“Coffee. Hot. Sweet and definitely creamy.” All that was missing was her husky snicker when she added, “Just like my pussy.”
Sensing there was an agenda, he sat back and let her have at it. Pulling the ottoman in front of his chair, she sat down and lifted one of his legs onto her lap.
Holy shit. Ever try to sip scalding hot coffee while a sex goddess massaged your feet? Meghan had magic hands. And fuck but she was good at what she was doing.
She’d done more to heal and nurture his body and soul than years of physical therapy and a truckload of drugs. Her presence by his side vanquished the emotional scars and nightmares that came so close to destroying him. All of that and so much more explained why he reacted badly to the announcement of her leaving.
In a soft, even voice, she chatted on and on as she worked on both his feet. She didn’t talk about anything important. It was all random nothing. They wouldn’t be discussing what happened. Nope. That conversation was over. This was their time to reset. To let go of yesterday, and be present in today.
When they’d drained the coffee and he’d eaten the cheesy bacon biscuit she’d practically shoved down his throat, Meghan pushed his thighs open wide, lowered off the ottoman to her knees, and crawled in close.
The hands she rested on his thighs were wildly distracting. As were the green eyes gazing at him so hard he was sure she could see his brain function.
“Are you all right? Still hungry? Need some Advil? Tell me how you feel.”
The rapid-fire series of questions were typical for Meghan. She was highly sensitive to subtle energies, and sometimes, he thought she might be an actual empath. Which might explain why certain stimuli sent her flying. Like a flogging. What she felt wasn’t just about her. She seemed to experience his sensations as well.
Right now, he knew she was reading the need churning inside him. But it wasn’t for food or painkillers. If he seemed tense, it was because there’d be no way to back off until his cock was buried in her wet heat. Before their day got in the way, he wanted her to feel him swell and pulse as he came inside her. To experience his complete possession and yeah, hopefully, make a baby along the way.
Not feeling like a dance around the maypole, he pinned her with a look and let the words tumble out. “You know I’m going to fuck you, right?”
The flash he saw in her eyes and the slight flare of her nostrils at his raw language would make the wait worth it.
“Mmmhmm.” She nodded. “But first, I want you on the table. You know the drill, Major. Empty bladder. Facedown. No hands.”
The only thing he needed more at that moment than her pussy gripping his manhood was the Meghan special. A massage and an adjustment that would take away the agonizing aftermath of his foolish overexertion. Wrapping his big hand along the back of her neck, he squeezed gently and felt her shudder.
“Is there a happy ending in your game plan?” He liked being direct with her. Enjoyed seeing her react to the crude language and carnal suggestions he threw at her.
Lowering her gaze … an obedient and compliant gesture … she murmured, “If that would please you, then … of course.”
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Alex let her go and got them both on their feet. There was equipment to set up, and he had a belly of coffee to pee away. He just needed to say one last thing.
“Whatever happens, I come inside you. Understood?”
With a wink and a quickly suppressed giggle, she replied, “As you wish … sir.”
He almost swatted her ass as she bolted away from him.
MEGHAN’S PHONE STARTED vibrating before she’d taken more than a dozen steps from the master suite. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she fished it out and jolted to a halt at the message on her screen. What? No, seriously—WHAT?
Hearing noise coming from below, she hurried down the hallway, picking up speed when Victoria’s voice rang out. And, it wasn’t her speaking voice. Tori was singing and someone was playing the piano.
At the upstairs landing, she shoved the phone back into a pocket and skipped down the stairs. Nothing like a nonstop fuckfest to lighten a girl’s mood. As she descended, Meghan picked up on some unmistakable whispers, the sound of papers rustling, and Lacey’s sweet growl, which sounded a lot like someone keeping a secret.
Finding Angie hovering near the foot of the stairs, Meghan chirped, “Hola, Angel! Cómo estás?” She was going to be proficient at a few Spanish phrases if it killed her.
“Red,” she drawled with a smirk. “Look, ladies! You were wrong. She CAN still walk this morning.”
