I knew she wasn’t asleep. It was well after we finally finished in the shower, only to come to bed where I buried my face between her legs. That was no surprise, to me at least, since I’d been thinking about tasting her, feeling her, shit, practically being in this woman’s skin all damn day. Every fuckin’ day, if I’m being honest.
And as things were whenever I was with her, my mind was totally focused on this woman, on the life I desperately wanted us to have together. It wasn’t totally on the world that we both knew would constantly try to chip away at our happiness.
I’m not a man who entertains delusions, though. So, I also knew that this conversation was coming.
“August Deveraux.” She was tucked against my side as I lay on my back, her leg thrown over mine. Her hand was on one side of my chest while her cheek was pressed against the other. My hand moved up and down her arm.
This was my favorite position to sleep in. She was the only woman I ever slept with in this way. I kissed the top of her head,the silky bonnet she pulled on once we were out of the shower and she’d removed her shower cap, adding just another layer to how comfortable and normal this moment felt.
“I was involved with her for a few years. Cut it off twice, with the last time being right after I met you.”
Her fingers had been moving over my chest, tracing circles around my nipple in a way that was way more enticing than it seemed. She sighed heavily, the warmth of her breath brushing over my skin.
“She stopped by my office last week. I told her I was married, put her out and thought that would be the end. I was obviously wrong. But that will be immediately rectified.”
I had barely hung up with Tor when LeLe called to tell me it was August who Dakota had almost knocked the fuck out at the lounge. The video footage that she’d watched right after the incident was now in my inbox waiting for the morning when I would review it for myself. The security guards hadn’t been able to detain her because several fights broke out after the incident when customers began pushing and falling into each other.
LeLe was more pissed that August had gotten away than the chaos that ensued afterwards, but she assured me that it hadn’t taken long for them to get things under control and return to business as usual. I shared her annoyance that August had gotten away but on a larger scale. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that bitch. She was gonna wish she’d never gotten this dick that made her lose her fuckin’ mind. I was damn sure regretting the day I invited her into my personal space.
“It wasn’t really what she said,” Dakota spoke after moments of silence. “Though I’ve never had a woman tell me the man I’m involved with loves to suck her titties and eat her pussy, the fat shaming was expected. Basic bitches are always gonna be basic bitches.”
The rage that had kept my foot firmly on the gas pedal as I rushed to get home tonight had been reduced to a moderate simmer once I set my eyes on Dakota. I was able to keep it on that level as long as I was touching her, smelling her, and feeling her.
“It was more about the audacity,” she continued. “To walk up to me in a crowded lounge only to make a threat that I’m sure she knew wasn’t going to land well is crazy business. I mean, if she knew you and I were together, that we weremarried, then she would have to know there would be security close. She clearly underestimated my ability to handle my business, but did she really think she was gonna walk up on me without any repercussions?”
My beautiful wife was more irritated that a woman was bold enough to step to her than knowing that the woman was my ex. A lesser man would’ve taken that as a win. I took it as yet another reason to ensure August would be receiving her invitation to see the lilies without delay.
“Threat?” I asked because that part of her comment hadn’t been lost on me.
“Yeah, she said she was just there to deliver a message, that what she had coming for you was better than how much you enjoyed her body.” The last part of her response was said in a tone of boredom, but I was instantly on alert.
Not from fear. I wasn’t afraid of any man or woman walking this earth. And I was reminded that I didn’t believe in coincidences. August’s threat and the timing of re-entry into my life was skating pretty close to these new attacks on the Ryders’ business.
I inhaled deeply, needing to keep the rage on low. Dakota would always be safe with me, that’s what I’d told her brother and father and that’s how I planned to keep it. Tor hadn’t escaped my wrath tonight. He and Stan would be here first thingtomorrow morning to explain to me how August was able to get that close to my wife in the first place. But, at this moment, Dakota and her peace were my priority.
“Don’t worry about it, love,” I told her after my measured exhale. “I’ll handle it.”
She raised up, moonlight slipping in from the partially open blinds, illuminating enough of her face that I could see the worry in her eyes. “What are you going to do? Do you really think her threat has merit?”
Still moving my fingers over her skin because that action coupled with the warmth of her body against mine was instrumental in keeping me in this bed instead of jumping in my truck and going to find August myself, I stared at my wife. “I don’t take threats at all, baby. I eliminate them.”
For the next seconds we simply stared at each other, and I wondered what she was thinking. The biggest issue between Dakota and I had always been my life versus hers, or my life versus her and her family’s public facing persona. I was the vicious killer and they—namely her brother—was the silent one. I had yet to figure out where Dakota fell on the scale of violence. She clearly wasn’t bothered by death or the remnants of it and after her confession about the past incident with her brother, she wasn’t averse to murder. Honestly, though I’d chalked that up to emotion and adrenaline, her brother’s life was being threatened, and she would do anything for him. I totally got that shit; there was absolutely nobody I wouldn’t put down behind my brother or my sister. But there was something in her tone that night, something in her eyes as she talked about firing that gun that had not only turned me the fuck on but also had me wondering about the woman with the sexy ass body and brilliant mind.
Smacking a bitch with a gun the way Tor said she did was possibly solidifying the thoughts I’d started to have about her. But now, I wasn’t so sure and I needed to know.
“She’s not gonna live through this, Dakota, if that’s what you’re really asking me.” I wasn’t going to ask her if she was cool with that because it didn’t matter.
“Listen,” I continued when she didn’t immediately respond. “You know who I am. I didn’t get where I am today by allowing disrespect on any level. And let’s be clear, runnin’ up on my wife and saying anything out of the way to her is cause for death. Full stop.”
“I … I understand,” was her soft reply. Then she was the one inhaling and exhaling deeply. “I just, I think I’m just wondering if you’re taking her threat seriously.”
This was the moment I hadn’t been anticipating in our marriage. The point where I had to decide how much about my business Dakota would want to know. There was no question that I trusted her implicitly with all my secrets. I simply never wanted to put her in a position to be implicated in any way. However, something told me that wasn’t going to be possible.
“You can tell me,” she said, as if reading my mind. “I’m not just your wife, Fabian.” She dipped her head, kissed my chest, then looked back up at me again. “I’m your partner.”
Fuck! I was certain she didn’t mean that to be as sexy as it actually was, but damn if my dick didn’t jump at those last words.
“There might be something to it,” I told her honestly. “But I’m not ready to put those pieces together just yet.” Moving us so that I was again, comfortably situated between her legs, I stared down at her. “And I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore.”
