Chase

 

I STAGGERED DOWN the hall and winced as I stumbled against the wall, yeah pretty sure that bastard broke a rib, maybe two. Shit, I always forget how much his kicks hurt when they connect with bone — my bone.

“Mil?” I called. Normally she’d be right in the middle of the chaos, ready to kick everyone’s asses. Frowning, I went further down the hall, ready to commit murder with each step, damn it, Sergio! “You down here, babe?”

I checked in my old bedroom, and found her face planted against the mattress snoring.

With a chuckle, I made my way in, and slowly started pulling the clothes off my body as tenderly as I could without shouting out curses into the room. The lamp on the bedside table was lit, casting a soft glow across her face. I swear, the longer I was married to the psychopath the more I loved her, the more I discovered. I wanted to spend my life creating a map of Mil’s body and exploring it like I was freaking Christopher Columbus, because she wasn’t just my world — she was everything.

Naked and still caked in more blood than necessary — I crawled across the mattress and placed a gentle kiss across her cheek. “Mil?”

“Tired. Too much food.” She groaned and then opened one eye, “You look like you got the shit beat out of you.” Her grin grew. “Who am I high fiving when I get up?”

I slapped her on the ass.

“Hey!” She leapt on top of me bracing my arms above my head. I let her. I always let her win when I was naked — common sense and all that. Her eyes drank me in and then she hissed out a breath. Fingers crossed it was because I was sexy AF and not because I was bleeding.

“You know, for eating all that food — you still look hungry.” I whispered. “I’m fully capable of providing something for you to snack on.”

“I’m sure.” She grinned but didn’t pull away. “Salty or sweet?”

I leaned up, arching to meet her mouth, brushing a kiss across her pink lips. “A bit of both.”

“Even after getting your ass kicked, you still want sex?”

“Mil,” I frowned, “I’m disappointed in your knowledge of me in the bedroom — when do I not want sex?”

“Chase, I think you’d have to be dying and even then, it would be your last wish.”

“That’s my girl.” I kissed her harder. “Just try to stay quiet, we’ve got babies sleeping down the hall.”

“Chase!” She pressed an open mouth kiss to my chest, I groaned in appreciation. “You know I’m not a quiet person.”

“Shocker.” I teased. “Please tell me it hasn’t taken you this long to come to that conclusion.”

Her face fell and then she was pulling away.

“Nope.” It was my turn to flip her onto her back, pinning her against the bed. “What’s that look?”

“What look?” Her eyes darted left and right before settling on my chest. “Besides, don’t you want all the sex?” She reached for me.

I swatted her hand away and glared. “Tell me.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Chase.”

“I only like it when you scream my name, you know this,” I growled, “Now we can do this the easy way…” I licked the side of her neck, “Mmmm you taste like candy.” I licked the outside of her ear, outlining it with my tongue, “Or the hard way.” I pressed my body down. “Your choice.”

“So you’re going to torture me with your body until I give in?” She said in a bored voice.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” I tried to keep my voice even. I hated when she pulled away, when she didn’t share the burden of being a female boss. Hated it more than getting shot at. “Now, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve been really tired.” Her voice was hollow. “Like really tired, lately.”

“Okay…” I drew the word out, “So I give you more naps in between sex…” I frowned, “Mil, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“And, I’m freaked out, a lot.”

“You’re fearless.” I pointed out. “I can’t imagine anything terrifying you.”

“Losing you.” She gulped. “That terrifies me.”

“Mil, I’m damn good at what I do. And so are you, so I’m going to ask again, and then I’m going to get it out of you regardless of if you’re ready to tell me or not because now I’m the one that’s freaked out and I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you. It’s not safe, and it’s not fair, you know that.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I’m afraid that I may be possibly…” Her face paled. “You can’t have that much sex and not get pregnant, Chase!” She was full on yelling while I was so shocked you’d think she’d just sucker punched me. “Say something, damn it!” The tears fell.

My heart cracked.

I held her in my arms and rocked her back and forth until she stopped crying. “I hate weakness — I feel so weak.”

“At the risk of sounding like a complete jackass — why are you so upset?” I asked quietly, my heart hammered in my chest, I was afraid to admit how terrified I was.