Pfft, Tori grunted. “Not morning anymore. Big Daddy kept someone shackled to the bed much longer than usual.”
Lacey shushed them both and greeted her with a big smile. “What’s the forecast?”
Meghan gave a quirky grin and tried to look innocent. Unfortunately, that ship left the harbor a while ago. “Storm passed. Clear sailing ahead.”
Suddenly, “Oh, for god’s sake,” an irritated Angie snapped. “What the fuck with the hickeys? Didn’t you tell my brother to put those teeth of his on lockdown? You look like a grizzly grabbed you by the throat.”
“Close enough,” Lacey jested.
With an arched brow, Meghan focused on Alex’s little sister. “Shush. Just tell me that you took care of what I asked. Work your Marquez magic and fix the mess we made. And so you know, I’m on thin ice at the moment so enforcing the no biting rule is pretty much a joke.”
Tori chimed in with a droll observation and comment. “My husband is annoyed that the Major isn’t sporting some gnarly bruise on his face. I told him he didn’t hit him hard enough to leave a mark.” Everyone snickered with laughter. “So Draegyn’s decided the score hasn’t been evened yet. Alex left him with a massive black and blue mark. Seems fair, right?”
Lacey shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Men. How is it that they run the world?”
“Oh, hey,” Meghan blurted out. “Ang. Hold on.” Producing her phone, she waved it at the other woman’s face. “Why is my mother texting me about Zeus’s size? What does how much my dog weighs have to do with my mother?” She was genuinely confused.
“What?” Angie challenged. “Let me see that.” Snatching the phone from Meghan’s hand before she could resist, her sister-in-law scrolled through the message with what looked like a practiced blank look. Jeez. She’d been a teacher, for pity’s sake. That kind of shit never went unnoticed.
“I don’t know.” Angie’s shrug also seemed practiced. “Maybe she was hammered.”
“Oh, my god.” Tori chuckled. “It just dawned on me! Meghan,” she gushed excitedly. “Your folks, Alex’s mom and dad. Parker’s parents. Holy guacamole, you guys. They’re all gonna be in Boston.”
“Don’t forget your mom, Tori,” Angie added. “Stephanie and Calder are part of the grown-up wolf pack. And my Uncle Eduardo too! He may be a man of the cloth, but he’s also a Marquez with a colorful history.”
Angie put her arm through Meghan’s and walked them toward the kitchen with Lacey and Tori bringing up the rear. “I went with Aunt Wendy for her dress fitting. She chose a color to complement what your mom is wearing. It was so sweet how she rattled on and on about honoring the mother-of-the-bride.”
Meghan felt a delicious contentment envelop her. Everyone around her was so happy. She wanted to remember this time always.
“She and my mom are basically standing on their heads for your folks, Meghan. I was kidding around with Wendy about the whole thing, and she got all kinds of serious. Said a bunch of stuff about how she never thought Parker would settle down and how my mom was the same way with Alex.”
“I wonder if we’ll feel that way about D & D someday,” Lacey murmured on an aside to Tori.
Meghan chuckled and gave the two mommies a deadpan look. “I’m pretty sure growing up surrounded by testosterone and cage-free alphas will give your boys an interesting take on life. Good luck with that.”
Angie sighed blissfully and wi
nked. “I hope you and Alex have a girl first. You two are gonna make some pretty babies!”
“What about you and the hot lawyer?” Tori joked. “Babies on the brain yet?”
“First, that asshole has to put a goddamn ring on it. Words are nice, but I want some bling.”
Meghan looked sharply at Tori when she snorted in a less than friendly way. “Parker and Calder need to have their heads knocked together.”
“Still no ring?” she asked her friend.
“Nope.” Tori’s displeasure was obvious. “Bunch of bullshit about not wanting to hog Alex’s spotlight.”
“Your mom okay with that?”
“Oh, lord. Are you kidding? Calder could open a balloon animal business and my mom would be right there beside him grinning like an idiot. I swear,” she bit out. “The man has some sort of sexy mojo that makes her a giggler with half a swoon.”
