The Edge of Dominance

  admit you’ll always belong to me.

  Instead, he clenched his teeth and swallowed back the words.

  “Liam?”

  She wore only a simple cotton thong and a matching bra he could see through. Her breasts were swollen with hormones and flowed over the cups. Steam and some flowery-earthy fragrance swirled around the room, making him goddamn dizzy. Raine was pregnant, traumatized, and she needed his comfort now.

  He swallowed back a groan. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not. Talk to me.”

  “I said I’m fine.” He grabbed his own T-shirt in a fist, yanked it over his head, and tossed it free.

  She thrust her hands on her hips and cocked her head, staring like she had something to say and was debating the wisdom of opening her mouth. The hint of her attitude turned him on more. He couldn’t take his bloody stare off her, the flash of her blue eyes, the black curtain of her hair framing them. Just fucking beautiful. He ached to latch on to her pouting nipples already. They were darker now and more distinct through the simple white bra. Liam could almost taste them.

  She leaned closer.

  His control snapped.

  “Come here, wench.” He pulled Raine against him.

  She stumbled into him, wearing a secret little smile. Was he just giving her what she’d goaded him into? He didn’t know and he didn’t bloody care.

  Through the soft cotton, Liam licked straight across the hardened flesh of her nipple. Heard her gasp and felt her answering shudder.

  “Liam…”

  “I want you.” He gripped her ass in his hands, spreading his thighs wider and pulling her in tighter. “Give yourself over.”

  With his newfound access, he wrapped his lips around the hard bud, teasing the flesh with his tongue, then suckled deep, gathering, pulling her breast in with the fabric. Every inch of her was indelibly carved in his memory. With his teeth, he abraded the tender skin, hearing her hiss of delight. As she clung, her fingers dug into his scalp.

  “Shoulders,” he reminded.

  “Yes. Sorry, Sir.”

  Pulling back, he wrestled for self-control and turned toward the tub. The water had risen, so he shut off the tap and tested the temperature. “Come on. Let’s get you warmed up.”

  “I’m not cold, Liam, just a bit dirty from the beach.”

  He pinned her with his stare. “Shame. I don’t intend to clean you up right away.”

  Her cheeks flushed.

  Liam brushed the thong down her thighs, hovering above her pussy to breathe deeply of her scent. “I love your smell, your taste. I can never get enough of you. It’s changed a bit with your pregnancy. You’re sweeter.”

  He left the panties puddled at her feet and glanced his way up her body, to the wet spot around one erect nipple. The other stood just as hard yet dry in its cotton cup. “Hardly seems fair, does it?”

  She caught on quickly and shook her head. “Nope. You’re a tease, Liam O’Neill.”

  “Tease, am I? I’ll show you a tease.” He pushed her back gently and stood, his erection straining against his jeans.

  He pulled the snap and undid the zipper, inching it down carefully, aware of her gaze following his every movement. He stopped halfway, allowing only the thick stalk and head freedom from the tight confines. He sighed in relief, smeared his thumb across the swollen crown through the glossy offering leaking from the tip, and rubbed it between his fingertips.

  “Whose cock is this, Raine?”

  “Mine,” she breathed. “All mine.”

  “Look at me. Take your bra off and show me those gorgeous breasts.”

  Slowly, she reached behind herself, unclasped her bra, and peeled it free. She stood for a moment, pushing her hair back, cupping her breasts, and looking up at him as she skimmed her thumbs down the outsides of her swells, toward her nipples that tightened and lengthened to her touch.

  He groaned helplessly. She did that to him. She had no idea the power she wielded.

  “Feel better now?”

  Raine sent him a soft smile of gratitude. “Yes.”

  “Good. Get in the tub. Sit with your legs spread so I can see my pretty pussy. Do it now.”

  Her eyes went dark with arousal. A flush of color stained the tops of her breasts, her throat, her cheeks. He ached to sink his cock into her, feel her soft tissues gripping and squeezing him tight. Jesus, just the thought…

  He lifted her around the waist. “In you go, wench.”

  He held her as she dipped a dainty foot in the tub. Once she’d settled into the water and splayed herself wide for him, she sighed sensually, making a great show of piling her hair into a messy knot and arching toward him. Then she leaned her head back and blinked up at him with sensual expectation. The woman knew how to make him so bloody hard…

  Liam pushed his jeans down his hips. She watched his every move, eyes drawn to his shaft, thick and long and screaming with need. He fisted it slowly from root to tip.

