CHAPTER 12
DOMINIC
It feels like my body is vibrating with the anticipation of what is about to happen. The vehicle is quiet, all of us lost in our heads. I’m sure Wolfe and Hendrix are thinking about what is about to happen. If Kirby knew what she’s about to face, she’d be doing the same thing.
When I opened the door to find our woman, her face a mask of fury and pure fucking frustration, my cock turned into a steel rod in my pants. I’ve never seen anything sexier. I wanted to pull her against my chest and soothe her, but she wasn’t about to give me the chance.
The way she poked me and stepped right up to me without a hint of fear made me fall even deeper in love with our woman.
Yes. Love.
As wild as it is, it took almost no time at all for me to know that I’ve fallen in love with our little Phoenix. I’m not alone either.
I can see the softness in the eyes of my brothers whenever they look at Kirby.
She brings something into our lives that we’ve been missing for far too long while she’s also come into our lives at just the right time. We needed the time and the distance between who we were in order to become who we are .
I don’t think we could have grown our business to what it is now if it hadn’t happened the way it did. Then there’s everything Kirby had to work through and figure out. Would we have been good for her then? I want to say yes, but I’m not so sure.
It took the three of us to diffuse her anger, righteous as it was.
I’m sure I shouldn’t have been thrilled to find out that she’s been struggling with her job over the last few days, but I was. While it’s not easy to admit, I do think Hendrix was right about giving Kirby some time and a little space. She did come to us, just like he said she would.
I glance over at him as he drives out to the land we own, and the smug little smile on his face tells me he’s probably thinking the same thing I am. He was right.
Fuck, we’ll probably never hear the end of this.
Curiosity and apprehension drip from the words as Kirby asks, “Where are we going?”
I’m not surprised that she’s chosen to ask now. The city is behind us and we’re moving farther away from the heart of Seattle. If she weren’t safe this is about when she should worry. But she is safe with us.
She’ll always be safe with us. I’ll make sure of it. Hell, I’ll kill someone just to ensure it.
That’s not something she knows yet, but she will. All we need is some time to prove it to her. Sure, we could tell her until we’re blue in the face, but without the actions to back up the words, it’ll be hollow.
“To some land we own,” I tell her simply, unsure of what, exactly, we should share before we get out there.
She’s already given us a lot of trust by agreeing to go with us while not knowing where we’re taking her. My cock throbs with the knowledge of just how special what she’s granted us is.
Figuring out we aren’t going to tell her more, not yet at least, Kirby makes a humming sound in the back of her throat. Silence wraps around us, but it doesn’t bother me.
It doesn’t take much longer before we’re pulling off the road and onto a dirt road that leads to the heart of the land we own. Now that we have Kirby in our lives, it might be time to build something out here.
Of course, we’ll still have to travel for work, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come back here between jobs. We could have a place to call home.
It’s not something I was interested in having before, but now there’s a certain appeal that I can’t ignore. Knowing my brothers, I have no doubt that I’m not the only one who has been thinking about the same thing.
We have plenty of money to throw at making it happen relatively quickly. It’s not like we’ve had much to spend our money on. Now, with Kirby in our lives, I have this need to spoil her.
She’d probably try to tell me not to, but I won’t listen. She deserves to be treated like the gift she is.
Hendrix slows down and then comes to a stop at the edge of a natural clearing. The moon is hanging over the natural wilderness stretching around us. It’s not full and blanketing the area in light, but it gives just enough.
“Wow,” Kirby breathes out. I look back at her to find her face pressed against the glass of the window. “What is this place? It’s gorgeous out there.”
“This land is ours,” Hendrix informs her.
Her head snaps around and she looks between us with a hint of awe written across her face. “What do you mean this is your land?”
Wolfe rubs his hand over the top of his head before his shoulders drop slightly. “There’s something we,” he clears his throat, “I mean something I haven’t told you.” Kirby’s eyes bore into him as she waits him out. “My brother, like my actual blood brother, is named Baker. He’s a few years younger than me. While growing up, he became close with Kirill and Maxim Volkov.”
Kirby’s eyebrows pull together and she muses, “Those names sound familiar.”
“I’m not surprised,” Wolfe sighs softly. “Kirill sits at the head of the Volkov Bratva.” Kirby gasps and her eyes widen as she moves away from Wolfe, the action more instinctual than conscious. Still, hurt flashes across Wolfe’s face. He shakes his head slowly, “They might be bratva, but they aren’t bad men. They don’t always operate within the confines of the law, but what happened to you? The man behind it? Kirill is the one who killed him and took over control of Seattle.”
I can almost see Kirby processing his words before she relaxes slowly. “Okay,” her voice is tentative, “what does that have to do with your brother, this land, and me?”
“Baker is in Kirill’s inner circle along with is brother, Maxim, and their other long-time friend, Huck. When Kirill came in and took over Seattle, we bought this land,” Wolfe explains. “We don’t tend to stay in one place very long, but with Baker here, it made sense for us to own some land here.”
