Risk It All (MacAteer Brothers Book 4)

by ML Nystrom

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. The doctor found a small lump during a regular exam that turned out to be malignant. Just one little lump. The surgery was supposed to be an isolated spot on my left breast. Not supposed to be a big deal.” My words tumbled out in a rush to escape and free themselves. “There would be some scarring and some reduction in breast size,” but I could get some cosmetic surgery later and even things out.”

  The heat from his body flowed through the quilt, warming my back. His chin rested on my shoulder and I was acutely aware of my naked state next to him. His voice rumbled against my neck, sending sparks down my spine. “Finish it.”

  “When they got in there, they found the tissue riddled with cancer all over my chest and made the call to take them. I woke up afterwards with Gordon by my side and I remember holding his hand while he told me I lost both breasts.”

  My breath hitched. Once my word vomit started, I couldn’t stop it. “Claudio and I… we’d just got engaged when I found the lump. He stuck around during the surgery part, but after… he couldn’t look at me the same way. The chemo was pretty damn rough. The hair loss, constantly sick, smelling like vomit all the time. He took a job taking pictures on a cruise ship and used that as his excuse for breaking up with me, but I know the truth. His view of me changed. He didn’t see me as a woman anymore and couldn't handle getting saddled with someone he would never desire again. He couldn’t see past my scars and accept me in my new body.”

  “You still love him?” A squeeze punctuated his soft growl.

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t blame him, I suppose, but he abandoned me when I needed him the most. Gordon and Cammie took care of me as well as they could, but I still spent most of my recovery and chemo time alone. There was a lot of pain, both physical and mental. I didn’t have time to prepare for the possibility of losing my breasts and I’m still… I’m not over it yet. I don’t know that I ever will be. I’ve been saving up for cosmetic surgery, but the most it will do is look right. I’ll never feel the same again.”

  My voice grew hoarser and my eyes swelled up from crying again. “I’ve been scared out of my mind that it would happen again with you. Claudio saw me as only half a woman. I felt like only half a woman. I’m scared to death you’ll see me in that way too, and I don’t think I can recover from that level of rejection again. It damn near killed me the first time when the person I fell in love with walked away. I can’t do it again.”

  “You love me.” I didn’t have to look at him to hear the smile in his voice.

  “Yes, dammit, I do, and I’m terrified of it. I’ve tried to let it go or talk myself out of it, but then you walk in the pub every night with the big announcement of your presence and I melt. It fucking killed me every time I saw you make those damn Patrick’s dicks for your adoring masses. Reese with her perfect whole body and size double Ds. I’ve been jealous for weeks.”

  He released his breath in a warm sigh against my neck. “Thank God.”

  Pain pierced my chest. I jerked in his arms, and he tightened up.

  “No, baby, not like that. Thank God you love me. I may be a prick for saying this, but I’m glad you said it first. Makes it easier for me to say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “I love you, Sloane.” He barked a wry laugh. “Fuck, I’ve never said that before to a woman I’m not related to. Never felt this for anyone and never wanted to, but seeing you at the bar every night, working so damn hard… fuck me, I don’t have the words to describe what it does to me.”

  His voice broke. He sniffed loudly, swallowed, and let out a shaky breath. I could hardly believe it, but Patrick MacAteer cried against my neck. “Half a woman? Bull-fucking-shit. After going through that hell and beating it, you’re too much woman for that asshole. He’s half a man for leaving you, and I’m sorry to say this ’cause I know you got hurt bad, but I’m so fucking glad he did. Leaves my path wide open.”

  The sudden release of the knots in my gut, nearly sent me to my knees. I had no clue of the tension that had built up in my mind and body. I felt almost giddy.

  He shifted and placed a soft kiss just below my ear. “Be with me, Sloane. Be my woman.”

  His lips sent more sparks through me and raised gooseflesh all over my back. It would be so easy to give in and accept his comfort, but I needed to know. “What happens if you change your mind next week?”

