Chapter Twenty-One

Becca

 

Hale is on top of me, gripping the headboard to pound harder.

“More,” I beg. “Please don’t stop.”

I fasten my ankles around his lower back and drive him deeper. He doesn’t need my help; he’s doing well enough. Three orgasms in and another one building, I can barely speak, my body swimming with raw desire.

His speed quickens, giving me more, and more, and more.

We smile wickedly. This sex is hot! I should be pulling away from him to taste his rigid staff. But I take the passion he’s giving me and bask in it, enjoying the much-needed distraction and the unending bouts of pleasure.

He flips me onto my knees, positioning me so my hands grip the frame to keep me situated. His feet land on either side of my thighs as he crouches and increases the speed of his thrusts.

I unravel, allowing the tears of bliss to replace the ones that burned permanent scars yesterday.

I won’t attend the funeral. That’s what I told my cousin, Matthew, and his wife when they chased me out to the car. As much as Matthew wasn’t there for me throughout my life, he seemed to care enough about what Daddy said and what it did to me. For the briefest second, I thought he’d try to talk me out of it or maybe even insult me.

Bitch move, right? Not going to your own father’s funeral?

No, sometimes the bitch is the one dying bitter and alone.

They nodded. I drove away, wishing I didn’t sob the entire ride back here.

I drove along the wooded road, with the emergency brake still engaged. I wish I cared enough to release it, but nothing mattered then, except reaching Hale. Like I hoped, he was exactly everything I needed.

He clutched me in his arms, kissed my face, and allowed me to spill every bit of my misery. As much as I cried, those tears I shed for him, when he told me about his time with his brothers, were more important.

No. Hale is more important. He always was.

My core clenches around him, the spasms quivering my thighs painfully delightful.

“Fuck,” Hale curses, filling me.

The warmth and release he delivers makes me moan louder. “Fuck,” he says, again.

He slows his pace gradually. I wait for him to harden again as he strokes in and out. As wonderfully tender as I am from all our love-making these past few hours, I’m not quite sated.

Trin once told me sex can be healing. I never quite understood her until now. And, my, couldn’t I benefit from more healing?

I don’t expect my arms to be as weak as they are. Hale catches me when he pulls out and my grip on the frame loosens abruptly.

He draws me to him, kissing my neck. “You okay?”

I watch the way his large hands cup my breasts, my skin slippery from the perspiration gathered beneath them.

“You’re just what I needed,” I admit quietly.

My head is heavy from stress and maybe from more than I care to admit.

“You’re always what I need,” he whispers.

“Don’t make me cry,” I whisper, biting down on my lip. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”

The tears Hale causes are the good kind of tears, those I need so I don’t feel so vacant and alone. Maybe I should let them fall. But good and bad tears . . . I’ve cried them enough these past few hours. My well should have run dry by now. But there’s that misery, blurring my vision and threatening to split me apart in all those painful ways I don’t want it to.

Hale drags his tongue along my neck. He doesn’t tease my delicate spots, those still tingling and begging for his attention. That’s okay. The kiss that follows is enough and so is the way he touches me.

He lowers us to the mattress, straightening my legs when I can’t seem to find the will or strength.

My fatigue isn’t simply related to the past few hours, but perhaps to all those times with my family that aren’t worth remembering.

Hale props himself up, arranging my hair to the side when I don’t bother pushing it away from my face. Concern furrows his brow. He wraps us in a cool sheet and settles against me. It’s only then he speaks.

“I’m worried about you,” he admits.

“I don’t want you to be.” It’s true. Worrying about me and what my family said isn’t worth it. In time, with therapy and, possibly, medication, I’ll move on. I have to. This dysfunctional relationship with my family has gone on long enough.

He slides his hand down, ensuring that the sheet completely covers my back. “Doesn’t mean I’ll stop,” he replies.

“I know,” I whisper, smiling. “Which is why I never want to know life without you.”

 

 

 

Moonlight trickles in through the blinds, but dawn doesn’t feel too far away. I’m not sure what wakes me. I’m not cold. All I feel is warm and safe.

Hale’s arms cocoon me against him. His skin feels like silk, all the while possessing the strength of granite. I dip my head to press a kiss against his skin.

That’s when I hear it. Footsteps.

I gently shake Hale, a little harder when he doesn’t move. “Hale. Hale,” I whisper harshly.

He rolls on top of me and immediately positions himself between my legs. “Hi, baby,” he murmurs, kissing my ear.

I ignore pangs of need and the shivers his affections cause. “Hale, there’s someone in the house.”

His head lifts. “What?”

