Safe in His Arms (8 page)

Kev laughed. “Fine, that’s cool, more women for me. God knows Trigger never indulges.”

“Yeah, well, Trigger, you take care, man. Watch your back,” Mac said.

Trigger sipped his beer. “I will. You do the same.”

Mac headed back inside, feeling like parts of a puzzle were dangling in front of him if he could only figure them out. Frustration made him push through the crowds until he spotted Lacey and Ace by Mandy. Eagle was at the other end of the club, still parked at their table, but with Katya sitting on his lap now. Dare stood near the other door and nodded when their gazes met.

Still, something felt wrong, or not wrong, but there, a piece of something he needed, but didn’t know he needed. Maybe the Gonzalez shit had him more screwed up than he thought. If they were here…

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Mac settled his sights back on Mandy in time to see her drift towards the back of the club. He followed. He’d have to talk to Ace. If there was even a rumour of those assholes being free, he’d have to tell Ace. Eagle and Dare needed to know, but, other than that, no one else had been involved in their arrests. Sanchez was in LA, messed up with a deep undercover, and Aaron had stayed home with a sick sister. Of all the men, Ace and Mac were the most responsible for the Gonzales ring going down.

His instincts flared to life, warning him something more was up, something dangerous was brewing, and, for some reason, it was pointed at Mandy.

He lost sight of her and panic settled in his gut.

If Mandy were hurt… He didn’t let the thought settle but pushed through the crowded bar.

Chapter Six

Mac caught up to Mandy near the women’s room and pulled her to a gentle stop by her upper arm. She twisted free and turned with a stance he would have been proud of any other time, but now sent a chill down his back. When had she learnt such a defensive move?

“Hey, sugar, just me, Mac.”

She softened immediately and shifted her gaze nervously off him. “Sorry, you surprised me.”

“Yeah, got that.” Before he could say more, she brushed her hair back behind an ear and tilted her head at him.

“I have to go, you know?”

He grinned at that. She’d always been private but hell, he’d seen her naked. The memory still blazed in his brain. “Sure. I’ll wait here. I ordered us some snacks. You hungry?”

She nodded with a confused smile. “Why, are you going to wait here?”

“A man’s gotta go too,” he lied and watched her spot the white lie like a kid finding candy at Easter.

“Mmm, okay, you stand guard, play solider, okay?”

He grinned at her teasing and folded his arms, leaning against the wall to wait. She rolled her eyes with a smile and turned to the women’s room. He blew out a breath at the way her dress outlined the slender curve of her spine. The thing was open all the way to the rise of her rump. Did she have panties on?

The thought sent a shot of pure pain through his already filled to the maximum cock. God help him, he needed to find out if she wore panties. If not, he might not be able to make it until he could ease her into taking him back. He might have to take things into his own hands. Or hand.

Shit sucked. But hell, he’d been doing the same for years, so why should it be so hard now?

Mandy came out of the bathroom, a smile lingering over her lips that blossomed into a full grin at the sight of him. His heart thudded painfully. He reached out and hauled her into his arms. She let out a surprised laugh but didn’t do more than stare up at him.

“Tell me you’re wearing panties.”

She blinked and her face went blank. “I’m wearing panties.”

Fuck. The liar.
She wasn’t. He nearly came in his jeans. Instead, he buried his head in her shoulder and pressed a desperate kiss to her smooth, warm skin. “I want you. Damn, sugar, I want you.”

She kissed his jaw lightly, just a soft press of her lips to his heated skin, but he groaned and pulled her closer.

“Mac, not here.” She laughed.

“Why not? Here is damn good.”

“Because people will see, one, and two, I don’t have sex in bars.” She broke from his arms, but he caught something like anger flash over her expression a second before she brushed her hair back, using her hand to block her eyes as she turned. “Come on, let’s go.”

She sounded upset, hell, she was upset. “Mandy, sugar, I wasn’t suggesting we have sex in a bar. I don’t have sex in bars, either, damn.” He tried to catch her, to laugh, but she evaded him as easily as she had before, this time escaping out of the back door and onto the beach.