  He chuckled, and the sound buzzed down my spine. “I’m not changing my mind, baby. Think I’ve ever had to work this hard before? If you banned me after I kissed you that first time, I was going to camp out in the parking lot and sing cheesy love songs to you until you changed your mind.”

  I let out my own little laugh to cover my roiling emotions. I wanted so much to believe this was true. “You think that shit works on me?”

  “Probably not, but it would have annoyed you so much you’d let me back in just to get me to stop.” He nipped at my neck and I shivered. “I mean it, Sloane. Be my woman.”

  I felt so fucking light I could float and the only thing anchoring me was Patrick’s arms. He loved me. He truly, completely, thoroughly loved me. “Okay.”

  His mouth curled up in a big smile against me and he took my earlobe in his teeth. “I swear I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had, and if this stays the way I want it to, I’ll be the last boyfriend too. I have another serious question to ask you, sweetheart.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Can I put my tongue in your pussy now?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Before I finished nodding and laughing, I found myself stripped of the quilt and in my bed on my back with a seriously turned-on Patrick above me. He twisted his hips to settle between my legs and supported his weight on his forearms as he hovered over me. I barely got in a breath before his lips were on mine in a possessive kiss. He teased me with his tongue until I opened to him. He swept inside, laying claim.

  “I love you, Sloane. So fucking much.”

  He kissed me thoroughly, stroking the inside of my lips, tangling with my tongue, thrusting in and out as if making love to my mouth. I writhed against him as I grew hotter.

  “I love your wigs. You look so good when you change styles and colors. Makes me hard thinking of all the role-playing we can do. You can be Princess Leia and I can be Han Solo. Wanna see my lightsaber?”

  I couldn’t help but giggle. He moved to my neck, sucking in the skin and licking the sensitive cord until I squealed.

  He reared back and looked at me with boyish glee. “You said you lost all your hair, right, even down there?”

  He saw it, didn’t he? “Um… there’s a little fuzz.”

  “Bare pussy with no razor burn? I gotta see this.”

  He slid down and pulled my knees wider apart. “Damn, that’s beautiful.”

  My skin flushed red as his heated gaze landed on my open mound. “I don’t… eeyah!”

  A thousand volts hit me as that magic tongue of his started at the top of my slit and stroked down over my clit to my opening and back. He did it a second time, and the sensation was just as electrifying as the first. The third time had me yelling again.

  “Lost your voice, love? Need some words? Try ‘ooh, Patrick, that feels so good, Patrick, give me more, Patrick.’”

  He punctuated each sentence with a flick of his tongue against my straining clit.

  “Patrick, do you always talk this much?” I gasped out on a half-laugh.

  “You’re right. Let’s get down to the business of making you scream my name when you come.”

  Down to business indeed.

  He licked, sucked, twirled and teased, turning me into one big oversensitive writhing mass. At one point he sucked me into his mouth and fluttered his tongue over the tip of my clit until I thought I would pass out. Every nerve ending fired with pleasure, and the control I had over my body disappeared. It was too much. I tried to push his head away to take a break, but he grabbed my wrists and held them to my hips as his tongue circl
ed round and round.

  “Patrick!”

  “Wanna come?”

  “Yes!”

  “Say, Patrick, my love, please let me come’”

  “Patrick my love, please…ahh… please let me come.”

  “Say, Patrick, I love the way you eat my pussy.”

  “Patrick, I love the way you eat my pussy.’”

  “Say, Patrick—”

  “Patrick MacAteer, I love you, now finish the job!”

  He sucked me back in and pressed his tongue in firm strokes. He let go of one hand and slid a finger inside my channel. It pointed at my belly button and he stroked in and out, spreading slickness everywhere. Even if I had any control left, I couldn’t stop the avalanche of pleasure that washed over me. I came, riding wave after wave, my body spasming under his, and I screamed with release.

  His finger withdrew from my clasping channel, and I fell in a boneless heap back onto the bed. I vaguely heard him move around as he stripped out of his clothes. As he came back over me, I got a full view of the bottom half of his tattoo. A winking naked Lucky Charms cartoon leprechaun straddled Patrick’s erect dick with the words Magically Delicious.

