Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

W aking the next morning, Aspen snuggled closer to her daddy. She'd luckily woken up early enough to enjoy the feel of his nude body against hers. She could feel his shaft pressed against her. When would he make love to her again?

"I can hear you thinking, Aspen. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Will you make love to me?" she asked, surprised at her own daring. After last night, nothing seemed inappropriate to talk to him about.

"Over and over again. You're too sensitive still. How about this afternoon? That will give us both something to look forward to today."

She nodded and crossed her fingers, hoping the day would go quickly.

"Good girl. Give Daddy a kiss to help him make it through the day."

Loving the instant heat that flared as their lips met, Aspen wiggled a bit. Unable to resist touching him, she rubbed his lightly furred chest. His chiseled muscles were meant to be explored. When her hand drifted to his lower abdomen, her fingertips brushed the velvety head of his cock.

Jerico's hand closed around hers, dragging it up his chest. "Only with Daddy's permission."

"You control everything!" she protested. "That's not fair."

"I know, baby. You'll appreciate it more the longer we're together."

"I don't think so," she mumbled and then gasped as the hand he'd stroked up her thigh and under her nightshirt delivered three quick swats to her bare bottom.

"Be good, or I will take time to adjust your attitude."

When she nodded, he pressed a hard kiss to her lips as he squeezed her stinging bottom. She tangled her fingers in his chest hair, trying to keep him close. Aspen didn't know how he'd become so important to her so quickly. They fit together as if she had been made for him.

When he lifted his lips from hers, she met his gaze directly. She wasn't ready to tell him how strongly she felt about him yet. Aspen hoped he could read it in her gaze.

Heat kindled in his eyes, and he captured her lips again, this time demanding everything of her. His tongue tangled with hers so intimately that she lost track of where she began and he ended. When he ripped his mouth away, they were both breathing hard.

"Zoot, Aspen. You're hard to leave." He rolled off the bed as if forcing himself to move.

She stared at him, memorizing the view of his battle-hardened body. Every inch of his physique screamed power and strength.

"You're making this very difficult," he growled.

"Sorry?"

Turning, Jerico stalked into the bathroom. She heard the shower come on and his protest as he stepped into what obviously was a very cold shower. He emerged dressed in his usual fatigues, with wet hair.

Rounding the bed, he leaned over her to kiss her softly. "I think your middle name is Temptation."

"Marie," she corrected him, and felt her lips curve in a delighted grin.

"Aspen Marie. I will see you this evening." He straightened and walked to the bedroom door.

"Eat breakfast, Daddy."

"I think I'm supposed to remind you of that." With a fond wave, he disappeared.

She heard him walk down the hall and the slam of a cabinet door. She guessed he'd grabbed one of the PowerBars she'd spotted earlier. Hearing him greet Rexy and move around the kitchen, Aspen suspected he was making sure she had food to start the day while he let Rexy out to potty. Wrapping her arms around herself, Aspen celebrated her feelings. She'd never expected to find such a wonderful man.

After daydreaming for a few minutes once she heard the front door slam and lock, Aspen forced herself to get up. Rexy immediately appeared for pets and scratches.

"Good morning! It's going to be such a good day."

The happy dog appeared to agree with her and hung out in the bedroom as Aspen dressed and washed her face before going out to the kitchen. The feel of her panties against her bare skin captured her attention. It felt naughty, and she loved it. Her lunch sat on the counter along with a filled bowl of cereal and a spoon. He took such good care of her.

A quick walk around the block with Rexy burned off a bit of the big dog's energy and he was ready to take a nap on the neatly made bed. Aspen gave him one last goodbye pet. She walked down the hall and paused inside the doorway of the nursery. Just the sight of the changing table made her face heat. She couldn't wait to try it again and find out what all the other things were. With determination, she forced herself down the hall.

Grabbing her lunch and keys, she let herself out and relocked the door before heading to her car. She relaxed as she drove. Her new job was different, more challenging in some ways, but having people around was such a relief after working in a deserted building. She felt safe there.

When she pulled up to the gate into the base, Aspen handed her employee ID to the guard. He read the name and seemed to recognize it.

"Oh, you're Aspen Randolph. There was some guy here looking for you this morning. He said he had some of your stuff and needed to return it. We couldn't let him in without clearance. You're new, right? You have to get visitors a pass in the main building."

"What did he look like?" she asked, feeling her mood instantly shift from loving the day to anxiety.

"A beater of a black car. He looked rough. Brown hair and eyes. I'd say two-fifty at least. I would have questioned sending him in with a pass," the guard admitted.

"Don't. He's not here for a good reason."

"Gotcha. You should report that at the main building too, so all the entry points will get the word."

"Thank you."

Aspen kept herself together until she got parked. Then she started shaking. Why would Eddie come here? She had left nothing behind. Surely, he'd just move on and forget about the dog he'd obviously hated.

She shook her head. Guys like Eddie didn't have a life to distract them. Without joy and happiness somewhere in his existence, the jerk would work to make sure she couldn't have joy in her life, either. Unless he found someone else to become his victim, he would continue to try to ruin her life and Rexy's.

What should she do?

Checking her watch, she saw she had ten minutes before her shift. She found the human resources office where she'd applied for the job and paused outside the door. No one wanted a troublemaker on their payroll. She was on a thirty-day probation period.

Whirling on her heels, she headed to the maintenance area and walked inside. Aspen clocked in and stowed her lunch in the fridge. She wouldn't risk her job. The guys at the gate looked big enough to deal with Eddie.

