Wounded Hearts: Men in Blue, Book 5

by Jayne Rylon

“Funny thing about that.” Ellie dazzled them with her smile. She stuck to the script they’d rehearsed as best as possible, given that they hadn’t known exactly what to expect. “Sometimes you discover what you’re looking for in unusual places. Or maybe you figure out that what you were hunting for isn’t what you need at all.”

  The taller guy nodded at her. “I do think that’s true.”

  He steepled his fingers as he took a long, hard look at Ellie, then Lucas.

  Neither one of them flinched. They must have passed his unspoken test.

  “Would you like to go to the casino with us this weekend?” Yankees fan asked Ellie. “I’ve heard you’re quite the lucky charm.”

  She laughed. Lucas hoped he was the only person who could sense the slight tinge of bitterness to the peal. She’d been dealt some rotten hands by fate lately. But he hoped to turn that around for them.

  If she’d let him.

  Lucas jumped into the conversation to seal the deal. The sooner they finished with these goons and got the hell away from here, the better he’d feel. “It’s true. She won a jackpot last weekend. If we go with you, though, I’m sure they’re going to pay lots of attention to her. High roller and all, you know. The house will want to win back their money. I’m sure that would be no fun for you. It’d almost be like you were invisible, you know?”

  The man nodded solemnly. It was a solid plan. They’d be perfect for the job. Unsuspecting, the casino would be blind to the real drama happening in the cashier’s cage. If Lucas were planning this heist for real, he would use a decoy exactly like Ellie.

  She would steal everyone’s attention.

  Be the diversion they needed.

  “Let’s make a night of it,” Sunglasses said. “We’ll be in contact soon to arrange the details. Sound good?”

  “Sure,” Lucas answered for them both. “But if her good luck rubs off on you, I expect you to split the winnings with us fifty-fifty. It’s only fair, after all.”

  Yankees nodded, though the glint in his eye told Lucas the man never intended to pay what he owed. He’d kill them before they could collect. Or he would if the Men in Blue weren’t on to them, waiting to spring their trap. As soon as they had evidence in hand.

  “That’s a deal.” The man grinned as their food was brought to the table.

  “Well, we won’t keep you from your dinners.” Lucas stood then extended his hand to Ellie. She took it, her fingers like ice in his grip. “See you this weekend.”

  “It will be our pleasure.” Sunglasses guy leered at Ellie when he said that, making Lucas long to rebreak his crooked nose with a punch or two to his smarmy face. Maybe once they had the cuffs on the douche bag, he could sneak in a jab or two.

  Lucas let his hand trail behind him. Ellie’s body blocked part of his, giving the thieves something to concentrate on beside his slightly uneven gait. He hated using her fine ass like that, but it had to be done.

  Once they were outside, she started shivering despite the balmy air of late spring. He wished he had a jacket to drape around her. For warmth and just to keep whatever filthy eyes were on them from seeing too much of her.

  When they got to his car, he checked around discreetly for any signs of tampering. When he found the strand of hair he’d placed over the passenger door broken, he stopped Ellie from getting in. Peeking in the window, he noticed a manila envelope on the seat.

  That could not be good.

  Lucas took a piece of gum from his pocket, unwrapped it and handed her the paper covering. “Would you mind throwing this in the trash can over there?”

  He pointed to a receptacle in the park, nearly half a block away.

  If his car blew when he opened the door, he wanted her out of the blast zone. He didn’t think that was the intent of this package, but he didn’t want to take any risks with her. She was too precious. To him, and to the world.

  This hadn’t been in their plan, so she hesitated.

  “Go, E.”

  She bit her lip then nodded, spinning on her sexy, low heels and hustling to the spot he’d indicated.

  When she was safe, he opened the door. Nothing.

  Then he retrieved the envelope and withdrew the thick paper from within.

  Photographs.

  He recognized the very, very dead man in them as the one who’d been left behind at Ellie’s house, searching for the money. Their message couldn’t have been clearer. Fuck this up, and they’d end up with fresh holes in their heads too.

  Unfortunately, Lucas figured that was the plan, no matter what. The Men in Blue better know what they were doing. He held the car door open for Ellie, signaling her to return.

  Neither one of them spoke the entire way home, just like they’d practiced.

  When they got to his house, he pulled his car into a shed that encompassed a secure zone, scrambling any transmissions. He checked it for bugs then scoured every nook and cranny for something out of place.

  Only when he was sure that it was clean did he give Ellie the all clear. “We’re good now. You did amazing, E.”

  “Oh, thank God that’s over.” She sagged against him as they crossed the driveway toward his house.

  Lucas didn’t remind her that their involvement was only beginning. Instead, he picked her up, causing her blue-and-violet watercolor-silk sundress to flutter around her ankles.

  She giggled then smiled up at him as he carried her toward his house. The feel of her slight form, deceptively strong, in his arms thrilled him so much that he refused to put her down, even if he took his time as he went cautiously up each riser.

  Lucas lifted his meat foot first, then the prosthetic one, putting both feet on each tread instead of walking left over right as he would have before his amputation. Extra insurance against tripping, and dropping Ellie. That probably wouldn’t put her in the right mood for what he had planned.

