Our War (The Family Book 4) Read online

  “And if I don’t want to?” she asked.

  “Then I would stop, and we would have a nice swim.”

  She knew he wouldn’t be upset with her. This was them entering new territory.

  “I want to touch you as well,” she said. “I don’t want you to laugh at me when I do.”

  He smiled. “I’ve got no problem with that.” In the next second, his lips were back on hers, and she moaned, holding onto his shoulders, needing him. His cock pressed against her stomach, and she didn’t try to push him away.

  Out of everything, she trusted him more than anyone else.

  When his tongue traced over her lips, she opened up to him and ran her hands down his arms, going past his stomach, to wrap her fingers around his hard cock. He jerked away from the kiss and released a hiss.

  “What is it?” she asked. “You said I could touch you.”

  “I know, and it feels so good.”

  She had released his cock, and she pulled away from him. “Maybe we should take this slow,” she said.

  “Yeah, I think we need to.”

  “When did you last have sex with someone?” she asked.

  “A year ago.” He stalked toward her, and she rather liked the way he looked at her body. Ducking under the water, she broke the surface, tucking hair behind her ears. “Do you know what happens when two people fuck?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m not that young that I don’t know that babies come out women’s bellies from men’s kisses.” At his pause, she chuckled. “I’m kidding. Wow, you’re easy to tease.”

  “Some fathers keep their daughters away from any influence and make them so damn innocent that their husbands scare them.”

  “My father had the dreaded talk with me. We were both grossed out, and I want to keep that memory out of my head.”

  “My first time was with a whore that my dad told me I had to screw.”

  “Oh, wow, really?”

  “Yep. It was. I think half of the boys have that where we come from.”

  “Dad’s never done that to Gabe.” Gabe was her younger brother.

  “I don’t think about it anymore,” he said. His gaze traveled down her body, and she couldn’t help the shiver that he created. She wanted him; there was no denying that. This attraction between them scared her a little.

  She was supposed to hate the man she had been ordered to marry, wasn’t she?

  Chapter Five

  Jake had her naked in the pool, and his cock was rock hard, and yet he didn’t want to fuck her. Correction, he wanted to fuck her, but first, he just wanted to talk to her, to get to know her a little more. She was very different from how he imagined she would be. There was a fire, a passion burning in her eyes that he found so damn attractive.

  “You don’t think about sex anymore?” Emily asked, a wicked smile on her face.

  “I think about sex a hell of a lot but not about when it started. I’m a grown ass man, and I don’t need to think about it.”

  “You have a lot of sex?”

  “You’re my wife, and you’re curious about my sex life?”

  “I’ve not had one. Of course I’m curious.” She turned her back to him and sank beneath the water. He found that a shame seeing as he liked looking at her. She faced him once again with a smile on her face.

  “I could show you.”

  “Show me?”

  “I could make you feel good. No sex, promise. My cock will stay away from your very pretty pussy.”

  Her cheeks were a glorious shade of pink.

  “You don’t know if I’ve got a pretty one.”

  “Oh, I know for a fact that you’ve got one, baby. There’s no way you don’t have it.” He moved toward her, and she didn’t move back. Touching her shoulder, he stroked across her pulse. Moving her blonde hair aside, he pressed a kiss to her neck, loving the way she seemed to move toward him.

  “Jake?”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you that you don’t like. I’m not a monster. I want to give you something, to help make you feel good.”

  She chuckled. “Is that what you say to all the women?”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t spend time making small talk. It has been a long time for me, Emily. I won’t break our marriage vows.” He pulled away to look into her eyes.

  “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked.

  “You’re my wife, and you’ve never given me a reason to not be nice to you.”

  “What would make you hate me?”

  He laughed. “I’m thinking about fucking you, about sliding my fingers between your pussy, and making you so wet that you come, and you’re wanting to find out what makes me angry.”

  “I think now is the best time to ask you. You’re distracted, and I need to know in case I ever do something you hate.”

  Jake saw the spark of fear in her eyes, and he cupped her face. “No, don’t ever be afraid of me. I’m many things, Emily, but I will never harm or hurt you.” He didn’t want her to be afraid of him. “I need you to believe me.”

  For several seconds neither of them spoke, nor said a word.

  She kept her gaze on him, and then held his face in exactly the same way he held hers. “I believe you, Jake. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. I just … I was curious about you and everything. I shouldn’t have asked.”

  He smiled. “It’s fine. Nothing makes me angry that would ever affect you. I love my family. Luiz, Donnie, Tonio, they are all like brothers. Their families are just an extension of mine. I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know what Bracken’s deal is. I don’t trust him.”

  “Then trust me, Jake. Know that loyalty means a great deal to all of us. My father, he wants to make life better. He doesn’t want men with families to be shooting people on the front lawn. You guys could work together.”

  “Even though you and I are married.”

