“Everything okay?” I ask as he unbuttons his dress shirt.
He nods. “I just don’t like this new development. This needs to be handled swiftly or there’ll be consequences.”
I sit up on my knees, my legs folded beneath me. “We’ve got the best of the best which means we’ll do our best. That’s all we can do, love.”
“I know, Fee,” he replies as he takes off his socks. “I’m just edgy.”
I’ve never known Cage to be edgy. Not even when the Manzini’s threatened their worst. I don’t know how to help him with this.
Well, maybe I do.
“Come here, my love,” I beckon, rubbing the spot on the bed where he sleeps.
He smirks and his eyes darken.
“On your front. Let me give you a massage.”
He lets out what can only be described as a grunt, then lays flat as instructed.
I reach over to my bedside table and pick up my lotion.
“You’re going to smell like honeysuckle,” I tease.
“I’ll smell like you. I’ll smell even more like you before the night’s through,” Cage replies.
I rub my thighs together in anticipation. Just a few words—promises to be sure—from my husband has me aroused.
I straddle his buttocks and sit.
“I prefer to be the one on top in this position,” he teases.
“Later.”
“Count on it.”
I warm the lotion in my hands before applying it to his back, spreading it outward, digging my thumbs deep into the muscles, eliciting a groan from between Cage’s weary lips.
I work his shoulders, and downward to his lower back, working out the knots along the way.
“Fee,” he murmurs.
“Cage?”
“That was perfect, but I’ve got other aches now.”
I smirk. “Is that so?”
“Don’t you ache?” he asks. “For me? Having had your hands all over my body for the last thirty minutes?”
“I ache for you when you walk into a room.”
“Your turn. As much as I love your silk, you need to remove it, then lay on your front,” he commands. His tone—it’s that tone. The dominant one. The one he saves for me in the bedroom. The one he knows I crave.
I obey—naturally. When he commands me, it’s instinctual for me to immediately do as he says. We are a fluid pair.
He rubs the lotion between his hands as he straddles my ass, holding his weight on his knees, before lowering those large masculine hands to my back and gently kneading my tired muscles.
I moan. “That feels incredible.”
“Mmm, yes you do.”
His hands glide over my skin like the silk I just removed. Never too hard, even when he finds tension.
“Let’s remove these, shall we,” Cage murmurs when those talented fingers reach my panties.
“Yes, I do think we shall,” I agree, lifting my hips in hopes he won’t rip them. I really like this pair. He rips them anyway, a rare display of impatience from my calm, cool, and controlled man I love.
He touches between my legs, his fingers running through my wet feminine folds, rubbing lightly on my clit, sensitive and ready for more.
“I love how wet you are.”
“Only for you.”
He lowers himself over me, his arms on either side of my shoulders, his mouth at my ear when he whispers, “Are you ready for me, wife?”
“Always. I’m always ready for you.” And I am. Anytime, anywhere. It only takes his presence, a word, a look, and I’m drenched and longing for him.
He moves down then spreads my legs. When I move to go up on my knees, he merely holds his hand on my lower back to stay the motion.
“No. Like this.”
His large frame covers mine, his elbows and knees taking most of his weight. Within seconds he’s pushing his hard cock inside me, slowly, steadily, and I can’t hold back the moan. It feels too good. Every single time he’s inside me, I unravel.
He threads his fingers through mine, raising them above my head, his breath wafting over a sensitive spot on my neck—not by chance either. No. My husband knows everything about my body and he uses it to his advantage. I appreciate it. I admire it. I love it.
He begins to move at a quicker pace, just as I knew he would. He needs this. He needs me. He needs us to help clear out the weight of the world and find some peace.
“Tell me how it feels,” he demands.
“Fabulous. Decadent. So damn good.”
“All of the above,” he agrees, quickening his thrusts just a bit more, giving me just enough room to lift and lower against him.
“Fee,” he breathes into my ear.
I tighten my hold on his fingers.
“Knees,” he commands just before taking our linked hands, putting them beneath my abdomen to help sit me up. I expected just knees, but he aligns our bodies, both of us on our knees, sitting on our feet as we lift and lower together.
“You’re so deep,” I cry out.
“Too much?”
“No, no. Just right.”
The pleasure has spread. He takes our hands and places them over my breasts, tweaking my nipples, as we move even faster.
“Faster,” I murmur. I want more. I need everything.
“Yes. Faster.”
His right hand continues to fondle my breast, while the left reaches down between my legs to rub his index finger over my clit.
“No, please,” I beg. “It’s too much.”
His balls slapping against my clit feel better than his fingers, so he repositions them over my hip, guiding my movements as he thrusts harder and harder.
I lift my arms above my head to wrap them around him behind me.
“I feel you. So hot and wet. You’re so close.”
“Almost…” I mutter as the flutters begin.
