Chapter 24
Ivy reached for the waistband of his pants and wiggled her fingers inside. Grabbing the thick, hard length of his cock, she stroked. Rami spasmed beneath her.
“Babe.” The syllables came out breathless. His fingers stopped their ministrations but stayed inside her. His free hand tipped up her chin, breaking their mouths apart. “I don’t want to hurt you. We should stop until you’re healed.”
Ivy’s face warmed with both desire and impatience. “I’m fine.” She drew the walls of her vagina together, and he choked on a gasp.
“Jesus, honey.”
Dragging the silky-smooth skin of his manhood through her fingers, she brought her face to his throat and pressed her lips to his neck. “Please,” she said, flicking her tongue over his stubble.
“Ah, hell.” He stood with her in his arms and strode to the bedroom. He had to remove his fingers in order to carry her, but she didn’t care—as long as he replaced them with something else.
Namely the hot and ready piece of him in her grasp.
She continued to work her hand around his shaft, and every strangled breath from him deepened her need.
Rami maneuvered them through the house until they reached the bedroom. He bumped open the door and sat on the bed with her still on his lap. His hands roamed under the hoodie, caressing her spine and the cleft at her tailbone.
She moaned but didn’t hide the note of complaint. She wanted—no, needed—his hands south. He got the drift and brought his fingertips between her legs to stroke her folds. He glided his fingers gently from her swollen lips to her clit and her heart rate jumped.
Tugging at his pants, she freed his cock.
He stretched to reach the nightstand drawer. After yanking out a foil square, he tore open the packaging and pulled out a rubber. She perched on his knees, waiting, her mouth dry and her body pulsing with the need to have him inside her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, as he rolled the protection over his knob and to the base of his shaft.
“I’ll go on top.” She grabbed the hem of the hoodie, her body temperature too scorching to be wearing so much material. Plus there were too many layers separating them.
Rami spread out on his back and his hands locked on her waist. “Yeah. I’m good with that.”
She smiled, lifted her hips, and guided his member to her opening. Rami’s hands clamped on her hips, holding her steady, and his eyes were heavy with desire. Her wetness helped her body accept his girth, but when she slid down to nestle on top of him, a sharp hiss escaped through her teeth as she stretched to fit him.
She bit her lip as pleasure tingled every nerve ending between her legs. She moved her hips up and down, loving Rami’s huffs and grunts. His hands were large and rough on her hip bones, guiding and urging her on.
“Christ,” he mouthed. The light yellow rings against the blues of his eyes almost sparkled in the sunlight drifting through the window. The dark stubble on his jaw matched his ebony eyelashes and perfectly shaped obsidian eyebrows.
His knuckles brushed over her cheek and the intensity of his gaze ensnared her. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.” His voice was thick and gritty. His face softened, revealing the gentleness his exterior kept hidden—from everyone but her.
Since the moment she met him, Rami had done everything to show her who he really was. He’d never hidden behind the rough man everyone else saw. Instead, he’d surrendered to her. Sadness welled in her throat as she remembered her darkest hours. The moments she thought she’d never see him again.
She leaned down and pressed her lips to his jaw then to the base of the tattoo at his cheekbone before dropping her face next to his ear. “I know this sounds crazy, but part of me is grateful for everything that happened because it brought us together.” She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip. “You’re the silver lining. Thank you for coming for me.”
Rami blinked slowly. “I’d walk through fire for you ten thousand times over.”
He kissed her lips and his words rippled through her. Love erupted from her core, mixing with the pleasurable feel of his skin against hers and their raw hearts beating together in a frantic dance.
His hands explored freely, sweeping over her curves and crevices until his thumb touched the greedy nub above her folds.
A gasp choked from her mouth as he rubbed. Her body spasmed sharply. Ecstasy exploded through her. Her body vibrated and her hips pumped frantically to take his cock harder, deeper.
“That’s it, baby.”
She cried out as the floodgates of pleasure opened. Rami’s arms surrounded her, crushing her abdomen to his as he took over, banging into her and making her scream his name as the aftershocks of her orgasm turned to smaller, more intense bursts of nirvana.
