Cherished (36 page)

It was right then, he realized, that his thing with Daisy tumbled past
becoming serious
into something else entirely. She fit him in ways he hadn’t let himself really feel, but now it was unavoidable.

Orgasm filled his veins, rushing through him as he fucked into her deep and hard. He kept it walled back, needing more, needing to be in her as long as he could be.

Her back was beautiful. The tattoo glistened with her sweat as he pulled her back to meet his thrusts over and over. The flare of her hips incited him, her skin so soft as he held on. But she wasn’t fragile; she was strong and willful and the way she gave herself to him was a gift. A gift he should have turned down, but couldn’t.

Her body was a lure, yes, but it was who she was, all the parts of her, body and soul that felled him so utterly.

“Make yourself come again.”

She shifted her weight to one hand and reached back with the other. She fluttered and squeezed him as her fingertips met her clit. And then moments later she sucked in a surprised breath as she came all around him.

And it was more than he could withstand and he followed her, headlong, letting climax take him as he snarled her name.

Chapter 12

He sat back and took her in. Candlelight suited her features. She wore the earrings he’d given her earlier in the evening with a dress he’d picked out for her. That was something new, something he hadn’t done before.

But when she showed up wearing something she knew he’d like, or wearing something he’d told her to wear, it got to him in ways he couldn’t have begun to articulate.

He’d begun to leave notes telling her which panties to wear, or what blouse. Even if he wouldn’t see her that day, he knew she’d obey. And that got to him.

“I can’t believe I’ve never eaten here before.” She paused to sip her cocktail.

“I come here often. It’s not very far from our Seattle office so my older brother and I end up here for dinner at least once a week or so. Business lunches are good here as well.”

“It’s very old-school steakhouse in here. I love these big booths.”

He liked them too. He had her all to his self this way, as they
were tucked out of sight unless someone was seated across the way from their booth or in that general area.

She’d done something with her hair, victory rolls she’d called them, and together with the dress and her makeup, she looked like she’d stepped out of a vintage photograph. But with a modern edge.

“Which brother is this?”

“Jonah, he’s the oldest.”

She smiled. “Are you two close?”

“Yes. There’s only a year between us. So we competed a lot.”

She laughed. “I bet. If he’s like you, I can only imagine all the taciturn competition. Two alpha males with big giant brains locked in friendly combat. Which sounds like the plot of a book I’d totally read. I’d like to meet him.”

He took her hand and kissed the palm. She didn’t take him too seriously outside the bedroom. He liked that. Submission in sex was one thing. But he didn’t want a submissive woman in any other way. She poked fun at him and still managed to make him feel like a superhero.

“We should get the rest of this to go.”

Her smile changed, deepened, dripped with sensuality and it sent a shiver over him.

“Levi. Hey.”

He tore his gaze from her, that filthy fantasy about what he planned to do to her once they got back home dashed with the cold water of reality as he took in the sight of his brother and his new wife.

Mal looked back and forth between Levi and Daisy, one brow raised. Gwen, on the other hand, stared at Daisy, who sent Levi a look that told him he’d better handle it or she would.

“Mal. When did you get back?” He and Gwen had gone to Hawaii for a week after the wedding. “You look nice and suntanned.”

“Just this afternoon.” He turned a genuine smile in Daisy’s
direction and held his hand out. “I’m Malachi Warner. Levi’s youngest brother.”

“Daisy Huerta. Nice to meet you.” She looked around him after they’d finished shaking hands. “Congratulations to you both. Levi tells me you’re newlyweds.”

Gwen frowned and glared.

“Stop talking about us as if you know us,” she snapped at Daisy before she rounded on Levi. “Who is this?”

“You need to lower your voice and remember your manners,” Levi said, attempting not to lose his temper. “This is my date. She told you her name. Rein it in.”

“Rein what in? Are you her dad or her boyfriend? What sort of example are you setting anyway? You’re a Warner! You don’t take your young little bed friends to dinner in a nice restaurant where anyone can see you. It makes us all look bad.”

