Page 77 of Lawless in Leather

Mal stood, scooped her up.

“Show-off,” she said.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t eat enough spinach growing up.”

“I come from a long line of short women,” she said. “There isn’t enough spinach in the world.”

“Good things come in small packages.”

“Only some things,” she said with a giggle. “In some things, size is an … advantage.”

They were in the bathroom now. The bath was full and the steam rising from it smelled like spices and flowers. Three white candles flickered in the niche in the tiled wall, making the dark water shimmer. Mal put her down and then pulled her sweatshirt over her head.

“Why, Mr. Coulter, are you trying to entice me to sin in a bathroom?”

“That was the plan,” Mal said. Her T-shirt joined the sweatshirt on the floor. And then he pulled his own shirt over his head.

She let herself watch for a moment. It was a sight that hadn’t gotten old, Mal without all his clothes on. All that tanned skin and muscle and dark hair. A definite enticement to sin. She shimmied out of her jeans and underwear and dipped her hand into the water. Perfect temperature. She climbed in and sat down. The level came nearly to her chin. A sigh of delight escaped her as the perfumed heat surrounded her and she ducked under the water to wet her hair. When she resurfaced, Mal was naked.

“Hello.” She smiled up at him. “Are you going to join me?”

“Just enjoying the view,” he said.

Raina looked down. In the darkened room, against the black stone of the bath, her skin was very pale. And very visible. “It’s even better close up.”

“I know.” He climbed in, making the water slosh. “Come here.” He crooked a finger at her and she waded her way up the bath and tangled her legs around his waist.

They kissed again, long and slow. The water lapped around her body and Mal’s hand stroked wet skin and everything shivered and shimmered around her as he teased and caressed.

“I want you,” she managed to say on the end of a gasp.

“You’ve got me,” he said. And then somehow he was standing and she was wrapped in a towel and then they were back in the bedroom. He laid her down and dried her off and then proceeded to get her wet all over again with fingers and tongue until she had to say it again.

“I want you. Now. Please, Mal.”

“Whatever you say.” He was over her then, and then inside her and the world clicked into place as she felt that connection. Mal. Buttons and all, he was there and hers and that was what she needed. She hung on, wanting to be closer, pulling him down to her and into her with each of his thrusts. Wanting to wrap him around her until they became one person. Until eventually she reached the point where the pleasure spilled over and took her away with it, melting her into him with one last repetition of his name. One that sounded suspiciously like “I love you, Mal.”

“Okay, ladies,” Raina said, standing in the middle of the Angels locker room on Saturday before the game. “We’ve got our wings back. So you’re going to go out there and kick some Angel butt, right?”

There was a smattering of laughter and clapping. Even Ana managed a smile. She was apparently turning over a new leaf since she’d had to face Mal and Alex and Raina asking her whether or not she’d been involved in damaging the wings. Her hotly indignant denial had rung true, but it seemed that the fact that she’d been pulled up had made her stop and think about what impression her attitude might be giving.

Raina didn’t know whether her change of heart was going to stick but she was happy to have one less problem for now.

“Shouldn’t that be help the Saints kick butt? Kicking Angel butt sounds kind of wrong,” Marly said from her spot on the nearest bench. Her makeup and hair were immaculate and show-ready, but she still looked kind of tense. Nervous. They all were. Mal had provided extra security for the squad since the wings incident—which was why Raina was giving her pep talk with Chen in the room, his dark eyes watchful as he covered the door.

“You get the general idea,” Raina said. “The guys have been winning all week and you’ve heard what some of them said in the press about what happened to the wings.” Several of the players, Brett Tuckerson and Ollie Shields included, had sent some pretty clear messages about what they thought about losers who messed with their squad. Politely worded—probably more politely than any of them would have liked if Maggie hadn’t been riding herd on their public behavior—but perfectly clear.

“They’ve had your back, so it’s time for us to have theirs again. Anyone got any questions about the routines or anything else? We’re about twenty minutes out, so speak now or don’t expect mercy if you screw up.” She grinned at the group. “At the very least, you will be last in the cookie line all week.”

That made them groan. Shonda’s cookies were rapidly assuming legend status in the squad after Maggie had brought another batch to the locker room the day after the wings had been wrecked. They’d vanished before anyone could blink, eaten to the last crumb. Even Ana had devoured one.

Raina was starting to think that Shonda should go into business and become a cookie entrepreneur. After all, she was working with Alex and had spent twenty-odd years before that as Tom Jameson’s executive assistant. She had a lightning-quick brain to go with her mad cookie skills. She’d make a mint.

But right now Raina needed to think about cheerleading, not cookies.

She looked around the squad, giving them time. Marly’s wasn’t the only faintly nervous face, but no one had pulled out of the performance. They had guts, these girls. “No questions? All right. Two minutes to finish whatever needs spraying or pinning or touching up. Then we’re going to wing up and go put on a show.”

The Angels started peeling off from their seats and heading back toward the mirrors and dressing tables. Marly stayed put.

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