“Ivy,” he hissed in a deep, guttural tone. His movements gradually stopped but he didn’t let her go.
His mouth went to her cheek then her neck, kissing and sucking. “Holy hell,” he breathed.
She chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear as she turned to rest her cheek on the pillow, their centers still joined. His hand coasted lazily up her back then returned south to rest on her tailbone.
“Babe, you make me crazy. I could do this all day.”
She traced her finger along his pec. “I wouldn’t mind that so much. I might need to pop that ibuprofen though.”
His brows dipped with concern. “We should’ve waited.”
“No, it’s not that. I mean my vagina will need a pain reliever.”
“I’ve got methods for that.” He slid out of her then slowly rolled her onto his back. “One sec.” He got up and padded over the floors. His wide shoulders nearly took up the whole room and his muscles rippled as he walked. Tattoos adorned his back. He strode with the utmost confidence, clearly not giving a damn that his high, tight ass was on display.
He disappeared into the bathroom, and she heard water running. He came back into the room, his manhood jutting out. Her mouth went dry. God, was he ever soft? Or was that just his size?
He stepped into briefs then picked up the pill bottle on her nightstand. “Need one?”
She shook her head. Despite the recent jostling and rushing of blood, her head wasn’t pounding as badly as it had earlier. “The incision is tender, but that’s about it. The headache isn’t bothering me right now. Maybe the food helped.”
Rami chuckled. “The food, huh?”
He lay on the bed and pulled her to snuggle against his chest. One hand was warm and firm on her back, the other rested possessively on her leg, which was drawn up over his thigh. He faced her, keeping their bodies in close contact.
“I want you to tell me everything.” His tone was flat and lacked all the lust and humor it had held just minutes ago.
Her belly flipped. “What do you mean?”
Rami brought his knuckles to her cheek and gently traced the bruise that was surely there. She hadn’t looked in the mirror yet today, didn’t really want to—her appearance would be a stark reminder of the previous night.
“I want to know everything they said, their threats, if they touched you. I don’t want to push you, but it’s killing me not knowing what you went through.”
She traced her bottom lip with her tongue. She didn’t want to relive those moments. She could smile, flirt, kiss, and, hell, even fuck her way to distraction, but all the memories loomed. Ready to sweep in when she let her guard down.
Maybe Rami was right. Talking to him about what had happened to her in the trailer had helped. It hadn’t taken the sting away, but really, what could other than time and maybe therapy?
“Can you tell me? Please.”
She nodded.
“Take your time.” His fingertips brushed away a strand of hair from her face. She kept her gaze lowered as she brought herself back to the rest-stop bathroom—shots firing outside the door, Rami shouting at her to stay inside, bullets blasting against the door handle.
Tears stung her eyes as everything she’d experienced rushed out. The fear. The pain. The terror and helplessness she’d felt as she watched Rami get shot.
Rami held her as she sobbed. Her tears soaked the pillow and his shoulder. She told him about how Gabriel had tried to pull her pants down but she’d scratched up his face. Everything came pouring out like acid rain from an angry sky.
“I’m so sorry. None of it should have happened.” Rami’s voice was husky. His hand on her cheek was gentle, but the one now between them on the bed was fisted. The knuckles were white.
She dashed away the tears beneath her eyes. “It’s okay. It’s all over now.”
“Earlier you said something about a video.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Wayne was going to—” She glanced away and sucked in a shaky breath. “I’m not sure exactly. He wanted to do something for the camera. Kept saying that you and my family had to pay.”
Rami’s face hardened, and his dark eyes flashed with menace. She had no doubt what kind of rage he’d release if those men were alive right now.
His Adam’s apple moved beneath his stubble and his thumb smoothed the corner of her eye, where another tear had leaked out.
She sniffed and cuddled close to his chest, breathing in his musky scent. “All that made me tired,” she said with a yawn.
“Mmm.” He kissed her forehead. “Rest, babe.”
In the warmth and safety of his embrace, she slipped off to sleep.
