Desert Angel (Family Justice Book 2) (12 page)

His hands settled on her ass, grabbing her forcefully and hauling her into intimate contact with the prominent bulge that told her of his desire. Her yoga pants offered little hindrance to his wicked fingers as they massaged and kneaded the globes of her butt.

Their kissing became wild and fierce. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, and right before releasing the soft flesh, he bit her. She gasped with pleasure, wanting more.

He performed a similar action on her ear. Drawing the fleshy part of her earlobe into his mouth, swirling his tongue and sucking lightly. She shivered with delight as her pussy pulsed with need.

And then he bit her ear and tugged on it with his teeth, growling deep and low. She moaned when he licked the skin just below her ear and nibbled, occasionally sucking and finally biting the shit out of her neck and shoulder. That was it for Meghan.

“Alex,” she moaned. About to tell him of her desperate need, he cut her off with an earthy grunt.

“Let’s go back to the house. I have a need for you naked in my bed with your hands bound while I pleasure your body.”

No! That was not what she wanted.

Okay, I should probably take that back,
she thought. I did want that. But right this second? Him. Inside me.
Now.
Not twenty minutes from now after we’d wandered home.

Writhing against him, Meghan became desperate. Tearing at his clothes in blind haste, she struggled to get past the barrier and connect with skin.

She also tried to send them both to the floor, but he was having none of it. Worked up and frustrated, Meghan wasn’t going to have any problem begging for what she wanted.

But she hadn’t gotten a chance to plead. Grabbing her aggressively, he walked them to the nearest wall and slammed her up against it—hard. Gasping with surprise, she locked eyes with his and cowered at the grim expression coming back her way.

“We seem to be at an impasse,” he growled.

Biting her neck just below her chin, she whimpered softly.

He moved his mouth close to her ear so she felt his warm breathing on her skin. “You want me to fuck you and I want you to tell me what the fuck is wrong.”

Oh, shit.
He knew her too damn well. Meghan wanted to howl with frustration. How could she tell him what she didn’t really understand?

Was that a bucket of ice-cold water she felt slither along her nerves? Well, that was what it felt like. Shit. Talk about a buzz kill.

Pushing out of Alex’s arms like doing so was no big deal, she shrugged and tried to make a half-hearted jest.

“Yes, well . . . I don’t think we have enough time for either of those options.”

Turning, she gathered up her water bottle and an Adidas jacket and made a wry face. “Anyway, I’m due at Lacey’s to . . . uh, meet with the girls.”

He didn’t even try to disguise the shocked expression on his face. She wasn’t acting like herself, she knew that, but he’d tapped into something she wasn’t ready to discuss.

“I’ll text Ria later about dinner. Let me see what everyone else is doing, okay? Cam will be back tomorrow so I’m sure Lacey isn’t thinking about cooking.”

Meghan was babbling and knew it; she didn’t know how to just run away because doing so wasn’t in her character. She wanted to reassure Alex, but she also didn’t want to get into it with him at the moment.

He was looking at her with such intensity she was sure he was using his x-ray vision or something.

Maybe he understood or maybe he was just really good at reading her vibe because he eased off and gave her the space she needed. But not without getting the final word.

“To be clear,” he drawled in that clipped tone he used when her Major was large and in charge. “We
will
talk, Meghan. I’m letting you run but make no mistake, you just admitted there is something wrong and I won’t be denied.”

“I know,” she choked out.

He took a step forward but Meghan knew if he touched her she’d fall to pieces. Before he could, she backed away and broke eye contact.

“Gotta go. See ya!”

Feeling like a thief running away in the night, she ran from the studio, grabbed a cart, and headed for Cameron’s cabin while seeing nothing but the shocked and angry expression on Alex’s face as she took the coward’s way out.

Watching Meghan’s hasty retreat in dismay, Alex wondered what the mother fuck had just happened.

She ran. He couldn’t believe it. Weakness and self-doubt? Christ! This was huge. She was normally a force of nature. Nothing rattled her. She liked to say that was because she’d been a teacher for so long.
Never show fear in front of a room full of tweens.
But after meeting her family, he knew that ball-busting thing was in the O’Brien DNA. For her to fold so quickly . . . well, shocked didn’t quite cover how he felt.

He was also pissed off. Not at her. Hell. Never at her. No, he was angry at whatever was making her unhappy. Meghan and unhappy were two things that should never occur in the same thought. He couldn’t have it. She was his everything, and as far as Alex was concerned, she should never want for anything. Never worry. Never feel unsure. He’d promised her father that he would see to her every need and he took that shit seriously. If something was wrong—which it so clearly was—then he wasn’t taking proper care of her.

Dammit. What should he have done differently? Should he have dropped her to the floor and fucked her doubts away? It was what she’d been aiming for. He wasn’t daft. He knew desperation when he saw it.

And that was why he’d tried to slow her down. Not pull back but just take a breath. Suggesting they returned to their bed would give him time to try and dial back some of the desperation. He didn’t want to be her fear habit. Something he knew well from his military days. Obliterating whatever was bothering you with alcohol, sex, food . . . whatever. Didn’t matter. What did matter was the underlying cause. He wouldn’t allow their intimate life to be corrupted by doubts and fears. They’d come too far for that.

But when he’d challenged her, she’d stopped on a dime and shut down. It was the first and only time Meghan had ever come even remotely close to saying
no,
and he did not like the way that made him feel.

