His Cherished Love (Cuffs and Spurs Book 8)

by Anya Summers

  Jack shook their hands in greeting and Rayna held back. Some of them might hate her after today, and for more than her deception. She downed a few big gulps of wine.

  Everyone situated themselves in the living room, with her and Jack on chairs in the center. Rayna hated being the center of attention and had to work hard not to fidget under their direct stares.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Jack said.

  “You sent out the bat signal,” Alex said with a shrug.

  “Emily wants to know what is so secretive that I couldn’t tell her,” Mason said with a raised brow.

  “It’s because of me and what I’m about to tell you,” Rayna said. All eyes zeroed in on her.

  Jack intervened. “I can tell them. You don’t have to—”

  She cut Jack off. “No. This is my story. I’m the one who is going to be asking them to risk themselves. They deserve to hear it from me. Spencer already knows, some of it.”

  “If you’re certain. I’ll give the floor to you,” Jack said. She knew he would do it, shield her from this conversation if she asked him to. But that smacked of cowardice.

  She glanced at her audience and swallowed the lump in her throat before she began. “I’ve been lying to everyone in Jackson Hole about who I am.”

  In the space of a heartbeat, she had a room full of pissed-off Doms glaring at her. So far, it was going spectacularly. She inhaled a steadying breath and continued, “My name is not Rayna Thompson, it’s Victoria Giancarlo. A name I haven’t gone by since I was placed into the US Marshall’s witness protection program a decade ago.”

  Shocked expressions filled the room. It was like she had dropped a bomb.

  “A little over ten years ago, I worked with the FBI on a case against my father, Raoul Giancarlo, and his mob empire that included my cousins and uncles. It was my testimony and the information I was able to gather for the FBI that sent them all to prison to serve consecutive life sentences.”

  “Why are you telling us this?” Carter asked with a thoughtful expression.

  She blew out a breath. “Because there was one member of my father’s organization, Dominic Travino, who escaped. Since my father had no sons to carry on the family legacy, Dominic had been positioning himself within the organization to take over for my father when the time came—so much so that he had gotten my father to agree to an alliance between our families by marrying me. We were never married, thank god. But Dominic has been after me ever since my father’s trial concluded. This is my third name, and the third location I have lived in since being placed into witness protection. First I was Sally Eaton, then Nina Watts, and now Rayna Thompson. I’ve lived in San Antonio, Oregon, and now here.

  “And I’m telling you all this because he’s found me again. He knows I’m in Jackson Hole and will not stop until he kills me.”

  “But you don’t look like Victoria. I followed that case,” Mason said, his gaze searching her face. His hair was a few shades darker than Jack’s, and stuffed beneath the brim of a dark brown Stetson. Mason was married to Emily, and they had just had a little boy, Max, two months ago.

  Rayna looked at him. “Dominic caught up with me in San Antonio. He invaded my home before the FBI was able to reach me. He broke my jaw, my nose, and even cracked my skull, before they arrived. There was so much damage, we—and by we, I mean myself and my handlers, with the Marshalls and at the Bureau—thought it best if I underwent some plastic surgery. So, after seven rather painful surgeries, I look like this now.”

  She lifted her chin up and showed him, trailing her finger over the familiar line. “This scar is from those surgeries.”

  “Jesus,” Garrett exclaimed. Garrett was Cora’s fiancé. He had trimmed his black beard short in deference to the heat, and now pierced her with his cobalt blue-eyed stare. She saw why her best friend was over the moon about him. He was sinfully handsome.

  “What do you need from us?” Cole asked. Cole looked like a mountain man with his dark hair brushing his shoulders and beard. He was married to Mia, an author who had moved to Jackson Hole after they’d met. They were expecting a little girl in August.

  Jack interjected himself into the conversation at that point. “My department, along with the FBI and the Marshalls, is setting a trap to lure him out into the open.”

