"This is my way of telling you that from the moment you walked into the room, the moment, I was wholly focused on you. It's always like that. I don't see other men. I don't want them. Only you. So, Wyatt, you tell me, why isn't it the same for you? Why don't you see me when you walk into a room? I don't want to be property that you possess and protect. I want you to see me, the person I am, the one who focuses on you and only you."
There was truth in what she said. He'd felt her there in his mind. She'd been spinning with the girls, helping to teach them to have fun, but he'd already been half out of his mind because the other men in the house were around her constantly, picking up and playing with his children. His woman. His.
"Pepper, just like you can't help bein' needy when that biochemical builds too high in your system, I need you when whatever monster is inside of me starts to break loose." He didn't have any explanation for her. She was right.
She stood there, across the room from him, looking so beautiful he ached inside. He'd hurt her. He didn't hurt women and he especially didn't hurt his woman.
"I don' think of you as a possession, honey, I think of you as my better half. My partner. And I need my lover before I go up in flames. So the biggest question I've got right now, sugar, is what are you wearin' under that skirt and camisole? You might want to show me."
Her eyebrow shot up. "After your mean comment on my clothes, do you think you deserve to know?"
Oh, yeah, she was his. Her eyes were soft and desire for him was there. She was wholly focused. On him. Wholly. That was another thing he loved about her.
"You're not a woman who holds a grudge, babe. And we both know you're wet for me, no other man, little darlin', just for me. And you're hot for me. I'm thinkin' right now you wouldn't mind my mouth between your legs. So show me the underwear." He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes hooded, a little brooding, as he watched her. "And just so you know, that little attitude of yours only made me harder. You need to do somethin' about it, so show me the damn underwear."
Pepper tilted her head to one side, a small smile on her face. She unzipped the skirt and stepped out of it. The boots lovingly shaped her legs and did amazing things to her ass, just like he knew they would. She stayed across the room from him as she turned around and showed him the sexy French-cut red panties edged with white lace that framed her butt cheeks and showed a lot of magnificent bare skin. He'd picked those out himself and they were a particular favorite. All the time she'd been hiding them under her skirt.
He didn't bother to hide the desire flaring in his eyes. His hand dropped to his cock once again, because he needed something around all that heat. His fist was tight, but it wasn't hot, wet silk. "The top, baby, lose the top for me."
Both hands went up to the buttons on the front of the camisole. She took her time, slowly sliding them through the tiny enclosures. The sight of her, the time it took, mesmerized him. His mouth went dry and then just as suddenly he was flooded with the taste of her. Her scent permeated the room. Heady. Potent. Exotic. All his.
She kept her eyes on his face as she slowly unwrapped herself for him. A gift. A present. Her top slid away and there she was, her beautiful breasts, high and full, jutting out at him, nipples already taut with need. She wore only the red lace panties and those fuck-me high-heeled boots.
"I want your hair down." He loved her hair down. "I need your hair fallin' all around the pillow when I come inside you. I want to hear my name when you come hard. Every time you come hard."
She smiled at him and shook her head as her hands went to her hair and she unclipped the waterfall of black silk. He loved the little strange patterns in her hair. He always found himself intrigued by them when he sat beside her. Little rosettes, but so faint a man wasn't really certain they were there. Another thing he loved and found fascinating about her.
He crooked his finger at her. She came to him without hesitation. When she was close, she crouched down in front of him and unlaced his boots. He leaned against the wall, one hand on her bare shoulder and let her pull his boots off. The moment he touched her, heat flared between them. Electricity crackled.
Her hands slid up the columns of his thighs, sending streaks of fire straight to his groin. She hooked her fingers in his jeans and dragged them down, waiting until he stepped out of them before her hands got busy again, moving over his legs, up his calves and shins over his thighs. He felt the brush of her hair.
He slid his fist into all her glorious hair and tugged until her head came up. Her tongue had been sliding up his inner thigh and he nearly lost it. "On the bed, babe."
"Wyatt," she whispered, looking at his cock, disappointment in her eyes.
