Wildly Inappropriate

by Eden Connor

  She stuck her chin in the air and crossed her arms under her breasts. "That baby won't need a crash helmet. I'm a good driver."

  "So I'll buy Cynda the minivan and get me another truck," Lila said triumphantly. "Problem solved."

  "I want purple flames," Cynda informed Daniel when he strode past. "C'mon, Jonah, let's go see Jacques."

  "That dog's name is not Jacques." Daniel yanked his chair from beneath the table.

  "Dude, I know it's been years since you had an actual date, but when chicks get their minds set on something, they never relent. Sorry to break the news to you, Dan, but you now own a bird dog named Jacques." Eric snickered. "I can't wait to find out what she calls you. Snookums? Sugar Pie?" His brows lifted several times, rapidly. "Big Daddy?"

  "I might've written that down and put it in that drawer you're leanin' against." Cynda grinned, her dark mood becoming somewhat lighter at hearing the insider information about Daniel's love life that Lila hadn't known. "Double-dog dare you to look."

  Eric practically vaulted across the bar, away from the drawers.

  Laughing with the rest, Cynda directed a confused Jonah into the hallway and stepped over the gate to pick up the sleeping pup. Handing it to the young man, she explained, "Your baby cousin will be just as helpless. Be gentle with Jacques."

  "Oh, I almost forgot," Lila said, once the laughter in the kitchen died down. "You remember that farmer that called you when I wrecked my truck, Dan? Our closest neighbor? He was one of those people wearing a sheet at the Klan rally."

  "Did you see his face?" Cynda heard Daniel demand. "Because that makes no sense. I just saw him the other day over at Georgia's. He took her eggs. Next week they're gonna put up corn together."

  "Just his shoes," she admitted. "But, Dan, I looked at those shoes for nearly an hour after I wrecked my truck. He spoke to me both times. It was him."

  Cynda left Jonah holding the puppy and walked to stand in the arch, looking at the De Marco clan, filled with alarm at the thought that anyone living so close by might belong to the Klan.

  She saw Colton kiss Lila's cheek. He touched her stitches gently. "Sweetheart, you had a hard knock on the head. I don't think we can rely on your memory. John Carpenter's a deacon at the Methodist church. I've put my pennies in a collection plate he passed many a time. It wasn't him. Every farmer I know wears the same brand of boots."

  Dan was nodding. Eric spoke up. "He's right, Lila. I probably have a pair just like the ones you saw."

  Lila's face took on the stubborn expression Cynda had come to know so well in jail, but her tone was mild when she let the subject drop. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go potty. Again." She sighed heavily as she stood. "Then we need to go and get Jonah into bed."

  Cynda gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze as she passed, but she hoped with all her heart Lila was wrong.

  "By the way, Dan, I put that old Berretta of Dad's you used to carry in your truck back in your glove box for now. It's loaded, so you know, but I figured you still had a carry permit for it."

  "That's fine, but why? Don't you want it anymore?"

  Colton sighed as heavily as Lila had moments before. "Because you know, five months from now, we're gonna have an infant that won't be able to crawl for another what—six, eight, ten months? But we have to start baby-proofing right this fucking minute." He threw up his hands. "It's not like I ever use it. I'll get a little handgun safe to keep by the bed when I buy a big gun safe like yours, but after the news about the baby, that purchase got bumped way down on my list. Right now, my priorities are buying the materials to add those two rooms and Lila's doctor bills."

  "You poor, pussy whipped motherfucker," Eric muttered, looking plaintively at Daniel. "You know we're gonna have to do an intervention, right? Drag his ass off somewhere and fix him before his dick falls off."

  "His priorities sound just fine to me," Daniel retorted.

  The impromptu family gathering broke up shortly after. Daniel put his hand at her waist as they waved goodbye to his guests while standing just inside the back door to the farmhouse. He suddenly leaned over and when he straightened, she saw he was holding her shoes. With his free hand, he closed and turned the lock on the back door. He placed the shoes on the counter, and the look her gave her made her insides go liquid.

