20. Layla

Drew was massaging my shoulders and trying to get me to relax when people started running from the shelter. What the fuck was happening? I started walking toward the building and met Jennifer on the sidewalk as she came running from the building, clearly distraught.

"Jenn?! What's wrong? What's happening?" I asked.

"Someone dropped off a box with a bomb inside!" she cried, falling against me.

My blood turned to ice at her words. "Where are Tyler and Autumn?" I asked her.

"Tyler's looking for Autumn. She was somewhere inside," she sobbed.

No. I transferred Jennifer's crying body to Drew and ran toward the shelter. I didn't make it more than three steps when I was lifted off my feet. "Put me down," I yelled.

"Not a fucking chance, Hellcat," Colton replied as he carried me across the street where everyone was gathered. "Tyler will get Autumn and make it out. You running in there after him won't help anyone." He set me down, but kept his hands on me to keep me in place. He bent his head down to meet my eyes. "Tyler and Autumn are going to be ok, baby." He sounded convincing, but I could see the terror in his eyes. He was just as scared as I was. He turned back to the building, pulling me in front of him and holding me close as we waited with bated breath for Tyler to emerge with Autumn.

I grabbed Drew and Zach's hands, squeezing them tightly. "Come on, Ty. Come on," I whispered repeatedly, my eyes focused on the front door.

Time seemed to slow as we waited, and then, all of a sudden, it sped up as the building exploded. My heart stopped beating for three full seconds, and I didn't know what to do. My brain couldn't comprehend what I was seeing or what it meant.

"TYLER!" I screamed, my voice hoarse and cracking as it ended with a sob. I broke out of Colton's arms and ran for the burning building.

"Layla!" my guys screamed behind me.

I made it halfway across the road when a hand closed around my arm to try and stop me. Without thinking, I turned and swung, my fist connecting with the person and causing them to release me. I continued to run, fighting off the next attempt to hold me back. My sole focus was getting to Tyler, and I would take down anyone who tried to stop me. All I could hear was the roar of the flames, or maybe it was the sound of the blood pounding in my head. When I made it to the grass on the other side of the road, I was tackled to the ground.

"Layla, you have to stop!" Zach yelled in my ear, breaking through the fog.

I struggled against his hold, slipping halfway out from beneath him when another body landed on top of me, and then another, and another. My men struggled to keep me pinned. "Let me go!" I screamed.

"Not gonna happen, Stór," Sean replied, his mouth by my ear. "You can't help him now, and we are not letting you run into a burning building to try."

I stopped struggling against them as I dissolved into tears. Not my sweet Tyler. I didn't know how I was supposed to go on without him. It wasn't possible. How could the world go on without him? They shifted around me when I stopped fighting, so I was cradled in their arms. Zach leaned his forehead against mine as tears streamed down his face.

"We're going to get through this, baby. We will," he promised.

I shook my head. We wouldn't. We couldn't. I stared at the building through my tears, the flames making my vision even more warped, so at first, I didn't recognize the form for what it was. I blinked several times, forcing my eyes to focus. Autumn! "Let me go," I said, struggling against them again.

"Layla," Drew said, "stop, please." He sounded just as heartbroken as I felt, but he didn't understand.

"No, Autumn. It's Autumn! Let me go!" I pointed, and when they turned to look at where I was pointing, their grips loosened enough for me to wiggle out of the human nest they had made for me.

"Autumn!" I yelled, running toward her at full speed.

"Autumn?!" I heard Jennifer say from across the street.

The guys were right behind me and caught up to me just as I reached Autumn. I wrapped my arms around the crying child, grateful that she had made it out. "Where's Tyler, Autumn?" I asked. "Do you know where he is?" The explosion looked like it came from the front of the building. If she came from the back of the building, maybe we could still get to him. Maybe he was ok.

Autumn nodded. "He isn't waking up," she sobbed, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

"Where, baby? Where is he?" I asked desperately.