Something crashes downstairs. He leaps out of bed, yanking on his jeans. I gather the sheets against my breasts as he pulls out the gun he keeps in his nightstand.

“Stay here,” he orders.

I scoot to the edge of the bed, bunching the bed linens closer.

The door bursts open and Sean steps in, munching on a bowl of cereal. “Hey y’all,” he says.

“What the hell, Sean?” Hale hollers over the last bits of my screams.

Sean is clearly confused. “What?” he asks. “It’s not like we don’t know you’re fucking.”

Hale and I exchange glances as Rosie and Sam swarm in. Their tails wag and they’re panting, evidently excited to see us.

“Dem nice dogs you got here. They didn’t even bark when we came in.” Sean sits on the edge of the bed and takes another spoonful of what might or might not be shredded wheat.

“We?” Hale asks.

“Mason’s here, too.”

“Hey y’all,” Mason’s deep voice booms from the hallway.

“He didn’t want me to come in. Said something about it being rude or in poor taste. I don’t know. Something like that.”

Hale mutters a curse. “Are you out of your mind?” He houses the gun back in its case. “I could have blown your fucking head off.”

I love Sean. I truly do. Those people you would give a kidney to if they needed one? Sean is one of those. But eloquence is not his forte, and there’re just not enough chickens left in that henhouse. Once more, he blinks back at Hale, confused.

“That’s not true,” he insists. “You’re a way better shot than that, Hale. Don’t you ever let anyone tell you different.”

What sounds like a little girl giggling in the hallway has me turning in that direction. Mason. Only Sean can make the big guy laugh like that.

Satisfied that his comments explained away his intrusiveness, Sean resumes his cereal eating duties. “I was real hungry, even after I ate that rotisserie chicken you had in there.” He lifts his bowl. “I hope you don’t mind, but I ate the last bit of your shredded wheat, too. It didn’t suck, but I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t great. I’m not gonna spend the rest of the day in the bathroom, am I?” He takes another bite. “That would really blow. There’s a fight later tonight I want to catch on TV.”

“Are you seriously going to sit there while Becca is lying here naked?” Hale demands.

“What? It’s not like I’ve never seen her naked.”

Hale squares his jaw. “Oh, yeah? And when did that happen?”

“It happened all the time. The five of us used to go skinny dipping back up at the lake.”

“You boys promised you wouldn’t look,” I remind him.

Hale and Sean exchange glances, frowning. “We were young, teenagers, and boys,” Hale says. “Did you really expect us to keep that promise?”

“Yeah, did you really expect that?” Mason calls from the hallway.

“So, then, why are you mad now?” Sean asks Hale. “Besides, she’s all covered up. Aren’t you, Becks?”

“I sure as shit am,” I reply, pulling the thick blanket closer to me.

“Things have changed since we were teens,” Hale points out.

“Because she’s your woman now?”

Hale quiets. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”

I smile, even though my eyes have that familiar sting of tears. I’m Hale Wilder’s woman. It sounds lovely. Sometimes, you need an inappropriate friend like Sean barging in while you’re sleeping naked with your man to show you how lovely it is.

I gather my puppies as they inch closer, loving the sweet scent of their fur as I kiss their heads. “Hi, babies,” I coo.

Hale slides back into bed, placing his arm around me. Sam immediately leaves me to spread out across his lap. “Sean, how did you sneak in here?”

“I didn’t sneak. Trin and Callahan are in Raleigh with her family. Something about her father meeting with the governor about the state of affairs. Or maybe they’re there checking out the local restaurants. You know how Callahan likes to eat. Whatever it was, they were worried and asked us to find you.”

Hale rubs his face. “We forgot to call her,” he says.

“I know,” I reply, immediately feeling bad.

“Yeah,” Sean agrees. “Trin was all beside herself when she couldn’t reach y’all. She gave us the passcode to the alarm. We saw your cars here, so we didn’t panic. We were both hungry from flying and decided to have us some breakfast.”

Sean wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Me and Mason had bacon to start with. So did your dogs. They really love bacon. Especially the little one. I feel a lot better about that. I was starting to think she was some kind of vegetarian when she initially didn’t take it. I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t trust vegetarians. There’s something not right about turning your back on the meat God himself instructed to make into burgers. Hear what I’m saying? That’s blasphemous, as far as I’m concerned.”

Another little girl laugh from the hall. I throw back my head, laughing. Home sweet home, there’s no place like Kiawah.

“Why are you here?” Hale asks.

“Oh, for two reasons.” He holds up his spoon. “One is, we were worried about what was going to happen if you showed up at Becca’s Daddy’s place, so me and Mason hopped on the first flight down here, expecting to kick some ass.”