The pleasure is right there, within my grasp. I reach for it and he meets me half way, giving me just what I need. With one more hard thrust, the pleasure multiples, stealing my breath. My pussy clenching around him as he slows his thrusts, groaning with each pulse of his orgasm, his cum splashing inside me.
He turns us to our sides, still inside me. I don’t want him to slip free just yet. Afraid he might, I control my breathing as best as I can.
“I’m ovulating,” I blurt out.
He continues with the motion of pushing the hair out of my face. “Are you sure you’re ready? I know you said you were on New Year’s, but we haven’t discussed it.”
“I haven’t been on birth control for two months. I want us to have a baby. I want to have our child growing inside me—a part of you,” I confess softly.
“The best parts of us,” he adds.
I nod, letting a tear fall.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yes. And before you ask, it’s not because you want it. I want it too. With you. I want everything with you, Fee,” he professes, tightening his hold on me.
“I love you so much, Cage. With everything in me.”
“I love you, Fee. With all that I am. Always and forever.”
I smile. “Only ever you.”
Chapter 9
Jesse
“That was one of the best times of my life,” I tell Lucy. She looks at me confused. “Just you and me. No rush. No hurry. No being quiet. Just you and me, fucking, loving, sleeping, holding one another, not needing to say a word because we both just know.”
“Oh, Jesse. I loved this. We need to do this more. We don’t need to reconnect, because we’re always connected. That’s not what this was about for me. I just needed to recharge my batteries. I just needed some you-and-me time. Just us.”
He nods. “Me too.”
We’re both silent as we’re driven to CFD.
Jesse chuckles. “I bet those four gave them a run for their money.”
I laugh. “God, I hope so. Let them see what nearly twenty-four hours of four toddlers is like.”
“We should stop f
or lunch before we head home.” I just want some more time alone with my wife. She’s beautiful. So beautiful.
“We should,” she agrees with a pleased smile.
You did good there, Kingston. I love my wife happy.
I tell the driver to take us to a quiet restaurant we enjoy.
Lucy leans into my side, taking my hand in her small ones.
“Let’s enjoy these last couple hours together.”
“Nothing would make me happier,” she replies with a gleam in her eye. “Because my husband is handsome and sexy and delicious in bed. He’s my rock, my partner in all things, and I love him more than life itself.”
“Cupcake,” I murmur, leaning in to kiss her softly, lingeringly. “Everything you just said?”
She nods.
“All of that and I look forward to spending the next fifty, maybe sixty years with you,” I tell her.
“Oh, Jesse.”
I kiss her all the way to the restaurant, and when we step out, my heart skips a beat when she looks at me with so much love in her eyes. And it’s all for me.
I’m one lucky bastard.
Chapter 10
Cage
“What do you think’s going to happen?” Sera asks as she buttons her jeans.
“I know what I’d like to happen, but it’d be impulsive. That’s not good business,” I answer honestly.
“I want him dead too.”
She knows. She always knows.
“He’ll get there, and we’ll be the ones to put him there. Until then we keep our family safe.”
“And trust no one,” Sera replies.
I nod. “Only Famiglia.”
She hugs me tight. “He won’t get to them. We won’t let them.”
“No, we won’t. But, Fee, when you’re pregnant, you can not be in the line of fire.” Her temper flares in her eyes. “I won’t apologize to you for making this rule as second. Gio will make it if I don’t.”
“I’m aware,” she bites out, turning away. “I wouldn’t ever put our child in harm’s way. You should know me better than that. You should also know how much I hate being told what I can or can not do.”
This woman. So incredible. So invigorating. So frustrating.
“I’m aware,” I bite back, using her tone. “I don’t like having to make rules, but it’s my duty.”
She snorts.
“Putting duty aside, you’re my wife. That would be my child. I trust you. I know you’d never put him or her in the line of danger. I just have to follow the rules, Fee. I’d rather do that in private than when we arrive at the meeting with everyone around us,” I disclose.
She turns and looks at me now. Such a gorgeous face. Such a beautiful soul.
“How long did you stay up worrying about this?” she questions.
“I didn’t. I worked it out before I came to bed.”
She nods then walks to me and wraps her arms around me, resting her head on my chest.
“We’re okay?” I question.
“We’re always okay, Cage.”
I hold her close. “Good. Now we make sure everyone else stays that way too.”
THE END.
Continue reading on for a glimpse into REFRAIN (Rockstar Book 16), Ethan and Lincoln’s story.
Did you enjoy PULSE? Please consider leaving a review.
Join the Facebook group for exclusive content
http://bit.ly/AMfamiglia
Stay up to date on all things Anne Mercier, subscribe to my newsletter
http://eepurl.com/buLAUb
For free stuff, giveaways, and ARC entries, please fill out these forms.
US Residents: https://goo.gl/BJbEJQ
International: https://goo.gl/DPZ9
Acknowledgments
Wow, I have so many people to thank.
