38. Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Sylvie
I hated April Fool’s Day with a deep, abiding passion, but when I woke that morning, Drakos was spooning me in his sleep as if sensing my sadness and melancholy. He’d tucked his leg between mine, and his palm rested on my chest. It felt so good to have his warm, hard body and his masculine scent surrounding me that I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, snuggled into him, and decided to steal ten more minutes.
His morning hard-on nestled against my ass cheeks, and I slowly rubbed against it. He hummed low in his throat as he woke to find me grinding my backside against his cock. Burying his face in my neck, he lazily thrust against me. Okay, so maybe today wouldn’t totally suck.
“Good morning, Ms. Creed.” His hand traveled from my breast to between my thighs, and when he felt panties, he sighed in mock disappointment. “Why do you insist on wearing panties to bed? You know I’m just going to rip them off, you’ll complain incessantly about losing another pair, and I’ll have to sink my cock in your mouth to get you to quit complaining.”
Smirking, I reached behind me and grabbed the back of his neck as he unerringly found my clit with his fingers. “That doesn’t really incentivize me to stop wearing them.”
It had been almost a month since our wedding, and I’d never been this content or happy. When our tempers flared, we got better at talking it out until he’d grin wickedly and pull me into his arms.
Sometimes, he would quietly tuck my hair behind my ear, or run a hand over my waist and down to my ass, then give me a nice pat and whisper how naughty it felt to take me there.
This morning, he nuzzled my neck and gently worked my clit in the soft light. I reached behind him to situate his hard length against my wet opening.
“Please, I want you.”
He smiled into my neck and rocked harder against me, pushing his cock against my entrance. He had to work himself inside, especially at this angle, but Drakos palmed my stomach, holding me in place as he thrust against my resistance. Wrapping his other arm around my neck, he turned my head to the side and held me tight while he fucked me. My thoughts spun away as I clenched around him when he bottomed out. Moaning, I reached behind us and grabbed onto his tight, firm ass. I felt safe with him, and I let myself fall apart.
He bit my ear as he whispered, “I love waking up to feel your pussy already wet and needy for me. I want you to feel my cum inside you while you’re working today, and remember what we’ll do again when you come home.”
An orgasm built as he slammed into me and murmured dirty words while stroking my center with his fingers. Pressing against his shoulder, I came all over his hard length and wet hand. His thrusts sped up, and he held me against him and orgasmed.
I loved this man so much, and he’d already helped make this day more bearable. My heart swelled, and several tears leaked out. Drakos would worry and demand I tell him what was wrong if he saw the tears, so I turned my face against the pillow and quickly wiped them away.
Before heading to the funeral home that morning, I stopped off at the apartment to grab a few vases. I startled when the front door opened, and Alexa strode in with Ivan on her heels. He followed her into her bedroom, and I listened while she yelled at him, and then things got quiet.
I started tiptoeing to the front door when Ivan came out carrying one of her duffel bags slung over his shoulder. He had a determined glint in his eyes. Alexa looked pissed, but she held his hand. Interesting.
Ivan gave me a chin jerk. “She’s moving in with me. Tell Ezra I’ll buy out the remaining balance on her lease.”
Alexa’s eyes went wide, and I had the sudden urge to laugh as he dragged her toward the door. She yanked her hand out of his. ““It’s not… I’m not moving out! We agreed this would be temporary!”
He turned back to her and slowly grinned. “No, you agreed it would be temporary.”
Alexa’s face started going red, so I stepped in. “We don’t have leases. Luna and Alexa work a few funerals a month in lieu of rent.” I turned to Alexa. “Nothing changes regarding you living here until you tell me it has.”
Alexa sucked in a long breath through her nose and gave me a jerky nod, then surprised and scared the hell out of me when she started tearing up.
My eyes went wide and I turned on Ivan and yelled, “What did you do to her? She never cries. You need to fix this!”
Ivan’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at Alexa. Then he let out an annoyed sigh, set the duffel down, and tried to take her in his arms.
She slapped his hands away and headed for the door. “There’s nothing here to fix. I’ll be back in a week or two.” I stared after them and wondered what the hell was going on. I loved Alexa like a sister, but she kept her feelings and emotions bottled up and tucked away deep inside. I mentally wished Ivan good luck because he was going to need it.
When I walked into the mortuary later that morning with a big bouquet of sunflowers, Ezra and Declan stood waiting for me at Ezra’s office door. As soon as I saw their faces, I knew something had happened. “Hey, Declan. What’re you doing here?”
Neither spoke, and I carefully set the flowers on the hall table. “Grandpa, what’s going on?”
“Declan came because I asked him to. We need to talk, and I didn’t want to do it alone.”
My mind raced as I worried about all the people I loved. “Is someone hurt? Did Camilla get attacked again? Oh God, what happened?”
Declan took my arm and guided me into the office, pushing me gently into a chair. “No one is hurt. No one who matters anyway.”
“Please, just tell me,” I begged, nightmare scenarios still racing through my mind.
“Whitlock hung himself early this morning in his cell. He’s dead.” Declan gave me the news like he was telling me he’d filed his taxes.
“He hung himself? Today?” My mind struggled to process what they were telling me. Jeffery Whitlock was a lot of things—an asshole, a narcissist, a drug dealer, and a shit father. But I couldn’t picture him killing himself.
Ezra sat next to me and took my hand. “Are you alright? Do you want me to call Drakos?”
“No, I’m… okay.” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would he kill himself after all this time?”
Declan leaned back and studied me. “I assume he thought death would be better than living. We didn’t want you to know, but we’ve had men on the inside terrorizing him for the past month to keep him away from you, or someone else you care about. We wanted him to kill himself. But the little shit had to take one last jab at you and do it today.”
Neither of us believed in coincidences. “What’d they do to him?”
“Do you really want to know?”
I sighed. “No, I guess I don’t.” A thought suddenly hit me. Drakos and Fenn didn’t get along that well, but suddenly they’d been spending a lot of time together. “Did Drakos know what they were doing?”
Declan glanced at Ezra. “Yes. It was his idea. He and Fennick visited your dear old dad a few weeks ago in the infirmary at the prison.”
Ezra closed his eyes and hung his head. “I’m sorry to say this, but I’m glad he’s gone, and I hope he suffered. He’s been a black specter in both you and your mother’s lives for years, and the only thing I can feel is relief.”
His face showed lines of worry and regret. We both tried to keep ourselves busy this time every year, but we carried a wound that never completely healed. Then I thought about Drakos and my cousins looking out for us and trying to keep us all safe and sheltered. My life was surrounded by people who loved me, unlike my father who died alone in a prison cell.
I leaned over and wrapped my arms around him. “Then I’ll be burning in hell right along with you because it’s a relief for me too. Let’s crack open that expensive bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey you keep tucked away and celebrate.”
Declan smiled. “It’s nine in the morning. Don’t you think it’s a little early?”
Ezra smiled and hugged me back. “Not today, it isn’t.”