My willy throbs, wanting to enter her, fill her, make everything right again.
“Did anyone ah… force sex on you, sweetheart?” It’s the toughest question I’ve ever had to ask and one I may not want the answer to.
Whatever, I will see her through it.
“Seriously? Look at me.” She chuckles, makes light of it, and I release the breath I was holding.
Then, with her small hand gripping my knee, I drive to the parking lot’s exit where an Army truck blocks the way.
A serious-faced guy in a suit and a comm unit knocks on my window and I roll it down.
“Secret Service.” He checks my ID and says a few words into the comm.
“Thank you. You’re good to go.” He waves to the truck driver. “Let them pass.”
Once we’re clear of the parking lot, I reach across the cup holder, and grab her hand. I can’t stop touching her.
What if I’m dreaming and when I wake, she’ll be gone?
“So, I guess you found my message?” She brings my hand to her lips and softly kisses my knuckles.
“Yeah luv. You were so brave but you took an awful chance.” I won’t scold her, even though I should. What if the kidnappers had seen the lettering under the toilet seat? Would she still be sitting next to me or left for dead somewhere near Camden?
She smiles. “I knew you would save me. Why did it take so long? Did you arrest them all?”
Gritting my teeth, I grip the steering wheel. “The FBI wants to track them for a while, get the big picture, yeah?”
“Nah yeah. That sucks.” She bolts upright then puts her hand to her head. “Ow.”
“Headache?”
“Not enough to write home about.” She shares the chagrined look reserved for whenever she thinks of her mum.
Then, her brows crease more. “So, after all this, we don’t know why I was kidnapped. That sucks.”
I glance across the seats, my anger spiking. “We’re only sure they wanted the tunnel accessible and shut down.”
“And you did it?” Her hurt face cuts me deep.
“I had to, to get you out safely.”
“Shit. But with the power off and no cameras, you were blind for a few minutes. That’s a long time for them to pull off some serious shit.”
“It was the Fed’s idea. I’m sure they got it covered. Don’t worry. Okay?”
“I guess.”
“Can you tell me everything that happened, from start to finish? Maybe we can figure it out.”
By the time she finishes, I want to turn the car around, find those terrorists, and shoot them straight between the eyes. Fook the FBI.
I wish I could tell her how my beating heart was plucked from my chest when I thought she was gone. For a few hours, my whole life ended. Instead, I put my hand to her cheek and caress it as we follow the Google-Lady to the emergency entrance.
Reminiscent of a couple evenings ago in another city, I pull up to the hospital’s front doors. This time, she’s not lost but with me. I jump out and help her inside where a nurse puts her in a wheel chair.
By the time I park and arrive back behind the bay’s curtain, Callie has a sonogram machine over her belly. Knees shaking, I hold my breath until I hear the familiar tiny train engine.
My little roo is alive!
“They’re both going to be fine. When the doctor smiles, I sink into a chair, barely aware of the rest of his diagnosis. “…head injury seems to be healing fine on its own. If everything is still good in the morning, we’ll release her. Then, you and your wife should take it easy for a couple weeks.”
“Thanks, doc.” I shake his hand then rub my hand over my eyes, trying to remember the last time I slept.
I press on my comm unit and announce to all listening, “Callie and the baby are fine.”
There’s a lot of cheering, then it’s back to business for the blokes on site. They aren’t saying much over the radio so I’ll have to find out more in the morning. I’m still pissed the FBI let the kidnappers go, even for a minute.
“Be right back.” I kiss her, cup her soft cheek with my hand, then go outside the curtain to check the perimeter.
A big black guy flashes a badge in front of my face. “Secret Service. The president asked I keep an eye on your wife. He thanks you both for your patriotism.”
Like I had a choice.
“Hey!” Suds shouts from the front desk and waves. When the nurse tries to stop him, he flashes some fake badge.
Reaching me, he slaps me on the back, and I hug my brother. Then, he pokes his head inside the curtain, “Hey y’all? Can I come in?”
