Unbind My Heart (27 page)

“See?  It changed your mind, didn’t it?”

“Hell no.  Sex first, then food, and never will the order be reversed.  I’m just sublimating.”  He winked as he gave her a taste of the salad with almonds and the special house dressing.  “What are your feelings about chocolate mousse cake with raspberry sauce?”

“Positively orgasmic.”  Her giggle turned into a yelp when he pinched her behind.

Against her lips, he murmured, “Tease.”

Another week of therapy, rest and sexual frustration passed.  Lexie had responded to the new medication, increased her fluid intake, and her dizziness had subsided.  As far as the depression, it was really too soon to tell.  Jonas’ work had brought him back to San Antonio and he was home almost every night.  That was a better treatment than any medication could ever be. 

True to his word, there had been no sex. Mostly, they’d spent their evenings quietly, cuddling in front of the TV, arguing over silly things like who was the bigger badass Raylan Givens from Justified (Jonas’ pick, because he was a good guy who was also a badass Federal Marshal) or Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy (Lexie’s pick because the Harley was hot).  Other times, they just cuddled in bed while talking.  While Lexie enjoyed the intimacy, she wanted more of what they had before she’d been shot.

It was the day before her cardiology appointment, and she was looking forward to a clean bill of health.  She was getting dressed when Jonas walked into the bedroom. 

“I’ve had to call in reinforcements today.  Regan and Elena will be over in thirty minutes.”

“I thought you were staying home with me today.”

“Sorry babe.  Something big is going down next week and we’ve got a shit ton of prep work to do if we’re gonna be ready for it.” 

“I don’t need babysitters, honey.  I don’t think Judy is necessary anymore either.  The
therapy is helping and I’m feeling much stronger, really.” 

“No changes until we hear what the doctor says tomorrow, Lexie.”  Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her lips, his mouth gliding along her jaw and down to her throat.  

“Jonas, please don’t tease me.”  She arched against him and felt her nipples pressing insistently against her sports bra.  Unsexy and plain, the close-fitting bra with its smooth fabric was the only thing that didn’t irritate her scar these days.  Dressed for her therapy session in old workout clothes with her hair in a messy knot on top of her head, she was amazed she aroused Jonas’ interest at all.  His lips on her and the big hands that caressed her ardently told her differently.  He cupped her bottom, pulling her against his hips. Then the big tease rubbed his thumb across her hard nipple, making it peak and ache.  

“Unfair!”  Lexie cried out as she arched and pressed against him, needing him badly.  His head lowered and he bit gently into the soft skin of her neck before he finally pulled away.  Groaning in pain, he adjusted himself, trying to relieve his discomfort.  From the look on his face, it didn’t help. 

“Sorry, honey.  I am being unfair, and since self-flagellation has never been my personal kink, I’ll stop.” 

Leaving her aching with need, he walked into the bathroom. A second later, she heard running water and imagined him splashing cold water on his face. He was hurting as much as she was, well deserved since he was the one who’d started it all. When he came back out, she could see he was just as hard as ever.  Lexie sat uncomfortably on the bed, nipples still beaded and pressing against her thin top.  They were hard to miss, especially when she tried to mitigate her discomfort by rubbing them with both hands.  Her efforts to ease her aching body were as ineffective as his had been.

“Hell baby, don’t do that.” Grabbing her hands, he pulled them away from her breasts and then tugged her to her feet. As he guided her out of the bedroom and away from their tempting king-size bed, he muttered, “Walk me to the door. I’m gonna go before I do something I’ll regret.  Tomorrow better end this forced abstinence, before I need a doctor myself.” 

As they walked down the stairs, she stopped short, startling him with an enthusiastic hug, her arms squeezing him tightly around the waist.  “You’ll be extra careful, won’t you, Jonas?  I can’t stand the thoughts of something happening to you.”

“After what I went through last month, I’ll do anything to spare you that agony.  Don’t worry, we are well-staffed and very well-trained, and if local, state and federal law enforcement stay out of our way, we’ll have this thing wrapped up soon.”

“That something big you were talking about—”

“I really don’t want you to worry about this, Lexie.  Focus on your appointment tomorrow and how we’ll celebrate afterward, okay?”

