Wounded Hearts: Men in Blue, Book 5

by Jayne Rylon

  The guys on the phone must have sensed something off because they insisted on coming over for a debriefing and check-in. Ellie didn’t see how that was wise, considering the place would be teeming with cops and they were trying to scam some scammers, but she figured they knew best.

  A few hours later, it shocked the hell out of her when people started showing up.

  Not through the front gate or up the driveway, but on golf carts from the other side of the lake.

  “I own a cabin about a mile that way.” Lucas pointed. “It has more surveillance equipment and a secondary exit—or entrance, in this case—to the property through a tunnel in the wine cellar. I have a motorcycle and some other supplies stashed there in case I ever have to make a run for it for some reason.”

  He shrugged as if that were a normal thing.

  Was she fucking a superhero or something? Too bad he couldn’t fly—then they wouldn’t have gotten in a fight the night before and things wouldn’t be threatening to unravel before her eyes.

  When it seemed like he was about to say something, maybe to bridge this horrible gap between them, the back door opened and Ryan rushed inside. He scooped her into his arms and squeezed her tight enough to make her squeak.

  Over her brother’s shoulder, Lucas was watching them with a sad smile. Was it because he was wishing he had a sibling of his own? Or because he was happy she had someone to fall back on if things between them got blown to smithereens?

  Either way, Ellie knew she couldn’t let him walk away from what they’d been building because it was too good to throw away over something as superficial as his image issues.

  Later, after everyone left, she would try to convince him of the same thing.

  When Ryan finally put her down, Ellie was immediately hugged again by Shari and Ben and Ben’s niece, whom he had sole custody of since his sister had not survived Morselli’s dungeon. Ellie embraced her brother’s roommate a little tighter when it was his turn. She knew what he still struggled with, and it could just as easily have been her brother grieving instead.

  Shari eventually cut in, handing her an enormous paper bag. “I thought you might want some art supplies to help you cope with the stress while you’re here.”

  Though her friend might have meant the heist, it was clear she didn’t when she glanced between Ellie and Lucas, who hadn’t taken his gaze from her for a single moment.

  “Thank you.” The woman was a lifesaver. This would allow her to stay calm, especially if things between her and Lucas deteriorated.

  Shari leaned in closer and said, “I put some of your collection in the bottom of the bag, in case you need some way to release the tension without relying on your host.”

  Ellie’s face flamed. She would have told Shari she had a much better substitute, but Lucas’s smirk was enough indication that he had a pretty good idea of what had caused her flush. Screw him. If he was still acting like an idiot later, maybe she’d put on that show she’d teased him about.

  Then she’d see what he had to say.

  When the hell had she become so bold? Probably about the time he’d made it clear that the two of them together were clear frontrunners in the world’s best-sex-in-the-history-of-mankind contest.

  “Uncle Lucas?” Julie went up to him and took his hand between both of hers. It looked so strong and enormous, compared to the innocent girl’s.

  “Yeah, sweetie?” He crouched down to her level.

  “I saw a rope swing in the backyard. Uncle Ben and Uncle Ryan said I had to ask if I could play on it. Can I? Please?”

  “Sure.” He beamed at her. His adeptness with children was just another endearing factor about the man. Damn him. “Want me to push you really high?”

  “Yes!” she screeched, making the adults grin. It’d taken the child a while to return to her playful self. All of them had been wrecked in some way or another by Morselli and the Scientist. At least Julie seemed the most resilient. “I want to touch the clouds.”

  “Well, maybe not that high.” Lucas laughed as he let her drag him out into the sunshine. Ben and Ryan followed along.

  From the sunroom, Ellie and Shari watched the other Men in Blue join their guys out back, suspiciously not far from the grill, while Lacey, Jambrea and Lily headed in toward them.

  Matt and Clint—Jambrea’s men—unpacked rations for an impromptu barbeque while the ladies joined Ellie indoors under the guise of whipping up some side dishes.

