“You’re not paying for my phone,” she hisses, but I continue to ignore her, keeping my eyes on the man in front of me.
“Get one from the back and set it up. We’ll be here.”
“Um…” He swallows, looks between us, and then whispers, “Sure,” before disappearing, without another word, to the back of the store.
“Seriously, Evan?” Her hand goes to mine at her waist and attempts to pry my fingers free. “I may as well just get you a club to hit me over the head with.”
“Do you want me to be charged with assault?” I ask, dropping my eyes to meet hers.
“What?” She frowns, and I dip my face toward her then drop my eyes to her shirt.
“He checked out your ass when you walked in, your tits when I was standing next to you.”
“That’s not true,” she gripes, leaning forward.
“Baby, he fucking did, and that shit is not okay, especially when I’m standing right fucking next to you.”
“You’re being ridiculous. He was doing his job.” She waves me off.
Grabbing her wrist, I tug, forcing her to fall into me, then wrap my arms around her waist, hauling her even closer before dipping my mouth to her ear.
“I’m glad you don’t notice when a man is checking you out. I’m fucking thankful that you’re not the kind of woman who seeks out a man’s attention, but it doesn’t change the fact he was flirting with you and”—I give her a squeeze—“checking you out while I was standing right next to you.”
“The whole cave man act you got going on is annoying,” she whispers, leaning back and looking up at me.
“You’re mine.” I lean forward, growling, “Mine,” then lean back and catch her gaze again. “Your tits are mine. Your ass is mine. Call me whatever you like.”
Her eyes hold mine for a long time before moving to the left when the guy stutters out, “I… um… I have the phone all set up.”
I give June one more squeeze then take the bag from him and hand it to her. Taking my card, I sign the iPad in his hand before putting my arm around her shoulders and lead her out of the store. The whole time, she is muttering under her breath about annoying alpha men.
*
“Nope,” I state, stopping at the end of the bed, shaking my head, and crossing my arms over my chest.
“What?” June asks, looking at me from under her dark lashes, trying to appear innocent, but she knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“No way, baby. He’s not sleeping in the bed with us.”
“But he’s gonna be lonely.” She pouts, and I shake my head again then look at Ninja.
“Off.” I snap my fingers, and he looks at June then back to me, lets out an annoyed huff before he hops off the bed, stops at my side so I can give him a pet, and heads out the door.
“The bed is big enough for all of us,” she says, and I step toward her, putting one hand on each side of her in the bed, and force her to lean back.
“Do you want him to watch me eat you?” I ask, and her eyes get big and she whispers, “No,” breathlessly.
“Didn’t think so.” I lean in and kiss her then lean back. “If I’m in the bed with you, he’s not.”
“Do you really think it’s necessary for you to stay?”
“Yes, you may have a security system and a dog now, but I have a gun, and you’re safer with my head on the pillow next to yours.”
“Do you know how to use a gun?” she asks, and I study her face for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell her, how much to let her in. Knowing I want this to work, I climb over, settle myself between her legs, and place my face close to hers.
“I do. I was the best in my class, and when I went overseas, I was one of the best in my unit.”
“Did… did you ever get shot at?” she asks quietly, placing one hand over my heart and the other against my jaw.
“Yeah.” Watching tears fill her eyes, I feel a pain in my chest, because I know those tears are for me, tears I don’t deserve.
“Did…” She pauses, searching my face. “Did you ever shoot at anyone?” Her tone is tentative as she watches my eyes.
“Yeah, baby,” I say just above a whisper.
Her face raises and she tucks it against my neck, where she whispers, “I’m sorry.”
“Me too, beautiful.” I roll us so she’s lying on top of me then bunch up her shirt and run my fingers down her back.
“Why didn’t you come home to me?” she asks after a moment, and my body goes tight. I make myself to relax, forcing myself to be honest.
Running one hand up her back, I hold her face close as I tell her the truth. “I couldn’t look you in the eye. I fucked up so much. I kept so much shit from you. I didn’t want anything to touch you, anything to soil what we were building before that. I didn’t let you see how fucked up my family was, how my mom drank herself to sleep only to wake up and have a beer, how my dad would get pissed and take his anger out on me, just because I was standing there. I thought if I could build a life for us, a life I earned, one where I made it good for you, good for our kids, then none of that would matter. Then I went overseas and…” I stop talking, not wanting her to know how I fucked up.
“What?” she asks, putting pressure on my hand and pulling her face back. “What happened to you?”
I close my eyes. I can still see their lifeless faces in my head, while I relive the notion that I couldn’t bring them back.
“Please talk to me,” she begs gently.
“We were searching for a target. We went into one of the houses he’d been seen in. We did a search and came up empty. I knew we were missing something, so I went back in. We didn’t know that while we were doing our search that someone put a bomb under our Humvee. I lost everyone.”
“You would have died too,” she whispers, covering her mouth with shaky fingers.
“I could have helped them. I would have made sure the check was done.”
“You would have died,” she repeats, dropping her forehead to my chest.
