Page 65 of Thick as Thieves
“Nothing,” I sigh out. “I’ve got nothing.”
He smiles calmly. “A good tactic. Sometimes, as you know, doing nothing is everything. You decided to do nothing over James, and he is everything. Actually, midarlin’, doing nothing is actually doing something.” He smiles his big slow smile at me. It lights his blue-grey eyes up, with the wrinkle lines creasing even more in his weathered face. His dark hair is too long. He likes me to cut it for him.
I smile in spite of myself. “I suppose it is, I just, it will, yep.” I stop and look at him and blow out a big breath.
“You don’t have to do anything. When we’re at home, people around and about know you. They will protect us. You know our community. It’s a tight one, midarlin’. Hell, we employ most of them.” He laughs at that, but it’s true. With the farms, the stables, the properties—most of the village is connected to us.
“I know, I just wanted more time, for us, to get to know each other again. It’s only been eighteen months, and I’ve just found Xander. It’s just the pressure. I don’t want him to feel it’s his fault, and I know he does.” Tears are lingering around my eyes. My stomach feels like a cauldron on a slow bubble.
“Xander is a hard man, he’s like a stone underneath that smile. He won’t want to leave you after just finding you again. I know, he told me when he called.'' I nod at him. “Try to keep positive, midarlin’. You know what’s right. Trust yourself, you know if it’s right,” he asserts.
“It is, Marshall. I know it.”
He nods. “Then no more tears, not for other people. People who don’t even know you. And if they know you, then they’ll be happy for you.”
I smile at him. “I love you, Marshall O’Clery.”
He grunts at me. “And I you, midarlin’. Always.” I start to cry again. “If I knew you were going to cry again, I’d have not said anything,” he laughs. “Go sort out those boys and we’ll speak tomorrow.”
We sit, smiling at each other, and eventually I nod and hang up.
I sit for a long time. I wish I could say lots of ideas were going around in my head, but there’s nothing. I give up on my non-existent musings, stand and take a deep breath, and head into the kitchen. It’s clean and tidy, the only lights on are the ambient lights from the floor. Xan is waiting for me.
“Marcus’s nipped to let everyone out. Tommy, Mick, and Jase are off duty for the night,” he says matter of fact, but then dips his head to gaze into my puffy eyes. “You’ve been crying.” He catches a rogue tear on his finger, bringing it to his lips. “Was it not good with Marshall? Do I need to tell him off?”
I smile at that. He knows Marshall is the last person ever to upset me.
“No, he was Marshall. So, no, never.”
He pulls me into a hug, rubbing his cheek against mine, adding his scent to calm me down.
“It’ll be fine, Kitten. We’ll keep you safe. And the boys, all of them,” he states confidently. “God, I need to smell you. It's a calmer for me.” He has his face in my neck. “I can smell James, Lochi, Sorley, Kellen…, you are a Pandora’s box of smells.” He's smiling and sniffing me, his blue eyes sparking out in the dimly lit room.
I drop my head back so he can access my neck and he runs his lips over my throat, making a noise in the back of his. “Just touching you turns me on.” He gently pushes his body against mine. “Come to bed, let me love you.”
He carries on running his tongue over me, and then kisses me, using his tongue to coax my mouth open. It’s erotic, sensuous. He’s so full of passion, fervour. The fire burns hot and near the surface with him. He’s a tinderbox, and I seem to be the catalyst.
Whatever emotion has been bottling up over the past few hours explodes, blasting me into the stratosphere. I pull him towards me, kissing him with an aggression that surprises myself. He growls deep in his throat, and it elevates the fire burning inside. I feel desperate. Taking charge, he backs me up to the kitchen units, opening the buttons on my dress. Which is very easy access these days due to feeding twins. He flicks the front opener of my bra and lavishes his tongue over my breasts while moving his hands into my knickers. I arch my back, pushing myself into him as he pushes his fingers inside me. We’ve gone from mild loving to full throttle in a heartbeat.
“Fuck, Kitten, fuck, I need to be inside you.”
His eyelids are half closed, as if desire is too heavy to keep them open. He pulls my panties down my legs and sits me on the worktop, pushing my legs wide.
“Lean back, Kitten.” He pushes my torso down onto the worktop and licks my pussy front to back, pushing his fingers inside me.
I’m so turned on, I can feel how swollen I am there. How much I want him, how frantic I am, how far over the top I’ve already gone. I cry out as he gently nips me, running his tongue over where he’s bitten me. He pushes his tongue inside and fucks me with it.
It’s not enough. Tonight it’s not enough.
“More, I want Xander, more.” I feel him smile.
I hear the key in the door and it bangs open then closed. I don’t even look up.
“Fuck me,” Kellen groans out, coming over and turning my head towards him on the worktop. Kissing me, matching my ardour. He pulls on my nipples as Xan is playing my pussy better than his guitar. Kellen leans across and sucks on my tits, running his tongue around one of my nipples and pulling at the other. I moan out and thrust at Xander.
“Yessss,” I hear him say. He grabs my thighs and pushes them up towards my ears. Kellen is supporting me, taking the weight of my body, and I feel as light as a feather, able to float off into the ether.
“Come for us, Evie. Let us watch you, baby,” Kell says as he starts sucking and biting my tits. Then he slaps them, and I groan out again as he slaps me harder and harder, biting and sucking as he does in turn.
