All the King's Henchmen Read online

  It was clear what had happened. Someone left the party and had some fun.

  She had been defrocked.

  Literally.

  Still, she looked beautiful.

  As he patted the bed, she climbed onto it and joined him in the middle.

  “Oh, there’s my other favorite guy,” she stated.

  “Ouch. She just uses me for the sex,” Ethan said, dropping his tux jacket into the hamper.

  It was ruined too.

  “Ah, those were the days,” Chris teased as she cuddled next to him.

  “I missed you both. Mind if I stay the night?” he asked. “Or are you going for round ten?” he teased Ethan. “From the looks of it, we all know who won.”

  She raised her hand.

  He laughed.

  “Stay. I’m afraid to be around her alone. She’s a pervert. She told the limo driver we were having sex.”

  He glanced at her for confirmation.

  She pointed at Ethan.

  Chris found that funny.

  “Oh, I bet that was a fun conversation. Is he burning it as we speak?”

  Blackhawk dropped his pants and put on a new pair of boxers.

  “I couldn’t have sex again if I tried,” he said, lying his ass off. He didn’t want Chris to have to leave. The man clearly needed the company. “I’m beat. She’s insatiable.”

  “Oh, I recall.”

  Elizabeth gave him a kiss. It was warm, and it made him smile.

  “How was everything?” she asked. “I see no one burned the place down.”

  “Yet,” he added. “The boys…”

  She pointed at Ethan.

  “YOUR DNA.”

  He grinned.

  “I know. I couldn’t be prouder,” he said, hopping onto the bed on the other side of Elizabeth.

  “They were pretty tame tonight,” Chris admitted.

  “The kids did their homework, the house was reconstructed, and no one died. It was relatively easy.”

  She moved to get under the blankets and pulled them over all of their bodies. Chris pointed at her feet.

  “Uh, shoes, and makeup?” he asked.

  “Please, that’s the least of the biohazard,” she teased as Ethan pulled off her strappy heels and tossed them to the floor.

  “I’ll shower tomorrow. I’m tired.”

  Chris didn’t care. He wasn’t afraid of some bodily fluids. They were his partners in life, for the rest of it.

  “You should rest. Who knows when a case is coming?” he offered.

  Ethan agreed.

  “How are you?” she asked, knowing he’d understand what she was asking.

  “A little tired, but I’m okay.”

  She could see that. While he was definitely better, Elizabeth still couldn’t help thinking about what his body was waging.

  It was an epic war.

  “We have your doctor appointment tomorrow morning before work,” she stated. “Ethan, we’ll be late. Cover for us, okay, handsome?”

  “Absolutely. You’re cleared. Take the limo,” he teased.

  She snorted.

  “No way. It’s trashed.”

  “I can go alone, Elizabeth,” Chris offered. “You don’t have to go with me.”

  She laughed.

  “Yeah, like that’s happening. I cleared my schedule for tomorrow. If we have a case, it’ll wait an hour. Where will the dead be going? The morgue?”

  He gave her a kiss. She was absolutely right. All of them had to adjust their lives now that he was sick. It hadn’t been easy, but they were working on it.

  “I appreciate that, sweetness.”

  Ethan cuddled against the back of her, enjoying the way she felt against him. His hand went over her hip and rested on Chris’s abs.

  “How was the function?” Chris asked. “I saw you arriving on the news.”

  She told him everything.

  What the president had tried to pull, what he said to Ethan, and how he was a pervert.

  “He’s a dick. Ignore him.”

  Ethan laughed.

  “Yeah, that’s the plan. He’s going to try to get to me through her. She’s been ordered to avoid the White House. Make sure she does,” Ethan stated. “If you hear she’s heading that way, call me. I’ll intercept her.”

  She elbowed him.

  “Hey! Be gentle!”

  “Uh, SHE has a name, Ethan, and SHE is quite capable of managing her own life without you telling other people to wrangle HER like she’s cattle.”

  He laughed.

