Croc's Return (16 page)

“You’re his mother. You should have ordered it.”

Caleb had a lot to learn when it came to parenthood. She laughed. “I’d like to see you try, and then enforce it. It is rather funny, too, coming from you, given you’re the guy who barely spent time indoors. Weren’t you like a master at escape?” She’d once overheard Caleb’s mother at school lamenting to another parent that, short of duct taping them to a wall or gluing their feet to the floor, the boys just wouldn’t stay still.

Apparently a reminder that Luke took after Caleb wasn’t a good enough excuse. He clamped his lips tight. “This isn’t funny. I told you to stay inside in order to keep you guys safe. Do you realize what could have happened if that thing came back and I wasn’t here to protect you?”

“No, I don’t know what might have happened because we have no idea what we came across yesterday. It could have been a monkey, fresh from a swamp mud bath, on the loose from the zoo. Maybe he wanted to come inside for a bath.” The silly example saw a little chuckle slip from Luke.

“Or it could have been some sick predator that wouldn’t be scared off by conventional means. You could have been hurt!” His body shook, and not with anger, she noted, but…fear?

Caleb truly was scared for them.

She might have given him some slack, except he did the unforgivable. He scared Luke.

A tremble went through their son. Her turn to glare. “You stop that naysaying right now, Caleb. You’re scaring Luke. And I won’t have it. What happened last night was a fluke. Probably some bayou animal looking for food scraps.”

“Because you know a lot of animals who can open windows,” he drawled with the utmost sarcasm.

No, but she wouldn’t back down now. “Raccoons are pretty wily.” And hey, the monkey idea wasn’t that farfetched. It could happen. Right?

“Except that wasn’t a coon trying to get in his room last night.”

Luke popped his head from Caleb’s shoulder to utter, “The dinosaur was coming for me. But he didn’t come here. Grandma said he wouldn’t, and if he did, she’d—”

“Fill its snout with salt rock,” Claire announced with a thump of her shotgun on the front porch. “So stop harassing the girl, Caleb. The boy needed air. He was never in any danger. I was watching along with Princess.”

The dog, upon hearing its name, sprang from the clump of marigolds in the flowerbed with a bark that startled Caleb into taking a step back, and that made Luke laugh.

The struggle on Caleb’s face was funny. Hard to frown in annoyance at getting surprised by a teeny tiny dog when it so evidently pleased their son.

With the tension broken, time to change the subject.

“How did the interview go?” Renny asked.

“I was hired. I start tomorrow as a security guard.” He made a face.

“That’s great. I hear the dental benefits are wicked.”

“Nothing wrong with my bite, baby.” A quick wink and a sexy smile brought heat to her cheeks.

“I’ve got a ten o’clock shift at the grocery store tomorrow. Do you need a ride into work? I can probably drop you off on the way to Luke’s school. But we’ll have to leave early.”

The crossed arms over his chest didn’t bode well. Welcome to fight number two. “You are not going to work.”

“Oh, yes I am.”

It didn’t take the tension in his jaw for her to know things were going to get ugly. Apparently, Claire noted it, too.

“Luke, sweetie, why don’t you come inside with me and test drive the cookies that just came out of the oven. I’ve got a cold glass of milk made for dipping.”

With a wiggle that saw Caleb setting Luke down, her son went scampering off, leaving Renny alone with a seriously bristling male.

So very hot. But sexy or not, she was not about to back down. “I am going to work tomorrow, Caleb, whether you like it or not. The bills won’t pay themselves.”

“I know, which is why I got a job.”

“Well la-de-da for you. But just so you know, I am not a charity case, and I’m not about to beg you for money.”

“No one said you had to beg. I’m just doing what’s right. A man is supposed to support his family.”

“I’m sure your mother will appreciate that.”

“Renny!” He barked her name as his agitation increased, but that was fine because she was getting agitated, too. “Why must you be so difficult?”

“Because I’d like to know who gave you permission to start making decisions for me.”

