He grinned then sealed his mouth over mine as we dropped below the surface, kissing and touching, the strings of my bikini top floating loose as his hands roamed my skin. When we came up, he pressed me up against the side of the pool, my back to the wall.
“Hold on,” he ordered, a glint in his eye as he positioned my hands either side of my head.
“Oh really?” Anytime you were told to hold on during sex was always a good omen.
“Really.” He quirked an eyebrow then tugged at the strings either side of my bikini bottoms, whipping the fabric from between my legs, letting the water touch my bare skin.
“Now what?”
He placed both sections of my bikini on the side of the pool and ran his tongue up the side of my neck. “Now we see how long I can hold my breath for.”
I giggled as he took a dramatic lungful of air and dropped below the surface, grabbing my thighs and planting his face right in the centre of them. Logistically, it was a difficult move to pull off, but my God, I wasn’t giggling anymore. He covered my clit with his mouth and flicked it with his tongue, making me drop my head back so I could literally see stars.
“Oh,” I gasped into the night, struggling to hold on to the edge of the pool when all I really wanted to do was grab him by the hair and fuck his face.
As my orgasm built, I closed my eyes, my mouth open, my body set to explode. A blinding light hit my eyes, and I scrunched them tighter, readying my body to let go.
“Ma’am.”
“Oh.”
A throat cleared. “Ma’am.”
I tipped over the edge, my hips convulsing, my mouth open and gasping, all at the same time as I opened my eyes and found a security guard with a torch shining on our escapades.
“Holy shit!” I let go and grabbed for my bikini, immediately dropping beneath the water and pushing Abbot from between my legs. We had a momentary exchange—the man had serious lung capacity—where we came face to face and he frowned and I pointed upwards while trying to get my bikini back around my body. A beam of light shone through the water between us and he looked up, wide eyes. I nearly died.
Abbot shot up to the surface, his body moving around me so he blocked me from the security guard’s view. Not that it mattered, I was pretty sure the guy copped a good eyeful while I came right in front of him.
When I surfaced, my bikini somewhat covering my important bits, Abbot was thanking the guard for being understanding and assuring him it wouldn’t happen again. I couldn’t even look at the man.
“The rules are for everybody’s safety, sir.”
“Understood. We’re getting out now.”
The guard nodded and just stood there.
Abbot laughed. “You’re going to watch us get out?”
“I’m just doing my job, sir.”
“All right then,” Abbot said with a sigh, placing his hands on the side of the pool then launching himself out of it with a push of his arms. If that wasn’t impressive enough, when he stood to his full height—head and shoulders above the security guard—he also sported a gigantic erection that, despite the dim lighting, clearly showed off every ridge and vein while standing proudly against Abbot’s body.
The guard almost choked and looked away, his eyes wide like the image was imprinted on his mind and he was still seeing it. I dropped under the water to hide my laughter, taking the opportunity to grab Abbot’s jeans.
When I reappeared, the guard was walking away and Abbot was holding out my terry robe, a towel around his waist and a shit-eating grin on his face.
I mouthed, “Oh my God!” and took his hand as he helped me get out of the water.
“Busted,” he said as he draped the robe over my shoulders and we both ran for the apartment, giggling like little kids the whole way.
“His face when you got out of the pool!” I squealed once we got through the door, clutching at my stomach as I cackled so hard I could barely breathe.
“You liked that, did you?” He laughed, shivering as he grabbed the blanket from the couch I’d covered him with earlier and wrapped it around his body.
“It was priceless,” I said, opening my robe as I stepped into his space. “Especially since he shone the torch in my eyes just as I climaxed.”
He opened the blanket, welcoming me in, our bodies pressing together, skin to skin. “That dirty bastard. I’m glad he copped an eyeful of cock.”
I giggled, looking up at him, admiring absolutely everything about him. “I’m so happy with you,” I whispered, resting my hands on his chest.
“Me too, blue.” He lowered his head and I meet him on my toes, our mouths joining and moving in harmony. I pulled at the strings on my bikini and let the fabric drop to the floor, my naked body still wrapped in our robe and blanket dome.
“Let’s get rid of this pesky towel.” My fingers found the fold at his waist then tugged it loose. The fabric fell, freeing his cock, once again rock hard. “That’s better.” Leaning close, I cupped his arse, his skin cool against my hands.
He pushed my robe off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. “This is unnecessary.”
I smiled. “So is this.” I pushed the blanket away, and then we were both naked, standing in the middle of a moonlit living room.
“You know, that security guard is probably watching us through the glass door.”
I slid my hands over his shoulders and laced my fingers behind his neck. “Then I guess we’d better give him a good show.”
Abbot grinned. “I was meaning that we should shut the curtain. But sure, I’m game.” He picked me up and I squealed, wrapping myself around him until he pressed my naked back against the glass of the door.
“You are bad.” I laughed as he hooked his arm underneath my thigh.
“Do you object?” His shaft pressed enticingly against my centre, pulsing with need.
What the hell? It was after three in the morning and that guard was probably back in his security office watching the grounds and questioning his sexuality. No one would see this.
