12. Laney
12
Laney
I couldn’t stop shaking. I killed all those men on that boat. I know how many people they’ve killed, but that didn’t mean I had the right to kill them. But they came here to kill me and take Haley away.
I stepped into the shower and didn’t realize I was crying until I heard Gideon’s voice. I stopped crying and rinsed my face off. “Gideon, what are you doing in here?”
“You were crying, and Haley came and got me. She was scared. She left with Raven. I know why you are crying. You have to remember he came here to kill you and take Haley away. He would have ruined her life if he didn’t kill her. What you did was something you knew had to be done.”
“I know. It’s just that I didn’t think I would feel like this.”
“If it makes you feel better, he didn’t die, so I killed him. Does that help?”
“Yes, thank you. I am so happy he’s dead. I no longer have to worry about him killing me and taking my daughter. The bastard is dead. Okay, you can leave now, and I’ll get out.”
I chuckled. “I was hoping you would invite me in there with you.”
“What?” I thought for sure he was teasing me. “You want to get in here with me?”
“More than anything.”
“Then get in here,” I said, closing my eyes.
I kept my eyes closed, and when his hand touched me, I opened my eyes and smiled. He pulled me close and started washing my body. I could stop the sounds coming from me; I have never had a craving like this for a man like I have for Gideon. I picked up the soap and started washing his body.
He turned me around, and his hand slipped down between my thighs. As he started kissing my neck, his hand pushed against my soft spot, and I moaned and leaned my head back against him as his fingers moved inside me.
He turned me around, and his lips locked onto mine. I have never been kissed to where I knew by the way his tongue entered my mouth he was ready to enter me. I was so ready for him; his fingers were driving me wild. I knew I was about to come, and the noise coming from me was completely out of my control.
“Oh, God, yes. Yes, that feels so good,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around him. His hands moved to my ass as he lifted me and slid his cock inside of me. I held my breath because he was huge; he moved in me, and that was all it took for me to orgasm.
“Hang on, Baby,” he said, pumping fast and hard. I was screaming for him never to stop when he covered my mouth as he kept going. I orgasmed again, and then he came deep inside me. I tightened my legs as my head rested on his shoulders.
He picked me up and carried me to the bed. I was delirious, with pure pleasure flowing through my body, when he raised my hips as his tongue licked me. “Oh, my God. Yes, I said as I raised my hips for his tongue to have more to lick. I knew I was about to orgasm; I didn’t want to do it while he was down there. I tried to tell him to raise and enter me, but the words would not come out. The only noise that passed my lips was moans of pure joy.
I shouted his name, or maybe it was a whisper. I could never tell you which one it was as he kept plunging his tongue into me.
He raised himself and pushed his hard cock into me before I orgasmed; he then went a little wild as I wrapped my legs around his waist and started moving fast, keeping up with him; then he shouted my name and pushed deep inside of me as he orgasmed.
I have never had so many orgasms as I had with Gideon. He was insatiable; he started moving again. “We will take our sweet time on this one, sweetheart. I want you to tell me what you want and how you want it,” he whispered.
That’s when we heard Haley. Gideon looked at me and moved; he moved so fast I didn’t see him move until I heard the bathroom door close. I grabbed my housecoat and put it on before I opened the door and saw Haley standing there.
“The bedroom door was locked,” she said, hugging me. Thank the Lord that Gideon had the sense to lock it.
“That’s because I was getting dressed. We don’t have to worry about Grandpa anymore, Uncle Raven told me he was gone for good,” Haley said.
“That’s right, we never have to worry about him again. We don’t know jet if Raven is your uncle,” I said, dressing as quickly as possible. I stood inside the closet to dress.
“Why is the bathroom locked? I have to pee,” Haley said.
“Use the one in the hall. I locked the door by mistake,” I said, walking out of our room and shutting the door. My body still buzzed from the aftermath of pleasure as I headed to the kitchen, where Raven was waiting, arms crossed. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I didn’t care.
“We got the DNA results,” he said, his voice steady. “You’re my sister, and Haley is my niece.”