  “You’re going to use yourself as bait?” Alex said. He had hair that reminded Rayna of the sunrise, with its golden red strands. Alex was married to Layla, a local vet.

  Rayna nodded. “Yes. It’s the only way it will end. I can’t keep running. He always finds me.”

  “How?” Carter asked.

  “I’ve already discussed some of this with Spencer. He already knew because he’s worked with my department before, and I needed his eyes on her while she was at the club. And I needed access to Cora’s old place,” Jack explained.

  Rayna answered, “I’m going to be on the Teton Cowboy float during the Fourth of July parade. They are going to put my name in the paper—my real name. Dominic won’t be able to resist.”

  “Isn’t that putting a lot of people in danger? Using the parade?” Mason asked.

  Jack said, “It is, and that’s why we need your help. We need your eyes in the crowd. Eyes and ears I trust without question. I don’t want that bastard to get his hands on her. The more eyes in the crowd, the better our chances for catching him will be.”

  Rayna said, “As much as I adore each of your wives, from now until this is over, I’m going to ask that you keep this information about me from them. No one else from the club can know. It would put them in danger. I’ve already put you all in danger just by the mere fact that I’m here and that you now know who I am. For that, I’m sorry.”

  “I agree, we keep the wives in the dark, for now. Let’s catch the SOB first. And you’re one of us, Rayna, it’s what friends do,” Cole said.

  “I second what he said,” Mason added.

  “We have our own festivities at the lodge. Why don’t we have the women all converge there? And one of us can stay behind to keep an eye on them,” Alex interjected.

  Carter nodded. “That would be good. I’d rather know that my wife and kids are safe.”

  Garrett added, “I’ll stay with them. I’m the better shot out of all of us. And, Spencer, I know you’re better than me, but for appearances, you need to be on the Teton Cowboy float. It would look odd if you weren’t.”

  “I agree, and I will be on it with her,” Spencer said.

  Jack shook his head. “No deal. I should be on it.”

  “Travino has spotted you with her. If he sees you on that float, he’s going to know something is up. I know you want to protect Rayna, but don’t be a stubborn moron about this,” Spencer replied.

  Rayna said, “Spencer has a point, Jack. If Dominic sees you with me, he could back off. Then we’re back to me running.”

  Jack shot her a dark look. “Quiet, babe.”

  Cole added, “She’s right, Jack. It would be better if you were in the crowd.”

  Jack turned on her. “Fuck that. I will be on that float. Don’t push me, Rayna. I already loathe this plan, and would prefer putting you on complete lockdown until this asshole is caught. Barring that, I have agreed to go along with this cockamamie plan, but we will do it my way, not yours.”

  She held up her hands. “Fine. Do what you want.”

  “Fine,” he snapped.

  He turned back to his friends, who all wore shit-eating grins on their faces before he snarled at them, “Any of you want a piece of me?”

  “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Mason said, and the rest of Jack’s friends laughed at his expense.

  They spent the next hour coordinating who would be where on the day of the parade. When they left, each guy gave her a big hug, because she was one of them. After being alone for so many years, Rayna felt like she had a family again.

  One that she would fight for—and, if it came to it, would die to protect.

  Chapter 28

  The
next two days sped by in a blur of activity. Rayna called off sick at the diner for the next few days. It was too out in the open now that she knew Dominic was here. Once this was all said and done, she planned to cut back anyhow. She liked Marty but had been thinking that, if they caught Dominic and he was behind bars, maybe she could go back to school and finally get her degree.

  Spencer had given her the next week off from the club, as well. It gave them time to get all the preparations in place, during which time, Jack had become her shadow.

  They had met with Jack’s department today. She’d met his partner, Mitch, and the bulk of the police force. Chief Sheffield had led the meeting, explaining who Rayna was and what their plans were for catching Dominic. More than a few brows rose, especially when David and his small task force arrived. There were a few mumbles about jurisdiction. But in the end, the chance to collar such a high-profile mobster was too enticing for them to remain unaffected.

