Chapter Twelve
G reyson was not amused by any of what had happened. In fact, he was going to make sure the men realized this was a huge mistake. He would get even if it was the last thing he did. Heads would roll. When he finally got himself free, he was going to make someone bleed.
He was the head of this family, and here he was, restrained in his own love nest with no hope of getting out.
Yeah, he was not amused.
On the other hand, at least he was relatively comfortable. At some point, he’d be free, and until then, he would have to keep himself busy.
That’s where the TV came in. At least there was that.
Well, that’s what he thought until he began watching the news, and it was the same story over and over again.
It was about Emma.
And her infidelity.
As Croft sat there, a prisoner in the room he’d created for them, he was forced to watch Emma laughing and kissing Chris. He was forced to watch her in his arms as they headed into a strip club.
Rational Greyson knew the truth.
She’d never cheat.
Irrational, bound, and pissed off Greyson…
He was harder to convince.
As he sat there, he wanted his wife more and more. He needed her. Only she could help him through this. His heart was aching, his mind was racing, and the thoughts…they weren’t puritanical.
He was horny.
Maybe it was adrenaline.
Maybe it was the fact that she was in another man’s arms, but he wanted her against his body like that.
He was throbbing.
Rock hard, and he needed relief.
Greyson glanced over at the door, as it began opening. In the entrance, he saw his wife. She was watching him, as if he were some crazed maniac, waiting to attack.
God!
He was.
The second she set him free, she was screwed.
Literally.
Emma saw him, and her heart skipped. He was dressed in Cargo pants, and looked wicked. Her husband reminded her of some mercenary gone rogue.
She wanted him, and there was no doubt in her mind what he needed to come down off this. If she didn’t want him out killing, she needed to satiate that other beast.
It was time.
As she closed the door and locked it from inside, he still watched her. Clicking off the TV, she headed his way.
“Greyson.”
He tracked her with his silver eyes.
But he said nothing through the tape.
“I’m sorry I dumped all my emotional baggage all over you. It wasn’t right. Chris was right, and so was Dimitri. Thomas Christ needs to be taken care of, but not by you, not by me, and not by this family. Justice will prevail.”
He couldn’t think.
Greyson could smell the scent of her perfume, and it made his heart thump. It was the call of mate to mate, and he was helpless to it. She was his, and Croft wanted her.
As she climbed onto the bed, his heart became erratic. Greyson dropped his legs so they were flat, and she moved toward him.
Emma could see the bulge in his cargo pants, and she knew what he was thinking about.
He wanted her.
Still.
It was a relief.
Pulling a knife out of her pocket, she cut through the zip ties at his ankles.
His legs moved apart.
Then she reached for his hands.
And stopped.
Intently, he watched her, and for his kitten, it was almost judgment time. The second he was free, Greyson was going to be on her and unmerciful.
Croft had the overwhelming need to take her.
He’d been tied up, humiliated, and forced to watch her frolic with another man. His control was frayed, and he was on the verge of murder.
Emma would pay. Her body would be his, and there would be no stopping him.
Emma hesitated, and still he said nothing. The way he was watching her worried Emma.
Maybe she didn’t want to set him free.
What if he left?
What if he raced out of the house to kill that asshole?
Well, her mind was made up.
She removed the tape.
“Set me free, Emma,” he said.
She’d heard that tone before. It was icy cold and it scared the bejeezus out of her.
“No.”
He blinked, unable to believe what he’d just heard her say. Did his kitten just tell him no?
It added to the fuel. This was just one more thing that blazed in him.
“Emma, if you know what’s best for yourself, you’re going to set me free.”
Instead of being afraid of his words, she reached for him. Flicking open him cargo pants, he stared down at her hand.
She stroked him.
She ran her fingers over the bump in his boxers.
“Set me…”
Emma slapped the tape back over his mouth, and he stared at her with wide eyes.
“When am I ever going to get this gift again?” she asked, popping the knife back out.
