Enforce (The Force Duet Book 2)

by M. Malone

  She glanced over at Rafe and swallowed. “Not someone I loved.”

  Jonas blinked. When he looked over at Rafe, he saw that the other man was also frozen in place.

  “What?” He asked what everyone in the room was thinking.

  JJ put a hand to her cheek, which was slowly turning pink. “I had a crush on Rafe.” She said it so softly that Jonas could barely hear her. But he knew Noah had heard because of his friend’s soft intake of breath.

  “Oh shit,” Oskar muttered.

  “Anyway,” JJ continued loudly, “David listened to me, and he told me about losing his father years before. We bonded and before long, I was spending more and more time with him. Too much time. He didn’t want me to hang out with anyone else. If I wanted to go see Lucia, he would follow me and wait outside. He’d walk me to and from school and if I was even a minute late, he’d accuse me of staying behind to flirt with the boys in my class. It started to feel like I was in prison.”

  Rafe and Noah exchanged glances and Rafe said, “That’s straight out of the ORUS playbook. Establish a rapport with the target and then isolate them. Do you think this was Orion checking up? Maybe he suspected that I was still around and was using JJ to confirm?”

  “It’s possible,” Noah admitted. “Although it would have been more likely that he’d go after Lucia.”

  “I don’t think that’s what he was after,” JJ said slowly. “David asked a lot of questions about Rafe, but not like he doubted his death.”

  Rafe narrowed his eyes. “What kind of questions?”

  JJ instantly blushed bright red. “Just what kind of stuff you liked. Whether I saw you a lot when I visited Lucia. Then other things.” She fidgeted with the edge of her shirt.

  Lucia put her arm around her. “It’s okay.”

  JJ kept her eyes on the floor as she continued. “He wanted to know if I’d ever kissed Rafe. He was obsessed. If I ever brought his name up, it enraged David. He knew how I felt about him and wanted to prove he was the better choice. Any time a guy looked at me on the street, David would try to fight him. Like he wanted to prove how strong he was. Then he started asking me to call him that. When we… you know.”

  Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Noah looked like he’d rather be anywhere else but somehow got it together to ask what was necessary.

  “He wanted you to call him Rafe’s name during sex.”

  “Um, yeah. Uh huh.” JJ put a hand over her heart and rubbed. “He started getting rougher with me and I got scared enough to leave. But he was waiting for me after school the next day. That was the first time he hit me.”

  Lucia pulled her close. “And I wasn’t there for you. I’m so sorry.”

  JJ leaned her head against Lucia’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “But still, you went through this all alone.”

  JJ swiped at her eyes. “I was afraid to tell anyone. He controlled what I wore and where I went, and he made sure I knew there was no escape. He said if I ever left him again, he would hurt my mom. He couldn’t get to Lucia since Noah was always around, but I still worried that he’d try something. I figured he was going to eventually kill me. Nothing I did seemed to satisfy him. Then all of a sudden, he was just gone.”

  Noah narrowed his eyes. “That must have been when Orion sent him overseas. Do you think he found out what was going on?”

  Rafe shrugged. “It’s possible. ORUS agents aren’t supposed to form any attachments. If Orion caught wind that Chamaeleon had a girlfriend, especially one connected to me, he’d have squashed that shit quickly.”

  “But why bring him back?” Jonas wondered.

  “Ian didn’t know about any of this. He wasn’t in charge back then, remember? It’s been almost seven years,” Noah mused. “Even if all this was documented somewhere, no one would think a relationship he had with a teenager years ago would be a threat anymore.”

  Rafe put his hands on his head. “I’m going to kill that fucker.”

  “Get in line,” Jonas growled. He flexed the fingers that had been clenched in a fist for the past ten minutes. He’d thought there was nothing worse than hearing about how his woman had fantasized about Rafe, but hearing how she’d feared for her life with nowhere to turn was even worse.

  Not that he hadn’t been motivated to find the fucker before, but now he wanted to find him and cause him pain. David West was going to know the same terror he’d put JJ through for months.

