by Em Petrova
“Chaz!”
“I fucking love when you call out my name.” He did a one-handed pushup, grinding slow as he settled his thumb over her clit. Her nerve endings went crazy, and she clenched around him as sensation began to spin her out of control.
She bucked. He flicked his thumb. She melted into the bed and he pressed into her, stealing all her senses with a brush of his lips over her nipple. It went on and on, and she touched every inch of his skin she could reach. Rubbing her calves along his muscular legs, a thrill hitting her as she achieved an angle that drew him even deeper.
Each withdraw of his cock, she shook with pleasure and then he slammed back inside, stealing her breath. He churned his hips, yanking his name from her lips again. Then he settled his mouth over hers and a stream of naughty words came out.
“I’m going to fuck you like this every day, several times a day, for the rest of my life. I’ll keep you naked and happy until we die, petite fleur. And after I fuck you good, I’ll go down between your legs and suck on this ripe clit of yours until you’re screaming all over again. By that time, I’ll be hard and ready for round two. Or three.” He sank into her with quick jerks that bowed her back to meet him.
The next thrust she splintered. Feeling her clench around him, he rubbed her clit again, and she lost herself to ecstasy.
* * * * *
Hell, he needed to explode. Right. Now. The pleasure his body was reaching for was higher than anything he’d achieved yet, and it was all because he loved this woman. With a fierce need, he drove into her. Each pulsation of her tight pussy around his cock milked his cum up from his balls till he finally had no choice but to let go.
Throwing back his head, he released a roar as the first jet of cum left him. Five more and it was still creaming from him, and damn if he couldn’t wait to make her totally his and ditch the fucking condom.
He half collapsed atop her, and she brought her arms and legs around him, holding him in place as they panted through the last shudders of mind-blowing sex. When he raised his head, she was staring at him, a look of such tenderness on her beautiful face that his heart stuttered.
“I love you too, Chaz. It’s crazy how it happened, but I know it’s real.”
“Oh God,” he grated out, bowing his head in prayer of thanks. “I didn’t believe it could happen, but I’m so damn glad, sweetheart.”
He kissed her, a sweet melding of lips that spoke so many more love words than were in the English language. When he broke away, he gave her a grin. One that she returned.
His heart shattered with love as he caressed the outer corner of her lips. “You’re so goddamn beautiful that I can’t stop looking at you. When you smile…” He shook his head, words beyond him. “I want to see this smile a lot more.”
“Now that some of the stress has lifted, I hope to show it to you more.” She fell silent. “What will happen next to find my father?”
It didn’t feel right talking about this while buried inside her still, so he pulled out and rolled to the mattress, drawing her close to his body.
She curled against him, still tenser than he wanted her.
“Our people are still searching for him. And they will find him, Fleur.”
She went quiet again for long minutes. “I know,” she said quietly. “It has to happen. And when he’s taken into custody, I have to talk to him.”
He shook his head before the words left her mouth. “No.”
She lifted her head and pierced him in her gaze. “I have to, Chaz. You know I can’t live with not speaking to him before he’s imprisoned. I have to… have to...” She swallowed hard. “I have to let go.”
God, the strength inside her had him marveling. If it was his own father, could he do the same? One thing they shared was a fierce loyalty.
“I have to apologize for questioning you back at the cabin, Fleur.”
She leaned on an elbow to meet his gaze. “Yes, you do.”
He nearly cracked a smile at the tone of sass in her voice.
“You were pumping me for information.”
“And I hated every goddamn minute. I had my orders, though.”
A look of hurt crossed her face. “Were your orders to seduce me too?”
“Hell no!” He reared up and pushed her flat on her back. Leaning over her, he fixed her in his stare. “I wanted you from the start. And yes, dammit, I was given your location and told to watch you. But it took me all of five minutes to know you were innocent and trapped in a scary game. After that, all I wanted was to protect you.”
Her full lips were pursed as she looked up at him and finally they relaxed. “I believe you, Chaz. I don’t think you’d lie to me after telling me how you feel about me.”
“Damn straight.”
He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “Do you forgive me, sweetheart? I hated every minute of it, but I’m so glad it was me looking out for you. I couldn’t bear if anything happened to you.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “I kept a lot from you too.”
“Like what?” His chest grew hollow at the thought of what he might not know.
“Like my hair color.”
He chuckled, relief sapping the last of his energy from him. “I already knew you were hiding that.”
“How did you know I wasn’t a true redhead?”
He eased a hand between them and stroked her pubic curls. “I knew when I fingered you in this very room that first time. And now…” He slipped his fingers into her wet channel, pulling a gasp from her.
She parted her thighs to give him total access. “So you’re smart. Show me that you’re skilled as well.” She lifted her hips so he could sink his fingers deep.