“I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

“Awesome. Do it, but while you’re at it, keep in mind I make my own decisions. You’re not the boss of me.” Which sounded kind of juvenile when spoken aloud.

“You’re being stubborn.”

“I’m being a woman.”

He glared.

Planting a hand on her hip, Renny glared right back. “Go ahead. Have your hissy fit. Get it out of your system.”

“Hissy fit? Is that what you call my effort to try and protect you and Luke?”

“You’re right. It’s more like a dictatorship. And I’m rebelling. Letting you back into my life doesn’t mean you’re suddenly in charge. I am.”

“What about Luke? Don’t I get a say?”

“Yes. But for the moment, the final choices are mine. I might eventually be able to forgive, but it might take longer to forget.” Because some things, like betrayal, haunted a girl forever—and the remembrance of a kiss never went away.

She would have expected maybe an explosion about now. Frustration that she wouldn’t just fall into his arms and obey without question.

Instead, Caleb chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that tickled her senses.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“You. Us fighting. The girl I remembered would have never yelled at me.”

“The girl you remembered learned to toughen up.” Best he knew that now before things went further.

“I like it.”

Well, that wasn’t the answer she’d expected, and her surprise might have been what led to her being pulled without a protest into his arms.

Oh, just admit it
. She wanted to be in his arms. Wanted his lips on hers caressing with that sensual languor only he provided.

His hands spanned her waist, and he lifted her with ease, giving her better and deeper access to his mouth.

Delicious.

The sensual slide of his tongue over hers sent shivers up and down her body.

She slid her arms around his shoulders, digging her fingers into his short hair, keeping him close.

One of his hands slid from her waist to cup a buttock. He might have made small growling sound against her lips. She nipped him in the hopes he’d do it again.

A small voice asked, “Why is Daddy grabbing Mommy’s bum?”

Why indeed?

How about because she liked it?

Problem was, there wasn’t any privacy to pursue it.

Ugh.

We really need a place of our own.

The thought started when Luke caught them making out in the front yard that resulted in Renny pulling away—with reluctance.

Noooo. I don’t want to stop.

But he had to. Now wasn’t the time to drag her off to bed or to grope her in the front yard. He was a father now, and while he might not have had one for long, he did know proper parents didn’t make out in front of their kid—unless he wanted to scar them for life. Caleb still remembered his horror when his mom got pregnant with Constantine and he realized it meant his mother had—ugh—sex.

But Luke wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t just toss his woman over his shoulder and indulge in an afternoon of fun between the sheets. His mother and brother were also in the house, and while sneaking around as teenagers to have nookie was fun—and almost a sport—he was a man now. And this man wanted a bed and some privacy.

We need to get a place of our own.
This mantra persistently repeated itself throughout the afternoon, hours spent learning how to properly play cars in the dirt—while making
vroom
noises. An educational day for someone who’d never been around children much.

The first thing he learned was they were bloody inexhaustible. When Luke began to ask questions, they never ended, and after the seventh “Why?” in a row, he shot Renny a rescue-me look, only to have her giggle and walk away.

“I’ll get you for that,” he mock-threatened.

“I can’t wait,” was her saucy reply.

When his son ran off at one point to find some juice—Caleb having sent Luke to his mom—Caleb stalked Renny down. He found her lounging in a chair at the back of the house, protected from insects by the screened porch, reading a paperback.

“You’d make an awful soldier,” he said as he cast a shadow over her.

She grinned up at him. “Why?”

“You left me behind under fire,” he growled. “I barely made it through the barrage of questions.”

“Just teaching you how to swim the same way my daddy did. Lucky for you, you didn’t sink.”

“So you think I did okay?”
Shoot me now.
He sounded like such a wuss for even asking. Given he needed to reassert his manliness, he sat on the end of her lounge chair, resulting in the other end flipping up and sending her tumbling into him.

“Caleb!” she squealed.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he said, shifting his weight so that the chair balanced out. He also kept her on his lap, where she belonged. “Although, if you’re going to scream my name like that, the least you could do is get naked first.”

“We can’t get naked. Someone—”

“Might see,” he finished with a sigh. “Being an adult blows.”

