Ink Reunited (6 page)

“Shit, every time you suck on
her nipples, I can feel her clench around me,” Rafe grunted.

Ian let go of her nipple with
a pop. “Now you know how I feel, love,” he said to Rafe, then went back to work
on her breasts.

Needing to be connected even
more than she was, she wrapped her hand around one of Rafe’s wrists and tangled
her free hand into Ian’s hair. She closed her eyes, lost in the movements and
sensations until she found the wave again and came crashing down once more,
this time with Rafe as he jetted into the condom.

Rafe pulled out, jogging away
to take care of the condom while Ian and Sassy laid down on the couch.

“I’ve missed that, missed
you,” Ian mumbled.

She smiled and sank into him.

Rafe came back and pulled a
blanket off the back of the couch. Ian pulled her on top of his body as Rafe
laid next to them. She rolled on her stomach so she could cuddle with both her
guys, her limbs limp, her body sated.

“God, we have to do that
again,” she whispered.

Rafe patted her butt and
chuckled. “Let me rest a bit before round two. I’m not as young as I used to
be.”

She smiled and waited for
Ian’s response only to find him passed out next to Rafe. “I guess we tired him
out.”

She looked at Rafe and laughed
at both her sleeping men. With a happy sigh, she lay down on top of both of
them and wiggled.

“Yep, still got it.”

“Are you sure I look okay?
Should I cover up my ink?”

Rafe closed his eyes and held
back the retort that came to his lips. While he loved the woman in front of
him, the fact she was even asking that question made him want to bang his head
against the wall. She shouldn’t have been as nervous as she was, and yet there
was no stopping it apparently.

She’d put on nice slacks and a
cute lacy top thing that made her breasts look fucking lickable as hell, but it
wasn’t the Sassy he knew and loved. She’d even put her hair up into this bun
thing that only elongated her neck.

He walked slowly toward her
and cupped her face. The worry in those sexy brown eyes of hers made him want
to hold her and never let her go.

Not that she’d let him.

No, she’d push away and take
care of herself because that’s who she was. Or at least who she usually was.
This Sassy in front of him wasn’t that woman. He needed to fix that and
alleviate her fears.

“Sass, stop it and breathe,
cariña
.”
He brushed his lips against hers and she relaxed. “We’re just going to my
parents’ home for dinner. You’ve had countless dinners with them before. The
only difference is that now we’re a bit older.”

She grimaced and he kissed her
again. “It’s not like it was before, Rafe. I used to be their ward or live-in
or whatever. They knew I was dating you but I don’t know if they knew we were
with Ian at the time.”

Rafe let out a breath. “I
don’t know either, baby. We kept it to ourselves because we were afraid of what
everyone would think, but we aren’t those people anymore. You know Ian would be
here with us if he hadn’t had to work.”

They couldn’t ignore the possibility
of misconceptions like they had when they were younger. Their relationship
wouldn’t survive if they did.

He could sense her tension and
see the uncertainty in her eyes.

They were doing this to her,
turning the vibrant and sexy woman into a pile of nerves.

Damn it.

He ran his hand down her back
and cupped her ass. The resulting flare of heat in her eyes made him smile.

There she is.

Sassy pulled back somewhat and
looked down at her body before shaking her head. “What the hell am I wearing?”

Rafe held back, knowing if he
smiled, she would hit him. Hard. “I didn’t realize you owned that sexy
secretary get-up.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.
“I believe they are called administrative assistants now.”

He held up his hands in mock
surrender. “My apologies.”

“And if I were dressed as a
sexy secretary, I’d be wearing a skirt so you could fuck me on top of the desk.
Come on, now, you know that’s how all the good porn does it.”

Rafe threw his head back and
laughed even as his cock hardened at the thought of Sassy in heels and a little
skirt as he fucked her on top of his desk.

Or maybe Ian’s desk.

Yeah, that would be better
since Ian had a bigger office, and the whole suit and tie thing totally fit
those fantasies. Maybe he and Sassy could fuck Ian over that desk too.

“Oh my God, stop thinking
about sex right now, Rafe Chavez!” Sassy slapped his shoulder and Rafe snorted.

“You started it, babe.” Well,
maybe. This whole conversation was a blur of angst and sexy as hell heels.

“We are on our way to go see your
mother. She’ll know what we’ve been thinking. She
always
knows.”