“Oh I’ll show you—all day and night if I have to. I’ll do anything to prove it. And speaking of smart, you’re the best damn hand at poker I’ve ever seen.”
She laughed, her cheeks growing pink with the pleasure he was giving her through their banter. “Maybe I’ll teach you on that honeymoon to France.”
* * * * *
“Calm down, man. She’s gotta do this.” Ben’s words didn’t mean anything to Chaz when he was going crazy knowing his woman sat on the other side of a glass wall separating her from her father.
When he’d told Fleur he was going in with her to talk to the man Knight Ops had finally picked up in one of his buildings he owned, Fleur had simply shaken her head.
“I have to speak to him alone, Chaz.” She’d put a hand on his chest. “You understand—I know you do. It’s family.”
Dammit, she was right. And so was Ben.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just hope she can find some closure. She will never see him again. Hell, after this, he’ll be lucky to live out his life in a prison somewhere. He’ll probably get the death penalty. So many of those weapons got into the worst possible channels, and he damn well knew it too.”
Ben grunted his agreement as he flipped through the text messages on his phone. “Maman wants us for dinner Sunday.”
The oddness of a family dinner in juxtaposition to the stress he was undergoing with Fleur locked inside a room with the man who’d wanted her dead had Chaz sitting down hard in the chair.
“Fine. Tell her I’m requesting peach pie.”
Ben chuckled. “Not so worried that you can’t think about your stomach, I see.”
“When is he ever?” Sean added as he entered the room.
They looked at him. “What the hell are you doin’ here?”
“Jackson sent me to make sure you had a handle on Chaz. Didn’t want him going off like a bomb and causing some ruckus for OFFSUS to handle after he’s beat Sutton to a pulp.”
“Weirdly, I’d never do that. Just for Fleur’s sake.”
Ben and Sean exchanged looks.
“What?” Chaz demanded.
“He’s finally got it, doesn’t he?” Sean asked Ben.
“Looks like it.”
“Got what, you fuckers?” Chaz asked.
&nbs
p; “You got love in your hands and you’d do anything to not bruise it, for the sake of your woman.”
“Gawd,” he drawled, lowering his face into his hands. “Is this how you guys all feel about your wives?”
“Yup,” they said together.
“I don’t regret falling for Fleur, but I can’t believe that my life is going to change so much. That I’ll stop myself from giving someone what they deserve just because she doesn’t want me to do it.”
“Only one thing left to do, bro.” Ben’s crooked smile had him curious.
“What’s that?”
“Plan the wedding.”
* * * * *
Staring into her father’s eyes again was surreal. She had no clue what to expect, either… if she’d see hate there or disappointment in her actions. But he simply was her father right now—dark hair and eyes shining and the small laugh lines around his eyes making her remember all the times she’d put them there. It felt like they could be sitting across a dining room table from each other rather than a prison wall.
She took a shaky breath and sat down. He picked up the phone on the other side and she did the same. Her stomach flipped and then settled. “Hi, Dad.”
“Fleur. We meet under strange circumstances.”
“Y-yes.” Tears came to her eyes, unbidden. After all this man had done, he was still her father and she loved him. Emotions couldn’t just be shut off so easily, but she had some things to ask.
She didn’t speak for a long minute.
He sighed. “Why did you come here?”
“Because I know about Frankie and Mom too. But what I need to know is… would you have killed me too if you’d caught me first?”
He bowed his head but didn’t speak. She didn’t know how to take his silence, so let it go to ponder for another time.
When he lifted his eyes again, he asked, “Did you get the bag?”
She nodded.
“The things inside can set you free, Fleur. Free of me. But I’m giving you everything I own that won’t be confiscated. The plantation is free and clear and they can’t take that. You can make it your home again, if you want.”
She didn’t know whether to cry or throw up. Her emotions flitted between disgust for the man who’d ruined his life and so many others’ and for what? Money and power.
She just nodded that she understood.
“It’s time to go, Fleur. Don’t come back to see me. Move forward with your life and never look back, you got it?”
When he hung up, she was left staring at him as he got up and walked away. He didn’t even throw her a glance of farewell, and that along with his parting words was all she needed to do what he’d suggested.
It was time to start her life anew.
Epilogue
The teak lounge chair on the deck of the French vacation home creaked under Chaz’s weight. Fleur giggled and pushed at his chest. “We’re going to break this chair. It won’t hold our weight.”
“If we break it, then I’ll pay for it.”
Their week alone in the house had Chaz cracking open his wallet to pay for several items—the table he’d fucked her on with the spindly legs and the lamp that hadn’t withstood him hurling her sandal at it in his desperation to get her clothes off faster.
She stopped fighting him off her chair in the sun and put her arms around him. She gave a happy sigh, and he drew her hand to rest over his heart.
“This is the best honeymoon I could ever imagine. Not that I ever was a girl to dream about such things.”