I froze, sitting at the table as my mind raced—a brother. I had a brother. And maybe more siblings—Raven had mentioned before that he came from a big family. I tried to process this while pushing thoughts of Gideon and the things we’d done out of my head. Focus, Laney.
Finally, I looked up at Raven. Damn, my brother was handsome. “Just how many family members do I have?” I asked, wiping away a tear.
“Five other siblings besides us,” he said, “plus an aunt, your father, and our grandparents.”
“Do you have pictures?”
He pulled out his phone and handed it to me. “Here. You can skim through them if you want. The first two are our brothers, then our sisters, and that guy is our dad.”
I scrolled through the photos. “He looks just like you. How old is he?”
“He’s forty-nine.”
I blinked. “Forty-nine? How is he only forty-nine?”
Raven chuckled. “Our dad started young. He was sixteen when I was born.”
“Sixteen?” I gasped. “For Pete’s sake, how old was your mom?”
“Nineteen. She thought he was nineteen, too. He lied about his age when he started working—he finished high school at fifteen because he wanted to get on with life. My mom broke up with him when she found out the truth.”
“Did he marry any of the women who had his children?”
“Yes,” Raven said, his tone softening. “He married Ellie’s mom. They loved each other like nothing I’ve ever seen. She passed away three years ago when Ellie was born.”
“What?” I whispered. “I have a three-year-old sister?”
“You do. Our dad hasn’t recovered from Marie’s death. She had complications during Ellie’s birth. You wouldn’t think that could happen in this day and age, but… she didn’t make it. It shook all of us. We all loved her.”
“That’s so sad,” I said, my heart aching. “Poor Ellie. At least she has family to take care of her.”
“Our dad takes care of her himself. He’s not a salesman anymore. He owns a big ranch in Oklahoma, near where you grew up.”
“Maybe I’ll meet them one day,” I said. “But for now, I need to focus on my life now that Jonah is out of it.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Gideon said, his voice behind me.
I turned, my breath catching as my mind betrayed me, flashing to him between my thighs. “Gideon, we can’t stay here. Haley and I need to get our own place. School starts next month, and I need to get her enrolled.”
“Laney, we’ll talk about that later,” he said firmly. “Right now, I need to get ready for the mission. I guess I’m going with you, Raven.”
“Yes,” Raven said. “River just called. Kat’s too close to delivery, so he’s staying home. By the time we get back, they’ll already have their babies.”
Gideon turned back to me. “Please stay here, at least until we’re sure there’s no lingering threat. I don’t want anyone coming after you and Haley.”
I nodded reluctantly. “I’ll stay, but I’ll start looking for a place. Sean gave me a new computer. Raven, can you send me the family photos so I can share them with Haley?”
Raven nodded. Gideon leaned against the counter, watching me. “So, you got the DNA results?”
“Yes,” I said, though my thoughts were still tangled. “I have five more siblings, a father, an aunt, and grandparents. How long will you be gone?”
“A few weeks.”
“Where are you going?”
“To Iran. That’s all I can tell you.”
“We’ll stay here until you get back,” I said, my stomach tightening at the thought.
“Sean and his family will stay in Kat’s house,” Raven added. “We bought her house just for this reason.”
“When do you leave?” I asked.
“Five tomorrow morning,” Gideon said.
My heart lurched. Iran. How dangerous was it? I hadn’t truly thought about what Gideon’s missions entailed. My eyes darted between him and Raven. “Please,” I said softly. “Tell me what you do in these dangerous places.”
“We are going to rescue someone falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit. We know he didn’t do it because he’s an Army Special Force officer, and he would never do anything like they are accusing him of.”
“Would he want you to risk your life trying to rescue him?”
“If we were in his position, he would do the same thing. This is what we do. We rescue people and guard them. It’s no more dangerous than running from the head of the mafia. We know what we are doing.”
“I know how good you are at your job. I’m sure you will return your friend to the United States soon. I would like both of you to be careful while you are there.”
“You will most likely have a visit from our Dad within a week, maybe even some other family members,” Raven said, glancing at me.
“I’m not going to worry about that right now. I have so much more to do,” I said, getting up to find Haley.