He’d always known she’d been good before her injury. He’d just never realized she’d been…a star. If fate hadn’t intervened so cruelly, she would have had a long and illustrious career. For the first time ever, he realized exactly what her knee injury had taken from her. She’d lost her entire identity and had to rebuild herself from scratch.
Christ, she was so much stronger than he was.
He winced and rubbed a hand over this jaw. Admittedly, he’d been bad about attending his therapy sessions. He hated talking about…things. It was easier to find excuses why he had to cancel. But no more. If Natalie could get through the destruction of her entire former self, and come out better on the other side, he could damn well face his demons, too.
The song ended. Natalie dipped her head and bowed as if she was performing for a real audience, so he thought it was only right to applause.
She spun. “Oh.” She placed a hand on her chest, which rose and fell from the exertion of the dance. “You scared me. Are you all done over there?” She walked over to the towel she’d dropped over the barre. “How was the ballet?”
“You dance it better.” He watched her dab the towel over the tops of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing her usual one-piece leotard, but a sports bra and small spandex shorts that showcased her leanly muscled legs.
Sweat glistened on her skin as she bent to scoop up her water bottle. “And you’re biased.” She pointed the tip at him before opening it with her teeth and taking a long drink.
Desire rose in him like a summer storm, quick and hot and violent. The intensity of his need for her had frightened him at first, but now he was starting to like it. Especially when she stopped mid-drink and her eyes brightened with lust.
She pulled the bottle from her lips and pressed a hand to his chest to slow his approach. “Uh-uh. Reece and Shelby are expecting us for Thanksgiving dinner, and I still need to shower.”
He leaned in, trapping her between his body and the barre. “They can wait.” He dropped his mouth to hers and felt her resistance drain away under his kiss. Her hands slid up to his shoulders, circled to the back of his neck.
“Okay,” she breathed when they came up for air. “We can get away with a quickie in the shower.”
He growled and spun her so she faced the mirror behind the barre, nipping at the tendon where her neck met her shoulder. “I don’t want to wait.”
“Oh…” She tilted her head, giving him better access to the side of her neck. “Greer.”
It drove him wild when she said his name like that, all breathless and needy, and she’d even used it against him a time or two. But not this time. This time, he was one hundred percent in control.
He guided her hands to the barre. “Hang on.”
She shivered but did as he commanded, wrapping her fingers around the smooth wood. Her shorts rode up, giving him a glimpse of the tantalizing globes of her ass. She wasn’t wearing anything under that spandex, and his cock stirred as if he didn’t spend a good portion of his nights buried balls deep in that gorgeous little body. It didn’t seem to matter that he’d taken her multiple times last night, and once just hours ago before he left for work. He wanted her again. With that single-minded goal in mind, he stripped off her spandex and unzipped his pants. She glanced back, a small smile curving her lips as he wrapped a hand around her hip and drew her back against his erection. She wiggled her ass teasingly, squirming away just as he was about to shove into her, and laughed when he groaned.
“Tease.” He gave her ass a punishing little smack. She sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, but it did the trick, distracting her long enough from her teasing that he was able to enter her with one long thrust.
Her gasp morphed into a moan, and she arched against him. One hand uncurled from the barre and slapped against the mirror, holding herself steady while he pounded into her. It was raw, possessive, and when she came hard enough to yank his own climax from him, he was left dizzy and a little stunned.
“Well.” Panting, Natalie pressed her forehead against the glass. She huffed out a laugh. “I don’t know if I can move.”
He wasn’t entirely sure if he could, either. His cock still pulsed inside her and his legs shook. “I’m good with not moving.” He leaned forward and trailed his lips along her spine. “Let’s stay right here.”
She laughed, which made her body clench around him. “Your brothers are expecting us, remember? And now I really need a shower.”
Holy hell. He was already getting hard again.
He disengaged their bodies and turned her toward him, clasping her face between his hands. He kissed her softly. “I love you.”
Smiling, she raised up on her toes to kiss him back. “I love you, too.”
Every time she said those words, his chest swelled as if his heart pulled a Grinch and expanded three sizes. Sometimes the sensation was so overwhelming, he feared he might make a fool of himself and break down sobbing. This was one of those times, and he grinned to hide it. “Does that mean I can join you in the shower?”
She laughed again, ducked out of his arms, and backed toward the locker room. “I don’t know. Are you a dirty man?”
Yup. Definitely hard again. His cock stood at rigid attention. “Oh, yeah. I’m very dirty.”
“Hmm. We’ll see about that.” Just before she disappeared into the locker room, she glanced over her shoulder and crooked a finger. “You coming?”
No, he wasn’t. He stalked after her. But she would be as soon as he got his hands on her again.
…
They were late.
Very late.
Dinner had already started by the time they arrived at Reece and Shelby’s newly built house. It wasn’t an exact replica of the house that burned down, but they’d designed it to have much of the same Colonial charm. There was also a new tree in the front yard. It wouldn’t be big enough for a tire swing for a long time, but Reece had nailed a “no climbing” sign to its skinny trunk. Seeing that, Greer’s throat closed up a little.
