After Glow

by Autumn Jones Lake

  The asanas are much slower and gentler than our regular poses, which works since I’m slower lately myself.

  After class, Swan swears we need to relax with tea and muffins before starting our day. I actually like the new ritual she’s added.

  Wrath joins us, stealing a muffin from the tray. “Ladies, are you ready for the grand reopening of Furious?”

  “You have a date?”

  Trinity flashes an apologetic smile. “It’s about a week before you’re due.”

  “Oh, that’s awesome. I’m so excited.”

  “We’re gonna do a big party. Big event,” Wrath says.

  “I’ll probably have to sit it out.”

  Wrath frowns at me. “Why?”

  I shrug, embarrassed to voice my fear to Wrath, who fears nothing. “What if I go into labor and ruin the whole thing?”

  He lifts his hands in the air as if the idea is absurd. “My niece’s arrival won’t ruin a damn thing. And at least you’ll be closer to the hospital.”

  My throat tightens with emotion, and I reach over to pat his hand. “Thank you.”

  Trinity taps on her cell phone and brings up her calendar. “Are you and Rock still planning to stay at the hotel near the hospital the week of D-day?” Trinity asks.

  “I think so.”

  “Are you nervous?” Swan asks.

  “Terrified.”

  Wrath squeezes my hand. “I have faith in you. You’re gonna do great.”

  Rock swears Wrath’s allergic to anything baby-related. But he’s been nothing but sweet to me during my pregnancy. Even so, I didn’t mean to detract from his excitement about the gym, so I try to steer the conversation back. “So are you excited or nervous about the reopening.”

  “Ready to be back in business. This year has fuckin’ sucked.”

  “I’m so happy you’re almost ready to re-open.”

  “Me too. Forgot how much I hate working for other people.”

  Rock joins us, coming up behind me and settling his hands on my shoulders.

  Wrath lifts his chin at him. “Rock’s the only one I can tolerate taking orders from.”

  I tip my head back in time to see Rock’s eyebrow quirk. “Why are you always giving me lip, then?”

  “To keep you humble, Prez.”

  Their banter is interrupted by a ton of noise from outside. Heavy machinery. Backup beeping.

  The heavy, oily scent of tar fills the air.

  “Oh, gross.” Trinity runs over to shut the window. “What the hell are the guys up to now?”

  Wrath and Rock share a look. “What the hell’s going on?” Wrath asks.

  “What is that?” I sniff. Closing the window didn’t help. My poor nose is more sensitive than ever and my stomach rolls. I take a sip of tea, hoping to calm the nausea.

  Wrath slams out of the kitchen and returns in a few minutes laughing his ass off. “You believe this shit? We’ve been after Z for months to get working on that driveway. Now all of a sudden he’s finally having it paved.”

  Heat sears my cheeks. “Oh my…”

  “What?” Rock asks.

  “Nothing.” Surely Z didn’t do that because I told him how uncomfortable the bumpy driveway made me.

  Did he?

  “You should go back to the house, baby doll,” Rock encourages.

  “I have to get to Crystal Ball,” Swan says, clearing the table.

  “We need to go down to your studio.” Wrath lifts his chin at Trinity. “A little notice from Z might have been nice. How the fuck we supposed to get in and out of here without tearing up the grass?”

  “I guess you guys shouldn’t have picked on him about the driveway then.” A little guilt stirs inside me, since I have a feeling I’m responsible for this more than any heckling the brothers gave Z.

  But Wrath laughs it off.

  Before leaving, I steal another muffin, maybe two, stuffing them in a small brown paper bag. Rock just smiles. “I would’ve run out and gotten you muffins.”

  “Swan made these. They’re heavenly. If you’re nice, I’ll share.”

  He chuckles and wraps his arm around my waist, guiding me out the back door. Outside, the smell hits me even harder and I gag.

  “Shit,” Rock mutters.

  “I’m okay. You know everything bothers my nose lately. I’ll be fine.”

  He growls and steers me toward the garage and the path beyond leading to our house.

  Teller’s parking his truck in the garage and waves to us. “Hold up.”

