Embracing the Fall

by Lainey Reese

  “So yeah,” Ziporah finished with deep satisfaction, “he got fifteen years and he won’t be eligible for parole for at least six. That’s pretty good; that’s more than I’d hoped for.”

  “Well, I’m proud of you,” Evan said with sincerity in his voice. “You worked hard, you dug out the facts, and you pushed those witnesses to get their details straight. That DA is lucky to have you, and so are the people in this city.” He leaned over and kissed her with simple undiluted affection. “And so am I.”

  “God, I love you.” She hadn’t meant to say that. But the feeling just filled her so much that if she didn’t let the words out, she would burst. She didn’t take her eyes off his face, so she had the pleasure of watching the truth of those words sink in and take root. The look on his face reassured and warmed her from head to toe.

  “I’m in love with you, too.” Evan’s head whipped around and he stared at Cami while she looked back at him in complete seriousness. “We talked about this the other day.” Z tried hard not to laugh as Cami’s inner-brat came out to play. “We plotted for hours about how we would tie you up and torture you until you agreed to let us keep you.”

  “Oh ladies, my beautiful, sweet ladies.” Z felt Evan’s hand shake as he reached out and laid it gently on her cheek. He did the same to Cami looking from one to the other of them with his heart and his eyes.

  “You went and ruined all of my big plans. See, I was going to take you out on a little trip to see my spread back in Texas. Because, even though I’m up here for the long haul, Texas will always be my home and we’ll be spending a lot of time there over the years.”

  Z felt joyous emotion gathering like a storm in her chest as she guessed where this was heading, and from the tears coursing down Cami’s cheeks, she saw that she wasn’t the only one who knew where this was going either.

  “When I got you both there, I was going to take you out into the moonlight under the stars, because New York has a lot to offer, but it’s got nothing on Texas when it comes to the night sky. Then, when I had you both there, drenched in moonlight highlighted by fireflies, I was going to tell you that I was in love with you. I was going to tell you that I wanted to marry you both. And I was going to ask you to do me the honor of spending your lives with me.”

  That storm inside Z broke. Tears poured forth hard and fast and as Evan gathered her close, she could hear the same thing happening with Cami. He loved them, it didn’t make sense to the rest of the world and she knew it never would, but he loved them. For her and for Cami it made sense, though, and that was all they needed, really.

  With the gentlest of kisses, Evan soothed away the tears. With two big palms, he cupped Ziporah’s face and brought her up till they were nose to nose and he looked straight into her eyes with his burning gaze and told her, “I love you Ziporah. I love you so much it clouds my mind.” Then as tears fell even faster, he kissed her like it was the first time and the last time.

  Evan pulled back and laid a gentle kiss on her nose then turned to Cami next. One hand cupped her chin and the other he placed along her cheek. “Cami,” he started, his accent rich and deep with his emotions, “my sweet, sweet brat. I love you. I love everything about you and I’m going to keep loving you till the day I die.” Then, even as she burst out into full blown bawling, he sealed his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the passion he’d just shown Z.

  He touched them both with reverent tenderness after that and built the passion with soft slow strokes of his hands and his tongue. Ziporah tilted her head back on a dreamy sigh as those warm lips coursed down her neck, while Cami whimpered with budding arousal when he turned and did the same to her.

  With no rush at all, his hands brushed her clothing out of the way, piece by piece until she was naked. She was so lost in his lazy lovemaking that she wasn’t even aware that he’d gotten her naked until she noticed he’d gotten Cami naked, too.

  His touch was so confident and sure as he swept his hands over her body, that Z felt branded, marked as his. With insistent hands, he urged her to her back on the couch and lowered that beautiful head. He lapped softly at the flesh between her legs with that same slow tenderness and the effect was galvanizing. Evan lifted his head and Ziporah opened her eyes to watch as he turned his mouth to Cami next.

  He had placed her sitting on the back of the couch, with her legs on either side of Z. The erotic view turned the fire within her into an inferno. She could clearly see Evan’s chin working as he lapped and drank between the other woman’s legs, and it was an incomparable thrill that while doing that, his hands never stopped moving on either of them.

