Corbin (The Theriot Family)

Beau shook his head. “I did work for you. I’m an independent contractor now.”

“You need our help.”

He growled. “I don’t like owing anybody.”

“This isn’t about owing me. This is about me loving you and wanting you safe.”

“Fine. Jesus. Somehow you’ve turned me into the bratty one.”

“Nah. You’re not very good in that role. I know you want to handle this yourself, but it involves us too.”

“I know, but Remington’s going to have a hard enough time with the two of us being together. Is this really the time to confront him?”

“I thought you weren’t afraid of anything?”

He raised his brows. “Are you angling for a spanking before he gets here?”

I thought about that for a moment. I thought about facing down Remington, arguing against all the reasons he’d give to shut me out, and defending my relationship with Beau all while my ass burned and ached from the slap of Beau’s hand against it. My pants would rub against my sore flesh, and I’d ache inside too because he would certainly fuck me afterwards. It would be glorious, but it would distract me too much. I needed to focus, maybe more than I ever had in my life.

“I do want that, but it’s probably not the best idea.”

Beau chuckled. “Look at you, learning not to be so impulsive.”

“Don’t push me.”

He smiled and kissed me softly. “We should shower and get some breakfast.”

“Wait. Just because you’re not spanking my ass doesn’t mean we can’t…”

“Come here.” He encouraged me to straddle him, but rather than commanding me to ride his dick, he tugged on my thighs. I walked on my knees until they were on either side of his broad shoulders. “Hold on to the headboard and give me your cock.”

I stared at him. Was he serious?

He slapped my ass. “Now, Corbin.”

When I did as he said, he swallowed my cock all the way to the root. After that, I didn’t think again until I’d finished my shower and was sitting at the counter in Remy’s kitchen being fed scrambled eggs and toast.

The hours alone with Beau passed too quickly, and I steeled myself to face Remington after what seemed like months rather than a week. How could so much have happened to me in the few days since I’d delivered Remington and Henri to the airport?

Lance and Tony had gone to pick them up. I’d told my brother to send one of the many security guards we had on call, but he’d insisted on picking them up himself because he knew they’d missed him and Tony.

Remington was going to be in a shitty mood anyway after being confronted with all this bullshit the moment he returned, but after thirty minutes in the car with the little monkey, he was probably going to explode the moment I explained the situation.

Lance insisted Remington actually adored Tony, and Tony and Henri were getting to be close friends. The latter might well be true, but the former wasn’t. Remington barely tolerated the creature, and that was only because Lance loved him so much, but Lance wouldn’t hear a bad word about his pet, so off he’d gone while I paced the floor.

Beau had told me to come sit with him and demanded I stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong at least ten times when Dax arrived.

I was glad to have someone else there. I was ready to yell at Beau, and I didn’t want to do that. I wasn’t angry with him. I knew he was trying to help, but nothing was going to help until I’d seen this through.

Lance said he would brief Remington on the way home and let him know Beau was at the house because he was deeply involved. He promised not to say anything about our relationship. That was all up to me. I hated that, but if I wanted to be treated like an adult, I had to act like one.

“They’re not here yet?” Dax asked.

“No, not yet.”

“Ambrose filled me in on most of what happened last night. Remy is going to be pissed.”

“Yeah, he is. What did you learn from the prisoner?”

Dax smiled. “Some good stuff. It didn’t take long for him to squeal. You were right about Elandra. He ratted her out right away.”

“Did you ask him about Guidry?”

“He said Guidry agreed to work for her as long as he was able to get revenge on you and your old crew. He’s been hiding out somewhere in the swamp near where he grew up.”

“I can’t see Elandra being pleased about that. She wouldn’t want to be out there.”

Dax smiled. “I’m not so sure about that. I had Blackjack do some digging. She grew up dirt poor out in the swamp just like Guidry, then she created a whole new persona for herself when she found a way out. I don’t know if the Landry’s knew her origins, but her ability to move through that terrain shouldn’t be underestimated. Apparently, she still got connections there.”