Finally (Neighbor from Hell 12)

This wasn’t going to work.

She opened her mouth to suggest that they bring the bunny back only to end up closing it with a groan when Abbi said, “I love my bunny,” damning Charlie to hell.

“We should keep her in the living room,” Dustin said, reaching over to run his hand over the bunny’s white back while she nudged her light grey face against Abbi’s hand, demanding more carrots while Charlie couldn’t help but wonder if the kids were trying to get her killed.

“I shall call her Applesauce,” Abbi said with a firm nod.

“That’s nice,” Charlie mumbled absently as she wondered if she should update her will.

“She’s so fluffy!” Abbi, who hadn’t stopped smiling since the store owner placed the bunny in her arms, said as she obediently grabbed another baby carrot and held it for the bunny.

“She’s pretty,” Dustin said, shifting on the bed to move closer to his sister.

They were so damn adorable, Charlie thought, feeling her shoulders slump in defeat as she reached over to the pet Applesauce. “She is cute,” she found herself admitting only to wince when she looked back and found Devin, who looked really pissed, standing in front of her bed, glaring…at her, which she didn’t find very reassuring at the moment.

“Why don’t you guys go take the bunny and watch television while I talk to Charlie?” Devin said, never taking his eyes off her as the kids, who knew better than to argue right now, climbed off her bed and made their way to the door as Charlie sat there, debating joining them when Devin added, “Close the door behind you.”

“Wait! You don’t have to leave!” Charlie said, only to groan when she heard the door close behind them.

“Explain,” Devin bit out evenly.

Charlie opened her mouth to do just that, only close it and take a deep breath as she was forced to grab hold of the comforter when a wave of dizziness hit her. “Sorry, my life just flashed before my eyes,” she said, taking that slight twitch of his lips as encouragement.

“I’m going to spank your ass,” Devin said, nodding to himself as he moved to grab her.

“That costs extra!” Charlie said, turning to dive off the bed only to end up desperately trying to grab onto the comforter when the man that was a lot faster than he looked grabbed her.

“Let’s have a talk, shall we?” he said calmly as he dragged her off the bed and threw her over his shoulder.

“I mean, it’s your money. If you want to spend it on talking, I guess that’s fine,” Charlie said, shrugging it off even as she couldn’t help but notice that he was carrying her into the bathroom.

“I honestly don’t know how Ben put up with you,” Devin said as he placed her on the bathroom counter before closing the bathroom door and throwing the lock while she sat there wondering if this counted as a secondary location.

“With the help of alcohol and a lot of denial,” Charlie mumbled absently as Devin came back.

“That’s not really going to help me, now is it?” Devin drawled as he stepped between her legs. “Start talking.”

“About my rates?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

“I suppose we could talk about that, but I thought we’d talk about the fact that you gave my children a rabbit instead,” he murmured as she felt herself being pulled closer.

“I’d rather talk about my rates. They’re very competitive,” Charlie said, nodding solemnly.

“So, I’ve heard,” he murmured as she found herself pulled even closer until she was sitting on the edge and a soft groan was torn from her when she felt his hand settle between her legs. “Do you remember when I told the kids that they couldn’t have any pets until they were older?”

“Vaguely?” she said, admittedly having a problem paying attention at the moment.

“Vaguely?” he murmured back her answer, looking thoughtful as he stopped rubbing his hand between her legs to pull her off the counter and-

“I remember!” Charlie found herself admitting as she suddenly found herself facing the mirror with her hands grabbing hold of the counter.

“Good. Now we’re getting somewhere,” Devin said as he reached around and unsnapped her jeans.

“Umm, the kids are downstairs,” she reminded him, afraid that he might actually give into temptation and spank her ass, which she was almost ninety percent sure that she wouldn’t enjoy.

“They have SpongeBob on and a bunny. They’re good for at least an hour,” he said as she felt him push her pants down along with her panties.

“I’m probably going to need those to escape,” she pointed out.