She grabbed him by the shirt, and cut it up his body, revealing his chest.
He leaned back, watching her.
In his mind, he was begging her to continue. He needed her. While she thought that he was going to be angry, he wasn’t.
He was simply going to take.
At that moment in his life, he’d never needed her more. Beneath that scary exterior, all the hype about him being lawless, there was still that man who worried he’d lose the one good thing he had.
Her.
Greyson was scared shitless. He couldn’t lose Emma. If he did, he’d be forced to be alone in life.
He wouldn’t make it.
Emma bared his chest, and dropped the knife. She wanted to feel. She needed him so badly, that she couldn’t help herself.
Straddling his lap, she ran her hands up the light spattering of hair on his torso.
It was the best feeling in the world.
With her mouth, she left kisses all over his big strong chest. He moaned beneath the tape and didn’t struggle anymore. Emma moved to his neck, and began teasing him with her teeth. His throat, his earlobe, and finally, with words whispered into his ear.
“I am going to really enjoy this. You’re mine, Captain Croft, and I’m going to use you.”
His body vibrated in need.
As he listened to her words, he couldn’t help but focus on her hands. They were going lower and lower, and finally were in his boxers on the prize.
He wanted to weep in gratitude.
This was exactly what he needed.
Emma hopped off the bed, and he protested. Then he stopped, when she slowly stripped out of her clothes. First she tossed the pants, and then the shirt. Next to go was the bra, and she dropped the little pair of panties.
Picking them up, she crawled back across the bed to her husband.
“Remind me to thank Chris and Dimitri for this. I’ve always wondered if I’d ever get a chance to do this,” she whispered, pulling the tape off his mouth.
When he opened to speak, she shoved her panties in to shut him up. Emma wanted to live in fantasy land for a while. She didn’t want to think about what waited tomorrow morning.
She wanted him.
Only this man would chase away the shadows. He was her soulmate, and he mattered more than anyone else in her life. With Greyson, she could live, and she didn’t thank him nearly enough.
Well, that ended now.
Today.
Here.
She was going to thank him the only way she could—by offering herself up to him.
“This is a long time coming,” she whispered, his body rippling beneath her fingers.
Greyson was surprised, but her aggressiveness did what he needed. It calmed him down, so he could just relax, forget about his worries, and let her drive the bus.
When Emma rubbed against him, he moaned, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back.
“It looks like you’re my prisoner,” she whispered. “I think I should let the torture begin.”
Without warning, she grabbed the knife and cut his boxers apart like wrapping paper on a present.
He was her gift.
He was the most precious of treasures to her.
He watched, unable to look away. When she ran the backside of the cold blade against his erection, it sent shivers across his body.
He was ready.
Maybe.
Then again, he was never ready for what this one woman could do to him. From the second their eyes met in Celestia, she’d had all the power.
His wife could save or destroy him a million times over. With one action, one word, or one deed, he could be broken. His life was in her hands.
Emma dropped the blade, and her head went into Greyson’s lap. Once there, she began devouring him.
She wasn’t gentle either.
That wasn’t her mood.
She was still hurting, angry, and anxious, and she let him carry the brunt of that on his shoulders. Emma worked him hard, as if she was trying to consume him in little greedy bites.
Greyson moaned. He fought to get relief as his hips began moving. As soon as he did that, she stopped.
He was breathing heavily through her panties.
“I like having you helpless, Captain Croft. For once, it’s nice being on the other side,” she whispered into his ear.
Oh, he wasn’t complaining, especially after the start of that blowjob.
It was hot.
Greyson was thinking of implementing this fantasy a little more often. He’d play her prisoner of war any damn day.
Emma slid up his body, finding him so hard it had to be painful. Instead of making him suffer too much, she teased him by sliding him through her wetness.
“You do this to me,” she whispered into his ear. “Only you, Greyson,” she vowed.
It helped his fears.
