Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic)

by Marla Monroe

  “I think we need to send out the disc tomorrow, too,” Tyler said.

  “I agree. The sooner he gets it, the sooner we can get this show on the road,” Dodge added.

  “It needs to be postmarked from Dallas, though,” Jethro told them. “You don’t want him knowing where she’s settling down until we can get all our ducks in a row.”

  “It’s all sealed up with the letter and everything ready to go,” Dodge said.

  “We’ll take it with us and mail it from there. She needs to get her safety deposit box here in town, though, so she’ll have easy access to it.” Morgan leaned back in the chair and stretched his feet out in front of him.

  “I kept a copy myself in my safe at home,” Dodge told them. “If anything at all happens, I can put the fear of God into him with it.”

  Morgan realized that after tomorrow, the clock would be ticking on how much longer he would need to stay. He should feel good about finally getting back on the road. He and Tyler could catch up with the others and ride the rest of the way down to Florida. It would feel like old times again. For some reason, it didn’t excite him as much as it had before he’d met Amanda. A lot of things didn’t feel the same after meeting her.

  “Dodge, you going to stick around until after we have the meeting with Guy?” Jethro asked.

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Someone like him is bound to shit their pants when they see the five of us standing behind her.”

  “She needs to meet him in a public venue, like a library or coffee shop, where he won’t risk stirring up trouble,” Justin said.

  “Needs to be in Dallas to keep him away from here,” Tyler added.

  “I vote for a Starbucks somewhere close to all the law offices. That should dampen his spirits some.” Dodge laughed and rubbed at his left leg.

  “I’ll scout out the area when we go down tomorrow,” Jethro told them. “Bound to be something suitable close by.”

  “Think I’m going to call it a night.” Dodge pushed off the arm of the chair and stood up.

  None of the guys watched him climb the stairs. They wouldn’t disrespect him by staring. Morgan hated that they didn’t have at least a hide-a-bed couch. He should think about getting one in case he visited again, he thought. Fuck. There he was acting like he was going to be living here again.

  Morgan had no plans to ever live in the house again. He’d check in on Amanda from time to time until she moved out. Then he’d put it on the market and hopefully sell it. If he ever did settle back down, he didn’t need a house. All he really needed was an apartment. Any hole-in-the-wall would do for him. He wasn’t picky. As long as it was clean, he would be fine with it.

  They talked for another hour, and then everyone broke off to head to bed. Morgan waited until Tyler trudged up the stairs and made it to his room before turning off the living room light. For a minute, everything looked like it had that last day before he’d left for duty. He remembered doing this same thing, locking up the house and turning off the lights. He even remembered wondering if he would be welcome in his own bed or not. They’d had a terrible fight that night.

  She wanted to hire someone to look after the baby and go back to work as soon as the doctor would let her. He’d wanted her to stay home with the baby. He could still hear her yell at him.

  “It was your idea to have a baby in the first place. I never really wanted to.”

  It had nearly devastated him. He’d had no idea she hadn’t wanted a baby. She’d seemed just as excited as he was. Why had she wanted to decorate the nursery so early? Why had she insisted he read all the baby books she bought? He never did understand it, and thinking he had time to hash it all out with her when he got back, he had let it go.

  Morgan turned in a circle and shook his head to dispel the lingering ghosts of the past. There was nothing he could do about it now. There was no use wondering and dredging up old memories. He was past that now. With one last look around the dark room, he headed to the master bedroom, hoping for a hot shower to relax him.

  He eased the door open and was relieved to see her in the bed sound asleep. She had the covers pulled up to her neck and lay curled on her side with one hand under her cheek. She looked like an angel snuggled among the sheets. He knew that beneath her quiet demeanor lay the heart of a temptress, hot and passionate. His cock hardened at the thought of taking her when Tyler was watching them. She’d enjoyed it as much, if not more, than he had.

  Shaking his head, Morgan eased into the bathroom and closed the door to keep from waking her. He turned on the shower to the desired temperature and climbed in. The water beat down on tired, tense muscles, helping to relax them. He needed a good night’s rest, but with Amanda in the bed with him, he doubted he would get it. Just being close to her kept his dick on high alert. Sleeping next to her was a sweet torture, but one he wouldn’t give anything for in the world. He’d gladly suffer a steel-hard cock just to breathe in her scent.

  He grabbed a towel and dried off before dropping it on the floor by the door and turning off the bathroom light. He crept through the bedroom and eased into the bed next to her. When she moaned and snuggled up to him, he felt as if he’d died and gone to heaven. He wrapped an arm around her and settled her head on his chest. Soon he wouldn’t have this luxury. He wouldn’t be waking up to smell the soft scent of Amanda. Soon he would be back in his own personal hell, getting by.

  Sometime in the middle of the night, he woke to her lips around his cock. She had tunneled under the covers and grasped his cock with one hand and his balls in her other while she licked and sucked his dick. He moaned as her mouth played wicked games with his throbbing cock. She licked her way up and down his cock, then sucked at the little spot beneath the mushroom cap that drove him crazy.

