Timber (Hades Book 4)

by Tate James

  “Fuck,” I breathed in response, feeling him push deeper, and I groaned at how fucking good it felt. My arms looped around his neck, and his lips found my mouth as he started moving, pumping into me slowly and lazily while I shuddered in his grip.

  A cool breeze touched my legs as the shower door opened again and a half-asleep Cass lumbered his way into the shower cubicle.

  “Room in here for three?” he asked, a wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

  Lucas grinned against my lips, shifting his grip on my ass and turning us around so his back was to the wall and mine was to Cass.

  “There is now,” Lucas replied, holding me tighter and planting his shoulders against the tiles as he pumped his hips. My knees were against the wall, my ankles crossed as I held on tight to Lucas, but when Cass ran a wet hand down my spine, I groaned and leaned back into him.

  He kissed my neck, his beard tickling my skin and sending delicious shivers all through me. “I could get used to showers like this,” he murmured against my throat, his hard cock against my ass. “Hold onto my neck, Red.”

  Doing as I was told, I raised my good arm to loop around Cass’s neck behind me, gasping as he pushed fully inside with one forceful thrust. My nails dug into his flesh, probably drawing blood as I tensed up, quivering, then relaxed with a long moan.

  “Saint...” I breathed, clinging to both of them as they started to move with shallow thrusts, their motions synced up beautifully. “Did you lube up your dick before getting in the shower?”

  He huffed a laugh, his teeth scraping over my neck. “Damn right, I did. Always be prepared, Red.”

  I turned my head, seeking his lips, and moaned when he fucked my ass a little harder while we kissed. Then I turned back to kiss Lucas. It was heavenly, switching back and forth between them as they fucked me senseless and the shower continued to run.

  When I came, Lucas swallowed my screams with his kisses, then his own movements became rough and deep, his hips jerking and his body tensing as he finished.

  Cass wasn’t quite done, though, giving a gruff order for Lucas to stay put as he fucked me harder. His fingers slipped down between Lucas and I and pinched my clit hard, which instantly forced another sharp, fast orgasm to ripple through me as he came.

  Lucas gasped as my pussy clenched tight around him, then he found my lips and kissed me breathless as Cass eased away to grab the soap.

  By the time I made it downstairs, my cheeks were flushed and my lips puffy. Just in case my sister was under any illusions about what had taken me so damn long, Cass and Lucas followed closely behind me with freshly fucked grins painting their faces.

  “Seriously?” Seph asked, deadpan as she folded her arms and eyed me. “You kept me waiting while you had another round with both of them?”

  I shrugged. “I regret nothing.” I made my way into the kitchen and pinned Zed to the counter, kissing him thoroughly. Then I promised I’d call him later and headed out to the garage with Seph, who muttered under her breath behind me.

  “I already ate, by the way,” she told me when we climbed into the Porsche. “Zed was cooking waffles, and it seemed rude to let them go cold while you were upstairs getting your brains screwed out.”

  I chuckled, not even slightly embarrassed. “How’d you get over here?” Because I hadn’t seen any of Rex’s boys lurking around Zed’s house.

  “Rex dropped me off,” she replied. “He was heading over to Demi’s office for something or other. I’m pretty sure he’s still a little bit in love with her, by the way.”

  I scoffed. “He’s barking up the wrong tree there. Demi would never leave Stacey.”

  Seph grinned. “I know that. But it’s kinda funny to watch him try. Whoa! What the fuck is that?”

  Her sharp tone made me do a double take before I realized what she was gawking at in shock and disbelief.

  “Oh. Nothing. Just… a gift.” Oh yeah, real believable, Hades. Nice work.

  “Bullshit!” Seph exclaimed. “That’s a fucking engagement ring! Who the fuck asked you to marry them, Dare? Tell me!”

  I rolled my eyes. “No one.” Technically true. “It was just part of a plan. I’m not actually engaged.”

  Her smile was coy. “Sure, you’re not.” There was a long pause, then she nodded. “It was totally Zed. That has his style all over it. Anyway, what did you want to do today?”