  “My bad, baby,” he said. “Your boss gave you an order. I was just reminding you since the only boss in here is you. Blame Gabe. I’m just the messenger. I know better.”

  She snorted.

  “True,” she admitted.

  They cuddled down in bed. Elizabeth’s head was on Chris’s shoulder, her leg was over his, and Ethan was pressed against her back. They were both touching Chris, sharing their personal space. For them, that cuddling was integral in his healing.

  Energy could pass from person to person.

  It could heal.

  Like Reiki.

  Or so they hoped.

  Ethan had found some of Timothy’s notes in a big old Shaman’s book that talked about energy, and its healing effects when healthy people huddled around sick people. His notes said it helped soothe, and that was what they needed.

  They were doing anything, and everything, that they could to make sure he was healthy.

  Why exclude anything?

  What did it hurt?

  “This is nice,” he said, his hand touching Ethan’s hair as they both were close to him. “I missed you both. I even miss Callen hogging all the space.”

  Yeah, they were aware. He was a bed hog, and he was proud of it.

  “I really miss Callen,” she stated.

  “He called,” Chris offered. “He was checking in to make sure I was hydrated, ate dinner, and was okay while you guys were at the party.”

  She wasn’t shocked.

  At first, Callen had taken the whole thing the hardest. That fear of being pushed out had really made it tough for him to adjust, but then he saw how Chris was struggling even more, and how they needed him to help Chris.

  It turned the tides.

  That need to protect kicked in, and now, he was making sure that Chris was included in everything. Callen had gone from afraid to happy.

  He was being an amazing husband.

  Then again, no one was surprised by the turn of events. Callen’s great propensity to love was one of his finest qualities, and he was sharing it.

  In their unit, as of late, there was nothing but happiness, love, and calm.

  All four of them were at peace.

  It was pretty amazing. There was no jealousy, anger, or fear. They knew Chris needed them, and they were accepting the challenge.

  His wellbeing came first.

  “Do you think he’ll still be up?” Elizabeth asked, wanting to say goodnight to her other husband.

  Ethan glanced at his watch.

  “Yeah, it’s one hour earlier there.”

  Elizabeth took Chris’s phone since hers was out of reach, and she called him. She wanted to see her other sexy Native before he went to bed.

  When his face came on the screen, her heart skipped.

  “Oh, you’re not Chris. You’re my sexy wife. Well, hello there, beautiful,” he said, giving her that big Native grin.

  It melted her each time.

  His glasses were on, his hair was piled on top of his head in a bun, and he was clearly working.

  “Where are you?” she asked, seeing he wasn’t in his room.

  “I’m just heading back to the hotel. I was working in the back of the limo,” he stated. “I know where you are, and I’m jealous. I wish I was home in bed with you guys.”

  “I worked in the back of my limo too,” Ethan stated, grinning like the letch he was.

  “Oh, come on! You got laid in the limo?”

 
; Chris laughed.

  “She was wrecked,” he added.

  “Christ. I miss all the fun.”

  Oh, Ethan was aware, and as a brother, he felt the need to rub it in. After all, Callen did the same when he had her on his book tours.

  “We snuck out of the party early, and I managed to sex up our girl,” Ethan said triumphantly.

  “Great. I feel left out.”

  Chris laughed.

  “I cozied up to a bowl of oatmeal. He ate better than I did,” he said, teasing everyone.

  Ethan laughed his ass off and gave him a fist bump. It was clear the man fit in just fine with their family.

  “I certainly did.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

  That’s when she saw it.

  “Uh, Callen James, why do you have lipstick marks on your cheek? My lips are eight hundred miles away. I know who DIDN’T put them there.”

  “Uh oh,” Chris and Ethan said, and then one of them added in suspense humming.

  “Knock it off,” he said, laughing. “She knows I’m not going to cheat on her.”

  Still, he touched his cheek and looked somber.

  “It’s been a wild night.”

  She lifted a brow.

