32. Chapter 31
Chapter 31
R amiro’s arms tightened around Summer from behind. She made a huffing snort of complaint that tilted his lips up in a smile. Summer never complained when she was awake, but her sleep self was more honest. He nuzzled against her, telling himself he should let her sleep. It was still the middle of the night.
Over the last few weeks, he’d often been inside her before she even woke up. He enjoyed falling asleep while connected that way. Making her come before she was awake had become an addiction, especially since the morning sickness had finally faded completely.
His hands slid over her breasts and lower, intent on making her wet enough to take him, but as he passed over her stomach, his breath caught. He shifted his hand over it again, delighted by the small bump there. Her daughter—the blood work had confirmed the gender—was the size of a peach this week, a sweet peach that was making her presence known.
He turned Summer onto her back, dragging the sheet off her to see her body better. How could he have missed that adorable raised flesh? It was subtle, but it was definitely there.
Ramiro shifted down the bed, rolling over her legs and trapping them as he nuzzled at her stomach, kissing right over the bump.
“Ram?” Summer murmured, her hand sifting through his hair.
She didn’t sound nervous or scared at all, even though he was half on top of her. This past week especially, she’d begun enjoying having him above her. On the couch the other day, he’d rested his head lightly on her stomach as they’d watched TV. He’d also bent over her for a kiss while she was reading. Summer no longer tensed against him, even when surprised. Instead, she gave him the sweetest shy smile every time he got close.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a baby bump?” he asked, pressing his lips there again.
Summer’s breath caught, her hand tightening in his hair. “It made me feel weird.”
Ramiro moved his hand over the bump, stroking her soft skin. “There’s nothing weird about your body changing like this.” He kissed there one more time before crawling up her body, careful to keep his weight off her with his arms. His mouth found hers, the brush of lips gentle but everything he wanted. “I’m surprised how sexy I find it,” he murmured against her lips.
“Sexy?” She gasped when he nudged her thigh with his growing erection. “You don’t like babies.”
“I love you,” Ramiro told her. She got quiet the way she did whenever he said it, as if she was processing it all over again. He even loved that about her and had begun telling her often just to see her react to the words. “I’m excited about anything that happens to you.” He slid his erection between her thighs, hissing at how good even that felt. “Do you think you’re ready to take me like this?” he asked, nudging her legs until they parted to give him more room. “I want to feel the bump against my stomach while I fuck you.”
She let out that sexy whimper of hers as he settled more firmly between her legs, her face fitting tightly against his neck.
Ramiro waited, keeping his weight from crushing her as he let her cradle him. Summer wasn’t tensing up. No, her arms wrapped around his back, and her mouth was wet and hot against his neck, sucking on his skin.
He rocked against her slit. It wasn’t wet enough, not yet. He wanted to see if he could get her soaked just by rocking against her.
They hadn’t had sex in the missionary position yet. Was she really ready?
The way she widened her legs and arched into him sent shivers down his spine. He was completely enveloping her body. And her sweet, soft stomach was flush with his .
“I’ll start lotioning your skin,” Ramiro murmured, lost in the sensation of her under him. He’d read that applying lotion to a pregnant belly helped with stretch marks, and really, he just wanted his hands all over her there. He didn’t want to miss any future changes.
She nipped his neck at the offer, and his cock grew harder with the slight pain. He angled up, sliding along her dampening slit and up to hit her clit. She cried out, the sound muffled against him. Her legs wrapped around to his back, and he slid against her even better.
She gasped into his skin, and he hummed. She was already getting wetter. Summer was so damn sensitive it made his head spin.
“Y-you don’t have to lotion me.” They rubbed together, skin touching skin. Her fingers dug into his back. “I can do it.”
“I want to.” He nudged her clit with his erection, making her cry out. “Now rub that sexy belly against me. Let me feel it.” His body shook when she did. Just rocking against her was no longer enough. Her moans told him it wasn’t enough for her, either.
Ramiro leaned his weight on one arm so the other hand could fit between them. He dragged his fingers along her slit, using her wetness on her clit to stroke her, firm and slow.
She arched into him, almost dislodging his fingers, but he kept up the motion that she loved, already feeling a fluttering under his fingers. He notched his cock against her soon soaked slit, but kept rubbing, needing her to come .
“You’re so perfect, baby girl. Let go.” He rocked the head of his cock forward, loving the way she whimpered against his neck. “Come for me. Come for me, and I’ll let you have all of me.”
Summer’s ankles locked behind his ass, and she tried to lift her body, tried to take all of him on her own.
