Constructing Love Read online

  Maximus grabbed her wrist as she tried walking past him. He, of course, towered over her and was intimidating. She placed her hand against his chest. “You’re running.”

  “I’m buying myself time. It isn’t easy for me, Maximus.”

  He pulled her closer, restraining her one wrist behind her back, causing her breasts to press against his sternum because he was six feet five. He used his free hand to caress under her hair and head to tilt her back so she locked gazes with him. He stared down at her breasts pressed against his chest and used his palm and fingers to grip her wrist and also part of her ass. He tapped her there. “This is real, okay. You believe that, right? You aren’t denying that the attraction, the desire and connections is real?” His tone was a combination of intense and commanding, yet a need of validation from her as well.

  “I know this is real, Maximus. I guess that’s part of what is scaring me.”

  “You shouldn’t be scared of us.”

  She snickered. “You’re all pretty big.”

  He released her wrist and lifted her up into his arms. He cupped her under her ass holding her there, and she held onto his shoulders.

  “We would never hurt you or use our sizes and capabilities to hurt you. Understood?” he asked firmly.

  She hesitated and then gulped. She caressed his bearded cheek. “Please, Maximus, give me some more time.”

  “Men, shower and then grab some food for us to eat. Madeline and I are taking a shower. We’ll meet you downstairs,” he said and then headed to the bathroom with her in his arms.

  She hugged his shoulders and felt her heart racing. “I can shower alone.”

  “I don’t think they’ll be many times ever again that you’ll be alone in the shower, darling.” He carried her as if she were light as a feather. He turned on the shower, complimented the upscale master bathroom, the separate Jacuzzi tub that could fit three people at once, and the extra-large, walk-in shower.

  “You could fit a few people at least in this shower. This place is very upscale and classy, like you,” he said and kissed her forehead.

  The second the water hit her back, she closed her eyes and moaned. He lowered her feet to the floor and reached for the bar of soap with one hand but remained holding onto her with his other hand. It was like Maximus didn’t want to let her go or release her. She accepted it, and as he washed her up and she washed her hair, he kissed her shoulder, and talked to her.

  “My brothers and I have always been close. We always have one another’s backs, and there isn’t much we don’t do together. I think over the years, the times we were forced to be apart because of missions and things, had been more difficult than we wanted to admit. Months, even a couple of years passed when myself and Tatum were off commanding our own troops. I think that was toughest.”

  “Did you always share women, or want to, when you were together?” she asked. His hands paused in her hair as he rinsed the conditioner.

  He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck and her ear. “We never took one woman, all of us together like we did with you.”

  She was shocked. She turned in his arms and squinted at him. “But I thought, I mean, from the start right away each of you expressed wanting me as if it was a normal thing and you’ve done it before.”

  “No, that was what made this so crazy, and happens so fast, darlin. We never, ever felt an instant attraction, never mind possessiveness over the same woman at the same time. We met you at different times as well and it was instant. Like at the bar, I saw you before my brother Tatum even pointed you out. It was done on purpose to see if I picked you without influence.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Hell yeah,” he said and eyed over her breasts, his hands on her hips. He lowered down and suckled on her nipple. She felt emotional as she ran her fingers through his hair. Then he released her nipple as he cupped her other breast. “You’re a gift, a complete surprise, and we don’t deserve you, any of us, but we’ll be damned if you think we won’t give a hundred percent and could ever let you go. You need to know this, Madeline. I don’t want to scare you, baby, or make you feel like we’re some possessive chauvinists, but woman, you got a hold of five Marines’ hearts, and that is not fucking normal.” He lifted her up and kissed her.

  She kissed him right back as he maneuvered his fingers between her thighs and stroked her cunt. Of course, she was wet. Who the hell wouldn’t be wet with a statement like that from a Marine? She lifted higher and pulled from his mouth and suckled against his neck.

  “That feels so good. I love the way you feel in my arms.”

  “I love the way you feel holding me, and even more, I love when you’re all inside of me, making love.”

  “Agreed,” he said and eased fingers from her pussy and replaced them with his cock. He slid into her channel and she moaned, feeling that instant connection and bond between them. He held her tight, and then began the orders. “Hold on, baby. This is going to be hard and fast. You got me desperate.” He gripped her hip then placed his palm up over her shoulder against the wall and began to thrust and stroke in and out of her pussy. She held onto his, then rubbed her palms up and down his chest before she pinched his nipples. “Madeline,” he reprimanded.