“Mandy, wait,” he called and watched her freeze, slowly turning to him.

“What do you want from me, Mac? Can’t you get it from one of your other women? I mean, you do have other women, right?”

Stunned he could only stare down at her. She was serious. His temper shot hot and he planted his fists on his hips. “Where the fuck do you get this shit? You think I’d want you back and have some other woman back on the mainland? Is that it?”

She spun away from him, pacing the beach, clearly pissed off. Good, he was too.

“Whatever, Mac. How can I believe you? You were always the love ‘em and leave ‘em guy, remember?”

Shit, he’d said that for years. Years before he’d slept with Mandy. He exhaled heavily to clear his head but the anger remained.
I’ve fucked this up, haven’t I?

Holding back, he’d simply driven into her insecurities that she wasn’t enough for him.

“I’ve slept with women, sure, I’m a man. But fuck, I’ve not chased any tail but yours since I made you mine.”

She froze and the pure pissed off look she gave him had him taking a step back. This Mandy—pissed off and willing to harm—was one hot babe, but one he’d learnt to read a bit better, he hoped.

Her fists tightened next to her thighs and she exhaled angrily.

“You jerk,” she cried. “I can’t believe you would lie! I can’t believe you would think I’d believe that shit.” She pointed a finger at her chest then at him. She didn’t stop, though. She threw her hands up and said, “I saw you, okay? I saw you that night at the club. I saw that woman giving you the blow of your life right there in front of the entire bar. You wanted me to stop following you around. What did you call it,
pining for the wrong guy
?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve never let a woman—” He didn’t finish because she bent and threw her high heel at his head and stomped off holding the other one in her hand. He chased her down. Turning her gently, he read the anger on her face, the complete truth in her gaze and shook his head.

“I saw you. After you
‘regretted’
our night and raced off on your mission, you went to another woman. I saw it, Mac, okay?
I saw it. You
.”

The pain, the utter hurt he saw killed him. She didn’t cry, but he knew she had. Knew she’d cried, alone, and hurt over him. But what was she talking about?

“Mandy, sugar, you have to believe me. I’d never do that to you. I’ll never do that. Baby—” He could see her denial, see the way she was closing him out when she grimaced and tried to pull away from him. He felt like he was drowning. Of all the things she could have said, this stunned him. It wasn’t true, but how could he prove that if he didn’t even know what the fuck she was talking about?

“I’ve never let a woman go down on me in public. What are you talking about? Why would I do that to you? Shit, come on, Mandy, think. I’m sure the hell not some exhibitionist.”

She didn’t move but he just knew she didn’t believe him.

“All right. I treated you badly. That night I said those things, I can see now how much I hurt you, but, Mandy, shit, talk to me here. What night? Are you—?” He broke off as details that hadn’t made sense to him clicked into place. Her reaction to him teasing her about being jealous, the way she’d turned hostile at the mere suggestion of wanting her in the bar, the way she had kept a distance between them all day, but had kissed him like she couldn’t breathe without him.

It made sense that she thought he had cheated. But he hadn’t.

‘After you “regretted” our night and raced off on your mission, you went to another woman.’

“Fuck,” he muttered, tightening his hands on her upper arms when she tried to move away. She’d gone to the club where he’d busted the Gonzales ring.

That night came back in a rush of memories he’d not dragged up in years. He’d been the point man because Roland Gonzales’ sister had wanted him. She’d been all over him at the club. He’d been trying to get details about the heroin they were bringing in. He’d finally got her to talk when she was so coked up she’d gone to her knees in front of him. He’d yanked her up by her hair, disgusted by her and finally seeing the end of the mission. The arrests had taken two more days. Two days he’d called Mandy and not been able to reach her. He’d thought she was upset because of the stupid shit he’d said their last night together.

