Hell Is Burning (14 page)

His wife was sleeping around.

His marriage
was
over. Brynn had opted to find someone else, making it all a lie.

Croft didn't wish this on anyone, let alone someone he loved.

“What about last night?” Greyson asked. “Where were you?”

“I was at home. I planned on waiting for Brynn to get out of work to talk, but me and my buddy whiskey had a few too many drinks. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep. I woke up this morning, got dressed, and headed out. Brynn works second shift in vice, and she doesn’t get up until ten in the morning.”

He shook his head.

“I meant she used to sleep until ten. Now…”

Emma squeezed his hand.

“I was going to suggest we go to counseling. I wanted to try and save our marriage. That’s what a good husband does, right?”

Greyson said nothing. He didn't think that Brynn was the one for Curtis, but that wasn’t his place. The young man needed to come to that conclusion on his own, and in his own time.

“Now it’s too late.”

Well, that boat sailed long before Brynn’s death, only they hoped Curtis didn't find out about it.

“God! What do I do now?” he asked. “I don’t know how to go on.”

Emma reassured him, “We’ll be here to help you.”

“I have to worry about her funeral, and then a burial site. She never told me what she wanted. I don’t know anything about this,” Curtis began. “I don’t really know anything about her.”

Greyson put his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“You can’t do that, Greyson. Not after what I did to you and Emma. I don’t deserve your help.”

He brushed it off. “We can’t release Brynn’s body yet, but when we can, I’ll make the arrangements, okay?”

He sniffled. “Thank you.”

“You should get some sleep,” Emma suggested. “That cat nap on my lap wasn’t what you needed. I have a few happy pills in the bathroom that you can take. The doctor prescribed them after I was abducted. They’ll help you sleep and chase away the bad dreams.”

She pulled him up from the couch and led him away by the hand.

“We’ll tuck you in, and if you need us, just call. Dante and Steele stayed here last night in the other room in case you need them. We’re all here for you.”

He didn't know what to say.

“Emma.”

She kissed him softly on the cheek. “Curtis, you’re home now. We’ll make sure you get through this.”

“I can’t stay here. Not after the shit I said.”

Emma took his face in her palms. “Yes, you can, and you will stay with us. We’re going to be moving soon, and you’re coming with us.”

He looked surprised. “Where are you going?”

“We had Randall’s house remodeled. You’ll have more space and privacy. You stay as long as you want. If you never want to leave, we’re okay with that. That’s going to be your home now too.”

He climbed into bed as she wandered off to get him that sedative.

It touched his heart how motherly she was with him. Curtis wished he’d had this growing up. Then maybe he’d be better with the opposite sex.

Then he wouldn’t have screwed up so badly.

“Yeah, I heard that you and Greyson are loaded now. I never saw that one coming.”

Yeah, neither had they.

She grinned. “God is loaded. We actually kicked his ass.”

Curtis laughed. “Can I have a pony?” he teased.

Emma dropped a kiss to the top of his head. “Sure thing, son. Let me get right on that.”

When she hit the lights and headed for the door, he called to her.

“Emma?”

“Yes, Curtis?”

“I love you.”

She smiled. “We love you too.”

When the door closed, he popped the pill sitting on the counter as he prayed that he wouldn’t think or dream. All he could see in his head was Brynn’s face, and it was haunting him.

So much so that he may never be the same again.

She found him in their bedroom getting changed. Immediately, she crossed to her husband and took his face in her palms to check on his nose.

“You’re lucky it’s not broken,” she stated. “He got some good hits in.”

He laughed. “Yeah, tell me about it. I didn't hit him back. Next time, all bets are off.”

Emma helped him slip out of his dress shirt. When he was free of it, she tossed it onto the chair in the corner of their room. Immediately, her mouth traced a line across his strong shoulders.

“You should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be hell,” he muttered, as her hands went around his waist to the button on his dress pants.

“Mmmm hmmmm,” she replied, leaving more fiery hot kisses across his flesh.

When her hand slipped into his pants, Greyson moaned. “Oh, Emma, this is exactly what I needed. After today, I want you to soothe all the rough edges like only you can.”

She loved the way her name sounded on his lips when he was lost in the pleasure. It was always amazing when she could make her caveman moan.

As she stroked his heated flesh, Emma wanted to share in the pleasure to help forget. “I need to heal tonight too, Greyson,” she whispered. “Make me feel. Claim me.”

That was all he needed.

The switch was flipped.

Gone was his very capable wife, and instead his sexy kitten wanted him. It was enough to make him melt before her. This need she had for him was all he craved in life.

Turning her around, his mouth sought hers. Immediately, he plundered, taking everything he wanted from the kiss. Tongues slid heatedly across each other in some erotic, age-old dance. His hands wandered until he found the front of her shirt. With one tug, buttons popped, material ripped, and Greyson had her partially naked.

Emma shook against him.

“Like this?” he muttered, teasing her throat and ear. The delicious taste of wife was an incredible luxury after a day of pure hell.

“Yes,” she replied, as he got her pants open and was exploring. When his long fingers slid through the wetness, further waking her up, Emma wanted to shout in joy.

This was what she needed.

To forget.

To feel.

To remember what it was to be alive.

