by Jana Leigh
Mason and the others knew right where they were. When they exited the elevator, they would need to move quickly. The men pulled their guns out and took off the safety. If they were waiting for them, they were in for a big surprise.
Last floor and the doors were preparing to open. The men positioned themselves so they weren't in the direct line of fire when the doors opened. Several of them went low, and the others remained high. Mason heard the ding, and the doors began to open. He heard the ping of the bullets as they hit. Shit.
West cocked his head and listened then yelled, "Point left!”
Mason smiled, he was already pointing there. When the doors cleared his line of sight, he fired, as did the others. In the small box, the noise was deafening, but all of them fired until the clips were empty.
Two men down, both on the left side of the door. He glanced down at them and shook his head, he hoped they could get IDs off them. They moved quickly down the hallway. One of the men had been hit and was being taken care of, from the yells it was not life threatening, but it hurt like hell. Another reason to kill these bastards.
“Drew, West, take the roof. Rex, we will take the Atrium,” Mason growled.
The men moved faster when they heard gunfire from both directions.
Drew and West pounded the last few steps and burst out of the door ready for the action. West fired at the only man they saw standing, he had his back to them and was not expecting company. It was an easy shot, and Drew led them to the side of the small building the man was hiding behind.
They took in the sight. A man was trading fire with Jazz, who was screaming at the top of her lungs.
“You fucking bastard, these are five hundred dollar boots, I had to beg my husbands for them. Now they are worthless 'cause you hit the fertilizer. It stinks and my shoes are ruined. You seriously need to think about this before I get pissed even more!” she yelled out.
Drew shook his head. “Hey, babe, how you doing?” he called.
“See, told you. When my husbands get ahold of you they are gonna kick your ass, dipshit!” Jazz yelled. West shook his head. Shit, they were the same, as he thought back on Arden shooting it out with the two guys in the bayou. What was with the women that joined this family. It was like they had a fucking beacon on them. It wasn't like he didn’t love Arden and love how she could handle herself but damn, it was like they should hand over the man card when they were shooting.
The man decided that Jazz wasn’t really a threat but that they were, bad choice. West heard the zip of the first bullet he shot at them. West and Drew returned fire all the while Jazz was yelling.
“You didn’t just shoot at my man did you? Of all the fucking nerve,” Jazz said and before Drew could shout for her to shut up, which is what West would have done, she stepped out of the building she was hiding in and fired twice. Then there was silence.
Drew and West stood and watched as Jazz in an unladylike motion walked toward them in a snit. “Stupid fucker. I warned him,” she snapped and walked to the door and turned around. “You coming?” The men looked at her and nodded. “Hang on, Arden, we will be right there,” she said as she put a hand to her ear. West looked at Drew who was frowning.
“Damn it, woman, have you been in the bags again. I have told you time and time again, NOT YOUR TOYS!” Drew roared.
She felt him, John, he was standing right by her. No matter what anyone said at that moment, her brother was helping her stay alive. She heard the gunfire in the background and the men were laughing at it.
“Come on, lady, the boss said to bring you in alive. He just wants to talk to you,” the man said with a thick accent. He spoke as if he had been in the U.S. for a while, but hadn't lost the accent. She wished she knew where he was from.
Arden sat quietly. The man in front of her was the one talking but she heard a shuffle too far away to be him, so there were two of them. Shit, this guy she could handle. Shoot his knee out and he’d be incapacitated. Now with the other, she was going to have to stay hidden as long as possible.
The man turned a little toward her, he was looking. She felt a cramp in her thigh, not a good time body. She bit her lip, once the damn thing started all she could think of was getting it straight in front of her. Damn it.
She remained still but had a hard time with the piercing pain she was now feeling. Finally, she knew it was too much, her treacherous body was being difficult. What to do? Arden thought in her head, the first thing was John shaking his head saying she should have drank more water that cramps came from dehydration. Then she thought about the situation. If she took the man out in front of her, she knew the other would open fire, but with the commotion, she would only need a second to see where he was.
Taking a deep breath she looked up, fuckin' A the man was smiling down at her with an evil grin, she was so fucked. Without a pause she shot through the foliage, the man screamed and dropped. Tweedledum apparently wasn’t as smart as she thought he would be, because he ran to the other man without securing her.
Arden rose out of the bush, the man was pissed, he stood and swung at her, clipping her in the side of the face. She was stunned for a second, then she brought the gun up at the same time he did. The man had murder in his eyes and for a spilt second she hesitated, it was one thing to shoot someone who wasn’t making eye contact but staring someone in the eyes was another story.
He smiled, he knew exactly why she had paused, she wasn’t a cold-hearted killer. She was discriminate. She heard the shot, and she closed her eyes, she was going to die. Wow, no pain, that was good. She just stood frozen waiting for her brother to come and get her. Wait…she was standing.