“Snowzie’s. You saw a mission. Nothing more. That woman was our lead. I arrested her. Right then and there—you left before you saw that, though.” Things clicked quicker. “And I sure the hell didn’t let her touch my dick,” he growled. He dropped his hands, afraid he’d hurt her. He wanted to hit something, kill someone, anyone at this point, but Mandy reached out and took his fist. He’d bunched both hands up next to his legs. She lifted his hand and met his eyes with a hesitant look.

He latched onto her hand like a lifeline. “You have to believe me. Did you go to Snowzie’s?”

“Yes,” she said. “Snowzie’s Bar.”

“You thought I went to some other woman when I finally had you. Baby, no one, and I mean no one will ever come between us. I will never stray, never cheat on you. You never have to worry about that shit from me. Do I look stupid?”

She shook her head, confusion twisting her beautiful face. Her grey eyes shimmered as she carefully examined his face, as if testing his truthfulness.

“I’ve never lied to you,” he reminded her gently.

One big tear fell past her lush lashes and she ducked her head, wrapping her arms around his waist, and turned her face to rest it against his rapidly beating heart. This could have cost him everything. He held her tight, afraid she’d not believe him even still. How could she believe he’d hurt her like that? Use her like that?

Why wouldn’t she, asshole? I did use her, did hurt her.

She shivered, but he heard her whisper his name in a broken voice. “Mac, I, I thought this for a long time. A long time.”

He bent his head and caressed the top of her silky hair with his cheek. His chest felt painful, his throat tight, but he managed to say, “Mandy, damn, baby you’re killing me here. I swear to you, if I’d known, I would have done anything to make you see she was just a part of the mission and I don’t let other women near the goods, baby.”

She husked out a laugh at his attempt at humour but held him tighter. He wrapped her up in his arms, simply holding her, and felt like he’d finally done something right. All this time, she’d thought he’d not only regretted sleeping with her, but imagined he’d gone to another woman instead of her. The idea boggled his mind. Sarge was to blame for some of her low opinion of herself, but he had to take on some of that guilt too.

“Mac, I—” She paused and pushed back from him to meet his eyes. Hers were still shimmering. He couldn’t take her tears. They made him feel frantic, near panic. He reached down and brushed them off her cheeks with his thumbs, gently removing the dark mascara that had bled down around her eyes. “Mac”—she circled her small hand around his wrist—“I should have gone in—”

“And thrown a shoe at me, but sugar, I get it. I get it, Mandy, I do. Tell me you believe me.”

He swallowed harshly when she simply stared up at him. He loved her face, the soft curves of her lips and the line of her jaw, the small, perfect nose and wide, grey eyes.

“I believe you.”

He let out a breath he’d not known he had been holding. That easy, that simply, she trusted him, believed him. He pulled her in for a quick kiss, brushing his lips gently over hers, merely caressing her as he held her close, and soothed her bare back. “Baby, we should go back in, okay? But we can talk about this more. We need to, you know?”

She nodded and traced her fingertips along his scar.

“Does it bother you, this mark?” he asked. He worried she’d be turned off by it. It was long, still dark, and would always be, he imagined. The tip of it cut close to the corner of his mouth. An inch higher and he’d have had one hell of a time eating. Some women didn’t like scars.

“Bother me? That you almost died! God, Mac, I was hurt, but I’ve never stopped caring about you. I—”

He kissed her, this time pressing every inch of her body against his. She cared. She might not want to tell him more than that yet, but he drove into her mouth, tasting her with an urgency that he knew was born from the very idea that he might have lost her again.

Breathless and so hot for her he could barely pull back, he ended the kiss with a low moan. “I can’t believe I have to say this but, baby, we need to slow down.”

She nodded shakily, but licked her lips, looking up at him with such heat that he wished he could lift her up, right here, and sink inside her sweet body. But he couldn’t. Not now. Now he had to get her inside and tell the guys what he’d learnt.
Protect and keep her safe, Mac, then make love to her for the rest of your lives.