Broken Open. Lauren Dane

him there was nothing to be done so he needed to keep Mary in bed. I’ll call him now and fill him in on what Vaughan told me.”

      Within ten minutes Ezra had got it all taken care of. All bases covered. Pregnant sister-in-law sleeping, all brothers accounted for and okay. His parents were headed to the hotel with Vaughan once they’d wrapped things up at the hospital.

      Ezra had heard in Vaughan’s tone that his brother had a lot going on. More than just the immediate situation. Ezra planned to head to the hospital around noon so he could speak with Vaughn a little then.

      “I’m sorry.” Paddy looked out the front windows. “For coming here and interrupting I mean.”

      At first Ezra had no idea what his brother was apologizing for. He scanned his memory until he realized Paddy meant sex.

      “Shit happens, Patrick.” He kept reminding himself of that because he was going to be nauseated all day from blue balls. He was trying not to even glance back into the kitchen because if she still had that scarlet robe on all silky next to her skin he was going to weep.

      “But you guys...well finally, right?” Paddy waggled his brows.

      Ezra’s laugh may have sounded a little less than amused. “Don’t worry about it. She and I know where the other lives. We’ll pick it up again once this is all behind us.”

      “Shit. Now I’m really sorry.”

      Ezra snorted, slapping his brother on the back. “I’ll let you make it up to me. Come on. We’ll fill Nat and Tuesday in and then I’m going home for a while to sleep before I head down to the hospital.”

      “Should we cancel the show?” Paddy looked at his watch. “Tonight, I guess it is already.”

      “I left it up to Vaughan. I’ll call Jeremy in a few hours to let him know what’s up. Vaughan says if she’s stable and fine, he thinks we should do it. He said we can play tonight and then he’ll head straight to the hospital from the arena.” And if he was smart, he’d be working on figuring out how to win Kelly back and get this new guy out of the picture.

      When he and Paddy got back to the kitchen, Tuesday had changed into jeans and a T-shirt but she still looked sexy and gorgeous and his dick hurt at the memory of how she’d looked less than an hour before.

      Ezra filled them in. Paddy sweet-talked Natalie into going home with him and Ezra wasn’t sure what to do with his disappointment at the idea of his own empty bed. He liked his bed. He liked sleeping alone, in the middle of his gargantuan mattress. But he bet Tuesday was warm and soft in the mornings. That might be worth sharing his mattress for.

      Paddy and Natalie left and Ezra turned his attention to Tuesday, moving to her. “I’m sorry we got interrupted.”

      “Well, all things considered, it’s all right. For me anyway.” She grinned a moment. “You? Well, I can help you out.”

      He groaned at that. Her hands or mouth on him, quick and hard so he could get off. Yeah, that’d be fantastic, as it happened. And yet, not what he wanted. Not his first time with her.

      He pulled her close, kissing her for a while until he felt a little better. “Are you coming tonight?”

      She nodded. “Nat and I are driving out together with Mary.”

      “You and me.” And like someone else spoke from his lips: “Come back to my house after the show. We’ll start over and do it far better this time around.”

      He liked the smile he got.

      “All right. Go home and rest awhile. I’ll see you tonight. I’m glad Maddie’s okay.”

      He hugged her once more at her door before he headed out to the porch. He stepped away, pausing. “See you tonight, Tuesday.”

      * * *

      EZRA DROVE HOME with the windows rolled down. A thousand things he needed to do raced through his head. He went through them all one by one, assigning them some measure of importance and by the time he pulled into his garage, he’d tidied his thoughts.

      Loopy, his sweet, silly Lab, woke up when Ezra came in from the garage. She looked slightly guilty, which meant she’d been on his bed until she heard the garage door open. “I got your number.”

      That he said it while scratching her behind her ear meant her guilty face faded, replaced by her normal happy-go-lucky goofiness. She groaned when he moved to her chin, which sent Goldfish and Peanut into the room as fast as their paws could take them.

      He tried to move, but was unable to avoid the pain of kitten claws in his jeans as they climbed him like a tree.

      “You were in my bed, too, weren’t you?” He took a cat under each of his arms and headed toward his room.

      Ezra’s house had been the last to get finished because he’d had the first one torn down and a new one rebuilt when he’d got out of rehab. This place was his home. His refuge from the insanity of the world outside.

      A cedar-log home, it was open and bright. The central core of the house soared up to the bare-beamed ceiling with a gallery at the second floor.

      The master was on the first floor at the rear of the house, behind beautifully carved oak double doors. Doors he usually left open as they were now. He dropped the cats carefully as he headed toward his bathroom.

      “Sorry, kids, but Dad needs to be alone.” He shut the bathroom door and knew they’d be getting back on his bed the minute he was out of sight.

      When he’d come back from tossing his dirty clothes, the water was hot and he stepped under the spray with a sigh. He didn’t need to shower then. He could just sleep, clean up before he headed to the hospital with his stuff in the trunk and get ready at the arena.

      But a riot of energy coursed through him. It wasn’t about getting clean. He needed to jerk off so he could fucking sleep.

      He worked soap into his palms, turning the bar over and over until his hands were nice and slick. Head back, he let the water hit him from all three directions as he trailed slippery hands over his nipples, tugging the bar through the left one. It wasn’t like he had to do much to get close again.

      The memory of how she’d been just a few hours before came easily. Tuesday Eastwood was alluring. Sexy. Smart and funny. She was beautiful and vibrant and so totally in charge of her shit.

      Her taste was on his mouth as he licked over his bottom lip. Right before he wrapped a fist around his cock and pumped slowly.

      Fuckyeah.

      He imagined her back arching as he slowly pressed into her body. She’d wrap her legs around his waist...if he took her missionary. Maybe he’d thrust a few times and roll her over and start again.

      Yeah, that worked.

      She had a great back, a fantastic ass; he’d look his fill as he got closer and closer. From that angle he could take her in slow, deep thrusts.

      He drew close but he didn’t want to let go of that image. Tried to slow down but the time he’d spent with her earlier that night had pushed him too far.

      All the adrenaline and sexual energy he’d been pumping out for hours and hours built up in the balls of his feet and barreled up his legs, lodging in his gut.

      He thought about her. Remembered her voice. Remembered the sounds she’d made as he’d driven her to climax. Licked his lips to get one last whisper of her scent and taste as he came so hard he had to slap a hand against the tile to keep from falling over.

      When he crawled into bed—yes, around two cats and a dog—it was four already. He’d wake up at nine and check in with Vaughan and depending on what his brother said, he’d head to the hospital after that.

      There wasn’t anything else he could do right then so he let himself fall into sleep.