“Fine.” She pours another shot and lifts it to her lips. I snatch it from her hand and swallow it down. The burn of alcohol spreads swiftly through my chest and leaves my legs weak. I pull out the last remaining chair beside Mac and sit. “What happened after that?”
“One of them managed to tackle Quinn to the floor when the sound of a gunshot ricocheted through the room. That’s when we knew shit just got real.” Right, I think to myself irritably. Because drunk guys trashing your room and tackling you to the ground isn’t real enough. “There was this guy in the doorway wearing a hoodie and baseball cap with sunglasses covering his eyes. He had a gun and was demanding that Quinn leave with him. Well, I wasn’t having any of that, and I told him so. He pointed the gun at me, threatening to shoot me if Quinn didn’t go with him right that very second.”
“He pointed a gun at you?” Rage blinds me. I want to find this guy and throw his bloodied body into a cage of lions.
There’s no mistaking my fury and Mac nods, indignant. “He did.” She pours another vodka shot, and I notice the bottle shakes in her hand. My rage recedes. I take the bottle and set it on the table. Then I take both her hands in mine. They’re ice cold. “Are you okay?”
“No! I’m angry! All I could remember was Jimmy shooting Evie and seeing her bleed out on the floor. There was no way in hell I was letting something like that happen again. Not on my watch.”
MAC
“So I grabbed my gun and threatened to shoot him if he took one more step toward Quinn.”
“You what?”
Jake’s high tone makes me wince, and his hands squeeze mine so hard they turn purple. It’s exactly like I told him before. I took care of the situation. “Was I supposed to dither about a bit before calling in the people with penises to handle the crazy gunman?”
“Jesus, Mac, will you let it go?” He drops my hands, eyeing me with aggravation. “It’s not because I thought you couldn’t take care of yourself. I’m freaked out because it’s you, and I happen to care about you a lot.”
It’s possible I believe him. Slightly. “Well, anyway, Sean must have heard the noise, and he came in from behind and tackled the guy to the floor. There was a scuffle and he ran.”
Jake rubs at the stubble on his chin. He looks weary, but it’s better than looking on the verge of a heart attack like he did earlier. I nudge the full shot glass along the table, pushing it in his line of sight. He takes it and tosses it back.
“There is good news.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Travis knows now,” I tell him. “So you don’t need to worry about going behind my back to tell him.”
“I wouldn’t have done that. Believe me, Mac. I’ve learned my lesson. But I’ll be honest and say I would’ve done everything to convince you to tell them. I know things are tense between all of you right now, but Quinn is in a dangerous situation, and evidenced by tonight, it’s put everyone close to her in danger as well. Keeping your brothers out of the loop just leaves them unprepared and vulnerable too.”
“I agree.”
“Good,” Jake says, sitting back in the chair. He’s wearing a sleeveless tee shirt, biceps bared and arm veins popping from a demanding night of pounding the drums. His muscles ripple with the simple movement, and my adrenaline must still be surging in the aftermath because my body heats.
Jake stands and swipes the bottle of vodka from the table. Then he takes my hand and pulls me from my seat in one easy jerk. Standing an inch apart, he lets go to grasp my chin, his eyes searching mine. “You need me to take care of you?”
And just like that, he reads me like a book.
Just a simple nod is all it takes before I’m being led toward the bedroom.
Jake seats me on the edge of the mattress and pushes my thighs apart. He sinks to his knees between them and my breath quickens. He takes the hem of my Jamieson band tee shirt and tugs the soft cotton upward. I raise my arms and his calloused hands skim up along my rib cage, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
A light chuckle escapes me. He knows I’m ticklish there. I see his answering grin before it’s hidden when the shirt comes over my head.
Jake tosses it behind him and his hands return to my hips. He leans in and presses a kiss to my bare belly, and I shiver. His fingers trace lazy, maddening circles along my skin. The touch is featherlike and reverent, as if I’m going to break. It turns what I thought would be something rough and fast into something delicious and sweet.
“Jake,” I say on a long moan when he unclasps my bra and takes a nipple inside his mouth. He sucks sharply and the deep pinch leaves an answering throb between my legs. My hips shift forward involuntarily and my fingers grasp his rounded shoulders tightly.
Jake sinks down, seated on his knees, as he reaches for the button on my jeans. He expels a short puff of air when it releases and the zipper slides slowly down. I lift my hips as he tugs them out from underneath me and down my legs, dragging my panties along with them. The action has drawn my legs back together. His large palms slide along my upper thighs until he’s nudging them apart again, leaving me bare to his gaze.
“Roll over,” he says in a low, gruff voice, surprising me, but I do it.
My boobs and belly are pushed into the mattress with my legs off the bed. He spreads them a little wider then his fingers find me. They slide through wet, slippery heat before rubbing over my clit and back. He repeats the action, over and over, until my ass rises instinctively in the air.
“Oh god,” I gasp when his mouth latches on to my clit and a thick finger slides inside me. In and out, in and out. And then another finger.
Jake groans when I push back against his face, my entire body pulsing with the need to come—and come hard.
Then his fingers pull out. It leaves me achingly empty, but they don’t disappear. Instead, he glides a slick finger upward until he reaches the tight ring of my ass. He brushes over it gently, once, twice, and oh my god.
“Jake!” His name bursts from my lips when the illicit touch disappears.
“You like it?”
“More,” I beg, reduced to one-syllable words. “Please.”
“Give me one second,” he says, his voice gravelly.
I turn my head. Jake is bent over, searching through the toiletry bag in my suitcase, his jeans pulling tight against his rounded, muscular backside. When he finds what it is he’s searching for, he straightens and rips off his jeans.
My head sinks into the bed, and I’m gasping when he returns with his finger slicker and more insistent. Jake’s mouth finds my clit again, and he sucks hard as that thick digit slides over my ass, pressing more firmly each time, until it eventually breeches inside. The invasion feels wicked and delicious.
“Is that good?” he asks, drawing back.
“Just …”
It’s the only word I can manage. Just keep going, I beg silently, lifting up on my knees and pushing my ass back toward him.
Jake hears my silent plea and that thick finger returns, rubbing firm along my ass until it pops back inside.