  I glanced at her, glad she was dropping the engagement ring topic—sort of—and pleased to see her so... content. She seemed like she’d grown up so much in just two months, it was crazy.

  “I have a friend I want to visit,” I told her, “if you’re cool to come with? She just got out of hospital not long ago. I’ve been meaning to stop by, but...” I trailed off with a shrug.

  “But you’ve been too busy getting fucked six ways to Sunday?” Seph teased. “I’m so freaking glad I’m not living with you anymore. I bet you’re even more of a sex addict than MK.”

  I laughed but didn’t deny it. In fairness, this week I was just making up for lost time.

  “Well, anyway,” I moved on, ignoring her comment, “do you mind?”

  Seph shrugged. “Fine by me. I’m just glad to be away from all the testosterone at the garage today. I swear, ever since you took Shelby into the Timberwolves before Ford and Linc, it’s been nothing but fights and arguments between them. Rex has them all deep cleaning the garage with toothbrushes today, Micah and Nix, too.”

  I remembered meeting Micah the last time I’d picked Seph up, and Nix must be the other friend of the boys that Rex had unofficially adopted.

  Tapping my fingernails on the steering wheel, I shrugged. “Shelby earned his place. I don’t run a fucking charity. If the other boys want a Timberwolf tattoo so damn bad, they’d better prove it.”

  Seph wrinkled her nose. “I’ll be sure not to pass that advice along, thanks.”

  There was an edge to her tone that suggested she was less than amused. Almost resentful? I gave her a long look from the corner of my eye, frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  She huffed a sigh and ruffled her fingers through her hair in a movement identical to my own frustrated gesture. “Nothing,” she muttered. “Forget it. Who’s this friend we’re visiting again? I didn’t think you had any friends besides Zed.”

  That was a fair assessment. “Maxine,” I replied. “She’s—she was—a dancer at Club 22.”

  Seph frowned thoughtfully, then nodded. “I remember; she was your Friday-night main attraction, right? Crazy awesome pole dancer?”

  I nodded. “That’s her. She’s also the one who got beaten nearly to death with a stripper shoe and who Zed’s bitch mother tried to frame me for attempted murder on.”

  Seph’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Whoa. Wait. Zed’s mom? I thought she was dead!”

  I sighed. “We all did. I guess she is, in a way.” I glanced at Seph, debating if she was really ready for all this info. But she wasn’t that sweet, innocent, bratty thirteen-year-old any more. I think in some ways I had never stopped seeing her like that, but she was almost nineteen now. She was grown up; I just hadn’t acknowledged it.

  “Turns out Zed’s mom was undercover FBI the whole time she was with his dad. When her cover got blown, she shot Zed’s dad and ran back to her old life.” Just saying it out loud made me wish I’d killed Veronica when I’d seen her at Anarchy. Or whatever her fucking name was now.

  “Whoa,” Seph breathed. “That’s... wow. And she just never contacted her son? What kind of—”

  I cut her off with a bitter laugh. Fuck it, if I was going to treat my sister as an adult, to trust her, then she might as well know the rest. “Oh, she got in contact. Five and a half years ago, when Zed was in hospital after the Timberwolf massacre, she manipulated him into becoming some kind of pseudo-agent, undercover for the FBI.”

  Seph’s jaw dropped, and she stared at me in horror. “What?” She shrieked after a moment. “Zed’s FBI? No freaking way. Nuh-uh. No way.”

 
I shrugged. “He’s not now. I doubt he was ever officially on the books. They just made him think he was to force him into delivering intel and shit. I dunno, it was a whole fucking thing that we needed to work through together.”

  She made a sound of shock. “I feel like my head just exploded. How did you not fucking kill him when you found out?”

  I grimaced. “Like I said, it was a whole... thing.”

  She sat with that information for several minutes of silence as I drove us towards Maxine’s house. I didn’t try to make excuses for Zed, nor did I elaborate on the intricacies of our relationship and forgiveness. I trusted that she could see we were in a good place now and understand that it was nothing more than a speed bump.

