Draked Up: Book 5 of Colson Brothers Series (8 page)

“If you ever did that in front of the girls…” The idea was unsettling to say the least.

“That was a one-time thing baby. I’ll talk to Celeste to make sure, but I know. I think that snap has been building for a few years. It’s done, and like Joe said, it’s time to move on.”

I chuckled, “Joe told you to go home and eat pussy.”

He chuckled for the first time, “I knew there was a reason I liked my little brother.”

“I like his advice.” I teased forming an idea in my head.

“Oh really?” He started to move me onto the bed.

I pushed his shoulders and stood up, “Not yet. Behave yourself, and I’ll let you do that in the morning. Tonight my love, you are done.”

He grabbed my wrist as I reached for the washcloth in the bowl of water. “What did you just say?”

“I said behave, and I’ll let you do that in the morning, if you want.” I amended in case he’s not a morning person. Then I remembered whom I was talking about.

“Not that part, the other part.”

“I don’t know Drake, turn around. Carefully.” I motioned for him to give me his back. He took a couple hits to the back that are swollen pretty good.

“You said ‘my love’.”

“Did I?” Oops. “Either turn around or you’re sleeping alone. You have blood everywhere back here. It’s gross.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“No. I’m avoiding the answer. I think I liked it better when you weren’t talking.” I teased laying the wet cloth over a patch of dried blood to soak so I don’t have to scrub a nasty bruise. It might pop. I know. I’ve had them pop. It’s fucking gross, not to mention more painful than being hit.

He turned giving up, “It felt like I was trapped in a clear box.”

“I kind of sensed that. You seem okay now. Well, as okay as you can get. It’s like you woke up after that fight. I feel like I should introduce myself.” I know better, but in a way it does feel like that.

“I know damn well who you are. Now I want to taste you. Are you done yet?”

“I see we’re still a grump. I’ll be done soon, and then you’re going to sleep. No playing around for you tonight big guy. You need to rest so you don’t pull these stitches out.”

“I don’t like being told what I can and can’t do.”

“Then you should have listened to me when I told you to run while you had the chance.”

“That will never happen.”

“Stand up. Let’s get you undressed and comfortable. What do you want to sleep in?”

“You.”

“I’ll get you a pair of shorts.”

“I’m fine.” He threw the covers back and slid his big naked butt between the sheets. “Come lay down with me.”

“In a few minutes. I told you I wanted a glass of wine and five minutes to settle my nerves, and I need to clean this mess up.”

“Leave it. Come here.”

I sighed almost giving in, “I’ve been bossed around most of my life. Granted you’re a lot sexier when you do it, but there are times when you’re just going to have to deal. I’m done being pushed around. Done. Now, before I get pissed off, I’m going to go get a drink and clean up this mess. Okay?”

He grumped and groaned but didn’t argue.

“Thank you.” I gathered up the cleaning supplies and headed out leaving the door open. If I close it he’ll go nuts and get up to come find me. How do I know this? Probably because the man has barely left my side since we met. He even slept outside my hotel room door in San Diego.

I found a bottle of red wine I’d picked up on my way home this afternoon and took my time with the first glass without touching the bowl of dirty, bloody water. I cleaned up while sipping the second glass. By the third I was able to relax a little and enjoy the view from his big picture window in the living room.

There’s a couch, or reading nook, built into the wall under the window. I want to read here one day for hours on end with a bottle of wine. It would be nice to get lost in a book for a day.

I miss sex. Not the abuse I’ve suffered for the last twelve years, but the good stuff. The nicer side of sex where both people get something out of it. Until Drake and his wandering hand I hadn’t had an orgasm in over a decade. I can’t find it in me to masturbate. There’s just nothing in my head to get off to.

Until now. Good grief one look from that man could hold a girl over for a year. I smiled catching my reflection in the glass. I actually have a nice smile. It’s been a while since I’ve smiled in the mirror. I’ve smiled with the girls, and at customers, but I don’t see myself smiling at them. Smiling in the mirror never occurred to me until I caught myself smiling in the reflection of this window.

I’m not real sure what to do about Drake. Maybe it would help if I knew what he wanted with me. I have nothing to offer him. No money, no real skills that would get me a job that pays well, I can’t have kids, I don’t want to get married again, and I’m loaded with two beautiful pieces of baggage.

I jumped when I caught movement, “You’re supposed to be in bed.”

He wiped a tear off my cheek, “You’re crying. Why?” The deepness of his tone does something to my insides.

I shrugged using my sleeve to get the rest of the tears I hadn’t felt falling. “I didn’t know I was.”

“What were you just thinking about?” He sat facing me.

“A little bit of everything. Mostly why I’m here.”

