Eventually, Ezra turned away and Adam slung an arm over his shoulders. It was time. The twins had left earlier after the body disposal conversation. If we really needed assistance with the cleanup, we could call Fletcher and Vienna. Adam’s cousin knew a lot of skilled people.
As it was, Bodhi spoke to the authorities. I had no idea what he said, but they accepted his answers and let us leave. The drive back to the city would have been a long one, only we weren’t going to the city.
We went to Der Sonne where Grandfather was already striding out of the front door before the car even stopped moving. Milo exited first, then helped me out of the backseat. I barely got to my feet and Grandfather hugged me so tightly I wanted to cry.
“I saw the smoke,” he said, his gruff tone a balm and a chastisement in one. He smelled of familiar cologne, and a pipe tobacco he favored when he thought no one paid attention. “Now I smell it all over you and you didn’t answer your phone.”
He pulled back, his grip on my biceps firm but hardly painful. The searching look in his eyes was far more of a rebuke than him yelling. I’d scared him.
“I’m sorry, Grandfather. There was a lot going on and I didn’t realize my phone was buzzing.” I wouldn’t make excuses. “I shouldn’t have worried you that way.”
One by one, Adam, Ezra, and Bodhi exited the car. We were a sight, I was sure. Smudged from the smoke, and more than a little disheveled. Grandfather gave us all a once over.
“Inside,” he said firmly. “We’ll have coffee and something to eat. You need to get cleaned up.” When he touched my cheek with a weathered hand, I leaned into the contact.
He was mourning my mother in addition to the grief he felt about my grandmother every day. Then I scared him. “I am sorry… I promise you, I was safe. The guys would never let anything happen to me.”
Without a word, Grandfather pressed his lips to my forehead and held the kiss there. “Forgiven, darling girl. Absolutely forgiven. I am just relieved to see you. Go on up, I’ll sort your gentlemen out with the guest rooms.”
I bit my lip, but rather than argue, I surrendered without even a battle. “Of course,” I murmured, then kissed his cheek. “I’ll meet everyone back downstairs?” It was as much a question for the guys as it was for Grandfather.
The faintly bemused look on Bodhi’s face suggested he was more than fine with the plan. Though, I doubted any of them would agree or disagree aloud right now.
“Behave,” I said gently, including Grandfather in the admonishment.
“Go on, Mayhem,” Milo told me with a gentle smile. “We’ll be fine.”
It was cold out here and the sunny skies were just utterly at odds with the bleakness of everything around us. I went upstairs directly, the stink of smoke seemed to grow stronger the farther away from the others I traveled.
The nice thing about my room here was I had everything I needed, including fresh clothing, toiletries—everything. It took me very little time to strip out of the clothes I’d worn, the unrelieved black appropriate for mourning and blood.
Still, I scanned each piece before I stuffed them into a laundry bag. I doubted I would be laundering any of this, but I also stowed my boots in as well. Once I closed the bag, I hung it on the back of the bathroom door then climbed into the shower.
The hot water hit every muscle with a solid pounding of heat and force. My back and neck were a dark mess of knots. Even turning my face upward, into the spray itself only seemed to magnify the tension headache crawling over my scalp.
When the door to the shower opened, it was hardly unexpected. Nor were the heavy male hands settling on my hips or the thick cock pressed against my ass as my companion pulled me to him.
“Adam,” I said on a sigh and he pressed a kiss to my shoulder before pulling me around to face him. With his hand in my wet hair, he tugged my head back and then his mouth was on mine.
Hints of soot, smoke, and sulfur added fire to the taste of him on my tongue. I wrapped my arms around his neck even as he cupped my ass and lifted me. When I glided a hand down to grip his cock, he groaned against my lips.
Not once did he let me up for air. No, he savaged my mouth with swift, parrying strokes of his tongue. He demanded all of my attention and the moment I lined him up, he thrust inside of me.
His thickness threatened to split me apart as I struggled to accommodate the stretch. I had enough slickness that the ache he created hurt in the best way.
My scalp lit up at his pull. The pleasure collided with the shock of cold as he pressed me against the tiles of the wall. The shower splashed against our shoulders and cheeks. It added slickness everywhere as he powered into me.
There was no room for thought or even breath between us. The scrape of his teeth, the pinch of his fingers on my ass, the grind of his hips to mine and the first wave of an orgasm detonated not because of his touch but the low growl of sound vibrating out of him.
Adam was all fierce touches, from where he dug his fingers into my flesh to pulling my hair. There was no gentleness in the fierce strokes as he thrust into me like he was determined to bury himself as deep as he could get. The wall kept me up as I fought to take him deeper, touch him more.
Need collided with desire and desperation—I came as he ground his pelvis hard against mine. The tease on my clit was almost unbearable. That and the fact that he lifted me higher and every stroke of his cock struck the right spot to make me see stars.
No scream left me though because his kisses swallowed every potential sound I could have made. Instead, I clung to him, desperate to ride the feeling as he thrust over and over.
“I’m not going to last,” he whispered against my lips, punctuating every thrust. “But we’re taking a night and I’m going to make you scream every way I can…”
The fluttering of my inner muscles gave away to a fierce clamp as I locked down on him. His groan teased me, sending a caress all the way to my soul. Then he came, his hips stuttering and filling me with his hot release.
I mouthed kisses against his shoulder as he braced one arm on the wall. We clung there, breath coming in short, fierce pants. I should slide down, but I didn’t want to let him go. He didn’t seem to be in any great hurry to leave either.
Eventually, I leaned back against the wall. Boneless didn’t begin to cover it at the moment. He was softening, but still hard enough to stay inside me. I liked that feeling. The connection, the weight of him leaning into me.
The fact Adam would lean on me at all.
He raised one bruised hand to cup my cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re welcome.” I almost laughed because I wasn’t entirely certain what he was thanking me for. “Though I should probably be thanking you. That was definitely a pick me up.”
“Same,” he whispered, then brushed his lips to mine. “I was thanking you for killing Wallace.”
Head canted, I studied him. The darkness that inhabited his eyes had faded though they were more purple than ever. “Ezra needed him gone.” That was the truth. “I needed to know he could never hurt him again. I didn’t touch Harper…” Nor had Adam. “Because you were the important one to me then. You needed me more than I needed that.”
“Elaine Benedict…” I almost didn’t mind the use of my full name. “You are—the best woman I’ve ever known. One of the best people. I really am not good enough to polish your shoes, but understand, I’m never letting you go. I tried for years to cut you loose…”
“I never wanted that,” I whispered and his expression gentled. “Never. I’ve only ever wanted to love you and be loved by you.” It was my turn to cradle his face. “Now we know Wallace can’t hurt Ezra, and you aren’t the one who killed him.”
His frown was swift…
