Athena's Raid: Book Two Perdition MC (10 page)

He chuckled when she turned around to glare down at her dog, who was looking up at her while he licked up the last few egg crumbs from the dish. “Thought you didn’t feed him people food.” She snatched the bowl from Cruncher when he was done and gave him a disappointed look, “Eggs are good protein. Crunchie, you disappoint your mother.” Goofy dog just gave a pittie smile and wagged his tail because she’d said his name. “You hungry?” She asked Raid, and saw him looking up from the region of her ass where it was peeking out from under his shirt that she’d pulled on once she’d gotten out of his bed. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Food, yes.” She wanted to laugh at him, but she managed not to somehow, “Go shower. It’ll be ready by the time you come out.”

He nodded, rubbing at his chest with the heel of his hand, and she made herself turn around and get more eggs out from the fridge. She chopped up more kale, ignoring Cruncher when he tried to sweet talk her by licking her toes. “Not happening. I’m not going to give you any more food. You made me a sucker this morning, traitor,” He pouted, but as soon as she opened the back door, he shot out into the yard to chase the shadows on the ground from the birds that dove overhead. “He seems to like it here,” She pushed potatoes around in the pan while she stared at her goofy damn dog playing in the big back yard. “Yeah,” Raid slipped his arms around her waist and touched a kiss to her throat, rubbing his lips over her pulse. “Do you?” She turned her head to look back at him and smiled, “In the day I’ve been here, yeah. I do, why?”

She finished dishing up their breakfast and he set it aside, turning her around to slide his hands down and under to cup her butt, looking very serious. “Did you see it?” He asked, swallowing loudly when her fingers scraped through his hair. “See what?”

“Did you see what you gave back to me?”

“What I gave?”

“You brought me home, baby. You gave me my family back.”

“Raid, I didn’t do-“

“Yes, yes you did.”

He shifted to bend over her, his hands on either side of her face, his thumbs stroking her cheeks so he could hold her in place, no room to look away. “You wrote a letter, because a woman in your shop, touched something in your heart. You didn’t know who it would go to, or what it would mean, or how the person who read it would respond. The nurse who gave it to me, I was a complete and total asshole to her. She gave it to me, because she knew I was alone. That I didn’t have anyone and I’d lost the will to do anything but die.”

She hated that, she hated that he said that, it made her chest hurt and tears spring to her eyes. But he stepped closer, surrounding her with his body, holding her still so he could look at her. “And then I had you, I had your words, I had your laughter, I had those silver wax owls to stare at and hold. I wanted to meet you, I wanted you to see who I was before I lost that will to live. You brought me back, Athena. You gave me will, a goal, you needed me. Or maybe I just needed you to need me. So I did that surgery, and it hurt like fuck. Every day after, every day of PT, I’d have a moment where that desire to give up and die would bubble up like fuckin poison. I’d drag my ass back to my room, and it smelled like rosewood and geraniums. Like Tahoe. The poison went away, the pain became bearable, so long as at the end of all that, I got this. You weren’t a sure thing, but I hoped to god we would be something to one another. I hoped to god, I could show you what I showed you last night, my family, not the sex, though that was beyond words, and maybe, just maybe get to keep you. Be with you. Be needed by you, because I sure as fuck need you.” Her throat burned with emotion, her eyes already full to bursting, spilled a couple of tears down her cheeks. “What if I’d been a total troglodyte?”

He threw his head back and laughed, his eyes dancing with his amusement. He kissed her tears away, nuzzled at her cheek, “You’d still be a goddess to me. If you had a hairy chest, we might have had to negotiate some laser hair removal, but I’d deal. Because I already love you a little bit.”

“Raid, you can’t say stuff like that. You might gain a stalker or something.”

“I’ll say what the fuck I mean, when I mean it. I know a ginger or two with mad marksmanship skills. I’d go anywhere to be with you, but-” He let that but hang out there, and she gave a roll of her watery eyes. “I was already moving before you came back. You want me to move here,”

“I want, you to be happy. With me. If you like this house, we can stay here. If you want something else, we can look, there’s spots all over. Or, and it will chap my ass, but I am a big boy and I can deal, if you want your own place, we can look for that too.”

