Page 192 of Brutal Collateral

Faint lighting on the risers keeps me steady until I feel something soft under my bare feet. Thinking I stepped on a plush toy or a sock, I reach down to snag it. Rubbing it between my fingers, the velvet texture piques my interest.

It’s a petal.

A red rose petal.

Then I glance down and see the steps are covered with deep red rose petals creating a path that leads up to my bedroom.

Then the date hits me. It’s one year since the night of Rand Miller’s death. The night we found out we had these two beautiful boys coming into the world.

I’d already known Griffin and I would stay married, but hearing those heartbeats sealed the deal. I’d asked for a proposal with roses and chocolate before any of that and had forgotten about it, honestly. So much has happened that these small details get lost.

Most important in the months since Miller’s death was the CVM cult completely bought the story of his suicide. His father publicly announcing Rand’s struggles and vulnerability earlier the same day left little doubt that Rand Miller would end his own life instead of facing shame and accountability.

Shane was able to wipe out any cyber evidence that Miller targeted me for destruction, removing any hint of a motive.

As I climb the carpeted steps, the petals double and triple in amount, until they’re blanketing the entire landing leading to my bedroom. I open the door, and the room is bathed in candlelight from fragrant rose-scented candles, their flames flickering willowy shadows against the walls.

Griffin stands in the center of the room, dangerously sexy in an expensively cut deep gray tailored suit and holding a tray of...

Chocolate-covered strawberries.

“How long have you been planning this?” I smile, close the bedroom door, and saunter up to him.

Honestly, I’m not sure what I want in my mouth first, his cock or a strawberry. I know I’m getting both.

“Since you mentioned it.” He teases me with the tray piled high in dark, milk, and white chocolate shell-coated options over rich, juicy strawberries and different toppings.

“I mentioned it over a year ago.” I curl my fingers over the edge of the tray, trying to choose.

“When it comes to you, I remember every detail since the first night we made love eight years ago, siren. Remembering your request for strawberries and roses from a year ago was easy. I was waiting for the right time.”

I’d had a difficult pregnancy and spent the last three months on partial bedrest. That curbed our sexual activities. Griffin’s been wonderfully patient with me.

We’ve made love since the boys were born, but I’ve been self-conscious about my body. Gone is my SEAL-training buff physique. I’ve heard some women just never lose the baby fat.

I still teach classes at the O’Rourke Women’s Center and hope my mom-bod gives me even more street cred with the women I train. I look just like most of them now. Many are single mothers who struggle to balance their lives. Some are still with their rotten husbands who cruelly put down their bodies. After giving birth to their kids. Disgusting.

That’s where the similarities end. Griffin worships me. So, I fill my ladies’ wells with praise and encouragement.

I smile and reach for a dark chocolate-covered strawberry.

“Allow me, my beautiful wife.” Griffin snags it from the tray and brings it to my lips. “Open for me, siren.”

I take a bite, and the sweetness of the strawberry mixed with sea salt sprinkles over dark chocolate nearly brings me to my knees. Where I’ll be in a moment anyway, going down on the man I am madly in love with.

“Those are mine.” I point to the other dark-coated treats. “You eat the rest.”

“I’d rather eat you.” Griffin puts down the tray and kisses my neck. “I need you naked and spread for me, wife.”

“God, I want that, too.” I swallow the treat and start to strip.

“I’ll feed you more in the bathtub,” he says, letting me undress him out of his suit.

When we’re both naked, I lower to the carpet to take Griffin into my mouth, where I pleasure him until he’s panting and pulling my hair.

“Christ, that’s good. Too good.” He lifts me and brings me to the bed. Without any kind of warning, he buries his face between my legs. “I already loved this pussy, now I love it even more because my sons came into the world, right here. I made them here, and they were delivered to me from the same place. All from this amazing body.”

He peppers kisses on the faint stretch marks across my stomach while his fingers tease me. My fingers stroke his hair and I smile, at the matching raven tattoo he got behind his right ear for me.

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