I placed a finger on his lips. “You know I’m not a man who does things he doesn’t want to do.”
“Even fixing the cars of big scary mobsters.”
“Especially that.”
Corbin stretched, and I watched his beautiful body, enjoying the way his muscles moved and shifted. He pulled back the covers and sat up.
“I’ll bring the food up here. You don’t have to come down.”
“A look of horror crossed his face. We can’t eat in the bed.”
“After what we just did, you’re worried about getting crumbs on the sheets?”
“It’s Remington’s rule. No one is allowed to bring food upstairs.”
“I imagine his rules include me not fucking you up here either.”
“He’s never explicitly said that.”
I laughed. “Listen to yourself.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ll come downstairs. It’s okay. I think I can walk.” When he stood, he swayed and leaned over to brace his arms on the bed. “Or maybe not.”
I rolled my eyes. “Get back in the bed.”
“Fine, you win. But it’s your fault.”
“That you can’t walk?”
“Yes,” he huffed.
“I happen to remember you begging me to go harder?”
“Not with the spanking.”
“A reddened ass doesn’t keep your legs from working.”
He flipped me off, and I laughed as I walked out of the room.
A few moments later, I returned with a sandwich and a bottle of water. We ended up talking about Remington’s house and his strict rules about one’s behavior while visiting. It didn’t surprise me that he was super fastidious. It was a beautiful house, and I couldn’t blame him too much for wanting to protect it.
Corbin ate quickly, making it obvious how hungry he was. When the sandwich was gone and he was down to the last few sips of water, he looked at me. I braced myself. His expression was more serious than usual. Whatever I expected him to say, it definitely wasn’t what came out.
“Tell me about your time in prison.”
Eighteen
Beau
My stomach flip-flopped and my skin went all clammy. I liked to pretend nothing got to me, but my time in prison had been a nightmare. I’d had to fight to establish myself and attempt to protect a few of the prisoners who I doubted would have survived without someone bigger and stronger in their corners.
“It was hell. Do you really need to know more than that?”
He laid a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I just… You’re… not what you seem.”
I raised my brows.
“Damn it. You’re going to make me explain that, aren’t you?”
I nodded.
“You’re caring, and you… you have a code of honor.”
“So do you. I wouldn’t have accepted help from Remington if I didn’t know that about your family.”
“That’s true, although most people who aren’t in the same line of work don’t get that. They either think we’re cool as fuck for getting away with what we do, or they think we’re evil.”
“You’re far from evil. I met evil in prison, and I don’t ever want to see it again.”
“Tell me what happened. How did you end up there?”
His question surprised me. “Remington didn’t share that?”
“No, he never shared the details of the bargain you made. When I asked, he said it was between the two of you, and all I needed to know was that you owed us some assistance with our automotive business.”
I blew out a long breath. I hadn’t told anyone the full story. My brother knew most of it since he’d taken part, and I assumed he could deduce the rest if he bothered to think about it. Sam knew some, mostly from evenings spent drinking far too much after we closed the shop.
Did I dare tell Corbin? Would he or his family use some of it against me? I thought about the way he’d looked at me as he tasted the cum that was running down his legs. No. There might be times when he made bad choices. There would definitely be times when he refused to listen and when he was stubborn as fuck and needed his ass reddened again, but I had no reason to think he would betray me other than perhaps to save the life of someone in his family. Honestly, how could I fault him for that? He had the kind of family I’d never even imagined.
“Promise me this stays between us.”
He took my hand and brought it to his lips, brushing them across the back of my knuckles. “I swear to you, and I take giving my word seriously. If there’s one thing my father and Remington instilled in me, it’s that.”
I decided to start all the way back at the beginning. “I grew up basically feral, out in the bayou in a shack. Three rooms, no indoor plumbing, a tiny refrigerator that was broken as often as it was working. I learned to work on cars because it was the only way there was ever going to be one that ran. My father was a dealer. My mama ran off when I was fourteen, and my brother, Travis, was eight. One day, my dad just disappeared. To this day, I don’t know if he’s dead or if he’s out there somewhere. I managed to take care of us, hunting, fishing, repairing other people’s vehicles. There was a woman who owned a little store just a short boat ride away. She was charitable, thank God.”