Unchained

by Suzanne Halliday

  She snickered at him but stayed put.

  “I’m serious. Get up!”

  He started to take her arm, but she wiggled away. That was when he lost it.

  “Angelina.” The tone he used was all sorts of growly alpha. “If your brother hears that you’re on your knees, he’s going to think all sorts of rubbish that’ll end with a black eye. Mine. Now get the fuck up.”

  “I thought you liked me on my knees.”

  How Stephanie appeared at that exact moment without either of them hearing her was just their luck.

  “Shugah,” she twanged, “is this bad man giving you a hard time?”

  Stephanie Bennett was an absolute genius. Her funny Southern drawl, the way she delivered her trademark ‘shugah,’ and the unmistakable innuendo in the question she posed broke them all up into raucous gales of laughter.

  Helping her up, Parker was wiping away an actual tear as he shook his head and winked. “Tell the nice lady that Daddy isn’t abusing you.”

  With that, everyone promptly lost it again.

  Recovering following a hearty giggle-fest, Stephanie fluffed her head of gorgeously coiffed blond and pursed her lips. To Parker, she said, “Darlin’, we need to talk.”

  Parker looked at Angie with wide eyes before he turned to Stephanie. “Uh-oh. What did I do now? Is this about the wildcat that got trapped in our bathroom last night?”

  Stephanie’s burst of “Bwah!” at his characterization of the noises he made in the tile enclosure was funnier than almost anything.

  “Oh, shugah,” she assured him with a saucy giggle-snort, “I’m well acquainted with the alpha mating call. No need to seek applause. Besides, we all assume you’re violating this sweet, sugar plum at every opportunity.”

  “Who’s we?”

  Angie had to laugh at the starchy affront she heard in Parker’s voice. Patting him on the arm, she weighed in.

  “Sweetie, I think what Stephanie means is that the Justice crew has a betting pool going around for how long it takes you to knock me up.”

  Her alpha lawyer rock ‘n’ roll bad boy reacted like he’d been smacked with a paddle.

  “Are you fucking serious?”

  She and Stephanie looked at each other, rolled their eyes in unison, and sighed.

  “Men,” Stephanie said half-mockingly.

  “Right?” Angie replied. She smirked at Parker and then softened. “We’ll discuss this later, okay?”

  He didn’t look amused or convinced. Yep. She really should have drained the snake earlier or whatever unseemly expression best described fucking her man into a coma. He really didn’t function all that well when she didn’t.

  Men.

  Bringing the weird conversation to a screeching halt, Angie cheerfully exclaimed, “Happy birthday, Stephanie,” and gave the woman a fierce hug. Hearing her express the day’s sentiment snapped Parker from his thoughts.

  “Stephanie,” he intoned gravely, “I’m sorry for being a dick. Happy birthday, lady.”

  The birthday girl accepted their generous hugs and best wishes then said once again, “We need to talk.”

  “What’s up?” Parker asked now that he realized she wasn’t just yanking his chain.

  “Did you see the outfit Calder expects me to wear to this shindig?”

  Outfit? This was news to Angie. She glanced up at Parker’s face and saw him clear his throat and bite back a chuckle.

  “No. But going by your reaction, I’m assuming you’re not pleased?”

  “Not pleased? Seriously?” Stephanie crooked her finger and started walking to the guest room. Oh boy. Show and tell!

  Parker yanked Angie playfully until she was in front of him like a shield and whispered into her ear, “Protect me, Desert Angel. If Calder did a bad, I’m about to pay for it.”

  Angie snicker giggled and followed along behind Stephanie as she stomped off down the hallway. In the guest room, the remains of a present torn to shreds while unwrapping were strewn all about the room. Knowing how meticulous Stephanie was, the gift carnage was all kinds of adorable.

  Pointing at something on the bed, she bumped her eyebrows together and declared, “No fucking way.”

  Whoa. Swearing. Ladylike in the delivery but swearing nonetheless.

  In reality, it probably only took a few seconds, but it seemed like she and Parker stood there and eyeballed the outfit on the bed for an eternity. Angie didn’t know what her lover man was thinking, but she assumed it was something along the lines of Calder Dane getting his ass kicked.

