Chapter 15

Brooklynn did not doubt for a second Mark would smash Claira's cell phone if she didn't hold up her end of the deal. It was an expensive iPhone too, something she really wanted for Christmas and Santa had brought it to her. It would be a shame to smash the contraption, so Brooklynn hoped there were no more incidents with pantyliners in the future.

"Mmm, this is so good…" Her appetite was back and Mark would get started remodeling the kitchen today. He'd gone out to Lowe's to buy everything he would need for it, after assuring Brooklynn he wanted to do this for her, to contribute to the house. "So, how long do you think the kitchen will take to finish?"

"Not that much damage to it, so not too long. A few days if you don't come out in those itty bitty shorts you like to wear when it's just us and distract me." Mark chuckled, wondering if he could get her to wear just those shorts, a bra and a work belt, feeling himself sporting yet another piece of morning wood. "Darlin'… I wanna run something by you…"

The twinkle in his eyes made her giggle because, whatever was on his mind, was dirty, especially since he brought up her shorts. "I LIKE wearing my shorts, thank you very much. Not my fault you get turned on every time I wear them, big man." She hoped Bastet's death wouldn't weigh too heavily since it wasn't his fault and she'd been murdered by an unidentified source. "What's on your mind?"

In vivid detail, Mark told her exactly what was on his mind and what he wanted her to wear for him. Smirking when Brooklynn's eyes sparkled with amusement, he could see it happening. Though, she'd probably keep him on tenterhooks about it and just sashay in when he least expected it.

"Fuck…" He growled, draining the rest of his coffee and moved the tray. "I'm getting a cold shower, you want me to drive Claira this morning?"

"Nope, I got an errand to run this morning." If her man wanted her to wear a toolbelt in a bra and shorts, that's exactly what he'd get. Of course, Brooklynn would have to go lingerie shopping just to make it more enticing instead of the plain cotton sets she had. "I'll take her while you get started on that kitchen." Winking, Brooklynn stood up from the bed and lifted the tray, sashaying out of the bedroom purposely.

Another growl sounding behind her made her giggle harder.

Claira didn't want to know why her mother was giggling like she was a young girl. It probably meant something that would require her to invest in brain bleach. She had dressed, done her hair and slapped on her normal makeup, not making it too heavy. Now she was in the kitchen making a lunch because cafeteria food was disgusting.

"You're humming…" She commented, laughing when she was hip bumped. "Why are… never mind, I really shouldn't be told, it's probably terrible and potentially scarring for my young, impressionable mind."

"You would be right in that assumption. I'm taking you to school today while Dad starts on the kitchen. You okay with that?"

Claira shrugged, not caring which parent took her to school as long as she made it there. Brooklynn smiled, kissing the top of her head and had on blue jean shorts with a purple tank top. She wondered what color of lingerie to buy that would entice Mark the most, deciding either red or purple would do the trick. Black was too…plain, she wanted to stand out for him and make his little fantasy come true.

"Thanks again for breakfast, sweetheart. It was really good. You ready to go?"

"Uh, 2 seconds," Claira was stuffing her food into her lunch bag and then grabbed a stack of notebooks off the counter, stuffing those into her bookbag. "Yeah, I'm ready." She began shrieking when her feet left the floor, hands going up to touch the ceiling. "Dad! I'm a bit old for this…"

She was, it was true, but she was also a midget compared to him, so… Mark set her down, kissed her hair gently. Claira would spaz if he messed up her 'casually windblown' look that had been achieved with a curling iron and blow dryer instead of actual wind. "Have a good day, lil darlin'."

Claira was a beautiful girl with black hair and deep emerald eyes that mirrored her father's to a T. She was stunningly beautiful and had filled out quite a bit throughout puberty while maintaining her curvy figure. It was no surprise she was one of the most popular girls in school and had a boyfriend, but Claira also wore her heart on her sleeve like her mother. No matter how beautiful she was or how much she grew up on them, she would always be their little girl and Mark's pride and joy.

