by Blue Saffire
The friction to my swollen nub tosses me over the edge again as his lips fasten to my neck. It only takes him a few more thrusts before he is bellowing out his release in my ear. He slumps back in the tub with me on his heaving chest.
“Welcome home,” I whisper.
He chuckles breathlessly. “I should be saying that to you. Welcome home, Baby.” He kisses the top of my head and I snuggle into him. He is right I am finally home.
Chapter Twenty Two
Wyatt
I sit on the edge of the bed staring down at the woman I love. She is so beautiful. I lean to kiss her shoulder and run my hand down her bare side. She moans in her sleep, but she doesn’t wake, which is what I want.
I force myself to pull the covers up over her naked body. I think I finally understand Nellie. Watching the woman on that video, that helped to protect her friend, and coming home to find her in pieces when it comes to her own safety put a lot into perspective for me.
Nellie fights to protect. She will put herself in harm’s way for those that she loves. She takes care of others. As we made love in the bathtub, I watched her come alive because she was taking care of me, not herself. Sure she got off on my cock, but for Nellie, it wasn’t about her.
I have known from the beginning that there was something that drew me to her. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that I was falling in love with her either, but now I know why. I am there for everyone in my family. Wyatt, the ring leader, Wyatt, the protector, Wyatt, the one everyone runs to, but for the first time, I have found someone that has a heart to take care of me.
All of this is the reason that, although I want nothing more than to strip my clothes off, to wake her and make love to her again, I am forcing myself to pull away from her. I have to make sure my woman feels safe, but most of all I have to make sure she is truly safe.
I place one more kiss to her head and pull my phone from my pocket. I send a text to Noah as I get up and reluctantly leave the room. I nod to Braxton, who is flipping through channels with a scowl on his face.
“Next time you guys decide you’re going to start a fuck fest can you, at least, warn a brother,” Braxton grumbles as Noah comes down the stairs pulling his shirt over his head.
I smirk and chuckle low as Braxton looks at us in disgust. He adjusts himself and grumbles something under his breath. From the moment, the pictures came into my phone with info on Barry’s whereabouts Noah decided to change his plans.
Instead of going after Bean’s ex alone we decided we would pay the two fuckers on our shit list a visit together. I had a feeling then that Noah was going to make use of one of my guest rooms. This shit with him and Bean has been a long time coming.
“Is she okay,” I ask Noah.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Let’s get this shit over with so I can get her home. We still have a lot to straighten out,” Noah says running his hand through his sex messed hair.
I turn to Braxton. “Your ass better protect our women and not sit back taping them kicking someone’s ass this time,” I growl.
“I got this,” Braxton smiles smugly, “and in my defense, they were already kicking his ass when I arrived.”
“Whatever, you little shit. I’m kicking yours for that shit, just so we are clear,” I toss over my shoulder as I head for the door.
“Didn’t expect anything less,” Braxton grumbles.
We arrive at the address Felix text me, Noah looks at me with a raised brow. This Barry guy has balls. That or he really is as entitled and arrogant as the reports say. It is probably more of the latter.
The shit his father has made go away for him makes my stomach sick. I have a feeling he was only a cop because of the authority and power it afforded him. It’s not like he needed the paycheck. He is a true to life spoiled grown man.
I circle the property and we park in a wooded area out of sight half a mile up the road. Noah and I slip out of the truck and make our way back to the large estate Barry is held up in. We move in the shadows making sure not to be seen.
“He has company. Two Blondes,” Felix says in our ear.
He has tapped into the security system and turned the surveillance into our own one-way mirror. As he gives up details through our earpieces, we slip through the gates and up the driveway.
I signal for Noah to handle his guests. I want to take care of this fucker myself. Noah nods as we make our way into the open doors at the back of the house. It seems as if they just moved the party inside from the pool.
“He just went up to the master bedroom. The girls are still downstairs,” Felix announces.
I nod to Noah and head stealthily up to the master bedroom as Felix gives me directions. I find the fuck in the bathroom giving himself a pep talk. I grimace in disgust. I hate this motherfucker.
“Fuck her man, you are a catch,” he says to himself, slapping his chest with one hand and popping a blue pill with his other. I snort soundlessly to myself, figures. “I’ll show those whores downstairs and then I’m going to show her. When I get my hands on her, I’m going to show her who that tight pussy belongs to. She thinks she can leave me, Barry Coleman.”
I fucking hate him. I am vibrating with rage and seeing red. “I was going to make the little bitch my wife after I broke her in. She fucked up everything. Fucking whore, I’m going to kill that little boyfriend of hers after I make him watch me take my girl back.”
That’s when I step into the bathroom, right in his view in the mirror. I smirk as his face turns white as a sheet, his green eyes growing wide. I stand with my arms folded over my chest. I tilt my head to the side as he turns and looks me in the eyes.
“I’m not so little in person, am I,” I say with a deadly calm.
“Who the fu –, you’re the piece of shit from the phone,” he says as realization dawns on him.
“Well, we both know you never would have made detective,” I snort.
“Where’s my bitch,” he snarls as his bravado returns.
