by R B Hilliard
“Thank you, honey,” Joss told him.
He gave her a hug and patted her slightly rounded belly. “Kurt is one lucky son of a bitch.”
“I know,” she sighed, and we all laughed. When Lena and Polly arrived, Ellie and I went downstairs to look for Isabella and Sally.
As we hit the bottom step, Ellie said, “Do you want to put a stop to this and go home?”
Her question took me by surprise. “What? No! Why do you ask?”
“I saw the guilty look on your face when Zane introduced you to the guys. This night is for you to relax and have fun, not worry.” Her eyes lowered to where I was unconsciously twisting my ring back and forth and I stopped. She shook her head at me. “Have you told Gage how you feel or are you going to end up like me and just explode when you’ve had enough?” Ellie and I hadn’t really talked about what happened that day in Joss and Kurt’s driveway.
“I miss the old Gage,” I blurted.
“I take it he’s still suffocating you?”
“It’s more than that…a lot more, but I feel wrong for talking about it, if that makes any sense.”
“More than you know,” she said with a sigh.
“Are things any better with you and Max?”
She smiled. “They are so much better, but only because we finally talked about it. Is Gage still talking to Dr. Parker?”
“He is, but –”
She squeezed my arm. “Either the Doc will get through or you are just going to have to take it into your own hands.”
“I’ve been taunting him,” I admitted.
She giggled. “I taunted Max for weeks.”
“And?”
She shrugged. “It worked in a very round-about way.”
“Details?” I asked.
“Nope,” she responded.
We shared a conspiratorial smile as we watched Sally pull up. After greeting both she and Isabella, we all went upstairs for dinner.
As soon as dinner was over, we were led down into the Dungeon, which was a large, dark bar with a kick ass dance floor. I had to laugh when Joss ordered us all shots and herself a glass of water. We danced and drank and for the first time in what seemed like forever, I felt like myself again. No one was hovering or worrying about me. No one was telling me what to do, where to go or how to feel. We lasted a little over an hour before the evening started going off the rails. I’m not sure if it was when Dillon showed up, carted Isabella away, and blamed me for her wasted condition. Or if it was when I twirled Ellie so hard, she lost her balance and, like a human slingshot, took out six people before landing in an unladylike heap under our table. It doesn’t really matter. Either way, we were having fun, which was something I hadn’t experienced in forever. That is, until Gage and Max showed up. At first, I thought Joss was the culprit, but I couldn’t find her to ask. To say the guys were angry is an understatement. Ellie was drunk, but still functional. With her fuck me hair, ripped dress and bar floor knees, I can imagine what Max must have thought. He shot me a scathing look. Then he collected Ellie and they left.
Without speaking a word to me, Gage settled the bar tab, shook Zane’s hand and walked out the door. What the hell?
As I passed by Zane, he grabbed my arm. “Sorry Piper. Kurt called asking if Joss was here. I didn’t realize…”
I patted him on the arm and smiled. “It’s not your fault. Thanks for a great night.” With a deep breath, I followed after Gage. When I saw him waiting outside his truck glaring daggers through me, all the air came whooshing out at once. Damn.
“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked. In the past, if I had pulled a stunt like this, he would have blown a gasket. The new Gage was all about calm and control.
Looking deep into his eyes, I spoke the truth. “I had more fun tonight than I’ve had in months. Thanks for asking.”
“Is that so?” His quiet, chilling tone of voice gave me a second’s pause, but I quickly shook it off.
“Yep,” I responded with a smile. Before he could say anything else, I turned my back in dismissal and walked around to the passenger side and got in. A minute or so later, he opened the door and slid behind the wheel. As he started the car, I flipped on the radio and turned it to the most obnoxious song I could find. When I didn’t get a reaction, I rolled down the window and started singing at the top of my lungs, “We going to rock down to Electric Avenue and then we’ll take it higher. Oh No! Out in the street! Out in the street! Out in the…”
He lasted five lines longer than I thought he would, before he turned off the radio and rolled up the window. “Hey!” I huffed, “I was listening to that.” He didn’t respond. I swear, the man had a will of steel.
