Page 22 of Wild Card (Men of Action #4)

TALON

My hand glides over her ribcage, feeling the goosebumps in my wake. Her nipples harden, pressing into my chest.

It takes all my control not to rip apart the material between us.

Her thighs tighten around my waist, her hips grinding down every inch of my aching dick.

Vaguely, I hear the hum of a motor and the chime of my phone.

“Fuck.” I tear my mouth away from Willow’s.

Anger burns in my chest as the gorgeous, sexy haze on her face turns to puzzlement when her eyes flutter open.

“We have company.” I reach into the water, adjusting my steel-hard cock and wanting to kill someone.

She unhooks her legs, trying to push me off. “How do you know?”

Right as she asks, Wolf leaps from the pool deck and hobbles to the side gate, his tail wagging. This sets her wiggling harder, her center driving straight down on my aching cock.

“Princess, you have to stop.”

She freezes, her eyes going wide. “Sorry.”

“Stay where you are.”

“Won’t that make things… harder?” The mischief in her question tells me she’s enjoying this. The woman is trying to kill me.

The gate swings open and Jewls wheels the double stroller around the corner with Harley close behind.

Jewls stops for Wolf, giving him a rubdown and cooing.

“Oh my God! Babies!” Willow squeals, getting everyone’s attention.

Major and Ace come through behind them, and there’s silence as Harley and Jewls assess our position.

“There are children present, can you refrain?” Jewls scoffs, strolling the boys to the other end of the pool deck.

“Are you fucking serious?” I slice my eyes to Major, who’s wheeling a wagon filled with baby items. “We had a deal.”

He grins cleverly. “The boys wanted to swim, the sun is out, and this pool is heated.”

“Are you actually using your boys as the excuse?”

“Cockblocked by the twins,” Ace jokes.

I shoot him a glare to kill, which does nothing but make him smile wider.

“Oh my God, we-we-we’re not—” Willow’s stutter trails off.

“You should thank me.” Jewls plops down on a chair. “We could have prevented your own bundles of joy in nine months.”

“She’s the mother of twins?” Willow asks in wonderment, not fazed by her comment. “No way.”

“They look identical to their dad, but yes, they’re mine,” Jewls confirms.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking. It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” Harley sits on the pool edge next to us, rubbing her rounded stomach. “I only pray I can bounce back like her.”

“Bounce back, my ass. I still carry baby weight.”

“Shut it, Julianna. You’re fucking perfect.” Major sweeps her hair off her shoulder. She tips her head to the side, giving him her mouth.

The boys babble until their parents pull apart.

“Anyway, you didn’t expect us to stay away, did you?” Jewls unhooks the straps and hands the kids to Major.

I immediately zone in on their matching bathing suits. “Are those?—”

“Yes, they are beavers,” Harley finishes my thought. “Jewls’ brothers thought it would be funny to send them.”

“Little do they know, I took pictures that will go in our Christmas card.” Jewls strips off her cover-up, grabs two of the floats from the wagon, and comes into the pool.

“I think they are adorable,” Willow offers.

“I love them, but my mom will have a stroke when all our friends and family receive our card with her precious babies wearing shorts with beavers. My enjoyment will be watching Huey and Duey get reamed out.”

“Huey and Duey are nicknames for her brothers,” I clarify.

Major hands off the boys one by one to get them in the floats, then removes his shirt, coming into the water.

“Why do I get the impression you plan to stay a while?” I grumble.

Harley giggles. “You were right, baby. This is fun. And I totally see the twinkle in his eyes.”

Ace sits next to her, taking her hand. “Told you.”

“Okay, we’ve been rude enough. You’ve met my husband, Major, I’m Jewls, and these are our demons, Levi and Koby.”

“You know Achilles, but I’m Harley.”

“I’m Willow.” There’s a hitch in her voice as she tries again to step out of my hold. I ease up enough for her to stand but keep her in my arms.

“We know.”

“Good to see you again, Willow.” Major smiles knowingly at her.

“Y-y-ou too.”

I drop my gaze to see her eyes darting between the ink on Major and Ace’s chests. She’s too polite to ask, but her curiosity is evident.

“We all have identical dates,” I explain softly, knowing this could be a landmine. Her apprehension about my career—past and present—is already an issue for her fears.

“Is there a significance?”

“Survival.” I brace for any reaction.

“That’s really… touching.” She skims her fingertip lightly over the sequence.

“How are you feeling, Willow? We heard what happened.” Harley swings the conversation.

“I’m great. It was a fluke thing.”

“Nothing about finding you lifeless and bleeding was a fluke,” I counter cooly.

