Guts & Glory: Walker (In the Shadows Security Book 4)

by Jeanne St. James

  “I’ll call the FBI.”

  “What are you going to tell them, Jerry? That your asshole son stole dirty money from a Mexican drug cartel? That he stashed it in an offshore account which you stole from in order to deposit it into another offshore account? Yeah, go ahead, I’ll even look up the number for you.”

  He stabbed the End button on his phone. Then texted Brick: Clear.

  Hunter had left a million in McMaster’s account as an incentive for the old man to forget that Ellie ever existed. They needed to rethink that since McMaster wasn’t going to need it. Not where he was going.

  Ellie not only needed it, she deserved it. He’d let her decide what to do with it all. He didn’t even give a shit if she gave it all to charity. They’d just needed to get it back into the States without throwing any red flags.

  They’d figure it out.

  Because the fuck if Ellie wasn’t going to be living easy for the rest of her life after dealing with the McMotherfuckers and their bullshit.

  His phone pinged and he glanced down to read the text from Brick.

  Who’s UR daddy?

  Chapter Nineteen

  He was driving her crazy. With touches as light as a whisper over her skin. A tip of the tongue barely flicking the tips of her nipples. A fleeting brush of his fingertip across her clit.

  Only enough to notice it, but he didn’t linger. He kept moving. One hand planted in the mattress next to her head, the other wreaking havoc on her sanity.

  His mouth hovered above hers, his warm breath washing over her lips. So close, but yet so far.

  “Stop,” she groaned, even though she didn’t really want him to stop. She just wanted him to hurry up and take her.

  But Trace was in no hurry. “Okay, I’ll stop,” he whispered back. His grin proof that was a lie.

  He ran his lips lightly along her jawline to her ear. “You’re mine.” His possessive words evoked a shiver and her nipples beaded even harder. “Forever this time, El.”

  Forever.

  She was okay with that.

  In truth, more than okay.

  Things happened for a reason, didn’t they? And maybe back then they weren’t meant to be. Hopefully now they were.

  They hadn’t talked about the future since arriving back at Trace’s house in the middle of the night. Both of them quickly showered and fell into bed, exhausted.

  But now they were awake, and Trace was skimming his mouth down her neck, over her shoulder, around the outer curve of her breast, down her belly.

  She couldn’t stop smiling at the ceiling.

  The feeling of being free of that debt...

  Being free to live her life as she wanted...

  Being free to be with Trace...

  Made her heart swell. Made her somewhat giddy.

  Closing her eyes, her fingers found his short hair, hanging on as best as she could as he moved lower.

  And lower.

  She opened her eyes and glanced down her body at him. “You like to eat pussy.” That was definitely not a complaint, more of an observation.

  He murmured against her skin, his eyes catching hers. “No, baby. I love to eat your pussy.”

  She was okay with that, too.

  Again, more than okay.

  Her clit was already throbbing as his warm breath brushed it. Once again, he teased her with just the tip of his tongue.

  “Stop,” she whispered once more because she wasn’t sure how much more she could take before she screamed.

  He stopped, lifted his head and waited.

  “Please.”

  He smiled, then went back to teasing her.

  “Trace,” she groaned, digging her nails into his scalp.

  “Tell me what you want, El.”

  “Make me come.”

  “I’m going to make you come.”

  “Now.”

  “When I’m ready.”

  “Trace...” she moaned. “Now.”

  “When I’m ready to give you that.”

  “Stop talking and just do it.”

  He chuckled. “Someone’s impatient.”

  She lifted her head and glared at him. “You think? I know you enjoy doing this...”

  “Doing what?”

  He was purposely playing dumb. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Delaying... Ooooh. Yesssss.” Her head dropped back into the pillow and her back arched when she drove her hips up, wanting him to give her more.

  She couldn’t get enough of his mouth toying with her clit. His lips sucking, his tongue circling. The light scrape of his teeth against her sensitive nub.

  “Trace,” she groaned, her fingers flexing as she got closer and closer to the ledge. But she needed more. Just a little bit more.

  He dragged a finger down through her wetness, then back up. He slipped one finger, two, inside her and...

  Yes, that’s what she needed. Him inside of her.

  But as she reached the precipice, he was gone. His breath, his lips, his fingers, just a memory.

  Then he was back, his knees separating hers, the head of his cock taking the place of his fingers as it separated her slick folds, opening her up to him.

  He slid his chest along hers, his skin brushing over the hard points of her nipples. And then he took her mouth and her breath all at once.

  He inhaled his own whispered name when he surged forward and took her completely.

  Walker forced his eyes to remain open. To watch Ellie’s face as he sank deep inside her.

  Liquid heat. Sleek, hot velvet gripped him.

  No other feeling in the world was like this. He could only describe it as coming home.

  After years of having different women, he no longer remembered a single one of them.

  Not now. Not ever again.

  Ellie was where she belonged. In his house. In his bed.

  In his life.

  He was going to do his best to work on the future he once promised her.

  Their dream could finally be a reality.

  Gliding his fingers along her ribs, he then trapped a nipple between them and rolled it as his mouth tracked her pulse along her throat before moving down to suck the puckered nipple deep within it.

