Seize (St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders) Book 2: Erotic Romance

by Gina Watson

  Oh shit, game on. But he couldn’t break her spirit now. She was so confident, and he delighted in her newfound self-assuredness.

  “The doctor is going to release me.”

  “He was here already?”

  “Yep.” She nodded. “Said I was good to go. Just got to wash, irrigate, and change the bandage until it’s completely healed.”

  His eyes closed and he inhaled on a prayer thanking God that she was all right. In that moment it didn’t matter that there was a misunderstanding. He didn’t care if they stayed married forever as long as her light shone bright.

  “Mia.” He pulled her tight for a hug. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life. I thought you… you were out for so long I thought…”

  “But I’m okay now. And if I was gone, who else would annoy you to death in the car?”

  He kissed the top of her head. His eyes stung, but he blinked away the moisture.

  “Hey, tell me one thing—and I’m hoping like hell the answer is no—but did we consummate this thing and I missed it?” She held her ring hand in the air next to their faces and wiggled her fingers.

  Laughter exploded from his chest. Deep cleansing laughter that he couldn’t keep inside. “No, baby, and what an insult. Trust me, if we’d consummated, you’d remember.”

  “That’s a relief.” She dipped a piece of bacon into the runny part of her egg and stuffed it into her mouth. Smiling at him she said, “I would have hated to miss it.”

  “You didn’t miss it, baby.”

  *

  The jury was in: Mia did not like hospitals. She’d been once before to visit a high school friend who’d had a baby, and she’d associated hospitals with joy and glee, but now she had another image forming. One of pain and apprehension. Every time a new person came into the room, they wanted to poke and prod at her like she was some breathing pin cushion. Finally, after she’d been checked over what seemed like a thousand times, they officially cleared her for discharge. It had been a long day, and she felt greasy and dirty and wanted a bath and a big soft bed.

  “We’ll be to Baton Rouge in about ten hours.”

  Downhearted at his seeming delight regarding the ten-hour drive, she sighed.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m tired and was hoping for a hot bath and nice big soft bed.”

  “Recline the seat.”

  “It’s six thirty; are you seriously going to drive for ten hours straight?”

  “Straight through, baby.” He gestured at the highway. “Be there before sunrise.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to be in this car all night. I want a bath, a hamburger, a big soft bed, some reality television, and I want to snuggle up next to you, and I want you there too if you’re not going to be all Augie’s law all night.” She was frustrated, and her words were clipped.

  He frowned. “What’s Augie’s law?”

  “Augie’s law is where you act crazy. You know, that thing you do where you act demanding and testy. What’s that saying—When I say jump, you ask how high? I think it’s because you’re ex-military, but I’m not a cadet, so it’s just not gonna fly.”

  Smiling, he grabbed her hand and kissed the knuckle. “No woman—hell, no man—has ever spoken to me the way you do.”

  “I’m just tired. I want to be in a bed with you.”

  “Okay, that’s not an unreasonable request. We’re going to have to stop to clean and treat your leg. So instead of stopping for a moment, we’ll stay the night.”

  “Reasonable or unreasonable, I want to stop.”

  “Okay, baby.”

  They drove a while longer and swung around to drive back in the opposite direction. She’d learned he didn’t like to be questioned, or at least she didn’t think he did, so she tried not to ask him many questions. He’d proven to her time and again that he could be counted on to ensure her safety and see to her needs, and she trusted him completely. Leaning against his shoulder, she sighed contentedly as her eyes closed.

  Electronic beeps filled the car and his biceps worked beneath her as he punched Gateway Arch into the GPS. He had something special up his sleeve, and she was giddy at the thought. The sun had set and as they turned a corner, her breath hitched at the sight before them. She’d seen pictures, but the pristine, sleek metal curved to perfection and magnified to its full glory took her breath away.

  “The gateway to the west.”

  “It’s breathtaking.”

  “It is quite spectacular.” He pointed to a massive hotel across from the arch. “I say we get a room at the top of that thing.”

  “I don’t know, it’s like a four-hundred-dollar-a-night hotel.”

  “Should know how to make a good Belgian waffle then.” He pulled the car under the porte cochère, and at once a valet opened her door.

  Augie grabbed the little bit of stuff they had. He took her hand and pulled her inside. She slowed at the entry to admire the massive crystal chandelier with its many prism-like dangling teardrops. The ceiling had gold leaf detailing and a paint job reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel, and opulence simply dripped from every surface.

  “It’s gorgeous!” She gingerly padded to one of the many red velvet couches and rubbed her fingers over the material. Mini-chandeliers designed to be a likeness of the main structure hung over the couches and chairs.

  A man in a tuxedo stopped at her side. “Would you like a drink menu?”

  She sank down in the couch until only her eyes peered over the high back. An arm wrapped around her shoulders. She turned to see Augie standing behind her.

  “Would you like a drink?” he asked.

  “Um, I want a sex on the beach,” she whispered back.

  “You can’t have alcohol with your medication.”

  She frowned. “Well, then, why did you ask me if I wanted a drink?”

