STEAL (Right Men Series Book 2)

by Mayra Statham

  Her hand covered his that was gripping the sheets, and he looked at her. Her eyes on him undid him.

  “Don’t stop, Bryan,” she pleaded, and he kissed her. Pressing his lips to hers, he kissed her as he raced to get them there. Pulling away, he slammed balls deep into her, and she took his entire length.

  “Come for me. Come with me, baby,” he gruffed, out of breath but nowhere near done with her.

  Once, twice, and then finally on the third, he felt her sweet heat contract around him, the hold so tight he felt as if he went cross-eyed as his balls tightened and he shot his seed deep into her. The idea of marking her inside out drove him to a whole other level of orgasmic bliss. Her name muffled by the way he bit down on her shoulder as they both felt the waves of pleasure.

  Aftershocks of sensations made it hard for him to keep his body up over hers.

  “Hold me,” she gasped softly, both of them breathing hard. He let his body fall over her. His arms wrapped around her, his face in her neck nuzzling her softly.

  “Thank you,” he mumbled deeply, his nose skimming her skin, and he didn’t miss her little sigh before she giggled softly.

  “For what?”

  “For giving me you.”

  “Is that what I did?” she asked, giving him more space to nuzzle and kiss softly.

  “Yes.” He smiled, and the hand that was covering his tightened.

  “How are you so sure?” she asked him, showing him just how vulnerable she felt.

  “Because it’s what I did. I’m yours, Val. Just like you’re mine,” he reminded her and he knew she got it when he heard her breathe in deeply, then exhaling a soft sigh.

  “I like that.”

  “No more worrying about the difference between your people and mine,” he whispered, and she nodded.

  He hated that Court had told her about her dad. Not that the asshole deserved a minute of Val’s time, but he wished it would have been something she found out gently. Shaking away any thoughts of Court and her crazy, he let his lips move from her face to her neck, then to her shoulder before he gained enough energy to pull his body up and off hers. He slid out and watched how he dripped out of her. The sight alone made him want to take her again. He wanted to mark her over and over, inside and out. Before his body stirred again, he got up and out of bed, and she looked at him over her shoulder questioningly.

  “Stay there,” he ordered with a wink and a smile, going to the bathroom, where he ran warm water and wet a wash cloth.

  Returning, he cleaned her up gently and got them into bed, snuggling them up closely as they spoke in hushed tones. Darkness surrounded them, but he had never felt the fires of his soul burn brighter. Minutes washed away into hours and they quickly found themselves falling asleep the way they had came.

  Together.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  BRYAN

  His days off had passed by in a blur. Their days had been made up of making love and eating in bed. He smiled at the memory of how great she fucking felt in his arms.

  Waiting for Tyler to get his fucking coffee, knowing that he would be home in less than two hours, he noticed the shops around them. One in particular called his attention.

  A jewelry store.

  He had never been the kind of man to shy away from things, and when he thought about his future, he knew exactly where he wanted it to go. Especially now that he knew he could give Valerie everything. Though, she had been right. A family could be had in many ways and not just by blood. He had just been too stubborn to see it when he had been told he couldn’t have one the way he had originally envisioned it.

  Life was funny in the way it worked out, the twists and turns all so that you could look at life from a different perspective. He had left his brother’s home to restart his life, and from the moment he’d crossed paths with his sassy little blonde, it had gone into super speed.

  Thinking about their pasts, how different their lives had been from childhood and on, he appreciated it all even more. He felt like he was standing on the precipice of a new beginning, the future wide open and full of possibilities. But he knew he wanted her by his side. He also wanted to give her everything and anything her heart desired, especially a family.

  The future was brighter than ever and as he looked at the small mom and pop jewelry store that was a staple in the small community, as crazy as it might have seemed to some, he knew what he had to do.

  Pushing himself off the car, he took three steps toward the store before his phone rang. Looking down, he smiled and answered.

  “Were your ears burning?” he asked her, her laughter making his heart fuller.

  “No, were you talking about me, Detective?”

  “Again, that’s Detective Handsome to you, and no, I wasn’t talking about you. I was thinking about you.” He grinned.

  “Oh, in that case, were yours burning all day long?” she sassed, and he loved it.

  “I fucking love you.”

  “Good,” she answered, and he knew she was smiling. “Hey, listen, it’s pretty slow here. I’m going to leave early, stop at the pharmacy, and head home. Do you want anything in particular for dinner?”

  “I got dinner. Why don’t you get home and take a long hot bath and sip a glass of wine?”

  “You have the best ideas, Mr. Wright. If you don’t mind, I will take you up on that.”

  “You should. I plan on keeping you up very late tonight, Miss Duncan.” One day soon, she’d have his ring and name.

  “I like the sound of that. See you later.”

  “Later.” Ending the call, he heard Tyler call his name and had to turn around from heading toward the jewelry store, but he would get there.

  Soon.

  ***

  Getting home, he immediately noticed her bike was not parked in the drive like it usually was. Grabbing his cell, he tried her and she answered on the second ring.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, did you get stuck in traffic?” he asked playfully, his smile diminishing at the sound her soft sigh.