Daisy jerked back. “Excuse me?”

Gwen turned her gaze to Daisy. “Look, he’s not the marrying type, so if you’re thinking he’ll be a nice shiny cash machine, you’re incorrect.”

Daisy’s demeanor chilled to icy cold. Her face implacable, her back ramrod straight. She looked like a fucking queen right then. “You’re not only rude, you’re so off base it says far more about me than you. Though your fascination with your brother-in-law’s affairs is quite interesting. Is that why
you
got married? Because I was raised to take care of myself.”

Before this devolved any further, he shot a look to Mal. “You need to get this moving elsewhere. Your wife is out of line.”

Mal put his arm around his wife’s waist and attempted to steer her away.

“This is an old, established family. You’re not their kind. Look at his choice in wives, why don’t you?”

Daisy scooted to stand and Levi did as well, quickly inserting himself between them, his back to Gwen. “Let’s go.”

“Stop acting like you’re going to prevent me from punching her in the face. I’m not the one who needs to chill out.” She looked around Levi’s body. “If by their kind it means I need to be a bigoted bitch, I’m grateful for it.” She grabbed her bag and shoved Levi out of the way, storming from the room.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he told his brother while tossing down some money. “You’re an ugly bitch sometimes, Gwen.”

He rushed out to find her crossing the street already. He ran to catch up and she gave him a look that would have sent a lesser man running the other way.

“I apologize. She’s rude and wrong.” He took her arms in his hands and held her, wanting to say this where she could see his face. “She’s wrong, Daisy.”

“My god, what the hell?” She kept walking, eating the pavement in long strides even in her sky-high heels. “Is this some sort of time warp back to a movie set in the fifties? I’m not your kind? And what does that mean? Mexican girls needn’t apply to have your precious white babies? Hm? Oh, I get it, her assumption is that because I’m brown that I must be fucking you to trick you into marrying me so I can have your money?”

All of that was most likely exactly what Gwen had been thinking. But it wasn’t what
he
thought, damn it.

“What does it matter? I don’t believe it. Where are you going?”

“To catch the ferry home. I’m done with this evening.”

He caught her again. “Why? I’ve said I don’t think the way she does. She’s not my wife, she’s Mal’s wife. I’ll deal with them both another time. I’m sorry you were attacked and offended. But why punish me for someone else’s ignorance?”

“Speaking of wives, how is it that we’ve been together for nearly two months and I have to hear about this wife of yours from everyone but you?”

“I don’t have any plans to do this on a public sidewalk. If you want to talk about all this, let’s do it in private. My car is at the
ferry dock. Let’s catch the ferry and talk about it when we get back.”

“Whatever.” She turned and kept walking.

And voila, she was 100 percent, magnificent, pissed-off woman. He stood there stunned for long moments and then hurried to catch up.

“That’s our first whatever. What’s the present for that?”

Her brows flew up and he knew he’d missed the joke mark by a mile with the present comment.

“I don’t need your presents! I’m not with you for presents.”

The ferry had a line of cars, but luckily the walk on lane was empty and so no one was around to watch him realize it had been a long time since he’d dealt with a pissed-off woman who wasn’t his mother or someone else he just ignored. How this woman felt was important.

“Do you think this is news to me?” He guided her to a pair of seats at the back of the ferry, near the windows. “I’m trying to lighten the conversation up. Just teasing. Why let a person like Gwen ruin our night?”

“It’s not about her. Not entirely. You duck the subject when it comes up. You hold back with me.”

“Just because I don’t want to fight in public like a television cop show doesn’t mean I hold back. There’s a time and place for this stuff.”

She looked out the windows, her body shifting away from his.

“We were having a good time before that mess happened. I already told you I don’t agree with a single thing she said. I’ll be talking to my brother tomorrow about this.”

“You make me irrational,” she muttered. “I’m not irrational. But you make me irrational.”

He tried not to smile. “I don’t make you irrational.”

“Fuck off.”

He couldn’t help it; that made him laugh.

