by Leah Brooke
He grinned, a flash of white. “Fair enough. And you’re a very good judge of character. With these guys, it pays to be.” He leaned down to whisper conspiratorially. “They’re not always cooperative. You can listen to the rest of the story while I dig for glass.” He reached for his bag, located beside the sofa, and started pulling out supplies.
Grimacing when she saw the tweezers, she looked back at Steve. “So what happened?”
His hands stilled on her legs. “When we started to move in on Vernon, Munson started shooting. He wanted him himself. He didn’t want us to take him in. He wanted to kill him. So he snapped and started shooting at us to stop us from arresting Vernon.”
Adam threw his soda can in the garbage with unnecessary force. “He was a good man and completely lost it.”
Mike sat back, his eyes narrowed. “Munson’s crazy, and he’s dangerous. He’s got at least one accomplice that we know of, the man with the cologne. We’ll find Munson and the other man, and anyone else who’s helping him. And we won’t be nice when we do.”
Shooting a glance at Steve, he got up and left the hotel room, closing the door with more force than necessary.
“He doesn’t like me, does he?” She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice. After all, when her affair with Nick and Steve ended, she’d never see him again.
Besides, she’d been unpopular forever.
In school she’d always been too tall and not many boys wanted to ask a tall girl out. She’d sat on the sidelines during dances because no one wanted to dance with someone who towered over them. Eventually, she’d stopped going.
So, she’d never even learned to dance.
Her husband had never been put off by her height. He’d loved having a strong woman, and it had taken several months before he’d figured out that he was a submissive.
Their marriage hadn’t stood a chance after that.
Now Steve appeared to be cooling toward her, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d had second thoughts and wanted one of those petite, exotic beauties that she’d always been so jealous of.
Cursing herself for letting his coldness get to her, Julianna jerked upright as it hit her, wincing when Doc cursed, and yanked her hand back. “That’s the gunshot wound you were recovering from when you met Nick?”
“Damn it, I just found a sliver. Be still.” He finished taking out the sliver and checking for others, not stopping until he’d satisfied himself that there weren’t any more. “If you find any more, let me know. I’m sleeping out here tonight in case you need me.”
Julianna grimaced. “In case I freak out and need to be sedated, you mean. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not that kind of girl, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Doc’s brows went up. “Anyone would be upset after something like that.”
Julianna smiled humorlessly, wishing she’d never said anything. “Yeah, well, I don’t upset easily. Now that you’ve fed me, doctored me, and told me what the hell is going on, I’m going to bed.”
The others stood, saying goodnight and discussing shifts as they went out the door, leaving Julianna alone with Steve and Doc. Julianna stood and started pacing. “I get why you’re all after this Munson, but I don’t get why he’s after all of you.”
Doc repacked his bag and set it aside. “He’s not really after all of us. He’s after Steve. Steve’s the one who saw him. None of the rest of us even got a glimpse of him, because Steve was on point…out in front. Steve also managed to hit Munson so he didn’t get a chance to get Vernon. Between that and the fact that Steve’s testimony could put Munson away for life, he just can’t let it go.”
Steve stood and held out a hand to Julianna. “We haven’t had any trouble from him in months. I’d hoped he’d disappeared for good.”
Doc kicked off his shoes, putting them neatly under the sofa she and Steve had just vacated. He pulled a handgun from his waistband at his back and placed it on the nearby table. “You didn’t have the weakness before that you do now. He knows you’re distracted, and he’ll do his best to rattle you.” He stretched out on the sofa, tugging a pillow into place under his head. “You’ve got an Achilles’ heel and he’ll use it. Just the way he used it tonight to get the information he wanted.”
Julianna had a hard time believing any of this could be happening. “Are you saying he’ll use me to get to Steve? I’m just the interior decorator.”
Steve touched her shoulder, rubbing gently, his eyes on Doc. “He’ll know better than that, especially after what happened tonight.” He turned back to stare down at her thoughtfully. “Doc, you know she’ll try to bolt now. I’m depending on you and the others to make sure she doesn’t.”
She hadn’t stomped her foot in anger since she was about four years old but barely restrained herself from doing it now. “I’m standing right here! Damn it, Steve, if he gets to you because of me I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Then the best thing you can do for me is listen to the people protecting you. Do what they say and stay safe so I can do what I have to do without worrying about you. Come on, it’s time for bed.” He crossed the room to turn off the light before coming back to her and putting an arm around her shoulder to lead her into the bedroom.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, he toppled her onto the bed.
His body covered hers, his arms wrapping around her as he made a place for himself between her thighs. His lips hovered over hers, his warm breath mingling with her own. “We need to be quiet. I don’t want Doc listening to the sounds you make when I take you, but I have to have you tonight.”
Hearing the desperation in his voice, Julianna wished she could see his face, her breath catching as he loosened the belt of her robe and opened it and slid his hands over her.
In answer, Julianna wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, moaning softly at the feel of his hard cock pressed against her center. Frustrated at the clothing that separated them, she arched into him. “Take me.”