She relaxed into his arms and rolled up on her toes to touch a kiss to his jaw, rubbing her fingers into his shoulders and enjoyed the sensation of being with him. But she felt…rushed. Not afraid, but wary. “Raid, I do like it here. I have something with you I didn’t think I’d want or have, but I need more time. I planned to be away for a week, to be with you for this week. Can we start with that?” She worried that he would be mad, but she shouldn’t have. He was Raid, her Raid. He smiled like she’d promised him the moon, and bent to touch a tender kiss to her lips. “It’s a good start.”

He walked with her through the big, green, growing mess of Ever’s nursery and he could practically feel Athena vibrating beside him with happiness. She loved it, this total temple to hippiness, the smell of compost and fertilizer, which turned his stomach. But she was totally in her element, and he’d known she would be. He’d known this place would call to her and maybe interest her to the point of putting it on her column of reasons to stay. Probably made him a selfish bastard, but he wasn’t playing fair, he was playing for keeps. He was playing dirty. “This place is amazing.” She sighed, skipping like a little girl over to some flowers to sniff and sigh again with bliss. “I’m sure Ever will be glad to know you give Never Ever Land, the stamp of approval.”

“Mommy lookit! A doggie!”

Athena jumped towards the sound of that voice, and looked a little freaked out by the tiny girl in a cute red dress with a mess of dark curls bouncing in time with her leaping run straight towards Cruncher. “Penni! No!” Her mom was running after her, terror stark on her features, but Penni was already giggling and getting her face licked off by Cruncher. “It’s okay, he loves kids, and not as afternoon snacks.” Athena assured the mother, but the woman snatched her daughter up and scowled harshly at Athena, “You should put a muzzle on that thing, god, what kind of person are you to let a pit bull run around where children are playing?” Before Athena could respond, before he could, Ever walked up, “Is there a problem?”

She glared at the woman being nasty to Athena. The woman repeated her earlier accusation, and Ever looked down at Cruncher, who was looking very confused as to why his new friend wasn’t within reach anymore. “Yeah, because clearly he’s a man eater, running amok, frothing at the mouth. Did he scare you, shortie?” Ever asked the little girl, who looked nervously at her mom, before answering. “No, he just gave me kisses.”

“He does that. Do me a favor, huh kid? Go over there to that lady with the apron on, she’s got candy and I need to talk to your mama.”

“OKAY!” Penni screeched, thrashing until her mom put her down, and the second she was out of ear shot, Ever let the woman have it. “Check your shit, bitch. You’re worried about man eating dogs, keep a better fuckin eye on your daughter. Clearly, this dog has better manners than you, and the sign clearly states on the front gate, dogs are welcome so long as they’re on a leash. He’s on a leash. If you have a problem with that, feel free not to bring your business here.”

Impressed, he watched the woman turn an embarrassed shade of red, turn on her heel and march off to collect her daughter. “I’m sorry, Crunchie. Some people just have no taste.” Ever said, bending awkwardly to smooch on Cruncher. “And I got someone who sooo, wants to meet you.” Cruncher perked, and Ever stood up to link her arm with Athena’s and drew her forward. “I’ve been telling Squatch, all about Cruncher, he’s so excited.” Athena blinked a bit rapidly, “Squatch?” Ever nodded brightly and lifted her fingers to her mouth to whistle sharply. A few seconds later a floppy eared golden retriever came hauling ass through the fields towards them, and Cruncher started barking, bouncing in place happily. “Raid told me that Crunchie lost a buddy, and Squatch is starting to dry hump Roar’s last nerve. Won’t leave him or Lyon alone while Roar’s trying to put the kid down for his naps. So, I thought while you’re here, you might do me a solid and let the boys play together, so that Roar and I can nap while the kid naps.”  While Athena introduced Cruncher to Squatch, Ever looked at him sideways and shot him a wink. Looks like he wasn’t the only one playing dirty.

