Page 44 of Blood & Bond (The Bouchers #2)

The room around us was silent. Turning my head from side to side, I found that at some point, the rest of the occupants had left.

“I think your swearing scared them off,” Ambrose joked, smiling down at me.

“My prowess, you mean,” I countered, shoving my hips upward like I could throw him off.

“Oh, I’m sure it was that.”

“Ugh.” I dropped my head to the mat and sighed. “You wore me out.”

“This morning?”

I looked at him in confusion for a moment before I realized what he was talking about.

He’d woken me up by playing with my nipples, and I’d paid him back by riding him into two orgasms. My thighs had burned for an hour afterward.

“That too.” I smiled, tilting my head so he’d lean down and kiss me.

His tongue slid over my lips so softly that I groaned, but when I tried to press closer, he pulled back, just out of reach. He did it again and again, not putting enough pressure to satisfy me, but dragging me along the edge until I wanted to smack him.

“Kiss me,” I ordered as I stared into his eyes. They crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

“Say please.”

I loved the playful side of Ambrose that I’d seen more and more as the days passed and our connection deepened, but I had no patience for it in that moment.

Fire raced down my spine, and my back arched, pressing our lower bodies together even more.

“Oh, it’s like that,” he said, his eyes darkening.

He let me go in an instant and flipped me over before I could reach for him.

I felt the sting before I’d even realized what he’d done, but I was prepared for the second time he smacked my ass.

He paused, waiting for my reaction. When I tilted my hips up in response, he groaned and smacked the first cheek again, making it throb.

“We can’t do this here,” I reminded him as both of his hands gripped my ass, kneading them with his fingers and prolonging the burn.

“Up,” he whispered in my ear.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed his hand as he strode toward the door to the garage. We hurried through the house like a couple of kids trying to get away with something, but we’d only made it to the second stair when Charlie surprised us by calling out my name.

I spun around in shock to see him making his way through the living area.

“Hey,” I called, jumping back down the bottom two stairs. “What’s up?”

“Do you still have that camera?” Charlie asked. “You know, the one you had in Europe?”

“Of course.” It was still in my bag. I should probably unpack that thing and take over a couple of Ambrose’s dresser drawers. I needed to buy some new clothes too. It was getting pretty old washing them every few days if I didn’t want to live in Ambrose’s pajama pants and T-shirts.

“Could I see it?” Charlie asked. “I was talking to Mom, and I thought she’d like to see those pictures you have. I know I said I didn’t want to see them before but, um, I think I would now.”

“Absolutely,” I said softly, reaching out to grip his bicep.

God, he was so skinny. He’d been eating, but without even the exercise of walking around the house, he’d started wasting away.

“I’ll go get it, okay? Are you going to stay down here?”

“I thought we could maybe use the projector?” he said tentatively. “So everyone could look at them?”

“That’s a great idea. Should we set it up in here?” I glanced at the windows letting sun into the living room.

“Let’s set it up in my parents’ rooms,” Ambrose said, still standing on the stairs. “They have the most space.”

Charlie left to round everyone up, and I followed Ambrose upstairs to get the camera and the projector that had been sitting on the counter for the past couple of weeks.

When we reached our rooms and the door shut behind us, Ambrose locked it quickly and pushed me toward the couch.

“Camera,” I reminded him, and he pressed firmly on my back, bending me over it.

“We’ll be quick,” he replied, yanking down my leggings.

Cool air brushed over my skin before he pressed his lips against the cheeks of my ass, soothing the remembered sting.

I arched and widened my legs as much as my leggings would allow, and seconds later, he thrust inside me.

The feel of him hadn’t gotten old. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of it.

I braced my hands on the seat of the couch and moved in counterpoint as waves of warmth flowed through my veins, amplifying everything.

It was fantastic every time. When Ambrose slid his hand beneath me and circled my clit with a single finger, I came with a cry.

Less than a minute later, he followed me into the abyss.

Closing my eyes, I let my head drop onto my forearms as he slowly pulled out.

“Camera,” he said huskily. “Projector.”

“I don’t want to move,” I grumbled.