Ramiro let out a strained laugh as he pressed her down with his hand, his fingers speeding up their strokes. “Not yet. I can’t wait to be inside you, but you have to be fucking dripping first. Once you come, I’ll push inside. I’ll let you squeeze my cock so hard.”
She cried out, sinking her teeth into his neck to muffle it as she fell apart under him.
Ramiro moaned as he sank all the way inside, pushing into her clutching pussy. He caught his weight on both arms, shuddering as he rocked deep inside her.
Summer held on to him tightly, even when the orgasm was over. Her body shivered all along his, feeling so goddamn perfect.
He continued to rock, not wanting to do anything else, just wanting every second of being connected to her.
She let out a happy sigh as her legs uncurled, shifting back down his hips.
“That’s it. Melt all around me. This feels good, doesn’t it?”
She hummed her answer, licking the bite mark she’d left on his neck. “You can take me hard,” she offered .
His fingers stroked the top of her shoulders. “I want you just like this.”
Her mouth drifted from the side of his neck until she licked his Adam’s apple, mouthing it and making his breath catch as his need spiked.
He thrust harder, barely able to pull out before sinking back in. “Fuck. You know all my likes now, don’t you?”
“Not all.” Her knees lifted, her thighs cradling him as her feet planted on the bed. She used the leverage to arch into him with his next thrust, and he groaned, his hips snapping forward.
“That’s it.” She nipped his Adam’s apple. “Fuck me, Ram.”
Heat engulfed his body as his gentleness fell away. One of his hands slid under her ass, and he let go, fucking into her as she asked, his mind slipping away with how good it felt.
Their skin was sweaty and stuck together. She was making those whimpering cries. Her nails scraped marks on his back, marks that told him he was hers. She felt so hot and wet, squeezing all around him as she came again.
Ramiro fucked her through it, too gone for words, communicating only in moans as he thrust into her faster.
Her body melted, cradling his as he moved, letting him do all the work to pull her tighter, tight enough to feel that baby bump against his own stomach. When she came the third time, he came with her, pumping every drop of his cum deep, wanting her insides coated with it .
His arms kept her safe, propping up most of his weight as he shuddered. He groaned as he rolled them to their sides, his hand clutching the back of her head and hugging her to him.
“Fuck. How does it get better every time?”
She giggled, the sound sinking deep inside his chest.
He kissed the top of her head, his other hand drifting down to her ass, holding her tight so they stayed connected.
Ramiro had become greedier and greedier. The office was clean and ready almost immediately after, but he preferred their home setup with her right in his space.
Besides, he still didn’t know what the cartel was trying to accomplish with the fire and the phone calls. He’d had Hayes trace the number, but it wasn’t just one. They had been calling from different burner phones each time.
Hayes also reminded him that the home office had a camera, and when Ramiro remembered the way Summer had coaxed him into taking her on top of the desk, he’d been tempted to meet with Hayes in person so he could punch him in the face.
It had been longer than normal since he’d forced his hacker to leave his house, but as tempting as it was, that would mean at least a couple of hours away from Summer.
Ramiro’s phone buzzed from the bedside table. He considered ignoring it, but the buzzing kept going, a phone call, not a text.
He had to slip out of her warmth to reach it, adding irritation to his voice when he answered Ash’s call. “What? ”
Ash didn’t respond. Muffled sounds filled the background, flesh against flesh sounds. Someone was taking a beating.
“Fucking hell,” Ash finally said, but his voice didn’t sound close to the receiver. “I’ve got better things to do than watch this shit.”
Another voice laughed an answer.
Ramiro’s eyes narrowed as he slid his legs off the side of the bed.
“What’d this dickhead even do?” Ash asked.
Ramiro strained to hear the words, but they were too muffled to make out. The bed dipped behind him as Summer sat up, but she remained quiet.
“Well, shit,” Ash said. “Isn’t this fucker a Guzman? Not many of them left. Are you sure we shouldn’t step in?”
“Dammit,” Ramiro muttered, shoving off the bed. The only Guzman Ash would call about was Seb. His newest asset had been checking out the doctors, and now he was being beaten.
That was proof enough that Ovidio Guzman lived.
Seb was a lot of trouble, but he was one of Ramiro’s. Him dying wasn’t in the cards.
“I’m on my way,” Ramiro told Ash, not knowing if he could hear him, but it was Ash. “If his chances don’t look good, don’t wait for me.”