Knowing she’d gotten as much out of him as he was willing to give, she nodded.  He seated her in the living room with another soft kiss as the bell rang. Her eyes zoomed in on his perfect butt as she watched him walk to the door. Tomorrow’s appointment couldn’t come too soon.

Jonas opened the door to twin whirlwinds named Regan and Elena. They swooped in with arms loaded; a huge bouquet of fresh cut flowers, a bowl of fresh fruit, three extra-large caramel drizzle lattes, Lexie’s favorite, and a huge tray of pastries from Megan’s bakery.  The friends chattered away as they laid out their treats on the coffee table while Jonas went to the kitchen to get plates, forks and napkins for the ladies.  When he came back, he stood behind Lexie and gave her fill-in nurses her schedule.

“The physical therapist will be here at ten o’clock, and meds are due at noon—I already set them out in a cup on the kitchen counter. She needs to rest in bed this afternoon for at least two hours.  That huge vat of coffee is three times her limit so no more after that.  There are protein drinks in the fridge. Make sure she drinks one, two if she doesn’t eat a good lunch.  The security system stays armed, and no one is allowed in except the therapist or Rossi men, of course.  Otherwise, stay in and stay safe.  I should be home by four at the latest.  If I get delayed, I’ll call.”  Tugging her ponytail gently, until her head fell back and she was looking up at him, he leaned forward and claimed her lips.  Brief though it was, the kiss was open mouthed, tongue involved and seriously hot.  Whispering against her lips he said, “Gotta go, Sunshine, be good.”

The girls watched him go before turning to Lexie, their mouths gaping in shock.

“Wow, honey.  He’s even more overprotective than Dex.”

“And I thought Rick had cornered the market on domineering.”

Lexie flushed.  He had been managing every aspect of her care even before she’d left the hospital.  She remembered when he had talked to the doctor about changing her schedule for medication from a midnight dose to an earlier time so she could sleep.  Unsurprisingly, the doctor had done as he’d asked without question. 

“Oh honey, we’re teasing,” Elena said in response to the chagrined look on Lexie’s face.

“Yeah, Lex, we both have Doms that went off the deep end after we had our brush up with the cartel.  Look outside and you’ll see Rossi men watching.  Both Elena and I have men on us.”

“And security systems, alarms and GPS on our phones, cars, and purses.”

“Really?  I was wondering if it was just me,” Lexie sighed with relief. 

“They have access to all kinds of high-tech gadgets and use their resources to the fullest.  Just don’t do what I did.”  Regan squirmed a little in her seat, then told her about how Rick had blistered her bottom after finding she had given her security the slip.

“Megan got the same from Cap, honey,” Elena disclosed.  “So I’d learn from their mistakes, even when you get back on your feet.”

“Have either of you seen Mara?”

“No,” Elena said coolly, a derisive look on her face.  “And we have no plan to.”

“Why?”

Elena looked at Regan, who gave her a slight shake of her head.

“Stop acting like Jonas.  I’m not going to break or fall apart.  What aren’t you telling me?”

“Mara was working with Shelby and spying on us all at The Club,” Elena disclosed, hurt as much as outrage clear in her voice and body language.

Lexie was shocked. “I don’t believe it!”

“Believe it, Lexie.  They have pictures of her and Shelby, working over one of the members who is now being blackmailed.  Obviously, it was a set-up, and he was their mark.” 

Regan seemed convinced of Mara’s guilt, but Lexie wasn’t so sure.  Mara had taken bullets for her.  She couldn’t believe those were the actions of a spy and a blackmailer.  Or, of someone who’d spied on and betrayed her friends and her husband.

“Dex is livid about the breach of confidentiality and concerned about her association with Shelby.  If he finds a connection between the email threats and what happened with Luis and the kidnappers—” Elena’s voice broke.  She didn’t need to finish.  Dex would go ballistic.  Former friend and ex-wife of his partner or not, he’d go after Mara.  Lexie looked at her friend in sympathy.  She could tell that it was still difficult for Elena to discuss.  Although the external wounds of the kidnapping and whipping had healed, the emotional ones were still wide open. 

