by Becca Van
“I’ll get you some coffee, beautiful,” Stedman volunteered. He gave her a sexy wink and a grin.
There was definitely something going on, because Stedman never ever flirted. He was always so demanding and commanding. Alicia put her hands onto the mattress and was about to push herself back so she was propped up against the headboard with a pillow at her back. But before she could make her next move, Bronsin and Ward were lifting her up.
“Thank you,” she sighed and lifted her arm to push her hair back from her face. She caught a whiff of her own armpit and cringed. “God, I need a shower. What time is it?”
“1200 hours,” Ward answered and sat down beside her, his thigh touching hers. She went to push her hair back on the other side, but Bronsin grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand down.
“Don’t touch your stitches, darlin’. You don’t want to tear them open.”
Alicia looked at her hand and realized she was looking at the wrong one. She lifted her other hand and frowned. The bandage had been removed and the threads were gone. Slowly lowering her hand, she lifted her eyes to Bronsin and then Ward. Just as she opened her mouth to ask questions, Stedman returned with her coffee, and Wolf was behind him.
“Ooh, coffee. Please? Thanks.”
Alicia’s eyes rolled as she gulped the first mouthful of coffee. She burnt the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t care. She was more cautious with her next sip, and before she could take another the mug was removed from her hand.
“Hey, I wasn’t finished with that.” She scowled at Ward as he moved away from her.
She was about to jump out of bed and go after him, but Bronsin placed a hand on her other shoulder before she’d even finished that thought.
“Hi, Alicia, how are you feeling?” Wolf asked.
“I have a bit of a headache, but I feel fine.”
“How’s your stomach?”
“Now that you mention it, it feels kind of sore, like I’ve strained the muscles doing too many crunches. And I was having these really weird dreams. I felt like I was in some sort of fog. My head was hurting so bad, I kept throwing up. People kept shaking me awake and asking stupid questions.” Alicia paused to take a breath. Her eyes had been on Ward and the mug of coffee, but she became aware of the silence and stillness in the room.
Everyone was frowning at her. Tentatively she lifted her hand to her left temple and lightly touched a fingertip to her skin.
“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” she asked, looking at Wolf.
“No, honey, it wasn’t a dream.”
“How long was I out of it?”
“Three days. If you hadn’t woken today, I was going to have you flown out to a hospital.”
“Shit.” She leaned back against the pillow. Bronsin wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. “What the hell happened to my head, and how come you’re still in bed?”
“We’ll explain it all to you later, darlin’. Let Wolf give you the once-over, and then after you’ve had a bath, we can fill you in.”
She let Wolf check her over. He took her blood pressure and temperature, and then he flashed a small, pen-like light in her eyes. She squinted but stopped herself from flinching away as the light made the ache in her head intensify slightly.
“I’ll give you some painkillers for your headache,” Wolf said, “but don’t take them until you have eaten something light.”
“Thanks, Wolf. How long before these stitches come out?”
“Another three or four days.”
“Can I wash my hair? I stink and I need a shower.”
“You can, but you’ll have to promise not to get my threads wet.”
“We’ll make sure of it,” Ward answered for her and moved closer as Wolf walked away.
“I’ll check on you again later, Alicia.”
Wolf left, and the room went quiet once more. Ward sat down next to her and handed her the mug.
“Okay, start filling me in,” she demanded, looking to Stedman and Ward as she leaned against Bronsin.
Bronsin was the one to begin, Ward interjected occasionally, and Stedman finished up.
“So we’re all crammed into the main house until further notice? Poor Brooke must be going stir-crazy.”
“No, darlin’, we are the only others besides Martha and May staying in the main house,” Bronsin said.
“Why?” Alicia finished her coffee, and Ward took the empty mug from her, placing it on the side table.
“Because we needed you close to Wolf. He’s been here every four hours to check on you for the last three and a half days and nights.”
“No wonder he looked so tired. I hope he hasn’t been doing shifts with the rest of you while he looked after me, too.”
“No, all his time has been looking after you and Brooke.”
“What’s wrong with Brooke?”
“She got a bit dehydrated from throwing up so much.”
“Is she all right now?”
“Yes, she’s fine. Wolf got her to drink some sort of herbal tea, and that seems to have settled her morning sickness down.”
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
“How are you really feeling, baby?”
She hesitated. If they thought she was feeling fine, they’d be more likely to tell her what was going on. “I’m…”
Stedman cut her off. She must have waited too long before answering. “Don’t you lie to me, Alicia When I ask you something I expect you to answer truthfully.”
“Let me put it this way,” she started. “I feel three hundred percent better than I did, but I still feel like crap.”
Stedman nudged Ward up the bed and took his place. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “You scared ten years off my life, baby. You were so sick, we were afraid every time we woke you up. You were so out of it you didn’t even know who we were.”
