Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2)

by Cm Hutton

  “No, Jace.” She was quick to answer my question, and I was grateful for her answer.

  “Okay.” I brought my hand back up and started down her legs. I moved back to the side of the bathtub, lathered my hands, and one at a time, I lifted her long legs and cleaned them from the inside of her thigh down to her foot. She laughed a little as I tickled the back of her knees and bottom of her feet. “Be still.”

  “Not fair.” She moaned.

  “Shh, I don’t want to spank you right now.” I carefully ran my fingers up and down her folds, pretending to clean her, but neither of us cared about that. I leaned in and kissed her lips. “I can’t wait to take you again, to mark you. When can I, baby? Tell me it’s soon.”

  “Yes, Jace. Soon. And I want that too.” Her wet hand came up out of the water and cupped my face. “I never knew I could need someone so much. Why did it take me so long to see this—to see us?”

  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re together now.” I kissed her again, my tongue taking control of the kiss. “Let’s get you out.”

  I stood to get her a towel, then held out my hands to help steady Lori Ann as she climbed out of the bathtub. I unfolded the large white towel and first dried her arms and chest, then knelt down to dry her pussy and between her legs. “You’re spoiling me, you know.”

  “Good,” was all I said. I wrapped her in the towel, and we walked back into the bedroom. It was late afternoon and I needed to tell her about our evening visitors, but not before I laid her down on the bed and rubbed lotion on her skin. I’d decided the oils could wait for later when we could really enjoy them.

  “Legs?” I said quietly as I sat next to her and squeezed more lotion into my hands before stroking up and down her long legs.

  “Yeah?” She was lying on her back, watching me, the towel still wrapped around her breasts. I wanted desperately to remove it, but decided to wait until I talked to her about Antonio.

  “Craig and Keri are coming by in a little while. He wants to talk about some new developments in what’s happening.”

  “Okay.” She tried to sit up to look at me, but only made it halfway before wincing and lying back down. “What’s going on?”

  “Looks like Antonio and a few men are snooping around San Diego.”

  I heard a loud gasp and saw the fear in her eyes. “What?”

  “It’s okay. I have a guy I trust watching things. I’m sure that is what Craig wants to talk about tonight. Let’s just hear what he has to say and go from there. Okay?”

  “Sure.” Lori Ann’s eyes were filled with terror. I could see she wanted to run, but didn’t have the physical strength to do it. I felt helpless in how to combat that kind of fear, except to just stay close and try to reassure her I wouldn’t leave her alone and vulnerable.

  I crawled up next to her body and held her close. “Please don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re safe.” I kissed her forehead as she snuggled her face into my chest.

  “He’ll kill me, Jace,” she sobbed. “If he finds out about this baby, it will be even worse.”

  “I know. But I will never let him hurt you again. Please just trust me.”

  “I’m trying, but he has his ways. I’ve seen them firsthand. He can steal anyone or anything. Please don’t let him steal me.”

  “I won’t, Legs. I promise.”

  We lay there for a long time, just holding on tight—afraid of what might happen. I didn’t know this guy well enough to be able to predict his moves, but I knew plenty of assholes like him. So, it was time Craig and I came up with plan that would save us all.

  Chapter 17

  Lori Ann

  I didn’t know what to think about everything. Craig and Keri showed up at our townhouse just a few hours later and basically told me the same thing Jason had earlier. Antonio and a few guys were snooping around San Diego and would most likely figure out we had headed to Denver. I knew by the conversations we were having that the little dinner meeting was to figure out if I was going to run or not. Truthfully, I’d thought a lot about it, but knew I wouldn’t get very far alone. I told them such and could see the relief wash over their faces. “So, now what?”

  “We wait. Keep John snooping around and keeping tabs on Antonio and his guys. I don’t want to drag you all over the country for no reason. He may never figure out where we are. What do you think, Craig?” Jason was so sure about stay in Denver. I had to trust that was best, but it was so hard not to follow my gut and run. Dammit!

