“You sure you’re not hurt?” Dax inspected the bruise over her cheekbone, where the thug’s backhand had struck hardest. The drive home hadn’t taken long, but the bruise was already a reddish purple.
“I’m good,” she replied, checking his cuts and bruises. She’d been knocked down once, but he’d taken hits from three separate guys. The gash over his eye had stopped leaking blood, but the wound looked angry. “You need to get that sorted as soon as possible,” she told him. “Get it stitched up.”
He fingered the cut as though he hadn’t realized it was there. “I’ll go later. I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I can go to Cassie’s.”
“Then I’ll drop you off on the way. After…” He heaved a tired sigh and flopped down beside her on the sofa. “After I’ve recharged a bit. Jesus.”
“Aw, come here.” Tiana pulled him into her arms, kissed his forehead (probably the only spot on his head that didn’t hurt after the pounding he’d taken), then laid his head on her lap. “You can’t keep on doing that, you know,” she told him. “I don’t want you to end up punch-drunk as well. How about you use the Taser next time?”
“I was thinking the Uzi.”
“That’d work.” Though she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “You think it might come to that?”
“That’s up to them,” he replied. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, believe me.”
That was worth another kiss right there. His sore, busted lip kinda spoiled the moment for him, but Tiana held the kiss greedily. Not many women had a guy like Dax Easterling going to bat for them—hell, there was no one like him—and the scent of battle was still on him, that super-charged male vibe that soaked into her feminine craving, straight to her sex. The heat of the moment had not dissipated, not for her. She still imagined him fighting them off like some gladiator in the arena, protecting her to the death. And it made her wild.
Tiana gently slid out from under him. He looked bemused as she began to unfasten his shirt buttons, then parted his shirt and explored his hot, hard muscles with her palms and her tongue. Then she went lower, unzipping his fly. His erection tenting his boxers only made her hungrier. While she massaged his cock through the fabric, with one hand on his stomach, Dax lay back, splaying himself across the sofa, his abdominals tensing fully under every heavy breath. He’d earned this, she thought, and now it was her turn to show him that she was more than just a damsel in distress. That she belonged in the arena as well when her blood was up.
Tiana liked that he held back and let her take charge. Thad had never done that. He could never have let himself be dominated by a woman, end of story. But Dax was so much more secure in himself, in his sexuality. And he was game when it came to exploring the different frissons of lovemaking. Right now, her role was to pleasure him into sex, then heat things up as much as she could. But if he thought he could lie back passively and save his best for some blaze of glory finale, that he was going to burn her out this time, then he had another thing coming.
The way she was feeling right now, no man could burn her out in bed.
She pulled his shirt off altogether. His pectorals and shoulder muscles were harder and more defined than ever. Bruised, too, though it was tough to tell how much among all the crazy, exotic tattoos. Tracing those dark swirling shapes with her lips made her wetter than ever between her legs. He tried to sit up, but with one hand on his chest she pinned him down; with her other she reached inside his boxers and grasped the shaft of his large, throbbing cock. When she stroked it, trying to gauge its full height, Dax’s member popped out into the open and she licked her lips.
She plied him with more kisses on his mouth. Slower, growing steadily with passion. He was still content to let her have her way, his hands holding her by the hips the only sign that he hadn’t completely submitted. Maybe he was too tired. Maybe this was her show after all, which had its own possibilities, even if it was a slight disappointment. If that was the case, she’d best move this along and undress herself, so she could take her sweet time with him.
When she moved to get off him, Dax strengthened his grip on her waist. She found she couldn’t budge.
“Hey, I just need to—”
He interrupted her gentle words with a grunt. Their gazes locked. Before she knew it, Tiana was on the sofa underneath him, his wild takedown move treating her to a thrilling afterglow.
“Allow me,” he said, and he flipped her over onto her stomach. She let out a giddy squeal of delight. The flutter in her tummy spread to a wicked craving for the unexpected—what might he do next? How good was it going to feel?
The answers came at her from behind. He yanked her skirt off, then strong-armed her upright to her knees so that her back was couched against his rippling muscles. With one hand he tilted her head back and nipped at her neck, sending shivers through her. His other hand felt inside the front of her panties. His fingertips stroked lower and lower until—ahh—he found her sweet spot. The combination undid her, leaving her at his mercy. He rubbed her clit slowly at first, and she roused with a quiet moan of pleasure. As the tempo increased, waves of involuntary clenching and arching rippled her body in sync with his touch.
But Dax wanted a taste for himself. He laid her flat again, this time on her back, and spread her legs. With a firm hand on her ass, he went down on her. Tiana clawed at the upholstery to anchor herself. She blissed out, and he kept her there. For how long, she couldn’t tell.