“I’m sorry.” Her response was muffled, as she had buried her forehead into his chest. She sniffed and clung to him tighter. Tears leaked out from beneath her eyelids, and she didn’t want to let go. It just felt right to be in the arms of one of her men. She belonged here and didn’t ever want to leave. Everyone on the stud pitched in and helped out where needed, and her three men had taken such good care of her while she’d been ill. Wolf had also lost sleep tending to her. She was part of a big family, and the thought of losing that closeness tore her apart. Alicia had no idea why she felt so emotional and concentrated on pushing her tears and thoughts aside. She succeeded in the end and surreptitiously wiped her damp cheeks on Stedman’s sweater.
“Hey, where’s my hug?” Ward asked as he placed his chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck.
She lifted her head when Stedman drew back and kissed his cheek before she turned to Ward. He snagged her waist and pulled her back up against his front. She felt secure with his big body wrapped around hers and his arms holding her.
“Can I have more coffee?”
“After I help you in the shower.” Ward stood up, taking her with him, and headed to the adjoining bathroom.
“How long do we have to stay here?”
“I think it’s best if we stay one more night, honey. Wolf wants to make sure you’re well on the road to recovery before you leave.”
“Okay.”
Ward helped her shower and dress. By the time they were done, Alicia was ready to crawl back into bed. She felt utterly exhausted, which was crazy since she had just spent the last three and a half days in bed. She knew that head injuries tended to make the recipient tired, but she wasn’t about to let a little headache and weariness stop her from leaving the room.
Stedman and Bronsin were gone by the time she was ready for another cup of coffee, so she took the hand Ward proffered and let him lead her to her precious coffee. Everyone expressed their concern over her health, but when she assured them she was fine, they left her to eat her meal in peace.
It frightened her to hear the men had been followed by tracking devices t
hat also transmitted everything they said. She was also concerned by the suggestion that someone in their own organization had betrayed them, especially since they’d had no luck in finding out whom that might be.
“I’ve called ten times,” Coulter said wearily. “I keep getting stuck with this one assistant. He doesn’t seem to know jack shit about anything.”
Codi Healy trooped in from outside. “The perimeter’s secure,” he said. “Didn’t see any prints or other signs of the intruder, either.”
“What intruder?” Alicia blurted.
All the men looked to her. A few smiled as she blushed. She hadn’t meant to ask that so loudly, but Codi’s words had jogged a strange, dim memory. “Is there someone here who shouldn’t be?”
Ward glanced at Bronsin before answering, “We’re not sure, darlin’.”
“I thought I saw someone in the barn. Or did I?” She rubbed her head, avoiding the stitches. “I thought I’d dreamt it.”
“I peeked into your head, honey.” Bronsin winced apologetically. “You were pretty out of it by then. You did see someone.”
“Do you remember who it was, sugar?” Stedman asked.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I did. I wish I could help you all instead of just getting injured all the time.”
Ward rubbed her back soothingly. “This wasn’t your fault, baby.”
“In any case,” Bronsin said grimly, “I don’t think we’re going to have to wait much longer before we find out who it is. Sooner or later they’ll reveal themselves.”
A shiver of apprehension ran the length of her spine and goose bumps rose upon her flesh. She’d come to think of the stud as her home and someplace safe and welcoming.
It wasn’t safe anymore.
Chapter Eleven
Stedman woke to find his hands on Alicia’s delectable little body. One cupped her sweet little breast and the other was just inching beneath her panties. Then consciousness kicked in. Stedman practically leapt out of bed, feeling that if he were beside his woman for another second, he’d lose every last bit of restraint.
Alicia, still snug beneath the covers, had only rolled closer to Bronsin, who slept on her other side.
A cold shower failed to kill his desire for her, but that was typical of the way this week had gone. Alicia had recovered beautifully from her head injury over the past six days. The color had come back into her cheeks, and she seemed, if anything, livelier and more desirable than ever.
She had been giving them sultry looks all week long, but until Wolf removed the stitches from her head, Alicia was off limits. Even though he and his brothers had been sleeping with her every single night, not one of them had made a move to touch her, at least, not consciously. His cock and balls hadn’t quit aching since, and he was so close to losing his patience and control, he felt like he was going to explode.
A few hours later, Stedman stretched and thought about how he’d woken up with Alicia. Thank God she had decided to spend the day with Brooke and Janie. He knew if she had hung around the house, he would have slung her over his shoulder and spent the entire day buried deep in her sexy body.
Stedman groaned when his cock jerked against the zipper of his jeans. He ran a hand down his face. Nothing was going to get done so long as he was distracted. All he was accomplishing here in the office was shuffling papers around.
The sound of the shower running reached his ears, and he knew Ward was up. He’d pulled night duty and slept most of the day while Bronsin had escorted Alicia to the main house. None of them were heavy sleepers at the best of times, but having to sleep during daylight after doing night shifts was really screwing with their internal clocks.
Pushing away from his desk, he rose to his feet and stomped toward the kitchen. Usually he didn’t give in to frustration, but the watch schedule and a bad case of blue balls were finally getting to him.
The back door swished open, and Alicia breezed into the kitchen, a satisfied grin on her face. He looked over the top of her head to Bronsin. His brother had a gleam in his eye, and Stedman frowned at him as he tried to work out what was going on. When she brushed her hair back from her face and the side of her head, he saw that her stitches had been removed.
“Come here, baby,” he demanded.
