Elite Metal-ARE-epub (28 page)

He checked everything one more time and walked back to the SUV. After checking she was still buckled he reversed, swung around and headed out.

“What did you do? Under the vehicle I mean?”

“Wired it.”

“With what?”

“Explosives. They’re kind of my specialty.”

“But it didn’t blow up.” Always the pragmatist.

“Not yet. When we get to the road we’ll blow it.”

“Can I do it?”

His head whipped to the side and she was definitely not kidding.

“Hell, yeah.”

He parked at the head of the road and handed her his cell phone.

She stared at it. “This is how you blow up a bomb?”

“This one yes.”

“And you had everything to do that in your pockets?” She looked curious more than concerned.

“I’m like MacGyver, but without the scraggly hair.”

She smiled and thankfully it reached her eyes.

He swiped the screen and brought up the phone dialer, putting it on speaker phone. After entering a series of numbers to access the remote detonator, it asked for a passcode.

“You’re up, slugger.”

“What’s the code?”

“1205. My birthday. So I can’t forget it.”

She pushed the buttons in one after another. Didn’t pause, wait, hesitate, nothing.

The explosion rocked the vehicle slightly and they both turned in their seats to see it light up the night sky.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes and Cammie finally turned around and handed him back his cell. “I’m ready to see my kids now.”

“As you wish, baby girl. As you wish.”

Chapter Ten

“Mama!”

“Mommy!”

Chrome choked up as Cammie hit her knees in his guest room and the two kids jumped on her.

She grabbed them up and held them as they all cried.

He wanted to stay. He wanted to gather them all up and hold them and assure himself as well as them that they were all okay.

But he didn’t.

That was a family reunion he had no part in. No matter how much he wanted to be included.

He left the room and shut the door silently.

Poppy stood there waiting for him. He’d already handed over the laptop and cell phones he’d swiped from the dearly departed.

They were encrypted.

Ant was going to have a field day when he arrived.

“You’re bleeding.”

He moved past Poppy and glanced at his arm. He’d forgotten about the knife wound. Maybe that was why Cammie wouldn’t let him touch her.

Sure it was.

Had nothing to do with the fact he almost got her and her kids killed and then put a couple bullets in some whackado right in front of her.

Naw. Totally not.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a scratch. I’ll take care of it after I shower.”

They walked downstairs so he could show her out but she stopped at the door.

“I’m glad you said yes, Chrome. To joining the team. Warbucks is too.” She gestured toward the stairs. “And you two are good together. Don’t throw it away.”

“I already did.” The words were out into the universe before he could stop them.

“How do you figure that? You love her, and her kids. And don’t act all I am invincible. I see you with her, with them. Steele told us what happened after you got to the kids. Love can move mountains.”

“She won’t let me touch her. After I got her out of the building. I tried to kiss her and she pulled away.” Jesus, what was it with all the fucking confessions tonight?

Poppy patted his hand and smiled with some kind of feminine knowledge men would kill for. “Talk to her about it. I have a feeling it’s not what you think.” She stepped outside but turned back. “The team arrives tomorrow afternoon. Things are going to be crazy. So…” She winked at him. “I’d make the most of tonight.”

With that she walked down the steps, got in her car and drove back toward the main house where she stayed.

He wondered why she didn’t just walk, but then he remembered her toothpicks for shoes. Motor vehicle. Good choice.

Closing the door, he locked it and then rubbed his face. Fuck he was dirty. He walked past the staircase to get to the master bedroom. Cammie’s voice filtered down the stairs to him.

A lullaby.

She sang the same lullaby to her kids to put them to sleep she sang to the baby on the plane.

Need and love and fear punched him in the gut.

He swallowed it all down and kept walking.

Getting used to having her there would do him no good. Missing her after she left would be a void he’d never get rid of.

He opened the closet off the master bath, not even thinking about the fact that he had none of his stuff.

“What the fuck?”

