A smile touches my lips as I jog to the back of the house, crouching down as I start along the side toward the street.
All in all, Marbles and I aren’tthatdifferent, I just so happen to be aghostforced to use my power for good instead of evil most of the time. If they can make him the VP of the Kings without batting an eye, I’m sure they’d patch in an irritating murderer like me.
I come to an abrupt halt in the bushes by the front of the empty house, frowning before I shake my head again.
Why the fuck do I even care?
With a sigh, I note Cal’s truck still sitting in Stevie’s driveway as I mumble, “This is just like middle school all over again.”
Always wanting to fit in, hiding who I am because I just wanted to be normal like everyone else. I wanted to pretend there wasn’t something so wrong with me, and that there were parts of my brain that didn’t work the way they were supposed to. If I could do that then I could pretend the things that went on at home weren’t so fucked up and I had a real shot at getting out.
It didn’t work back then and I’m sure it won’t now, so there’s no real use in thinking otherwise.
Too bad I can’t seem to stop thinking otherwise.
Annoying the hell out ofmyselfnow, I shake out my arms and try to shift gears.
No matter what happens with the Kings, I did have a good night—a successful night that I intend to celebrate—and since I was able to plant another bug on Beau’s cut while we were at the party, one that will pick up everything he’s about to discuss, I see absolutely no reason to let my ridiculous line of thought ruin that.
So, I watch for a few more minutes before that dumb son of a bitch comes stumbling out his front door, a liquor bottle gripped tightly in his hand as he staggers toward the waiting Dodge.
Looks like someone is trying to handle his to-do list efficiently.
Whatever, though.
It’s not really like it matters to me, it just means I’ll have a bunch of incoherent babble to sort through when I listen to the audio later.
And it means Beau will be gone until sometime late tomorrow, giving me hours alone to celebrate my success with my baby dove tonight.
Thatmakes me smile. A big goofy one graces my handsome face over thoughts offinallygetting my girl all to myself after so long.
Which is why I wait another twenty minutes after Cal backs out to make sure they’re not coming back before I quickly dart across the street. I barely run past the porch as the light flips on and the front door opens. Sidling up next to Stevie’s house and flattening my body against it, wanting to make sure I wasn’t seen.
After a few beats of nothing but beer bottles opening and lighters clicking to life, I crab walk to the backyard and grin when I see how dark my sweet little dove’s bedroom is.
Call me a dick, but I liked scaring Stevie last night.
Grabbing her in the dark hallway got my blood pumping—hers too, for that matter—and if I can do it again, there’s nothing stopping me from taking her now the way I wanted to then. And it’ll be mind-blowing for both of us.
I secure the yard as I turn the corner, ready to take out anyone who might try to stand between me and my girl, then scale the trellis as fast as I can since the damn thing is still an accident waiting to happen, praying Stevie left the window unlocked.
And thankfully, she did.
I slide it open just enough to get through, closing and locking it behind me as I turn toward the bed.
Theemptybed that’s only visible thanks to a beam of light streaming in from the bathroom. The bathroom where my baby dove is running a bath, judging by the steam and sound coming from it, and that has my plans of scaring her flying right out the window I just came through because bathtub sex is now my goal.
And I’ll probably still scare the crap out of Stevie when I walk in unannounced, undressed, and fully erect.
I quickly shuck my jacket and hoodie, tossing both on the chair before I remember I have a gun in there. So I dig through my pockets, retrieve the weapon, and put on the safety before kicking off my boots, toeing off my socks, and pulling my t-shirt over my head.
My belt comes off next: unbuckling and pulling it through the loops as I turn toward the door. It hits the floor as I grin, the smell of Christmas growing stronger with each step that brings me closer to myprey. I unbutton my fly and slide the zipper down as I stop just shy of the door, biting back a groan when I see Stevie standing in front of the mirror completely naked, her perky little ass making my dick jump before he’s even free.
I bite my lip with a smirk as I admire my girl, that lithe, sexy body bare and ripe for my taking, but as she moves, as Stevie’s reflection becomes clearer through the steam and gives me my first real peek at everything I’ve missed this last week, my stomach drops to my goddamn balls.
“What thefuckare you doing?”
My little dove doesn’t jump, she doesn’t even flinch, just glances at me over her shoulder before looking down in front of her.
