Count on Me (Petal, Georgia) by Lauren Dane
Time slowed down as Caroline gasped at the whore comment. She noted the bunching of muscles on Royal’s neck and the flex of his biceps. She scrambled as all around them, others moved to get out of the way, or to stop it, or to grab their beer before it went flying or whatever.
“What did you just call Caroline?” Royal’s voice had gone very cold and sharp.
Oh boy. She’d been a defense attorney a long time. Enough that she recognized this fact pattern. Despite the wall of dudeflesh that sprang up at Royal’s side and was apparently set on keeping her back, being short had its benefits.
Squeezing through, Caroline managed to get free of the booth but stayed behind Royal. He was worked up and really angry so if she stayed out of reach of Benji and let Royal protect her, things would be fine and no one would get punched.
She hoped it for no other reason than Benji would love the attention. And Royal could go to jail or something equally stupid. He’d be in there all weekend because there were no bail hearings on the weekends in Petal.
Lily got away from their booth, Beth helping. Which was good because Nathan shot Benji a look that threatened lots of pain. Elliot stood tall and very authoritarian next to Royal, also in-between Benji and Caroline.
At this point pretty much the entire restaurant was looking, and Caroline wanted to crawl under their booth. Well, metaphorically because she was sure it was really gross down there.
Elliot spoke calmly, but with that cop voice. “All right, gentlemen. Let’s break this up before something bad happens that no one intended.”
Benji turned a little with a smile. As if he were leaving and everyone relaxed until he reversed course and threw his entire body behind the fist heading in Royal’s direction.
Royal caught Benji’s arm, sliding a grip to his wrist before wrenching the arm down and out of the way.
Then. Well then he punched Benji right square in the nose with his free hand like it was his job.
The crowd surged but Nathan reached out to grab her around the waist and keep her standing.
Benji’s blood was everywhere as he held his nose in both hands.
Elliot waded in. “Break it up. I mean it.” He wasn’t in uniform and he worked several towns over, but he carried the authority easily and people obeyed, moving.
“I want to press charges,” Benji wailed.
Royal actually growled. “Oh yes, please. And I’ll press them against him, and then he and I can be in the same holding cell all weekend long.”
Someone handed a bunch of napkins to Benji.
“Fine. He’s not that important to me anyway. You better watch yourself.” Benji pointed a bloody finger at Caroline, and Royal nearly got loose from the people who’d been holding him back.
Caroline had never seen Royal this angry before. “I told you to leave her alone. You’re fucking threatening her now? I’ll beat your ass for this.”
“That’s enough!” Elliot physically pushed them apart, and the three guys restraining Royal got better hold of him.
“This piece of shit just threatened my girlfriend. What the hell, dude?” He strained to get loose, and Benji seemed to finally have figured out how sweet, laid-back, easy, good-natured Royal went fucking nuclear.
“You’re his friends, what do we do?” she whispered to Nathan and Trey.
Trey whispered back, “I’ve only seen Royal this mad twice during the decades I’ve known him.”
Nathan crossed his arms over his chest, standing shoulder to shoulder with Trey to keep her out of the fray.
“That motherfucker tried to hit his woman and then called her a whore. And then he threatened her. Benji is lucky he’s got all his teeth left.” Trey raised the volume so everyone around them could hear.
“Royal.” Caroline pushed her way around Trey and Nathan and approached Royal, reaching out to touch his arm. “Royal,” she repeated his name. “Don’t let this garbage rob you of what is sure to be a pretty awesome weekend.” She reached up, guiding his chin so she could look at him better. “You already punched him once. There’s a cop right there. Let it go.”
“He tried to hit you.”
She nodded. “And you stopped him and defended me. Thank you.”
“He called you names and threatened you. I really don’t think I can let that go.”
“Baby, he’s covered in blood. Your hand is all messed up and it’s starting to swell. We need to get it on ice. He got the message.”
“You need someone to stand up for you. To protect you. Oh I know you can handle yourself. But you need someone who always gets between you and trouble. That’s me.”
Oh. Everything inside her got sort of gooey for a moment as she smiled, blushing. “I did, yes. And now that’s you. Thank you. But now we need to back off because if not you’ll go down to the police station and maybe jail.”
“I know a great defense attorney.”
She laughed. “I’m kind of expensive, so save it up for something really good.”
“I could punch him a few more times and that would be really good.”
As she spoke with Royal, one of Shane’s officers came in and took over from Elliot after hearing what happened. They were smart enough to get Benji out of there.
“Let’s go.” She kissed him quickly. “I’ll show you really good.”
“Promise?”
“Every time.”
“Okay, everyone. Mind your business and be moving along. Not the first time y’all have seen a fight in a bar,” Elliot called out, making a shooing motion with his hands.
Caroline noted Garrett had disappeared. But he’d seen enough that the entire situation would be reported—with prejudice—to her grandparents.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anne hand Elliot a card and he handed her one.
“Come back to my place so I can clean your knuckles up.”
“No to your place. Yes to letting you kiss all my boo-boos at my house. My bed is also bigger,” Royal murmured into her ear.