  Parker couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t know whether to laugh, feign indignation, throw a fury, or whatever. Clearly, the lady was not amused but holy god. Calder was either the funniest son-of-a-bitch on the planet or the stupidest. As the thought unfolded, he caught sight a handwritten card and focused until he could read it without appearing to be too nosy.

  Ended up it was easy to read ‘cause all he found was one word in big black block letters. OBEY.

  Jesus Christ. Reeling back the eye roll before it spread to his face, he searched for the best way to handle the situation. He was a lawyer, goddammit, and he knew how to react to a courtroom bombshell. But this? Hard not to laugh.

  Having a bit of understanding about what Calder was doing—he had to remember to high five the dude and share this epically hilarious moment with Alex—he made a comical face and asked, “What? No good?”

  Angie guffawed and elbowed him at the same time. “Behave, Counselor.” He flashed her a perfectly perfect innocent look like he had no idea what she was referring to.

  “He doesn’t think you’ll wear it,” his young lover told the older woman. “Am I right?”

  Hmph. She might have a point, he thought. Obviously, the obey game was something the older couple played. This, he understood. Point. Counterpoint. Hot sex to follow.

  Stephanie paused and looked back and forth from the outrageous clothing to Angie’s smirk. “Oh, my god. You’re right.”

  Parker noticed immediately not a trace of the Southern Belle twang was evident. He loved this about Stephanie. The lady was the real fucking deal.

  Angie picked up the top, or what was supposed to pass as a top, and chuckled. “I’d wear it if I was you. Give him a taste of his own medicine. It’s your birthday, so every eye will be on you anyway. Show up in this and a brawl might break out. Serve Calder right. He’s playing poker with the wrong gals!”

  Stephanie chuckled. Then giggled. Then laughed and laughed and laughed.

  “Aw, thanks, shugah. Just the advice I needed. Now, I know what to do.”

  Shooing them from the room, she asked as the door shut, “I’ve got to get ready. What time are we expected at the Villa?”

  “Two hours,” he answered. “Takes about fifty minutes to get there in no traffic.”

  “Got it,” Stephanie answered. “So I’ll be ready in an hour, okay?”

  The door shut. He looked at Angie as she looked at him.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” She quizzed.

  “Fuck, no. My assignment was to keep her off the property for twenty-four hours to give them time to set everything up. Aside from that and knowing what the general dress code is? I haven’t a clue.”

  Next thing Parker knew, his back was pressed against the wall as his angel baby balls-out shimmied on his body and kissed his neck.

  “I know what I’m wearing. That gives us forty-five free minutes until we have to dress.”

  When her dainty hand rubbed him right through his pants, he didn’t waste another second. Swinging her up into his arms, he walked purposely down the hallway to the other side of the large ranch-style house, entered their bedroom, and kicked the door shut. Her wicked mouth had been doing lovely things to his neck as he walked. They’d be showing up at today’s birthday fest with her love bite marking his throat.

  Tossing her on the bed in a way that had her sailing through the air, he watched her drop in a sprawl and quickly pulled the t-shirt over
his head. Leering at her as he undid the button and pulled down the zipper on his pants, he knew a deep thrill when she licked her lips and stared helplessly.

  “Start the clock,” he growled. And then fell on her like a hungry animal.

  HE WAS A nervous wreck. A lot was riding on how today went. Picking through the list of preparations in his head, Calder ticked them off one by one to be sure he’d covered all his bases.

  All around him as far as the eye could see were the trappings of an old-school rodeo. There was even a new pony in the barn’s smaller corral. A special early birthday gift for Dylan because Calder knew the best present he could give his beauty queen was something for her precious grandbaby.

  He had no doubt about her shitting out a Georgia peach when she saw the gorgeous pony. Teaching Dylan to ride and appreciate horses was pretty damn high on Stephanie’s priority list. After all, it was in her family’s history. She wasn’t just a ladylike former beauty queen. She was also a kickass cowgirl with an impressive array of championship buckles and trophies from her younger days as a regular on the Junior Rodeo circuit around her hometown in Montana.

