by Cynthia Eden
A life where he hadn’t been quite civilized. A life where he’d been out of control.
“You’d do it,” she said, realizing Jay wasn’t just boasting.
“I’m not exactly the type to talk shit.” His broad back was still to her. “I can make it so that no one ever finds his body. After what he’s done to you, the guy doesn’t get to walk away. You won’t spend your life looking over your shoulder, wondering if he’s coming for you. He’ll end tonight.”
“Jay, you can’t just kill a man!”
He glanced back at her. “He killed you.”
Her tongue slid over her lower lip.
“I can’t believe Wyman hasn’t taken out the bastard.” Now Jay’s eyes narrowed. “He calls you his daughter, but he let the man who murdered you walk? Doesn’t make sense to me.”
“He’s…Wyman called him a monster.” She crept closer to Jay. “He could be enhanced.”
He inclined his head. The hard intensity never left his gaze. “That’s what I fear. So I’ll make sure my team is ready for him.”
“What if he’s like me?” The question slipped from her. “What if he just comes back from death?”
“Lazarus subjects don’t come back from a bullet to the brain. Anyone can die. You just have to kill the person the right way.”
He was ready to kill, for her. “I can fight my own battles.” He didn’t need to get blood on his hands.
But Jay just gave her a half-smile, one that didn’t light his eyes. “One day, you’ll get it. Your battles are mine.” He motioned toward the shower. “Your turn in there.”
She turned and took a step toward the bathroom. Stopped. “We aren’t going to talk about it?”
“It?”
“You didn’t use protection. I didn’t want you to.” She drew in a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t responsible, and I’m sure we’re safe. It’s the wrong time of the month.” Did those words sound as weak as they felt? “The risk of pregnancy is—”
“I’d love to get you pregnant.”
She whirled back to him.
“So I’m not worried. Not the least bit. What I am trying to do, though, is keep my hands off you. In case you didn’t notice, I have a bit of an issue.” He turned fully toward her.
Um, that was more than a bit. His towel was tented. Extremely so. Her heartbeat sped up. “Reva is…beautiful.”
“Yes.”
He could have denied it. Her stare shot back up to his.
A mocking smile was on his lips. “Reva didn’t do this shit.”
Good to know. Her hands unclenched.
“Are you jealous, Willow? Because she’s the past.”
Willow believed that. She also—“Yes, I think I am jealous.” She advanced toward him. He wants me. Me. “It’s not good to make someone like me jealous.”
A rumbling laugh escaped him. “Do I look worried?”
No, he looked sexy. He looked hot.
“Jealousy is supposed to be dangerous for Lazarus subjects,” she reminded him. Not that he needed reminding. She didn’t think he ever forgot anything.
He didn’t move. Just watched her. Waited.
“It makes me feel…less.” But she kept her spine straight. Her shoulders up. “Reva is beautiful, and she’s normal. She doesn’t make fears turn into reality. She doesn’t get shot and wake up when she should be dead. She doesn’t—”
He’d grabbed her and tumbled her onto the bed. Normally, she was the one who moved fast. This time, he’d been faster. “You are never less.” Anger was there. In his voice. In his eyes. On his face. “Don’t ever say it. Don’t ever believe it. You are more than any other woman out there. Never fucking say less.” Then he was kissing her. Kissing her with the frantic need she wanted. The wild rush of lust. The consuming intensity that made her feel—
He wants me. Only me.
He tore off her clothes. Tossed them away. And she was glad. She wanted him wild for her. Wanted to know that this fierce desire he felt was just for her. Not for the lovers from his past. For her.
There wasn’t foreplay. Wasn’t some long seduction. He stripped her. He drove into her. Her legs locked around his hips, and they arched together. Driving for release. Sex to sex. Nothing between them. And it was even hotter than before. Because his gaze was on her. His fingers were locked with hers. His body was driving into her. Every downward thrust of his cock had him sliding over her sensitive clit. The orgasm was building, building, but she didn’t want to come, not yet. She wanted to stay this way, to keep his focus so totally on her, to be linked with him. To be with him.