We rode in silence for a few minutes before he broke. “When did you plan this get together?”
I contemplated lying and then thought, why? Why lie. I want him to react. I want him to get mad. I want to know the guy I fell in love with hasn’t completely disappeared. “Mentally plan it or actually plan it?” I flippantly asked.
A frown appeared on his face and he responded through a clinched his jaw, “Both.”
“I decided to have my bachelorette party when you told me you were going out of town. I did not set the plan in motion, though, until this morning.”
“Did we not discuss having a couple’s party?” His eyes flicked to me and then back to the road.
“No. You, Max and Kurt discussed having a couple’s party. I had nothing to do with it.”
“That’s bullshit, Piper.”
He only called me Piper when he was really angry. Finally, I was getting to him. “Whatever,” I said, waving my hand in dismissal.
“Whatever?” he asked. His incredulous tone let me know how close to the edge he was. All he needed was one final push.
“Truthfully, I’m kind of glad you showed when you did. I was torn between wanting to smoke the joint Blake and Sally had, and drinking a few more shots with Ellie and Zane.”
“What?” he roared and I tried not to flinch. Uh-oh. It looked as if the bear had finally awakened. Suddenly, he whipped the truck off onto a side road and parked beneath some trees. He unbuckled his seatbelt before turning to me. “Say that again,” he commanded in his do-not-fuck-with-me voice. I closed my eyes and tried not to cry in relief. The Gage I fell in love with was finally back. Now, all I have to do is keep him here.
Instead of repeating the stupidity I’d spouted earlier, I calmly said, “Dooley is dead, Cowboy.”
“What the fuck does Dooley have to do with you lying to me about tonight? What the fuck does Dooley have to do with you doing shots and wanting to smoke pot? What the fuck does Dooley have to do with anything?” he shouted.
This had been a long time coming, so I made sure to hold nothing back. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had to get through. “Everything, Gage! The day I was shot, the man I love disappeared! Who the fuck are you?” I screeched. He reared back as if I’d slapped him. “The man I fell in love with would have put me over his knee for the shit I pulled tonight! The man I fell in love with showed me every second of every day how much I was wanted and loved!” I slapped myself on the chest. “The day Selina and Zeke shot me, I became invisible to you!” Gage reached out his hand and I slapped it away. I wiped the tears from my face and whispered, “You don’t touch me the same way. You don’t talk to me the same way. You don’t treat me the same way. You want to protect me, but you are just suffocating me and destroying us.”
Regret flashed in his eyes and he raked his fingers through his hair. “If it wasn’t for me, you never would have fucking met Dooley Shane! He never would have kidnapped or tried to rape you, because he wouldn’t have known you! If I had gone after him, like I wanted, he never would have taken you the second time!” His voice cracked, “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me!” He slapped himself on the chest. “This is what I live with every single day!”
My whole body shivered and my heart stuttered in my chest. What is he saying? “Are you saying yo
u regret us?”
His sad eyed stare ripped me to shreds. “I could never regret you, Princess. You’re my everything. When I look at you, though, all I see is how I’ve failed you. The only way I know how to deal with all of this guilt, is to protect you from anything else that could hurt you.”