“And so do I,” she said with a wink. “What a shame you’ll have to wait for a sample.”

Mind blown. The increased heart rate and heat flushing his skin? Pure fucking arousal. “You are being intentionally cruel. You do realize that, right?”

The smile on her lips turned, if possible, even naughtier. “Who, me? Would I punish you?”

“I hope so.” He cupped the back of her head, his fingers digging into the soft mass of her hair. “Because I need to be punished. So I can kiss you for forgiveness.”

She inhaled sharply a moment before his lips covered hers, sliding slow and sensually over them, hushing any retort she might have had.

But Renny didn’t seem interested in denying him. She kissed him right back, more cruel punishment because he couldn’t help but imagine those plush, pliant lips wrapped around a certain part of him. A hard part...

His erection pressed against his jeans, and he felt the seam of her shorts rubbing as she wiggled atop him.

A softly sighed sound was his ticket to deepen the kiss, the slick slide of his tongue along hers sending a shiver through her frame.

Her sensual responsive nature to his touch was another form of torturous tease. Her fingers dug into his back and her arms wound around him, folding him in her embrace. His own hands slid down and cupped her rounded buttocks. A perfect handful that he massaged.

The snap of her head breaking their kiss made him growl. “Get back here.”

“We should stop,” she panted.

“That’s just being cruel.” Since she wouldn’t give him her lips, he dove in for a nibble at her throat.

Her fingers threaded his hair, tight, almost painful. He couldn’t tell if she wanted him to stop his sensual nips or needed more…

More, of course.

He sucked at her skin, and she moaned, “You’re playing dirty.”

“And loving it. So are you.” He could tell. She couldn’t hide her arousal from him.

“But someone might see.”

And those who might spy were family, and that meant he couldn’t kill them.

Yet stopping…
I don’t want to stop touching her.

He rumbled against her skin.

“Caleb!” Said in a way that let him know he had to rein back his passion.

Pulling back from her, he let out a breath, a long, heavy sound. “When did I get old and worried about doing the right fucking thing?”

She smiled. “You matured. And just so you know”—she leaned close to whisper—“it’s really, really sexy.” She gave him one last lingering and sweet kiss that left him sitting there with eyes closed long after she fled. How emasculating was it to want to relive that moment in perpetuity?

For the first time in what seemed like forever, he felt complete. He’d found what was missing in his life, the last piece—no, not a piece, a person who could make him whole.

Make me happy.

Sappy shit.
I’d be happier if I had a bedroom with a lock.

But that would come. He couldn’t let his impatience rush things. He’d waited years to see Renny again. He could wait a few days longer. Besides, he knew one important thing now.

She still wants me.

Hesitation arising from the past might still come between them, but she was thawing, perhaps even forgiving him. Hope was a hot furnace to a body he thought ran cold-blooded.

“Why is Daddy sleeping while sitting up?”

Not sleeping but dreaming.
With his eyes wide open about a future.

The rest of that day, the best Caleb could manage was a stolen kiss here and there that left Renny’s cheeks flushed and her eyes bright.

The occasional touch kept his blood boiling while, at the same time, the inability to take things further frustrated him.

He couldn’t even take them back to her place, not given he’d promised to meet Wes tonight. He didn’t want her being alone, not until they knew this strange monster business was taken care of.

Keep them safe.

The mantra repeated itself over and over. He blamed it for the tremors that hit when he was away from Renny.

Separation? Bad.

He couldn’t explain why, but he felt whole when with Renny. In control. Being with her gave him a purpose that had no room for panic.

He did what had to be done. He protected. He provided. He kissed…

Okay, that was less for her than it was for him.

The feel of her lips against his, her hands grasping at his nape, her skin feverish for his touch, the signs she wanted him were there. They bolstered him. Made him strong again.

Strong enough to tolerate the hunter in him wanting to rise for a peek.

I don’t know if I want to let you out.

He spoke to his other side, knowing the croc already was aware of his trepidation. Whenever his reptile came out to play, blood ran.