Little Bird (The Tangled Series) (18 page)

“The hell you will!” Lee dug his fingers into her arm. He had no idea what had gotten into her but she had definitely worked herself into a good tantrum over it.

“You’re not even listening to me.”

“Just because you’re not getting your way, doesn’t mean I’m not listening.” Lee shook his head, his voice full of exasperation.

Savannah’s jaw was set with determination. “Then tell me what’s changed. Why is it that up until this very moment you had no problem involving me in a dangerous situation? But now all the sudden I’m too fragile to be involved? What the fuck is that about?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see Cara leaning back into the couch, smirking as she watched them argue. Typical. Savannah clearly didn’t care that they had an audience for this little quarrel, but he did. The best thing would be to get them out of here and deal with her questions later. Lee’s voice took on a soft tone, cajoling her, as he pulled her tight into his side. “We’ll talk about it later, sweetheart.”

Savannah shook her head, pushing away from him. “Bullshit. I want to talk about it now. Tell me what’s different.”

“Goddammit. Because I love you. When Mike first brought you into this I didn’t know you, and other than a vague concern for women in general, I didn’t really give a shit. But God help me, I love you now and I’m not going to risk you for her, for anything.” Lee grabbed her arm again, shaking her. He was shouting at her, his nose about an inch from hers, and he watched with confusion as her eyes got big as saucers and then filled with tears. Fuck, she was crying again. What was so hard for her to understand? He loved her and it was perfectly natural that he wanted to keep her safe.

Wait, what was that? He loved her? Had he actually said that? Judging from the looks on Paul and Cara’s faces he had in fact said it. Where the fuck had that come from? He had totally lost control of this situation and had no idea what to do next. Until about twenty seconds ago he didn’t even realize he loved her.

Lee dipped his head, his forehead resting against hers, his hands on her hips. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re killing me here. I’m sorry I yelled.”

Savannah sniffled and wiped her face on the blanket Paul had brought her. “I understand you want to keep me safe, but I’m not some delicate little flower who can’t handle a little adventure. I want to finish what we started and you can’t just lock me up to keep me safe. I could be attacked and killed by a roving pack of rabid raccoons. Anything can happen to a person, no matter how hard you try to protect them.”

Lee sighed and pulled her against his chest, wiping her tears with his thumb. “You’re afraid of rabid raccoons?” He laughed softly when she rolled her eyes and then kissed the top of her head. “All right, okay. We’ll do it.”

Chapter Ten

A
lthough it was only a short ride from the club to Savannah’s apartment, she fell fast asleep in the car and didn’t wake when Lee carried her inside and undressed her. After tucking her into bed he went outside and sat on the steps of her building, smoking thoughtfully as he tried to figure out exactly when he’d fallen in love with her. He figured he’d only known her three days so it couldn’t be too difficult to pinpoint.

In the beginning it had been lust, pure and simple. He’d known she thought he was a jerk and that had been just fine with him. But after they had sex the first time, the inexplicable feelings of possession she’d aroused in him were already at the forefront of his mind.

When she’d asked him about his divorce, he’d surprised himself by telling her. Lee told himself he’d told her only because she asked but that wasn’t the truth, and he knew it. Plenty of people had asked and he’d never told them. Then, when she’d confided in him about Douchebag, he’d been touched that she had been willing to share it with him. It also humbled him that despite having a very good reason to kick him to the curb she’d been willing to take a chance on him.

Maybe the real turning point had been when he’d made love to her the first night. He hadn’t made love to a woman like that in a very long time. Actually, maybe he never had. Certainly in the early days of his relationship with Cara they’d made love but he didn’t remember it ever being like that. Either this was different, Savannah was different, or he was just too fucking old to remember what it had been like back then.

That wasn’t right either though. It had been before they made love. When she’d teased him and he’d come all over her stomach she’d called it an intense experience. The poor woman had no idea. If she thought it was intense she’d have probably been horrified by what was going through his mind at the time.

Initially it had been exactly what she thought. The idea of being inside her without a condom turned him on, nothing weird or unusual about that. As he’d held himself over her, though, the head of his cock pressing against the sleek wet heat of her, he’d had to remind himself repeatedly that she wasn’t on the pill in order to keep from losing control. Even then, he barely managed to do the right thing because, to his surprise, he didn’t care if she got pregnant. Or rather, he wanted to get her pregnant, which was so obviously insane it had left him questioning his mental health. Still though, that’s what he’d been thinking about when he’d come. He’d watched his semen splash over her belly while he imagined getting her pregnant and seeing that belly grow with his child. And he was so completely fucked up that he’d thought about it twice more since then while he jacked himself in the shower. Yeah, it had definitely been intense.

