Charity's Passion (28 page)

We fire into his lifeless body until we are standing face to face and fall into each other's embrace. I'm holding him up and he's holding me.

It's done.

It's so fucking done!

Everything is going to change now.

WE BROUGHT GARRETT TO
Dr. Cooper for his face; it was swelling and turning shades of red that none of us liked. The pain was catching up to him too.

There were pieces of cement still under his skin and his body was reacting to it. Fortunately they were able to get it all out without needing stitches or making it look any worse than it did. The holes were small enough that they used medical glue to close them, which will dissolve on its own.

"What are you telling Trisha?" I ask when they finally let him leave the emergency center. I couldn't ask it without smiling a little.

"I'm thinking grease splatter," he says with a smile. "You two flew in early this morning and since your driver had off, you called me. After picking you up at the airport and driving you home I tried to make you guys a little "welcome home" breakfast."

"Wow, you come out looking really sweet in this one," I tease.

Garrett laughs, which hurts his face. "Yeah, it's not killing my rep."

I can see that Justin likes the idea as he hears it. "Do you want to call her?" He asks me, sliding his arm around my shoulders. "Tell her what happened and ask her to meet for lunch."

"Are you up for that?" Garrett asks us.

Justin shrugs, "Not really, but we are living the part right now. We're exhausted and starving, just like two people that flew all night and didn't eat breakfast because their brother splashed hot grease on his face. We can sell it fairly easy right now."

"Your little burn story will sound even better coming from me, and if I don't tell her that Justin and I are back she will be pissed the hell off at me. It's time she found out neither one of you can cook breakfast worth a shit anyway."

"Hey—that was a little harsh," Justin defends, knowing damn well that it's true.

Garrett laughs and then grabs his face in agony while I ignore the both of them and use Garrett's phone to call my friend.

Trisha answers, "Hey handsome. I was wondering when you'd call."

I'll tease her later for that.

"Weee'rrre baaack!" I say, stretching my words out for dramatic effect.

"Oh my God!" She shouts in my ear. "Where are you, girl? When did you get in?"

"Very early this morning," I tell her. "We had Garrett pick us up, but that ran into an issue when he tried to make us breakfast. Do you have any idea how useless the two of them are for making breakfast? It's awful. Garrett actually burned his face and we had to take him to the hospital."

"Is he okay?" Her voice was full of raw panic and concern.

"He's fine, just some burns from some grease splatter; probably didn't even need the hospital but I insisted. It was sweet gesture that he tried, though."

"Thank God he's okay," she breathes, relaxing.

"So we're still starving; can you meet the three of us for an early lunch?" I ask.

"Absolutely!" She sounds exited again. "I can't wait to see you."

"Me too, I missed you," I tell her, which isn't a lie at all. "See you at the Grill in about thirty minutes?"

"See ya there," she says.

Justin pats his brother on the knee. "We have to stop and get you a new shirt."

Garrett glances down at it and nods while he asks, "How is John Roberts?"

"Perfectly fine," I tell him. "Malcolm took him home as soon as we gave them the word that it was all over. He did a sweep of his place just to be sure there wasn't anything left behind."

He still looks concerned. "What did we do with Franco's little girl?"

"She's with her maternal grandmother now. They're very grateful to have her back and very confused about where she's been, and that might be all they ever have," Justin answers sadly. "Child Services delivered her. All they told them was that a special task force was implemented to rescue Emma and eliminate the men that had kidnapped her."

"It's the best we can do for them," I add.

Garrett understands. "When they ask the authorities for details—there won't be any, and the grandparents will assume it’s all been covered up."

It seems cruel, but Panther must remain unexposed.

"It's over," Justin breathes as we step out of the hospital into the daylight. He turns to Garrett with exhaustion dripping from his face, without any sparkle left in his eyes, and says, "Panther is yours beginning right now. I'm out, and Lena is out. We'll help with resources from Panther Inc. of course, and advise you, help you with your plans and our connections, but no more operations. I pass all of that to you as of today."

Without any warning, Justin throws his arms around his brother and hugs him tightly. Garrett looks surprised and then completely grateful.

"Thank you for trusting me," Garrett says, returning the embrace.

"Wow—if the ladies from the office could see you two right now, hugging each other, they would be thanking the Lord," I tease, lightening the moment.

They let go of each other laughing, and we get in the car and drive someplace where Garrett can get a new shirt. While I wait for them, I call my mother and then Melissa before either one of them somehow finds out I'm home and I haven't called them.

Both of them were happy to hear from me and I promise them more details the next time we talk. They know the important things; where we went, that we had fun. It's good enough for now.

At the Grill, I am attacked. Trisha jumps from the table she was holding for us, not that there is any crowd at all at this time of the day, and she tosses her arms around me in a suffocating embrace.

It's good to be home and back in a familiar place. It's not just Trisha welcoming us, it's the bar itself, with its warm brick walls and Iggy Azalea singing "
Fancy
" overhead.

"I missed you so damn much," she squeals.

I laugh, "I missed you too."

Trisha hugs Justin as well, but Garrett only receives a blushing smile. Obviously they haven't gone any further in their relationship since before I left—since I fucked them up at the engagement party.

That has to be fixed soon.

"We need to order fast before one of us passes out," Justin jokes.

"You guys look exhausted; even you Garrett," Trisha tells us.

Garrett chuckles, "It was a long night, but nothing like it was for these two."

"I'm sure," Trisha says sympathetically.

