The Protector (Game of Chance, #1)(73)

“Really?”

She nodded.

Riggs grinned. Huge. “We were meant to be, honey. That’s just another sign.”

Carlise had to agree. “You about done out here?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh,” she said with an exaggerated pout. “I thought maybe you might be too cold. Or hot. Or sweaty. That maybe a shower would sound good right about now.”

“I’ve got about twenty more minutes to—oh. Right. Yeah, now that you mention it, a break would be great. I wouldn’t want to get overheated.”

Carlise grinned, happy he’d picked up on her meaning. “Exactly. And it wasn’t too long ago that you were sick. Maybe I should assist you in the shower. You know, so you don’t fall and hit your head or anything.”

“You want me?” Riggs growled.

Carlise’s cheeks felt hot, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

“You want me, all you have to do is say the word. Because I will never pass up the chance to get inside you.”

His words were blunt, but he somehow made them sound romantic at the same time.

“I want you,” she told him.

Without a word, Riggs turned and grabbed hold of her hand and headed for the cabin.

Baxter barked, as if to ask where they were going.

“We’ll be back, boy. Go on and explore. Make sure things around here are safe. I’ll come back out and finish my chopping and throw more snowballs in a while.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay out here alone?” Carlise asked worriedly, looking back at the dog, who’d already gone back to rolling in the snow.

“He’ll be fine,” Riggs told her as he pulled her up the porch steps.

The second they were inside and the door closed behind them, Riggs’s hands got busy peeling off her coat, and Carlise wasn’t thinking about Baxter or her mom or Susie anymore.

Riggs picked her up and carried her toward the bed. He dropped her on the mattress, and she giggled as she bounced.

“You have ten seconds to get naked,” Riggs warned.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll do it for you.”

Carlise grinned and threw her arms above her head, smirking up at Riggs. “If you think that’s a threat, you’re wrong.”

He whipped his T-shirt over his head, and Carlise practically drooled. The man was gorgeous, and he was all hers.

He leaned over, unlaced his boots, kicked them and his socks off, shoved his pants and underwear down his muscular legs, then climbed onto the bed.

She and Riggs didn’t get back outside to play with Baxter for an hour and a half. They also didn’t get the shower she’d suggested. But she wasn’t complaining.

No, she had not one complaint about Riggs making her feel like the most beautiful and desirable woman in the entire universe.





Chapter Fourteen


“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Chappy asked for the hundredth time.

“Positive,” Carlise told him with a smile. “I’m behind on this translation because someone keeps distracting me by taking their clothes off and being too damn sexy.”

Chappy chuckled and pulled her into him. They were in the kitchen after a morning spent in bed. He’d woken up with her mouth on his cock, and he honestly thought he was going to die with pleasure. She’d ended up making him come that way, which was actually a blessing because it gave him enough control to thoroughly pleasure her before he needed to be inside her again. She’d come twice—once on his face and again on his fingers—before he’d pushed his way inside her and orgasmed a second time.

Chappy couldn’t stop thinking about having a child with Carlise. She was beautiful now, but she’d be even more so round with their baby. He had a feeling the first time he came inside her without a condom, he’d knock her up. Of course, life didn’t always work that way, but with how lucky they’d been so far, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t have any problems conceiving.

It was uncanny how well they fit together. From their desire to have four children to her love of the same kinds of books he liked to the way they were both perfectly happy hanging out at the cabin without a phone, internet, or TV. She was made for him, and he’d do everything in his power to treat her so well, she’d never want to leave him.

Four days had passed since she’d reached out to her mom and best friend, and as much as he wanted to continue to hide away from the world, the messages on her phone were constantly in the back of his mind. He needed to get the ball rolling on figuring out who was stalking her and make sure it stopped. Make sure both Carlise and her loved ones were safe.

“Riggs?” she asked. “Is everything all right?”

He forced himself to concentrate on the here and now. “Everything’s fine. I’ll probably be gone for at least five hours. Will that be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. And I don’t want you spending a ton of money on my car. I can pay for whatever needs to be done.”

Chappy nodded, but in his head, he was already making plans. She wasn’t paying for the repairs on her car. He didn’t want or need her money. If she wanted to spend it on Baxter or their kids or their friends, he had no problem with that, but the neanderthal inside him wanted to provide for her. Wanted to give her everything she wanted or needed.