Love Heals Read online

  She exhaled and remained against his chest and then remembered Mrs. Seno. She pulled back, stepped from his hold and fixed her skirt. “Mrs. Seno is out there. Oh God, your whole office saw you—"

  He reached for her blouse and began to button it. “Saw me pull you into my office to protect you and to show you’re mine. Now they’ll see how you’ve made my scowl go away darling.” She pursed her lips.

  “So they assume I was in here kissing it and making it better sheriff?” she asked and then walked to the small mirror in the office and checked her lipstick. He came up behind her, towered over her, but he bent slightly.

  “They can assume whatever they want. You’re mine, and when we walk back out there to handle whatever reason you’re here with Mrs. Seno, they’ll know things have changed, and you’re accepting us. You look stunning.” He slid his arm around her waist and cupped her breast. She gasped.

  “Titus?”

  “These are mine, too, and Jesus, woman, I’ve got big hands, and I can’t even cup it fully,” he said to her and lowered his mouth to suckle against her neck as he used his thumb to stroke her nipple. Her pussy clenched. She closed her eyes and moaned.

  “You look so damn beautiful. Come over for dinner tonight.”

  “Can’t.”

  “Damn it, Charlie,” he said and released her and placed his hands on his hips. She smoothed her hands along her skirt again to ensure she looked presentable.

  “I have plans tonight. Now let's go over the situation with Cody and why his mom is here. Was he really involved with that brawl last night, or was he defending the girl he was with?” she asked. He stepped closer. Licked his lower lip.

  “Where are you going and with who?” She raised both eyebrows up at him. He did the same back.

  She exhaled. “You know I can take care of myself.”

  He pulled her against him again, using one arm to wrap around her so easily and his other hand to cup her cheek and neck. “You shouldn’t have to.”

  “I learned a lot of things from my brothers over the years and some new stuff when I was on base overseas.”

  “Who taught you things overseas on the base?” he asked, and she immediately looked away and pushed down on his arms.

  “We need to go see Mrs. Seno.”

  “Charlie?” he questioned her and didn’t let her go.

  “I made some friends and made some changes, that’s all. Can we please talk to Mrs. Seno?”

  “Not until you set a day and a time for us to all get together and spend time with one another.”

  “Tomorrow night? It’s Saturday. I close the office by four,” she said to him.

  “Okay, so should one of us pick you up at your place later, like five or do you want to come right over after work?”

  Her heart began to race, and now that he wasn’t kissing her, holding her close, making her come in his arms, she was having those fearful thoughts and reservations. “Maybe we should meet somewhere and just talk.” He eyed her over, and she felt it everywhere. He just stared at her.

  “Don’t be scared of us. Of being alone with the four of us.”

  “I’m not,” she said very quickly, and he raised one of his eyebrows up at her. “I’m not,” she repeated, but it sounded lame.

  He reached out and stroked her jaw. “Trust us. Take the chance, and let’s see what happens.” She nodded before they headed out of the office and thank God no one seemed to look at her differently but instead were all respectful and waiting for orders from Titus.

  Corey was meeting a few of the guys from the dojo over at Horsemen, a bar and dance place in Benter, the town before Central Valley. They had gotten here early, ate dinner and were now heading toward the bar when he looked around the place, and his eyes went right to the backside of one sexy little blonde. Her tight black skirt hugged her ass and her upper thighs, and the top she wore was tight on her hips but then flared out into quarter sleeves and was off the shoulder. She had heeled ankle boots that accentuated her legs, and he wanted to see what she looked like then felt a little guilty for staring. He wasn’t the only one as his friends whistled low and Seren Fortane and Nash Weathersen, both deputies in Central Valley, made comments.

  “Goddamn. I hope her face is as hot as that body and her ass,” Seren said, and the other guys agreed. “Only one way to find out,” Seren said and started to walk forward when the blonde turned around, and he saw that it was Charlie.

  “Holy shit, Charlie,” Nash said, and the other guys made comments, but Seren cleared his throat.

  “Shit.”

  “Excuse me a minute,” Corey said and started to walk toward her when a group of guys struck up a conversation with her and Leeann, Maya, Candice, and Faith. One tall, big guy placed his hand on her hip and gave her a sexy smile as he licked his lips and looked at her chest. When she shook her head and turned, he saw how low her top dipped, revealing a bit more cleavage than he ever saw her reveal. The scowl on his face shocked her as her eyes widened, and she looked away. She ran her fingers through her hair and turned back as the guy pressed closer along with some other guy, and Corey approached and heard the conversation.