“I can’t wait to have this child, and see you hold a little one with those same amazing eyes.”
He tipped his head, and she bit him, simultaneously sliding down to fill her own body with his.
He bucked from the sensation.
Jesus!
His wife was pulling out all the stops.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” she whispered, as she began to ride.
Greyson was being tortured. He was watching breasts bounce, feeling her sliding up and down his dick, and her face!
Christ Almighty!
Her face said it all. There was nothing but adoration and love there for him. He’d been worried for nothing. She was still his. At the core of this family, they were still strong and madly in love.
His fortune and luck staggered him.
He fought to hold on.
“Don’t you dare cum, or you’re staying like this until I can get you hard again!” she ordered.
He’d give her this.
Greyson fought. Meanwhile, the knife slid right next to his fingers. It gave him something to focus on—to keep from exploding.
Emma worked him hard—harder than he could ever remember her doing before. She was making it damn hard to concentrate on anything but her body against his.
She bounced, rode, and torment the hell out of him. When she came, she slid him free of her body as she rode out the orgasm braced on his chest.
“I like you all tied up. I know why you do it,” she said, touching his cheek.
He watched her, saying nothing.
That’s when she said it.
“I love you. Please don’t kill Thomas Christ. I need you to do this for me. Please don’t let him win. I’m losing you. I watch every day as you fight this battle against yourself, and I’m losing you.”
His face softened.
Emma pulled the panties from his mouth. “I can’t do this without you. If you die, or go to jail, I can’t raise our son without you.”
He looked at her.
“Son?”
“I just know,” she said. “Before, when people said they just knew, I thought they were insane. Now…I get it. I’m going to have your son, Greyson, and I can’t lose you. Don’t let them win. He needs his father. Please,” she whispered, staring into his eyes.
He was overwhelmed.
Tears filled his eyes.
“For us. Don’t stoop to his level. If not for me, Grey, for your son. He needs you to show him what is wrong and right. They will say he’s dirty, like you. Help me raise him to be the man you really are—not who they think.”
Those words.
They rocked him.
She was right. He touched her belly.
Emma gasped.
He’d gotten free.
“I get it, Emma. I get it. I won’t stoop to their level. I won’t allow our son to be that monster. I’ll be who you married—for him, for you, and also for me.”
“My heart hurts, Grey,” she whispered. “My soul, it’s been ripped to shreds. I need you. God! I’ve never needed you more,” she said.
He rolled with her, placing Emma on her back. He quickly stripped out of his tattered clothes. Then, he did what he knew was right.
He treated her like glass.
He was gentle.
Greyson made soft, sweet love to his wife.
Sliding back home, he began moving, as tears slipped from her eyes, down her cheeks, and into her hair.
He kissed them away.
“I won’t let anything happen to him or you,” he vowed. “I will see my son grow up, and I’ll show him what it means to be a man. He’ll be a caveman, but he’ll have integrity.”
She held on, as he took her for a slow, smooth ride. They stared into each other’s eyes, not breaking that gaze.
As they moved to the edge, he brought his mouth to hers, and they kissed through the fall.
It was perfect.
It was love.
As they cascaded and tumbled into the orgasm, Greyson protected his wife with the frame of his body.
He protected his son.
“I love you,” he whispered, as she held onto him.
“I will never love a man more than I love you,” she vowed, when she was able to speak. “You were meant to be mine.”
Greyson picked her up, and then tucked them into the big bed. Tonight, they’d hide there, cuddling.
There was a storm coming, and Greyson knew what was at stake.
His soul.
Her heart.
And their family.
And he was, unfortunately, the only one who was going to be able to hold it back.
It was his price to pay for owning a town as dirty as Vegas.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Across Town
Lester Lucas’s
Home
As he sat there watching the nightly news, he heard it. He heard someone breaking into his home. Besides being a cop, he knew his house, and he knew each and every creak.
It was his place to go when he was sick of the world and crime.
