Ruthless Bastard: Rich Ruthless Bastards Book Two

by Tonya Brooks

  For the first time in years, she could live like a normal human being. Jolie had never been materialistic, but after living below the poverty level, she certainly appreciated the security of having money. Not that she had any intention of becoming a spendthrift, but it was nice to be able to buy her son a snow cone if he wanted one.

  A million dollars was a hell of a safety cushion to fall back on, but once Bryce was old enough to attend school she fully intended to return to work as a dancer. The kind that kept their clothes on. In the meantime, Reece had convinced her that their son would benefit from having a stay at home mom, and she was enjoying the role immensely.

  To all intents and purposes, they appeared to be a perfectly normal family. If you discounted the fact that she and Reece were divorced, slept in separate bedrooms, and only shared his penthouse because it made their son happy. Traditional, they were not, but it worked for them and that was all that mattered.

  Much to her astonishment, her ex had taken an extended leave of absence to spend time with his family. The man was a workaholic and had even conducted a conference call on their honeymoon. That he was willing to walk away from his empire to focus his complete attention on her and Bryce attested to his determination to get her back.

  After several painfully honest discussions, they had agreed to put the recriminations of the past behind them and concentrate on giving their son the best childhood possible. She discovered that Reece's desire to make that a reality stemmed from his own troubled past when he revealed more of his terrible childhood.

  The atrocities he described had ripped the beating heart from her chest and Jolie had held him in a fierce embrace while they both cried. Talking about it had been cathartic since he had never discussed his childhood with anyone. Not even his brother. Knowing that he trusted her enough to share his vulnerability with her was truly humbling.

  He and Dane had been raised with a complete lack of nurturing by the one person who should have loved them more than anything. Wild animals had more compassion for their offspring than their mother had. The evil bitch had committed the ultimate betrayal by abusing her children, using them for monetary gain, and effectively destroying their ability to trust.

  After witnessing such a strong, proud man break down and lose control of his emotions, Jolie completely understood why Reece's reaction to her pregnancy had been so extreme. In his mind, the only woman he had ever trusted enough to open his heart and love had betrayed him just as cruelly as his mother ever had.

  He had been bombarded by the same feelings of anger, pain, and betrayal that he had experienced so often in his childhood. Since he had kept all of the pain and rage from his traumatic past bottled up inside, the emotional distress had simply overwhelmed his common sense, and he'd behaved like a lunatic.

  Cutting her completely out of his life to the point of refusing to let her name be mentioned had been a self-preservation mechanism to shield himself from the pain. He had survived by pretending to himself that their relationship had never happened. Just like he had done with the traumatic events from his childhood.

  In his own way, he'd been fighting for survival just like she had. Now that she understood the reason why he had abandoned them, and how he could have done such a thing, Jolie had actually begun to forgive Reece. They had managed to regain a measure of their former closeness, and he was restoring her trust daily.

  He had also completely reclaimed her heart. Not that she would admit it, but she loved him as much as she ever had. He had made it impossible not to. The man was just as wonderful as she remembered. Reece told her that he loved her multiple times a day and proved it with the little things he did.

  Like running her a hot bath and keeping their son entertained, so she could soak in peace. Rubbing her back with sunblock so her sensitive skin didn't burn while they played in the pool. Massaging her aching feet after a long day at the amusement park. And holding her hair out of the way while she vomited after one of the spinning rides made her sick.

  Their life together really was perfect and idyllic. Until they said goodnight and slept alone in separate beds. That part really sucked. Because their desire for each other was as strong as ever. It was obvious in the heated glances and lingering touches they shared. Jolie's resolve was wavering more every day.

  She wanted Reece in her bed. Craved his touch with a hunger that she hadn't known was possible. Seeing his godlike body half-naked every day wasn't making it any easier. The blasted man knew it too, so he flexed those gorgeous muscles every chance he got. If their son hadn't been present she would have thrown him to the deck and rode him like the wind.

  The fact that he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off of her bikini-clad body filled her with feminine satisfaction. Not once had his eyes strayed to the bevy of bathing beauties surrounding them. If they had, she would have clawed them out of his face. Yeah. Jealousy was a cruel master and where her ex was concerned, she was its bitch.

  At the boy's insistence, Dane had joined them for the trip to Walt Disney World and not only did her son proclaim it was the best birthday he'd ever had, but he wanted to do it again every year. His uncle and father had acted as much like children as Bryce, and they'd kept Jolie in stitches with their antics.

  Much to her surprise and Bryce's delight, the fun hadn't ended there. Dane had flown back to New York while the three of them had boarded Reece's new sailing yacht, Wind Dancer. An avid sailor, he had purchased the boat specifically because it met the needs of a family more than the smaller craft he'd previously owned.

  This one sported a large salon, beautifully appointed galley kitchen, a master cabin with a private head that looked like a real bathroom, a large guest cabin, a bunk cabin, and another head. Thanks to his ever-efficient assistant, it was also fully stocked with food, supplies, and appropriate wardrobes for all of them.

  Reece explained that he'd had their comfort and safety in mind when he bought it. All of the rigging fed below the deck so there were no lines coiled about in bights to trip over or get hung up in. Plus he'd had a swim platform added to the stern to make it easier for Bryce to get in and out of the water.