“Probably,” Devin said, not really sounding all that concerned as she once again found herself picked up and placed on the counter.

“Would it help if I apologized?” Charlie offered as she watched him pull her sneakers off, one at a time before he finished pulling her pants off and tossed them aside.

“Why did you get the bunny, Charlie?” Devin asked as he knelt down in front of her.

“I’m weak?” she mumbled absently as she watched Devin lean forward and-

“Definitely weak,” Charlie freely admitted when she felt his tongue slide between her slit.

“Try again,” Devin said with another slow swipe of his tongue.

“Ummm, I’m still not really sure what happened. We were heading to the post office and then there was talk of fluffiness and I was finding out just how expensive hay was,” she mumbled somewhat incoherently as one hand found the edge of the counter and held on tightly as the other started running her fingers through his hair, encouraging him to keep doing that thing with his tongue that was making it really difficult to focus.

“And you’re not going to do it again, are you?” Devin said, tearing a “No!” from her seconds later when he slid his tongue inside her as she shook her head because she’d definitely learned her lesson.

Chapter 33

Four Months Later…

“This isn’t happening,” Devin said, taking a moment to close his eyes and slowly exhale, hoping, praying really, that when he opened his eyes that this would all end up being a bad dream.

It wasn’t.

“I had to feed Bradford,” Abbi, who was covered from head to toe in pancake batter said with a helpless shrug as the large German Shepard covered in pancake batter that failed the police academy because of his love of snuggles and who had managed to break Charlie in less than two minutes with a whimper, leaned over and swiped his tongue over Abbi’s face, cleaning a small section of her skin.

“What was wrong with the breakfast I made him?” Devin demanded with a glare, daring her to even suggest that he didn’t take good care of the dog that he’d decided was his.

“He deserves deliciousness,” Abbi said, folding her batter-covered arms over her chest so that she could glare up at him.

“And that’s exactly what I gave him,” Devin said, matching the move with a pointed look at the large metal bowl that Bradford was currently licking clean.

“He’s only trying to spare your feelings,” Abbi said with a disappointed glare at the dog that was going to need a bath, too.

“I’m an excellent cook,” Devin bit out.

“Then explain last night’s dinner,” she said, looking really fucking smug for someone wearing Doc McStuffins pajamas.

“It was delicious,” Devin said with a look that dared her to argue.

“Really? Then explain why Bradford refused to eat any,” Abbi said, cocking a brow in question.

Nodding, Devin said, “We are no longer speaking.”

“I miss Charlie,” Dustin mumbled sadly from where Devin placed him in an attempt to keep him clean so that he wouldn’t have to give him a bath as well.

“I know you do, buddy,” Devin said, only to bite back a sigh when Biscuits, the asshole kitten that the kids had conned Charlie into getting last week, decided to climb up his leg.

“When is Charlie coming home?” Dustin asked as Devin leaned over and carefully extracted the kitten f

rom hell off his leg and put him down. No sooner had the psychotic little kitten’s paw touched the floor when Bradford’s ears perked up and he decided to try to inspect the kitten again, earning a hiss and a swipe before Biscuits raced beneath the cart that he’d built for Charlie, to hide.

“Bradford, you’re being naughty,” Abbi said.

“Friday night,” Devin said as he found himself glancing at the clock again and bit back a sigh.

God, he fucking missed her.

For the past couple of months, she’d been hitting lectures, going to conventions, and taking online courses every week and he…

Couldn’t complain since whatever she was doing was helping Bradford Creations. Over the past few months, Charlie had managed to double Bradford Creations’ following on social media and they now had more orders than they could keep up with. He’d hired five more full-time employees, had enough orders to keep Bradford Creations busy for a very long time, and that didn’t seem to be enough for Charlie.

She was determined to learn everything there was to know about online marketing. While she helped the kids with their homework, she was reading articles. When she made dinner, she listened to podcasts and audio books. After the kids went to bed, she spent a few hours in her office working while he did the same upstairs. But once they were done…