Page 29 of Ryder

“He’s a Mini-Labradoodle. I almost got you just a Labradoodle, but I had a feeling this little guy was right up your ally. He’s not a little rat dog. He’ll be a bit bigger than a large house cat. You’re both so little.”

I mock growled at him and the puppy barked and pounced which had me giggling at just how adorable he was. Ryder leaned over and gathered my hair to one side and then put the necklace on me. He kissed my neck and fell back onto the cushions. I held up the necklace and looked at the ring. It’s the same massive diamond and black onyx ring he’d placed on my finger weeks ago and it was stunning.

The little puppy climbed up me and licked my neck. I giggled at the tickle of his fur, wet nose, and tongue. I could already tell he was going to be affectionate and cuddly. “What about Snuggles?”

“Ah, no. I am not telling people I have a dog named Snuggles. I’d do just about anything for you, but not that, and not to mention the dog is a boy, vixen.”

I tried pouting at Ryder, but I could tell he meant it when he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away.

“Fine,” I grumble. “What about Caramelo?”

“He’s a dog not a food.”

“What about Curly or Tiny? You know, ’cause he’s a Mini.” I raised my eyebrows up and down.

“You happy to call that out when you take him for a walk? ‘Tiny, Curly, come here?’ Think about his street cred.”

“Ha, a dog and street cred.” I rolled my eyes and threw up my arms. “Well, you think of a name.”

Ryder moved so he was next to me and I inched closer so I snuggled against him. “Okay, what about…” He picked up the puppy and held him close to his face, studying him. “Buster. Ranger. Fido.”

“No. No way. They’re so plain. Typical dog names.” I turned in his embrace and he put the puppy back on the ground. I tried to think of boy names, or cool dog names, but my mind was blank. “Is this how it’s going to be when we try and name our baby?” When I realized what I said, I froze. We hadn’t really talked or mentioned the baby I carried. I didn’t even know how he felt about having a child so soon. He stroked my cheek and leaned in and brushed his lips over mine.

“I’m smart enough to know that if you go through cooking my child for nine months and then give birth to him, you get the right to name him whatever you want.”

I threw my arms around him and he grunted at the impact of my cast. I still wasn’t used to it. I peppered him with kisses. “Perfect and all mine.” I sighed and unhooked my arms from him. “You name the puppy if I get to name our children then.”

He winked and I groaned as he said, “Children huh? You already planning on us having more?”

Kissing his cheek, I looked around and spotted the puppy not far off the blankets. “Maybe I am. Go get the puppy. Let’s name him first before we even talk more about children.”

I was enjoying the last peace and quiet, it being just me and Divinity in the house, before her friends descended to talk about what she was missing at work, and what was going on with each of them. I was sure the wedding would be discussed too. Divinity had the folder she had started with my Aunts and mother. I was actually surprised we’d lasted over a week without my family or any of her friends visiting. I had told as many as I could that we wanted some quiet relaxing time when we got home, but I never thought people would listen, especially my family. Tyson had gone and picked up the puppy from the breeder and dropped it off for the proposal, but he didn’t stick around for a visit.

We were still undecided on a name for the puppy after almost twenty-four hours. I’d given up making suggestions and told Divinity she could name it what she wanted as he was a gift from me. She was currently testing out names on him, and let’s just say I hoped she had better taste for names for our children.

“What do you think of Bear?”

We were snuggled up on the sofa watching an Avengers movie, but I could tell neither of our minds were really focused on it. “For a Mini Labradoodle? What if he gets a complex? That’s a big name for one so little.”

She twisted her torso so she could turn her head and stuck her tongue out at me. “Well we can’t all be hulking giants.”

“I’d stick your tongue back in before I get it.” I snapped my teeth at her playfully, then tilted her chin up as I leaned down. Divinity sucked her tongue back in and I moved closer and captured her lips to my own, pulling away only when she started to deepen the kiss and run her fingers up my chest. My body lit up and my cock, semi-hard just lying cuddling with her, became rock hard. Fuck. I’m so horny, but damn scared to do anything about it because I didn’t want to hurt her any more than she already was. Most of her bruises were gone, it was just the ones that had been really bad that were still there and they were mostly a fading greenish-yellow. Even with the bruises, my woman was beyond beautiful. “No we can’t all be tall. You, my little vixen, are the perfect height for me.”

Her sigh said a lot. It was filled with the same sexual frustration I was feeling. “You have a silver tongue Ryder. I’m thinking your last name suits you.” She turned back around and wiggled and fussed getting comfortable snuggling me. “Have you heard from the guys on the case? Have they heard from my dad or has anyone else? Are you or they any closer to finding X?”

I wished I could tell her I knew something. She wasn’t having nightmares every night now, but she was still having them a lot. I was starting to get the feeling that she was using the house as a crutch of sorts. Since leaving the hospital and coming home she hadn’t wanted to leave the house, even to go and visit my family or out for dinner. Our engagement lunch was supposed to be at the vineyards, but she didn’t want to leave. I was giving her another couple of days before I said anything, because this wasn’t like the Divinity I’d come to know. The one I knew loved getting dressed up and going anywhere. I hoped that when we found X, and I was sure we would, it would settle Divinity. I didn’t know when, but I was determined to nail the son of a bitch. When we caught him, I’d kill him, and I hoped it would give her the closure she needed. “No.” I felt her whole body go stiff against me. “But we are close. I hate to say it but the Devil’s Queens are helping by beating, killing, or scaring the shit out of any of X’s people they find. It going to force him out of hiding to deal with it.”

“You haven’t mentioned my dad. So I’m guessing neither you, nor your buddies who are dealing with the case have either.”

I was hoping she would forget about her dad, well, more like forget about him being missing. It wasn’t that I worried about Eric being hurt or even getting himself killed. No, I worried about the damage he could do. I had a sinking feeling that he was off the grid and had taken leave because he was searching for X on his own. Scrubbing my hand over my face I decided to tell Divinity straight. “I don’t expect we’ll hear from him, not until he has X.”

“I hate that I’m agreeing with you, but I know my dad and he wouldn’t let anyone get away with hurting me.”

Squeezing her tighter to me I kissed the top of her head. “I know these won’t calm any fears you have, but your father knows what he’s doing and bet he’s dealt with worse than X.” She didn’t answer, but I guessed that if she didn’t agree she would have told me.

We watched the movie for another half an hour before her friends came and I retreated to my study. I spent the next couple of hours going over my cases and was surprised I’d gotten lost in them for so long without checking on Divinity. She was getting around a lot better now she was used to the casts.

Leaving my office, I went to the family room expecting to find Divinity there with her friends and when I didn’t, I went searching the house. The house was huge, but until that moment I didn’t realize how many rooms there were. I had no idea why I needed a sitting room, a lounge room, a family room and a games room. Divinity and I spent over sixty percent of our time in the family room. I noticed Divinity was slowly making that room hers, too, by adding little knick-knacks, pictures, throw pillows, and a soft blanket or two.

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