I walked over to him. He breathed deeply: a low sound that I’d never thought of as snoring but was definitely loud enough that I’d been conscious of it when I’d slept with him. It was a comforting sound now. “His color is better.” By the time we’d gotten to Boston, he’d been pale.
“He’s tough.” Judson nodded. “Now how about you? Derrick says you aren’t sleeping.”
“That’s not entirely true.” I walked toward him. “And you’re one to talk. You’re not sleeping either.”
He held up his hands. “Lower your weapons. I’m not armed.”
I sighed. “Sorry. Yes, I’m not sleeping much. I fell asleep on the way to the Caribbean for half an hour. Had a nightmare. That’s pretty much it. I haven’t slept in days.”
Judson pulled out a pill bottle and handed me one of the tablets. “Take that. It’ll knock you out. Get some of your adrenaline down. I’ll take one myself once Trace is safe. I’m exhausted, and I’ve slept more than you.”
I stared at the medicine in my hand. “The only downside would be this is going to knock me on my ass and every time I go to sleep I have nightmares right now.”
He ran a hand through my hair. “I’m going to send Derrick in to sleep with you. I’d say Kade because he’s a lighter sleeper, but he’s already face down on the couch in the living room. Derrick can wake you if you start to act like you’re having bad dreams. I’d gladly do it, but I’m going to stay in here. It’ll be okay, Everly. You might not have nightmares, or if you do, you might not remember them. You’re all hyped up. Take a breather.”
I knew he was right. I’d thought that myself, but now the idea of sleep seemed less appealing. I sighed. It wasn’t one of those things I could put off doing, not if I wanted to function tomorrow.
I had to face the darkness. The trouble was sleep seemed to be when my personal monsters came out to torment me. I guessed I didn’t have any choice but to let them.
* * *
I took a long hot shower, and when I came out, clean and smelling less like sweat and blood, I walked into a scene I hadn’t anticipated. Derrick and Kade were both on the bed, looking at their phones.
I leaned in the doorway. “I thought you were passed out, Kade. That spot in the middle for me?”
Derrick patted it. “He woke up right on time to come intrude on my night.”
“I’m supposed to take a pill. I don’t think you were getting lucky tonight.”
Derrick grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, Evs. I want you more than anything, but one of the things I missed in all the months of watching you was just getting to wake up next to you.”
Kade scowled at him. “Fuck. Fine. I’ll leave.”
“No.” Derrick sighed. “Better if you’re here. You wake up faster to small noises. I’ve had to train myself to ignore certain things or I can’t sleep at all. Two of us are better tonight than one. Although you already got to have some alone time with her on the plane.”
My mouth fell open. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“I gathered that. No, I wasn’t. Come on. This place in the middle is waiting for you.”
I needed to swallow my pill first, and I did so before I could talk myself out of it. I grabbed a bottle next to the bed that was presumably Derrick’s. I didn’t usually like to share drinks, but we were sharing all kinds of bodily fluids. I couldn’t really be a hypocrite about it.
I climbed into the bed. Judson had furnished the bedrooms so they all looked the same except the room where Warden and Trace were sleeping. Most of the rooms had California king beds. Night stands. Dressers. Curtains on the windows. But he hadn’t thought about televisions or maybe that was just something he hadn’t been able to get installed fast enough.
Kade hit the switch to turn off the light and we were all bathed in darkness. I might have liked the distraction of something like television to doze off to. Sometimes, I couldn’t even deal with my own grumpiness.
I was safe, warm, and I had Derrick and Kade in the bed with me. I just needed to get over my bad mood.
Kade rolled onto his side and a second later Derrick did the same. It was just like the plane, only we had enough room to be together.
“I love my house, Kade.”
I couldn’t see him smile, but I felt it in the upbeat sound of his voice. “You’re welcome.”
“And I love my diamonds, Derrick.” Even if I was afraid to wear them. “Thank you for them.”