  Sure, this had been an easy assignment, one that would have been beneath him not long ago. After being sidelined for almost a year, though, he couldn’t believe they’d done it. He hadn’t lost his touch, and now he was going to celebrate the victory, even if it was only a temporary win.

  Worrying about the next stage of the sting could wait until later.

  Much later.

  Successful missions always made him horny. Today’s was no exception. His cock was rock-hard in his pants.

  Lucas kicked open his front door then swung Ellie inside as if they were two normal young lovers who’d spent the day outside, enjoying the beautiful weather and each other. When he carried her inside, he paused only to steal a kiss that turned into a series of them instead of one isolated taste of Ellie’s lips.

  He’d never have enough of her.

  Their postadventure adrenaline must have been coursing through her as well. She moaned into his mouth at the slightest contact with his lips. Her fingers clenched on his neck and shoulders, silently asking for him to deepen the exchange.

  Before they went too far and he tripped her Sex Offender reaction, he confessed, “E, I want to have sex with you.”

  “Like…” She mimicked his seventh-grader sign language for fucking from the day before.

  He couldn’t help but laugh. She made him happier than he could remember, just by being. It was easy to hang around her and, he had to admit, they did make a good team.

  “Yeah”—he kissed her again, hungrily—“like that.”

  “What’re you waiting for, then?” She grinned up at him when he broke away to draw in a shaky breath. How could she do this to him so quickly, so powerfully?

  He had no idea, but he liked it.

  “You’re sure?” He’d swallowed hard when he asked, though he would wait forever if that was what she needed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t enjoyed their carnal explorations so far. Just being next to her, skin on skin, did something to him that he knew he’d never
be able to undo.

  Didn’t want to either.

  Lucas carried her only as far as the living room. He wasn’t going to make it upstairs before he had to have her. She seemed completely in favor. The wide, black-leather couch was plenty comfortable and roomy enough for what he intended.

  When he sank on top of Ellie, careful not to crowd her, she put her thumb over the camera hiding in the button of his shirt. “You might want to shut that off before we go any further.”

  He chuckled at the show they’d been putting on for the Men in Blue. How could he have forgotten? Because she made him lose his mind every time.

  Somehow he knew, no matter how often they were together like this, that would hold true.

  Lucas plucked the camera off his shirt, turned it around so that his face was captured in the live-streaming footage then said, “Goodbye, JRad. We’ll call you in a while. Do me a favor and erase that last bit so Ryan doesn’t see it.”

  “Okay, spy time is done. Gotta go.” Ellie nudged him with her knee so he took his cue and shut the gadget off, tossing it onto the coffee table.

  “Now, where were we?” He grinned down at her.

  “I was about to tell you that I get hormone treatments to keep the SO mutation in check. As long as I’m on them, I can’t get pregnant.” She smiled sadly up at him. “I’m not sure how I feel about that most days, but right now it’s seeming like a benefit. Unless, you know, you’d rather use condoms with me because of how many guys—”

  “Fuck that,” he snarled. “Don’t act like what they did makes you dirty.”

  “I’ve been tested. I got lucky. I didn’t catch anything they weren’t able to treat.” She looked away then.

  Lucas’s heart hurt for her. He leaned forward and kissed her softly. “I’m going to fuck you. Bare. I don’t want anything between us ever again. Okay?”

  Moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes and she nodded, though still without meeting his stare.

  So he kissed her tears away.

  “You have no idea how humbled I am to have you. That you let me be with you like this. I’ll cherish you, Ellie. Never doubt that. And”—he hesitated, wondering if he should bring it up; his gut told him to share with her parts of himself that he hadn’t told anyone about in nearly twenty years—“if you ever want to be a mom, there are lots of kids out there who need loving parents, waiting to be adopted.”

  “Why does it sound like you know that from experience?” She perked up.

  Figured she would get what he was saying without really being told. “Because I was a ward of the state. An orphan. Grew up in the system. Never staying any one place very long.”

  She reached up and laid her hands on either side of his face, but didn’t bother telling him she was sorry. Both of them knew words like that didn’t help the bone-deep kind of sorrow.

  “It’s one of the reasons why I was chosen for my agency,” he told her. “They don’t accept guys with family, girlfriends or wives, kids. Nothing that can be used against them, you know? I had nothing, so it was easy for them to mold me into whatever they needed.”

  “Well, now you’ve got me.” She leaned up until she could seal their mouths together, kissing him with every ounce of tenderness she could muster. And that was a lot.

  “Do I?” he asked, afraid to hope. What would happen after this weekend when their lives went back to whatever passed as normal these days.

  “Uh, yeah. We are about to…” She busted out the fucking sign language again.

  It was the perfect thing at the perfect time.

  Lucas’s laughter chased their troubles away. If she could be strong enough to move forward, so could he. After just one more confession. “So, um, for the record. I haven’t”—he flashed their running joke at her—“since before I met you.”

  “You mean since your injury.” Her eyes grew wide as she considered that.