She needed to revel in the fact that they both made it home again, and that they could take the time to make love.

Greyson was going to wake her up, take all he could, and refill all the emptiness in her body.

She couldn’t wait.

“Please,” she begged.

He loved her breathy little gasps. They were like soft purrs from his sexy kitten. It turned him on, making him want to take more and more from her.

He wanted everything.

Croft craved it.

This was
his
woman.

Turning her around, yet again, he yanked her back against him, so her back was pressed tightly to his torso. He wanted Emma to feel what she’d done to his body.

He was hard.

Ready.

Needy.

Only she did this to him.

Emma Croft was the key to his life, and he couldn’t wait to unlock what they shared.

“Oh, Emma, my sweet,” he whispered as his mouth began tearing her control to shreds. As his lips tracked the long line of her shoulders, like hers had done, his hands found her breasts. He cupped them, enjoying the weight in his hands. The slide of lace against his rough skin was erotic and so delicious, that he wanted to find his way home.

She shook against him.

When her breathy gasps filled the air, as he nibbled on her neck, Greyson wanted more.

“I want to feel you,” he whispered.

Emma pulled free before pushing him onto the bed. Greyson sat as his wife dropped to her knees.

“Oh, God,” he muttered before she even touched him. It was the whole picture.

His wife knelt before him, her hair was wild and riotous, and all he wanted was to feel.

“I’m going to kiss and make you better,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice low. They had company, and she didn't want them all to know she was getting her Croft on.

Or maybe that was getting her Croft off.

When her mouth found him, he dropped back to stare up at the ceiling. As Emma’s lips and tongue moved across his dick, he swore there was no better feeling in the world.

Then she started stroking him with her hand too.

Yeah, that was pure heaven.

His kitten was wicked, and Greyson loved every second of it.

With each glide of her mouth, he was one step closer to heaven. The pleasure wrapped around him in wave after wave of delicious heat.

His wife knew his body well. She hit all the highpoints without missing a beat. He was strung tighter than a bow, and his body was so very close to breaking apart.

“Emma,” he whispered. If he looked down at her, he was pretty sure he’d lose it. He could hear the wet sound of her mouth swallowing and releasing his erection, and the visual just might kill him.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he sat up and pulled her to his body.

She was surprised at first, and then pleased that she could push him past his control. That was one of her favorite things about her husband. While he was the man in charge of his world, and usually theirs, in bed she had control. “It’s too bad we don’t have more time. I would have let you tie me up and have your way with me.”

His heart pounded.

“Don’t tease, Emma,” he warned, slapping her on the ass. “You know that’s up there on my list of things I want to try out,” he admitted as she perched herself in his lap. Since the day he’d mentioned they didn't have any toys, Emma had gone out of her way to make him even crazier.

Suddenly, he was focused on his daydreams and not paying attention. Without warning, Emma slipped him into her body.

Greyson lost the ability to think.

Speak.

Move.

In fact, he couldn’t do anything that didn't involve his lower body. He was trapped in the moment.

“I love you,” she whispered, beginning to move.

He stared down, and his pants were still on, her panties were tugged to the side, and they were like two randy kids in the back of the parents’ borrowed car.

“I love you,” he muttered, watching his erection disappear into her body.

All he was thinking about was tying up his kitten. It got him hot and bothered.

“Grey,” she moaned, as she began shaking around him.

He knew it was coming, and he sealed his mouth to hers in preparation for the explosion. When she came, her body tightening down on his, Greyson fought hard. As soon as the waves of pleasure had abated, he pushed her off his lap and stood.

Emma watched him like some big, lazy cat. It was hard not to. Her husband took good care of his body. Every day, he’d sweat in the gym to hold back the effects of time. From the cuts of muscle to the molten silvery eyes, she was lost.

And that was a very good thing.

“Mmmmm, you’re really sexy,” she stated. “I’m a very lucky girl.”

Greyson dropped the rest of his clothes to the floor and yanked hers from her body. “I’m about to become a very lucky man.”

She grinned, and then the entire room shifted as he flipped her to her stomach. When Greyson pinned her to the bed, Emma wiggled her ass against his raging erection to torment him further. There was nothing like provoking her caveman.

“Aren’t you going to take me, Greyson?” she teased, begging for it.

He was thinking about tying her up, so she’d be trapped. He couldn’t help it. The visuals in his mind were so overwhelmingly hot, that there was a good chance he’d go up in flames. When he was able to focus, he pressed her firmly to the mattress before burying himself in her body.

She gasped at the invasion, and then was pulled to her knees. Greyson loved taking her this way, and obviously, Emma was on the same page. Her moaning and begging told the tale.

It was primitive.

It was hot.

It was typical of her caveman.

In all honesty, when his hands went into her hair to use it as leverage in their love making, Emma couldn’t complain. “More,” she whispered, as his breathing became labored. It wasn’t from the exertion, but the passion.

“Jesus, Emma,” he muttered, watching himself disappear into the warmth of her body. “This is always so hot.”

She wouldn’t complain. “Take me, Greyson,” she urged, knowing what would set him off, and it did.

He began pounding himself into her body--one hand in her hair--the other on her hip. With his sheer power, he was driving into her wantonly.

She loved it.

She craved it.