ALEX COULDN’T MOVE IF HE wanted to. Shaking his head to clear away the overwhelming lust that had gripped him, he tried to make sense of what his eyes were taking in.
Meghan bent over in front of him—her glorious ass in the air, his cock still buried in her quivering flesh. Arms stretched wide lay limp now that her hands no longer dug into the carpet. Jesus fucking Christ. He’d taken her on the damn floor with zero thought to her comfort.
As the red haze of greedy desire started to clear from his mind, he saw that his fingers remained on her hips and registered the bruises evident from his powerful grip.
Her eyes were closed, mouth open, a cheek lay upon the thick Aubusson rug beneath them.
What in the hell had he done? After the call from Cam where he learned of the injuries he and Drae had received and that medical intervention had been necessary—he’d gone mental. His men had gotten hurt, a thought that slipped him swiftly into commanding officer mode. He’d sent them off on what seemed like a benign assignment only for them to quite literally get their asses kicked.
He became so irate at what Majid’s fuckery had wrought that he wanted to hit someone. Wanted to strike out and demand retribution for his men getting hurt. And who had he unleashed those feelings on? Meghan. Oh fuck.
Disengaging from her shivering body was no easy task. From the position that he’d put her in and the way he’d leveraged his own body for maximum penetration, pulling out became a slow torture. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t reacting at all and her pussy wasn’t yielding. He grimaced as her body continued to refuse his withdrawal until at last his cock slid free. All sorts of reflexive lascivious thoughts clouded his brain when he saw how red and raw the lips of her sex looked. The creamy evidence of his climax gave him momentary pause as he struggled to keep from thumping his chest with primitive satisfaction.
Completely spent, he struggled to his feet while lifting her from the carpet with a grunt and swiftly carrying her still unmoving body to their bed. Worry snaked along his nerves. Had he gone too far this time?
“Baby, are you alright? Talk to me, Meghan,” he murmured as he drew a comforter over their bodies. Cradling her to his chest, he relaxed when he felt her legs move.
“Alex,” she whimpered.
“It’s okay, honey. I’m right here. Shhh. Don’t try and move yet. Just breathe. I’ve got you.”
She lay still and compliant in his embrace for a long time. Eventually, her breathing became normal, and her hushed whimpers calmed.
“What happened?” she asked in a small, hushed voice. “Everything got so fuzzy.”
Oh God. Alex wanted to die. “Did I hurt you baby?”
“What?” She recovered pretty damn quickly after that. “No,” she assured him with a hearty shake of her head. “Most certainly not.”
“Are you sure?”
She tilted her head to look at him and all he saw was the love she had for him shining in her eyes. Jesus. Who was this magnificent woman and how had he been so lucky as to have her in his life?
“You’re kidding, right?” she murmured.
“No. I think you passed the fuck out, baby.”
“Mmmm.” She snuggled closer and kissed his chest. “Definitely went someplace I’ve never been, but I wouldn’t call it passing out.”
What in the hell is that supposed to mean, he wondered.
“You were magnificent,” she sighed.
“Was too rough. I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Meghan chuckled softly and began nibbling on his neck. “I didn’t say no and before you put on a hair shirt of penance, you should know that from my point-of-view, rough was just what you needed.” She sighed again then looked at him with a devilish glint in her expression. “Feel better now? Ready to tell me what that was all about?”
“You’re going to be mad.”
“Doubt it. Just tell me what happened, Alex. You don’t get like that for no reason.”
He sighed. She was right. “Don’t overreact, okay?”
With that, Meghan pushed from his arms and sat up. Momentarily distracted by her beautiful breasts, he forgot what he was saying until she put her finger under his chin and forced his eyes to hers.
“Okay Tits McGee, out with it.”
Tits McGee? Shit. She was priceless. He sat up only along the way stopped to lick each of her nipples before reclining against the massive wood headboard of their bed.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked.
She shrugged and looked perplexed. “I don’t know. Probably still in the kitchen. Why?”
“I don’t want you jumping to call the girls until I’ve explained everything.”
“Oh shit. Tell me quick. Are the boys alright? Alex! What the fuck. You’re scaring me.”
“Easy, baby. They’re fine.” He grimaced at the fierce look on her face. “Seriously. I wouldn’t shit around about that—but they are kinda banged up.”
“Fucking defined banged up, and remember who you’re talking to, please.”
Right. She probably knew more about the human body and how it all worked than all of them put together.
“Cam. Stitches, I think three or four, in his temple. Above the right eye. Bunch of bruises and a very pissed off attitude.”
“Oooookay. And?”
“Uh, Drae…well, he’s kinda fucked up. Cracked and bruised ribs, black eye, concussion, bloodied knuckles. Maybe in need of some dental work.”
“Holy shit. You call that fine?”