  “I agree. Staying here, continuing with the security we have in place, is the best thing.”

  “What security?” Now, I was freaking out a little.

  “Nothing too big, Legs. Just some friends of Craig’s that are helping out…watching our place at night.” Jason leaned over to me and kissed my forehead.

  “Oh, okay.”

  “They are doing it for us because that’s what we do, Lori Ann. We’re all cops, have people we love and care about, and when someone is in trouble, we help out. These guys get it. So, the second I asked if anyone was willing to help out, the whole station practically volunteered.” Craig winked at me, and it made me smile.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Hey, they were more than happy to help, especially when I told them all about your husband.” I noticed Jason’s face fall when Craig said the word “husband.”

  “Well, I’d like to meet some of them, say thank you if that’s okay.” I looked to Jason for an answer.

  “I’ll introduce a few of them tomorrow. We’re trying not to point them out, make targets out of them, or alarm the other people living here. So, we need to be discreet.”

  “Sure.”

  The rest of the evening was spent getting to know Keri. I felt bad taking up everyone’s time, but she was incredibly understanding and gracious. Needless to say, I liked her a lot and thought she was perfect for Craig. Her laid-back, artistic side mellowed the hard-ass cop persona that Craig sported most of the time. It was understandable, but seeing him laugh and love on Keri made my heart swell with pride and love for my friend. He was a good man, and I was happy for him.

  *****

  A week had gone by since the dinner with Craig and Keri. Jason was constantly at my side, catering to my needs and helping me to heal. As far as I knew, there hadn’t been any other developments with Antonio. I was sure Jason would tell me, so I put it out of my mind the best I could and concentrated on us. We were still going slow after the bleeding incident, but I was getting impatient and was sure he was too. As close I felt to Jason, I was craving more intimacy. I wanted him inside me again—desperately.

  We hadn’t really talked much more about the baby, and I was thankful. I still didn’t know how I felt about everything. I knew in my heart that my baby was an innocent bystander. But as the days went by and I thought back on how and when I might have gotten pregnant, I knew…without a doubt…that he/she was conceived out of anger and violence. Antonio hadn’t made love to me in more than a year. He took. He claimed. He punished. And he hadn’t cared one bit if I wanted it or not. So, my heart was split into pieces…sadness, hate, guilt, and love. I didn’t know how to separate the feelings and sort through them yet, so I ignored everything. I had a feeling Jason was doing the same. He never pushed to know more, but I was sure it was eating him alive.

  So far, I’d met six different guys that were trading off nights outside our townhouse. It was weird because I would’ve never picked these guys out as fellow cops. They were pretty young and hot…not that cops weren’t hot, it was just unexpected to see so many young guys willing to do the job. Jason quickly pointed out that they were probably doing it to suck up to Craig, who was much higher on the food chain than they were. It made me laugh to think of these guys pulling this kind of duty just to impress Craig, but whatever. I was thankful, nonetheless.

  By the following weekend, things hadn’t changed. I was feeling so much better, and most of my bruises had healed. I was due for another check
-up with my new doctor that Monday morning. I was ready. I wanted to be cleared to have sex. Jason and I were on pins and needles about that one question, although we’d kept ourselves plenty entertained in the meantime.

  We’d formed a habit of having breakfast together on the balcony, which seemed to always lead to a full make-out session that had to be taken inside. I was quickly learning all the names of my security team as I took them coffee or pastries each morning. Jason would practically growl at me for doing it, too. “Stop flirting with the hired help! Those boys are practically panting and coming in their Geranimals every time they get a glimpse of you.”

  “Oh, stop. They are not!” I laughed. “Geranimals…how old are you?”

  “Whatever. Just stop. I don’t like the way they look at you, and I’d hate to have to beat the shit out of Craig’s lap dogs.” I kept laughing, but his face was dead serious…which made me laugh harder, despite the slight pain in my ribs.