Flipping off my heels, I unsnapped my seatbelt. Then I hiked up my skirt, crawled across the console and straddled his lap. He pushed his seat back and settled his hands on my hips. We were nose to nose. I could smell a hint of mint on his breath. I wanted to taste him, to eat him up, but that would have to wait. First, we needed to settle things once and for all. He tried to turn his head away, but I placed both hands on his face and refused to let him disappear on me again. “Dooley Shane was a sick man, Cowboy. Neither of us could have predicted his actions. To tell you the truth, I am a better person because of what happened.” His eyes widened in shock, and I explained. “I value my life and the people I love so much more now. I know what I need and I’m not afraid to ask for it. I need you to laugh and mean it. I need you to touch me the way you used to and know I am not going to break.” His fingers flexed on my hips and I could feel every hard inch of him pressed against me. Only strength of will kept me talking and not taking what I wanted. “I’m okay with you protecting me, but you have to stop trying to control me. I know it will take time for you to get over that day, and I have no problem giving you this time, but not if it means you change the way you love me.” His blue gaze held mine. “I need to know you love me now just as much as you did before I was shot, because if something has changed for you…”
Before I could get the rest of my sentence out, his lips were on mine. One of his hands slid up my back and into my hair. Using slight pressure, he tilted my head and deepened the kiss. Without a word, he reached between us, opened his fly and released his hard cock from his jeans. I let out a surprised gasp. This was both bold and exciting, something the old Gage would do. Another gasp escaped when he reached under my skirt and found the side seam of my panties. His tongue licked across mine as he ripped them from my body and tossed them onto the floorboard. His mouth still devouring mine, he lifted me up and pulled me down onto his hard shaft. As always, he more than filled me. I dropped my head back and moaned. He took this as an invitation to suck on my neck, something that drove me crazy with lust, not to mention full body tingles. His large hands grasped my bare hips under my skirt and held tight, stopping me from moving. My head snapped up and our eyes met. His were bright with emotion.
“I love you more than I did before. I love how brave you are. Every day I wake up wondering if that’s the day you will decide I’m not enough for you. I’m scared shitless someone or something is going to take you from me. I live with this fear every second of every day. Never, ever doubt how much I love you, Piper O’Connell. I promise to do better, but you have to promise not to leave me.”
My heart melted into a massive mush puddle. Softly, I brushed my lips across his and whispered, “I’m not going to leave you, sweetheart. I’m going to marry you.”
A flicker of relief passed over his face and then his lips were back on mine. I wound my fingers into his hair as he lifted me up and slid me back down his hard cock. Instead of gently making love to me, like I expected, he took me hard and fast in a punishing pace. In no time at all, we were both shouting our releases. Not able to help myself, I buried my face in his neck and burst into tears of joy.
My Gage was finally back.
Chapter Six
Kurt
‡
MARSHA MALLOY APPEARED at Dragonfly the week before Dillon and I decided to hire some new help. From the minute she planted her ass on the bar stool in front of me, to the moment she walked out the door, she did not shut up. If she wasn’t talking, she was singing. If she wasn’t singing, she was flirting. It made no difference to her that I was wearing a wedding ring. If anything, it made her more persistent. She had short blonde hair, big blue eyes and a round baby face. I pegged her at not a day over eighteen, so I carded her straight off the bat. She was barely twenty one and acted immature and entitled, two things that disgust me to no end. I’d learned through the years to stay far away from girls like her. They lead to only one thing: Trouble.
We had barely put the help wanted sign outside Dragonfly’s front door before Marsha was there applying for the job. There was absolutely no way in hell I would hire her. Even so, I made sure to look over her application and even call a few of her referrals. This way, when I turned her down, she couldn’t claim discrimination or lack of follow through.
The week Dillon and I called Marsha in to tell her we’d hired someone else was a shit week for me. Finally, after months of horrible morning sickness, Joss and I had mind blowing sex. After, I had to helplessly stand by and watch her almost lose our unborn child. At least, that’s what we thought was happening. As it turns out, our baby was okay, but, in order to keep it that way, we were told no sex for the next month and for Josselyn to be off her feet as much as possible. When Marsha knocked on my office door, I almost excused myself and let Dillon handle her. Instead, I pasted a fake smile on my face as I ushered her in. Then I promptly told her we would not be hiring her at Dragonfly.
“Did you check my references?” she haughtily asked.
“We did. Look, this has nothing to do with you personally, Marsha. There are several other applicants who have the experience we are looking for,” I politely explained.
