Wilde Edge, page 8
“That’s right, ride me. Feel me inside you, fucking you, making you feel so good. You are so damned sexy.” He pinched one nipple and then let go to point to the mirror across from them. “Look at us, baby. Do you see how gorgeous you are?”
She turned her head, catching sight of her reflection. She was glowing, a sensual goddess flushed with pleasure as she made love to a god made flesh. Her hips twitched and started moving faster and Tag turned his head to watch the mirror with her, his mouth turned up in a predatory smile that made her heart beat impossibly fast.
He slid a hand between them, finding her swollen clit and pressing his fingertips against it so that every stroke of her hips made her cry out softly. Pleasure coursed through her, raw and primal. She rolled her hips, riding him harder now, and he groaned aloud, arching high off the bed again. “Fuck yes, so good.”
“Tag…” she panted his name.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“So…so good,” she cried, her words coming out rough and ragged.
He strummed her clit with his fingers, toying with her nipples until she was nothing but sensation and heat, lost to everything but the way he made her feel. Her orgasm bloomed slowly, unfurling tendrils of bliss throughout her body until she felt like she was floating. Her head fell back as she came, and in the distance she heard him groaning her name like a prayer.
Still adrift in a sea of pleasure, Jo felt him take her shoulders and draw her down for another kiss, and then they were tumbling, rolling over so that she was beneath him and he was pressed deep into her body again.
“My turn,” he growled.
“More?” Her query made him laugh, a low, rumbling sound that filled her with happiness.
“We’re just getting started. I hope you aren’t planning on going to work tomorrow, because if I have my way, we’re not leaving the bedroom until this weekend is over.”
“We’re going to live on cold pizza, beer, and sex? I’m game.”
“And that proves my theory that you’re the perfect woman for me.”
“Show me,” she grinned up at him, amazed by the joy that shimmered through her soul as he leaned in to kiss her. Lips slanted across hers as he withdrew from her body until only the tip of his shaft hovered just inside her passage. When he reclaimed her, it was with a slow, powerful thrust that moved her a half inch up the mattress. She drew her legs up until her knees were nearly level with his hips, and he groaned as the angle of their bodies changed with her shifting position.
He pushed himself high above her, arms locked and muscles standing out in relief as he withdrew and then reclaimed her body again and again. His hips pumped at an ever increasing rate until he was pounding into her, flesh slapping and both of them working in breathless concert, seeking release.
Every stroke stretched and filled her, showing her a world of pleasure Jo had never imagined existed. She had never known that passion could really ignite like living flame, or that pleasure could be intoxicating. She clung to him, fingers curved into his shoulders as he lowered himself down atop her again, his last few strokes slowing as his big body shuddered with the force of his orgasm. He groaned her name and kissed her, his cock pulsing deep in her core and sending her over the edge into a third release.
When she came back to her senses, his lips were brushing her cheek, kissing away the tears she hadn’t known were there.
“So beautiful,” he whispered before withdrawing from her body. He moved away from her for a moment, but then he was back again, strong arms wrapping around her and drawing her up against his chest as he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.
“I’m glad your brother sent you over to talk to me that day,” she said and snuggled in close, relishing the warm comfort of his embrace.
“So am I, angel. Just don’t say anything to him, okay? His ego doesn’t need the help.”
“I noticed that none of you Wilde boys seems to suffer from an excess of humility. Of course, that might be because you’re all so damned good looking,” she said, then giggled as he lightly smacked her ass in response.
His voice was full of mock outrage as he scolded her. “You’re going to pay for that, brat. I am the best looking of all my brothers, thank you. The rest of them are beneath your notice, and if I catch you noticing them again, I’ll…fuck, that’s not playing fair.” His threat trailed off into a curse as she reached between them to stroke his cock, exploring the rapidly hardening length with her fingertips.