  “Your cock, is it?” The muscles in his belly flexed and rippled with the movements of his hand.

  “Mmm. It is,” Raine moaned. He watched as one of her hands inched between her parted thighs toward her clit while the other curved around her breast.

  “None of that now,” he insisted. “That’s all mine to pleasure. And I do mean to please you. But I want you to see me first.”

  Her lips parted as she watched him stroke his cock. “I do see you, Liam. Always.”

  He stepped into the tub, inching closer until she could only see his hand stroking up his thick-veined shaft before he slid his fingers back down in a slow, torturous crawl.

  He kept on until she looked ready to pounce on him, until he honestly couldn’t last a minute longer.

  Then he sat in the warm water and pulled her roughly over him, her back plastered to his chest, her legs still splayed wide. With a whisper, he bade her to guide his cock to her opening. Then he shoved up.

  One thrust.

  Hard.

  Deep.

  With a groan, he wrapped his arm beneath her breasts. With his free hand, he fisted her hair as he set his mouth against her ear and plowed her with hard, sharp strokes. “You think you’ll be leaving me if Hammer goes to jail? Be taking our babe with you? You’ve got another think coming.”

  “What?” she panted, breathy, confused.

  “You heard me, Raine. Never. Not happening.” He plunged inside her again. “Do you understand me?”

  “Liam.” She melted against him. “I don’t… I wouldn’t… Oh, god. I can’t think.”

  He fucked her deep again, the need rising, desperate, grabbing him by the balls. “Do you understand me?”

  “No. I mean, yes. Why would you think—”

  “At the lodge. You said you’d not have me without him.” He shoved into her once more, finding his way even farther inside her. “He’s my brother and I love him. But you’re mine, too, Raine. Do you hear? Mine.”

  “Liam…” She flung her head back to his shoulder, eyes closed. “Yes. Yours.”

  Something in him relaxed at her admission, even as the primal need to claim grew. “I’d die without you, love. You’re staying with me, no matter what. If you leave, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth.”

  “Never.” She rocked with him, lost in pleasure. “Liam, love you.”

  “I love you, too. Did you hear me?”

  He licked her throat, bit her where her pulse beat wildly. Her nails dug into his arm. Her thighs shook as she fought to rock with him as he pummeled himself into her with swift, merciless strokes like a battering ram.

  “I can’t hold back,” she panted. “Please…”

  “Promise you’ll not leave and take our babe first.”

  “Never.” She shook her head wildly. “Can’t do without you.”

  Satisfaction burned through his veins. Tears filled his eyes, leaked from the corners. The need to fill her with his seed rushed to the fore. “Come with me, sweetheart.”

  She screamed
his name as she fell apart for him. Liam buried his head in her neck and tried not to sob like a fucking baby as her sweet pussy clamped all around him and bliss poured through him like lava, turning him inside out. He emptied himself inside her. Finally, he felt whole again. Almost.

  * * *

  Sunday, February 17

  * * *

  The following morning, Raine woke in their big bed to find Liam lying on her right, staring at the ceiling. The bed on her left, where Hammer should have been, was cold. Empty.

  Yesterday, she’d surrendered her tears and concerns to Liam. She didn’t want to start the morning doing the same. He would take them, but if they were going to save Hammer from this awful fate, she had to stop wallowing and use her damn logic. The detectives hadn’t investigated anything. They’d smelled blood in the water and saw a quick conviction for a supposed sexual predator who didn’t deserve his freedom to find another victim. So far, the federal investigators had done even less to discern the truth, probably for similar reasons.

  Saving Hammer was up to her and Liam.

  “Morning,” she murmured. “Did you sleep?”

  “More than I’d thought; not as much as I should.”

  “Ditto.” Raine rolled over and cuddled up to Liam, giving him a soft kiss.

  He cradled the crown of her head and savored her lips for a sweet moment before he pulled away with a sigh. “Macen is like a ghost in the room.”

  Here but not. “Yeah. He should have been with us last night. We’ll be able to arrange bail today, right?”