He helped her into her coat as people tried to get him to talk about things until Caroline put herself in between him and the crowd. But he put an arm around her, shifting her so he was between her and any possible trouble.
“You two are really gross.” Anne rolled her eyes.
Caroline snorted. “Whatever.”
Anne leaned close as they all reached the door. “Thanks for inviting Elliot to have a drink. He’s very forceful, isn’t he?”
“Um, I guess. He’s got a great butt.”
“Yes. That too.”
Once they got outside of course, Royal spotted Garrett and headed over.
Caroline grabbed his arm.
Royal turned to her, his hand over hers. “He egged that entire scene on. I told him what would happen the next time I saw him.”
“He’s not worth it. You punched someone for me. Garrett is terrified. Look at him.” She pointed and Royal snarled. Garrett caught sight of them making their way closer and got in his car and drove off quickly.
“That wasn’t nice,” Royal said to Caroline, but he smiled as he said it.
“Oooh. Will you be extra gruff with me? Do I need to be punished for my impudence?”
He swatted her butt but watched Garrett’s car until it turned off Main Street.
Royal was quiet on the way back to his place as he tried to process his anger. Not just at Benji and Garrett, but by how people seemed to feel like they could abuse and threaten Caroline at will. Simply because she believed something they didn’t. Something they could agree or disagree with her with or basically not give a fuck what she thought one way or the other.
To threaten to physically harm someone because they believed differently than you was bad enough. But this wasn’t some random woman. This was Royal’s woman. All barely five feet of her, and while she was a total badass in many ways, Benji was at least a foot taller and had a hundred pounds on her.
“That was really fucked up,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry.”
&
“That whole scene. So stupid. And your hand. Benji wasn’t worth it.”
He got out and went around to her side but when he pulled her down, he hauled her close. “No he wasn’t worth it. Not one bit. You’re worth it, Caroline. No one gets to harm you or joke about it or try to scare you with it. No one.”
She knew she should have been upset. Or mad or sad. But the way he’d defended her, his eyes sparking, fists balled up just right for punching—well, it made her hot all over and she wanted to rub herself on him. Wanted to kiss and sniff and nuzzle and all those super weird primal things.
This Royal who held her was a man whose territory had been invaded. She was his and she realized it was no small matter to belong to a man like Royal Watson.
“You’re a sneak alpha.” Damn it. And it was too late.
One corner of his mouth tipped up as he took her hands and pulled her into the house. “Sit so I can take your boots off,” he said, his lips on hers.
She flopped onto his couch and took a long, leisurely look from his toes up to the top of his head. “Damn.”
“Is that a good damn or a bad damn?”
He pulled one boot off and then the other. “Not only are you a sneak alpha, you smell really good and your body goes all ripply when you take my boots off.”
His smile bloomed over his face, and every part of her stood up and cheered. “Wow.”
He motioned with a tip of his chin as he helped her to her feet, giving a gentle push toward his bedroom.
“Go on, darlin’.” He stalked behind her, all that masculine power flooding through her like a blast of heat.
Still, she needed to give as good as she got.
Caroline looked back over her shoulder, riveted by the sight of his mouth.
“I’m not a sneak anything. Many people mistake being easygoing for being shallow or weak. I don’t have any call to go getting all worked up over every little thing, Caro. But some things are worth getting worked up over.”
Standing at the foot of his very large bed, he reached out, his hand sliding around the back of her neck and yanking her forward.
“Your hands.”
The breathlessness of it made his cock ache. The way her lips caressed the words and the way her eyes had gotten wide for a moment, her desire banked to focus on his injuries.
“Stay here.” She left him in his bedroom. He pulled the shirt, boots and socks off, waiting for her in only his jeans.
He loved the way Caroline skidded to a halt when she came back into the room. She stared at him with that catlike pleasure of hers as she placed a full ice bucket on the bedside table.
She pulled him into the master bath and washed his hands gently.
“Most of this isn’t your blood. You’ll be sore, but it doesn’t look like you broke the skin anywhere.”
“Take your shirt off.”
He backed her into the bedroom as he said this.
And then she did, reaching down to grab the hem of her shirt and whipping it up and off exposing all those fucking curves that drove him so wild.
“Damn. Look at you. I want to lick you up one side and down the other.”
He reached out, removing her bra. He stepped a little closer, feathering his thumbs over her collarbones. Watched as she swallowed hard and dragged her eyes open.
So confident in his power in that moment, he was felled when she took a cube of ice from her glass between her lips and bent her head over the hand she’d just pulled into hers.
Lower, her head bent over his lap and he let out a shuddering sigh. And then the ice against his sore knuckles.
It was…hot. So fucking hot he shivered from head to toe three times. And then it was tender. And hot. So hot again when she cut her gaze to him.
“Goddamn,” he snarled as she ripped sensation from him with nothing more than her gaze and that mouth. Sucking on an ice cube so her lips were a little swollen, glossy from the melting water.
