Beautiful Surrender (Pride and Honor Book 4)

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “I’m tired, Griff. Do you know how much it hurts when your own brother doesn’t have your back? No. Because no matter what I always do, I always have.”

  “I know you do and I’m sorry. I will work on it. I know it probably doesn’t feel good and I’m not going to make excuses. When we get back, I’ll set Mac straight. I love you, little brother. You know that right?”

  “Yeah, I love you too.”

  “Awww are y’all gonna bro hug now?” Kenzie laughed from the seat next to me. Guess I was wrong about her being asleep.

  “Hey Barbie, thanks for everything back there. I don’t think we could have done it without you.”

  “No sweat, but the next time you decide not to trust me, you’re on your own.”

  There were two large SUVs waiting for us at the airport courtesy of Tom with the DOD. He was pulling out all the stops to get us back to our families.

  Kaylee was sitting at the door waiting for us when we arrived. I had no idea how she knew we were coming, maybe she had been sitting at the door waiting since we all took off several days ago. The house looked quiet and I breathed in the humid Louisiana air, where we’d been hold up since discovering the pieces that they thought were the plane in the Gulf.

  “Honey, I’m home,” I yelled when I stepped out of the vehicle. I noticed Kaylee’s right hand down at her side and choked out. “What are you going to do with that?”

  “Oh my God.” She dropped the gun, which thankfully didn’t go off—and ran at me yelling, “My babies? Where are they?”

  “Mommy!” Lance cried from the backseat.

  “We got them; they’re safe,” I said and squeezed her before letting go. She flung open the back door and looked right into Lance’s little gray eyes. She couldn’t get the seat belt off of him fast enough and his pudgy little arms were reaching for her wildly. Leanne shrieked and practically threw herself at her as soon as Lance was in her arms. Griffin got out of the front and walked up behind his family, grabbing them all in a huge hug.

  I choked up and could feel a tear sliding down my own cheek at the beautiful moment that I was witnessing. Kenzie came up beside me and wrapped her arms around me. She was smiling softly at the sweet reunion and I kissed the side of her head.

  “Pix?” I heard Mac say from behind me. He was holding on to the door frame with a terrified look on his face. Grief, utter devastation written all over him, until he heard, “Dad!”

  Johnny yelled and rushed over to him just as Marcy stepped out of the other SUV. I saw the look of absolute relief in his eyes as he hugged his son, but his eyes never left Marcy, as if making sure the two most important people in his life were actually there in the flesh with him.

  I felt like a voyeur watching the happy reunions and grabbed Kenzie’s hand. Nodding to the other guys, I led them into the house and sat on the couch pulling Kenzie into my lap and holding her tight. I needed her close. I couldn’t explain why.

  “Bob gave me some information that I need to go retrieve,” I said shortly.

  “What kind of information? Where is it?” Kenzie asked.

  “Everything we need to put Barnes away for good,” I said vehemently. “It’s in his house in LA.”

  “Well, let’s go. I want to get this over with.”

  “Barnes is holding some kind of masquerade ball in a few days to help fund his campaign. If we hurry, we might be able to expose him then.” Kenzie smiled. “There’s no place more public or embarrassing then his own fundraising event.”

  “You’re devious,” Ace laughed. “I like it.”

  “Where is this event?”

  “Hollywood.” She grinned, practically bouncing in her seat.

  “Couldn’t ask for a better location.”

  “What about Twitch?” Tasha’s soft voice floated up behind us and I flinched, not wanting to give her an answer.

  “We don’t know,” I sighed, hating the fact I had no information to give her. “We haven’t heard anything since Keller failed. I’m sorry Tasha.”

  “Hey sis, we’ll find him, okay? Don’t worry.” Kenzie walked over and hugged a sobbing Tasha.

  Looking away, I noticed the other guys looked uncomfortable too. It was tough watching a woman cry. Especially, a badass LAPD detective. “Come on, guys we need to decide who’s staying behind to protect the family and who’s going to LA to put a snake behind bars.”