I saw the changes in Phoenix.

The changes in Nixon.

Children had a way of taking that hard edge away from a person, replacing it with a protectiveness that was lethal — but it also gave enemies one more thing to use against you. It’s why Nixon had over seventy cameras on his property, ten of them pointed toward the baby’s room. Phoenix had gone even more overboard, building bullet proof windows into that part of the house and parking a freaking SUV looking tank in front so nobody could drive into the house or bomb that section. When I asked him why he was being so bat shit crazy, he just gave me that terrified look that said. “Just wait.”

“What if you don’t love me anymore? You know how I get when I don’t get enough sleep and I’m excited, and I’m scared, and I just want a nap and how can I make you happy if all I want to do is sleep? Chase, I would kill someone for a fifteen-hour nap, like slit their throat, drop the knife, walk away, and sleep in their blood.”

My eyebrows shot up, “Yeah, maybe we should get you a nap before I’m the person whose blood you sleep in.”

She nodded, her eyes still dripping tears onto her cheeks. I wanted to make it stop, but I also knew that Mil wasn’t the type of person you pushed.

“A nap you say?” I repeated and held open my arms. “Sleep on me, and know that no matter what happens, I’m here and I love you.”

“Kay.” She sniffled. “But you’re naked!”

I quickly moved to the foot of the bed and pulled on my jeans, then walked back to her bedside, “Scoot over and I’ll be the big spoon.”

Her giant dopey smile was a direct hit to my heart. God, how could I have ever lived without this woman?

When I rejoined her on the bed, she was already scooting her ass into me. “This is perfect.”

“Yup.” I tried not to hiss it out, but her ass was pressed so hard against me, I was reciting the alphabet backward. “Perfect.”

“Hey Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“If I am pregnant, we’re going to be okay, right?” Her voice was so small, so unsure. And just like that I was getting flashbacks to a tumultuous time in our relationship, where she didn’t trust me, where I sure as hell didn’t trust her, and still thought I was in love with someone else.

Mil had needed tough love then — just like she needed it now.

“Why would you even ask that?” I whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear, and kissing her neck. “We’ll be way better parents than Nixon and Trace, we’re already better looking, everything else will come.”

She elbowed me in the gut.

“Shit.” I choked out a curse. “You realize I have internal bleeding right?”

She elbowed me again.

“Someone’s feeling better.”

And then the damn woman started rubbing her ass against me. I let out a groan and closed my eyes. Dead. I was dead.

Dying.

“Mil?” I clenched my teeth together. “Tease me one more time like that and your ass,” I dug my fingers into her flesh, “Is mine, got it?”

“Yup.” She stopped moving and yawned.

And then reached her hand behind her back and flicked open my jeans.

I was too afraid she’d stop if I moved.

I was already breathing heavy.

So was she.

“Remember, Chase, gotta be quiet.” Her hand was hovering, I could feel the heat of her palm, but she wasn’t touching me yet.

“Sure, yes, anything you say.”

And then I was on my back.

Her shirt went flying.

“What changed your mind?” I asked already tossing her bra onto the lamp, while she tugged down my jeans.

“I just remembered something.” She shrugged a shoulder.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You’re Chase Abandonato.”

“That I am,” I grinned, “Sex expert and best damn cook this side of Chicago.”

She rolled her eyes. “And as long as I have you — as long as we’re a team, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Twins.” I blurted, immediately regretting the look of horror on her face.

“You take that back right now!” She twisted my nipple.

“HELL!” I bucked off the bed. “What sick kind of foreplay is this?”

She bent her head and licked where she’d twisted, “All better?”

“Lower.” I said smugly.

She licked lower and lower. “Better?”

“You’re getting hotter.” I put my hands behind my head and gave her a cocky grin. “Maybe, just three more inches.”

She went one.

“Mil.” I growled.

“Chase?” She arched a brow and then wrapped her mouth around me.

Yeah we were going to be just fine…

She stopped.

I blinked up at her, “Baby?”

“Merry Christmas.” She fused her mouth to mine and I forgot all about her fears and made sure she would too.