Only, there was a knock on my door and I knew it was one of three people. I froze. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know the proper protocol for what to do the morning after sex. I needed to go to a Doll’s Club meeting and ask for advice before I faced my neighbors. I crept back into the bedroom and sank onto the corner of the bed again.

To my shock and surprise, the doorknob jiggled once and then the door swung open. Seth stood on the other side, pocketing a small set of tools.

“Did you pick my lock?”

He smirked before striding over to me and grabbing my hands. He pulled me to my feet and shot me a hard look. “I know for a fact that the woman who was too stubborn to back down from being fucked nearly unconscious last night isn’t hiding out in her room this morning.”

I stuttered a few times before catching my breath. His hair was wet and his pale blue eyes moved over my face with an expert level of assessment. He smelled too good and I thought maybe I’d been fucked stupid. “I’m not hiding.”

He grinned. “Liar.”

His grin was too much. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to climb him and demand he put his mouth between my thighs again or if I wanted to shove him out of my room. “Fine. I was hiding. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say this morning.”

“A thank you would be nice.” His mouth didn’t budge from its firm line.

“Are you kidding me?” Just as I was starting to get really worked up, I saw his lips twitch. “You jerk.”

He tugged me into his chest and slid his hands low on my back before he grunted and then just gripped my ass hard. The move pulled me up on my tip toes and allowed me to feel his erection right against my core. “You don’t have to say anything. Nothing’s changed.”

I wanted to tell him things had definitely changed, evidenced by the way he was rubbing his penis against me so early in the morning. “Things are going to be weird.”

“Nope.” He dropped his mouth to my neck and I felt his tongue stroke a path up my throat. “I should’ve made sure to clarify a few things before we fucked you like that last night.”

I waited for him to tell me it was a one-time thing and I shouldn’t expect anything from them, because that was the speech I was practicing in my head. He shocked me, though.

“I should’ve made it clear that I like things a little dirtier during sex. I go a little darker and I like to call names. Only when I feel like it’s welcomed, but I didn’t make sure of that with you. I just dove right in. I got the feeling you liked it, too, but I need to make sure you know I don’t think you’re anything other than a good woman and a good mother. Maybe a bit frustrating, but I know you’re not a slut, Nellie. You’re a good girl. We all think that.” He traced the trail of his tongue with his fingers and then lightly gripped the front of my throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t slow things down to make that clear last night. I’m an asshole but I couldn’t handle thinking I’d hurt you.”

One of the walls around my chest cracked down the middle. My mind screamed ‘danger’ but my body was in charge. I leaned into him. “I didn’t know I liked it until you said it. If you’d asked first, I would’ve let my mind run the show and I would’ve told you to fuck yourself. If anyone else called me those things, I’d neuter them.”

“But you like it when I tell you you’re my dirty little girl?” His voice was deep and dark as he said those filthy words that I shivered even as I melted into him.

“Yes.”

“Hmm... I’d convinced myself this was a one-time thing but you’re addictive, Nellie. Maybe one time wasn’t enough to get this out of our system.”

Again, my body was making the calls. “No.”

“If I didn’t have to get to work, I’d bend you over your bed right now and see if we couldn’t fuck ourselves through it. It’ll just have to wait, though.” He took a few steps away, leaving me feeling bereft. “I’m going because I know my come is still fillingyour belly and that’s just enough to sooth the monster inside me.”

I watched him leave and sank down on my bed again, my breath coming hard and fast. Then a thought occurred to me. “Hey! You picked my lock!”

CHAPTER 25

Nellie

I followed the directions to Vera’s house that afternoon and pulled up at a massive house after going through two different gates with security at both of them. I was just climbing out of Beatrix when Waylan came sprinting toward me.

“Mom!”

I caught her in my arms and spun her around, loving the weight of her against me. I held her tight. “Way. I’ve missed you, baby.”

She let me hold her for another few seconds and then squirmed to get down. “It’s only been a night, silly. I missed you, too. But guess what! Reed taught me to shoot!”

My head snapped up to glare at the man in question. Standing next to my sister, he took a step back and held up his hands. “Whoa, momma bear. I taught her to shoot a BB gun and only after I made her sign a contract and take a safety course.”

“You made my daughter sign a contract?”

He winced. “Yes. It says she would be responsible and never aim at anyone she wasn’t prepared to shoot.”