Lacey burst out laughing. “You do have a way with words, Mrs. St. John.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Tori wasn’t having it, that much was clear. “That’s my sainted widowed mother we’re talking about. She deserves the whole shebang. He needs to make an honest woman out of her now that he’s claimed the left side of the bed.”
Angie was shoving raisins in her mouth from a container she found on the kitchen island. “I’m okay with my man waiting for the perfect moment. After everything we’ve put each other through …”
Carmen came bustling into their midst carrying two good-sized boxes. “Delivery for the bridal couple,” she quipped. “The poor FedEx delivery guy made grumpy sounds about having to drive out here every day. El es un pendejo.”
“Dumbass, indeed.” Lacey’s innocent expression made Carmen chuckle.
“Meezus Cameron,” she teasingly drawled in her distinctive accent. “Did you just call that guy an ass?”
With a look that said, ‘Yeah, so what?’ Lacey shrugged. “Ass has three letters. So it’s not an official four-letter word.”
Tori grabbed the raisin container away from Angie. “We’re making progress, ladies! Add ass to the approved vocabulary list.”
As quiet laughter rang out, Meghan attempted what she hoped came off as nonchalance and smiled at Carmen. The distinguished older woman might play the simple housekeeper, but she was really the Villa’s de facto Major Domo and something of a information dump when it came to the Marquez dynasty and its Justice offshoot. In short, she knew everything.
“Mmm, Carmen. Did you happen to see the Major earlier?”
“Si,” she said while efficiently scanning the shipping and delivery labels on the two boxes. Carmen’s favorite gadget in the entire universe was her iPad. Alex devoted hours to teaching her thousands of ways it could make her job easier. Much to everyone’s amused delight, she took to the technology like it was designed just for her. She could pull up the menu from the latest state dinner in two seconds, used it to track and list everyone’s likes and dislikes, and most recently, she’d taken full responsibility for keeping track of the wedding registry and gifts.
Having the good sense to know she was fully spoiled beyond all reason, Meghan made a mental note of another special thank-you she’d need to think about. Carmen was making Meghan’s pre-wedding responsibilities almost nil.
“He was …” The Spanish lady paused for obvious dramatic effect. It worked. Lacey, Tori, and Angie suddenly became very interested in what she was about to say. “Um, not the crooked man. From the poem. Get it?”
Meghan shook her head and rolled her eyes when the whole room erupted with laughter. Part of Carmen’s story and long history with the Valleja-Marquez family was that Alex’s parents helped teach her English by reciting nursery rhymes and children’s ditties. The woman could hold the stage for hours with one children’s poem after another.
Something stirred in Meghan’s chest. A tiny burst of future vision. She could see Carmen in a nursery, rocking a baby as she shared the beautiful rhymes with Alex’s children.
“So what you’re saying is that Papa Bear wasn’t walking the crooked mile?” Angie’s question, snarky and good-humored as it was, came loaded with real concern for the brother she adored. Alex’s pain affected everyone. A sobering thought that made Meghan wince. Another reminder of the sort of rippling effect actions could have on others.
“He snuck down the back way,” Carmen informed them with a rather smug expression as she nodded toward the rarely used service stairs. “The ladies were in the foyer.”
Meghan was chewing her bottom lip. No use in pretending she wasn’t hanging on every word. She’d worked on him for almost two hours, appalled at how tight and uncomfortable he was. Knowing the pain must have been unbearable drove her to find every knot, each bump, and twisted angry tissue to smooth things out.
Once satisfied that she’d done all she could, she used hot stones to calm and relax her manly beast. He liked that part. Very much. Maybe a little too much. Remembering how she’d crawled on the table and used her breasts to stroke his back in a sensual massage that led to the happiest of endings, she bit off a moan of lingering pleasure. After his demands the previous night, this time he let her run the show. It was her pleasure to make thundering love to him while she did all the heavy lifting.
“Oh,” Meghan murmured. “Okay. And he seemed fine?”
