From This Day Forward: A Sex & Vows Novella

by Fiona Davenport

  5

  Jenna

  I blearily blinked my eyes open at the sound of the alarm going off the next morning. Between the quickie in the garage against Quinn’s SUV, the spankings I got when we were finally alone again, and the reward for taking my punishment after my ass was the cherry red Quinn had promised, my body felt sore in the most delicious places. My brain was still fuzzy when I felt warm fingertips gliding up my inner thighs. “What’re you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” I felt Quinn’s warm breath on my skin, trailing behind his fingers.

  “But I need to get ready for work,” I protested half-heartedly.

  He gently nudged my legs apart, wedging his shoulders between them and lifting my hips off the mattress. “Don’t you remember? I told you I was going to start setting the alarm early to make sure you start your day off right.”

  He shoved up the T-shirt I’d worn to bed and his mouth hovered over my pussy. His scruff scraped lightly against my sensitive skin and my hips jerked even higher. “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away,” he chuckled against me, and I quivered. “As pleased as I am that you’re seeing Dr. Lennon, I’m all for doing whatever it takes to make sure you don’t need any unplanned visits.”

  “Only one? I’m still kind of out of it, but I’m pretty sure you bragged about being able to give me two orgasms with five extra minutes in the morning,” I teased.

  His brown eyes darkened until they were almost black, determination flaring in them. “Challenge accepted, baby.”

  He lowered his head, his tongue lapping at my pussy in fast and furious strokes designed to drive me crazy. The pregnancy hormones must have done something to my libido because it took less than a minute before my body tightened as an orgasm crashed over me. He didn’t stop to give me time to recover, either. Instead, he spread my folds with his thumbs and continued to feast on me, putting his tongue, lips, teeth, and fingers to work. A few minutes later, with two fingers pumping inside me and his lips wrapped around my clit, I quickly flew apart a second time.

  “Mission accomplished, and with one minute to spare,” he boasted, pulling me into his arms and settling us against the pillows.

  I slid my hand down his chest, along his stomach, heading lower. “I bet I could do a lot with that extra minute.”

  Rising up to my knees, I crouched over his body and licked along one side of the V below his abs. It was one of the best parts of his body, leading me straight to another of my favorites. I wrapped my lips around his cock and sucked deep, determined to get him off as quickly as he had me. Only I hadn’t counted on a new reaction to the feel of his hardness when it bumped against the back of my throat. Instead of the usual rush of desire, my stomach twisted and I gagged.

  I pulled away from his cock. “Blech,” I groaned before I scrambled off the bed.

  “What the hell?” I heard him murmur as I ran into the bathroom with my hand over my mouth. I dove for the toilet, falling to my knees as I threw up. Quinn must have followed behind me because one of his hands sifted through my hair to pull it out of my face as the other slid up and down my back in comforting strokes. “Fuck, baby. I’m sorry.”

  “Morning sickness better not mean I can’t suck your cock for the next eight months,” I grumbled.

  “I hope not, too,” he laughed. “But if it does, no more blow jobs for me. Making you gag is a boner killer.”

  I weakly punched him in the arm as he helped me to my feet. “Haha. Do me a favor. Don’t quit your day job to become a comedian.”

  “What?” He clutched his chest dramatically. “I thought you loved me for my sense of humor.”

  I giggle snorted while turning the faucets on the sink to get the water at the temperature I wanted. When I was done washing my face, I felt a million times better. Quinn handed me my toothbrush, paste already squirted onto it. I met his dark eyes in the mirror and offered him a smile to let him know I was okay. He couldn’t hide his worry for me behind jokes, I knew him too well.

  Brushing my teeth, I let my gaze sweep down his body, enjoying how the muscles in his arms bunched while he splashed some water on his face. When he lifted his head, droplets clung to the scruff on his chin and I wanted to lick them away.

  “These stupid pregnancy hormones really are wreaking havoc on me.”