He looked at her. “You weren’t? I thought all women dream of their weddings and honeymoons—have them all planned out.”
“Not me. I lived day to day and was fine with that. But lately, I’ve been thinking hard about what I want to do.”
“What do you mean?” He was afraid of this moment—ever since she’d met her aunt and uncle and her two cousins that were around her age, she’d been planning their next trip to France. Deep down, he feared she wouldn’t want to leave at all and since he was based in the South, he had no idea how he’d manage to see her while not on missions.
For her, he’d make it work. But he wouldn’t fucking like it.
“I mean, look at this town.” She waved a hand to the striking homes built on the steep hills. “Everything is so close and homey.”
“Yes, it is,” he said slowly, afraid of what she was getting at.
“It makes me realize that I want to be close to your family. Lexi has been so amazing to me, and your sisters-in-law—”
“Your sisters-in-law too now,” he corrected, glancing at the big fat diamond and wedding band he’d placed on her finger.
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “Even Tyler felt like a sister to me immediately, and she was only there for the reception.”
“Yes, she took to you right away.” He smiled to think of how close she’d become to his family in such a short time.
“To me, France is a sort of second home. But I have a new family now, and that’s the Knights.”
He gazed at her, heart thudding hard.
“I want us to find a place that’s central to everybody. A home that feels as welcoming as this one, so we can have everybody over often.”
He wanted to leap up and dance around the patio for joy. “So you don’t mind just visiting France once in a while?”
She shook her head and cupped his jaw. “My place is with you and with the Knights. When you’re off on dangerous missions, I want my family around me to keep me from thinking about what you could be doing.”
He laughed. “Fat chance, the way my sisters-in-law work.”
“Then they’ll distract me with romantic comedies and good cooking. What do you say, Chaz? I was given the plantation, but if we don’t live there, does it bother you?”
“Hell no. I love your thinking. I love everything about you, petite fleur.”
“Your accent is improving since being in France,” she mused, running her hand down his stomach so he sucked in a breath.
“Mmm, you want me to talk dirty to you in French?” He tucked her tight against his side. The chair gave a warning groan again.
“Maybe I’ll talk dirty to you in French.” She turned her lips against his ear and said something that had him jerking upward. The chair leg gave out and they tumbled off onto the stone patio, laughing.
He captured her mouth and kissed her. Between the probing of his tongue, she said, “In our house… we’ll have to… get stronger furniture.”
He cradled her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “I’ll do anything for you, Fleur. I’m at your mercy and lovin’ every minute of it.”
THE END
Em Petrova
Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff and works as editor with USA Today and New York Times bestselling authors.
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Other Indie Titles by Em Petrova
Knight Ops Series
ALL KNIGHTER
HEAT OF THE KNIGHT
HOT LOUISIANA KNIGHT
AFTER MIDKNIGHT Coming Aug 2018
KNIGHT SHIFT Coming Sept 2018
ANGEL OF THE KNIGHT Coming Nov 2018
KNIGHT OF THE MOON Coming Dec 2018
Wild
West Series
SOMETHING ABOUT A LAWMAN
SOMETHING ABOUT A SHERIFF
SOMETHING ABOUT A BOUNTY HUNTER
SOMETHING ABOUT A MOUNTAIN MAN
Operation Cowboy Series
KICKIN’ UP DUST
SPURS & SURRENDER
The Boot Knockers Ranch Series
PUSHIN’ BUTTONS
BODY LANGUAGE
REINING MEN
ROPIN’ HEARTS
ROPE BURN
COWBOY NOT INCLUDED
The Boot Knockers Ranch Montana
COWBOY BY CANDLELIGHT
THE BOOT KNOCKER’S BABY
ROPIN’ A ROMEO
Country Fever Series
HARD RIDIN’
LIP LOCK
UNBROKEN
SOMETHIN’ DIRTY
Rope ‘n Ride Series
BUCK
RYDER
RIDGE
WEST
LANE
WYNONNA
Rope ‘n Ride On Series
JINGLE BOOTS
DOUBLE DIPPIN’
LICKS AND PROMISES
A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
LIPSTICK ‘N LEAD
The Dalton Boys
COWBOY CRAZY Hank’s story
COWBOY BARGAIN Cash’s story
COWBOY CRUSHIN’ Witt’s story
COWBOY SECRET Beck’s story
COWBOY RUSH Kade’s Story
COWBOY MISTLETOE a Christmas novella
COWBOY FLIRTATION
COWBOY TEMPTATION Coming Oct 2018
COWBOY SURPRISE Coming Jan 2019
Single Titles and Boxes
STRANDED AND STRADDLED
LASSO MY HEART
SINFUL HEARTS
BLOWN DOWN
FALLEN
FEVERED HEARTS
WRONG SIDE OF LOVE
