Redeeming Justice (8 page)

Meghan rubbed her hands together and then began gently running them over the pregnant
belly. She mapped out the position of the fetus then asked Lacey if she wanted to
touch her baby’s head.

“Oh my God. Are you serious? You can tell that?”

“I have the magic touch and yes, I’m serious.
Here.
Give me your hand.” Meghan took the woman’s trembling fingers and placed them on
her belly at the top of the baby’s head. “Head,” was all she said. Moving Lacey’s
fingers lower, she pushed them into a cupped position and pressed against her belly.
“Butt,” she informed the astonished pregnant woman.

Just like that something smacked against Lacey’s belly on the other side making her
flinch. “Oooh. He likes having his tushy rubbed,” she joked. “I suppose that was a
foot kicking me in the ribs.”

“Dad,” Meghan asked. “Wanna try?”

Cam’s astonished expression was all kinds of cute. He looked shell-shocked, the way
all pregnant fathers do, but he reached out with his hand and let her press his fingers
against his baby’s head. “Wow,” was all he said as his wife turned her face into his
neck.

Glancing away from the loving interplay between the expecting parents, she found Alex
looking at her with an unreadable expression.

Catching Tori’s eye she told her, I’ll show you some yoga basics tomorrow if you’re
up to it. Will help with those swollen feet.”

Drae chimed in at the mention of the swollen feet. “Is yoga okay with your doctor,
honey?” he asked his wife tenderly.

Tori snuggled into his chest and rumbled, “Mmm hmm.”

Drae laughed and gave her a big hug. “And that my friends is how the wife reminds
her husband that it’s time for bed.”

It wasn’t long after that before it was just her and Alex, alone again, on the patio.

Watching his brothers’ bundle their pregnant wives off to head for home, Alex felt
emptiness in the area of his heart that was becoming all too familiar. He wasn’t jealous
of what they had so much as he was envious. How had those two managed to get so damn
lucky?

“They’re good people,” he heard Meghan say. “David talked about you guys. I think
he had a bad case of hero worship for Cam. Would they remember him?” she asked quietly.

He went and sat next to her on the wide sofa and reached for one of her hands. He
wasn’t sure why he did; maybe he wanted to comfort her although it was more likely
that he just needed to touch her. She had the softest hands imaginable. He wondered
how her velvet touch would feel on his skin—how could he not?

“Yes, Meghan. They’d remember him.”

“You didn’t tell them who I am, did you?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “But I will.”

“I hope having me here doesn’t make them uncomfortable.”

“No. They’re not like that. They really liked David. He was one of them, if you know
what I mean. Cam and Drae will want to take care of you once I tell them. There’s
a reason why so many Vets have worked here in the compound. We look after our own.”

She nodded and changed the subject, gently pulling her hand from his. “You’re leg
is bothering you, isn’t it? I can tell so don’t bother with denials.”

She shocked him with her dead on assessment. His leg was fucking killing him.

“Let me guess,” she went on. “You don’t bother with anti-inflammatory meds and prefer
to tough it out. Am I right?”

He nodded with a self-deprecating smirk. “I fucking hate drugs.” The half roll of
his shoulder said this was a familiar defense. “Or maybe it’s….I hate fucking drugs.”

“Hmmm,” she said. “Understood and duly noted. But you do know there are other things
you can do to take the edge off, right?”

“I swim and that helps a lot but when it aches like it does tonight, well….,” he waved
his tumbler of scotch in her direction.

“Do you have a Jacuzzi?” she asked.

“Uh. Yeah. Of course.”

She smirked at him. “Ever get
in
it?”

“Not so much,” he replied.

“Well Major, your treatment plan should include liberal use of water therapy to keep
the muscles from seizing up. That’s what’s causing your discomfort. The way you stand
tells me a lot.”

He chuckled and swallowed the end of his drink. “Woman, are you for real? Gym teacher,
coach, trainer? Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Well I can’t ride a damn horse but Gus says he can help with that! But don’t change
the subject. Jacuzzi. Warm water. Your ass in that water. Was there anything about
that you didn’t understand?”

“Are you disrespecting my awesome ass, Miss O’Brien?”

“I most certainly am not, Major.” She had a sly smile plastered on her face.

The whiskey was making his hard edges melt. He’d consider crawling into the hot tub
if she did too. The idea of seeing her delicious body in a bathing suit fired up his
brain and made the decision for him. “I will consider the Jacuzzi if you’ll join me.”

“Deal!” she squealed with delight.

“You wanna go grab a suit or are you the au naturel type?”

She burst out laughing at his audacious suggestion. “I’ve got three brothers. There’s
no skinny-dipping going on, sir! Not unless you want your ass kicked by a couple of
Boston’s finest; two firemen and an EMT. Feeling lucky?”

He was grinning at her. She was fun to flirt with. “Oh, fuck no! I’ve got too much
respect for first responders to be dumb enough to tangle with any of ‘em. Especially
not over a naked sister in my hot tub. Go grab a suit and meet me back here, okay?”

She got up and dashed for the house telling him she’d be back in a hurry. Well, this
is certainly turning out to be an interesting evening.

Alex wanted a fucking medal for minding his damn manners and for keeping his hands
away from Meghan as they sat in the tiled hot tub next to the pool. His reaction to
her in a bathing suit had almost turned embarrassing. When she appeared in a white
halter styled one piece he didn’t know what was worse, her magnificent tits or the
curvaceous masterpiece that was her hips and ass. Both were wreaking havoc on his
sex drive.

