“A pretty woman like you shouldn’t be alone. Let me buy you a drink.”
“No thanks. I already have one.” Ailyn pursed her lips and dismissed the guy. He took the hint and moved off to who she suspected was his next victim. Anger whiplashed through her as Cordero got all chummy, slapping backs and being his awesome jovial self with that man. Seth had the nerve to look her way and wink. She lifted her drink to him in salutation with her middle finger and tossed it back.
“Sara, I’m gonna need a couple more of these.” She slapped the bar. Damn, drowning yourself in alcohol rocks. Why hadn’t I got shitfaced sooner? Oh yea, Eva. Well, we’re both having fun tonight. Wine has nothing on these fantastic shots.
“Hey girl. We thought we’d come over and save you from boredom. “I’m Whitier and this is Lopez. We are medics on Mahone’s team. Call me Alpha though and her, Sam.”
“Yippee.” She snorted and consumed a third shot. Once the liquor burned a path down her throat, she looked at the two females. “Alpha? That is an interesting name.”
“You’re telling me. Try owning it.” The petite woman laughed. “So what’s the story with you and our boss?”
“No story at all. He is less than nothing to me.”
“You can’t be serious. See the way he locks his eyes on you when there’s a pause in conversation over there.”
“All right ladies, let’s do a couple of shots. I will tell you everything about one Seth Mahone. Three Snake Bites, Sara, my new friends and I are bonding. Actually, I am going to go to the bathroom first and then we can do our shots.”
Ailyn hooked her purse on her arm and followed the neon sign to the ladies room. The line to the ladies room wrapped around the corner but there was no waiting to get into the men’s room. She scanned the area for security before entering, passed the urinals and entered the stall.
“I never thought to use the men’s.” A couple of young females had followed suit, giggling from the other stall.
The men’s room was totally cleaner than some of the women’s she’d seen. After she finished, she washed her hands. Two men entered and stopped to make sure they were in the right room. “Silly me, I thought this was the women’s restroom.” She edged past them back to the bar. Sam and Alpha were shaking their heads at her.
“I can’t believe you went in there.”
“The bar should have two restrooms for females. I don’t do lines. I’m impatient.”
“So where were we?” Ailyn turned toward the hollerin’ at the pool table.
“They are now playing partners. Don’t mind me drinking in your brother. That is one fine male right there.”
“Don’t make me throw up this good alcohol. Cord’s always looked too damn good.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have another one. Don’t want you hurting in the morning,” Alpha suggested.
“I need to drink. I can’t be this close to him and not hurt. Here’s a toast. To the past coming and biting me right on the ass. May I survive splintering agony and heartbreak this time around.” She chinked hers to their questioning expressions.
“Seth? He’s as honest as they come,” Alpha and Sam replied in unison.
Ailyn snorted and pointed her finger toward their supposed paragon of virtue. “Your sexy as sin boss has not always been a standup guy.” Her tongue went numb. Maybe she’d had too much Tabasco sauce. She stuck it out and tried to look at it and then tried to bite the tip for feeling. A smarting pain brought her to near tears.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked her. Ailyn tried her hardest to focus on the face of her newest friend.
“My brother is a traitor. Look at him.” She waved, swaying on her feet. Hands appeared from every direction to help her, reminding her of a kaleidoscope without the pretty colors.
“Can we get some water, please?”
“Alpha, I think that Sara was right. The room is beginning to swim and I promised not to barf on her bar top.”
“Damn, sis. Come on.” Cordero appeared out of nowhere.
“No, you’re a traitor. I don’t like you right now. Not even a little.” She slapped at his helping hands.
“Stop fighting me, unless you want to puke out here.” Her little brother picked her up and carried her to the ladies room.
“My stomach hurts. My head hurts. My heart hurts. Seth is Eva’s father. I hate him and want him and it’s a confusing mess.” Her stomach revolted. She put her hand over her mouth to quell back the urge to puke. “I can’t do this in front of you. Please go.”
“We’ll figure this out. I promise.” Cordero kissed the top of her head. “Now put your pretty face over the toilet and puke.”