She spit the cube out at long last and dried his skin gently. “I’m going to tell you you really need to ice your knuckles. And you’re going to refuse,” she said quickly before he could do just that. “And I’m going to say that you can touch me one handed while the other is in ice.”
Taking his hand, she kissed his knuckles gently before brushing the backs of his fingers against her nipples.
The sexual energy between them sizzled along his skin.
“All right. After.”
“After what?”
He grabbed his belt, unbuckling it slowly, fascinated by the way her gaze locked on his hands. Her nipples darkened and hardened. Her mouth had rested in a rather tantalizing O of surprise as she’d shivered and sighed.
Someone liked that very much.
He pulled it from the loops slowly. Once the belt cleared his jeans, he whipped his wrist just right so the leather snapped.
“After I use this belt to restrain you, I’ll ice one hand while I use the other on you.”
She licked her lips and offered her wrists.
“On the bed. On your back. Hands above your head gripping the headboard.”
She got on the bed and laid out like he’d told her to. He straddled her body, using his belt to tie her wrists to the headboard. It wasn’t enough to hold her. Not really. Enough that she could struggle though.
He kissed her elbow and then scooted down her body. He unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, and she writhed as he gripped the pants and pulled them off her legs. Her socks he tossed over his left shoulder.
“Your jeans are still on,” she panted.
If he took them off, he’d be inside her before he could remember he had plans. So he left them on.
He eased his injured hand into the ice. “I like it when you take care of me.”
With his free hand, he plucked up an ice cube, sliding the edge of it over her nipple. He drew it around and around, watching as it beaded, pleased at the sight of rivulets of water sliding over her breast.
Her eyelids fluttered a little as she arched on a sigh.
Pleased by his life right at that very moment, he tossed the ice back into the bucket. “Tell me something about yourself,” he said as he lowered his head to lick over the iced nipple, knowing the change in sensation from cold to hot would make her wet.
“I know it’s silly and shallow,” she began in a desire-rough voice, “but it makes me all kinds of hot just thinking about what you were like earlier at the bar. No one’s ever punched someone for me.”
She laughed and the sound drew him close with the need to kiss her. “You taste like something I need a lot of.”
With his free hand, he grabbed a piece of ice again to trace the curve of her pussy through the whisper-thin, translucent material of her underpants, and she stilled. He tossed the piece of ice back and changed hands. And icy-cold wetness seized her nipple. One and then the other until his hand started to warm up.
“I don’t think this is the spirit of our agreement that you’d ice your hand.”
He hooked a finger around the side of her panties and tugged. She lifted up and he pulled them off. “I’m a rebel, Caro. Now would you look at that?” He tickled the tip of a finger against her labia and then brushed it back and forth until he finally got to her clit, and she nearly yelped.
“You’re close. Already.”
“My body is super easy for you.”
“Thank God for it.”
Sweat sheened on her skin. There was a light out in the hallway, and the shaft of it bathed a slice of her leg. He rolled off the bed and flipped the light switch, filling the room with a pale yellow glow from the vintage bulbs in the wall sconces.
“There we go. Look at you, darlin’. Luscious.”
He dried off his other hand, moving the bucket of ice out of the way before crawling back to straddle her body.
“How is it?” She nodded at his hand.
“Swe
“I don’t want to talk about him or any of that. Especially right now. You were doing something?”
“Oh that’s right.” He shimmied from his jeans and shorts fairly quickly before returning to the bed with a condom. His hands slid up the inside of her thighs and paused, looking at her for long moments where he said nothing,
“You have no idea how fucking beautiful you are.” He moved his finger faster. “I figure I need to take the edge off and then get down to serious business. You had a rough night. I need to fuck the stress away.”
She wanted to laugh but the way the leather of his belt dug into her wrists, the way he’d been so…elegantly rough with her, it lay on her heavy and narcotic. She was bound, yes, but in a ritualistic sense more than in reality. One hard yank or the words and he’d free her immediately. Which meant she struggled, but not too much.
The first orgasm washed over her like the tide coming in. Gradually filling her until she burst and it ebbed away.
She sighed happily, sagging against the belt.
“Well I know I feel better. What about you?”
“Definitely. I’d give you a thumbs-up, but you know, tied up.”
He grinned. “Yeah, you are. It’s really fucking hot.” He said this as he rolled a condom on and sidled up to her, pulling one of her thighs up as he dipped into her pussy a few times until he slid all the way in.
“Oh, that’s very nice.”
He pressed a kiss against her shoulder as he wedged himself halfway beneath her. Having her arms bound above her head meant she was out there on full display for Royal. The way he touched her, kissed her, looked at her, fucked her, talked to her, whatever made her feel so beautiful. Desirable.
She arched and he slid deeper with a grunt. He filled his hands with her breasts. It was nearly too much, being this exposed to him. The covetous way he touched her. It was dirty and raw and she loved it.
He nuzzled her neck and she practically purred. “You still with me?”
She hummed, rousing a little. “I am and I’m pretty glad about that.” She was warm and pliant, and she made his dick hard and made him laugh at the same time.