Steve slid a hand over her breast, tweaking her nipple through the soft cotton and sending a sharp jolt of heat to her pussy. “Yes, ma’am.” He quickly stripped both of them and used his thighs to push hers wide. A heartbeat later he filled her.
She gasped at his quick entry, her body struggling to adapt. “What happened to foreplay?”
Steve scraped his teeth over her jaw. “You’ve been teasing me all night with those sultry looks of yours and even before then with that lotion. Do you remember that I promised to retaliate? Let’s see how you like a bit of teasing.” He covered her mouth with his, muffling her cry as he jerked her up and knelt, adjusting her smoothly onto his lap. Sitting back on his heels, he held her pulled tightly against him, his cock buried deep inside her. “Now, about that foreplay.”
Impaled by his cock, Julianna had to bite her lip to keep from crying out as his teeth scraped a path down her neck. She gripped him tightly with her legs, trying to move on his thick heat, but he held her still. “Please, oh, God, please let me move.”
He tilted her body back, kissing and nibbling his way down to her breast. He licked a nipple, sending a jolt of electricity through her. “Nope. Foreplay, remember?”
When he used his teeth on her nipple, she couldn’t hold back her gasp, her heels sliding as she dug for purchase in the soft bedding. He immediately ran his tongue over it to soothe the sting, only to nip at it again. His hand between her shoulder blades held her firmly against him and kept her from moving the way she wanted to. Just when she thought she could stand no more, he moved to the other breast, giving it the same attention.
Her stomach tightened unbearably, her abdomen heavy with need. Her kicks finally paid off, allowing her to move on him. Her pussy clenched repeatedly on his cock, drenching him with her juices. She released his shoulders, dropping her arms behind her to support herself, her hands fisting in the sheets. Rocking on him now, she arched her body upward, offering herself to him.
“Yeah, babe. That�
�s it.” No longer supporting her weight, his hands were free to explore, something he took full advantage of. His hands went to her shoulders and moved firmly down her body to her hips and back up again. “You were made for sex, honey. If this isn’t a body made for sin, I don’t know what is. You’re like a fucking wet dream.”
Julianna’s arousal grew more with every heartbeat. His growled words and the assertive way his hands moved over her body nearly undid her. She kept rocking on his cock, the steely hardness moving inside her driving her closer and closer to the edge. It kept getting harder and harder to remain quiet, especially when his hands covered her breasts and cupped them and rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, but she didn’t want Doc to hear her.
Leaning back, she couldn’t get the friction her clit demanded and groaned her frustration, trying to sit back up again.
“No. You stay right where you are. I know what you need.”
“Hurry!”
Steve’s chuckle came out low and gravelly. “See, babe. I can tease, too.” He slid his hands down her body to her hips, using his thumbs to separate her folds. “I’ll bet your clit’s burning, huh, baby?” He tightened his grip and began to move, short, sharp thrusts that set off a barrage of those warning tingles throughout her body. “Ah, fuck. So fucking good.” He touched a thumb to her clit and manipulated it, and with her hands behind her and her thighs spread wide, she had no way of slowing down or easing his firm strokes on it.
A scream formed in Julianna’s throat, the pleasure too intense to hold it back.
Steve seemed to know it and jerked her against him before her scream broke free, muffling it with his own mouth as he fucked her hard. Rubbing her clit against his body with every thrust, he groaned hoarsely.
“Come for me, Julianna. Drench my cock with your juices.”
Unable to fight the incredible jolts of lightning racing through her, Julianna stiffened a heartbeat before Steve did, curling her toes into the sheets as she came, her short nails digging into his shoulders. Her muscles tightened with the mind-numbing bliss that raced through her, her entire body becoming as taut as a bowstring.
Wrapping his arms around her, Steve held her through it, his strong hold easily overcoming her jerky movements as she came hard, gripping his cock with the inner walls of her pussy, the too full sensation creating even more of those amazing sizzles. He buried his face in her throat, his low groan like music to her ears.
He blew out a breath against her neck. “Thank God Doc’s here. I don’t think I could fight anybody off right now. You’re something, honey.”
Slumping against him, Julianna closed her eyes and smiled, completely worn out. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
Steve hummed and kissed her, one hand sliding to her bottom while the other slid under her hair. “My Amazon.” He came to his knees and, with his cock still inside her, laid her on her back and covered her with his body.
Stunned at the move, Julianna tightened her hold on him to make it easier for him to handle her without dropping her, but soon realized it hadn’t been necessary. “You know, I’m not used to being handled so easily. I am a big woman, you know.”
“Umm hmm.” Gathering her against him, he dropped his head on the pillow beside her. “You’re a tough one all right. You wear me out. Stay put, babe. Let me get cleaned up and I’ll be right back.”
Julianna sat up as he headed for the bathroom, not wanting to miss the sight of his bare ass as he crossed the room. He was muscular all over, and his ass was no exception. Enjoying the view, she smiled, her smile becoming chagrined when she saw that he’d caught her staring.
Laughing softly, Steve continued to the bathroom. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I look at you naked every chance I get.”