“Well, I find that hard to believe,” she clipped. “I have worked at bars all over the South.”
Dillon coughed out a laugh and said, “We’re sorry it didn’t work out this time, but thanks for applying.” We both stood up. I walked over and opened the door to let her out.
With a mumbled “Thanks,” she slipped by me and out the door.
As I closed it behind her, I sighed in relief. “That went better than I thought it would.”
“That girl is a disaster waiting to happen,” Dillon said.
I gave him a knowing smile. “Talking from experience, huh?” Dillon’s ex-booty call, Dana Harkins, was one nasty nut job. She put Marsha’s antics to shame.
He responded with a smile and a middle finger.
I saw Marsha in Dragonfly maybe a handful of times after that. She always made a point of selecting a stool directly in front of me. In regular psycho fashion, she never spoke a word. She just drank her fruity drinks and glared at me. Occasionally, she would bring a friend. They would both stare at me and giggle like school girls. I would find an excuse to get someone else to cover the bar whenever this happened. Whether it was paperwork in the back office or inventory, I tried to be anywhere but the bar.
About a week and a half after the doctor put Joss on what she called, ‘house arrest,’ she woke in a good mood. This was a rare thing these days. She was actually smiling. When Josselyn smiled, my whole world lit up.
“Hey baby, what’s up?” I asked.
“Well, Ellie just texted and said she and Max are having a MMG cookout tonight. Can you get someone to cover your shift and take me, please?”
I tried not to frown. Joss did not need to overdo it. Losing our baby would destroy her. Resisting the urge to immediately say no, I asked, “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I will sit the whole time, except when I have to pee. Please say yes.”
I stared at her gorgeous face. How can I deny this woman anything? “Let me see if Dillon will take the bar.”
Joss squealed as she threw herself across the bed at me. I caught her and tried not to groan when she pressed her tight little body to mine. Before I could pull away, she had her hand wrapped around my semi-hard cock and a sympathetic expression on her face. “This has been hard on you,” she said.
I smiled. “Right now it’s hard on you.” She laughed and started slowly lowering the sheet. I placed my hand firmly on hers and stopped her from taking it further. Her eyes shifted from my excited groin to my face. “I do not expect you to do this, Josselyn.�
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“Do you not want me anymore?” she hesitantly asked.
I thrust my now hard cock into her hand. “Does it feel like I don’t want you?”
She blinked and then showered me with another award winning smile. “That just makes me want to do it more, Kurt. I love you. Let me take care of you.” If she only knew how much power she held. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the palm before releasing it and falling back onto the pillows. With her magical tongue and hands, my wife took amazingly good care of me. There was no way I would deny this woman anything…ever.
Dillon agreed to man the ship at Dragonfly, so I could take Joss to MMG that night. Once we arrived, I made sure she was happily settled with Piper and Ellie before heading over to Max and Gage to grab a beer. As I approached them, something across the patio caught my eye. It took a second to register. With her hair teased to high hell, and her barely there clothing, I almost didn’t recognize Marsha. She was standing across the patio talking with some Dragonfly regulars. Our eyes met for a brief second. Hers flared and her mouth tipped into a smile. Giving her a curt nod, I continued to Max and Gage. What the hell is she doing here?
“Good to see you out and about,” Max said, patting me on the back.
“The last two weeks have been a bitch,” I admitted.
“Everything okay?” Gage asked, handing me a beer.
I popped it open and downed half of it. My eyes drifted over to my wife, who was talking with Piper, Ellie and some girls, and I thought back to our morning. It is now,” I said, tapping my bottle to his and then Max’s. After three more beers, I had to take a piss. I could see Joss still sitting across the patio, laughing and enjoying herself. “I’ve got to take a leak. Be right back,” I told the guys.
Someone was in the downstairs bathroom, so I hauled it upstairs and used one of those. As I started down the stairs, I noticed Marsha standing at the bottom. Figuring she was waiting on the bathroom, I passed by without acknowledging her and steered for the door.
