Always (Family Justice Book 1) (35 page)

Draegyn burst out laughing. “Oh, my fucking God! Are you serious?”

“Yes I’m serious,” she informed him primly. “I believe you said, on my knees in a harem outfit, pregnant belly and all. Your wish is my command, master.”

“Woman, you are fucking priceless.”

“Well,” she chuckled. “It’s a crappy costume. Some cheap shit made in China, but it’ll have to do until I find something better.”

“And all I have to do is suit up, tug my cuffs, and you’ll put that pretty mouth on my dick?”

She laughed. “Fuck you.”

“That’s sort of what I had in mind,” he drawled.

“Get your hot ass home my love and we’ll see what happens…”

STEPHANIE HEARD TORI’S PHONE RING followed a few minutes later by laughter. Thank God. If Draegyn hadn’t called and set her daughter’s mind at ease, she was gonna have to interfere and call him herself.

Plodding up the short flight of steps into her suite, she kicked off her shoes and sank into a plush easy chair with an exaggerated sigh.

It had been a long, exhausting day—keeping Tori occupied so she wouldn’t dwell on whatever was going on with her husband had been quite the challenge. And it wasn’t just keeping her daughter busy so she wouldn’t think. It had worked for her as well. Kept her thoughts from wandering in Calder’s direction.

She’d done the right thing—cutting him off was the only sensible way to proceed. After the holidays passed, once the St. John baby was safely in his parents loving arms, she’d be returning to Atlanta. To her life there. Her empty, lonely life. And Calder would go back to Aspen at some point—to whatever it was that he did when he wasn’t helping Alex.

They were at best, two ships passing in an extended night—but at the end of it, when the dawn actually happened, they’d be going in different directions. Case closed.

Instead of proving to the arrogant fool that she wasn’t some dumb blond in need of a rescue, she’d simply shut him down and given up. After all, it was his problem how badly he’d misjudged her. Not hers. He’d been kind of obvious about his dislike since the first moment. This wasn’t her first rodeo and Stephanie knew the damn difference between sexual interest which more or less came with the warranty and personal indifference.

Except for the one occasion when he’d happened upon her unexpectedly and they’d ended up laughing like kids as they tore up Drae’s beautiful hardwood floors with their rolling chairs, each of their meetings had either begun or ended with him looking down his nose at her. Nothing cancelled out swooning heavy breathing over a hot guy faster than some misogynistic bullshit. He thought she was a lightweight because of all the pageant stuff. What a damn fool.

Still, that didn’t stop her thoughts from drifting into wishful thinking territory. Even though the man was acting like a putz, when he wasn’t she rather liked his manner and the way he spoke. Calder Dane wasn’t a glory hog. He was more the mild-mannered geek with well-hidden, tall building jumping skills kept on the down low.

Had she just compared the fifty-something surfer dude to Superman? Why, yes. Yes, she had. It had been a long, long time since she’d thought of a man in fanciful terms. Why’d it have to happen now and why with this one guy?

A startling high definition vision of them lip-locked from the other night burst into Stephanie’s mind. He’d tasted just right. A combination of the Wild Turkey he’d drunk and fresh air. She’d enjoyed hanging on to his mouth with her lips. The man was a serious kisser.

That damn lip lock had planted a seed inside her. A developing infatuation that made her uneasy. How could she feel so drawn to someone like that? Just the notion that sexual excitement could overrule her normally steadfast good sense shook Stephanie up but good.

She liked the pompous oaf more than she wanted to admit, but that was all it could ever be. A flirtation and a kick in the pants. Hopefully, she could steer clear of Alex’s handsome uncle although the chances of that holding true were slim.

IT WAS UNUSUALLY WARM FOR late November as Meghan walked Sasha back to her stall in the horse barn, while absently picking at the buttons of her western shirt where sweat made it stick to her skin.

She loved riding in the morning, although she didn’t venture far from the compound when she did. Still a new rider, Meghan got in the habit of doing a light canter along a well-worn path that kept her within sight of the barn. It was just enough to silence the noise in her head.

Thanksgiving was just days away and she was stressing out. Playing hostess for the Justice crew was one thing—but what was being planned for a family dinner went way beyond what she felt up for. Sometimes the bald-faced reality of marrying into a family that counted their heritage in centuries was more than a bit daunting.

A noise behind Meghan made her jump as she whirled about, staring into the shadows and darkness around the edges of the barn. Sasha whinnied and shook her head, pulling slightly on the reins she held in her hand.

It took but a few minutes to get the horse unsaddled and into her stall. On her way out, she’d stop in the office where Gus spent much of his time and ask that one of the stable aides give the horse a good brushing.

Meghan had taken a dozen steps away from Sasha’s stall when an arm shot out from the darkness and grabbed her by the neck, shoving her forcefully until she collided with a dense immoveable object that belonged to her fiancé.

“Unf,” she grunted on impact. “Alex, what the…”

“Be quiet woman,” he growled close to her ear. “You left our bed without permission.” His warm breath tickled her skin as prickles of awareness fired up inside her.

Oh my, my. The Major wanted to play. It wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready. And willing. And most definitely able.

“Sorry,” she muttered, enjoying the way his big palm curved possessively about her neck felt. She was hot, sticky, sweaty and very, very turned on.

