Chapter Twenty-Three
Nighttime
Vegas
E mma was in the kitchen when her husband came in. She was leaning against the counter, eating a bowl of cereal. Her face said it all. She was not amused by her conversation with Dimitri, and she was hurt.
He needed her help, and Greyson needed to find a way to get his wife on Dimitri’s side in all of this. Once she was, Emma would be able to pull him back from the brink. There was no doubt in his mind.
Croft had to salvage this family, since it was on the verge of collapsing under all of this mess.
“Dimitri left,” she said, before he could even say a word to her.
Greyson heard the concern in her voice. He could work with that.
“Yeah, he’s not coming back here ever again. He said to tell you goodbye.”
She stared at him. “WHAT?”
He told her everything that the man had said to him because she deserved to know. This was her family, too, and Emma was the core.
“Jesus. We don’t need this right now,” Emma said, scrubbing her hands over her face.
“Emma, you have to cut him a break. He’s hurting. Marissa Pierce…taking her case was a mistake. This one is on me. I tried to do good, and all I ended up doing is jacking this whole thing up. We never should have taken this case. Now, I’m on damage control.”
Emma looked at her watch.
“I’ll go.”
“You’re not leaving here alone,” he said, getting the feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Grey. I have to. You have to stay here so the family is safe. Chris can’t do guard duty nonstop. He needs a break too.”
He got it.
They were all on burnout.
They needed a vacation, and soon. With the wedding, and everything else coming up, the family was running thin.
“I hate saying this, but you’re right. Go, but make sure you’re safe. I don’t need to freak out even more.”
She hugged him.
“I can’t let him hurt.”
“Even when he hurt you?” he asked.
“Especially when he hurt me. We love our family, Grey. They came to us broken. They came to us damaged. We can’t give up on them. Katerina needs her brother here when she has her baby. Natasha is just falling in love and still has some of the wounds from long ago. They both need him. I will go down fighting for Dimitri, even if he betrayed my heart to a woman who didn’t deserve his.”
He smiled.
“What?”
“You are quite the little mother.”
She laughed. “I’m taking your car.”
He stopped laughing.
“Emma.”
“Dimitri, unbeknownst to you, had the glass replaced. It’s bullet proof.”
He tossed her his keys. “Live in it. You’ll be safe. I can buy a new one.”
She laughed.
“Tuck Sam in. He has tutoring tomorrow. Make sure Curtis has his pain pills, and NO he cannot have sex—even if he doesn’t have to do the work. That’s the part you need to really be specific about because he’s going to go for a loophole. The nurse will be back in the morning.”
Greyson laughed. His wife had covered all the bases, and he was proud of her. He was proud of what they’d built—even if it was messy at times.
“Remember when it was just me and a girl, and I fell in love?”
“When you saw that girl and made her yours?”
He kissed her.
She remembered.
“Yeah, well, we’ve accumulated people along the way.”
Emma touched his cheek.
“And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
And for that, he was grateful.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
He was out hunting for a new girl. The last one didn’t last as long as he would have liked.
So, he tossed her.
Yes, he dumped the body, and no one would find her. She was in the desert in a shallow grave. Too bad her mother never told her that hooking was dangerous.
At first, he was going to leave a little message for his dear brother, but then he reconsidered. He had a better plan—one that would hit closer to home.
When you were going to strike, make it count.
That was what his mother told him when he vowed revenge on Maximillian. So, he would take her advice and do just that.
Viktor was going to hurt his brother in ways he never thought possible. He was going to break him, mind, body, spirit, and soul.
It would be perfect.
Until he could take that perfect shot, blowing up Maximillian’s world, he needed a distraction.
That meant finding a girl.
One.
Perfect.
Specimen.
It only came down to how he was going to find her. The people he’d been purchasing from had told him no more, and when he killed their mule, they cut him off.
How dare they?
While they had him over a barrel, he still had options.
Yes, he knew them.
Yes, he could tell the cops.
Only, they could do the same to him.
So, desperate times called for desperate measures.
He was making a little house call.
At the man’s home, he slipped in through the back door. When he found him, he pointed a gun at him.