  After a round of hugs from everyone and some baby talk from Ezra, who rode Izzy’s hip, they all stared expectantly at her. Lily went ahead and said it for them all, “So…are you two doing it yet or what?”

  “Um, yes. Kind of.” She couldn’t help but smile at that revelation.

  Her friends cheered louder than they had when she’d hit that cursed jackpot last weekend.

  They were so noisy the guys must have heard them from outside and turned their way for a moment before resuming their chatter.

  “Shh…shhh.” Ellie held her hands with her palms down and lowered them toward the floor. “It’s not all sunshine and roses. I mean, it was, until last night.”

  By the time she’d finished explaining, the group of women was giving her plenty of suggestions for how to overcome Lucas’s hang-ups. Not a single one of them doubted that working through things was the way to go.

  “Honey, I can see him looking over his shoulder at us every ten seconds. He can’t stop staring at you. He just needs some time to adjust.” Shari smiled at Ellie.

  “Speaking of”—Jambrea winced as if she hated to bring it up—“how are you doing? With the physical aspects of the relationship, given your condition?”

  Spoken like a true nurse.

  “Honestly, he’s better than any of the hormone therapy I’ve been getting. It’s amazing. He makes me feel so good. Almost normal, except way sexier than I used to be.” She giggled as she shrugged nervously. “But…I was wondering…”

  “We’ve heard it all, Ellie.” Lacey slung an arm around her shoulders. “Do you know how many people we see in the ER each week who get stuff stuck up their butts? What could be more embarrassing than that?”

  Lily looked between them before offering, “I can leave if you want to talk to them in private. I know what it’s like to respect someone’s confidentiality, though, and I’d never break yours. I hope you know that.”

  “It’s not that I’m worried about anyone knowing, I’m just sort of thinking I might be nuts.” She shrugged. “Stay, stay. I trust you all. Is it possible that when he comes in me, either in my mouth or my pussy, the Sex Offender effects are diminished?”

  Shari couldn’t help herself. “He’s got magic jizz?”

  “Oh. My. God.” Ellie put her face in her palms. “I knew that was crazy, right?”

  “Actually, no. It’s not.” Jambrea tugged on Shari’s hair. “Quiet, ho.”

  When they broke into a mock fight, Ellie turned to Lacey instead. “It’s not?”

  “Jambrea and I have interviewed all of the recovering Sex Offender addicts at the hospital. Even Lily.” Ellie held out her hand to her friend. Only people who’d experienced the ravaging effects of the drug could truly understand. “There aren’t that many of you because, you know, it was so addictive. Most people who used it OD’d. But I can think of four who have told us the same thing you just did.”

  Lacey and Jambrea exchanged a look over Shari’s head.

  “What? What was that?” Ellie asked.

  “It could be coincidence. We have a correlation going, not a causation-type situation. There’s no proof for sure…” Jambrea hedged.

  Lily squeezed Ellie’s hand as she prepared herself to hear what they said next. “Tell me.”

  “The women who’ve reported this phenomenon are all in love with their partners,” Lacey said. “You know a lot of the addicts were, and still are,
prostitutes. None of them have described the effect when they’re with clients they have no affection for. And even some of the women who are married haven’t. But the ones who have rated themselves a ten out of ten on our survey when we asked about being in love.”

  “That’s ridiculous. That’s not how chemicals work.” Ellie had been a lab tech before all this. She knew about reactions. They were standard equations. No deviations for something as intangible as emotions.

  “You know,” Jambrea added, “the more I think about things, the more I think I know a doctor you should talk to. I met him one time when he took Matt, Clint and me out to a fancy restaurant as a thank-you present. Remember when they saved that college girl who got kidnapped? The photographer?”

  “Oh yeah.” Ellie shivered as she realized she had a lot more in common with the woman now. “Wasn’t her name Elsa? It was similar to mine, I think.”

