a Beautiful Christmas: A Pride and Honor Christmas

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “Okay.” She kissed me again. “I’m so glad you’re here. Guys just can’t take a hint.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  KENZIE

  Trey wasn’t supposed to be there. I almost threw my arms around him in my drunken haze, but then I remembered why I ran… and I did it again. Jesus I needed to fucking learn to deal.

  The closest door in the club was a side door that went to an alley. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone so I started walking towards the strip.

  I heard something behind me and turned just in time to see the butt of a gun crash down on my head. I recognized the slimy guy that felt me up inside the club. Pain shot through my skull as I hit the ground, hard.

  TREY

  I downed my drink and went after Kenzie. I was done letting her run from me. I followed in the same direction Marcy had gone out, and into a dark alley. Niether one of those girls had any sense of self preservation. I heard a grunt and then a feisty pixie’s scream and I bolted.

  “Pix, stop!”

  I shouldn’t have yelled because I distracted her and the asshole elbowed her in the arm and she fell on her ass. She cried out and my vision went red.

  The sleaze had his belt unbuckled and I saw Kenzie on the floor beside him, her dress ripped open and a cut on her forehead that was bleeding.

  I sprinted towards the guy and tackled him around the middle taking him to the ground with a loud oof. I heard a clicking of a gun and Kenzie screamed before pushing me away. The loud boom of a gunshot split the air and I tackled the guy again kicking the gun from his hand and pinning him to the ground. The door came flying open and Mac ran out the door and toward us, followed by the rest of the guys.

  “Trey, I got him. Kenzie needs help.” Buck nodded toward where Kenzie was on the ground clutching her shoulder. I could see blood oozing through her fingers.

  “Kenzie, what the hell were you thinking?” I ran over to her, unbuttoning my shirt and wrapping it around her.

  “I don’t know,” she said looking lost. “He had a gun. I didn’t think. I just couldn’t lose you.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. I looked at her shoulder and noticed there wasn’t a hole, just a gaping gash in her arm that needed stitches. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I never should have run off. I love you so much.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  MARCY

  I didn’t think as I ran outside after Kenzie, and I really didn’t think as I saw the guy ripping her dress. But, I did notice that something was wrong, really wrong. Kenzie, the ultimate fighter, wasn’t fighting back and that’s when I saw the gash on her forehead. Sprinting to him, completely forgetting I was pregnant, I jumped like a fucking spider monkey on his back and did my best to subdue him. This fucker is strong.

  I heard Trey’s shout and stopped. That was a mistake. The assailant was able to fling me off and on to the ground. Pain shot up my back from my ass and I groaned out, praying I hadn’t done anything to harm the baby. Looking over, I noticed Kenzie rolling to her side and beginning to stand. I blew out a relieved breath thanking God that she was okay.

  I watched in horror as Trey rushed him, not even seeing the gun in his hand. I hauled my ass up off the concrete and ran back inside as fast as my short legs would take me. Pushing through the throng of bodies on the dance floor was harder than I anticipated, but I got through relatively quickly and made it to Mac and the guys. Out of breath, I rambled trying to tell them what was happening.

  “Kenzie… Trey… Gun,” I wheezed out and they took off running towards the door. I followed after them and went out the door just in time to see Kenzie push Trey away from the shooter, and the gun go off. I couldn’t believe my eyes as she crumpled to the ground. The scream bubbled out of me before I could stop it.

  MAC

  As soon as I saw that Bubba and Buck had the man subdued, I got my phone out and started dialing. Kenzie was bleeding like crazy, but it didn’t look as if there was an actual gunshot wound, just a deep graze. I wrapped my arm around a sobbing Marcy.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I came out and he was standing over her and I freaked and jumped on his back. Trey ran over, distracted me, then the guy pushed me to the side. That’s when I ran inside to get you.”

  As she told me the story, I got more and more angry. Not only at the scum bag who did this, but also at Pix for putting herself and our unborn baby at risk. “Are you serious? You jumped on his back while pregnant?”

  “What was I supposed to do? Let him rape her while she was barely conscious?” She glared at me.

  “No, you should have come got us, or screamed. Anything but risk your life and our baby’s!” I yelled.

  “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” A tiny little voice said in my ear and I remembered that I had dialed the phone.

  “My friend was nearly raped in an alley outside of VooDoo. She was shot, but we have the perp detained. Can you send emergency services please?”

  “Someone will be there as soon as they can. Have you spoken to security inside the club? They may be equipped to help you until the police arrive.”

  Griffin and Kaylee came running out the door with a giant of a man a second later. “I told you something like this was gonna happen. That’s the man who harassed Kenzie on the dance floor earlier.”

  “Sir, do you have a first aid kit? My friends been shot.”

  “Sure do, and the names Eric. This guy? He was blackballed from this club months ago. I don’t know how they let him in.”

  He got on his walkie and relayed instructions to whoever was on the other end. It wasn’t long before two more gigantic security guards came walking out to the alley. One held zip ties. “It’s all I had, boss.”

