I woke with my body tangled with Murray’s and coated in sweat. The man was covered in fur, and when he slept, he threw off heat like a small campfire.

He’d stayed over, stating that he didn’t want to be away from me, but I knew something was up. Morgan had been acting strange since Johnny’s death, and Bear had become overprotective to the point of suffocation.

“Morning, sweetheart.” Bear tightened his hold on me.

I kicked off the blankets, trying to find some cool air, but there was none to be had. “Morning, babe. Want some coffee?”

“I’m good just like this,” he said as he buried his face in my neck.

Even though I felt like I was roasting in the sun, goose bumps broke out across my skin as he kissed me. “We can’t stay in bed all day.” I wiggled to try to break free, but I failed.

His cock stirred. “Why not?”

I shimmied away from his hardness. “Oh, no. Not now, mister. I’m going to the hairdresser and then to meet Maria for lunch.”

“I’ll come,” he said, and I knew immediately that there was something no one had told me.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Stay here. I want to have a little Fran for breakfast.”

I grabbed his balls and gave them a playful squeeze. “Why don’t you roll on your back, and I’ll give you a proper good morning?” The men in this family, including Bear, must have thought I was an idiot.

His eyes grew wide, and he quickly flipped onto his back, putting his hands behind his head. “This is the best fucking way to wake up.”

I crawled between his legs and settled on my heels as I wrapped my hand around his stiff cock. “You like this, baby.”

“God, yes.” He let out a little moan when my hand moved.

“Do you want it rough or soft?” I asked in a breathy, sexy voice.

“Any way you want to do it.” He licked his lips and closed his eyes. “I’m up for anything you’ve got.”

He shivered when I dragged my tongue around the head. Placing the tip in my mouth, I grazed him with my teeth, and his hips shot off the bed.

“Gentle, baby,” he told me, glancing down his body at me.

Pulling his cock out, I waved it in front of my lips. “You want gentle?”

“I don’t want teeth.”

My hold tightened on his shaft. “You better start telling me what the fuck is going on, and do it quick before you get a blow job you’ll never forget, Murray.”

His eyes snapped to mine. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been up my ass, and Morgan’s acting weird. You better tell me what’s going on, or this is going to be the last time your dick is in my hands.”

“Fran, let’s be civil about this.”

Civil? I was being civil. I hadn’t punched him in the gut or kicked him out of my house. I was giving him a chance to explain and make shit right.

I stroked his cock slowly, and his hips moved. “You better start explaining, and do it now.”

“Fran,” he said my name as a plea.

“Talk.” My fingers tightened, and my thumb grazed the tip. When he didn’t speak, I leaned forward and placed my lips around the head, sucking lightly.

“Fuck, yes,” he moaned.

I wasn’t going to back down on answers. The men in my life needed to understand that I didn’t need shielding from information. It was only fair that I knew what was going on since it had to do with Johnny, me, and a boatload of cash.

I sucked a little more and brought him close to the edge before backing away.

His hips followed my mouth. “I’m not allowed to say anything, Fran.”

I shook my head and licked my lips. “Talk, or you get nothing.”

He mumbled something I couldn’t make out before throwing his arm over his face. “Fine. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

I smiled and didn’t feel one bit guilty. “What’s going on with the case?”

His hands tangled in my hair. “He wasn’t alone.”

I swiped my tongue across the underneath of his head and pulled back. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

He closed his eyes, and his jaw ticked. “We haven’t found anything solid yet.”

“Talk, or you’re going home with blue balls.”

I felt proud of myself. Powerful, even. Women often forgot their ability to control a man with their sexuality. Give men a hard-on, and they’re putty in our hands.

“All we found is a note with a name,” he said through clenched teeth.

I quirked an eyebrow and glared at him. “Whose name?”

“It said Ray,” he said quickly when I squeezed his dick like a vise.

My body went rigid, and my hand opened before his cock fell backward and waved. “My Ray?”

“We don’t know,” he said in a strangled voice. “Morgan is tracking him down.”

I covered my mouth, my eyes wider than if I’d seen a ghost. “He can’t track him down.”