Rafe grinned. He sure as hell
hoped his mom didn’t know
everything
that went on in his head. He wasn’t
even sure that she knew about him and Ian. He’d always been bisexual, but had
never been out of the closet to his parents. He didn’t know what they’d have
thought about it.

What they would think now…

He’d been such a little shit
as a teenager that when he’d finally found his way and learned to act like a
man, he’d been afraid to break any trust he’d formed again. He’d hidden his
feelings for Ian as anything more than his best friend from the family, and
Rafe knew it played a role in Ian’s departure.

Ian and Sassy weren’t the only
two who held blame for the demise of their relationship.

Rafe had his own failures and
he knew he needed to redeem those.

Today was the first step in
the right direction by bringing Sassy home. He’d hoped to bring Ian as well,
but it might have been just as well he wasn’t with them. Taking baby steps
sounded like a good way to approach this.

Jesus, this was fucking
complicated.

He shook his head, trying to
clear his thoughts. If he went into the day thinking the worst, he’d just
stress himself out just as he was sure Sassy had been doing from the way she
was dressed.

Rafe looked down at his own
dark jeans and button down shirt, then at Sassy. “
Cariña
, put on jeans
and keep that sexy as hell top. It shows off the ink on your arms and when you
bend over, I’ll be able to see the ink on your back.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m not
bending over in your parents’ house for you.” She gave a saucy grin. “And no
promises, but I might tease you if you annoy me enough.”

He kissed her hard, sliding
his tongue against hers. “Damn it. You get me worked up, Sass. But really,
you’re welcome to wear jeans and anything you want.” He reached around and
unclipped her hair. The long tresses fell over her shoulders in waves, and he
sighed at the sight. Damn, his woman was fucking sexy as hell. He’d have to
keep her hair up so he could pull it down again, but next time, she’d be naked.

Fuck. Yeah.

“You’re thinking about sex
again.”

He licked his lips. “Hell
yeah, but don’t worry. I can control myself.” Maybe. “Show your ink, let your
hair down, wear what you want to in order to feel comfortable and be yourself.
There’s no reason to hide.”

Her eyes filled with tears,
and she blinked them away, but not before one fell down her cheek. His heart
ached as he brushed away the moisture with his thumb.

“Sassy, baby, what’s wrong?”
He’d do whatever he could to make sure she knew she was special and
his
.
God, give him strength.

“Other than you’re acting all
rough and perfect at the same time?” She shook her head then rolled her
shoulders back. “I left them too, Rafe. What if they hate me for it? I didn’t
stay in contact because I was scared. I might’ve only lived twenty minutes
away, but there could have been an ocean between us considering how it felt.”

He closed his eyes and cursed
himself. Of course that’s what she’d be freaking out about. She’d lived with
his family for a long time and walked out on them just the same. She’d done it
to protect herself, and in doing so, she’d hurt his family. But not to the
extent she must be thinking.

His family was very forgiving
when it came to people they loved.

He should know.

“
Cariña
, stop worrying.
They missed you, and yes, they were worried, but they knew you’d left for a
reason. Let’s go see them and get the hard part over with. They invited you
over, Sass. They
want
you there. We’ll talk, laugh, eat good food, and
then when we get home, we’ll make love, and hopefully, this time actually make
it to the bed on the first try.”

She laughed softly, exactly as
he’d intended. “We always say we’re going to make it to the bed and only end up
sleeping there since we’ve tired ourselves out everywhere else.”

He cupped her ass, bringing
her flush against his body. His rock hard cock pressed against her belly and
she raised a brow.

“You did this,” he groaned.

Her hand went between them and
ran along his length. “No, honey, you did this, but I’ll take care of it.
Later.” She winked. “We’re going to be late if I don’t change now and head out.
Two minutes!” She sashayed to the bedroom, his gaze following that generous ass
of hers. He just shook his head.

Yep, that’s the Sassy he
loved. It only took her getting him turned on and turned inside out for her to
come back.

 By the time she’d changed
into ass-hugging jeans that he’d enjoy peeling her out of later, and made their
way to his parents’ house, they were only five minutes late. Not bad
considering Rafe had taken the time to make sure Sassy’s jeans fit just right using
the palms of his hands.

From the way Sassy glowed, he had
a feeling his mom would know
exactly
why they were late, but he didn’t
care. He finally had the woman of his dreams next to him and the man of his
dreams in his heart—and he hoped, waiting for them when they got home.

He didn’t need much else.

Before they could even make it
up the porch steps, his mother opened the front door and approached them with
her arms opened wide.