“But it’s just land?”
“For now,” Hendrix’s voice holds a promise in it that I understand immediately.
I smirk in the darkness of the car, knowing for sure that I’m not the only one who has thought about having a home base, no matter where else we travel.
“Well, it’s beautiful out there,” she muses as she looks back outside and takes it all in.
Hendrix reaches back and hands Kirby a smart watch. “Put this on,” he commands.
The way she does what he says without questioning it, even though I’m sure she has them, makes my cock leak pre-cum into my joggers. It makes a warm feeling spread through my chest. The same thing happened when Hendrix handed her a bag with a change of clothes, including tennis shoes and told her to change before we left the townhouse tonight.
She didn’t question it, and I swear I saw relief in her eyes to be out of the clothes she had worn to Club Sin.
“You should know,” Hendrix’s voice brings me back to the present, “the watch will vibrate when you approach the boundaries of our property. There is also a timer set for one hour.”
“Why do I need a timer?”
I chuckle under my breath as I open the door and climb out of the SUV and make my way to her door. When I open it, she’s looking up at me with wary curiosity. She might be unsure, but when I offer her my hand, she slips her own in mine.
I pull her toward me until she’s flush against my chest. Feeling the way she fits against me so perfectly has possessiveness roaring to life inside of me. Everything about this woman calls to me and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
When I take her mouth in a kiss, I intend for it to be sweet, but I can’t hold back. It’s simply not an option when I have her body pressed against mine.
Her lips part for me when I nip at her bottom lip, and I swallow down the needy gasping moan that comes from the back of her throat. She tastes sweet, but there’s a hint of worry and anticipation that makes me want to chase her even more.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to catch her, but the thrill of the hunt is calling to me.
My hands slide down her back and grip the round globes her ass and I give a squeeze. It’s a promise for more, for so much fucking more. Because when we catch her, I’m going to be burying myself in her tight ass; she better be ready for me.
She sucks gently on my tongue, and I groan, the sound ricocheting around the clearing.
“So fucking hot,” Wolfe’s voice is strained.
After pulling away from our woman’s mouth, she lets out a needy whimper that has me pecking her lips again. Wolfe yanks her away from me and kisses her. It looks like it’s all needy desire and teeth. Fucking hell. It is hot.
Kirby is the only woman I have even thought about sharing with anyone. The fact that I’m sharing her with my brothers kind of blows my mind. But as I watch them together, it doesn’t feel awkward or strange. It feels natural.
“Wolfe,” she moans against his mouth, her body arching and trying to push even closer against his body.
I have to reach down and adjust my dick in my joggers while knowing that it’s not going to be easy to run after our woman with this lead fucking pipe in my pants. I can’t exactly do something about it because being around Kirby is a turn on like no other.
Hendrix doesn’t wait for Kirby and Wolfe to separate. When he tugs her away from Wolfe and takes her mouth in a brutal, claiming kiss, it takes everything in me not to take her to the ground and forget all about the chase.
When Hendrix takes a step back, Kirby’s lips are plump and swollen. The way she presses her fingers against her lips tells me that she’s ready for us.
“I’m not sure if I don’t understand because your kisses have rendered me stupid or if you’re being intentionally vague.”
Hendrix tilts his head back and barks out a laugh. “Probably both,” he purrs softly.
I grip her shoulders and turn her slightly, pointing her toward the center of our land. I lean in and nip at where her shoulder and neck meet. “We’re hunters,” I tell her, my voice soft and so fucking close to trembling that it’s not funny. “You’re going to run,” her breath hitches as I leave open-mouthed kisses along her shoulder, “and we’re going to chase you.”
“You want to chase and catch me?”
“Yes.”
She moans softly and then presses her hands against her cheeks as if she’s embarrassed by the suggestion. Or maybe it’s about how much she likes the idea.
I’m desperate to find out if she’s dripping wet for us. I bet she is. It’s like I can almost taste her arousal in the air.
“You have one hour and then we’ll use the tracker to find you,” Wolfe sounds giddy with excitement.
I give her a gentle push and growl, “Run.”
For a split second, I’m not sure if she’s going to do what I’ve told her or if she’ll turn around and rail at us for even suggesting such a thing. The first step she takes is tentative.
Then she’s off.
My eyes lock on her retreating form. As she crosses the clearing and picks up speed, I take a step forward. Wolfe has a grip on my shoulder, but I can see that he wants to start the hunt just like me.
“Gotta give her a head start,” he groans.
I don’t know how long we stand there, but it feels like an eternity. I can’t see Kirby and the silence and still of the night has surrounded us again.
“Let’s go find our woman,” Hendrix’s voice is on the verge of being chipper.
I don’t wait for my brothers. I stalk across the clearing in the direction I saw her start off.
I don’t care which one of us finds her first and we will find her.