She wished she could be with him forever.
But Willow couldn’t stop the release. It burst over her, through her, and she held him tight even as she felt the hot rush of his release inside of her. His hips kept thrusting. He kept coming, even as he was kissing her.
Her. The desire he felt was for her. Not the lovers he’d had before. Not any normal woman.
And even when the climax ended, he didn’t withdraw from her. He was still heavy and erect in her, and he just lifted her up. Her legs curled around his hips as he carried her to the bathroom.
“Sweet Willow, you think this happens with just anyone?”
At first, she didn’t understand.
Then he pushed into her, making her shiver.
“Only you, baby. Only you make me need this much.”
They were in the shower. He’d yanked on the water. Steam drifted around them. He was still carrying her. Still in her.
His strength was such a turn-on.
So was his stamina.
He caged her against the wall. One hand was on her hip. The other had slapped against the tile behind her head. “You will never be less.” His eyes glittered down at her. “Don’t you get it yet?”
He withdrew, slid into her. The water beat down on them. Her hands were on his back. Her nails dug into his skin.
“Can’t you…see?”
He withdrew, thrust. Her lips were parted as she tried to suck in desperate gulps of air.
“You think it’s always this way?”
Withdraw, thrust. His long cock slid over her sensitive core.
“Only.” Thrust. “You.”
She was coming again. Willow couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t hold back. She couldn’t—
His eyes stared into her soul. “Fucking.” Thrust. Withdraw. “Love.” Thrust. “You.”
OhmyGod.
***
Willow was dressing. Putting on an outfit that he was sure would drive the men in Wander wild. Of course, the woman could wear a damn potato sack, and he’d still find her sexy.
But then again, Willow was his. He’d protect her, no matter what—or who—came at them.
Jay sat hunched at his computer, his fingers flying over the keys. He didn’t believe in heading into any situation unprepared. The bastard thought he was going to take Willow? That he could destroy Jay?
“Think again,” Jay muttered as his gaze flickered between his two monitors. A faint smile curved his lips.
No one would take Willow. She wouldn’t live her life in fear.
He’d make sure of that.
***
The club was packed. Music and booze flowed freely. The women were dressed to perfection, and the men were ready to pounce.
“Where is the bastard?” Jay demanded. Reva was at his right side, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Willow stood to the left. No nervous movements came from her. Just stillness. Alertness. He knew she was aware of every single person in the place.
Watching. Hunting. That was his Willow.
Flynn Haddox was there, doing the same damn thing that she was. Only he was also blending. So was West. So were half a dozen of Jay’s security team members.
“I don’t see him,” Reva said. She’d stepped up on her tip-toes. “I met him at the bar before. So I thought that’s where he’d be.”
Jay didn’t like this scene. Too out of control. Too many bodies. Too many p
otential casualties. “If he’s here, then he’s seen me.” Jay had no doubt about it. The guy’s eyes would have been on him the minute he walked into the place.
Reva grabbed his arm. “There he is.” Her voice was a hiss. She was staring across the room, her gaze on a tall, dark-haired man who wore a leather coat. The guy was staring at Reva, eyeing her like he’d just hit the jackpot. And he even lifted his beer, inclining it toward her.
Jay glanced at Willow. Her gaze was on the man, a furrow between her brows. “Anything, Willow?” Jay prompted, his voice quiet.
“He’s no one to me.” Her lips twisted. “But that’s hardly a surprise.”
The dark-haired guy put down his beer and began striding toward Reva. Toward Jay. His gaze swept to Willow. A faint smile curled his lips.
“We should go,” Reva whispered. “Can’t we lure him outside or something? This is making me nervous as all hell.”
Jay wasn’t nervous. He was pissed. The man was just striding forward, like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was heading toward Jay, and Jay jerked his head, a signal for West and the others. They could close in. They would take this guy outside.
A body came flying at the dark-haired man. Lucas Tate. He tackled the guy. Started driving his fist into the fellow’s face.
What the fuck?
