Page 32 of Past Due

Chapter Nine

“Zec hasn’t been able to find anything on the hit against her,” Luka said, his voice nasal and thick on the other end of the phone. He coughed and cleared his throat. “We’ll keep looking.”

“Have you seen a doctor? You sound like shit.” Besian’s concern for his nephew momentarily overrode his worry for Marley.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Worry about your problem.”

“My problem,” he sighed. “I don’t know if I should take her back or find a way to keep her here.” Exhausted, he sat back in the chair by the window and rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. “Either way, it’s a risk.”

“If you intend to take her back, you know what you have to do,” Luka warned. “If that’s the choice you’re making, we can get the paperwork handled. Make sure you don’t have to wait two weeks.”

Besian grimaced at the idea of robbing Marley of a perfect, beautiful day. Wasn’t that what most women dreamed about when they were young girls? Lush flowers, fluffy white dresses, soft, buttery cakes and piles of presents? That’s what she deserved. The very best. The finest. Everything exactly as she had dreamed.

“You still there?” Luka asked before coughing again.

“Yes. Get the paperwork ready. I’m bringing her home tomorrow,” he decided. “Our home,” he clarified.

“Consider it done.”

The call ended, and a few moments later, the noise of the shower ceased. After the intense discussions they had shared about Spider, the raid on the clubhouse and the greenlight on her life, Marley had been subdued. Expectedly so, he supposed. Not even a nice dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant and a glass of wine had brightened her mood. Hopefully, the shower had done the trick, and she would be able to rest peacefully.

He reached for the small glass on the table next to the chair, intending to finish the remains of the rakia. He smiled as he brought the glass to his mouth, remembering the sour look on Marley’s face when he had offered her some. Apparently, her first introduction to his favorite brandy had been a painful one.

When the bathroom door opened and Marley stepped out, he raked his appreciative gaze over her. There was absolutely nothing sexy about the plain pink shorts and well-worn tee she had chosen. She hadn’t picked out her clothing to entice or impress. She had chosen it for comfort. He found it oddly refreshing that she didn’t care what he thought and dressed only for herself.

And yet he’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t aroused by the sight of her boring pajamas. He was excited by the thought of pushing her shirt up a few inches to bare the soft skin of her belly or tugging down the waistband of her shorts to nip at the ticklish spots under her navel and along her hips. Just a little bit of playful, youthful discovery.

He thought back to his earliest sexual experiences and lamented the lack of clumsy exploration and heavy petting. He hadn’t ever fumbled in the backseat of a car or hurriedly shifted aside his clothing to quickly fuck before his girlfriend’s parents came home. His first time had been with a professional nearly twice his age. She had been kind and patient and hadn’t even charged him for the first three visits.

After that, he had gravitated toward similar women—experienced, confident, willing to teach. He stayed away from women looking for relationships and kept especially far away from single mothers. He didn’t want the entanglements that came with them. In fact, Marley was the first time he had ever been interested in a younger woman.

She reached up to uncoil the long waves of her auburn hair from the knot atop her head. He watched her hair tumble down her shoulders. Would she let him comb his fingers through her hair if he asked? Would she let him wind it around his hand so he could tug her head back, tipping up her chin and raising her mouth for a punishing kiss?

He shifted in his chair as that rather erotic image made his pants uncomfortably tight. Completely unaware of the way she was affecting him, Marley walked to her luggage and tucked her toiletry bag inside. When she turned, his gaze jumped to the nasty bruise on her upper thigh.

“What happened to your leg?” He set down his empty glass with a thunk and shoved out of his seat. “That looks terrible!”

“What?” She lowered her gaze. “Oh. This?” She gestured to the violently purple and red mark. “Goose bite.”

Certain he had misheard her, he asked, “What?”

“A goose,” she said slowly. “It bit me at Agnesa’s farm.”

“They bite?”

“Who knew, right? And they have teeth!” She turned her leg out to show him better. “Look! Goose teeth marks!”

He swore under his breath and knelt down to examine the horrible marks. She wasn’t lying. There were actual fucking teeth marks in her skin!

In disbelief that a bird could do this, he traced the edge of the bruise. “Does it hurt badly?”

“Only if I bump it,” she answered.

“We should have a doctor look at it.”

“Agnesa gave me some antibiotic ointment for it.”

He wasn’t sure what possessed him in that moment, but he pressed a tender kiss to the bruise. Marley inhaled a shocked breath and tangled her fingers in his hair. The sharp tug on his scalp sent an electric arc down his spine. Kneeling at her feet, he gazed up at the woman who had stolen his heart with one shy smile. Now, her eyes were dark with desire and excitement. There was nothing shy about the smile she offered now.

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