13
Flick lay in her bed, facing the wall, worrying about what she was going to do.
Doc had checked both her and Mia out. He’d told West he was to feed her and make sure she slept or Doc himself was going to come and sit over her. West hadn’t been too happy about that.
As for Mia, her blood pressure was a touch on the high side, so she’d been sent straight to bed.
Jake had arrived with an update after Doc had left. One of Jake’s deputies had found the cattle transporter, still loaded with their cattle earlier in the day. And they now had video footage of Snake driving the stolen vehicle when he’d stopped at a gas station.
So, the hunt was on for Snake. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so she had to guess her brother had him well hidden. Jake had spoken to Spencer again, but he hadn’t given him any more information. Jake had left with the promise to be in touch if anything happened.
After that, West had carried her upstairs for a nap. She couldn’t fall asleep, though.
The door to her room opened, and she turned her head to look over her shoulder as West strolled in.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked.
“No,” she replied.
He climbed onto the bed, on top of the covers, and tucked her in against him. Her back to his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
“Holding you,” he told her.
Well, that was obvious.
“But why?”
“Because I want to,” he replied. He snuggled in and wrapped his arm around her waist. The warmth of him flooded her. She held herself stiffly for a moment.
He nuzzled her neck with his mouth. “You need to relax, baby girl. You need me to give you a massage?”
“You don’t have to lie here with me.”
“You still having nightmares?”
She stiffened further. “Sometimes.”
“More like all the time. I haven’t been here for you these past few days because my head was up my ass. It’s not there anymore. Hate that it took you nearly being shot to give me a kick in the butt. I can’t change that. But I am gonna be here to help you.”
She relaxed into his embrace.
“That’s a girl. That’s my good girl.”
The words filled with a different sort of warmth. This one went deep and curled around her heart. If she didn’t already love him, she might have fallen in love with him at that moment.
“I was unable to see that my feelings for you went far beyond anything I’ve felt before. I told myself I’d never love anyone again. Never risk losing them like I’d lost Lana. Then, when I nearly lost you . . .”
A shudder went through him, and she tried to roll onto her back, but he held her still.
“When I nearly lost you, because I wasn’t there to take care of you, it was the shock I needed. Losing you would be the end of me.”
Warmth filled her with his words. “I’m all right, West. You didn’t lose me.”
“Only because you fought for yourself, for Beau. Much as I might wish you had less courage, I’m glad you’re brave. Because I know you’ll always fight.”
She wondered if he was comparing her to Lana in that moment, but that wasn’t a fair comparison. Lana had been young and had grown up in a family where her father was to be obeyed without question.
“Go to sleep, baby girl. You need to rest.”
He massaged her good shoulder lightly, and gradually she found herself drifting off to sleep.
“What the fuck we gonna do about O’Malley?” West asked as he walked into Alec’s office. All his brothers were there except Raid and Beau, the former with the latter at the hospital.
Tanner lay on the couch, his hat tipped over his head as though sleeping. Which, knowing Tanner, could be the case. West stomped over and pushed his legs off the couch.
“Hey!” Tanner sat up and his hat fell to the floor.
“Wake the fuck up, we’re having a meeting.”
“Fuck’s sake. Some of us didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“You think I did? I was at the hospital all fucking night, not out getting pissed and fucking around.”
“I wasn’t getting pissed and fucking around,” Tanner retorted.
“I had him watching O’Malley,” Alec drawled, sitting back in his chair. Jaret stood at the window, looking out. He turned to stare at West. Maddox was leaning against the wall on Alec’s other side, watching him intently. Butch looked up from the chair where he sat.
“What? Fuck. Right.” He clasped hold of Tanner’s shoulder in apology.
“Would rather have been getting drunk and laid,” Tanner muttered. “Spent all night out in the cold, and that bastard didn’t do a damn thing.”
“Someone watching him now?” West asked.
“Yeah, Duncan’s there.”
Duncan was one of Jake’s deputies. He didn’t know him well. He’d rather have one of his brother’s out there but he figured they were needed for this meeting.
“Where’s Flick?” Butch asked.
“Put her down for a nap.”
Alec’s lips quirked. “You put her down for a nap?”
“Well? What are we doing about this asshole?” West demanded. He didn’t have time to kick his brother’s ass for his own amusement.
Alec looked around at his brothers. “We have him under surveillance. Can’t pin him to the shooting, can only watch and hope he fucks up.”
“That’s bullshit, Alec!” West stalked to Alec’s desk and smacked his fists down. “He shot Beau! He shot at Flick! He could have fucking hit her.”
And she’d be gone. Forever. No fucking way that asshole was getting another chance to hurt his baby. And she was totally his now. He’d tried ignoring his feelings for her, keeping his distance, but that was over now. He was completely in.
“He’ll try again.”
Alec’s face hardened.
“We need to take him out,” West told him.
There was silence. Nobody said a word.
“I’m with West,” Maddox said.
That didn’t surprise him. If anyone was as dark as West, it was Mad. West wasn’t exactly certain what demons he carried inside him. He hadn’t worked for Marceras and Mad wasn’t sharing. But whatever they were, they ran deep. And hard.