Ovidio being alive meant Ash’s place in the cartel was even more important, but it couldn’t be helped. Ash was going to be pissed if he had to break cover.
Hopefully Seb’s information was worth the hassle .
Ramiro shot off a text to Hayes to locate the call before tossing the phone on the bed and dragging on clothes. He leaned over to kiss Summer briefly. “I’ll be back.”
“It’s fine. Go,” Summer said. “I love you.”
Her words soothed him. He grabbed his phone and headed to his car. The gates closed behind him before he drove off, but he still stared into the rearview mirror, not feeling any better about leaving her.
Once the cartel was no longer an issue, he would finish going legit. He was over being away from Summer, especially when the roiling in his stomach got worse the farther away he drove.
T he action was over by the time Ramiro got there. Seb held on to his stomach in a corner of the warehouse, his eyes swollen shut and his body shaking. One of his arms dangled.
“This fucking place. I hate this fucking place,” he muttered, glaring at the chains overhead.
Ash sat separate from him, his arms resting on his knees, his hands bloody.
There were four bodies.
“Any get away?” Ramiro asked.
Ash shook his head. “Won’t make sense for me to have survived, though. I’m burned.” He didn’t look upset or relieved or anything. Ash played at being a person, but that empty stare was his real personality .
Ramiro crouched near Seb. “You gonna live?”
“Hell.” Seb winced.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Ramiro glanced at Ash. “You want cleanup or to take him to the clinic?”
Ash pushed to his feet and grabbed the arms of the nearest body, dragging it toward the door and leaving a trail of blood.
Ramiro focused on Seb again. “I thought you were going to be careful.”
“Fucking Guzmans.” Seb’s body slumped into itself. “Should’ve listened to my momma and stayed the fuck away from them. They’re all crazy. Even the women.”
“Women?” Ramiro glanced at the bodies. They were pretty mangled, but he was fairly certain they were all men.
“Some vet cousin that the Guzmans use for doctoring. She seemed harmless.” He tilted his head, showing the blood in his hair. “Knocked me out, then I ended up here.” He glared blearily at the chains. “Can’t get away from this fucking warehouse.”
“Doctoring?” Ramiro asked, tension tightening the muscles of his neck even though he already knew. “Ovidio?”
“Yeah.” Seb’s words seemed to be leaking out now. “He’s alive.” His hand slid from his stomach, showing that it was slit wide open.
“Fuck!” Ramiro surged forward to catch his slumped form. “Ash! Help me carry him to my car.”
Ash was already there, and they lifted together.
Ramiro glared over at where Ash held his legs. “You could have told me he was bleeding out. ”
“You’ve got eyes.” Ash shifted the legs to one hand to open the passenger door. They maneuvered Seb in as gently as they could.
“I’m fine,” Seb slurred, his head still slumped over.
“You’re all fucking idiots,” Ramiro muttered, shutting him in and rounding the car. “You good here?” he called back to Ash, receiving an impassive nod before the other man turned away.
Ash wasn’t happy, but Ramiro could only deal with one thing at a time.
Ovidio was alive. He’d left Summer alone. The knowledge beat in his head, trying to distract him.
The doctor came first. Seb was bleeding out on his leather seats.
He dialed Summer hands-free, and let the sound of her sleepy voice soothe him as he drove.
R amiro regretted not putting a camera in their bedroom. He’d tried to look at the feed, but none of the cameras had shown him Summer safe and sound.
He’d been winding himself up to an all new level of worry, and there she lay, wrapped up in the blankets, sound asleep. Her blonde hair splayed over her pillow while her face tucked into his, as if seeking his scent. Her still bare shoulder looked pale and vulnerable where the sheet had slipped down .
Ramiro brushed a kiss over her shoulder that made her shiver before tugging the blanket up to cover it. All he wanted was to slip into bed and drag her into his arms.
Ramiro headed to the shower instead. Seb’s blood had soaked into his black dress shirt.
He pulled out his phone, shooting off another text to Hayes asking for progress on tracking down Ovidio. The fucker had to be somewhere off-grid, but Hayes would find something now that he had the vet’s location.
Ramiro wouldn’t feel settled until he made sure every member of the cartel still clinging to the sinking ship the Guzmans had become was dead. He usually stuck to the fringes and killed only those necessary, but he couldn’t handle the paranoia eating at him. Summer’s safety, and her daughter’s, was too important.