"See you in a bit." While Claira's back was turned, Brooklynn shook her backside in his direction and laughed at his growl, that predatory gleam erupting in his eyes. She blew a kiss at him and headed out the door to take their daughter to school.

Parents were gross. Claira didn't want to even to think about them doing stuff she wished she was doing with Seth and that brought a hint of color to her cheeks. She spared her Mom a sideways look and contemplated it, finally deciding today was not the day for THAT chat. She was still sort of grounded, she'd give it a bit of time.

"Now remember, you come home straight after school. I'll let Seth drive you, but you gotta get that bathroom cleaned up. Then, if you want, you can go out with him for a bit until curfew. Does that sound reasonable?"

Brooklynn smiled as Claira agreed, hugging her and watched her take off into the high school to start her day. Now, it was time to do a little shopping for her own man and Brooklynn really hoped she could pull off what he had in mind for a fantasy. First stop was the hardware store to acquire a toolbelt for a woman and then…the lingerie store.

It was baseball season, so yeah, important to be at tonight's game to support her boyfriend. That was one thing Seth had earned brownie points for with her dad, him being an athlete, and he played different sports so… it worked.

The house was quiet and now that he was awake, and here… alone, Mark realized he missed the quiet hum of Bastet. It had been there for as long as he could remember anymore and now… now it was gone.

Now that Brooklynn was alone with her thoughts, they turned to Bastet and she actually began to cry. She missed that cat so much already and she hadn't been gone more than a day. Wherever she was, Brooklynn hoped she was resting peacefully and wiped her tears away, having her own mourning moment. Mark seemed to be…alright with the situation, but honestly, Brooklynn was waiting for the other shoe to drop with him. She was waiting for him to eventually break down over his lost companion and would be there every step of the way when it inevitably happened. Pulling into the hardware store parking lot, Brooklynn cleaned herself up with some tissue and headed inside to buy the toolbelt.

It would never happen because Mark wouldn't break down in front of her. Or maybe, maybe he'd just have these weird little moments, where he could hear absolutely nothing and find that silence impossibly loud. With Brooklynn and Claira around, it was easy to distract himself, to put on a face. Cursing under his breath, he retrieved his old radio from the garage, not able to stand this silence any longer.

They were domesticated… that was precious.

Smirking, Brooklynn snuck into the house while hearing the country music blare from the kitchen. He was into George Strait and the oldies, which she didn't mind. Country music was soothing, so was jazz and classic rock. Hell, she even liked some rap and R&B, but made sure not to play it around Mark. He did NOT like those genres of music, at all. Quickly changing, she stared in the full-length mirror, wearing a purple lacey bra and matching panties.

They were boycut, and she had on the shortest blue jean shorts she owned, knowing how much they drove Mark crazy every time she wore them. She buckled the toolbelt around her waist, attached the yellow straps over her chest to it and pulled her long black hair up in a messy bun on top of her head. Some makeup applied, black steel boots on, she was on her way downstairs to go present Mark with his partner for the day.

"Need some help in here?" She asked in a sensual voice, smirking when he turned around to stare at her.

So much for her springing it on him surprisingly…

Mark had been about to say yes, he needed more nails, but the words were gone, long gone. In all honesty, he hadn't expected Brooklynn to hop on that idea straightaway, he figured she'd wait until he had forgotten about it and then nail him. Not that he was complaining. His response was to snatch her up and plant her against the wall, guiding her legs around his waist.

Her breathless laugh echoed around the kitchen as her amber eyes glittered under the lights that were on. "You're getting distracted, big man." She purred in reminder, remembering what he'd said about her distracting him earlier that morning. His mouth captured hers as her hands slid up his muscular beater covered chest to wrap her arms around his neck. "What did you need my help with?" Brooklynn whispered, feeling him pull her away from the wall to lift her and plant her on the counter away from his tools, standing between her thighs. "Is this the type of fantasy you had in mind…or should I start using these tools in my belt?"

