Rowdy (Marked Men #5)(93)
WHEN I PUT THE key he had given me in the door to his apartment it felt like the end of a long journey. Really it was only a little over twelve hours and I had stopped to nap once along the way, but it still felt like too long since I had seen his face or been able to touch all that toned and tattooed skin. Jimbo greeted me at the door when I pushed it open. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he jumped up and put his paws on my legs. He was going to be huge when he finally grew into his fuzzy body and I was overwhelmed at how happy I was to see him. I dropped to my knees and rubbed my face in his neck as he licked me all over my face. I was obviously missed and I had to say it was just one more reason I knew I was finally where I was supposed to be.
It was late, so the apartment was dark. I checked the dog’s food and water, trying to be quiet in case Rowdy was already asleep. I was winding my way toward his bedroom when a haphazardly discarded sketch pad lying on the couch caught my eye in the dim light. I paused for a minute to pick it up and felt my heart stop and then start to race as I flipped through the first few pages.
There were a couple of drawings that were obviously for clients, tattoos that hadn’t made it from paper to skin yet, but most of the pristine white pages were covered with images wearing my face. There was mermaid me, and naughty-sailor-girl me. There was sassy Indian girl me with long Pocahontas braids and there was sexy devil me standing next to angelic me. There were dozens of them all in different shapes and sizes, but every single image was undoubtedly modeled after my distinct look. I wasn’t sure if he had drawn them all over this last week while I had been gone or over the months we had been chasing each other in circles. Either way it made my heart swell and the full certainty that I was it for him settle deep inside my bones.
I set the pad down and tiptoed through the hall. Jimbo took one look at where I was going and huffed out a disgusted-sounding snort. The poor guy had learned early on that he wanted no part of what happened between his humans when they were together in the bedroom.
The light was off and Rowdy was sprawled on his stomach across the covers. His blond hair was sticking up everywhere and he hand one arm bent up under his head. The only thing that could have made the sight better would have been if he hadn’t bothered with the black boxers before crashing out. Even with them obscuring the view, I couldn’t complain. I let out a breathless sigh and crept closer so that I could lean over and touch my lips to that anchor on the side of his neck. I felt his pulse leap and tasted the salt on his skin as he murmured sleepily and rolled over onto his back.
Those infinitely blue eyes glowed at me in the dark as a grin pulled up the corner of his mouth.
“Hey.”
I was leaning over him, so I bent down to kiss him quickly and rub the end of my nose against his.
“Hey.”
He reached up a hand and tangled it in my hair where it slid over my shoulder and landed on his chest.
“How did it go?”
I sighed and lifted a hand to trace my fingers along that scrolling tattoo along his rib cage. The ink and name that rested there seemed so much more important to me now than it had before. “I met your mom and said good-bye. It broke my heart just a little bit, but I’m so happy you asked me to go and see her. And I may have threatened my father with a sex tape.” The last was muttered under my breath as his eyebrows shot up and he used his grip on my hair to pull me over him so that we were both sprawled across the bed.
“Do you have a sex tape?”
“Hell no, but he doesn’t know that and he wouldn’t put it past me. Surprisingly my mom stepped up to the plate and agreed to leave Poppy be. She admitted that she f**ked up pretty majorly. I wish it mattered.”
His chest moved as he sighed. “It’s too late for any of it to matter now.”
“That’s kind of how I looked at it. How’s Poppy doing?”
He swore a little bit and shifted under me. There was evidence of how much he missed me the last week poking me in the hip. It made me smile and had me wiggling enticingly on top of his hard body.
“Not good. She’s withdrawn, jumpy. She doesn’t want anyone to touch her and she wakes up screaming almost every single night. Sayer is really good with her, but I’m worried.”
I nodded and brushed my mouth over the flat nipple that was closest to my mouth. I heard him suck in a breath and it made me smile against his skin.
“Me, too. I think we’re just going to have to stand strong for her and wait until Poppy’s ready for us to help. My sister is stronger than any of us ever thought.” My voice got husky on its own accord.
“She is.” I felt his hands tighten in my hair as he pulled my head up so that he could devour my mouth with his own. “I missed you.” I could taste his missing me in the way he kissed me and held me. He also sounded just as rough and needy as I did.
“I missed you, too.” And I was past ready to show him just how much.
I moved my mouth down to the other side of his chest so I could run my tongue around the other flat disk and worked my hands down his sides so that I could get them under the waistband of his boxers. I gave the rock-hard globes of his ass a squeeze for good measure and worked the dark fabric out of my way. He helped set his straining erection free and the taut skin burned in my hand and I wrapped it around the turgid shaft. I loved the way his body throbbed and pulsed at my touch. It was a heady thing to know this was the way he always responded to me.