  “Well...” she finally muttered, exhaling heavily. “I’m glad he’s not dead.”

  My brows hitched. “You are?”

  She nodded. “I know you guys only got together really recently, but in my head you’ve been a couple since forever. He’s family, you know? I’ve always known how much he loved you. So... whatever he did with the FBI, I don’t think he ever would have done it to hurt you.”

  I was speechless for a moment, my eyes hot with something dangerously close to tears.

  “Thanks, Seph,” I whispered eventually. I hadn’t known how much her understanding meant to me, not really, until she gave it. But it’d struck something deep inside me, shifted that tiny remaining piece of resentment I was holding toward Zed over the whole FBI thing. I hadn’t even known I was still hurting over it, but all I’d needed to do was talk to my sister.

  She smiled at me, a bit smug. “I’m smarter than you give me credit for, Dare.”

  I hated to admit it, but she might be right about that.

  “So, how is the pretty, purple Corvette coming along?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Seph rolled her eyes dramatically. “It’s lilac, Dare. And she’s a dream. I’m going to be so sad when she’s finished and her owner picks her up.”

  I smiled to myself as she launched into an explanation of the work she and Rex were doing on the Corvette, totally impassioned with her topic and with no clue she was the new owner. I never would have guessed that my spoiled, bratty sister would find her calling in fixing cars. Never. But there was no denying the way she lit up while telling me about the inner workings of an engine.

  “That’s great, Seph,” I murmured when she paused for a breath. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

  She smiled brightly back at me. “I am.” Then she tipped her head to the side, her gaze curious. “Aren’t you?”

  What a complicated question that was. I shook my head. “No. Not yet. But I will be soon.”

  Really fucking soon... I hope.

  50

  To my intense relief, Maxine didn’t slam the door in my face when we showed up on her doorstep. Quite the opposite, she almost knocked me over by hugging me and dropping her crutches. Once I got her steady once more, she ushered Seph and I inside and tried to make us coffee.

  She’d refused to go home to her parents, citing that she was twenty-two and a grown-ass adult. Her bruises had all gone, and she looked shockingly alive considering that the last time I’d seen her she was one step from dead.

  I tried to apologize to her—without me, she never would have been targeted—but she waved it off, joking that it was technically Zed’s fault, seeing as it was his exes being killed. Instead, she just wanted to catch up. As friends. It was... weird. In a good way, I guess?

  When we left her several hours later, Seph teased me that I was turning into a human. But she kind of had a point.

  I drove her back to Rex’s garage but came inside with her instead of dropping her at the curb. Call me paranoid, but I wasn’t leaving my sister unprotected for even a moment while Chase was still free.

  We found Rex’s boys in their living room, fighting over game controllers, and my mood went ice-cold as I noticed their reaction to Seph joining their mix. She didn’t notice, not one freaking bit, but their fighting paused as she entered the room and every single one of them kept her in their line of sight as she made her way to one of the couches and flopped down.

  “Gimme that,” she demanded of one of the boys, the one I’d threatened outside Club 22 when I first got back to town. Lincoln.

  He handed over his game controller without the slightest hesitation, and I cleared my throat loudly. It wasn’t often that my presence went unnoticed in a room, and I didn’t like it. Not because my ego was so huge I couldn’t handle being overlooked, but because they were that focused on my little sister. Crazy as it sounded, I didn’t want Seph turning into me. I didn’t want her falling for a gangster... or five.

  “Oh, shit,” Micah sputtered, choking on the corn chip he’d just stuffed in his mouth before he spotted me.

  “Oh yeah,” Seph drawled, “my sister wanted to make sure you guys were home before she left me here.” She said it so casually, but the wicked glint in her eye said she knew exactly how badly I’d just spooked them.

  A couple of the boys started talking over each other, tripping on their words, and I leveled a hard look at Shelby. I didn’t say anything, just tipped my head to tell him to follow me back outside.

  “Bye, Dare!” Seph yelled as I left the room. “Loooooove you!” She said it sarcastically enough that I didn’t feel bad ignoring her as I headed back toward the door to outside. Shelby hustled to catch up with me and was on my heels as I pushed the door open.

