The Enemy Series

by M. E. Clayton

  I wrapped my left arm around her waist and pulled her to me. I buried my face in her neck. “Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you,” I told her honestly. “Every color in the world fades when you’re not with me, Delaney.” I was hardly a romantic, but that shit was true. If Delaney wasn’t with me, my mood was shit.

  She hugged me a little tighter before stepping back from me. “Do you think Roselyn’s mom and stepdad are handling the kids okay?” she asked, biting her lower lip.

  I cupped her cheek. “Delany, the only kids that need to be really watched are Brantley and Gideon,” I reminded her. “It’s not like we left them with a bunch of four-year-olds.”

  Delaney smiled. “I know,” she huffed. “It’s just…Deke, we have four kids. That’s a lot of people to be leaving with someone.”

  I laughed as I stepped aside to let her pass into the hotel room. “Lamb, while, yes, we have four kids, they’re not babies. Christ, Brantley’s already ten.”

  She stopped to give herself one final look in the mirror. “I know…it’s just, that’s still a lot of kids.”

  I walked until I stood behind her and stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Ramsey and Dash are eighteen, Delaney,” I pointed out. “Maddox and Chance are seventeen. They are old enough to help watch the younger kids. Hell, those are the ages we fell in love and got married.”

  She turned to look up at me. “Are you accusing me of being a smother-mother?”

  I chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Lamb.”

  Delaney took a deep breath and threw her arms out beside her. “How do I look?” she asked, changing the subject.

  I couldn’t stop my growl if I wanted to. “I already told you. You look incredible.”

  “You’re supposed to say that,” she insisted. “I mean, how do I really look? We didn’t have much time to get ready after we ditched Emerson.”

  “You look gorgeous enough that I might traumatize all eleven of those children by bending you over a table at the reception and showing them all how they were conceived,” I told her bluntly.

  She rolled her eyes, but laughed. “You’re so ridiculous,” she teased.

  “I’ll tell you what’s ridiculous,” I countered. “You not knowing how beautiful I think you are after all these years.”

  Delaney glanced down her body quickly. “Even after giving you four kids?” she asked hesitantly and pissing me off immediately.

  I stepped to her and took her face in both my hands. “If you think your body doesn’t turn me on as much as it did when we were in high school, you are out of your damn mind, Lamb,” I told her. “Every stretch mark you have, every curve that you’ve earned, and every goddamn inch of your skin is the story of my love for you. Don’t fucking forget it.”

  Chapter 6

  Delaney Marlow~

  If I didn’t think Ramsey would kill us all for ruining Emerson’s special day, I’d jump my husband right now.

  Deke wasn’t a romantic.

  He didn’t recite poetry or mutter fluff for the hell of it

  Every word out of his mouth was the truth as he saw it and, once again, I was reminded of what a lucky woman I was to have Deke Marlow as my husband.

  Through four children, college, and law school, Deke had been unwavering in every promise he ever made me. Life had been really hard at times, but Deke had made them bearable.

  Trying to be a wife and mother, while juggling college and law school, had tested the best of what I was capable of. Even with all the money he had made with the firm he owned with Ramsey and Liam, money couldn’t buy my law degree. Money couldn’t buy motherhood or my duties as a wife. I had given my family and my dreams everything I had, and I was grateful every day that my hard work paid off.

  I leaned my head against his chest. “You really are too good to me, Deke,” I told him as I wrapped my arms around his body.

  His arms automatically came around mine and pulled me tight. He laughed against my hair. “I’m glad you’re delusional enough to think that, Lamb,” he teased.

  I pulled back so I could look up at him. Twenty years later, this man was still gorgeous with his black hair, green eyes, and fierce disposition. “I’m fine with being delusional,” I teased back. “Besides, you’re easy on the eyes and that’s a huge plus.”

  “Glad you can stand to look at me,” he smirked, “seeing as how you’re going to have to for the next fifty years, or so.”