Who had a woman like her? How could he not want to keep her? To protect her? She enjoyed giving him pleasure. It was impossible not to love her just for that. She had a soft spot inside of her, the one he wanted to protect. She was the sexiest woman alive, but trained to be a deadly soldier. Major turn-on. And then she had that knife...
"You'll get your chance, woman. Right now, I'm so damned hungry I could eat you alive. Get on the bed. Take off the panties so I don' go crazy and rip them off of you. You can leave the boots on."
He reached down with one hand and helped her to her feet. Graceful. Fluid. Her body moved like poetry. She walked across the room in front of him, her hips swaying, her long hair falling like a waterfall down her back to the curve of her very fine ass. She crawled onto the bed. Knees and hands, looking over her shoulder at him. Crawled. If it was possible, he got harder. He hadn't thought a woman could make him come just by crawling on a bed, but now he considered it.
She rolled over and lay down, the same graceful, fluid movement that robbed a man of both breath and sanity.
"Put your hands above your head and keep them there. Open your legs for me."
She did both without a word. No questions. Her face soft. Her eyes hot. Her breasts shifted and beckoned. He could see the moisture caught in the tight little curls at the junction of her legs. His mouth watered and he knelt at the end of the bed to move between her boots, and then her thighs.
She smelled like heaven. He licked up her thigh and plunged his tongue deep, hungry for her addicting taste. He'd been craving her honeyed spice for two weeks, going through withdrawals, and he devoured her like the starving man he was. She cried out, a mewling keen with his name on her breath. Her body thrashed, her head tossed and she came hard, spilling treasure in his mouth.
"More, damn it," he ordered. "Give me more." His tongue and fingers were ruthless, demanding, driving her up faster the second time, greedy for her orgasm, for the breathy sound of his name as she gave herself to him, trusted him with her body. With her mind. With her heart. His.
Pepper couldn't possibly stop herself, not when he was being so bossy and arrogant, not when his mouth was making her burn so hot she couldn't think of anything but him. She rarely thought of anything but him, unless it was the babies, but they were far from even the edges of her consciousness. Her body fragmented, came apart, and still he didn't stop, licking and sucking and using his teeth in a way that should have alarmed her but only made her want more.
She tried holding the sheet to anchor herself, bunching the material into her fists, but she flew apart and he didn't stop. Didn't slow down. Already, even as the aftershocks started, the next one was rolling up, harder and faster with far more power.
"Wyatt." She tried to call his name, but it came out a sob. A gasp. A plea. It came out a breathy moan and her body exploded a third time.
He was up and over her, slamming into her hard, his large cock driving through her hot folds like a jackhammer, an invasion that felt shocking. He was too big, her body too tight, but she unfolded for him, the friction making her sob and plead all over again. He lifted his head to watch her face as he pounded into her. She couldn't see that his injuries in any way had slowed him down.
God, he was beautiful. His face should have been carved in stone by a master, his body, hard and h
ot and purely masculine. His cock filled her. Completely. Beyond possible and still, she wanted more of him, all of him. She loved that he poured himself into her. That he was a little rough, and yet always caring of her.
She felt the pressure building and building, something powerful coiling tighter and tighter. The burn just got hotter and hotter. She closed her eyes, needing to let go.
"Don' you dare," he ordered, and leaned down to place a stinging bite on her left earlobe. "Open your eyes and look at me. I want you lookin' at me when you come. And you wait for me this time. Let it build, babe. Just look at me."
She loved that too. She shouldn't. He was too bossy in bed, but still, she reaped the benefits and his body never once stopped pounding into hers. She didn't see how she could stop the inevitable, but she tried, lifting her lashes, looking into his eyes. She loved his eyes, the way they began to glow like a great jungle cat's. She loved the way they focused on her, so predatory, so hungry and yet, she could see something else there. Something soft and exclusive, just for her.
"Wyatt." She whispered his name, brought her hand up to stroke her fingers down his face. "I can't..."
"You can. You will."