Truth be told, on any other day, he would have been asleep had he not been up worried about what he’d done. He betrayed his partner, and that was weighing heavily on him.
As the stairs creaked, he got out of bed. As he was about to grab his gun, his door flew open, and a shot rang out.
Lester remembered very little about it, other than how much it hurt as he fell to the floor.
He stared up at the man, and then closed his eyes.
He heard the faint footsteps as the person left.
Opening his eyes, he reached for his phone. With bloody fingers, he left one last typed line, ready to be sent. Then, he slid it under his bed, in case the person came back.
It was too late to save himself, but he could save the one person he’d betrayed.
He could solve his own murder, instead of being one more statistic.
Then, Lester took his last breath as blood oozed from his mouth, his nose, and hole in his heart.
He’d been a fool, and in those last minutes, he regretted it. Karma was a bitch, and he’d fallen for their game.
He, too, had been betrayed.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Monday
Morning
Airport
Their private jet arrived right on schedule, and touched down with ease. It had been a quick flight, and the time zone difference had been on their side. They’d landed right when they needed to be in Vegas to get this mess handled.
As Ethan and Elizabeth exited, he stood on the tarmac with his wife. She was quiet, and that didn’t make him happy. Since coming back from Salem, and the case that cost them so much, she’d been aloof.
She’d changed.
Gone was the laughter, the amusement, and the softness they’d come to find beneath that tough exterior. Instead, she was angry, and he could see it.
Ethan didn’t know how to fix that.
Elizabeth was still hurting, and he didn’t think it was ever going to stop. Her heart was a mess, and she was taking the blame for everything that went down.
Bonnie came.
She saw.
And she conquered.
Then the bitch snuck off, leaving them to pick up the pieces of their life. The death of their family had been devastating. It left a huge hole in their lives.
They were playing catch-up, and they were lagging behind. At home, with a team of nannies in place, they’d all gone back to work.
Wyler was still missing, and Elizabeth’s heart…?
It hadn’t been the same.
Ethan knew something was coming, and that’s why he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to keep an eye on his wife before she headed out to Boston with Callen for his book thing.
He was worried.
“Hey,” he said, touching her hand.
She looked over at him, and the smile wasn’t genuine. He knew the difference, and she wasn’t fooling anyone—let alone him.
Ethan knew her better than anyone on the planet, and he could see the charade.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Sure.”
He took her face in his hands. “I need you to stop lying to me. I need my wife…”
She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”
It was all she could say.
Everything else, all the emotions were locked in her as if someone broke her. Elizabeth wanted to be happy, but every time she looked at that baby…
She saw her failure and heard the words that Maeve had said before offering her up to Bonnie.
That betrayal stung.
Yes, she’d failed, but she’d had the deck stacked against her from the start. She’d been betrayed by an employee, by the daughter of her friends, and a killer.
Elizabeth was at her max for people not having the ethics to stand by the people they swore to protect.
Then there was Ethan.
God!
She loved him so damn much. She knew he wasn’t fooled, but bless him, he was giving her some time and space.
She needed that.
Now, as he held her close, she was able to speak to him without saying a single word.
As he held her, they didn’t need to say anything. He got her, and that mattered.
“I love you,” he said softly into her ear as he stood on that hot tarmac in his impeccably made suit. He looked powerful, dangerous, and lethal. His hair was loose, and it blew in the warm breeze, tickling her nose with the glossy Native strands and the warm shampoo scent.
It was home.
In that moment, she simply leaned.
They had to look silly. Here she was, dressed the opposite of him. Elizabeth was wearing all black, she had a few guns strategically located, and she looked like she was going off to war.
And she was.
“If you don’t want to do this,” he began.
Elizabeth stopped him. “I’m fine. I can handle this,” she said, knowing he was worried.
They all were stressed to the max by what happened. No one was immune from it. They were worried about everything.
Worried about Wyler.
Worried about baby TJ.