“You’re here because I want you here. I need you here, with me.”

I sipped my wine unsure what to say.

He waited until I was done and touched my chin, “Look at me.”

I did, hesitantly. He’s hard to look at without getting lost.

Those blue eyes that have had my number since day one searched mine, “When you cry I get chest pains. Tell me how to make you happy.”

I smiled and leaned my cheek into his palm, “Get me my girls, get rid of my ex-husband, and never change.”

“I’m not going to change who I am, I can’t. We’ll get your girls, I promise. You need to know I want you for the rest of my life.”

“I can’t think that far ahead right now.”

“Fair enough, but you’ve heard me say it, so don’t sit here and wonder where you belong, or why you’re here. Don’t sit and wonder what I want from you, because the answer is everything. I want you, and everything that comes with it. Your battles are no longer your own, they’re mine too.”

I smiled and kissed his palm before turning around and leaning back against his chest. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“Nah. I didn’t fall in love with you until the second time I saw you.”

I giggled, “Yeah well, I don’t know exactly when I fell for you, but I think I bumped my head during the fall.”

He kissed the top of my head as his arms came around securing me in the perfect spot between his legs. “Have you always gone by Sherry?”

“No, I went by Michelle while I was married. When I moved to Phoenix I wanted to go by Shelly, but there was already a Shelly working at the other bar, so I changed it to Sherry on the spot when I applied for the job. I thought it might eliminate confusion on the floor. Michelle isn’t even my real name.”

“What??”

“Well, it’s my middle name. My maiden name is Erica Michelle Blackwood. When Daniel and I got married he made me change it to Michelle, no-middle-name Moore, because Erica didn’t sound right. He said Erica was too slutty when it didn’t sound too much like Eric, a man’s name. My parents could have cared less, they just wanted me married off, so I just changed it to make him happy.”

“When we’re married you can change it back, but Blackwood, or Moore, becomes Colson. Hyphenate if you have to for the girls, but I’d like to get them away from Daniel and make them my daughters. He doesn’t deserve them, but that’s your call. Just know the offer is on the table.”

“Are you trying to overwhelm me tonight?”

He rested his cheek on my head, “No. I saw you staring out the window looking lost. You’re not lost, or helpless, or unloved. I got you right here. Okay?”

I nodded, “Thank you.” I topped off my wine and stared outside until I felt him sleeping behind me. Then I downed the last of my wine and stood taking his hand, “Come to bed Drake.”

“Music to my ears.”

6

A loud thump and Drake’s, “Ow fuck.” jarred me awake. Oh well, I’ve woken up to worse.

I blinked trying to focus, “Drake?”

“Sorry babe. Go back to sleep.”

I sat up, “Where are you?” I crawled over to the edge of the bed and looked down. “Did you fallout off the fucking bed??”

He started to laugh, then cringed in pain, “Don’t make me laugh. I’m not used to sleeping in a bed. I was dreaming and rolled to jump up, but missed, obviously.”

I sat back out of sight so he can’t see me laughing.

“It’s not funny. Come here and make sure I didn’t pop a stitch before I try to get up.”

I walked around and knelt by his naked side. Since he ogled me in the shower yesterday, I ogled him now.

“Cherry.” He snapped his fingers.

I blinked pretending to snap out of it. He is one gorgeous man. “Sorry, my train derailed.” I tore my eyes from the muscles in the lower torso region. I don’t know what those are called, but I bet they work really well.

“Cherry!” He pretended to yell.

I shook my head rapidly, “Shit. Dammit.” I lifted the bandage, “Ew. You need a cleaning. I can’t see shit past all that goo. Here, let me help you up.”

“I think you already did.” He glanced down and back up.

I did the same, but slower, “Yeah, sorry about that. I was drooling.”

“You were molesting me with your eyes.” He teased letting me help him up slowly. I find it very strange that this man is willing to let me help him do anything. Every other man I’ve known either doesn’t want a woman’s help, or doesn’t think enough of me in general to rely on me for support. My kids rely on me, but that’s different.

“You make me want to do things I never thought I’d want to do again. Twelve years is a long time to go feeling like a possession.”

“Yes it is.” He leaned his butt against the bathroom sink so I could start the cleanup process. “Hang on, let me pee and start the coffee while the water heats up. Can I get you anything besides water and pills?”

“No, I’m good babe. Coffee will be fine when you’re done here.”

“Okay, be right back.” I did what I had to do and grabbed the first aid kit from Doc on my way back.

He’s still in the same spot-checking the water. “It’s hot.”

I shut it off so I could lower the temperature and wash my hands. “Good. Take the pills now, please.” I pointed to where I’d set them on the counter.