  She smiled, and the wicked glint in her eye wasn’t hard to see. “I think you and I are perfectly capable of handling each other.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so.” She ran her hand from his cheek to his neck. “Now, I think we need to add to our ground rules. You need to stop being worried about me and about if I’m afraid of you. There are going to be times that I am afraid, but I know you’d never hurt me. My mom told me that you need to be strong, that you need a strong woman by your side to face the enemies you’ve got. I’m going to be strong for you. I was going to be a total bitch, but I’ve decided to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

  He moved his hand from her face to stroke down her back. Her eyes closed, and she moved a little closer so that the tips of her breasts were stroking across his chest.

  “How about I show you a little something you could be looking forward to.”

  She licked her lips, and he wanted to kiss those lips, to show her exactly what she was missing out on.

  “What do you want to show me?”

  Sinking his fingers into her hair, he held onto her head. His cock was rock hard, pressing against her stomach. He wanted inside her so damn much, but he wanted to wait. He wanted them both to be craving each other with equal measure. Slamming his lips against hers, he plundered her mouth with his tongue, wanting her to think of nothing else but him. Biting her lip, he released her to find her eyes closed. “Can I touch you?” he asked.

  He made sure that he asked first. There was nothing wrong with being a gentleman to his wife.

  You want her to like you.

  This was a total change for him. He’d not cared when he first agreed. He didn’t give a shit if she liked him or not. All he wanted to do was get married, to get it out of the way, and maybe place her somewhere far away from him.

  Being with her for their honeymoon, and now like this, he didn’t want to lose her. He enjoyed her company. She wasn’t the spoilt little brat that he had first thought she was. She was something so much more, and he wanted that.

  “Jake?” she asked.

  “What is it?�
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  “I need your hands on me, touching me.”

  Moving his hands from her head and face, he glided them down, spinning her so that her back was to him. The curve of her ass nestled against his cock, and he groaned, sucking on her neck right over her pulse.

  She cried out, and he loved her sounds. They only served to drive him wild and want her even more.

  Cupping her tits, he pinched her nipples, giving them light tugs to create a small spark a pain but not enough to scare her. She was a virgin, and he wanted to test her limits and to see how far they could both go.

  He continued to lick and stroke her neck as he caressed her body going down to cup her between her thighs. He found her clit and stroked it.

  She gasped and shook within his arms from that one touch.

  “I can make you feel so good, baby. You’ll never know anything else but what I can give you.” He nibbled her neck, stroking in small circles over her nub. She pressed her thighs together, and then opened them again, pushing against his hand.

  “I don’t want you to stop. It feels so good when you do that.”

  “I know it does, babe. It’s going to get a hell of a lot better.”

  “How?”

  “You’re going to have to trust me.” He stroked her clit, and her hands moved up, cupping her tits. Her movements seemed completely inexperienced, but he liked that. She belonged to him, and only him.

  They had a fucked-up marriage, but he was going to make sure she didn’t go without.

  “Do you want to touch my cock?” he asked.

  She tensed up.

  “I said touch not fuck.”

  “I know. Can I?” she asked.

  He took one of her hands in his and placed it behind her to wrap around his length. He groaned as her fingers covered his length and started to stroke his cock. He closed his eyes, loving the feel of her moving up and down.

  “A-am I doing this right?”

  “So right, baby. So right.” He kissed her neck, groaning as her touch created so much pleasure he struggled to focus on her.

  Caressing her clit, he felt her wetness, the way she responded to his touch. He wanted her so damn bad. It was like the start of an addiction, and he just couldn’t help it.

  “I’m not supposed to like you,” he said.

  She chuckled. “We’ve agreed, we hate each other.”

  It felt so good to hate her then.

  “Oh, Jake,” she said, moaning his name as her body grew tighter. He wished he was inside her right now and felt every ripple of her pussy around his dick.

  “That’s it, baby, come for me. Come all over my cock.”

  She cried out, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. They both came, his cum erupting in the water as she did as well, pressing against her fingers.

  “I love hating you,” he said. In his heart, he knew he didn’t hate her.

  ****

  A couple of days later Emily walked the beach alone, watching the ocean as it seemed to be completely calm. She wore a long blue dress and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Being a married woman was somewhat surreal to her. Jake wasn’t like anything she had ever imagined. He was actually fun to be around, and they had a lot of fun.

  Glancing over her shoulder she saw Jake standing at the edge of the house staring at her. There had been a call come through from one of his friends, she didn’t know who. He held his hand up, giving her a wave, and she did the same, smiling. It was the little things she liked. He left the toilet seat down, and he put the cap on the toothpaste. Every morning there was always freshly brewed coffee. He couldn’t cook, which she’d found out last night, but that didn’t matter. She loved to cook.

  He had a beautiful reading voice. Last night they had lain in the sitting room, and she had her head in his lap while he read a book. It had been … weird. Turning her back to him, she looked out toward the ocean wondering what the hell was going on. Nothing made any sense to her anymore.

  Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and allowed the peace and quiet to settle all around her. There was nothing to be afraid of here. She was safe, and her parents were back at home taking care of everything. This was what her father, their family wanted.

  Her cell phone began to ring invading her space and peace. Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket she saw it was her mother, Tulip, calling.

  “Hey, Mom,” she said.

  “Honey, I thought I would give you a little time to get settled in. How is everything?”

  She stared back at the house to find Jake still in the same place. “It’s fine.”

  “And how is Jake?”

  Emily giggled. “Is this to find out how I am doing, or to see how he’s doing as a husband?”

  “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Believe it or not, honey, I do love you.”

  “Enough to force me into a marriage with a man I don’t know.”

  Tulip sighed over the line.

  “Mom, I don’t want to fight with you. I’m sorry. Everything is fine, great even.”

  “Why are you making that sound bad?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t know what to expect.”

  “Your father and I would have found another way if we could. None of us wanted you to have to go through this. It’s tough times right now, more so than I’ve ever known it.”

  “I get it, Mom, I do—”

  “No, you don’t understand, honey. There have been … attacks.”

  “Attacks?”

  “Yes. Families that have shown loyalty to your father and to The Family, some soldiers have died, and they are targeting women and children as well.”

  Fear gripped Emily as she looked toward Jake. He was pacing now, walking backward and forward, completely lost in his own little world. “Jake runs the soldiers for The Family.”

  “We know. We know exactly what they do.”

  “Do you need us to come home?”

  “No. What we need is for you to make this work. This is for the greater good.”

  Emily laughed, even though it sounded more on the verge of hysteria than actual laughter. “This is crazy.”

  “I know you just want to think that we’re all a bunch of criminals and we don’t know what to do without killing people, but I can promise you, honey, it’s not like that. There is a huge responsibility with being who we are. Even as women we have the same weight on our shoulders.”

  “Have you been attacked?”

  “No. We just have a few death threats at the moment. We’re trying to figure out who they are so we can deal with it.”

  Emily closed her eyes. Deal was such a negative word, at least in their world it was. Deal meant kill, death, the end. Opening her eyes, she knew there was no way to hide from it.

  “I just wanted to call to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I wish we had the means of watching television or doing something else.”

  “Something that didn’t allow you to be together.”

  “It’s confusing me when we’re together all the time.”

  There was some commotion in the background, and Emily frowned.

  “I’ve got to, honey. Love you.”

  Before she said anything else, her mother hung up the phone. Gritting her teeth, she stared out at the ocean, which no longer held any appeal to look at. Heading back up toward Jake, she saw he had also finished his call.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing. My mother … I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.”

  “That was Donnie on the phone. He’s kind of like our leader seeing as he took over from his dad. There have been attacks on my soldiers. Men I trust.”

  “You know the men who have been attacked?”

  “Yes, a couple of them have been killed. Their families have been taken to keep them safe. A couple of wives are in the hospital, and some of my men are missing.”

  She saw the worry on his face. “We need to go back home.”

  Jake shook his head
. “Donnie said they are handling it.”

  “We’re the ones that are in control of our marriage. They want this union to work more than anything, and I get it, I do. I don’t think we’ll work well if another of your men dies while you get to know me. I won’t have that on my head. I can’t. I refuse to.”

  “You want to go back home?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Something is clearly happening. I’m not stupid, and as much as they don’t think they need you, clearly they’re wrong.”

  “I don’t know about that. They told me there was no way of knowing.”

  Emily shrugged. “They don’t know that. You’re gone. What if they felt something and they would have told you but not anyone else. I know I would have told my mom before I told my dad. There are people we work for who we trust more than others.”

  Jake looked torn. “You’re sure about this.”

  “I’m not petty. Men are dying, and they’re your men.” She held her arms out in surrender. “My parents and your friends wanted this to work, right? Then let’s make it work by being a team. We can do that, right? Scare the absolute crap out of them, by getting this entirely right.”

  He started to laugh. “You know, I may start to like you.”

  She pressed her hands to her heart and gasped. “No, that is not possible. You cannot like me no matter what you say. Remember, we hate each other.” Emily would have loved to have stayed another few days, maybe even a few more weeks, but this was more important than her, and even him. “Make the call, Jake. It’s time for us to head home.”

  She made to move past him, but Jake caught her arm, stopping her from leaving. Staring at where he held her, she finally looked up into his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Thank you, Emily. I mean that.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry, mister, I will make you pay.”

  He cupped her cheek and slammed his lips down on hers silencing any protest or … anything from her. His kiss was firm and yet tender, which was totally not happening. Her body began to melt, and before she could stop herself she sank her fingers into his hair and held him close.

  Jake broke the kiss and pressed his head against hers. “Thank you so much, Emily. I will never forget this moment.”