And I had no words because he moved one of his hands in order that his thumb could make contact with my bundle of nerves. One touch, and the crescendo of my encore climax was epic. All I could do was moan as my body shook, my sex clamping hard around his length. This time, pleasure overtook my man, and his thrusts became erratic before he came, grunting as he spilled his seed inside of me.
He thrust deep and stilled, then sealed his lips with mine, thrust once more, and gave me back my breath as he kissed me languidly.
I was alive and whole.
He was steady and true.
This wasus. I was far from alone.
When he broke our kiss, he let go of one of my legs in order to take hold of my jaw—my chin fit snuggly between his thumb and forefinger. His blue-green eyes stared straight into mine, and he semi-repeated, “You okay, gorgeous?”
“Yeah, papi,” I whispered. “I am now.”
Afterwewashedup,I didn’t bother getting dressed. I slipped into a pair of panties and one of Jed’s shirts and called it good. He got me a fresh bandage for my hand, and then I curled up under a blanket in the corner of his sectional couch. When he brought me a glass filled with two fingers of whiskey, I didn’t hesitate.
Whiskey wasn’t my drink—but after being shot at, I wasn’t feeling picky.
Jed ordered Thai takeout to be delivered for dinner, and he sat with me and let me scroll aimlessly for something to watch on Hulu while we waited.
When the doorbell rang thirty minutes later, I was still scrolling.
“Where is she? Is she okay?”
I shifted my attention toward the door at the sound of Winnie’s voice, then watched as Jed stepped aside and motioned an invitation for her to come in. She spotted me on the couch and headed my way, Tess right behind her. My vision grew blurry with tears as unexpected as my guests upon their approach.
“Hey. We heard what happened,” said Winnie, occupying the cushion next to me.
Tess sat across from us on the edge of the coffee table. “Are you okay?”
Evidently, as far as club business was concerned, attempted murder wasneed-to-know.
“I’m okay,” I managed to say around the knot lodged in my throat. “I cut my hand, but I wasn’t hit or anything.”
“I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must have been,” said Winnie. “Bull told me an entire magazine was shot into your apartment.”
“Uh, yeah. Definitely not the welcome home I expected.” I swiped at my cheeks, brushing away my tears with a sniffle. “It was really nice of you guys to come see me.”
“Are you kidding? Of course, we did. Talk about traumatic,” cried Tess. “Anything you need, we’re here. Jenna, too. She’s working the night shift, but Maverick went to the hospital to fill her in. We knew she’d be pissed if she didn’t find out until tomorrow morning. I promised I’d text her after we checked on you.”
The doorbell rang again. Jed, having not gone far, was quick to answer it. This time, it was the food.
“Oh, good. You’ve got dinner covered,” murmured Winnie as he carried the delivery to the kitchen.
“Y’all stayin’?” asked Jed.
Both women looked back at Jed and then at me.
“That’s up to you, Alexia.”
I stared at them, beside myself they’d come in the first place. We were friends, and I knew it—but their presence in the moment was more than I could ask for. It was them following through with their promise to have my back. It meant so much to me.
It wasn’t so long ago I felt like I lived on an island of my own making. Now, everything was different. With Jed and the Wild Stallions family, I was far from alone. I didn’t have to shoulder the weight of the world all by myself.
That said, the last thing I wanted to do was put on a bra.
“Um, I’m not wearing any pants,” I admitted lamely.
Winnie grinned and Tess laughed, “Alexia, you’ve more than earned the right to go the rest of theweekwithout pants.”