  Silently, he folded a towel, then opened the drawer where she'd put all the shaving things. He placed a razor and the shaving cream beside the sink, but not the brush. She was already aching and wet by the time he ordered her to remove her dress.

  His hands were on his belt when she pulled it over her head and placed it on the bar.

  "Turn around."

  He drew the belt tight around her arms. The leather bit into the skin above her elbows. He turned her with his hands on her shoulders.

  He was half-hard now, she saw. "Kneel."

  Sinking to her knees, she stared at his face, trying to guess what he was thinking. His hand felt warm against her cheek.

  "If you fight me, this will be unpleasant. I don't want you to suck. I want you to open your mouth and keep it open. It's not a blow job. I want to fuck your mouth. If you trust me, it will be better for you, but I'll admit, this is about me."

  That was part of her attraction to the man, she realized. He didn't resort to fake sweet-talk to get his way. If he ever said anything sweet to her, she felt she'd be able to trust he meant it. She dragged her tongue across her lips, watching his eyes while he undid his pants. He guided his cock to her face, pressing the head past her unresisting lips.

  She had no control. No way to stop him from going too deep. Panic flushed through her. The act of forcing his cock down her throat was primitive, and her reaction was primal. She fought to breathe, struggled to free her arms so she could save herself from choking.

  He paused, and a look of disappointment flitted across his face. "Cynda, you have to trust me, sugar. Breathe through your nose." His voice cracked on his admission. "I need this."

  Those words, so obviously hard for him to say, were her lifeline. Cynda wanted to please him, needed to soothe the turmoil he was enduring, thinking his mother was out there in those woods and believing no one gave a damn. She realized he hadn't shared his concerns with his brothers. Realization dawned on her that he protected them, even if that made his own burden bigger. He joked and cut up with them, but everything the man did, from hiring someone to get her and Lila's charges dismissed, to the cutting glare he'd given Lila when he'd believed she was pregnant with another man's child and trying to pass it off as Colton's, to the curt order he'd issued Jonah to wash his hands, were all meant to protect them from harm. Those were just a few things she knew. How many burdens rested on his broad shoulders?

  She went limp, because that was all she could think of to do to help him. She'd spent all her life feeling powerless. This was familiar ground.

  He surged past the part of her throat that made her gag with a groan. "Yes, sugar, just like that. Let me take."

  She gave. With her mouth, because it pleased him. With her eyes, because that pleased her, to watch him forget his problems and lose himself in the pleasure he took from her. In that way, her helplessness became the strongest power she'd ever felt. His hair tumbled over his forehead. He needed a shave. The white shirt he'd worn since this morning at the jail was now wrinkled and brushed her cheeks. His eyes began to change, growing darker. His cock swelled in her throat. He thrust harder, taking more than she'd ever believed she could give.

  His hands grasped her head, holding her against him. He emptied with a cry of her name. The hot fluid striking the back of her throat seemed a baptism of a new kind. Or an old kind, she realized when he withdrew. This act had to be as old as time, and in that moment, felt as natural to her as air. She gasped for breath, but she didn't break the fragile bond of their gaze though her eyes were watering.

  Relaxing back onto her upturned soles, she watched while he gathered that massive strength around him again, unable to resist a smile because she'd be
en the one to steal it.

  He grasped her shoulders, helping her to her feet and unbuckling his belt. He massaged her arms, and then his hands went around her waist. He lifted her onto the counter. Cynda knew what to do this time. He used his hand to smooth the shaving cream, and ripped the plastic from the razor with a sharp tug of his teeth. He opened her folds with one hand, manipulating the razor with the other. This shave was different, businesslike and precise, but she was basking in an odd afterglow. He finished the shave and rinsed her using the sprayer beside the faucet. Her tummy hollowed when he lowered his head to press a single kiss to her bare mound.

  His expression became naughty. He fiddled with the sprayer nozzle and then she felt the stream of warm water between her legs again. He aimed the intense spray at her clit. Her back arched from the sensation. It felt hard and yet soft and he moved the stream back and forth across her hardened nub. The soft, insistent friction drew her body taut. She came, but cried out, "I need more."

  "You need me."

