by Leah Brooke
Hope glanced down and licked her lips, moving closer and dropping to her knees in front of him. Her eyes lifted to his. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my cock, baby.”
Her impish grin only made him want her more. “I can see that.”
She closed her lips over his cock, the feel of her warm mouth and soft suction immediately making him harder.
Running a hand through her soft hair, he watched her. “You’re being so good. That doesn’t happen often, does it? You don’t want me to hurt myself forcing you so you’re determined to be a good girl and do whatever I want.”
Hope whimpered and shifted restlessly, her eyes darkening as they met his.
Ace smiled at her look and ran a finger over her cheek. “It’s rare, and I know damned sure it won’t last. The next few days should be interesting.”
He envisioned many ways he could give her exquisite torture while he healed, a promise of things to come.
He ached everywhere and was covered in dark bruises, but the pain medicine he’d taken had started to kick in. He needed to go back to bed soon, knowing that the more he rested, the faster he would recover.
Fighting to hide his fatigue from his wife, he tightened his hand in her hair.
“You really don’t think that my little accident is going to keep me from making you pay for threatening to leave me, do you?” Not expecting an answer, he stroked her hair again. “You’re mine, Hope, and you’re staying mine. Do you really think I would let you go?”
He struggled to keep his voice low and steady, the calm coolness of the Dominant she relied on, while, inside, the pleasure continued to build. “I think you need a reminder of just what you are to me.”
Hope nodded, using her tongue to caress the underside of his cock the way he’d taught her, looking up at him with eyes dark with the irresistible combination of love and vixen.
Wondering if perhaps he’d taught her too well, he smiled and ran his thumb over her top lip where it encircled his cock. “Did you learn anything new at your seminar?”
Hope’s eyes danced, and she focused in on the delicate underside of his cock right below the head, sucking harder as she did.
“Very good.”
His balls felt as if they were going to explode, and keeping his voice steady became even more difficult. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to take it any easier on you.”
Hope lifted her head to lick his cock from the base to the tip. “I know. I can take whatever you dish out, Sheriff.”
He knew she didn’t really believe that but that she needed to.
Ace bit back a groan when she closed her mouth over his cock again. “You’re used to me being pretty lenient with you. This time, you pissed me off.”
She stilled slightly in trepidation, and he knew her unease came from wondering if she could handle more of his darker side.
She sucked harder, working her tongue on him in a way that told him he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer.
Smoothing his hand over her hair again, he felt the pressure build up within him and settled back with a groan, closing his eyes as he found his release.
He opened his eyes again at the feel of his wife’s dainty tongue licking him clean and began to stroke her hair again.
“Very good.”
Pleased with herself at her ability to give her husband pleasure, Hope lifted higher to her knees and leaned over him, bracing a hand on either arm of the chair so that she didn’t put pressure on the colorful bruises covering him. “I aim to please. Feel better?”
Ace lifted a hand to cup her jaw, running his thumb back and forth over her bottom lip. After tucking his cock back into his jeans, he stretched out, grimacing slightly when he raised the footrest. “Hmm.”
She’d seen Law unobtrusively slip Ace a pain pill at lunch and could see by her husband’s eyes that the medicine had started to take effect. “Ace, why don’t you go lie down again?”
“I’m fine right where I am.”
Hope got to her feet, not used to seeing her husband so tired. “Go to sleep. I’ll stretch out on the sofa.”
“You do that. You need some more sleep.”
Hope had no intention of going to sleep, planning to spend the time watching over her husband.
After pouring herself another cup of coffee, she went back into the living room and sat on the sofa, stretching her legs out, content just to watch Ace sleep.
Now that they were home and alone, she couldn’t stop thinking about how close she’d come to losing him.
He’d become so vital to her, and the thought of living without him scared her to death.
Her love for him hit her hard, and she couldn’t help but regret some of the things she’d said to him.
Even when he rested, power and authority exuded from him, the Dominant inside him very much a part of him.
She trusted him completely with the submissive side of her, a side that she’d begun to embrace.
She just didn’t trust herself.
She could lose herself in him, and if she did, she feared that she would become nothing more than an object, and things between them would change forever.
If she ceased to be a challenge to him, he would become bored with her.
If that happened, it would rip her to shreds.
“I can hear your brain working from here.”
Surprised that he’d spoken, Hope set her coffee aside and got to her feet. Grabbing a throw from the back of the sofa, she approached him, sucking in a breath when he opened his eyes and pinned her with his unexpectedly sharp gaze. “I was just thinking about how close I came to losing you and that we would have been in the middle of a fight when I did.”
Ace allowed her to cover him with the throw, a testament to his weariness. Reaching out, he waited until she placed her hand in his before tugging her closer without wincing—proof that his pain medication had started working. “Baby, I love you, and I know that you love me. If I’d died, I would have died knowing that. An argument between us doesn’t change that.”
Love brought a lump to her throat, and Hope dropped to her knees beside his chair, tears streaming down her face. “Do you mean that?”
He smiled tiredly, lifting her hand to his lips and letting his eyes close again. “Do I ever say anything I don’t mean? Of course we’re gonna argue. All couples do, and you have a very passionate nature. But the love is there. That’s all that matters.”
