23. Tim
23
TIM
COLLARS AND COLLECTIBLES
“ W hat did you just say?” I release the door handle and press my back to the wood to keep busybodies out. Because I’m going to war with someone tonight. I’m just not sure who. “Divorce?”
“We can’t have an annulment, since we already consummated it. Quite pleasurably, I might add. But I kind of figure a weeklong marriage doesn’t really count, right? There should be a cooling off period first.”
“What are you talking about?” I snap the words out and feel like a prick when she startles. When her eyes, wet from old tears and red from stress, look me up and down. “Is this one of your jokes? Because I asked you to marry me?”
She shakes her head, dropping her gaze and smiling that way she does when she knows something I don’t. “The marriage certificate Cordoza handed you at Felix’s wedding? I gave you a million chances to tell me the truth before I was forced to call you out on it.”
“Archer told you?”
Her eyes shutter. Rage. Suspicion. Back to rage. “He knew?”
“As of a few hours ago. Did Fletch call you?”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” She spins on her heels and stalks across my living room. “Is there anyone in this city you didn’t tell except me? Seriously, Tim? You think you get to sneak something like this in and tell everyone except the person now legally tied to you?”
“You snuck a look at the envelope?” My mind reels as I follow her into the kitchen. “You saw me put it in the drawer, so you creeped out here while I was sleeping and peeked?”
“Nope.”
“Then how, Aubree?” I grab her sleeve and yank her around, only for her hand to wrap over mine and a sweet grin to cross her lips. Like she always does, she brings me calm when the world outside of us is a storm. Her touch is healing when my heart pounds with terror. “How do you know? How long have you known?”
“So you admit it?” She twines our fingers together and looks up into my eyes. The innocent succubus, just waiting to swallow me whole. “You had Cordoza bribe a judge to sign a piece of paper I never consented to?”
“I admit to nothing. Not unless you tell me how you found out.”
She snorts, shaking her head and pressing a kiss to the back of my hand. “That’s an admission.”
“Who told you?”
“ You told me.” She steps onto her toes and kisses my jaw. “You’re an open book and don’t even realize it. So now you’re gonna stay here with me. You’re not going out tonight to start some shit with a guy who thinks threatening women is tough. And you’re not going down to the bar to spend time with your brothers. You’re staying with me, because my night, to this point, has really friggin’ sucked, and you’re the only person on the planet who can calm things down again.”
“Aubree…” My heart pounds out of control. “I had Cordoza get me that certificate so I could protect you. We’re married. We’ve been married for a fucking week, but I couldn’t enforce a damn thing unless I told you what I’d done.”
“And now I know?” Her cheeks warm with a sweet blush. “So what? You go out there and pound on your chest? Me Jane, you Tarzan? No one gets to touch.”
“The guy who slammed you against a wall?” I lower and look into her eyes. “He’ll die. There is no other choice. His friends? They’ll get the message that you’re a protected species, and then it’s done. You’re off limits; nothing else matters after that. Doesn’t matter who you’re related to, or who he owes money to, because the fact you belong to me supersedes all that other shit. Your mother could assassinate the fucking governor and it wouldn’t blow back to touch you unless they want a war. Five united brothers… my own father couldn’t achieve that. But we’d stand shoulder to shoulder to fuck up anyone who looks at you sideways.”
“That’s a lot of power for a bunch of badly raised men to have.” Grinning, she reaches up and scratches her nails through my beard, sending bolts of pleasure rolling through my blood. “Felix is… crazy. And Cato is barely mature enough to go to the store with ten dollars without blowing it all on ice cream. Archer has made a promise to the law, and Micah is holding a million of his own secrets, few of which he wants his brothers to know.”
“You simplify an entire fucking empire like you think it’s a game!”
“I humanize the men Timothy the Second attempted to destroy. I don’t doubt the hell you could rain on this city if you had to. But I question the need.”
“That motherfucker tossed you against a wall and scared you!”
“And here I am,” she croons, “safe and sound inside your apartment, begging you to stay right here with me instead of running off to hunt someone else’s hired hand.”
“Aubree—”
“You could take me to bed.” She stands on her toes and pulls me down until we’re eye to eye. “I’m not sore anymore, and I know you know how to bring us both to ecstasy.”
God. Fuck. Goddammit . “I can’t walk away from what they did.” I cup her face and draw her as tall as her toes will allow. “Aubree Grace, I cannot let their crimes stand.”
“You could.” She licks her dry lips. “Life is about choices, and you’re standing at a crossroads right now. You can choose to leave me here, all alone. Or you could take me to bed.”
“And your brother?” I growl. “I leave him out there for Booth’s men to find? They’re done playing, and he’s too immature to understand the danger he’s in.”
“He’ll be okay for tonight.” Slowly, she begins undoing my shirt. One button. Then another. “This is his journey, too. He needs to learn there are consequences to stupid actions, and that he won’t always be saved, no matter who his sister is married to.” She slides the plaid fabric of my shirt back and reveals my bare chest, pounding over my racing heart. “We can go find him tomorrow,” she soothes, “and at that point, he’ll have learned something.”
“I don’t think you understand the danger he’s in.”
She breathes out a soft laugh. “I don’t think you understand I know everything. He’s going to be fine.” She angles left and takes my nipple between her lips. “Stop focusing on him and start paying attention to me. I won’t tolerate split focus. ”
“Fuck.” I bend and grab her thighs, snatching her up and absorbing her squeal of delight when her arms and legs wrap around me. Then I head toward my room. Fuck tonight. Fuck family responsibilities. Fuck this city. Because I have Aubree Emeri in my arms, and hell, that’s all I’ve ever wanted. “Scale of one to ten—” I drop her onto my bed and unbuckle my belt, “—how sore are you? How rough do you want it?”