  Her nails scraped along into his back, took purchase and he was sure they were leaving marks behind as the two of them moved together as one.

  Their hips came together and moved apart like a surf surging along the shore.

  This wasn’t just sex. This was a deeper connection. A healing of everything that had been broken between them.

  The climax would be explosive. Satisfying. Bone-melting.

  But he didn’t want to come yet. When he came, it was over. He wasn’t ready for it to end.

  Not now. Not today. Not ever.

  When he said forever, he meant it. He only needed Ellie to be sure.

  They needed to discuss their future, to ensure they were on the same page this time.

  No misunderstandings. Not fucking one.

  They needed a solid base to build that future.

  He ground his hips against her, driving as deep as he could, the small scratches on his back now turning to long welts as she dragged her nails deeper along his flesh, drove her hips higher. Cried his name over and over.

  He’d never tire of hearing her say his name.

  He hoped it was the last thing he heard before he took his last breath on this Earth. Her not only saying his name, but telling him she loved him...

  He froze and bit off a curse when he heard his phone ring next to the bed.

  Fucking motherfucker.

  Normally, he’d ignore it since the most important person in his life was currently in his bed. No one on the other end of the phone would ever be as important.

  Unless it was Mercy. Diesel. Or one of the other Shadows.

  They were his team. He owed him as much loyalty as they gave him.

  They had his six. He had theirs. And that would never change.

  He groaned in frustration, and mutte
red a searing, “Fuck.”

  “What...” Ellie asked, picking her head up and knitting her eyebrows together as she turned her head to give an exasperated look at the offending item on his nightstand.

  She wasn’t the only one annoyed.

  “Sorry, sweetheart. Might be important.” It better be fucking important or he was hanging up on the man.

  Not breaking their connection, he leaned over slightly and stretched out his hand enough to snag his phone. As soon as he swiped the screen with this thumb and stuck it to his ear, he heard a loud growled, “Close your fucking windows.”

  “What?” Walker turned his head, glancing over at them. The ones facing Mercy’s house were wide open. Fuck. “Fuck,” he muttered again but out loud this time.

  “Yeah,” was the answering grunt.

  There was no way he was pulling out before he was done to close the fucking windows. The big man would just have to wait. “You close yours.”

  “Mine are fucking closed!” Mercy barked into his ear.

  Walker glanced down at Ellie who bugged out her eyes at him in impatience. Had she been that loud? “Huh.” Maybe. He grinned.

  “Yeah... huh.”

  Walker heard Rissa in the background saying something, but he couldn’t make out what. But whatever she said made Mercy blow out a breath and a muttered curse, before telling him, “Fuck it. Keep them open.” He hung up.

  Walker grinned at his phone, then tossed it back onto the nightstand.

  “Problem?” Ellie asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “Apparently you’re lighting up the neighborhood.”

  Her lips parted, her eyes went wide, and color rushed into her cheeks.

  His soft, sweet Ellie. There she was. He hoped she’d always be there.

  “Should you close the windows?”

  “Fuck no. Think I’ve never heard Mercy and Rissa going at it? Or Ryder doing Kelsea so hard, I can hear the headboard banging against the wall all the way over here?”

  “Your houses aren’t even that close.”

  “Exactly,” he muttered. “‘Bout time I get some fucking revenge.” He looked down into her face and grinned even wider. Revenge could be so fucking sweet. “Now, where was I?”

  “About to make me come.”

  “Oh yeah.” Tilting his hips sharply once, her eyelids immediately got heavy. “How loud can you get?”

  “Depends on you.”

  “Sounds like a challenge.”

  She shook with her smothered laughter. “I shouldn’t be laughing; I should be embarrassed.”

  “Never. Nothing wrong with being passionate as fuck and not hiding it.”

  “Now I’ll be self-conscious.”

  Walker tilted his head as he heard noises he recognized in the distance. “Sounds like someone opened their own windows.”

  “Damn,” Ellie whispered, her cheeks turning red again. “But that’s kind of hot.”

  “Unless you’re in bed alone.”

  “Then what?” she teased.

  “Then... I, uh... put in ear plugs.”

  “Liar.”

  “Enough talking.”

  Her lips twitched. “I agree.”

  It wasn’t long before the blood was pounding in his veins again, his heartbeat in his throat as he took her to that edge once more. But, again, kept her from falling.

  He let her teeter, but he wouldn’t let her go.

  Not yet.

  Not until he was ready. Not until he was standing next to her on that very cliff.

  And then he was there... Ready to fall and take her with him.

  “Now, baby,” he murmured in her ear as he thrust harder, faster, deeper.

  When her body bowed beneath him, her neck arched back, her eyes opened wide and her mouth parted, he was right there with her. She was taking everything he gave her and giving it right back.

  As the ripples of her orgasm began, he went with them, powering forward one more time and staying there. He came deep inside her as she squeezed him tight like a hot fist.

  And, fuck him, he didn’t want it to stop.

  After a few moments, when he gathered his brain cells back into his head and he finally stopped breathing like he just ran a 5k, he slid his nose along her jawline before capturing her lips.