“Oh my God! Suds, I can’t believe you’re here. The last time I saw you, you were sitting in a pool of blood. When I saw you at the treatment plant, for a moment, I thought you were a ghost.”
He chuckles. “I got nine lives. I got a few left in me. You go on and rest. I only stopped in to say hi. I’ll be outside with Lucky.”
“I wish people would stop telling me to sleep. I’m not tired.”
Suds catches my eye, winks, then ducks under the curtain. “She’s wound tighter than a two-dollar watch. You both could use some time off.”
“That’s exactly what the doc said but I don’t feel right leaving with those terrorists walking around free and clear.”
Suds rasps a hand across his short beard. “Jason thinks y’alls families could be at risk. Grayson has Izzy and the kids holed up in his office until he sends them back to Minnesota. Slate’s hired a Seal to watch Lilac during her hospital shifts. Mel and Sienna are heading back to North Carolina with CJ and Andy. Maybe you and Callie should go with them?
I glance in at my wife. She’s so damn pretty with her eyelashes resting on the top of her cheeks, her breath going in and out as she snores. “I’ll call Gray, hopefully, he can find someone to cover for me for a few weeks.”
“Still driving the little prince?” His eyes, like mine, dart about.
Seeing no danger, I chuckle. “Yeah. The future ruler of the Arab nations is failing math.”
He laughs, slaps me on the back, stretches, and yawns. “Damn, I need to go get some shut-eye. I’ll talk later.”
Now alone, I sink into a plastic chair by her bed and rest my head on her legs. I try to sleep but visions of a demolished Italian restaurant mix in with Afghanistan. After the explosion, I’m knocked onto my ass, and she’s fucking gone. When I try to take her in my arms, she morphs into one of my mates, bloodied on the road next to the Humvee with the spinning wheels.
“Hey, wake up.” Soft, soothing palms cup my cheeks and when I open my lids, her concerned gaze heals my battle-scarred soul. “Bad dream?”
Not wanting her to worry, I shake my head, no. “What time is it?”
“Time to go home and make love with my husband.” Mischief laces those sexy blue eyes and my cock stirs.
Settle down, mate., We got a whole lifetime to catch up. “The doc says you have to stay overnight. You got a pretty good bash on the head.”
I kiss her on the cheek, then lower my mouth to hers. Soft hands wrap around the back of my neck, tiny fingertips dig in, and my willy swells. I don’t know how long we make out but it must be sometime because the nurse is clearly annoyed when she throws back the curtain.
“You need to let her rest, Mr. James.”
I wink at her “No worries, we’re married, luv. Just having a quick go at it.”
“Get a hotel room.” The woman frowns deeper and crosses her arms over her chest.
I give my wife one more kiss. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
Fifteen minutes later, with Callie snoring lightly, I call my mother-in-law from the visitor’s area.
“Who’s this?” She bloody well knows. Every time we visit, I’ve made sure my contact information is in her cell phone and yet she always asks.
Because I bear bad tidings, I ignore her pettiness and keep it short and sweet. “Calliope’s had a bit of an accident but she’s right as rain. I though
t you’d want to know. They’re keeping her overnight in the hospital. The baby’s fine, too.”
“I assume it has something to do with your job?” Her acerbic tone grates on my nerves.
“No, ma’am. More to do with hers.”
“Which you insisted she take.” Her barb hits home but I’ll be damned if I’ll let her have the satisfaction of knowing.
For now, I need her good will. It kills me to ask, but so late in the season, I’ll never find a rental. “I was wondering if we could spend a few weeks at the house in Martha’s Vineyard?”
She sniffs loudly. “I’m there now. Of course, my daughter’s always welcome.”
“Right then. We’ll see you soon.”
“Fine. Don’t worry about security. I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
With that, she hangs up.
Chapter 13
Lochlan
“Lucky, we’re not staying with my mother.” Callie argues nonstop from the hospital to the hotel and is still going at it as I swipe my key card.