  “Yes,” Jambrea confirmed. “Well, anyway, her brother-in-law is Dr. Kurt Foster of Elembreth University. He invented this thing called the Dream Machine that’s tearing up the field right now with its effectiveness in treating people who suffer from repressed memory, and especially sexual therapy through dream analysis. Anyway, he didn’t used to believe in love at all because he only looked at base-chemical reactions. Long story short, he’s convinced now—thanks partially to his wife, Becca—though he still thinks there are reaction types we simply don’t understand yet that drive some of these unbreakable connections between people. It’s fascinating stuff.”

  Ellie could see how it would be. “Could I get his card? Or his number or something?”

  “Sure.” Jambrea smiled. “How about I send an email when I get home, introducing the two of you? I think it could be really beneficial for you both.”

  “Thanks.” She gave Jambi a quick hug.

  “So until you and Dr. Hot Stuff crack the scientific reasoning behind it, I’d just recommend you keep draining Lucas.” Lily shrugged. “If it ain’t broke…”

  “Damn it. It sort of is, though.” Ellie frowned.

  “Not for long.” Shari smiled at her. “Trust us. You’ll get through this. It’ll be a fun trivia question at your bridal shower someday: What was your first fight?”

  “What?” Ellie snorted as she shook her head. These ladies were too much.

  “Yo, woman!” Razor shouted to Izzy from across the lawn. “The burgers are ready. Where’s my potato salad? Don’t forget the brownies either!”

  They all cracked up at that, knowing poor Razor was about to get his balls handed to him yet again.

  Sharing the fresh grilled food, they laughed and talked. A brilliant relief. Ellie sat quietly next to Lucas, wishing the heat of his thigh pressed to hers weren’t their only contact. They spoke to their neighbors instead of each other, making her wonder if her friends had everything wrong after all.

  Across the table from her, she watched Ben and Ryan offer Shari tastes of their food until she was too stuffed to finish what was on her own plate. From beside them, she could see Mason and Tyler rolling their eyes. More than once she heard them rag on themselves for being too stupid to make a move on Lacey earlier than they had and how they wished they hadn’t wasted years of their lives before acting on what was between them. Matt and Clint seconded their opinions. Loudly.

  Hopefully the third trio in their group would get the point soon.

  Ellie could see how well they meshed. Why couldn’t they?

  She didn’t want to make the same mistake. Just when she was about to whisper her revelation to Lucas, he got up from the table, clearing her garbage without being asked, before he joined the rest of the Men in Blue, who were tossing a football around near the lake.

  When the ball popped off Clint’s hands and went into the water, things turned into a cross between catch and a wet T-shirt contest featuring a host of sexy, ripped law enforcers. She, Izzy, Lily, Shari, Lacey and Jambrea swooned appropriately from the shore.

  Ellie couldn’t tell for sure, but at one point she thought she saw Razor reenacting their fucking faux sign language at Lucas. Oh God, had that been caught on camera? If it meant that the guys were treating Lucas as one of their own, not holding back or acting like he was too fragile for their jabs, she would gladly suffer a little embarrassment.

  After a while, the guys headed in. Most of them had stripped off their shirts and were sunning themselves as they lounged near their women. The first really hot day of the year made them eager to soak up the sun’s rays.

  Laughing and dripping lake water, Lucas climbed up the bank then headed toward the pile of towels on the picnic table beside Ellie. She handed him one, admiring the way happiness transformed his sometimes too-serious features. He really did have a killer smile, dimples and all.

  In silence, he began drying off his leg, pressing and holding where he’d gotten his liner and socks wet. His smile faded as he worked. Because of her?

  “If you want me out of your hair, I’ll go with JRad or one of the other cops until it’s time for the sting,” Ellie murmured so that their friends couldn’t hear.

  “Like hell.” Lucas spun to face her so fast he had to take a moment to catch his balance, which only seemed to piss him off more. “You’re staying with me. It’s safer and…because…this is where you belong.”

  Ellie tried not to grin.

  “Shit, E,” he groaned, “I’m an idiot. I freaked out last night and I’m sorry it came between us. I can’t promise that I won’t get frustrated sometimes, but I’ll try not to shut you out. Forgive me?”