  The sweetest thing was that he had named it for her because according to Reece, she danced as gracefully as the wind. Yes, the man had managed to win her over again and Jolie was beginning to wonder why she kept resisting his irresistible pull. It was a losing battle, and admitting defeat would feel more like a triumph than a failure.

  They had sailed down the coast from Port Canaveral to the Florida Keys and Jolie discovered that her son loved sailing just as much as his father did. The constant motion left her a bit queasy and it took a couple of days to get her sea legs, but the motion sickness medicine had been a lifesaver.

  Sailing truly was a magical experience.

  Standing at the helm, steering the boat as it soared across the wind and waves was addicting. Battling the elements to remain in complete control of the craft gave her a heady sense of power. The absolute freedom that she felt gliding smoothly over the water was thrilling and Reece had been overjoyed that she shared his passion.

  They had dropped anchor near a reef and while he was teaching them to snorkel, a pod of bottlenose dolphins swam up and wanted to play. Bryce had fallen head over swim fins in love with the gentle mammals and spent every waking moment possible in the water with them. Although he did pout because his floaties prevented him from diving like his new friends.

  Their second week aboard, Reece had an urgent call from his attorney, so he was pacing back and forth across the foredeck, phone to his ear, barking out orders. They had just finished a light lunch under the shade of the awning and all hope of coaxing her son into taking a nap was annihilated when Bryce spotted a fin.

  “Wook, Mommy,” he cried excitedly, his pudgy little finger pointing to the water. “My fwiends are back! Can we pway wif them? Can we pwease?”

  “Okay, but you have to take a nap afterward,” she agreed indulgently. “Put on your floaties.” As quick as a w
ink, the boy had pulled the inflatable life preservers up his arms and jumped over the side. “Hey, wait for me!” She laughingly called as he paddled away.

  “Fuck!” The shouted epitaph had her head spinning toward her husband who stood on the forward deck staring out at the water, his face unnaturally pale beneath his tan. Then he ran to the bow while yelling, “It's a tiger shark. Get Bryce out of the water now!”

  Shark!

  Terror filled her as she turned and saw the lone fin cutting through the surface of the water and bearing down on her son's location. “Bryce!” Jolie screamed before she dove over the side, intent on getting to her child before the vicious predator could. She surfaced next to the boy, grabbed his hand, and maneuvered him onto her back.

  “Hold on, baby. Don't let go,” she commanded shakily as she swam as fast as she could toward the swim platform. Her only goal was to get her child to safety as quickly as humanly possible. Then she planned to give his father absolute hell for not jumping in or even attempting to help rescue their son.

  She had almost reached the wooden platform when a large object catapulted from the deck above. Heart in her throat, she saw Reece dive feet first into the water right behind her to collide with the massive shark’s body. A scream ripped from her chest even as she clambered all the way up to the deck before pulling her son safely into her arms.

  Mere seconds that seemed like an eternity later, Reece broke the surface as the shark swam in the opposite direction. He braced his hands against the deck and quickly propelled himself up and out of the ocean in one fluid movement. Before she could react, he was up the ladder and pulling her into his arms to demand raggedly, “Are you alright?”

  Shaken to her core, Jolie clung to him just as desperately and responded in a dazed tone, “What the hell did you do?”

  “Mommy, you said a bad wowd,” Bryce pointed out, oblivious to the fright that he had just given his parents.

  Reece's hands trembled as they ran over both mother and child frantically checking for injuries and his voice shook when he demanded, “Dammit, are you hurt?”

  “Daddy said a bad wowd, too,” Bryce chastened.

  “You attacked a shark,” Jolie accused and stared at her ex as if he'd lost his damn mind since she was pretty sure that he had. “Are you crazy? It could have killed you!”

  “Better me than either of you,” he replied hoarsely and crushed them both in a fierce hug.

  “A shawk? Whewe? I wanna see da shawk,” Bryce chimed in, his excitement obvious as he craned his neck around to look across the water.

  A shudder shook her at the thought of Reece being mauled, and she turned her attention to their child because their son did not need to know what almost happened. Jolie pulled free from her ex’s embrace, reluctantly lowered the boy to the deck, and said shakily, “Nap time, Bryce. Go hop in your bunk and I’ll be there in a minute to tuck you in.”

  “But, Mommy...”

  “No buts. Now scoot,” she insisted and the boy pouted as he scampered below deck. Then she turned the full brunt of her jagged emotions on Reece to accuse, “I cannot believe you did something that dangerous.”

  “Sunshine, I was perfectly safe,” he replied soothingly.

  “The hell you were,” Jolie refuted. “You attacked a shark, Reece. A huge freaking shark!”

  “I calculated the odds and my chances of injury were minimal,” he explained.

  “You did what?” She rasped in shock that he'd actually considered the crazy stunt before attempting it.

