“He also fucking kidnapped you!”
“Assisted by my own father,” she reminded. “There was only ever Ernesto and Eduardo. Their mother died when they were eight years old, and all they had left of her was a silver necklace that Eduardo wore constantly. They never knew who their father was. They were brought up in a Mexican orphanage. Once they were old enough to go out on their own, they began working as mules for one of the drug cartels. By the time they were twenty, they’d accumulated enough money to move to the States. They became runners for an organization into illegal gambling and money-lending. Within five years, Ernesto had taken over that business and employed his own runners. He also married and had three children, twin boys and a girl. In contrast, Eduardo had no wife or children and to all intents and purposes now worked for his twin.”
“A recipe for jealousy and resentment,” Haydn acknowledged. “And I think we all know now that Ernesto’s marriage was only a front for his real sexual preference.”
She nodded. “I doubt Eduardo knew that, or if he did, he certainly never mentioned it. He loved his brother, wanted so much to be accepted as an equal partner. When it didn’t happen, he became resentful.”
“There’s still something you aren’t telling me, Hailey,” he guessed astutely.
Her throat moved as she swallowed. “On Monday, I received a suspicious email in my private account. I didn’t recognize the email address and all it said was ‘I’m free.’ I received a second email yesterday from a different account, with the words ‘The red hair is very pretty, just like you.’” Hailey couldn’t have looked at Haydn at that moment if her life had depended on it.
Because if Ernesto knew she had changed her hair color to red, something that had only been true since she left the army, when she’d been a brunette, then not only did Ernesto have to actually be in England, but he had to have seen her too.
Chapter Seven
“You received two threatening emails in four days and didn’t tell any of us about them?”
Hailey wasn’t in the least fooled by the mildness of Haydn’s tone. “To be fair, the first one, ‘I’m free,’ could have just been a way of selling some sort of product. It could,” she defended when he gave a scathing snort.
“Was there any product mentioned on the email?”
“No,” she was forced to acknowledge.
Haydn shook his head. “You took it seriously enough that your daily routine changed five days ago, and you also requested a new identity from your handler. Both after you received that first email.”
Color warmed her cheeks. “Yes. Well. I was concerned enough on Monday to check on Ernesto’s status and discovered he’d been released from prison that morning. My handler confirmed it. You’re hurting me, Haydn,” she protested as his arms about her waist seemed to take on the strength of steel bars.
“I want to wring your fucking neck,” Haydn assured her angrily. “How could you not tell any of us about this?” he repeated furiously. “If not me or one of my brothers, then perhaps one of their wives?”
Her vision blurred as tears stung her eyes. “I wanted to. I just—I’ve been alone for so long, Haydn, and—and— Maybe I don’t know how to trust anymore, let alone how to ask someone for their help.”
He kept one arm firmly about her waist as he lifted his other hand to grip her chin between his thumb and index finger, his gaze dark and penetrating. “My brothers—I am not just ‘someone.’ And if you don’t trust us now, then I suggest you learn, and quickly,” he grated. “Maybe this will help reinforce how strongly I advise you do that.” He deliberately continued to hold her gaze as he slowly lowered his head and his mouth claimed hers.
Haydn had fully expected Hailey to fight him on this too, as she fought against any and everything that might encroach on what he now knew was her fiercely fought for independence. Instead, her lips parted beneath the pressure of his, and she slowly, oh so slowly, began to tentatively return the kiss.
Haydn kept a tight leash on his emotions, not wanting to alarm or frighten Hailey into bringing an end to these sensuous but undemanding kisses. He could do nothing to hide the throb of his cock pressing against the warmth between her thighs.
He continued those slow and searching kisses. Tasting. Licking. But not daring to do anything that might cause her to pull away.
His heart gave a jolt when he felt Hailey’s arms moving, one about his waist, the other curving over his shoulders before her fingers became entwined with the hair at his nape.
He groaned softly, forcing himself to remain immobile minutes later when Hailey ended the kiss and the heat of her lips traveled the length of his throat.
Her breath was warm against his skin. “I’m not going to break.”
“I don’t want— I’m not— Did he hurt you? Don’t.” Haydn’s arms tightened as Hailey would have pulled away. “Look at me,” he pleaded when she kept her lashes lowered. “I know you said he didn’t rape you, but he might have done other things. I don’t want to frighten you by doing anything that might remind you of him.”
“I could never in a million years mistake you for him,” she assured incredulously.
Haydn recognized that she still hadn’t told him about the weeks she’d spent with Eduardo. But he had no intention of pushing her right now. It was enough for now that the other man hadn’t raped her. “I want you. Do you want me? The truth now,” he encouraged softly.
“I’m straddling your thighs after kissing you. Isn’t it obvious what I want?”
“Then make love to me.”
Her irises blew wide as she stared at him. “You want me to…? To…you…?”
“To me. With me.” He nodded. “Whatever you decide.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed before answering. “I’m not sure I know how to do that.”