“Nothing to figure, I just have to tell him. Don’t wanna puke with you here. S’embarrassing.”
“We got her, Cord.” Alpha and Sam entered. “Ailyn, just let it out. Quit holding it back we have you.” The two firewomen flanked her sides, helping her clear her stomach of the harsh alcohol.
First came the tears and hiccups, then a continuous episode of vomiting. At one point, she felt a cool towel on the back of her nape. Time moved in slow motion. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to them for having to babysit her.
“No worries. Friends look out for one another, right? We at the firehouse, we’re family, we take care of our own, including the extended family.”
“Oh my God, you heard.”
“We did. Don’t worry though, we won’t tell. That’s something between you two.”
Her empty stomach pitched and rolled. “I think I’m okay to go home now.” With their aide, she stepped out of the stall to the sink and turned on the water. After washing her hands and face, she rummaged in her purse for her compact toothbrush and brushed her teeth.
“Thank you both.” She rinsed and put her toothbrush away.
“Sis, you okay in there?”
“Yeah, coming out.” She exited the restroom followed by Sam and Alpha. Her brother tucked her in the crook of his arm.
“Let me get you to my hotel. You can sleep it off and I’ll buy you breakfast in the morning.”
“I just want to go home to my bed. You can’t drive you were drinking too.”
“I’ll take her home.” Seth’s voice thundered.
“You sure, man?” Cordero ran a hand through his hair.
“Yeah and Volante can drop you and the girls off.” The police are strict here. No need to get a driving while intoxicated charge when there are always other options.”
Ailyn didn’t have a choice but to accept or cause a scene. All she wanted was for the room to quit spinning.
“Sis, Seth is going to take you home. I know you don’t trust him right now. Just sleep when he drops you off. I’ll see you in the morning, beautiful.” Her brother kissed her brow.
Strong arms caught her as her lids drew heavy. She felt herself being lifted and carried, then darkness descended.
* * * *
Heat threatened to suffocate Ailyn. She wormed her way out of the thick down filled covers and peeked her head out. A hand snaked out and tucked her against the source of infernal heat. She let out a screech and kicked out.
“Go back to sleep.”
“Seth?”
“Hmm.” Her sleepy companion rolled over, his hand curved around her hip.
“Why am I at your house?”
“You didn’t want to go home, or rather me to see where you lived.” He yawned and pulled her tight against him. “Can we go back to sleep now?”
“No. I have to get up and go home. What time is it?” Panic set in. Fully awake, she turned to face Seth and shook him. “Wake up. You have to get dressed so I can take you to your truck and go home.”
“Darlin’, lay down. Your brother texted last night and said to relax, he would make sure to water your plants and house sit.” Seth yawned and trapped her body with his limbs. “We sleep.”
“I have to pee.”
“Third door on the right,” he mumbled and released her.
Ailyn slid o
ff of his sleigh style bed and opened the door, and headed down the hallway. She opened the door to walk in and hit a solid wall of wet muscle. Her eyes widened when she saw one of Seth’s team members wrapped in nothing but a towel slung low over his hips, giving her a generous view of his delicious V. She forced her eyes back up to his handsome face. “Sorry.”
“No problem, sweets. I’m Volante, you can call me Rees though. I’m guessing you need to get in here.” He stepped around her.
“Thanks.” She quickly shut the door behind her. One look in the mirror had her cringing. She rotated her arm and noticed tape and a cotton swab. Was I taken to the emergency room? After the third Snake Bite shot, everything became a blur. She attended to business and washed her hands. In college she could drink her sister under the table. Apparently, she couldn’t any longer. After washing her face and combing her fingers through her hair, she opened the door and looked out for any other people. Another man waited, she took in his chiseled good looks and felt her face flush red. “Do all of you live here?”
He raked an appreciative gaze down her body and grinned, showcasing sexy dimples. “All of us, except the girls. It’s good to see you awake and no longer throwing up. Didn’t know such a small spitfire could hurl the way you did.”
She hugged Seth’s T-shirt in total mortification. “I don’t remember having an audience.”
