Thumper by Marie James

Chapter 37

Cara

“Mmm,” I moan when I feel the hot brush of lips on the back of my neck. “Feels so good.”

“Is it too soon to tell you that I never want to fall asleep at night or wake up in the morning without you in my arms?”

I smile into my pillow, our nakedness keeping me warm along with every inch of the blankets on the bed.

“No. I feel exactly the same way, but you must be in desperate need of pain pills if you’re romanticizing a woman who stole all the blankets last night.”

I look over my shoulder, seeing Javier’s bare ass. God, the strength in this man’s body is spectacular. He’s got muscles for days, and his glorious ass is no exception.

“Aren’t you cold?”

He smiles against my shoulder.

“You offering to warm me up?”

I turn in his arms, wondering how long we can get away with holing ourselves up in this room before someone comes knocking wanting to know if we’re still alive.

He presses kisses to my neck and over my shoulder, his mobility a little better. He’s been growing stronger every day, but I know many things are going to hurt him for a while. He has four more days until his stitches can come out.

Once he moves further down, his full body shifting on the bed, his tongue teases my nipples in the most delicious way. My hips flex up, begging for more of what he gave me last night, but he seems quite content to just lavish my breasts with attention. My fingers toy with his dark hair, the light scratch of his beard growth abrading my skin in the most delicious way.

“I’m so happy,” I whisper. “Last night was amazing.”

“I want that with you every day.”

I chuckle. “A man that wants daily sex? No surprise there.”

He lifts his head, resting his chin on my belly as he looks up at me. “The connection, Cara, not just the sex. Of course, I want to bring you as much pleasure as you can handle, but more than that, I just want to live in your orbit. I want to experience everything with you. I want to know when I’m not around that you’re thinking of me as often as I’m thinking of you. I want to be with you. I was serious last night about Kincaid offering me a position with Cerberus and wanting you here with me, but if you want to go, I’ll understand that, too.”

“You mean you stay here and me move on?” My heart clenches just with the thought.

“Not a chance. If you go, I go.”

I rub my thumb over his bottom lip, releasing a yelp when he catches it between his teeth before releasing it. He told me last night he didn’t like it rough, and he proved that, but just like he also mentioned, the nipping is quickly becoming my thing. It’s a feral act of ownership, and I kind of love it.

“I never expected to be happy, Javi.”

“I know we have a lot to work through, but this connection we have is worth working on. I want—”

I press my fingers to his soft lips. “I never thought I’d find people that I was genuinely happy around, people that I felt like I could trust, and I’ve found that here. I don’t walk into the kitchen every morning wondering if someone is going to hurt me, or if they’re thinking of a way to manipulate me, trying to get something from me with nothing in return.”

“There are a lot of awesome people around here,” he agrees. “So, does that mean you want to stay?”

I nod. “I think so?”

“Think?” His smile grows. “What will it take to convince you?”

“That’s a good start,” I say when his tongue circles my belly button.

I flex my hips again, but then his stupid phone rings, and I feel a little selfish and disheartened when he leans over to grab it from the bedside table.

I expect to hear the voice of someone from the FBI when he answers, and that’s exactly who it could be, but the smile on his face when the call connects tells me it isn’t work related.

I look away, hating the jealousy that’s simmering inside of me for the woman who is able to make his face light up the way it is.

I move off the bed, grabbing my clothes from last night and tugging my shirt over my head. My leggings are next as he talks in a low tone to whoever is on the other end of the call.

“I’ve been waiting to hear from you,” he says, pure excitement lacing his tone. “Yeah. I could do that, but I think a video call would be better. Yep, hanging up and calling you right back.”

Jesus, I trusted this man, and I feel a swarm of guilt for even thinking things could be different. I want to cry, and that only makes me angrier.

“Cara, wait,” he snaps before I can walk into the bathroom.

I won’t beg him. I won’t even let him see that I’m mad and hurt.

“Cara…” he begins but the woman on the other line seems more important. “There you are. It’s so good to see you. She’s right here.”

I look over my shoulder to find Javier holding his phone out to me, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that the camera is pointing at the ceiling. At least he’s not flashing her his junk in front of me.

“Give me just a second. Shit,” he mutters as he tries to climb off the bed. “Cara, it’s for you.”

He waves the phone in my direction, and I’m tempted to reach for it, but watching him struggle a little with how I feel right now is the perfect punishment.

He crosses the room, a bright smile on his face. Rather than handing me the phone the second he’s within reach, he presses his body against mine, his mouth close to my ear. “I’d love nothing more than to fuck that fire out of your eyes, but your sister is on the phone.”

My mouth hangs open as he presses a kiss to my cheek and drops the phone into my hand.

I turn it to face me immediately.

“April?” Tears spring to my eyes at the sight of her.

Her hair is darker, more of a mahogany than bright strawberry blonde like mine, and she was blessed with the most gorgeous green eyes. They’re bright and happy, the complete opposite of the last time I saw her on a video chat.

“Cara, I’ve missed you so much.”

I look away from the screen in search of Javier, and he has a wide, pleased grin on his face as he fights into a pair of jeans before shuffling to the closet to grab another button-down shirt.

Thank you, I mouth to him.

“Who is that man? Is he naked? I mean, I only saw his chest, but damn it, Cara, I’m so envious of you right now.”

“You shouldn’t talk of such things. It’s not—” I clamp my mouth closed, catching myself before I spew lines from my time back at Knight Salvation. My sister is seventeen going on eighteen, and her appreciation of a gorgeous man is not inappropriate. “He’s the hottest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on, and he’s all mine, so keep your tongue rolled up.”

“Lucky brat,” she mutters.

“Where are you right now?” My eyes widen as it hits me. “What’s the date?”

“You missed my birthday. It was three days ago.”

Happy tears turn into bad ones. “Does that mean—”

“I’m no longer at Knight Salvation. Two super sexy guys came and grabbed me from school.”

“Grabbed you?” My blood runs cold, but if she’s going through what I went through, why is she smiling?

“They said they knew you. I’m glad they showed up. You know it was supposed to be my wedding night. I honestly never knew bikers could be hot, but wow, Cara. How many are you dating?”

Javier growls from the other side of the room as he struggles to pull on a pair of combat boots.

“Was that Javier? Sounds a little territorial. So just him then?”

I roll my lips, clamping them between my teeth to keep from laughing. “He’s all I need.”

I keep my eyes on him as I say this to my sister.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in South Carolina, but I don’t know that I’ll be staying very long.”

“With the Holmans?”

She nods, her nose scrunching up. “I hate it here, and it’s only been two days.”

“I’m going to head to the kitchen and get something to eat,” Javier whispers as he crosses the room to me.

“April, hold on.” I press the phone to the front of my shirt and lift my mouth to his.

The kiss is long and slow, and it’s clear he has more strength than me because he’s able to actually pull away.

“Hello?” April says, her voice filling the room as I watch Javier walk out of the room. “You guys better not be messing around. He’s hot but I don’t need to listen to my sister getting it on.”

“He left the room,” I tell her as I settle on the bed with my back against the headboard. “If you leave South Carolina, where will you go?”

Her eyes sparkle as she shrugs. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up there with you.”