  He chuckled. “I thought you might be thirsty and you’re sitting in the clubhouse area that serves as overflow for their nightclub and bar.”

  “I am?” Heat bloomed in her face as Augie pointed to the sign. It was a framed picture that hung on the wall and blended with the lavish furnishings. “Oh.”

  She started to stand.

  “You sure you don’t want anything? Nonalcoholic drinks are good. Do you like coconut?”

  “Love it.”

  “We’ll take two virgin piña coladas,” he told the waiter. To Mia he said, “Do you want to sit out on the patio? The concierge said you can see the arch from there.”

  “Yes, I’d love to.”

  Passing by the tuxedoed waiter, Augie told him where they were going. When he said that the patio wasn’t open, Augie whispered something she didn’t hear and within a few minutes the man was back, carrying their drinks along with keys to unlock the door.

  Outside, she took the green straw into her mouth and sucked up the cool treat. “Mmm, that’s good. Pineappley and coconutty.” She felt eyes on her and looked up to find Augie staring at her with a broad smile on his face.

  “What?”

  “Pinappley?”

  “Yes.” She sipped again. “Mmm. And coconutty.”

  They finally turned to sit and both gasped. The patio was set at an angle to the arch and the effect was mesmerizing. A sleek steel blade rose from the ground and jutted straight toward the sky until her eye couldn’t follow it anymore. “Wow!”

  “Gotta be the best seat in the house.”

  “Gotta be.”

  He sat on an outdoor pub chair. “Know what can make it better?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Come sit here.” He patted his lap.

  She let herself be nestled against him.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Hmm.” She shrugged. “I feel great. Why?”

  He pulled her hair together and laid it over her shoulder before he pressed his cheek against hers. “You could have died, Mia.” His breath whispered over her ear. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurting?”

 
“Well, you were so busy with everything, important things, and I didn’t want to cause more trouble for you after my sister and I have caused you so much already.”

  He pressed her to him and kissed her temple. “It’s not trouble, it’s your life. You can come to me for anything. Have I ever made it seem any other way?”

  God, now he was reprimanding her. “Of course you haven’t.”

  “Think how I would have felt if something had happened to you after all I’d done to protect you. I would have been devastated.”

  To hear him talk so frankly made her long to be alone with him and show him how much he meant to her too. “I’m sorry. It was stupid. I won’t do anything like that again.”

  He kissed her hair, and she leaned into his chest. “I love my ring.”

  “I thought you would.”

  “Thinking of being dead, you know what I thought?”

  “What’s that?”

  “I could have died a virgin. It’s the most depressing thought I’ve ever had.”

  He was still, quiet. In fact, if it weren’t for the rise and fall of his chest, she never would have known he was still behind her.

  “Augie, why don’t you want me? The real reason.”

  He took her drink and his and set them on the table before he turned her in his lap.

  “We’ve been over this. It’s not that I don’t want you. I don’t want to take advantage of you or our situation.”

  “You can’t control this too. You want me, and I want you. And tonight I want to have sex, you inside me. I don’t want to be a virgin anymore. If you won’t help me, then I’ll find someone who will.”

  “You think blackmailing me is going to work?”

  “I no longer care.” She slid off his lap and squared her shoulders. “I’m going to go mix it up on the dance floor.”

  She headed inside, not looking back once.

  She wasn’t dressed for dancing, but she was going to prove a point. Wasn’t she?

  She stopped. What was she doing? Was she even thinking straight?

  No, no, no, she wasn’t going to think about her motives. She continued into the club. She took a spot on the dance floor and swayed to the music. The sound was syncopated, rhythmic, but slow. Several people were dancing, but she found a corner and pulsed with the beat. She followed Augie with her eyes when he emerged from the patio area and slowly sauntered across the club to a table. Crazy caveman wouldn’t even come and dance. She knew she was being deliberately provocative, but his rules were ridiculous. They’d already been intimate many times and tonight she would lose her virginity one way or another.

  Right. Who was she kidding? Deep down she knew she was all talk.

  It would be Augie in bed with her tonight, or it would be no one.

  Chapter 19

  God, the woman was driving him crazy. And how many more times could he deny her? He didn’t think he had it in him any more. Fuck it. He’d take her tonight and shut her up for good. She only thought she wanted him to be her first. Well, he’d be her first all right but he wouldn’t, he couldn’t, be counted on to hold back or coddle her because of her delicate condition. No, if she wanted it, she would have to take what he offered, and he wouldn’t tolerate any whining, crying, or second thoughts. She wanted to see what he was like, and he was going to show her.

  Her erotic moves on the dance floor were attracting the wrong kind of attention. A man had taken the space behind her and was moving in sync with her. When his hands went to her slim hips, Augie was on his feet, mindlessly pushing toward them, the only thing in his path, white-hot rage.

  Get control of yourself, Roy.

  He pulled her behind him. Eye to eye with the unwanted man, he said, “Get lost.”

  “Excuse me, asshole, we were dancing.”

  “If you want to retain the ability to dance, you’ll run, not walk, in the opposite direction.”

  His voice was terse, his body rigid. The guy looked him up and down, turned, ducked tail, and ran.

