Page 17 of Thick

Her large hazel eyes gaze up at me, and she blinks before spitting out the brightly coloured paci. "Uh-huh."

"What's that?" I question, pointing at the paper.

"A list," she responds with maddening ambiguity. I guess our girl is a bit less verbal when in her smaller headspace. I mean... I can work with that because it might mean less of that sassy attitude that makes me want to throttle her and hump her all at the same time.

I squat down in front of her, and gently touch her leg. "Is it for me?"

Her head moves in a negative motion before she bites down on her lip. "Is for youandKaz. My limits and preferences."

As a reward I pick up her discarded soother and hold it out to her. Zelda's rosy-red lips open up and close on the rubber nipple.

My fucking rod has never been so stiff in my entire life.

"Can I look at it, pumpkin?"

Zelda moves fast and grabs the list, crushing it against her chest. "No! Yours first!"

Well damn.

I suppose that makes sense, too.

"Okay," I rush to soothe, sitting on the floor with her, keeping my hands to myself.

She grabs the discarded pacifier again and plops it back in her mouth, sucking on it furiously.

As much as it turns me on, I can't help but feel honoured that she's comfortable enough to be here, like this, with me, right now. And I really need Kaz to get home so we can get our hands on that list of hers.

“Want me to start on mine now, or can I just tell you what I like and don't like? Then Kaz can jump in when he gets home?"

She looks from me to the wall clock before letting her gaze wander to the front door. Enough said—gorgeous, perfect, adorable girl.

"We'll wait for Kaz, beautiful. But until he comes home, wanna come over here and cuddle on my lap?"

She jumps up quickly and within seconds, she's sitting between my legs, her luscious curves pushed up against me. I can smell her strawberry shampoo and hear the soft rhythmic sucking. As much as the action probably soothes her, it does even more for me. Worries about us maybe not being a good fit or her not wanting the same things fly out of my head as I holdourLittle girl in my arms.

She is everything we've ever wanted. Absolute perfection.

Without thinking, I gently kiss the top of her head and slowly start rocking back and forth. Kaz won't be much longer, and hopefully, he'll bring dinner with him, so we won't need to delay this discussion to make food.

My fingers run through Zelda's hair as her hand moves along my arm, tracing the pattern of a burn I got while training.

"It happened a long time ago," I say, opening up. "While I was young, dumb and in training." Pausing, I take a deep breath, knowing what I am about to tell her might change her mind about us. "But even though I haven't gotten a burn this bad since then, I've been hospitalised once for smoke inhalation, and I could get hurt... or worse. My job isn't safe, and I'm not planning on changing that."

The words are harder to get out than I'd like to admit, but I feel another sense of relief once they are. It's one more hurdle passed.

Zelda pulls away, but only enough to take out her pacifier again and look at me with a serious expression. "You're a hero. Why would I want to change that?"

Before I can respond, because I don’t know how to answer, Kaz opens the front door, holding two pizza boxes.

My man.

"My, my, my. What do we have here? Two bugs as snug as a rug. It's a good thing I bought food because, obviously, depending on either of you to feed us wouldn't have been a good bet."

Zelda's beautiful giggle fills the room as she smiles at Kaz.

"Did I miss my invitation to our lounge picnic, or will that be coming in the mail?"

The Little girl in my lap just giggles again before turning to me, expecting me to do the talking. Happy to be the one that she's looking to for help, I pat the floor next to us with my hand, inviting my sexy beast of a husband to sit down. He's dressed in civvies—civilian clothing— which means he had a shower at work before coming home.

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