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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ICEMAN

O nce Bones removed the drainage tube from my chest, my recovery was pretty straightforward.

It took time, of course, but he had me on my feet within days and as much as I was in agony and begged him to let me piss in a bottle rather than go to the bathroom, in hindsight, getting moving again helped my muscles to start working as they should.

I think Bones and Saint almost came to blows a few times.

Bones was a young doctor and, like Freya, had qualified early because he was some kind of medical prodigy genius whose grandfather invented some heart valve contraption.

But along with his confidence, also came a touch of arrogance, and if there was one thing Saint hated, it was an arrogant man.

Therefore, she pushed back more often than not.

I saw a different side to her because until then, I’d only ever witnessed sweet, so when she turned fiery it shocked me at first, then very quickly turned me the fuck on ‘cause she only ever got fiery for me, and what man wouldn’t love that down to his dick?

None, that’s who .

Except, I couldn’t fuck, it hurt too much. Even the pain of getting a half-chub took my breath away, so I had a lot of semis go to waste.

My mom and dad hung around for a week after I woke up.

I loved my parents to distraction, but their bickering drove me insane, so by the time they left for the airport, I was ready to see them go.

I gave them a promise that we’d visit for Christmas, so Mom seemed happy to leave as long as I promised to FaceTime her every night so she could check on my recovery.

That was also the day I moved out of the medical wing and back into the suite with Saint. I felt bad for my woman because she had to run around after me, but I was okay to move around by then, so I went downstairs to eat and sit in the bar for an hour every night and shoot the shit with the boys.

It was there that I finally got to talk with Diablo.

We got on well, and always had, but we’d never been close.

I didn’t really get Diablo and his decapitated body parts, chop-a-cock thing, so I tended to keep him at arm’s length.

The thing was, Saint and D seemed to have become new BFFs, so I had no choice but to spend some time with him, and I was pleasantly surprised when Hendrix told me how D had stuck to Saint like glue while I’d been out for the count and made sure she was safe and protected.

A man like that deserved my respect, frankly, because he’d earned it, and not just by saving my life, but also by caring for Saint the way he did when I couldn’t. He saw her heart, the same way I did, so we had that in common at least, and it was something I could work with at long last.

We were sitting at a table because it stung like a motherfucker to get up and down on a bar stool. Diablo had joined us, and Saint had taken Gigi to the ladies' room .

I took in his black eyes, his olive skin, and his dark beard, noting how two men couldn’t be more different.

Diablo was good-looking but for some reason, he wasn’t popular with the ladies or even the club whores.

They fucked him and didn’t complain about anything but they also didn’t flock around him the same way they did with, say Gambit and me (pre Saint, of course).

“I never thanked you,” I muttered.

He hitched a thick, black brow. “That’s because you don’t have to.”

“You saved our lives,” I went on.

He waved a hand nonchalantly before reaching for his beer with it. “Honest, Iceman. It ain’t a thing.”

“Never be able to repay ya,” I continued, ignoring his protests. “Never be able to make up for what you did.”

“You’ve got nothin’ I want,” he muttered, his eyes sliding in the same direction Saint had disappeared in not long before.

I took in his wistful gaze and the pink of his cheeks and said, “Yeah, I have. Owe you everything, and you can take anything apart from her. She’s the one thing in this world I could never give up.”

His eyes slashed toward mine, and he sighed resignedly. “Yeah, brother. I know.”

Suddenly, I felt choked up because more than anything, I wished there was a way he could get what he wanted, even though after everything he’d done for me and my girl, I’d kill him if he so much as tried.

“Owe you huge,” I repeated. “You’ve got my marker.”

One side of his mouth tipped up. “That’s a start.”

I grinned.

“Diablo!” a voice bellowed.

We both twisted in our seats to see Veep at the threshold of the bar .

“Is your phone on silent?” he bellowed.

“Yeah,” D bellowed back. “I was watching TV with Saint, and I didn’t want to be disturbed in case she fell asleep. Guess I forgot to switch the ringer back on.”

Blade held a hand up to stop the convo. “Don’t need your life story, Princess. Certainly don’t need to hear about your day watchin’ the fucking Kardashians and The Real Housewives of Bumfuck Nowhere . Prez wants ya in his office.”

“On my way,” D said, getting to his feet. He drained his beer and went to amble away.

“D!” I called out.

He stopped and twisted his neck to look at me.

I smiled. “You’ll find her one day, brother.”

He tilted his head. “Who?”

“Your woman,” I explained. “The one you wanna go to bed with every night. The one you wake up next to every mornin’. The one you breathe for. She’s out there somewhere.”

He stilled for an instant, frozen to the spot. Then, after a minute, he gave me a lopsided grin and a chin lift before turning around and strolling away.

My eyes followed him, and I said under my breath, “You’ll meet her, bro. You’ve got too much heart not too, but in the meantime...”

I twisted again in my seat, ignoring the pain the movement sent searing through my chest, and caught Heather’s eye. Shooting her a conspiratorial wink, I jerked my chin, signaling for her to come over.

She beamed, put her drink down, and came waltzing over. “You okay, Iceman?” she asked sweetly. “You need another drink?”

“Where’s Arizona?” I asked.

“Showering. Carina made her vacuum the first and second floors today, so she’s freshening up before she comes down.” Her forehead furrowed questioningly. “You okay? ”

“I’m good, sweetheart,” I murmured. “But I wondered if you’d do me a favor. You and Arizona. First of all, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest. Have you gotta problem with Diablo?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she shook her head. “He’s different, and a bit weird, but I haven’t got a problem with him. He’s quite sweet, really, when you get to know him.”

