Curtis (13 page)

“You never met him before?” When her dad
shook his head at her question she looked at Curtis. “Then how do we know it’s
the same man I was threatened by?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth
she knew she’d made a mistake. Her dad didn’t know about him calling her and he
didn’t know that he’d threatened her if she didn’t sell. Her dad looked ready
to explode.

“Threaten one of mine? You tell me where
to find this bastard and I’ll go and teach him a thing or two about manners. The
nerve of that little pisser threatening my daughter.” He looked ready to climb
out of bed and Mrs. Hunter stopped him.

“And what do you think you can do
against a man a third of your age?” She pushed him back to the bed and Kylie
watched in stunned silence as her father did as she told him. “You get out of
that bed and, so help me, I will have you tied there.”

“You’ll do no such thing, woman. What is
a man supposed to do when someone threatens his child? Lay here and let him do
it? No sir, he doesn’t. I need to find him and—”

“And what?” Curtis grinned as he
continued, trying his best to take the sting out of his words, Kylie would bet.
“He isn’t a good man, sir. He is going to take what he wants from you no matter
what he has to do to get it. Including murdering you. Or Kylie. I’m sure that
you know that, and that you can’t help her if you’re about to make yourself
weaker. Besides, we want to get married soon and you being laid up is slowing
the process down a bit.”

Her dad leaned his head back against the
pillow, looking suddenly exhausted. “He already hurt her. And I couldn’t do a
damned thing about it. It really does make a man feel a hell of a lot older
when he can’t even protect his little girl.”

“You can count on me to keep an eye on
her, and Royce and I will let you know what we find out. But only if you get
well.” Curtis looked at her. “You think you’d mind your dad staying with us a
few days? At least until he’s—”

“Oh no. Oh no, I couldn’t do that. I can
just as easily be at home. Everything is just where I need it. I couldn’t do
that to you young people.” Her dad shook his head and tried to look stern. All
she could see was that her daddy was hurt and she could care for him. “Kylie,
tell your young man that I’ll be just fine on my own. Any number of the ladies
on the street can come see to me.”

Kylie nodded and looked at Curtis. “Great
idea. I would love that. And Daddy, don’t say a word. What if that ass comes
back again? What if one of the ladies on your street is there when he does? This
is much better. I love the idea.”