Arden opened her eyes to see Mason staring at her worriedly. She looked around and then shook her head. She was so not telling them she thought she had died. They would think she was nuts.
“You okay?” Mason asked.
She sighed and then rolled her eyes, “Ya, fine.”
Mason pulled her into a hug and then West was there doing the same. She could hear Jazz and her guys arguing. When she pulled back, she saw her friend trying to slap her guy’s hands away. Arden frowned and saw the blood on her arm.
“Shit, Jazz, are you okay?” Arden said and crawled out of the bushes and went to where her friend was standing nose to nose with her husbands.
“Yeah, fine, I need to get this looked at, but the overbearing twins here think I need surgery. I'm capable enough to know when it is a through and through. Chill,” Jazz ground out.
“Infections, shock, anything could happen!” Drew yelled.
“So can a brain aneurism from being yelled at,” Jazz snarled and Arden picked up her arm and looked at it. Shit, it looked bad. Arden ripped her shirt and wrapped it around the wound.
“Honey, you need to go to the hospital,” Arden said softly.
Jazz looked at her in surprise and then down at her arm. She frowned when she held it up and saw the blood that had already flowed out of her wound. “Owwie,” she said and looked up at her husbands with tears suddenly in her eyes. “This hurts.”
Her men made comforting noises while Arden patted her back and nodded.
Mason and West walked to her and wrapped their arms around her. She knew it was because they were thinking what if it had been her.
“We need to leave, give our statements, get to the doc, and get out. We have a huge Bullseye on our backs, and to be honest, I would feel much safer at the ranch,” Mason said and they all agreed. They each took a hand and led her back to the floor they had been staying on. The police were swarming everywhere. They were surrounded and the questions were flying.
Her men squeezed her hands as they began answering.
Part Three
Letting go of the Guilt
“Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened.”
Dr. Suess
Chapter Sixteen
She was sleeping on both of her men. Her head on Mason’s lap and her feet rested in West’s lap. Jazz was just finis
hing getting her stiches and pain meds. It had taken them six hours to get through the questions, hospital, and now they were going to the plane as soon as Jazz was released.
Arden was exhausted. This had been a long few days and so much had happened. The guys knew this had all happened fast. They met and their attraction burned hot and fast. Mason and West agreed, it may have been fast, but this was real. The feelings they had for her were real.
They whispered as they waited. Both of them trying to figure this whole thing out. Mason explained about the ranch, told him his hopes about building and having his own small spread. West admitted it sounded great, but he still had his career and didn’t want to leave yet. For now, the Commander assigned him to this case, afterwards they would discuss what was going to happen.
It would be hard, but if they had a plan, then when West was ready to retire, he would be able to do so back at the ranch. Both men already knew that if they were to get married, they were prepared to build a smaller house for their mothers. No way would those women miss out on grandkids. That was something they completely agreed on—they wanted kids. It was strange for Mason to admit he wanted to be a father, but he did with Arden and West.
Rex and Drew walked down the hall wheeling their drugged up wife.
“Let’s go, she is gonna pass out in a few, at least she will sleep during the plane. Everyone is descending on the ranch in the morning. If we are quick enough, we may get a few hours of shut eye before we have to explain this whole thing yet again," Rex said tiredly.
West picked up Arden and they quickly made their way to the airport.
She barely remembered arriving in Wyoming, she knew she made the appropriate responses to the people she met. It was like a haze, but she did remember Sable and Jolie bringing her fresh clothes to change into after she showered.
Her men had taken care of her, gently and carefully, she wanted to laugh because they were treating her like she was made out of porcelain, she had one issue and they suddenly thought she was fragile, it was wrong.
When she opened one eye, she sighed. It was morning and she was in the most charming room she had ever seen. Decorated in red and white gingham, the room seemed to welcome her. She smiled, the bed they were sharing was huge, one of the biggest she had ever seen. The dressers and bed were matching country style pieces that resembled the side of a barn.
Everything was right in its place, last night she had been fascinated by the huge bathroom but was too tried to do anything about it. As she became more and more awake, she needed her morning lovin' before she could leave the bed. It was much better than coffee.
Her men had already been up, she smelled the evidence on their breaths and she laughed and jumped out of bed and then quickly got ready and went back. It only took a few moments but it felt too long to be away from them.
Mason gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled her gently over him. She felt the sizzle of awareness as West moved, smoothing a hand down her back. He kissed and licked his way down Arden’s back, he took nips of her as he moved to where the globes of her ass waited for him.
Mason arranged her so she was straddling him, her breasts dangling in front of his eyes begging to be teased, which he proceeded to do. He felt the rush of heat and knew she was already primed.
West held her hips and dipped a finger in her warm wet pussy, she moaned and threw her head back, pushed back against him since she knew what he was going to do. She was more than ready to have them take her together again. She was also ready to tell them to their faces how much she loved them.