"Back there, behind the building," she pointed.

"Autumn!" Jennifer yelled, closer this time.

Knowing Autumn would be in her arms shortly, I released her and ran toward where she pointed. This time, my guys didn't try to stop me, just as eager to reach Tyler. As I rounded the corner, I could see his prone body lying about fifteen feet from the burning building. Was he ejected from the building in the explosion? I fell to my knees beside him, quickly cataloging his visible injuries. His head was bleeding, and he was covered in soot from the explosion. I didn't see any burns, though his clothes had some scorch marks.

Drew landed on the other side of Tyler, Zach kneeled by his head, and Sean knelt beside me. Colton was pacing behind Drew, barely holding it together. With a shaky hand, I felt for Tyler's pulse. I didn't breathe as I waited to feel the rhythmic beat that would tell me he was still alive.

Please, baby, I prayed. Please be alive. Please, please, please.

thump, thump

"Oh, thank fuck," I sobbed. "Tyler? Baby, can you hear me?" I cried, leaning over him and kissing him.

"Get the paramedics back here!" Colton shouted as he fell beside Drew. "He's alive?"

"He's alive," I confirmed. I heard the others sigh in relief around me. I couldn't feel that relief. We weren't out of the woods yet. I needed to see those sweet brown eyes looking back at me before I could relax. "Come on, Ty Baby," I pleaded. He wasn't responding, and he wasn't waking up. Just because he looked ok and had a pulse didn't mean he was ok. What if he was dying? I collapsed on top of him, my head on his chest, silently crying as I listened to the beats of his heart, terrified that they would stop.

A hand slid up my back, and it wasn't until I heard him speak that I realized it was Tyler's.

"You crying for me, baby?" he rasped.

"Tyler!" I sat up to see his face, and when I met those soft brown eyes squinting up at me, I completely lost it. The relief I felt truly broke the dam holding back my tears. "You scared me so fucking much," I sobbed as I peppered wet kisses all over his face. "Don't you ever fucking do that to me again, do you hear me?"

Both hands rose to brush the tears from my face pointlessly. "You got it, boss," he whispered. "I love you, too, Layla."

The guys backed up to give the paramedics space to work as they started checking his vitals and moved him onto a stretcher. "Ma'am, you're going to have to back up and let go of his hand," one of them said as he tried to separate me from Tyler gently.

I pulled my gun and pointed it in his face. "Touch me again, and it will be the last thing you do," I growled. "I'm not fucking leaving him, so you'll have to work around me."

"I'd listen to her," Tyler laughed. "She's in feral mode right now."

The paramedic held up his hands and took a few steps back. "It's fine. You can stay where you are. Just keep up; we're moving him." I nodded and jogged along the side of the stretcher as we returned to the ambulance.

"We'll be right behind you," Sean yelled as I holster my gun and climbed into the back.

The doors slammed shut, and we sped away from the scene. The paramedic in the back with us, not the one I pointed my gun at, immediately put an oxygen mask over Tyler's face. "Does anything hurt?" he asked.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" I asked. "He just got blown up; of course he hurts."

Tyler chuckled, which turned into a hard cough. When he had recovered, he removed the mask to speak. "You'll have to excuse her. She's not used to feeling scared," he replied. "And to answer your question, my entire body is sore and feels like I was thrown from a building, but nothing specific hurts more than that."

The paramedic nodded, guided the mask back to his face, and continued to check him over.

I held Tyler's hand in a vice grip in both of mine as I stared into his eyes. I almost lost him today. I didn't want to think of just how close a call it was. He went to remove the mask again to say something, and I reached out and shoved it back onto his face. "Stop taking the fucking mask off, Tyler. Your breathing is more important than talking right now." Even through the mask, I could see the smirk, and it went a long way to reassuring me that he would be ok.