That posed more questions for Haydn than it answered…
But not now. Not when he could share these moments of intense intimacy with Hailey instead.
He smiled his encouragement. “And I’m very sure, no matter what you do, I’m going to enjoy every moment of having you explore my body as you make love to me.”
Could she do this, Hailey wondered. Haydn was thirty-four years old, and even if she hadn’t seen him with any women this past year, she knew he must have had dozens of lovers in the past. Hailey might be twenty-five, but she had absolutely zero past experience to draw on.
She’d been like any other seventeen-year-old before the kidnapping, having explored some physical intimacy with her boyfriend at the time, such as having her breasts touched, but nothing deeper than that. The weeks she’d spent as Eduardo’s captive had mainly been occupied placating him as she felt terrified for her own life. The years since of hiding who she really was had been even less conducive to emotional or physical intimacy.
Consequently, she’d never had even a one-night stand and now had absolutely no idea how to even begin to make love to Haydn.
The warmth of his smile lit his eyes. “Here, let me help you get started.” He reached down to grasp the two sides of his T-shirt and pull it over his head, revealing a firm and muscular chest and arms.
There was a sudden banquet of naked flesh before her. Including, Hailey noticed as the saliva flooded her mouth, those two defined muscles veeing down beneath the waistband of his jeans toward his groin.
His abs were hard, his nipples dark as old pennies, with only a light dusting of blond hair across his chest.
And all giving off a heat that warmed and tempted Hailey to touch and taste that delectable flesh.
“Do it,” Haydn encouraged gruffly, telling her she had spoken out loud. “Touch me. Taste me. Bite me.”
Her gaze flickered up to the glitter of his eyes and the deepening flush to his cheeks. She could do this. She wanted it. Wanted Haydn.
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, her pulse racing as she scooted back on Haydn’s thighs so she could watch as her hands began to explore each dip and curve of his muscled torso. I
n stark contrast to how rock solid those muscles were, Haydn’s skin felt warm and sensual as velvet beneath the caress of her palms and fingers.
From the beginning, she’d always felt safe with Haydn, instinctively knowing he would never let anything or anyone harm her. Even himself.
That knowledge encouraged her to continue touching and caressing him. To watch the contrast of her pale fingers against his tanned flesh.
The longer she touched him, becoming familiar with each dip and hollow of his chest and shoulders, the more the connection between them deepened to something stronger. To becoming a certainty and trust that enveloped both of them, keeping them safe from the outside world.
Here, alone in this apartment, there was only Haydn and Hailey.
Desire had deepened the color of Haydn’s eyes to a stormy gray, his skin having taken on a warm sheen. His chest quickly rose and fell, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, as evidence of the tight control he was exerting over his emotions and the need to touch her in return.
Hailey gave a teasing chuckle as she looked at those white-knuckled fists. “You can touch me too, you know,” she enticed.
A nerve pulsed in his jaw. “Sure?”
“Very.”
Haydn lunged forward, hands tightly gripping her waist and pulling her against him as he slammed his lips onto hers. Taking, sating his hunger, before his hands moved up to cup either side of Hailey’s face and his lips and tongue plundered and possessed.
The heat of his lips shifted to her cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “So, so beautiful. I have absolutely no idea how I’ve managed to keep my hands off you for the past year.”
Hailey’s laugh was exultant with happiness at the admission, at knowing she wasn’t the only one who had felt that instant attraction between the two of them.
Her fingers clung to the heat of his shoulders as she arched her throat to enjoy the burn and heat of the suck and bite of Haydn’s lips and teeth.
She became aware of low groans and the occasional growl and realized it was the two of them. Her groans, Haydn’s growls. Her groans became a gasp when Haydn’s hands grasped the bottom of her T-shirt and pushed it up her body to expose her breasts, her aroused nipples pressing against the black lace of her bra.
Haydn’s eyes were dark with a need he didn’t try to hide from her as he slowly lowered his head and captured one of her nipples in the wet heat of his mouth.
Desire coursed hot and out of control as Hailey scooted closer, until her pussy was pressed against the hard throb of Haydn’s cock. A desire so deep and so strong, she could only hold on to Haydn, her fingers digging into his tensed muscles.
There was only sensation. The caress of Haydn’s hands. The suck of his mouth on first one nipple and then the other. The insistent pulsing of his cock against her swollen clit.
She instantly regretted the barrier of her jeans separating them, wanting to feel that hard and throbbing cock against her own aroused flesh. “I need… I want… Haydn, help me!” She cried out her need as the clamoring of her senses for more almost became too much.
Haydn straightened, his hands on Hailey’s waist holding her at a slight distance as he drew in several deep breaths, his chest heaving as he fought for control. “Do you trust me?”
Her gaze met his unwaveringly. “With my life.”
“With your body too?” Haydn held his breath as he waited for her answer.
“I’ve trusted you with who I am, so yes, of course I trust you with my body.”
“Hold on.” He cupped his hands beneath her bottom as he stood with her in his arms.