“Good. The thing is, Diablo did me and Saint a solid, and I wanted to do something for him, a bit of a treat. Did you know the dude’s never had a threesome? And you know how you’re all up in Gambit’s dick ‘cause you like his cologne? Welllll, D’s never had that either.”

A light gleamed in Heather’s eyes, and she smiled huge. “Really?”

“Yep, really.” I waggled my eyebrows. “Do you think you and Arizona would be up for...?”

“I’m up for it if she is.” Heather giggled coquettishly. “And you’re right, he does deserve a treat.” She pulled out her cell phone and clicked on it before holding it against her ear. “I’ll ask her now.”

I sat back in my chair, suddenly feeling very pleased with myself.

Maybe I couldn’t give Diablo what he really wanted, but one thing I could arrange was for him to have the night of his life. One he’d never forget.

The fucker deserved that at least.

—————

“Baby,” I breathed, my hips jerking uncontrollably as Saint sucked me deep down her throat. “Fuuuuuck.”

Her fingers stroked my balls. I felt her throat close around the tip of my dick good and tight as she swallowed, then she hummed .

“Goddamnit,” I yelled. “Fuck yes!” I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw as my cock erupted like a lava-filled volcano.

Saint hummed again, and I almost hit the roof when I was catapulted to the goddamned heavens.

The cum spurted from my dick and down my woman’s throat with a force that shocked even me.

My eyes rolled in the back of my head when I felt her throat work as she swallowed it all down as if it were the best beverage in the world.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” I panted softly as I drifted back down to Earth. “What the fuck...?” I was so spent that I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. My woman sucked me off so good that she made me forget how to goddamned speak.

She slid her hot, tight little mouth up my length and released me with a pop before she moved up the length of my body and burrowed her head into the crook between my neck and shoulder, asking, “Better?”

“Fuck yeah,” I scraped out, my chest rising and falling so hard that I thought I was about to bust a fucking stitch. “Never in my life have I come that hard,” I panted, my eyes drifting closed. “Jesus fuck, Saint. What magic is it you weave?”

“Throat control,” she announced.

I cracked an eye open. “Huh?”

“Singing lessons taught me how to control my voice and do throat exercises. Seems you’re getting the benefit of that at the moment, though I guess someone has to because the fans aren’t.”

A chuckle left my throat.

Fans' loss, my gain.

“Was thinking,” I murmured. “Why don’t we give it a few weeks so I can heal a little more and get off my pain meds, then we could jump on a flight, go to Vegas, and get married.”

Her body stiffened .

I pulled my head free of hers and peered down at her face. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed.

“Yeah, you’re okay, or yeah, we’ll go to Vegas?” I asked.

She wriggled up the bed so our faces were close and whispered, “Both.”

Leaning forward, I kissed her softly. “You wanna call your folks and ask if they wanna come?”

She shook her head, her gorgeous blue eyes clouding over with pain. “No. Unless I marry in a church, it doesn’t count in their eyes. According to Dad, Vegas is the Devil’s town. He wouldn’t step foot within ten miles of the place.” She let out a snort. “He won’t even come to LA.”

“You wanna get married in your dad’s church?” I asked. “It’s not really us, but I’d do anything to make you happy.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re right, it’s not us. Vegas is perfect. Can we get Elvis to marry us?”

“Fuck yeah,” I agreed. “That’ll be hilarious. But now I’ve gotta dilemma. Hendrix is my closest brother, but we owe Diablo everything. Who am I gonna ask to stand up with me?”

“Hendrix,” she declared. “I’ll take Diablo.”

My forehead creased. “Huh?”

Her eyes danced with humor. “D can be my Master of Honor. Get it? Matron of Honor... Master of Honor?”

A laugh escaped my throat, and I watched Saint hold her breath as she took in the expression on my face.

I used my hand to catch her jaw and tip her face so I could touch my mouth to hers. “Love you, Songbird,” I croaked.

“Love you, too, Jacob,” she whispered, then from nowhere she began to murmur familiar words that burrowed deep down into my soul.. .

Stage lights, sultry nights, halcyon ice blue.

Her fingertips swept over my eyebrows, and her gaze locked with mine.

Crowd chants, and your face haunts. Empty without you.

Lost pride, lost chance, lost love, lost souls.

Beyond my comprehension. Beyond my control.

Crowd chants, but your face haunts. I’m empty without you...

My eyes closed slowly as the emotions hit me from all sides.

It was mine.

That song.

It was all mine.

“Jesus, Saint,” I breathed, the enormity of the moment hitting me deep. “It was for me?”

She smiled. “Everything’s been for you since that first night, Jacob. You haunted me as much as you say I haunted you.” Her tone hardened slightly along with her eyes. “I just dealt with it in a way that didn’t involve club whores and group sex.”

I wrapped an arm around her neck, grinning from ear to ear. “Some might say I lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, baby.”

“You certainly had the groupie part down,” she drawled.

I clasped her face in my hand again, pulling it around so I could see her beauty.

“All in the past. Nothing comes close to you. Had a love once that I lost, and I swore I’d never love like that again, then I met you, a girl who blew that theory out of the water.

Gonna get married, have babies, and live happily ever after, You down with that, Saint McClure? ”

Her eyes welled with tears, and she beamed me another megawatt smile, saying the words that made me feel like I stood ten feet tall.

“I love you, too, Jacob, but then what do you expect? You’re my muse.”

For some reason, seeing Saint’s face put me in mind of a different face. One I hadn’t seen for twelve years but loved all the same. I settled back on the bed, clasping my woman to me, and sent up a prayer.

Wherever you are, Allie. I hope you’re at peace.

And hand to God, I heard Allie’s sweet voice whisper faintly...

I am now, honey. I am now.