“A brother,” I say. “I’d die for that man. And yes. Get him the damn Batman Rolex.”
“I will, and as for dying for him. I know you would, but please don’t. I worried when you were gone this time. I’m going to have to find a way to deal with the dangerous side of your life.”
She worries. She’s the only person who has ever worried about me. Well, maybe my mother, but she had so much to deal with my father that she had no room for much more, even me. “I already told Walker I wanted lower-risk jobs and to stay stateside.
But I can quit. We have enough money to last a lifetime.”
“No. No, I do not want you to quit. Saving people is what you do. It was always what you did. If you didn’t have that you would be miserable. And you would not be happy just operating. We both know it. You need the high of something more.”
I used to fear I’d let her down by being a soldier first and a surgeon second. I don’t anymore. Especially right at this moment.
“As for our wedding,” she continues, “let’s go tell Blake yes on the extra security, and go home. You do have to leave tomorrow morning. Let’s enjoy tonight.”
I grunt at that but I don’t argue. I’ll deal with my objection on the topic when we're naked.
We head back to the conference room and deliver the news. “I’m in for Sonoma all the way,” Adam says. “And I talked to Lucifer. He’s in, too.”
Lucifer being one of the new recruits, and another hacker type. “I don’t know him well enough for him to be included.”
“A good reason for him to do this,” Adam states. “He doesn’t have to be at the wedding to actually watch the wedding. As for trust. I trust him. So you trust him.”
I grunt. “Okay,” I say, but I’ll be talking to Blake later on the topic. I grab the box of donuts. “We’re out of here.”
“Adam, you’ll be at the house at eight in the morning?” Candace queries.
“You betcha, Candace,” Adam agrees, before he stands up and looks me in the eye. “And I’m bringing Blake for re-enforcements. We’ll get him out of the apartment.”
“I’m not leaving, asshole,” I grumble.
Candace steps in front of me and wraps her arm around me. “It’s bad luck to see me the day of the wedding. So no matter what, we can’t be together tomorrow night. So do this for us. For luck.”
“Jesus, woman,” I murmur. “How am I going to say no to that?”
“You’ll try,” she assumes correctly. “But you’ll do what’s right.”
Blake laughs and fuck him. I kiss Candace and get her the hell out of there before someone convinces her I need to stay away from her tonight, too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Candace
My phone alarm goes off at seven in the morning, and I groan at the beeping noise. How can I not? I’m on my side, with Savage’s big body wrapped around me, his legs tangled with mine. I don’t want to get up, but suddenly my eyes pop open. “We’re getting married tomorrow,” I say, a lift in my voice, excitement overcoming me.
He laughs low and deep, obviously just as awake as I am, and nuzzles my neck. “Yes, we are, Candy, baby. Yes, we are. And it’s only been years in the making.”
“A decade,” I say, rolling over to press my hand to his jaw. “A decade.”
“But we wait no more,” he says, and he shifts half on top of me, pressing himself against me and he clearly has more on his mind than conversation.
He leans in to kiss me. I press my hand to his mouth. “No. We cannot have sex. It’s bad luck.”
He grabs my hand and pulls it from his mouth, frustration in those rich blue eyes of his. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“I’m not,” I say quite precisely. “We shouldn’t be together now.” I try to scoot away.
He uses his powerful leg to hold me in place. “Oh no. I’m not done with you.”
“Yes,” I say. “You are.”
“No,” he says, widening my legs and sliding in between. “I am not.”
Heat rushes through me, but my hands press firmly to his broad shoulders. “No, Rick. No.”
“No sex,” he says. “But I do have a morning-before-our-wedding gift for you.” He slides down my body and kisses my belly, his tongue dipping into my belly button, and damn him, my sex clenches.
I object. I almost sound outraged. “Sex includes all things involving the mouth.”
“No man would agree with that definition at all. Ask Bill Clinton.”
“No, you didn’t go there.”
“Oh come on. Every man has used that joke.” He slides lower. “I agree with Bill. Sex is defined how I define it and the mouth doesn’t count. And my opinion matters. You’re marrying me.” He licks my clit.
“Oh God,” I breathe out. “Rick, damn it.” His warm breath fans my cheek and my lashes lower and I’m beyond saying no. How can I want to say no when his tongue is now swirling around my clit, and his fingers are sliding along the sensitive seam of my body?
His mouth closes down on my clit and he suckles. My body lifts of its own accord, hips arching into him. And I’m lost. He’s suckling and licking, his fingers sliding inside me, and he’s just so damn good at this. He knows my body. He knows me. And there is something incredibly erotic beyond the obvious act, to having a man own you with pleasure this easily. It’s a matter of a few more licks, and I am already trembling my way into release, gasping when the quake and all its intensity has passed.
His fingers slide out of me and he kisses my belly, his blue eyes brimming with heat and mischief. “A wedding gift,” he repeats. “And now I’m going to take a cold shower, alone, so I don’t blow your rules.” He pushes off the bed and starts walking toward the bathroom.
“They aren’t my rules!” I call out. “It’s luck and tradition.”
He just grunts and disappears into the bathroom. I sit up and twist around to sit on the edge of the bed, my body heavy and sated. His, not so much. I debate—oh, how I debate—what comes next. I should just leave him in there and follow the “rules” as he put it. But an idea comes to me. I stand up, strip off my gown and walk toward the bathroom.
***
Savage
I’m so damn hard I could nail something to the damn floor, but I don’t have a cold shower in me right now. I turn on the water, let it warm, and step inside. I’ve just shut the door when it opens again and Candace steps inside, naked of course. She pushes up against me, one of her hands wrapping my cock, and presses me against the wall. “We are not having sex,” she declares.
“You just wanted to hold it?” I ask, closing my hand around hers to make sure she doesn’t change her mind.
“No,” she says, going down on her knees.
I let go of her hand and she brings my cock to her mouth as she adds, “I just wanted to lick it.”