through Louisiana and no one has catered to your personal interests quite as well as me.” Micah had done things to help D’Angelo stay in a position of power that even his own family didn’t know about. One of them had left a scar on his shoulder.
“I like having a man I can count on. I can count on you, Micah. That’s why I was against you leaving the family to chase after that spoiled little girl.”
You could almost hear the growl rising from Micah’s chest. He knew one person had been in stubborn opposition to him leaving the family and it almost cost him his chance to be with her. Now he knew who that one person had been. As rough as it had been to watch her run from him, there was something about the experience he would never be able to regret for having gone through it.
“Of course you can forget about today, you’re not under any obligation by mob rules to do anything I ask of you. But I am obligated to do something about your brother.”
“I’ll do what you need done, but only if I have your word the contract on David is never executed. And he can’t know that’s why I’m doing this hit.”
“You’re both going to have to do this hit. It’s probably the most complicated you’ve ever tackled and he is the only one who has enough brains to help you do it. The two of you went out of this family at the same time and it’s going to take both of you coming back in to make this work. The price is right for the job. The supplier is willing to pay ten million U.S. to reopen their business routes.”
D’Angelo rose and stretched out his hand toward Micah, “Do we have an agreement? You save your brother’s ass, we get a new influx of revenue, and
Micah looked at D’Angelo as he stood up, dwarfing the man who had a propensity for impious scheming and self-promotion within the ranks of their orderly society. This would slow down his own plans he already put into motion, but if his plans failed, well the money from this job would keep him in the lifestyle he had grown so very accustom to over the years. He shook his hand, picked up the folder, and walked away.
Chapter Fourteen
It had been three weeks since we had moved to Colorado Springs and things were going remarkably well. There was no evidence that Micah had discovered our location, and our home had become a safe haven to enjoy with our friends and each other. Candace became a regular visitor and Ryan started teasing me, privately, that he should take us both to Utah and become a polygamist.
I politely declined, but I was glad he was starting to think of Candace in that way. I had a feeling there would come a place in our near future where Ryan and I would part ways and she would become the significant person in his life. All the signs were there; they teased each other relentlessly, and the last few days they had begun to touch each other, not in a sexual way, but little things like watching her reach over and touch his arm when she would say something to him, or slug his shoulder if she didn’t like something he said. Sometimes he would reach over and squeeze her shoulder or grab the back of her neck like he was going to rough her up, but of course it was all in teasing.
It was weird for me because I was fighting jealousy every time they got a little bit closer. I wanted him to find someone, but I still felt some kind of ownership to my security blanket. We didn’t sleep apart and over the last week, I didn’t need to be asleep for it to work. Some nights we would just lie awake and talk until the wee hours. He liked kissing my neck and I finally admitted I enjoyed it, but it pushed the line between us every time.
“So why do you like it so much?” he asked me as we cuddled preparing to go to sleep.
“Because it tingles all the way to my belly button,” I laughed as he placed another slow kiss on my neck. “The sensation is almost electrical.”
“It shocks?”
“Not exactly, look let’s try something, but don’t get the wrong idea.”
“I love it when you tell me not to get the wrong idea about something because I know I’m getting ready to get the wrong idea about something,” he snickered in my hair.
I rolled over and faced him, which was something I didn’t do when in bed with him, “Roll over.”
“You mean you want me to-”
“Yeah, you roll on your side and let me hold you for a little while. You’re going to tell me if this feels anything to you like it does to me. Let’s see if I can generate a little of this electrical feeling for you.”
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” he said, suddenly sounding very unsure about being the recipient of affection.
“Yes or no?” I asked simply. I didn’t want to do anything to make him uncomfortable, he was much too important to me to ruin a beautiful friendship.
“Okay, but if you lose your level head we’re both in big trouble.”
I didn’t know why he was concerned about it. It was true I’d only been on the receiving end of affection from him, but how hard could it be to draw a line and stop? “I’m not going to flip out and jump your bones, Ryan.”
“Okay,” he said softly, still sounding unsure, but rolling to his side.
“Well, it certainly isn’t going to be easy,” I laughed, trying to fit against him. “You’re like a giant from this perspective.” I slipped my arm around his waist, but had to move it up to his chest so I could get a good angle on his neck. And then I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” he asked seriously.
“I feel like a freaking vampire getting ready to bite your jugular!” I teased as I made a lunge for his throat.
“Damn that tickles,” he said, scrunching his neck.
“Okay, okay, I’ve got it under control. I swear all I’m going to do is kiss your neck and you tell me how it feels.”
He was still laughing, “You know this is kind of fun, Leese.”
“Be quiet and be still,” I warned as I prepared to kiss his bared skin. I didn’t think I was going to get into this, but as I breathed, nibbled, kissed, and suckled against his skin, I lost all sense of what I was doing. His reaction as he moaned and whispered my name only made me want to do more to him.
My hand, which was supposed to only be holding around his waist was feeling every gloriously muscled and softly sculpted part of his chest. My body had become molded to his as my hips began to move in a once familiar pattern against his body and the heat flooded me. I was breathing hard as I rolled away and began pulling his shoulder to roll him toward me.
When he turned to me, I was over the invisible line and I didn’t care. I knew the words I was afraid to utter were resting on the tip of my tongue.
“Leese, baby, are you okay?”
I took his hand and brought it to my breast and then closed my eyes as I permitted his touch. I could feel him gather above me, his muscled arms came around each side of me. My breathing was getting faster, as I felt his lips barely brush against mine.
“Shit, Leese, this is really going to happen, isn’t it? You’re going to let me do this when I don’t have a frickin’ clue what I’m doing. But you’ve got to ask me, baby girl, you have to do what you said or I can’t go any further.”
Micah, Micah, Micah, was all I kept screaming inside my head. “N-no,” I said pushing him away, my other hand went to my own forbidden places as I remembered Micah’s words that I didn’t need to have a man for this moment. In seconds the shockwaves hit me so hard I doubled over, turning away from Ryan and crying out at the sheer magnitude of the first orgasm I’d had since the last time Micah brought me to this point.
“What the hell was that?” came his stunned words.
I was still in a ball and crying my eyes out. I tumbled out of the bed and ran for the bathroom, nausea flooding my senses over what I’d done right in front of him. I washed my face, splashing the cold water on my skin and simply wanting to drown myself.
I felt his hands on my waist. Crap! I hadn’t locked the door. He never came in on me in the bathroom.
I grabbed a washcloth and buried my face into it, I couldn’t look at him. I was so ashamed. “I’m so, so sorry,