  He jumps down and opens the back door, grabbing something off the seat. “What the fuck is Z doing?” he calls over his shoulder. “If my paint gets scratched, I’m kicking his ass.”

  Rock shakes his head. “I’m trying to get her home away from the smell, so hurry it up.”

  “Oh, shit. Sorry.” He approaches with a sheepish smile.

  My gaze drops to his heavily inked arm holding out a huge bouquet of sunflowers and irises. “What’s this?”

  “For you.” His gaze skitters away once I take the flowers. “I’m sorry about taking off the way I did.”

  “Oh, Teller,” I sigh and hold out my free arm, pulling him in for an awkward half-hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  I sneeze and Rock tugs on my hand. “Come back to the house with us,” he says to Teller over his shoulder.

  Teller follows along, almost as over-protective as Rock at helping me through the path and up our stairs. “I’m fine,” I huff, brushing their hands off once we’re in the house. “Sheesh.”

  My lips twitch as I stare at the two of them side-by-side with matching concerned expressions. Is it too soon to make a like-father-like son joke?

  “Poor Charlotte’s going to have her hands full when you two start having kids.”

  Teller smirks. “Like I’ll let her leave the house.”

  “Oh, boy. Where is she? I better warn her.” I pull out my cell phone and fake-threaten to text her.

  Rock takes the flowers. “Let’s put these in water.” He nods at Teller. “Thank you.”

  Teller shrugs and runs his hand over the back of his neck.

  “Come on.” I motion him to follow us. “Rock can make coffee for you two and I can sniff it.”

  He glances down the hallway leading to Murphy and Heidi’s room. “They’re out, right?”

  “Pretty sure.” I drop into my chair and play with the vase of flowers Rock sets in front of me. “These are so beautiful. Thank you, Teller.”

  “I feel awful about you going to the hospital and—”

  “It had nothing to do with it.” I wave off his concern. The doctor’s weren’t sure about the cause and I’m sure as hell not going to make Teller feel any guiltier than he already does.

  But Teller’s not dumb. He leans forward. “You realize anyone can do a five-second Google search and discover Braxton Hicks are caused by stress.”

  “You left out a key word—can be.” I tip my head in Rock’s direction. “They can also be caused by horny husbands.”

  Rock chuckles and leans over to kiss my temple.

  Teller blinks. “You know, before when we joked about you keeping your sex life to yourselves, it was kinda funny. Now, in light of the new information, it’s mandatory.”

  Rock

  Rock

  The call I’ve been dreading for weeks comes a couple days after I return from the Demons’.

  “We’re all set,” Sway says. “Room 808 at the Diamond.”

  I whistle long and low, both to mock him and to give myself time, so I don’t tell him to fuck off. “You went all out, huh?” Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of upscale hotels in Empire.

  “Nothing but the best for her.”

  “The Diamond know you’re filming skin flicks there?”

  “No, and they’ll probably throw her out if they learn about it, so you gotta make sure she’s discreet.”

  Fan-fucking-tastic.

  “Sway—”

  “I need your help on
this, brother. I’m still on Priest’s fucking radar after that clusterfuck down in Alabama.”

  “Sorry, brother.”

  Christ. Like I needed the reminder that I’d promised myself I’d try to help Sway out when we were at National.

  “Fucking Shadow,” he growls. “That motherfucker better pray the charges get dismissed.”

  “That’s still going on?” Guess that explains why Shadow partied like he had no fucks to give when he came to Crystal Ball for the club’s holiday celebration.

  “Yup.”

  “You gonna cut him loose when it’s settled?”

  He pauses. “It’s a goddamn mess, but I can’t afford to lose him.”

  I would think he couldn’t afford to keep him, but not my problem.

  “I really need your help, Rock.”

  Even though I know how much it must be killing him to ask for help, I can’t give in right away. “Come on, Sway. Z and Dex are more than capable of handling it.”

  “Just this once,” he insists. “I trust you not to hit on her or make her feel uncomfortable.”

