Indebted: 'Til Death Do Us Part (Teal & Trent Book 3)

by Inger Iversen

  She sat back. “Did you just call this half of you,” she pointed to his right arm, “the whole part?” Her tone was waspish.

  His lust evaporated as he realized what he’d said. “Look, Teal. I know what my scars mean to you, but to me . . .” How was he supposed to explain this to her? He was her hero, but how could he be her savior when he was the one constantly putting her in danger? “To me, it was a near miss. I almost lost you. Every time I see the scars, they remind me that he touched you.” She flinched at those words. “That I wasn’t strong enough, or fast enough—”

  She placed her fingers over his lips and sighed. “To me, these scars represent the life you saved, not your inability to protect to me. But you have to understand, this isn’t some Regency romance, in which a flushing woman always needs saving by some duke or earl, or whatever. We are in a marriage, and that means choices are to be made by us for us.”

  Trent heard the warning in her voice.

  “You can’t manhandle every choice that affects us. And no,” her hand came up halting his words, “you can’t always protect me alone.” Those words were like a bullet to the chest, the sting and burn eating him up. “We’ve proved that by what happened with Jake.”

  She sat up straight. “What I mean is, life happens, and without you and me in it together, we fall. No more reckless attempts to save us, because I can’t live without you. I love you, Trent. And I understand how dangerous these men are, but you aren’t considering every scenario.”

  “And what other scenarios are there, Teal?

  “Well . . .” She bit her lip and glanced away, and Trent knew this was going to be a doozy. “We could always go back to Vermont.”

  His fingers clenched on her hips. “What?”

  The ease in which she’d suggested leaving Kentucky pissed him off. The words had just flowed over her tongue, as if she’d been thinking about making the move all along. He watched as her hackles rose and guilt played across her face.

  Fuck, she had thought about leaving.

  “There’s that, and there’s going to the police,” she added. “You don’t seem willing to look at other options. But the bottom line is, you can’t just kill someone.”

  Still hard beneath her, Trent thought of nothing but deflecting this talk by freeing his cock and thrusting into her. Instead, he caught her gaze with his and waited until he had her full attention.

  “You aren’t leaving me, and I’m not running from them.”

  Teal rolled her eyes. “I mean we—you, Emma, and me. We all move to Vermont.”

  “And what will I do for work? How do we pay the bills? We aren’t just picking up and running. It’s not what I do.” He expelled a harsh breath. Lifting her up and placing her on the couch, he got up and paced. “If I leave, then what’s to say they won’t fuck with the shop? The people I know?” He slashed a hand through the air, a gesture of finality. “No, I’ll handle this. And if I have to throw money at the problem, I will.”

  He moved to her, kneeling at her feet. She’d been the only person in his life he’d willingly fell to his knees for, and would continue to do so. “We don’t have to run, and plus . . .” He smiled, adding a bit of levity to the situation. “I have a surprise for you, remember?”

  Slowly, her eyes lit up. “Oh yeah?” The cautious air to her voice told him she’d only shelved this conversation for the time being. But he’d take it.

  Teal opened her legs for him, and from his vantage point, he could see glistening lips and dark curls through her dampened sleep pants.

  “Wider,” he demanded, wanting to see her lush nether lips open on their own. She obeyed, but then Trent had other plans. He gripped the hem of her pants and panties and yanked them down her legs. Taking her thighs in his hands, he spread her wide. Trent pulled her to the edge of the couch, watching as her body languidly lay back onto the cushions.

  Dark chocolate-tipped breasts jutted up as her back bowed. Trent took her hand in his and placed it between her legs. Teal’s eyes flew to his when he placed her fingertips over her clit. The burgeoning bud swelled under her fingers, and her hips jolted at the sensation of contact.

  “Fuck.” He groaned, his mouth watering at the erotic display.

  Teal didn’t wait for instruction, she opened her fingers, taking the bud between them and rubbing up and down.

  “More pressure, baby.”

