Back in Bliss (Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 9)

by Lexi Blake

  She leaned forward and started to eat up his cock. He couldn’t help but stare down, watching as his dick disappeared behind those sultry lips. Something eased inside him, and he realized that he’d been worried she wouldn’t want him the way she did Logan. The sparks flew off those two, but he had a different relationship with her. Not lesser, merely different, but still important. Logan had claimed that he couldn’t be friends with Georgia, but Seth was. He’d laid all that groundwork, found a happy companionship with her. The fact that she sucked his cock like no one had before was a plus, but not the center of their relationship. He wanted to hold her hand and see the world with her. He wanted to have children with her one day—way in the future. Because he wanted this time with her.

  He gripped her hair, pulling her forward. She could handle this. He’d been afraid she would only respond to Logan, but she wanted him, too. She needed him, and he wasn’t going to hold back. He fucked into her mouth in short strokes, her tongue moving along his flesh, getting him harder and harder, pushing him closer to the edge. She fought him, sucking to keep him inside when he would pull out.

  He kept control, wanting the moment to last.

  But she had something to say about that. She sucked hard, her hands moving to cup the cheeks of his ass. She used the leverage to force him deeper.

  He felt the back of her throat, loved the growl reverberating around his dick, and then she swallowed and he was lost. His balls drew up and shot off, pouring from him into her. She drank him down, swallowing everything he gave her. He came for long, delicious moments and sighed when he finally popped out of her mouth.

  Her confidence was back. That was clear in the sexy, satisfied smile on her face. Damn, he might have made a monster.

  He reached for her, pulling her up to him, rubbing his chest against hers and kissing her long and slow, tasting himself on those lips.

  “Come here and let me take care of you now.” He picked up the shampoo. It was the type she preferred. He’d made sure the agent who stocked the house had bought all of her favorite brands.

  Georgia leaned back, allowing him to wash her, to clean her hair, to be with her.

  Everything he wanted was right in his grasp.

  Almost. All he needed was his brother.

  Chapter Ten

  Logan walked back out of the bedroom with a knot in the pit of his stomach. Seth was in the shower with Georgia, and they weren’t just getting clean. They were getting dirty.

  He’d stood there with the mug in his hand. It wasn’t like he’d managed to get the coffee thing going. He’d given up and walked across the yard to knock on Nell and Henry’s door and beg them for coffee. He needed to bring something to Georgia, and he’d proven yesterday that he couldn’t handle himself in the kitchen.

  He’d walked back in hoping to wake her up with the smell of organic French roast, but he’d heard her laugh and then he’d heard Seth groaning.

  They were together without him and that was good. That was how it should be because he was their trainer. He wasn’t a permanent member of the family. He was going to teach Seth how to top Georgia, and then he would likely be invited to their private collaring ceremony or their wedding.

  One minute the mug was fulfilling its purpose and the next Logan was covered in coffee and there were ceramic pieces everywhere. Motherfucker.

  He had a bone to pick with Nell. That coffee wasn’t cruelty-free. It was hot as hell.

  He jogged into the kitchen and wiped down his forearms. Damn it to hell. He’d wrecked his shirt. He had to change. He was going to be late.

  Seth was fucking Georgia, and he couldn’t walk in there and take what he wanted because he was the trainer. He hadn’t slept next to her because he wasn’t the boyfriend. He was the fucking trainer.

  And he’d dreamed about it again. He’d woken up in a cold sweat, his heart slamming in his chest and a strangled scream in his throat. He’d taught himself to not scream, to stay quiet. To keep his fucking mouth shut. Even when the asshole had taken to burning him over and over again. Sometimes he could still feel those burns biting into his flesh. The pain would flare at first and then it would almost go away, but that was merely his nerves overloading. They would come back online and he would feel a circle of pain. And he wouldn’t scream.

  He still woke up every night, no matter how much he talked about it with Leo or how much time he spent working out to completely exhaust himself.

  Leo couldn’t do his job properly because you never told him what really got to you. You never told him who the real villain of the piece was.