He tugged on the end of my hair. “You’re welcome, Evs. No nightmares. You can sleep soundly, thoroughly. Tell your demons to go somewhere else for the night.”
We lay in the darkness. They were both awake. I could feel their alertness on me but the pill Judson gave me started to weigh on me like it wanted to force my eyes closed.
“Thanks for being here. Babysitting me through nightmares couldn’t be your idea of a great night with me.”
Kade splayed his fingers over my stomach. “Derrick wasn’t speaking just for him when he said part of what he wanted was to just be with you. That is a relationship, right? I’ve never had one, never wanted one, but I do want to be with you. Even if it just means sleeping. You smell good.”
Derrick kissed my head. “Stop fighting the sleep. I’ve had that pill. Practically lived on it for a month after Alyssa died. You should be in dreamland right now.”
Maybe because he’d given me permission, I let my eyes close. Safe between the two of them, I decided not to worry, at least for the night, about what would happen next.
* * *
“Say yes.” Derrick’s voice was a whisper in my ear. He stroked his hand down the front of my body and awareness floated into my consciousness along with the bright light of daylight beating through the curtains on the window. “Say yes, Evs, and I’ll wake you up this way.”
He stopped right outside of my pajama pants, pressing his finger against me but not pushing into my pussy. I opened my eyes even though they wanted to stay closed. The light coming in was hard and intense like it wasn’t early. I reached next to me and Kade was gone.
“Say yes.”
I smiled and let my lids close. “Yes.”
He tugged down my pants, and a second later, his fingers glided along the edge of my pussy. He was behind me, one arm keeping me against his chest. He petted the outside, running his fingers just over me there. I spread my legs wider. This was an absolutely fantastic way to start the day.
“I should leave you alone, but it’s been like fifteen hours since I saw those eyes open. You missed breakfast and it’s lunch. I’m selfish and needy. And I am going to make you feel so good so you’ll forgive me.”
I stretched against him, and he pushed a finger inside of me. As it made contact with my clit, I cried out. Wow, this wasn’t going to take much. He laughed in my ear. “Maybe I’m not the only one who is needy.”
I squirmed and finally opened my eyes again. “Are you teasing me or didn’t you just make me a promise if I said yes?”
His breathing changed, the sounds intensified against my ear. “I’d never tease you.”
Derrick stroked my clit, finding my rhythm fast as though he remembered it exactly from the last time we’d done this. This was Derrick, he probably did. I pushed my back against him. This was heaven, but it wasn’t enough.
“Other side. Not your fingers.” I fumbled; my limbs weren’t quite as fast at waking as my mind was at the moment. Still, I managed to cup his cock on the outside of his pants. “Unless you’re not interest—”
I didn’t get to finish that word. He flipped me over. “I was going to just make you come until you scream my name and then feed you lunch.”
I smiled at him. Derrick. The former professional baseball player and secret assassin who had the sweetest heart that he kept hidden away under his usually on display level of crazy.
“Fuck me and then feed me lunch.”
“That I can do.” He tugged off his pants. We both had our shirts still on. This wasn’t the most romantic or intense le
vel of foreplay we’d ever performed. Still, I knew I was going to come fast and hard. I wanted it to be around his cock.
When he was free of his clothing, I stroked his length once. He was already fully erect. This was a man who, according to the media, didn’t go very long between lovers since his wife died. “Have you been with anyone else since me?”
“No, the second you pulled that gun out of my hands and pointed it at me, other women ceased to exist. It’s just been me and my hand thinking of you all these long months.”
I was fucking five men and yet that filled me with tremendous satisfaction. I wanted to be the only one he did this with.
I pushed him down until I could climb on top of him. This hard, it would hurt to try to get him in any other way, or at least it would take too much time. This was about instant gratification, and I wasn’t embarrassed to admit it.
9
I settled atop him and, without pause, pushed myself down, taking him all the way inside of me. It hurt, burned as my muscles stretched to accommodate him, and I didn’t care. This was being alive. I’d woken up and he was here. There was light in the room. We’d both made it through the night. What a gift this morning was.
