What About Love (Club Decadence Book 6) (41 page)

She sucked in air, hope bourgeoning within her.

He picked up her hand and laid it palm down against his chest. Holding it flat over his heart, his voice crackled with urgency. “Say you’ll stay and give me another chance, baby. I promise I won’t screw it up a fourth time.”

Her resolve was a fragile shell around her and his words made it crumble. She choked out, “I must be crazy.”

“That’s a yes?”

Unable to speak further, she nodded. A half sob, half laugh escaping when he dropped his head on her shoulder and murmured a heartfelt, “Thank God.”

His head came up and his lips found hers in a gentle but demanding kiss. Against her lips, he murmured, “I want it all with you, Angie, so put thoughts about L.A. from your head.”

“All as in…” she pushed needing to be sure.

“We’ll get married, of course. That seems to be the trend at Rossi anyway.”

“And the club?”

“Darlin’.” He drawled as if that was a given, more non-negotiable than anything else.

She couldn’t control the soft laugh that escaped. “Does that mean you wouldn’t mind the white picket fence, a yellow lab named Daisy to run around behind that fence, and a family with 2.5 kids?”

“There’s a problem with that plan.”

“You don’t want kids,” she filled in for him, her face falling with disappointment, but she knew she would give up that dream to spend her life with T. She loved him that much.

“I want two.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how we get a .5, but I want at least one little girl with long brown hair streaked with honey and beautiful multi-colored eyes like her mama. The problem is, I’m not having a lab and for damn sure not naming a dog Daisy. We’ll have a German shepherd or a Rottie named Bruno.” Her laugh was broken with a sob. His hand came up to her face. “As to the rest, I’m sorry, Angie, but I can’t go through that again.”

She merely stared up at him tongue-tied, her mind a whirlwind of confusion. Finally, she stammered, “But you just said—”

“No, little bit, I don’t mean what you’re thinking. I meant I can’t go through that night again, coming home and finding my home violated, my family murdered. So the white picket fence is also out. A ten foot fence and a security gate, nothing less. And, we’ll have Jonas install the best damn home security system that money can buy.”

She blew out a relieved breath as the tears that had been threatening began to fall.

“I love you, darlin’, and I’m not taking any chances on losing you, ever again.”

“Oh, T,” she choked, tears of happiness near blinding her. “I love you, too.”

“Get up here,” he growled as he lifted her with his uninjured arm. As her legs wrapped instinctively around his waist, he began to walk toward her bedroom.

“T, you’re just out of surgery. Put me down.”

With his face buried in her neck, he pulled her ass in closer, grinding his fly and the hard ridge of flesh beneath it into the crotch of her jeans.

“Does it feel like I’m injured?”

A knock sounded at the door. “Hey! Did anyone call for a cab?” a voice called.

“Go away. She’s not going to fucking Los Angeles.”

“T!” she exclaimed with a giggle. “I’m sorry,” Angie called over his shoulder. “There’s been a change in plans.”

She could hear him grumbling as he stomped away. “I should call and cancel my flight. The last minute ticket was $600.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” He’d made it to her room and dropped her down on the bed. “The only fuck I care about is the one I’m about to give to you.”

The intensity and passion with which he said those words roused the same desire in her. In a frenzy of flying fingers, they sacrificed a few popped buttons and Angie’s lace panties as they hastily shed their clothes, only slowing long enough to carefully pull T’s shirt over his bandaged shoulder. He grimaced as he tossed it aside and turned back to her.

At that point, Angie paused, concern palpable in her voice. “You’re shoulders bothering you. If you overdo, you’ll tear your wound open. Roll onto your back. I’m getting on top.”

Her order was met by an imperiously arched brow. “Is that so? Are you ordering me about in the bedroom, little bit?”

“Uh, well, yes,” she began hesitantly, the next instant meeting his eyes with firm resolve. “In this instance, I am.”

He crawled onto the bed, moving toward her with a gleam in his eye. She began to backpedal, but he surprised her by falling onto his back with a grin.

“Climb on board, baby. I’ll happily let you ride me today.”

“Really? That easily?”

