Broken Justice (Justice Brothers) (38 page)

Wow,
Lacey thought. This was supposed to be about him, yet he had turned the tables on her so deftly and with such exactness that she was taken slightly aback.
Did she care?
Of course, she cared. She was human after all. However, that wasn’t what he was referring to and she knew that.

He’d behaved like a shit this morning and nearly destroyed her heart in the process, but she could see how a lack of communication combined with the strength of their confusing feelings had set the stage for the mess they were in.

She’d been trying to help him see that whatever experiences he’d faced in the past had made him the man he is today. He was showing her the same. Everything she’d experienced made her strong and independent. Someone who could face anything, as she’d proven she could. He was asking her to be brave and answer a question honestly, in a way that might liberate them both. The future was quite literally in her hands and completely under her control in the looming silence as each of them waited on her answer.

Big, deep breath
. “I care, Cameron. Truly, I do.” She glanced away as her hands dropped from his face. A surge of determination bubbling up from her soul helped her continue. “I’ve been falling in love with you since the moment you swooped in like some dark angel to save me from certain doom.”

Her openness made him feel incredible and he couldn’t help but feel humbled by her bravery and moved by her trust. She deserved the same from him. “I’m not playing a game with you, Lacey. The man you see today
is
the real person and what I feel for you very much comes from the inside.” It took one mighty effort not to punctuate that sentiment with the thrust of his hips against her bottom, but he held fast because he damn well knew that this was a huge moment for both of them. A moment that stood alone, outside the potent sexual pull they each felt toward the other and deserving of its singular importance.

Feeling her heart fill to almost bursting for the first time in her known life, Lacey was overcome by the emotions drenching her soul. He was telling her he had feelings for her and, truth be known, no words had ever sounded more wildly thrilling or quietly satisfying as those did. Laying her head upon his shoulder as a hand moved to a place above his heart she sighed out, “Oh, Cameron.”

Instinct told him to offer it all so he grimly countered with a somewhat terse, “My name is Jason. Jason Cameron.”

Her head snapped up with his admission and pinned him to the spot with those flashing blues. Without missing a beat she simply asked, “Is that what you want me to call you? Jas...”

“No!” he bit out, cutting her off from saying that name. He didn’t hate his name, nothing quite as glamorous as that. He remembered too clearly the way his mother slurred it though along with the sound of her distaste for his existence in every syllable. It was an association he didn’t need in his adult life. “I’m Cameron and have been for way longer than I was Jason. Just wanted you to know, that’s all.” A silent shrug followed, moving his torso in such a way that Lacey was reminded of the very warm and aroused male’s lap in which she sat. The trust in her that he was admitting matched the trust in him that she had confessed.

She searched his face and bit back a laugh when she found his expression, while full of sincerity, plastered on a face taut with sexual desire. Sighing melodramatically Lacey leaned in to snuggle his neck a moment before placing a wickedly lascivious kiss next to his ear that ended with a wet tongue stroke and a whispered, “You’re really too old for me though.” This brought the immediate reaction she hoped it would.

“I beg your pardon?” he snarled as he flattened her back onto the nearby sofa so fast she hardly had time to react. By the time she did, he was already firmly between her thighs pinning her beneath his hard male body. “Wanna try telling me that from this position?”

The way her hips welcomed his presence with a naughty roll spoke for itself, and besides, she’d been teasing. Him getting all caveman-like was exactly the reaction she wanted.

“I suppose you can try to prove me wrong.”
Jesus, was that her cooing?
“I don’t want to get stuck with some old guy.” Not said with a coo. Something more like a taunt or better yet, a challenge. True to his nature, Cameron took up the dare without hesitation.

“This old man has satisfied your desires, surely?” he purred a second before his lips found that spot on her neck that wiped her brain of coherent thought. When she bit back a whimper, he went with a fully engaged ravishing of just three square inches of her skin.
How did he do that,
she wondered. He wasn’t touching her anywhere else, and except of course for his body stretched out atop hers, he wasn’t using his hands at all. All he was doing was licking and kissing a small segment of her exposed neck. Being reduced to a puddle in mere seconds had her thinking she had to try this teasing thing more often.