  He swiped a towel over his face before studying me, raking his eyes up and down my body. Then he flashed me a wolfish smile. “I guess I’ll have to give myself ten minutes tomorrow instead of five, since it looks like two orgasms isn’t enough to give you what you need in the morning.”

  “Whatever.” It was a ridiculous response, but it wasn’t like I could argue with him when he was right. “Maybe you can still be useful to me this morning by making me breakfast or something.”

  He swiveled on one heel and reached over to turn the shower on for me. Then he yanked my shirt over my head before he kissed the hell out of me. “I’m always more than happy to be of service to you, in any way you need it.” His hand slid down to cover my belly. “Now more than ever, since it means I’m doing it for my two favorite people in the world.”

  I practically melted into a puddle of goo onto the bathroom tile while he left me to take my shower and get ready for work. My morning started earlier than Quinn’s since the school doors opened at seven forty-five. When he’d returned home from the military and took the job with Xander’s company, we’d quickly fallen into the habit of me getting ready while he made breakfast and packed me a lunch to take to school since I preferred to not eat the cafeteria food. It was a good thing, too, since the mere thought of it made me want to puke again.

  Once was enough, especially since it meant I was running behind and we had to rush to get to school on time. Luckily for me, my fiancé was amazing behind the wheel, and when we pulled into the parking lot none of the buses had arrived yet. “Thanks for the ride.”

  I tried to give him a quick kiss, but he didn’t let me get away with it, pulling me close for a deep and passionate one instead. “I’ll be here to pick you up at two fifty-five.”

  With everything that had happened yesterday, I’d forgotten to ask what made him decide to drive me to and from work again today. I didn’t have time for an inquisition though, I needed to get inside before the first bell rang.

  The day flew by, and at the end of it I was exhausted and nauseous again. As I was shutting my classroom door behind me, I made a mental note to ask Aspen how long the nausea usually lasted for her. At least we could commiserate with each other about pregnancy symptoms since the reason she and Weston wanted to come over for dinner last night was to tell us they were expecting another baby.

  “Wasn’t that exciting news, Squiggle Doodle? Another little cousin for you to play with. One who’ll be your age. It’s going to be perfect,” I whispered.

  I started to make my way to the entrance since Quinn would be waiting for me in front, but I swiveled around at what sounded like a child’s cry from behind me. Pausing, I scanned the hallway but didn’t see anything. Just as I decided I must have been imagining things, I heard it again, the low cry of a little boy. As an elementary school teacher, it was a sound I was familiar with and I thought it was coming from near the emergency exit off the side hallway. None of the kids should be back there, and the sound of the cries worried me.

  “Hello!” I called out. There was a thud, and I hurried forward. “Please don’t be scared. It’s just Miss Davis.”

  I rounded the corner and came to an abrupt stop. Darren was on the floor, cowering at the feet of the man I’d seen arguing with his mom yesterday. He was holding his hand up to his cheek, and I could see a bruise forming there. My gaze jerked up to the man, and I found him stalking towards me.

  “Stop!” I yelled, holding my hands up as I backed up. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “You should’ve kept your nose where it belongs, out of my business,” he growled at me.

  “You need to leave, or else I’m going to have to cal
l the police,” I warned him. “Darren is my student, and he’s my responsibility while he’s in school. I won’t let you hurt him.”

  I didn’t mention that I was going to call them anyway. Not just the cops, I was also going to ask Quinn to look into the guy. I had no doubt he’d figure out what was going on and fix it so Darren and his mom would be safe.

  “Then I guess you’ll have to behave, or else I’ll do a hell of a lot more damage than I’ve already done.”

  “Behave?”

  His gaze shifted over my shoulder, and strong arms wrapped around me from behind. I screamed, but a large palm quickly covered my mouth and muffled the sound. I struggled, knowing I couldn’t let them take me to a secondary location. I was scared beyond belief. For myself. For Darren. And for my unborn child.