“You’re a good mother Cherry, even to me. Mine was too busy to be bothered with us kids. She collected her welfare checks, tossed us some breadcrumbs, and went back to working under the table. I think we saw her twice a week once we figured out how to feed ourselves.”

“That’s sad. How many siblings do you have? Not including Colson’s of course.”

“Nine. Five boys and four girls.”

“Are you close?”

“I’m not close to anyone Cherry. They stopped inviting me to family dinners fifteen years ago.”

I kept grilling him while cleaning and redressing his wound. “How old are you?”

“Old.” He complained and flinched, “Fuck, are you drilling to China?”

“Thailand, figured I’d fuck up everybody’s day and just tip the whole island over. Let’s see them clean that shit up.”

He hesitated before he shook as and laughed. “You’re not supposed to make me laugh, smart ass.”

“You know what my grandfather used to tell me?”

“What?”

“He’d pick me up look me in the eye and ask, ‘Are you dying?’ I’d say ‘No.’. He’d look me over and say, ‘Well shit, I guess we’ll just have to keep feeding you after all.’ He’d set me back on my feet and smack me on the butt, ‘Stand up, rub some dirt on it, and git on with it then.’ I miss him.”

“Sounds like a cool guy.”

“Yeah. If he hadn’t died when he did I might not have been so blind to what Daniel really was. My grandfather saw right through people. He was amazing.”

“Do you keep in touch with your family?”

“No. When Daniel used to lock me away in the house I’d go to them for help. Sneak out, beg for asylum, all that. They always talked me into going back, and after a while told me to keep my problems under my own roof.”

“The only problem you’ll have with me is my wandering hands.” He untied my pajama bottoms. “I believe you promised me breakfast if I behaved myself.”

“You were doing great until you fell out of bed. Now you can wait until after you have a real breakfast. You need food with those pills anyway.” I put the last piece of tape over the gauze. “Come on, let’s get you fed.” I retied my pants.

He put his hand to his head when he pulled away from the counter like he has a headache, “Ah shit.”

“You okay?” I went to him, but didn’t touch. He might be having a flashback or something.

He nodded, “Yeah, last night is coming back in short films. That was quite a beating.”

I took his right hand in mine, “Yes, it was. One you gave as well as you got. Drake honey, you killed two guys last night. Did you kill the two goons the first night at the hotel too??”

“Yeah, fuckers had a hooker tied up and filleted in the backseat. She died before I could get her to the hospital. I turned her in anyway, but got rid of the two fuckers that did it.”

“Why not turn them in?”

“Not my style. In my world there is no justice system. It’s me and my men against what’s morally right, and what’s sadistically wrong.” He looked up for me. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“It’s okay. I’ve wanted to kill Daniel so many times sometimes it feels like I have. The justice system is bought and paid for by my ex-husband. There’s no justice system in my world either. But, if you go to prison, I’m going to kick your ass.”

He studied me hard for a moment. “You do get it.” Not a question, a simple observation.

“Yes, very much so. Just don’t get caught. In fact, stop it. No more. Maybe you could get off on PTSD overreacting with the hooker, but last night… not so much. Those two deaths are going to have to be staged. Slider is going to have to put the hammer down on a younger punk club he’s been steering away from.” I explained having listened to the chatter around us as shit went down last night.

“They’ll take care of it. I think we should leave the country.”

“Bad idea. First biker to leave U.S. soil is going to be bumped to the top of the suspect list if this gets out. We sit tight until Joe says otherwise. Now come on, let’s eat.” I waved for him to follow me so I can get my robe. It’s chilly in here.

Being stuck in the house with a man who’s bored is bad enough, but this man has no Stop button. His hands are swollen and busted all to hell, but he can’t keep them out from under my shirt. I gave up the bra and went with a sweatshirt two hours ago.

Five minutes into our second movie of the day he whispers in my ear, “Take these off. Take it all off. I want to feel you.”

“It’s cold.”

“Get the comforter off the bed.” He slid his hand all the way down and cupped me firmly. “Wear your robe if you insist, but I’m getting a taste. Now.”

Butterflies shot out like bottle rockets from my stomach straight down to my groin. I peeled his hands away as I got up. “Okay okay, I’m going.” He’s been patient all morning. I wanted to make sure he didn’t pop a stitch, and he needs to sit still and relax to let his body heal, but he refuses to sit still so he might as well do something besides pester me out of my clothes.

I took my time freshening up, which of course led to an impatient Drake. I opened the bathroom door to find him sitting on the end of the bed flipping channels with the remote. He turned off the TV as soon as he saw me.

I took the remote and tossed it on the reading chair by the window. “Stalker.”

