by Sweet, Izzy
I try to buck him off with every bit of strength I have and shove at his chest with my hand that’s still free.
But it’s all futile.
He’s too damn strong.
Dammit.
Still snickering at my attempts to fight him off, James grabs the hand on his chest and promptly pins it to the bed.
No matter how hard I buck, twist, or try to push him off, he easily keeps me pinned.
The only thing my struggle seems to accomplish is amusing him.
“Let me up!” I cry and strain up against his hold before I collapse against the bed and pout at him.
James shakes his head, some of his dark hair falling into his face and swaying in front of his eyes. “Not until I’m done getting my cretin stripper cooties all over you.”
Then he begins to do precisely that. Leaning down, he presses his chest against my chest and begins to rub it from side to side.
“Oh my god! I can’t believe you! You’re ridiculous!” I squeal and toss my head back and forth.
Straining again against his strength.
“I guess that’s better than being a cretin,” he laughs and begins to drag his chest down my body.
“Oh, you’re still a cretin! You’re a ridiculous cretin,” I declare.
Pausing at my stomach, he asks, “With stripper cooties, right?”
Then he waggles his eyebrows suggestively at me.
And I don’t know if it’s because the third time is the charm…
Or if it’s simply the silliness of the entire situation finally hitting me, but I feel laughter bubbling inside me.
Doing my best to keep a smile from cracking across my lips, I narrow my eyes at him and say, “Yes.”
He drawls out, “Well, if that’s the case…”
Using his nose, he nudges up my shirt and begins to rub his face against my belly.
I immediately jerk and try to twist out of his grip, the sensation slightly ticklish. “Oh my god, stop! Don’t do that!”
“Oh… is someone ticklish?” James chuckles against my stomach.
His breath alone nearly setting me off.
“Yes!” I gasp, still trying my best not to smile or laugh.
“Then I guess someone shouldn’t be calling people cretins with stripper cooties.”
Releasing his grip on my hands, his fingers immediately find my most ticklish spot—my armpits.
Squealing as they work against me, I try to slap him off. When that doesn’t work, I try to pull my arms down and roll to the side.
“No. Please. No,” I beg between gasps, only to break out into giggles a split-second later.
Mercilessly working his fingers against me, James asks, “What was that? You want this cretin to stop?”
“Yes, please!” I plead, tears of laughter filling my eyes as I look up at him.
His eyes laughing right back at me, James’s fingers slow. “Oh… well… since you asked nicely…”
I get one moment, one single moment to catch my breath and get myself under control.
Then he suddenly drags his hands down and starts to tickle my sides.
When I squeal, “Why?! Oh my god, why?!”
He cackles. “Sorry! I’m a cretin, I can’t control myself!”
I twist, squirm, writhe, and jerk beneath his hands, helpless as laughter pours out of me.
And as much as I hate it, hate being tickled and at his mercy, there’s something… cathartic about the whole thing.
Like some of the weight that’s been building up inside of me is easing.
He doesn’t let up, torturing me until I finally beg and cry, “Please James! I’m going to pee if you don’t stop!”
Finally his fingers slow, as if it pains him do to so, and he stares down at me while I pant up at him, catching my breath.
Eyes still alight with laughter, he just stares at me for the longest time. So long, it starts to make me feel self-conscious.
Squirming uncomfortably, I ask, “What?”
The way he’s looking at me, I swear I’ve got something on my face…
“You’re smiling,” he says, his eyes softening with a mixture of affection and awe as he reaches up, stroking his thumb just beneath the curve of my lips, tracing them.
When I start to frown, he frowns, and his fingers find my armpit again.
“James,” I squeal as he tickles me again, arching away from him. “I’m seriously going to pee my pants!”
“I don’t care if you pee all over the goddamn bed,” he declares. “It’s worth it to see you smile.”
My heart aches just a little at that. Aches that my smile, something I never think about, seems to be so important to him.
“Okay! I promise to keep smiling! Please stop! Please!” I beg, totally on the verge of having an accident.
Intently watching my face, James’s fingers slow then stop completely.
At first, after all the laughter, it’s easy to keep the smile like I promised. It’s natural. Comfortable even.
But after a few seconds, it becomes difficult to hold.
I’m too damn aware of it.
As soon as I start to let it slip, though, his fingers wiggle against me. Not enough to tickle, but enough to be threatening.
“You’re a jerk!” I cry while stretching my smile bigger and wider.
James chuckles softly. “First I was a bastard, then I was a cretin. And now I’m a jerk?”
Showing my teeth, I flutter my eyelashes and clench out, “Yes.”
Leaning down until his face is only inches from my face, his expression suddenly turns serious. “I’ll take it.”
Quickly closing the distance between us, his lips capture my lips in the sweetest kiss. So sweet, all my resentment and irritation over being tickled and forced to smile instantly vanishes.
Drawing back a slow suckle, he tugs on my bottom lip, then sweeps his tongue past my teeth.
As soon as his tongue touches mine, my toes curl against the bed.
His stroke is so slow, so unrushed and languid, it feels as if he’s cherishing me and savoring me at the same time.