  She was cleaning up the last of the pans from the steak dinner Jack had barbecued for them tonight, when his hands slid around her waist.

  “I’m almost finished,” she murmured.

  “Leave them,” Jack said and nibbled on her ear.

  Her eyes slid shut at the exquisite sensation. “Jack,” she sighed as his mouth traveled to that one spot on her neck that made her want to agree to anything and everything.

  “It will be fine there until morning. I need you,” he said, turning her in his arms. And she let him. She knew that there was a chance this was their last night together. She didn’t want to waste a moment of it.

  She slid her arms up around his neck. “Is that a fact?” she teased.

  He lowered his forehead to hers, still staring into her eyes. She filled her gaze with all the love she had for him. There was no place for holding back any longer when all they might have was the night.

  “It is. Come upstairs with me and I promise to make you climax so many times, you’ll forget your name.”

  “I guess the dishes can wait,” she replied and leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. Jack cupped her nape and deepened the kiss.

  Jesus, the man kissed her, and she was a goner. They could be under attack and it wouldn’t matter. His tongue traced the seam of her lips before sliding inside to duel with hers. A single kiss battered away any defenses she had, but she was no longer afraid of what she felt for him, this insanely hot, stubborn, honorable man. She reveled in him and what he made her feel.

  He lifted his mouth, leaned down and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her with one arm beneath her knees and the other wrapped around her torso. Rayna held on and proceeded to latch her mouth onto the hollow of his neck. His scent, that spicy, dark aroma that was Jack, washed over her.

  He shut the door to her bedroom and deposited her on the bed. When he went to reach for his cuffs, she asked, “For tonight, can we just forget the bondage?”

  He glanced at her and nodded. “If that’s what you want. I will give you a pass tonight. Strip and lie on your back for me.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. Just because I’m not using bondage tonight doesn’t mean I won’t control your pleasure. And the cuffs will be back tomorrow night.”

  “Yes, Sir.” They were both dancing around the fact that if something went wrong, there might not be a tomorrow night. Even though it was what they were both thinking.

  Rayna stripped off her tank top and bra, then removed her shorts and panties. She scooted into the middle of the bed and lay back with her head on the pillow. She watched Jack strip. The man was efficient, as he was with everything. She sucked in a breath as he stood naked and proud before her. He was gorgeous, from his wide shoulders, to his impressive rock-hard chest, to his tapered abdomen.

  He grabbed a few items from what she now knew was his treasure trove on naughty, where he kept the lube, condoms, and bullet vibrators, among other things.

  Jack joined her in bed, laying the items he’d grabbed beside her and sliding himself between her thighs. Her hands slid up his chest and circled his neck, where she toyed with the edges of his hair.

  Jack lowered his head and slanted his mouth over hers. She moaned at the decadent sensation. She loved kissing him. He made her weak and left her trembling. She returned his fervent kiss as he took control, forcing her mouth wide to accept his dominant invasion. He kissed her so hard that at one point their teeth gnashed each other. Jack’s talented tongue plunged deep inside the far recesses of her mouth, sliding against her tongue, and she melted against him.

  It happened every time he kissed her. She had no defenses against him. Not that she wanted any. Jack kissed her and the outside world receded until he was all she could see. She prayed to whatever deity would listen that they both survived tomorrow. She wanted the chance to love this man for the rest of her existence.

  Jack left her mouth, planting open-mouthed, hungry kisses over her collarbone, down the slope of her chest to her breasts. The man loved her boobs and proved it, tonguing the nipples into his mouth, abrading them with his teeth with sharp bites that razored through her being. He paid them homage, suckling them until her nipples were stiff, beaded points before he traveled further south, dipping his tongue in her belly button and over the small swell of her stomach to the valley between her thighs.

  Her insides quivered at what she knew was to come. Jack had a singularly gifted tongue and was amazing at giving oral. She wondered how many times he would make her climax.

  His dark gaze met hers. “You are not permitted to come until I allow it, understood?”