  “Hey! Calder,” a voice boomed behind him. He turned in time to see Drae bringing one of the new two-row Polaris utility vehicles to a halt about twenty feet away. Grabbing an armload of cowboy hats from the vacant passenger seat, he hurried toward Calder.

  “Got a bunch of extras from the last Justice get-together,” he exclaimed excitedly. “Since the construction crew is invited and not all of ‘em have western gear, Victoria thought we should put these to good use.”

  What a great idea. With a wide grin, he told Drae, “Probably shoulda’ let your wife plan and execute this whole thing, huh?”

  “Nah. She’s just real good with details. Besides, this birthday hoedown throw down you’re putting on is like the bow on a box of rare chocolates for Victoria. Seeing your only parent lose her shit over an old fuck like you gives my spitfire a lot of happiness. I know her mouth doesn’t always say what her heart is thinking, but believe me, dude. She’s over the moon about the fuss you’re making.”

  Good. He was glad to hear it. Keeping Tori on his good side hadn’t been easy. Every day between when he and her mother reappeared as a couple after a separation of stupidity and this very second when he hadn’t, as everyone kept saying, ‘put a ring on it,’ had been torture. Some days, he wasn’t sure if his lady’s daughter was going to remove his balls or have him knighted.

  A jarring thump of worry detoured that thought. Part of Tori’s wild mood swings had more than a little to do with the mysterious state of the St. John marriage. All outward appearances showed a family in harmony. No one doubted Drae’s unwavering devotion to his wife and son. In public, he was the perfect husband and father. It wasn’t fake. Calder had known the man far too long for any sort of smoke and mirrors to work.

  But still. Something was going on, and whatever that something was, it worried the fuck out of Stephanie as well. He was no expert on these things—far from it—but he wondered if maybe Tori didn’t have a touch of postpartum funk clinging to her. After all, Daniel’s birth hadn’t been a party. She’d been a mess physically and emotionally afterward.

  Didn’t help Tori any when her mother took off and left her holding the postpartum bag by herself. He cringed at the memory. Stephanie’s leaving had been his fault. His damn fault for being a fucking butthead. The uncomfortable admission that his messy handling of his and Stephanie’s relationship might be a contributing factor to Tori’s postpartum struggle didn’t sit well with him.

  Not for the first or last time, he wished Alex would get the fuck back to Arizona. The complexities of life at the Villa ended up being a shit-ton of responsibility and required a finesse Calder did not feel confident wielding.

  “Oh, hey,” he muttered as the pile of hats Drae brought was dumped. He’d wisely had a tent placed on the wide lawn area separating the Villa from the out buildings. “We good to go with the video Alex sent? Tori said it was N-B-D and not to worry.”

  Drae snickered. “You joking? My geek princess loves a tech challenge. Since I know nothing about this shit, I’ll just say a few words I picked up, and you can decipher, okay?”

  Calder laughed. The nerd head-nods and eye rolls had always been directed just at him and Alex. He’d taught his nephew well. But holy god. Victoria Bennett St. John? That girl gave them a real run for their money.

  “Go for it.”

  “Right.” Drae chuckled as his face screwed up until he looked like a kid failing a foreign language quiz. “Yeah. Uh, projection. Hi-def. Wireless something—maybe sound?”

  Smacking his soon-to-be son-in-law on the back, he made a wry face and used his professorial voice. “All right, St. John. Don’t have a meltdown just because your wife is way fucking smarter than you are.”

  “Oh, suck my balls, Dane. I know you, ya old pervert. Aren’t you the guy who goes in costume to Comic Con every year trolling for Princess Leia types and anyone dressed up like an Anime slut? Don’t you try and rub my nose in my woman’s I.Q.”

  Now see? Their kidding around was classic St. John. His tone and the way his steely blue eyes sparkled when he spoke about his wife didn’t suggest anything out of the ordinary. Yet, still.

  “Which reminds me,” the other man said as he checked out his watch. “Better get my ass in gear. Got Lacey and Dylan to deal with too.”

  They both nodded. In a voice heavy with concern, Calder asked, “Any news about Cam? I’m pretty sure I’ll be talking to Alex later. What should I tell him?”