With each gentle pull and thrust, I lose myself a little more in the kiss.
Lose myself in him.
Sighing into his mouth, I feel all the tension melting out of me as if his touch alone warmed and liquified it into wet heat.
Maybe it’s because I’m weak. Maybe it’s because he makes me weak.
But I don’t have the strength or will to fight against this. Something that doesn’t hurt for once. Something that feels both good and right.
His weight begins to press down on me as he fits himself between my legs.
And I’m so relaxed, so eager for more of his sweetness, his tenderness, I rub my leg against his before I tighten my thigh around his hip.
Groaning into my mouth, James begins to rock against me. His hips rolling in the same slow, languid rhythm of his kiss.
Losing myself even more, I get caught up and swept away by the affection he’s pressing on me.
So caught up, my poor heart nearly jumps out of my chest when someone starts pounding on the front door.
“Goddammit,” James growls then he suddenly deepens the kiss.
He kisses me so hard, so fast, I struggle to keep up with him and his demand.
When the loud, booming knocks start up again, he makes a feral noise and rips himself away from me. “I’m going to fucking murder Johnathan.”
My brain still trapped in the kiss, I pant up at him in confusion. Not understanding.
Staring down at me, James takes in my dazed eyes then his attention drops to my swollen, parted lips.
As if he just can’t help himself, he kisses me again. Hard, fast, and desperate.
The knocking starts up again, so loud it sounds like someone is trying to break the door down.
“I know you’re in there, fucker!” I hear Johnathan yell. “Open up before I break the door down!”
“That’s fucking it,” Jam
es growls viciously as he tears himself away from me again. “That’s the last fucking straw.”
Breathing deeply, I watch his chest rise and fall as he reaches over my head. There’s a click and my body immediately tenses, expecting the sound of chains.
When he pulls his arm back though he’s not holding chains.
He’s gripping a pistol.
Pushing himself up into a kneeling position, he pulls the slide on the Glock and chambers a round. “I warned Lucifer I was going to put a hole in him. I’m going to blow his ugly fucking head off.”
Carefully climbing off me and out of bed, James stalks angrily toward the bedroom door.
My stupid brain finally catching up to what’s going on, I call out, “Wait!”
James throws a quick glance back at me over his shoulder. “Just stay right there, kitten. I’ll be right back.”
Then he disappears into the hall.
Oh my god, he’s totally going to shoot Johnathan.
15
Sophia
Jumping out of bed, I chase after James.
“You can’t kill him, James. You can’t!” I insist as I follow on his heels down the stairs.
I’m not dumb enough to try to grab the gun out of his hand, but I’m sorely tempted.
“The fuck I can’t,” James growls. “The fucker has had it coming for a long time.”
I have no clue what he means by that. I honestly thought he and Johnathan were friends, but I guess not.
I try to argue, “But Beth…”
He glances back at me again. “We’ll take care of her, don’t you worry. Besides, I’m probably doing her favor.”
When we reach the bottom of the stairs and he still seems intent on murdering Johnathan, I grab his arm out of desperation. “She’s pregnant, James. Don’t you dare do that to my best friend. And Charlie’s with them. You can’t kill his father in front of him!”
Seething with anger, James glances up at the ceiling, as if he’s asking for strength or patience.
Then he lets out a big sigh and drops his chin. “Fine.”
“Fine?” I ask hopefully.
James nods his head and I let go of his arm.
Pointing the pistol to the side, toward the wall, he releases the magazine and shoves it in his pocket. Then he slowly racks the slide back and unchambers the round, managing to catch it before it falls to the floor.
Johnathan starts banging on the door again just as James pockets the round and shoves the pistol down the back of his sweatpants.
“I’ll wait until Charlie isn’t around to do it,” he tells me before he marches over to the door and yanks it open.
“’Bout time, fucker,” Johnathan grumbles as he steps into the doorway and gives himself a little shake, like he’s a wet dog.
James grits out angrily, “We were a little busy.”
Lifting a bushy brow, Johnathan glances between us. “Oh yeah?” Then he grins, showing his teeth through his beard. “How nice of you to stop and make time for us.”
The look on James’s face becomes downright menacing as he growls, “You weren’t invited. You should come back later when it’s more convenient for us… Like never.”
Gripping the side of the door, James blocks the entrance, not letting Johnathan or my friends in.
Johnathan’s grin grows and he looks to me. “You don’t mind, do you, Sophia?”
I don’t know why, but I glance to James first, as if I need permission, before I shake my head. “Of course not…”
James gives me a hurt look, like I’ve somehow betrayed him.
And I’m not sure what he expected…
Did he expect me to pass up the opportunity to see my friends?
“You heard her,” Johnathan chuckles and steps up to James. “She doesn’t mind. Now move out of the way.”
The two men stare hard into each other’s eyes, and the way James’s jaw ticks, I’m afraid he’s going to do something bad. Like punch Johnathan or slam the door into him.
I start to open my mouth, ready to calm him down.
Then, out of nowhere, a big, shit-eating grin spreads across James’s face and he steps to the side.
With a flourish of his hand, he says, “Come on in.”
Narrowing his eyes, Johnathan stares at James like he doesn’t trust him.