She smiled when the nurse came in and
she told them that the doctor called and said that her dad could be released. He
was so happy he nearly forgot to get dressed and almost left in the hospital
gown. He was exhausted again by the time they got him loaded in the SUV that
Royce had lent them to take him home.

~~~

Curtis had had the room in the lower
part of the house set up before they left. He wanted to keep Jon safe, and
having him close and within a house that had the best security was the only
way. He lifted the man out of the wheelchair and set him gently on the bed. He
was nearly asleep when Curtis moved to go out again.

“Curtis?” He turned to Jon. “You will
keep her safe, won’t you? I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s all I’ve
got.”

“I’ll keep her safe. And she’s not all
you have any longer, sir. You have my family as well. The whole lot of them.” Jon
nodded and lay back down. Curtis was sure he was asleep before he got the door
closed.

Kylie was standing in his kitchen. “You
use this stuff?”

He nodded and leaned against the doorjamb.

“I don’t even know what most of this
stuff is for. Like this. What the heck is this thing?”

He quirked a brow at her and walked over
by the food processor. Of course it was the industrial-sized one and it was
stainless steel, but he thought she should have known what it was. He took her
into his arms. “I love to cook. And I’m damned good at it. All this stuff I use,
but if you don’t want it then we’ll move it out and get what you want. But I do
reserve the right to have a few things here I that love.” She looked up at him
and he could see the stress in her eyes. “I love you, Kylie.”

“I love you too. And it’s not the
kitchen. Though it’s very lovely, it’s just…” She looked around and then back
up at him. “It’s so much. And we…we’ve not really talked about things.”

No, they hadn’t. And right now, with her
body pressed against his, he didn’t want to talk now either. He cupped his hand
at the back of her head and slowly pulled her mouth to his. She tasted of sweet
tea and lemon from where they’d stopped on the way home. Deepening the kiss, he
backed her against the counter and, when she moaned, he lifted her up and sat
her on it.

“There are all sorts of things one can
do in the kitchen to get it all hot and steamy.” He opened her legs and stepped
between them. “For instance, we can cook up a nice meal for me. And then I can
take you to bed and show you what we can do in there.”

He realized then that this was their
first night together. Truly together. He leaned into her again and took her
mouth softly. When she put her hands on his shoulders, he moved his mouth along
her throat then to the hollow of her neck. She tasted of paradise.

“What if we skip the heated kitchen and
go to bed?” He lifted her shirt over her head as she continued. “It would be so
much better up there.”

He realized she was worried about her
dad. “He’s asleep. If you think you can keep from screaming, he won’t know a
thing.” He licked along the curve of her breast that her bra hid from him. “Of
course, I might be begging you for release, but that’s for later.”

She blushed a deep red and he kissed her
again. Showing her how he wanted her to lean back on the counter, he undid her
pants and then pulled them off, leaving on her panties and bra. He dropped her
jeans on the floor beside her shirt.

“Have I ever told you that I had these
counters made just the right height for me? They are just to my hips, see?” He
rocked into her and watched her eyes flutter closed. He stopped moving until
she opened her eyes. “If you want me to continue with your lesson then you must
pay attention.”

“Every time you touch me, my body seems
to tremble with need. Every time I think about you touching me, I get so
excited it’s all I can do not to hunt you down and have my way with you.”

He had to moved back from her and take
several deep breaths. “You have any idea how long I’ve loved you? How long I’ve
wanted to hear those words spill from your luscious mouth?”

Unclasping the front closure on her bra,
he watched her eyes. They darkened and he could see that though they were green
now, they looked almost black. He moved his thumbs under her bra and over her
tight nipples.

“Curtis, you’re killing me.”

He was glad for that. She’d been doing
the same to him since she was a kid.

“Please do something. I need you.”

Taking her pert nipple into his mouth,
he worried the tip with his teeth. He didn’t bite her, though he wanted to, but
simply nibbled then suckled her into his mouth. When she moaned again he moved
to take her other breast into his mouth. Going back and forth between the two
of them, he licked a path down her belly to her navel.

He suckled on the tiny indentation. His
tongue moved into the little crevice until he couldn’t think beyond tasting
more of her. As he made his way down her thighs he nipped at her flesh then
licked the tiny wound away.

“You taste like something I could feast
on forever.” He stood up and she groaned. Moving a chair from the table to
where she lay, he sat down. “Of course, I’d be giving up the best part of you.”

Her panties were soaked and she had wet
the counter beneath her. Kissing her knee, he felt her muscles tremble and felt
a great deal of satisfaction from the fact that he was doing this to her on his
own.

Curtis lifted her leg and kissed her
calf. “You and I are going to take a bath together sometime soon. I want to
wash your entire body, then your hair. Then I want to do this.” He took her
toes to his mouth and kissed each one before moving up the other leg.

“Curtis,” she hissed at him.

He was enjoying himself too much to be
rushed now. Besides, once she came he was pretty sure he was finished. Just
smelling her like this was nearly too much. He lifted her leg to his shoulder
and moved his hands up her legs.

“I’m going to enjoy this. Every drop of
you.” He put his hands under her panties where they tied at her hips. “You
should know that I’m going to pay for these.”

“Pay for them?” Her voice was husky and
heavy. “I don’t understand. Why would you pay for—”

He ripped them from her and she moaned
again. Dropping them to the floor, he decided that he was going to start his
own collection of her under things. He knew she’d blush when he told her what
he’d done with the other pair. Leaning into her, he licked her inner thigh and
moaned. Christ, he was going to die.

Laving his tongue over her clit, he slid
his fingers into her. She was so wet that he didn’t have any trouble filling
her. She was so tight and hot that he felt his cock stretch with need. Suckling
her clit hard, he bit her gently and heard her breathing change dramatically.

“Come for me, baby. If you come hard
right now, I’ll fuck you then I’ll take you to bed.” She nodded. Curtis buried
his face in her and fucked her with his tongue and his fingers. She came again
then again until she begged him to please stop. He couldn’t.

Standing, he tore open his pants and
freed his aching cock. He was so close to coming that if he only touched her
right now, he was gone. Looking at her face, she seemed to realize this and
wrapped her legs around his hips.

“Take me. Now. Take me, Curtis.” He
slammed into her and came. “Yes,” she screamed out as he filled her. Grabbing
her hips, he pulled her off the counter and took her to the table. Tossing off
everything there he laid her down and took her again. His cock surged forward
until he was sure he was touching her womb. Thinking about filling her with his
child Curtis took her nipple into his mouth and nipped. A child.

Collapsing on top of her, he felt his
legs tremble a little. Leaning up as best he could, he looked down at her
lovely face. Moving the sweaty strand of hair from her face he smiled at her.

“I love you.” He kissed her again. “I
want you to have a child with me. Soon. I want to see you big with our baby. I
want to hold you while she nurses. I want to spend my life having and loving a
family with you.”

Kylie wrapped her arms loosely around
his shoulders and smiled at him. “I’d like that too. But do you think it would
be all right if we married first? I don’t want to have to be nursing a child
while the minister says his spiel.”

Laughing, he agreed. Picking her up
while she was still wrapped around him, he looked around his normally pristine
kitchen. It was a mess. The best kind of mess. Turning off the light, he set
the alarm with her still in his arms, and started up the stairs. He was nearly
to the top when he remembered he was supposed to call his brother when he got
home. Since all his things were still in his pants around his hips he grinned. He
thought his brother probably already had guessed why he hadn’t called. Life was
good.

Chapter 11

The insurance adjuster walked around the
building and Curtis watched him. He’d been dealing with this sort of thing
nearly all his adult life. And this guy was a baby compared to the ones he’d
dealt with. Curtis had to cover his mouth twice when the man tripped over some
of the debris that had been left behind by their would-be robber.

“He certainly made a mess of things,
didn’t he?” Clarence Baker, the man with the notebook and calculator, wiped
ineffectively at the dirt on his pants. “There is dirt everywhere. How was he
supposed to find anything with all this…” He waved his dirty hand around the
room. “With all this mess?”

“It’s equipment, not a mess. They need
this to print a daily paper.” The man crinkled up his nose and Curtis looked
away to stifle his laughter. “What have you been able to determine?”

Baker pulled out a small notebook. “We
would normally say that it’s a simple open and shut case, but as the insurance
was just paid up the week before after being lapsed for so long…well, we have
some questions for the Washingtons.”

Curtis had figured this would be his
angle. After five years of the minimum insurance, then suddenly there was a
larger policy and paid in advance, he expected this. Didn’t like it, but had
expected it. He pulled out his phone to call his brother. Curtis owned this
building and as such, it was personal. He called Jesse as his lawyer to come
and help him out. He said he was on his way.

“My lawyer is on his way. He will have
to be the one you direct your questions to.” The man looked panicky. “He’s a
shark. Perhaps you are aware of him, Jesse Hunter?”

“Jesse? I thought that…my last report
said that the Washingtons owned this building.” Baker looked at his notes. “When
did you say you purchased it and who are you exactly?”