“I need another girl.”
He laughed. “We don’t have any. You’ve taken our supply and killed them. The FBI has been after us, and you drew even more attention. She and I are going under. We are going to hide before we get caught. We don’t need one hundred counts of trafficking of minors. That’s the chair.”
“I’ll kill you.”
He laughed.
“Go ahead.”
He held the gun and there was a silencer on the end of it. Viktor meant business.
“You won’t do it. You need us. You’re sick, and you need what we supply.”
He laughed.
“Let me deflate your ego.”
And then Viktor filled him with bullets from his silenced gun. On a piece of paper, he left a love note for a certain redhead he knew his brother favored.
On it, he spilled his guts.
Well, this man’s.
Oh, he didn’t need them and they should have known that. There was no honor among killers.
None.
And here was the proof.
He was going to take what he wanted, and no one could stop him.
No one.
Vegas was going to be his—even if he had to devour it one soul at a time.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Midnight
Sky Villa
He was miserable as sin and it was damn good thing that he was alone. He was in the mood to hurt someone, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Dimitri considered himself a smart man, surviving in a world where he didn’t belong.
Well, that intelligence had been his downfall. He let his guard down, and he’d betrayed his family for a woman.
He’d offered them up to make her want to stay with him. A part of him was so disgusted that he wanted to hurt himself. The other part was weak, vile, and pathetic.
That part made him want to suffer unimaginably.
Mix the two together, and he had a volatile brew.
As he punished his body, by working out in his home gym, he wanted to make sure every part of him hurt. He wanted his shoulder to burn and ache, his back to bear the brunt of his anger, and his abs to scream with agony.
Why?
Because his heart felt all of that and so much more.
He deserved it.
There was never a lower moment in his life than when he’d hurt the Crofts, sold his soul for a favor, and fell for a woman who didn’t care about him.
Wasn’t love supposed to conquer all?
Yeah, BULLSHIT.
Not in his world and not for him. He should have known better to think anyone would feel that for him. He’d broken his rule of sleeping with the same woman more than once, and here was his punishment.
He was abandoned and alone.
Love was only for the lucky, and Dimitri…he wasn’t lucky. In fact, he was cursed. Here was his proof.
Damn his heart for aching and needing to feel.
Damn his soul for wanting that connection to someone.
And fuck him for the hell he’d have to endure in his damnation.
He deserved this and so much more.
As he worked out, pushing his body past its limits into a new level of self-hate, he suddenly felt someone behind him. As he dropped from the pull up bar, he turned, pulling the gun from his waistband.
It was aimed right at her.
“You could shoot your junk off like that,” Emma said, leaning there. “You’d kick the hell out of Chris for sticking his gun into his pants like that. You know better.”
That was even more proof. He was off his game. He’d never heard her come up behind him.
“Who let you in?”
“Natasha taught me to pick a lock. It’s really easy. Now I can be felonious without you knowing.”
He stared at her. “GO AWAY.”
“Are we back there again? It’s getting old. I’m not leaving you in this state of mind.”
He turned, placed his gun on the bench and went back to his pull-ups.
Emma didn’t stop him. She’d been watching him for a couple of moments, and she saw the truth. He was hurting. Dimitri was definitely trying to harm himself, or sweat away the demons.
Instead of saying anything, Emma just gave him time. She knew him well, and she had faith in the man he was beneath all this self-loathing.
She’d reach him.
“Are you having fun?” he asked, sensing her eyes on him as he tortured the muscles in his body. It should have bothered him that she was seeing his back and all the damage done there years ago, but with Emma, he didn’t mind.
That pissed him off too.
He loved her so damn much it hurt.
“She was a fool not to take you up on your offer. If I were her, I would have taken you with me. You’re a sexy man, Dimitri. I think it’s the bad boy with so many demons persona.”
He ignored her. She was just trying to make him feel better. No one wanted damaged.
No one.
“I see Greyson has a big mouth.”
“Yeah, in a family, that happens. Who left all those scratches all over you?” she asked. “And the bites.”
“No one.”
“Dimitri.”