  “It’s perfect, and cut it out with the boss crap,” he said sternly. “I could kill Cole for putting me in charge here, so he could traipse around LA.” I heard him mutter under his breath.

  He hog-tied the man with the zip ties and pointed to the other guy. “Tony, don’t just stand there, the lady’s been shot.”

  “Shit, okay,” he said and made his way over to Kenzie.

  “Was anyone else hurt?” He looked at Marcy a little strangely.

  “Nope, I fell on my ass but I’ll be fine,” she said a little shakily and I pulled her closer. The guy Eric looked at me funny.

  “Are you all staying in the hotel?” he asked after a beat of silence.

  “Yes,” Pix and I said at the same time.

  “Well, since this started in our club and that particular douchebag never should have been on the property in the first place, we’ll comp your stay. I’ll make sure guest services send some stuff up to your rooms in the morning.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Griffin spoke up. “We have a tendency to find trouble where ever we go.”

  I chuckled at that because he definitely wasn’t wrong.

  “Well, this particular guy held a bunch of my people at gun point a while back, and I would feel a lot less guilty about my security guys slacking off if you would just take the comp.”

  I looked at Griffin who shrugged and nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

  “I need to get back in there and find out who let this scum back in my bar, but these are my best guys. They’ll help you until the police arrive.” He smiled and took my hand in a firm shake.

  “Nice to meet you, Eric.”

  “Yeah man, you too.” He walked back inside with one last look over at Marcy.

  “What was that about?” I asked her when he was gone.

  “I have no idea. Maybe I remind him of someone?” she said thoughtfully.

  “Yeah, that must be it,” I replied distracted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  KAYLEE

  The police and ambulance took forever to get there. I guess traffic on the strip late on a Friday night wasn’t ideal for accidents. It probably made it easier for thugs like that to commit crimes on the strip because the
y could be long gone before help ever came. I snuggled in closer to Griffin and rested my hand on his ribs and he flinched.

  “What’s wrong with your ribs?” I asked, horror already filling me. With the incidents over the past year, I couldn’t stop myself from already thinking the worst. I knew we hadn’t been out there when it all unfolded, but it was possible he got elbowed or something when we were pushing through the crowd to get to security. When I saw all the guys rush out of the same door Kenzie had fled through moments before, I panicked. We grabbed Tara and ran to the first security guard we could find.

  “Nothing. I’m okay; that spot’s just sore. I have something to show you when we get back.” He smiled devilishly and I about swooned.

  Once the police finally got there, Kenzie accepted treatment but refused to go to the hospital, so we waited while everyone gave their statements. It took longer than I had hoped, and I was so done with the Vegas nightlife. I just wanted to go back to my room and sleep. Griffin had other ideas though.

  When we were finally allowed to leave, we made our way to the hotel elevators. I had no idea how we didn’t see each other before the club, being that we were on the same floor.

  Griffin walked me into the guys’ room and I looked at him a little nervously. “Why are you bringing me in here? This is supposed to be a separate weekend. Where are you taking me?”

  “Not now that we are all here, and after what happened tonight, I’m not letting you out of my sight.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. His lips found my neck and I arched into him.

  Practically dragging me down the hallway to his bedroom, he kicked the door shut, reached down, and unzipped my dress from behind; it fell to the floor.

  “Christ, you’re not wearing anything under that dress.” He growled and took a nipple between his teeth.

  My hand traveled up under his shirt, and I felt plastic covering his ribs just beneath his chest. “What’s that?”

  “You know what that is.” He smiled and ground his erection into my belly.

  “Not that.” I broke away and lifted his shirt. “That. Did you get a tattoo?”

  “Um, I got two tattoos,” he mumbled self-consciously. I ripped his shirt over his head and stared at the spot over his heart. In flowing script there were three names with dates just below them. “Leanne, Lance, Natalie.”

  The dates were the day he met each of his kids. “Oh Griff, it’s beautiful,” I said with tears in my eyes.

  “They’re mine, I love them all equally,” he said a little sheepishly. I could see the absolute truth in his eyes and I melted even more.

  GRIFFIN

  Who knew those words would have the effect on Kay that they did. She was ravenous and basically jumped me. Her hands were everywhere at once it felt like, and I couldn’t concentrate enough to do anything. She moved her hands to my belt and unbuckled it. I was helpless to do anything but watch as she wrapped her lips around my throbbing cock and sucked it to the back of her throat.

  Just watching her suck me like she was starving was almost enough to have me coming.

  “Babe, you gotta stop.” I groaned and lifted her up. She let it go with a pop and I threw her little ass on the bed smiling devilishly. “My turn,” I said and spread her thighs. She was exquisite and dripping wet. I licked her up and down. Her back arched up off the bed and I grinned against her skin.

  “Griffin,” she moaned my name and I climbed up her body kissing her deeply. Her nails dug into my back and scratched all the way down as I thrust into her hard and fast. It was minutes before I felt her coming. I watched her as her eyes rolled back in her head and she sighed in pleasure. I never got used to watching my girl come. It was fucking fantastic knowing it was only me and no one else could do that to her. I came a second later shouting her name and just barely remembered to roll to the side before I crushed her.