  “I love all these tattoos. They make me wet,” she admitted. He chuckled.

  “I like that, and not that they scare you.”

  “Hmm, maybe at first, but not now. Not when—"

  She gasped as he thrust deep. “Oh, Maximus.”

  “No more talking,” he said and that was it.

  Maximus made love to her in the shower, and with every thrust that bond grew deeper and her fears disappeared. Instead, a possessiveness over him and his brothers began to replace that fear, making her realize that she had to take the risks. She had to, and that would take guts and a confidence these men all seemed to bring forth in her and she loved that.

  Jedda glanced at Madeline’s phone. He saw the text by some guy Cortland. He noticed he called her Maddy.

  “It’s a text from some guy saying they need to talk, and he calls her Maddy,” Jedda said, not picking up the phone. He wouldn’t invade her privacy, but Jesus, he didn’t expect a fucking text to get this so jealous or the nickname. Would she allow them to call her Maddy? Was it a pet name from this guy Cortland?

  “We’ll ask her,” Hunter said as Tatum and Hagan looked in her refrigerator.

  “She has bacon but it’s turkey bacon,” Hunter said and Jedda chuckled.

  “Well look at her body. Do you think she eats shit food? No way,” Jedda added.

  “She meal preps. The refrigerator has several containers,” Tatum told them.

  “She has eggs too, grain bread,” Hunter added, taking the items out.

  “I also have pancake mix,” she said, coming down the stairs with Maximus.

  Jedda looked at her. She wore a black tank dress that hugged her figure and no shoes. Maximus remained close, and when they walked across the room toward the kitchen, he pressed up against her back, his large palm possessively over her belly then her hip.

  “You have a lot of healthy stuff,” Hagan told her.

  She smiled. “You don’t eat healthy? I don’t believe that. Not with your bodies,” she said to them.

  Maximus released her and she walked toward the cabinet. “I have protein pancake mix and a lot of fresh blueberries. How about blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs, some toast and coffee?” she asked and started pulling things out.

  “We’ll help you,” Tatum said, and took her hand pulled her close and kissed her. She ran her hand along his arm and under the t-shirt.

  “Where did you get this? You came in uniform.”

  “Always have spare set of clothes in my truck.”

  “Ahh, for evenings like last night?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Never, ever had an evening like last night, darlin’.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply.

  Hagan chuckled. “We’ll all help.”

/>   Soon they were all making breakfast, working together to get things going.

  “Your phone has been going off since we came downstairs,” Jedda told her as she placed the tray of pancakes onto the table. Hagan was pulling off the bacon, and Tatum was fixing the eggs as Hunter made the toast. Jedda prepared the coffee that was already done, and Maximus supervised.

  “Oh, shoot, I forgot all about reality,” she said and smiled, but as she went to walk by, Jedda stopped her.

  “I saw a text on the phone.”

  She squinted. “I didn’t look like to snoop. I just saw the name, a guy, Cortland.” Her eyes widened and she licked her lips. He reached up and stroked her cheek, pushing a strand of her damp hair behind her ear. “Looks like he wants to talk, and he called you Maddy. A special nickname he has for you or what?” he asked.

  She ran her palms up his chest. “Not a special nickname just he uses, it’s one my family and close friends call me.”

  “Maddy?” Maximus asked.

  She glanced at him and nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell us we could call you that?” Jedda asked.

  She nibbled her bottom lip then smiled. “You can if you want to.”

  He ran his palm along her ass and squeezed. “Maddy, it’s kind of cute,” he said and leaned forward and kissed her lips. She kissed him back and hugged him. She then kissed his neck and ear.

  “Don’t be jealous. Cortland is like family, even though he doesn’t want it to be that way,” she said and pulled back. He grabbed her hand as she went to walk to grab her phone.

  “Wait, what do you mean he doesn’t want it to be that way?” Jedda asked.

  “Means he wants her in his bed,” Hagan said.

  “Who is this guy?” Tatum asked. They brought everything to the table.

  “He’s a friend of the family’s, of my brothers. He’s had a thing for me for several years, and more so recently. My father kind of put him in charge of making sure I was okay while my dad and brothers were on a mission. It was just a couple of weeks, and well he found out about the fire, and was worried. He wanted to come here to see me, and I said that wasn’t necessary. He’s probably texting to talk about it and to ensure that I’m okay.”