FIFTEEN

“Raid!” He laughed, fucking her like his life depended on it, loving every ripple, every hungry tug of her greedy little pussy sucking on his cock. He had her ass in his hands, her legs wrapped around his waist, loving how she tried to writhe and get closer, but pinned against the headboard like she was, she had zero leverage to do anything but take him.  “I want it, Athena, give it to me,” She wailed as she came, such a gorgeous sound, and fuck it felt good, pouring his balls out inside her. Holding her while she shuddered and whimpered softly, gasping for air against his throat. He’d had her every night for the past three days, every day, whenever he could get her alone long enough to get her naked, and it still wasn’t enough.

She had fun with Ripley and Ever, and when she’d come back it had been with a happy smile on her face. She’d come home with an honest to god basket full of stuff from a farmers market that the girls had taken her to. She’d gotten herbs and oils and stuff that put this look in her eye he hadn’t seen yet, ingredients to make bread, which had been the shit, but what had not been the shit was this kick she was on with kale. She’d been insisting on putting that shit with everything,
in
, everything.

Which had led to them arguing, her insisting he needed it, him insisting he didn’t need shit that tasted like dirt, which had led to him ending the argument by dragging her to the bedroom. And now they were here, quivering together in the aftermath. “I’m not…eating…kale.” He panted out, grinning when she burst out laughing and hugged her arms tight around his shoulders. “Yeah, you are. I’ll just get better at making it not taste like dirt.”

“Babe, if you can still talk, I did something wrong.”

“Wrong? Noooo. But if you want to shut me up, you go right ahead.”

He laughed and rolled with her, curling up with her in the middle of the bed, afternoon sunlight filtering through the window. He was tired, but he didn’t want to miss a second of this, of being with her. He swirled his fingers around her hips, traced every bump of her spine and memorized the texture of her skin, turned his nose to her hair and memorized the smell of her, and how it felt against his face, the feel of her heart beat, pounding under his hand. “I got a call while I was out.” She murmured, turning her cheek to his chest while she traced his very first battle scar, right under his heart. “From?” He asked, figuring she’d said something because she wanted him to know. “My realtor, someone made an offer on my house.” He closed his eyes and tried to keep the glee out of his voice. “A good one, or one you can pass on?”

“A good one. A really good one.”

“That’s great, sweetheart.” He murmured, when he wanted to demand to know if she was going to take it. “It is. I took it, their offer. It means I can open a shop here,”

He fought to take it easy and not flip her over to crush her to him and howl like a beast that she wanted to stay here. Hard fight, even harder to keep his voice calm and even, “So you’ve decided to stay?” She made a soft sound and tilted her head back over his arm, smiling sleepily up at him. “It means I sold my house, or I’m in the process of it. I’m going to have to go back and pack up my things, my shop, my old life. And then…”

“Then?”

“Yeah. I decided to move here. Feels right.”

He ducked his head and took her mouth soft, wondering if the surgery they’d done to fix his spine had done something to his dick, because he’d never recovered so fast after an orgasm like he’d just had. Yet here he was, dick hard enough to drive nails, wanting back inside Athena’s tight little pussy. “You know what else feels right?” He asked, without taking his mouth off hers, tasting her laughter while he kept her wrapped up in his arms and rolled her back over onto her back, “Not napping in the wet spot?” He smacked her thigh for that, hitching it over his elbow and groaning when he pushed back inside her, “Wise ass,” He grunted, feeling her entire body convulse and tremble under him when his dick nudged at her cervix. His girl liked it deep, liked that pleasure pain, the kind that got him off just as hard as her. “Love how right it feels, buried balls deep in you.”

“Raid,”

“Definitely feels right, you moaning my name like that. Do it again,”

He gave his hips a twist, rubbing the head of his dick right over her sweet spot, watching her from inches away as the pleasure pulsed through her. She moaned his name, again and again, and it was fucking sweet. “So I guess you’re pleased with my decision,” She slurred a few hours later, shivering when he nipped at her shoulder. “Pleased? No, baby. I’m not pleased. I’m fuckin thrilled.”