  He kissed her slowly, gently, tasting her.

  He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay right there, buried inside her for the rest of his life.

  In reality, a lifetime wasn’t going to be long enough.

  He eventually slipped from her and he had no choice but to slide to her side. He kissed her one more time before he said, “I need to clean up.”

  “Stay. I’ll get you a washcloth.”

  He didn’t like her waiting on him, but his crutches weren’t nearby, so he just nodded. She rolled from the bed and he watched her walk totally naked into the master bathroom and a few minutes later walk back out, damp washcloth in hand.

  When he held out his hand for it, she shook her head. “I’ll do it.”

  “I’m capable of cleaning myself up, El.”

  She gave him a look. “I know, but I want to do it. Just let me.”

  “Fine,” he huffed, pretending to not be happy about it, when he would enjoy every fucking second of her doing it.

  He tucked his arms behind his head and watched her gently wipe him clean, then take the washcloth back to the bathroom.

  When she came back out the second time, he ordered, “Stop.”

  She froze between the bathroom and the bed, giving him a questioning look.

  “Just stay there for a second. I want to look at you.”

  His gaze roamed her from top to toe. And he noticed when her nipples beaded tightly again.

  “With you looking at me like that, like you’re the hunter and I’m the prey, makes me want to jump your bones, just so you know,” she warned him.

  “Back then I would’ve been hard again in five seconds flat. Being thirty-nine, I’d be lucky if it takes five minutes. Even as much as you turn me the fuck on, I’m still going to need a lot longer than five. Sorry, sweetheart.”

  She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “I’m in no rush.”

  “Thank fuck for that,” he murmured. He patted the bed. “C’mere, El. We need to have a talk while we wait.”

  Her easy expression turned not-so-easy at his words. “Trace... I know we have a lot of things to talk about, but can it wait?”

  “We need to have this discussion.” He patted the bed next to him again, more firmly this time.

  “You told me you wanted me to leave when the job was over...”

  “That’s not what it’s about.”

  Her green eyes hit his and held. “It’s not?”

  “No.”

  “Can you give me a hint?”

  Her resistance was putting him on edge. “Can you come over here? You’re too far away.” It pissed him off that he couldn’t just get off the bed, grab her and throw her on it. He hated that he had that limitation.

  It was times like this that frustrated him the most about being an amputee.

  “I’m just a few feet away.”

  “Ellie,” he growled.

  She rolled her eyes and slowly approached the bed. When she was within arm’s length, he snagged her wrist and pulled her onto the bed. Before she could settle next to him, he rolled over her, pinning her onto her back.

  “This seems serious,” she whispered, her face holding worry.

  He cupped her face. “It’s not life or death, but it’s important.”

  “Okay.”

  His lips pinned together with her submissive answer. “Don’t ever feel that you can’t speak out against me, El. It might turn into a disagreement, like I’m sure we’re about to have, but we’ll work it out.”

  “Okay.”

  “El...” He shook his head.

  “Just tell me!” she snapped, her eyes narrowed on him.

  He smiled. That was better. “I want to discuss the m
oney.”

  She groaned. “I don’t want it, it’s not mine.”

  “It’s yours. All of it. Or at least, what remains.”

  “Trace—”

  She was interrupted by Mercy’s ringtone again.

  “What the fuck!” he growled, grabbing his phone and answering it. “Did you blow your load already?”

  “Funny,” Mercy growled back, not sounding amused at all. “But I fucking know you did. It wasn’t hard to miss it since you yelped like a fucking injured coyote.”

  “Glad to be of some fucking service to you and Rissa, though. And you should be thanking us for making her want to ignore that ugly-assed puss of yours and jump your bones instead. You can buy me a beer.”

  “Not calling to thank you for getting my woman warmed up.”

  “Then why are you fucking interrupting us again?”

  “Jewelee’s in labor.”

  “You act like that’s surprising.”

  Mercy actually snorted. “We’re all going.”

  “All?” Fuck.

  “Everyone who’s available.”

  “We’re in the middle of—”

  “See you there.” Mercy hung up.

  “Fuck,” Walker muttered and rolled off Ellie. “D’s baby’s coming. Gotta go to the hospital. Not sure why since Jewel’s a pro at squirting out kids by now. I doubt she needs us to rally around her while coaching her to breathe.”

  Ellie sat up. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  He hesitated on the edge of the bed, turning his head to look at her in surprise. “Do you want to?”

  “Yes. If you’re going there for support, then I want to be there with you.”

  “It might be boring and long.”

  “Maybe I’ll get to meet some of the DAMC sisterhood there.”

  Oh, fuck. He wanted to keep his Ellie soft and sweet to a point. He wasn’t sure if the sisterhood would change that. They were all very outspoken, independent women. And some of them could be bad influences when it came to listening to their men. He snorted, then warned her, “You might meet more than some.”

  “Do we have time for a shower?”

  “I want to say yes, but being baby number three, I’m going to say no. While I said this might be long and boring, I’m hoping this kid slides out in five minutes. Then we can come back here and take our time while conserving water by showering together.”