  That was one of the miracles of being with Evan; neither she nor Cami ever felt neglected or left out when the three of them were together. When they were alone, Cami and she often joked that the man was, in reality, Dionysus, the Greek god of sex. As Ziporah lay there watching him devour Cami while his hand was pumping between her own legs, she almost believed it.

  Ziporah felt Evan crook his fingers up and change the direction of his thrust from in and out to up and down and her hands started scrambling. Faster he stroked, faster, while still lapping at Cami, and Ziporah felt that wonderful weight building and gathering force deep inside of her.

  Z groaned, the climax so close that she was teetering on the edge and the sound spurred Evan on. With a growl, he plunged faster within her and sucked greedily at the pussy in his mouth, and Cami came at the same time she did. Both of them crying out while their bodies thrashed in the throes of their peak, and still Evan continued. Insatiable, starved for them both.

  Ziporah was nearing peak again, and she could tell Cami was too when Evan pulled back with a growl. With impatient hands, he yanked his clothes from his body and sat on the middle cushion. His rumbled commands were barely discernible as he positioned Cami in a straddle over his lap facing him and pulled Z until she was sitting on his face with his head braced on the back of the couch. When that talented and amazing mouth went to work on her, Z leaned forward and nuzzled her head in the crook of Cami’s neck and shoulder and felt Cami do the same to her. Evan’s hips thundered into Cami, jolting her body in hard thrusts, while his mouth had Z’s hips grinding against his face. And as he devoured them with mouth and cock, they clung to each other and came. Endlessly.

  Z felt, as well as heard, Evan’s shouted, “Oh fuck!” And then the body beneath them began to tremble and quake as he lost himself in his own magnificent climax that filled their whole world with light.

  Z laughed like a drunk as she and Cami toppled to the side, where Cami then tumbled to the floor and Evan lay sprawled where they’d left him, destroyed.

  “Oh my God, Z!” Cami said in mock horror, “I think we killed him.” Z laughed then nudged Evan with her toes against his hip. “And that, Cami,” Evan’s smile was more than a little lopsided as he and Ziporah said in unison, “is why we call you the brat.”

  Friday night at Haven was a happening time. The mood was lively, the food and drink were plentiful, and Cami was in love. All was right in her world. Her business was booming, her bank account was healthy, and so was her body. But the two best things about her life right now where the people she was in love with.

  Cami was so euphoric and happy, for a full thirty seconds she didn’t believe what her eyes were telling her she saw. Mark Wahlberg had just walked into her tavern. He looked exactly the same. Blond and charming, thick of build, with a boyish grin that used to make her heart flutter, but now made her skin crawl. She had no idea what to do. Cami had never prepared herself for this moment. Her skin was covered in an instant sheen of icy sweat and she felt as though she were paralyzed. Not one of her muscles would move. It was a living nightmare; she was frozen as he drew closer to the bar and inside her head was a distant roaring scream of denial.

  She knew a lot of victims dreamed of facing their attackers one day. They had dreams of being able to say all the things that they never had the chance to say before. Some of them had hopes that their attackers wo
uld offer words of sorrow or remorse. But that wasn’t Cami; she prayed to God that she would never have to see this man again. Yet the answer to that prayer was a big fat NO apparently, because as nonchalant as you please, her own personal bogeyman was making his way toward the bar.

  The last time Mark had laid eyes on her, his had been drenched with remorse and tears as he begged her to forgive him. When he looked up and caught sight of her now, there was nothing contrite about the look he gave her. His face was filled with smug derision, and he even had the nerve to look her up and down as he leaned against the bar.

  “Well, well, well.” How could she have ever found the snake before her charming, Cami asked herself. “Should have known a little tease like you would end up a barfly.” The glass in Cami’s hand shattered to the floor at his callused words. “Careful doll, you’re gonna get yourself fired. Even a rack like yours ain’t worth losing money over.”

