pausing to whisper in my ear. “I make you weak?”
“Yes.”
He growls against me, his grip tightening. “That’s good, baby. Real good.”
I frown, and he pulls back, a smirk in place.
He rolls his hips against me, lifting my chin up so his lips can touch mine.
I fight the urge to lick his, but he has even less control and slides his tongue between the crease of my lips in a second, tasting me.
Another groan leaves him.
His hand glides up my side, pausing at the edge of my breast. “You said love makes you weak.” He nips at the corner of my mouth. “You said I make you weak.” He nips my jaw. “If love makes you weak, and I make you weak, then baby,” he breathes against my skin, pulling the lobe of my ear between his teeth. “What’s that mean?”
I pant, my body going slack against the door. “I...mmm,” I moan when he runs the tip of his nose up my throat. “Fuck off.”
He laughs against me, his grip tightening, his chuckles quickly turning into a moan.
His mouth flies to mine and while his kiss is hard and possessive, crazed for more, his hands on my neck and face are gentle, almost feather light. It’s like he’s afraid to grip me fully, knowing the small wounds on the back of my head aren’t fully healed.
He pulls back just as quick and lifts me.
With a husky chuckle, I jump up in his arms and he jogs for the door, running up the steps and inside.
Right when we make it through the threshold of the doorway, my back hits something and Maddoc stumbles slightly, catching himself and me before we tumble.
His eyes fly over my shoulder and his body turns to stone.
His hands release me, and I frown, slowly sliding down, but when I shift to look over my shoulder as well, my muscles lock just the same.
“Good. You’re all home.”
“Dad.”
Holy shit.
I stand there frozen, my hands still stuck on Raven’s side.
Captain glances back at me, shifting the smallest bit in front of Raven, a move that would be subtle to others, but not Rolland Brayshaw.
The edges of his eyes tighten, and he looks from Captain to Raven, and then me.
“Well.” He glances at Royce who stands a few steps in front of us. “This isn’t quite the way I thought this would go.”
We all hesitate another second, but then light laughs leave us, and we move for him.
He grins as we step closer, reaching out to hug each of us.
“This is a fucking surprise,” Royce laughs. “Thought it took thirty days for a decision to be made?”
“The decision was made before I even got there. It was out of the judge’s hands, the hearing was simply semantics. Two weeks was as quick as I could get all the Ts crossed.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Royce asks.
“We’ve kept it quiet for now. I wanted to avoid it getting back to the Gravens until I had a chance to come home, and ... evaluate.”
“Evaluate?” I ask. “Evaluate what? And why didn’t you respond to any of my messages? I’ve been trying to reach you for weeks.”
Our dad grins and clasps my shoulder. “I’m sorry, son. I would have, but I had a lot to get a handle on.”
“Evaluate what?” I ask again, hating the unease creeping up my spine. I have no fucking idea why I suddenly feel on edge.
“It’s just business, we’ll talk about that tomorrow.” He smiles at each of us, hitting his hand against Cap’s chest. “Damn boy, you’ve grown.”
He scratches the back of his head, shrugging with a small grin.
“Yeah, them shoulders came outta nowhere,” Royce teases. “He was a puny ass white boy one day then boom, fuckin’ wingspan for the books.”
“And you’re still a skinny asshole.” Cap shoves him.
Royce flips him off with a grin. “Please, I’m just a silent killer. They have to use their imagination to wonder what’s under these clothes, then boom. Sculpted masterpiece. Five percent body fat, baby.” He lifts his shirt, hitting his abs.
Our dad laughs then runs a hand down his suit jacket. He nods, his features softening as he looks between us. “This is ...” He nods again.
The front door clicks open and all our heads jerk to see Maybell rushing in, tears in her eyes as she steps forward.
Her hand shakes as she steps in front of my dad, placing her hands on his cheeks.
“Good to see you standing here, boy.”
“Good to be standing here, Ms. Maybell.” He pats