  “Obviously, yeah, part of the reason for my dry streak was my leg. But…I had some offers, you know, from the fetishists and regular women too,” he admitted. “I just didn’t feel like taking anyone up on it. I didn’t think it would be fair when every time I got turned on, all I could think of was you.”

  “Aw, that’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” Ellie beamed.

  They laughed more together.

  Then chuckles turned into kissing. A ton more kissing. So much more that he sort of lost track of time and where they were. When he realized he was pinning her to the couch, he lifted up.

  Ellie groaned and yanked him back on top of her with her hands on his back. “I’m fine, Lucas. Don’t assume I’m weak just because of what happened to me. I don’t operate that way around you.”

  “There’s a difference between thinking less of you and making accommodations,” he tried to explain between another round of furious making out. It seemed like, if his mouth were apart from hers for more than the time it took for him to suck in a breath, he might die.

  “Well, I don’t want you to treat me differently than you would any other woman.” She surprised him by reaching around and slapping his ass. Hard.

  The sting spurred him on, as she’d probably intended. “That’s too damn bad, E. Because you’re not like any other woman to me. No one has ever made me want them as badly as you do. And I don’t only mean in bed.”

  There, he’d said it.

  She blinked up at him a few times.

  Then a wide, sly smile lit up her face. “Keep talking like that and I might even let you”—more signing—“in the back door.”

  Lucas laughed so hard he thought he might cry. He had no idea how she could do that to him. Yet he was not only amused, but also so horny he thought he might come in his pants if he didn’t get down to business soon.

  “E, when I get around to fucking you in the ass, you’re going to be the one begging for it.” He nipped her lower lip. “Right now, I’m craving your pussy. I can’t wait to be buried inside you. Fully connected.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Do that.” She took on that dreamy, dazed look that made him sure she’d passed the point of no return. He had to take care of her now or she’d suffer from his teasing.

  And that was definitely not in his plans.

  He considered simply shoving her dress up, unsnapping his jeans and digging in. But he wanted it to be something better than that for her. Something she would remember.

  Lucas wanted to make a good first impression since he hoped she’d want to do it again. Hopefully often. He didn’t hesitate to admit in his own mind that he also wanted their encounter to be different in every way possible from how crudely she’d been treated by men in the past.

  So he took more time than he would have liked in sliding her dress from beneath her ass then helping her sit forward so that he could draw it over her head. It fluttered to the floor, landing in a pool of silk.

  When he took in the sapphire-blue, matching panty-and-bra set, he suddenly wished they’d had more time for her to roam the lingerie stores at the mall. “Fucking sexy.”

  She smiled crookedly up at him. “You like?”

  “Definitely.” He admired the way the color enhanced her eyes. “But I’ll like it even more when you’re naked.”

  Lucas wished he’d taken time to light candles and pick some wild flowers from the field out back. Next time, he silently promised her.

  He carefully unclasped her bra then peeled it from her like fancy wrapping paper on a precious present. The same for her panties when he eased them down her legs. She bent her knees up so he could tug the underwear from her dainty ankles and over her feet.

  When he saw how torn up her soles still were from their hike, he winced. She hadn’t complained once while they were out.

  “Don’t worry about that now. Only pleasure, Lucas. That’s all I care about.” She reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt while he took
care of his jeans.

  Except he couldn’t pry them off his prosthesis. Shit.

  “Just take your leg off—it’s fine,” Ellie reassured him.

  Except it wasn’t.

  It might have been stupid, but it made him feel more complete. And, especially his first time with her, he wanted to be everything he was capable of. “Hang on.”

  He left her side for a minute to doff his leg and slip his pants over the top of the prosthesis, but then, as soon as they were off, he put his leg back in the socket and ratcheted the proximal lock tight once more.

  Ellie lost a little of the glow she’d had a moment before, but she didn’t argue with him about it.

  Instead, she opened her arms, welcoming him—no matter how many feet he had.

  He went to her, loving the shock of feeling her breasts and belly pressed to his torso again. It would never get old—the moment they connected flush each time they shared themselves like this.

  Lucas stared into her gorgeous blue eyes and took in the rouge of her cheeks and red lips. Even without makeup, and dotted with bruises and cuts on her chest from their romp in the woods, she was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  And she was looking at him like she was going to either tear into him or beg him to fuck her in the next few moments. She was his dream woman, for sure. Passionate and tough. Fierce yet vulnerable. She did things to his heart that felt especially dangerous for a man used to being a loner.

  “You need this, don’t you?” he growled against her neck as he bit her gently.

  “Yes.” She moaned and flexed so that she fused their bodies tighter together.

  “But you want it too, right? Me?”

  “Stop talking so much and put your mouth to better use.” Ellie drew him down with a steady pressure on the back of his head. But when he neared, she didn’t kiss him or force him toward her breasts, as he expected. Instead, she whispered in his ear, “I’ve been dreaming about this moment for close to a year. Don’t make me wait any more, Lucas. Please.”

  Nothing could have made his dick harder than that sweet admission.

  Lucas smiled down at her then brushed his mouth over hers as his hand snuck between them. He’d planned to see how wet she was and prepare her for penetration.