Truth be told, Lee was relieved Savannah fell asleep so quickly in the car. Once she had her head about her again she’d abuse him with a battery of questions, the first of which he was certain would be did he really love her, and he wasn’t quite prepared to deal with that tonight. Plus, he’d need to have a talk with her about what had happened at the club and she probably wasn’t ready for that one yet. That could all wait for tomorrow.

When Lee finally went in and stripped off his clothes, climbing in bed with her, Savannah rolled against him in her sleep, plastering her body to his. He briefly considered waking her and fucking her, God knew he ached for her, but decided against it. Better to let her sleep and deal with her in the morning when they’d both had some rest.

Lee slept fitfully, tossing and turning in that cramped bed with her all night, eventually giving up shortly before seven o’clock. Since they’d be going back to the club tonight and again tomorrow it made sense to stay at her apartment, but he needed clothes. He was pretty sure Savannah would be sleeping late today so now seemed like a good time to run home, grab some clothes and ask Frank to feed Toby for a couple of days. He’d swap the Shelby for the Jeep, too. He wasn’t wild about leaving it parked on the street all weekend. If he hurried he could probably be back before she ever woke up but just in case, he found a piece of paper and left her a note.

The drive out of the city was easy and uneventful. This time of morning on a Friday it was the traffic into the city that was bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see. Once home, Lee packed his clothes and a few other things, tossing them into the Jeep before stopping by the barn on his way back out to ask Frank to look after the dog. He was only on the road again a few minutes when his cell phone rang. Maybe Savannah hadn’t slept so late after all. Glancing at his caller ID he was surprised to see it wasn’t her at all, it was his friend Todd Buchanan.

“Hey, Todd. Awfully early for you isn’t it?”

Todd laughed on the other end of the phone but ignored his question. “So I heard you were at Tangled last night with some new piece of ass.”

“Did you?” Jesus, word travels fast. Lee hadn’t seen anyone he knew from The Vault last night but he could have easily missed someone in the crush of bodies.

“I did. And I heard the girl was a delicious little sub, crying and begging while you spanked her. I guess you took her to Tangled just to keep her away from me, huh?”

“Uh, no. She’s not your type. She’s new.” Todd was a fairly extreme Dom and generally had little patience for inexperienced subs.

“So it was you.”

Lee rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so who’s your source?”

“My sister. I had breakfast with her this morning and she was telling me about this new couple at Tangled last night. She said when the Dom turned the girl over his knee and spanked her she kept crying out his name. Levon. Not exactly a common name so I figured it had to be you.”

Lee furrowed his brow, trying to concentrate on his driving. “Who’s your sister?”

“Her name’s Mindy. She’s been seeing Geoff, the owner over at Tangled, for about a year now.”

“Shit, that was your sister?”

Todd snorted with amusement. “Yup. She said Geoff made her offer herself to you but you weren’t interested. That threw me off a little because the Lee I know doesn’t turn down a pretty girl offering herself up, no strings attached. I’m going to be offended if my sister’s not pretty enough for you, man.”

“No worries there, Todd. She’s a beautiful woman. Really, it’s kind of hard to believe a pretty girl like that has an ugly old bastard like you for a brother.”

“So, what is it then? This new girl got you wrapped around the axle?”

That question hit a little close to home and Lee paused for a minute, considering his answer. Well, hell, he might as well be honest about it.

“A little bit, yeah.”

Todd whistled and laughed. “So what’s the story? Who is she? I just saw you last week and you never said a word about her. In fact, you fucked Jen senseless so this seems kind of sudden.” Jen was one of Todd’s three submissives, a brat who was always trying to top from the bottom, perfect for letting out a little pent up aggression.

“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you over a beer sometime but sudden is definitely one word for it. Fucking insane would be another. But her name’s Savannah and she’s…shit, I don’t even know what to say about her but I think I’m fucked.”

“You said she’s new to the scene?”

“Yeah, until last night she’d never been to a place like that and had no idea I was into it. I mean, I’d been a little rough with her before, but I don’t think she’s experienced enough to put that all together.”

“How’d she take it?”

“Like a duck to water. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet, and I was easy on her, but she enjoyed herself. We’ll see what she has to say when she wakes up.”

“So, what’s the big deal then?”

“I love her.” Lee gritted his teeth, steeling himself for the ribbing he was sure he was about to receive.

“Uh-oh. I better sell my stock in Trojan before the market figures out you’re settling down.”

“Ha, very funny, asshole. It hasn’t gone quite that far yet. Although I’ll be honest, it’s a fucking struggle every goddamn time to make myself do the right thing.”

“As long as you’re both clean it doesn’t matter much.”