  “I’m sure I don’t need to have this chat with you, Shelby,” I murmured, my voice like quiet death, “but my sister is off-limits. To all five of you.”

  His eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

  “I have a job coming up that I could use you for. Your dad tells me a couple of you are pretty good drivers?” I changed the subject without even a hit of emotion, and I could see him reeling to catch up.

  He nodded quickly, though. “Yes, ma—uh, sir. Yes, sir. All of us, really, but Linc and Nix are the best.”

  I arched one brow, surprised at his honesty in not claiming to be the best himself. “I see. I’m still working out the finer details, but clear your nighttime schedule for the next few nights. Dallas will be in touch with more info later today.” I pursed my lips, thinking. “Which of you is the worst driver?”

  Shelby tilted his head to the side, considering the question. “On a racetrack or urban driving?”

  “Urban,” I replied.

  He nodded. “Ford. He’d kill me if he ever heard me say it, and he excels on a drag track. But with city distractions? He’d lose.”

  I bit back a laugh because Ford struck me as the top dog in their crew. His ego wouldn’t like this blow. “Good. Leave him out of it, then. He can stay on Seph detail.”

  Shelby barked a sharp laugh before clapping a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, sir. Um, yes. Of course. Whatever you want.”

  I stifled an eye roll. “I want you to stop picturing my little sister naked. Reckon you can fucking handle that, Shelby?” His face paled and he started to nod, but I held up a hand. “Don’t even think about lying to me, kid. Just keep your dick in your pants and make sure your brothers get the same message. Or I’ll cut them off.”

  With a pointed look at his pants, I turned and headed for my car. “Keep an eye on your phone, Shelby. This job has plenty of room to impress me.”

  I felt like a total asshole as I drove away. Seph clearly didn’t want these boys involved in the Timberwolves... and I’d just created a golden opportunity for more of them to earn a place. It was like I couldn’t fucking help myself. Two steps forward, one step back.

  My phone rang when I was halfway home, and I answered it without checking the caller ID, expecting Dallas. So I slammed my foot on the brake a little harder than necessary when a different voice spoke my name.

  “Leon,” I sighed. “To what do I owe this displeasure?”

  “You have a lot of animosity for someone on the Guild client list, Hades,” he
commented. “What could have caused that, I wonder? I’m sure you didn’t keep digging into Guild files after I told you to stop.”

  I gave a low chuckle. We both knew I’d never had any intention of following that order. “I take it you want to arrange this conversation with Lucas?”

  “I do,” he replied. “I’ll be back in Shadow Grove this evening. You own that big old amusement park with the clown-face entrance, don’t you?”

  “Anarchy,” I told him. “You know I do.”

  “Good. Let’s meet there at midnight. The drama of that place appeals to me.”

  He ended the call before I could accept or decline, and I gave a long sigh. Fucking Guild were creepy bastards on the best of days, no matter how normal they tried to appear. Now he wanted to meet at midnight in my old amusement park? I shuddered.

  I hadn’t even told Lucas—or anyone—about my first discussion with Leon, either. It’d completely slipped my mind until now, and I already knew it’d get pushback from Cass and Zed. But I’d negotiated for me to be present with Lucas, not all four of us. And I wasn’t going to push Leon any further.

  Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I continued home. Maybe I’d take the easy way out... tell them in the middle of sex when they weren’t paying attention. That certainly seemed like my best option to avoid arguments. Or better yet, maybe it would cause an argument that would then require angry argument sex. So many good options.

  By the time I got home and headed inside, I still hadn’t come up with anything better.

  “Hey you,” Zed greeted me with a warm smile when I found him in the gym with Cass. They both wore fight gloves and no shirt, and I instantly forgot what I needed to tell them. “How was lunch with Seph?”

  “Ummm...” Goddamn, they were sweaty, like they’d been sparring together for a while already. Shouldn’t they both have work to do? Not that I was complaining... Maybe I could just curl up in the corner and watch them...