The Last Call (MMG Book 5)

by Hilliard, R. B.

  This meant he was in the bedroom. As I stared out our front window, I wondered how in the world I was going to tell my husband I was pregnant.

  * * *

  Max

  For as long as I’d known my wife, she’d been a shitty liar. Today was no exception. Who did she think she was fooling? More so, why was she keeping this from me? After everything that happened, from the kidnapping, to Mac’s nightmare birth, to my diagnosed PTSD, we’d agreed – no more secrets. Yet, here she was, harboring one of the biggest secrets to date…she’s pregnant. The only reason I didn’t call her out about her deception, was the slight, and I mean slight, possibility I could be wrong. It took everything I had not to call bullshit when she looked me in the eyes and told me she’d started her period. There was only one way to find out if she was telling the truth or not, and I intended to use it.

  As the object of my thoughts appeared in the bedroom doorway looking as gorgeous as ever, I patted the bed in front of me. “You look beat, babe. Come here and let me take care of you.” I wasn’t lying, she looked exhausted – just like she did those first few months she was pregnant with Mac. She shuffled over to the bed, and flopped down in front of me with a loud groan. In a very calculated, but still seemingly innocent move, I trailed my fingers lightly down her back, and smiled when she visibly shivered at my touch. When Ellison was pregnant with Mac, she spent twenty-four-seven in a perpetual state of arousal. Just the thought gave me a major cock stand. My wife was a goddess in bed, but when she was pregnant, she was insatiable.

  I patted the bed between my legs. “Sit up and let me rub on you.” She sat up, flipped around, and slowly scooted back. When her lower back hit my hard cock, her breath hitched and she tensed. I waited to see what she was going to do. When she pretended not to notice, I smiled. Let the games begin. “You’re tense,” I murmured as I gently stroked my fingers up and down her neck.

  When I reached her shoulders she moaned, “God, you have no idea how good that feels.”

  I could feel her slowly melting into my touch. As I made my way to the middle of her back, she dropped her chin to her chest. While pretending to focus on the task at hand, I slid my fingers around and grazed the side of her breast. This got me another breath hitch, but that was all. A few seconds later, I accidentally grazed the other breast. Again, her breath hitched. Once again, I smiled. Ellison was playing hard-to-get. I massaged a path down to her lower back, but the ridiculously thick waistband of her pajama bottoms prevented me from getting anywhere.

  “Ells,” I whispered against her neck.

  “Mmmm?” she responded.

  “Lose the pants, babe. They’re in the way.” After a moment’s hesitation, she lifted her ass up and pulled off the pants. My already hard dick practically sang. She was wearing my favorite panties, the ones that barely covered her ass – the one’s she never wore when she was having her period. Slowly, I began to massage her lower back.

  “Right there,” she rasped as I ran my hands back and forth across her silky, soft skin. Her husky tone made me lose focus. Focus, Max. This was about getting answers. If I happened to get off at the same time, so be it, but my main goal was to get my beautiful, lying wife to confess. It was time to ramp it up a notch. As I continued to massage her lower back, I accidentally slipped a finger under the waistband of her panties, and oops – into the crack of her ass. I felt her tense. At the same time her head whipped around, I snagged my phone from the bedside table and pretended to check my emails. I silently chuckled at my childish antics. It was a slip of the hand, I swear, dear, I thought as I stared at the screen of my phone. I could feel her eyes boring holes through me. Slowly, she turned back around, and I continued rubbing. The moment I felt her relax again, I lowered my hands to the tops of her thighs. Little did she know but her Indian style position gave me perfect access.

  “That feels gooooood,” she moaned as I massaged her leg muscles. I could tell she was primed. All I had to do was hammer the final nail into the coffin. As I continued massaging with my left hand, I inched my right hand slightly to the left. Her hips bucked in surprise as my fingers grazed across the front of her panties. I quickly corrected my stray fingers and continued rubbing. Once she’d relaxed back into the moment, they slipped again. This time, they grazed across the top of her panties and down between her legs. I could feel the wet heat pouring from her core. Again, I pulled back and continued my assault on the tops of her thighs. Before I could go for a third round, she flipped around, and, with an evil smile on her face, pushed me onto my back and straddled my hips. Little did she know, but I was exactly where I wanted to be…ready to slide deep inside my wife.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” I asked.

