Trev seriously doubted that, but he picked up the heavy door anyway. His back protested, but he managed to hold out until Beth was satisfied. She turned her little wrench and hammered something into place. When she pronounced it finished, Trev let go and hauled her close. Her time controlling things was done for the day.
“Hello.” He smiled down at her. There was a little sweat on her brow, but she still smelled sweet, like hard work couldn’t possibly mar her femininity. So fucking soft.
Those pillowy lips raised in a smile. “Hi.”
He loved how breathless she was when she talked to him. He wasn’t about to let her know that he felt the same damn way. He was the Dom. He was supposed to stay in control.
Damn, it had been a long day. O’Malley had put him straight to work. He’d thanked Leo as he left because if Leo hadn’t insisted on vigorous workouts during his rehab, Trev doubted he would have survived the day. As it was, all he wanted to do was cuddle up with Beth and make love to her over and over again. Well, and get fed. He would really like some food. But mostly the lovemaking stuff.
He closed the door. He was damn happy to see that she’d attached a proper deadbolt. He found it strangely sexy that his girl knew how to install a deadbolt.
“I like the lock, darlin’.” He twisted the handle, happy it worked smoothly.
“I’m good with a drill. My dad taught me.”
He pulled her close. “I can show you how good I am with a drill.”
She laughed, her amusement sparking something light in him. The day might have been difficult, but it seemed to melt away now that he was here with her. “I think I know how good you are.”
She had a sexy little smile on her face, and his ego just about doubled because he knew he’d put it there. He kissed her, surprised at just how comfortable this whole “coming home” thing was. Even in this rickety old place. He looked around. Beth seemed to have been busy.
“Painting?” Trev asked, looking at the back wall of the parlor. It had been painted an odd orange color. Now there was large swath of white. It looked white. She had the lights off, so he couldn’t really tell.
She shrugged. “I just wanted to try it. I’m eager to get started.”
“I’m glad that all worked out. How did things go at the bank?”
“It was all right. There was a little trouble when I got back home, but Bo handled it. Oh, and I bought that coffeemaker you wanted, but I had a little accident with it. It kind of went in a million pieces. I promise I’ll get another one tomorrow.”
“Bo?” He couldn’t help the growl. From what he could tell, Bo had decided to play the dog with two bones. He’d talked to some of the hands. They all liked Bo, but they were universal in their praise of just how many women he could get into bed with. He’d done just about every girl in the county according to the hands. All of them except Beth Hobbes.
“He’s my friend.”
There was something about the way she said it, a tightness to her eyes that told Trev she wasn’t telling him everything. A little of his calm slipped away. He thought about pursuing it and decided against it. What if she told him she loved Bo? What the hell would he do then?
“I need to go get cleaned up. I thought we could go pick up some dinner in town and come back here. Is that okay?” Beth lifted herself up on her toes and brushed her lips against his. She immediately went back down, a little look of horror on her face. “Was I supposed to do that? I’ve read some books where the Dom doesn’t want the sub to touch him without permission.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Touch me all you like, darlin’. We’re not performing a scene or training. We’re just Trev and Beth right now.”
Her arms tightened around him. “Good. I didn’t think I would like that part.”
He wasn’t the type of Dom who required total power exchange. He’d seen it, and it worked for some, but he’d never be twenty-four-seven. In the end, he wanted to be taken care of too much and not because he’d ordered the sub to do it. Beth’s arms around him felt like caring, not the rote, practiced touch of long-held formality.
He kissed her long and slow as his mind drifted over the way he wanted this relationship to go. Submission in the bedroom. Long evenings of her naked at his feet. But part of the point to his dominance was to teach her how to stand up for herself. To give her a feeling of self-worth that seemed to be lacking though she had no reason for it. She was lovely and worthy, and he needed to show her all of those things. Some submissives needed the complete exchange, to lose themselves in another’s dominance, but for Beth, it was different. A Dom could free her.
His hands moved lower, his groin becoming distinctly engaged in this little “hello” kiss.
And then his stomach growled.
Beth pulled back, a little laugh bursting from her lips. “I won’t be long. Just ten minutes.”
He watched as her backside swayed in her overalls as she scampered up the stairs. His dick and his stomach warred, and he promised both they would get what they needed. He would have her undress in the truck on the way back from picking up the food. She would take it all off and sit on his vinyl bench seat while he told her everything he had planned for her tonight. Her pussy would be wet by the time they got home. She would leave a spot on his seat, and he would fucking let it sit there. His whole cab would smell like her. He could surround himself with her.
He started to go up the stairs. His cock had definitely taken over. His stomach protested, but weakly, as though it knew it had a weak argument. He was on the second step when he heard her phone ring. He thought about letting it go, but damn it, he knew who it was. He just knew it deep down.
He crossed the space between the stairs and the front hall table in three long strides and looked down at the number. Sure enough. Bo O’Malley.
Aidan’s words haunted him as well as his own damn fool memory. They had been friends. More than that. They had been close. Bo had been the kid brother he’d never had. Bo had looked up to him for something more than his ability to toss a football and get laid. Trev wasn’t sure what had made him befriend the younger man other than the fact that he looked so lost among the larger players. He could remember hearing his teammates laugh about the fact that Aidan O’Malley must have gotten all the muscle and intellect in that family. He’d known that the kid had heard it all. He’d watched as Bo had sunken into himself.
Fuck. Aidan was right. Goddamn it. He wanted to kick something. He didn’t need this. He wasn’t responsible enough to take care of his own damn self. He didn’t have to do it. He didn’t.
Almost as if his fucking hand had a mind of its own, he picked up her cell and flipped it open. He was going to tell Bo off. He was going to tell the little shit to find his own woman. He needed a Domme, not a Dom, and sure as hell not him. He didn’t need that shit.
“Mouse, it’s me. Don’t talk. I got some stuff to say and I just want to say it.” Bo slurred his words, and Trev could hear the sounds of thumping country western music in the background.
He sighed. “Bo, it isn’t…”
“Hush, now, girl. I told you. I need to say this. I love you, Mouse. I always loved you, ever since we were kids, but it turns out I’m not very good at it. Hell, I ain’t been good at much of anything. I know that. But what you said today was wrong, Mouse. How can you think for one second that I would treat you like that? It doesn’t matter that you picked Trev. It doesn’t matter.”
Trev knew he should hang up. “Bo, this isn’t Beth.”