She was getting lost in him. Completely lost. In his face. In his eyes. In his relentless, almost brutal cock surging in and out of her. The flames were scorching hot and there was no way to breathe. To hang on. She clung to his shoulders, driving her fingernails into him. She clung to his eyes, drowning there, giving herself up to him. Waiting for him. Knowing it was worth the wait. Knowing he was worth whatever it would take to soothe the monster inside of him.
Satisfaction crossed his dark features. He leaned down and took her mouth. Hard. Savagely hard. Now. Baby. Give me you.
She did. The tsunami swept through her with hurricane force, her muscles clamped down like a vise and swept him up in the furious storm. A firestorm. A lightning storm. Flames licked over both of them. The hoarse sound of her name poured down her throat along with his breath as her sheath strangled him in silken fire. She could feel him so deep inside her she was afraid he would lodge in her stomach. It didn't matter. Just this. Wyatt in her arms, his body deep inside hers and the look on his face, in his eyes when he lifted his mouth from hers to stare down at her.
He didn't move. Didn't shift his weight from her. He covered her, his cock deep inside of her, still semihard as Wyatt seemed to always be. His hands framed her face.
"I love everythin' about you, Pepper. I love that you're the mother of my children. I'm sorry I'm an ass sometimes, and I wish I could promise you it won' happen again, but I think we have a better chance of it bein' the truth if I promised you it would happen again."
His confession made her toes want to curl. She loved that he was lying on top of her, pinning her beneath him, and when he looked at her, there was both a soft, special look in his eyes and a sheer male satisfaction. "I know that, Wyatt."
"You goin' to put up with me?"
"Yes. But I can't promise I won't kick you once in a while. Don't embarrass me in front of your friends. I don't know the rules of your world yet, Wyatt." She pushed at his hair, liking the way it fell around his face. "I don't always know what I'm supposed to wear or say or do. I'm just learning. Don't take my confidence away like that again."
"Pepper." He groaned her name and kissed her eyes. Her chin. Her throat. And then came to settle on her mouth. He knew how to kiss. How to pour fire down her throat. How to make her body go soft and melt, just like her heart. He knew how to give her the most delicious aftershocks possible. But still, "Pepper" was not an answer. Not even when he said it in that voice.
"If you feel the need to reprimand me, you can take me in another room, or talk to me telepathically. You don't have to be so... brutal about it."
She let him see the hurt. He'd struck deep. She didn't have a lot of confidence when it came to dealing with his friends and family. He'd stripped some of what had been hard won away from her. She let him see that as well.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'll do my best to see that when the monster comes, I hold on to some kind of control. You've been workin' hard to shield everybody, and I know that takes a toll on you. I can work just as hard to shield you when I get crazy mean."
She shifted, letting him know to roll them over. Wyatt took the hint immediately. "I'm not through with you yet, sugar," he whispered, and swept her hair out of the way so he could lick just behind her ear. It sent shivers up and down her body and quakes through it.
"I'm glad, but you got to have your fun, my love, let me have mine." She shifted, starting to go onto her knees to allow him to slide out of her. His arms snapped around her. Hard. Tight. An unbreakable hold. Her gaze jumped to his. His eyes had gone liquid. Amazing. A dark chocolate that melted into an amazing pool she wanted to live in.
"You called me 'my love.' You never call me anything but Wyatt."
"You are my love. I'm learning about love. That's you. Only you."
His smile was slow. Lazy. Loving. "I like you callin' me that, honey. Whenever you want is good for me. Go ahead and get to doin' whatever it is you want and then I'll get to doin' what I want. Tonight, you're sleepin' in my bed and my cock is goin' to be buried deep inside your body. I want to sleep that close with you."
Something inside her, the last fear, broke away. She loved the gentleness in his voice, the way he looked at her so tenderly just after he'd been rough and crazy in her arms and body.
She moved back so she could take a look at him lying there naked and so alive. So hers. "I've got these boots, and I'm in the mood to ride you hard and long, Wyatt. But first..." She bent her head and took him deep into her mouth, watching his eyes. Watching his pleasure. She loved that.