He was angry.
He was pissed.
He wanted to be alone.
“Go home. For Christ’s sake, get away from me. I’m on the edge. I don’t want to say something to hurt you. You should be home in your castle with your happy life.”
She laughed. “Yeah, it’s always happy when someone’s gunning for you. Pity party is over.”
He growled. “Go away, Emma. Run.”
This was where trust had to come in. She knew Dimitri could kill her, but she had to believe he’d protect her. He was family, and that mattered.
“No, I can’t do that. I have to help you through this. If it were me, you’d be by my side—no matter how bitchy I got. You’d take it, let my use you as that verbal punching bag, and then soothe my heart.”
“You don’t know me,” he hissed, and that was the problem. He didn’t know himself. He’d actually betrayed the people he loved more than anything for a woman. The first one that gave him any emotions, any feelings, and he turned on them to save her.
He didn’t deserve them.
That was his proof.
“I know you very well. In fact, I know you so well that I came here unarmed, knowing you’d never hurt me.”
He dropped down but wouldn’t look at her.
“You know nothing. What don’t you get, Emma? When it came down to it, I sold you out. I sold the whole family out to find my brother and get retribution for a woman who doesn’t want me. Your life is pretty compared to mine.”
“I want you. You’re mine, Dimitri.”
His heart ached.
“Go home! You have no idea what I’m living.”
Love wasn’t working, so she’d have to push him to the edge to get through to him.
“Yeah, poor you. Hide away here in your tower until you can end your life by your terms. Well, fuck you. I’m stopping your suicide mission, if I have to shoot you myself and drag your ass out of here behind me.”
He turned.
“You don’t know me, or what you’re dealing with. I am him. I am that killer. I prettied myself up for you—for your husband—for my sisters. I’m done being pretty. I’m a monster, and I hate everyone for being happy,” he raged, trying to get her to understand. “From the scars on the outside to the ones no one sees, I’m hideous.”
She fought back.
“Coward. You are nothing but a chicken, and that’s the simple truth. You’ll run before you’ll trust someone to catch you. Bock freaking bock.”
Did she just cluck at him like a chicken?
Was she insane?
“You are a pussy, and you know it.”
That was it.
He snapped.
Dimitri grabbed her by her arms, and he lifted her off her feet. Her toes barely touched the ground. He could feel his hands sinking into her arms, and he didn’t care. He didn’t think he could save her from himself.
“You don’t know what cowardice is and why someone will run. You’ve only had love. I have had nothing but being afraid. Don’t pretend you get me.”
He shook her.
“You’re hurting me,” she said, never looking away from his stormy aqua eyes. Dimitri was in there. She only had to reach him. “Let me go.”
He hated that in her eyes there was mercy and love, not fear. Why did this one woman not fear him?
WHY?
He shoved her away from him.
Emma caught herself before she fell to the mat. She wasn’t done, so she followed him. When he laid on the floor to do his sit ups, she sat across his hips.
“Go away! Damnit! Why don’t you hear me?”
She stared him in the eyes when he sat up, putting himself nose to nose with her.
“I love you, Dimitri. I’m not going home without you.” Emma did the unexpected. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on.
He had no choice but to let her.
Emma held him through the storm.
“I’m going to be the death of everyone I love. How do I live with that? I went to the underground and bartered away my life. They’ll ask me to kill one of you. Don’t you get it, Emma? I don’t deserve your love. I knew what they’d want, and for her, I was willing to take the deal and run. Now I can’t run with her. She doesn’t want me! I have nowhere to go.”
She didn’t let him go. Instead, she simply wrapped her legs around his hips and stared into his eyes.
“You do deserve love. I will mother you until the day I die. I’ll care for you, even when you frustrate the hell out of me. You’re mine, too, Dimitri. I love you. I love your sisters, and we will get through this.”
“She didn’t want to be near me. Am I him? I’m so confused. Did my father make me into this, and him too? Are children born evil? Am I that?”
She touched his cheek.
“You have a huge heart, Dimitri. He’s not out saving women, he’s out killing them. You are not him. You are you. Are you dark? Yes, but that’s not a bad thing. Greyson has those dark places too.”