Worried about her.
Still, life went on, and she couldn’t stop being everything to everyone. It was time to do her damn job.
She was a killer.
This was easy.
“I’ll hit up their home, drop the files, give them an update, and get back to the jet. I won’t go in until you get the vans away from that place.”
He kissed her.
“I’m worried about you.”
She smiled. “Don’t be. It’s just another day in my world. Why should today be any more mundane than yesterday?”
He wouldn’t let her move.
Instead, he stared into her eyes. “We’ll talk when I get back here.”
She rested her forehead against his.
“Okay, handsome. Go rile up some Feds, and if they give you a hard time…”
“I will NOT call you to come kick their asses,” he said. “That’s my job when I roll into their domain. You just make sure you don’t put any dents in my wife. I happen to like this one, and I can’t replace her.”
Thank God for that.
Ethan and Callen were the only two people she trusted anymore. They were the only ones who loved her for her.
She winked at him. “Knock them dead, Deputy Director Blackhawk. I’ve got the Russian and Greyson’s people.”
“Elizabeth,” he said, taking her hand.
“Yes?”
“Don’t hurt them. We aren’t supposed to be here, and we aren’t going to be able to do paperwork.”
She laughed all the way to the non-descript ride he had waiting for her. Ethan still had the ability to make her smile, so she must not be too far gone.
Yet.
“I’ll try, but you know me.”
Yeah, lately, he didn’t.
That’s what worried him.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Terrace Glen
Greyson opened his eyes, and his wife was still beside him. She was watching him with the gentle gaze he’d come to love so damn much. There was love in it, and he was grateful. After they had made love, they fell into a deep sleep.
It was needed.
Yesterday had been a long one—almost a marathon. Croft was glad it was over. Now they could begin to focus on the problem at hand.
The sex ring.
“Are you ready for today?” Emma asked, as she ran her fingers across his chest.
Yeah, he was, but first, they needed to have a little talk. While locked away in there, they’d have privacy. Greyson needed to know.
“I saw the news footage.”
“Of?”
“You and Chris. I need to ask something.”
Emma moved closer, and he opened his arms for her. His scent always made her feel calm.
“If you never met me, and you’d met Chris, would you have…?”
She stopped him.
“Greyson.”
“I need to know. I need to see the reality of it all. It’s how my mind works.”
Emma got that, but still…
“If I never met you?”
He nodded.
“I would have dated him, and I would have had a good time.”
He stared at the wall as if measuring her response against the storm brewing in his gut.
“I see.”
Emma rolled over, and found his body tense. She sat on his lap and stared down at him. “But he wouldn’t have been my soulmate. That’s the difference. Do I love him? Yes. Could I have had a relationship with him? Yes. Chris is easy for me to love. He reminds me of you, but you don’t remind me of him.”
“I see.”
“I don’t think you do. While he can be similar there is no one quite like you, Greyson. You’re bossy, and gentle. You’re stubborn but you get me. The day I saw you in Celestia, I knew.”
“If we were side by side...”
She knew why he needed to know.
It wasn’t jealousy.
It was fear.
“I would have picked you each and every time. Those eyes. God! They stare into my soul and see everything. I wouldn’t pick Chris over you. If there was no you, he would be my next choice, but that never would have happened.”
“Why?”
“You brought us here. You started this, and without you, I would still be in Celestia hiding. You’re the catalyst that kicked this all off, Greyson Croft.”
“Would you ever cheat on me?”
“Oh, Greyson.”
He needed to hear her say it.
“Would you, Emma?”
“No, and if me being affectionate and joking around upsets you, I can dial it back. Chris and I have this comradery. I nearly died, and so did he. We have a connection, and if it bothers you...”
He stopped her.
“It doesn’t. I just needed to hear it.”
“I love you. I won’t lie and say I don’t think he’s attractive, funny, and someone I could have been with, but I’m with you for a reason. You’re my other half.”