“I know my limits, and one arm pushups I can do, but I’ve got no staying power right now. So I’ll give you the position, although I still call the shots. You’ll ride me while I finger your clit and suck on your nipples, when you’re ready to come, you’re gonna crawl up and sit on my face. With your delicious pussy spread wide for my mouth, I’m gonna eat you until you come screaming my name. Maybe once will satisfy me, though probably not. So be prepared to be eaten for a good long time, coming repeatedly. After that, I’ll want your mouth around my cock, sucking me off until I pour a few weeks
’
worth of sexual frustration down your throat. You’ll lap up every drop and thank me for it. I won’t be done quite yet and will want you to ride me again until we both find it again, simultaneously.”

She stared at him, her lips parted, air moving in and out fast. “I’m not in charge at all, am I?” she questioned shakily.

He laughed. “Shit no, but I think it’s cute that you tried.” With his good arm, he dragged her closer. “Mount up. It’s been too long since I’ve had my cock inside you.”

As she straddled his hips, she aligned the head of his cock with her drenched opening and slid down, taking all of him as they both groaned with pleasure. T’s thumb found her clit again as he pulled her down, enough so that her breasts dangled above his mouth. She clutched the headboard with white knuckled fingers as she rode him hard and fast. Her first orgasm of the day coming as she rode his tongue and with a cry so loud, she knew they heard it clear down on the River Walk, several miles away.

He then did all of the things he swore he would and took well over an hour doing it. After an incredible simultaneous climax, with his harsh masculine groans melding with her resonant cries of pleasure, they took a brief break. T was fresh out of the hospital, keep in mind. With stomachs growling, they went foraging in the kitchen for what little Angie had left in her cupboards. It wasn’t much. They finished up the orange juice she had in the fridge and shared a chocolate pudding cup, puckering and grimacing at the sweet and sour taste combination in their mouths.

T then dragged her back to bed, promising to call in a pizza, later. It wasn’t until early evening when ‘later’ came. By that time Angie was too exhausted to think about food. When the delivery man arrived, she barely stirred as T got up, slipped on his jeans and answered the door.

He roused her enough to eat a slice with him while they cuddled in bed. “Since you’re already packed,” he announced as he started his fourth slice, “we’ll load up my truck with your stuff and move you into my house tomorrow.”

Her head tilted back, for a moment studying him from where her cheek rested on his chest. “It’s not too soon?”

“Too soon? We’ve been playing cat and mouse for months. I’m not dicking around this time, Angie. You’ll have a ring on your finger by tomorrow and my collar around your throat the next time we go to the club.”

“A collar?” Her fingers moved to her throat, stroking lightly as she imagined how that would feel.

“Absolutely. It will tell everyone, especially Durand and Ogilvie, who you belong to.”

“You have no reason to be worried, T. Arturo was nice, but—and I’m not proud of this—I was using him.”

“I know you were, as did he in the end.”

“And Dan is a big brother to me, nothing more.”

“Also something I know.” He picked up her hand that was lying flat on his chest near her cheek and began to gently nibble her fingers. “It’s not you I’m worried about. I’m making sure they know you are mine.”

Six months ago, that statement would have made her see red. Now, it made her feel wanted, cherished and she didn’t mind in the least. A barrage of questions swirled in her head, but one stood out the most as her hand rose to her throat.

“A collar?”

“In the club it’s expected, baby. You know that.”

“I do, but I was thinking, I wouldn’t mind a choker like Joanna’s?”

“A public collar?” He bent his head as she asked, his lips hovering a fraction out of reach. “Are you sure? Vanillas won’t know for sure, but might ask.”

“I’m certain. I love you, T, as my dominant, or…” She searched for the right label.

“Fiancé is the word you’re searching for. That’s been decided. We’re getting married.”

She gave him a watery smile, her eyes dropping to the stark white bandage standing out brightly against his olive skin. “I thought I’d lost you again when you were shot. I was scared out of my mind. Do you do those kinds of missions often?”

“There becoming less frequent, but I won’t lie and say that others won’t come up.”

She considered that for a moment, a former cop and daughter of a military man, she knew that risks came with the territory. “Do you think Cap would mind if I limited my badass commando field work? My skills are better suited for problem solving and detective work, anyway. That’s why I didn’t join the SWAT team.”

