Shelter for Sophie: Badge of Honor, Book 8 Read online

  Chief wanted to fuck her hard and fast, but he was too fascinated by what her body was doing to move. Her hips gyrated under his, essentially fucking herself on his motionless cock. With every stroke of her clit, her fingers brushed against his length, making it harder and harder to stay still. Within moments, she shoved her hips upward and held still, on the precipice.

  The second Chief felt her thighs start to tremble with the onset of her orgasm, he slammed inside her, trapping her hand between them.

  He did it again. Then again. Forcing his dick through her spasming muscles as she came. And came and came.

  Then it was Chief’s turn. “Look at me,” he ground out between clenched teeth. As soon as her eyes met his, he said, “Ayóó ánííníshní,” and let go.

  He had no idea how long his orgasm lasted, but when he came back to himself, he was lying on top of Sophie, probably squishing her, and both her hands were caressing his back. He pushed himself up, taking his weight from her body, and looked down at her.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey. You good?”

  “I’m definitely good,” she purred, stretching slightly beneath him. “If I was any better, I’d be comatose.”

  He grinned. “I don’t want to move, but I need to take care of this condom,” he said softly.

  Sophie pouted. “I like you inside m-me.”

  “I like me inside you too,” he agreed. “But things are gonna get messy if I don’t move.”

  “Don’t care,” she said sleepily.

  Chief realized for the first time that he didn’t either. As a part of his OCD, he always cared. Always climbed out of bed and cleaned up as soon as he could. He’d never come inside a woman, and the thought of lying in a wet spot was enough to make him want to clean his entire house from top to bottom. But he realized for the first time that he could feel Sophie’s juices on his face from where he’d gone down on her. He could feel both of their come on his balls, he was covered with sweat, hers and his, and he’d never been more content. Not only that, but the desire to keep her scent on him was stronger than the need to get clean.

  He had no idea what it was about Sophie that made him do such a clear one-eighty, but he liked it.

  “I’ll be right back,” he reassured her, easing out of her body.

  Sophie wrinkled her brow and curled her lip as she lost him.

  He grinned. Cute. Fuck, she was so cute.

  He quickly moved to his bathroom, stepping over his clothes from the night before and the T-shirt and panties he’d removed from Sophie earlier without blinking. He was back in bed, Sophie in his arms, in under sixty seconds.

  She immediately snuggled into him, resting her head on his shoulder once more, her leg thrown over his and her fingers playing with his nipple.

  “Love you, Roman,” she said sleepily.

  Chief felt his heart literally stop beating in his chest for a moment. He closed his eyes and could’ve sworn he heard the drumbeats he remembered from his childhood when he watched his people’s ancient dances. The moment was so profound, he didn’t answer for quite a while.

  When he opened his eyes again, he knew without a doubt he’d just been blessed by his elders. “I love you too, Sophie.”

  When she didn’t respond, Chief tipped up his head to look at the woman in his arms. She was sound asleep. Completely relaxed against him.

  He needed to get up. He needed to make sure her house was safe for her to enter. He needed to feed Mósí and Łibá. They’d been patient, but he knew from experience that wouldn’t last forever. He needed to talk to Crash, Sledge, and the others. He needed to go to the grocery store, probably mow his lawn, go through his mail that had accumulated during the three days he’d been on shift, and a million other little errands.

  But lying in his bed, on a wet spot no less, with Sophie in his arms, Chief found that he didn’t want to move. Nothing was more important than holding the woman he loved. He’d almost lost her last night. He’d be late to a thousand appointments and ignore any number of chores if it meant spending one more minute with the woman meant to be his.

  Chief felt all his worries leave him. Sophie was the best stress reliever he’d ever experienced. He’d just close his eyes for a moment. Then he’d get up and get on with his day…with Sophie by his side.

  Chapter 14

  “Oh. My. God!” Autumn yelled the next day when Sophie walked into the lab. “You finally did it!”

  Sophie knew she was blushing a bright red, but she smiled anyway. “Hush! Jeez!” she admonished her friend.