“Sassy!” His mother pulled
Sassy up the steps and enveloped her in those same strong arms that had held
him countless times. Though his mother was at least a foot shorter and could
practically fit in his pocket, she was stronger than anyone he’d known.

“Mrs. Chavez.” Sassy’s reply
was a little stilted, but there was warmth there that went straight to Rafe’s
heart. This was her family too—he just had to make sure she understood that and
didn’t pull away.

Again.

His mom pulled back and
frowned. “Mrs. Chavez? Do you think I’m my husband Carlos’s mother and not
Rafe’s? No, honey, you call me Juanita or Mom. I’ll take nothing else.”

Sassy grinned and Rafe pulled
his mother away a bit so he could kiss her cheek. “Thank you, Mom,” he
whispered and she patted his cheek.

“You’re a good boy, Rafe.
Thank you for bringing Sassy home to us.” There was a twinkle in her eyes he
couldn’t interpret. “And next time, I expect to you to bring Ian too. It’s
about time the three of you were together again.”

Rafe stopped breathing, his
feet frozen to the spot. “Wha…what?”

His mom shook her head, then
wrapped her arm around Sassy’s waist. “I knew then that the three of you were
together. You can’t fool me, young man. You all were so in love you couldn’t
hide it even if you tried. I know Ian thought he’d pulled off the cool and
remote rich kid. He didn’t, honey. He was in so deep with you, just as you and
Sassy were with him, it was obvious.”

Sassy reached and gripped his
hand, but he still couldn’t process what his mom was saying. She’d known? This
whole time, she’d known. He thought he’d hidden it so well.  Apparently he
shouldn’t have even tried.

“I don’t know what you’re
thinking, Rafe, but know this, I’ve loved you since I first found out I was
pregnant with you, and I will
always
love you. Your family feels the
same. You have three sisters, two brothers, a father, and countless other
members of the family in there waiting to see you and Sass. They love you and
they won’t turn their backs on you for loving who you love. And when you bring
Ian by, we’ll be the same.”

Rafe lowered his head, but
pulled his mom close, bringing Sassy with her. He wrapped his arms around his
girls, the weight of what he’d been holding close sliding off his shoulders.

“I can’t believe you knew this
whole time,” he rasped, his body shaking. From relief or the overwhelming urge
to run to Ian and bring him there too, he didn’t know.

“Honey, you can’t slide things
by me.” His mom squeezed him one more time, then pulled away. “Now, let’s get
you two inside and fed. They’re probably already pressed up against the window
trying to see what the holdup is.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t
come out yet,” Sassy said as she tangled her fingers with his.

He gripped her hand, thankful
for the anchor. She’d always been his anchor even when she’d been the one on
the run. Without her…well, he hadn’t been whole.

They walked inside and were
greeted by his family, smiles and hugs bringing Sassy—and Rafe—into the fold.
As much as Sassy had left them, he never forgot he’d done the same. Oh, he’d
come back for holidays and births, but he’d made a home somewhere else.

Now he was back and he had to
learn to blend with his family like he had before.

“Rafe,” his father’s deep
voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The man had his arm around Sassy’s
shoulder and a grin on his face. “Good to see you could make it,
niño
.”

“Dad,” he said and hugged the
man hard, bringing Sassy into it like he had with his mom.

His dad grinned but there was
tension in his eyes like there had been at work—something Rafe had hoped would
fade with time. “When you get time, we need to talk about the shop. There are
things
…niño
, you know that I trust you with everything, but some things
do not need to change.”

When his father said
everything, it didn’t mean what it should, but this was neither the time nor
place. His family might agree with his lifestyle—which was a surprise in
itself—but having a father and son run a business together didn’t always go
smoothly.

“We can talk about it later,”
Rafe said with a smile, not wanting to cause an issue when today needed to be
about Sassy—and later Ian. “For now, let’s eat good food and show my girl off.”
He kissed Sassy’s brow and she laughed.

“I can usually show myself
off, sugar, but if you want to do the honors, I’m all yours.”

He smiled and nodded at his
father who got the message, then walked to the backyard where his family was
partying.

It was odd how much he wanted
Ian to be there with them, celebrating their time together as a triad. He knew
Ian had planned on going public with the three of them and with the fact that
Rafe’s family accepted him. This just might work.

He looked down at the woman in
his arms and sighed.

It better work because he’d do
anything for her, anything for Ian. He just needed to make sure that it
wouldn’t be for nothing because if they ran away from him again…well…