  “I love you,” she whispered sleepily. I never got tired of hearing those words from her lips. I kissed her head and smiled.

  “I love you too,” I said and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  TREY

  I couldn’t stop touching her. I felt like she would disappear if I took my hands off her. “Are you sure you don’t need a hospital?” I asked for probably the hundredth time.

  “I don’t need a hospital, Trey. I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

  “Okay,” I said softly and followed her to her room in the girls’ suite. Griffin and Kaylee had gone to his room in our suite, so I figured I’d stay here with Kenzie, especially if she was letting me.

  “Trey, I’m sorry. I didn’t think I was ready, but I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. When I saw that gun pointed at your chest tonight, I thought I was gonna lose you, and something broke in me. I realized that I was being stupid. Having something permanent with you is better than being permanently without you.” The tears were streaming down her face, but that little speech didn’t have the effect on me that I thought it would. She needed to trust me. She need to trust in the love that we had for each other. She couldn’t just run whenever she got scared.

  “So you did take it?” I asked in a gravelly voice.

  “What?”

  “You took the ring. Mac said when he got to Bob’s it was gone. You had been there that afternoon.”

  “No, I didn’t take it. I left it in the safe and ran. I never even looked inside the box.” She looked hurt and angry.

  “Then who took it?” I asked more thoughtfully than anything.

  “I don’t know, but I swear to you, Trey, everything was still there when I left.”

  Something Mac had said on the phone to me the night before rang through my head, and I cursed. Mac had the bag, he thought… holy shit this was all fucked up. I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up and out of me.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked confused.

  “Mac, he’s a freaking moron, and I have no idea what to do about it.”

  “You’re making zero sense, Trey.”

  “Don’t worry about it, sunshine. We’ll get everything settled once we get home. I’m just so glad you’re back with me.”

  KENZIE

  Trey was acting strange and the fact that he had accused me of hiding the bag even after I apologized wasn’t lost on me. I stripped off my ruined dress along with his shirt and waited. He looked at me with longing in his eyes, but quickly locked it down.

  “Here.” He handed me a night gown and I had a difficult time trying to get it over my head with my arm the way it was all bandaged up.

  Trey came over and helped. He slid his hands down my sides after the fabric and I shuddered. “Trey,” I moaned and arched into him.

  “Not tonight, sunshine. You had a rough night. I just want to hold you,” he said sweetly. He took off his shirt and I was mesmerized by what I saw there. Right beneath his pec the word Trust sat in flowing script. There was plastic covering it. I attempted to trace it with my fingers, but he caught my hand.

  “Still hurts,” he grunted and I took my hand away.

  “Sorry.”

  “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  MAC

  I woke up from some of the best sleep I had in weeks. Marcy was curled into my side, and I felt a sense of peace flow over me. I would be happy to wake up like that every day for the rest of my life, so I decided not to wait until Christmas to officially make her mine. I would grab the bag from Keller the minute we got home and propose to her then. Screw the big plans I had. I wanted Marcy forever and I didn’t want to wait a single minute longer. A new idea formed and I chuckled to myself as I very carefully extricated from her sleeping body and went out into the living room.

  “Justin?” I said into the phone. “There’s been a change of plans.”

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “I need you to go to the police station. Keller is holding a duffle bag for me there. Get the bag and bring it
and Johnny out to Vegas.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” I said quietly so that no one else would hear. “I’m calling Keller now and letting him know you’re coming to get it.”

  “You got it. I’ll be there in half an hour and we’ll be on our way directly after.”

  “Thanks, buddy,” I said and hung up the phone.

  I called Keller next and let him know that Justin would be bringing the bag out to Vegas for me.

  “Thank God,” he said sounding relieved. “That thing has been haunting me this entire time.”

  I chuckled and got off the phone. I had one more person I needed to talk to and she just so happened to be staying in the same suite. After texting her, she came out of the room a minute later with a robe wrapped around her.

  “What’s up, Mac?” she asked groggily.

  “I need your help.”

  MARCY

  Stretching my muscles out, I noticed two things pretty quickly. One, I was alone in the big bed and two, I wasn’t in my room. Sitting up, I recalled the events of the night before and wondered where the hell Mac went off to. It was barely ten in the morning. I couldn’t believe after the late night we had the night before that Mac was already gone. Getting dressed I walked out of the room and saw Griffin sitting on the couch, alone.

  “Where’s Mac?” I asked confused.

  “He popped out pretty early this morning. Said he had some things to do and he’d be back later.” Griffin shrugged.

  “Where’s Kay?”

  “She’s in the shower. Said you girls had a spa day planned.”

  “Yeah, I should probably go get ready for that,” I said slowly. I had planned the whole trip alongside Tara, and we had never planned a spa day.

  Something was going on, and I had a feeling it had something to do with Mac’s disappearing act.

  An hour later all of us girls were down at the hotel spa getting back massages. “So how did you say this came up?” I asked Kaylee.