Arden bit her lip and West gathered her juices and began to tease her back hole. She was lost in the sensations that ran rampant through her body. West was doing something to her ass that made it hard not to scream in pleasure. She bit her lips, trying to keep the noise down, something in her mind reminded her there was a baby in the house. Her body felt alive, and on fire, the way it had been the previous times they made love to her. She held back her orgasm, needing to drag the feelings out as long as she could.
West moved behind her, pressing first one finger and then two into her backside. She moaned with the expectations of what it would feel like to have them inside her again. Mason teased her nipples with his mouth until she was ready to explode. Once again, the dual pleasures were flowing over her.
Mason made her focus on him and he kissed her, thrusting his tongue in her mouth, branding her. He spread his legs a little forcing her to adjust and become more open to both of them. He continued his onslaught, reached between them, and rubbed her clit softly. She felt herself clench and forced herself to relax. She didn’t want to come too fast.
When West finished preparing her, he moved her hips, positioning her so Mason could enter her with ease. Slowly, he lowered her on Mason's shaft, she sighed as she felt him slide into her smoothly, loving the feel of him inside her. She wanted this so much she was afraid to let go and just feel because she feared she would miss something.
Arden looked down her body seeing where they were joined and she smiled. Perfection, she thought as West rubbed her shoulders forcing her to relax. He must have felt tension in her, it was because she was so ready to tell them she loved them. She loved the way they whispered to her while they made love. It made her feel special and cherished.
She fully seated herself so she was stuffed full of Mason's cock, then she lifted a little, offering her ass to West, who smiled and smoothed a hand on her ass and positioned himself at her back entrance. With a firm and smooth stroke, he entered her. Her body accepting him fully. She grinned at the feel of both of them sliding together again. Arden’s whole body clenched and she cried out as an orgasm raged through her body like an eruption. When he was fully in her, West pulled back quickly and then eased inside her hard and deep.
Arden arched and encouraged them on. Moving her hips, taking them fully inside her. It was perfection, West thought and then focused. He poured the love for her in every touch and stroke, letting her know how much he cared.
Mason was doing the same thing, trying to convey to her how much she meant to them. They wanted her to be the center of their family. They were ready to talk to her about it too. Finally ready to bare their hearts to the woman who had stolen their heart.
West held onto her shoulders and began to ride her ass like a madman. He could feel Mason doing the same, thrusting and gripping her until he was sure she would protest in pain. She never made a noise other than that of pleasure, yelling at them to keep going, she was close. Mason looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. They both slowed.
Arden growled in frustration. “Damn it,” she swore and looked at them while trying to adjust to the slowness of their movements. Mason still rubbed her clit, keeping her stimulated as West licked her ear and glided into her.
“Arden?” Mason said.
“What?” she snapped.
“I love you,” he said firmly and her heart stopped.
“Arden?” West whispered.
“What?” she said with a trembling voice.
“I love you, too,” he said and she felt her heart break open. Tears threatened to flow and she smiled and then took a deep breath.
“You will never know how much I love you both. Wait, I take that back, you will if you finish what you started. Loving me,” she said and they both laughed but set about to prove to her they loved her.
West and Mason set a slow and romantic pace, not nearly as earth shattering as the last time, but more loving and caring. She moaned as she felt her body responding, her heart was ready to burst and she felt their love flow over her.
Mason pinched her clit suddenly and she came with a scream as the men rode her orgasm out until they came inside her at the same time. It was what she had always imagined when falling in love for real. She couldn't imagine her life without them. Together they fell into a breathless heap waiting for their heart to slow down.
Chapter Seventeen
Was he surrounded by fucking idiots, the only thing th
at was a consolation as that the morons were dead. The woman and her friends had actually gotten the drop on six well-trained assassins. Maybe he was wrong, maybe the training they were giving his men was substandard. That little shit of a brother would know, but Diego refused to ask him. It was not worth being turned down by the pious asshole.
Damn, their luck had to run out soon. He was getting impatient to continue with his empire. It was not appropriate that he was being inconvenience because the men were not completing his work.
It had been a simple thought. Kill the men who took his father from him. Diego took over and swore to his father’s men that he would find them. It hadn’t taken long, but doing it right had taken a long time to plan.
The first attack had been successful, this was the only one he took credit for because he had done it right. Of course, he had been unable to take out the whole team but that was always a possibility, the only way they could have made it possible was if Diego had been there watching the men walk to the building and blowing up the man who wore the damn thing. Too many factors in that. However, half was an acceptable kill.
The rest should have been easy, but his men underestimated the soldiers, Diego never would have done that. Which is why he was sitting in his mother's living room, telling her a story that would make her feel guilty enough to let him to stay. She understood, but she was also ambitious in her placement. She was the Ambassador, which gave her a status. She wouldn't give it up for her disgraced son and Diego had accepted that. It didn’t mean he still couldn’t manipulate her, she was stupid to think he would be so upset by a woman.