Ambrose chuckled and gently pulled my leggings back into place. “Go clean up, love.”

I stumbled to the bathroom, and when I came back out, Ambrose was standing by the door holding everything we needed.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” I chided him, throwing open the door.

“I wasn’t just going to leave you.”

It was as simple as that for him.

Everyone had already gathered in Matilda and Erik’s main room when we got there, and while Chance and Ambrose set up the projector, I surreptitiously looked around.

The room was bigger than the ones their sons had, but not by much.

There wasn’t a kitchenette or dining area, and in the middle of the wide room, they’d placed a small sectional couch.

The fabrics and carpets were all done in light neutrals, giving the space an airy feel that the other rooms lacked with their masculine furniture.

I loved it, and I wondered if Matilda would let me see what she’d done with the bedroom and bathroom before we left.

Erik sat in the center of the couch with Matilda curled up next to him.

He had his arm around her, and she’d pulled her knees up to her chest with her toes tucked halfway beneath his thigh.

To their right, Beau sat with Reese in his lap.

Then Danny, with his elbow on the arm of the couch, his chin resting on his hand.

Charles sat down next to Matilda, clasping his hands nervously between his knees. She reached out and rubbed his back.

I walked over and sat down on Charles’s other side.

As soon as the lights had been dimmed and the projector turned on, Ambrose handed me the camera. I turned it on and scrolled to the first photo, the one with Zeke standing behind Charlie, his arms wrapped around Charlie’s chest.

My brother let out a shuddery breath beside me.

“This was the first picture I took,” I explained as we all stared at Zeke’s handsome face. “I think that was the day after we’d met Zeke. Right, Charlie?”

“Yeah, the day after,” Charlie confirmed quietly. He nodded, and I knew I could move on to the next photo.

I moved through the pictures, explaining what was happening in them and trying to give as much detail as I could. Charlie added things sporadically, correcting me when I got something wrong, but for the most part, he just sat there silently, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Everyone else sat silently, absorbing the little piece of Zeke that they’d never seen.

A thousand memories bombarded me, but I thought I kept it together pretty well.

I loved seeing Zeke and Charlie together in the photos.

It reminded me briefly how well and how deeply my brother had been loved.

Plus, I just missed my brother-in-law. For all his faults, he’d been genuinely good and kind and funny.

I knew I was reaching the end of the photos when a picture popped up on the big screen of Charlie and Zeke cuddling on the couch in the last hotel room we’d stayed in together.

“This was in Belgium,” I explained. “A day or two before Zeke left. It was late, and we’d just finished way too much dessert from room service. I think Charlie was complaining that he’d eaten too much and Zeke was babying him, even though we’d both told him that he was going to make himself sick.”

“It was so good,” Charlie mumbled, making the family around us chuckle.

I stared at the photo. Zeke was sitting on the couch, and Charlie was lying next to him, with his legs thrown over Zeke’s thighs. One of his feet dangled off the edge of the couch, but the other was held in Zeke’s right hand. He’d been rubbing Charlie’s feet.

Zeke was in profile, his head tipped down toward Charlie’s. My brother had one arm curled under his head to prop it up so he could see his mate. The other was lying loosely across his belly.

Completely wrapped up in each other.

I pressed the button to go to the next photo, but all that was there was a black screen.

“Oh, I must’ve taken a photo of my finger or something—” I started to explain.

I jumped in surprise when the screen suddenly changed, and Zeke’s face was staring back at me.

Charlie rose to his feet with a sob.

“Hey, baby,” Zeke said, his eyes bright. “I’m not sure when you’re seeing this. Hopefully, you’re not, and I was able to come home to you and delete it from Lucy’s camera before she ever noticed it.”

I put a trembling hand to my mouth.

He was there. He was looking right at us. No, he was looking at Charlie .

“I didn’t want to make this video. I put it off as long as I could, but now it’s almost time for me to go, and I didn’t want to leave without making sure you had it.” Zeke looked down and ran his hand through his hair. The gesture was so Zeke that I heard more than one person’s breath catch.

“Maybe we should go,” I whispered, gripping Ambrose’s thigh.

“Stay,” Charlie ordered, not looking away from the screen.