Page 43 of The Captain's Little Girl

“He came into the Harbor bar?”

“He showed up in the parking lot after work,” Cricket admitted. “It was okay. Some regulars backed me up. He left fast.”

“That’s not okay. I’ll take care of it.”

“Really, I don’t think he’s dangerous,” she rushed to assure him.

“I’ll take care of it,” Mark repeated ominously.

“I’d rather celebrate that you’re home. What happened? They came to tell me you were lost. Then the team called to tell me they were headed back for you.”

“It doesn’t matter, baby girl. I’m home now.”

Cricket looked at him in exasperation. “It does matter,” she corrected him. “It matters to me. I want to know what happened.”

“Will that make you worry more or less the next time?” he asked, studying her face.

“Next time?” she whispered. This couldn’t happen again, right?

“I have a dangerous job. I can’t predict the future, but I can reassure you I will do everything I can to get back to you and that the team I’ve built is the best out there.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered.

“There are no guarantees in life, Cricket. I could get run over by a stampeding buffalo.”

The mental image made her snicker. “Of all the things that could happen to you, you choose a cow?”

“A buffalo, baby girl—much fiercer and uglier.” Laughing at her skeptical expression, Mark scooped her up from the car and whirled her around in a circle.

Squealing with delight, Cricket wrapped her legs around his waist to hold on. The sensation of his hard body against hers felt so good.

“Damn, I needed to see you.”

“Is that all you need to do? See me?” she questioned, leaning back to meet his gaze.

“No, baby girl. That’s not all.” He snagged her apron from the car and headed for the house. Once inside, he nudged the door shut and locked it, holding her close and ignoring her attempt to stand. Mark tossed her apron on the couch as they passed, not caring when it spilled coins over the cushions. Cricket looked over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway to see his pack discarded neatly by the door.

“Did you just get home?”

“I did. I left the front door open while I made sure everything was okay inside. The bulb must have blown.”

“That’s what I figured, too. I’m so glad you’re home.” She whispered the last part against his neck before pressing kisses to his skin.

“This wasn’t a home until you got here, Cricket.” Mark stopped by the kitchen to squeeze her tight.

“It feels like where I am supposed to be,” she whispered.

Mark rewarded her with a kiss that made her cling to him even tighter. Cricket squirmed against him, rubbing her pelvis against his hard body. He wrapped a hand around her bottom and moved Cricket deliberately to settle his erection against her. “I need to be inside you, baby girl.”

Cricket nodded and pressed her lips to his. Pushing away her desire to know all the details of the last mission, she focused on the present. She kissed Mark with all the love in her heart. In her mind, he’d been her fantasy daddy from the first time she’d met him.

Quickly, Mark took control of the kiss. Deepening it, he pressed her back against the wall to pin her in place. His hand tightened around one of Cricket’s small, round buttocks. When she squeaked in protest into his mouth, Mark dragged his lips away from hers.

“This ass kept appearing in my dreams.”

“Really?” she asked, feeling her face heat.

“Yes. I have a date with your bottom.”

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