Page 23 of More Tricks

Chapter eight

Dax

Eagle slept for six hours before he started to wake. I’d taken up watch in his armchair, looking over the files that Wes already had on the De León Cartel. Objectively, they had a pretty amazing operation, dividing out the work into different sections that never connected, so if one part crashed and burned, it didn’t take the rest down with it.

“That was mean,” Eagle grumbled as he shifted to look at me. Then he reached out a hand and wiggled his fingers. “Come here, hellcat. I’ve missed you.”

A grin tugged at my lips as I set the computer down and crawled into bed. I snuggled into his unwounded side as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “You know it hasn’t been that long.”

“Funny, you keep saying that like it matters,” Eagle rumbled, his lips brushing my skin. “Does it have to be forever for me to miss you?”

“Damn, you are drugged if you’re talking like that,” I teased.

While I’d accepted that I loved these men, and they loved me, it still had me looking for the nearest exit when it came to the mushy stuff like this.

“Hmm, maybe, but it's the truth.”

I peered up at him to see his eyes warm with affection. “I missed you too. Sprocket wasn’t joking when he told you I was a mess. It was so bad I washed all the dishes from breakfast and didn’t finish one cup of coffee.”

Eagle’s eyes widened at this. “Wait, you did all the dishes? As in like other people's, not just your own?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” I said, lightly smacking him on the chest.

He groaned and faked that I hurt him far worse than was possible, clutching his heart. “You would hit a wounded man?”

“Hmm, I seem to remember someone going on and on about how he didn’t want to be treated like an invalid. Any idea who that could be?” I mused, tapping my chin.

Eagle growled and pulled me in for a kiss. Unlike most of our sexual interactions, this kiss was gentle, caring, and full of the love we felt for each other. Both of us had thought we’d lost the other, and now it was sinking in that we were home safe and sound. Never did I think I could feel like my soul was split into seven pieces, but when one of them wasn’t with me, I felt it. Not one to be all lovey-dovey, this was a new and slightly terrifying place to be.

There was a knock on the door, and I could tell by the sound that it wasn’t the guys—which left Dani. Pulling away from Eagle, I sat up but didn’t move away as he cupped my ass with his hand. I shot him a look, but he just smiled and nodded toward the door.

“Come on in, Dani,” I called.

The door opened a crack and she peered in before fully entering. “Hope I’m not intruding, but I want to make sure he gets his next dose of pain meds, and I need to change his bandage.”

“Wes was supposed to be close to finishing dinner,” I told Eagle. “I’ll make up a plate for each of us, and I’ll be back, okay?”

“Sounds great. The food at the hospital was absolute shit,” he grumbled, then turned to Dani. “You couldn’t have changed them when I was passed out? Haven’t you done enough to torture me?”

Dani laughed. “Oh, I haven’t even begun if I wanted to really torture you.”

Leaving him in capable hands, I wandered back into the kitchen. Wes was standing at the stove stirring a large pot of something that smelled amazing. Peering over his shoulder, I discovered it was beef stew.

“Dude, it's the middle of the summer and you’re making stew?” I asked, leaning against the counter to the side. “I’m just saying, aren’t we hot enough out here?”

“If you don’t want to eat it, then you can make something yourself,” Wes quipped.

“Well, glad to see some things never change even when you’re in love with someone,” I said, heaving myself up on the countertop. “So I promised Eagle I would get him food. Would you say you’re close to being done?”

Wes set the wooden spoon he’d been using to the side, then turned to me. “Oh, so you’re using caring for the sick and injured to get the answers you want?” He stepped closer, pushing my legs wide so he fit between them. “That’s low even for you, Two Tricks.”

“What can I say? I’ve been feeling off my game and needed to even out the score,” I shared with a shrug. “Didn’t get to the top without stepping on a few toes… hands… heads… dicks. Well, you know how it goes.”

He chuckled as he leaned in, setting his arms on either side, boxing me in with his body. “Do I? See, what I remember is the broken nose, bloody lip, stitching up knife wounds, and a bullet wound or two. Someone had to look out for that fine ass of yours, yet you keep taking all the credit.”

“Hmm?” I mused. “Let’s see who’s the one who decided I needed to be the big bad working my way up through the ranks so no one would know that I own it all?”

“Fuck,” Cam swore. “How did it take you two so long to start fucking? The sexual tension between you two is insane. I feel like I could just come from your verbal sparring.”