He nodded, apparently in full agreement. “He’ll get over it, especially after Megan hears he dragged her favorite cousin along on this mission. She’s small and he clearly wears the pants, but that doesn’t mean she won’t give him shit about it.”

“Yeah, Megan’s tongue is laser sharp when she gets riled.”

“Not a family trait, I hope.”

“You’ve seen me riled more than once, T. What do you think?”

He shrewdly didn’t answer. “As your future husband, let me say, I won’t mind if you never play decoy for another serial killer—fucking ever—or camp out in a tree at midnight in godforsaken Central America with bullets flying around your head. My heart can’t take it.”

“A bullet didn’t come anywhere near my head. That was you. And I didn’t say I was giving it all up, only the commando missions. To be honest, I was curious about what a black op would be like, but now that I’ve been on one, the bloom is off the rose, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, although you felt the adrenaline rush, didn’t you?”

“More like I was ready to pee my pants.”

The vibrations from his answering chuckle transferred from his chest to hers, and from his mouth that was a whisper away.

“I heard you breathing, baby. I know you were scared. Let me clue you into something no one else is likely to share. We all were. No matter how many ops we run, we’d be foolish not to be and that would make us dangerous.” He scooched down on the pillow and rolled to his good side, his body pushing her to her back. “I’m proud of you. All the guys are. That brings me to one more point we needed to discuss.”

“What’s that?” she asked, her hand coming up and stroking his handsome face.

“You still can’t shoot for shit.”

Her hand froze and she pushed back, not far, but as far as the pillow would allow in order to frown up into his face. “I saved your ass, didn’t I?”

“You did. That was a helluva precision shot, scoring a direct hit to a sniper’s gun hand from three hundred yards.”

She blinked. How could she have forgotten the open mic? If he hadn’t heard, the other guys had. They’d already teased her about it on the way home and at the hospital, calling her dead-eye Hixson. It was similar to the kind of grief she got as a cop. Except from the Rossi men, it was given with genuine affection. Still, if T had missed it, especially with all the hubbub surrounding his injury, one of the others would clue him in. And they called women gossips. These guys were worse than a group of blue haired women having tea after Sunday services, none of them could button it or resist teasing the other.

“Um, about that—” she began hesitantly.

“I know you were aiming for his head, little bit.”

“Someone told you.”

“You did, darlin’. You’ll learn those headsets are sensitive.”

“Great.”

“You ratted yourself out to the general, but that’s okay. Other’s might have taken the glory rather than admit their kill shot was several feet off the mark.”

“Not that many,” she grumbled. “Two at most. But to be completely honest, I’m thankful my miss hit a mark at all and took him out. Or…” Her voice trailed off.

His arm tightened around her. “Yeah. I believe someone besides a pretty, hazel-eyed gal in a tree was watching out for me.”

“I believe that too, honey. Maybe it’s a sign that things will be going your way for a change.”

“With you in my arms again, I’m becoming a big believer in signs.”

He lowered his lips to take her mouth, but at the last second she pulled back. “That’s it? No more grief over my crappy accuracy? What happened to my drill sergeant trainer?”

He chuckled. “I’m in a really good mood, so I’m cutting you some slack tonight. Tomorrow is another story.”

“What happens tomorrow?” she asked tentatively, not sure if she wanted to hear.

“Your ass is mine.”

She giggled. “Is that all? Correct me if I’m wrong, considering all we did today, isn’t my ass yours already?”

“I stand corrected. Your ass is mine in the simulator. We’re going to conquer that sucker together, so I don’t have a shit fit the next time Cap gets a wild hair to turn you into a sharp shooter.”

“Hey! I held my own.”

“You got lucky. And I’m thankful that you did because so did I. We’re not depending on luck anymore. I have a few new training techniques up my sleeve to get you there. So next time—and I have a feeling with you working for Rossi there will be a next time—if it becomes necessary, you’ll have skill on your side and won’t have to depend on luck.”

“What kind of new techniques?” Concern echoed in her voice, practically feeling his hard palm on her backside—sixty-one swats to be specific—like the last time.

“All in good time, my trainee fiancée.” The sound of his deep, husky chuckle didn’t bode well for her.