“Garret isn’t coming back,” Raven signed when she caught me frowning after her nephew. “He hates the small-town life. Boy was committed to getting out as fast as he possibly could.”
She didn’t look the least bit sad that he wasn’t planning on returning, making me wonder just what kind of trouble Garret had gotten into over the years.
I glanced back at him to find his mom was now standing by the trunk of the second limo. She’d been so nice earlier, her face practically glowing. Now, it was pulled into a hard glare as she stood in front of her son. She pointed a finger up at him, her mouth moving, but I was unable to make out what she said since I could only see half of her face. Whatever she said, however, had Garret’s jaw clenching.
When she was done speaking, she gave him a brief hug and stepped back. Jet gave him a longer hug, slapped his son on the back, then walked over to the other limo to peek inside. Felicity’s face softened as she spoke to those in the first limo, which held Ryan, Nova, and Ciana.
When they stepped back from the limo, Jet closed the door, and the driver pulled away. I’d learned over breakfast that Tavia and Lexa had arrived before I’d woken to retrieve their babies and so Tavia could say goodbye to Raven. I wasn’t sure how the other woman had become Raven’s “daughter,” but I hoped one of them would tell me the story one day. From what little I’d seen of them so far, I could tell their relationship was almost as close as Lexa and Raven’s was.
Max’s mom put her hand on my shoulder and nodded toward the door. “You should wake Max. We need to clean up your place, and Bash is going to need his help fixing the garage bay doors.”
Upstairs, I stepped into Max’s room. The sun was shining through the window, filling the room with natural light so I could easily see to get to the bed. Max had shifted in his sleep and was now lying on his stomach with one arm wrapped tightly around my pillow. That was typically how we slept, and the sight made my heart melt. Even in his sleep, he needed to have me close.
Even though he hadn’t told me he loved me yet, I knew he did. There was no way he could treat me the way he did, protect me so fearlessly, and not love me as much as I loved him.
I just wished he would say the words already.
Of course, it was too soon, but dang it, I wanted them.
Pushing those thoughts away, I smiled to myself as I climbed onto the bed and straddled his hips. After rubbing my hands together to warm them, I started rubbing them up and down his back with gentle pressure.
The vibrations under my fingertips told me he was groaning in pleasure. Once again, the need to hear him was almost overwhelming. If I could have one wish, only one, it would be to hear Max. Biting my lip to keep it from trembling, I added a little more pressure, working on the knots in his tight muscles.
I massaged him for several minutes, simply enjoying making him feel good. But then he shifted, one arm reaching behind him to hold my waist as he rolled over beneath me while keeping me firmly in place. Only now, I was straddling his hips, and his very hard erection was pressed deliciously against my core, with only his boxer briefs and my shorts and panties between us.
“You are so damn beautiful,” he signed, his eyes drifting over me like a physical touch. “I could lie here for the rest of my life just looking up at you like this, treasure.”
“But we have work to do,” I reminded him. “We need to clean up the apartment, and Raven said you need to help your dad with the damage done to the garage.” Remorse filled me, and I swallowed the lump that filled my throat. “I’m so sorry they did that to the garage.”
“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault, baby.” Sitting up with me still on his lap, he kissed the tip of my nose. “I don’t want you worrying about it or anything else. Reid and his construction crews will come in and help us fix or replace anything we have to. I promise you, it’s no big deal. It just might take us a day or two to get things back to the way they were.”
My nod of acceptance was all he needed before he rolled me beneath him. He kissed me long and slow, making love to my mouth but never once touching the rest of my body. When he pulled back, he signed, “I want you so bad, treasure. But I can’t fuck you here. You’re so loud, I know the entire house will hear us, if not the neighbors.”
Heat filled my cheeks. I had no idea I was loud during sex. He’d never said anything about it, and I hadn’t thought to ask. Noise wasn’t something I regularly considered because it was completely absent from my life.
“Tonight, we will be back in our own bed, and I’ll make you scream over and over,” he promised with a wicked look shining out of his metallic eyes. “Don’t plan on getting any sleep tonight.”
I pressed my thighs together in anticipation. “Let’s go clean up the apartment now, then,” I signed excitedly. “Because I need you.”
Grinning, Max stood and then lifted me from the bed, placing me on my feet. Slapping me on the ass, he nudged me toward the door. “Let Mom know I’ll be down after a quick shower. If you two want to head on over, I’ll grab a ride with Dad. I’m not sure what shape the Tahoe is in, but I’ll worry about that later.”
I didn’t want to go without him, but getting our home cleaned up as quickly as possible so we could have our privacy was my top priority. I practically skipped downstairs to let Raven know what he’d said. As if she’d known that would be his decision, she was standing by the back door with her keys already in hand.
Laughing, I followed her out to her own Tahoe and got in the passenger seat.
24
Delaney
The damage done to the garage was noticeable as soon as Raven pulled into the parking lot. The shop’s huge front window was completely shattered, and from the looks of it, things had been thrown everywhere inside. My heart felt heavy as we passed the garage bays and I saw just how beat-up they were. It looked like someone had rammed their vehicle into two of the doors. The other damaged doors weren’t nearly as bad, but still hard to look at.
If Uncle Tony, Navarro, and the man who had come to take me away the night before had caused this much property damage, just how much destruction would they have caused in human lives? I shivered at the possibilities. I could have so easily lost everyone in that house the night before, and it left me feeling sick to my stomach just imagining it.
The damage downstairs was nothing to that in the actual apartment. The door had been kicked in, the thick wood splintered in the middle, and the door hung off its hinges. The couch had been turned upside down. All the pictures on the walls were now on the floor, the majority of which were broken, the glass littering the living room floor.
In the kitchen, dishes were broken all over the place, the fridge was lying on its front and unplugged, making all the food inside inedible.
The bedroom was the worst, though. They had taken a knife to the pillows and the mattress itself, and everything from the closet was scattered on the floor. At first glance, it didn’t look like any of my stuff was missing, until I started picking up my clothes and realized my panties and bras were nowhere to be found.
“Gross,” I signed to Raven. “That guy always gave me the creeps when I would see him from my bedroom window back at Aunt June’s house. But I didn’t realize he was…”