All but diving into the hot tub to hide his growing hard-on, he went to help her over
the side and thought he’d been zapped when she put in her hand in his. Relaxing was
no longer an option. Not while his cock danced in the warm, swirling water, and she
looked like some pale skinned goddess in the moonlight. Maybe this wasn’t such a good
idea after all.

She’d put her curls up in a clip so they wouldn’t get wet and all Alex could do was
stare at her neck like he’d never seen one before. How he kept from sinking his teeth
into her skin and sucking on the exposed flesh was a complete mystery. He wondered
if she knew what she was doing to him.

“This is nice,” she sighed with her head against the rest at her back. “Is it helping
with the stiffness?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. She was referring to his leg but the only stiffness he could
concentrate on was the one that wanted to be buried inside her.

When he didn’t answer, her head came up and she looked at him with a worried frown.
“Is everything alright, Alex?”

There were a bunch of options open to him at that moment. He could pretend everything
was just dandy. Or he could claim his leg needed some attention. He could even fake
a miraculous recovery, but he doubted she’d be fooled. Not after what he knew about
her impressive qualifications. He settled on an option that wiped all the other ones
clear off the slate.

Pulling her onto his lap in one smooth motion, he wrapped her in his arms and pinned
her to the spot with a look. To her credit, she didn’t shy away from the heat he knew
was blazing in his eyes.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the moment you walked through my door.”

He heard her small whimper as his mouth closed in. There was a warning bell going
off in his head but the tsunami of desire swamping his senses muffled the sound.

Meghan couldn’t move. And she could barely breathe. Being dragged onto the lap of
a very aroused and incredibly sexy male instantly shut her brain down
. Shit.
It had practically taken an act of God to peel her eyes off Alex’s athletic body
when they dropped their towels and got in the hot tub. Seeing him in a pair of indecently
tiny swim trunks, she hadn’t missed the patchwork of scars and distressed skin running
the length of his torso and one leg. The unexpected impulse to kiss each old wound
shook her up, big time.
What the hell
?

Ten hours ago, give or take a few, she’d knocked on his door thinking she would zoom
in, get the closure she hoped for, and zoom right back out. She had in no way anticipated
sticking around as a guest, or drooling all over him in a hot tub.

She felt his hand move to the back of her head, his fingers speared into her hair
spreading wide against her skull as his lips got closer and closer to hers.
Holy shitballz.
He’d wanted to kiss her since the moment she walked through his door? Really?
Oh my fucking God
. She might have been embarrassed by the moan of want that escaped her throat if not
for the searing look of male satisfaction on his face.

His lips were soft, confident. Nibbling her bottom lip as he angled her head just
so, she shuddered when his tongue licked the seam of her mouth. This was not going
to be an ordinary kiss.

The sound of the churning water filled the air, broken only by her groaning, “Ahhhh,”
when his mouth closed over hers.

Wow
. There was no way she’d ever been kissed like this before. He was so manly about
everything he did, including devouring her mouth. Until that moment, she’d only known
the kisses of boys if what he was doing to her was any indication of how a grown man
went about things. It was like a movie kiss. Hot. Deep. Perfect. And that beard.
Oh my God
, it felt as good against her skin as she imagined. He seriously had no right to be
this friggin’ hot.

Alex’s fingers dug into her flesh when she wiggled on his lap, turning into him to
plaster herself against his chest. With an arm around his neck, her fingers clutched
at his hair. Messing it up a bit more wasn’t going to be a tragedy so she let her
greedy hands loose, spearing trembling fingers into the shaggy mane, pressing against
his skull.

The rumbling in his chest told her he liked what she was doing to him. After drawing
back just long enough to give each of them some air he plunged onto her lips with
a ferocity that set off pulsing waves of arousal inside her. God, he tasted so good.
The hint of Scotch whisky on his breath invaded her senses. When his tongue slid against
hers, she sucked on it and swirled hers inside his mouth. His earthy groan had her
folding like a house of cards in a windstorm.

There was something about his hand on her head and the way he held her
just so
, that turned Meghan on like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Just about the
time their kissing started to veer into animalistic territory, he wrenched his lips
off hers so suddenly that a thin ribbon of saliva kept them connected for another
heartbeat.

Absofuckinglutely, the last thing she expected was his pained growl as he pushed her
away and put a good amount of space between them. When her butt slammed onto the seat
again she was startled and confused. Had she done something wrong? Maybe been too
aggressive? After all, she’d had her fingers so tight in his hair he probably had
a bald spot now.

“Get out of here before we do something we shouldn’t,” he ground out in an angry voice.

Half of her hair was falling down from having his hand gripping the curly mane. She
missed the power of his touch against her head. What in the hell was happening?

“I don’t understand. You started it,” she choked out.

“Yeah, I did. And I’m stopping it too.”

“Why?” Her voice sounded anguished and forlorn.

“You shouldn’t be here. None of this should be happening.”

Meghan tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying but surging hormones and blank
confusion was making that impossible. Trying to fix her hair with badly shaking hands,
she felt panic seep into her senses. She wasn’t the type to fall so willingly into
the arms of someone she barely knew. To make it worse, he clearly wasn’t having any
of it. But he
did
start it, right?