  She obliged, her hips left the couch with each downward stroke. Trent leaned in and licked the tip of her clit, pulling a gasp from her lips. Reaching between his legs, Trent freed his cock and rubbed and squeezed its length as it wept for mercy. Having had enough, he pushed back, keeping his eyes on Teal’s deft little fingers sliding over her flesh, the sounds of her pleasure sounding throughout that room.

  Trent gripped himself in a fist, mimicking Teal’s tight channel. Her core clenched, needing to be filled. One hand on his cock and the other on her thigh, Trent bent down and kissed her core. Over and over, he laid opened-mouth kisses on her hot flesh.

  “Trent,” she called out, her plea summoning his cock to even greater attention.

  He wanted to hold out as long as possible, though the flesh covered steel between his thighs had other plans as it kicked in his hand; the tightening of his balls reminded Trent that he was working on borrowed time.

  He slid his hand from the base to tip and twisted when he reached his slickened head. “Fuck!” His rough bark of pleasure caused his heated breath to fan out over Teal’s already searing core.

  Her hips began to buck and Trent tried to steer his tongue in the right direction. But when her knees quaked, and her breath left her mouth in a gasp, Trent knew she’d reached the point of no return. He pumped himself harder, fighting the urge to finish before Teal. Her finger continued to slide past her clit faster and faster. Trent took the bud between his lips and sucked—hard.

  A scream sliced through the air, and Teal’s back bowed from the couch, her open core nearly smothering Trent in its attempt to further her pleasure. Trent devoured her until she was left quaking and twitching. He lifted himself up, towering over her, even while on his knees.

  Her mouth still parted, legs still spread, and her dripping wet core still on display, was an erotic sight for Trent’s eyes. Teal sighed, exhaustion and the need to come again, no doubt warring within her.

  “Look at me, baby.” Trent grunted. He was going to come soon and he needed her eyes on him.

  Teal’s gaze slid down his body and to the hand pumping himself. He couldn’t hold on much longer. Loosening his grip, he slowed down a bit, just to take the edge off.

  Teal pushed up onto her elbows and stared down at him from between her parted thighs, a decadent smile on her lips. “Cup your balls,” she demanded.

  Trent reached down and cupped the twin weights between his thighs. His head rolled back on his shoulder and he released a groan, or maybe it was a strangled cry, he wasn’t sure.

  “Faster, baby.”

  He picked up the pace, alternating between pulling and squeezing his balls. Trent felt his knees shaking, and the inevitable pull on his body that led to coming. “Fuck yeah.” His breaths made the words nearly indecipherable to his own ears.

  “Good, baby. Yes.” Teal’s husky voice forced him to open his eyes. She was focused on what his hands were doing.

  Trent’s hand shot out, pushing Teal back onto the couch, before coating her core with his essence. The orgasm rocketed through his body so hard, it burned him from the inside out.

  He threw his head back and howled at the moon like a crazed animal. His limbs shook as his orgasm ebbed. Coming back to life, his arms hung at his sides like limp fucking noodles. He leaned his head forward, chin resting on his chest until he caught his breath.

  Darkness in the room began to fade as the sun bartered positions in the sky with the moon. And wasn’t that some shit. Trent’s sun and moon lay before him, covered in his love for her, as their universe lay sleeping in her bedroom. Reminding him that the man he’d b
ecome since meeting Teal would have to take a back seat to the killer the military had trained, because Ace would take no bribe or trade in payment for his debt.

  Trent would only survive his past if the congressman died.

  Chapter 14

  Emma giggled and tittered with her plush, white sheep gripped tight in her little chubby fingers. The soaking wet thing spent more time in the girl’s mouth than food did. And because of that, Teal paid more attention to the sheep slipping from her hand, than she did the man creeping down the cereal aisle of the store.

  “Well, hello, darling.”

  The sound of the man’s voice sent shards of ice down her spine, and her head whipped up to see Ace, sauntering down the aisle, with a twenty-four pack of beer under each arm.

  Teal looked around for Trent, who’d trekked back to get diapers and was nowhere in sight. She pulled her purse closer to her side, just in case she needed to go for the gun Trent made her carry. The thought of pulling it out in front of her kid had her stomach painfully clenching, but she was not above doing it.