“The military,” he said, softly. “It made me.”
“You can tell me about it. You can always find me and tell me when you need me. If you ever call, Dimitri, even if you leave, I’ll come. I’ll always come.”
He didn’t deserve her.
“Did I really hurt you?” he asked.
She took his face in her palms. “No, you didn’t hurt me. I’m good, Max.”
He sat there, and she stayed, soothing him by running her hands up and down his back.
“I’m sorry I betrayed you,” he whispered, unable to look at her. He couldn’t face her disgust. Not Emma.
She again made him stare into her eyes. “I forgive you, Maximillian. I understand why you did it. It wasn’t out of anger, or malice. You saw a chance to be free of Vegas, and you took it. I can’t hold that against you. You wouldn’t kill us if they asked. You wouldn’t hurt either of us.”
He wouldn’t.
He couldn’t.
He loved them so much.
“We’ll fix that mess later. Now we focus on you. You can’t leave me, Dimitri. You can’t leave Katerina or Natasha. We are yours.”
She whispered to him in Russian, praying he’d let it soak in to the cold recesses of his soul.
He listened, his forehead resting against hers. As she continued to talk, her hands moved up and down his scarred back. It offered him peace.
“Before you, our lives weren’t filled. When you came into them, Max, you gave us more love, more laughter, and more family. We are whole because of you. While she didn’t see value in you, I do. I would die without you, so you can’t leave me. Greyson would be vulnerable without you, so you can’t leave him. You’re ours, and we’ll get you through this.”
He wanted to weep.
“I know why you felt the need to do it, and I understand it. I’ve been that lonely. Before Greyson found me, I ran, and I was living that. She wasn’t the one, Dimitri. That’s why she left. I promise you that she’s out there. That other half of your soul is waiting for you to find her.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“When you find her, she won’t leave. No matter how dark it gets, or how scary the moment, she’s going to protect you and it’s going to make all the difference. Marissa wasn’t the one, and your heart will heal.”
God!
He hoped she was right.
“What if I never find her?” he asked. Dimitri had watched his sisters both fall in love, and it was relief and pain all at once. He prayed they’d be happy, and he’d prayed for his own salvation, but he always suspected it wouldn’t come.
“You will. Have faith. I do.”
For the next five minutes, he didn’t speak, and she didn’t ask him to talk. He stayed there, held in her embrace as she offered him peace.
“Thank you, Emma.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I’ll always come for you, Maximillian, and I will always be available when you need me. You only have to find me and take what you need.”
Her words soothed the anger.
They beat back the self-loathing.
It was as if someone threw on the lights, illuminating some of the shadows in his soul.
“I have you,” she promised.
He buried his nose in her hair and relaxed into the smell of Emma’s perfume. Dimitri knew what they had was special. She was sitting on his lap, moving around, and all he felt was calm. He didn’t want to roll around with her. He just wanted to be hers. She was that mother his sisters found, and he would take her offer.
He needed someone to heal his wounds.
“You’re covered in bite marks,” she said, touching his throat. “Does it hurt?”
“Yes. She took my heart from my chest. I wasn’t even worthy of her. That hurts far worse than some rough sex.”
Her heart broke.
“Look at me. Who did you make this bargain to?” she asked.
He wasn’t going to tell her.
Dimitri had to protect her.
“Talk to me, Max.”
When she used his real name, it forced him to face those demons. Dimitri didn’t doubt she knew that too. Emma was a mother to her core. She got everyone around her.
They were lucky.
“You’ll feel better if you get it off your chest, and we face it together.”
He trusted her.
“He’s this asshole on the seedier side of Vegas. They call him Babylon. They call him that because he leaves things in rubble, like the city.”
“Charming.”
“He’s a snake.”
“He sounds it.”
“No, he looks like one. He’s tattooed in scales, and he forked his tongue.”
“Uh, that’s so very gross.”
He laughed. “He’s worse than me on the horrible human scale. You can’t trust him. He’s the reptile in the garden of sin.”
“Tell me about him,” Emma said, still running her hand up and down his back.