  That Sway actually gives a fuck about a woman’s feelings is… weird, honestly. Perhaps he’s growing a conscience in his old age. Stranger things have happened.

  “If she’s nervous, it’ll fuck up the whole movie and she’ll want to reshoot it. I don’t got the time or money for that.”

  Well, that explains Sway’s sudden conscience. Although it also suggests that Stella has a say in the business—and picturing Sway having to defer to a woman amuses the hell out of me.

  Amused at Sway’s predicament or not, I still don’t want to be part of this, and I’m not above making Sway beg. “Sway, I got a pregnant wife at home. I’m not in the mood to go play with porn stars.”

  “Shit, why didn’t you say that sooner? I didn’t realize you finally knocked up your girl. Congratulations.”

  I roll my eyes and stare at the ceiling while I silently count to five. “Thanks.”

  Then it occurs to me, shouldn’t Sway already know? Trinity sent an invitation to Hope’s baby shower to Tawny. And I know she got it because she sent us a gift.

  “How’s Tawny doing?” I ask.

  He’s quiet for a moment. “Well, I’m living at the clubhouse, if that gives you an idea.”

  I’m pretty sure Sway lives there most of the time anyway, probably why Tawny finally told him not to come home at all.

  “Come on,” he pleads. “I’m sure you can use a couple extra dollars with a baby on the way. I’ll give you a percentage of the proceeds from this film.”

  As much as I don’t want Sway’s financial advice or money, it occurs to me that from the outside, I should be looking to earn as much as possible right now. While all the brothers in my club know Teller’s investment paid off, no one besides the officers knows Teller’s been busy divvying up the large sums of money that were recently deposited in our offshore account.

  Soon, we’ll start withdrawing those funds in modest amounts so as not to attract any attention. But enough that I don’t need to take on security work for porn stars.

  I pinch the bridge of my nose, hating that I’m about to agree to this. Not even listening to Sway grovel for the last fifteen minutes is worth a day of my sanity.

  But the reality of my situation settles over me. Sway’s in a vulnerable position right now. It wouldn’t take much for him to flap his lips to National about how strange it is that I don’t want to pocket some easy cash. Sway might do it if he thought it would draw the attention away from his recent fuckups.

  “Fine. Friday. One and done.”

  “I owe you big, brother.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Rock

  “Morning,” Stella says, opening the door and motioning us inside.

  The top floor of the Diamond is nicer than I thought. Big suite. Necessary with all the people crammed into it.

  Z seems disappointed Stella’s fully clothed.

  She shows us into the bedroom.

  “This is my camera guy, Danny. Quest over there sets up the lights and microphones. Guys, this is the security Sway set me up with.”

  They nod at us and continue working.

  “It’s a lot of work to make it look spontaneous and amateur,” she adds with a girlish laugh. Leading us into the other room, Stella gestures for us to take a seat on the couch. “I’m not sure how much Sway told you.” She rolls her eyes. “Actually, I can take a guess which details he shared.”

  I snort because Sway had been short on details besides “Stand around watch her get fucked all day.” She doesn’t seem to be as fooled or as enamored of him as he thinks.

  “Why don’t you tell us what you need,” I say.

  She blows out a breath and taps her fingers against her leg. “Fuck, I hate that this whole place is nonsmoking now.”

  “You nervous, sweetheart?” Z asks.

  She shrugs. “Regular jitters. Where were we? Oh, so we’re filming in two parts today. The morning round will be pretty chill. Garrett’s a good friend of mine, so we’ll have a loose script. There might be some light bondage, and we’ll probably go where the moment takes us, but basically, he’s going to fuck my ass in a romantic, couple-y way.”

  A glance at Z shows he’s riveted to every word out of Stella’s mouth. I barely stop myself from rolling my eyes at his reaction.

  “Possible light bondage and definite anal. Got it. What else?” Z asks.

  Can’t wait to watch strangers do stuff I’d rather be home doing with my wife all day.

  “The afternoon is where it might get tricky and why you’re really here.”

  “Why’s that?” Z asks, finally seeming more interested and less aroused.