“I’m sorry, you were saying something?” She didn’t quite manage to keep the laughter out of her voice as she looked up and fluttered her lashes at him. She’d never been very good at flirting, but with Tag, it came easily. Just like the laughter that flowed between them.
“I was saying something…but it’s gone now. If you don’t want me to remember, I suggest you keep doing what you’re doing, angel.”
“Oh, I have no plans on stopping.”
Her heart started beating faster as he started slowly kissing his way up the side of her neck. “That’s good, because neither do I.”
Chapter Eight
Tag came awake with disorienting speed. He sat up in bed and looked around without any idea what had disturbed him, sensing only that something wasn’t right. It took his sleep-fuddled brain a few more seconds to register the belligerent shouting coming from outside.
“Fucking bitch! Get out here and talk to me. You owe me that much!”
Beside him, Jolena curled into a ball and whimpered in her sleep as the shouting continued. “Jolena! Wake up and get out here! I’m not going away until you do!”
It had to be Greg.
Tag was out of bed before the last words were out of the bastard’s mouth. He pulled on his jeans and was halfway to the hall when Jolena called softly.
“It’s my ex, and he’s drunk. He’s nasty when he’s like this, Tag. Just ignore him and he’ll go away eventually. He usually does.”
“This has happened before?” Tag turned to look at her, and his heart ached at the shadows that darkened his angel’s sweet face.
“A couple of times when we first split up. He’s just angry I screwed up his real estate deal.”
“That is no reason to come to your house and scream obscenities and insults. I’m going to tell him you’re not home, and when I get back here you and I are going to talk about Orders of Protection and your safety.”
“I had one. An Order of Protection I mean. I let it lapse... He wasn’t bothering me anymore…”
“Well, he’s bothering you now.” Tag grabbed his cell phone off the dresser and tossed it to her. Call 9-1-1. Tell them what’s going on. And no matter what, you don’t leave the house. Do you hear me? You stay inside and out of sight.”
“Please, be careful. He’s dangerous.”
Tag’s lip curled up into a dark smile. “So am I.”
Heavy footsteps were staggering up the stairs by the time Tag got to the door, and he yanked it open in a hurry. He wanted to get this son of a bitch away from the house and Jolena.
“Jo-Jo! Get your fat ass out here! I know you’re home. You’re always at home because you’re too pathetic to have a social life. That’s why you’re fucking up my life, isn’t it! Because your own is so goddamned sad. Why the fuck won’t you just do this deal and make us both rich?”
“Hey, buddy, people are trying to sleep,” Tag called up to the vile piece of trash teetering at the top of the stairs. The sleet was hissing down around him as he walked out into the yard to get a better look at their unwanted visitor. The glow of the streetlights painted everything a sickly orange, but it was bright enough for Tag to see that Greg was definitely drunk.
“So? I’m trying to talk to my wife. Fucking cow. She needs to answer the goddamned door!” Greg brayed, flailing one hand toward the locked front door of Jolena’s home.
Barefoot and shirtless, Tag should have been freezing, but he was so angry that he couldn’t feel the cold. It was all he could do not to run up the steps and pound this asshole bloody. He wanted to, but that wasn’t going to help Jolena get this bastard out of her life. “If you mean Jolena, then she’s not home.”
“Who the fuck are you, and why do you know if my wife’s home?”
“I live downstairs.” Tag pointed to the garden suite.
“So where’s my wife, mister downstairs?” Greg was slurring his words, and Tag could barely understand what he’d said.
“She went out earlier. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
“You’re lying. Her car’s in the garage. I saw it. So where the fuck is she?”
“She’s with her boyfriend,” Tag said with a shrug.
“Boyfriend? What sorry fool would go out with her?” Greg staggered back down the stairs, and part of Tag’s brain was hoping the bastard would trip and break his damned neck. This was Jolena’s ex-husband? He wasn’t good enough to breathe the same air as her.