“He brokers deals. He knows everything that’s going on around Vegas. He’s trouble. I bailed on them to go legit with Greyson, and he now owns me with that one favor.”
“But you got us Viktor’s location.”
“Approximate.”
“We’ll handle him. One step at a time. We are fighting so many battles at once. Going into this, it was Thomas Christ, the Commissioner, Marissa’s case, and then Viktor. Well, Thomas Christ is dead, so we can cross that off our list.”
Dimitri was grateful for that. The Crofts were safe.
“Commissioner Raye will back off for a little while. He’s going to be busy prepping to pick his new homicide captain. When it comes to us, he’ll lie low. He’s scared. He nearly screwed up and got caught being felonious.”
He listened.
“Marissa found her sister, and she’s leaving. I know that hurts you, but it would hurt you more if she stayed. She isn’t good for you,” she said, touching the vicious scratches down his chest. They were raw and angry.
That was never a good sign when sex came to that.
“All that’s left is Viktor. We’ll handle him, and then this Babylon. You aren’t owing your soul to anyone.”
He rested his forehead against hers.
The weight of the world was on his back.
“Emma, I don’t know how to deal with emotions. They scare me.”
“Own what you feel. Take the chance.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. It was warm, and it was filled with pain.
Emma couldn’t push him away.
When he pulled away, he started laughing. “Nothing.”
She snorted. “Gee. Thanks. That doesn’t kick the hell out of my ego.”
“That was like kissing a sister. You’re sitting on my junk, as you call it, and nothing.”
She wiggled.
He laughed more. Finally, that oppressive hate and anger was lifting. He may have made a mistake, but he didn’t lose the people who loved him.
Emma was definitely a mother.
People said there was nothing stronger than a mother’s love, and he understood it now. No matter how bad you made a situation, a mother would be there.
Emma would be there for him.
“She screwed up. You’re a catch, Mr. Gideon. Maybe you need to realize you just weren’t HER catch. You’ll find her. Just be patient. I’ll be by your side through this walk.”
He sighed.
It was hard to be angry around her.
“Let’s clean up your neck and chest,” she said, holding out her hand.
He took it.
She led him to the kitchen so she could make sure that skank didn’t give him rabies. What Emma didn’t say was if that woman ever came back…she’d kick her ass.
No one hurt her family.
NO ONE.
They’d found her sister’s killer, helped her get her body back, and put their lives on the line. Her behavior was shitty, and Marissa Pierce had been a bitch.
“I’m not mad at her,” he offered, seeing the anger flash through her eyes. “She’s just like me. Damaged.”
Emma leans against him. “Sometimes, moy brat,” she said in Russian, “the damaged ones are the best souls out there, since they know what pain is like.”
He was touched by her use of Russian, and calling him ‘my brother’.
“Sekret moyego serdtsa.”
Going up on her toes, she gave him a soft kiss on his lips. She accepted that term of endearment. She would be the secret of his heart any day.
As she stood there, using that first aid kit, she took care of him. Emma washed off all the scratches, the bites, and marks that Marissa had left.
“Do me a favor,” she said.
“Yes?”
“Give your heart a little break. Love is tough. Women…we can be good or bad. Choose better.”
“I don’t know how to choose someone to love.”
Emma smiled at him. “Well, when you love someone, you want to protect, love, and take care of the person, right?”
“Yes.”
He felt that way with her, with Greyson, with Sam, and his sisters.
“If she doesn’t want to protect you, then she’s not the one. Move on, and keep that guard up.”
She was right.
“She was bad for me, wasn’t she? I chose poorly.”
“Training wheels, my brother. Training wheels. You have to start off slow. Besides, who am I to judge. I had sex with Thomas Christ. He was my last sex partner before I fell into Greyson Croft’s life. Look how that turned out,” she teased.
He laughed.
It was genuine.
“You’re all patched up.”
Somehow, he didn’t think she meant the bites and scratches from Marissa.
“Am I?” he asked.