To be honest, I don’t either.
“You going to leave your pregnant wife out in the cold?” James asks, baiting him.
Snorting, Johnathan finally moves forward, but he doesn’t take his eyes off James. “Creepy fucker.”
James’s grin sharpens into a smirk.
Charlie walks in first with an uneasy expression on his face. He looks around nervously until his gaze falls on me, then his eyes light up. “Aunt Sophia!”
Smiling, I squat down a little and spread my arms out for him. “Charlie!”
Running up to me, Charlie throws his arms around me and gives me a tight hug around my middle. Wrapping my arms around his little body, I hug him back.
“I missed you, Aunt Sophia,” he smiles sweetly up at me.
Rocking a little from side to side, I smile back at him. “I missed you too, buddy.”
Charlie is the sweetest little boy I’ve ever met. The cutest, too, with his brown hair, freckles, and blue eyes. It breaks my heart knowing that Johnathan rescued him with Beth the same night we were rescued from the Russians.
Smile faltering, Charlie’s eyes fill with sadness as he tells me, “I’m sorry about your dad.”
Then he squeezes me even harder.
I know he means it with every fiber of his little being. He’s one of the most empathetic and compassionate people I’ve ever met. He has more empathy and compassion in one of his little fingers than most grown men I know.
And he’s only six.
My throat tightening, I squeeze him back and kiss the top of his head. “Thank you.”
Laying my cheek against the top of his head, I just let him hug me for as long as he wants, knowing he needs it as much as I do.
When I finally peek up, I see Beth and Amanda smiling at us with sadness in their eyes. Johnathan looks pleased, and James…
James is giving me a scorching look full of hunger and heat. Like he wants to pounce on me right fucking now.
I’m so surprised by the ravenous look on James’s face, I give Charlie one more quick kiss on the top of his head and pull away.
Charlie smiles up at me again as Beth and Amanda shift impatiently behind him.
“Let your mom hug her friend too,” Johnathan says gently and motions for Charlie to come to him.
As soon as Charlie moves away from me, Amanda and Beth fill the space he left. Both sniffling, they wrap their arms around me.
Up until this point, I’ve managed to remain strong.
But the moment Beth and Amanda squeeze me in a tight hug, I feel my control slipping. My eyes burn and my throat closes up.
I hug them back, trying my best not to burst into tears.
So much crazy shit has happened… it’s good to finally have my friends with me. It’s only been a couple of days, but I’ve missed them.
Beth is the first one to speak. Pulling away from me, she grabs my face and looks in my eyes. “Oh my god, Sophia, I’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay?”
Amanda pulls back as well, the same question in her eyes. But she shifts on her feet and fidgets with the strap of the backpack she has slung over her shoulder.
It takes me a second to realize she’s not fidgeting out of nervousness. She’s fidgeting as a sign to me.
With everything that’s happened, I totally forgot about that…
I glance from the backpack to Amanda’s face.
Did you bring it?
Reading the question in my eyes, she gives a quick nod of her head.
My heart skips a beat then races with a mixture of dread and excitement.
I glance at James, hoping he didn’t catch our little exchange, and see him frowning at
Beth’s back.
Unsure how to answer Beth in front of James, I mumble out, “Yeah… as okay as I can be, I guess.”
Beth casts a quick glance over her shoulder at James, not even bothering to hide her disdain for him.
Then she looks back to me. “Are you sure? Blink once if you’re okay. Twice if you’re being held against your will.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” James asks angrily, clearly offended.
“Maybe we should give the girls some time alone, yeah?” Johnathan snickers as I gape at Beth.
James looks sharply at me and I make a point of blinking only once at Beth.
Seemingly satisfied with that, James huffs. “Fine. I guess I’ll get breakfast started. It’s going to take me all day to cook enough food to feed your chubby ass.”
“Chubby?” Johnathan grumbles. “I ain’t fucking chubby, bitch.”
“Oh, that’s right. They’re calling it a dad bod these days,” James says and throws his head back, laughing.
“Fuck you,” Johnathan sputters and glances down at himself. “I don’t have a dad bod either.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” James snickers as he walks toward the kitchen.
Johnathan follows after him with Charlie close to his side. “Yeah, well… Laugh it up, chuckles. Remember what I said back at Lucifer’s office?”
Narrowing his eyes, James glares back at Johnathan. “No. I don’t keep a fucking record of all the shit you’ve said to me.”
Johnathan grins his own big shit-eating grin. “You’re next, motherfucker. You’re going to get a dad bod next.”
James stops and reaches behind himself like he’s going to pull the pistol from his pants.
“James,” I say sharply to stop him and get his attention.
James glances at me, still reaching for his gun.
I jerk my chin toward Charlie.
James takes one look at Charlie’s confused little face then sighs with dejection. Dropping his head for a moment, he pulls his hand back.
Then he straightens and points at Johnathan. “Take it back.”
Johnathan looks at James and purses his lips like he’s considering it before he grins and says, “No.”
“Take it back,” James repeats but this time with a deep growl.
Laughing, Johnathan shakes his head. “No means no, motherfucker.”