  Liam’s face tightened, and Raine’s hope plummeted to her toes. “Sterling called me back late last night. He’s working on that now, and the wheels are in motion. But…this is a serious charge, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be granted bail.”

  “What?” she screeched. “He’s got a clean record. He’s not violent. He’s—”

  “A flight risk. He has a passport and a lot of money.”

  Raine lay back and tried to imagine Hammer gone for the weeks or months it might take to get this trial underway. A night was already killing her. She wouldn’t last. And what if the trial was a sham? What if they put him away for life?

  “You have a passport and money,” she said.

  “I’m not a flight risk, love.” He gathered her against his side again. “You should know that after yesterday.”

  “Maybe…you should be. Maybe if Macen makes bail, you two should skip the country and hide out someplace safe.”

  Thunder rolled across his face. “Didn’t we cover this? Where do you think you’ll be, besides between us, I mean?”

  She closed her eyes. Raine didn’t want to upset Liam. She’d felt his ferocity on this subject. But maybe he’d see the logic… “I’ll be here. I don’t have a passport. I’ve never needed one.”

  “No.”

  “It isn’t my first option. But you two could hunker down someplace safe. I could eventually follow. Maybe after the baby is born, the heat would die down—”

  “You think we should just piss off and leave you, our woman, while you’re with child? So we can while away our days and…what, sip fucking mai tais on the beach, like we don’t have a care in the world? We could never have contact with you or our child again because the feds would, no doubt, be watching. And of course we could never return, either. So we’d all be apart forever…” He cocked a brow at her. “Thought this through, did you?”

  She winced. “Okay, so not completely. I’m just trying to come up with something helpful.”

  “Do you want to guess what Hammer’s reaction to your suggestion would be, love?”

  Liam’s silky warning made her flinch. Yeah, he would swear a blue streak before he gave her a bright red ass. Liam and Macen were too protective to simply leave her here alone, especially pregnant. The submissive in her appreciated their meticulous care. The woman in her just wanted her men happy and free.

  “I can guess.” She sighed. “But we should consider every option, even the crappy ones.”

  “Next grand idea?”

  Raine sighed, not surprised by his attitude, though she was both slightly miffed and relieved. “I don’t have any more right now.”

  “Hammer’s arraignment is tomorrow. If he makes bail, we’ll have him home in the afternoon. We’ll discuss ideas together then.”

  Horror spread through her. “He has to sit in jail another fucking day?”

  It said a lot that Liam didn’t balk at her language. “I’m afraid so.”

  “Can we at least see him today?”

  Liam shook his head. “If he didn’t want you to see him be arrested, he certainly doesn’t want you to see him in a bloody jail cell. We’ll get to clap eyes on him in the morning at the arraignment.”

  “But we can’t wait that long to do something. We have to figure out who’s behind this and why, or I’m worried the trial will be open and shut and—”

  “I’ve thought the same thing and I’m ahead of you. I texted Seth and Beck last night. They’ll be ’round shortly so we can put our heads together.”

  “Good.” She bit her lip, wondering how Liam would take her next piece of news. “It’s kind of funny. I had a similar idea. I, um…called my brother. He’ll be by this morning, too.”

  Liam sat up and glared at her. “I don’t want that wanker here.”

  “He wants to help,” she argued.

  “Oh, he’s helped plenty. Don’t you think?”

  “River is sorry. He tried to tell the police to drop the case. He made a mistake. We’ve all made them. He’s the only family I have left.”

  “You mean besides Hammer, me, and the bairn?” He shot her another cross glare.

  “Family with blood in my veins who knew me as a kid.” When he looked unmoved, she sat up with an angry huff. “What if I’d decided to hold a grudge against your parents for barging in on us unannounced at a really bad time?”

  “They were only trying to help.”

  “Uh-huh.

  Liam looked frustrated now. “They apologized.”

  “Really? Hmm…”

  “It’s not the same, wench. Hammer would be with us now if it weren’t for your brother.”

  She sighed, deflated. “I know. Can you just be civil once? He wants to be a part of the solution. I know Seth is a PI, but River was a Green Beret, so he’s got skills, which could really come in handy if we have to figure out who wants Hammer behind bars.”

  “The last time he used his skills, he added two and two and came up with Hammer in the slammer.” Liam rose, tossed on his boxers, and paced. “I don’t like it.”