  “Hoorah,” Buck and Bubba said quietly as we walked into the kitchen.

  We were in the middle of arguing over who would stay and who would go when Griffin and Mac walked in to join us.

  “I want to go. Tom sent me to help however I can, and I think I give you your best chance at stopping this bastard once and for all,” Ace said adamantly.

  “We need our best here protecting the kids. I don’t want anyone sneezing in their direction if I can help it. They have been through enough already.”

  “I’ll stay,” Hawk offered and I blew out a breath.

  “Thanks man.”

  “No problem. No one will get anywhere near those kids as long as I’m alive,” he growled and I thanked God for small favors.

  “Who else?” I asked and looked at the other three men. None of them looked happy to be on babysitting duty, but I only needed two of them to go with us. If I took any more we could raise too many suspicions. In all honesty even two of them would raise some red flags, but Kenzie and I couldn’t do this on our own.

  “Fine,” Bubba grumbled. “I’ll stay. Bob wanted us to look after his family. I can’t very well do that in LA.”

  “LA?” Griffin asked confused.

  “All the information we need is back in LA. We’re ending this thing once and for all,” I said, staring Griffin in the eyes. He nodded once and smiled at me.

  “Do what you gotta do little brother, and if you need me I’m just a phone call away.” He smiled and left the room.

  WTF was that? I was shocked. I didn’t get an argument about me not being able to handle it or a single complaint that he needed to come with me. He just offered his help if I needed it and trusted me to get the job done. I looked at his back in stunned silence as he walked away. Did he finally realize I could get a job done? After all this time, did he really see me as more than just his annoying little brother?

  I didn’t notice Kenzie until she came up beside me with a smile on her face and patted my back. She knew what a big deal that admission was. Griffin had finally surrendered. He gave up the reins and let me know that he believed I could do this.

  Well fuck me sideways. The grin wouldn’t leave my face.

  “Okay,” I said my voice rough with emotion. I cleared it and started again. “Buck and Ace you’re with us. Hawk and Bubba, have Griffin show you where the weapons are. I hope you won’t need them, but just in case. We leave in three hours.”

  “Can I talk to you?” Mac was standing on his own now, leaning against the door frame and asked as everyone began to file out of the kitchen.

  “What?” There was no kindness in my voice for the man. He’d yet to say anything to us that wasn’t condemning Kenzie, blaming her for everything wrong in his life.

  He took a deep breath and looked directly at Kenzie. “I need to apologize to you two, but Kenzie, mostly to you. I was wrong to lash out at you. If it weren’t for you, my son would still be locked up in Somalia, or worse…” he couldn’t finish his sentence.

  Oh Fuck Me Twice. Really? He was now sincere and apologizing. Just when I had my mad all worked up and good, the damn guys go and burst it.

  Kenzie looked at me first, then turned to Mac and smiled, and it was surprisingly sincere. “It’s okay, Mac. I understand.”

  “No, it’s not okay,” he replied gruffly. “I was an asshole and I deserve your anger. You too, Trey. You’re my brother just as much as the rest of us, and I never should have put a wedge between you and Griffin the way I did. There’s no excuse for anything I pulled, anything I said.” The man was stan
ding there, fingers squeezing the bridge of his nose. If I didn’t do something, he was going to break it. As much as I wanted to continue to rail at him for being an absolute fucking dick, watching him with his family earlier, and seeing Griff with his, gave me a better insight as to the depths of their potential losses. And I knew, if it had been my son, Kenzie, or hell, even Shelby, I’d have felt the same and probably gone as over the edge as they’d been.

  “Mac, we get it. Really, we do, and we’re not mad at you anymore. Appreciate the apology,” I said clapping him on the back. “Needed it man, but let’s just move on and get the bastard that did this to us, all right?” I said smiling and he clapped me back in one of those awkward bro-hugs. I noticed a few eyes watching us and I smiled.

  After everyone left the kitchen, I sighed with relief then turned to drag Kenzie up the stairs and to my room, clicking the lock shut behind us. I barely turned around before Kenzie had me pushed up against the wall, smacking my head back, hard. She winced. “Sorry,” she said before her lips plowed into mine and she pulled my hair roughly.