Chapter 19
The night was warm. Rain fell softly and the scent of jasmine permeated the air. Wyatt could hear the snakes plopping into the water from the branches of the cypress trees. Alligators bellowed occasionally and insects droned. The music of the swamp. The moon was at half-mast, bathing the bayou in a soft bluish light - his favorite time of night.
A little hand brushed his jaw, tiny little fingers, softer than anything he'd ever felt in his life - other than Pepper's skin - walked their way to his lower lip. He smiled down into Thym's eyes. She snuggled closer to him. He loved rocking her, holding her close. His little shy Thym, already turning into a daddy's girl.
"Hey baby," he said softly, and kissed her little fingers.
I love when you do that. Pepper's voice filled his mind.
He felt her inside of him. He loved having her there, twisting him up into knots, soothing him, or just talking intimately, like now. She rocked Cannelle, a gentle rhythm of love, the small bundle curled up in her arms. Elle was a funny little girl, with the best sense of humor, always laughing and playing peek-a-boo or even trying to play a joke. She was good with the members of his team, but at night, she wanted Pepper. She cuddled with Wyatt and Nonny, but Pepper had to put her to bed.
Wyatt was still a little worried about her. She clung to Pepper, always wanted her in her sight. Sometimes she had nightmares. Wyatt wanted Braden to pay for those nightmares.
On his left side, Nonny rocked Ginger. Ginger was in her element now, comfortable in the house and with all members of their team. She chattered the most, learning English at a rapid rate. Ginger was definitely the leader of his little viper gang.
Pepper's soft little hiss had him turning his head to meet her eyes. His grin widened.
I'm in your head. Do not refer to our daughters as the viper gang.
He'd known she'd have that reaction. Seriously? Who would pass up a chance at such a cool name? They'll kick ass in school. Trust me, sugar, they're goin' to love it. After all, their mama is the head viper...
I have no viper in me whatsoever, Pepper denied. The rhythm of her rocking chair picked up, moving a little faster.
You're a snake snob. I had no idea.
He found he liked poking the tiger. The woman could get some serious attitud
e over the funniest things. He loved the flash of purple in her dark eyes when she glared at him. Especially now, when she held a baby in her arms and looked soft and beautiful. Even vulnerable and fragile. And then she had the attitude that always, always, turned him on.
Sprawled out on the porch was Ezekiel, lifting a bottle of beer to his mouth. Malichai lazily swung on the porch swing. Across from him, seated on the railing was Draden. Mordichai was up on the roof out of sight, and Trap was where Trap always was. In the laboratory, trying to solve the puzzle of why the caps weren't working on the girls' teeth and how to make the antivenom universal and less dangerous. Life was good.
"Trap really thinks we can set up shop here, Wyatt," Ezekiel said. "He's got his man looking for real estate, trying to buy up everything around this place and even right up to the plastics building."
"I can see him livin' in that monstrosity," Wyatt said. "He'd turn the entire second floor into a shooting range."
"He's a good boy," Nonny put in her two cents.
The men chuckled politely. Ezekiel raised his beer toward Nonny. "Grand-mere, you think we're all good boys."
" 'Cept Wyatt," Nonny proclaimed.
Wyatt, busy playing with Thym's hand, swung his head around to look at his grandmother. He knew he should never have taken the rocker in between the two women. It was a dangerous spot.
"I don' think I want to know why even Trap is considered a good boy and I'm not. I'm not curious and I'm not askin'," he declared.
"You're goin' to find out. You got you a good woman, boy. And three beautiful daughters. If I'm readin' the tea leaves correctly, you're wastin' no time at all tryin' for a fourth. I don' see a ring on that girl's finger. I don' see her name is Fontenot. That's not right, Wyatt. I raised you better than that."
There was a stunned silence. Ezekiel was the first to break it. His snicker was loud in the stillness of the night. Malichai followed with a belly laugh. Draden broke into a coughing fit.
"Did I say somethin' funny, boys?" Nonny's voice cut like a lash. "Because I don' recall sayin' anythin' funny at all."
The men shut up instantly. Wyatt looked at Pepper for help. He didn't know why, but seriously, one didn't mess with Nonny when she spoke in that voice.
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