  He ripped open his shirt and was so happy to see the stain was on his tank as well. When he fucked up, it went straight to the bone. He reluctantly tugged it off, too, eager to get the soaked fabric off his skin.

  He needed to get that damn mug off the floor and then he needed to hightail it out of here. He couldn’t sit with them and watch Georgia and Seth hold hands and glow at each other.

  The doorbell rang. Fuck a duck. They could wait. Hell, whoever it was could go away. He didn’t need company.

  “Son? Logan? Are you in there?”

  He seriously considered running, but his momma was too fast. And apparently Seth had given her a key. Momma Marie strode in. She never simply walked. She swaggered like she was the lead in an old-school Western, and there was some truth to that since she was usually packing a handgun somewhere on her body.

  “Hey, Momma. How is everything going?” God, he loved that woman, and she still scared the holy pee out of him at times. When she walked in the room, he was twelve years old again and praying his momma didn’t find out all the dumb crap he did.

  She could never, never know what he’d been willing to do.

  “Is he in there?” A softer voice followed. Mom. Teeny Green stepped in the room carrying a big basket. She’d aged. Somehow in his head she was always the same vibrant woman she’d been when he was a kid, but there was no way to miss the lines around her eyes or the steel in her hair. She was a slight woman, her bones tiny, but he knew how strong she was. She was a woman who wouldn’t break. Not ever.

  Yeah, she couldn’t know either.

  “Logan.” Pure pleasure tinted his mother’s voice. She set the basket down and walked right up to him, throwing her arms around his chest.

  “Ma, I’m covered in coffee.”

  “I don’t care. It’s so good to see you. I can’t believe you’re here.” His mom squeezed him tight.

  “I can’t believe he’s been here for two days and he didn’t think to come by the house to say hello.” Momma Marie always got straight to the point.

  Guilt bit at him. He’d started to drive home, but he’d found himself pointing the truck here because he couldn’t step back into the house he’d grown up in, couldn’t be surrounded by the evidence of his childhood. That dumbass Logan who had read comic books and played online games and pretended to be a hero had died on Nate’s desk, and the Logan who had been left behind couldn’t stand to be reminded of what he’d lost.

  “I’m sorry. I got in late, and Nate needed me at the station house. I tried calling the house, but no one answered. I was going to come over after my shift this afternoon. I promise.”

  Momma Marie’s eyes narrowed as though she could see right through him. “And you’re here in this monstrosity of a house why? Your momma cleaned up your room and got everything real nice for you when she found out you were coming home.”

  He couldn’t back down from that particular fight. “I’m an adult. I can’t live at home. I need my space.”

  “It also looks like you need laser tattoo removal, son.” Momma Marie was shaking her head like she was ready to go and grab a laser herself.

  “The tat stays, Ma.” He heard the growl in his voice. He was never getting rid of that ink.

  “Fine, it’s a generational thing,” Momma Marie said. “But you don’t need to stay here. You’re going to come home where we can take care of you.”

  “I’m taking
care of him.”

  Logan winced at the sound of that soft voice. Georgia. She was standing in the hallway dressed in a tank top and stretchy pants that molded to her every curve. Her hair was still wet, and she wasn’t wearing an ounce of makeup. She looked younger and more vulnerable than he could remember her being. She was a brat of the first order, but she would wilt under Momma Marie’s gruffness. There was no contest.

  “You’re after my boy?”

  Georgia’s brows drew together. “Marie? Are you the one I talked to on the phone that day? You called the Willow Fork police and helped save me?”

  His mother lit up. “Marie, do you know this girl? Oh, my heavens. Are you that sweet girl who got caught in the slavery ring?”

  Georgia shook her head. “I didn’t because Ms. Marie called in the cops.” She smiled and the whole fucking room lit up. She walked right up to the scariest woman in Bliss County and wrapped her arms around her. “Thank you so much, Ms. Marie. You saved me.”

  To his eternal surprise, his gruffest momma hugged Georgia back. “No need to thank me. I got the cookie bouquet. It was real nice, darlin’. Now tell me what you’re doing here. I thought you took some big job in New York City.”

