I came awake with a warm, soft body tucked up against mine.

The familiar scent wrapped around me and a smile lit my face before I was even fully aware.

Raye.

She’d spent the night.

More, I got the feeling she’d be spending a lot of nights from here on out.

It was an idea I found very appealing.

Against my side, she mumbled under her breath, then stretched and shifted against me, reminding me that we’d fallen asleep naked. Not that I needed much of a reminder. Her breasts pressed into my side, and with every breath she took, they rose and fell against me.

Rolling onto my side, I stroked a hand down her hip.

Her eyes stayed closed.

I eased her onto her back, studying her in the faint light filtering in through the one small window in my room. That faint light gilded her skin with gold as I settled between her thighs, pressing my mouth to the crease where her leg and hip joined.

She stirred underneath me. Easing my mouth closer to the curls shielding her cunt, I murmured her name.

She stirred again.

But she didn’t wake up.

Not even when I flicked my tongue against her clit.

Okay, then.

I nuzzled the folds between her thighs and found her wet. Licking deeper into her center, I returned to her clit, sucking it into my mouth, taking it with my teeth.

A low moan escaped her, and a hand curled around my neck.

Darting a look up her sweet body, our eyes met, hers still hooded with sleep and now…passion.

“You finally going to wake up and join the party?”

A drowsy smile curled her lips. “Depends…you going to keep that up?”

Instead of answering out loud, I flicked her clit again.

She shivered and thrust herself against me. I loved it when she did that. Guiding both of her hands to my hair, I urged her on until she was rocking up, all but fucking my face with each thrust of her hips, each wiggle of her pelvis.

She came with a low whimpering sound that I felt all the way down to my balls.

Just as I started to crawl up from my place between her thighs, though, there was a knock at my apartment door. My apartment door…meaning somebody from the garage was knocking.

“Shit.”

She laughed against my mouth as I froze, all ready to bury myself inside her and get lost for a little while.

“Make whoever it is go away,” she suggested, her eyes sparkling as she stared at me. She looked happier than I’d ever seen her, and the sweetness of her expression made my heart flip over in my chest.

“I’ll do that.” I dropped a quick hard kiss on her mouth and got up, grabbing a pair of jogging pants from the foot of the bed, hauling them up over my hips before leaving to deal with the person at the door.

But one look through the peephole told me I wouldn’t be returning to bed with Raye. “Hold on,” I called through the door. Then I went back to the bedroom and peered inside. “Raye…it’s my kid brother, Austen. I’m going to need to talk to him.”

She sat up, staring at me. “Oh. Of course.” Her cheeks flushed as she looked around. “I…I think my clothes are out there.”

“I’ll get them.” I fetched the various pieces of clothing and brought them to her.

“I’ll wait in here until–”

I caught her face and craned it up to mine. “No. You’re not waiting in here. Get dressed. Come out.”

Raye’s cheeks blushed that delectable, delicate pink and I kissed her once more, gentle and slow. “My brother knows what sex is, Raye. I’m not worried about him knowing about us.”

“Oh.” She nodded, a tentative smile curling her lips.

As I turned to go greet him, I wondered if she had any idea how different a thing this was for me. Because I didn’t let women spend the night. I didn’t introduce women to my family.

But I wanted Raye to get to know mine.

She’d gone and changed everything.

* * *

Austen and I were at the kitchen table when she emerged a few minutes later, wearing the same clothes from last night, a nervous smile on her pretty face.

I’d told Austen she was there, and he’d grinned at me. “That’s great.”

Now, as she drew closer to the table, my brother got up and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Austen. We didn’t really have a chance to meet last night.”

“Raye,” she said, her voice soft.

I’d risen the moment she came out of the bedroom, and now I nudged a chair out from under the table with my foot. “Want a seat?” I asked.

“I…well, you two are talking. Maybe I could make some breakfast?”

Austen darted a look at me. “I didn’t eat before I left. I could eat.”

“I can make cereal,” I said shortly. “Raye, you don’t need to wait on us.”

“I’m kind of hungry,” she hedged. “And there’s no making cereal. You pour milk on it.”

“It’s one of my number one kitchen skills,” I told her.

“I’m highly adept at it myself, but I’ve got a few other talents.” She back-stepped, then cut around me.

I groaned at the mental image of my mostly bare fridge.

“Well…you’ve got…cheese. And eggs. Omelets?”

My belly rumbled. “Fine. If you’re going to insist on cooking.”

I dropped back down into the chair across from Austen and met his eyes. We’d only been talking a few minutes, and I was almost certain he’d freeze back up again on me now that Raye was out, but to my surprise, he said, “I think we should probably go to the cops. Now that I’m not being all stupid, I can look back, and I think she’s pretty pissed at you, Kane. I don’t want her trying to cause trouble for you.”

“Don’t you worry about me,” I told him, watching Raye from the corner of my eye.

She was pretty at home in the kitchen, even my small, mostly useless one. I could fry an egg and burn bacon with the best of them, and heating up canned soups and making a grilled cheese ranked right up there with my ability to make cereal, but that was about the end of my kitchen skills.

Clearly, Raye outreached me in that area.