  “No need to apologize, sunshine. I like it rough.”

  Reaching down I put my hands behind her thighs and lifted her up, her legs wrapping around my hips. I turned and pushed her back against the door, trailing my lips down the column of her throat to her collarbone and nipping it with my teeth. She moaned and circled her hips until she was pressing against my erection. I was so hard it hurt. I needed her more than I needed air to breathe. Reaching down, she palmed me through my jeans and the guttural moan that left my lips had her panting.

  “Now, Trey. I need you to fuck me now,” she groaned into my hair as I lifted her shirt over her head and threw it to the side. She wasn’t wearing a bra and I was trying to figure out how I missed that before. It didn’t matter. I pulled her breast into my mouth and sucked on it fiercely until she cried out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. I took three large steps and deposited her onto the bed. She didn’t push or pull, she didn’t try to dominate me like she had done in the past. She laid there eyeing me with lust and maybe something else I couldn’t quite decipher in those crystal blue eyes. The realization hit me in the gut, and I was like a wild man pulling at her jeans that seemed to be painted on. She giggled when they hit her ankles and wouldn’t budge. I smirked and grabbed her boots throwing them across the room before her pants joined the pile on the floor. Seeing her there smiling at me completely open for me to take almost had me coming on the spot. I leaned down and took her other nipple into my mouth and biting down. “Surrender,” I said roughly.

  She looked at me confused but whatever she saw in my eyes had the smile sliding off her face, and I thought for a moment it was the wrong time. I started to panic but she reached her hand up to my cheek and then back into the hair at the nape of my neck. “Only for you,” she said before kissing me passionately.

  CHAPTER THITY-TWO

  KENZIE

  I almost cried. Me! I almost burst into tears when Trey looked at me with such love in his eyes and asked me to surrender to him. I had never even contemplated the idea of it. I was a loner. I didn’t plan to ever let anyone in, but Trey had stormed his way into my life and broken down every single barrier I had. I hesitated but my head and my heart were saying the same thing. Yes! I realized then no matter how much it scared the living hell out of me, I was totally screwed, and if I was honest with myself I had surrendered myself to him that first night when I jumped him in the car.

  The kiss turned bruising before Trey’s lips descended down my neck and over my breasts. He teased my belly button before I felt his hot breath over the spot I needed him most. My core was molten fire, and I couldn’t stop the moans that left my throat as he swirled his tongue over and around my clit. The second I got close, he stopped and I growled in frustration. Trey smirked before he undid his belt, and I noticed for the first time that I was completely naked and he was still fully clothed. I wanted to feel the heat of his skin on mine. “Too many clothes,” I panted.

  He ripped his shirt off one handed and I couldn’t help but stare at the tan expanse of skin and his perfect abs. He was tugging at his pants and I was laying back on the bed watching as he pulled his gorgeous cock out and stroked it a few times. I licked my lips and he groaned before positioning himself at my entrance.

  “Is this okay?” he asked and I nodded trusting him. The thought hit me like a freight train and I smiled. “I trust you.”

  I had been on birth control since I was sixteen; there was no need for extra precautions. His eyes brightened and he slammed himself home and stilled. The sensation of him inside of me without barriers nearly had us both coming undone and I moaned loudly. “Oh my God, Trey. You feel so good inside me.”

  “God, you’re perfect,” he said and kissed my neck as he finally started moving inside me. I rolled my hips and wrapped my legs around him digging my heels into his ass as he speared me over and over. My orgasm built quickly and it wasn’t long before my muscles began to contract around him and we came together shouting each other’s names.

  I had never felt anything like it. My heart filled with an emotion that I wasn’t sure I wanted to name, but all I knew was that I was irrevocably his. I had surrendered to him body and soul and there was no coming back from that. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as he spooned in behind me and wrapped me in his arms. He kissed the back of my neck and I knew I was toast. I was in love with Trey. I just hoped he didn’t pay for loving me back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  TREY

  Los Angeles wasn’t the sinister place that I made it in my mind over the last few weeks. It was home. Nothing was different from the last time I had been there. The only thing that had changed was me.