"We definitely need some sleep," I agree, "but we just had an AH-MAY-ZING trip. And now that that part has passed I can start planning the next thing—I have a wedding to put together."

Trisha stomps her feet excitedly under the table. "I'm so f'n excited," she squeals, her voice as high-pitched as I've ever heard it. "Melissa and I are already planning our parts."

Justin looks at me with a deep seriousness. "You should pick our date," he says. "I don't want to wait; my life is with you."

Swoon
.

"Right now—here?" I ask.

He shrugs, "Why not? How much time do you need for planning? If you're fast we can still have a summer wedding this year."

I look for any sign that he's teasing me, but I don't find it—
he's dead serious.

As if I need proof, he pulls out his cell phone and opens his calendar.

"Justin, it can take months or even a year to plan something like this," Trisha tells him.

"If you think I'm waiting a year to marry this woman, you're absolutely fucking crazy. You forget the strings I have and the fact that I'm willing to pull every one of them for this."

"Ladies, I think he's pretty serious about this," Garrett interjects.

Maybe it should scare me a little, but it doesn't. I'm caught up in it with him. I love this gorgeous man, and I want him to be my husband as quickly as it can happen.

"I'll do it tomorrow," I tell him. "But we do have to put some things together first. I need a dress and that's no easy thing by itself. We need a hall to have it in. Even pulling strings, we need a couple months."

"Fine! Two months." He flips ahead in his calendar. "September sixth or the thirteenth?"

My smile is unstoppable.

Trisha is literally on the edge of her seat loving every damn second of this.

"The thirteenth, just to be safe," I say at last.

"Done—start looking for a dress."

WE SLEPT THE REST
of the day away each other's arms, both of us unable to stay awake any longer. The hours passed silently and undisturbed until the sun was long past the horizon.

When my eyes pry themselves open, our bedroom is dark and peaceful. Next to me, Justin is sprawled along the sheets with one of his hands holding mine his sleep. I enjoying looking at him for a few minutes, but I have to go to the bathroom.

I've tried slipping out of the bed on Justin before and it doesn't work, so this time I simply roll to the edge and get up, not careful at all. Of course this time he isn't disturbed a bit. His beautiful chest muscles rise and fall with his slow breathing, and the bulge under the sheet near his waist makes my warrior twinge. We still need to celebrate our victory in our special way. I know that's coming as soon as he wakes up; his appetite is going to be like a bear coming out of hibernation—just like mine is now. I want him to ravage me. We are freer than we have been for months, more than we have been for our entire relationship, and now I've slept. My lustful appetite needs to be fed and Justin is what I'm craving.

I leave the room and go to the bathroom in the dark. I hear a noise while I'm in there, something soft and slow moving around in the other room. I'm pretty sure it's Justin coming to look for me. That makes me twinge again. When I'm done and walking out, Justin is standing there waiting as I thought he'd be, his face full of desire and his cock at full attention.

Without an unnecessary word, he lifts my t-shirt off and lets it drop to the floor, then he slides my panties down my goose-bumped legs.

While he's crouched below me, after lifting my feet one at a time to remove my underwear completely, Justin grabs my thighs, spreads them, and lifts me off the floor. My bare back climbs up the wall and I hold on to his hair, partly for balance, but mostly with the anticipation of his tongue.

Justin drops to his knees and then lowers me until I'm practically sitting on his face. His tongue crushes me with an exhilarating force, making my fluids flow heavily into his mouth.

"Oh Jesus fuck, Justin! I want you so bad right now."

All I can do is hold onto his hair and rock my hips to grind my pussy harder against his handsome face while the pleasure darts around through all of my extremities. His strong tongue swirls circles around my stiff clit that make my head spin with them, and his hands squeeze eagerly into the fleshy backs of my thighs until I feel like I might launch off his chin.

I know this is just the start, a tease for my body, but I already feel the threats of an orgasm throbbing inside me.

"Don't make me cum too fast; I want it to last," I beg.

He picks me up off his face and lets me slide all the way down the wall until I am sitting on the floor in front of him, my legs around each side of him.

"You'll cum the very moment I decide to make you cum."

He releases my legs, gets up, and turns me around as he pulls me forward to my hand and knees, towering over me. For a moment he makes me wait, my breasts swinging below me, my warrior parts open and arching upward to let him know I'm ready. I want to beg for him, but I know better; he would only make wait longer.

Fuck me you bastard!

Suddenly he smacks my ass. The sexy sound of it echoes in the darkness and the sting trickles into my hot, wanting desire, making me clench in tiny, ravenous convulsions.

"Again. Smack me again, please!"

He gives me what I need, his bare hand whipping the other side of my ass, and this time his fingers follow the wonderful sting into my wetness.

"Oh fuck!"

My arms and legs tremble under the satisfaction.

Justin leans forward and his warm tongue touches my back and begins licking and tasting its way down my spine while he strokes my G-spot.

"Your skin is toxic to my self-control," he growls. "I'm captivated when I feel you."

He removes his fingers and his tongue drifts towards my ribs. Just as it begins to tickle he smacks my ass again, giving me gentle and rough at the same time.

My moans are bellowing through our home and I know that turns him on.

"Every inch of you is like candy," he says before running his mouth over my waist and hip with his tongue darting out to lap at my flesh.

His hand returns to my hot warrior parts, his thumb strumming my trigger in tortuously slow strokes. My stiff nub pops out from under the pressure of his touch and it makes me jump each time, the muscles in my stomach tightening uncontrollably. I feel his other hand gliding along my skin to my hanging breasts where he pinches one of my nipples.