His clothes and shoes were hung on the racks on one side. Above them were his comic books he’d collected through the years and his riding gear, and his fucking toy bag. On the other side were rack after rack of pretty girly clothes. Cammie’s maybe?

Too tired to think about any of it, he stripped and tossed everything in the hamper to deal with tomorrow.

His brain was officially on full…or empty and he couldn’t process anything else until he’d gotten some sleep.

Climbing into the shower he turned the water on high.

Cold pelted his sore muscles and he grimaced as the water warmed up. He washed the day away with shampoo and bodywash that totally reminded him of Cammie.

His cock thickened and he put his hands on the shower wall to keep from grabbing it and jerking off to thoughts of her.

Water slid down his face, his back, his thighs. Filling his ears so all he could hear was the sound of his heart…breaking as he realized Cammie would never love him back.

A gentle hand sliding down his back made him whirl around.

“I’m sorry. I— I’m sorry. I thought you heard me.” Cammie stood there. Naked. Scared. Perfect. “I’ll just go.”

She tried to get out. Not even one foot hit the tile outside the shower before Chrome lifted her up, clutching her to him. He crushed her mouth to his as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“I need you,” he growled against her lips.

“Me, too. I tried to stay away. I tried. But I couldn’t fight it.”

“Don’t ever fight it. I’m here for you.”

“Then take me, Sir. Please…”

He was already halfway inside her by the time the last syllable slithered out into the space around them. Fuck she was wet.

Working his hips, he lifted her, using her body as leverage to get inside her.

One of them shivered. Or both of them as he filled her completely.

“Sir…”

It was a whisper of his name. He didn’t think she wanted to add anything to it but just the fact she wanted to say it while he was inside her made him want to come immediately.

“You’re like oxygen to me.”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a second before she blinked them back open.

“I can breathe with you.” He didn’t mean to say it, but with her…he could be all of himself. Whole.

Her breath hitched and she dug her nails into his back as he sped up. “How can I keep my heart locked up when you say things like that? How do I let you go tomorrow when you—“

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

He tilted her pelvis and ground against her pussy as his cock twitched inside her. He ground his teeth to keep from coming. “Don’t leave tomorrow. Stay. With me.”

He kissed her again, so she couldn’t answer, fucking himself into her body because she already owned him, heart and soul.

“Sir. Can I come, Sir? You haven’t even touched my clit. But your cock inside me. Sliding in and out. Holding me up. Delicious. Can I come? Please?”

“Yes, baby girl. I need it.” That was all it took.

Her pussy clamped down on him and she moaned as she moved her head back and forth on the shower wall. Trying to process the sensations she panted and milked the orgasm out of him.

He bit her neck and she whimpered and they clutched each other as they came together.

Holding her, filling her. Leaving his seed inside her and marking her as his.

Best feeling in the whole fucking world.

He moved inside her, kissed up her neck, her jaw, her lips. His lips met hers again and again and she kissed him back.

“Mine,” he proclaimed and he fucked his still half hard cock inside her.

She giggled and moaned again as he pulled out of her. “Yours.”

So simple. Yet so profound. One tiny word. One syllable, and everything in his world finally fit together.

He turned around and gently set her on her feet so he could wash her.

Washing her hair made him feel as if he were the richest man in the world. Pampering her, loving her. He could sure as hell get used to it. He washed her body too then rinsed her off. Staring at her when he turned the water off made his heart flip flop in his chest. He stood mesmerized as she rung her hair to get the excess water out.

After one quick kiss, he stepped out, quickly dried himself off and then reached back in for her. Slowly, he dried her, brushed her hair and put her in bed. Climbing in next to her gave him hope that everything would be fine. Maybe the concern from earlier was just shock and he didn’t need to freak out.

As they lay there, a question cock-blocked Chrome’s ability to relax.

“How in the world didn’t Korovin want you? I know that’s an awful thing to say, but I couldn’t imagine any man…or woman…not wanting you. I heard him say something about it when I stood there. You’re so perfe—“

“I can’t have kids.” All the worry he’d felt from her after he killed Korovin and on the way home was back across her face.