  “She’s with me, Momma Marie. And what happened in the hallway? Did a mug spontaneously explode?” Seth had put on a pair of jeans, but he’d managed to place them somewhere around his hips so all the douchebag parts were exposed like he was some sort of male model.

  “I had an accident,” Logan replied with a long sigh. “I was trying to clean up when the world decided to join us for breakfast.”

  A shit-eating grin hit Seth’s face. “I’ll take care of it. Nice tat, brother. I think I should get one, too.”

  Georgia turned, her eyes going straight to his left pec.

  “It stands for Green.” He was reaching. “I did it in honor of my mother. I’m going to get a W on the other side.”

  His mom shook her head. “I never much liked the last name Green. I kept it because it connected me to you, but I have to say, it’s not the best last name.”

  “Yeah, it stands for Green.” Seth shook his head, his eyes rolling slightly.

  “Hello to the house,” a familiar voice called out. Henry. Awesome. He would be bringing Nell with him. Yeah, the house was filling up.

  “Teeny, Marie,” Nell said as she walked in. “It’s so nice to see you.”

  Nate walked behind Nell, his uniform in perfect condition. “Morning, y’all. I was talking to Henry and Nell about their upcoming protest schedule and it seemed like a nice time to come see this new property.”

  In other words, Nate was curious.

  Georgia went straight to that obnoxious coffeemaker. “Can I get anyone coffee? I’ll start breakfast if anyone’s hungry.”

  Mom shook her head. “I brought some muffins. Enough for everyone. Seth, hon, I made your favorite. Chocolate chip.”

  “Sweet.” Seth sat down at the bar like the whole damn world wasn’t going out of control. “Sheriff Wright, I’m Seth Stark.”

  Nate got the widest grin. “Hey! Thanks for the rides, man. Four Escalades. We love them. The Broncos kept breaking down, and I couldn’t get the mayor to open the purse strings to buy us new vehicles.”

  “No problem, man. I was happy to do it.” Seth hopped on to his barstool, his eyes straying to Georgia.

  “Stef was so pissed when he figured out someone else had bought the department new vehicles.” Nate grabbed a muffin. He was never one to turn down food. “He immediately wrote the department a check so I have the sweetest new chair. It’s like a recliner masquerading as an office chair. I can actually sleep in it. It’s perfect. And the first person who has sex in my chair is going to jail. I’m putting it on the damn books. It’s a law. No screwing in the sheriff’s chair.”

  “I don’t know if I think that’s right, Nathan.” Nell was shaking her head. “Your chair is truly county property. I think the taxpayers have a certain right to have access to that chair.”

  “No, they damn straight don’t, Nell. That chair is now sacred to me. I have the right to sit in a chair that wasn’t a place of conception.”

  Nell and Nate were arguing whether taxpayer money gave the citizens of Bliss the right to use Nate’s new chair as a cheap motel. Henry started talking to Seth, and both of his mommas began a long, slow circle around Georgia, who was powering up the coffeemaker and sliding in a cup. She smiled up at his ma like she didn’t know what was about to happen.

  Momma Marie leaned in for the kill. “Tell me, Georgia, are you sleeping with my boy?”

  “Momma!” He didn’t have to take this. He was an adult. Damn it.

  “I have the right to know,” Momma Marie insisted.

  “No, I am not sleeping with him.” Georgia looked up to his mother, her blue eyes wide. “He made love to me and then refused to sleep in the same bed. I have to admit it did make me wonder if maybe I wasn’t skilled enough. I haven’t been with many men, Ms. Marie. Do you think he would have slept with me if I was better in bed?”

  Seth choked on his muffin. “Holy hell.”

  Momma Marie’s eyes, which only a moment ago had been narrowed in suspicion toward the woman she’d discovered in his place, now turned to Logan’s with a cold disapproval. “I raised you better than that, son. How can you take this sweet young thing and use her like that?”

