by Reus, Katie
He loved hearing his name on her lips. Anytime, all the time. Hell, he craved it.
Things had definitely shifted between them and he was so damn happy. They might have only been on one date that ended badly, but she was opening up to him, not pushing him away. The fact that she’d accepted his Christmas present meant everything. The walls that had been between them were finally down. He never would have been able to give her the bracelet before. But he clearly saw the way she looked at him now, with more than just lust and hunger.
He continued teasing her, focusing on her clit, giving her all the pressure she needed. He wanted to take the edge off for her, wanted her to find release so she could relax even more. His cock was heavy between his legs but that was too damn bad for him. He’d find release later. Hopefully with her.
She rolled her hips against his face and he groaned against her. God, he loved her taste. Everything about her was addicting.
He slid two fingers inside her, curling them back and stroking against her inner walls as he sucked on her clit.
And that set her off. Taking him by surprise, she jerked against him, sucking in a breath as her climax started to build. So he kept going, kept teasing with his fingers and mouth until she completely fell over the edge into a long, drawn out release.
Finally she gripped his head, her breathing harsh. “Enough.”
“It’s never enough,” he murmured as he crawled up her body, capturing her mouth with his, letting her taste herself.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “You’re insatiable,” she murmured against his mouth.
For her? Yeah, he definitely was. He was never going to get enough of her. Wrapping his own arms around her, he lifted her up. It was definitely time to make use of the giant bed in the other room. And he wanted space for what he had planned for her.
She giggled lightly as he scooped her up and headed in that direction.
In that moment, he was so damn tempted to tell her that he loved her. But…it was too soon. He wasn’t walking away from her, from a relationship, but he wanted to make sure she was ready to hear the words from him before he dropped the L bomb on her. They’d come so far and he wasn’t going to screw this up.
Chapter 18
Logan sat up at the sound of his phone ringing because he recognized the ring tone as Roman’s. Didn’t matter that it was a few hours to sunrise, he was fully awake now as he grabbed the phone.
Grace rolled over, tangled in the sheets, and looked at him sleepily. She mumbled something before closing her eyes so he kissed her on the forehead and snagged his phone.
“Yeah?” he answered softly, striding from the huge bedroom without bothering with clothing.
“I’m on my way up. The cops have a lead on Brister. Found him holed up in Vegas.”
He froze for all of a millisecond, then strode right back toward the bedroom and started tugging on his discarded clothing. “You’re sure?”
“Vadim is definitely sure. They’re going to be making a move on him soon. They got a tip that he’s in a motel nearby.”
“Hurley will lose his shit if we show up.”
“Do you care?”
He snorted. Nope. But… “I’m not leaving Grace unprotected.”
“I know. Even though there are two guys on the door I’m bringing a replacement with me who will stay in the living room. She won’t be alone for a second.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. He trusted his brother without reservation. “See you in a few.”
By now Grace was already sitting up in bed, tucking the sheet neatly around her perfect breasts.
“You should never cover those up,” he murmured as he grabbed a pair of sneakers from the floor.
“No way. Don’t try to distract me. What’s going on?”
“They have a hit on Brister in the city.”
She blinked. “Wait…he’s here? Who found him?”
“The cops. Roman and I are just going to…” He cleared his throat. “We’re going to head down there and make sure they actually bring Brister in. That’s all.” He needed to see with his own eyes that the man was taken in.
She sighed and for a moment looked like she wanted to argue with him. “Just don’t get in trouble with the cops. I’ll post your bail, but I’d rather not.” Her tone was dry, but he could see a hint of worry in her dark eyes.
“I won’t. I swear, I’m not going armed or anything. I just want to make sure he gets arrested. We’ll be sitting across the street.” Maybe.
She nodded and let the sheet fall as she got out of bed.
He groaned and pulled her into a hug, savoring the feel of her soft curves against his body and wishing he could get right back in bed with her. “You’re going to have to get dressed. Roman’s bringing someone with him to keep an eye on you.”
She tightened her grip around him. “I thought there were guards outside.”
“There are, but I want someone in the room as well.”
“I would say it seems like overkill but my feet and leg muscles are still sore from running through the desert, so okay.”
His thoughts exactly. He kissed her briefly and pulled back at the sound of a knock coming from the other room. “Hey, before I leave…Merry Christmas.” Hell, he couldn’t believe it was Christmas Day. Sure didn’t feel like it.
She blinked once then smiled. “Merry Christmas.”
“I’ll be back soon and we’ll celebrate.”
“Okay. Just shut the bedroom door on your way out. I’m going to shower first but I’ll be out later.”
He pulled her into a hug one more time, then sighed at the sound of his brother pounding on the door again.
The security guys had an access key but Roman was probably not using it in case they were in here naked. Sighing, he shut the bedroom door behind him and hurried to the main door. Through the peephole he saw Roman, Vadim and another guy. Logan yanked the door open. It was four in the morning now and he needed coffee.
