Gale, Avery - Jenna's Submission [The ShadowDance Club 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (17 page)

Colt watched as she moved quietly back into the main part of the house. Her shuttered expression ripped his heart to shreds, and even knowing it wasn’t something he could have anticipated or avoided didn’t do anything to ease his guilt. The drive back to ShadowDance seemed even longer today, and the tension was thick and hung heavily in the truck. Rather than resting as Colt had suggested, Jenna just sat and looked blankly out the window, no expression, no words, no real presence.

Jenna felt the tension, but was too keyed up to rest, she just wanted to get back the house, check on her family, pack, and disappear for a few months. She would plan to be back before the baby was born, but she didn’t want to be home for Christmas. It was so hard to come home, and she always felt like she was on the outside looking in, like a small orphan watching a family celebrate Christmas through the windows of their home. You could see everything, hear it all, even smell all the delicious food being shared by one and all, but in the end, you still didn’t belong there. She felt a tear slip over the edge of her watery eyes and slide down her cheek and tried to quickly brush it aside before Colt noticed. But when he drove into the next driveway and stopped, she knew she’d been too late.

Turning toward her, he just held his arms open wide, and she didn’t even hesitate. She unfastened her safety belt and almost leapt across the seat into his embrace. “Talk to me, princess. It breaks my heart to see you hurting and know that you are locking yourself away again. Please don’t do that to either of us. Tell me what you are thinking. Just because we are returning early, doesn’t mean I don’t want you, it just means that I want to protect you and your family, and I know ShadowDance is the best place to put those plans in place.” Colt’s sincere words seemed to relax her a bit, but he continued to just hold her tightly against his chest and rub his hands soothingly over her taut back muscles.

After long moments, she finally looked into his eyes. The sadness was still there, but it seemed to him that some of the distance might have been gone. “I just thought you had found a convenient way to set me aside. I don’t really blame you. Every time I’ve tried to have a normal relationship since, well, since the night everything changed, I end up pushing away any guy who tries to get close. Every single time, it’s just easier than being hurt again. I have never told another soul about Ted Scott, but each man I’ve ever dated has told in some way or another that I am just too damaged to keep around. One was even cruel enough to tell me that he’d only gone out with me because of my parents’ money, and even that wasn’t enough to merit dealing with such ‘damaged goods.’” Colt felt the low growl rumble through his chest and knew Jenna had seen the flash of cold anger he’d felt before he was able to mask it. He needed to make sure she knew his anger wasn’t directed at her, but at the ass who had fed her that bullshit.

“Never, ever believe that nonsense. There is so much about you that is perfect, it should have humbled any man just to have you agree to spend time with him. The beauty of who you are—both inside and out—brings me to my knees, princess. Please believe that returning to the mansion is in no way a reflection on where I want us to go. If I wasn’t concerned about the safety of your family, we’d still be at the cabin.” And then with a waggle of his eyebrows and a devilish grin, he added, “And I’d be as deep inside your hot, slick channel as I could get.”

His words had their desired effect, and she finally smiled a bit, even though tears still shone in her dark-green eyes. Colt had noticed the shade of her eyes depended on her mood. He could see she was too lost in the moment to even speak. She just hugged him for a long moment, then brushed a soft kiss over his lips before sliding back to her side of the truck and refastening her safety belt.

* * * *

Kat was anxious for Jenna and Colt to return. She felt bad that their little adventure had been cut short, but she couldn’t wait to hear each and every detail.
Oh yeah...girls gab session tonight, for sure. Woohoo!
Kat loved living at ShadowDance, but there were times that she really missed having a girlfriend to chat with. One of the great things she’d discovered about having two husbands was that at least one of them was usually available if she needed a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on, but there was nothing like girl talk to restore the soul. She’d been pacing in the living room for an hour when Alex had stepped into the doorway, leaning a shoulder against the jamb in that too-sexy-for-my-own-good way he had and said, “Love, they will be here soon enough, please sit down before you wear yourself out.” Then she stuck her tongue out at him. He raised a brow and asked her, “Hmmm, do we need to have a little focus-Katarina session, love? You know I’ll be happy to lend you a hand.” His smile told her the play on words was deliberate, and he knew full well her pussy was soaking her silk panties, the rat bastard.
Damn him, I’m going to have to go upstairs and change if he doesn’t knock that off.