“We are, too.”
“If you don’t agree, I swear I’m going to do something drastic.” Her hands snap to her hips and I chuckle.
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure but I’ll think of something.” She grabs the hem of her shirt and pulls it over her head then kicks off the stretchy pants I bought this morning
“God, I can’t wait to shower. Want to join me?” Her grin is inviting and my cock thickens.
She doesn’t have to ask twice. Here is the mother of my child, the woman who teased me to the point of almost losing my job when we first met.
I step behind her in the tub, start the water, then turn her. When she moans, my willy jumps to attention and pokes the lower half of her bulging belly.
Fuck me. What would I do if I’d lost her?
My mouth crashes down on hers, our tongues tangle, and her fingertips find that special spot in my neck. With chills running up and down my spine, I change my angle so our noses don’t meet, and take the kiss deeper.
Her whimpers, her nails, her scent, they all set me on fire. I caress her back, her neck, and down her shoulders. I need to touch every inch of her as if somehow that will erase what happened. She tries to do the same. Like two teenagers in the back of a car, making out for the first time, desire spikes off the charts.
Gasping for air, I remember her stitches. “Shower cap?”
She grabs the hotel’s plastic hat, puts it on, then I pull up on the spout.
Under the spray of warm water with her back to my chest, I open a tiny package of soap. After working the bar into a lather, I slide my hands over her stomach and cover both ripe breasts.
They’re bigger, softer, sexier… My willy shivers with want as I play with my favorite new toys. She leans back into me, pleasure written all over her face.
I pinch the tips of her breasts until they harden then knead the sweet flesh. Panting, she reaches her arms up. Elbows at the ceiling, she stretches and finds the back of my head.
“Fuck, I missed you.” I nibble the tender tip of her ear.
“Me too.” Heavy lids lift, she turns her head, and kisses me as the shower splashes over her.
I grab shampoo but her mind isn’t on washing. She dirty dances her butt into my swollen cock with a hot, sexy grind.
While she drives me mad, I massage her scalp around the bandage.
“Hold on a second, luv. Let me finish.” Keeping her stitches dry, I pour warm water over her beautiful blond locks until she’s squeaky clean.
Work done, my hands run down her spine and slide into her crack all the way to her sex. Holy fuck, she’s so wet and swollen, I’m not sure we’ll make it to the bed.
She spreads her legs to give me more access so I reach to her clit with my right hand and hold her in place with my left. I stroke her, circle her, and press where she likes it best.
“Loch…” Her breath hitches, my signal she’s about to cum.
She leans forward with a flat back, palms against the tiles, legs wide. “Now, Luck, do it.”
With my index finger on her nub, I slide in. There’s a moment of resistance so I pull out and press in again. Her muscles release and I’m in so far, my fucking world turns upside down.
I grab her hips, unable to stop the instinct to take her hard and fast.
“Luv. Hold on. I fucking need this.”
“Go dammit.” She slams her ass back into me, taking me deeper still.
Hell, some kind of switch goes off, I shiver inside her, and go on the wildest ride of our lives. We’ve been married for months but never before have we fucked so hard, so fast, and so in sync with each other. She’s right on the edge of cumming. Her knees buckle, my balls fill, and my inner spring coils.
I hold back, sweating, even with the shower at my back.
“Ah, ah…” She bucks at me in this kind of fast shiver-shake, then her inner walls go stiff.
“Callie. Oh shit.” I cum hard with one final thrust, ribbons of seed bursting into her.
“Ah, oh, oh my God.” Her legs go out from under her and I catch her as she cums.
We stay joined in bliss until we’ve almost turned into prunes. Fuck me, nothing is better than this.
We need more soap because despite being under the shower, we’ve worked up a sweat. After we rinse, I wrap one soft towel around my waist and fluff her dry with another. Then, I pick her up, put her on the bed, and we cuddle until we’re both at it again.