  Jedda slid his palm to her ass and hugged her to him. “So tell him about us and that we got it covered, he isn’t needed ever again.”

  “Jedda, I’m not going to tell him about you guys.”

  “What? Why not?” Hunter asked. She eased back but Jedda held her by her ass.

  “I said I wanted to take things slow, didn’t I?” she asked.

  “That was before we took you together,” Jedda said, and slowly stroked a finger down the crack of her ass, reminding her of the connection and how fucking serious that was.

  “I know that, but like I said, he’s more of a friend, and before I go and tell him about you, I think I need to break the development to all the jarheads in my family and that isn’t going to be easy.”

  Jedda squinted. “You mean your dad and brothers?”

  “Yes, sir. It’s going to be crazy, and I wouldn’t put it past them to come here, to investigate the five of you and cause chaos, so it’s another reason to be a hundred percent sure we are all in and want this.”

  “We’re in and want this, want you, and we weren’t letting you go,” Jedda said to her.

  “I want this too.”

  “Then call your dad and bothers and let them know,” Jedda said to her.

  “I will, once we get to know one another better and I tell you about my fears, and about why I needed to put the brakes on before and process things. Let’s eat before it gets cold.” She kissed his chin and then his lips, and he nodded because he knew she was being honest with him, and it also sounded like she would tell them about the guy that hurt her.

  “Want your phone?” he asked as she headed back to the table where they others were waiting for them to sit.

  “Nah, I’ll look later.”

  Madeline was smiling as the guys talked about their lives and running missions and then finally settling down. Tatum told some recent stories about some cases he had in town, and even about a woman in town who was abducted by a doctor who was a rapist drugging his clients, and also drugging soldiers because he hated them and all they stood for. She found out about Warrior’s Way and thought it sounded like an amazing place.

  “My brothers are still active duty, but I know they’re getting tired and things are starting to ache. They deny it because my dad is still so involved and seventy-two years old. I think they feel like they have to do the same thing and not really get out.”

  “That’s understandable, but not everyone wants to be involved for that long, plus they’re safe and they haven’t been injured in any missions so they may be thinking to get out while the can. They should maybe take something less dangerous,” Hagan said to her.

  “My brothers? Not going to happen. They are badass and then some. In fact, they’re all about your sizes and have similar personalities. Although I think my brothers may be a bit more hot-headed.”

  “You’ve seen us as civilians not as soldiers,” Maximus said and winked.

  She blushed. “So, you think retiring has calmed you, made you less aggressive?”

  “The transition has been tough, I won’t lie,” Maximus said and then took a sip from his bottle of water. They were all drinking water now after coffee and breakfast.

  “I would have to say that Tatum transitioned the fastest and wanted to continue a family tradition. Our fathers were in the Corps and two are actively volunteering their time in the State Police. The four of them are getting too old though now,” Maximus said to her.

  “So you have four fathers and one mom?”

  “Yup, and Mom is very active in her volunteer committees, and she’s a tough one as expected with dads like ours,” Jedda said.

  “She sure is tough, kind of reminds me of you,” Hagan said.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m not that tough,” she said, and lowered her eyes to her lap thinking about Bentley and that relationship. She should have been tougher.

  “Sure, you are. Maximus and Hagan told us about your workout with Keego, which by the way is your last,” Hunter told her in warning.

  “My last?” she questioned.

  He leaned over and caressed her thigh up under her dress to her groin. “We’ll be the only men you roll around with on the mats or anywhere else.”

  “Hmm, is this up for discussion?”

  “No,” they all said at the same time and she sealed her lips but then chuckled.

  “I work out hard and it’s more than just for exercise, so as long as you take it seriously, then I’m fine with that, but I liked the challenging class and the way he ran things. It isn’t a big deal that we sparred.”

  “He had his hands all over you, and at one point when you had him in a front hold, your breasts were practically in his face,” Hagan said.

  “What?” Tatum raised his voice.

  “That did not happen,” she said to Hagan.

  “It might as well have happened the way you were rolling around countering his moves and landing on one another. The other guys were all flirting with you after that.”

  “They were not, and besides, it’s the best place around here where someone with experience like I have can actually train and get a good workout. I proved my capabilities, and when I go back this week, Keego will make things even harder, and the guys in the class will treat me like I’m capable and their equal.”