  “That’s the segment I’m filming for my Sex in Every City series. Two guys. Absolutely no deviation from the script on that one. Pussy and mouth only.” She touches her lips to drive home her point.

  Now I have a better idea of why we’re here. She’s tall, but maybe a buck-twenty soaking wet. Her camera guy’s older than dirt. And Junior-the-lights-guy barely looks old enough to drive, let alone beat off some jock who makes a unilateral decision that shoving his dick in Stella’s ass is now in the script.

  “Understood,” I say.

  She stares past me for a few seconds as if she’s trying to come up with something else. “Oh, Garrett and I have a safeword. It’s puppies, just in case. But it shouldn’t be an issue.”

  “Got it,” I answer because Z seems too tongue-tied to do anything other than drool on himself.

  Next time I see Sway, I’m throat-punching that motherfucker.

  Stella’s a good performer—and I don’t mean the sex part, they haven’t gotten there yet. She’s engaging and eye-fucks the camera like a pro when her friend shows up.

  First, she takes him out on the balcony to talk and smoke, while Z and I stand around staring at each other.

  “What made you finally do the driveway?” I ask because I’m bored and curious.

  He eyes me warily as if the answer’s gonna piss me off.

  “Don’t tell me you fucked someone’s daughter for the blacktop?”

  He snorts and slaps my arm. “No, dick. You really wanna know?”

  “I asked, didn’t I?”

  He shrugs and looks away. “Hope said the bumpy driveway bothered her, you know? ’Cause she’s sensitive and stuff. I never thought of that.”

  Unable to come up with a response to his admission, I stare at him for a few minutes.

  “What? You gonna kick my ass?”

  “No.” Once I go over his answer in my head again, I start laughing and can’t stop. “So let me get this straight. We’ve been asking you for a couple months to get on that. Hope mentions it, and the next day you go fix it?”

  He shrugs. “It needed to be done.”

  “Thanks, brother.”

  He jams his hands in his pockets. “You don’t need to tell everyone. I’m not in the mood
to listen to Rav’s mouth.”

  Not that this is the place for a little lovefest, but it means a lot to me that he’s looking out for Hope. I grab his shoulder and pull him closer for a thump on the back. “Won’t say a word. Promise. I really appreciate it.”

  He flashes a dimpled grin. “Don’t get too choked up.”

  “Aw, man! Get out there, Quinn,” the camera guy shouts drawing our attention toward the balcony again. “They’re going at it.”

  “Finally, some action.” Z rubs his hands together and peeks out the sliding glass door. “Man, she sucks dick like a champ.”

  And just like that, my irritation with this whole day returns. “I should hope so.”

  He squirms and adjusts himself.

  “Christ, really?” I groan, and he shrugs.

  The naked, groping couple makes their way into the bedroom from the balcony. “Sorry about that.” Stella covers her mouth and giggles.

  The cameraman grumbles a few complaints. Ignoring him, she pulls some black lace out of one of the drawers and asks Garrett to help her put it on.

  Z cocks his head, studying Stella as she straps herself into the complicated cage-like corset. “Her tits are smaller than I usually like.”

  “No one asked you,” I growl. “I doubt she gives a fuck what you think.”

  “But Christ,” he continues, ignoring me. “Her body’s fucking amazing. So bendy.”

  “Would you shut up?”

  “Girl definitely needs to eat more. I should take her to dinner.”

  “I swear to fuck if you don’t shut up, I’m going to choke you.”

  “Hey.” He throws his hands up in the air. “Not all of us have the luxury of a wife to go home to.”

  “Whose fault is that? And correct me if I’m wrong, don’t we have a clubhouse full of girls happy to service you whenever your dick gets lonely?”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “I never expected you to be so annoying today,” I mutter at the ceiling. For fuck’s sake, Wrath’s grumpy ass would’ve been a delight compared to this angst-ridden bullshit.

  Eventually the scene gets more intense. The two actors are really into each other. Garrett spends at least an hour with his face buried in Stella’s pussy and ass. She’s a giver, though, and returns the favor. Multiple times. In multiple positions.