  “You know, if I didn’t think Ramsey would murder us all in a fit of rage for ruining his surprise, I’d totally let you bend me over right now, Deke,” I confessed.

  He threw his head back and groaned. “Goddamn it, Delaney,” he growled. His head came back down, and he speared me with a look. “Why would you say that shit to me? Are you trying to torture me?”

  I grinned. “I said it because it’s true, Deke,” I replied. “I’m always…willing when you’re around.”

  “And you wonder why we have four children,” he muttered.

  I laid my cheek back on his chest and just stood there hugging my husband. It was hard not to be at this wedding and not think back on all the years, especially the beginning. Back in high school, I never, in a million years, would have ever imagined I’d marry Deke Marlow, have his four children, and still be married to him twenty years later, and, yet, here we were.

  “I’ll never regret going to that party,” I murmured.

  I could feel Deke’s silent chuckle. “And I’ll never regret begging you to forgive me,” he replied.

  I laughed and stepped away from him. We had a wedding to attend, after all. “You were such a fucking asshole,” I agreed.

  His face soften, and I knew it still bothered him all these years later, but I also knew we were way past all that. “I’m still an asshole,” he joked. “I’m just your asshole.”

  My eyes instantly watered at what was to come next. “Oh, Deke,” I gushed, “this wedding is going to be so…so…”

  He nodded. “I know,” he agreed.

  “I need to get going,” I told him. “Emerson should be here any moment and we’ll need to get her ready. How’s Ramsey?”

  Deke snorted. “When we left him he looked like he was going to pass out.”

  I smiled. It was sweet beyond words that Ramsey was nervous. “He really loves that girl,” I said needlessly.

  Deke smirked. “I love you. Liam loves Linnie. Ace loves Ava,” he said shaking his head. “What Ramsey feels for Emerson is something none of us will ever be able to comprehend.”

  I had to agree. “She once said their relationship was unhealthy and their co-dependency was dangerous.”

  His brows shot up. “Do you disagree?”

  I shook my head. “Hell, no. Those two are crazy.”

  Chapter 7

  Ace McIntire~

  Ava had the body of a siren, and that fucking dress she had on was like a goddamn beacon for my dick. If she hadn’t been already strapping her heels on when I entered the hotel room, I would have fucked her stupid.

  Okay, maybe not fucked her stupid because I’m pretty sure Ramsey would kill me in cold blood for ruining his wedding, but I would have, at least, gotten a lick in.

  Or two.

  “You’re killing me in that dress, baby,” I told Ava as I shut the door behind me.

  She looked up and grinned. “You don’t look so bad yourself, stud.”

  I shook my head. “If DJ and Maggie didn’t have the boys to follow them around, I’d lose my mind,” I confessed. Delaney Jr. looked like Ava with her blonde hair and big cornflower blue eyes, while Maggie took after me, but both girls were just as pretty as their mother.

  Ava laughed. “Do you know how many times they’ve come home and cried that one of the boys embarrassed them?”

  I arched a brow as I stepped in front of my wife. “You’d think the boys at their schools would get a clue,” I replied before placing a kiss on Ava’s temple. “Even Gideon’s getting in on the action and he’s only twelve. But that boy defen
ds Brantley like he’s a grown man.”

  Ava shook her head. “It’s silly, but I couldn’t have asked for a better family for our girls,” she said.

  My stomach dropped like it always did when Ava expressed her gratefulness for our family and friends. She’s come a long way since those first days when we met, but the hate for her mother was always there in the black parts of my heart. It’ll never go away because Ava’s past will never disappear.

  I bent down and started placing kisses along her collarbone. Thank God for spaghetti-strap dresses. “Mmm, Ace,” she moaned.

  I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. “God, I want to fuck you so badly, Kit,” I breathed against her soft skin.

  Her arms went around my neck. “As tempting as that sounds, and let me tell you, you’re rather tempting, I like my life, thank you, very much,” she quipped sarcastically.