  “No. I’m still at the hospital.”

  “What happened?”

  “A bus accident. I’m walking to my bike now.”

  “Everyone okay?” he asked.

  “They are now.” She smiled. “What the...” Her voice faded off and he sat up in the driver’s seat, keys in hand.

  “What’s wrong.” The hairs at his neck stood on end.

  “My bike,” she whispered, and he started his car.

  “Val?”

  “Its... oh, my God.” Her soft tone made something sink in his stomach like a rock sinking to the bottom of a pail.

  “Talk to me, baby,” he urged her.

  “Someone threw... what is this? Paint?” She was talking out loud but not necessarily to him.

  “Babe, don’t touch it.”

  “Red paint!” she growled, and he could only imagine how pissed she was and hated he had an idea who was responsible.

  “Baby—”he tried to calm her down, but she cut him off.

  “Bryan, its covered in red paint,” she shared, and his jaw clenched. But it wasn’t until she gasped that fear hit his gut. “My seat.”

  “Babe, go back into the hospital. Wait for me at the main entrance, okay?”

  “Handsome—”

  “Valerie. Please,” he pleaded sternly. “Get inside, honey. It’s safer inside. I’m on my way. Do you understand?”

  “Okay.”

  “I need you to get inside, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He stayed on the line with her until she got inside, then made her hand the phone to the security guard where he explained who he was and what he needed to get done. After being assured that the right authorities would be notified, he rushed his ass to the hospital to get to his girl.

  VALERIE

  I watched the moment he crossed the sliding doors of the main entrance and rushed to him.

  “Hey...” he started to say but instead, I was thankful he jus
t held me tightly. “Shhh...” he whispered, his lips at the top of my head, and just like that, the tension that had me wound up the moment I had seen my bike flitted away.

  Resting my forehead on his strong chest, I let myself give him some of my weight, knowing he wouldn’t let me fall.

  “I saw the bike,” he whispered, and my eyes shut tight.

  Red paint splattered all over. So much some had dripped all over the concrete below. If the idea of having to do a complete new paint job wasn’t enough, the seat had been carved into. HOMEWRECKER was cut into the leather of the seat, and I knew exactly who it had been.

  “It’s probably not worth fixing,” I muttered, sad about my bike.

  “Don’t say that. You love it.”

  “I have my two cars. I’ll be okay,” I shared with a weak smile, and he nodded.

  “You will be. I got it towed to a shop I know.”

  “I shouldn’t invest any more into it,” I argued.

  “You won’t. She will.”

  “Right.” I laughed humorlessly, trying to get out of his arms, but he didn’t let me.

  “She was caught on the security cameras. Clear as day.”

  “Really?” I asked, thinking how stupid could someone be, doing something so destructive and not taking precautions of getting caught.

  “Let’s go home,” he suggested. I looked up into the beautiful pools that were his eyes, realizing that with everything that had happened, how I should have felt compared to how I actually did were like night and day.

  I wasn’t angry at Courtney.

  I felt sorry for her.

  She wasn’t well. Something had to have happened to trigger her craziness. Not only that. Courtney now knew exactly what her lies and betrayal had cost her. The man who was holding me was unlike any other I had met. Losing him would kill.

  I stood a little straighter in his arms, watching as his eyes tried to read me, and I lifted to the tips of my toes and kissed him. Softly. Slowly. Pulling away, I smiled and watched his eyes glitter with warmth.

  “Take me home, Detective, we got a bath with our name on it,” I informed him, enjoying how he immediately pulled me in, kissing the top of my head before leading the way to his SUV.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  BRYAN

  His phone rang and he accepted the call without looking at it, his mind filled with too many other thoughts.

  “Wright here,” he answered, walking back toward the car where Tyler stood outside. Bryan watched his partner drink his coffee all the while his eyes were trained on the coffee shop in front of them. Bryan almost wanted to laugh. Poor shmuck. Tyler needed to sack up and make a move on the little barista he obviously had a crush on.

  “Hey.” He stood, shocked still, stopping the fucking growl that threatened to escape.

  “Bryan? Are you there?” she called out, and his nose flared in anger. Looking down at the screen of his phone, a deep scowl on his face, he realized she had called from a different number. Fucking Courtney.

  “You calling to tell me you are sending a check for the damage you caused to Val’s bike?” he asked seriously, trying not to lose his shit. The sight of Val’s bike smeared and covered in blood-red paint, the carved seat seared into his memory.

  “I’m calling because I love you.”

  “You need to stop with this shit, Court,” he bit out harshly.

  “And you love me,” she told him, and he felt like ripping his hair out.

  “I really don’t.”

  “You loved me for a long time, Bryan,” she whispered. He bit the inside of his mouth. “Love like ours doesn’t die,” she continued softly but confidently, and all he could think about was that she sounded like a freaking lunatic.

  “Trust me, Court, it’s done and buried.”

  “No, it isn’t. Not even close.”

  “You need to knock this shit out. Val is going to press charges—”

  “Did you get your sweater?” she asked, ignoring anything he had to say. “Did you get the boxes?”