  Everyone but Tasha had been more than happy to stay behind in Louisiana. She was going a little crazy with needing Twitch back, and between the pregnancy and the injuries she had sustained while being held captive, I thought it best for her to stay put. Twitch would kill me if something happened to her.

  Our first stop was GTT. The security firm was still running rather smoothly, but an extremely frazzled Kelly greeted us as we walked through the door.

  “Did you get my brother back?” she all about shrieked when she saw us.

  Kelly was in the foster care system with Twitch and they were closer than any siblings I had ever seen. I knew she was freaking out, and I felt bad that there wasn’t good news to give her. Shaking my head, I sighed.

  “What about Tasha and Kaylee? Are the kids all right?” she shot the questions at me rapid fire.

  “Calm down Kelly. Everyone else is fine. They are back in Louisiana. Keller tried to get Twitch but someone tipped Barnes off and they moved him before they got there. But the good news in that, we know he’s alive and they’re obviously planning on keeping him that way if they went to the huge effort to move him.” While I was telling her that to make her feel better, it didn’t escape my knowledge that I was probably saying it more for me.

  Her entire body sunk. “At least Tasha and the rest of them are okay. Yeah, you’re right, and Dylan would have hated it if he got rescued and everyone else wasn’t safe. If everyone else is still in Louisiana, what are you doing here?” she asked eyeing the men and Kenzie behind me.

  “Sorry.” I turned around and pointed to the group. “Everyone meet Kelly, the pint-sized dictator.” I laughed as she swatted me. “Kelly, this is Kenzie, Ace, and Buck.”

  “Kenzie? I have heard so much about you,” she smiled.

  “All lies I’m sure.” She smirked, looking up at me.

  “So you and Trey aren’t a thing then?” she teased.

  “Well, that part’s true, but I’m sure everything else was exaggerated.” I shook my head, standing behind her so she couldn’t see. Kelly tried valiantly to keep a straight face but failed and busted up laughing. Kenzie turned to me staring daggers.

  “What?” I said feigned innocence. “Why would we need to exaggerate when
everything you do is so fantastic?”

  Everyone in the room groaned and I smacked a wet kiss on her cheek. There was a chorus of “that was so cheesy” but I just grinned. Kenzie softened and kissed me back.

  “That was really cheesy, but your right,” she laughed.

  “Okay, so you wanna tell me why you’re here?” Kelly asked impatiently, stamping her pointed shoes up and down.

  “I need some equipment, why else would I be here?” I walked towards the back offices, motioning the guys to head down the hall. “Hey guys, go hang out in sound room one while I go get a computer and some weapons.”

  “Weapons?” Buck asked with hope in his voice.

  “You wanna check them out?” Both men perked up and stepped forward.

  Kelly rolled her eyes. “Boys.”

  “This girl likes guns just as much as we do.” I pointed at Kenzie.

  We picked up some weapons and headed over to the sound proof room and got to work. Kenzie and I had our computers out. She was trying to get us invited to the masquerade fundraiser, and I was setting up a website where we could leak everything we had on Barnes. It wasn’t enough to simply set up the website though. I had to take a page out of Kenzie’s book and bounce my signal all over the world. I also had to come up with a new screen name and invite every hacker I knew from the forums to go there in hopes they would spread the word.

  “I figure I will put a couple smaller things on the website first to give them a taste. I had Kelly scan all of the bank records for the pay-for-play that was going on, so I will post some of that and get the suspicion started.”

  “That’s a good plan. What screen name are you going to use?” Kenzie asked never looking away from her keyboard.

  “Thanatos.” Kenzie giggled at the hilarity of my new screen name.

  “What’s Thanatos?” Buck asked confused.

  “The Greek God of Death, or basically the Grim Reaper. He takes the souls of the dead to the underworld,” I explained.