I lifted my hips, squeezing him around me as I dragged myself up over his cock before I pressed back down. He shouted out, a loud noise for Derrick, who was a quiet lover, and I realized I’d done something right. I wondered if it had hurt just slightly and that was why he liked it.
The friction. I did it again, and he bucked his hips, moaning loudly. Oh yes. I loved seeing him get out of control so quickly. I changed my direction just slightly so that each movement also stroked him right across my clit. The next pass I cried out with him.
With each rut of my body, up and down with him, we cried out together. Goosebumps broke out on my body. I took his hands in mine and squeezed them while I rode him. I wanted to bite him, and I didn’t overthink it. If he didn’t like it, he could tell me not to do it again.
I brought his hand to my mouth, and I bit his finger. He must have liked it because he emptied inside of me right there. Derrick threw his head back. “Fuck,” he bellowed all the way to the moon. Or at least it felt that way.
I grinned. I’d done that. I hadn’t come yet but that was okay. He was beautiful in his passion, totally unrestrained, and I so rarely got to see Derrick when he wasn’t planning his next step, even if it was in some kind of mania.
He grabbed onto my hips and rolled me over. “Derrick?”
Without uttering a word, he pulled out and a second later his mouth was on me. I gasped at the suddenness of his movement. His tongue made broad strokes over my clit before moving to my pussy. He kept his head steady, using only his tongue, and soon I rocked against him. I’d been close, and it wasn’t taking much. Still, the end eluded me, and I couldn’t figure out why. It was close, I could practically taste the orgasm. But it wouldn’t come. I squirmed, pressing against his mouth.
Derrick put his hand on my knee, stopping me, as though he wanted me to be still, to not move. I did as he told me. I closed my eyes, just feeling his tongue moving over me. The pressure built, and without moving, it was almost too much—an edge of pain to it I wasn’t sure I could handle. I certainly couldn’t control it. And it was so nice that I didn’t have to.
I didn’t so much as orgasm as I erupted. My body exploded, pleasure surging through every cell, every piece of existence, that was me. I trembled as I called out his name, knowing I’d needed this more than I ever could have imagined.
It was a new day—in so many ways.
* * *
I sprawled next to Derrick. He’d woken me up, and now I wondered if he was going to go down for a cat nap. He smiled at me, a lazy indulgence of a man who knew he’d made me come using his tongue, like I’d never been fucked that way before.
“How were your dreams?
I ran my finger down the slope of his nose. “Fine. How were yours?”
“I don’t think I had any last night. When I woke up this morning, Kade and Judson were gone. They took Trace to the underground hospital. I slept through all of that so clearly I was in a deep sleep. I do feel secure having you in the bed with me.”
I kissed him. “You’re so quiet now in sleep. It’s like being wrapped in the warm blanket that is you without any disturbances at all.”
He held my gaze. “Good. I love that. You bit me.”
I grinned. “Yes. And you loved it.”
“I really, really did. But I’ll never leave my girl unfinished. If you’re going to make me come like I’m a teenager, be prepared for me to flip you over and make you come any way possible.”
I laughed and my stomach growled. “It’s a deal. I guess I’m hungry.”
“Come on.” He got out of bed and helped me up. There were much worse ways to start mornings than this.
* * *
Warden one-handed typed on his computer. He sat on the couch in what looked like an awkward position. I rushed over to him immediately, wanting to make it easier on him. All it took was adjusting one pillow to get that done. He looked up at my arrival and grabbed onto my arm, nearly dropping his computer as I got him settled.
“Everly. You’re awake.” His smile lit up the room. Or maybe it just felt that way. “I wanted to stay up to wait for you guys to get back, but Judson drugged me. He’s like a prison guard, having to have things exactly his way.”
I touched the side of his cheek. “He’s taking care of you.”
“I like how you do it better.”