  “Fuck if I know,” Drae muttered irritably. “He’s been sucked into the damn matrix, and short of Victoria hacking into a government mainframe to find out and spending the rest of her life in jail for it, those government guys have all info on lockdown. And for real, man, they do not leave a trail.”

  Their combined worry cast a pall over what two minutes before had been a happy conversation.

  “How’s Lacey? You do know I have to tell him now, right? My nephew is super protective of Ponytail. You were right about not telling him at first, but he’s going to figure out Cam wasn’t here today.”

  Drae squinted into the sun, pulled his sunglasses from a shirt pocket, and slid them on. “He knows something’s going on. Tried cockblocking when we did our weekly text.” He snorted and shook his head. “The Major saw right through my lame attempts to divert his attention away from why Cam wasn’t in on the exchange.”

  Calder’s wrist tech dinged. He picked up his hand and angled the face of the Hermes Apple watch he wore. Might seem a bit swish for a guy like him, but after Stephanie read the watch’s description and saw the phrase, ‘designed to recall the straps of a horse’s girth,’ well, she’d insisted he have one. Fortunately, it fit in with the day’s theme.

  “The band is here to set up.”

  The way Drae started laughing you’d think he was front row at a stand-up comedy festival.

  “Oh, my god! That’s right. Victoria told me you pressured the Chixie Dicks to be today’s house band. Dude!” He chortled as his hand went up for a high five. “Epic!”

  Calder slapped the mother fuck out of that high five because yep, he’d negotiated with the band for two weeks to nail down the arrangements. The Dicks were Desert Thunder’s main rivals in a half-assed and totally comical way. Like Thunder, the band was comprised of professional guys—a plumber, a hardware store owner, a lawyer, and a doctor.

  Thunder and Dick’s rivalry went back years and spawned a never-ending series of hijinks and practical jokes that were becoming legend. It would annoy the piss out of Parker that the Chixie Dicks were playing, and that alone was worth whatever the day cost him in dollars. It was no surprise at all that Drae thought the situation amusing. He and Parker had been jockeying for Alex’s number one girlfriend spot for decades. Anything that was gonna rub Parker Sullivan the wrong way was shits and giggles for Draegyn St. John.

  Damn. Alex was really missing out on some t
extbook Justice brothers fuckery.

  “Victoria! Oh, my god! Get over here,” Lacey squealed as she excitedly scrolled through the long text.

  From the other side of the massive living room, Tori’s head popped up. Lacey saw her flushed face and messed up hair and knew she’d probably been blowing raspberries on Daniel’s tummy.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s Heather! Oh, my god! They’re gonna be here next week. Squee!”

  Continuing to read, she looked up and added, “Looks like they decided against driving. Brody thinks a week in the car with an emotionally fragile five-year-old and a dog would be too much.”

  “They’re flying?” Tori asked as she came to where she and Dylan were camped with Daniel perched on her hip.

  “Yeah, yeah. Sawyer’s going to get them.”

  “When?”

  “Hold on. Still reading.”

  Dylan suddenly yelled, “Ma!” and smacked her on the leg with a beat-up plush dinosaur he liked to swing by the tail. Raven also took a whack or two as her playful son crawled closer to the poor dog and had a go.

  “Yikes,” Lacey groaned. “Next Wednesday. Everything that’s left to ship will be here Monday. Including Brody’s car.”

  “I’d pass that info on to Remy. Let her handle the vehicle.”

  “Better make myself a note. Call Beverly Two Clouds on Monday and make sure Mia’s registration for school is a go.”

  “Did you hear that?” Tori cooed excitedly to Daniel, who was smiling at her with such love, Lacey’s heart clutched at the sight. “Your cousin is coming, Big D!”

  Crouching to her son’s level, Lacey traded his favorite board book for the weaponized dinosaur and then patted Raven on the head for being such a good dog around the babies.

  “Beverly’s going to sign off on my teaching hours at her school. That way I can keep an eye on the little girl without it seeming weird.”

  “Speaking of,” Tori replied. “Thank you so much for the electronic drum toy. He loves it. Anything Daniel can beat on is a good thing!”

  “I feel like a walking encyclopedia of developmental baby toys.”