1. Dax
DAX
Stepping out of the shower in Eagle’s room, I toweled off and looked at myself in the mirror.
I flinched at the bruises on my face that I’d gotten in the fight with Mastiff.
The bastard hadn’t held back, but then again, neither had I as I stabbed him far more times than I needed to.
At that point, I’d needed the reassurance he was well and truly dead and wouldn’t keep popping up like a bad penny.
The Mad Dogs were finished. The battle that happened earlier today had seen to that.
A group mixed with my people and the Saints had gone out and made sure any stragglers wandering the desert had been dealt with.
Cam had called the FBI and let them know we had a massive cleanup that needed to be handled.
If I’d known how helpful having a Fed as a boyfriend would be, I would have done it sooner.
“Beautiful, as much as I love seeing you wander around the house naked, the FBI is almost here,” Cam informed me.
Speak of the devil—he always seemed to know when I was thinking about him.
I cocked a hip and raised a brow. “I didn’t realize a bedroom was a whole house? Have they started giving their agents X-ray vision or something?”
Cam stalked over to me, crowding my space until my back hit the bedroom wall.
His fingers curled around my neck and gripped tight enough that I knew he wasn’t joking around.
“Beautiful, as much as I love that sharp tongue of yours, the way it can eviscerate people where they stand, you’ve forgotten something important. ”
“What would that be?” I asked, holding his golden-brown gaze, not backing down from his challenge.
He leaned in and kissed me ruthlessly, nipping hard enough at my lip, I actually tasted blood. “You’re grounded, and I was put in charge of you for the day,” Cam whispered against my lips, then licked the blood that seeped out of the corner of my mouth and moaned. “I forgot how good you tasted.”
I smirked at him. “Did you really think I was going to let the grounding stand? I’m well aware that you’re all pissed at me, but that doesn’t mean you all get to rule my life. How quickly you forget that I created the Hidden Empire, fought tooth and nail for it so I could be the top dog.”
“Hmm, I love it when you get feisty,” Cam murmured into my ear, pressing his whole body to me so I could feel how turned on he was.
“But, now is not the time for us to play our favorite game. You still have to call Dani so we can speak with Eagle and catch him up on events. Then the FBI will have questions that we need to skirt around, all the while with you attached to my side.” He pulled back, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Now get dressed, Weston made dinner, and we wouldn’t want it to go to waste.
If I find you still not dressed in five minutes, there will be punishment and not the kind you enjoy.
Don’t forget. I know all your secrets, Dax, so be a good girl. ”
I stood there stunned that Cam had just ignored everything I’d just said, threatened me, and walked out, leaving me a panting mess. God, I was fucked in the head if that was one of the sexiest things he’s done in a long time.
Yanking open the drawer Eagle emptied for me to hold my stuff, I realized I’d left a ton of stuff back at the ranch house.
“I seriously need to stop losing all my shit after each of these battles. No cell phone, no smartwatch, lost my favorite guns… again. Fucking hell, just when I didn’t think Marco would make me even more pissed at him,” I grumbled to myself as I pulled on clothes.
Bless Tilly for having good taste and knowing what basics a woman like me needed. I wriggled into my jean shorts and pulled on a T-shirt with a classic rock band name on it. It was a little big, but with how tiny I was, that wasn’t unusual, so I tied a knot in the front and called it good enough.
Padding out into the living room, I found Wes sprawled out on the couch, arm over his eyes. He had one bare foot up on the leather cushion and the other planted on the floor.
Silently, I walked over and ran the edge of my nail up his foot, knowing how ticklish he was. “Motherfucker,” he roared, shooting up into a sitting position but flailed and landed on the floor in a heap. “Dax.”
I grinned at him sheepishly. “Damn, I didn’t think you’d freak out that bad,” I commented as I reached down to help him up. “Just figured I would startle you, not send you into cardiac arrest.”
“Well, shortcake, it might not have been so dramatic if we hadn’t just been fighting for our lives all day,” Wes muttered as he sat back on the couch, hauling me into his lap.
He nuzzled his face into my neck, trailing little kisses down to my shoulder, then back up behind my ear.
I yelped as he bit the tip of my ear with a grunt of pleasure.
“Serves you right after all the shit you pulled today. I ought to do what I did in the beginning days of the Empire when you got out of hand.”