His hands dropped down to start removing those tools, not about to wind up getting one accidentally jammed somewhere uncomfortable, on either of them. "I got a tool for you darlin'." Mark rumbled huskily, grabbing her hand and guided it down to the straining front of his now rather tight jeans.

Not how he would have worded it…

"Mmm I'm sure you do, but we have work to do before playtime can happen, big man. Now, what do you need me to do?"

Getting right down to the nitty-gritty was no fun, not when she'd went through all the trouble of bringing this fantasy to life. They would work on the kitchen for a bit and THEN he could have his way with her. She wanted to drive him insane by prancing around in her outfit, shaking what her mother blessed her with. When he growled out nails, she promptly took a couple and placed them in her bra sticking out, grinning at the smoldering look in his eyes.

"Well? Take them and get to hammering."

Well, isn't she the living, breathing, cliché porn star. That's new.

Mark had absolutely no idea where THAT thought had come from and blinked, staring down at her before frowning. "Darlin', if you're going to work, you might…" He reached out and took a nail, dragging the tip gently over the swell of her breast. Left behind was a red thin line in its wake, raising skin but not breaking it. "Want to watch where you're sticking sharp objects."

She took one of the nails, making sure she had the pointed side upwards and slid one down the front of his beater, gliding her tongue along her bottom lip. "You're…absolutely…right. Safety first, after all."

Brooklynn enjoyed playing with him, driving him mad and stopped the nail dragging just at his junk, feeling it press against the tip. Good thing he had jeans on. Mark took the nail from her, shaking his head with a smile and handed her a scrapper, ordering her to start on the wall. He was almost done with it, then they could paint.

"Yes, sir."

Shaking his head, he got back to work on what he had been doing. Parts of the counter had been scorched and rather than trying to remove the scorch marks, he was just replacing that section of countertop, period. Their kitchen was fairly traditional in its looks, finding a slab to match the rest hadn't been hard at all. Mark was going to wind up dropping something heavy or stabbing himself with something sharp and pointy today, he could just feel it.

After the wall was completely scraped clean, Brooklynn began to sand it down with Mark behind her, making sure she did it right. This wasn't her first time sanding a wall, he was being overprotective or sexual, Brooklynn couldn't tell, but either way, she enjoyed having his hands on her body. Her hips moving up to her arms to move her arm back and forth with the correct motion of scrapping, Brooklynn looked back at him the same time he looked down at her. He dropped a soft kiss on her lips and then turned her head back to the task at hand, making her laugh. Mark was determined to get some of this done today and all Brooklynn wanted to do was play, it was an interesting dynamic.

She had flecks from the burnt wall she was scraping all over her exposed chest and it was an interesting visual. Who the hell knew this kind of work could be sensual? Not to mention, Brooklynn was purposefully putting her whole body into it and he liked watching the way she stretched, moving away from her with a wicked glint in his eyes. A second later, while she was mid-scrape, he had unsnapped her bra. She continued scrapping until this area was completely done and then pulled the straps from her arms connected to the toolbelt. It was the only way to remove her bra as she dropped he flimsy material right on his shoulder, grinning.

"Thanks, I was getting a little heated in here."

Winking, she moved the small step ladder over and climbed it to start scrapping again, her nipples erect from the fact Mark was watching her and the shavings from the wall. Brooklynn had also pulled the straps of the toolbelt back upon her shoulders. Now, there were some who would scold and say using magic for stupid little things was abusing it. Mark was never one to care; he had abused his abilities for years and probably would until the day he died. Humming along with King George on the stereo, he continued working while his mind was focused in on those skimpy denim shorts of hers. He heard Brooklynn's soft gasp and smirked, glancing over his shoulder to find them sliding down her curvy hips.