The sound of him roughing off his pants gave her a few moments to find her bearings. Tiana’s blood was way up, and she was eager to get Dax up to her speed. She pinned him against the cushion and crouched between his legs. He lay back, mouth open, and had no choice but to close his eyes as she dismantled his defenses with the rhythm of her insatiable jerk-and-suck appetite.
“Aw, fuck,” he groaned. So she didn’t stop.
Tiana knew she had him. But why blow it all on an early flourish when there were many more rounds to go. She worked her way up his body again, enjoying his six-pack and those incredible arms that could destroy her if he wasn’t hers, right here, right now. Their kisses brought them closer than ever, one improvised give-and-take, one tongue lick at a time. Impatient. But also a waiting game, to see who would take the initiative next, and what that would bring.
***
It was a very humid eighty-five degrees, Len announced as she held off her sister at the entrance to the local park. Tiana and Cassie both smiled at her. She was becoming quite the young woman, poised, inquisitive, and bright as a button. Shana loved to monkey around and play up her youngest-and-therefore-here-to-have-fun attitude, but Len was maturing by the day. She was becoming more and more like her mother—a very good thing indeed, Tiana reckoned.
At Tiana’s insistence, Dax was at the hospital getting properly checked out and sewn up. She felt a little guilty now about putting sex before his treatment—the rough stuff had definitely not helped his wounds—but damn it, she just couldn’t resist. Her mouth watered at the memories alone.
He was certain they hadn’t been followed to Cassie’s, so he’d left her there for a few hours. Cassie and the kids had been planning to go to the park anyway, so it was the perfect way to disappear. There was no way Isaiah Bernal and his goons would find her here. In any case, they’d still be regrouping, licking their own wounds.
“You say this Bernal’s a bigwig in the organization?” Cassie was trying to figure out all the angles, as was typical for her. Of course, Tiana wanted her to. When you had a smart cookie of a big sister like Cass in your corner, you wanted to tell her everything.
So Tiana did. Every word. Every gesture. Every last moment of their interaction with Bernal.
“Did he ever strike you as someone who’d have criminal connections?” Cassie asked.
“In what way?”
“Well, he’s up to his eyeballs in it now, but how deep was he back when he was covering up for Thad? Was it a personal thing—a favor between friends? Or was he part of a bigger criminal ring, like a gambling cartel or something?”
“Why does that matter?”
Cassie waved to Shana at the top of the big slide. “It matters because it might tell you who you’re up against here. If it’s just Bernal covering his own ass, that might not be so bad. He might only have a few guys on his payroll. But if he was under orders back then, if he was told to cover up for Thad, then it might be the whole cartel trying to cover its ass. You might have stirred up a hornet’s nest.”
Tiana looked away. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Bernal said you don’t know who you’re dealing with. Did that sound like an idle threat, just tough talk? Or did he sound scared when he said it?”
“Um, I don’t know. I believed him, if that means anything.”
Cassie nodded pensively, then gave her a hard stare. “I’m sure you’ll be okay.” She gestured to an empty bench at the bottom of a grass verge, and they strolled to it. “So how’s it going with Dax, apart from all the head-breaking?”
“Okay. No, it’s better than okay. He goes out of his way to make me feel at home. It’s really sweet, actually. I can tell he’s not used to it.”
“To what?”
“To staying home this much. I reckon it’s only going to be a temporary thing, until he’s gotten used to me being there. I think he wants to make sure I feel safe with him before he starts incorporating his old routine. And that’s okay. I don’t want him to give anything up.”
“Except the eligible bachelor bad boy routine. Am I right?”
“Now, now, sis…be nice.”
Cassie pretended to zip her mouth shut.
“So he’s not exactly been a monk,” said Tiana.
“To put it mildly.”
“But I have to believe he’s ready to settle down, right? I mean even Warren Beatty settled down at some point. George Clooney, too. Maybe I’m that girl for Dax Easterling.”
“Well, you two do seem to be getting it together. And to think, all one of you needed to do was ask the other. Was it that hard?”
Tiana cringed when she recalled how lonely and low and pathetic she’d felt, hiding away in Len’s bedroom instead of… Yeah, but I did almost die. Maybe I needed that time to myself.
“Put it this way,” she said, “I think the hardest part is over.”
“I’m certain of it.” Cassie treated her to an extra-generous sisterly hug that didn’t feel the least bit embarrassing, despite the packed playground. “For what it’s worth, he seems like a stand-up guy,” she added. “And you know I don’t use words like those lightly.”
“I know. You never said that about Thad.”
Cassie said nothing. She brushed a few loose strands of hair away from Tiana’s eyes. The girls both gave screams of delight as the dad of one of their friends spun the roundabout faster and faster. It was great to see them enjoying themselves like that. They didn’t always get along, but when they did, it reminded Tiana of when she and Cassie had been growing up together, protective of their own separate little girlish worlds, but also eager to share and relish the crossover turf, those games and activities that were only worthwhile if they both took part. Those had usually been the most fun: hide and seek, two-player PlayStation games, jump rope, and dance-offs at the arcade simulator.