She was whipping eggs in a bowl. Whipping or beating, whatever it was, and she did it with an ease that told me she was no stranger to the task.

“I can’t help but worry. If she causes trouble, then I’m partly to blame,” Austen said, his young voice sharp.

“We’re going to take care of that,” I told him, turning my gaze to meet his. “I was going to call you about that later today, but since you’re here…” Blowing out a breath, I shrugged off my unease about talking to the police and told him, “I think you’re right about going to the cops. Not so much about her so-called rape story, but because the two of you were intimate. She’s twenty-five, Austen. You’re seventeen.”

“So?” He blinked at me, looking confused.

“You’re a minor.” Bracing my elbows on the table, I leaned forward and met his eyes. “Did she ever ask you how old you were? Did you ever tell her?”

“I…hell. No.” He scoffed, clearly embarrassed but trying to hide it. “What’s that matter?”

“It’s called statutory rape. The law is meant to keep adults from preying on minors…kind of like Calie preyed on you.”

“Look, man…” He shifted around, looking uncomfortable. “I mean, she came on to me, but it wasn’t like I didn’t want it or anything.”

“She took advantage of a kid for her own selfish purposes.” I held his eyes. “If she thinks she can use you to get to me, she’s going to have to think again.”

* * *

“Kane and Austen Jonson?”

A tired looking detective in a rumpled suit stood in the doorway, eying us.

Raye stood when we did, her hand coming out to take mine. “You want me to come with you?”

I nodded, surprised at how much easier it had been to walk into the police station with her at my side.

She gave Austen an encouraging smile as we started toward the cop. I knew enough about cops after my dealing with them to know the guy in front of us had to be at least a detective.

He looked too young to be much higher ranked than that, although there was age in his eyes, a look that said he’d seen some shit.

Once we were at his desk, he gestured for us to sit, then he frowned, taking note of Raye and added, “I’ll dig up another seat.”

I let Raye take the second one, opting to stand for as long as I could.

Once the cop brought a chair over, though, I accepted it out of courtesy and told him thanks. Maybe being nice would win me some brownie points. Still, I wasn’t sure if this trip to the police station was going to do us much good. I’d even warned Austen that we might be wasting our time.

With my history, they might just write us off, which meant I needed to start thinking about the next alternative in case Calie did come in and try to press charges.

My gut churned just thinking about it.

I hadn’t put hands on her in a couple of weeks, but it would come down to her word against mine. Her word against mine and my brother’s. And my brother had been with her.

Fuck, this was a mess.

“I’m Detective Gus Winters, and I’ll be handling your complaint today, Mr. Jonson.” He nodded at me, then glanced at Austen. He clicked on the mouse on his computer, then asked, “Curious…are you related to a firefighter by the name of Eddie?”

“Yeah.” I summoned up the polite smile my mother had drilled into me. “He’s my brother.”

“That a fact?” A smile lit the tired detective’s face. “You’re the mechanic, then? Eddie’s mentioned you. He’s good people, Eddie is.” The cop’s eyes slid to Austen, and he nodded at him. “He’s mentioned you, too. You’re the youngest one, right? I’m also the youngest in my family. Five brothers, pains in the ass, all of them.”

Austen squirmed, looking a little uncomfortable. “They ain’t so bad. At least not all the time.”

Winters barked out a laugh. “They ain’t so bad when you need them. That’s the truth. Family’s family, right?”

He cracked his neck, turning his head to the left, then to the right. “Alright, folks. Why don’t you tell me what brings ya down here today?”

After a quick look at Austen, I started to talk.

* * *

Winters took it all down, his face a blank mask that revealed absolutely nothing, but when he was done taking the information, he leaned back in the seat.

“You can press charges. Is that what you want to do?”

“I…” Austen looked at me, then at the cop. “I can press charges?”

But the cop was staring at me. “He’s a minor.”

“I know. But this will boil down to he said, she said.” I frowned, glancing over at Raye.

“There’s a picture,” she said softly, reminding me.

I leaned in close, shaking my head. “Just of him in her bed. It’s something, but not everything.”

The cop was clearly listening.

“I don’t want to press charges,” Austen said, speaking in a firm voice. “I mean…shit. I knew what was going down. I was stupid, and I feel stupider knowing she did it all to get to my brother, but I knew what was going down. I’d rather the whole world not know how stupid I was.”

The cop tapped a pen on his desk, eyes thoughtful.

“Maybe what we can do is this. Take the complaint. Hold off doing anything. If she comes in to file charges…then we decide.” Winters slid a look from Austen to me. “Of course, it really is up to the guardian…”

Austen paled. “Mom…”

“I’ll handle talking to Mom,” I told him. She was going to be pissed. Nobody fucked around with her boys. I’d be lucky if she didn’t hit the streets looking for Calie herself. “I think that sounds like the best way to handle it,” I finally said.

“Okay.” Winters leaned back over his desk, punching at the keyboard in a staccato fashion. “I’m making a note in the system. If she does come in, I get flagged. As long as it happens during the day, I’ll get notified, and I’ll handle it. Regardless of when it does happen, if it happens, I’ll get word of it, and I’ll be in contact. Okay?”

It was, I decided, the best outcome we could hope for.