Wrong thing to say, I black out. As swiftly as I entered the room I pull back my fist and punch the shit out of him. I hear the crunch of his nose, but it is not enough. I grab him by his dirty blonde hair and drag his big ass from the room.
He starts flailing and I punch him in the head twice more. He puts up a little less fight as he cradles his head while I drag him down the stairs. When I get to the living area I left Noah in, my brother is alone standing with his arms across his chest.
“You are going to regret this. You have no idea who you are fucking with,” Barry chokes out. He spits up some blood along with a few teeth.
I release him to let him get to his feet. He charges me as soon as he is on his feet. Noah is into Martial Arts, but me, on the other hand, I love to box. I move swiftly to side step him and land an uppercut to his jaw. I dance back as he staggers from the force.
When he rights himself, a hit him with a left-right combo. I rein in my anger and back off giving him time to put up a fight. This piece of shit loves hitting on women, but he hasn’t landed a punch on me yet.
“You were talking a lot of shit on the phone and upstairs to yourself. Come on motherfucker,” I pound on my chest. “I’m right here.”
He changes his approach and takes a boxing stance. I smirk. He would have been better off trying to take me to the ground, not that it would have mattered. I may like boxing better, but I am skilled enough to get in the ring with the best MMA fighter you can throw at me and I’m the only one walking out upright.
I lower my hands and let him throw a weak ass punch. Growing up with seven knucklehead brothers you learn to hit hard, as well as to take hard hits. I eat his punch like the food it is. His weak ass hit only fuels my anger because I know Nellie has no need to fear this asshole. She could take him in her sleep.
A part of me is tempted to call Braxton to have him bring her here to finish this. It would give her, her power back and put a smile on my face to see her kick this fucker’s ass. The only reason I won’t is because I p
romised her I would handle this for her.
I move in and work his midsection with body shots. He folds like a baby and falls to his knees. I snort and put his ass to sleep with an uppercut.
I step back as rage still pours through me. “How far is he,” I say to Felix through the two-way earpiece.
“About ten minutes out, are you going to let him finish this,” Felix responds.
“He’s like her dad. He asked me to. Let’s call it a wedding gift,” I shrug.
Noah lifts his head and looks at me. Felix goes silent for a moment in my ear. I have known I would marry someday, but after time. I know now it will be much sooner than I had originally planned.
Felix is the first to speak up. “Looks like I just won me Five hundred bucks,” he laughs.
“What are you talking about,” I ask confused.
Noah shakes his head. “We had a bet going on how long it would take you to marry Nellie,” Noah shrug with a mischievous grin. “And that would be my five hundred dollars ass face. You’re a month too late. Besides the bet was for when he would actually be married.”
“Whatever,” Felix grumbles. “Steve, Rob, and Dad should be driving up in two. I have a location on that other piece of shit.”
“Give us twenty and we’ll be ready,” Noah growls.
“Steve is going to take this piece of shit to the desert for the coyotes. Dad will make it look like no one was ever here,” I say to Noah.
I know Noah worked some magic on the two girls that were here. They were probably too high to remember anything come morning anyway. As for Barry himself, I’m sure he is going to wake to another beating before Steve makes him disappear without a trace.
Good old Barry made a big mistake coming to California. Steve had been waiting for him to slip up just as much as I had. He was hidden and untouchable in Seattle. Not so much here.
Chapter Twenty Three
Wyatt
I’m exhausted. My knuckles are swollen, my head hurts from not getting any sleep in two days, and I just want to close my eyes. Noah wasn’t as kind to that Joshua character. He took his time beating the hell out of him.
I didn’t let him have all the fun. My knuckles aren’t bruised from that first asshole. They are swollen from the beating I help put on that coward that had a big mouth with his little balls.
When he called Nellie a black bitch I lost it. I would have beaten him to death if Noah hadn’t pulled me off him. He didn’t get the mercy of going to the next life like our other friend did. Nope, Noah wants to make him suffer. He’ll give him time to heal and when he does Noah will be paying him another visit.
If he is smart, he will skip town when he figures out Noah is going to make the rest of his life hell. Not that it will help. Noah plans to ruin his life. He’ll be lucky if he can squeeze out a twenty from the ATM come Monday morning.
I drag my naked body into bed, throwing my leg over Nellie as I wrap my arm around her naked form. My whole being relaxes as her scent consumes me. I have missed her scent so much. It is like air to starved lungs. I close my eyes and just absorb the feel of my woman in my arms.
“You found him didn’t you,” Nellie murmurs softly as her small fingers lightly touch my knuckles that are resting on her soft belly.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “You won’t have to worry about him ever again.”
“Do I want to know what that means,” she says after a long pause.
“It means that I love you and I made you safe again. It means that my wife won’t ever have to look over her shoulder when I’m not around. It means nothing more than that,” I reply still not opening my eyes despite feeling her eyes on me.
“I’m not your wife, Wyatt,” I hear her say with a smile in her voice.
“Yet,” I reply.
“Where is this coming from? I just agreed to move in,” she asks.
This time, I crack my eyes open. I reach for her face and brush my bruised knuckles against her cheek. “I’m not getting any younger, Angel. Cassidy may tease about not wanting a bunch of illegitimate grandkids, but she wants grandkids,” I say to her.