  I couldn’t help it. I touched a finger to the tattoo and burst into laughter.

  Patrick grinned down at me. “Got drunk one night with Owen and Garrett. I thought it was a good idea at the time.”

  He tore open a condom wrapper with his teeth and sheathed himself. I suddenly grew self-conscious and covered my chest with my hands.

  “None of that, precious.” He pulled them away and to my utter amazement, leaned over and kissed the pink lines, tracing each one with his tongue. “You’re beautiful, and I’m one damn lucky man to be here with you.”

  Tears welled in my eyes. His acceptance filled me with such feeling I thought I would burst apart with joy.

  “You forgot something, sweetheart.”

  “What?”

  The hard knob of his dick pushed against my opening. He smiled and made a tsking noise “You were supposed to scream my name. We gotta start all over again.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Gallaghers’s Pub was not just a place to be tonight. It was the place to be. Patrick felt lighter, happier, and more carefree than ever. He couldn’t stop smiling and several regulars remarked on his demeanor.

  “You look like the cat that got the cream.”

  “Dude, what the hell’s got you in such a good mood?”

  “Whatever you’re mixin’, man, I’m buyin’.”

  “I’m high on life, brothers. Just high on life!”

  Sloane stood awkwardly at the register and Patrick grinned even bigger at her slightly open stance. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Sore, baby?”

  She shot him a scowl. “Don’t touch me.”

  He chuckled. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I promise I’ll kiss it and make it all better. No sex in four years, eh? Did the soak in the bathtub help?”

  She rang up another tab. “It did, until you joined me. By the way, I wasn’t completely sexless. I have BOB.”

  “Who’s Bob?

  “Battery Operated Boyfriend.”

  Patrick’s smile spread even further. “You have a vibrator? Fuck yeah, baby, you, me, and BOB are gonna have a threesome sometime soon.”

  Sloane bit her lip to hide her own smile. Patrick laughed and smacked a kiss at her temple before going to take another order. He learned enough drinks and repeated enough tricks that many of them were automatic. He could work, tease, and talk while his mind stayed occupied on other things, mainly Sloane and their morning sex marathon.

  His dick ached as he slid it back and forth along Sloane’s tight channel. When the head breached, he wanted to weep at her surrounding warmth. Bit by bit, he pushed in and out, coating himself in her juices until he fully seated himself inside her. The gasps, groans, and whimpers from her throat as he claimed her sounded in his ears.

  “Am I hurting you, baby?”

  “No, it’s just been a really long time.”

  “How long?”

  “F-Four years. Ah!”

  “Damn, Sloane. You won’t ever have to wait that long again, darlin’. Hell, four days will be too much. Maybe four hours. We got a lot of catching up to do.”

  He pulled out of her slickness and pushed back in, feeling the grip of her body caressing his length. “Beautiful, sweetheart, and a real honor you chose me to be here with you. I promise I’m gonna treasure and take care of this gift you’ve given me but, fair warning, I want you to be standing at that bar tonight, still feeling me inside you. I want you to come so many times, that everything else is a shadow memory. I want you to be so addicted to me, you can’t get enough and never want me to leave.”

  Her hips moved with him and she clutched at his shoulders, her fingers digging in as he steadily stroked in and out of her body. Glazed eyes met his, and she panted. “I think I’m already there.”

  “Not yet, baby. But you will be.” He prodded inside her at different angles until Sloane gasped sharply and clenched around his pulsing dick. He grinned from ear to ear. “Found it.”

  “What? Oh, God!” she cried and clenched again as he pressed the same area.

  “Your G-spot, darlin’. Now we can really get down to business.”

  His thrusts became more purposeful as he teased her, sometimes targeting the newly discovered spot and sometimes giving her a minute to catch her breath. He fought the urge to pound into her like a battering ram, as his need to come grew with every push, but his desire to draw out her pleasure proved greater. Her gasps and cries sounded like music as they filled the air and he reveled in them as he leaned down to kiss her.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Fuck, you feel so damn good. Love this, baby. Love you.”