As if sensing the wave of bittersweet emotion, Natalie closed her hand around his and led the way up the porch steps to the door.
Jude answered with his two-and-a-half week old son, Davey, sleeping in one arm. “Hey! Perfect timing. We just sat down to eat.”
Natalie stepped in first and shed her coat. She kind of…threw it at Greer and held out her arms for the baby.
“Uh-uh.” Jude gave her his shoulder and tried to swat her away. “He’s been passed around like a hot potato, and I just got him back.”
“Oh, c’mon,” Natalie wheedled, following him to the dining room. “You get him every night. I haven’t seen his sweet, smooshy face in like…three days!”
It was weird, Greer thought as he hung up the coats. Seeing Jude with a baby. It worked for him, somehow, but it was weird. He should probably get used to it. The excitement around Libby’s pregnancy and Davey’s birth had sparked baby fever in the Wilde family. He suspected several, if not all, of his brothers and their wives were now actively trying to start families.
Greer walked into the dining room and found the entire family seated around the table, including Andy Taggart, who spent almost all of his time at Reece and Shelby’s. So much, in fact, that when they planned the house, they had given him a room. Over the last year, Andy had been absorbed into the family like a little brother.
Funny how that worked.
Natalie had gotten her wish and was snuggling Davey in one of the corner seats at the table. Beside her, the end seat, the one that had always been reserved for their father during family dinners—his “throne,” as he’d called it—was the only empty seat left.
Greer stared at it.
Conversation slowed, then stopped altogether. All eyes turned to him, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t accept their father’s seat. That would be like…replacing him.
Natalie passed the baby to Libby, then stood and took his hand, pulling him forward. She didn’t say anything. Just put his hand on th
e back of the chair, met his gaze, and waited.
Christ. The woman had the patience of a saint.
He glanced around the table at all the expectant faces. All of them watching, waiting to see what he’d do—well, all except for Andy. The kid was mowing down on his dinner like only a teenage boy could, completely unaware of the sudden tension in the room.
Greer focused on him and the knot in his stomach eased. He sucked in a steadying breath, pulled out the chair, and sat.
Nobody said anything for a moment.
Finally, Cam cleared his throat. “Okay, now that everyone’s here, Eva and I have some news.”
Vaughn arched a brow. “Yeah? So do Lark and I.”
The twins stared across the table at each other, again communicating in their nonverbal way. Then they both grinned and said at the same time, “We’re expecting.”
“Okay,” Libby said and gently bounced Davey as he started to fuss. “That was freaky.”
“See?” Jude said and poked his fork toward the twins. “Freaks of nature. I’ve been saying that for years. And next you’ll be telling us you’re both having twins.”
“No,” both Eva and Lark burst out.
“Thank God,” Lark added and took a drink of her water. “I don’t think the world can handle another set of Wilde twins.”
Shelby made a little sound that drew everyone’s attention to her.
Beside her, Reece was leaning back in his seat, looking rather smug. “Should we tell them?”
“Shelby?” Eva nailed her sister with a spill it look. “Tell us what?”
Shelby all but bounced in her seat as she slid a picture from under her plate and held it up. It was a sonogram, and it clearly showed two little blobs instead of one. “Another set of Wilde twins!”
The room exploded with exclamations of surprise and well wishes.
This was how Mom and Dad would have wanted it, Greer thought as he watched his brothers and their wives. This is probably what they had envisioned their retirement looking like. Their sons, daughters-in-law, and a houseful of grandbabies.
He wished they had lived to see it.
Natalie’s hand settled on his leg under the table. He looked at her, saw the understanding and sympathy in her eyes. Of course she’d know what he was thinking. She always knew. He covered her hand with his, gave her fingers a little squeeze to tell her he was okay.
And he was. He was thrilled for his brothers.
“Oh,” Libby said when the noise died down, a little misty-eyed. She leaned her head on Jude’s shoulder. “Davey will have all kinds of cousins to play with next Thanksgiving.”
Jude kissed her temple. “And every holiday after that.”
“What about you two?” Libby asked, shifting in her seat to see Greer and Natalie. “Any plans to add to our brood?”
Greer snorted. “I already raised four brats.”
“Hey,” his brothers said all at once.
“We weren’t brats,” Cam added.
“Well,” Reece amended, “maybe Jude was.”
Jude opened his mouth but snapped it shut again without uttering a protest. “Yeah.” He drew the word out on a sigh and poked his fork at a piece of turkey on his plate. “I was. I’d apologize, but I have a feeling my son is going to get me back for it.”
Vaughn smirked. “Karma’s a bitch like that.”
“Yeah, it is, and you better hope to hell your kid takes after Lark.” Jude returned his attention to Greer. “But, seriously, no kids? You’re already a great father. I mean, you didn’t kill any of us and we all turned out mostly normal. Except for Reece.”
Reece shot him a middle finger.
A fist closed around Greer’s throat and squeezed. Hard. For a horrifying second, he thought he was going to lose his shit in front of his brothers. He reached for the glass of water in front of his empty plate to try to ease the tightness.
Natalie patted his thigh under the table, a gesture he found more comfort in than anything else she could have done. Just having her here, having her anchor him to his family—it was enough. More than he’d ever thought he’d have.
