Chapter 4

Chapter Four

NOLAN

M y house is on the other side of town, and it takes a lot longer to get there than it would under normal conditions. I know the routes the plows are taking tonight, so I stick to those since they’ll be the easiest to drive on.

“I didn’t know it was this bad,” Mia says after she sees a few cars already in ditches.

“Where are you coming from?” I look over, and she bites her bottom lip like she’s nervous to tell me. “Hey.” I reach out and take her hand, and despite how warm the truck is, her fingers are cold. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine, I’m just used to hiding. I kind of stole my mom’s car and took off. You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

I shake my head. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

“I had to hide money because anytime she found my stash, she spent it on drugs. I saved up enough for a deposit, and I took her car. I was the one that paid for it, but the title was in her name.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to find it where you left it,” I tell her, and she grins.

“Good point.” She looks out the window again and is thoughtful for a long moment. “But I don’t think she’ll bother to look for me. She’s only thinking about her next hit.”

“Do you have a job lined up?” I ask, and that seems to get her attention.

“Mr. Murphy was supposed to get me a job cleaning his rental properties, but I’m not so sure about that. After seeing the state of that place today, I can’t imagine what he thinks is dirty.”

I make a growling sound in the back of my throat, and I have to release her hand so I don’t squeeze it too hard.

“I’m going to have a word with him the next time I catch his ass downtown.”

“Why would you do that?” Mia looks genuinely surprised by my reaction.

“Because he knows what he does and he doesn't give a shit. The people he rents to aren’t able to do anything about it. He preys on people in situations like you where they have no other choice but to live in his slums.” I squeeze the steering wheel and pretend it’s his neck. “He’s long overdue for some karma.”

“Oh.” When I glance over, her cheeks are flushed, and she looks at me with soft eyes. “That’s kinda sweet of you.” And to my surprise, she reaches out and pats my leg.

Fuck if my dick doesn’t get hard all over again. Jesus, what kind of magic pussy did she put on me? I haven’t been this horny since I was fifteen. It might have to do with all I do anymore is work. Sex hasn’t been on my mind. Fuck, women haven’t, but now it’s all I can think about.

“This is my place,” I say and nod up ahead because I don’t know what else to say. The urge to have her straddle me is strong, but I know she needs to eat first.

“Seriously? This is your house?”

I’m trying to look at my house through her eyes, and I wonder how she sees it. I built it a few years ago, but it’s way too big for one person. Part of me knew deep down that if I had a house this size, maybe one day I could fill it with a family, but no one ever gave me the urge to fully want it. Glancing over at Mia, I feel a spark of hope that she could be the one to do it.

“You still have power?” she asks when she sees the light on the porch.

“I’ve got a generator for the emergency floodlights outside. I can use it to run the heat too, but mostly it’s for safety.” I pull into the overside garage I had designed especially to fit my truck. “I’ve got a fireplace to heat the house when it goes out.”

“I can see now that it was a mistake not to have one,” she teases, and I turn off the truck.

“Sit tight. I’ll come get you down.” I grab her bag of stuff out of the back seat and then walk around to the other side of the truck. When the garage door closes, it blocks out the wind, but my truck is lifted, and she’s too short to climb in and out on her own. “There you go,” I say when I put her on her feet. “Come with me.”

I don’t realize what I’m doing until her hand is in mine, but I pull her behind me and lead her inside. As soon as we get to the living room, I get a fire going. She watches me and rubs her arms like she’s cold, so I stand up and take my jacket off.

“Here, this will keep you warm until the fire heats up.” I tuck it around her, and even in the dim light of the fire, I can see her smile up at me.

“Thank you, Nolan.” Hearing her say my name makes my knees feel weak, and I don’t know why.

“Take a seat by the fire. I’ll heat you up some stew.” She nods, and I go into the kitchen to grab some food.

My sister sent me a text earlier that she was dropping off a big pot of stew and putting it in the oven to keep warm. When I open the oven, I see it in there with a loaf of fresh bread on top. It’s wrapped in cloth, and everything is still warm.