As soon as he tugged it fully open, he grinned when Roman held out a to-go cup of coffee for him. His twin certainly knew him. His grin faded as his gaze landed on the security guy named Jordan standing there. Jordan was…well, good-looking was an understatement. He’d heard more than one woman, and some men, comment on the guy’s looks. Because yeah, he looked like a model—had apparently been one as a teenager. Bronze skin, bright green eyes, sharp cheekbones that Logan was annoyed as shit he was even noticing. He frowned at the guy.
“Jordan’s going to stay in the room,” Vadim said, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.
He simply nodded and stepped back. “She’s in the bedroom. Don’t bother her in there. She’ll come out when she’s ready and she might go back to sleep, so keep it down.”
“Yeah, I know. Not my first security gig,” Jordan murmured, frowning at Logan in annoyance. “I’ll be out in the living room. Got my phone on me if anyone needs me, and I’ve worked with these guys before,” he said, motioning to the two men standing guard outside.
Logan just grunted, and as they left, Vadim actually snickered.
“What?” Logan growled.
Vadim shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Did you pick that handsome bastard intentionally?” Because Jordan truly was good-looking in a way even Logan could recognize. He wasn’t insecure exactly, but…damn. He was acting like a jackass. He trusted Grace and he liked Jordan.
“That’s what you get for hitting on Angel.”
“Dude,” he said as he pressed the elevator button. “That was years ago. And I wasn’t actually hitting on her anyway. I was just screwing with you.”
Vadim shot him a dark look. “My memory is long and I am not a forgiving man.”
“Come on, children.” Roman’s tone was dry as he ushered both of them into the elevator. “Let’s talk specifics. We’re definitely staying out of the way of the police, but when we get close to the motel, I’m at least texting Hurley to let him know we’re nearby.”
“He’s going to be so pissed that we’re showing up for this.” Not that Logan cared.
Roman simply shrugged as they reached the bottom floor. “It’s not like we’re going to get in the way. We’ll be across the street and that’s not breaking the law.”
“How we found out about this is illegal,” Vadim murmured, grinning in an uncharacteristic way. “If we get arrested, we can just contact Wyatt’s attorney.”
“You’re in an exceptionally good mood this morning,” Logan muttered to Vadim. He sure wasn’t, because he had to leave Grace behind—and think about her spending time with that handsome bastard instead of him.
“Indeed I am.” Vadim didn’t expand, just gave Logan a smug look. Which could have meant any number of things.
Logan sighed. “I’m sorry I messed with you about Angel. I…didn’t understand what it was like to fall for someone back then. I was just having fun, but it was messed up of me.”
Vadim looked surprised as they hurried toward the parking garage. “You’re really into Grace?”
He nodded as they reached Roman’s truck. “She’s it for me.” He wasn’t going to say that he loved her because he hadn’t told her yet. But yeah, he knew how he felt. It was way too soon to tell her, however. She was too damn skittish as it was.
“I almost feel a little bad about specifically requesting Jordan for this detail.” Vadim paused before opening the door. “Almost.”
Rolling his eyes, Logan jumped into the passenger side and slid his seat belt on. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
It took them a solid ten minutes to get to the motel but instead of parking there, where they clearly saw a handful of black-and-whites, Roman parked across the street at a Denny’s with a neon sign proclaiming it was open twenty-four hours.
“Here.” From the backseat Vadim handed Logan a pair of binoculars.
Surprised, he grabbed them. “This is military-grade stuff.” Not that he would expect Vadim to have shit equipment, but still, towing around heavy duty binos was out of the ordinary.
“I like to be prepared.”
Apparently. Holding them up to his eyes, he zoomed in a bit until the focus cleared and he could see six men in SWAT gear approaching a second-story door.
Three men were on either side of the door and using hand signals he recognized even though he’d never been in law enforcement. “They’re heading in now.”
He watched as they moved like a well-oiled machine, the front man kicking the door in, weapon up, and then the others filing inside in a perfect formation.
Less than five minutes later, the lead guy came outside with… “It’s him. It’s Brister. And holy shit, he looks drunk.” Thanks to the clarity of the binoculars, Logan could see the man’s bloodshot eyes as they hauled him out in handcuffs. The officer in tactical gear was smoothly walking him down the stairs, even helping him stay upright as he would have tumbled down the last couple stairs without support.
“Look alive,” his brother murmured.
“What?”
“Put the binoculars down.”
He did as his brother said and winced when he saw Hurley striding across the street toward them, his expression dark. Damn it.
Logan slid the binoculars back to Vadim, then opened the door and got out. To his surprise Roman and Vadim stepped out as well.
“I want to ask how you knew this was going down,” Detective Hurley said as he shot Vadim a dark look. “But I already know the answer. You guys shouldn’t be here. You especially shouldn’t be here.” Now his laser-like focus was on Logan.
“I’m just a patron of fine dining.”
The detective snorted and glanced over his shoulder.
Brister, handcuffed and cursing up a storm, was being led to a waiting black-and-white. Even through his drunken haze he must have somehow recognized Logan across the street because he started shouting wildly.
“You ruined my life!” Or at least that was what it sounded like before he got shoved into the back of the car and the door slammed shut.
“Glad you found him,” Logan said, focusing on Hurley now.