Cam feasted on her skin for long moments, enjoying the way he could reduce her to a quaking heap without much effort. Her heated response made him feel alive. While it wouldn’t take much to get them both naked and groaning as he buried himself inside her, it was way more fun at the moment to just hold her close and thank his lucky stars that they had weathered the storm that nearly destroyed what they had.

Nipping her ear, he growled low and deep, “You’re right. I’m too old for such a young innocent.” When he went to rise from the cushion of her voluptuous body, she tightened her arms around his shoulders and held him firmly where he was.

“Not so fast, mister!” she cried. “Aren’t you supposed to be proving me wrong?”

Their teasing had been fun. Enjoyable even. Especially after both of them had revealed their true feelings and taken a leap of faith. Cam felt there was one more thing to be said which didn’t want to be denied or held on the sidelines for a better time.

“I’m falling in love with you Lacey. Have done so since the moment I first laid eyes on you. I think you’re amazing and probably the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

Considering where and how he’d spent most of his adult life Lacey fixed him with a ‘
yeah, sure’
look.

“I’m serious. Look, when people get sent to war or find themselves in the middle of a threatening situation that they’ve trained for, they know what to expect. It’s not a surprise. You were no more than a toddler when your world started falling apart. You weren’t a trained warrior and yet you’ve done a double-digit tour of duty, all alone with no help or back up, and managed to survive. And not just survived but also turned out to be a pretty amazing woman in the end. I think that makes you pretty brave.”

“I can’t even be bummed out by those experiences anymore. Not if in the end, they led me to you.”

Now that he knew how to smile again, it was easy to let a big grin spread across his face at her words.
My God
.
What had he done in his life to deserve such perfection?
He had no idea but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was blessed beyond measure to have found such a treasure.

“I have something for you, Ponytail. Here, sit up,” he said as he tugged her upright onto his lap and reached into his pocket. Pulling out the small box he pushed it into her hands saying, “I brought you a souvenir from Seattle.”

Her look of stunned disbelief made the moment even more special. He waited while she gently cracked open the little box with trembling hands. Happiness, pure and undisguised, leapt in his heart when he heard her gasp of delight. Tear-filled eyes blinked up at him. He felt a million feet tall.

Taking the box from her hands he removed one of the pieces and deftly placed it on her ear. Quickly doing the same with the other he admired the way the tiny pearls accented her delicate features.

She reached up and touched the earrings, asking, “You got these for me in Seattle?”

“I may have tried running babe, but nothing could keep you out of my thoughts. At first I figured I’d hunt down some cheesy northwest souvenir, but that thought was quickly dismissed and became an obsession to search for something special. Just like you. I may not have been ready to say the words, but the feelings were already there. I had the box with me last night and if we hadn’t ended up in bed so fast, I would have given them to you then.”

He wasn’t exactly prepared when she flung herself back into his arms and started dropping kisses all over his face and neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered.

It would have been so easy to just let that moment unfold but there was one more subject they needed to talk about.

“Uh, sweetheart,” he murmured as she licked his neck with reckless abandon and kissed him everywhere her beautiful, sexy mouth could reach.

“Mmm hmmm.”

“Unless I’m mistaken, we didn’t use a condom last night, did we?”

Her head shot up so fast he almost dropped her off his lap from the reaction. “Oh my God!” she cried out in alarm. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault!”

He had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop from laughing. Fuck, she was adorable, taking all the blame as if he’d been an unwilling participant. He could have stopped her seduction anytime he wanted, or that’s what he told himself anyway.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he muttered as he ran his hands up and down her arms. “There’s no fault here. I just wanted you to know that it didn’t escape my attention.”

She looked a bit frantic even as he tried to reassure her. “It was my responsibility last night, Cameron. I should have been …..”

“What? Prepared? C’mon sweetheart. It’s not like anything we did was planned. Besides, whatever happens, happens. We’ll deal with it together, alright?”