“They’re cute when they’re like this,” she observed when Len helped her little sister grip the bar of the roundabout.
“While it lasts,” Cassie lamented. “We can enjoy it while it lasts.”
“Len’s growing up fast, huh.”
“Too fast. Why can’t they stay like this forever?”
Strangely, hearing that longing in her sister’s words, that wistful regret in her voice, triggered something inside Tiana. A yearning all her own. It wasn’t the first time she’d considered having children, but it was the first time she’d felt unequivocally hopeful about the idea. With Thad, there’d always been doubts in her mind. He’d never mentioned having kids, not in all those years. All evidence pointed to him not even liking them, though he’d never admitted it. Also, he’d never proposed to Tiana or even mentioned it—no plans to make their relationship permanent, let alone to start a family. But even if he had, what sort of father would he have been?
She shuddered at the thought.
Dax, on the other hand, would probably be an excellent dad. He could be tough, he could be tender, he had a strong sense of right and wrong, but most of all he had that fierce protective instinct that would never let anything happen to his family. Sure, his first marriage had been a train wreck, but he freely admitted he’d been young and stupid at the time. He’d changed. Life and war had changed him. If he was ready to settle down, Tiana could absolutely see herself wanting to have his kids.
That, right there, was a future worth fighting for.
“If I ever have kids,” she said, “I think I’d want at least one girl.”
Cassie looked surprised. “You know, that’s the first time you’ve ever mentioned having kids.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. All this time, I just assumed you didn’t like the idea.”
Tiana pondered that for a few moments. “Maybe I didn’t. Not really.”
“But things have changed?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe you’re starting to see things more clearly. About what you really want. If that’s the case, I’m glad. I’m so glad. It means he’s good for you.”
“Yeah. I think so, too.”
Cassie shook her head at the girls when they shouted for her permission to go climbing trees with two older girls. Shana tended to get carried away trying to keep up with those bigger than her, and she’d injured herself a few times recently. Cassie had therefore put her foot down until she could properly supervise them, which wasn’t today.
“We’ll have to go out for dinner sometime,” she suggested. “You and Dax, and me and Avery. I think Avery would like to meet him. He watches pay-per-view boxing with his drinking buddies, probably UFC as well. He thinks I don’t know. I’ve banned him from watching contact sports at our house, so he never lets on. But I have my spies.”
“Dinner it is! I know Dax and Avery would get along, even without the fight talk. Maybe when all this bad business has blown over, we’ll arrange it.”
“You don’t think it’s over then?”
“I don’t know,” Tiana answered. “It’s like you said…it depends on how deep this thing goes, how many are involved. If Bernal was just blowing smoke, trying to make me paranoid, maybe he’ll back off with all this official heat on him. But if he was telling the truth and my testimony is implicating other powerful people…” She shrugged. “Too late now anyway. I’m not sure if I can afford to think that far ahead.”
“You can’t afford not to,” Cassie reminded her. “If I was you, I’d hire a private investigator and see what he can dig up on this.”
“We have a lawyer.”
“Not the same thing. A private investigator will ask questions a lawyer can’t. He’ll dig where a lawyer can’t be seen looking. If this is a rat’s nest like we think, you need someone who’s not afraid to crawl in dark holes in order to get information.”
“Okay, okay. I get the idea. Hire a scuzzy gumshoe. Check.”
“Ugh. No one says ‘gumshoe’ anymore. You watch too many old movies. You’d better get Dax to hire him.”
“Aw. No fair.” Tiana pouted. “I want to visit the smoky office with the seedy lighting, so I can turn down bad coffee from a sassy secretary named Elaine.”
Cassie shook her head. “Sad.”
“Hey, I am taking on the bad guys. Maybe even a whole cartel. The least I deserve is a hat and a cigarette.”
“I think Shana would have more luck.”
“You’re mean.”
“That hurts.”
Tiana received a message alert on her cell. She flipped the phone open and saw the text was from Dax. “He’s out of the hospital, on his way home,” she said. “Says he’ll pick me up from your place whenever I’m ready.”
“How about another half hour—give the girls a bit longer?” Cassie suggested.
“Aces.”
“Wow. You have been watching too much Bogie and Bacall.”
“What can I say? I’m feeling…old-fashioned lately.”
“Hold that thought for our dinner date,” said Cassie.
“Why?”
“Because women never paid for anything back then.”
Tiana shot her a puzzled look. She’d never paid for a meal with a man in her life. “And they do now?”
Cassie gazed back at her, then spluttered a laugh. “Sis, you go on just the way you are. Don’t change. And don’t listen to anyone.”
“I don’t intend to, you patronizing broad.”
“That’s my Tiana.”