  I laughed and stepped away from her. “Yeah,” I teased. “I can’t imagine the torture Ramsey would put us through for ruining this wedding.”

  Her brows shot up. “Torture? Ramsey Reed is not the torturing type. He’s the cold-swift-deadly type,” she disputed. “He’d kill us Mafia style.”

  I wisely kept my mouth shut, but I knew for a fact that Ramsey Reed was the torturing type. While Ava had put her demons behind her and never looked back, I had ridden along for the ride when Ramsey had found that sonofabitch Peter Scranton, and I found out firsthand that Ramsey had no problem with torturing.

  “Did Emerson suspect anything?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Ava’s beautiful face lit up. “No,” she grinned. “She really thought something was wrong with her credit card. The service clerk did the best acting job ever.” Before I could comment, Ava twirled around and asked, “How do I look?”

  What a fucking question.

  “You look like it might be worth orphaning our kids to fuck the shit out of you, baby,” I told her honestly. Ava smiled, and the punch to my gut was substantial.

  My wife was fucking beautiful both inside and out.

  “Well, as much as I’m tempted, that’d be hell on our headstones and the kids would never be able to live it down,” she joked.

  “What if I promise not to mess up your hair or makeup?”

  I’m lying.

  I’d totally mess up her hair and makeup.

  Ava snorted. “Yeah, right,” she huffed out. “I don’t think you’re capable of having sex without pulling on my hair.”

  I groaned. “Jesus Christ, woman,” I complained. “Do you have to go into details? I’m trying to be good here.”

  “This is you trying to be good?” she asked incredulously.

  “You have no idea, Ava,” I replied.

  Chapter 8

  Ava McIntire~

  I stared at my husband and, not for the first time, wondered how I ever got so lucky.

  It’s been twenty years, but I’ve never lost sight of how my life wouldn’t be what it was today if it had not been for Ace bulldozing his way into my life all those years ago.

  Ace did what I never thought anyone could do.

  He helped heal me.

  Those first few years together had been rough as I worked to put my demons behind me, but he never faltered; he never bent. He took all my shit, dished it back, and built me a life I cherished every day.

  While I had gone to college, I had found my calling when I had gotten pregnant with Delaney, and even though I got my degree, I had chosen to be a stay-at-home mom, and my life has been better than I deserve every day since then.

  “We’ll have plenty of time for sex after the wedding,” I told him, trying to put on the brakes, because if I’m going to be honest here, it was hard to resist Ace when he got that look in his amber-colored eyes.

  He pointed a finger at me. “You said it, not me,” he flung at me. “You better keep your word, Kit.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I swear, Ace, you act like you haven’t been sleeping next to me for the past twenty years.”

  His brows shot up and he looked offended. “If you think fucking you for twenty years is anywhere near enough for me, you are out of your goddamn mind, woman,” he declared. “Twenty more years isn’t going to cut it either. I need at least another seventy years.”

  I cocked my head at him. “That would make us 108-years-old, Ace. Do you seriously think you’re still going to be able to get it up at that age?”

  He lunged for me and I laughed as I side-stepped him. “I’ll show you getting it up,” he threatened.

  I threw my hands out to ward off his attack. “Okay, Okay,” I said, laughing. “You’re manly, and studly, and you’ll still be able to get it up with we’re a hundred and eight.”

  Ace stopped his advance and straightened to his full height. “You’re damn straight I will be able to,” he replied, with a grin on his face.

  My phone dinged, and I watched as he walked over to my purse, pulled it out, and walked over to hand it to me. Ace did a lot of little thoughtful things like that for me. For him, it was just how he loved me, but for me, it was a constant reminder of how much he really loved me.

  I slid my phone open and there was a message from Roselyn telling me that Emerson texted her letting her know she was here and up front.

  The smile on my face was from ear to ear. I looked up at Ace. “Emerson’s here!”

  Ace smiled back and I could tell that, regardless of his whining about not being able to seduce me, he was excited too. “This is going to be one hell of a wedding,” he replied.