“It’s late––Jolena’s probably not coming back home tonight. You should go.” Tag’s hands fisted at his sides as Greg stood, swaying, just a few feet away.
“You gonna make me?”
“If you don’t go quietly, then I’ll call the cops and tell them you’re here, harassing your ex-wife and her tenant. Go home and sleep it off, man.”
“Just want to talk to her. Need to explain this deal is golden for us. Both of us. She’s gotta see that. No need to call the fucking cops.” Greg was talking quietly now, but Tag could see he was a man on the edge. Unshaven, his shirt rumpled and his clothes reeking of stale booze and smoke, Jolena’s ex was a rank, unstable mess.
“Go home.” Was all Tag said, pointing toward the sidewalk.
“You tell her I was here. Tell her to fucking answer my goddamned calls next time, or I’ll come back here and teach her a lesson. You tell her for me!”
The moment Greg threatened Jolena, Tag saw red. His fists rose to his chest and he snarled at the piece of shit swaying in front of him. “Get the hell out of here and don’t come back. Don’t call her, don’t email her, and don’t send her a fucking smoke signal. Do you hear me? Stay away from Jolena or I will end you.”
Harsh brays of laughter echoed off the houses and faded off into the distance like some maniacal clown had fled into the night. “You got to be shittin’ me. You? With my ex? You one of those freaks who actually likes fat chicks?”
“Shut. Your. Mouth.” Tag ground out each syllable from between clenched teeth.
“Or what, pretty boy? You’ll mess me up? I don’t fucking think so.” Greg stepped closer and took an ineffectual swing at Tag, missing his target by half a foot. The force of the swing pulled the drunken idiot off balance, and he stumbled forward, right into Tag.
That was the move Tag had been waiting for. He took half a step backward and leaned to one side, letting Greg careen past him. He swept the drunken fool’s feet out from under him, and the other man dropped to the ground with all the grace of a sack of soggy potatoes. Tag dropped on top of him, lodging his good knee firmly between Greg’s shoulder blades and pinning him to the ground. Despite the fact his face was mashed against the wet pavement, Greg continued to bellow threats and curses, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Bastard! I’m fucking charging you with assault.”
It all felt painfully familiar, and Tag caught himself automatically reaching for the handcuffs he no longer carried. He missed this, missed being part of the thin blue line that stood between victim and villain. He had been part of something, a brotherhood that worked for the greater good, and then it had been taken away from him. Kneeling there in the cold, and the dark, Tag felt the loss of what had been, like a knife blade twisting in his heart.
Then he caught a flicker of movement in his front window and saw Jolena. Her eyes were wide with worry and he cheeks were ashen. She had one hand pressed flat against the glass, and in that moment he found a new purpose. He wasn’t a cop anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make a difference. He no longer served, but there were people who still needed protection, starting with the angel standing in his window.
****
Jo had called 9-1-1, throwing on a pair of jeans and Tag’s discarded T-shirt as she frantically gave the operator all the information she could. The second she was dressed she bolted for the front of the suite and the window. She had to see, had to know what was happening. If anything happened to Tag because of her…
Greg was ranting loud enough she could hear every demeaning, insulting word that came out of his mouth, but they held no power to hurt her, not anymore. He could go to hell for all she cared. The only person that mattered was her battle-scarred warrior, Tag. She pulled back the curtains just enough to peer out and saw him looking like some kind of avenging god as he stood, blocking Greg from coming any closer to the house.
The icy rain was falling in wind-driven sheets now, plastering Tag’s long hair to his head and making his bare skin gleam as he stood his ground. His hands were clenched into fists, the muscles of his shoulders and back tensed as he exchanged more words with the abusive asshole she’d once been married to. Seeing them together, Jo could only wonder what she’d ever seen in Greg. Tag was everything her ex would never be, could never be, because Greg was a weak, vicious coward while Tag was her knight in shining armor.
Despite her fear, Jo’s lips twitched with laughter.