When we got to the hospital, I made it as far as the patient's only line in the emergency room before I came face-to-face with the Head ER Nurse. "Sorry, I can't let you go back with him. As soon as the doctor looks him over and gets him set up in a room, I'll let you go back. Until then, you will have to wait out here."

"Do you know who I am? Move," I growled.

The nurse straightened and squared her shoulders. "I know exactly who you are, Miss Romano, and my statement isn't changing. You could be the First Lady or the Queen of England, and I'd still tell you that you have to wait out here."

We glared at each other for nearly a minute before a security guard slowly approached. "Is there a problem here, Brenda?" he asked cautiously.

"No problem, Mike," the nurse replied. "Miss Romano was just about to take a seat. It shouldn't be long." Her voice softened slightly at the end, and I sighed, but stomped over to a plastic chair and sat down. I couldn't ignore my begrudging respect for the woman who took her job seriously enough to stand up to me. Besides, hospitals weren't where you wanted to threaten someone with a gun.

"Layla! How is he?" Zach asked as he and the guys ran into the hospital.

"I don't know. I got benched," I pouted.

"I'll go find someone to talk to," Drew said quickly, turning toward the front desk.

Colton picked me up and sat, pulling me into his lap. Zach and Sean sat on either side of us. "He's going to be ok, Layla," Sean assured me. "He's where he needs to be and they'll take care of him."

I nodded as I curled into Colt's chest and grabbed Zach's hand. Drew came back a few minutes later.

"Ok. The nurse said his condition is strong. They're doing tests and running scans. I told them we wanted him in a private room as soon as possible. She assured me that as soon as they had him settled, we would be able to see him, but we shouldn't have anything to worry about," he said.

"How long?" Colt asked.

"She said it would probably be at least another thirty minutes," he said apologetically. "She assured me they're prioritizing him and would move quickly."

"They better," I grumbled.

"Hey," Drew said, kneeling before me. "Why don't you and Zach go get coffees for everyone while we wait? It will give you both something to do instead of sitting around here. Might make the time pass quicker."

In other words, you're both terrible at waiting, and I don't want either of you to start raising hell and making a scene. I rolled my eyes at him but nodded. "Come on, Zach. Drew doesn't want us to start stabbing people," I said, tugging on his hand.

"I don't know why. I bet we'd get results faster," Zach replied.

We passed Nurse Brenda at her station, and she watched us closely as if she had expected us to make a run for the double doors. Following signs to the cafeteria, it wasn't until we had ordered coffees and some muffins and were waiting for our order that we finally spoke.

"I was so fucking scared," I whispered as I wrapped my arms around Zach and pressed my face into his chest, breathing in his comforting scent to help calm myself.

"Me, too," he replied, holding me tightly. We stood there, clinging to each other, until they called Zach's name.

On our way past the nurse's station, I took one of the coffees I had ordered and placed it in front of Nurse Brenda. She looked up at me in surprise, smiled, and nodded. I nodded back before falling into step with Zach again.

"I was wondering who that coffee was for," Zach said. "Did you poison it when I wasn't looking?"

"No," I laughed. "She deserved a coffee. It takes balls to stand up to me. Her job isn't easy, and dealing with me didn't make it any easier tonight."

"You're such a softy at heart," Zach laughed. I looked at him like he had three heads, which made him laugh even harder. "Ok, maybe not a softy, but that was a nice gesture."

We joined the others, and I was picking at my chocolate chip muffin when Nurse Brenda approached us. "If you follow me, you can see him now," she said.

I jumped to my feet and tossed my uneaten muffin and half a coffee into the trash as we followed her to Tyler's room. He looked better than when I had seen him last. He looked stronger, and they had let him get cleaned up, but seeing him lying in that hospital bed immediately caused my eyes to flood. I rushed to his side and crawled into bed with him. His arms wrapped tightly around me as soon as I did.

"I'm fine, baby," he assured me. "The Doc said as soon as my scans and tests come back good, I can go home. They don't expect to find anything wrong with me. Said I was lucky."