He grabbed one of her hands, pressed it against the bulge under his zipper, and held it there firmly.

“You weren’t there to take care of that,” he drawled with a fierce growl for emphasis.

Oh dear. A flood of warmth raced along her senses until her panties were soaked causing the jeans she was wearing to cling even more. Sometimes Meghan wondered if she was in perpetual danger of dehydration due to how often she melted and became a puddle of horny goo whenever Alex was around.

Muttering darkly, she heard him say “impudent female” and “needs a good spanking,” as he dragged her along a passageway to one of the locked tack rooms where the vintage and expensive horse equipment was stored. It was all kinds of provocative to feel Alex’s hand never loosen its grip on her neck while he fished in a pocket for the keys that would unlock the door.

Inside the dark room, Meghan was assailed with the scent of leather and the oil used to make the saddles soft and pliable. He flicked a light switch on that barely illuminated a long row of magnificent hand-tooled saddles hung from wood chocks on the wall and bridle racks high enough that the reins would hang straight and not curve or bow. Two sawhorse-looking objects, one with a saddle thrown over it and a bunch of low benches were littered around the room. Stacks of colorful horse blankets were almost toppling over on a table near the door.

Alex marched her to a series of low-hanging hooks near the center of the room and picked up a length of thick jute rope along the way.

He let go of her neck to make quick work of tying her hands together while she watched silently and tried to get a fix on his mood. Just for fun, she tried to apologize and was rewarded with a hearty smack on her ass.

“Too late for that, young lady,” her alpha beast growled. Keeping the smile off her face was going to be a problem.

With unerring accuracy, Alex threw the end of the jute toward the ceiling hook and caught it deftly on its way back down, securing the rope and, because she was restrained by it, her too. Yanking on the ends, he hauled her hands above her head until she was almost on her toes. Whatever this was, she was enjoying it already.

“Next time, I’ll tie your wayward ass to the bed. And now, because you left me with a raging hard-on and made me come looking for you, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

He took his good old time about it as he unbuttoned her damp shirt pulling the tails from her jeans until it was hanging open. The air in the small room was quickly clogging with a mixture of lust and excitement as she whimpered and tried to swing away from his hands.

This time when his big hand thwacked her ass for trying to get away, she jumped and yelped because, well—because it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

Alex left her as he went to a wood chair with leather padding and pulled it close to where she dangled. The silver tacks holding the leather to the chair shone in the muted light. When he sat down and stared at her, she noticed he was holding a long, leather riding crop in his hand.

It was disconcerting to be hanging there while he drank in her helpless state. Meghan’s heart was pounding as she noted his narrow eyes and the slight flaring of his nostrils—all signs of dominant Alex on the prowl.

Her hair was loose and all over the place—cascading down her back and over one shoulder until the curled ends played with the lace edges of her bra. With each gasping breath, her chest heaved and the stark whiteness of her lingerie cut through the murky darkness.

Alex used the riding crop to move some of the hair away so he had a clear view of her breasts. The feel of the soft leather end sliding against her skin made an honest-to-God moan escape her lips. It was kinda hard to miss the grunt of male satisfaction he let out.

“I’m thinking—jeans off. That way I can tease your pretty pussy while you hang there, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Then you’ll know how it felt to wake up and want to fuck my woman, only to find her missing from my bed.”

He sat there and stared at her while she squirmed when the words he used hit home. She was already so wet it was embarrassing.

“Baby,” she muttered. “My mouth is dry from the ride. Can I have some water?” She wasn’t kidding and the request for water wasn’t a stalling tactic. He nodded and stood, running the crop from just beneath her chin to her belly button where the snap of her jeans lay just below.

Capturing her chin in one hand, he brought her mouth forward and brutally kissed her until she was panting and shaking all over.

“Be quiet,” he warned. “I’ll be right back.”

Meghan watched as he swiftly exited the room, pulling the door almost completely shut on his way out. She wiggled her fingers to keep the blood flowing and danced around on the balls of her feet, taking in every little thing about the tack room. She even eyed the strange sawhorse-looking thing and decided that with a blanket thrown over it, the height would be perfect for what she had in mind. Hell, he could even tie her hands to the legs so she couldn’t get up at all. That would be fun.

A minute passed. Then another and another. Figuring he must have run into the barn where a cooler of water bottles was always on hand, Meghan hummed a little tune and looked forward with anticipation to when her wicked fiancé would return. Her reaction to the riding crop surprised the hell out of her. She was in no way a masochist—any more than Alex harbored hidden sadistic tendencies. Their kinky fun times were more suggestive than anything else. It just ramped up her excitement knowing she was helpless while he messed with her.

The door pushed open and she spun around, her hands gripping the jute where it was looped over the hook above her head. Only it wasn’t Alex standing in the doorway. It was a shocked and horrified looking Draegyn who was losing all the color in his face as he stood there, slack-jawed, taking in her appearance.

Oh, my God
, she thought. This was just too damn funny for words.

“Hey Drae,” she chirped as if nothing weird was going on. “You’re back! Nice black eye, by the way.”

The usually unflappable security operative with the 007 reputation was speechless. And embarrassed. Meghan was trying not to laugh like crazy.

“Um, Alex will be right back,” she told him. “He just went to get something.”