  “I slept with her.” Seth put his hand up like they were fucking five and he had the right answer to the teacher’s question. “I cuddled her all night long.”

  Georgia didn’t even blush. She simply gave Seth the sweetest smile. Logan hoped her backside hurt. She was going to get another spanking. Little brat. Damn, why did he go so fucking crazy for her every time she trumped him? She was a righteous bitch, and everything that was male inside of him responded to her. It was right there, the deep desire to walk up to her and put his stamp on her in front of his mommas. But he couldn’t.

  “Ma, it’s not some great romance. It’s a training relationship. I told you what I was doing in Dallas. I’m doing it here now.” He said it with as little emotion as he could. The last thing he needed was a fight with his mommas.

  “Training?” his ma started.

  Teeny put a hand on Momma Marie’s arm. “Let it be for now, Marie. He’s home. He’s safe here with Seth.”

  His ma backed down, but those eyes narrowed again. “All right, but I don’t like the idea of him training young ladies, and Seth doesn’t look like he needs any training at all. What is wrong with those jeans, Seth? You’re about to fall out of them. Can’t you afford jeans that properly fit?”

  Thank god. She was off and complaining about Seth’s jeans and the fact that he looked like a douchebag male model.

  Georgia passed him a mug of coffee. “Well played. Do you have another uniform or should I see if I can get the stain out of this one?”

  It was too sweet, too domestic, the idea of her washing his clothes after she’d made him coffee. He took the mug because he couldn’t turn her down again. Not after yesterday, but he wasn’t about to let her think she had to take care of him. “No. I’ve got five sets. I’ll wash this one later. Thanks.”

  He practically ran down the hall to the room he’d been bunking in. He shut the door behind him and thought seriously about getting in his truck and heading out. Maybe if he went somewhere no one knew him, had no expectations of him, maybe he could find some peace. Maybe he could forget.

  But his feet moved to the closet, and before he knew it, he was dressed again and ready to start a rousing day of dealing with tourists, talking down the crazies, and keeping threesomes off of Nate’s new chair.

  He picked up his hat and looked into the mirror. Sometimes he didn’t recognize the face that looked back at him. He was older and harder.

  His mother had looked so frail. He’d been her boy for so many years, her only child, and he’d walked away and barely said a word to her for a year. How much of the new gray in her hair was his fault? How
many of the lines around her mouth were from frowning over his fate?

  How much more would he disappoint her?

  He couldn’t walk back into that cabin he’d lived in all his life. That cabin had been full of love. Even when they’d struggled, he always knew his parents loved each other. They’d stood by each other, hands entwined. They’d tried to raise him so right.

  What was so flawed in him that he’d failed that day?

  “I like the blonde. She’s got spirit.” Momma Marie stood in the doorway looking in, her stern face frowning. He didn’t take that to heart. She always frowned, even when she was happy.

  “I think Seth is going to be real happy with her.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t try to fool me, son. And don’t even try to pass that tattoo off as a tribute to your last name. You know damn well the only reason I didn’t adopt you was for fear of your biological father’s parents possibly using the fact that your momma was with me to take you away.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I’m more like him than you guys ever thought.”

  He said it like it didn’t matter, like it was a throwaway line to annoy his mother, but it was his secret fear. From all accounts, his father had been a brutal man. He’d taken out his anger on the sweetest woman to walk the earth, and it had only been Marie Warner’s stalwart love that had saved Logan from being raised by a killer.

  Momma Marie was suddenly in his space. Though she was four inches shorter than he was, she got right up on him, her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t you ever say that. What the hell is wrong with you? Your father was a cold, calculating man. He couldn’t even love your mother. If you can’t love that woman, you can’t love anything in the world. I need you to start talking, son, because I get the feeling that if you don’t, I’m going to lose you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He’d thought about it. He’d thought about it a whole lot that night at Hell on Wheels.

  “But you’re not here, either.” Marie took a long breath and looked closer to crying than he’d ever seen her. “Logan, I don’t talk about myself much. I don’t see the point in it. But I need to talk to you about this now because I have to know that you’re going to be okay.”