  6

  Quinn

  My eyes strayed from the email I was reading on my phone to check the time on the dashboard of the car again. Three o’clock. A quick glance at the front door showed no sign of Jenna. She was usually very prompt with her schedule. School let out at two thirty and several days a week, she stayed for another two or three hours to do some grading and tidy up her classroom.

  Today was an early day, which meant she left after the last kid in her class was on the bus or had been picked up, most often by around two forty-five. She always called if there had been a change in her plans. Obviously, there was some give and take in her timing, but the fact that she hadn’t come outside by now wasn’t sitting well with me.

  I’d been idling by the curb, so I put the car in drive and pulled into a parking spot. As I was stepping down from the SUV, the sound of an engine turning over caught my ear and I paused to look for the source. There were no other cars in the front parking lot, but there was another one behind the school. I hopped all the way out and slammed my door shut, pocketing my keys as I strode towards the entrance.

  I had just pulled one of the double glass doors open when a car came careening around the corner from the back and raced towards the exit to the busy street. A black Mercedes. My eyes zeroed in on the license plate as it ran a red light, driving into traffic and causing screeching brakes and a cacophony of horns. The plate number hit me and I whipped the door open all the way, pulling my phone from my pocket as I jogged in the direction of Jenna’s classroom.

  I kept telling myself that she had simply lost track of time. The man must have been picking up his friend’s kid and was a shitty driver. My gut didn’t believe me, and it was almost always right.

  “Evans,” Xander answered on the fifth ring.

  “What the fuck took you so long to answer?” I growled.

  Xander sighed. “Jessa saw your name on the caller ID and forwarded the call. I don’t think she wanted to talk to you.” He sounded as irritated as he did amused. His assistant was a tiny slip of a girl, practically afraid of her own shadow. I was a big guy and even though I’d barely spoken to her, she seemed to be frightened by me.

  “Whatever,” I snarled. “I don’t have time for this shit. What did you find out about that plate I sent you?”

  “What’s going on?” Xander asked, sounding more alert, and I could hear the tap, tap of his fingers on his keyboard.

  “I’m not sure yet. Just find me the info.” The school was big and a bit of a maze at times, so it took me a couple of twists and turns to get to Jenna’s room. I finally reached it and pulled on the door but it didn’t budge. It was locked, and the room was dark.

  “Fuck!” I started to retrace my steps, stopping to check every door and look in every corner.

  “One of the tech guys just sent me the file. The number you gave us was stolen but it didn’t belong to the vehicle it was on either. We managed to track down the—”

  “Fuck!” I cut him off with a shout as I ran towards Jenna’s purse, which was tossed in a corner by a side exit. “Put a BOLO out on that Mercedes, Xander,” I shouted, then hung up. I grabbed Jenna’s bag before booking it back out to my car as I dialed another number.

  “Weston,” I barked as soon as he picked up. “I need you to call your CIA contact, Alex Shaw, and get the number for Martin Castle.”

  “Hello to you too, Q. Why are you asking me and not Xander?”

  “Because he’ll have to go through official channels or risk the firm’s clearance. I need him now. Jenna is missing.”

  “What the fuck, Q? Why didn’t you fucking lead with that? I’ll call you back.”

  The line clicked off, and I tossed the phone onto the middle console as I started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. I headed towards Gray Security, my lead foot fueled by fear and rage. The second my phone made a noise, I whipped it up to my ear. “What?” I snapped.

  “Alex is tracking him down. He’ll have him call as soon as he finds him,” Weston informed me. “I’m meeting you at the office. Now, tell me what the fuck happened.”

  “Chances are high that the man stole the car from someone near where he is living or staying,” Martin explained over our video call. “My program is using your description to comb security footage within a twenty-mile radius of the owner’s shop where the car was taken from.” His fingers flew across the keyboard and I knew he was moving things along as fast as possible, but I was losing my mind. I concentrated on traffic cams in the area by the school so I wouldn’t start smashing things like The Hulk.