I didn’t know that I’d actually taken care of Warden. “I just got you on a plane.”
He pulled me down on his lap. “Putting my eyes on you was the therapy I needed.”
I kissed him. “Your color is good. Can you feel your hand?”
He nodded slowly. “I can, and it doesn’t feel wonderful but that is fine. Real healing can happen now. You look beautiful. Judson said you had dark circles showing exhaustion under your eyes, but you don’t now. That pill he gave you worked. I missed you.”
For Warden, he was a little rambling. “Are you on pain meds?”
He nodded. “I am. They did the Alliance surgery on me. So probably just a week or so.”
I smiled. “And, my love, are you messing with the world markets while you are a little bit out of it?”
His smile was slow. “Well, I couldn’t make it worse.”
That was probably true, unfortunately. I brushed his hair off his forehead. “It’s really good to see you, Warden. I missed you.”
“Derrick was raving this morning about your aim with your knife. Seems you’re a natural at it. You shoved it right in her eye socket?”
I kissed his cheek. “I’d been daydreaming about having a reason to do that. I’ve got to be honest, I’m over it now. I’ll have to figure out a new way to contemplate killing someone.”
“I’d say that we broke you except you’re so damned sexy like this.”
I kissed his lips. “I only feel broken sometimes.”
“I think that is true for most of us.” He tapped his lips. “Look at me confessing I have feelings?”
I laughed. Warden on painkillers really was a trip. When he was stoned on weed he was mostly interested in sex. This version of him was chatty. “Are you hungry?”
“No.” He yawned. “But come back and eat whatever you’re going to have so I can sit with you.”
Derrick entered the room carrying a plate. “She is going to eat eggs. They work all day, don’t they? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner food all wrapped into one.”
He set it down in front of me along with a glass of water. He was right. Eggs did work for me all day. I grabbed Warden’s computer, changing from the financial screen he’d been playing on to a movie app instead. I left it on The Hobbit. He liked Tolkien. The fact that he didn’t even comment told me it was a good idea to have taken away his ability to play with the finances of small countries or whatever he was doing.
Derrick winked at m
e. “Eat them before they get cold.”
As I chewed and swallowed, I had to consider our situation here. We had some time while two of my guys healed to consider what to do. I didn’t want to move forward without their input, and we still didn’t know what had happened to Trace. Or at least I didn’t. They might have all talked about it.
Why tell me I can be fine if I stay out of the way while at the same time shooting Trace and Warden? They weren’t the obvious ones to mess with. Derrick had outright threatened Marcus, and he was still perfectly fine. Judson was much more likely to assume leadership, and Kade disrupted their systems. None of this made any sense to me. I didn’t need to understand every small detail of the Alliance, but it had to at least make a semblance of sense. Dots needed to connect.
“Tell me about Marcus. What does he do when he’s not trying to have the people I love killed?”
Derrick rubbed his face. “Marcus has kept a very low profile. He mostly stuck to himself all these years. I don’t even think he has people working for him, which is weird for the council. He’s a dentist. He wasn’t particularly Ben’s biggest fan, but he never got in his way. I fully expected him to just step aside. But now he has assassins—albeit ones who can’t seem to properly hit the broad side of a barn, considering both Trace and Warden are still alive. I don’t know, Evs. It’s making me a little bit twitchy.”
Warden blinked. “What are we talking about?”
“Marcus.”
I waited for Warden to answer, and he finally did. “I always thought he was a non-entity. A player on the council just because they wanted someone who wasn’t going to get in their way.”
“We need a plan to take him out.” I cracked my knuckles. “And it needs to be a good one. We’ll likely get one shot at this. It needs to work. If we lose, we’re all dead. So let’s take some time, get schematics on wherever he’s staying, and see to it that we know more than he does about everything. Figure out how to take him down without any of us getting hurt. I’m not losing any of you.”
Deadly Truths: Kiss Her Goodbye #3 Page 10