Cobwebs in Chrome’s head wouldn’t unstick his brain. “What do you mean you can’t have kids?”

Defeat clung to her. “Because of the cancer treatments. It killed my ovaries. So I can’t have kids. It was why I pulled away from you back at the property. I knew you had to have heard what he said about not needing me because I was…defective.”

He remained silent trying to figure out what to say when not having kids just wasn’t a big deal. In his attempt to find a tactful way to tell her it didn’t matter she got out of bed.

“I’ll get out tomorrow. The kids and I will stay in the safe house until Poppy decides what we need to do.”

“The fuck you will.” It exploded out of him and he wasn’t sorry. He got out of bed and stood in front of her.

“You don’t get it.”

“Oh I get it just fine, Cammie. You feel less than for some stupid reason because you can’t get pregnant.”

“No, well yes, but it’s—“

“And you somehow think I’m what? Settling for being with you now that I know?”

“Yes.” It took her several tries to get it out, but she owned it.

“You can’t have any kids, so what? I’m not a…good guy. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Lots of things. Like let you sit there and watch me execute Korovin. Not one of my brighter moments.” He paced away and then turned to look at her.

She shook her head back and forth and followed him. “I’m glad I saw you kill him. That’s the only reason I’m okay right now. Seeing it with my own eyes is the only way I’d ever believe he’s really gone. You’re not a good guy, Chrome. You’re a great guy. And I’ve never had kids so the
anymore
in your previous statement doesn’t belong.”

“So you pushed me away… And you’re talking about leaving just because you can’t have kids? You have two, sleeping down the hall.” He put a finger against her lips when she tried to speak. “No you didn’t push them out but they’re yours none the less. It takes more than DNA to make a dad right. Same for being a mom. They’re your kids, and I hope that someday I might be a dad to them. If that’s all right with you, and them.”

Tears filled her eyes and he swept them away.

“You still look worried.”

“What if down the road you want more kids and I can’t—“

“We’ll get dogs or newts or turtles or a mean ass bunny named Rex.” He kissed her long and slow and she sighed when he lifted his head to stare down at her. “You’re what I want. The twins? Such an amazing bonus. And if we really want more kids in the future we’ll adopt.”

“That easy?”

“That easy. With love anything’s possible.” Realization dawned on him what he’d just said. And he couldn’t be more happy to say the words. “I love you.”

Another tear streamed down her cheek and he thumbed it away too.

“You love me?”

He touched her cheek and pulled her back into bed and lay on top of her. “Yes I do. Doesn’t make sense. Don’t really want to, but yeah. Yeah, I do. And thanks for that.”

She smiled. “Thanks for what?”

“Ruining my, I am an island gig. I was rocking it before you.”

“I’ll add it to your tab.”

He growled and pinned her beneath him. “You will, will you?”

“Yes Sir.”

His cock hardened even though he’d just come inside her not twenty minutes before. “That sass is going to get you in trouble one of these days. Someone might get the idea to make use of some of the trees on the property and tie you, naked between two of them. Someone might just show you a few toys while you were bound.” He worked his cock into her swollen sex, using his own cum as lube.

So. Hot.

“And would that someone want to fuck me while I was bound?”

“No doubt. You need to know how controlled you are. How important. How loved.” He kissed her as he sank fully inside her, nipping her lips, slipping his tongue inside as she shivered beneath him.

Her eyelids blinked open as he leaned over and she stared up at him. “It’s a date, my love.”

By way of proclamations, it was one of the sweetest he’d ever heard.

He pulled out and kissed down her body. “I need you to come again. And then I’m going to make love to you.” Make love. Saying it, believing it? The panic never came. It was right with her. Everything was simply right.

“But Sir,” she whispered in an almost panic. “I just came not too long ago. I can’t come again so soon.”

“Tsk tsk. There’s that word again.” He settled between her legs and held her pussy lips apart. “Now you have to come twice.”

“Sir,” squeaked out and turned into a moan.

“What do you say?”