November’s Ride with Viper (Mustang Mountain Riders #11)

7. Marlowe

CHAPTER 7

MARLOWE

I didn’t expect Viper to gently wipe me clean with a warm washcloth afterward. I also didn’t expect him to crawl back into bed, pull me tight into his chest, and spoon around me. The aftershocks of multiple orgasms still pulsed through my system. I’d been worried having sex might ruin our friendship, but it had only brought us closer.

“What are you thinking?” I stroked my fingers over his sinewy forearm as I relaxed into his embrace.

His whiskers scraped my shoulder, and his warm breath tickled my ear. “I’m thinking we should have done that back in high school. If we had, I never would have let you leave without me.”

“You think if we’d had sex back then, you would have followed me to Chicago?” I asked.

“Either that or I would have tied you up somewhere so you couldn’t go.”

“You know, I’m not against getting tied up.” I pushed my bare ass back against his cock. He was half-hard again already.

“Don’t tease me, Lo. You don’t know what picturing you with your hands tied together over your head might do to me.” Warm heat spread along my ear as he sucked the lobe into his hot, wet mouth.

I wasn’t so na?ve to think that a relationship could be built on great sex, but with Viper it was the cherry on top. Despite the tough exterior and rough image he’d grown into, he was still a squishy marshmallow underneath. He was exactly what I needed in a man. I was only sorry it took me so long to admit that to myself and come crawling back.

“What happens now?” I turned around to face him. I didn’t need promises of a big white wedding or want him to say anything he didn’t mean, but I couldn’t get that damn pact out of my mind. We hadn’t talked about it yet, and I wasn’t sure he even remembered.

He pressed a soft kiss to the tip of my nose. “What do you want to happen next?”

“You can’t turn my question back on me.” Typical Viper. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it this time. “Seriously, does this change things? Are you still going to be my best friend?”

His dark eyebrows knit together. “It changes everything. I love you, Marlowe. I want us to have a future together, to be there for each other until the day we both die.”

Knowing his feelings for me ran as deep as what I felt in my heart for him, I relaxed. “I want that too.”

“Good. Now get some sleep. We’re going to draw a lot of attention at Friendsgiving tomorrow. You’re going to need your strength to deal with all the questions.” Viper smoothed my hair away from my face and gave me a sweet goodnight kiss.

We didn’t even make it back to the kitchen for my birthday dinner, but I didn’t care. With the future falling into place more perfectly than I ever could have imagined, I closed my eyes and hoped I’d dream about Viper.

He hadn’t been kidding about drawing attention at the Friendsgiving Feast. As soon as we walked through the front door together, the questions started to fly. Some folks like Ruby were very direct.

She glanced at my fingers twined with Viper’s and tsked. “Does this mean wedding bells will be ringing in the new year?”

Pinpricks of heat danced over my cheeks. Viper and I hadn’t talked about the pact, and neither one of us had brought up the possibility of marriage while we were tangled in the sheets last night.

“I’m sure you’ll hear plenty of wedding bells,” Viper said. “Just look at all of my MC brothers who have found their special someone over the past several months.”

Ruby scowled. “You know what I mean, Viper.”

He smirked while he slid his arm around my shoulders and turned me toward the kitchen. “We need to go check on those pies Marlowe dropped off yesterday. See you later, Ruby.”

As soon as we made it to the kitchen, I twirled around to face him and slid my arms over his shoulders. “There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Oh, yeah. What is it?” He clasped his hands behind me, resting them right above my ass.

We’d already made love twice this morning, but I immediately wanted him inside me again. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, hoping to alleviate a bit of the pressure building between my thighs.

“You need me to find us a coat closet, Lo?” His rough, low tone grated along my nerve endings. How was I supposed to focus on Friendsgiving with him so close? When I couldn’t get my mind off of how good his tongue felt thrusting deep inside me?

I cleared my throat and tried to put a fraction of an inch of distance between us. “Don’t you think someone would notice if we disappeared?”

“Would you care if someone noticed?” He nuzzled my neck. The scrape of his whiskers along my cheek just about drove me out of my mind.

“No,” I admitted. “Lead the way.”

Viper laughed and backed off. Gripping my hand tightly in his, he pulled me down a hallway leading from the back of the kitchen. “I think there’s a supply room by the back door.”

I followed, wishing he’d hurry. My body already hovered on the edge. It wouldn’t take much to send me right over it.

As we neared the back door, Viper paused. “Do you hear that?”

Some kind of scratching noise came from just outside. “Does someone want in?”

“Let me check.” Viper shielded me with his body and peered out the back window. “It’s just Hades. I bet he’s sniffing around for some leftovers.”

“Who’s Hades?” I tried to peek around his shoulders but couldn’t see anything.

“How could you not know about Hades?” Viper pulled the door open, then gestured for me to follow him outside.

I stepped onto the small concrete stoop and froze. A giant gray wolf pawed at the ground about five feet away. “Th-th-th-that’s a w-w-w-wolf.”

“More like a town mascot.” Viper walked over and ran his hand through the fur between the wolf’s ears. “Jackson found him when he was just a pup. He looks out for all of us.”

Seeing him that close to a wild animal that had the power to rip out his throat had my heart pumping so fast that I thought I might pass out.

“Do you want to pet him?” Viper held out his hand, encouraging me to join him next to the huge beast.

“I’m good from here.” I couldn’t move. My feet literally froze to the steps.

Thankfully, the wolf seemed more interested in something sitting by the base of the building than he was in eating us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Viper knelt down to take a better look. “What are you so interested in down there, buddy?”

Hades stepped back, revealing a black box.

“What is that?” I craned my neck, trying to get a better look.

“I don’t know. It’s attached to the siding, and there’s a lock on the outside. Maybe a water pump or something. Hold on, there’s a digital display on the side. It looks like a countdown—” Viper got to his feet and rushed both of us back inside.

“What’s wrong?” I grabbed hold of his arm as he plowed down the hall.

“I need to find Atlas. If that’s what the fuck I think it is, I believe we’ve got about twenty minutes before the whole Community Center gets blown to bits.”