Page 21 of Cyrus

Cyrus

What the everlasting fuck was I thinking? Taking Odette as my old lady? She needed someone to protect her. To protect her baby -- assuming she decided to keep it. I was the best protector she could find, which was why I volunteered.

I could keep her and the baby safe. From every-fucking-body. And when I found that asshole who’d played her, then knocked her up, I was gonna make it so he never did it to another young woman ever again. Assuming I let him live.

Yes. That was my plan. I was committing to taking care of a friend’s sister and her child. I might never be able to give her the love she probably needed, but I could give her a stable home, a faithful man, and as much pleasure as she wanted.

Which brought up another question. Had that bastard who’d lied to her made her feel good?

Yeah. No. Wasn’t touching that. I got a pain in my chest thinking about her with someone else. Not happening again. She was mine.

The moment the thought entered my mind, I knew I meant it. I might not deal well with emotions, but I knew what I wanted. This possessiveness was something new. I’d never been possessive over anything other than, perhaps, my bike. What I felt for Odette surpassed anything I had even felt before. I’d say it bordered on the obsessive, but it went way beyond that. I’d passed obsessive a long damn time ago. I was in the realm of stalker but wasn’t about to back off.

“I’m not saying you’re right, Cyrus, but yeah. I feel safe with you. I know you’d never intentionally hurt me. How do I know that?” She gave a little chuckle. “No fucking clue. I just can’t believe my brother would be close with someone who wasn’t a good person.”

“At the risk of cutting my own throat, don’t kid yourself. I’m not a nice man, Odette. But I will protect you with my life and do everything in my power to make you happy.”

She was still straddling my lap. My cock was a living thing between us. There was no way she could fail to notice it, but she only stiffened once -- when I first positioned her over me.

“You need food and rest,” I said, not wanting to let her out of my arms but knowing I couldn’t keep her with me like this forever. “You want a shower while I round you up something?”

“Yeah. I think that’d be nice.”

“Good. I think the women got you some bathroom stuff, and I had a couple prospects retrieve your things from the crappy hotel you were staying at.” If there was disapproval in my voice, it was deserved. The place she was staying at was in a bad part of town and probably had rodents and insects scurrying around.

“It was what I could comfortably afford for the longest amount of time.”

“No excuses, Odette. I think that’s three I owe you.”

She gave me a blank look, like she didn’t remember my promise to spank her. “Three what?”

“Spankings. I mean to deliver those the second it’s official that you’re mine.”

“Not a very good incentive for me to tell Sting I agree. Besides, I haven’t done anything to deserve a spanking.” God, she was sexy when she fought me. Didn’t mean she’d get her way about something like this.

“No? You got drunk. In a bar. On your own. What would have happened if my brothers hadn’t dragged my ass there?”

“I’d have been all right.”

I snorted. “You passed out in my arms, Odette. You literally fell into my arms, sniffed me, then passed out.”

“Only because I knew it was you.”

“Little liar. That’s four, by the way.”

“What is it with you and spankings?”

I grinned at her. A genuine grin. I wasn’t sure when the last time I felt the need to smile. The sensation didn’t feel as awkward as I thought it might. In fact, with Odette wrapped around me like she was, it felt right. “Maybe I just love your ass.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You do, huh?”

“Oh yeah.” I slid my hands around to squeeze the fleshy globes gently for emphasis. “I certainly do.”

“Even if you do, that’s still only one.”

“Yeah? You lied to me. First in the doctor’s office and then putting yourself in danger by staying at that fleabag motel. Then you lied just now when you said you knew I was the man who had you when you last fell off the stage last night. You were too drunk to know your own name let alone recognize a man you hadn’t seen in two years.” The more I thought about what could have happened last night if I hadn’t been there, the more my chest tightened and it was hard to breathe.

“Cyrus?”

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