“Mahone tried feeding you and you doused him good. Like watching The Exorcism, good. He wouldn’t let us take turns keeping you company so we fetched for him. Gave you a field IV, some anti-nausea meds and some food later on.”
“I’m totally embarrassed. It’s still Saturday right?”
“Yep, early afternoon Saturday. No need for embarrassment. We’ve seen worse. If you need a bite to eat come on back out. The boss is probably going to be dead to the world for a while.”
“I think I want to go back to sleep for a bit.”
“See you then. Gotta head back before they come looking for me.”
He didn’t elaborate as he rushed off, so she shrugged off his words. Rianna would love waking up to a commune of sex on a stick. More shy than her extroverted sibling, she hurried back to Seth’s room. True to Quinlan’s prediction, he didn’t so much as move a muscle as she slid back under the warm covers.
Turning on her side, she watched him sleep. She hadn’t slept in a bed with a man in so long she’d forgotten how good being with someone felt. Lying next to him, hearing about how he cared for her, diffused some of her anger toward him. He didn’t have to lose sleep to keep vigil over her. He could’ve dropped her off at the emergency room and called Cordero to come sit with her. Maybe time had changed him. Everyone seemed to have mad love and respect for him, along with there being a certain fondness in Volante’s voice.
“Some things never change. I can feel you thinking in my sleep.” Seth opened up his vibrant green eyes and stretched. He pulled her into his side and inhaled. “I take it you’re feeling better.” As Seth kissed her hair, she blushed at the tender intimacy.
If she had any good sense, she’d make him take her home. However, her wits seemed to have disappeared, leaving her paralyzed in close proximity to his body. He lazily trailed his hand down her side, lighting her up. She sighed at his touch, her body thrumming to life after being dead for so long. “I don’t think that loud.”
“Umhm, sure you do.” His lips kissed the sloped curve of her neck. Heat pooled between her legs, awakening a long overdue need. While her mind alerted her to all the reasons she shouldn’t, her willpower to put a halt to the comfortable feeling of being in his arms faded. When he slid a hand under the hem of her T-shirt, she didn’t stop him. Breathing shallow, she let out a low moan as he cupped her breast and pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. The delightful scrape of his stubble along her neck curled her toes, causing the apex of her thighs to moisten more. Seth bit her hard enough to make her gasp in surprise. A trickle of juices cascaded down her core drenching her panties.
“Your skin is so soft,” he murmured against her skin, his erection throbbed against the seam of her ass, growing harder by the moment. Desperate to remember, she turned to face him. Seth brushed his fingers through her hair, rested his hand on the nape of her neck and drew her mouth to his. Ailyn opened her mouth and let him kiss her with an intoxicating slowness. She folded the elastic of his briefs down, freeing his hard length. The muscle jerked against her hand. A low groan left his lips.
Burning to have him inside her once again, she yanked until he chuckled and lifted his hips, allowing her to draw his underwear down so that he could kick them off.
“What’s the rush?” Seth slipped her shirt off, and lifted her easily to whip off her panties.
“Seth.” The one word leaving her mouth in exasperation spurred him into motion. He reached over her to his nightstand and fished out a condom. In seconds, he tore the wrapper open and covered his dick. With a cocky smirk, he rose over her, nudging her legs apart. Ignoring the déjà vu of her first experience with him, she took matters into her own hands. Grabbing his thick girth, she rubbed him against the seam of her folds, unsatisfied until Seth grabbed her thighs and drove in.
“Oh.”
He stilled, allowing her body to relax. “Darlin’, your snug pussy is dripping wet around my cock.”
“If you don’t move, I’m going to die.” Ailyn dug her nails into his fine ass, and canted her hips. Seth let out a guttural groan and set a slow steady pace meant to drive her as insane as him standing still within her. She burned hot, needed him to alleviate the urgency swamping her. Slow even thrusts edged her pussy to the peak of convulsing. “Damn, you’re already close.” He slid his mouth over hers, creating the perfect friction of skin to skin clapping, tongues dueling in sync. They moved together in tandem, fading into each other. Her nipples hard as peaks scraped across his chest, eliciting a moan from her lips.