“Don’t you even think about it,” I gasped, looking at him in horror.
“Sounds like this is something we should know if it makes her that worried,” Sprocket interjected. “Nothing we’ve come up with so far has made her bat an eyelash, yet a simple implied threat from you, and she’s panicking.”
Wes grinned at me, tightening his hold as I tried to squirm out of his grasp. “Should I tell him?”
“You do, and I’ll chop off your balls,” I snapped. “There are some things that should stay just between the two of us.”
He tilted his head, considering me for a moment, then looked over at Sprocket.
“I’ll keep it to myself for now, but if she doesn’t take this grounding seriously, I’ll play whatever cards I need to.
” Then he looked back at me. “No matter how mad it makes you at me. You’ve been warned, shortcake, we’re serious about this. ”
I opened my mouth to rip him a new one, but when I saw the determination in his gaze, I knew nothing was going to change his mind. “Fine, I’ve been warned and am fully aware of the fallout if I don’t play nice.”
A hand slid up to cup the back of my head, and he caught me in a demanding kiss.
He wasn’t as aggressive as Cam had been, but that wasn’t Weston’s style.
No, he was dominant and liked to be in control in the bedroom, but he gave as much as he took.
Our tongues tangled together as we lost ourselves in the moment.
Since Cam had already gotten my engine running, this wasn’t helping the situation in the least.
When a throat cleared, we broke apart to see the rest of the guys showered with matching expressions of exhaustion and heat. They wanted me, but it would seem none of us had the energy to do much about it.
“Someone said dinner was ready? I didn’t realize you were talking about loba,” Cognac teased, giving me a flirtatious wink.
Wes gave me a quick kiss, then pushed us both to our feet. “While I’m sure none of us would argue she’s rather tasty, I do have actual food made. Hope you don’t mind a simple meal. It's all the energy I had in me. There are noodles and you can choose between meat sauce or alfredo to put over it.”
Like ducks following their mother, we trailed after him into the kitchen with a chorus of rumbling bellies. “Fuck, man, anything sounds good right now,” Void said as he grabbed a plate and dumped a massive pile of noodles on it.
“Ah, did you want to leave some for the rest of us, big guy?” I asked with a chuckle.
He paused and looked at his plate, then me with a wicked grin. “Then I guess you’re just going to have to sit on my lap and share this with me, little demon.”
“Guys, I made plenty of pasta for everyone. I know you’re all bottomless pits,” Wes cut in, opening the lid to another pot full of pasta.
Void glared at Wes, but to his credit, my best friend didn’t flinch, just handed him a ladle for the sauce.
“You might want that to make sure you have enough to cover all those noodles.”
I snorted, turning away so they couldn’t see me laughing.
Never did I think a group of alpha males like this could become this hodgepodge family we’ve seemed to have created.
While they came from all different walks of life, somehow, they each felt it was worth putting up with the others to be with me.
It blew my mind, and I tried not to dwell on it too much, but the facts remained the same.
I was dating and in love with seven men and they were in love with me— go figure.
“What are you laughing at, spitfire?” Picasso whispered, coming up behind me.
I shook my head and wrapped an arm around his waist, to which he automatically pulled me closer. “That you’re all friends. Seriously, how crazy is that?”
“Yeah, about that, I’m still not sure about this guy,” Cognac said, jerking his thumb at Cam. “He still seems a little too assholish for my liking.”
“You met his dad. There’s no way that wouldn’t have happened,” Sprocket remarked. “That man is drama and a half. Speaking of the shifty bastard, where is he?”
“He’s still showering,” Picasso muttered. “Thank God, Cam warned me to shower before he did. I’m not sure we’re going to have enough hot water for him at this point.”
“Oh, he’s out of the shower. It’s his skincare routine that takes a million years,” Cam explained.
“As for the asshole comment, one can only do so much with the personality the Lord has blessed me with.” This caused all of us to give him a baleful look that caused him to toss up his hands in surrender. “Message received. I’ll work on it.”
“Leave the black knight alone. He’s exactly who we needed in this group,” Void scolded the others. “He is the only one who can keep up with the devious nature of my little demon. With him around, we might be able to keep her alive a little longer.”
My jaw dropped at his words. “What does that mean?”