  JJ had reached the limits of her endurance. She pulled away from Lucia, squeezing her friend’s arm gently. There was going to be a long gab session in their future, she was sure. Lucia was still digesting everything she’d heard today, but JJ had no doubt she was going to be in for it later. It was a huge secret she’d kept from her friend for years.

  “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  Lucia nodded. “There’s plenty of time for that. Right now, I think you have one very patient man to explain a few things to. And for what it’s worth, he really loves you.”

  JJ’s eyes met Jonas’s over her friend’s shoulder. He watched her with a burning intensity that under any other circumstances, she would have thought was desire. But then his eyes swung over to where Rafe stood, and the spark shifted into something closer to rage.

  Uh-oh.

  “Yeah, I think maybe Jonas and I need to have a chat.” More like, she needed to get to Jonas before he started something with Rafe. She’d heard from Lucia what had happened the last time Rafe had fought the guys. He’d singlehandedly managed to injure half the team. The last thing she wanted was anyone fighting over her.

  Rafe ducked out of the room and by the time JJ looked for Jonas again, he was gone. Her pulse sped up as she glanced around. Oskar was across the room talking to Matthias. Noah stood behind them, waiting for Lucia. Ryan and Dylan had left already. Oh shit.

  “I’ll see you later.” JJ hugged Lucia again and then walked out into the entryway. Rafe and Jonas stood glaring at each other. It brought to mind two lions facing off in the wild. No one spoke or turned when she approached.

  JJ stepped in between them and took Jonas’s hand. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  A beat later, his eyes met hers. His nostrils flared briefly, but he nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be there in a second.”

  “Right now, actually.”

  She tugged on his hand, not even acknowledging Rafe. If she so much as glanced in his direction, the tentative cease fire between the two would probably go up in smoke. JJ mentally rolled her eyes. Juggling the egos of all these alpha males was like tap dancing around dynamite.

  It took a few tugs, but Jonas finally allowed her to pull him back into the living room. All JJ could hope for was that Rafe would leave, otherwise she’d have to worry about the two men getting into it all night. Although she doubted Rafe really wanted to stick around. It had been beyond humiliating to have to say those things in front of him and everyone else. Embarrassment flared again. The poor man was probably going to ask Lucia to start coming to him when he wanted to see his sister.

  The living room was empty, everyone having gone back to their various rooms.

  “So, I figured maybe we should talk.”

  Jonas shrugged. “We don’t need to talk. You were right that hearing the whole story helped. David’s behavior has been erratic and unpredictable this whole time, but understanding what makes him tick will only help us.”

  JJ’s mouth fell open. He was talking like this was any other standard case and the only thing he was concerned with was chasing down a target. Of all the reactions she’d expected him to have, this wasn’t one of them. It couldn’t have been fun to hear his girlfriend admit to fantasizing about one of his coworkers during sex. Especially a co-worker who’d once hurt him so badly.

  “I hope it does help,” she said finally, at a loss as to what else to say. If he didn’t want to talk about all the embarrassing stuff she’d said, then she definitely wasn’t going to bring it up.

  “Okay, so maybe we should j
ust stay in and take it easy tonight. We can watch something on Netflix, and I’ll make us some sandwiches,” JJ suggested.

  Jonas nodded. “Sure. We can make some popcorn and chill.”

  They were interrupted by Noah and JJ stepped back to allow the men to talk. Jonas gestured for her to wait and followed Noah from the room, so JJ figured she’d get started preparing their little picnic.

  She’d been stressing ever since she’d asked him to call for the meeting, sure that once it was over, Jonas would be annoyed with her. Not because of what happened years ago, but because she’d kept it from them all. Also, he was a typical guy, competitive and slightly possessive. Not enough to be a problem but she knew he didn’t like the idea of sharing any part of her. It would only be natural for him to wonder if any of her earlier feelings had survived her teenage crush.