“That was a bit dramatic. I fainted and bit my lip. All was well after a few hours.”

“Doesn’t sound dramatic to me. Surprised he let you out of the hospital without cause,” Ace throws in his two cents.

“That’s because you are a barbaric nutcase. Talon is more refined.” Harley rolls her eyes.

“I should be fine to go back to work on Friday,” Willow announces.

“Not happening.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not going back to work until next week.”

“Says who?”

“Me.”

She tries again to get free. “Did you get a medical degree in the last hour that I don’t know about?”

“Nope.”

“Then you have no right to dictate.”

“How’s that for being refined?” Ace gives a slow whistle, while Major chuckles.

“Oh boy, we just met, but heed my advice. It’s better not to argue with them when they are set on something,” Harley advises breezily.

“Yep, go with the flow,” Jewls agrees.

The three women exchange a look that is clear to read. Willow perks up. “You’re right, maybe next week.”

Fortunately, I’ve had enough time to read these women’s minds.

She’s not fooling me, but it’s not smart to rile her up while we have an audience. Not sure how much more neglect my dick can take.

“Harley, how are you feeling?” Willow nods to Harley’s stomach. “Ace told me you were pregnant the day I met Rowdy.”

Harley cuts her eyes to her husband with a sneer.

“I’m sorry, was I not supposed to know?”

Harley shakes her head. “No, I’m still mad at Achilles for that day. The men kept you a secret.”

“Blame Talon,” Ace throws me right under the bus.

“I’m not blaming Talon. You’re my husband and aren’t allowed to keep secrets. Talon having a girlfriend is a huge secret!”

“To his defense, I’m not sure I’m the girlfriend.”

There’s a beat of silence before all of them burst out laughing, setting off a chain reaction from the boys.

“Wish you would have held out a little longer. It was fun watching this asshole squirm,” Major jokes.

“I don’t squirm. And I had my reasons for keeping my business tight. This right here is a prime example.”

This is Rowan’s doing. Ford messaged me she was on her phone the instant they left the house. She was a wreck, not knowing what Willow overheard. Watching her run away, Rowan realized how her words may have been mistaken.

Ford had to physically carry her to his truck to intercept her from barging in and explaining.

Since she tipped off the other women Willow was here, I knew my time was limited. Which is why I asked the guys to stall and give me one day alone.

No such luck.

“Don’t you people have jobs?”

The guys are scheduled tomorrow night with me, but Jewls and Harley are typically at work during the day.

“I finished my appointments this morning.” Jewls’ job as a social worker went to a flexible schedule after the birth of the boys.

“We had a doctor’s appointment and my boss insisted I take the rest of the day off.”

Harley’s boss is her cousin, and he’s getting anxious the closer she gets to her due date. He’s convinced she’ll go into labor at the office and has pretty much restricted her to working from home.

“Shouldn’t you be at home resting?”

“We are enjoying a beautiful day by the pool with friends.” She pats her stomach. “This baby needs some vitamin D.”

“You’ve had her to yourself for a month, Talon. We’re not going anywhere, so stop trying to push us out.”

Willow squeezes my hand before reaching for one of the boys’ floats. “May I?”

“Sure.” Major gently pushes Levi her way.

She lifts him out and twirls him around in the water until he’s in a fit of giggles. Koby’s not stupid and fusses to get in on the fun. Willow motions for me to help him out and hand him over. Then she repeats the action with both boys.

She smiles wide, blowing raspberries on their arms and giggling with them.

“I miss this age.”

“Is there something else we don’t know about Talon’s new girlfriend?” Jewls’ question is loaded with the accusation that we’ve been hiding an even larger secret.

“My nephew is five, and he outgrew me holding him in the water a while ago. Now it’s more like squirt guns and tossing in the air until my muscles protest in agony. But since he has me wrapped around his finger, I don’t complain.”

I can’t take my eyes off her. The boys are captivated.

I completely relate.

The last of the taillights disappear, and I blow out a breath of relief.

They finally left.

I should have known when Major rolled that wagon around the corner today that they had plans to stay. After an hour of playing in the pool, the boys fell asleep. Jewls declared it was happy hour.

I thought for sure everyone was on their way out when the temp chilled and the boys woke, but they simply moved inside, discussing dinner.

Several times I started to shut down the party, but the happiness on Willow’s face stopped me. She was beaming, laughing like crazy, and enjoying every story told.

It was torture and amazing at the same time.

I loved seeing her carefree and fun. The stress of the last few days vanished and she was glowing.

After dinner, Major and Ace took mercy and rallied to leave.

“I love your friends.” Willow curls into my side.

“They’re your friends now, too. Didn’t think they’d ever fucking leave.”