from the living room and I think right now we need a bit of privacy.

Leading Amy to the counter area of the kitchen, out of Abigail’s sight, I give her a good once over. She looks far too good in just a long t-shirt.

“What we did last night,” she hisses at me with an angry look. “You totally took advantage… I… we can’t do that again.”

Snickering, I cross my arms over my chest. “That’s not what you said when I stuck my tongue in your—”

Her eyes go wide and her face flushes a bright red. “I’m so never allowing you to—”

Grabbing her by the hips, I pull her into my body. She isn’t wearing a bra right now, and as soon as I press her to me, her hard nipples press into my chest.

Leaning down, I cover her mouth with mine and turn us toward the counter. Lifting her up, I set her down on top of it and push my hips between her legs.

She’s as resistant to letting me between her thighs as she is in kissing me back. I don’t stop though; I know what she needs. It’s like that old saying, her lips are saying no but those eyes are saying fuck yes.

Slowly her hands stop beating at my chest. They latch around my neck and her mouth opens. Her tongue comes out, tentative at first, before meeting me lick for lick.

I can feel the warmth of her pussy pushing against my jeans and I can barely contain my desire to claim her right here, right now.

Two things keep me from unzipping my pants and thrusting myself deep inside her tight pussy. A giggling little princess behind me and my phone suddenly ringing.

Pulling my lips away from Amy’s, I growl. “Shit.”

Turning around, I stare at a laughing Abigail. “I’m going to get you, little princess!”

“Mommy said you weren’t her boyfriend, but you are! You are!”

“Oh god…” I hear Amy mutter behind me.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I look down.

Fuck.

Pushing connect, I look back up to Amy. “Gotta take this, babe, but I’ll be back.”

“Please tell me you aren’t calling me babe now, Andrew,” Lucifer says in a quiet voice.

“No sir, that would be someone else,” I say.

“Good. Though if you are calling the young lady I charged you with taking care of last night, babe…” he trails off and for the life of me I have absolutely no clue what his tone is.

Because right now I’m in foreign waters. I’ve never been in a position like this before, and I really don’t know how he’s going to handle me claiming Amy as mine.

Honesty with Lucifer is always the best way to go though. “Yes, sir, I am.”

There’s a very long, pregnant pause. Like two minutes of silence. No breathing, no mutterings, no anything. I’m half tempted to say something, but I keep my peace.

Anything I say now just sounds like excuses.

I glance over at Amy and I can tell she knows who I’m speaking to. Her body is rigid and her previous blushing skin is pale white.

Pulling the phone away from my mouth, I grab her by the back of the neck. Pushing my lips right next to her ear, I murmur quietly, “Mine.”

She looks from me to the phone twice before she quietly hops down from the counter. “I’m going to go play with Abigail for a bit. Give you some privacy.”

Nodding my head, I wait for Lucifer to finally speak. “You do know I could go without these kind of complications, these kinds of headaches.”

Laughing, I say, “Life isn’t fun for you, Lucifer, without this kind of thing. You’d be bored stiff.”

“How serious is this, Andrew?”

“How serious were you?” I don’t need to say Lily’s name; he knows what I am talking about.

“Very well. But we need to talk about your timing some time.”

“Probably… nothing I can do about it though.”

“Probably,” he sighs. “So this is why when I called Johnathan to get a report about his most recent trip I find out he’s already on a job for you with Peter?”

“Yeah, my girls need some of their personal assets and Molly the Panda.”

“What is Molly the Panda?”

“Abigail’s panda bear.”

“Please tell me you will be taking pictures of Johnathan holding that?”

“Like I could stop myself.”

“Sounds good. He will be keeping this a simple job, I hope? The Russians have to have an idea of what happened to Ivan by now. But I don’t want to leave a giant calling card.”

“It will be a quick grab. I think it will also give us a chance to find out who’s watching her place and how far they want to take things. They have to be careful right now, they can’t be seen going on full defense. Nothing is really known beyond Ivan was snatched, and why would they blame us… We’re their friends, right?”

“Sounds good, keep me abreast of it all.”

“Will do.”

“Is there anything you need for them to be more comfortable?”

“No, I think we’re good for right now. I’m going to take them shopping tomorrow for clothes and toys. I want them to feel at home.”

“Hmm. Why don’t you come out to the compound with your girls tomorrow night for dinner? We can have a talk while the wives get to know each other.”

Well, fuck. Looks like Amy and I just got hitched by the devil himself.

Fuck, did I just get a readymade family? I think I did. It’s not like I didn’t already claim her as mine… this just makes it real.

“Yes, sir. I’ll see you there.”

Disconnecting the call, I set the phone down on the counter. That went better than I could have possibly hoped for.

Turning towards the living room, I go searching for my princess and the woman who’s mine now.