This time, she straddles me, beautiful boobs bouncing while I arch up from below. Again, I cum and see fuckin’ stars as she collapses onto my chest, head at my heart.
“I love you, so much.” She rolls onto her side and I slide a palm across her breasts and down to her round belly.
“Love you too… and our little roo.”
She giggles. “You can’t keep calling her a kangaroo.”
With her eyes all mischievous, I can’t resist teasing. “Why not? She kicks like one.”
“Not funny.”
“Okay, luv. What do you suggest I call her?”
“I don’t know. We still need to decide.” My wife pretends to pout so I kiss the look away.
“How about Sheila?”
“You call all girls Sheila, she’ll be confused.”
I clamp my elbow to my waist, trapping the tricky hand trying again to tickle my armpits. “Middle name, Mathilda, first name Waltz-”
“Oh, get serious, Lucky.” She tries to get her hand free but I hold her in place, laughing at her attempt.
“Fine, you try.” I poke one sexy rib.
“How about Polyhymnia. We could call her Polly.”
“Hell no.”
“It’s like Calliope, a muse.”
“Not amusing to me, luv.” I chuckle at my own joke.
Then, we just about bust a gut as we tickle each other stupid. When she says uncle, I kiss her and wait for her to get serious.
“A Greek Muse? Really? It’s hard for a kid to live up to a name like that.”
She giggles and starts up the war again. “Hee, hee. Gotcha.”
“Oh, fuck me. I thought you were serious.” I laugh, hold her down, and win the battle.
“Stop, stop. Oh my God. Uncle, uncle.”
I let her go, my face hurting from all the grinning.
Chapter 14
Callie
I wake from a bad dream, heart racing. I was in a pool and someone grabbed my ankle, trying to pull me under. It doesn’t take a degree in psychology to figure it out. I snuggle next to Lucky until I calm. How long before I’ll feel safe enough to go out alone again?
When I shift, he peeks open one eye and smiles. “Hi, luv.”
His eyebrows crease as he reaches and catches a leftover tear. “Something wrong?”
“Just a bad dream. I was really, really, scared I’d never see you again.” Smiling, I hope he’ll ignore my bad dream and not force me to hash out my feelings.
He shakes his head and low
ers his gaze. “I’m so, sorry luv. It was my job to protect you and I messed up.”
Is that what he thinks? “Wait. As I recall Suds was on duty. Secondly, how could you or him have prevented what happened?”
“I should never have left you alone in the restaurant. The presents could’ve waited.” The words spring forth so fast, they must’ve been coiled on the tip of his tongue.
I scoot onto my elbows, nose to nose with the face more familiar than my own. “I’d agree if you were on the job, honey, but you weren’t. You were only a husband at his wife’s shower, putting stuff into a car. No one could’ve known this was about to go down.”
He kisses my nose, the way he does when he thinks he’s won an argument. “While me and the guys hunt down the terrorists, you ladies are going to stay with family, out of harm’s way.”
Huh? “Did I forget about the time machine taking us back to the middle ages?”
“C’mon now, luv. Things have been much better between you and your mum, lately.” He plays with my earlobe, thinking more sex will change my mind but no way that’s going to happen.
“Only because there’s a few hundred miles between us. I won’t go.”
“You will.” My husband jumps out of bed, hands on his hips, and glowers.
This is a side of him I’ve never seen before and I can’t say I like it one bit. “Wait a minute. Are you asking or commanding?”
He throws on his underwear and jeans. “Take it however you want but you’re going if I have to drag you there.”
His voice softens. “Honey, take our little peanut and I promise, I’ll follow in a few days.”
“Pinky swear?” I latch my little finger to his and he winks.
“As soon as Gray finds a driver for his majesty.”
I giggle. “Still high and mighty?”
“You have no idea.” Laughing, he jumps onto the bed and restarts the war of the tickles.
Chapter 15
Lucky II (Patten Bodyguards Book 6) Page 6