Jay surged forward. So did West. Willow. Flynn.
The crowd was yelling. Some folks were shouting encouragement to Lucas. Some were rushing for the door.
Lucas rose, a gun gripped in his hands. He spun toward Jay. “He was going for his weapon.”
The man on the floor was unconscious. His body slack.
“I saw it,” Lucas growled. He still gripped the gun. “Thought one of your men would act, but no one did.” Lucas fired a disgusted glance around him, then focused on Jay once more. “You’re so fucking lucky I was here tonight, man.” His eyes gleamed.
Some women were screaming. Men were shouting, “Gun!” And general chaos was reigning.
Jay glanced at the man on the floor. A guy he’d never seen in his life. A guy Reva had identified for him. Willow stood at Jay’s side. His fingers threaded with hers. “Yes, very lucky.” Cops would be coming soon. No way to stop them. He was sure folks at Wander had already sounded the alarm. “Let’s clear the scene, take this outside, shall we? Flynn, why don’t you grab the body?”
Flynn yanked up the guy and tossed him over his shoulder, as if the unconscious man weighed nothing. Then they were making their way through the crowd, with Jay’s security team clearing the way. Reva was hurrying with them. Lucas had tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans.
Jay tightened his hold on Willow.
They exited the back of Wander and strode into a dark alley. His limo waited back there. As did several SUVs. His team.
“What are you going to do with the bastard?” Lucas demanded. “Can’t believe he pulled the gun on you right the hell there. Must be the same prick who set Push on fire.”
The fellow let out a groan. His eyes didn’t open.
“I don’t know him,” Willow said. “I thought I’d feel something. I don’t. Nothing at all.”
Lucas’s gaze was on her. “Why would you know him?” Suspicion cut lines near his mouth. “You working with him or something?”
“What? No, no, of course not—”
“Get him to containment,” Jay ordered his men.
“I should get out of here,” Reva said at the same moment. “I did my part. I gave him to you.”
Willow’s head turned. She gazed down at Reva. “Your heart is racing so fast.”
“Yes, well, that happens when someone pulls a gun, and I get caught in shit that I don’t want to be in.” Reva shuddered. “How the hell do you know what my heart is doing, anyway? Know what? Forget it. I need a ride home. And by home—I mean my place.” She pointed to West. “Take me home? Please?”
West hesitated.
The security team had just loaded the unconscious man in the back of an SUV.
Jay stared at the scene. “It’s wrong.”
“Maverick, the cops are coming,” Lucas muttered. “Maybe take your kidnap victim and haul ass? You need to go, now.”
Jay’s gaze slid back to Lucas. “I never saw a gun.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not exactly trained to notice shit like that, are you?” Lucas threw right back. He took a quick step forward.
“I’m not,” Jay agreed with a curt incline of his head. “But Flynn over there—he is. So is West. And as for Willow…” He brought her hand to his lips. Kissed her knuckles, but didn’t take his gaze off Lucas. “Willow doesn’t miss much.”
Lucas tensed. His eyes narrowed. He rocked forward onto the balls of his feet.
“You were in demolitions, weren’t you?” Jay mused, his gaze on Lucas.
“Um, I really want to leave now,” Reva cried. “I don’t want to be here when the cops arrive. And definitely not when you are kidnapping some poor guy!”
“Before I came here tonight, I thought I should take some time to do a little more research on the people who’ve been popping up lately. New visitors in my life, you could say.” Again, Jay kissed Willow’s knuckles.
Lucas’s gaze went colder.
“You were one of those people I decided to research, Lucas. You were trained in demolitions. You were originally in a unit with West, but then you went off grid. Been doing a lot of private work since then, haven’t you? Freelance?”
“What the fuck are you saying? If you’ve got a point—”
“I want to leave,” Reva demanded. Her voice was close to shriek-level.
He was sure that she did want to leave, but that wasn’t happening. “I accessed the security footage from this club.” After he’d made love to Willow. She’d been changing, and he’d used that time to do a little hacking. Some skills never went out of style. It hadn’t been that hard, especially since…“So easy—I designed their system. Oh, wait, bet you didn’t know that.”