  As I shot Roselyn a quick text that I’d be right there, I told Ace, “It’s going to be perfect.”

  While Ace loved me with the fires of a million suns, what Emerson and Ramsey had was the stuff of legends. Dark fairy tales everywhere were attributed to Emerson and Ramsey’s love story.

  Ramsey Reed existed for nothing and no one other than his wife.

  She was literally the air he breathed, and we all knew it.

  Everyone knew it.

  I looked up from the phone and the tears were instant. “Ramsey really loves her, Ace,” I said, thinking out loud.

  He cocked his head at me and narrowed his eyes a bit, looking worried and a bit confused. “Is that not okay?”

  “It’s…it’s just overwhelming sometimes,” I answered. “Seeing him the way he is with her, it’s just…a lot sometimes.”

  Ace nodded. “I don’t pretend to understand the bond between them but I do know it’s not one-sided. Emerson loves him just as deeply.”

  “And that’s why this is going to mean the world to Emerson,” I predicted.

  “Are you ready to do this?” he asked.

  I let out a deep breath. “Let’s get to it,” I replied.

  His face was all smiles when he said, “And I’m not forgetting about reception-sex, Kit.”

  I laughed. “Neither am I,” I said, throwing him a wink.

  Chapter 9

  Emerson Reed~

  It took almost an hour to sort out the credit card mess, come to find out, their system had a glitch of some sort and my card was fine, after all. However, the car service to Casa Romantica was complimentary, so that was something.

  When the car dropped me off, I had fired off a text to Roselyn letting her know I was here. She had sent me one back telling me to wait by the front desk for her, and I’ve been standing here, admiring what I could see of the place so far.

  After a few minutes of scoping out the place, I heard the clitter-clatter of high heels making their way towards me. I turned around and immediately felt super underdressed.

  What the hell kind of interview was this?

  As soon as the girls were close enough to hear me, I asked, “Why the hell are you guys dressed like that?” I mean, don’t get me wrong. They all looked absolutely gorgeous, but it seemed a bit over the top.

  “We need you to come with us,” Ava said, instead of answering me.

  “Where?”

  All three girls ignored me a
nd tugged me towards the back of the reception area, down a hallway, and into a vacant visitor room.

  When I finally got a look at the room, I saw a stunning wedding dress hanging from a coat hook on the far right wall.

  What. The. Hell?

  “Someone better start talking,” I threatened as I whirled around on the three girls who used to be my best friends.

  Delaney had watery eyes. Ava had a huge smile on her face. And Roselyn’s tears were already falling. “This is your wedding, Emerson,” Roselyn whispered.

  I could feel my eyes bugging out of my head. “My what?”

  “Happy Anniversary!” Delaney clapped.

  Holy.

  Shit.

  “What are you guys talking about? My anniversary isn’t until next week,” I reminded them.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Would you have come with us on the weekend of your anniversary, Em?”

  Okay. Good point.

  “What is this, seriously?”

  “Ramsey wanted to give you the wedding he never did,” Roselyn replied. “He’s been planning this for months.”

  I dropped.

  I dropped and luckily there was chair nearby. I looked up at my friends, dazed and…emotional. “Ramsey planned a wedding? For me?”

  “He got a wedding planner, put the fear of God into her, and whalaa, here we are,” Delaney explained, her face all smiles.

  “I’m getting married?” I whispered to no one in particular.

  “The kids are all here too,” Ava added, really making me spiral into an emotional meltdown.

  “My mom and Joseph have been handling them,” Roselyn said.

  My friends started to blur behind the tears forming in my eyes. “Ramsey planned a wedding?” I repeated. “He…he really planned a wedding for me?”

  “Oh, hell no,” Ava blurted out. “We are not delivering you to Ramsey a crying mess. I am not dying today. I promised Ace reception sex.”

  “What a coincidence,” Roselyn mumbled.