  Especially now that Rafe was back in her life. But all she felt for him was a brotherly affection, similar to how she’d viewed him before her crush took hold. Lucia was thrilled beyond reason to have her brother back, and JJ was so happy for her and Nonna. But his reappearance hadn’t changed her feelings at all. Jonas was the only man she wanted. After having her trust shattered by David, it had taken a long time before she’d felt ready to be vulnerable with a man again. She couldn’t have done that with anyone but Jonas. No one else had been willing to spar with her and endure the barbs to get to the real Jessica beneath the attitude.

  “I’ll have turkey on mine.” Jonas appeared at her elbow. His forehead was crinkled the way it always was when he was worried about something.

  JJ glanced behind him. Noah stood at the edge of the kitchen watching them. She couldn’t decode the expression on his face, but he glanced at Jonas one more time before he turned to leave.

  “Is everything okay with Noah?” she finally asked.

  Jonas grimaced. “Noah needs to mind his own business.”

  Whoa. She wasn’t going there. JJ was under no impression that the guys always agreed. Noah was their boss and he wasn’t exactly a tactful guy. But she’d never heard Jonas say even one negative word about his friend and boss before today. Before you pushed him to the edge.

  Wordlessly, she reached for the sliced turkey, making sandwiches for them both. Jonas worked quietly beside her, putting the food on a tray and then putting some popcorn in the microwave. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a coke for him and a Dr. Pepper for herself.

  Jonas’s eyes landed on the sodas as she put them on the tray. “Dr. Pepper,” he murmured.

  JJ stilled. “Yeah. It’s my favorite. I’ve been drinking it since I was a teenager.”

  His eyes flared. “Rafe drinks Dr. Pepper. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen him drink.”

  Her heart sank. She thought back to when she was a young girl, watching Rafe mainline Dr. Pepper like it was water. She’d started drinking it too, thinking maybe he’d notice that she liked the same thing he did.

  How had she forgotten that?

  chapter 9

  JJ licked her lips nervously as she turned to face Jonas. “Jonas. Look it’s not like—”

  His voice, as icy as steel, cut her off. “Be quiet.”

  Gone was his usual smug smile or cocky smirk. She could see the muscles of his jaw working as he clenched his teeth together. Holding her hand tight, Jonas turned down the hall and stalked into one of the bedrooms, kicking the door shut behind them.

  “Jonas, that was a really long time ago. I don't have a thing for Rafe now. You have to understand that.”

  Jonas said nothing, just narrowed his gaze at the mention of Rafe’s name. He backed her up and with a few short strides, he laid her on the bed, following her down.

  With a muffled growl, he scooted them up toward the headboard then dragged her over him so she straddled his lap. Easing up his grip on her hair, he gently massaged her scalp until she was nearly limp and pliant in his arms. She could feel his anger coursing through him, but at the same time she knew she could trust him. Knew that he wouldn’t hurt her.

  When he brought her head down for a kiss, JJ couldn’t help but moan. His tongue slid over hers easily and she whimpered. Jonas nipped at her bottom lip before sucking on it gently. Her lips tingled, the pleasure flowing white hot through her, and she wondered if she might be able to come just from his kisses. And if not, the delicious rub of his cock against her sensitive flesh would do the trick.

  One of his big hands gripped her ass, gently rocking her into him as he devoured her mouth. With every rock of their hips together, they both made this satisfied, muffled mmph sound. As if that was exactly what hit the spot, what they both needed.

  Holy hell. She was close and so far all he'd done was kiss her. But it was more than that. The tension between them was so thick, winding tighter around them with each moment.

  She wasn’t an idiot. She knew there was still a lot of underlying tension with Rafe. After all, Rafe had tried to kill him before. But she’d had no idea that he would respond like this. Any feelings she’d ever had for Rafe were a schoolgirl crush. That crush didn't come anywhere close to what they shared. Not even close. But how the hell did she drive that message home?

  At that moment, he was acting like a caveman with a need to mark her… not that she minded. She trusted him. He wasn't going to hurt her. She just didn't want him thinking that any part of her wanted anyone else.