Should she tell Jerico? She didn't want him to think that she always brought a continual stream of trouble into his life. How had Eddie found out where she worked?

"Hey, Aspen. You okay?" a concerned deep voice asked, dragging her from her worries. She looked up and recognized him immediately. Pulling a name from her memory, she took a guess.

"Hi. Zale, right?"

When the handsome soldier confirmed her guess, she answered, "I'm good." She pushed her worry away and changed the subject. "Is the team in the building today?"

"Unfortunately, just me. I have some field training today. The rest of the team is out there at target practice."

His voice told Aspen he was committed to being inside, but his heart was with the team. She was glad they had such a dedicated medic.

"I'm glad to see you," Aspen said.

"I'm glad to see you, too. I better get in there. They're closing the doors. See you on Saturday. Text Jerico if you need to share something with him," Zale called over his shoulder as he jogged toward the last set of open doors.

"Hey, Aspen. There's a mess in the large conference room. Would you start there?" her shift leader called as she pulled out her phone to text Jerico.

"Of course."

After grabbing her supplies, Aspen headed for the assigned space. She'd have to report it and talk to Jerico later. Maybe. It might be better to see if anything else happened. Eddie could have gotten the message that she was protected here. She crossed her fingers and grabbed a broom to gather all the scraps of paper on the floor.

At lunchtime, she debated whether she should ask her coworkers where she could report Eddie. Again afraid they would decide she was a problem, Aspen decided not to do anything. The guys at the gate had stopped him once. They'd make sure someone without documentation couldn't get on the base.

She crossed her fingers.

Walking out of the break room, she tackled the next area her boss had given her to clean. The men's restroom. While the military staff took better care to aim more carefully than the toilets she'd cleaned in the past and didn't just drop tissue and paper towels all over the floor, it was not her favorite job.

Rapping on the door, she called inside, "Anyone in the men's room?"

When no one answered, she propped the door open and set a sign up, closing the bathroom for service before heading inside. Aspen was in the last stall when the door banged closed. She darted backward and saw a man at the urinal.

"Sir, this restroom is closed for cleaning."

"I'll finish in a minute."

Aspen hesitated. She didn't want to walk closer. The man held his cock in his hand. From the sound, she couldn't help noticing he'd needed to go. "Please leave, sir, as quickly as possible," she requested and turned back to finish in the stall.

Silence followed a few seconds later, and she listened for the door to open. Nothing.

"What's your name?"

The deep voice made her jump and squeak with surprise. She looked at the leering face of the man now leaning on the stall door frame, pinning her inside. She felt for the radio she wore to communicate with the others and realized it was on her cart.

Instantly, her heart started pounding. Aspen tried to keep her voice steady. "Sir, you need to leave now."

"I just wanted to meet you, beautiful. Tell me your name."

"You are making me uncomfortable, sir. If you'll step back, I'll leave if you won't." Aspen tried to make her voice confident, but she could hear the waver of nervousness.

"You don't have to be…"

"Alberts! This woman has asked you to leave. Go now. I will talk to your superior officer."

Aspen dared to peer out of the stall as her would-be Lothario scrambled away from the door. Zale. Thank goodness!

Zale followed the man out of the restroom. When she followed her rescuer, Aspen saw him setting the block under the door to prop it back open. "Thank you, Zale."

"If someone comes in when you're cleaning, what are you supposed to do?" he asked, before righting the closed sign. The jerk had obviously kicked it out of the way.

"Leave. But I couldn't get around him without seeing…" she explained.

"If some wanker has his junk out when he knows the bathroom is closed, he's lost the right to privacy. Get yourself to safety," Zale said sternly.

Aspen nodded. "You're right. I should have fled."

"If you happen to snicker at the right time, that would be perfectly acceptable. If you're safe."

Did he mean what she thought? Meeting his gaze, Aspen couldn't help but laugh at his expression. He did.

"Go talk to your boss and report the incident. I'll go talk to that jerk's commander."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Aspen said quickly, not wanting to cause any problems. "I don't want them to think I'm a problem."

"I will talk to them about this. I will also talk to Jerico about it, so I'd suggest you tell him first."

"I'll talk to him after work," Aspen promised quickly.

"Go report to your boss."

Zale waited until she'd gathered all of her supplies and started down the hallway. She looked back over her shoulder, hoping that he'd go on so she could sneak back in there and get the trash and mop the floor to finish the job before she left, but he stood watching her until she turned the corner.

Twenty minutes later, when all the paperwork was done, her supervisor walked with her down the hall to stand guard while she finished. She'd refused to hand over the job to someone else.

Aspen set up her closed sign once again. It was impossible to ignore the three men who stood in the hallway a few doors down from the restroom—the Lothario, a very official-looking military officer, and Zale. Her boss joined the men.

"Do you know how hard it is to find reliable staff members who show up every day?" her boss interjected himself into the conversation.

Aspen quickly darted into the bathroom to finish her work. Each time she returned to the corridor, she could hear the jerk getting reprimanded. She didn't want to be glad, but that guy had really scared her.

"Let me know if you have any more problems, Aspen," her boss told her when she emerged for the last time into a hallway that now contained only the two of them.

"Thank you for your support."

How was she ever going to tell Jerico about the guy at the front gate and the bathroom debacle?

Shaking her head, Aspen pushed that thought out of her mind and headed for her next assignment. Thank goodness it was a simple job.