Alec shot his gaze to their younger brother. “We don’t do that anymore.”
“We would have done it with the Monster of Manhattan,” Butch pointed out.
“Yeah, but Jake was there spoiling our fun.” Tanner pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m with West, let’s take this dickhead out. Don’t know why we haven’t done it already. What he did to Flick was whacked. Beau is our brother. Flick is one of us now. Nobody fucks with the Malones.”
“Wouldn’t be hard,” Maddox pointed out. “Asshole’s in a wheelchair. Sneak in, take him out, make sure we all have alibis. Done. He’s no longer a problem.”
Jaret hadn’t said anything, and West looked over to find him looking worried. His gaze moved to Alec, who looked pensive.
“Alec?” West asked. “Why the fuck are we hesitating? He tried to kill Beau. He nearly shot Flick.”
“He didn’t shoot him.”
“He hired someone to do it, same fucking thing. He’s not going away and he’s proved he’s happy to use violence to get what he wants. We need to fight back. And now.”
“Are we sure we want to do this?” Jaret asked quietly.
West met his gaze. He and Alec had been the ones pulled into jobs by Marceras. Not Jaret. At least, not that West knew of. Although, looking into his younger brother’s eyes now, he wondered if he’d missed something.
“No one else has to be involved. I’ll do it,” West told them.
“You do this, West, it pulls you back into the dark,” Alec warned.
“I’ve never left the dark, Alec.”
“Yes, you have,” Butch told him. “She’s pulled you into the light.”
He didn
’t agree with that. With how fucking bright she shone, she’d sent some rays his way, but he was still deeply in the dark.
“You’ve got a chance at everything, West,” Alec told him. “At holding goodness in your arms. At drinking in sweetness every day. You can’t fuck that up.”
“I can’t let her be harmed,” West argued. “We let him keep doing this, she’s going to get hurt. That’s not happening.”
Not on his watch. No fucking way.
“So one of us does it,” Maddox said, stretching. “Can’t be West, anyway. He needs a rock-solid alibi.”
“Can’t be any of us,” Alec growled. “You think Jake won’t look at us first?”
“Come on, Alec, we’ve been running rings around the law for years,” Tanner scoffed.
“Around the law in other towns, in other counties,” Alec told him. “I told you guys I didn’t want you pissing in our own territory. Not just ’cause it would create a fuckload of problems I don’t need, but because Jake runs a tight ship.”
“He didn’t know what was happening to Flick,” West pointed out.
“No, but he’s going to fucking notice a murder and he’s gonna look at who has the most motivation to take O’Malley out.”
“So we be smarter about it,” Butch told them. “We make it look like a suicide.”
“Or we find someone else to do our dirty work,” Jaret added.
“Hire someone?” Tanner asked. “Do we know anyone like that?”
Alec and West looked at each other. They did. But that would really be pulling them back into the dark.
“We need to work on finding that asshole, Snake who works for him,” Tanner said.
“Yeah, but with all his money he’d just find someone else,” But said. “Maybe we could hit him financially. Make those billions of his disappear.”
West would rather just take him out. But he didn’t think Flick would feel the same. She had a soft heart and she was too forgiving. Just as well she had him to guard her against anyone harming her again.
He would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
“Something like that is gonna draw us unwanted attention,” Alec stated. “We got to do this smart. Remember, we’ve got Mia and Flick to keep safe. Can’t do that from prison.”
The warning was for him, he knew. The others, despite caring little for the law, usually did what Alec commanded. West was the loose cannon in this operation.
“You’ve got a chance for the sweet life now, man,” Jaret said quietly. “You don’t want to fuck that up.”
No, he didn’t. He also didn’t intend to wait forever for something to be done about this asshole. Still, he gave Alec a small nod. He’d do it his way.
For now.
And if that didn’t work, then he’d do it his own way.
“Gonna take Flick to the cabin,” he stated.
Everyone stared at him. Alec frowned. “We can protect her.”
“She just needs to stay inside with one of us at all times,” Jaret added.
He shook his head. “I promised her that we’d leave. She’s worried she’s going to get someone killed. She’s particularly worried about Mia.” Which, considering she was pregnant and had high blood pressure, was a valid worry.
“Do you want someone to go with you?” Jaret asked.
West shook his head. “I appreciate it, but I need you guys working on things here. Plus, we’ll be safe there. No one else knows about it and I’ll make certain we aren’t followed.”
“I don’t like it. You’ll be on your own out there.” Alec frowned. “There’s little cell coverage.”
“We’ll take the satellite phones and it’s isolated enough he won’t find us. She’s not sleeping or eating. This is tearing her up; she’s too stressed. I need to do this to help her and it will keep her safe. In the meantime, you guys figure out how to get rid of him. One week. Then I’m coming back and taking care of him myself.”
Alec nodded. “Fine. One week.”
The nightmare screamed through her. She awoke, her breath coming in sharp pants, her whole body trembling. The door to the bedroom opened and someone bounded in.