"What the hell happened?" Colton asked.

"Better question," Tyler replied. "What the hell happened to you guys?"

I turned my head to look at them, confused by his question. That was when I really looked at them for the first time since the explosion. Zach and Colton had black eyes, Drew had a busted lip, and Sean had dried blood around his nostrils. They looked like they had gotten into a bar brawl. "Yeah, did you guys get into a fight on the way to the hospital?" I asked.

All four men glared at me in disbelief. "Layla," they said dryly.

"Layla is what happened to us," Sean said.

"Me?" I asked. What the hell did I do?

"You don't remember kicking our asses as we tried to keep you from running into the burning building?" Drew asked incredulously.

"We had to tackle you, and it took all four of us on top of you to hold you back," Colton stated.

His words tingled with familiarity. I didn't exactly remember what happened, but it felt right as I cataloged their injuries. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Tyler swatted my ass with the hand wrapped around my back. "Next time you try to run into a burning building after one of us, we'll turn your fucking ass red, Layla Grace Romano," he growled.

"I blacked out. I just knew I needed to get to you," I replied quietly.

"I understand that, sweetheart, but none of our lives are more important than yours," he said, kissing the top of my head.

I shook my head. "That's not true," I argued. "Maybe Sean is right. Maybe we should cut our losses and get the fuck out of this city. I couldn't survive it if I lost one of you."

"I already told you I was wrong about that, Stór," Sean stated. "We aren't going anywhere. And you aren't going to lose any of us. When this is all over, we will all walk away from this. That's a fucking promise. Right now, you're still feeling scared from what happened. Channel that fear into anger toward Anton. I think we can all agree that he was behind this."

"I'll fucking kill him," I growled. "Fuck going through legal channels."

"Don't give up on me just yet," Kadence said from the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as she closed the door. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but should you be seen with us?"

"That's the beauty of the recent developments," Kadence replied. "I'm here on business. I wanted to make sure Tyler was ok, but as far as anyone watching knows, this is an official visit to take your statements." Kadence dropped into the chair on the other side of Tyler's bed and smiled at us. "You see, Anton really fucked up this time. Your shelter was a public event. Many movers and shakers within the city donated money and put their names on the opening of this shelter. And Anton went and blew it up. There are a lot of powerful and rich men and women in the city tonight that are royally pissed and want to see someone pay for this." Her smile spread until it reminded me of the Cheshire Cat. "So don't go all vigilante on me just yet. I'm going to use this to nail his ass to the fucking wall once and for all."

"Nice," Zach chuckled.

"While I'm happy that you might be able to use this to get him, you'll have to get there first," I replied honestly.

"Dammit, Layla," Kadence growled. "This was what you wanted. You came to me, remember?"

"I know, but that was before he almost blew up Autumn and Tyler," I replied.

"Give me a month," Kadence countered. "If I don't have him in custody in a month, then you can do whatever you feel that you need to do. I'll even help."

We stared at each other for a few minutes in a silent battle of wills before I finally nodded. "Fine. We'll stick to the plan for now. But you have a month before I take matters into my own hands and cut the head off the snake myself."

"Deal," she replied. "Now, I do need to get your statements."

"Is this necessary?" Tyler complained as I tucked the blanket around him.

"You heard the doctor. Bedrest until your ribs heal," I replied.

"But they're only bruised!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "I've gotten worse injuries training in the fucking gym."

"Doctor's orders," I replied as Cordy entered our bedroom with a food tray.

"Tyler, if you leave this bed before the doctor clears you, I swear I will take you over my knee," she threatened.

"Cordy, I'm five times your size," Tyler replied, rolling his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she set the tray over his lap. She flicked him on the forehead, and Tyler's look of surprise was so comical that I burst into laughter. "You may be grown, but you'll always be one of my boys, and I'll do what I have to do to keep you in line. You aren't too grown to get a whipping, boy."

"Fine," Tyler grumbled.