  That did not sit well with her. She didn’t want to hear husband, wild, and night in one sentence if she wasn’t the star of that escapade.

  “Yeah, you might want to explain, Callen James, before I start making up the story in my head. It ends with a homicide or two.”

  He laughed.

  “Well, I was groped by a group of grannies who told me that my sex scenes get them hot, one of them kissed me, and then someone shoved a pair of granny panties in my pocket. I’m afraid to touch them. I was going to make the concierge do it once I get inside. So, yeah, wild. As a writer, I can’t make this shit up.”

  Ethan laughed his ass off.

  He couldn’t help it.

  His brother wasn’t big on people in his space, and being hit on by someone’s grandmother…

  Priceless.

  “She handcuffed me in the back of the limo, and I licked whipped cream off of her breasts,” he added to torment his brother.

  It was fun.

  “I thought I smelled whipped cream,” Chris said, licking her cheek. “Yep.”

  “Shut up, Ethan, and don’t side with him, Chris. I play dirty. On top of those warnings, don’t tease a tired, hungry, ‘no longer horny because my sex drive was killed by granny perversion’ man. Panties shouldn’t be white or cotton. That’s my discovery in Chicago.”

  Chris laughed his ass off.

  “She does smell like Ethan.”

  “Oh, he rubbed himself all over me.”

  “I licked her. Looks like she’s mine,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “Nice. Thanks for kicking an author while he’s down. You’re a horrible brother.”

  Elizabeth loved these men—especially when they were being silly. She loved them even more because they were insane.

  Clearly.

  “I miss you, Callen James.”

  “Oh, Elizabeth, not as much as I miss you. Tonight was rough. I signed so many books that my gun hand won’t be the same for a week. Then I took so many pictures. A gay man grabbed my ass during one. I feel cheap—not Ethan cheap, but still, you get my point.”

  Ethan laughed and laughed.

  “I guess I have to come with you anymore. Ethan will have to hold down the fort alone,” she said, saving Callen from his brother’s teasing.

  “Hey now!” Blackhawk said.

  “Teasing time is over. You had your fun, and now you behave,” she stated.

  Callen smiled triumphantly.

  I’m her favorite, he mouthed, when she wasn’t looking at him.

  Ethan pointed.

  He played dumb.

  “That’s my girl,” Callen stated. “I knew you’d take care of me, beautiful. See how mean my brother is?” he teased. “Now make me forget grandma’s panties. Talk dirty to me.”

  She snorted.

  “You look like hell. You need a shower. I know because I do too.”

  Oh, he was aware.

  He wished he was there to take one with her.

  “Rough schedule?” she asked.

  “I did three talk shows, and you know how I hate those. I feel like an idiot when they ask me what it’s like to be Jackson James. It sucks. My girl is at home, and I can’t get my Jackson James mojo on without her. She’s the kink behind the writer.”

  Her poor husband.

  “I’ll give your mojo a boost when you get back. When are you coming home?”

  “I have one interview tomorrow, and then I’m out of here. Who knew that the last book was going to blow up and be bigger than the first three?”

  Oh, they knew.

  Callen had a gift.

  The man was a storyteller. His books were so vivid, rich, and full of exciting details. He was good at his craft. People liked big, fat, juicy books packed full of death, sex, and badassery. His experiences were brought to life by their world.

  Their truth was stranger than any fiction he could come up with in his head.

  That was a freaking fact.

  “Well, we miss you,” Chris stated.

  “I have never wanted to be crammed into a bed with three other people more than I do right now.”

  She knew he was being honest. Callen didn’t do well with people in his personal space unless they were people he wanted there. He could cuddle Ethan, her, or Chris without batting an eye, but a horde of strange women trying to feel him up?

  No.

  Not even on a good day. It simply was not his thing. Callen was private and liked to be in the shadows, and Jackson James had forced him out. When he was a mystery, he was happy. Now he had to appease his fans.

  It sucked for him.

  “I really miss you guys.”

  Oh, they felt the same too.