  One of the Gray Security tech guys rushed over to my desk and dropped a file. I flipped it open to look over the profiles of Jenna’s students until I spotted the boy I’d seen with her the other day. “This one. Darren Calvin,” I said, passing it back. Only a few minutes later, the same guy was back, handing me the information for Sylvia Calvin, the boy’s mom.

  My eyes landed on her occupation. She was a property manager for one of the buildings in the Atlanta Medical Center.

  “I found the son of a bitch!” I flipped back to the computer screen in time to see Martin fist pump the air, then punch a key on his keyboard. “Sending it to you.”

  A new screen popped up with a mug shot of the guy I’d seen outside Jenna’s school. My blood turned to ice in my veins. No wonder the quick glimpse of him that I’d caught had put me on edge. I knew this guy.

  Manny Aszuko. Arrested multiple times for armed robbery and attempted murder. Though they weren’t able to make those charges stick because witnesses had a habit of disappearing. He’d been convicted twice of racketeering and done time. Known associate of the Portillo family. There were rumors that he had a violent temper and was into dark shit.

  “Fucking hell,” Weston breathed from over my shoulder. “This guy has my sister?” His face flushed with rage and his fist came down hard on my desk, cracking it.

  “Word is that Manny took over when Ira Portillo was busted.” Martin scrubbed his hands down his face, leaving his black, square-rimmed glasses askew.

  “What in the hell could be the connection between a guy like that and a single mom who’s in charge of the facilities at a medical building?”

  Xander’s head jerked up and he stalked over to us and elbowed Weston out of the way to look over my shoulder. “Which medical building?”

  “The Atlanta Medical Center.”

  “Shit,” he growled. “They have more than doctors’ offices there. That building is outsourced to other businesses. One of the District Attorney’s Community Prosecution Offices are in that building. I remember reading an article about the initiative. If she’s also in charge of security, she’ll have access to a master key for the whole building.”

  “The fucking ledger,” I said through clenched teeth as the whole picture started to come together. “He’s going after the ledger, and he needs her to get him in the building and office.” When Ira was arrested, the district attorney’s office had managed to get their hands on a ledger that contained all of the assets, business dealings, and contacts used in his operation. If someone was looking to move in on him while they were vulnerable, possessing that ledger would go a long way in gaining power.


  “What the hell does he need Jenna for?”

  I was already on my feet, tucking my gun into my holster and grabbing the keys to a company car, so I barely heard his question.

  “They don’t,” Martin said matter-of-factly. “She’s collateral damage.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Martin,” Xander snapped as he stalked to my office. My hands clenched, and I was breathing heavily as I fought the urge to pick up the monitor and toss it into the wall. “One of my guys found the Mercedes in the parking lot of a run-down motel. It’s possible Jenna is there, but I think it’s more likely they were simply switching vehicles.”

  “Exterior cameras?” I asked, even though I knew what the answer was.

  “No. But, it’s a place to start.”

  “Text me the address.” I didn’t wait for them to come up with a plan. The next second, I was racing down the stairwell to the garage where I commandeered a vehicle and drove like a bat out of hell to get to my woman.

  7

  Jenna

  Darren and I were huddled together on the floor in the corner of a crappy hotel room. My hands were zip tied together in front of me, but they hadn’t bothered restraining Darren. My best guess was that it had been about six hours since we’d been taken from the school—dragged out and tossed into the back of a car. With the way the man I’d seen arguing with Darren’s mom had driven, I hadn’t been sure if we were going to survive the ride to wherever he was taking us.

  When we’d pulled up in front of a seedy motel, I was torn between relief that we’d stopped driving and freaked out about the fact that I’d been kidnapped and brought to a secondary location.

  When the sun set half an hour ago, the man I’d seen arguing with Darren’s mom left with her and one other man. He’d left men behind to guard us. Every few minutes, I craned my neck to peer over the bed and see what they were doing. They weren’t paying much attention to us as they played poker to pass the time. It wasn’t like they needed to be worried that I was going to try anything, not with Darren here. I felt him trembling next to me and knew I had to do something help him remain calm.