“You always know how to make me feel better—and stupid.”
“You have no reason to feel stupid, baby.” He opened one eye and pinned her with his gaze. “Unless you’re talking about your threat to leave me.”
In the hope of lightening the mood, Hope leaned forward, laying a hand on his chest. “Well, I already paid for that.”
Leaning back, Ace closed his eyes again. “Not by a long shot, baby. I took a week off to give you the attention I haven’t been able to give you in the last several weeks, and your threat just gives me a reason to take things a little further.”
Hope stilled, alarm and anticipation bubbling through her veins. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, darling wife, that I plan to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”
* * * *
Over a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with Charity, Beau, Courtney, Law, and Zach, Hope watched her husband plow through the food with a sense of relief.
He looked even better than he had earlier, the hour and a half of sleep he’d gotten before the doctor arrived and more food to fuel his large frame giving him more color and apparently more energy.
She fought back tears of relief as she let the conversation flow around her, suspecting that the lighthearted laughter and teasing was by design.
Charity leaned close, keeping her voice low while the men teased Ace. “How are you doing?”
“I’m just so happy that he’s alive. He looks better, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. He looks a hell of
a lot better. Mom and the dads are anxious to come over, so they’re bringing his favorite apple pie for dessert.”
Nodding, Hope watched her husband, unsurprised when he turned to her, raising a brow in question.
Smiling in amusement, Hope shook her head. “I was just thinking about how much better you look. I can’t believe how fast you’re healing. Even Dr. Hansen seemed surprised.”
Zach grinned and stabbed a fork at a bite of meatball. “I’m not surprised. Ace has always been tough. Law and I could pretty much get away with anything. No one would mess with either one of us because everyone knew that Ace was our brother. Hell, he had that cold look perfected by the time he was in high school.”
Chuckling, he met Ace’s dark look, raising his bite of meatball in salute. “Yep. That’s the one.”
Laying a hand on Zach’s arm, Courtney leaned forward, studying Ace’s features. “It’s probably part of what makes you a good sheriff. We spend time with you every time we come back home, and although I feel like I’ve gotten to know you better, I can’t tell what you’re thinking. You must scare the hell out of outlaws.”
Ace grinned playfully, the sight of it making Hope’s heart beat faster. “That’s the point.”
Charity gathered her plate and silverware and rose, giving Ace a rueful smile. “I was always terrified of him. Even the hard asses who came to town learned not to mess with him. Bar fights stopped as soon as he walked through the door.”
Ace’s lips twitched. “All except Hunter and Rem. I always had to break up their fights with other men.”
“By the way, Hunter called to see how you were doing. They’re in Texas, and they’ll be back in town in a few days.” Law turned to Courtney. “How the hell do you know about the bar fights?”
Courtney shrugged and turned to set her dishes in the sink. “People talk.”
Hope eyed her husband, who glanced at her as he continued to eat. “Women chased him constantly. Even the girls in high school drooled over him, but they just stared. They were too scared to talk to him.”
Turning to Charity, Courtney smiled. “Let me guess. Hope wasn’t scared of him at all.”
Ace snorted and helped himself to more spaghetti. “Not at all. I tried to scare her off, but my wife doesn’t scare easily.”
Hope met his meaningful look with a smile, knowing that he was reminding her of his earlier words.
Courtney shuddered. “I can’t even imagine that. I remember the night you rescued us from the house fire. We fought to get out, and there you were, standing so close to the house that your clothes were singed, fighting the fire with nothing more than a garden hose.”
Shaking her head, she looked at Hope. “He didn’t even budge. Stood his ground until the three of us were out of there.”
Ace shrugged, clearly embarrassed with the conversation. “They would have done the same for me.” He gave Hope a dark look. “Are you gonna eat, or do I have to feed you?”
Giggling, Charity let Zach pull her on to his lap. “He wouldn’t actually feed her, would he?”
Hope knew he would in a heartbeat and picked up her fork again, shooting Ace a look of her own. “Yes. He would. He just doesn’t understand that I can’t eat like he does.”
“I understand exactly how much you eat. You’ve had one meatball and three forkfuls of spaghetti. One bite of bread, and you’ve done nothing with your salad except stir it around.”
Unsurprised that he knew every bite she’d taken, Hope sighed. “I’m eating. I’m eating. Jeez. I’m supposed to be taking care of you.” Hope twirled a small amount of spaghetti on her fork and ate it while he watched, the memory of the last time he’d fed her glittering in his eyes.
She’d been upset about something that had happened at work and had come home in a bad mood. Unable to eat, she’d paced the kitchen while Ace ate, furious that the woman she’d counted on to cater an event had backed out when she realized the kind of events Hope and Charity held at the women’s club. She’d left in a huff with her nose in the air, and Hope had been furious.
After about ten minutes of her tirade, Ace had apparently had enough.
He’d stripped her with a speed that left most of her clothes ripped and pulled her onto his lap, slapping her ass when she tried to jump up again. “Be still.”
He’d fed her bites of chicken, slapping her ass if she hesitated, and, between bites, had run his hands over her.