“Pretend I’m a virgin, but you don’t know it.” She bursts out laughing when I tug my belt free and drop it onto her belly. “Talk about fisting me again. That was hot.”
“You’re a naughty girl.” I unsnap my jeans and set my knee between her legs, then I crawl over the top of her and press a kiss to her exposed collarbone. “Where’s your necklace?” I nip her throat and swallow down her gasp of delight. “You’re supposed to be wearing it.”
“It’s for special occasions. Not work.”
“Consider it a fuckin’ collar, and me, your owner.” I capture her stunned lips and sample her with my tongue. “Since we’re telling the truth and all that shit now.” I unzip her coat and undress her with rough hands. Tossing her one way, then the other, until the thick fabric is gone and I’m left with my gift beneath. “You’re wearing jeans and a regular shirt today.” I lift her shirt and nibble on her belly. “Why are you so sad?”
“I knew today would be stressful.” She kicks her shoes off and plants her feet on my hips, opening her legs wider and groaning when I nibble on her tits, even above her bra. “Sometimes a woman must dress for confrontation. Not fashion.”
Confused, I pull back and look down at her doe eyes. Innocence personified. “Confrontation? With Booth’s guy?”
“And you. I don’t remember the last full day I had where we didn’t argue over something.” She wraps her hand over the back of my neck and pulls me down until my lips circle her nipple once more. But I yank her bra out of the way, hunger roaring in my blood and desperate need clawing at my veins when she cries out. Her back arches, her core searching for more.
For me.
“You don’t have to be as gentle anymore.” She combs her fingers in the back of my hair and holds me close, her heart sprinting so it becomes an audible thing. “I want you to take me the way you want to take me.”
“No. That’s too rou?—”
“It’s what I want.” She releases my hair and reaches down instead, unsnapping her jeans and frantically shoving the denim just a few inches until her position makes removing them impossible. Then she pushes me back and lifts her hips.
Undress me.
Have me.
“You’re gonna get yourself hurt.” But do I force her to keep her pants on? Fuck no . I tear them down and drag her socks off, too. Then I find red lace undies and a sweet wet patch just waiting for me to discover. “Jesus, Aubree. You’re so perfect.”
“I want you to consume me.” She reaches out with a steady hand. And though I expect her to cup my cheek, or grab onto the back of my head, she slips her fingers into my mouth and summons me closer.
My willpower snaps. My worry for her. My entire fucking soul gives up and moves out. So I grab the crotch of her panties and tear the fabric away, then I bury my face in her pussy and eat.
“Tim!” she screams and grabs my hair, pulling until it stings. And yet, she holds me down like she thinks I have the power to stop anyway. I lap up her sweet cream and dig my thumb into her ass. Then I bite her clit and swallow down her first release when it bursts on a wave of uncontrollable pleasure.
“You’re always so fucking responsive to me.” I lap at her hot slit and swallow down every drop she gives. Because it’s mine. All of her. Every fucking morsel. “I’d ask if you’re always like this, but fuck, Aubree Grace, you’ve only been with me. And that’s the way it’s gonna stay.”
“Fingers.” Her hips whip wildly, searching for fulfillment. For completion. For me. So I slip three in at once, no time for gentle stretching. No room for being careful. I sink them to the knuckle and consider working her up to taking my entire fist anyway.
Because she could. For me, she would.
“So fuckin’ sweet.” I pump my fingers and thrill in the way she squirts onto the covers. So much. So perfect. “I’m gonna fuck you like a whore, Aubree Grace.”
“Yes please,” she pants, her hips jutting for more. “Yes.”
“But you’ll remember you’re my wife and I love you.”
“God.” She slams her arm over her eyes, whimpering and groaning. “Shit.”
“I’m gonna hurt you. But then I’ll make it all better again, I promise.” I push my jeans down and kick them off to land on the floor amongst her clothes. Her shoes. Her life, melding with mine. Then I palm my cock and squeeze until the head turns purple. “Fuck!” Pleasure ricochets through my blood like scattershot from a shotgun. “I can’t go slow, Aubree. I can’t?—”
“Don’t.” She pulls me closer and opens her legs as wide as they can go, stretching to allow me between her thighs. “I don’t care if it’ll hurt.” She pushes to her elbows and nips at my bottom lip until it stings. “I went to bed with you the first time, knowing I was going to bed with my husband.”
My heart seizes, a painful thud that sends shockwaves out to my extremities.
But she reaches between us and guides my cock inside. “I loved you then. And I love you now.”
“Aubree…”
“I trusted you then.” She pulls me closer. “I trust you now.”
“Even when I lie to you?”
Her eyes flicker playfully. “I know when you lie, and I know the truth. Every single time. I don’t feel like a whore, by the way. This is regular lovemaking.”
“Pain in my ass.” I pull out and steal the light from her eyes. Then I toss her over, slamming her chest to the mattress and pressing my hand to the back of her neck so she can’t get up again. “You wanna be treated like a regular slut, Aubree Grace?” I grab her hips and yank her to her knees, so her ass is presented exactly the fucking way it should be.
Puckered and pounding.
Wanting, but until I’m ready, unfulfilled.
“I’m gonna fill you to the brim with my seed. I’m gonna watch your cunt gush with my cum. Then I’ll eat it out and start over again.”
“Tim—”
“You’ll be nothing but a bucket for me to empty myself into. And I’ll enjoy watching me dribble along your creamy thighs.” I wrap my hand in her hair and jerk her back until her neck arches. Then I slam into her cunt in one smooth move. Pulling her hair so she can’t scream, though the sound backs up at the base of her throat. “Can’t breathe, can you, beautiful?”
She gasps, choking for air and shaking her head.
“You’ll breathe when I say you can.”