36

Mia

I couldn’t help the huge smile that was on my lips. Or the tears leaking and falling into my hair and down onto my pillow, but they were good tears, great tears, unbelievably fantastic, wonderful tears.

Steel had been asleep for the last hour, finally drifting off after the fifth time he brought my body to ecstasy. I had to say, he was relentless in his pursuit of that magic number. My body was covered in whisker burn and love bites, but I was not complaining. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, my man had an impressive repertoire of ways to make my body sing for him. And only for him.

The hand that was firmly on my lower body moved in slow strokes. Even in sleep, his need to touch me is infinite. How did I get so lucky? How did I manage to have all my dreams come true? Whatever the reason, I would never do anything to ruin this chance I had been gifted. I only hoped the meeting with Tori wouldn’t tear down my happily ever after

————

 “This is your earpiece. It’s small so it won’t be detected, and the little switch on it turns it off. Do not turn it off. The microphone is just under your collar here.” Steel pointed to where Ford stitched the tiny black button-looking thing on the inside of the collar of my T-shirt. It was so small that I couldn’t even feel it. Ford explained it was a wireless Bluetooth device, making it totally undetectable and safer for me.

I nodded in understanding without taking my eyes from the sexy man in front of me. He was dressed all in black, military style, the special ops kind. All of the guys were not only dressed the same but were all sombre and strictly business. Sending in someone they cared for or, in Steel’s case, loved was hard on them. They were used to doing this sort of thing on their own as a team, and it was killing them that they had to use me this way.

Steel had been quiet most of the day. After we woke up and went for round six in the bath, he made me breakfast, kissed me passionately, then left and didn’t return for more than seven hours. I knew where he went—the gun shop with Booth to grab all the weaponry they needed for this mission. When they got back to the compound, all the guys, sans Deck, locked themselves in the war room. Lunch came and went, and Stella cooked a lovely meal for her, Vegas, Rainn, and me. I, of course, received a text from the stud to remind me to eat plenty. So bossy.

He emerged about an hour ago—dressed like a sexy ninja—and without emotion dressed me in a bulletproof vest and the communication devices. When I said ‘without emotion,’ that was what everyone else could see. But for me? I could read the man’s face like a book. Every tick of his jaw and every flash of his beautiful green eyes showed his struggle. So, the least I could do was to make it easier and not sass at him.

Looking over his shoulder at the bar, I could see Rainn was going through the same as me. Mannix was in front of her, helping her with her earpiece. It was decided that Rainn would be at the Bar and Grill before I arrived there. Tori might have been a slut, but she wasn’t stupid. She would never believe the guys allowed me to be at work on my own. So Rainn was roped in. I couldn’t tell if she was happy about it or not because her face was passive, not giving away anything, except for the way her hand glided over Mannix’s as he fixed the same bulletproof vest I was wearing to her body. But when his hand stopped over her stomach, she flinched away. Even from my position across the room, I detected the beads of sweat on her perfect wrinkle-free forehead.

“You putting on weight, sexy dancer?” I heard Mannix tease, but the scowl Rainn gave him was anything but amused.

“You saying I’m getting fat?” she yelled at him, but there was something not right. This was them, back and forth good-humoured insults, but Rainn was overreacting. What was going on with her? Mannix stood to his full height, gripped her hips, and gave her a slight shake.

“What the fuck is going on with you, lady? This isn’t you or us. You have been different lately. Why?”

Forgetting for a moment about the task I had been given by the club, I stood transfixed as the scene between the two bed-buddies played out in front of everyone.

“This isn’t us? Are you serious, Mannix? What us? I dance for you, and we regularly hook up and fuck. That’s it. That is us,” Rainn yelled at him, pushing him in the chest.

The move had absolutely no impact on the road captain. He not only stood his ground but he reached out and planted his mouth squarely over Rainn’s mouth. Holy shit! His hands cupped her arse and brought her off her feet. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and the sexy dancer used him like she would her pole, grinding and writhing against him.

Oh, God, I can’t go there. Mannix is practically my brother-in-law. I can’t be thinking about what is going on in his pants, and I really have to stop watching this, like right now. Oh my, is his hand going...

“Jesus Christ, Mannix, stop!” Rainn cried out as she untangled herself from his body and wrapped her arms around herself.

Mannix’s face was a combination of arousal and pissed off, and his fists were clenched. I could tell from my vantage point that he was just as affected by their passion as Rainn was. Only Rainn looked mortified and scared as well as horny.

“Did that feel like we just fuck? You better start talking, Lady, because your attitude lately has me itching to spank that sexy arse of yours,” he told her.

Hmm, I wonder if Steel would consider adding spanking to our repertoire. The very thought of him reddening my butt had me rubbing my legs together.

“Beauty, you want me to put you across my lap and spank you until you come all over me?” Steel whispered in my ear.

I nearly groaned when he took my earlobe between his teeth and gave it a gentle tug before soothing it with his tongue. Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I shouldn’t be wet right now, but I was. The tingling sensation between my legs just intensified as my dirty mind went to places it had no business going considering the job I was about to do. Damn it, the job. Focus, Mia, focus.

Smacking Steel lightly on the chest, I smirked at him. “Definitely later, stud. Maybe you can even tie me to the bed, and we can play Christian Grey. Ooh, maybe Stella will let us borrow her leg spreader.” That was my favourite scene in the movie, and on movie night, the other girls in the flock and I watched it over and over.

“Jesus, Beauty.” Steel’s pained groan against my neck made me giggle. He was so easy to rile up.

An extremely loud, shrill whistle interrupted the drama of Rainn and Mannix and my sexual desires.

“Fucking enough!” Booth’s booming authoritative voice got our attention.

“Mannix, you get yourself to the Bar and Grill and get in position.”

“Pres, this shit needs to be settled,” Mannix argued, but Booth shook his head.

“Later, brother. Whatever is going on between the two of you don’t need to be done in front of an audience. Agreed?” Booth said. His intense grey eyes lingered on the club’s stripper, seeing something the rest of us didn’t.

Mannix spared a glance at Rainn, who seemed to be lost in her head. Her face was white as a sheet, and her posture held a look of defeat to it. What the hell? What had Rainn acting like a wounded kitten instead of the sexy kitten she normally was? Nodding his head, Mannix gave the mandatory chin lift.

“Okay then, Darth, you get Mia and Rainn to the bar. You are on tonight as detail, and Tori will know this. Give Creed and Steel a ten-minute start to get into position, then once you drop them off, show your face, do a sweep as normal, and then go black. I will be in the vacant building across the street as planned, which no one knows we own.” As Booth barked out orders, he was arming himself with handguns and what looked like grenades.

Oh, God, this was serious. What kind of trouble were they expecting?

Steel grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine. My heart was beating like crazy, but Steel’s touch was grounding, and I instantly calmed.

“Steel.” Booth invited my man to take over.

Giving my hand a final firm squeeze, Steel leaned down and kissed me with exquisite tenderness, making tears burn in my eyes. As he pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, and he was panting. He needed to focus on something other than me right now if we were to get through this whole.

Pulling up my figurative big-girl panties, I pressed a chaste kiss to his soft lips.

“Go do your thing, stud.” I turned and made my way over to Rainn. It was so hard to walk away from Steel and his warmth, but I had to. He had the lead on this mission—which he’d insisted on, and I agreed with that. The men of the Wounded Souls were protective and capable men. Capable of keeping Rainn and me safe without a doubt, but there was no one I trusted more to keep our little girl and me safe than Steel.