Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Reluctantly, Ian took a two-minute shower while Angie dozed under the covers he’d tucked around her after picking her up and putting her to bed properly.
He wished he could join her in blissful slumber just to wake her in an hour or so and do everything again.
Instead, he got dressed in his jeans and T-shirt again and left the bedroom barefoot, shutting the door behind him.
He found Carter helping himself to a cup of coffee, a banana, and two chocolate chip muffins.
While his friend stuffed his face for a few minutes, Ian grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and gulped down the contents.
Sex with Angie always left him parched, not that he was complaining.
Tossing the empty bottle in the recycling bin under the sink, he grabbed another one and sat at the kitchen island next to Carter.
“Should I bother to ask how you knew we were here? And don’t tell me you’re here just for the food, ass-hat. ”
The spy showing up ‘just for the food’ was a long-standing flat joke between him and Ian’s team and was usually brought up when they ran into each other on a mission.
If the spy said that’s why he was there, it meant his operation was classified and he couldn’t discuss it with anyone, not even the former SEALs with government clearance, whom he considered his closest friends.
For a man in his deadly business, having six friends he could count on in life-and-death situations was a lot, and he never took them for granted.
Carter grinned as he chewed the last bite of his muffins and then swallowed.
He took a swig of his coffee, knowing Ian was impatient for an answer.
“Nope. This time, the food is a bonus. And thanks, I was starving. As for why I’m here…
I got a message from Athos saying he was in trouble and couldn’t trust anyone in his agency.
Said he was heading to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and I assumed this was his final destination.
Have you heard from him yet?” Without waiting for an answer, he added, “I take it your new girlfriend is in your bedroom catching up on some much-needed sleep.”
Ian rolled his eyes as the other man waggled his eyebrows, à la Groucho Marx. “You can be a real asshole sometimes. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course. It’s what I do best.”
With a snort, Ian shook his head at Carter’s matter-of-fact statement.
“Yeah, Angie’s sleeping. We heard from Athos over an hour ago.
Reverend and Egghead went to pick him up.
Devon’s holding down the fort, and CC is on his way to Tampa to bring back Boomer, Polo, and Tiny.
I figured the big guy might be handy if I needed an extra body to watch over her.
Once we get the full update from Athos, we’ll decide what to do next. ”
Carter nodded, apparently satisfied there was nothing that needed his immediate attention. “Good. Since I have close to two and a half hours before they get back, I’m going to sack out for a bit.”
As the other man got up and placed his empty cup in the dishwasher and his garbage in the trash, Ian told him, “Take Jenn’s room. I’ll give Athos the spare room my folks use.” His parents didn’t visit Maggie Valley often, but when they did, the primary suite on the main floor was theirs.
Without another word, Carter gave him a small salute, grabbed his military green duffel bag from where he’d left it next to the front door, and headed upstairs for a quick shower and some shut-eye.
Since his friend was now taken care of, Ian returned to his bedroom and locked the door. Stripping his shirt off once again but leaving his jeans on, he climbed into bed, pulled Angie’s sleeping form into his arms, and closed his eyes.
An hour and a half later, Ian was sitting on the wide porch stairs, staring at the lake while Angie finished drying her hair after their shared shower, which took longer than necessary, as usual.
He’d gotten a text a short while ago from Jake saying they would be back at the house in about forty minutes or so, and Ian was getting antsy.
The faster Athos got here, the faster they could figure out how to end the threat against Angie.
His cell phone alerted him to another text, and Ian checked the screen.
Devon was letting him know Marco, Boomer, and Tiny were heading out to the small airport to meet CC, and they would be in the air within the hour.
The door behind him opened, and he didn’t need to turn around to know it was his angel.
The fresh scent of her shampoo and body soap hit him, and he felt a stirring in his groin.
Damn, the woman made it hard for him to think about anything but sex when she was near him.
She walked down two steps and plopped her sweet ass on the top stair beside him. “It’s beautiful up here.”