  Only slightly quieter, Autumn said, “You did, didn’t you? I can totally tell.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Autumn smiled wider. “You know what. You and your hot hunk of man finally did the nasty.”

  Sophie smiled slyly. “It wasn’t nasty at all,” she informed her friend smugly.

  Autumn, Tory, and Quinn all laughed.

  “So? Details, woman!” Tory insisted.

  “It was amazing,” Sophie relented. “I’m not that experienced, but I s-seriously can’t imagine it being any better.”

  “Did you come?” Autumn probed.

  Sophie knew she was blushing again, but nodded anyway. “Twice.”

  “Because you made love twice,” Quinn tried to clarify.

  Sophie shook her head. “No. In the s-same s-session.”

  “Holy cow. Don’t ever let him go,” Autumn told her seriously. “I’ve been married and been with a lot more men than you three put together—”

  “That’s not saying much,” Quinn said under her breath.

  Autumn elbowed the other woman, then continued. “As I was saying, I’ve been with quite a few men, and I’ve never come more than once in a session. And many times, I’m lucky to even do that. It’s been my experience that guys just have no clue how the female anatomy works. That, and they get too into their own needs.”

  “Chief knows how the female anatomy works,” Sophie told her friends.

  They all grinned at each other.

  “Good for you,” Quinn said. “Seriously. If I had me a hot man in my bed, I’d call in sick too.”

  Sophie wanted to tell her that all it would take was one smile at Driftwood and she could have a hot man in her bed, but decided now wasn’t the time to harp on Quinn again. She took a deep breath. Now that the fun stuff had been shared, she needed to tell her friends about the not-so-fun stuff.

  “About calling in s-sick. M-Monday night after I got home from the bar, I turned on the heat in m-my house and went over to Chief’s back porch. We talked on the phone for quite a while before I went back home to bed. Chief was s-supposed to get off work not too long after that and we m-made plans for him to come over when he got off s-shift.”

  “You go girl,” Tory teased.

  Sophie didn’t even smile and got to the point. “S-Something happened with m-my heater and by the time Chief tried to call m-me, I was almost unconscious with carbon m-monoxide poisoning.”

  There was silence in the lab for a split second before all three of Sophie’s friends began speaking at once. Sophie held up her hands to quiet them. “I’m okay. When I finally answered the phone, I was s-so out of it Chief knew s-something was wrong. He raced home with his friends and got to m-me in time.”

  Quinn got up and hugged Sophie tightly. “Oh, Soph. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m okay. Nothing to be s-sorry about.”

  Autumn and Tory joined their huddle.

  “Shit, Girl,” Autumn muttered.

  “You’re sure you’re okay now?” Tory asked.

  Sophie hugged everyone. “I’m okay. Promise.”

  “Chief take care of your heater?” Quinn asked.

  “Yeah. That’s one thing we did yesterday. His friends had already taken it apart to m-make s-sure it wouldn’t keep poisoning the air. He bought a new part and installed it.”

  “Let me guess,” Autumn said. “You didn’t sleep at your hou
se last night.”

  Sophie bit her lip and shook her head. “I…I’m s-scared to. I know he s-said it was all fixed, but I can’t help but think about what would’ve happened if we both were s-sleeping when it happened. We both could’ve died.”

  “You think he’d let you sleep over there if he thought for one second you’d be in danger?” Autumn asked.

  “No, but—”

  “And do you think for one second he’d let you sleep over there by yourself now that he’s made his move and claimed you?”

  “What do you m-mean? Let m-me s-sleep by m-myself? We haven’t m-moved in together,” Sophie protested. “We just s-started dating, and we only had s-sex that one time.”

  “Really? Only once?” Tory asked, getting off topic.

  “Yeah. I was a little s-sore last night and—” Sophie cut herself off. Why was she telling her friends all the embarrassing details about her and Chief’s sex life? “Anyway, back to the point. We’re not m-moving in together. I’ll be back at m-my house tonight.”

  “Wanna bet?” Autumn asked, still smiling.

  “No. Because I don’t want to take your m-money.”