  If only you meant for more than sex.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "Man, it was great of Cynda to offer to drive Lila and Jonah to the school today." Colton grabbed a foam cup and filled it the brim with coffee. "I love that woman, but the thought of Lila driving my truck again makes me foam at the mouth." He heaved a sigh. "I think I'm going to put some sort of governor on her next vehicle so it won't go over fifty-five, even if she stands on the fucking gas."

  Dan leaned back in his chair, chuckling. It would take Lila all of three days to figure it out and take that vehicle to some other garage where they'd find the regulator, he guessed, but he could see his brother was serious. "I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that you're having a baby. But if I didn't say it last night, congratulations, little brother."

  "That's fucking genius. I'll help you install it." Eric strolled into the office, joining Colton by the coffee pot. "Gotta take care of my niece or nephew. I dunno if I said it either, little brother, but good job." He clapped Colton hard on the back. "In case you're wondering, I don't change diapers, so don't ask."

  "Damn, E, I was counting on you inventing some kind of diapering machine."

  Eric shook his head after a moment's thought. "No can do. If you don't do that stuff by hand, what's the point? Besides, you've got a nanny. I guess Dan's woman and yours bonded in jail, huh? That's gonna make life easier. Nothing worse than two women who don't like each other rubbin' shoulders." He peeked over his shoulder at Dan. "How's Cynda's cooking?"

  "Does he ever think about anything above his belt?" Colton asked Dan.

  "Not often."

  "Excuse me, Daniel, can I have a minute?"

  All three brothers turned toward the unfamiliar voice. Dan recognized the lean frame even out of uniform, barely returning the cop's nod. "Reese." His brothers made no effort to leave, he noted. The laughter in Colton's eyes evaporated. Eric blew on his coffee, not sparing a look in Reese's direction.

  Reese saluted halfheartedly. "I, uh, went by the county solicitor's office and withdrew those charges against Mrs. Walker and Miss Avery, Dan. It was a hundred and five degrees out there that day and I was afraid the Walker woman would get the crowd across the street stirred up." He heaved a sigh. "But your girlfriend didn't do anything wrong, and all Mrs. Walker did was talk to one of the marchers. Sorry they had to spend that extra night in lock-up, too. If they paid any bail money, it'll be returned."

  Colton shook his head slowly. "Damn, Reese, Lila's gonna be crushed by this news. She can't sleep for thinking up all the things she plans to call you in court." His gaze was hard and Daniel saw his little brother's jaw working. "She's pregnant. How would you like it if your wife spent two nights in jail over nothing, thanks to one of us?"

  Dan's longtime friend had the grace to look ashamed. "I'd be pissed off. I didn't know she was pregnant, Colton. But if it makes you feel any better, my wife's had me sleeping on the couch for three nights now. And this is an official invite to dinner for you three and your ladies, soon as Annie gets back on her feet after the kid's born."

  It was Eric who clapped Reese on the back, then shouldered him aside. "Nice seein' ya, Reese. I'm going to work. You two gonna fuck off all day or what?"

  Reese stepped out of Eric's way, still looking across the desk at Dan. "I guess you're pretty anxious to hear what the coroner says about that body your dog dug up? I'm on my way out to your place, but I figured you might be here. Coroner's van is on its way out there now. Heard it over the radio before I got out of my car."

  Eric spun. Colton set his cup on the corner of Dan's desk, staring in disbelief. "What body?" they demanded, practically in unison.

  "I haven't told them yet." Dan sighed.

  "Well, looks like I can't stop fucking up. I know what you must be thinking, Dan. But the truth is your property—especially that stretch down by the ravine—is a good place to dump a body. Like every other city in America, we have a growing drug problem. People can do some crazy shit when they find out you're digging up a body they've buried, so there's gonna be some extra patrols out your way for the next week or two, just in case."

  "Okay." Dan thought for a second. "Let me walk you out." In response to his hard look, his brothers headed for the work bays. Dan stepped out the front door with Reese. "I could use some help with that problem I called you about. Maybe off the clock, you could drop by and explain that what he's doing is a bad idea?"