“Okay, but I don’t understand something.  Jonas is worried the Mendoza’s will still come after me.  I get that, but why do you two need security?  With Shelby and Anderson dead, isn’t the case closed?” 

Regan and Elena exchanged another brief look before Regan abruptly tried to change the subject.  “So have you and Jonas talked about making things permanent, either a collar or getting married?”

“Oh no!  I saw that look.  Dammit! What aren’t you telling me?”  Lexie watched as her friends clammed up.  “Some nurses you are.  I’m supposed to be resting and you’re making me upset.  If I’m stressed it could put a strain on my heart right before my cardiology appointment tomorrow.  If I don’t get a good report, Jonas won’t have sex with me and I will be the one who loses it.  I swear to god!  And that my friends will be on you.” This had started out as a bluff, but as she got into it, her rising anxiety pitched higher along with her voice. She was near to yelling as she continued. “Tell me what you know right this minute.  I can’t go without sex for another six weeks and become the first documented case of female blue balls on record.  Spill!”

Once again, they were mystified, staring at her as if she had two heads.  Regan recovered first, looking to Elena for support.  “We can’t be responsible for Lexie’s balls turning blue, Elena.  Can you imagine?  She could go blind or something.”

“You don’t go blind from blue balls, silly.  That’s what they say about masturbating too much,” Elena stated.  “Or maybe it’s that they’ll fall off?  Either way, neither applies to women.  We just get desperate and start acting nutso.”  She stared at Regan, one delicate brow arched as she tilted her head toward a freaked out Lexie. “Case in point.”

Regan chuckled. “You won’t get sympathy from Elena, hon.  She went two years without sex while she and Dex were separated.”

This surprised Lexie, although compared to her own long dry spell, she still held the record. She didn’t want to get into her past, so she stayed silent.

Regan shook her head. “Two years!  Holy freakin’ stars, how did you stand it?”

“Xanax, alcohol and my little battery-operated friend called the silver bullet—I don’t recommend the first two.”

“And if Jonas finds you with the last one and him still with blue balls, you’re in for it.”  Regan warned her earnestly, sounding like the voice of experience.” 

Elena brought their conversation back into focus.  “I’m surprised Jonas hasn’t told you about the new threats.”

“What new threats?” Lexie asked.

“Crap Elena, you’ve done it now.  I want to go on record that I wasn’t the one who spilled the beans, particularly when Jonas blows his top.”

“She has a right to know, Reg.”

“I agree, honey, but that doesn’t mean C4 won’t explode if he didn’t want her to know.”

“Just tell me, already!” Lexie all but screamed in frustration.

“Tell her, Regan.”

Regan looked extremely uncomfortable as she weighed her options.  “Fine, but if I get another flogging out of this, I’m going to hold you two responsible.”  With a heavy sigh, she spilled.  “Rick says there have been new threats and these are more specific.  One was against Elena, referring to her as ‘the songbird,’ which has Dex out of his mind.  With the two prime suspects dead, they don’t have a clue where they’re coming from except that it’s someone with access to The Club, some kind of mole.”

“That’s awful.  Why are they doing this?  What do they want?”

“The Club shut down, permanently.”

Elena expressed her confusion aloud.  “What I don’t get, is why the blackmail?  Dex says he didn’t even ask for money, just that the doors close forever.  Why not go to the press?  The outcome would be the same.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes puzzling over that.  She had a point. 

“There has to be more to it than meets the eye,” Lexie insisted.

“I think so, too,” Elena agreed, “but the possibilities are endless: a disgruntled member, religious fanatics, women’s rights advocates, domestic violence groups, you name it. Dex says they’ve received emails and letters from all of them.” 

“Fortunately, the location is still secret or there’d be protestors or picketers at the door as we speak. Rick says if it gets out, they’re finished, but that sounds like the blackmailer’s plan anyway.  No one would enter a sex and bondage club with a horde of paparazzi snapping their picture.”

It made Lexie angry.  “What business is it of anyone’s what we do at The Club?  We’re adults and it’s all consensual.  The nerve of some people!”

“Some people just have to have a cause to rally around.  I guess rescuing us poor abused submissives is the cause right now,” Regan reflected sarcastically.