  She writhed against him as she pushed her hips up to meet his next drive. “Do you always talk this much?”

  “No, but with you, I have lots to say. Love your taste, baby, and I’m gonna eat you every chance I get. Love to see your mouth on me while I’m doing it. Love this tight pussy of yours, and I can’t wait to see how many ways I can take you. Fast and hard, ramming into you from behind. Slow and steady, like we are now in missionary. You on top and I can work your clit. Reverse cowgirl and I’ll watch that ass while you ride.”

  She let out a yell as he increased his speed and drove harder at her spot. Her answering spasm nearly made him spill. He kissed her again, teasing her lips with his tongue. “I can’t wait to stop using condoms. Haven’t done ungloved yet. Ever. Want to feel all of you, baby.”

  “Talk… Ooh… Later… Oh!”

  “Ever done any ass play? I hope you’ll let me do that too.”

  “God, Patrick!”

  “Like that idea, don’t you? Your pussy just hugged me.”

  “Oh! Ah! Fuck! Please, Patrick!”

  He kissed her again. “Okay, darlin’. I’ve got you.” He leaned over and lightly bit the side of her neck, enough to let her feel the grip with his teeth. He began thrusting hard and fast at her spot. Her answering scream told him she was there. Her body lost control as her orgasm hit her. Wave after wave gripped him and he pounded through it and his balls tightened up with his own imminent pleasure.

  “Ahhhh! Sloane!” He let out a yell to join hers.

  “Yo, dude! Wake up, man. Can I get a Guinness and a shot?”

  Patrick shook himself and hoped the boner he just sprung wasn’t too visible in his jeans. “Got it.”

  “Distracted much?” Sloane smirked at him.

  “Your fault, darlin’. I used three condoms before you finally yelled my name.”

  She made a noise between a grunt and a groan and Patrick threw back his head and laughed.

  Karaoke started and a line of singers paraded across the stage to try to wow the crowd with their talents. Some were hits, and some were misses, but the atmosphere of the place stayed upbeat and fun.

  “You’ve been up with my sister all day, haven’t you?” Gordon came down
to help with the rush. “Heard some serious shit coming from overhead.”

  Patrick’s mood dampened a little as he took in the serious look on Gordon’s face. He recognized brother-protection mode and didn’t blame Gordon for his concern. “Yes, I did, and I’m going to be doing it often. Sloane and I are together now and if I have my way, we’re going to stay together for a long time. That’s not a problem, is it?”

  Gordon kept the firm line of his mouth for several tense seconds, then burst into a big smile and laughed. “’Bout damn time. Congrats, brother, although I have to tell you, if you hurt her, I’ll take a hammer to your knees. I thought about that with the dickhead she used to be engaged to, but Cammie wouldn’t let me.”

  “No worries there, my friend. I love Sloane, and I’ll cut off my right nut before I cause her any more pain than she’s already had. Speaking of dickheads, guess who just came in.”

  Claudio entered with his usual grace. His eyes spotted Sloane at the bar and he seated himself as close to her as possible. He smiled at her and ordered something. Patrick saw red as the man stared openly at her ass when she turned away.

  “Hey, I need Patrick’s dick extra strong tonight!” Reese had arrived as well with her gaggle of girls.

  “Need to shut that shit down, man.”

  Patrick didn’t know which situation Gordon referred to, but either way, he was right. He climbed on the bar and raised both arms in the air as his voice carried over the noise. “Attention, mere mortals! I have a big announcement to make!”

  All eyes shifted to the spectacle he made. Even the karaoke singers paused and Pete muted the machine.

  “Hear ye, hear ye, people of Gallaghers’s Pub. Patrick’s dick is no longer on the menu. That recipe now belongs exclusively to my girlfriend, Sloane.”

  Applause and cheers rang out as he jumped off and strode to Sloane. She was doing her best to seem stern and miffed, but her lips curled into a beaming smile. She chose the long curling black wig tonight, and he reached out to tweak a hanging lock. “This one reminds me of Wonder Woman. I’ll play Superman and you can tie me up with your golden lasso.”