  Reese hesitated.

  "Look, that guy came to my place asking to buy that piece of land. Only that piece, Reese. It's the worst five acres I own. Grandpa Chapman only bought it because John Carpenter made it a condition for selling his orchards and it had that bridge over the ravine that meant you didn't have to go 'round on the main road. So I can't stop asking myself why Kingsley Dazza wants it. Then, a body turns up there. Drug dealers can't be the only people willing to kill over a business deal gone bad." Dan felt bad about adding, "He's Georgia Mason's nephew. I don't know the man, I guess he lived in town with his mother, but surely he visited Georgia. He told me he knew my mother." He couldn't quite bring himself to tell the story he'd heard from Georgia. The cops could do some of the work, he decided.

  Reese let out a low whistle. "That's good information. Someone's gonna have to start looking for whoever dumped this body. He's as good a jumping off spot as any." Reese opened the door to his car. "Dazza runs his loan sharking business out of an old television repair shop. Has a guy working for him that's on parole for second-degree murder. I can roust Ben without a warrant. I'll swing by there on my way out to your place."

  "Thanks. I'll be talking to him myself in less than a week, but anything you can do to make him see the light about lowering his interest rates, I'd appreciate."

  His brothers came through the roll-up doors together.

  "A body?" Eric repeated. "Is that all you know, Reese? No idea whose it might be?"

  "Fucking hell," Colton muttered. "Lila never locks a door and I just handed every gun I own over to Dan." Grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket, he began pushing buttons.

  "Not yet. If we can get an ID with dental records, it'll only take a few days. If not"—he shrugged—"it could take months." Reese made another half salute and got into his Crown Victoria. "Later, guys."

  Dan knew he should've confessed his arrangement with Cynda's grandmother at breakfast, but breakfast hadn't been eggs and ham, dammit. Afterward, he'd had to rush to get to work on time.

  He was going to call Miss Coralinne and ask if she'd go to dinner with them tonight so they could break the news. Then, Dan planned to rip up that contract and between now and tonight, he had to figure out how to beg Cynda to stay without… well, without begging. It was a bold thing to say, but Dan said it anyway. "Let me save you some money. Build one room for the baby. Your new nanny just might be living close enough to walk to work by then."

  "Hell, yeah. I thought so, just from watching the way you act around her." Colton pushed his phone into his back
pocket and pumped his fist, grinning at Daniel. "Lila really likes Cynda." He lost his grin. "You don't mind if she helps us out, do you? Lila said you didn't look happy about that arrangement."

  "I didn't?" Daniel thought about it. "Between the body, you guys walking in on us, and your big announcement, I was just shocked all the way around, I guess. The last few women I dated didn't act as though they even liked kids." He frowned at his brother. "It's a touchy subject, especially for an old caveman like me that thinks a woman should stay home with her children, but I'm delighted Cynda wants to help raise my little niece or nephew."

  Colton rolled his eyes. "We know who the caveman in this family is, D, and it's not you."

  Eric flipped him a middle finger. "Put that governor in yourself. For fifty bucks, I won't tell Lila you did it."

  Colton picked up his coffee and his smile was all teeth. "I'm having a baby without insurance. Lila has to see a specialist in high-risk pregnancies next week because of her age and they want her to have an amniocentesis. I need to add a room onto the house and Jonah needs a new baseball glove. I don't fucking have fifty bucks. But I can kick your ass for free."

  Eric threw his hands up. "Sorry, I was just joking, Colton. New glove's on me. I'll take him to buy it tonight, okay?"

  "No." Colton shook his head stubbornly. "I'll get that for him, if Lila doesn't beat me to it."

  Dan was right back where he'd started, trying to figure out what he could do to help his brother take care of his family. Thinking about that reminded him of the day he'd gone to talk to Georgia. He'd been so shocked by what she'd said about his mother, he'd forgotten to ask her about her nephew, Kingsley Dazza.

  Didn't matter, he decided. Reese would put a scare into the guy, then he'd offer him the loan amount plus reasonable interest and be done with the ass. He called Cynda to tell her the good news about the charges being dropped.