  “You have got to be the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Please tell me you’re single,” he said and stroked her shoulder.

  “Actually I’m not,” she said, and Corey paused. She looked right at him and then the guys did too and gave him the once-over.

  “Take a hike,” Corey said and reached for her hand.

  “She yours?” the tall guy asked.

  “Yeah.” He yanked her close to him, placed his arm around her waist and pulled her toward the bar.

  “Corey, I’m here with some friends.”

  “You should be with me and my brothers, enjoying our company instead of blowing us off,” he said, keeping her pressed against his chest, her back against the bar. He slid his palm to her ass as she tried moving back a little and then she stared up at him.

  “What are you drinking?”

  “Vodka and 7-UP,” she said, and he told the bartender as he ordered a beer for him. He stared down at her and then at her chest.

  “You look really good. Too good to be here without one of us.”

  “Seriously, Corey, we aren’t even dating,” she said with a bit of annoyance.

  “We’re beyond that. I heard about your visit to the sheriff’s office this morning,” he said. Her face went flush, her jaw dropped, and she tried pushing on his shoulder, and he firmly grabbed her ass and kept her close with one arm. “Don’t deny the attraction or the fact that we’re all going to make you our woman. Make you come in our arms.”

  “Corey,” she whispered and looked around them.

  “Charlie, I’m pissed off and fucking jealous right now. This shit has to end. Why are you here? What is the point of this shit? You don’t go out to party with twenty-year-olds.”

  “They’re my age you know. It’s a normal thing to do.”

  “Not for you it isn’t. You’re past this bullshit.”

  “Oh yeah, what about you, a man in his thirties? Why are you here? To pick up women in their twenties?”

  “To hang out with friends, and now I’ve picked up you, and you aren’t leaving my side. Let's have a drink,” he told her, and he only gave her enough room to maneuver and pick up the glass as he continued to caress her firm, round ass. He was shocked that she didn’t try pulling away but instead held his gaze as she took a sip of her drink.

  “I can’t believe that you’re here. That I’m holding you in my arms, getting to feel this sexy body, inhale your scent, and stare into your stunning green eyes I’ve always admired. Goddamn, baby. Can you feel my heart racing?” he asked her. He was surprised when she pressed her palm to his chest, nodded, and then slid it to his shoulder. He stared at her lips. “I want to kiss you right now, right here, but I know I’ll want more, and I might not be able to stop. A little peck is not going to relieve the ache I feel.”

  “Which is why when I’m done
with this drink, I’m going to join my friends and mingle a bit.”

  “No you aren’t.” Her eyes widened.

  “Oh really?” He squeezed her a little tighter and held her gaze firmly.

  “Hell no, you aren’t mingling. Every fucking guy is looking at you, knowing you don’t fit in here. That you’re so damn sexy and hot and perfect.”

  “You’re biased.”

  “I’m telling the truth. You got Titus’s deputies and the other guys from my dojo staring at your body, complimenting your curves, and then stunning them when they realized it was you.”

  “Why is that?” she asked with attitude.

  “Because they knew they didn’t have a chance. They know you belong to us. To the Mullen brothers,” he said to her and then pressed his lips to hers. Sure enough, that kiss grew deeper until she gripped his shirt and pulled back. He licked his lips. “You aren’t mingling. Not without me right by your side.”

  Charlie was shocked to see Corey here and to also be so affected by his possessiveness and jealous reaction to the men hitting on her. Truth was, she knew immediately that she didn’t want to be here and was going to make an excuse to leave shortly when he appeared. Now that she was in Corey’s arms, with his hands on her possessively and his words sinking in, she realized that she truly felt happiest and safest when one of the Mullen men were right by her side. Her heart was racing. Her breasts ached. She could feel his hard muscles and knew he was a superb martial artist, a man capable of more than she could ever imagine. He had this look in his eyes. The look of a killer, a soldier who feared nothing. It aroused her, and she would be lying if she denied this attraction when it felt so strong and so right.

  He was handsome, too, which made looking away from his sculptured face, those light blue eyes and deliciously sexy demeanor impossible. Just like this. This close to him, inhaling his cologne, feeling his firm hold on her much smaller body made her pussy clench with need. She was losing the battle to resist rather quickly.

  She wanted more. Needed more, and her mind went right to sex with Corey, and of course sex with his brothers, as well. Did she want this? Could she handle them? She was starting to get those answers as she felt his fingers tracing along the underside of her breast, and she didn’t mind at all. She imagined those large, capable hands cupping her breast and tasting her tit, sucking hard and teasing her into submission.