"Good boy," Cordy praised. "Now eat up. I'll make all your favorite foods while you're healing." Cordy smoothed his hair in a motherly gesture and bent forward to kiss his forehead. "My sweet boy," she choked.

Cordy cleared her throat and straightened before fixing me with a hard stair. "You," she said, pointing at me, "behave yourself. I better not find you up to any funny business while he heals."

I held my hands up in surrender while Tyler smirked at me from the bed as he bit into a fresh croissant. "Hey, I'm an angel," I argued.

Tyler snorted and I shot him a dirty look.

"You can't fool me, girly," Cordy replied. "I'll be back shortly to collect the tray," she warned.

When she left the room, I turned on Tyler. "Exactly what is so funny?" I asked when he started laughing.

"You being an angel," he replied.

"Oh really?" I asked. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

He looked confused at that segue, and I smirked as I stripped out of my clothes and stepped under the shower spray. When I finished, I spent extra time drying my hair until it was silky and fell perfectly. Tyler was still in bed when I emerged from the bathroom, but the food tray was gone. I dropped the towel in the closet doorway and heard him groan behind me. I dug through my drawers, looking for the sheer white lingerie I knew I owned. When I found what I was looking for, I grabbed sweats and a baggy T-shirt and returned to the bedroom. I laid everything out at the foot of the bed, well out of Tyler's reach, and began to dress.

I started with the thong, sliding it up my legs and over my hips. I turned to the mirror propped against the wall between the bathroom and closet doors to check my reflection, twisting and turning to make sure it was in place.

"You aren't being nice," Tyler complained.

"Oh, I don't know," I replied, "I think I'm being a perfect angel." I put the bra on next. Nothing was terribly exciting about that, though I did appreciate how his eyes became hooded when I reached into the sheer lace to adjust the girls.

When I slid the garter belt over my hips, Tyler groaned. "You're going to be the death of me."

"I'm just getting dressed like a good girl," I replied.

"Satan's good girl," he scoffed.

I smirked as I grabbed one of the thigh-highs and placed my foot on the end of the bed. I rolled the hose up, slipped it over my foot, and then started sliding the silk up my leg. Tyler groaned again and threw his arm over his eyes so he didn't have to watch, but I saw him peeking. When I got the second one on, I took my time securing the straps to the tops of my hose. I checked my reflection in the mirror again and grinned. I looked hot as fuck with the pure white lingerie on, and we both knew it.

"What do you think?" I asked. "Angelic enough?"

"I think you might be showing a little too much skin to pass as an angel, baby," he replied sarcastically.

I nodded. "You're probably right," I agreed. I turned back to the bed and pulled on the baggy sweats and shirt.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked.

"Covering up," I replied, giving him a weird look. A frustrated sigh slipped past his lips, and even with the heavy comforter covering him, I could see that he had gotten hard watching me dress. I winked at him, climbed onto the bed, and crawled toward him. A sweet, excited look spread across his face in anticipation. When I reached his waist, I let my core lightly brush against his erection before rolling to the side and off of him.

Grabbing my Kindle, I slipped under the covers and snuggled beside him.

"Why are you like this? And why do I like it?" Tyler groaned.

I giggled as I tapped the screen, and it opened the book I was reading, Work In Progress by Georgia Rayne. "Want me to read to you?" I asked. "It might help you relax."

"If that's what you want to do," he pouted.

I bit back my smile as I began to read. This author was the master of slow burn, meaning nearly every page edged the reader. The section I was at was a prime example of that. As I read the steamy scene to Tyler, I saw his hand move slowly to his erection out of the corner of my eye. Was he really trying to rub one out on the down low? I almost laughed when I reached the end of the teasing scene, and the chapter switched to Lola working in the bookstore, and Tyler groaned in disappointment. Undoubtedly, he wasn't the only person to groan at that part. I needed Beckett and Lola to get it on already.

"Problem?" I asked.

"Nope," he replied.