“He’s in a whole lot of trouble. But…we still need a confession. We can’t prove he was behind anything. Not specifically. There’s been no evidence so far and he’s drunk as hell. We’ve got him for a bit until they drag him back to Montana if we can’t nail him for something in Vegas.”
“Check his phone,” Logan said. “There’s a possibility he tracked Grace using some kind of technology.”
“Some kind of technology?”
“That’s just a guess.”
Hurley’s gaze narrowed slightly. “Well you guys won’t have to worry about Grace’s ex-fiancé anymore either.”
Logan lifted his eyebrows.
“He’s back in California and has been for the last thirty-six hours apparently. It looks like he drove instead of flying. I confirmed with his wife that he was there. Now you all need to get out of here. You saw what you came to see. I don’t want anything screwing up this arrest, got it?”
Logan nodded because he did get it. “I’m sorry. Thank you. And Merry Christmas.” He held out a hand and was glad the detective shook it, murmuring back a Merry Christmas to him.
He didn’t want to get on Hurley’s bad side and the guy was being fairly decent, considering they’d all shown up unannounced to a SWAT operation on Christmas Day. It didn’t matter that they’d been across the street because clearly it wasn’t a coincidence that they were here. With binoculars.
“You know anything about Grace’s ex?” Logan asked as soon as they were back in Roman’s truck.
“Yeah,” Vadim said. “I just got a hit on him before we picked you up. He headed back home via a private plane, not a car as Hurley seems to think. He must have hit up a wealthy acquaintance. I also might have hacked his email and sent some very interesting photos to his wife. He’s back home right now but he’s certainly going to be hating life for a while. His wife has got some nice pictures for her divorce attorney if she needs them.”
Logan turned around in surprise. “Nice work.”
Vadim gave him a dark smile. “The guy’s an asshole. And I like Grace. I consider myself doing karma’s work.” He shrugged.
“Grace is somehow under the impression that you are a mushy teddy bear. Her words, not mine.”
To his surprise Vadim actually grinned. “Angel thinks the same thing about me.”
Logan shook his head and turned back around. Vadim was a scary-ass bastard Logan never wanted to be on the bad side of. “How bad were the pictures?”
“They involved him and a couple strippers at once. That’s what he gets for saving the images. Dumbass. Whatever he told his wife he was doing in Vegas, I don’t think it was that.” He let out a short laugh. “I also hacked his wife’s email and she’s already been in contact with a couple lawyers. I think she’ll come out on the other side okay.”
“You really are a softy,” Logan said laughingly.
“Yeah, yeah, just don’t let it get out.”
“Hey, thanks for coming out on Christmas. I really do appreciate it.”
Vadim just shrugged. “Angel is understanding. And I’ll be back in time for presents.”
“You gonna thank me too?” Roman muttered. “Your twin?”
Logan just punched him in the arm and picked up his phone. He quickly texted Grace, telling her about her ex, but not all the details. Just that Kevin was in California, and that Brister had been arrested. They would both be able to sleep easier tonight at least, and soon they’d be able to head home. Talk about a good Christmas present.
Logan just hoped that Hurley was able to get a confession out of Brister. Either way the man should be sent back to Montana soon, because there was a warrant out for his arrest. And Logan wanted the guy out of the state so he wouldn’t be tempted to hunt Brister down and beat the shit out of him. Maybe worse.
Brister had come after him and his woman, had clearly wanted to kill them. Logan w
as feeling protective, possessive and a little murderous right now. Grace was everything to him. He wouldn’t let anyone try to take her from him.
* * *
“You can leave now,” Logan said as he stepped into the living room of the hotel suite to find Grace and Jordan sitting on opposite couches talking pleasantly to each other.
“Everything good?” Jordan asked as he stood, as if at attention.
Grace gave Logan a strange look as he nodded. “Yep, we’re good to go.” He forced himself to not act like a jackass. The guy was just doing his job—protecting Grace. And Logan was grateful. Wasn’t the man’s fault that Logan was feeling possessive and protective. He’d never even experienced this before, never thought he could be this weirdly jealous. “Thank you for coming here on such short notice.”
Jordan shook his hand once, then clapped him on the shoulder. “Of course, no problem. It was nice meeting you, Grace. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”
“You too. Thank you for keeping me company.” She was already standing as well and smiling at the other man as Jordan started to head out.
And Logan had the irrational urge to want to keep all her smiles only for him. He knew it was absolutely ridiculous but he couldn’t squash the thought.
“So what happened?” Grace was in front of him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace as the door shut behind Jordan.
Just like that, his irrational jealousy over absolutely nothing melted away and he wrapped his arms around her, glad to have her close again. “SWAT team busted into his room and arrested him.” He’d told her that Brister had been arrested, but hadn’t given specific details of his takedown. “It was all very quick and professional. They hauled him out in cuffs and that was that.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. I can’t believe he’s really in Vegas. That he really came after us over his own garbage.”
“I don’t have any more details but I can safely say that he is in custody and they’re going to be questioning him. I’m sure once they get what they need he’ll end up being extradited back to Montana. Or maybe they’ll just keep him here and book him if they end up getting priority. I’m really not sure how that works and I don’t actually care. But Detective Hurley told me he’d keep us updated.”