  “Court.”

  “You looked at the pictures.” He stood still as his eyes moved to the ground in front of him. “I watched you. You looked at them before burning them.” She had been watching him?

  “What does it matter? I burned—”

  “I saw your face. You miss me.”

  “Look, Courtney, I don’t know what happened, but you need help,” he tried to plead with her, but she wasn’t having anything to do with it.

  “I miss you. Forget her. Come back to me. We can start back, better than—”

  “You’re fucking crazy, Court. Not only did you lie to me—”

  “I made a mistake,” she shared as if lying about him being sterile was some type of small white lie he could ever just forget. “You found out I wasn’t perfect. You always called me your perfect girl!”

  “It was a stupid term of endearment!”

  “Sue me. I’m not perfect.”

  “Court, you need to stop this.”

  “She’s pretty, you know?” He looked up, saw Tyler’s eyes on him, and Bryan started walking toward the car. “All that blond hair and glittery green eyes.”

  “What the fuck?” he whispered.

  “I used to make you laugh like she does.”

  “We’re done here.” He was done with her bullshit, but she didn’t get it.

  “I could be the one you take on the couch. I used to be, don’t you remember?” she asked him, and chills ran down his spine. When the hell had she seen them? How did she know this shit?

  “This is the last time I hear from you. Do you get that, Courtney? I’ve moved the hell on. Val is—“

  “Trash,” she interrupted, and he shook his head, chuckling.

  “You couldn’t be more fucking wrong if you tried. She’s everything to me. I thank God you and I split, because if I had met her while still married to you, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. But you loved me.”

  “Valerie is my future.”

  “Is that what that ring in your pocket is about?” He stopped mid-stride and looked around him. “You’re so predictable. Do you really think she wants a happily ever after with you? Women like that…” She kept talking, but Bryan tuned her out.

  His eyes took in the main square streets. They weren’t particularly busy though far from empty, but he couldn’t make her out anywhere.

  “See, that’s what I like, Bryan. You always looking. For me.” The sound of her voice was off and on edge. She was no longer a jealous ex but a serious threat. “Though, I think I’m going to take a page from your little blonde’s playbook and keep you on your toes.”

  “What you need to do is get it through your fucking skull we’re done,” he roared, losing the last shred of patience, but he wasn’t sure how much of it she heard.

  By the time he was done with his tirade, she had already ended the call.

  VALERIE

  It was the last day of my work week, and I was exhausted.

  Happy but exhausted.

  Long work hours and even longer late nights with Bryan were making me burn the midnight oil from both ends, and though the satisfaction he gave us was well worth the exhaustion, I was looking forward to a couple of days off from work and hopefully a long nap.

  Reaching the triage after making my rounds, Sam, one of the nurses on duty, handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a card and a bag of food.

  Thanking her, I reached for my phone from the front pocket of my purple scrub top and called Bryan.

  “You okay?” he immediately asked, his voice serious with worry. I shook my head at his question. After my motorcycle had been ruined, Bryan had been on edge. One of the many reasons I sacrificed myself every night to his every whim. Right.

  “Of course, it is. I just wanted to say thank you. I wasn’t expecting anything.” I beamed at the beautiful blooms, setting the vase down on the counter.

  “You’re welcome, but wha
t are you talking about?”

  “My lunch.”

  “I didn’t send you lunch, Blondie,” he shared, and I blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

  “Flowers?” I asked, the pretty sight of the bright bouquet suddenly making me apprehensive.

  “No. Who the hell is sending you flowers?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Jealous much?”

  “Is there a card?” he asked roughly, and I reached for it. Holding it between my fingers, I had no idea who would have sent me flowers.

  “There’s a card,” I stated, looking at the white envelope in my hands.

  “So?”

  “Hey, I should call you back—“ I tried to get out of having to open it with him on the phone. What if this was another weird Courtney thing?

  “Val?”

  “What if she—“

  “Open the card.”

  “Sam, who delivered the food?” I questioned, ignoring Bryan on the phone, taking advantage of her walking by me again.

  “Oh, some wing place.”

  “Wings?”

  “Yeah! I didn’t know you liked it hot.” Kendall smiled, grabbing her bottle of water from the desk.

  “What?”

  “The guy said you must like it hot, since you ordered extra suicide sauce. Anyhow, he told me to tell you he packed tons. My uncle grows ghost chili peppers. I’ll bring you some next time I see him.”

  “Thanks.” I faked a smile, and Kendall simply nodded before leaving.

  “Did you hear—“

  “Yeah,” he answered sternly. Suicide sauce. I took a deep breath, but it did nothing to calm my nerves. My hands slightly shook holding the card.

  “Open it. Please, Val.”

  “Fine,” I bit, not wanting to at all, but I knew I had to.

  Opening it, I frowned at what looked to be the back of photo paper. Turning the picture around, I froze as everything inside of me went cold.

  I couldn’t get myself to move or even breathe.

  “Val?” he called out to me, and I opened my mouth and then closed it. I didn’t know what to say. The hand-written note gave me more than chills.