“Well,” she replied quite pithily. “He was doing the Marquez swagger and was looking very pleased. Is that what you mean by seeming fine?”
Knowing a slow blush was creeping up her neck, Meghan was doubly relieved when Lacey rescued her with some wedding chatter.
“Oh, Carmen. I wanted to ask you. Cameron needs to know what the arrangements are for Brody. He certainly can’t stay with Gus, and everyone else is already paired up.”
Angie’s head picked up. “Brody? You mean the dog guy? He’s on the RSVP list.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Meghan murmured. “You haven’t met him yet. He was already back East when you arrived.”
Carmen gave Lacey an assuring nod. Not only did she have the gift thing under control, but she was also the one responsible for arranging the travel and hotel accommodations for Family Justice.
“Meester Drae.” She glanced at Tori. “He made the big deal about traveling with the baby. Meester Calder wanted to make his own arrangements. And Meester Brody has a guest so I took care of it.”
“Did you just say a guest?” Meghan couldn’t recall ever being so startled.
“You knew he responded with a plus one,” Angie reminded her.
Yeah, maybe she did know, but until this moment, it never occurred to her what the plus one really meant. Brody had a woman? Oh, my god. Did Alex know this? Why didn’t he say anything? Dammit. This was her wedding. Why was she the last to know these things?
Tori was chuckling. “Earth to Irish. Snap out of it,” she commanded as her fingers made a loud snapping sound.
She looked woefully at Angie. “Maybe I should have been more involved, huh? Paid more attention.”
“What? Fuck, no,” Angie answered with glee. “You have that overbearing geek beast to manage and no one knows better than a Marquez how hard that is. You just relax, Red. I’ve got this, and what I don’t have, Carmen or your mom is all over.”
“That’s right,” Lacey agreed. “All that’s left is for you to put on that magnificent dress and make the walk that ends at the altar. You just focus on that. Let everyone else handle the details.”
“Dude. Are you fucking kidding?” Drae laughed at the video camera. “That’s awesome, man. We can murder the fuck out of a white Chevy Suburban. Black bumpers and grill. Tinted windows. Even put some enormous penis tires on it. If you want.”
“What is it with you and the penis tires, St. John?” Brody Jensen was smirking at them through the video chat. “Why do you always bring them up, huh? Working on a deficiency issue?”
Alex enjoyed this. He, Calder, Cam, and Drae gathered in the back of his tech room. Lounging in a tight semi-circle, they faced the camera and a hug
e monitor that brought their missing partner into the meeting with a virtual presence.
While he and Calder looked at each other and rolled their eyes, Cam, Drae, and Brody were enthusiastically catching up and hurling insults. These were good times. A feeling of contentment washed over him. Everyone was weirdly happy. Even Brody. He wanted to remember this time always.
“Listen, Jensen,” Cam choked out on a coughed laugh before his voice turned serious. “That agent from the FBI? The one with the secret service stick up his ass. He’s being a fucknut with the constant messages. What do you want me to tell him? They’re willing to meet the terms we threw down, but I agree with Calder. Those guys can be assholes. If we do this, it’s all on you, man. Think you can deal with that, moving here, and all expansion stuff?”
Alex listened, waiting curiously to hear his response. Brody Jensen was their odd man. The last and most intriguing piece of the Justice puzzle. The one with the jagged edges that seemed ever-changing. He knew more about the guy’s past than anyone except Brody himself, yet he still was in the dark and uncertain of anything except the undisputed facts.
Brody had been part of an elite sniper team. Branch of service? Who fucking knows. Accessing his government information required a clearance level that baffled Alex—but there it was. Beyond that, it was the same old story. Mission gone wrong. His spotter took an enemy kill shot straight through the temple. Brody also took a bullet but was the lucky one. Yeah, he’d technically been shot in the head, but besides ending his sniper career, the injury didn’t stopped him.
How the closed-off loner ended up working with military dogs was anyone’s guess, but the result was pretty fucking impressive. He was one of those guys who seemed able to communicate with animals. It was freaky and cool as shit at the same time.
Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) Page 28