  Cami couldn’t believe what she was hearing. His heartless words and sneering expression was the stuff of nightmares. What happened, she wondered, to everything being all a big tragic mistake? The man before her now hadn’t a shred of regret.

  The edges of her vision started to go black, and echoes of that night were ringing through her ears. Her screams, the sound of her clothes being ripped to tatters, the unconscionable thud that his fist made as it connected with her flesh. And worst of all, the angry snarling grunts as he’d raped her. It was closing in on her, obscuring her grasp on reality and unleashing years of frustration, fear and anguish.

  “Get out.” Her voice was unrecognizable even to her own ears. “Get out now and get out fast.” If possible, his sneer became even more defined.

  “All those years ago you ran me out of school because you were a little cock tease. You ain’t running me out of anywhere ever again.”

  Everything went black. Cami didn’t know how it happened, but from one heartbeat to the next, she went from behind the bar to on top of him. She didn’t think, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t even feel anything. It was like those horrible nightmares where you’re swinging as hard as you can, but your fists seem to be moving in slow motion and not making any impact at all. She was pounding with as much strength as she could summon, screaming as loud as her lungs would allow, and still it wasn’t enough.

  Evan vaulted from his seat in the back of the Tavern as soon as he heard that now familiar sound of Cami’s scream. He rounded the bar and took in the scene in a millisecond. Cami was a woman possessed as she wailed and beat on the person beneath her. Evan raced forward to pick her up and was enraged to see the man he’d considered doing business with swing out with his fist at the woman he loved.

  Even as he lifted Cami and began to pull her out of reach, Mark stood and lashed out with a leg that Evan deflected just in time. As that bruising kick connected with his own hip, Evan looked at Mark in furious shock.

  Evan had already had Cami in his arms and was moving her away when Mark had come after them to kick at her. Evan didn’t know what had happened to start this, but he did know that as soon as Cami was safe, he was gonna wipe the floor with the other man.

  That’s when all hell broke loose for a second time. Ziporah came rushing from the bathrooms with the screech of a banshee, leaped into the air from a good two feet away and took Mark down in a flying tackle. If Evan hadn’t been so worried about the delicate frame of the other woman he loved, he would’ve been as impressed as hell with that move. As it was, all he could think about was the fact that Mark had punched and tried to kick Cami, so there was no telling what he would do to Ziporah.

  Thankfully, Natacha was there for him to hand Cami over to. He shoved her into the other woman’s restraining arms, because Cami had rallied and was trying with all her might to dive back in.

  When Evan turned back around, Mark and Ziporah had rolled until Mark was over her, with his fist raised and his other hand clamped on her slender neck. It didn’t deter her a bit, Z’s legs were scrambling and her fists were flying all the same. Before Mark’s fist could land, Evan locked an arm around Mark’s throat and yanked him off of his woman.

  “I don’t know who the fuck raised you,” Evan snarled in the other man’s ear as he wrenched a little tighter on that throat, cutting off the airways until he quit trying to get away, “but I can tell you they did a piss-poor job of it. What kind of a man would hit a woman?” Just asking the question left a sour taste in his mouth, so Evan spat on the floor right in front of him. “A worthless one.”

  With more force than was needed, because Mark must’ve realized who had a hold of him and was trying to make nice now, Evan drug him out the door and threw him to the sidewalk. “You’d best get your miserable ass out of here and never come back.” Evan could only guess at what the other man saw on his face, because any angry retort or bullshit excuse dried up pretty damn fast. He just turned and jogged away, apparently so spooked he didn’t think walking was fast enough.

  When Evan went back inside, the place was still in chaos. People were riding high on the thrill of the fight. As he made his way to the back couch where Z and Cami were sitting with their arms around each other, he heard the same story being told by every cluster of people that he passed.

  Evan crouched down in front of his two women and placed a hand on each of their cheeks. “How are my sugar and my brat, huh?” He tipped forward and kissed each sweat-dampened forehead. “Somebody wanna tell me what happened?”