Holding her, I whisper, “Daralee’s wife just gave birth to a little girl. The way he talked about her, you would think he was the first man to ever make a girl. Jabson had a girl back home he was planning on asking to marry him. He’d been with her since he was twelve. Denson had just lost his mom to cancer, and his dad was barely holding on. He was going home in three days. They all died, and I was the only one to make it out. Why should I get to live my life, when theirs all ended?” I ask the question I’ve asked myself a million times.
“Would they have wanted you to stop living?” she asks after a long moment, and I hear the tears in her voice.
“I don’t know,” I tell her on a squeeze, holding her closer, then roll to the side and bury my face in her neck. “I hated myself for being thankful that I was able to come home to you, and then the more I thought about it, the more I knew I couldn’t look you in the eye, not when my boys would never be able to see their families or the women they loved again.” Her body bucks against mine and her tears flow harder. “I’m sorry I left you, beautiful, so fucking sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” she whimpers as her tears soak into my skin. “Sorry that you’ve been fighting this alone, sorry I didn’t fight for you.”
“Jesus.” I squeeze my eyes closed and hold her tighter. Feeling weight hit the bed, I lift my head and watch Ninja as he presses his body to June’s back. It takes awhile for her to calm. When she pulls her face out of my neck, her red, wet eyes meet mine. Neither of us says anything, but I see love there in the open, shining back at me. Leaning in, I kiss her softly then roll to my back.
“Can Ninja sleep with us?” she asks after a few minutes. Instead of answering, I reach over, shut off the lamp, and pull her closer to me. “Night,” she whispers, cuddling closer.
“Night, baby,” I murmur, knowing I won’t sleep. Not for a long fucking time.
“Hurry, baby,” I grunt, slamming into her again and again, each stroke pulling me closer to the edge.
“Ev,” she whimpers, locking her legs behind my back as her nails dig into my shoulders.
“Hurry, beautiful,” I demand, tweaking her nipple, then roam my hand down the wet skin of her stomach, zeroing in on her clit.
“Oh, God,” she moans, and I move my hand quickly to the back of her head before it can hit the tile wall as her pussy clamps hard around my cock. Moving both hands to her ass, I hold her in place as I come hard, burying my face in her neck when I do.
“I’m so gonna be late,” she whispers, and I smile against the skin of her neck then pull my face away and lock my eyes on hers.
“Baby,” I mutter, and her bottom lip disappears between her teeth. Laughing, I heft her up, pulling her off my dick and drop her to her feet.
“I didn’t want to get my hair wet. Now I have to dry it, and that’s gonna take a year,” she murmurs, grabbing her body wash.
“You saying it wasn’t worth it?” I ask, kissing the side of her neck, taking the bottle from her, dumping some of the liquid soap in my hands, and cupping her breasts.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t worth it,” she breathes.
I grin then mutter, “So stop bitchin’ about it.”
“I’m not bitching. I’m just saying now I’m gonna be late.”
“You won’t be late,” I tell her, running my hands over her stomach then down between her legs.
“You said quick, but then you did that thing with your mouth then you had me against the wall. You weren’t quick,” she complains, but then whimpers when my fingers flick over her clit.
“Still bitchin’, baby.” I nip her ear, thrust two fingers inside of her, and use my thumb to roll her clit again.
“Oh, my God,” she breathes, coming on my fingers a few seconds later. Kissing the side of her neck, I wait for her orgasm to pass then finish washing her up. I push her out of the shower, ignoring the glare she sends my way. Getting out a couple minutes later, I grin as she stomps around naked with the blow dryer in her hand.
“You want me to get you coffee?” I ask, watching her tits bounce as she tosses her hair from one side to the other.
Grumbling a “Yes,” she watches in the mirror as I wrap the towel around my waist then move in to stand behind her.
Sliding my hands up her waist, I palm her breasts, kiss her ear, and then demand, “Stop being mad,” while tugging her nipples.
“Ev.” She inhales sharply, and my eyes meet hers in the mirror.
“And don’t look at me like that unless you want me to bend you over the counter and actually make you late.” Her eyes heat, and I fight my smile, lean in to kiss her neck, muttering there, “I’ll be back with coffee.”
Heading toward the kitchen, with Ninja following behind me, I let him out the back door, fill his bowl with food, make sure his water’s good, and start up the coffee pot. Leaning back against the island, waiting for the pot to fill, my eyes catch on an envelope on the counter, stacked with the rest of the mail June brought in yesterday. Picking it up, I flip it over and see the letter was forwarded from her old apartment and that the return address is a prison in Alabama, the same prison Lane is serving time in while his trial is in progress.
Opening the envelope, I pull out the thick stack of papers and grit my teeth as I read. Most of the letter is an apology for getting her involved. The other part is him explaining that he made it so that she would break up with him because he knew he didn’t want her to be swept up in his mess, that he was attempting to protect her. But the last page has me seeing red. Him telling her that he’s in love with her and that he knows she felt the same is not something I want to think about. Crumpling the paper in my hands, I go to the back door, let Ninja inside, and head for the bathroom, taking the letter with me.
“I thought you were bringing me coffee,” she says, shutting off the blow dryer. Going to her side, I set the letter down on the vanity. Her eyes drop to it, scan the first page, narrow, and then lift to mine. “Did you open my mail?” She frowns, studying me.