“And Dimitri?”
She thought about it.
“He’s so broken. I want to patch him back up. I feel this overwhelming need to kiss his boo boos, and love him because no one ever has. He’s strong on the outside, but inside…”
He got it.
She was simply mothering him.
“I don’t blame them for loving you. You’re pretty amazing,” Greyson stated. “I want to say one thing. Don’t read into it.”
“Okay.”
“If something happens to me, and one of them is available, get remarried, fall in love, and make sure my child is protected.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“No. There will be no one but you. I’ll die a spinster with a child.”
He laughed as all the weight came off his chest. That was his test, and she’d passed.
Croft could relax.
“Uh, me being a spinster and you dying is amusing?” she asked. “Are you insane?”
Yeah, he was.
Insanely in love with this redhead.
“That’s the answer I needed to hear. Had you had anything more for them in your heart, you would have said okay. To me, I know all I need to know. You won’t ever betray me.”
She kissed him.
“You’re mine. I will die loving you, Greyson. What could have been is not what SHOULD be.”
He got it.
“I need a shower, and then I need to find Chris and Dimitri. I’m going to kick both of their asses,” he said, grinning wickedly.
“Greyson!”
He laughed, as he headed to the door.
“Kitten, that wasn’t me telling you my plans. That was a formal invitation from me to you. WE need a shower. Shake that ass of yours and get moving. I think I need my wife.”
“Only think?”
He turned and his body was taut with need.
“Oh, no, I know.”
That made her laugh.
“Well, in that case,” she said, walking past him. He slapped her on the bare ass, and Emma knew one thing.
Her caveman was okay.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Curtis and Katerina were sitting at the table having breakfast when Natasha strolled into the room. She looked off.
“What’s going on?” Kat asked, when her sister sat down.
She started talking in rapid Russian. Her arms were going, and she looked like she was upset.
Curtis had NO idea what she was saying.
He only picked up two words.
Emma.
Christopher.
Uh oh.
Kat began talking to her, trying to calm her down. When she got up, Kat called after her.
When she was gone, Curtis touched his wife’s cheek. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
He stared at her. “Two Russian women talking with emotion, and you say nothing? Seriously? Do I look that stupid not to see that there’s an issue, Anfisa?”
She laughed.
He picked up his phone and hit play. It was their conversation.
“You can tell me, or I can send it through the translator. You decide.”
“You’re bossy,” she said, staring at him.
He grinned. “I am my father’s son. Have you met him? He’s a tad bit caveman-y.”
It made her laugh.
“Okay, Mr. Nosey,” she said. “Nat is upset. Chris didn’t want company last night, but she was outside his room. Emma was in there with him.”
“And?”
“She’s worried.”
“About?”
“The two of them. She feels like she might be losing him, and she’s scared.”
He began laughing.
Then he laughed more.
Really?
“Oh, honey, there’s nothing to worry about. Emma loves Greyson. She’s pregnant, and she needed a shoulder to lean on. Natasha is reading into it. Emma would never betray Greyson, and Chris would never give up Natasha. They’re both happy.”
“So, you think it’s nothing?”
“I guarantee it. Your sister should just ask Chris. I’ve learned a lot from my past when it comes to assuming.” He was thinking about Brynn. “If you assume, it’s generally worse. It’s best to ask.”
She understood.
“Natasha doesn’t know where she stands with Chris. She saw the news reports.”
“She’s his. We all know that. The news makes up stories. I saw it too. It looked like Emma trying to screw with the reporters. She had that look on her face.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
Kat relaxed. “If you say so.”
He handed her a fork. “Feed Sadie. I need to make sure my girls are good.”
She did what he said, and then cuddled against him. Katerina couldn’t imagine her life without this man.
She got what her sister was upset about, but she tended to want to believe her husband.
He knew them all.
He wouldn’t lie.
The Crofts loved them, and they’d do anything to protect them.
The family took care of its own.