She glanced out the window and let out a high-pitched squeal and took off for the door before Alex bellowed, “Katarina, stop!” She froze and looked at him, clearly puzzled. After all she was just going to let in his sister and their security chief.
What on earth is eating him?
Alex answered her unasked question, “Until this mess is all settled, we’ll ask that you not just throw open the door exposing yourself and our sweet child to potential dangers.
Yep, total rat bastard. He knows exactly how to get me to comply with his damned edicts about my safety, he plays that “Our sweet child” card, and I’m toast. Damn, damn, and double damn!

Stepping around Katarina and using a gentle hand to the small of her back to move her to the side, he opened the door and greeted his sister and Colt. Grayson was already in the Crow’s Nest, having arrived a few minutes earlier. “Welcome home. I’m sorry we’ve cut into your time, and I promise we’ll make it up to you both.” Jenna smiled, but he could see the strain around her eyes, and Katarina had sensed it immediately and pulled her friend into a fierce hug. Actually Alex had to chuckle as he watched Jenna try to hug his wife around her nicely rounded belly. He and Zach had already placed money on twins, but they hadn’t mentioned it to Katarina yet. “Ladies, if you’d like to move up to the suite, I’ll ask Selita to bring you up a tray while Colt and I have a sitrep.”

Katarina just rolled her eyes “Don’t go all soldier boy on me, husband mine, and yes, we would appreciate whatever Selita has available. We’ll be having a great time without you, so don’t you skimp on that ‘sitrep’ on our account.” She gave him a smirk that she knew was going to get her at least a couple of playful swats later, or at least she sure hoped so.
God I miss our wild sexual antics. And double damn those stupid pregnancy books those two read like they were the guiding texts of the universe or something. Waiting until after the baby gets here to get the good stuff totally sucks!

The girls were already chattering like magpies on their way up the stairs, and he and Colt stood watching them like a couple of lovesick fools. “I don’t know how she does it. I swear to you, if another sub talked to me like that, she’d have punishments stacked up through next summer. I know she does it to get to me, but I just can’t seem to work up any real steam about it.” Alex chuckled to himself and then added, “And Zach is even worse with her than I am. Christ, at least I pretend to scold her.” At that, Colt laughed out loud.

“Never thought I’d live to see the day, but damned if I’m not right there with you. But that is another problem altogether. I’ll be enlisting your help to keep your sweet sister here when this other mess is put to rest.” Colt looked at his friend and smiled. “She is everything I’ve always wanted. I’ve been in love with her for years, but you already know that. I won’t let her go. I just want you to know that up front.”

Now it was Alex’s turn to laugh. “Damn, Zach just won the bet. I’d figured you’d at least wait until the end of sitrep to tell me, and he’d said you’d blurt it out first thing through the front door. God, there’ll be no living with him for months, and you just cost me $5,000 to the charity of his choice.” Alex’s laughter and slap to Colt’s back told him it was all in good fun, but Colt had to smile to himself. These were going to be his brothers-in-law as soon as he could convince Jenna to marry him, and damned if having his best friends as brothers wasn’t about the second-sweetest thing about his whole plan.

Chapter 23

Alex and Zach had assembled the entire security team and Dylan and his deputies, so their office was standing room only. Selita was in seventh heaven, she had “her girls” upstairs to take care of and a houseful of guests to feed and hover over. She was in full mother hen mode. Alex and Zach just shook their heads and smiled at the way their former teammates answered to her as if she were their own mothers. “Hard to believe those are the same men we’ve gone into firefights all over the world with and never worried, hell we knew there wasn’t a terrorist they couldn’t handle. But they are all mush and ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘No, ma’am,’ ‘Thank you, ma’am’ with our tiny tornado of a housekeeper.” Alex agreed with Zach’s observation, the woman was a force to be reckoned with, and God save the person who dared attempt harming “her chicks.”