“It coulda been worse,” he muttered. “Got jumped by two thugs who are probably twice as injured. Obviously the good guys were victorious.”
“Who knows about this?”
“Cam confessed to Lacey but they thought it better if Tori was kept in the dark for now. I just learned what happened a little while ago. Don’t like it when my men get fucked up.”
WELL, IT ALL MADE SENSE now, Meghan thought as she stepped into the big steam shower in their en suite while Alex took another phone call from Cameron.
He’d gone ballistic learning that his brothers, or men as he called them in what she saw as a telltale moment, had encountered some bad guys. Big Daddy was wearing his Major hat and was barely able to control what she knew was a savage reaction to what had taken place. Nothing would or could ever change the fact that for Alex Marquez, he felt responsible for the safety and well-being of everyone in his extended family.
It didn’t take long for him to join her in the shower. Unless Cam was in dire straits, she knew he’d keep the call short. Whenever he handled her roughly or been overly demanding, Alex always followed up with tenderness and real concern. In fact, until he was satisfied that she was all right, he wouldn’t calm down.
Of course, it also gave her something of an upper hand. Not for long, he was too much of a natural dominant for that, but in the short run, she could get anything she wanted out of him. Meghan bit off the grin the thought was forming.
She was learning a lot about the dynamics of a relationship. Now that she was aware that her parents had something of a naughty streak, it helped make sense of a lot of things. Like the time Da had surprised her mom with a cruise vacation that she knew her father hated. Watching Maggie O’Brien twist her husband around her little finger had always surprised Meghan. Her hard-ass father was the furthest thing on the planet from being pussy-whipped. Now she understood and honestly, she wanted to high five her mom.
“Are they coming home today?” she asked when he stood beneath the steamy waterfall with his head thrown back.
Scraping his hands through his hair, he looked down at her and shook his head. “No.”
Meghan grabbed a shower poof and poured his favorite bath wash onto it so she could stroke his chest. “More problems?”
Alex pushed the long wet strands of her hair off her shoulders and cupped her face in his big hands forcing her to look at him.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry. There’s a weather event and Sawyer doesn’t want to risk flying through it.”
He was searching her eyes for something. Clearly, he wasn’t convinced she was okay with what had just happened. The imp inside her was chortling with glee. He was making this too easy.
Hmmm. Let’s see. What button did she want to push? He’d been dragging his feet and refused to give up about that damn prenup she wanted no part of. This seemed like as good a time as any to put the whole subject to rest.
Stroking his beautiful chest while covering him with fragrant suds, she let her hand drift lower on each swipe until she was fondling his dick with the pouf. His eyes darkened, and she felt his breathing change. Yep. Most definitely had his attention.
He kissed her. How could he not when she was teasing him as she was? There was something quite titillating about tugging on his manly flesh with the pouf acting as a barrier between her hand and his staff.
“Do you love me?” she asked breathlessly when he ended the kiss.
“Yours. Always,” he murmured.
She had him quite literally in the palm of her hand.
“Please tell Parker to stop hassling me about the prenup. I’m never going to sign it and him hounding me at every opportunity isn’t going to wear me down. He’s only pissing me off.”
“Meghan,” he grumbled with a deep scowl. She loved that he was trying so hard to do what he thought was the right thing, but she’d had enough. Time to pull out all the stops and go for full pout.
“I’m not signing it Alex, and frankly, all this talk about money and assets is upsetting me.” For good measure, she sniffled and even worked up some teary eyes. “I love you and I don’t give a rat’s ass about that money.”
She had to give herself props for strategic placement of the word upset. The Justice boys all had one thing common. Even the slightest suggestion that their woman was upset and shit was about to get real. They put up with all kinds of crap but that one thing? Deal breaker.
“It’s for your protection, baby,” he groaned.
“Protection from what? You? For Christ’s sake, Alex. Stop this. What do I have to do to make you see that I fucking mean it when I say, whatever you want? I trust you completely. Didn’t I just prove that?”
Bull’s-eye. He flinched at her in-your-face reminder, and while she maybe shouldn’t have played that card, it was the perfect one to remind him just how unconditional she was where he was concerned. In Meghan’s mind, it really was all or nothing.
“Fuck. Okay,” he growled reluctantly. “You have an unfair advantage at the moment and that really was a low blow…but you win.”
She grinned at him, wound her arms around his neck, and pressed their soapy bodies together. “Kiss me,” she muttered as his head lowered to hers.
When she was satisfied and his hands were roaming over her ass, she slid from his grasp and drifted slowly downward.
“Let me demonstrate what a low blow really is,” she cooed.
DRAEGYN LET HIMSELF INTO CAM’S suite right before lunchtime, moving like a hundred-year-old man. They were on different floors in the hotel, and while the walk from his suite to the elevator had been short, every step felt like a sledgehammer was pounding against his torso.
