Page 60 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson (A Sawyer Brothers Story #1)

Casting him an eye, I shrugged, “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know,” I said with a cheeky grin and removed the picnic blanket from under my arm. Hudson gave me a saucy look, which I read as a promise that I would pay for that one later. I sure did hope so.

He then dropped our bag and started helping me to place our tartan sheet across the sand.

“Are you good with beer or do you want something else?” he asked as he straightened and removed his tee. I glanced down at his stunning body, highlighted by the glow from the bonfire further down the beach. “Molly Miller, please do stop, you’ll make me blush,” Hudson teased.

I stepped forward and put my arms around his neck. “I’m allowed to ogle you now, girlfriends’ rights and all that. ”

The irises of his eyes seemed to darken as he placed his hands around my waist. “Is that so?”

“Yep.”

I bent my head backwards, and he swooped to nuzzle my neck. “Well, if that’s the rule. What about my rights?”

“What do you want?” I said, breathlessly, as he playfully nipped the skin of my throat with his teeth.

“I’ll show you later.”

“OK, enough, you guys. You’re giving Reed a hard on,” Phoenix said, grabbing a beer and tossing it to Hudson. He caught it and stepped back.

“Cheers, man.”

“Molly?” Nix questioned, waving a bottle of Bud in the air. I lifted my hand and shook my head.

“No thanks.”

“I’ll get you a soda if you want.” I loved that there was no pressure to consume alcohol from him. At the last party I went to in England, the lads always seemed desperate to get the girls plastered.

I said yes, and Hudson kissed my nose. “Look after my girl boys,” he said to his brothers, who all agreed by saluting him with their bottles.

His protectiveness was welcome, but I whispered. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Hudson passed his beer to Reed, “Drink it and you die,” he stated, and then tugged me before him. “You’re mine now, Molly Miller, and we’re exclusive. I’m territorial and over-protective. I hope to hell that you can handle that.”

I smiled and nodded, and he brushed his nose across mine, saying. “Give me a minute. And don’t go near the water without me.”

You couldn’t help but watch his backside and the way it flexed as he walked across the sand to where the drinks were. Supposedly, Storm’s family had provided all the booze, which I found incredible considering everyone was underage. Hudson told me her father was the mayor and they were uber-rich.

I felt very aware of the looks of appreciation the girls surrounding us sent him. And why wouldn’t they? He was the best-looking guy there and had a body that would be the envy of any fitness trainer. And he was mine.

The banter then started as I began to remove my shorts and top.

Everyone was talking about the game. We all sat in a circle with our stuff in the middle.

In our group, there were Micah, Reed, Phoenix, and Nash Straker.

He introduced the girl perched between his legs as Miranda.

There was also Sasha and her boyfriend, Mason and of course, Courtney, who was all over Nix like a rash.

Hudson had come clean in the car about the situation with Sasha in the locker room.

He’d said it was a joke and that she and her boyfriend were very much in love.

It had been his eighteenth birthday that day, and she was there to surprise him in the locker room.

I peeled Hudson’s jersey off my body, inhaling the scent as the material passed my face.

“Woah, there, princess,” Reed suddenly said, pushing to his feet and glancing around the space. He looked worried.

“What?” I said, wondering what was wrong. I flicked a look down at my bikini to reassure myself that I didn’t have a boob hanging out or something.

All Hudson’s brothers and Nash were staring. “What’s up, you guys?”

Nix cleared his throat and pushed Courtney off his lap. She slid to the side. “Has Hudson seen what you’re wearing?”

I frowned, suddenly confused. Didn’t I look nice? “No. Not yet. It’s new.”

All the men in the circle exchanged a worried look, apart from Phoenix, who shifted from his position on the floor to one of the empty chairs.

“Why did you move up there? You got a numb ass or something?” Courtney mumbled, crossing her legs, looking affronted.

“Nope. Just getting a better view for the fireworks,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“There are fireworks?” I said, dusting some sand off my feet.

Micah started laughing, and Reed rolled his eyes. “The fireworks when Hudson sees you in that.”

“I don’t get it? Don’t I look nice?”

“Nice? Baby girl, cupcakes are nice. You look smoking hot,” Micah husked.

“I’d back the fuck up, unless you want another ass kicking from Hudson.”

Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Micah explained with a wink. “Can’t blame a brother for trying, and I did meet Molly first. And did he fuck kick my ass. Dude took me by surprise, is all.”