  “Please?” she whimpered.

  “Please what?” I innocently repeated.

  “Please fuck me, Max.” I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could get any words out, she began fumbling at the fly of my jeans.

  I waited until she’d unbuttoned the top button to say, “But I thought you were having your period?” Her hands froze on my zipper and her eyes slowly lifted to mine. Come on, baby, spill, I silently begged. The second she confessed she was pregnant I was going to fuck her into next year. Her eyes widened in surprise right before she yanked her hand back. No!

  “Wow. You had me so wound up, I nearly forgot,” she murmured as she pushed off my lap and slid onto the floor. Once she reached the bathroom, she turned and said, “Thanks for the massage. I feel so much better now.” Then she disappeared behind the door.

  Fuck!

  Chapter Four

  Piper and Gage

  ‡

  Piper – Three days later…

  “Damn, that feels sooooo good. Please don’t stop,” I begged. It’d been weeks since my husband had wanted to play. Weeks. And I was now horny to the point of desperation.

  A little over a month ago, Garrison’s Bike Emporium opened in Charlotte. Neel Garrison – jackass extraordinaire – was the owner of one of the most prominent bike shops in the South. His bikes were considered the best of the best. According to my husband, Garrison’s even gave old Harley D a run for their money. That is, until Max McLellan opened MMG in Charlotte and hired good old boy, Gage Blackwell, from Austin, Texas to help build and run his new bike shop. Gage was the real deal. Weeks after MMG opened the new addition, they had more business than he could handle. Customers were willing to wait months for one of Gage’s bikes. Apparently, Garrison caught wind of MMG’s success all the way from Greenville, South Carolina, and suddenly, out of the blue, he announced his decision to expand into North Carolina – Charlotte to be exact. When Max and Gage heard about Garrison’s plans to open a shop in Charlotte, Max made a special trip to Spartanburg to try and talk him out of it. A lot of good that did. Not only was the guy relentless, he was a world class asshole. From the moment he stepped foot in Charlotte, Garrison and his team had tried to undercut MMG. He’d even stolen a few of their clients right out from under their noses, which had Gage and Max fired up. Who could blame them? Because of Neel Garrison and his underhanded business tactics, I rarely saw my husband anymore. This, of course, had put a major damper on our sex life. Needless to say, I greatly disliked Neel Garrison as well.

  Gage’s head popped up from between my legs. His ice blue eyes seared through me. “Fuck, Princess, you taste so damn good.” His voice was thick with need, and I felt it to the depths of my being. The only thing I was sure of in this world was how much my man loved me. This was one of the reasons why I hadn’t told him about my encounter with Neel. If Gage knew the guy propositioned me for sex, he’d kill him, especially after what happened with Dooley. Like Dooley Shane, Neel Garrison was a powerful man. Unlike Dooley Shane, he seemed to have a clear understanding of the word, “No.” At least, I assumed he did. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since that awful night Gage and I had dinner at his house. Thank God, I hadn’t heard from his wife, either, the bitch. Gage nipped my clit with his teeth, and I gasped. The sharp sti
ng snapped me back into the moment. One, slow, spine tingling swipe at a time, he methodically licked the sting away. When he lifted his head a second time, I fought the urge to shove it back down and beg for more.

  “Don’t stop,” I whimpered.

  “I want to see your face when I get you off,” he murmured. I didn’t care how, when, or where, as long as it was Gage and not my vibrator who was delivering the orgasm this time. “Shirt off,” he commanded. I quickly stripped my nightshirt off. His eyes immediately dropped to my tits. Some things never change, I thought. While ogling my tits, his tongue brushed against his bottom lip. God, my husband was so fucking sexy.

  “Please, baby,” I whispered. His blue-eyed-stare lifted from my tits to my face.

  “Please what?” he asked with a very knowing smile.

  “Finish it,” I rasped.