  “Whatever. Soph, we aren’t talking a normal man here. We’re talking about Chief. The Native American guy who grew up on a reservation, more Indian than probably a lot of the Indians were two hundred years ago, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. The man is bossy, possessive, and stubborn. There’s no way he’s ever gonna let you out of his sight if he can help it. You can sleep by yourself when he’s working, but I’ll bet every penny I own that he’ll have you moved into his house, completely, by the end of the month.”

  Sophie opened her mouth to protest, when Quinn chimed in. “God. If I had a man who liked me as much as Chief likes you, I’d latch on to him and never let go. Living alone is okay, but it’s lonely. Eating by yourself. Watching television by yourself. Sleeping by yourself. You’re lucky, Soph.”

  “You guys s-seriously don’t think this is too s-soon? I m-mean, two m-months ago he didn’t know I existed,” Sophie asked.

  “Maybe it is. He’s a jerk,” Tory said in an even tone. “You should run as fast as you can. No normal man would act like he is.”

  “He is not a jerk,” Sophie told her friend. “Why would you s-say that? The s-second he thought s-something was wrong, he came rushing to m-my s-side. He’s been nothing but s-supportive and concerned about m-me. He’s apologized for the m-misunderstanding he had when he first m-met m-me. I’ve never felt s-so cared for, either. He…” Her voice trailed off when she finally noticed that all three of her friends were smiling huge at her.

  She glared at Tory. “You were egging m-me on, weren’t you?”

  “Yup. Look. It doesn’t matter what we think about your relationship. What matters is what you and Chief think about it. Who are we to tell you it’s moving too fast, or that you shouldn’t move in with him?”

  “I love him,” Sophie admitted softly.

  “Obviously,” Quinn said.

  “What? Why obviously?”

  “Because. Look, you’ve dated other men. You’ve even liked other men, but you’ve never slept with them. You’ve never texted them nonstop. You’ve never mowed their grass, never gotten giddy because he called you to say hello when he had a five-minute break at work. Chief is different, in a good way. There’s no guarantees that it’ll work out and you guys’ll live happily ever after…but if you don’t give it a shot, there’s absolutely no chance it’ll work out.”

  “I’m going to remind you of this conversation,” Sophie warned her friend. “In the future, when you’re unsure about your own relationship.”

  “Please do,” Quinn returned immediately. “Because if I ever have a man who is as into me as Chief is into you, who wants to keep me safe and protect me from bullies, and who takes my safety as seriously as Chief does yours, and I make up excuses not to be with him, I need my head slapped.”

  “That was completely convoluted,” Autumn said, “But weirdly enough, I actually understood it. And no problem, I love slapping heads.”

  All four friends chuckled.

  “Seriously, we’re happy for you,” Tory told Sophie. “Go with the flow…and don’t forget to throw us a bone and tell us how good the sex is from time to time.”

  “You got it. And this doesn’t m-mean our girls’ nights out are cancelled.”

  “Fuck no they’re not,” Autumn said forcefully. “We need to hear all about Chief’s sexual prowess. And the more alcohol we get into you, the more forthright you’ll be with us.”

  Sophie laughed and nodded. “That’s probably true.”

  They all hugged again and Quinn said softly, “Glad you’re okay, Soph.”

  “M-Me too. Oh, and not to ruin any future s-surprises or anything, but you’re all getting carbon m-monoxide detectors for your birthdays. Now, what did I m-miss yesterday?”

  As Sophie settled back into her routine for the day, she couldn’t help but think about Chief…and how he said he’d have dinner waiting for her when she got home…and afterwards, he’d have his dessert right there on the kitchen table—her.

  She grinned and decided her friends were right. She loved Chief and he loved her. Neither of them knew what the future held, so for now, she’d go with the flow and enjoy what she had…namely, a man who put her safety first, made love like a Greek God, and who she knew to the marrow of her bones would protect her from whatever life threw her way. She could do worse. A lot worse.

  * * *

  “You look good,” Tadd told Sophie later that morning when she brought out the usual coffees and pastries.