“What is it? Is she hurt?” someone demanded.
As the last of the nightmare left her, she was aware she was wrapped up in West’s arms, her head lying on his chest. Shivers wracked her body, and she felt her stomach clench and release. I am not going to vomit. I am not going to vomit.
“It’s all right, Butch. It’s a nightmare,” West said to his brother. She hadn’t even known Butch was staying inside the house.
“Can I get you anything?” The worry in Butch’s voice was clear.
“I’m okay,” she rasped out. Although, even she could hear the wobbly note in her voice that said she was anything but.
West ran one hand up and down her back, his other cupping her ass.
“She’ll be okay,” he told Butch. “I’ll make sure of that.” She rested against him; she didn’t have the energy to push away, didn’t want to put space between them.
“Yell out if you need anything, I’m just next door.” Butch closed the door with a soft click.
“He’s staying in the house?” she asked West. Her heart was still thundering.
“Yep. The others are taking turns on watch. We’re not taking any risks with your and Mia’s safety.”
Tomorrow they could all go back to their normal lives.
“Sorry I woke you,” she told quietly.
“Sh,” he said back to her. “Everything’s all right. You’re safe. We’re all safe.”
He held her for a long time. “You want to tell me about the nightmare?”
“Not really. It was just about the shooting. Only, instead of Raid walking in and find us, it was him. Spencer.”
He kissed her forehead lightly. “It’s okay, baby girl. You’re safe.”
“West?”
“Right here, baby girl.”
“I’m not going to be able to get back to sleep. I should get up so I don’t keep you awake.”
He rubbed her ass gently with his hand and her body lit up under his touch. Her clit throbbed. Her nipples hardened. All she wore was an oversized T-shirt and a pair of panties. Now she wished she had a full set of pajamas, something to give her some protection from his touch.
“Yeah, that’s not happening, baby girl.” He kissed his way down her neck, and she shivered in delight. “I’ve got a way of making you relax, of clearing your head so you can sleep again.” He moved his hand around her body, pressing it between her thighs to cup her mound. “Anyone ever finger fucked you, baby girl?”
This question was so blunt and crass, that it took her by surprise.
“Um, I, um . . .” She was aware she sounded like an idiot, but she didn’t quite know what to say in answer to that question.
“You had sex before?”
“Yes,” she told him in a quiet voice. He was slowly sliding her panties down her legs as he talked to her.
“How many?”
“Do we have to talk about this?” She could feel the flush of embarrassment covering her cheeks. She knew she was innocent in comparison to him but she didn’t need to lay it out.
“We do. I need to know what experience you have. How many?”
“One.” It was a bitter memory.
“Was he good to you?”
“It was Brian.”
His hand stilled. He had her panties completely off by now and had been working his hand back up her inner thigh. “That bastard.”
“Yeah.”
“So he wasn’t fucking good to you?”
“It was all right.”
“He was a crap lay,” West said roughly. He sat up, and dragged her T-shirt up over her head. Then he rolled her over, and lay on his side behind her, pressing her back against his hard body. Grabbing her leg, he pulled it back over his, opening her to his touch. He reached around and ran his fingertips over her mound. She was glad she’d shaved herself yesterday.
“I like this bare. Keep it that way.”
Another tremble. She was going to ignore the fact she’d be gone tomorrow. For tonight, she was going to imagine she was his.
Forever.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Hmm, never been into BDSM like Alec. But I do like hearing you call me Sir. You can do that when we’re fucking.”
All right, then. Wasn’t much he could say she’d argue about as his finger slid along her slick lips.
“When I’m making love to you, though, I’m West.”
Oh, crap. Christ. He was going to make her cry. She didn’t want to cry. Then he might stop. And he couldn’t stop.
“Fuck, you’re wet. This all for me?”
Who else would it be for?
“Yes, Sir.”
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s all for me. My baby girl needs me. Needs me to show her what a good finger fucking feels like. How a man really treats a woman in his bed. The woman he loves.”
Oh, God. She was on fire already. She knew it wouldn’t take much to have her falling over the edge into bliss. He slowly circled her clit.
“How many times did you sleep with him?” he asked.
Oh, no. Not back to that.
He stilled his movements and she got the message, loud and clear. He wouldn’t start back again until she answered him.
“Just once.”
He moved his finger down. Lower, lower, until he circled her entrance. She gasped, pushed her ass back into his cock. She needed him so badly.
“How many times did he make you come?” he asked as he slid his finger inside her slick passage.
She groaned. Holy shit.
“Sunshine? How many times did he make you come?” His finger was still. Claiming her. It burned her from the inside out. She tried to move, to thrust her hips, but he pushed his thigh up high between her legs. “Answer me.”
“None!”
He stilled. “That motherfucker. It was your first time and he didn’t make it good for you.”
“Um, I, I don’t think it was ever going to be that good. I was too tight, he said, and it was just . . . painful and humiliating.”
He cursed savagely. “Of course you were gonna be tight. It was up to him to work you into a state until you were prepared to take him. Selfish bastard.”
How West Was Won (Haven, Texas Book 7) Page 17