“Do it. And fuck me so hard they see your balls slapping.”
He burst out laughing then kissed me really hard. “God, I love you,” he said, shifting his hips before pushing inside me.
I gasped at his intrusion, tightening my hold. “I love you too,” I whispered in his ear, kissing his skin and losing myself to the sensation of this man filling up my body with his big dick and skilful strokes. “I love you so much.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Promise
We were asked to leave the next morning. Something about indecency and a noise complaint—when Abbot got going, his thrusts really rattled that door. Bang, bang, bang! What a night.
I complained about the pervy security guard and ended up with a full refund over the partial they were offering and left the place with nothing but good memories. I even left them an excellent Yelp review.
Once we were packed up, we drove the short distance to the Esplanade apartment Abbot had referred to as ours. That man was insanely sweet when he wanted to be. He seriously made me all gooey inside. Ours. He’d already carved out a place in his life for me, even though I wasn’t supposed to return to his apartment at all.
With only enough time to dump our bags, the next stop on the day’s agenda was Jasmine’s place where the others were just getting back from surfing.
“Here’s the lovebirds,” Toby said with a smile as he helped unload boards from the back of a people mover.
“Was starting to think we’d be learning these locks on our own,” Sam teased but Alesha nudged him in the arm.
“They’re at the start,” she said in our defence.
Abbot beamed and hooked his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close and kissing my head.
“As long as there’s never an end, I’ll be a happy man.”
I elbowed him, blushing. It was one thing to be wishy-washy with each other. But in front of others, I didn’t know. I’d always played my relationships low-key in public
, but then, I’d never felt love in this way.
He kissed me again. “Deal with it, blue.” I rolled my eyes and he laughed, then I slid my arms around his waist and hugged into him. What the heck? I could do PDA.
“Jasmine here today?” he asked Toby as we all headed in.
“A little later. She’s off with Breaker somewhere.”
“What’s the deal with them?” I asked as I slipped onto a stool in the kitchen.
“They’re together,” Alesha stated.
“Yeah, but how serious are they?” I asked. “I mean, isn’t she still married?”
“She is,” Nate said. “But there’s no relationship. Our father forbade contact after he was sentenced.”
“Jasmine will be a Cartwright till she dies. But she and Breaker are as together as the rest of us,” Kristian said, rubbing his hand on the back of his head, his haircut so much neater than Abbot’s.
Sam bounced a shoulder. “He’s a good bloke. He’d do absolutely anything for Jazz, anything for Ronnie, who he loves like a daughter. He and his club got us out of a pretty sticky situation—”
“And dropped us right back in another,” Nate pointed out, brows raised as he sipped his coffee.
“I heard about that,” I put in. “Sounds like you’re about to be free though.”
“And to be fair, we were gonna do this job anyway,” Kristian said.
“Yes,” Toby said. “But it was for someone else.” Wait, what? This was information I didn’t have yet.
“Someone else?”
Nate nodded. “Someone who’ll be real pissed if they find out we did it without them.” That so didn’t answer my question.
“And they will find out,” Abbot said. “No way this isn’t hitting the papers.”
Who?
There were nods and murmurs of agreement before Kris held up his hand and called for quiet. “You know Ronnie sorted that shit out. We never promised anything to Grey himself. It was only a maybe to a couple low-level employees. We gave them some cash and a tip on a luxury car rig and they were happy as Larry.”
Grey? I am so lost.
“It still sits a little uneasy with me,” Alesha admitted. “They’re loose ends that I think maybe we should tie up.” She held her hands out in a sorry, not sorry gesture.
“No,” both Kris and Toby said in unison.
“Just because you’re cool around dead bodies, doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” Kristian continued. “And I promised Ronnie we wouldn’t hurt her friend.”
Dead bodies?
My eyes widened and I looked to Abbot silently begging for clarification. He leaned close, a slightly amused smile teasing his lips. “Her family runs a funeral home. She used to do the make-up for the viewings. She doesn’t go around killing people for fun.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief…that made better sense. I was still lost on the rest, though.
“Definitely not for fun,” she said, obviously having heard. “But I don’t mind getting rid of scumbags who pose a threat. The man has greedy eyes.”
“Who are we talking about?” I stressed, exasperated.
Abbot filled me in. “Ronnie used to run with a crew stealing cars. When they disbanded, one of the guys went to this smuggler for work. He’s a skeez and tried to get Ronnie to turn on us, and Kris went all protective boyfriend and made things ten times worse. But Ronnie is a gun and cooked up this drug transport job.”
I nodded, following. Kind of.
“Originally, its purpose was to get the Cartel of our backs. We were going to get Ronnie’s old crew to broker a deal with the smuggler to get rid of the Cartel—all in exchange for the contents of this drug transport.” Abbot paused to make sure I was following.
“But the Grim Order stepped in before the deal was set?” I stated, checking I had this straight in my head. “And now they want the drugs for themselves.”
“The way Breaker tells it,” Toby explained. “His MC brokered a deal with the Cartel. They provide heroine distribution on the east coast in exchange for releasing Nate from his debt. The contents of this transport is like a golden handshake from us to the Grim Order.”
