by Lea Griffith
“Always,” he responded as he sank deeply with one thrust.
He stilled and stayed that way for long moments, allowing her body to adjust to the intrusion of his. His muscles locked—the joy of being back inside her so absolute that his blood sang. His heart clicked into place, and his body began a slow dance with hers. Stroke, retreat, lick, kiss, repeat.
He lifted her leg and pushed it toward her chest, opening her so he could settle deeper in the cradle of her hips, hitting her clit as he entered her, sliding home. Their breaths mingled, heat rose, their scents peppering the air with a fragrance that was all them.
She pleaded with him to never stop. He vowed he wouldn’t. She pleaded for him to finish her. He promised he would.
Over and over, their bodies met, melting into each other before moving apart, his cock leaving her warm haven only to return home time and time again. The pressure at the base of his spine built. Her moans became jagged pleas, and still the wave of their desire rose. The headboard banged against the wall, sweat slicked their skin, and light coalesced behind his eyelids.
“Come with me,” he demanded of her.
“I am,” she mouthed, though no sound escaped her.
Pleasure reached its crescendo, peaking inside them and spreading out, offering bliss beyond anything Jude had ever known. Every sense he had heightened as he came. He watched her pupils dilate as the pleasure pulled her under. The draw of her pussy walls on his cock forced his release to go on and on until he felt wrung dry but born anew.
He had no idea how he found the strength to hold himself off her enough so she could breathe, but the thought of pulling out of her and moving off her body wasn’t one he was comfortable with. So he stayed where he was, arms shaking as he gave her enough room to draw breath but not separate from her.
He rested his forehead on hers.
“That was…” Her words drifted off.
“Yeah, I’m pretty amazing,” he said with a small laugh. “You ready?”
She opened her eyes and stared up at him. “For what?”
He slowly pulled out of her. They both groaned at the feel of his cock leaving her snug confines. It was an ecstasy all its own.
“For that,” he answered, and even he heard the smugness of his tone.
He rolled over onto his back and she followed him, snuggling into his side as if she couldn’t bear to be parted from him for any length of time.
“You’re full of yourself,” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah, but just a second ago you were full of me too.”
She snickered. It had always been effortless between them.
“I forgot that humility was never your greatest attribute,” she mumbled sleepily.
“Is it vain to know I please the hell out of my woman?” he asked, covering his eyes with his forearm. He would love a nap.
“Nah, but you could at least make an effort to be humble. Gloating is not your best look,” she pointed out.
Her hands stroked his chest, running through the light mat of hair on his chest. They’d once had a discussion about hairy chests versus hairless and which she preferred. He’d been prepared to have every bit of hair on his chest waxed off if that’s what she wanted. “I prefer you,” she’d told him, and it had been the perfect answer.
“My best look is on top of my woman,” he responded.
“Or your woman on top of you,” she quipped. “Let’s try that next.”
He peeked out from under his forearm. “I’m ready when you are.”
She opened a single eye, reached under the duvet he’d brought over them, cupped his semihard cock, and then she smirked. “Sure.”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “Keep your hand right there, baby, and it’ll take no time.”
She wrapped one of her legs over his, draped her arm around his chest, and rested her head on his shoulder. “A truth,” she offered.
“I’m ready.”
“You took him away. The feel of Savidge’s hands on me, the feel of the blade he used, it’s gone. That’s my truth right now.”
His heart stopped for a split second. “Good.”
Within minutes, she was asleep.
He felt something bounce on the bed and raised his head. The stray cat she’d let into his house sat at their feet, staring at him. “Stop looking at me. She’ll be awake soon, and she’ll find you something to eat.”
The cat continued to look at him.
“Seriously,” Jude complained. “Go away.”
Ella made a sound at being disturbed, and Jude held her tighter.
There was no telling where they’d be at emotionally when they both woke up, but right now, they were where they were supposed to be.
Chapter 16
The wind howling woke Ella. Or maybe it was the demons chasing her in her sleep. Whatever it was, she woke before Jude. They faced each other, only inches separating them, their legs tangled beneath the covers. She relished the feel of his hairy legs against her smooth ones, the heat of him seeping inside her cold soul, warming her.
Nina had once said that Jude was like a burly bear of a man—not attractive by any stretch of the imagination but sexy as hell. Ella had laughed at the comparison but frowned at her friend’s description of Jude as “not attractive.” To Ella, he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. She knew his crooked nose and scars took away from any prettiness his face may have once promised, but his features were a gorgeous picture, giving insight into who Jude was before he ever said a word.
Of course Nina had also said Jude had the finest body she’d ever seen. Ella had been kinda pissed because that meant Nina had been looking at her man. Ella remembered Nina laughing at the expression on her face.