Lucas’s right hand was shoved into his pocket.
“When I accessed the footage, I saw Reva here the other night. But she wasn’t with that poor jerk who just got shoved into the SUV.” His gaze swept over Lucas. “She was with a blond guy who looked more like…you.”
Flynn slapped a hand on Lucas’s shoulder. He’d walked right up behind the guy, and Lucas hadn’t even known it—because Jay had deliberately kept the fellow’s attention on him.
“You’re the one we came here to find,” Jay explained with a cold smile. “And it’s your ass we’ll be dragging away before the cops arrive.”
Reva wasn’t speaking. Not anymore.
Lucas stared at him. Slowly shook his head. “You’re fucking crazy, Maverick.”
Jay just shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“I don’t know him,” Willow rasped. “I thought I’d feel something. I don’t. It’s like I’m staring at a stranger, and I just don’t—”
A growl broke from Lucas. At the same moment, his right hand yanked out of his pocket. Jay expected a weapon. It wasn’t. It looked as if the guy was holding a small, black phone. But—
Boom!
The SUV to the right ignited. The back of the vehicle flew into the air, then came crashing down as the SUV burst into a ball of flames.
The blast had Jay flying back. He turned his body as he flew, holding tight to Willow, trying to shield her. His body scraped across the pavement when he landed, but he jumped to his feet fast. His gaze went straight to the burning SUV.
Jay’s men had been in that vehicle. The poor, unconscious SOB from Wander had been in there—
“You just weren’t smart enough,” Lucas snarled at him. “Two steps behind me, all the time.”
And the back of Jay’s limo exploded. The force sent him staggering back. He could hear someone screaming. Reva? It wasn’t Willow. She’d run toward the limo faster than a blink. She’d yanked open the front door—and was dragging out the driver.
West was nowher
e to be seen. The other guards were running. But Flynn—Flynn was driving his fist toward Lucas’s face.
Lucas dodged the blow in a move that was too fast. He dodged, and then he punched out with his hand, driving his fist into Flynn’s side. Flynn flew back. Flew back a good five feet before he hit the wall of Wander.
Definitely freaking enhanced.
Before Flynn could surge at the guy again, Lucas was firing his weapon. The bullets thudded into Flynn’s body.
“Bastard!” Jay roared. He yanked out his own weapon. He hadn’t come unarmed to this fight.
Lucas whirled toward him.
Jay fired. Once. Twice.
The bullets hit Lucas in the chest. He went down, his body twitching.
Jay took a step forward. Need to shoot in the head, just in case.
Reva grabbed him, her arms wrapping tightly around him. “I’m sorry!” Her eyes were wide, desperate. Fire blazed around them. “I didn’t know—I thought—ohmyGod, he killed the men in that vehicle! He killed them, didn’t he?”
Jay tried to pry Reva loose. She just held on tighter. He had one hand wrapped around his gun, and the other was trying to force her off him. “Willow!” Jay yelled. He could see her. She was on the ground, kneeling near the limo driver. The guy was bleeding a bit from a cut on his cheek, and his clothes were ripped, but otherwise, he looked okay.
“It was because of her!” Reva held him tighter. “He wanted her, and I just—”
Gunfire. A fast blast. Reva stiffened in his arms. She stared up at him. A tear leaked from her eye even as her body seemed to go limp. “I’m…sorry.”
It took a moment for Jay to feel the pain. Reva was slumping and he tried to hold her upright, and that was when the pain burned through him. Pain in his side, tearing through him. Twisting.
He felt the blood on his hands. Reva’s blood. She was bleeding and her body was slack, and he hurt.
Jay glanced up. He found Lucas staring at him. The bastard was on his feet, looking as if he’d never been shot.
“She was in the way,” Lucas shouted. “This time, I won’t miss.”
He’d shot Reva. The bullet had torn through her body. Gone into Jay.
“No!” Willow’s scream.
She flew at Lucas. Hit him even as he fired the next shot.