***
Rami toyed withthe silky strands of Ivy’s hair just inches from the spot where the tracking device had been. He ignored the pond scum and debris still wrapped in her locks. She needed a shower, but she needed rest and comfort first.
And he needed bloodshed.
Killing those fuckers last night hadn’t been enough. Hadn’t even whet his appetite. He wanted the orchestrater. The head of the snake. He’d never get to the head of the entire organization, but he didn’t care about that. He wanted Fernando.
Taking out a higher-up would come with severe repercussions. But what was he to do? Wait and hope Fernando didn’t come back?
The guy had been pissed enough about the grenade to send people all the way to Seattle to put bullets in their heads. And Rami had lost count of how many had been killed since then.
Ivy stirred in his arms with a little moan of complaint. He was too wired right now, too high-strung. She wouldn’t be able to rest with him beside her. Placing a kiss on her temple, he tucked the blankets around her and then slid from the bed. Scooping up his clothes, he shut the bedroom door softly and made his way to the living room.
He turned on his phone for the first time that day. His device pinged and vibrated with notifications of missed calls and texts from all the guys. He stepped into his joggers and pulled the T-shirt over his head while he read Taschen’s message.
He hadn’t even talked to him last night after he dealt with police. Dammit, he should’ve been available, even a little bit. But he’d been one-hundred-percent dialed into Ivy. At the time, nothing else had mattered. Surely Toth had followed up with Taschen and picked up Rami’s slack.
He tapped the call button.
“Hello?”
“Hey, man.”
“Dude, what the fuck? I tried calling you all night.”
“Sorry,” Rami drawled. “I was tied up.”
“Yeah, I heard Ivy was in rough shape. How’s she doing now?”
“Good.” Rami’s mind went back to the mind-blowing quickie they’d just had. As soon as her head was better, he’d give her the attention she deserved. “What happened with the police?”
Taschen exhaled and told him about the inquisition. The good news was that Dare had turned over the cartel’s tracking device data to the FBI and, according to Dare’s intel, there was a rescue mission planned.
The security footage showed Rami had acted in self-defense, and the bodies recovered were identified as cartel members. At the end of the day, Backcountry Protection Services didn’t have anything to worry about. The shitshow at the gas station would just affect their insurance. Nothing they couldn’t handle.
Rami finished up the call then texted August and Toth to let them know Ivy was fine and that they’d be busy this afternoon. As soon as he hit send, a message from Gigi came in.
Hey, just landed. We should be home in about an hour.
He glanced at the clock. It was just after 2:00p.m. They’d already eaten so once they showered, they’d be ready to go. He just didn’t want to wake up Ivy too soon if she needed more rest.
Sounds good. We should be there by 3:30.
He pocketed his device then quickly cleaned up the kitchen. He moved quietly while loading the dishwasher and wiping down the counters. Then he took a few minutes to survey the fridge and cupboards. They’d need some groceries.
His stomach knotted.
He hadn’t asked Ivy to move in. Hell, they hadn’t even talked about where things were going from here, but his stupid brain had assumed she’d stay. Maybe she wouldn’t. She had her own apartment and hadn’t wanted to move out to live with Gigi.
After shutting the fridge he made a quick list, trying to put all thoughts of the future out of his head. Hopefully she’d want to stay at least a couple days. She didn’t seem to want to be alone, and the doctor had said to make sure someone was with her for two days.
That gave him less than forty-eight hours to figure out his life.
Or at least the short-term. He scrubbed his hand over his face, and the action reminded him he was way past due for a beard trim. He padded his way back to the bedroom, quietly entered, and went to the en suite bathroom, closing the door behind him.
If Ivy slept a little longer, great. But Gigi was dying to see her sister and he wasn’t cruel enough to make her wait too long. After trimming his beard, he turned on the shower and got in under the warm spray.
Having Ivy in bed mere feet away was... nice. Homey. She brought him a sense of contentment, a security he’d always denied needing.
Now she was here, filling his home with her scent and her laughter.
A smell and a sound he never wanted to let go of.