Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
V ander watched dispassionately as Ed Baker and his men were loaded into the back of squad cars.
Cray was loaded into an ambulance, under police guard. The police had also arrested a few guests who’d arrived to watch the dogfight.
He saw Brynn talking to some of the other detectives. She didn’t even look ruffled after her ordeal. That was his wife: smart, no nonsense, and got the job done.
Sensation bloomed in his chest. God, he loved her so much.
He’d fought it, but she’d never given up on him. She loved him, darkness and all.
He’d told her he didn’t want any complications, didn’t want to be tangled up with her. Now, he fought hard to make sure they’d never be untangled.
He felt a weight on his foot, and frowned. The pup was sticking close to him. The vet from the animal control team had checked him over and treated the worst of his wounds.
Vander sighed. The dog had protected Brynn. He reached down and rubbed between the pup’s ears, and it leaned against his leg.
“You did good work.”
The dog looked at him with intelligent dark eyes. Vander suspected that with some training, it would grow into a hell of a dog.
A black BMW X6 pulled up beside him. Saxon sliced out of the vehicle, as did Vander’s younger brother Rhys.
“You all right?” Saxon asked. He turned his head and scanned the mass of police, and found Brynn. “Brynn okay?”
“We’re fine. She’d managed to escape once before I got here, but stopped to save some puppies and got caught again.”
Rhys gave a low laugh.
Saxon shook his head. “Of course she did.”
Vander knew she had several scrapes and bruises where Cray had hit her. She’d refused to see the EMT, but as soon as he got her home, he’d get an ice pack on her bruises and check her over.
“This asshole Ed Baker was breeding dogs for illegal fights.”
“Bastard.” Rhys glared over at the cop cars.
“I’m surprised you let him live,” Saxon said.
“My wife is a cop. I’m not interested in seeing her from behind bars.”
Saxon shot him a shit-eating grin. “Vander Norcross, domesticated.”
He narrowed his gaze on his best friend. “Oh, and my sister doesn’t have you wrapped around her little finger?”
Saxon’s smile widened. “Oh, she does. And I’m not complaining.”
Vander straightened. “Rhys, I want you to look into Baker. Find all his accomplices. Make sure the cops don’t miss anything.”
Rhys nodded. “You got it.”
His brother was Norcross Security’s best investigator. If there was anything to find, he’d uncover it.
“Any whiff of dog fighting in San Francisco, I want to know about it.” He wouldn’t have any more animals tortured in his city.
Then Saxon’s gaze dropped. “Who’s this?”
“This pup helped us out. Protected Brynn from an enraged pit bull twice his size. I think he’s earned a steak.” Vander patted the dog again and his tail wagged.
“Belgian Malinois,” Rhys said. “Good-looking dog.”
“I’ll find a good home for him,” Vander said.
“We’ll leave the X6 for you and Brynn,” Saxon said. “We’ll take your ride home.”
“Thanks.”
“Be warned, your mom got wind that Brynn was missing.”
Vander groaned.
“I told Ma that you found her,” Rhys said. “But I’d expect a visit tomorrow.”
Clara Norcross was Italian-American. She had no boundaries when it came to her kids, even her former special forces adult son who was happily married.
A few moments after Rhys and Saxon had left, Brynn appeared. She wrapped her arms around Vander’s waist and pressed her face to his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head.
“All done?”
“Yes. A team will stay and bag the rest of the evidence.” She paused. “Animal control is taking the fighting dogs.” She sighed. “They’ll be put down.”
“It’s for the best, baby.”
“I know. They did promise that any that weren’t aggressive will go to shelters.”
He hugged her harder.
“I’m ready to go home,” she said.
He held her tightly. It was moments like this where everything settled inside him. Brynn made everything better.
“Then let’s go home, Mrs. Norcross.”
She smiled. “All right, Mr. Norcross.”
The dog yipped.
Vander sighed. “He should come home with us tonight. I owe him a steak.”
His wife smiled at him. “Okay.”
He recognized that glint in her blue eyes. “We aren’t keeping him.”
“He’d be the perfect dog for you. He’s a badass in training.”
“No.”
“Uh-huh.”
He slid an arm around her, then clicked his fingers for the dog. “I mean it.”
“Don’t stop,” she breathed.
Brynn clung to Vander’s muscular shoulders as he surged inside her.
“I can never get deep enough,” he growled. “Never close enough.”
He wrapped a hand around her throat, collaring her. Claiming her. The intense look in his eyes burned through her, making it hard to breathe.
With his other hand, he gripped her thigh, pushing it wider. His gaze dropped to where his thick cock surged inside her.