  Ace’s lips twitched. “Now, either you think I’m about to snatch that,” he glanced down at his hands full of beer, unable to grab much of anything, “or you got something in there you think will make me run.” His tone was a growl and Teal’s anger flared.

  What was it with men who constantly used their strength and power against women? Having worked in the prison system, Teal had seen this more times than she could count, but realizing it happened outside of those walls just as much as inside, drove her mad.

  Straightening her spine and putting more bravado in her voice than she felt, Teal asked, “What the hell do you want?”

  “You know what I want.” The playful glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by the cold callousness of a killer. “Your man knows what I want.”

  Fear leaked into her. Would he do something to Emma? That fear seemed to be irrational, seeing as Ace claimed to have called Trent in to help him save yet another child.

  Wait, did that mean she was a target? Though Teal felt some measure of relief that Emma might be safe, fear grew as she realized these men could use her as a tool against Trent.

  “Motherfucker,” Trent’s growling voice hit her ears and Teal turned in relief as her husband marched down the aisle, holding the diapers as if they could be used for a weapon. And from the fierce look on his face and ice-cold gaze in his eyes, Teal thought that perhaps the military had taught him to kill with Huggies Ultras.

  She stepped back as Trent rounded on Ace.

  “Don’t ever talk to my wife.” His voice was low and menacing. Teal glanced around, watching as patrons peeked down the aisle and then quickly made their way away from the two behemoths. “Don’t even look at my family.”

  “You know what you have to do, Marine. The longer you waste time, the harder the job becomes.” He stepped back and out of Trent’s face. “Three days. If you aren’t in a cut and sitting in the building with a sniper rifle in hand . . . ” He didn’t finish the sentence, and from the look in his eyes, he knew he didn’t need to.

  Teal’s heart felt as if it would implode in her chest. When Ace disappeared around the corner, her anger flared. This man was not going to be cornering her in grocery stores with her kid present. This was not the life Trent had promised her.

  Teal pressed a kiss to Emma’s head. “This is why we need to call Katie and Logan.”

  Trent turned to look at her incredulously. “Why? Why get them involved in this?” He dropped the diapers into the cart, and his tone morphed from angry bastard to annoyed husband. “They have enough shit going on with the book tour and the kids. We don’t need to have them in every aspect of our lives, Teal.” His admonishing tone pissed her off. Why was he acting as if this little run-in wasn’t a huge deal?

  “Agreed, but this situation calls for some back up, don’t you think?” Emma dropped her toy and Teal picked it up, shoving it in her purse. Her daughter raged at the loss of it.

  Trent leaned in and picked her up. Hefting her in his arms, he turned to Teal. “You trust me, right? Because you said you did a long time ago. Does that trust have an expiration date?”

  The accusation in his tone hurt, but they couldn’t live like nothing was happening between him and these men. She didn’t feel safe ignoring Ace’s presence in their lives.

  “Are you planning on actually,” she glanced around, making sure the coast was clear, “killing him?”

  With a sigh, he dropped a box of cereal into the cart and moved Emma to his other hip. “Baby, I’m still debating on what I am going to do.”

  Teal knew that was a lie. Trent either planned on killing the man, or had a plan he wasn’t sharing. She wondered if her whole marriage would be like this, with Trent using half-truths and flat-out lies to protect loved ones.

  “Trent Reed,” she said in a tone that conveyed her aggravation.

  Trent glanced heavenward, as if looking for a hole he could use to fly out of this conversation. “We aren’t calling Logan and Katie, and I better not get a call from him, hedging that he knows what’s going on. Damn it, you and Katie are two nosy-ass ladies.”

  She smiled at this because it was true.

  Back at home, Trent put the groceries up while Teal fixed supper. “What’s this, baby?” he asked, bending over to pick up a piece of paper from the ground.

  Teal shrugged and turned back to cutting vegetables. “I don’t know. Probably something Emma got ahold of. As a matter of fact, you need to start putting her in that damn playpen.”

  “What the fuck?”

  She turned, prepared to give him a piece of her mind, but paused when she saw the letter she’d started to open a few days back, clutched in his hand. Teal had forgotten all about the mail. Laying the knife down, she rushed over to him. His face had gone pale and he’d ripped into the letter.