Shaking her head, Julianna smiled and sank back against the pillows again to wait. As soon as the bathroom door opened, she sat up. “Steve, I’m serious.” Uncomfortable with the conversation, she felt it only fair to warn him that the way she’d been with them was not the way she usually behaved.
Thankful for the darkness, she still rested her head on his shoulder so he couldn’t see her face. “I have to admit that since I met you and Nick, I’ve been a little…disoriented. But, I think you should know I’m not one of those girly girls. I’m not feminine, and I sure as hell don’t have any feminine wiles, you know, like the women at the party.”
Steve chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Thank God. They get on my nerves.” Running his hand down her body, he brushed her lips with his. “And I like your feminine wiles just fine.”
Julianna punched his stomach, earning a grunt. “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. I just want you to know that I…understand that I’m not the kind of woman that fits in with the kind of world you and Nick live in, especially Nick. He needs a woman like the one who draped herself all over him at the party.”
Steve stilled before hugging her close. “I don’t fit comfortably in Nick’s world either, at least, I never feel like I do.” He reached behind him to turn the light off, wrapping his arms around her again and cocooning her in warmth, making the darkened room feel even more intimate.
“He’d probably say the same thing about me, but we manage to be partners and somehow became best friends.”
“How did you meet him? I heard you were in the Army Rangers and he was trying to build a hotel chain. I wouldn’t think your paths would ever cross.”
Rolling to his back, Steve sighed. “Our paths would never have crossed if not for the man who shot at you tonight. The man who shot me, damned near killed me. Paul Munson is a bastard. I was injured and needed a place to recuperate. I just happened to pick one of Nick’s hotels.”
Covering the hand she rested on his chest, he idly began to play with her fingers. “We became friends at a time when I was angry at the world. Wheels, Doc, Snake, Sniper, Nitro, and me, we all decided that the only people we could trust were each other. None of us wanted to go back to the Rangers. One day they came to visit and we were sitting around talking about what we were going to do. We were sort of leaning toward some kind of security business. Hell, that’s the only thing any of us except Doc was qualified for.”
Turning more fully against him, she looked up, wishing she could see his face. “What happened?”
“Nick happened.” Rolling toward her, he forced her to her side and cuddled up behind her, wrapping an arm around her stomach to pull her back against him. “After everybody left, he came in to see me because he knew Doc would have checked me out and wanted to know how I was doing. He seemed really distracted. I didn’t know what was wrong with him, and we’d just met, so it really wasn’t any of my business. We started talking about the future. He needed a partner, someone who could put some money into the hotel, and I needed a job. By the time he left, he had a partner, I was in the hotel business, and my friends all had jobs. Since then, they’ve all bought in and have small percentages of the hotels and we’re all happy. Nick has a way of making things work out.”
He laughed softly and hugged her, kissing her hair. “Against all odds, Nick has a way of making things work out.”
“Steve, do you think this Paul Munson has anything to do with the sabotage at the hotel?
Sighing heavily, Steve rolled to his back again. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense, but he could have reasons for doing it that we don’t know about. Hell, he could be doing it just to distract us. Just stay alert and let me know if anything else happens.”
Lying there in the darkness, Julianna listened to Steve’s breathing even out, thinking about the events of tonight.
And now that she had time to think, the terror hit her.
Someone had actually shot at her.
Although, from what the men said, it had only been to learn how much she meant to them. Bullets could ricochet, though, and miss their targets. She could easily have been hurt or killed tonight, no matter what Paul Munson’s intentions had been.
> She didn’t care for the fact that Steve felt an obligation to keep her close any more than she liked needing the protection he and his men provided.
Although she understood the need to stay with them, being in close proximity to both of them all day, every day would create a stronger bond, something she didn’t need.
She already felt closer to them than she had to any man, and it got harder and harder to remember that this would be over soon.
Steve sighed and kissed her hair. “Stop worrying and go to sleep. We won’t let Paul get to you.”
Julianna nodded and snuggled against his hard, warm body. “Of course you won’t.”
She’d been thrown into a world where she clearly didn’t belong and was expected to trust everyone around her, not only with her safety, but with her heart.
Although she lay snug and warm next to Steve, mentally she could already feel herself pulling away.
As sad as it made her, she knew it was for the best.
Chapter Thirteen
By the end of the following day, nothing else had happened, no other attacks, threats, or sabotage—absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
The tension in the hotel could be cut with a knife.
Mike followed her everywhere she went, his eyes cold and sharp as they scanned every corner.
Cold and sharp when they met hers.
Steve checked on her at least a dozen times, and Nick called every few hours, but the warm feeling their concern gave her disappeared under the suspicious gazes of their friends.
The men had been polite all day, but except for Doc, they treated her more like a distrusted employee than the lover of their two friends and employers.
Their attitudes made it clear that they didn’t approve of her relationship with Nick and Steve. She couldn’t really blame them. It was more than a little unorthodox, and they probably assumed she wanted both of them for their money.
Assuring herself she didn’t care what other people thought, she ignored their looks and went on with her day, pretending it didn’t hurt.