  As he rose from the foot of the bed, I got an eyeful of his delicious body. Gage Blackwell was one beautiful man, and he was mine-all-mine. I nearly swallowed my tongue when he wrapped his fingers around his erection and lined it up to my entrance. Watching him handle himself with such ease and confidence was such a turn on. He slowly entered my body, and we both let out a groan. “It’s been too long,” he murmured.

  “Too long,” I breathily agreed. He slowly pulled out and pushed back in. Again, we both groaned. Lowering his head, he gently pressed his lips to mine. Before he pulled back, I nipped his bottom lip. His eyes snapped open and a delightfully carnal look appeared on his face. Now we’re talking. He pulled out again. Only this time, he didn’t ease back in. This time, he tilted his hips up and thrust with force. He pulled out, and with a little more umph behind it, powered back in. Once he was completely seated inside me, he ground his pelvis against my clit. Tingles shot up my spine and danced across my scalp. “God, yes,” I panted. All it took was two more pelvis-grinding thrusts and I was screaming out my orgasm. Normally, he would have brought me a second time before finding his release but not this time. The force of my orgasm pulled him right over the edge with me. With a sexy growl, he gave one last thrust and let go. Then he collapsed on top of me.

  While waiting for my heartbeat to settle, I slowly caressed his back and thought about what to say. Finally, I just gave up and confessed what I was thinking. “I miss you. I miss…this. Don’t you?” I felt his lips brush against the side of my neck, and then he was up and heading for the bathroom. My heart plummeted in my chest. “Gage?” I called out after him.

  “Let me shower off real quick and I’ll be back in,” he replied. Well, shit. As I flopped back onto the bed, I let out a loud, exasperated sigh. Way to chase him away, Piper.

  Minutes passed, before he strolled back in with a towel wrapped around his waist. My mouth watered at the sight of him. I was crazy about my husband, but these days my lust was tinged with a trace of desperation. I felt helpless, and I hated it. As he disappeared into the closet, I tried not to think about Neel Garrison, and how I wanted to spike him through the nuts with the heel of my stilettos. When he re-emerged completely dressed and ready to face the day, I wanted to cry. His icy dismissal stung. My once engaging husband was closed up tighter than Fort Knox and I had no idea how to reach him anymore.

  I watched as he sat on the edge of the bed and reached for his boots. “Are you going job hunting today?” he asked. I’d been filling in at Dragonfly when they needed me but that was part time at most. Gage knew how restless I got when I wasn’t working, and when I got restless, I usually ended up in trouble.

  “Cas said something about needing extra help in the office the other day. I was thinking about applying for the job,” I casually replied.

  His eyes shifted from his boots to me. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Do you not?” I waited for him to give me something…anything.

  “I trust you’ll do what’s right for you,” he answered with a shrug of indifference, and I wanted to chuck something at him. Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “I’ve got two custom builds to finish up today,” he said as he made his way over to my side of the bed.

  “Will I see you tonight?” I sounded pathetic, even to myself.

  “I sure as fuck hope so.” He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss. “Love you, Princess,” he said. My chest ached as I watched him walk out the door.

  Once I heard the front door close, I called Ellie. Max answered the phone.

  “I’m surprised you’re not at work,” I told him.

  “Ellison had to run to the store and grab diapers. I’m watching Mac until she gets back. I can have her call you when she gets home,” he responded.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Depends.” I rolled my eyes at his one word response.

  “Are you worried about Neel?”

  “Does Gage know you’re on a first name basis?” he teased.

  “You know what I mean,” I shot back.

  “Honestly, the guy is a dickhead. He’s gunning for our clients, and we’re being extra vigilant right now. Hopefully things will die down soon. Why? What’s up?” The guy wants more than his clients, I thought.

  “Nothing. Gage is just stressed, and I’m worried. Please don’t say anything. It will only make matters worse.”

  “Piper.” His warning tone made the tears reappear.

  “Really, it’s nothing,” I assured him.

  “You know you can talk to me.” I loved my best friend’s husband, but I wasn’t stupid. If I told Max, he would flip out, and then he would tell Gage.