  She gently rolled his balls in her hand, paying special attention to the skin between his scrotum and anus. She licked her finger and ran it back and forth along that stretch of skin as she swallowed hard around his cock. He jerked at the feel of her throat constricting around his hard cock.

  “Fuck, Amanda, you’ve got to stop, baby. I’m going to come.”

  She used her hand to keep from choking and went down on him all the way to her fist and swallowed. He erupted, spewing cum down her throat. She swallowed every drop and licked her way back up his cock once she was finished.

  She crawled up his body and lay on top of him. He pulled the covers up around them and held her. He could tell she didn’t want him to reciprocate. She had wanted to do it just because. It was another one of the many reasons he needed to leave as soon as she was settled. She made him want things he was better off without, things he didn’t deserve.

  * * * *

  Amanda woke early the next morning with that sick feeling in her stomach, but she willed herself to be okay. She needed to go to the bathroom and found she was wrapped around Morgan tighter than an octopus around a clam. She carefully eased off him and slipped out of the bed and into the bathroom. By the time she had dressed, she felt better.

  She tiptoed out of the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her. She found an unopened can of coffee and went about fixing it in the coffeemaker. Everyone would be happy with caffeine singing in their veins.

  “You’re up early.”

  Amanda jumped, and only Tyler’s hand at her waist kept her from tipping backward off the barstool.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

  “I went to bed early. I’m surprised you’re up so early,” she countered.

  “Smelled coffee and couldn’t resist getting a cup. I’m surprised there was anything decent left here.”

  “It was a brand-new can. Since it hadn’t been opened, it was still fresh.”

  “How are you feeling?” Tyler asked.

  “I’m okay.” She didn’t elaborate.

  “You know, you’re good for him.”

  “I remind him too much of his dead wife.”

  Tyler shook his head and took a sip of the coffee, leanin
g back against the counter across from the bar.

  “What?” she asked, setting her coffee cup on the bar.

  “He’s been more alive around you than he has been in over a year,” Tyler commented.

  “What are you trying to tell me?” she asked.

  “Nothing, really, just that I think he needs you.”

  “Maybe, but he doesn’t want me. I’m carrying another man’s baby.”

  “Doesn’t stop him from fucking you, does it?” Tyler asked.

  “That was crude,” Amanda said, feeling her face heat in embarrassment.

  “All I’m saying is that if it really mattered, he wouldn’t touch you.”

  She drew in a deep breath and slipped off the stool.

  “Yeah, well, he isn’t going to stick around once everything with Guy is settled, so all of this is moot.”

  She carried her cup over to the sink and rinsed it out. Tyler turned and caged her in.

  “I think you love him. If I’m right, and you do, fight for him. He deserves to be happy. You deserve to be happy. Why can’t you be happy together?” he asked.

  “Move, Tyler.”

  He raised his hands and backed off. She turned and ran into Morgan. His face held an angry expression.

  “What in the hell is going on, Tyler?” Morgan demanded.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Nothing, Morgan. He was just telling me how you deserve to be happy.” Amanda stood between them.

  Tyler held his hands out to his sides, palms out. Amanda knew they were going to end up fighting if she didn’t defuse the situation in a hurry.

  “I made coffee. We were drinking a cup and talking. He thought I should stick around, that maybe you needed me as much as I needed you. That was all there was to it, Morgan. Don’t fight because of me.” She swallowed hard around the knot forming in her throat.

  He looked down at her, then over at Tyler. “You never could mind your own fucking business,” Morgan said, the anger slowly dissipating from his face.

  Amanda relaxed and realized she’d squeezed her hands until she’d carved half-moons into her palms. She couldn’t bear it if she came between Morgan and any of his friends. Tyler was just being an asshole trying to matchmake. She knew that. Morgan would know that once he calmed down.

  “Yeah, well, minding someone else’s business is a lot more interesting than my life is,” Tyler said.

  Amanda watched Morgan pour a cup of coffee then take it over to the bar to rest his elbows on it as he sipped it. He looked over to where she stood by the back door leading into the laundry room. She wasn’t sure what to make of the look on his face, but she wasn’t comfortable with it either.

  “Come over here, Amanda.”

  “What do you want, Morgan?” she asked.

  “Just do it, Amanda.”

  She hesitated, then walked over to where he was. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into his body.

  “Morgan, don’t do this because of me,” Tyler said.

  “Do what? Take what you say I need?”

  He pulled her closer to him and bent over her to kiss her. He took the kiss, grinding her mouth under his.

  “Stop it, you fucking idiot!” Tyler pulled him off of her. “You’re hurting her.”

  Morgan seemed to come to himself. He loosened his hold on her hair and stepped away from her.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry, baby. I don’t know what’s going on.” He shook his head and took a step back.

  “It’s all right, Morgan. Tyler is baiting both of us. Just forget it,” she told him, hoping he would.

  “Do I smell coffee?”

  Amanda heard several sets of feet stomp down the stairs. Dodge, Justin, and Jethro all shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed cups off the counter for coffee.

  “What’s up, guys?” Jethro asked, seeming to be the most observant first thing in the morning.