  “Okay, you have to stop making me laugh.” I turned to look at Jason just as he stalked to me and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me tight against his naked chest.

  “I’m not joking. Do I look like I’m kidding about this?” I studied his face for just a second and could see that yes, he was serious, but the heavy lust in his eyes gave away that he was mostly turned on.

  I reached up with my right hand and cupped his face, still trying to hold in my laughter. “Jace. I see you’re not kidding and it really bothers you that I’m sweet to those fellas out there, but, baby, they are protecting me…us, for nothing. I want to be kind to them. Besides, I sure do love that look you have in your eyes right now. You want me, don’t you?”

  “Hell, yes. I always want you, Legs. That’s not the point.”

  I kissed his lips, stopping his temper tantrum. His grip on me tightened slightly as his tongue pushed into my mouth and he took over the kiss. His warm, minty taste and overbearing love had me pushing my hips against his erection. I couldn’t wait to make love to him again. “Jace, I need you so much.”

  “I know. I feel the same way. God, I hope your doctor says it’s okay because I’m not sure I can hold out much longer. I need to be inside my girl.”

  “Ahh…yes.”

  Jason slowly walked me to the couch and lay me down, but not before stripping my pink tank top off and sliding my panties and black Nike shorts down my legs. “And not wearing a bra when you go out there…hell, no.” He bent his head and sucked one nipple into his mouth, while his other hand pinched and twisted the other. I arched my back toward his mouth. “Jace…feels so good.”

  “Tastes good,” he mumbled as he removed his mouth for just a second.

  “Tell me what you are going to do to me when the doc releases me.” The words just flowed right out of my mouth. I’d been thinking about it, but hadn’t said them out loud.

  Jason must have been surprised too because he let go of my nipple with a “pop” and looked right into my eyes, his mouth curled into a smile. “I love that you just said that. You are so sexy, baby.” He placed a soft kiss on each nipple, causing them to ache with need. “I’m going to tie your hands to that headboard in there…or at least the one not in a cast…and oil every part of your body, teasing you as I rub every spot until you scream my name.” He kissed down my stomach, lingering for just a minute around where the baby was before continuing until he licked and kissed the outside of my folds. “Then, as you’re coming down from your orgasm, I’m going to climb onto your body and push my cock into this beautiful, pink pussy and make slow, tortuous love to you until we both collapse.”

  By the time he finished, I was so horny I didn’t know what to do with myself. “Jace, don’t leave me like this. I need release.”

  “Shh…I know.” He carefully licked my folds again and pushed his tongue in just enough to touch my clit. I jerked up at the feel, but Jason laid his hand on my stomach and kept me still as I reached my good hand into his hair and gripped it to hold him in place.

  “Feels so good.” It didn’t take long for my orgasm to vibrate through my body. I moaned and screamed Jason’s name and may have called him a few other god-like names in the process.

  When I could catch my breath, he looked up at me and said, “Do you have any idea how much I love you, how sexy you are?”

  “Hmm,” was all I could say.

  He smiled and made his way to my face. “You are my beautiful, sexy girl. God, I’m so lucky I finally have you.”

  “I love you, too. Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For waiting for me to see it, for loving me all this time, for saving me and for making me brave, but most of all for giving me the best orgasms ever.” I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows, eliciting a loud, boisterous laugh from Jason.

  “Well, you’re welcome. Right back at you, Legs.” He kissed me, and I could taste myself on his lips. I loved it. It was sexy as hell for Jason to still have me on his lips. “I think we need to get some clothes back on you.” He reached down and slid my panties and shorts back into place before helping me to sit up and pull my tank top over my head.

  “Do we have any plans today?” I asked.

  “Why? What were you wanting to do…other than the obvious.”

  I punched his arm and laughed. “I don’t know. I’m just sort of tired of being trapped here all the time. We’ve been her for almost three weeks now, and I’ve hardly been out of the house. Take me somewhere today.”