  “You’ll be home before you know it. Then we’ll be working a case or having sex in a limo,” Ethan stated reassuringly to his brother.

  “Uh, hello?” Chris asked.

  “Did you think we wouldn’t torment you too?” Ethan asked. “Wrong! You would think you’d know how this works by now, Doctor.”

  He laughed.

  “My bad.”

  Callen really missed them.

  “I’m going to renegotiate how many of these things I have to do in a year,” Callen stated. “They are NOT my thing.”

  “I’ll join you on the next one,” she promised. “You won’t have to do it alone.”

  “Or Chris can,” Callen offered, wanting to include him. “I saw on the news he was seen giving me a blowjob. Thanks. It beat the old ladies.”

  He really laughed.

  “Oh, you know me. I’m just out blowing anyone. Ethan, you’re next.”

  “Weeeeee!” he shouted.

  It made them all laugh.

  This was why they worked. At the center, there was nothing but love for each other. It helped them keep this family afloat.

  Callen yawned.

  “Well, loves of my life,” he said, meaning all of them. “I’m back at the hotel. I’m going to go shower the smell of gardenias and roses off of me and call it a night. Chris, have a good doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’ll call you after my last interview to see how it went.”

  “Thanks, Callen.”

  He blew them all a kiss.

  “I love you three. Be safe at work,” he stated. “No one let Elizabeth get shot or arrested. It’s been a rough year already.”

  “HEY!”

  He held up his fingers.

  “You were roughed up by cops. You’ve had two concussions, you played kiss me, fuck me with a Russian killer, and you wanted to divorce me because of my wedding present. This year has almost ensured my Xanax prescription. Be safe!”

  He had a point.

  “We love you, too, Callen James,” she said, kissing Chris’s phone.

  Calle
n waved and hung up.

  “He looked beat,” Ethan stated. “Maybe we can give him a day off,” he stated. “He’s been burning the candle at both ends with holding down two jobs.”

  “Maybe he should pick one,” Chris stated.

  They both laughed.

  “Yeah, it’ll never happen,” Ethan stated. “I’m telling you…one more stressful situation, and he’s going over the edge. He will be on that medication, and she’ll be locked in the house and tied to a bed.”

  “I did that once,” Chris said, cuddling down.

  Ethan was intrigued.

  “What? Really? No details?”

  She laughed.

  “Christopher.”

  “The boss said no. Sorry,” he said as they got comfortable again in the same position as before.

  “Focus on Callen,” she stated. “As for my wellbeing, Callen will never leave being my partner, and we’ll be going out soon. Once I’m handed a case, I’m back to work. I passed the last one off to Johanna and Brody. They got the fun one.”

  “Uh, the case is someone killing male hookers and playing with their guy parts,” Chris reminded her. “They are trying to catch a crazy who likes to leave dicks in their victim’s mouths—one’s that aren’t theirs to begin with... Frozen dicks, Elizabeth.”

  “Maybe someone has a craving for a dickcicle…,” she began, getting a look from both of them.

  It was one of horror.

  “Tough room,” she stated. “As I was saying, they have a fun one. I would have taken it, but someone had to be arm candy.”

  He slapped her on the ass.

  “You do it so well, Mrs. Blackhawk.”

  She laughed.

  “Let’s sleep. I want to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning,” she stated.

  “For my doctor appointment?” Chris asked.

  “No, for Ivan. I love Mondays where I can make his life a living hell right out of the gate. He hates them, and that makes me want to up my game.”

  Ethan snorted.

  “Let’s sleep.”

  Chris reached over and turned off the light, and then they stopped talking.

  He heard Ethan fall asleep when he picked up his soft breathing, and he heard Elizabeth fall asleep too. Her hand stopped moving on his chest, and instead was holding Ethan’s hand in hers on his abs.

  In that moment, he never wanted this happiness to end. In that moment, he found a joy that had been missing for the last few years since he’d broken her heart and lost her.

  Then, and only then, when he was so overwhelmed with joy did he close his eyes.