  “Nothing,” Tyler said and walked off.

  “Morgan?” Dodge asked, seeming to sense that something wasn’t as it should be.

  “Just a misunderstanding, is all,” Amanda told them.

  “We need to eat breakfast and get on the road,” Morgan told no one in particular.

  “I’m ready whenever everyone else is,” she said.

  “We’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes,” Justin said, carrying his coffee cup toward the stairs, followed closely by Jethro.

  “We’ll be ready to leave when you get back down,” Morgan said.

  He ushered Amanda into the living room and had her sit down on the love seat. He looked to be searching for something to say. When he finally settled on what he was going to say, he planted his hands on his hips and hung his head.

  “I’m sorry, Amanda. There was no excuse for what I did. I saw Tyler over you, and you telling him to back off, and I got jealous. I don’t have a right to be jealous. We aren’t an item really.”

  “I guess I thought we were for now.” Amanda’s heart tore just a little more.

  “I’ve leaving, Amanda. As soon as we get you settled and there’s no danger from that scumbag, I’m leaving. I don’t stay in any one place for very long. It’s just how I am.”

  “I know you’re leaving. You made that very clear from the beginning. I don’t need it rubbed in my face every time I turn around, though.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say,” Morgan admitted.

  “Then don’t say anything. You’re just making it worse.” Amanda stood up and walked around him to the fireplace. She studied the weathered mantel.

  Morgan walked up behind her and seemed to be about to trust her when Jethro and Justin walked in at that moment.

  “Okay, we’re ready.” The twins bounced down the stairs and into the living room.

  Morgan drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s go then. Where to?”

  They argued over possible destinations before finally settling on a diner around the corner from the interstate they would be getting on to head to Dallas. After breakfast, the four of them stopped by a service station and topped off their gas tanks before heading out.

  Amanda breathed a sigh of relief when they finally pulled out onto the highway. They were finally on their way to the lawyer’s office. Soon they would mail the letter with the disc, and everything would be set in motion. Once she had told her story to the lawyer and gotten the paperwork she needed drawn up, all that would be left was to confront Guy. She could do that. Then what? Then she began the rest of her life—without Morgan.

  It hurt to even think about it. How would it feel once it was reality? Amanda leaned against Morgan’s back, holding on tightly. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. She prayed that the wind would dry her tears before they stopped.

  * * * *

  Morgan pulled up in front of the law offices of Smith, Lark, and Buchannan and parked the bike next to Jethro and Justin’s truck. All three of them gathered at the front of the Dodge Ram to go over what they were doing. Morgan felt like a total and utter ass. He’d hurt the very woman he was supposed to be protecting. What in the hell was wrong with him?

  “We’ll watch the door to the office to make sure no one suspicious goes in while you’re in there,” Jethro said.

  “I figure this will take about an hour,” Morgan told them.

  “We’re cool with that,” Justin told him.

  He nodded and turned to Amanda. She hadn’t said a word all the way there, three solid hours of silence. She’d held on for dear life, as if he’d push her off the back or something. He disgusted himself.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, holding out his hand.

  Morgan half expected her to ignore it, but she took it and let him lead her up the steps into the office building. Once inside, he looked over the directory until he found which floor their law offices took up and punched the elevator button.

  “You good with this?” he asked her.

  “I’m fine.” She sounded much calmer than he felt.

  “Just tell him the tr
uth, and I’ll fill in the rest.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a small smile.

  He smiled back, and a little piece of his heart settled back in his chest.

  The elevator doors opened, and a dozen people pushed their way off. Morgan held the door for Amanda and then shielded her from everyone who piled in around them. He made sure she had plenty of room, much to the rest of the passengers’ annoyance.

  The floors passed by, with some people getting off and more getting on, till they arrived at the twelfth floor. Morgan ushered her off with a hand to her back just above the curve of her ass. He couldn’t help but notice how nice that ass was, too. They walked down a long hall, to the end, where the door was labeled with the names of the partners to the law firm. They were there to see Martin Buchannan.

  Morgan opened the door for her and waited until she had walked inside before closing it behind him. He walked up to the receptionist and informed her they had an eleven thirty appointment with Mr. Buchannan.

  “Mr. Buchannan will be with you in just a few minutes. If you’ll both have a seat, I’ll call you when he’s available.” The fiftyish-looking secretary smiled and disappeared behind a door. She was gone only a minute before she took her seat and began working on the computer.

  Several minutes had passed when her phone buzzed and she picked it up. She set it back down and stood up.

  “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Buchannan will see you now.”

  Morgan held out his hand for Amanda, and they followed the woman through a set of double doors, down a hall, and to a large wooden door at the end of the hall. She knocked once, then pushed the door open for them to enter. Morgan kept a hand at Amanda’s back until they were standing in front of the man himself.

  He stood up and reached across the desk to shake their hands. “Good to meet you. I was intrigued by the e-mail I received from Dodge. I haven’t heard from him in several years. How is he doing now that he’s home?” Martin asked.

  “Doing pretty good.” Morgan wasn’t going to go into Dodge’s injury with him. He didn’t know the guy from squat.