"Oh, ok. Cause if you had a problem, I'd want to help solve it," I replied. "But since you said there isn't a problem, I'll just continue reading."

"Layla," Tyler growled.

"Tyler?"

"Fuck. Please? You know what you did to me," he begged.

"Sorry," I replied. "I'm working on gaining my halo. I don't think that I should."

Tyler reached over and grabbed my hand, yanking it under the blanket and wrapping it around his hard cock. "Stop being a little brat," he growled. "I'll buy you a fucking halo."

"If you insist," I replied. I brushed my thumb over the head of his dick, smearing the precum leaking from it, and slowly started to stroke him. He flipped the blanket off him and slid his hand into my hair, applying pressure to the back of my head to encourage me to use my mouth. I shifted to my knees and bent down to lick the tip. "Is this what you wanted?"

"Fuck yes," he groaned as I sucked on the tip. I pressed his dick against his stomach and trailed my tongue down the underside, across all of his delicious piercings, to his balls. I lapped at them slowly before sucking them into my mouth. "Shit!" he shouted.

I let his balls fall from my mouth. "Shhh," I laughed as I worked my way back to the tip. "Do you want Cordy to come in here and bust us?" Whatever reply he had formed came out in a hiss as I took him into my mouth. I wasn't prepared when he flexed his hips and triggered my gag reflex. I backed off of him and glared. "Easy, tiger," I scolded. I wrapped my hand around the base so he couldn't do it again and took him back into my mouth.

Tyler shoved the sweats over my ass when I started bobbing on his dick and pulled my thong over my ass cheek and out of the way. His fingers slid between my thighs and slipped inside of me effortlessly. I moaned around his dick, causing his hips to jerk again. As much as I wanted to draw this out, a bang from outside the door reminded me that Cordy could catch us at any moment.

It was a little ridiculous that we felt we had to sneak around and not get caught, but it was also exhilarating. We didn't have stolen moments like this when we were teenagers because we didn't get together until we were adults. I sped up my movements, removing my hand and taking him deeper into my mouth. After a few concentrated attempts, I took him into my throat.

"That's it, baby. Swallow my fucking cock," Tyler whispered hoarsely as his fingers moved to my clit and his thumb replaced his fingers inside me. I moaned again as his free hand tangled into my hair and held me in place as he gently fucked my throat. I timed my breaths through my nose with his thrusts and humped against his hand. Tyler came first, low grunts coming from his chest as he tried to keep our dalliance from unwelcome ears.

As soon as I finished swallowing his cum, his attention turned to my pussy. He kept me on his softening dick as he hauled my body over him and gave my pussy a teasing lick. That wouldn't do. I rotated my hips, trying to get more contact from him. When I did, he moved the hand in my hair to my hip to still me, leaving me free to sit up. His hands moved to my inner thighs to try and keep me suspended above him, but I had the upper hand now. With a little quick maneuvering, I had his arms pinned beneath my legs and was free to move however I wanted.

I reached between my legs and spread my lips. Tyler's tongue speared into my tunnel as I rode his face. I was so fucking close and needed to come badly, so I shifted my hips back so that my clit was in his mouth and lowered more of my weight so that he didn't have a choice but to tongue and suck on my clit. "Yes, baby, right there. Don't stop," I pleaded. I bit my hand to keep from moaning as my orgasm washed over me. As it did, Tyler managed to free a hand and plunged three fingers inside me to prolong my orgasm. My thighs were shaking by the time I finished coming.

When I went to move off of him, his arm wrapped around me to hold me in place as he feasted on my juices, cleaning up the mess with his tongue. Tyler smacked my ass when he was finished, and I climbed off of him, fixed my clothes, then snuggled against his side. I grabbed my Kindle, and he had just tucked himself back into his pants and pulled the blanket back over us when Cordy swung the door open. She eyed us suspiciously before closing it again.

"That was close," Tyler whispered as I giggled.

Today was full of close calls.