  “What is it?” she asked, fear racing through her head at the possibilities. But if it were a tragedy, who would send a letter instead of calling, or just showing up at the doorstep?

  Trent sat, more like collapsed, in the chair and lay the letter out before Teal. She glanced down at the neatly penned words, but couldn’t read upside down. Had the MC sent him something? She pulled the papers away and gasped. The letter was from Harper.

  Dear Trent,

  It occurs to me that keeping Markus from you has been done in great error. Perhaps all along he’s known that Keveln wasn’t his father, and after our recent divorce, I didn’t have the heart to keep up the charade.

  Teal’s eyes widened in utter shock. A quick glance to Trent caught him staring at what looked to be a picture in his hand. Her head spun. After weeks of sending letters to Harper and getting almost nothing in return, Teal could barely believe it. She delved back in to read more, pissed that she’d forgotten the pile of letters for nearly three days.

  The divorce has shed light on a lot of untruths in my marriage, this just one of many, but after speaking to Markus and my mother, they both think it’s time to have you in his life.

  “Jesus, Trent.” Teal couldn’t help but notice what shit timing Harper had, but still, this is what they’d been working toward. This is what Trent wanted. So why was he so pale faced, and looking like he would puke?

  She leaned forward and placed a hand on his stiff shoulder. “You okay?” When he didn’t answer, she pulled the paper from between his fingers. A brown chubby baby revealed his gums in an adoring smile to the camera, held in the arms of Harper.

  Hell, Teal had guessed that she was beautiful, but she hadn’t guessed the woman was this much of a knock out. Soft round eyes gazed at the baby, as a lock of dark hair tinted the color of hazelnut fell over one side of her face. Straight white teeth lined up behind a sweet smile revealed the young woman’s delight at the bundle of joy in her arms.

  Teal released a heavy sigh and placed the picture down on the table. “You know . . .”

  “Don’t, Teal.” Trent’s softly spoken words caused her to glanc
e up at him. She didn’t see anger in his eyes. “You don’t have to try and make this better.”

  “Is that what you think I’m doing?” She sighed again. “Okay, I was trying to get that look off your face.” She hated this part of their life, but wanted so badly to bring a piece of his past into their future. Markus.

  Teal was positive Trent had wanted to be in his son’s life, and she couldn’t help the zing of jealousy that coursed through her body at this thought. Harper and Trent had created a child together, one who shared both their DNA.

  Teal glanced at Emma on the floor, working on eating her toes. She loved the little girl with all her heart, but she feared Trent would soon ask her for another child, and she was not ready for that. There was no getting around it. After the one year’s time she’d promised to Trent was up, Teal was going back to work. She guessed she only had a few good childbearing years left, and in that time, she wanted to establish herself in a career in her new town.

  She bit her lip, stomach rocking at the idea of denying him the same thing Harper had denied him. Teal pushed those fears from her mind and reached out to her husband, who was still sitting there, looking as if the weight of the world had fallen on his shoulders.

  Going over the letter again, she read the seven digits Harper had left for them to call, and the date she wanted to meet up with Trent to introduce him to his son. And wouldn’t you know, it was the same date Ace wanted Trent to work for him.

  “Baby, do you want me to call her and confirm?” Teal stood, nearly knocking over her chair to get to the house phone, but Trent’s hand shot out and grabbed her. She looked at him. Even sitting down, his eyes weren’t level with hers. Teal had to look up to see him, and when she did she was shocked by the emotion she saw there. “What?” she asked, melting into his arms when he pulled her close.

  “I guess I just figured my old ass would go to my deathbed waiting for the day I’d meet him.”

  Teal studied his face. His beauty sometimes shocked her; the aging process was being so kind to Trent. Not a hint of gray hair or wrinkles, along with a smooth, tan face that hid his age. A dusting of blonde hair covered the bottom half of his face, and sat soft above his upper lip. Yeah, the only tell that Trent was a day past thirty-nine were the sexy crow’s feet at the sides of his eyes.