He put his hands on my hips and completely out of character, set his forehead on my cleavage. “I hate being away from you.” I think I knew this, but hear him say it out load tugged at my heartstrings. A heart I had buried and lost until this man barged into my life.

I gathered his hair in a ponytail smoothing out soft curls while I enjoyed the way he really does seem to need me. He needs my strength, not just my body for personal pleasure. “We have something here, don’t we?”

He tightened his grip on my hips, but not in a painful way. In a hold on for dear life way. “Yes.”

“Where were you fifteen years ago?” I stepped into him and hugged him to me.

“Fighting the same demons I seem to be fighting today, only a lot more of them.”

“I’ll protect you. They can’t get past me.” I wanted those words to be true more than anything I’ve ever wanted since Rebecca was born. With her I wanted peace, a bond with a man I soon found out was not the man I thought I married.

He hugged me again before leaning back and looking up, “You do protect me, without even knowing it. All I have to do is look at you and everything else falls away. I’m a man obsessed with a beautiful woman.”

I cupped his face noticing his stubble is turning into a beard. “I love you too.” I scratched his jaw, “Growing this in?”

“No, just being lazy. I am looking forward to smelling you on it for a while when I’m through.” His mood lightened immediately as he untied my robe. “Let me know if you get sore, I could be here for a while if you let me.” He ran his hands under the robe to my hips and set me on the bed with my back to the pile of pillows in front of the headboard.

I let myself relax back against the pillows picking one up to hug to my chest for when he gets to me. He gets to me so good it’s almost unreal. “This doesn’t happen to me, so…” I trailed off because he licked me making my whole body clench.

“Relax my love. I’ll go easy on you.”

I tightened my grip on the pillow holding on for dear life as he licked, nipped, and touched his way around a long neglected part of my body. A very greedy part it seems. He got me so good one time I grabbed his hair and begged him to marry me.

I meant it, sort of. I meant marry me in the sense that I never want to lose him. Not that marriage means forever. The marriage I was referring to was more of a marrying of souls. Okay, so I was out of my mind, but Drake doesn’t see it that way.

A while later we made it to the couch for drinks and a much-needed break on my part. “You asked, I said yes. When and where babe?” He handed me a glass of wine then pulled the quilt over my lap before joining me on the couch with his favorite beer.

“Oh hush. I was out of my mind and you know it.” I laughed sipping the wine before working my toes under his thigh.

“That makes two of us, but it doesn’t change the fact that you asked, and I accepted.” He sipped from the bottle, then set it on the end table beside him to pick up the remote and take my left foot into his lap to rub.

My head went back as quickly as it went blank. “Oh God that’s good. If you keep this up I may chase you down the aisle after all.” I teased.

“Just say the word.” He assured me browsing the guide. “What are you in the mood for? Action? Romance?”

“Doesn’t matter. I can’t do extreme violence though. Jason Bourne is fine, but nothing where the woman gets all fucked up. Rape scenes are a big no-no for me. Otherwise I don’t care.”

“Good to know. It would probably be wise for me to avoid the same things.” He clicked on something and exchanged the remote for the beer as he settled back into the couch.

“Did you mean it when you told Joe you’d talk to Celeste?”

“Sure. I’m not going to share everything with her, but maybe she can help me put some demons away so I don’t snap like that again. I don’t think I will, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Thank you for being open to talking to someone. I honestly believe it was a one-time thing too, but I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“You’re going with me, so don’t get too worked up.”

“I am??”

“Yes. You’ve been through a lot too. We’ll go in together, then she’ll probably want to talk to us alone. Blah blah blah. We’re both going in.”

“Fine with me.”

I finished my wine and redressed his wound, which he didn’t care for because once again I had to clean it out. “I think that guy was carrying a shovel instead of a knife. This is ugly.”

“I’ve had worse. I never felt pain this way before though. The constant adrenaline rush must have worn off since I’ve been home.” He stood taking the cleaning supplies and bandages. “Thank you love.” He kissed my forehead on his way to the kitchen.

“I…” Was going to say I could get those, but then I remembered I’m not in my old life anymore.

“You what?” He asked on his way back a minute later.

“Nothing.” Then I thought it might be better if he knew what I was thinking. “It’s just going to take me a while to adjust to being in a relationship.”

“You? I’ve never had one.” He shooed me over and slid in behind me.

“Never?”

“Not really. It’s been three years since I’ve had sex, and that was unfulfilling to say the least.”

“What happened?”

“She was passing through and looking to kill time fucking the guy who’s known as being a sort of white ghost savior of children. I was a notch on her belt, which was fine, but it was distracting knowing she didn’t really want me.”

“Three years?” Yes, I’m still stuck on that. My ex told me he had to have it every day or his nuts hurt.