After briefing everyone about the message Dylan had received and their interpretation, they ran various scenarios, responses, and troubleshot for a couple of hours. They had also let everyone know as much about the general sending his aide to visit as they could without giving out every detail of Jenna’s trauma to the entire team. Although they were spared the minutia, they all had mutinous looks that said they understood exactly what had happened and shared Colt and her brothers’ anger over a team member attacking a family member. Hell, they all believed that no woman should ever be attacked, but for a teammate to attack the sister of a buddy was a whole new level of low. Everyone was on point about Staff Sgt. James. It was common knowledge that if Colt didn’t like him, he was a boogie, it was that simple. And everyone wanted Grayson to have first crack at the man, because if he could get a solid read, they’d all breathe easier.

* * * *

Katarina and Jenna lay sprawled on the bed, enjoying each other’s company and the snacks Selita had sent up. After Kat had been shot in the suite and then later shot the man who had terrorized her when he broke into the same room, Alex and Zach had remodeled the entire end of the second floor of the mansion. The newly revamped suite was gorgeous, but it was the new safety features that made it truly amazing. It was a virtual fortress when activated as a safe room.

There were various activation devices in each room in addition to a voice-activated system that engaged if Kat spoke a specific phrase aloud. If any of those systems were triggered, not only did the suite’s bulletproof glass windows immediately cover with thick drapes, all doors and windows locked automatically and the room came alive with video and audio access that was ordinarily not active due to privacy concerns. But in the case of an emergency, every corner of each room was visible from monitors hidden in her husband’s office as well as the Crow’s Nest. With a simple slap of her hand against what looked like a child’s handprint framed on the wall, Katarina could lock down the entire house. No one was coming in or going out until the all clear was sounded by the security team. The entire place was state of the art. Mitch Grayson had enjoyed his carte blanche and had even created some features that he hadn’t found on the open market. Those inventions were making him a very rich man, though one would never know it to talk to him.

Kat had loved all the enhancements, at least she had before she’d had to endure drill after drill until she had wanted to snatch Alex, Zach, Colt, and Mitch all bald headed. When she’d finally dissolved into tears of pure frustration and fatigue, they’d given in and called her training complete. She had even managed to finagle a great foot massage and some off-the-chart sex as a reward for her “cooperation and patience.”
Boy, sometimes smart men sure can be dim.
Kat had shown all the features to Jenna and told her that similar features had been added to her smaller suite down the hall. In her case, it was her huge walk-in closet and dressing room that was sealed off and secured. Kat knew the men would have to train Jenna themselves, but she’d told her new sister-in-law the basics.

Jenna had been impressed with the security upgrades but was sorry they had been necessary. “You have had such a rough patch in your life for the past few years, hell, forever. I hope things settle down for you soon. But considering you are carrying a little Lamont, I suspect things are going to be a circus for a while longer.” Chuckling, she reached over and touched her Kat’s rounded tummy. “When are you due?” Jenna didn’t claim to know anything about pregnancy, but her friend seemed pretty round for only being about four months along.

Kat sighed. “Damn, I know, I know…at this rate I’m going to be as big as a house when this baby is born. I have an appointment for a sonogram this next week. I’m so excited, the doctor promised me we’d find out the baby’s sex and even get to see a 3-D picture of him or her. Do you want to go along? It would be wonderful to have you there.” Kat looked hopefully at Jenna, and though she suspected her friend was planning to escape at the first possible opening, maybe, just maybe, the niece or nephew card would help. “Don’t you want to be there to get a first look at your very first niece or nephew? It would really mean a lot to me.” Okay, so maybe she was milking it a little…well, a lot actually, but she didn’t care, it was for a good cause.
Right, you are being selfish, and you’re trying to say you’re doing it for others, remember you had always sworn to be honest with yourself, Kat McKay, um…Katarina Lamont.
Boy, it was hard to remember she was an old married woman now. She suppressed her inner smile, all the while giving Jenna her most sincere doe-eyed look.