“Feels so good.” Ailyn’s pussy pulsated toward completion. Seth slid out and slammed in, changing the pressure of his thrusts. She let out a scream as he hit her sweet spot, making her legs tremor. Ailyn came hard, clamping around his dick as he surged into her with stark hunger.
“That’s it, darlin’, let it out.” He flipped them over, pushed back into her, his hands splaying over her ass. She gripped the sheet and cried out with each plunge of his cock into her spasming channel, barely finding a chance to catch a breath in his punishing pace. Each strike screaming, you’re mine, all mine, forever mine. At least those words echoed in her mind, though he didn’t speak them.
“Bet you liked that picture I sent you. Was only fair since you left me hungry with that sexy saran wrap you had on. One taste of your sweet pussy drove me mad for more.” Seth made her feel sexy with the way he paid attention to her body’s needs, the words he spoke. When she reached between her legs to rub her clit, her fingers slipped from the spot.
A low chuckle left his lips. “Slippery when wet.” He hooked an arm around her hip and pressed his blunt finger over her clit. “Let go, darlin’.” Seth withdrew and plunged deep as his fingers rubbed her clit.
“I can’t. So close.” She rotated her hips in an effort to find release again. Seth’s hand striking her ass sent her spiraling into a million pieces. She screamed as she came hard. He delivered another smarting blow on her other cheek as her core clamped around him. Against her soaked walls, she felt his cock draw tight and flex. He unleashed his passions on her, clamped his hands on her hips as he sought his own release. A low guttural groan left his mouth as he drew to a near still inside her, inched forward and retreated. Heat seared her as his dick shot ropes of seed in the reservoir and moved minimally while her body milked the remaining drops.
Seth slid from her body to remove and toss the condom. She watched from the bed, reclining on the pillows. When he was done, he crawled between her legs and feasted on her cream. Ailyn thrashed on the bed, her sensitized nerves couldn’t take anymore stimulation. He crawled up to her and took possession of her m
outh. The taste of her sex on his lips aroused her. She sighed into his mouth as he broke away.
“Shh.” He rolled to his side and pulled her to cuddle against him.
“What?”
“No thinking allowed. Just be.” He dragged the covers over them.
“I wasn’t going to think.” She curled her body around him and rested her face on his chest.
“Darlin’ you have always been an overthinker. I don’t think ten years would change that trait of yours. I call it a hazard of having psychologists for parents—the need to talk everything to death.”
“So we’re supposed to pretend everything is great?”
“No. We’re supposed to enjoy this before we pick apart the past.” He placed a finger over her lips. “There is no fighting or arguing in bed. Rule number two, and I need to sleep. Someone had me up keeping vigil.”
He was right. While she slept in her drunken coma, he hadn’t rested until she was out of danger. “Promise me we’ll talk later.” Ailyn yawned and closed her eyes. Their love making relaxed her body and mind, making her languid, needing a nap to reenergize.
“Sexy, I don’t think I could stop you from talking if my life depended on it, but yes, later on we can discuss everything. First we sleep. You are free until tomorrow night, so we can spend time catching up.”
“Talking.”
“Among other things, first.” His devilish grin sent flutters of unease spiraling down her spine, until coaxing lips covered hers, silencing objections raging in her mind. She really should object to his Neanderthal tactic in shushing her. But his mouth felt so good against hers, too good to stop.
Chapter Five
Daylight had faded by the time Seth woke. He stretched careful not to wake up the beauty slumbering next to him and turned to his side to look his fill undisturbed. Practicing restraint, he fought the urge to touch every inch of her again, ingraining his memory with the scent and sight of her. The years had treated her well. Her beauty only blossomed with age.
In the ten years of separation there wasn’t a day he didn’t think of her. Especially the first year he lost her. When depression sucked him down into an abyss of nothingness, the only thing that breathed life into him was playing sports or throwing himself into something so draining mentally and physically all he could do was sleep when his head hit the pillow.
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