Early morning light seeped into the bedroom. It was the third time he’d fucked her. The first time had been after they’d gotten home. The second time when he’d woken her in the middle of the night, riding her hard. And now, as morning broke.
It was like he needed to prove to himself that she was okay.
He pounded into her, the fingers on her neck tightening, rubbing over her racing pulse.
“Who do you belong to?” he asked.
“You,” she whispered.
“Who?”
“To you, Vander. Always.” Hot need rolled inside her, growing bigger and bigger. She cinched her free leg around his lean waist, her heel digging into his hard ass. “Don’t stop, Vander. Keep fucking me.”
He thrust harder, bordering on savage. She loved it. She loved him.
She felt her climax building like a storm on the horizon, ready to break at any second. She moaned his name, her fingers clenching on his slick skin.
Vander changed the angle of his thrusts, hitting right where she needed it.
“Come, Brynn.”
“ Vander ,” she breathed.
“Dammit, come for me.”
She cried out his name, pleasure a hot rush inside her as she exploded.
Then he thrust deep, filling her, connecting them. He groaned through his own release. “Love you, Brynn.”
“I love you too.” Emotion swamped her.
She held tight and watched his face as he came. Her man rarely let himself be vulnerable. This was one of those rare times. Just for her.
They both collapsed on the bed. He curled his powerful body around hers and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder.
“I never get tired of hearing you tell me you love me,” she said.
He grunted.
“You’re so in love with me you can’t think straight,” she teased. She’d said that to him once when he’d been stubborn about admitting his feelings for her.
“I love you, Brynn Norcross.”
His words shivered through her. She turned and kissed him. “I adore you. I love you more every day. And…I have the day off today. I just closed a big case, so the chief has given me a few days off.”
His hand ran down her body, then cupped her ass. “I have some meetings this morning, but I can take the afternoon off.”
She smiled. “What will we do?”
His hand slid between her thighs and stroked where she was still wet from him coming inside her.
“I’m thinking I’ll keep you in bed.”
Heat coiled in her belly. “Okay.” Her voice was breathless. “That sounds like a good plan.”
He dropped a quick kiss to her lips. “I’ll make coffee.”
“I’ll clean up.”
She watched him slide out of the bed and pad naked to the walk-in closet. God, her husband was gorgeous. That ass…
Brynn quickly showered, then pulled on some leggings and a pretty moss-green T-shirt. She still had a dull headache and some of her scratches stung, but she’d taken enough blows before to know nothing was too bad. One side of her face had some faint bruises, but all in all, she’d been lucky.
Since Vander hadn’t returned, she headed into the kitchen and living area. The loft has the same industrial vibe as the Norcross offices below, with wood floors and touches of black iron. Her favorite touch was the wall of accordion doors that could be pushed back to open the space to the kickass roof terrace.
The scent of coffee hit her. Mmm, caffeine.
Then her steps slowed.
Vander was sitting on the black leather couch…with the puppy nestled against him. He held a mug of coffee in one hand, and was giving the pup some of the dog treats they’d picked up on the way home last night.
They’d made a bed on the floor for the pup out of old towels last night, and it was now a mess. It looked like the pup had tossed the towels all over the place.
Brynn arched a brow. “You two look comfy.”
Vander’s dark gaze flicked up. “He was hungry.”
“Okay.”
The dog laid his head on Vander’s lap.
“Shadow protected you, so he’s earned my respect.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Shadow? You named the dog that you’re not planning to keep?”
Vander’s face went blank, and he patted Shadow’s head. “He needed a name. And we should take him out for a walk after breakfast.”
She bit her lip. “That sounds good.”
“And we’ll grab him a new collar and some more food.”
She made a humming noise and headed for the kitchen. She made sure her far-too-observant husband didn’t see her grin. Her heart was more than a little gooey as she watched her man falling for the pup.
“His new owners will need stuff for him,” Vander continued. “He deserves a good home.”
“He does.”
She remembered when Vander had asked her to be his, asked her to make a home with him.
“He deserves people who love him.”
She met her husband’s gaze. “He sure does. We’ll make sure he has all those things.”
Vander nodded and fed the dog another treat.
Brynn sipped her coffee and smiled. She was pretty sure Shadow had already found his new home. She had no trouble welcoming another badass warrior into her life.
I hope you enjoyed Vander and Brynn’s little adventure!
If you haven’t read the Norcross Security series, and want to know more about Vander and the rest of his team, check out the first book in the series, The Investigator , starring Vander’s brother, Rhys.
For more action-packed romance, don’t miss the Unbroken Heroes series starring some Ghost Ops buddies of Vander’s, starting with The Hero She Needs .
The last thing Boone Hendrix expects to catch in his river is a billionaire heiress. Read on for a preview of the first chapter.