  When he came closer and put his fist beneath her chin, tipping her face up, she couldn’t deny the sincerity in his searching gaze.

  “Yeah. But if you go into dumbass mode again, I reserve the right to kick your ass with your own foot until you snap out of your funk. Deal?”

  “Deal.” He grinned.

  She nodded then went onto her tiptoes.

  He met her halfway, kissing her full-on despite their friends and family not more than a hundred feet away. She’d missed the support of his arms around her and the heat of his lips sweeping across hers. Too much more of that and she’d be running inside for that vibrator Shari packed.

  Lucas noticed her hesitance and separated them, but didn’t let go of her. The public display of affection was as good as a promise ring in the eyes of their friends.

  Unsurprisingly, a chorus of catcalls, whistles and hollers echoed from the gathering, in appreciation of their little show.

  “I think that’s our cue to pack up.” Mason clapped his husband, Tyler, on the shoulder even as he hugged their wife, Lacey, to his chest.

  But it wasn’t until Julie began to sing “Uncle Lucas and Aunt Ellie, sitting in a tree…” that the two of them finally broke apart, grinning like fools.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ryan, Shari, Ben and Julie had been the first to arrive and they were the last to leave. Ellie’s brother took a long time saying goodbye to his beloved sister. No one could doubt his devotion to Ellie. He’d raised her, risked his life for her and been forever changed by the experience himself.

  Ben hovered nearby with a sleeping Julie resting against his massive shoulder. The clutch Ryan had on Shari’s hand as he said farewell to Ellie made it clear how tough it was for him. After nearly losing her once, this had to be killing him. Hopefully Ben and Shari would help him through it.

  It was the only time Lucas saw Ellie waver in her resolve to aid in the takedown of the robbers.

  When the four of them, who would make a pretty awesome family in Lucas’s opinion, piled into the golf cart that would take them back to the secret entrance to his property, Ellie called to her brother one last time, “I love you. It’ll be okay.”

  “Better be.” Ryan glared at Lucas.

  Spending time around their friends had made Lucas realize he had essentially no tie to Ellie, or her to him.
Even their lip-lock would be easy to blow off if things went south after this. It bothered him. By the time they were alone again, the need to claim her coursed through his blood.

  He’d never felt that way before about a woman, though it didn’t surprise him that she would be the first. The only. Their bond had seared away everything but her while they fucked. It also made her opinion count when he’d never given a shit about what people thought of him in the past.

  And that was why he’d fucked up so royally the night before.

  Lucas took Ellie’s hand and tugged gently, leading her to a soft blanket he’d laid out under the most enormous oak tree back there. It was close enough to the lake’s edge to have a great view and even be in range of hearing the soft laps the gentle waves made as they kissed the shore.

  When he sat beside Ellie, he scratched around the top of his liner, which had gotten soaked while he was horsing around with the guys earlier.

  “Why don’t you take that stuff off if it’s bothering you?” Ellie asked with feigned nonchalance. Here they went again. “It’s still warm and bright enough out here that it’ll dry in no time.”

  He hated when she made sense, especially when he had other priorities at the moment.

  “Maybe I’d rather remove some other things, like your clothes,” he growled as he leaned in and captured her mouth in a kiss rougher than he usually gave her unless they were in the middle of sex. For the first time, he didn’t doubt her ability to handle him.

  She’d faced the full brunt of his temper, even when it had been unfairly aimed at her. Could she withstand the heat of his unshielded attraction?

  They were about to find out.

  Lucas buried his fingers in her hair and she tipped her head back, parting her lips so that he could sip from her as he liked. But when he toyed with the buttons on her dress, she slapped his hands away.

  “Nope.” Ellie shook her head.

  “What kind of game is this?” He could see her eyes changing from cerulean to the deep, stormy blue that accompanied her body’s transition to her ultra-aroused state. She wanted this. Him.