Corbin (The Theriot Family)

I did fight, not because I didn’t want what he was doing but because it felt incredible, and he wouldn’t let me go so I could touch him. He held me down and owned me.

“Fuck, that’s so good.”

“I know, baby.” He shifted my wrists so he could pin me down one-handed and reached between us using his hand to add more friction. In seconds, I was ready to spill. Intense pleasure overwhelmed me, and as I shot my load between us, I cried out, “I love you.”

He followed soon after, and I welcomed his weight on me when he was spent. Panic made my limbs tingle, and I fought to regulate my breathing. Neither of us spoke. The only sound in the room was the fan whirling away and cooling our damp skin. Had I really let those words slip out? Beau didn’t seem alarmed, but he also hadn’t said it back.

I was trying to find the courage to talk about it when Beau’s phone started ringing. He groaned and pushed off me, our bodies peeling apart slowly where our stickiness held us together.

“I’m sorry. If I wasn’t worried about the shop—”

“It’s fine. I understand.” I truly did, but why did the call have to come right then? I had no idea what his response would’ve been to my question. Was I pushing way too hard, or was he as deep in this as I was?

Twenty

Beau

The call that interrupted my evening with Corbin had come from Louis, an old friend of mine from the street-racing crew. He said he had some information for me. I hoped it had to do with whoever was bringing shit down on me, so I reluctantly left Corbin and headed to the shop.

Louis was waiting for me, leaning against the hood of his Mustang, which he’d parked right in front of the door. I didn’t bother to ask how he’d gotten past my security. As far as I knew, he’d yet to meet a lock that would keep him out.

I reached out a hand to him. “This day has already been full of surprises, and now you’re here.”

His brows went up. “Good surprises or bad ones?”

“Both.”

He grinned. “Keeps it interesting.”

He used his grip on my hand to pull me in for a hug. It had been far too long since we’d seen each other. There was a time when we’d been nearly inseparable, and if I hadn’t been foolish enough to trust Rob, we might still be working together.

“How have you been? I heard you went to see your brother.”

That wasn’t good news. I didn’t want anyone even thinking about my brother. He needed to stay out of sight and out of mind until all this was settled. “How did you hear that?”

“You know me. I’ve always got my ear to the ground.”

Louis had always been a font of information. The men he worked with trusted him to be their eyes and ears. Plenty of others in their world would come to him when they needed some intel, not that he gave it out easily. You had to earn his loyalty first, and that was difficult.

“You share that news with anyone else?”

“Only Lisa Ann.” Lisa Ann was his sister, and she was as good a driver as he was, if not better. “You know she’s always had a soft spot for Travis.”

I snorted. When I first started hanging out with them, she’d been the one to buy Travis candy and soda and listen to his little kid ramblings. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”

He nodded. “It sure as hell does.”

“I’m guessing you’ve heard more than the fact I visited my brother, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“I thought you talking to him for the first time in three years might indicate trouble, so I started poking around. I had a very interesting conversation with a former friend of Dale Guidry.”

“Is Guidry alive?”

“Apparently so, and he’s got some new backer. Rumor says it’s a woman, but I haven’t confirmed anything. Everyone is either scared as fuck of her, or she’s that good at keeping a secret.”

“I suppose he’s going to try to rebuild his business?”

“From what this guy told me, he’s already well on his way, and it’s his mission to put all of us from the old days, as well as the Theriot family, out of business.”

“The Theriots? What the fuck have they got to do with this?” I’d known my instinct that Corbin was in danger was right.

“I’m not sure. They’ve worked with several of us, so maybe this backer wants revenge for something.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. I drove out here because I wanted to make sure you knew how serious this was. I didn’t want to share this over the phone.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I was also hoping you’d pass the word along to Ambrose. You’re the only one who knows how to contact him these days.”