And then the penny dropped. Hudson wouldn’t want everyone else to see so much of my body. And Micah was wrong, as I’d met Hudson in the library before Storm had introduced us in the hallway that day.

“Well, he’ll just have to deal with it? ”

“Yeah? Try telling his psycho ass that?”

“Try telling my psycho ass what?” Hudson said. And I turned to the sound of his voice.

His expression was one of shock at first and then hunger. His eyes scanned my body like I was the tastiest of treats.

“Fucking hell, you should come with a warning.” He didn’t say anything else. I remembered I’d told him once that the day would not come when I allowed him to tell me what to wear. And he didn’t.

For the first half of the party, Hudson kept me tucked to his side. Anyone who looked in my direction was dealt with something you could only describe as a death glare, but he didn’t mouth off.

I enjoyed the banter in our group, and about an hour into the evening, Harper appeared. She was in good spirits, and any awkwardness seemed to have dissolved. It felt amazing sitting on the sand between my boyfriend's legs as he nuzzled my neck and we all put the world to rights.

It was like the most perfect of nights. I had no thoughts that anything bad would happen. Far from it. How wrong a person could be.

*****

The temperature started dropping, and I tugged my denim shorts back on over my suit. The breeze was much cooler than when we’d first arrived, and the bonfire was dying, so I tugged Hudson’s jersey back on.

“It’s getting cold, isn’t it?” Harper said, plonking herself into the camping chair Phoenix had been using.

“Do you want to move closer to the fire?” The look of alarm that flashed across her features told me I’d said the wrong thing. Of course, Harper lost her parents in a house fire, silly Molly. “Sorry,” I added, and she gave me a small smile.

“It’s fine. Beach bonfires aren’t so bad,” she explained, glancing over her shoulder towards the embers.

Hudson and the boys had excused themselves to take a leak, leaving Harper and me to guard the stuff. They’d been ages, so I wasn’t sure what spot they'd chosen, most likely somewhere behind the tree line past the rocks .

I was about to ask Harper if she wanted water when her expression clouded as she glanced behind me. I could sense someone was there, so I dropped the hairbrush and turned around.

It was Xander Creed. The embers highlighted parts of his face, and he didn’t look good. He’d been beaten. I scanned the beach, looking for the guys. Did that explain why they had taken so long? Were they somehow responsible?

“What happened to your face?” I gasped, not even bothering with hello.

Xander stepped forward, his eyes frantic as he raised his hands. “There’s no time for that,” he began, his tone suggesting he was upset. He looked more like a scared boy than a criminal.

I touched his arm, glancing over my shoulder and back again. “You shouldn’t be here. If Hudson sees you…” My voice turned to vapour.

Xander jumped in, gesticulating with his arms. “I don’t give a shit about his jealous bullshit.”

I opened my mouth to correct him, but he raised a finger to shush me.

“I’ve come to warn you, Molly. There may be trouble here tonight,” Xander rasped, again darting a look around the space.

As I stared beyond the bonfire, I could see a group of jocks from St Andrew’s.

That must have been the possible trouble he was talking about.

Shit. Had they come to cause beef because they lost the game?

“Trouble? From St Andrew’s. Why, it was a fair game,” I exclaimed as Harper came to join me.

“Is Nick with you?” she asked Xander.

Ignoring her, he stated. “Look, I’m not sure, but my father may have sent a couple of his men here,” And my blood ran ice cold. His father’s men. Xander and Nick’s father, aka the drug baron, as Phoenix had called him at Nash’s party.

Harper and I exchanged a look. “What? Why?”

Xander started pulling at his hair. “They’re looking for Micah Mehari.”

“About what? The money he owes?”

“No. That’s nothing in the scheme of things. Someone broke into my car.”

My brow furrowed as he started to pace in front of us. “And you think it was Micah?”

He dropped his arms and fisted his hands by his side. He then took a deep breath and explained. “I don’t know, but whoever did, they stole something—some packages. I need them back.”

I dashed a hand of frustration through my hair. “Packages full of drugs, I take it? ”

“Yes. But not the usual stuff. This belongs to my father’s business partner. Three bricks are missing, that’s three kilos and I’m in the shit,” his voice cracked. He was so different from the calm man I had met previously. Xander was skittish and didn’t stay still.

What were bricks? I’d never heard of that type of drug.

I narrowed my eyes. Xander almost looked like he was on something himself. I noticed he wasn’t dressed for the beach in tailored trousers, and there was blood on the collar of his shirt. What the hell?