  Her belly clenched. “Yes, Sir,” she breathed, hoping she could do as he commanded.

  But then he lowered his mouth, spread her labia folds with his hands, and began an all-out assault on her pussy—a delicious, extended, ‘she was about to lose her damn mind if he didn’t let her climax’ type of assault. He swished his tongue in circles around her clit. Sucked at the bud, making it swell and elongate. As his tongue ravished her pussy, she felt one of his index fingers prod her back channel. He slathered lube over her rosette and pressed the digit forward, not stopping his voracious tongue from fucking her sheath.

  Oh god! She wasn’t going to be able to last long. She loved when he added anal to their lovemaking. She opened for him, relaxing into the finger stretching her rear. Rayna gripped the sheets beside her, rocking her hips up, yearning for more friction. But Jack stopped her, his grip turning to iron.

  Before long, he was adding a second and third finger to penetrate her rear. It was all too much. Her body walked a tightrope, ready to snap. She whimpered, “Jack, please.”

  “Hold on,” he growled against her pussy. The vibration hummed along her clit and she moaned.

  When Jack added a fourth finger, inserting it into her back channel, Rayna nearly came up off the bed at the intensity of pleasure. It felt like her entire body was racing to the top of a mountain, picking up speed, going faster and faster, until the summit came into view. It was a glistening, sparkling peak.

  Her body throbbed, needing release like a person in the desert needed water.

  When all four digits were thrusting unimpeded into her back channel, Jack, not lifting his face from her pussy but between flicking licks against her clit, said, “Come for me.”

  Then he bit down on her clit just as he thrust his fingers deep inside her rear, hard and fast. Her body imploded like a depth charge underwater. It rattled her entire being. Her hips bucked against his thrusting fingers.

  Jack rose up on his knees. His cock jutted from his pelvis. But then he slid a cock ring on over his length. That wasn’t what was unusual, he had worn a few cock rings. They helped him go longer. The damn things turned him into the freaking Energizer Bunny. But this cock ring was different from all the others he had used, because it had a dildo attached that hung beneath his cock.

  “Jack, I—” Holy hand grenade, double penetration. She had mentioned it was one of her fantasies.

  “Use
your safeword if you need it, babe,” he murmured as he slicked lube over the dildo before positioning himself so his cock was lined up with her pussy and the dildo at the entrance to her back channel.

  On his hands above her, Jack pressed his hips forward, sliding both shafts inside slowly, so slowly, Rayna felt every inch as he filled her. Her mouth dropped open on a moan. It was too much. The double penetration stretched her painfully. But he didn’t stop, retreating and thrusting forward an inch at a time until he was fully embedded. He held himself there, allowing her body to adjust.

  Rayna had never been so aroused in all her life. She wanted to become a spokeswoman for double penetration and tell every woman they needed to experience it at least once.

  Her hands gripped his sides and she canted her hips, giving him the signal that she needed more than just penetration. She needed him to screw her damn brains out.

  Jack began to sinuously roll his hips, thrusting in and out. She’d never felt anything like it. It was incredible. Sensations and pleasure-filled bursts had her fingers digging into his lower back. He kept his pace steady, with hard, deep thrusts meant to drive her out of her ever-loving mind. It worked. She clawed at him, writhing beneath him as her body reached for the pinnacle of completion.

  “Jack,” she whined.

  He lowered his body down onto his elbows, his handsome face inches from her. The move deepened his penetration and he increased the tempo of his thrusts. Rayna felt like she was being re-forged. The pleasure was indescribable.

  She came apart at the seams. The orgasm rocked her body over a cliff into an abyss filled with bliss. But the cock ring meant that Jack wasn’t even close to climaxing. Rayna quaked in his embrace as he stroked in and out, filling her body to the brim. Over and over, he plunged. Rayna climaxed again and again. She clutched at his back, their bodies slick with sweat. Her pussy and rear were swollen.