That her daughter was part of the package had him staring at the tiles of the shower as the water pounded on his back. Summer hadn’t decided to keep the baby, but Ramiro hoped she did. Excitement sped up his heartbeat. He still couldn’t imagine being comfortable holding her daughter or changing diapers or with the shrill cries that would interrupt their sleep, but the image of Summer curled up with the baby in her arms and a gentle smile on her lips wouldn’t go away. He wanted that, despite everything that came with it.
He might absolutely suck at it, but he wanted to be that baby’s father.
Ramiro shut off the water, toweled dry, and opened the bathroom door, intent on holding his world in his arms .
Summer’s terrified eyes met his in the shaft of light from the bathroom. A tanned hand with a gaudy ring covered her mouth. Ovidio stood behind her next to the bed, his smile adding to the building rage inside Ramiro as the man’s other hand settled over her naked breast, her sweetly curved and vulnerable belly visible below.
Ramiro lunged, but he didn’t make it to the bed. There were too many of them, dragging him down to the carpet, feet already kicking into his sides and glancing off his head.
Summer’s muffled scream kept his body from curling. Pained grunts slid out of him in something closer to snarls as he lashed out, inching his body closer before another kick sent his head spinning, and the next felt like it snapped his jaw.
“Ram! No, don’t hurt him!”
Pain dug into his sides as the kicking continued. Time stretched in an unending pain of not being able to reach her, not even being able to crawl anymore.
“That’s it. Let him hear you, sweetheart,” Ovidio taunted.
Summer screamed in terror, and Ramiro grabbed a leg, trying to break it, but his weak twist just knocked the man off-balance. That made a hole, and he scrambled through it, trying to get to her.
“Fucking hold him,” Ovidio barked out to his men.
Hands clamped down on his shoulders, hauling him back, but he bit one and snapped his throbbing head back into someone else. The man’s pained cry was less than satisfying, not with Summer sobbing. He broke free, lunging toward the bed .
“Fuck!” Ovidio shouted.
All Ramiro could see was Summer’s drenched blue eyes, the panic and fear in them as she screamed his name.
The gunshot was loud, and he let out his own scream, worried he was too late, that she was dead.
Pain slammed into his middle even as a second shot came, hitting his chest, breaking his momentum. Ramiro’s vision dimmed. His body fell against the wall, sliding down, no longer obeying his need to keep moving, to get to Summer.
The room faded around him, becoming the garbled sounds of a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. He screamed from the clear, sharp terror of knowing he was going to fail.
“Goddammit!” Ovidio snarled. “He’s supposed to suffer!”
Flesh hit flesh, and Summer’s pained cry mixed with Ramiro’s own.
“Is he still alive?” Ovidio’s voice sounded calmer now. “Check him.”
Hands dragged his body upright, and Ramiro tried to open his eyes, tried to see Summer one last time.
Her sobs dragged his gaze to her. Ovidio pulled her head back. She was still naked, vulnerable. “Let him see you, sweetheart.” He yanked on her hair, making her cry out again.
Ramiro tried to shout but all that came out was a gurgle of sound.
Ovidio’s satisfaction fell. “Fucking hell.” He released her, and Summer sprawled to the bed, but she only stayed there for a second before she ran to Ramiro, throwing her body over his .
“Don’t hurt him! I’ll do anything.” The last came out as a broken gasp. Summer shook against him, and the pain inside Ramiro spiked.
Ovidio crouched behind her, gripping her throat to haul her back, making her words choke off. “You’ll do anything either way. Take her.”
Ramiro’s body slumped to the floor, but he got his hands to claw into the carpet and dragged himself just a little closer to her.
A hand closed around his jaw in a painful squeeze, lifting his head. He struggled to shift his eyes to Summer, wanting to see her. She needed to be the last thing he saw.
Ovidio filled his vision instead. “You look like shit, Rodriguez. You’re going to die, but you’ll die knowing exactly what I’m going to do to her.” He leaned forward, whispering right into Ramiro’s ear. “I’m going to rape her. I’ll rape her in every hole she has, as many times as I want. Once I’m tired of her, I’ll carve her open and rip out that baby she’s growing. Don’t think I didn’t notice. You killed my son. I’ll kill your child and then send the broken pieces of your woman to join you both down in hell.”
Ramiro’s gaze found Summer’s. She was being dragged away. Her sobs shredded him inside.
Ovidio was in front of him. Ovidio had shot him. He was probably still holding that damn gun. Ramiro scrambled for it. His hands, slick with blood, nearly slid off .
Ovidio laughed, and the next bullet went through Ramiro’s hand. He was too numb now to feel it. Summer screamed, her voice fading into the darkness that had taken over his mind.