“So, you make no money from this job?” I asked.
“Nope,” Kris added. “Freedom is the reward.”
“And that’s pretty much it in a nutshell,” Abbot said. “We do this job, Nate is free, and we’re done with all this high-risk bullshit.”
“What will you all do after?” I knew what we were doing, but if we couldn’t get out, I wanted to know the kind of work we’d be doing.
Nate let out his breath. “Take a fucking break. I wanna be there for Holland and the baby.” A break? Interesting.
Kristian nodded. “Me too, for Ronnie.”
I looked around the room, spotting Sam rest his hand at the base of Alesha’s neck and give her a reassuring squeeze. She reached up and touched his hand. The gesture was small yet intimate, and I took it to say that that was going to be them too, that if the IVF worked they’d also take a break. I didn’t fully know their struggles, but I did hope that for them, understanding the craving that came with the desire for a child.
“So you’re quitting this thug life a while. For how long?” I asked, my heart feeling a little lighter because if we were all on the same page, Jasmine couldn’t possibly stop us. That did still leave the Grim Order to contend with if they didn’t live up to their word.
“I’m quitting for good,” Toby piped up, lifting heads like it was the first time those words had left his lips. With a frown, he nodded like he was even more certain now that he’d said it to the room. “If we’re lucky enough to come out the other side of this without getting caught or killed, I’m done with this life.” He kept nodding, not really focusing on any single person. “I’m fucking done.”
“Tobes,” Sam said. “For good?”
Toby shook his head. “I need this, OK? I need to get out.” My heart hurt for him. I tried… He’d always wanted his freedom. But loyalty had kept him close. Selfless, rarely asking anything for himself and always making sure everyone else was okay, he’d given the best years of his life to the cause. With the rest of the Cartwright brothers finding happiness of their own, it was time for Toby to find his. Run away and don’t stop, Toby.
Seemed we were all done with this life to different degrees.
I glanced at Abbot, noting how he didn’t volunteer any information of our own. He doesn’t trust them. Or perhaps he wanted to see how everyone reacted to Toby’s plans before announcing ours.
“OK, Tobes.” Swallowing hard, Abbot nodded in support of his big brother, clapping him on the back. The entire room was eerily still after his revelation. It was as though somebody died. People were staring into their cups or bowls. I suppose it was a lot like a death, an era ending, and their fearless leader turning away. Jasmine is going to lose her shit.
“Well,” I said after a while. “I’ve got a bag of locks and picking tools in the car if we want to get to work.”
Toby sniffed then nodded, meeting my eyes. “Yeah. Let’s get to work.”
* * *
“Why didn’t you say we were leaving when everyone was talking today?” I asked Abbot in bed later that night, my fingers brushing through the light smattering of hair on his chest.
He drew circles on my back with his thumb. “Didn’t you see the way they reacted to Toby?”
“They seemed surprised, but understanding.”
“Not understanding. Not surprised. Quiet.”
“What does quiet mean?”
“It means they’ll talk him out of it. No way they’ll let him go willingly. He’s a huge part of the whole operation. No one can do what he does.”
“But they all want to stop.”
“We’ve had that conversation before. They want a break, which means they’ll be back to it within the year, maybe less. It never stops, blue.”
“OK,” I whispered, understanding that he was desperate to get out and refused to trust anyb
ody with that plan. “Do you really think your life is at risk on this job?”
He nodded. “I’ve made arrangements for you if I don’t come back.”
My heart clenched inside my chest, an aching sense of loss flowing through my body and seeping into my bones. I closed my eyes against the sensation.
“You’ll come back,” I whispered faintly, telling myself that just as much as I was telling him. “You have to. This can’t be all we get.”
He swallowed audibly then let out his breath. “Blue,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “It might just be. We have to face that fact.”
“No.” I sat up, every fibre of my being rejecting that notion. “My God, Abbot. I have waited my whole life to feel what I feel when I’m around you. Don’t tell me you gave me the world on a lease.”
He took hold of my face, bringing my forehead to his, our noses side by side as he whispered no. No.
“I want you, Sloane. Now and always. I know what you’re probably thinking, and I assure that I didn’t suggest marriage because I thought that maybe I wouldn’t have to follow through. You and the chance of creating a life with you, a family with you—away from all this bullshit—is what will get me through this job. Do you understand that?”
I nodded, hating the lone tear falling down my cheek. I couldn’t stand the idea of losing the only thing that was perfect about my life.
“OK.” I sniffed. “But what happens if this goes wrong?”
He brushed my hair behind my ear. “Then you bail. I’ve already organised for you to have access to everything I’ve stashed away. I want you to take it all and go somewhere no one will ever find you. Raise our child there and never come back.” He pressed a hand against my belly.
“Our child?”
“If I don’t make it back for a wedding, I want to at least give you a baby before I go.”
Another tear fell. “Jesus, Abbot.”
“I know I’m putting a lot on you. But let’s face it, this three months might be it for us.”
I didn’t want to think about that at all.
Fool’s Errand: Cartwright Brothers, Book 4 Page 25