“So you want to marry me because you are old and your mom wants grandkids,” she teases.
I growl rolling over on her and pinning her to the mattress. I settle between her warm, thick chocolate coffee thighs. “I want to marry you because you are amazing. You are my little Badass. You think I wouldn’t find out that you took my gun and went to kick some dude’s ass for your best friend,” I tease back.
She blushes and looks away from me. “She would have done the same for me,” she whispers.
“Never said she wouldn’t, and honestly I love you for it,” I say as I use my fingertips to bring her eyes back to me. “Let’s get some sleep. We have to pack later. I booked us a flight for Monday morning. Dad’s giving us the week off.”
My heart swells as her face brightens. I know she has wanted to check in on her mom. This trip will be good for both of us.
Chapter Twenty Four
Nellie
The last three days have been a world wind. Between packing for the trip to Seattle and Wyatt insisting I use the joint accounts to replace what could be replaced of the things Barry destroyed we have been quite busy.
Sunday breakfast was lively once again since everyone is back home. Bean looks like she will be a regular from now on. I can’t even explain the sense of peace I have had over the last few days. I would dare to say I have a perfect life.
I am just really nervous to finally introduce Mom to Wyatt. I’m excited to see her and Steve, though. I miss them. I wish I could have all my family in one place.
“What are you thinking about,” Wyatt leans in my ear to ask as the plane is landing.
“I don’t know. This trip just feels really important to me. I can’t explain it. It just feels like we are doing this right now at this time for a reason. Like everything is falling into place somehow,” I reply.
“That’s a good thing isn’t it,” he asks bringing my fingers to his lips.
“Yeah it should be, but I have this feeling I can’t put my finger on and I can’t shake it either,” I say as the feeling grips me again.
Wyatt wrinkles his brows and pulls me closer to him. He kisses the top of my head. “Everything is going to be fine. Like you said everything is falling into place. We will take this time to hang with your mom and just relax. When we get home, we can work on fixing our place up so you can feel at home and then we can work on starting the rest of our lives together. Everything will be in place. You’ll see.”
“How did I get so lucky,” I look up into his golden eyes to ask.
Wyatt snorts. “I’m the lucky one.”
~B~
Wyatt
“Good to see you, Wyatt,” Steve pulls me into a hug and slaps me on the back as if we didn’t see each other just a few days ago.
I play right along. Neither Nellie nor her mother needs to know what we were up to a few days ago. Especially if I want this trip to go the way I have planned. When Steve releases me we both turn to find Nellie and her mom still in a tight embrace.
I take the time to take in Nellie’s mom. I am concerned right away as I take her in. I had seen the pictures Nellie had before that were destroyed. Before her mom was diagnosed, she had an hourglass figure that spoke to where Nellie gets all of her lush curves. The pictures that were more recent show a slimmer woman, but she looked healthily so.
This version of Nellie’s mom seems to be very fragile. Though there is a smile on her face, she looks tired. Her clothing hangs from her instead being on her. My stomach twists and I suddenly start to think of Nellie’s words on the plane.
I keep my concerns from my expression as Nellie and her mom part. Nora Bryant-Lockhart turns to me with a smile and holds her arms out. With a smile of my own, I gently pull the mother of the woman I love into my arms. When her scent hits me, I squeeze my eyes shut.
My heart breaks in my chest. I know that smell. It was the scent that clun
g to the skin of my hero right before I learned just how human he really was. I loved my grandfather. He was the best grandfather in the world.
It hit the family hard when we found out he had cancer. We all thought he would beat it. I remember him calling to have me and my brothers come to visit him. For a week, we went to see him every day. I remember his cologne from before he was sick. It was a smell that remained in his home, but that week he smelled different.
That smell is now clinging to Nora. This trip has just taken on a new importance to me. It seems our storm is not yet over, but I will see my woman through this as well. I just wish I could make this go away and never bring her the hurt I know is coming.
~B~
Nellie
I don’t say a thing about it, but Mom doesn’t look so good. This is not the woman I left five months ago. I should have known something was wrong. I never should have left. Right now I hate Barry so much.
If it weren’t for him, I would have been here for my mom when she needed me. I can’t believe she and Steve never said she needed me. When I left she had been in remission, or so I thought.
I can’t believe this has happened in the last five months. I want to cry so much, but I have to be strong for her. I don’t know how I am supposed to leave at the end of this week with her looking this way.
Wyatt wraps his arm around me in the back seat of Steve’s SUV. I melt into his side once again needing his strength. I know I am going to hurt him when I tell him I won’t be going back to LA. Even if Barry were still a threat, I wouldn’t be leaving my mom.
My heart aches. I have just found so much love and support and I will have to give it up. I have to be here to love and support my mom.
Wyatt kisses the top of my head and I almost lose it. I cling to his shirt and he tightens his hold on me. I have to pull myself together before Mom sees me falling apart.
“Nellie, Sweetheart, Steve was saying that he would grill us some steaks tonight. I was thinking that tomorrow we could go to that little place you love. Wyatt, have you ever had Cantonese food before,” Mom asks.