  “Thanks, Max. Don’t bother telling Ellie I called. I’ll just call her cell.” I hung up, tossed the phone on the night stand, and flopped back onto the bed. This time when the tears threatened, I gave in. Once I’d had a good cry, I got out of bed and made my way to the shower. I sure hoped Max was right and things would die down soon. Something told me it was just wishful thinking.

  * * *

  Gage

  Fuck! What in the hell is wrong with me? It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to Piper. I couldn’t. Neel Mother Fucking Garrison was trying to take me down, and in doing so, he was going to take down Max and MMG. I couldn’t let that happen. The only problem was I didn’t know how to prevent it. While working for Dooley, I did things I wasn’t proud of – things that should have been buried six feet under with him. Apparently they weren’t. I kept thinking about the night Piper and I had dinner at Garrison’s house.

  “Well, well, well, I finally get to meet the infamous Gage Blackwell.” Neel drawled, in a deep southern accent, where his A’s sounded like U’s and his syllables were elongated to the point of ridiculous.

  “You wanted to see me?” I clipped. His smarmy smile slipped.

  “Come in and have a seat.” He waved me into the room. “I thought it was about time I have a nice friendly chat with the competition.” I couldn’t help but notice the differences between the two of us. Sporting a slicked back crew cut, Garrison was about as clean cut as they came. He had on a pair of khaki pants, a Polo shirt, and loafers. How he landed himself in a business such as this was beyond me. The guy easily had a good five years on me, and yes, he may have more experience, but I had him where it counted. I could design and build a better bike, and he knew it. I didn’t want to take this meeting, but Max thought it was a smart move. The last thing we wanted was to seem confrontational. Charlotte was a big city, and Garrison’s was on the opposite side of town. He’d already drawn a line in the sand by moving here. Surely we could play nice in the sand box together. “Since I’m the new kid in town, I thought we could get to know each other,” Garrison continued. “My wife, Cami, doesn’t know anyone in town and since you and…Pepper, is it?”

  “Piper,” I corrected.

  “Since you and Piper have been here for some time now, I’d hoped you’d be willing to have dinner with us at our house tomorrow evening?” I didn’t want to sit across the desk from him, much less have dinner with the guy, but I knew Max would want me to suck it up for the sake of the business
.

  “Let me check with Piper first, but I’m pretty sure we’re available,” I told him.

  The next night, I barely made it home in time to change. Piper greeted me at the door wearing black pants, a sexy-as-hell blue sleeveless top, and fuck me heels. I almost called it off right then and there, but she wouldn’t let me. With the promise of making it up to me later, we headed off to fraternize with the enemy. Max could dress it up and wrap a bow around it all he wanted, but we both knew the truth. Neel Garrison was a thorn in our sides – a thorn I needed to extract as quickly and efficiently as possible.

  The night was a complete disaster. The moment I stepped foot inside Garrison’s gaudy-as-hell mansion, I knew it was a set up. Cami was the epitome of a bored housewife. Not only did she come onto me, but she did it in front of my wife. Piper played it off, but I could tell she was irritated. Hell, she wasn’t the only one. At one point, Cami had me cornered in the living room, while Neel showed Piper his collection of wine glasses. Who the fuck cared about wine glasses from the eighteenth century? I could tell you who didn’t…my wife. After a dinner of shit I couldn’t even pronounce, Cami took Piper into the library, while Neel and I drank hundred year old scotch in his study. And this is when the shit hit the proverbial fan.

  “When Max came to see me last year, I seriously contemplated picking an alternate location. Sure, Charlotte had the recipe for success, but so did Greensboro and Richmond. There’s one thing those cities didn’t have, though, and that’s you. I know all about you, Gage, and I have to say, I like what I see. Next to me, you’re probably the best in the business.” He whipped out a folder and slapped it on his desk. Then he opened it and flipped it around to face me. “I want you on my team. Before you say no, you might want to look at the offer.” The man could have been offering up his first born for all I cared. There was no way in hell I would ever work for him. I glanced at the numbers and had to agree, they were impressive.