“We might try for a baby someday,” she told the group. “But for now, we’re going to just enjoy being the cool aunt and uncle.”
“Whoa whoa whoa.” Jude lifted his hands in a slow down motion. “I think we can all agree I will be the cool uncle. I’m already the coolest dad.”
“Bullshit,” the twins said at the same time.
“I design video games for a living,” Reece said. “That without question makes me the coolest.”
“And I’ll definitely be the coolest aunt,” Shelby said. She grinned over at Reece. “And mom.”
“I don’t know about that,” Lark responded.
“I can be pretty cool,” Libby added. “I put bad guys in jail.”
“Hey, I’m a detective,” Eva said. “I arrest those bad guys first. Besides, what kid doesn’t want to be a cop when they grow up?”
“Uh, I didn’t,” Shelby said, and Lark agreed by lifting her glass of water and clinking it to Shelby’s.
“Can I be a cool uncle?” Andy asked.
Conversations erupted around the table and overlapped as everyone debated just what made a person a cool aunt and uncle, mother and father.
Greer took the opportunity to slip away and stepped outside into the crisp bite of fall. He drew the cold deep into his lungs, held it there, and let it out in a cloud.
A warm, soft hand touched his waist, then slid up his back under his shirt. He gazed down to find Natalie smiling up at him.
“They got to you in there, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” he admitted because he could. With her, he could admit anything and would be met with only kindness, acceptance, and understanding. “For a minute there, I thought I was going to bawl like Davey in front of them.”
She feigned a shocked gasp. “And lose your man card? Oh, no. We can’t have that.”
“I love you.” He smiled and flicked a piece of hair away from her face before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Thanks for distracting them. I needed some time to pull myself together.”
“They wouldn’t have judged you if you had fallen apart,” she said softly and snuggled in to his side. “They love you, look up to you, but they know you’re as human as they are. You’re not Superman.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s…old habits dying hard. I’ve always had to be strong for them and—”
“You don’t anymore,” Reece said from behind him.
Damn. He hadn’t been as sneaky slipping away as he thought. He shut his eyes, shook his head in resignation, and faced his brothers. Without looking, he knew all of them would be there, and sure enough, the twins stood to one side of Reece, and Jude on the other.
Jude nodded. “How about, for once, you let us be strong for you?”
“We know you’re struggling with some things we’ll never be able to comprehend,” Cam said.
And Vaughn finished, “But we do have ears to listen if you need to talk, and shoulders if you need one to lean on.”
Greer turned away from them and stared out over the yard, the skinny tree with the “no climbing” sign. He huffed out a breath that clouded in the air and tried to blink the moisture from his eyes. “They’d be so proud of all of you.”
“But mostly you,” Reece said. “We’re a family now because you held us together.”
He turned back and slung an arm around Reece’s shoulders, another around Cam’s. Vaughn and Jude stepped into the circle, and they huddled together like a mini football team for several long minutes. It was something they had done often as boys—their version of hugging each other without seeming too “girly”—but they hadn’t done it since their parents died.
Now, Greer didn’t want it to end. He sniffled and whispered, “And break.”
They all straightened. There wasn’t a dry eye among them, but they all pretended not to notice the others’ tears.
The women were all g
athered in the doorway, and they didn’t try to be subtle with their tears.
Greer released a breath and reached out blindly behind him. Natalie was right there, her hand closing around his. He drew her up to his side and knew without a doubt he’d be okay. He had his brothers. His sisters. His woman.
All in all, he was pretty damn happy to be alive.
“All right,” Greer said finally. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
His brothers murmured agreement, sniffled, and surreptitiously wiped at their eyes. They all turned to go back in the house, and Jude patted Reece’s back. When he lifted his hand, there was a “kick me” sign taped to Reece’s shirt.
Cam noticed it, elbowed Vaughn, and they split up, one flanking Reece on each side.
Oh, shit. Greer saw where this was going, and he opened his mouth to warn Reece, but then…
Nah.
In fact…
He released Natalie’s hand, charged forward, and nailed his brother right in the ass with the soul of his boot.
Reece went sprawling.
Cam and Vaughn’s jaws dropped.
Jude’s expression was so delighted, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He held up a hand for a high five. “Dude. You…are my hero.”
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Author’s Note
Well, here we are. Three years and five books later, we’re at the end of the Wilde Security series. It sure had its ups and downs for me, but I really do love these characters. So before we turn the last page on this series, I thought it’d be fun to give you a peek into what writing it was like for me.
Shortly after my first book, Seal of Honor, sold, my editor Heather called me about writing another series for Entangled’s Brazen line. I was a little apprehensive, to be honest. I’d never written category romance (short, trope-filled romances), and I certainly didn’t think I wrote sexy enough for the super hot Brazen imprint. But I sent her a handful of story ideas I’d been playing with, including one about brothers who own a private security company together. She liked it and soon I had the basic plot for Wilde Nights in Paradise. (By the way, when I threw out that title during the editing process, I really didn’t think it’d actually stick!)
Too Wilde to Tame (Wilde Security) Page 21