  Mia regarded him with that cocked brow of hers, the one that made him want to laugh on the one hand and pull her body under his and pleasure her for hours on the other. Her index finger was caught between her front teeth; that sultry look didn’t induce the urge to laugh. He walked around behind her and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her back to him, her ass rubbing against his thighs and crotch. They danced, and he enjoyed her supple movements against his hard body. When the song ended, he pulled her away from the dance floor and to the elevator bank.

  Once the door closed, he ran his palm over her jaw. He seized her lips and sucked, pushing her body slowly back until she was pressed against the cold metal shell of the elevator wall. He closed his fingers around her breast and squeezed her tit, hard. When she shuddered, he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She sucked sweetly on it. He grabbed the back of one of her thighs and lifted until she wrapped her leg around his waist. He ground against her core.

  “You think I don’t want you? What about what you feel between your legs?”

  She replied with a moan.

  “Baby, do you feel what you do to me?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was breathy and weak. “I need you.”

  “I know, baby. I’m gonna take care of you.”

  “Inside me.”

  He took her earlobe in his fingers. “You’re ready for me, for all of me?”

  “God, yes. Please, Augie.”

  The door pinged open and he carried her to their room. He set her on the bed and removed her shoes and jeans. “I need to change your bandage and clean the wound.” He motioned to their bags at the side of the bed.

  Shaking her head swiftly, she said, “No.”

  He grabbed the bag from the hospital and dumped out the contents. “I’m gonna go wash my hands. Psych yourself up while I’m gone.”

  He had to clean her leg. They could still play around, but doctoring her was more important. He was still hard from the elevator and needed a breather—before he ripped her clothes from her body and slaked his needs, taking what his body wanted.

  Walking from the bathroom, he almost stumbled head first into the wall. In the center of the bed, standing on her knees, was a completely naked Mia. She had their marriage license on display in her hands.

  “Augustine Charles Roy, I want you. Since I was passed out on my wedding night, this is it. Get over here and consummate this marriage now or so help me God, I will find someone who will. I would like it to be you, my husband. And besides, you’ve been sporting a canon in your pocket since I was seated on your lap at the patio so … What do you say?”

  A growl escaped his chest as he ripped through his clothes, tearing them off as fast as gravity would allow. Naked, he stood before her and fisted his cock, stretching to his full length as she watched, her eyebrows slowly reaching her hairline and her eyes forming eggplant-colored spheres. Her tongue darted out, moistening her lip. He was ready to explode and he hadn’t even touched her. Reaching down, he snagged his jeans and took out his wallet and a sleeve of condoms. She wanted it, she’d get it; he’d fuck her until they ran out of rubbers.

  He knelt on the bed, lifted Mia’s legs at the backs of her thighs, and she went down abruptly on her back, the wind knocked out of her. He pushed her thighs up, careful to avoid her bandaged shin.

  “Keep your legs up and your hands on your knees.”

  He ran his engorged cock through folds soaked with her need, pushing just a bit at her opening. Her size would make the first coupling painful.

  “You’re small.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I won’t hurt you.” He wanted not to care about this little kitten of a woman, but damn it to hell, he did, and he would attempt to bring her as much pleasure as he could. They’d be taking it very slow. Even if his heart or his cock exploded with his efforts at holding back.

  He stood, waiting for his blood to cool. Hands at his shoulders turned him.

  “You can’t leave me like this. Augie,
I swear I’ll hate you until I’m dead if you do. What’s wrong with you?”

  He saw the moisture collecting in her eyes. Her face was red hot and her lips were pursed into a tight line. His hand palmed her cheek. She was a sexually frustrated kitten, but he knew how to take care of her. He spoke the words he knew she needed to hear.

  “Baby, we’re not done. I’m gonna ride you all night long. I’m gonna be in you so long you’re going to wish you never asked for it. You’ll be begging for me to stop.”

  Her satisfied groan vibrated through his hand and down his arm. Leaning in, he kissed her, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth.

  “Let me set the mood. After all, this is your first time. I want it to be good. And I’m under some pressure here since I’ll be your first.”

  She smiled bashfully at him, and his cock jerked.

  Walking around the room, he turned off the antiseptic white overhead lights and turned on two lamps. He opened the curtains and bathed the room in the glow from the arch. He searched the bedside radio for appropriate music and was in luck when he landed on an all-night dedication station.

  Warm hands smoothed over the muscle of his backside. Placing her chin on his shoulder, she purred as she continued her caress.

  “You have a most marvelous butt. How do you stay so muscular?”

  “I run and box.”

  He turned until they were face to face, only inches apart. He kissed her nose, his hands slinking down to cup her slim curves. Pulling back, he slid his middle finger through her folds. “You’re beautiful.”

  Her head went down. His finger under her chin lifted her face to his. “Hey, what’s going through your mind?”

  “I bet you’ve been with some really pretty girls.”

  “But you’re more beautiful than all of them put together.”

  “With women’s bodies.”

  She wasn’t listening to him.

  “Are you not a woman? I thought I’d checked on that a few times.”

  “I mean with cleavage and big round melon breasts and curvy hips and butts.”