  She gulped, and he held her gaze. He made sure no one could see, with her body sideways facing the bar. They talked about the town, about his brothers and how they were working on their house and redoing one of the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. She could barely focus but tried very hard to engage in this bullshit conversation. She really didn’t know Aleck and Mavis as well as she knew Corey and Titus. Jesus, Titus was ready to take her home today, and she made this excuse. A last resistance to try to evade what she really wanted but what she really wanted was the Mullen men, but they were everything she was afraid of and more.

  “I didn’t know you guys knew how to do that stuff. Where did you learn?” she asked him and reached for her drink with a shaky hand he had to notice before she took another sip of her drink.

  “We used to help our fathers out years ago when we were younger. Then in between tours, we’d come back and work for their company.”

  “Why didn’t you follow in their footsteps and join the business?” she asked.

  “It wasn’t really our thing. We were always going back for additional tours,” he said to her, and she felt that sensation again. That discomfort or fear of the fact that these men were military men. Although they were all retired now. They were older than her, set in their ways and perhaps unwilling to accept who she was and what her fears were. Could their experiences in life, their maturity, and capabilities be a good thing for her, or was she overthinking things and making them into her own special knights in armor?

  That was what she believed when she fell in love with Tavern. That being a capable soldier, Special Forces no less, that he was invincible. She hadn’t seen the signs, and then was lost, heartbroken and insulted when he struck her and treated her like garbage. If he hadn’t left the next day for a mission, her brothers would have hunted him down and beat him for what he did. He beat them to it. She gulped. No one saw any signs. Would she get caught up in the emotions, the sexual attraction to see any signs with the Mullen men? Were they too old, too mature and past that point to have PTSD affect them in a way that they could do her harm, could betray her trust, her body? Tears filled her eyes.

  He gave her a squeeze. She looked back up into his eyes. “Aleck and Mavis are fine, Charlie. We all are.” She swallowed hard, went to look away, not really wanting to discuss this now.

  “Hey.” He clutched her chin gently with his fingers. Stared into her eyes. “Listen, I get the feeling you fear them most because they left the service more recently, and that maybe you think they could lose it or hurt you or walk away after we share you. That isn’t going to happen.”

  “You can’t make me that promise, or any woman for that matter.”

  “You’re the only woman we’ve all ever wanted, and ever wanted together to share and to possess, to claim guardianship of.”

  “I don’t need guardians.”

  “That’s where I personally disagree. God knows what the fuck went down when you were overseas at that base. I don’t even want to think about what you were exposed to.” She felt her cheeks warm.

  “Shit, we’ll get to that later, right now I think it’s important you understand something.”

  “What’s that?” she asked as he stroked her jaw and kept that thick, muscular arm around her waist and held her close. So close she felt the heat of his body and the hardness of his muscles, especially the one thigh he pressed between her legs.

  “When Mavis and Aleck first returned, they came off a bad mission. One they believe they should have died in. That’s their story to share with you so you’ll understand. Things were tough, and like all of us, like most soldiers who were in the middle of the shit, we come back with some anxieties. Sometimes certain things trigger us to have an attitude or even react not like our normal selves. You know this from seeing it with your brothers, with other soldiers you treat. Why can’t you accept that with us? Why is it that it scares you so much?”

  Before she could answer, Maya, Leann, Candice, and the other women came over to see if she wanted to head to Harper’s with them. Charlie didn’t think this was the time or the place to discuss something so deep. She knew she would get emotional, and she didn’t want to do that. She was strong and determined to not feel so vulnerable or affected by the past and how badly Tavern hurt her.

  She realized how late it was. “Actually, I need to get going. I have to be at the office by eight,” she told them, and they said good night and then off they went. She removed her hand from Corey’s arms. He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

  “You didn’t start working out at your brother’s dojo. Does this mean you’ll consider training with me?” he asked and pulled her back between his legs as he sat on the bar stool. She kept her arms at her side and held her wristlet with one hand.

  “That isn’t going to happen.”

  “Why not? Don’t you know how good of a trainer I am?”

  “Oh, I’ve heard you’re pretty good, especially training the ladies who come in and want to roll around on the mats with you.” He pretended to be shocked as he pointed at his chest.

  “Me?” She chuckled and gave his chest a slap.

  “Yes you. I do believe Athena started out training at your dojo.”