Well, maybe not shining armor…dark and slightly dented would suit him better.
She stayed at the window until the police finally arrived. When she started to leave the window to greet them, Tag shook his head and gestured for her to remain inside. It wasn’t until Greg was cuffed and being walked to the cruiser that Tag raised a hand in her direction and nodded, inviting her to join him.
She was outside in a flash, her bare feet splashing through the cold puddles as she made her way to Tag. She’d grabbed a blanket off the back of one of his chairs on her way to the door, and when she got close enough she held it out to him. He took it gratefully, wrapping it around his shoulders and then drawing her in close beside him so could wrap the other half of it around her.
“Are you okay?” she asked, ignoring the officer standing with them as she snuggled into Tag’s side, her hands stroking over his body, checking for injury.
“I’m fine. Fucking freezing, but that’s all. And you, where are your shoes, angel?”
“Sitting beside yours, back here,” Jo said, turning and pointing at the door to his suite. “I was more worried about you than I was of catching a cold.”
“The two of you can go back inside. Detectives will be here soon and they’re going to want to talk to you both. You know the drill, Wilde.”
Tag nodded. “I know it, just never been on this end of an investigation before. I think I liked it better when I was the one with the gun.”
The officer smiled and shook his head. “From what I saw, you didn’t need a gun or a badge to do the right thing tonight. I’ll see you at Leo’s sometime soon and we’ll catch up. For now, get out of this weather. Good night.” The officer nodded to Jo and then took his leave.
The second they were alone, Tag hauled Jolena tight against him and dropped his head to slant a scorching kiss on her upturned lips. It wasn’t a kiss so much as a claiming, hot as a branding iron against her skin. Lips slanted over hers, his tongue sweeping into her mouth to tangle with hers until she was moaning and trembling like a leaf in the path of a hurricane.
“Let that be the last thing that asshole sees as he drives away,” Tag muttered when he finally broke the kiss.
“Possessive much?” she asked, teasing.
“When it comes to you? Fuck, yes. He’s scum, angel, and if he ever comes near you again, I’m going to hurt him, badly.”
“After what you just did to him? I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon. Let’s go back inside and get dried off and warmed up. If I have to spend the rest of the night giving statements instead of sleeping next to you, I’m going to need coffee.”
He walked her back to the door, keeping his arm wrapped tight around her shoulders. “Tomorrow we’re going to see about getting your Order of Protection renewed. I want him to know what a bad idea it would be to come anywhere near you.”
“Maybe he’ll just go away now. I mean, you did just have him arrested for assaulting you,” Jo said, but even as she uttered the words she knew it wouldn’t be that simple. With Greg, it never was. He was too selfish and angry to be rational about anything.
Tag ushered her inside and locked the door before turning to look down at her, his expression deadly serious as he took her hands in his. “He threatened you tonight. He said he was going to teach you a lesson if you didn’t answer your phone the next time he calls. We’re going to get you legal protection, and I’m not letting you out of my sight until this is all over and I know he’s not a threat anymore.”
She waited for the fear to hit her like it had the last time Greg had shown up and threatened her, but it didn’t come. No icy terror, no sense of being frozen, unable to think or do anything out of fear that he might come back. This time was different. She wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. “If he threatened me then I guess I need to press charges this time, as many as we can think of. I don’t want him coming to the house, or work, or near either one of us. I’ve given that bastard too much of my time and energy already.”
“Agreed. And might I say that you’re incredibly fucking sexy when you get all riled. Especially when you’re wearing my clothes.” Tag’s grim expression softened as he pulled her against his cold, wet body and hugged her. The blanket he’d been holding around them fell to the floor, forgotten as he bent to kiss her. Jo didn’t wait for him to come to her. She threw her arms around his neck, stretching up onto her tiptoes to meet him halfway.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his lips and kissed him, but Tag stiffened, pulling back a few inches so that he was staring into her eyes.