Ian put his arm around her, tucked her close to his body, and rested her head on his shoulder. “It certainly is. I wish I could get up here more often for pleasure instead of business. If you hadn’t noticed, the compound is kind of lacking in its landscaping within the fence lines.”
She giggled. “I did kinda notice. Will you retire up here someday?”
“Maybe,” he mused with a shrug of his unoccupied shoulder. “Or maybe I’ll buy a small island in the Caribbean… my little oasis in the middle of nowhere. Wherever I end up, there has to be water somewhere, whether it’s a lake or the ocean.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes before the door behind them opened again, and Carter walked out and then down the steps to the gravel below before facing the couple. He’d changed out of his cargo pants and now wore a faded pair of jeans, a clean T-shirt, and his combat boots.
Ian squeezed the woman at his side. “Angie, Carter. Carter, Angie.”
The spy held out his hand to her. “He speaks so eloquently sometimes, doesn’t he?”
Angie laughed and shook the man’s hand. “Yes, he does, but I don’t mind. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, sweetheart, but I wish it were under better circumstances.
” Ian had told her about Carter’s presence in the house and why the man was here while he’d washed her hair in the shower.
“Sorry I didn’t have a chance to meet you at the club the other night, but I found myself…
occupied… longer than I expected. I would’ve liked to have watched your first public scene because I heard it was fantastic and had a happy ending. ”
Angie dipped her head and blushed while both men laughed. She didn’t know why she turned so red now when being spanked and brought to an intense orgasm in front of an audience hadn’t embarrassed her at all at the time. Carter gave her a wink, and she shook her head, smiling at his teasing.
She didn’t have to ask what had kept him occupied at the time because Kristen had filled her in.
Carter had joined the engaged couple for a repeat threesome, and Kristen hadn't been wearing a blindfold for her second introduction to the good-looking Dom. There also hadn’t been any time constraints that they’d had during their first tryst, so the three of them had been in one of the private playrooms for a few hours.
Her friend hadn't given her many details, but having read romances with ménages before, Angie didn’t need a picture painted for her.
While she wasn’t interested in experiencing a threesome for herself, she had no problem with anyone else having one.
She barely survived the intense orgasms Ian gave her on a regular basis these days, and there was no way she could handle two men at once.
Ian had been happy to see ménages were on her hard limit list she’d given him.
He’d told her he’d been a third once, in his early days of being a Dom.
And while it had been a great experience, he found he didn’t like sharing his women, unlike his brother and some of their friends.
Angie got to her feet. “I was going to make myself a sandwich. Is anyone else hungry?” When both men said, “Yes, please,” she looked at Carter. “I know what he wants, but what would you like to eat?”
With a broad grin, he wiggled his eyebrows, and she laughed at his playfulness while Ian growled. “All right, since Ian’s going to deck me if I say anything sexual, I’ll take whatever you’re making for him, but no mayo, please. I hate the stuff.”
“No mayo, no problem.” She ran her hand through Ian’s short hair as she climbed the two steps back onto the porch, then went inside to make them lunch.
Ian growled again as Carter’s blatant gaze stayed glued to Angie’s ass until she disappeared into the house. “Really, asshole?”
The spy shrugged his shoulders and then sat down next to Ian.
“What? Like you’ve said many times in the past, ‘Just because I can’t touch, doesn’t mean I can’t look.
’ Too bad you’re not into threesomes because that is one beautiful backside, my friend, and I’d have to be six feet under not to appreciate it.
” He glanced sideways at the man who was still glaring at him and let out a snort. “So, she’s the one, huh?”
Ian’s eyes narrowed even further. Before he could respond, his phone chimed with an alert.
A vehicle had activated a sensor when it turned up the road leading to the house.
A second later, he received Jake's text letting him know they were coming up the hill.
He glared at Carter again. “The one… what?”
“The one who will make you forget you ever had a bitch of a fiancée who fucked you over. It’s about damn time.”
“Fuck you, asshole,” Ian scoffed. “You know I’m never going down that road again.”