“I did.” I lean back against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Why?”
“I wanted to see what he had to say. He shouldn’t be in contact with you at all, so I thought it might be important. It’s not.”
She scans my face, and she asks, “Are you pissed?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“Why?” she questions, sounding baffled.
“A man telling my woman that he’s in love with her is the kind of shit that pisses me off.”
“Maybe we should talk about the status of our relationship,” she murmurs, setting the blow dryer down on the counter next to the sink, then leans back, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“You’re mine, there is nothing to discuss when it comes to who you belong to.”
“I wasn’t yours, for a long time, Evan. You left me. I didn’t have a choice. I had to move on.”
“You were always mine,” I growl, leaning forward. “You know you were mine.”
“How many women were you with while I was ‘yours’?” she asks quietly, and I narrow my eyes and lean back.
“None.” I run my hands over my head and growl, “Jesus, you think if I couldn’t have you, I would have someone else? To what, pass time? Get off? Fuck no.”
Her enormous eyes stare up at me and her lips part before she whispers, “What?”
“Baby, I wouldn’t settle for someone else if I couldn’t have you,” I say, trying to gentle my voice.
“You…” She pauses, then points at my chest. “You haven’t been with anyone since me?” she asks, pointing at herself, and I close my eyes then open them back up.
Reaching out, I wrap my hand around her waist, and drag her into me. “I love you, only you,” I state firmly, dropping my forehead to hers.
“But—”
“No buts. Fuck, I may not have been married to you anymore, but that didn’t change my feelings for you.”
“Oh, my God,” she breathes, placing her hands against my chest leaning forward.
“Were you in love with him?” I ask through gritted teeth, not really wanting to know the answer but needing it all the same.
“What?” She blinks, leaning back.
“Were you in love with HIM?”
“No.” Her head shakes and she tilts farther back as her hands slide up my chest and wrap around the sides of my neck. “How could I love someone else, when you still had my heart?” she asks softly, running her fingers across my jaw.
“You were with him for a while,” I remind her, and her face softens.
“I was trying to move on, but he wasn’t you.”
“Fuck.” I squeeze her to me.
“Don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m pissed at myself that he ever had a shot at you, so fucking mad that my actions meant a man like him was able to breathe your air,” I growl, gritting my teeth.
“Ev,” she whispers, and my eyes focus on hers. “We can’t go back.” She shakes her head, pressing her tits harder against my chest. “If we spend all our time going back, we’ll miss the fact that for the first time in a long time, we’re both going forward and doing it together.”
“Yeah.” I drop my forehead to hers.
“I wish that things had been different.”
“Me too, beautiful,” I agree, leaning back to place a kiss to her forehead, nose, and then mouth. I remind her, “You need to get ready for work.”
“Are you okay?” she asks, ignoring her reminder.
“Yeah, baby.” She searches my face for a long time before whispering.
“Good.” Leaning up she kisses my jaw then pulls away and heads for the closet. Going to the room, I pull on my jeans and tee then head back to the kitchen to fix her a cup of coffee. I take it to her then grab my cell and call Jax, letting him know Lane’s been in contact before heading back to the kitchen to get my own cup of coffee, and wait for June to finish getting ready so I can take her to work.
“Do you think
the person who broke into my house will come back?” June asks, and I glance over at her before turning when the light switches to green.
“I don’t think so baby,” I say softly, giving her hand a squeeze.
I spent the night of her break-in putting out feelers and talking to anyone I could get my hands on. No one knew anything. No one saw anything. No one heard anything. It was dead end after dead end. As it stands, we’re moving blind. None of us knows why someone would show up in a mask at her house, see her vulnerable, naked in a bath, and not make a move and if they were there just to rob her they could have taken so much more. It didn’t make sense…still doesn’t make sense.
“It was just so weird,” she whispers after a moment, and I give her hand another squeeze and stop in front of the school.
Putting The Beast in park, I lean over and wrap my hand around the side of her neck and tug her closer to me. “Put it out of your head, okay?” Her eyes study me for a minute, and then she nods and looks over my shoulder. Running my fingers up through her hair, I pull her even closer and her gaze comes back to mine. “I’ll be here at four to pick you up.”
“Okay,” she agrees, and I nip her bottom lip.
“Tonight, we’re going out to dinner.”
“Okay,” she repeats, this time smiling.
“See you at four, baby.” I lean forward, kissing her softly, then unhook her belt and let her go. Putting her hand to the door handle behind her, she fumbles then falls back into me, sliding her hands through my hair. Her lips hit mine and I let her lead for a second before I take over the kiss, and do it thoroughly, with tongue. When I pull my mouth from hers, I watch her eyes flutter open and she smiles.
“Have a good day at work.”
“You too.” I smile back then watch her reach for the handle again. It takes her a couple tries, but she eventually gets the door open and hops out, and I wait until she’s in the building to take off and head for the office.
“You’re still alive,” Sage states as I push through the door to the office.
Ignoring him, I look at Jax and ask, “You call you’re uncle and tell him about the letter?”