“Yes, you are. Come home with me. We have interviews tomorrow, and I need you to watch our home. We need you, Dimitri. You may have made that deal, but you’re still ours, and if Babylon tries to call it in, he’ll have something in common with the original Babylon.”
“What?”
“He’ll be in ruins too. If he comes for my family, I will burn him down.”
“I don’t want you near him.”
“Awww, another caveman. How cute.”
He stared at her.
Then he laughed.
“You let me worry about him. If he thinks that Greyson is the dangerous one, he has another lesson on the horizon. When a mother gets angry, it’s bad. REALLY bad.”
He hugged her.
“I love you.”
She felt the same. “I will always love you and hold you up, Dimitri. You can count on me.”
He genuinely believed that.
“Home?”
“Yes, we should go home.”
“I’ll drive. Greyson gave me the keys to his ride. Want to have some fun?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Uh, what kind of fun are you suggesting?” he asked. “You realize Dante and Steele regularly use it for…”
She stopped him.
“I was talking about getting some donuts and leaving crumbs all over the seats.”
He stared at her.
Then he began laughing. “Count me in. That’s going to make him insane. He loves that car. He changes the air freshener every six weeks.”
Emma grinned. “I know. I can’t kick Marissa’s ass, but I can jack up Greyson’s mistress. You in?”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
She held out her hand, and he took it.
“Partners in crime?” she asked.
That hit him right where it needed to.
“Partners.”
And for that, Dimitri Gideon would be grateful.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Terrace Glen
He’d taken his shower, and it was good to be heading to bed. It had been a long day, and Chris was beat. Being on alert, non-stop, sucked.
What he wanted was to curl around Natasha and to sleep. He was too tired to even think.
When he came into the bedroom, she was sitting on their bed. She was in a pink nighty and smiling at him.
“You look good enough to eat,” he said, jumping onto the bed beside her.
She noticed the worry lines.
“You look stressed. Are you okay?”
“I’m the only one on guard duty now that you and Dimitri have to stay inside. I need to rest and get ready for another day.”
“I can help you.”
“No, you can’t. You guys are on lockdown. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
She kissed him, and it was long and sweet.
“If I wasn’t so old, so tired, and barely alive, I would be climbing all over you,” he vowed. “Maybe the morning?” he asked hopefully.
Natasha smiled, but she was worried.
When she searched online, one of the signs that he wasn’t into a woman was decreased sex.
Was that this?
She had an idea.
“I know what might help you relax,” she said, tugging down his boxers. The minute she touched him, he sprang to life.
Well, that was a good sign.
Chris watched her. “If you want sex, you’re doing the work,” he teased. “I can’t.”
She grinned.
“I have a better idea.”
“What?”
She showed him.
Licking him, she enjoyed the way he shook. Gently, Natasha took him in her mouth and began showing him how much she loved him.
She worked him gently.
Slowly.
With love.
The entire time, Chris was having pleasure overload. While he wouldn’t ask for a blowjob, since that wasn’t his style, he would let her play all over his body, and this was one hell of a gift.
“So good, Natasha,” he said, as she practically swallowed him whole.
Chris watched her and it was hard not to react.
“You’ve been talking to your sister again,” he said, getting her to laugh.
The vibrations nearly killed him.
It was so damn hot.
He popped out of her mouth.
“Don’t hold back, Christopher. You won’t hurt me. I’m not breakable.”
He grinned.
“Well, if you insist.”
With that, he grabbed her head and forced her back onto his erection.
She moaned in pleasure as he worked her head up and down his dick. Then, he let her continue that same way on her own, once she got the rhythm down.
“More,” he said, his body reacting to each pass of teeth and tongue over his sensitized erection.
Natasha listened, since this was about pleasing the man she was crazy about. She glanced up, and he was braced on his elbows, as he stared down at her.
“Jesus! Keep talking to your sister,” he ordered.
She laughed and again, the vibrations sent shivers through his body.
Chris dropped back and stared at the ceiling. He never wanted this to end, so he fought it.
Then, he felt guilty for taking all the pleasure and offering none back to her.
“Stop.”
She did.
“We can have sex. I can do it,” he said. “Apparently, you giving me a blowjob gave me my second wind.”
She grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Before she knew it, Chris was on his knees and tearing off that innocent pink nightie. Once it was free of her body, he saw she was naked beneath it.
Immediately, he shoved her back and found his most favorite part.
“God! Yes!” she moaned, as he devoured her in abandon. Her body was arched, she was on the edge, and she was about to cum.
He nipped her clit, and Natasha’s climax cascaded over her, taking her under.
Nat wanted to drown in him.
It was perfect.
“Christ, I can’t get enough of you,” he muttered, sliding up her body to find that wet, perfect heat.
Then he slid home.
She moaned again and wrapped her legs around his hips.
“Hard and fast,” she said, loving when their lovemaking was wild and frenzied.
“Your wish is my command.”
Then he began.
Chris drove himself in and out of her body, taking her in his favorite way. Natasha was wet and warm, and he wanted her.
He wanted all of her.
“More,” he said, focusing on her pleasure not his.
As her breasts bounced with each time he buried his erection in her, Chris couldn’t get enough.
“Oh, Jesus,” he said, as he could feel the heat looming, forcing its way up his body.
“Natasha, I won’t last long,” he said.
She understood.
“I’m close! Hurry,” she said, pulling his mouth down to hers.
With one last slide home, he came, pouring into her.
It only took a few moments for them both to surface.
“That was amazing,” she admitted.
He laughed and rolled off her body. “I happen to agree. I don’t deserve you.”
She cuddled.
Chris relaxed and began drifting off.
“I think I’m going to cut my hair,” she said, out of the blue.
“Why?” he asked, opening his eyes.
“Maybe something more like Emma’s or shorter. What do you think?”
Alarms began going off.
This didn’t feel right, and he knew women. He’d been married before. When your present girl began comparing herself to any other woman in your life, the shit storm was about to begin.
“Why would you want to look more like Emma?”
“You love her.”
Yep.
DANGER.
“Natasha, I love you too.”
She played with a patch of hair on his chest, and then ran her fingers over the scar.
“But you really love her. I can see it. I can feel it. I want to have that.”
He felt bad.
Emma had warned him, and Chris had dismissed it.
He was an idiot.
“You think I don’t feel that for you? I feel so much more for you. You’re my girl. Emma is my friend and sister. It’s not the same. Trust me. I don’t want to do what we just did with Emma.”
She shrugged.
Chris knew he needed to reassure her. Obviously, Emma had been right. Natasha was watching them and was scared. That was totally on him.
He had to fix that.
“I’m going to marry you.”
“What?” she asked, siting up.
“I’m going to be picking out the ring. I want you to be my wife. I haven’t asked your brother for your hand in marriage, but I’m going to, Natasha. You are who I want.”
“Emma.”
He stopped her. “So, you don’t want me to love her at all?”
Her eyes gave her away.
“Oh, Natasha, she wouldn’t do that to you. This isn’t a competition. You’ve asked me repeatedly to accept you for who you are, and now I’m going to do the same. I need you to accept that Emma and I have s special relationship. She saved my life. We have a bond.”
“I understand.”
“But do you accept it?” Chris asked. “That’s the part you have to think about. When I ask you to marry me, I’m going to mean it. There will only be you. I don’t cheat. I don’t lie, and I don’t hurt people. If you believe me, and you can accept that I have people in my life I love, too, like Emma, Katerina, and Greyson, then marry me. If not, I’ll understand.”
Natasha was ashamed of what she’d just done. She hadn’t accepted him for him.
That sucked.
“I’m sorry. I get scared.”
“I know, but she’s my sister. I know you’re uncomfortable, but I can’t fix that. We worked together. I am her security. She’s my best friend.”
“I want to be your best friend.”
He would work on that. Emma and he were going to have to be more careful. Clearly, his relationship with her was bothering Natasha.
“Okay. You’re my best friend.”
She smiled.
“I love you, Chris.”
He held her. “I love you too. We should get some sleep. I need to recover from my day.”
She didn’t mind.
“Let’s sleep.”
Chris closed his eyes, and he was content.
For the first time in his life, he was truly at peace.