Once I’ve filled two bowls and gotten a tray of food, I take it out to the living room and place it in front of Mia. Her cheeks are warmer now, and her eyes light up when she sees what I’ve brought her.

“Oh my goodness, did you make this?” She tears off some of the bread and moans as she chews.

The sounds she makes when eating make my dick hard. But I guess that’s just about expected at this point.

“Seeing your reaction makes me wish I did,” I say. “But I can’t take credit for it. My sister knew I’d be out late because of the storm, and she dropped it off. She’s got a place on the other side of the property, so she’s got power like I do. I also scheduled one of the guys to go by and drop off a load of wood for her later so she’ll be able to have a fire during the storm.

“Are you guys close?” she asks between bites of the stew. Mia practically licks the spoon with every bite, and I’m content just to watch her eat.

“Yeah, we are.” I nod. “You have any siblings?” She shakes her head. “We lost my mom a few years ago, and she’s taken over the mother hen role. She’ll be glad when I get a wife of my own to look after me.”

Mia pauses with the spoon halfway to her mouth. She blinks once and then takes the bite. I don’t miss the way she looks me up and down.

“I probably should have asked sooner, but you don’t have a girlfriend or a wife?”

“Nope.” I shake my head. “And I wouldn’t have brought you here if I did.” I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Whatever you might think of me, I’m not a disloyal man. If anything, I’m possessive. When I see something I want, I do whatever it takes to make it mine. And once it belongs to me, I don’t like to share.” I just have never had that urge when it came to a woman. Now I do.

My fingers trace the shell of her ear before I drop my hand and go back to my stew.

We talk a bit more until she’s eaten enough that I’m convinced she’s full. After I clean up the kitchen, I go to my bedroom and start a fire there. Once the room is warm enough, I go and get Mia. She’s stretched out on the couch half asleep, and I hate to wake her up.

“Come on, little lamb,” I tell her as I pull her into my arms. She curls against me as I carry her to my room and then into the bathroom.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s time for bed,” I tell her as I put her on her bare feet and then remove my jacket from around her shoulders. “But first you need to pay for dinner.”

She blinks up at me in confusion until I pull off my baseball cap and then reach for my shirt. Her eyes widen, and she stares at my bare chest.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go slower this time.”

I turn on the hot water in the shower and let the room fill with steam. Even though the power is out all over town, I’ve got my hot water on a gas line, and it’s going strong. I turn on all the showerheads and then strip Mia out of her clothes so she’s completely naked.

“Nolan,” she says when I reach for my belt. “We really should be careful this time. I told you I’m not on the pill.”

“You seemed to like it while it was happening.” I push my jeans down my thighs, and my cock springs out between us. It’s thick and dripping, and the vein on the underside is pulsing like it’s got its own heartbeat. “You let me nut in you bare, Mia.” I shake my head. “How do you expect me to go back now? You can’t give it to me and then take it away. That’s not nice.”

“But—”

“Don’t you want to be nice?” I grab my cock at the base and give it a squeeze. Fuck, I’m horny. “The deal was that I’d take care of you, and you’d take care of me.” I nod to her pussy. “The going rate is me fucking you bare.”

“I’m not saying no, just maybe you could pull out?” she suggests.

“Now you’re trying to back out of our deal.” I raise an eyebrow at her as she bites her bottom lip. “I’ve taken real good care of you, haven’t I?”

She’s quick to nod. “You have. You’ve been so good to me, Nolan.”

“Then I don’t think you should tell me what I can and can’t do.” I let go of my cock and grab her hips with both hands. I walk her into the shower and then place her under the hot spray. I’m so much taller than her that she has to lean back all the way to look up at me. “I’m going to keep you safe while this storm rolls through. I think that’s worth a little something extra. Don’t you?”

The hot water rolls over her body, and I watch as it drips off her tits. She stares up at me for a long moment before she finally nods.

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” I tell her as I bend down and lick the water off her nipple. “You just have to do what you’re told.”