  Jonas tore his lips off of hers, panting as his gaze bore into her eyes. With a muffled curse, he flipped them so that he lay on top of her, his hips fitting in that space she made just for him between her thighs. "You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. And you’re mine. If you’re gonna tell anyone to sit and spin it’ll be me. Is that clear?"

  JJ nodded as she reached for him, making this little mewling sound in the back of her throat. Was that really her? Sounding needy and desperate? "Okay, Jonas. Just—"

  But it was like he couldn't hear her. Against her skin, he whispered, "Did you know how many times I used to dream about touching you? About all the ways I could make you scream my name?”

  “Jonas—”

  He kissed behind her ear as he rocked his cock against her heat. “I used to spend a lot of time in the shower every morning and night thinking about you. About how you’d taste, how your breasts would look soaped up. About how bad I wanted to lick you everywhere. And when I’d take my cock into my hand, I’d pretend it was you sliding your fingers over me, making me feel good. I’d pretend you were squeezing just how I like, bringing me to my knees. I’d pretend you were slick, and wet, and ready for me, begging me to make love to you." He nipped at her skin. "And every time I came, it was your name I’d call."

  JJ arched her back. Her brain offered up the mental image of him stroking his thick erection, squeezing tight as he pulled the skin taut and groaned out her name. "D-do you always use my name when you're touching yourself?"

  He rocked his hips into her as he kissed the column of her throat. "Yes. Most of the time I imagine you're there, touching me. Wrapping those gorgeous lips of yours around me. Sucking me as you blink up at me, adoringly. And while I'm sliding into your mouth, I'm telling you all the dirty things I'm going to do to you."

  Dirty talk—she was a fan. If this was what happened every time Jonas got pissed off, she’d maybe have to push his buttons more often.

  Everything he said to her just made her wetter, especially when he coupled it with rubbing his cock just over her clit. "What kind of dirty things?"

  He pulled back a little so he could look at her. A slow, devilish smile played across his lips. "Judging by the curiosity in your voice, you want me to tell you every dirty detail, don't you? You want me talking to you all dirty, telling you how I'm going to work my way backwards with you."

  Oh God, so close, the tingles spread over her skin and she arched into him, begging him silently for more friction. "Yes, Jonas."

  "You want me to tell you how you suck my cock so good, taking me deep, using your tongue against me,
making me beg."

  "Mmmm." More, she needed more.

  "Then just as I'm about to explode, I pull out before you can make me come and I slide my cock bare inside your hot little pussy. Inch by inch, you cling onto me, milking me, begging me to come."

  Jesus. Why did the idea of him making love to her without a condom sound so hot? She'd always used condoms. But with Jonas, the idea took root and flourished. What would it feel like?

  "Then you fuck me so good with your slick wet, heat, and I make you come over and over again."

  Oh hell yes. She wanted that with him. More than she'd ever wanted anyone in her life.

  "But I won't be done, sweetheart. As you already know my rule is ladies first. Then second. And then if I'm lucky, maybe third before I come. But I still won't be done with you. Because you need to know I am the only one who can make you come like that."

  He shifted and slid off of her to make quick work of her shoes, tossing them over his shoulders. They landed with thuds somewhere by the door. He was impatient with her dress, yanking and tugging quickly until it was somewhere in a corner.

  He took his time watching her, paying particular attention to her breasts. When he leaned back over her, he reached behind her and unsnapped her bra one-handed. The motion was so quick, she had to laugh. "I see you've had some practice with that."

  He smirked as he leaned back over her. "Only a little." Jonas kissed her again before sliding his lips to her jaw, his hands rising up to lock with hers.

  JJ rocked her hips upward and reached for him, sliding her fingers through his hair. "Please hurry."

  "I’ll get there when I get there." He said with a harsh chuckle. “But not before I remind you of who’s in your bed. Of who exactly it is that loves you. Who is about to be inside you.” He grazed along the column of her throat even as his hips rocked into hers, pressing gently. Teasing her with the ridge of his erection.