“Why not?” Bear asked as he sat up and scooted closer.

“He’s a bad person, Murray. Whether or not he’s involved, he’s not someone I want back in either of our lives.”

“Fran.” He slid his legs around me. “We have to follow up on it. Whoever is involved is bad news. Johnny wouldn’t kill himself unless it was too bad to break free of, sweetheart.”

“I don’t want Morgan finding him. Can’t you handle it?”

“It’s his case, but I can tell Thomas and James, and maybe they’ll handle the search for Ray.”

“Please,” I begged and clutched his shoulders.

Ray DeLuca was one of the biggest pieces of shit I’d ever had the displeasure of being with. I stayed too long with him too. But times were different then. Once I became pregnant, there was no going back. Being raised a Catholic, divorce was a sin, one that my parents would never allow. I didn’t have any way to support Morgan and myself, so I stayed.

Bear placed his soft lips against my forehead, tickling my nose with his beard. “I’ll talk to them.”

Ray had never hit me. He wouldn’t be alive if that were the case, but he’d used his words as weapons instead of fists. Every time he drank too much, another side of him would come out. His sharp tongue would lash my soul with hurtful slurs about my body, my face, and my personality. There wasn’t one thing he liked about me. He felt tied to me because of the baby and never liked Morgan from the day he was born.

He stayed, though. Just long enough to see Morgan reach adulthood, and then he took off, leaving me to fend for myself. I never really realized the full extent of the piece of shit that was Ray DeLuca until people started showing up at my door. They were looking for him because he had outstanding loans, mainly with local bookies, and he was a wanted man. We never saw him again, and that was just fine by me.

I often shielded Morgan from Ray’s nastiness. Morgan didn’t remember all the hate his father spewed, and I wanted to keep it that way. No child should feel unwanted, but if he found his father, he’d realize exactly the type of man he came from.

But it was more than Morgan finding out that his father didn’t want him. I didn’t want my son to think less of me for staying with such a person for as long as I did. I prided myself on my independence and strength, and I worried that Morgan would question my very sanity once he met the real Ray DeLuca. If Ray was involved in this, in Johnny’s death and the theft, it would only cement the level of asshole he truly was and probably still is to this day.

“I need coffee,” I said as I scurried toward the edge of the bed.

“But what about me?” He glanced down at his boner.

I giggled. “You do what I ask, and I’ll make it worth your while.”

A giant smile spread across his face. “Is this me earning the one thing you’ve never given any man?”

I turned around and shook my ass. “You want this?” I bent over and wiggled it. “Do what I ask, and it’s yours.” It was the only card I had left to play.

He hopped out of the bed like a kid and grabbed his jeans off the floor, jamming his legs inside.

“Where you going?”

“No time to waste,” he said as he pulled up the zipper and buttoned them.

I laughed and watched him get dressed faster than I ever thought possible. “You have time for a cup of coffee, Murray. My ass will be here.”

“Fran.” He smoothed out his wrinkled T-shirt and shook his head. “Some things are more important than coffee. I’m wide awake anyway.” He stalked toward me.

I peered up at him and slid my hand against his cheek. “But it’s only 6:30. No one’s at the office yet.”

He smirked and kissed my thumb when it grazed his lip. “Early bird gets the worm, sweetheart. Or in my case, the ass.” Leaning forward, his lips pressed against mine, and I melted into him.

I grabbed his denim-covered cock and stroked it roughly. “Sure I can’t interest you in staying?”

He backed away and pulled my hand off of him, lifting it to his mouth and kissing the back. “I’m a patient man, Franny. I’m not fucking this one up.”

Before I could reply, he was already marching toward the front door and grabbing his boots. With one on and the other in his hand, he opened the door and jogged down the walkway.

“Call me later!” I yelled as he climbed on his bike and slid his foot into the other boot.

“I’ll call as soon as I know anything.”

I waved, and he waved back before he started the bike and took off.

“A little ass and a man could move mountains without being asked twice,” I said to myself as he disappeared in the distance.

I always thought blow jobs were the keys to the kingdom, but in Bear’s world…a little ass made everything possible.