  “I calculated the trajectory of my descent to coincide with the shark’s forward momentum, so I'd connect directly in its center of mass. I just needed to get a running start so my velocity was…”

  Jolie clapped a hand over his mouth to stop the flow of words. “That's why you ran to the bow? To get a running start?” Since her hand was still covering his mouth, he nodded confirmation. “You saw the shark, made your calculations, and knew what you were going to do before you warned me?” Again with the head nod.

  The speed that his mind analyzed and deciphered complex equations was nothing short of amazing. She would have needed a computer and several hours to make those kinds of calculations, and they still wouldn't have been as accurate as what he had done in a split-second. “Why didn't you just jump in and get Bryce when you saw it?”

  Reece removed her hand from his mouth, placed a kiss in her palm, and admitted, “The shark was moving too fast. The odds of survival were considerably less favorable since there was nothing to impede its attack.”

  “So if you hadn't jumped in…”

  “You wouldn't be standing here,” he added grimly, and she felt the tremor that ran through him.

  Regardless of his claim that the danger to himself had been minimal, Reece had risked his life to save her and their son. She lifted up on tiptoe and placed a tender kiss on his lips. “Thank you for saving us,” she said solemnly.

  “You and Bryce are my life, Sunshine,” he confessed and pulled her into his arms again as if he needed the contact as much as she did. “There is nothing I wouldn't do for you.”

  That was the moment when Jolie knew that she could no longer keep the barriers up between them and it was time to give up the fight. “I believe you, Reece,” she said softly, the truth of her words shining in her tear dampened eyes. “I didn't think it was possible, but you've regained my trust.”

  He became unnaturally still against her before asking, “Does that mean you'll give me another chance?”

  “I don’t know what it means,” she admitted in complete honesty. “All I know is that realizing you could have died just now scares me half to death.”

  “You don’t have to worry, Sunshine,” Reece assured her. “I’ve already made sure that you and Bryce will be taken care of if anything happens to me.”

  “I wasn’t talking about money,” she reprimanded in exasperation. “It’s the thought of losing you that terrifies me. I don’t think I could survive it again.”

  He understood the words she couldn’t admit aloud yet, and his expression softened as pure love burned brightly in his turquoise eyes. “Jolie,” he whispered in a choked tone, his hand lifting to caress her cheek reverently. “I’d rather die than live another day without you.”

  “Then make love to me, Reece,” she requested. “Let’s really start living together.”

  Reece

  His heart stuttered, restarted, and shot straight into overdrive. She loved him. He knew it. Even though Jolie hadn’t said the words, he could see it in her beautiful blue eyes. He was elated that she was willing to take another chance on him. On them. Together. It was everything he could have hoped for.

  “Today is the first day of our forever,” he vowed and kissed her tenderly. But tenderness quickly gave way to the raw hunger surging through his veins. The feel of her hands on his bare flesh was electrifying and it took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to strip her bare right there on the deck.

  “Sunshine, you’d better haul that delectable ass below deck unless you want to put on a public display,” Reece warned and forced himself to release her.

  It took a second for comprehension to dawn in her passion glazed eyes. The woman who owned his heart gave him a naughty smile before taking his hand and leading him down into the galley. After a quick peek to make sure that their son was napping soundly in his bunk, they began to tear at each other's clothing like ravenous wolves.

  Reece didn’t waste any time scooping her into his arms and carrying her into the master stateroom at the opposite end of the sailing yacht. He locked the door, tossed Jolie onto the bed, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. God, how he loved that sound, and the brilliant smile she bestowed upon him.

  He had never been a playful lover until her. She brought out a side of himself that he hadn’t even been aware of before they met. A merry, lighthearted side that simply did not exist without his sunshine girl. Pure happiness bubbled through his veins until
he was drunk on the wonder of her love.

  Jolie looked like a pagan goddess sprawled before him, naked and unashamed. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld. Reece could have spent the rest of his life just standing there staring at her beautiful body. And he would have if the hunger in her expression hadn’t ignited his own desire.

  Jolie wanted him.

  Seven weeks of constant arousal, a perpetual case of blue balls, and countless cold showers had finally come to an end. “I’m going to devour you,” he growled in warning before he pounced atop the bed and landed over her on his hands and knees while his beautiful wife giggled uncontrollably.

  “Stop making me laugh, or we’ll wake up Bryce,” she warned and looped her arms around his shoulders.

  “Then you’d better shove a pillow over your face because I’m going to make you scream,” he vowed and captured one tantalizingly pert nipple between his lips.

  “Reece,” Jolie breathed raggedly as her chest arched upward, her long, amazingly agile legs lifted and wrapped around him. “It’s been too long and I need you so much. Don’t make me wait.”

  And just like that, his desire for her reached a critical level. His cock was harder than granite and felt like it might explode if he didn’t get inside of her right fucking now. He released her nipple and thrust his hips forward, sinking deeper and deeper until he was seated balls deep inside her scalding heat.

  It was both heaven and hell. Heaven because being one with Jolie was the only peace he had ever known and hell because they couldn’t stay that way forever. “Sunshine.” Torn between ecstasy and agony, the groan was ripped from his lips as her inner muscles squeezed his turgid flesh unmercifully.

  “Yes,” his wife breathed, her nails scoring his shoulders in a demand for more. “Make me yours, Reece. Make me yours.”