  “That was Mark Wahlberg,” Cami said, as though she was stating a revelation.

  “Yeah, I know who he was. My company was considering a partnership with his, but that’s not going to be happening now.” Evan saw the look come over Z’s face that was boiling with intensity.

  “Mark was the one, Evan,” she said and knocked the wind out of him. “He was the one that raped Cami.” Evan felt his entire body readying itself for battle, and as a blanket of rage settled upon him, he stood to his feet and headed for the door without a word.

  He started out in a slow purposeful stride, but within five steps, he was running. Running because he remembered that bastard had been jogging when he’d left, and Evan wanted to catch him. Because when he did, he was going to kill him.

  He ran full-out for about five blocks in a blind rage before the cold slapped some sense into him. With a curse at his own stupidity, Evan turned and got his ass back to his women. They didn’t need him landing his fool-ass in jail, or to have to clean him up after a brawl. They needed him to be there for them, not the other way around. The sickening fury that threatened to choke him was his own issue to deal with, and not a priority. His women were his priority now and always, and he was an idiot for forgetting that for even a second. By the time he was back at the couch, they had pulled themselves together somewhat. Evan cursed himself again; he should have been here to help them recover from the shock, not out chasing that asshole in a testosterone-fuelled rage.

  “So, since there’s no blood, I’m assuming that means I won’t have to put you in prison?” Ziporah asked with one eyebrow raised.

  “Nah, sugar.” Evan waved that away, and tried to give her a cocky grin despite the volcanic rage still boiling within him. “I didn’t have to kill him. You and the wildcat here took care of that for me.” Cami surprised the hell out of him when she laughed at that. “Oh, you think that’s funny do you? You scared the bejesus out of me. I about had a heart attack when I heard you screaming, then came around and saw you grappling with him.” Now that he’d managed to cool down a little, he was actually very impressed.

  “I wish I could tell you I was sorry,” Cami said, trying to keep a straight face and failing, “but that felt so good. So good to finally face him and hit him the way I wanted to for years.” At that, her cute little nose wrinkled and she pouted at him. “It kind of sucked at the same time, too. Because I couldn’t tell if I was hitting him or not. I couldn’t feel anything.” She held up hands that were swollen and puffy for him to see.

  “Ah, slugger, look a
t your poor knuckles. These are going to be hurting tomorrow, and besides that, you broke two of your pretty nails.” Evan clucked his tongue and kissed each swollen joint tenderly, as he cupped her sore hands in his palms. “Well brat, you may not have felt your blows landing, but from the looks of these he sure as hell did.” She smiled at him with a mischievous grin that warmed his heart and turned him inside out.

  “I sure did, huh?” Evan laughed and nodded, then leaned forward and kissed her smiling lips.

  “And what about your hands, sugar?” Evan turned to the other woman of his life to inspect her for injuries. Anger surged anew when he saw bruises already forming on her throat. “God damn him.”

  “I’m sure he already has,” Z informed him in a voice that was a little rough around the edges. “I just wish he would get on with the lightning bolts already.”

  “Well, I don’t know about lightning bolts, but the way you hit him in that flying tackle was pretty damn impressive. If a body blow like that isn’t judgment from above, I don’t know what is. You took that rat bastard down hard.” She actually blushed and turned her face away with a sheepish grin.

  “I love you both so damn much, I’m stupid with it.” Ziporah turned back to him with a full-blown smile on her beautiful, flushed face. “That makes three of us.”

  “Yeah,” Cami chimed in, “three of us.” Then Evan took a note from Ziporah’s playbook and tackled them both into the couch. The laughter and affection they shared in that moment brought hope to all of them. The shadows of the past faced and conquered. Like the dawn breaking from a long dark night, there was only healing and light for the three of them now, at last.

  Evan checked one last time to make sure everything was ready in his office before he hit the intercom. “Okay Tanner you can send him in.” Staying in his seat and maintaining a calm and professional exterior was one of the hardest things Evan had ever done in his life as Mark Wahlberg walked into his office and faced him.