  Jason cupped my face. “Legs, I would love to take you anywhere you want to go. I’m just a little nervous to stray too far from the safety of this place until we know where Antonio and his men have gone.”

  “What do you mean?” I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  Jason sighed, and I immediately knew he’d been keeping something from me. “John—the guy we had watching Antonio?”

  “Yeah, I heard you mention him.”

  “He was jumped a few days ago. Someone beat the holy shit out of him. He’s in bad shape.” I gasped. “We can’t be sure it was Antonio or his guys, but the facts around it are just too coincidental to have nothing to do with The Italian.”

  “What’s John saying?” My question came out like a whisper as I felt a tear run down my face. Another person was hurt because of me. I could never let Antonio get near Jason or Craig. If he beat up some private investigator that was just following him, I can’t imagine what he would do to Craig or to my sweet Jace.

  “Hey, don’t worry.” Jason wiped the tear off of my cheek. “Craig and I are being safe, working under the assumption that Antonio is behind this, but John’s not an idiot, baby. He’s done jobs like this for me a hundred times and never gets noticed. Ever.”

  “Okay, then what is he saying?”

  “John is unconscious. He’s in a coma. Doctors said he’d be okay, but he’s got a pretty nasty head injury, among other things.”

  “Jace…what if Antonio finds you?”

  “Don’t worry about me or Craig. We will be okay. It’s you he wants, and I’ll never let that happen.” He kissed my forehead. “So, if it’s okay with you, I’d prefer to stay here a few more days. I know you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. We’re definitely making that.” He smiled and winked, helping me to relax.

  “I agree.”

  “How about we order some food and see if Craig and Keri want to come over? Sound okay?”

  “Yes. That sounds really nice.” I paused, then wrapped my arms, cast and all, around his neck. “I love you, Jace. Please don’t keep things from me. You hate it when I do that to you, so give me the same courtesy. I need to know what is going on every step of the way. I know you don’t want to scare me, but I’ve lived with the man all these years, and this last year was pretty awful. But I always managed to stay just a step ahead and anticipate his moves. It’s what kept me safe—up until that one night.”

  Jason abruptly leaned back and stared into my eyes. His jaw ticked with anger. “I would love a few minutes alone with
him…beat him into a coma for what he did.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll try my best to keep you up to date. I just didn’t want to set off alarms until we knew something more.”

  “I understand that, but I still need to be prepared. I have to know.” I kissed his lips.

  “Done.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “This scares me to death, baby.”

  “What does?”

  “Not knowing, not being able to anticipate his next move—and you and I know he has one or he wouldn’t be in the States. I’m torn up with anger and fear.”

  Jason’s admission had me speechless. I’d never seen him so vulnerable. I gripped my fingers into his hair and held him close. “I need you to know that I’ll never leave you. Never again. Walking away from you all those years ago was the biggest mistake of my life. No matter what happens, I won’t willingly leave you, Jason.”

  “But that’s what I’m most afraid of, Legs. That he will sneak in here and steal you away. And I won’t have a clue as to where you are or if you’re okay. The thought paralyzes me. I won’t rest until he’s in jail or dead.”

  “Did you tell this to Craig?”

  “Yes, he knows. Why?”

  “What did he say?” I already knew the answer.

  “Why are you asking that?”

  “Tell me.”

  Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “He said he felt the same way—could see the scenario playing out in his head.”

  I closed my eyes and said, “That’s what I thought.”

  “Lori Ann, listen…”

  “No. It’s okay. You and Craig have always had incredible instincts. That’s what makes you both great at your jobs. And as much as I hate to admit it, I feel the same way. It sucks that we all see it coming, but I’ll fight. I promise I will. I’ll fight to never let him take me.”

  I pulled back to look into Jason’s eyes, but he wouldn’t open them. Instead, I saw tears—yes, tears were falling from my strong man’s eyes.