Something made him lay his hand against her tummy as his mind filled with visions of her swollen with his child. He couldn’t imagine anything more precious than a baby that they’d made together. She’d be a fantastic mother and while he had some serious doubts about his abilities as a father, he knew with her by his side he’d be willing to take the chance.

“C’mon,” he said, lifting her from his lap.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you home. We’ll pack up your stuff tomorrow. You’re moving in with me. I don’t want to wake up another morning without you in my bed.”

“Is that a request or a command?” she asked as she jammed a hand on her hip and tried to look stern.

“It’s both!” He laughed as he hefted her over his shoulder and smacked her backside. “This is me, dragging you off to my caveman retreat.”

Her laughter was still ringing in his ears minutes later after he’d gotten her safely to the ATV he’d driven to her house. “Your chariot awaits, m’lady.” She laughed all the way down the lane as he wore a shit-eating grin spread so wide he thought it’d split his face.

Coming Soon

Want a little more of Cameron and Lacey’s story?

Find out what happens next for the two lovers in FIXING JUSTICE sneak preview

Three extraordinary men and the women who love them…

THE JUSTICE BROTHERS

BROKEN JUSTICE

FIXING JUSTICE

REDEEMING JUSTICE

One Justice Brother down, two to go!

FIXING JUSTICE

The second book in the JUSTICE BROTHERS series

Draegyn and Victoria’ story…..

Sometimes the last thing you need is exactly what you get…

He’s the sexy 007 type complete with tuxedo and an icy blue stare. She’s a tom-boy waif who’s more nerd than goddess.

When Tori Bennett ends up at the Justice Brothers compound in the Arizona desert, she’s running away from an epic scandal with her in the starring role as whistleblower. Sometimes having a moral compass means you’re the one who gets shredded. She’d had enough of powerful, arrogant men, and just wanted to fly off the radar for a while and get her confidence back.

Draegyn St. John was all that and then some…and he knew it. As if being raised in society and having more money than god along with the blonde good looks of a Nordic god wasn’t enough, he was also a special forces vet with a serious attitude. Women fell at his feet. It wasn’t even a challenge. Until Victoria Bennett rocks his high and mighty world in a very big way.

Sparks fly each time they meet. When an agency crisis throws them together on an out-of-town trip, their business relationship becomes personal in a hurry. For Drae, it’s an itch he needs to scratch and for Tori, it’s a flat out case of lust. No harm, no foul, right?

What happened in Vegas, didn’t stay in Vegas! Find out what happens when her smart mouth and refusal to take anybody’s crap meets his powerful arrogance. Everyone is in for one shock after another!

Excerpt from
FIXING JUSTICE
© Suzanne Halliday

What a fucking mess. Standing in the aftermath of a celebration that had been more than memorable, Draegyn St. John surveyed the carnage left behind. Everywhere he looked was evidence of the Valentine’s Day nuptials that had taken place littered throughout the massive Spanish-styled courtyard at Villa Valleja-Marquez.

Taking a hearty slug from the champagne glass clutched in his hand, Drae contemplated the past few days while shaking his head in amazement. After jumping on a plane in Washington, D.C., he’d landed in the midst of an off the hook celebration. The compound where he lived, along with his two business partners and one-time military brothers, technically belonged to the oldest and most senior of their group, Alexander Valleja-Marquez. They called it the Villa, a sprawling complex spread out among hundreds of acres of breath-taking Arizona scenery, dominated by an enormous Spanish influenced hacienda.

The glorious southwestern weather he loved was a welcome respite from the bitter cold and the never-ending snowfall he’d dealt with in D.C. Not one to usually gripe about anything remotely connected to being out-of-doors, he’d come to despise the winter weather back east. Having to clear off his car every morning, from either a coating of ice or inches of snow, had seriously pissed him off.

After leaving the nation’s frigid capitol, he’d found himself immediately immersed in a thousand last-minute details for a wedding that had surprised them all. He still couldn’t fathom how the dark and brooding mass of contradictions that was Cameron Justice had ended up married.
Married
! Jesus H. Christ. Just the word brought shudders of distaste racing through his mind.
Ugh
,
no thanks
.