Tons of thanks to all of you, the readers, for sticking with me through the rough times.
To the members of the Facebook La Famiglia group - I adore you. Every day you make me smile. I feel like the luckiest person/author ever. I have the best readers and friends EVER!
Super thanks to the bloggers. You are marvelous! You are invaluable. You promote me and my books so selflessly—words will never be enough to thank you.
To the Sparkly Ladies, my beta group: Anita, Jennifer, Joanne, Keisha, Lisa, Loretta, Mandi, Melissa, Nina, Penny, Sophie, and Tianna! –Your feedback and help are priceless. Thank you for being available at odd hours to give me your thoughts and opinions talking me down from the ledge.
Thank you, Mom, for always reminding me why I do what I do.
To Mandi Wathey - My sister from another mister: I adore you. Thank you so much for unwavering support and love.
To Nicole Bailey - You’re more than my editor. You’re my friend. My title brainstormer. My go-to person when I’m feeling unsure. You’re honest and forthright and I couldn’t appreciate that more! I can’t imagine my life without you! I can’t imagine writing a book without you!
To Melissa Mendoza - my amazing personal assistant and friend. For all you do, words will never be enough. I value you and everything you do for me and with me. I value our working relationship and our friendship. I love that we can have both.
I’m positive I’m forgetting people and for that I’m sorry.
Pulse Playlist
a #JUCY and #SAGE short story
SPOTIFY
Safe and Sound – Julia Sheer
Undone – Hailey Reinhart
You – The Pretty Reckless
I Can’t Not Love You – Every Avenue
Anywhere But Here – SafetySuit
Bring On The Rain – Jo Dee Messina
She Is Love – Parachute
Unlike Any Other – Delta Rae
Edge of Desire – John Mayer
Bad Intentions – Niykee Heaton
Sugar – Maroon 5
Never Stop – SafetySuit
Next To Me – Emeli Sandé
Make You Miss Me – Sam Hunt
Loveliest Thing – Jaymes Reunion
I Won’t Let You Go – James Morrison
I Found In You – Sarah Darling
All of Me – Jason Chen, Madilyn Bailey
Kiss Me Slowly – Parachute
Meant To Be – Parachute
Not A Bad Thing – Justin Timberlake
Best I Can – Art of Dying
Easy To Love You – Theory of a Deadman
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Never Be The Same – Red
Your Song – Elton John
Shock The Monkey – Coal Chamber
PREVIEW - Refrain
Rockstar Book 16
As a child, I trusted no one.
Then I found my best friends.
They gave me a family and saved me from a life of abuse that still has me messed up.
Then one of those best friends captured my heart.
Lincoln, tough yet tender, a walking contradiction.
He loves me too—flaws and all.
He’s the most patient man on the earth and understands my PTSD.
What he doesn’t understand is why our being intimate makes me feel “dirty”.
He’s not one of the men who abused me and he’d never hurt me. I know this. I believe it.
Still, the “dirty” creeps in even though I know what we do together is anything but.
He’s here now and he’s going to stay.
It’s time for me to talk to someone professionally.
I need to shed my unhealthy past in order to have a healthy future with the man I love.
If I don’t, I just might lose the best thing that’s ever happened to me—and there’s not enough therapy in the world to get me through that.
Unedited and subject to change.
LINCOLN
“THE RIBS ARE JUST bruised,” Coach tells me. Dave’s been with me from the moment I walked into Charlie’s gym. It was a dive, hidden in the middle of nowhere which is where I liked to be back then. The boxing,
hitting the bag, kicking the bag, beating the hell out of the bag—it was the outlet for my rage after Tera’s attack. I felt helpless. She suffered and there was nothing I could do to help.
Sure, I gave up the band, but that wasn’t a hardship. I wasn’t as into it like the other guys were. For them music is like breathing. For me, I can take it or leave it.
One day Coach aka Dave approached me and asked if I’d ever done any fighting. I’d done some scrapping but nothing like real fighting. He put me in the ring with a sparring partner and it was like the rest of the world disappeared. The anger. The rage. The hurt. All of it was centered to my fist.
In that ring, I worked my shit out.
In that ring, I found a career—one I was damn good at.
That ring and Coach saved my sanity.
I was worried he wouldn’t make the move to LA with me, but he did. He keeps telling me he’s “enjoying those California girls.” I just shake my head. He’s happier here. I am too.
“Next month we fight the Dragon.”
I grunt a reply as I pound the bag, ignoring the twinge in my ribs. Ethan wasn’t too happy when I got up this morning—two days after the fight—to get right back to the gym. He thought I needed to heal more. I told him, “Nothing’s broken. I’m good to go.” He just shook his head, then pressed a frustrated kiss to my lips. He let out an exasperated sound as I walked away chuckling.
“You think you’re ready for him?” Coach asks.
Pulse (Rockstar Book 15): a #JUCY and #SAGE short story Page 3
