Page 219 of Protective Heroes

She trailed a finger along his stubbled jaw then stood, never breaking eye contact as she continued on her way up the stairs opposite the back doors that opened to the patio. With her foot braced on the bottom stair, she blew them each a single kiss. Even from this distance she could feel their heat radiate out and it wasn’t from the tropical sun that now poured down on her men.

Her heart quivered and she inhaled deeply to calm her nerves.

Sex kitten didn’t define her abilities, so she thought. From the looks they gave, she may have to change that detail about herself.

She tore her gaze from theirs and forced herself to move. But their game of seduction was far from over. It was up to them now to follow her.

CADEN GRUNTED and shifted his weight from one side to the other. He hissed from the pressure of his jeans against his dick. The damn thing was like granite thanks to Abigail. Those amber eyes and the way she moved that tight little ass in Reece’s sweats. Damn, he wanted to sink himself into her tight, sweet pussy and get lost forever.

He leaned his elbows on the round glass table positioned on the back patio and braced himself for impact.

“What the fuck are we doing, man? You can’t treat this like this is a forever thing. She could walk away any minute and where would that leave you or me? Holding our dicks. Fun is good, but I can see in your eyes you want more. Hell, we both do, I won’t argue, but you’re too invested and too fast.”

And there it was. A war raged in Reece’s eyes and it looked like he was on the losing end. Abigail had gotten to him and Caden knew that had to throw the man off-kilter too.

Caden turned his gaze toward him.

“You’re trying to guard against something you don’t know. Judging her off someone else’s’ actions. And why can’t I dream of a forever? She’s the one, man. I know it.” He couldn’t help it. A smile stretched Caden’s lips despite his best efforts to bank the drive to seek out Abigail and her sweet kisses again.

“I can still taste her on my tongue and all I can think of is getting back between her legs for another drink. My dick is damn near busting out of my zipper I’m so hard and don’t try to lie about how she affects you.” Caden raked a hand through his hair and leveled his attention on the man that sat across from him. Frown lines creased the space between his eyebrows, which was the first signal to a coming argument.

Ten years together in the CORP allowed a few insights and reading the man’s telltale signs were one of them.

“You’re doing it again, man. Stop overanalyzing everything.” Caden worked to keep the growing frustration from his tone.

He and Reece had been through some rough times together and that put it mildly. War had a damn strong way of bonding a unit and its members. They’d quickly become friends and now partners, but if Reece wanted to throw on the brakes before they even left the damn parking lot, Caden would have no problem in giving his best friend a pounding if that is what it took to knock some sense into that thick skull of his.

Caden angled his head to keep the beach in his peripheral while he waited for Reece to gather his words. “Just let it happen, Reece. You saw how easy the three of us fit together. You had no problem earlier and I can see how she affects you.”

“That’s what scares the shit out of me. It’s too easy and I can’t keep away from her. That kind of power is dangerous.” Reece retreated into his chair, slipping his glasses into place once again.

Fuck. Classic Reece move when something weighed on his chest. “There’s something different about her. I get it.”

“Not everything is supposed to be hard.” Caden stood up and shoved his fists into the pockets of his jeans. He had to do something or he’d be tempted to give the man a good wake-up call.

“Fuck it. Look, Reece, Abigail’s not like the other women we’ve dated together or alone. You’re right. She’s different on so many levels. Give her a chance to prove it, if that’s what you need. We’ve chewed on this topic for the last six months and there’s no going back after what we’ve already shared with her.”

“Do you really want to go through with this? Taking her? Damn man, what if...”

“What if she leaves like Heather? I know that’s what you’re thinking. She left us a year ago, Reece. And if Abigail wants to leave, well, then that’s up to her. Not a damn thing we can do about it, but I’ll tell you one thing. While we’re here figuring the clusterfuck of a situation out, I’m not going to sit around waiting for you to grow a set. We decided a hell of a long time ago that our fucked-up way of life is the way it is. We are who we are, Reece. Not many accept it. Heather is one of them. She couldn’t take the people talking or her family’s disapproval. Time to move on. If you want to back out, go your separate way, no hard feelings. But if you want something real, Abigail’s upstairs naked and fucking horny for us. That’s enough for me. For now. Everything else will play out like it’s supposed to. Or not, hell, I’m not a fucking fortune teller. I’m just not waiting around anymore.”

With that thrown out there, Caden did an about-face and crossed the threshold to what awaited him upstairs. They had a lot of work to do to nail down the group behind the threat on Abigail’s life, but it was all in the hands of their team at the moment.

For now, they had to shift gears for their afternoon meeting with the Jalisco governor. Training the federal police of Mexico as private contractors would look damn good in their portfolio, a topic that was hitting a little too close to home since the revelations of the past few hours.

His fists ached to give the fucker after Abigail a good pounding, but today’s meeting was a bigger move toward taking the bastards down for good.

He took the last steps that led him to where Abigail showered and his mind looped back to his talk with Reece. Damn. He had better ways of spending his morning than going over the same old argument with him. The man would have to make up his own mind.

Nine

Abigail tilted her head back and let the warm stream of water work over her body like a lover’s touch, loosening the knots of tension until the remnants of yesterdays stress dissipated.

She stepped out of the spray of water and moved closer to the window. The wall of glass bricks broke away to reveal the panoramic view of the ocean just beyond the large open window directly opposite of her. It was love at first sight.

From the second floor she could see in either direction of the empty beach. Since arriving, she hadn’t seen anyone walk along the sandy shore. The guys’ private spread was like a hidden gem. Peace had no price, especially this morning and she lavished in the cool ocean breeze along her wet body.

Captivated by the water, she watched the waves break against the sand, the thunderous vibrations working their way inside her, amping her libido notch by notch.

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