He grunted his satisfaction when her hands clung to his shoulders and those long legs wrapped about his waist, her ankles linking at the base of his spine. He carried her across the room to place her carefully down on the couch cushions, removing her boots and socks before following her down. He leaned on his elbows to hold his body up from crushing hers as he captured her lips in another deeply searing kiss.
But kisses were no longer enough. He wanted to touch her too, all of her, with nothing hidden or being kept back from him. His months, a year of waiting and lusting for this woman, now demanded her complete surrender.
Her cheeks became flushed when Haydn sat back on his heels to pull her T-shirt over her head before dropping it over the back of the couch.
His gaze felt hot as he unhooked the front fastening of her bra and folded back the black lace, baring her full and sloping breasts. The nipples were engorged and flushed a deep rose from where he had suckled them earlier.
It still wasn’t enough.
He wanted her completely naked.
Emotionally and physically laid bare.
For him.
Only for him.
His gaze held hers captive as he sat back on his heels and unfastened the button of her jeans to slide the zip slowly downward to expose her hip-bones and the black lace panties that matched her bra.
She chewed on her bottom lip, her breath caught in her throat. “You can take the jeans and panties off too, if you’d like to,” she invited shyly as she shrugged her shoulders free of the straps of her bra.
He nodded. “I’d like that very much.” Her skin felt smooth and warm against his fingers as he grasped the top of her jeans and pulled them downward, taking those lace panties down with them to drop both pieces of clothing to join her T-shirt.
A completely naked Hailey revealed those full and pert breasts, a slender waist, narrow hips, with a cluster of blonde curls covering her mound above long and shapely legs.
Legs Haydn slowly parted to expose her plump pussy lips. He draped her legs over his shoulders as he pushed her thighs even wider apart, groaning softly as he bent down to lick along the moist seam of her opening.
The taste of her slick juices exploded on his tongue, sweet and salty at the same time. A taste and scent he found utterly addictive as he rasped his tongue up from her plump lips to where his fingers had parted the folds protecting her swollen and erect clit. He blew softly against that pulsing nub, his gaze feeling hot as he watched fresh juices gush between her pussy lips.
Hailey let out a mewling cry, and her back arched when she felt the heat of Haydn’s mouth fully encompass and then suck on her clit. Her breath caught in her throat when his tongue thrashed against that sensitive nubbin. Until the pleasure became too much and her body exploded in a cascade of wave after wave of release that caused all of her to tighten and tremble.
She collapsed back against the couch cushions, her arms and legs feeling like jelly and just as incapable of supporting her if she tried to stand. Not that she was going to but the option simply didn’t exist.
She smiled shyly as Haydn moved back onto his knees. “I’d really like to continue making love to you now.”
“I think that’s enough for tonight.”
Her brows rose. “Who made you the boss of our physical intimacy?”
“I believe you did.” He lifted one of his hands, the soft pad of his thumb touching her swollen bottom lip as if to take the sting out of his answer. It didn’t. “You’re tired, Hailey. Tomorrow morning might be a different matter,” he teased.
“But you didn’t— You haven’t—” She flinched. Talking about intimacy was something else she’d never done. There had never been any reason for her to do so.
“Coming would be nice.” He used the word she hadn’t been able to say. “But I’m not nineteen anymore and desperate for my next ejaculation. I’ve tasted you.” He slowly ran his tongue across the moistness of his lips. “Touched you.” His ran his other hand along the length of her bare thigh. “I intend to spend the rest of the night holding you in my arms. All that is enough for now,” he assured huskily.
Hailey wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was true this was the first time she’d been given physical release by a man, and she couldn’t have been happier that man was Haydn. But maybe she had failed in some way if Haydn didn’t want her to give him that same pleasure
and release? After all, he had asked that she make love to him.
“Stop thinking so much.” Haydn chuckled softly as he smoothed the frown from her brow. “Hearing you trust me, having your hands on me, caressing me, and feeling you come apart in my arms gave me all the pleasure I need for tonight. Okay?” he cajoled.
“Okay.” Hailey couldn’t doubt he meant what he said when he looked at her with such warm gray eyes. Besides, she was starting to feel a little self-conscious, lying here completely naked when Haydn was still wearing his jeans.
“Good.” Haydn rose to his feet, looking like some bronzed and fearless god. “I’m taking you to my bedroom now.” He bent down and lifted her before carrying her down the hallway.
Because he intended spending the night holding her in his arms.
Something that made Hailey feel completely safe for the first time in eight years.
Chapter Eight
“Wow, they do say it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for!”
Haydn’s arms tightened about Hailey as he glanced over the top of the duvet to where Logan stood in the open bedroom doorway. “Fuck off,” he said softly. “And I’ll be changing the door code to my apartment later today so that this unwanted intrusion doesn’t happen again.”
“We did say we would be back in the morning,” Logan reminded unapologetically.
“But it’s not even eight o’clock yet, and just you is not we,” Haydn snapped.
Haydn (Steele Protectors 5) Page 6