  “Thanks. You wouldn’t believe what happened.” Then she went on to explain the carbon monoxide incident.

  Tadd patted her leg and nodded. “And you say living in this hunk of junk is dangerous,” he said while gesturing to the broken-down building behind them. “At least I don’t have to be afraid I’m gonna die in the middle of the night because of lack of oxygen. Got plenty of fresh air, that’s for sure.”

  Sophie didn’t want to laugh, but she couldn’t help it. He had a good point. “Whatever,” she settled on saying. “You need anything? Jacket? S-Socks? S-Snacks?”

  “Naw, we’re good,” Tadd reassured her. “You hear anything else about our moving date?”

  Knowing what he meant, Sophie said, “No, nothing new. The consultants are talking with the construction people who are in m-meetings with the city. No one s-seems to be able to agree on how or when to do anything. It’s annoying.”

  Tadd flashed his toothless grin. “No worries. Me ’n’ the others are ready to go at a moment’s notice. What do they call it…a go bag? Mine’s all packed.”

  “What about Charlie here? He have all his bones packed up?” Sophie joked. She hated making light of the fact that her friends were homeless and didn’t have anywhere to go, but she literally couldn’t do anything about it.

  “Of course.”

  Sophie’s grin died and she got serious. “You know where you’re going?”

  Tadd shrugged. “There’s a building a few blocks over that I’ve been checking out. I’ve heard from a few people that on the east side, there are lots of empty houses we could bunk in.”

  “But…that’s the bad part of the city,” Sophie protested. “There’s m-more gang activity over there.”

  “We aren’t exactly upstanding citizens moving in, Sophie,” Tadd chided gently.

  She looked down at her hands. “It’s s-so far away.”

  Sophie started when she felt a finger touch her chin and force her head up. Tadd had never done more than pat her shoulder or leg before. He’d once told her that he didn’t like to be touched, and thus didn’t like to touch others without their permission. He’d then showed her his filthy hands and informed her that he didn’t like to touch people with his dirty fingers anyway. So him doing so now was big. She met his eyes.

  “I love that you care, Sophie. But you need friends of your own kind. People you can g
o out to dinner with, hang out with. Not me. Not Louise. Not even Blythe, Frank, or Sam. We’re not your people.”

  Sophie sat back and stared at Tadd. “That’s not true. You are m-my friends. I don’t need to go to dinner to know I like you.”

  Tadd shook his head. “Nope. I only talk to you because you bring me free food. You think I’d bother if you didn’t bribe me?”

  Sophie could only stare at the older man in shock. “What?”

  “Look. I’ve pretended long enough. It’s a blessing they’re gonna knock this piece-of-shit building down. It’ll let me and my kind move on. You’ve been an interesting diversion, but you’ve made us weak. You need to go back to your high-falutin’ friends and stop slumming it with us.”

  “Tadd…don’t,” Sophie begged. “Don’t do this.”

  “Do what? Let you know that you’ve been used? Sophie, you’re too naïve for your own good. You wouldn’t last a day in our world and we both know it. Thank you for the coffee and food, but your do-gooding is over. Hang out with your new boyfriend and stop trying to prove to everyone how sweet and innocent you are. It’s an act that’s gotten old.”

  Sophie shook her head. “I don’t know why you think you need to push m-me away. What’s wrong?”

  “I liked what you could do for me. That’s it,” was his nonchalant answer.

  She slowly stood up and stared down at Tadd. “Are you really s-sitting there s-saying you pretended to like m-me? That you don’t care at all if you never s-see m-me again?”

  “That’s what I’m saying. You should know too…we spent many a night laughing at the way you talk.”

  “I’m disappointed in you,” Sophie told the man she’d stayed up late countless nights worrying about. “And if you think I’m buying this s-sudden change of heart, you’re just as s-stupid as m-many people accuse you of being.”

  Tadd simply stared at her.

  Sophie sighed. He’d been nicer to her than her own stepfather had ever been. She felt sick, even if she was mostly sure he was deliberately trying to drive her away.