Then his phone rang and when he looked he noted his mother’s number and sighed, putting it back in his pocket.

“Are you cold?” He took his overcoat off and draped it over her shoulders.

She wanted to cry.

It was stupid to be mad, she knew. But she was mad anyway. Because of his stupid sister-in-law and his stupid past he never wanted to tell her. Up until that moment, she’d been awash with her feelings for him.

She’d gone and fallen in love with Levi Warner and then that horrid woman went and ruined it all.

Because she couldn’t pretend anymore. Couldn’t pretend she didn’t want to meet his family because he wanted her to. No more pretending that he wasn’t avoiding the subject.

Oh, she understood that he didn’t want to do this in public. She didn’t either. He made her irrational plain and simple. She needed to talk to her friends about it, to work it through.

But the big alpha male at her back wasn’t going to let her walk away with all this unsettled between them.

She didn’t say anything else as they made their way toward Bainbridge. She texted Mary, but knew he could see over her shoulder.

I just finally met some of Levi’s family.

Mary replied nearly instantly.
Oh yeah, how was it?

One of them was nice. His wife was a vicious bitch who seemed quite alarmed by a young Mexican clearly whoring herself to get Levi’s money and family power.

He growled behind her. “You know that’s bullshit.”

“Then stop reading my texts.”

Oh no, she did not! Do you need me to bail you out of jail?

She laughed. Thank goodness for Mary.

He put his chin on her shoulder.

I’ll call you later to tell you the whole story.

At least tell me he defended you. If not, you need to kick him to the curb.

He made a sound and she was torn between shrugging him off her shoulder and turning around to reassure him.

He did. Sort of.

“Not sort of. You know that.”

“Why are you reading over my shoulder if you get pissy about what I’m saying?”

“My life used to be simple.”

“And now you have a twenty-four-year-old in your bed. Women come with complications, Levi. We don’t just animate the moment you decide to notice us.”

“I never said any such thing.”

Sort of?

He’s reading over my shoulder now. She made all this shrill noise about how I wasn’t their kind and all that shit. He told her she was wrong. He said it multiple times. She brought up the wife. She doesn’t think I’m like her either.

The sick realization that they were going to have to argue when they got in private made her stomach roil. Clearly there were things, she realized as she held back from saying it all, that she had been feeling and burying.

He helped her up and she allowed him to lead her to where his car was parked.

“Her name was Kelsey. We were both young. I’d known her practically from childhood. Her mother and mine were friends. We dated and it seemed natural to marry her. To get started on life as an adult. I was just a little older than you now when we got married.”

She said nothing as he drove to her place.

“She drank. We all did of course. But she liked it more than I did. It got worse over the years until I would wake up and wonder what the fuck I was doing with my life. She said she wanted kids, but with her drinking, I doubted it could happen. I didn’t think she could give it up for nine months. Her health was on the decline as well. She passed out every night. Started drinking at noon and never stopped until she lost consciousness.”

He pulled into her driveway and followed her into the house. She hung his coat and toed out of her shoes. Bending to untie his boots because it was what she did.

“You’re nothing like her.” He caressed her cheek as she straightened. “You’re smart and strong. Compassionate and giving. You’re inherently grounded in who and what you are. She never had that sort of confidence.”

They moved to her bed and she curled up, readying to listen to the rest. “I wanted a divorce. Nearly ten years we’d been together. My parents urged me to stay and try to work it out. My mother reminded me what it would cost if I moved first.” He shrugged one shoulder and she really hated his mother.

“Why would your mother say such a thing? You should want your children to be happy.”

“She’s old school. One simply doesn’t walk away from a marriage. Not without trying to make it right. And in her own way, she was correct about the scandal it could have caused and the price of it. I mean, Jonah, my older brother, went through an ugly, very public split with his wife just last year. She took off, leaving him and their daughter behind. It was a big topic of gossip for months. My mother is averse to such things. To her, a reputation is part of what you own and build. Kelsey came from a good family. To my mother, these things are integral.”