Alicia grinned and then tilted her head when he reached for her hair. Pushing the silky, soft strands back from the side of her head, he studied the thin pink scar surrounded by the new growth of her hair.
“I thought Wolf wasn’t taking them out until tomorrow.”
“He wasn’t going to, but when he caught me reaching up to scratch, he pulled my hand away and then looked over the wound. He said I was completely healed and took the sutures out there and then.”
“He did a good job.” Stedman took a slow, deep, steadying breath and knew he had made a mistake as her enticing feminine scent wrapped around him. “When the pinkness fades, you won’t have much of a scar.”
“I don’t care if I do have a scar. My hair will hide most of it, and I am not so vain that a little mark will bother me.”
“You don’t have a vain bone in your entire little body.” He closed his eyes and let her hair trail through his fingers. Just as he was about to step back, small fingers connected with his cheek.
“What’s wrong, Stedman? Are you in pain?”
Stedman opened his eyes and his gaze connected with hers. A frown marred her forehead between her arched eyebrows. Reaching up, he took her hand in his. He was going to lower and release her delicate fingers, but he just couldn’t find the strength to let her go.
“Alicia, I ache so fucking damn much,” he responded and let her see the fire in his eyes. She took a step back, and he released her hand. He didn’t want to frighten her with his intensity, so he turned his back on her and headed for the coffeepot.
“Stedman.” Alicia spoke his name with such longing that he turned back. The sight of her returning his hungry look turned the simmering flames in his blood to a raging inferno.
He took a step toward her and then another and another. Cupping her warm cheek in his hand nearly brought him to his knees. Movement across the room drew his eyes, and he flicked Ward a glance as he entered the room and then looked back at Alicia.
“Baby.” Stedman drew in a ragged breath and released it slowly. “If you know what’s good for you, you will run to your room and lock yourself in.”
“Why would I do that?” Her voice trembled and she licked her lips, leaving a sheen of moisture on the pink bow of her mouth. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I hope you do, baby,” Stedman rumbled in a deep voice. “Because I am at the end of my tether.”
“You’ve all given me more than enough time to make up my mind. And my mind is made up. I want you.” She breathed out and then turned her head, looking over first one shoulder at Bronsin and then the other at Ward. She turned back to Stedman. “I have wanted you all for so long.”
“Be very sure about what you’re asking, Alicia. Once we start there is no turning back.” He gazed into her eyes intently. “Do you understand, baby? You will be ours, and we won’t ever let you go.”
“I don’t want you to let me go.”
Stedman moved so fast that he barely gave her time to react. Her little squeak of surprise caught in her throat as he scooped her up into his arms. Ward moved aside, and he carried her back down the hall toward her room. His brothers came up on either side of the bed as he lowered Alicia down onto the mattress. She lay on top of the covers, propping herself up on her elbows and staring at him. Hunger like he’d never known made his hands tremble, and he leaned over her, resting his weight on his palms and caging her with his body and limbs.
“Last chance,” he whispered, moving in closer.
Alicia surprised him yet again. Why had he ever thought she was shy and introverted? She was nothing of the sort. She lowered herself onto the bed and began to undo the zipper on her sweatshirt. Not once did she look away from him, even as she tried to
struggle out of the hooded jacket.
Stedman swooped in and covered her mouth with his. He was so voracious that he wanted everything with her all at once. Pushing between her lips and teeth, he swept the interior of her mouth with his tongue. She tasted damn good, and he couldn’t get enough of her. He tasted everything she had to give and then some, but it still wasn’t enough.
Pushing back on his hands until he was once more sitting on his haunches, he began to remove her clothes. With each piece of material, more and more of her delightfully sexy little body was revealed. His breath caught in his throat when she was lying before him in only bra and panties. He took in every dip and curve, the gentle rounding of her hips and the blue lace lovingly cupping her luscious globes.
As he looked his fill, he slipped the buttons of his shirt free and pulled it off. He then reached for the fastenings on his jeans and pushed the denim over his hips. Alicia perused his body hungrily from head to toe and back again. His cock jerked and his balls churned until he was in danger of shooting off way too early.
Stedman returned to her and grasped her about the ribs. The skin beneath his hands was warm and soft and silky. He couldn’t wait to taste more of her. Dipping his head, he once more touched her lips with his. When he licked over her lips, she sighed and opened for him. He tasted her again and again, the hunger he had for her making his limbs shake, but still it was nowhere near enough.
With dexterity he no longer felt, Stedman flicked the clasp of her bra and moved one hand slowly from her rib cage, giving her time to protest. When she didn’t, he caressed down to her hip. Smoothing his hand over her flat belly, he felt her muscles jump and he groaned into her mouth. Withdrawing his mouth from hers, he waited until she was looking at him with passion-glazed eyes.
“Easy, baby. I’ll give you what you need.”
“I need more,” she gasped.
“So do I,” he growled.
Glancing at Ward and Bronsin, he indicated they should join in. His brothers reached for the straps of her bra and pulled them down her shoulders and off over her hands. Stedman shifted away slightly, hooked his thumbs into the elastic of her panties, and pulled them over her hips and off.