Thankfully, it wasn’t him she was rejecting and that was the only reason why he wasn’t chasing her ass down right this second. She was saying no and running from whatever was eating her up.

He’d let her have the afternoon with the girls. They were good for Meghan. Maybe the ladies could help her find her center again.
Bitches need other bitches,
he laughed to himself while making a mental note to thank Tori again for turning him on to the awesome expression that seemed to come in handy for all sorts of things.

“W
HEN DOES THE HUBBY GET
back from Yuma?” Tori St. John asked.

Angie liked the little whirlwind who somehow managed to bag an arrogant, over-sexed alpha. The new mommy, who packed a serious amount of wallop in her tiny frame, was, at present, an adorable mess.

Lacey marched through the room with her beautiful son slung on her hip. She dropped the stack of baby blankets that she was carrying next to Tori, who was trying to build a sleep nest for her snoozing baby.

The simple domesticity made Angie smile. These women were so cool. She felt an instant kinship with them. The wives of Family Justice. Alex’s second family.

“
Mmm,
Texas kicked his butt. Too much time in a suit and tie. You know Cam.” Lacey chuckled. “At least the stop in Yuma wasn’t so formal. Those Border Patrol guys and the Marines at the air station roll out the guy carpet, if you know what I mean.”

Tori gurgled with mischievous laughter. “Oh, you mean like tittie bars and rattlesnake shots off a hooker’s ass?”

Lacey’s pursed lips and mocking eye roll said that was exactly what she imagined went on.

Meghan snatched Dylan from his mom’s hip and danced away grinning. “I bet if we checked her cell phone, we’d find that she and Cam FaceTimed last night from whenever he got back to his room after dinner until they fell asleep together. That man is too besotted for tittie bars or hookers!”

“If he wants to keep all his body parts intact, he better not be drinking snake bites or whatever you said off some poor woman’s butt.”

“Rattlesnake shots, darlin’,” Tori jested. “And only you, honey, would call a hooker some poor woman!”

“Shut up, Victoria,” Lacey snapped. “I understand how someone ends up in that position. That’s all I meant.”

After tucking a dozen blankets around her sleeping baby so he couldn’t move nestled in the soft cocoon on his back, Tori jumped up and bear hugged her sister-in-law.

“Sorry, Ponytail,” she muttered. “Sometimes I forget.”

Angie watched the emotional interplay with interest. She knew a little about Lacey’s backstory. How she was abandoned by her only parent, abused for years, and eventually ended up a runaway living on the streets who survived by ingenuity and luck. Sobering stuff.

“Yeah, well when I turned up here, I had a backpack stuffed with second-hand clothes and nothing else. I know about choices. If Cameron hadn’t rescued me . . . who knows what might have happened.”

“And look at you now,” Meghan said with an abundance of praise and encouragement. “Married, a mommy, and in college! You’re kicking ass and taking names, Mrs. Cameron.”

“College?” Angie quipped. “Are you crazy?”

“It’s mostly online courses.” Lacey shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. “What a difference a year makes, huh?”

Meghan blew a loud raspberry onto Dylan’s neck, which got him giggling and waving his arms.

“And speaking of a year,” Tori chuckled as she watched Alex’s fiancée love up the adorable little boy, “don’t you guys have an anniversary coming up?”

“Oh, my lord, I can’t wait!” Lacey gushed happily. “We’re going to Vegas for a long weekend. I’m going to see my first concert!”

Tori groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. “What happens in Vegas . . .”

All three women cracked up as did baby Dylan.

“What’d I miss?” Angie asked.

Meghan handed Dylan back to his smiling mama and then high-fived Tori. “Oh, didn’t you know?” she teased. “Vegas would be where the legendary Draegyn St. John awoke one morning to find himself married to a sharp-tongued wench after a night of drunken frivolity.”

“
Whaaat?
” Angie barked on a full-bellied laugh. “Victoria! Oh, my god! For real? I knew you guys eloped, but holy hell! What is it with these Justice men? Unbelievable,” she muttered, shaking her head and giggling.

The smirk on Meghan’s face reminded Angie of something. “Oh!” she shrieked. “And, by the way, what the hell was all that keeping count crap the other night, Red? Please don’t tell me you actually let my brother have the upper hand.”

Quiet snickers met her comment then all eyes landed on a blushing Meghan.

“He likes to think he’s in charge,” the embarrassed woman mumbled, which was met with more raucous laughter from Tori and Lacey.

“All right. That’s enough,” Meghan told them sternly.

Angie liked hanging out with Tori, Lacey, and Meghan. They were funny, smart, and dynamic. She felt completely at ease and like she belonged there with them. Another checkmark in the Arizona win column.

Helping herself to the pitcher of ice-cold lemonade Lacey had plunked down on the coffee table, Angie topped off her glass and fixed Meghan with a mocking grin.

“Since we’re talking about my brother, pass on the details, okay? There are some things a little sister does not need to know! But if his domineering ass is keeping some kind of score, I suggest you learn the art of the deal.”

“Sheesh,” Lacey laughed. “Sounds like a TV show.” Breaking into a fake announcer’s voice, she boomed, “New on this season of Justice TV for Women is the groundbreaking series . . . Art of the Marital Deal.”

Pretending to shove a microphone in Angie’s face, she asked, “Joining us today is Angelina Marquez, international deal-making expert. Tell us, Miss Marquez, exactly how does this work?”

Ah! This was fun. “Simple really,” she quipped. “Men see the world as a scoreboard. They need to know what the stats are at all times. It’s how they navigate.”