Despite the fact that Cameron had told him to stay put and that he would come to him, Drae had decided to get up and moving. He hated being restricted in any way, only right this second as a dull aching agony assailed his body, he was rethinking the wisdom of that decision.
Using the wall as an aide, he shut the door and slumped a bit, catching his breath. The notion of using Majid as a punching bag once he felt better was entertained for the briefest moment then discarded. We were all young and stupid at one time, he reminded himself.
There were voices at the end of the short hallway into the main space of Cam’s suite. Easing forward, Drae stumbled to a halt when he found Sawyer and Cameron deep in conversation. The captain was doing most of the talking as Cam nodded. His body language suggested he was disseminating information, rocking back and forth on his heels in what for Drae was a familiar tell on his brother’s part.
“What’s going on?” he griped. Finding the two in deep conversation struck Drae as odd especially after he heard the words, family and surprise. At the sound of his less-than-friendly voice, they jumped apart in a conspiratorial way that made his eyes narrow with suspicion.
“What part of stay put didn’t you understand?” Cam barked when they made eye contact. “What the actual fuck, Drae? You’re white as a sheet. Do as you’re told for once, goddammit, would you?”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled while gingerly lowering into a straight-backed easy chair. “What are you two girls plotting? And don’t pretend you were chatting about the weather.”
“Actually, asshole, it was the weather we were discussing. Looks like we’ll be staying overnight again, but Sawyer assures me we can probably be back in the air and on the way home right after breakfast.”
Drae cast a dubious eye on Cam and his deflective answer. That was more than a weather update he walked in on.
“Sorry, St. John,” Sawyer said. “Early winter storm about to hit but it’s a fast-mover and we’ll be okay when the sun comes up tomorrow.”
Fuck. He just wanted to get home. But the weather wasn’t Sawyer’s fault, so he just mumbled, “Uhhh huh,” and tried to find a comfortable position.
The captain hurried on his way after that, leaving Drae alone with Cam.
“Stop it,” Cam drawled. “You’re wiggling more than my two-month-old does.”
“Uncomfortable,” Drae muttered darkly.
Snorting, Cam bit out, “Which is exactly why I told you to stay put. It’s your own damn fault for trying to do too much.”
The next hour drifted by in much the same way. Cam bitching, Drae fidgeting, and not much of anything else. He checked the weather app on his phone so many times his battery was dying.
And then his phone rang. Fishing in his slacks for the phone turned to agony when Drae had to shift a hip to allow access to the pocket. He groaned aloud from the painful effort.
“Victoria.”
“Give me that,” Cam hissed as he grabbed the phone from Drae’s hand with a menacing scowl. “She’ll know in two seconds something’s wrong the minute she hears your voice.”
Drae tried to reach for the phone, but Cam outmaneuvered him, something which wasn’t all that difficult. Damn him. He really needed to hear his wife’s throaty voice. Would help take his mind off the torture of his ribcage in trauma.
“Hey babe,” he heard Cam chuckle. “He’s in the shower and you know I can’t resist a chance to tell you what a pussy you’ve turned him into.”
Drae glared at his brother and shrugged—and fuck it all if that slight movement didn’t also hurt like ballz.
“Oh, you know. The regular drama only with a royal edge. Pissed off father. Sulking teenager. There was some yelling but for the most part it was a father-son reunion with the usual emotional garbage and promises that will quickly be broken on both sides.”
Cam seemed to be listening to Victoria, but he kept an eye on Drae the whole time. Dammit. He just wanted to talk to his wife. Was that too fucking much to ask for?
Cam was laughing. “Fucking weather. I think we’re taking a cab to the planetarium later this afternoon to check out some space exhibit.” There was a long pause then the man burst out laughing. “Of course I’m kidding. Draegyn St. John in a museum? Not gonna happen, right?”
Drae’s mood darkened. Did they have to be sharing jokes at his expense? “Give me the fucking phone,” he grumbled.
There were some hand gestures. A couple of fingers waved in the air and a blow me crotch grab but that phone never passed within an arm’s length of Drae. When the call ended, Cam made sure the disconnect went through before he tossed the phone back.
“You can talk to her later. Tonight. That way you can chalk up your surly attitude to crappy dinner martinis. Drae! You listening?”
Yeah. He was listening. But he felt like shit, and there was no need to pretend with Cameron that everything was fine.
“I need to lay down for a bit. Maybe pack my side with ice. And don’t say I told you so, man. I must be getting old or something ‘cause I can’t remember ever being this put down after a fight.”
Cam snickered and nodded. “Ice is a good idea. And for the record—you’re not all that old. The problem is the three hundred pound wall of steroid-crazed bulk that tried to snap you in two like a twig.”