Because Cassie was no longer his, she was Judge’s.
And that man wasn’t getting her back.
Not fucking ever.
Chapter Fifteen
The rattle of the doorknob and sound of a small fist pounding on her bedroom door made her heart jump into her throat. Wide-eyed, she stared up at Judge whose, amongst that thick beard, lips twitched.
“It isn’t funny!” she mouthed and glared at him.
She tugged at his hand, which was still down her pants and stroking her gently. He slowly removed it and stepped back so she could adjust her clothes.
The knob shook again and a “Mommmmma!” came through the door loud and clear.
Had they made too much noise?
It didn’t matter now; her daughter was awake.
She made a “shooing” motion to Judge, indicating he needed to hide.
“Momma!” came the yell and pound of fists again. “Heard a noise. Why’s the door locked?”
“The door isn’t locked, sweetie. It’s probably just stuck. Give me a second.”
Judge stepped behind the door as she unlocked it and opened it a crack to stand in the opening, blocking Daisy from rushing in.
Her daughter pushed on her thigh with both hands, trying to move Cassie out of the way. She didn’t budge. “Why are you out of bed?”
“I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep.”
“You need to go back to bed.”
Daisy pushed against her legs again. “Wanna sleep with you.”
“No, we should sleep in our own beds. You’re not a baby anymore, you’re a big girl.”
“Then Judge can tuck me in.”
“Judge isn’t here.” She winced at her own lie.
“Yes, he is. He’s in your room. Judge! Tuck me in!”
“Daisy...”
Her bottom lip pushed out in a pout and she stomped her little bare foot. “Momma, I want Judge to tuck me in. Jury and Justice wanna say goodnight to him.”
“They said that?”
She nodded like her neck was broken and just flopping around. “Yes. They told me to get him.”
Heat pressed against her back. Cassie tilted her head back and saw him standing over her. “Gonna tuck her in and say goodnight to the dogs.”
“Told you he was in your room! You lied, Momma! You said lyin’ is bad!”
Shit. “Lying is bad. I was mistaken. I wasn’t aware he was in here.”
Her blonde mini-me shot her a scathing look.
Cassie sighed, opened the door wider, and grabbed her daughter’s shoulders, turning her toward her room. “Let’s go.”
“Judge, you comin’?” Daisy yelled over her shoulder.
“Yeah, kid,” came the grumble behind her.
They got into the spare bedroom, saw the dogs remained curled up on the bed, their eyes open and watching, but undisturbed. When they saw Judge, their long wagging tails whapped the bed loudly.
“In bed, sweetie. We all need to get some sleep.”
Daisy climbed in between the dogs. “Put your legs under the covers, kid,” Judge instructed. She scrambled to tuck her legs into the narrow space between her hairy bunkmates. “Don’t need to tuck you in. Jury and Justice got you tucked in good.”
Daisy smiled. “You gonna tuck in Momma?”
Cassie avoided looking at Judge. If she did, she’d probably turn bright red.
“Yep. She’s next, kid. If you go to sleep now, morning will come sooner and then we can judge your momma’s French toast before I leave, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Daisy answered, then she whispered, “Yours is better.”
“We’ll find out once we wake up in the mornin’. But mornin’ will never come if you don’t fall asleep.”
“Goin’ to sleep now.” The girl squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to snore.
“You get outta bed again and your momma’s gonna cancel that French toast and feed us stale cereal with skim milk.”
Cassie turned her head away and slapped a hand over her mouth.
Daisy eyes popped open. “She can’t do that!”
“Yeah, she told me if she don’t get sleep, she’s gonna be too tired to make us breakfast and will be stuck with Lucky Charms without the marshmallows and spoiled milk.” Judge wrinkled his nose.
Daisy screamed, “NO!” and wrinkled up her face, too, before laughing.
“I’m actually considering feeding you two dog food.”
“Momma, no!” Daisy giggled and pulled the sheet over her head. “No dog food! Then what’s Jury and Justice gonna eat?”
“French toast.”
The sheet flipped down. “You’re mean!”
“Go to sleep,” she told her daughter. “Judge is right. The sooner you sleep, the sooner you wake up, the sooner you’ll be eating my French toast which is way better than Judge’s.” She leaned over, swept the hair off Daisy’s face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “’Night, sweetie.”
“G’night, Momma.”
“Don’t kick the dogs too much.”
“I won’t.”
“G’night, Judge.”
“’Night, kid.” He ruffled her hair, both dogs’ heads, then headed back out the bedroom door.
“Gonna tuck Momma in now?” Daisy asked his retreating back.
Without missing a step, Judge tossed, “Yep, soon as she’s done with you,” over his shoulder.
“If you marry Judge, Momma, the dogs can sleep in my bed every night.”
Oh boy. “Judge doesn’t own Justice.”
“Then Jury can.”
“How about just being happy Jury will be here until your aunt and uncle return.”
Daisy huffed.
“Sleep,” Cassie ordered. Blew her daughter a kiss, turned out the light and left her bedroom door open a crack, even though the nightlight was on.
She stood in the hallway outside the doorway a few minutes to make sure Daisy didn’t immediately climb out of bed. She listened to her daughter chatter to the bulldogs for a couple of minutes, then her speech slowed and she became quiet. Cassie pushed the door open slightly, peeked in and saw all three occupants of the bed with their eyes closed.
She breathed much easier and decided to close the door completely. She tiptoed down the hallway and back into the master bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, she glanced up and froze.
Judge was in her bed wearing nothing but a smile. “Don’t come near this bed wearin’ any of that shit.”
She reached behind her to lock the door. She did not want her daughter to be scarred for life. And seeing her mother bumping uglies would leave a lasting impression. As a child she had walked in on her parents doing the exact same thing and it was a hard memory to wipe clean.
She and Dennis rarely had sex after Daisy was born, so it hadn’t been an issue with them. This last week was the most sex she’d had in years.
Damn, that was depressing. She didn’t stop being a woman once she became a mother. Judge was right, she was a woman with needs and she shouldn’t ignore them.
Admittedly, it was very hard to ignore the naked six-foot-three, bearded biker in her bed. Especially since his fist was wrapped around all that hardness and he was stroking it.