Hale glances at me, worried, and likely thinking about everything I went through. The pain from yesterday is gone. Will it be there in the coming weeks? Maybe even months? Yes. But with Hale by my side and some work on myself, I’ll be okay eventually.

“Is Trin still breastfeeding?” Sean asks. “I don’t want her stressed. She might dry up or something.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Sean,” I assure him.

“I texted her, anyway,” Mason calls from the hall. “Let her know everyone’s fine.”

“Thank you,” Hale and I say at once.

My head rests against Hale’s shoulder as Rosie cuddles closer.

“Speaking of breast-feeding,” Sean says. “Are you gonna do that?” He points to my chest. “I’m not an expert or anything, but I figured if Trinity could feed both those babies of hers with no problem, you—” He twirls his finger in a figure eight. “—and all that can feed a small village. Are you up to feeding a small village, Becca?”

“I think I owe it to the world to try,” I agree.

“Thank you for your generosity to the world,” Sean commends me.

“Yeah, thanks, Becca,” Mason calls from the hall.

“Sean, sweetheart,” I say. “You were saying something about there being two reasons you came down here?”

“You remember that don’t you, Sean?” Hale says. “Up until you were distracted by something shiny, namely Becca’s breasts?”

Sean sets his cereal bowl aside. “Oh, yeah.” He frowns. “But maybe Mason should tell you.”

Mason pokes his head in. “Is it all right to come in?”

Of course, he asks Hale. “Oh, sure,” Hale says. “Why the hell not?”

Mason eases his way in, carrying a folder in his hand and trying to keep from looking at me directly.

Sean points to the floor. “You see that?” he says. “That’s a thong. Torn off by a sharp set of teeth as near as I can figure.”

“Sean,” Hale warns.

“I think that’s why women don’t get the rashes I do,” Sean says, as if Hale hadn’t spoken. “They let their goods breathe, you hear what I’m saying?”

Mason pinches the bridge of his nose, as he often does in Sean’s presence. As he lets go, he slides the folder across the bed.

Hale lifts it. “What’s this?”

Mason meets him square in the face. “A major step toward ensuring all pending charges are dropped against you.”

Hale turns on the bedside light and flips through the file. I lean in, trying to read as Rosie repositions herself on my lap. “It’s a sworn testimony from my intern, Clark.”

“Oh, my God,” I say, scanning the document.

“He confessed to providing Cooling and Malroy access to your accounts and many others, as well as providing details on how he was placed in your employment, and how he was the one to contact the Feds,” Mason explains. “It’s amazing how the threat of incarceration for aiding and abetting will get a young man to sing.”

“Shit,” Hale says. “What’s next?”

“A good amount of help from the Feds. The head of the agency is trying to save face, and his job, by fastening his jaws over the throats of Cooling and Malroy. He’s secured warrants for their files, accounts, and businesses.”

“That’s amazing news,” I say, turning to Hale and squeezing his arm.

He keeps his attention on Mason. “When will they execute the warrant?”

Mason smirks. “They did so last night and raided both offices. Cooling and few of his partners were caught destroying evidence.”

Hale lets out a whistle.

“Yeah,” Mason says. “They said someone caught wind of what was happening and panicked. About an hour ago, the Feds caught Malroy and his wife trying to flee to Dubai.”

“Damn,” Hale says.

“It’s not official, but I’ve spoken to enough people at the bureau to know you’re off the hook,” Mason says. “The Feds still have to go through the evidence from Cooling’s and Malroy’s offices, but it looks good for you and really bad for them.”

Hale flips through the folder and through stacks of what appear to be letters. “What’s all this?”

“Becca wasn’t the only one looking out for your character,” Mason says. “Those are signed statements of support from your clients, praising you for what you did for them and how you always gave it to them straight.” He points to the hand-written letter on top. “I think you’ll find the one from Mrs. Valez especially touching.”

I cover my mouth. Hale doesn’t speak, holding the letter delicately in his hands. “Thank you,” he says.

“My pleasure,” Mason replies. “Come on, Sean. Momma’s expecting us at her place.” He looks at us. “We’re not going back to New York until tomorrow. How about dinner later? Trin and Callahan are promising to be back. They want us over at Landon’s. He and his fiancée have been so busy planning their wedding, they’re missing their family and friends.”

“Yeah,” Hale says, taking in my grin. “It’ll be nice to see all of y’all.”

They leave, Sean still munching on his cereal as they quietly close the door behind them. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell Hale, kissing his cheek.

He meets my gaze. “Becca, my love, it has to be.”