“Oh, we’re both clean but she’s also not on birth control so it definitely matters. But here’s the fucked up part. I don’t even care. I’d knock her up in a fucking New York minute if she’d let me.”

Todd coughed, obviously trying to hide a laugh. “Does she know that?”

“Fuck no. How exactly is a conversation like that supposed to go anyway? ‘Hey, baby, just thought you should know I jack off in the shower thinking about getting you pregnant.’ Yeah, that’s real fucking smooth.” Lee knew he sounded pissy and irritable, which he was, but Todd could take it.

Mike was one of his oldest friends but this wasn’t the kind of thing he could talk to Mike about, even if Savannah hadn’t been the woman involved. Mike was a good guy and a good friend but anything kinkier than oral sex made him freak the hell out. Todd on the other hand, being a pervert himself, was the one Lee could rely on to help him get his head straight when it came to sex and women.

“Shit, she’s flipped all your switches, hasn’t she?” Todd laughed openly now, not even trying to hide it and Lee glared at the phone.

“Yeah, and that particular switch is one I didn’t even know I had. But fuck if I don’t want to get her pregnant so every other fucking asshole that looks at her will know she’s mine.”

“Maybe she’s the one.”

“That’s pretty funny coming from a guy who has three ‘the ones’.” Lee rolled his eyes and snorted.

“Hey, we’ve all got our own flavor of kink. I keep three because it strokes my alpha ego and you want to impregnate one just to stroke yours. It’s all just different sides of the same coin. I can’t wait to see what’s got you all screwed up like this, though. She’s got to be one hot piece of ass. When do I get to fuck the little vixen?”

“Yeah, try never. Her cunt is mine.” Lee was surprised by the ferocity of his own voice. They’d shared women more than once and it had never been an issue but this was different. Savannah was different.

“Shit, you’ve really got it bad, brother. That’s all right, though, you know I’m a big fan of ass fucking. You go right ahead and keep her cunt all to yourself.”

“She’s never taken it in the ass before.” Lee smiled to himself, wondering what Savannah would think if she could hear this conversation. It seemed pretty likely she’d be more than a little pissed. Actually, pissed was probably a huge understatement given the range of topics, all concerning her, they’d already covered.

“That’s perfect! That monster cock of yours is too big for a first timer. I’ll break her in for you.”

“Maybe I’ll let her decide whose dick she wants in her ass the first time. I’ll bet you fifty bucks she picks mine.” Lee would have bet a million dollars. He was that sure Savannah wouldn’t want anyone but him. But he might as well let Todd feel like he had a chance.

“That’s a bet but no colluding with her in advance. You can’t tell her about it and order her to pick you or anything.”

“Todd, if she even knew about the bet she’d probably try to castrate me with her bare hands.”

“Oh, she sounds like fun.” Todd laughed hard on the other end of the phone.

“Anyway, things are a little nuts over here at the moment. But I’ll bring her up to The Vault once it settles down a little.”

Lee hung up the phone, thoughtful as he threaded the Jeep through the rush hour traffic. He’d been counting on Todd to give him a verbal shake down and help snap him out of the crazy thoughts he’d been having. Unfortunately, that wasn’t at all what he’d gotten. Todd’s talk about ‘the one’ had him thinking thoughts he really shouldn’t be thinking.

Savannah awoke to find herself alone in her apartment. Panic gnawed at her stomach. Where was Lee? Rolling over to look at the clock she sighed with relief. He’d left her a note propped on her bedside table.

Sweetheart,

Gone to run some errands. Took your keys and locked the door. Be back soon.

Lee

Savannah briefly wondered how long he’d been gone, but with a stretch and a content sigh she decided it didn’t matter and cuddled back into her blankets.

Last night had been bizarre, from getting spanked with a belt and actually liking it, to meeting Lee’s ex-wife while giving him a blowjob. But the really shocking part had been when he said he loved her. Well, that and when he called her his girlfriend and bought Joni’s painting. It had been a very eventful evening. But the love part, that was the really fucking big part. It was the last thing she’d expected, and, if she were totally honest, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about it.

Savannah was pretty sure she loved him, too, but she’d never really felt this way before and it overwhelmed her. Could she really be in love with him after such a short time? Maybe it was just lust and her hormones getting the better of her. But even if it was real, what were they supposed to do now? Her life, her job, and her friends were all in the city. She’d enjoyed the few days she’d spent at his farm but she’d be bored if she lived there. And Lee didn’t seem inclined to move back to the city. She should be happy to know he loved her—and she was—but everything was still so complicated.

Savannah was still lying in bed thinking about it when she heard a knock at her door a moment before Lee let himself in. He wore a pair of faded jeans with a black T-shirt and was carrying a backpack and a gym bag. He smiled when he saw she was awake.