He’d aroused her with slow deliberation, turning her into a writhing mass of need but wouldn’t let her come until she’d finished her dinner.
Not until she finished the last bite did he place her on the edge of the table and fuck her with their dinner dishes scattered all around her.
Hope’s face burned at the memory, and she couldn’t help but glance at the spot he’d taken her.
She looked back at Ace to find him still watching her, a faint smile playing at his lips, the hunger in his eyes telling her that he remembered, as well.
Ace’s lips twitched before he turned away—evidence that her highly sexed husband knew exactly what his look did to her.
He always knew.
Courtney leaned forward, smiling at Hope. “So, what did you do to get his attention?”
Beau, who’d been quietly watching them, tugged Charity to his lap. “She got a hell of a lot of speeding tickets.”
Charity giggled, her face flushed at her husband’s attention. “She sure did. Paid a fortune in fines, but she got his attention.”
The memory of one of Ace’s more erotic traffic stops, the one that proved she’d finally managed to catch his interest, flashed through her mind.
He’d been more than pissed that she drove so fast, and he’d made his opinion abundantly clear.
She could still remember how his big body had felt against hers as he pressed her against his SUV, as well as how his firm hands had felt moving over her.
One glance at her husband’s hooded gaze told her that he remembered it, too.
“She got my attention all right.” Sitting back, Ace eyed her, love and memories glittering in his eyes. “My wife has always been a spitfire. She was always like catnip to a cat to most of the guys in town. She was a challenge to them and always up to no good.”
Turning to her husband, Hope grinned at his attempt to make her sound a hell of a lot more desirable than she’d been. “I think you’re imagining things. Probably that pain medicine you’re taking. I was an angel, and the guys in town pretty much steered clear of me. I didn’t really date until I went to college.”
Zach swallowed his bite of food and chuckled. “No one in Desire would dare ask you out. Hell, everyone knew that you were under Ace’s protection.”
Hope blinked and gaped at Ace, stunned to her core. “What?”
Ace had seemed so cold to her at that time in her life and, for the most part, had ignored her.
At least he’d seemed to.
Law inclined his head and reached for his beer. “Yep. Every guy in town knew that you were off-limits and that if they messed with you, they’d have to deal with Ace.”
Using a piece of bread to clean the sauce from his plate, Ace glanced at her and shrugged, showing no sign of pain. “Angel, my ass. You were too headstrong and wild. Hell, you’d do just about anything anyone dared you to do. Your dads spoiled you and didn’t want to think that you got into trouble. They would have had heart attacks if they knew about some of your stunts.”
Hope smiled innocently at Courtney. “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I sure as hell didn’t pull stunts.”
Ace met her look with a raised brow. “You still do—or at least try to.”
Zach chuckled. “No stunts? Ace, do you remember the Homecoming bonfire?”
Ace’s jaw clenched. “Vividly.”
Courtney sat forward, glancing at Charity, who just smiled. “What happened?”
Ace sat back, eyeing Hope. “Danny Parks took her to the bonfire and purposely got her drunk.”
Shaking her head,
Hope took another bite of meatball. “He didn’t get me drunk, Ace. I drank all by myself. I knew what I was doing.”
“Did you?” Ace frowned. “You’re too little to drink like that, and you were in no shape to handle what he’d planned for you.”
Hope couldn’t help but smile at her husband’s arrogance. “How the hell do you know what he had planned for me? Don’t tell me you knew everything even then.”
Ace glanced at her and broke off another piece of French bread. “He was a young punk, Hope, and bragged about how he was going to get you drunk and take your virginity.”
Law scowled. “As I remember, his words were a hell of a lot uglier.” He pulled Courtney from Zach’s lap to his and settled back. “He was a bastard.”
Hope glanced at Ace. “I never understood why you hated him.”
Ace scowled. “I hated the way he treated women, and you only agreed to go out with him because you knew I hated him. You were trying to make me jealous.”
Hope shrugged, remembering how miserable her date with Danny turned out to be. “Maybe.” She turned to Courtney, forcing a smile. “I thought it would get Ace’s attention, but it didn’t.” She shrugged again. “It didn’t matter. Nothing happened, and I got home safe and sound.”
Zach smiled. “Yeah. You did. Danny wasn’t so lucky.”
Hope blinked. “Now what are you talking about?
Ace grimaced. “If I hadn’t been tied up at a traffic accident, I would have gotten there a hell of a lot sooner.”
Zach finished eating, got to his feet, and went to the refrigerator for another beer. “Ace showed up, beat the hell out of Danny, put you in his car, and took you home.”
Stunned, Hope turned to Ace. “I don’t remember that.”
Charity sighed and leaned into Beau. “Oh, honey. You were so drunk you couldn’t even walk. How the hell did you think you got home? Mom and the dads knew that you’d gone out with Danny and were worried. Once they realized that Ace was watching out for you, they didn’t worry anymore. They knew Ace would take care of you. When Ace brought you home drunk, the dads went to Danny’s house and made it pretty clear that if they saw Danny anywhere near you, they’d take care of him themselves.” Frowning, Charity glanced at Ace. “Didn’t Danny leave town soon after that?”