Ella hadn’t even realized she was possessive until she’d opened herself to the man sleeping in front of her. She’d seen him, met his gaze, and everything inside her had gone silent, accepting that she had just met the man who would own every piece of her.
She wasn’t fanciful. She’d grown up on the streets of Chicago, moving from one foster home to another, somehow managing to do well enough in school to skip a couple of grades, graduate from high school early, and go to college on a scholarship.
She’d gone to Stanford University on a full-ride scholarship, graduating with honors and a double major—in foreign languages and in international finance. She’d dabbled in computer programming and knew just enough to be dangerous. It was while at Stanford that she’d drawn the notice of the CIA. Her story was much like any of the other analysts she’d talked to. The CIA recruited heavily at colleges, though they did it quietly and hardly ever drew notice.
Ella had always known she was a throwaway person. She had no discernible history, had a certain set of skills valuable to the agency, and nobody would miss her if she left or disappeared.
Her memories of her parents were vague at best—a feeling of love, a memory of gardenias and cigar smoke, but that was all she had of them. She’d formed no lasting relationships in any of her foster homes or at school.
When she saw Jude, everything in her world had clicked into place. He became her home so fast she hadn’t even noticed the feeling of impending doom until the Piper approached her about a mission within a mission.
Ella had spent every day of the last year regretting that she hadn’t told Jude as soon as the Piper had come to her. But she’d been so afraid that Jude was in danger, and she was the only one who could prevent Dresden from going after him. She wanted to hate Noah Caine for manipulating her by using her love for Jude. She should hate him. She’d taken the Piper’s bait with barely any lure.
And she and Jude had both paid for it.
This man who’d taken her body yesterday—twice, and made her toes curl and her heart sing—was so precious to her.
And regardless of what Nina or anyone else thought, he was the
most perfect-looking man in the history of men. She smiled at her musings.
When he slept, he was even more so. Something about sleep allowed his rough edges to smooth out. He looked younger than his thirty-two years and definitely not as burdened.
The shutters rattled against the wooden frame of the cabin, and Ella wondered how much longer she could burrow here, hiding from her responsibilities. Despite regretting that she’d taken this mission from the Piper, she had to finish it. The need to get Anna Beth Caine away from Dresden and safe was like a drumbeat in Ella’s skull.
Dresden had to be taken down from the inside, and that plan could now be in great peril. By her estimation, she’d been out of contact with him for two entire days. She needed that computer. Hell, she needed a satellite phone again. She needed to make contact with the Piper as well.
Ella eased from the bed, watching for any sign Jude had woken. Once she pulled her clothes on, she tied her hair up in a knot because her ponytail holder was somewhere on the floor and she didn’t have much time.
She made her way gingerly down the stairs, nearly falling when the cat came bounding down after her. Whose cat was it?
Ella had no idea, but the weather was too cold and snowy to let the animal back into the wild. She found a can of Vienna sausages in the pantry, opened it. She chopped the tiny sausages into bite-size portions for the cat and placed them on a saucer. The cat attacked the food as if it hadn’t eaten in a year.
She poured some water into a bowl and placed it beside the cat.
The cat stopped eating, looked up at her, blinked slowly, and went back to eating. “Girl,” Ella said. “With that much attitude, you’ve gotta be a tough chick. I think I’m gonna call you Chica.”
The cat sniffed delicately, which Ella took as approval.
Now that the cat was cared for, Ella walked to the den and located the computer on the coffee table. She knew Jude had a communications room somewhere in this house, but she didn’t have time to search for it. She needed information now.
She opened the computer, again surprised to find no password protection. It was outfitted with security and encryption though, probably thanks to Vivi.
She made a cursory search of the databases on the hard drive, searching for Vivi’s signature spying software. Ella found none, so she proceeded to the Internet. She’d only had time to send Brody a limited amount of information last night before Jude had pulled at her attention. She’d uploaded the information she had on Dresden’s mansion in Ukraine, and then she’d disconnected. It had been quick.
The computer pinged a few times, searching for a secure connection, and once she had it, she looked up the date first. She’d been with Jude for three days. Damn.
That didn’t bode well for Anna Beth Caine. But Brody was on it now. The woman had hope.
Next, Ella pulled up everything she could find on Noah Caine, a.k.a. the Piper. She scanned several entries, committing them to memory for later recollection and dissection. She had a nearly photographic memory and a propensity for languages. That’s what had drawn the CIA’s eye.
After that, she looked up Anna Beth Caine and found absolutely nothing. No mention of either Cameron or Anna Beth.
She pulled up Google and logged into one of her many Gmail accounts. She searched quickly for a response from Brody about the thumb drive she’d sent him the other day—the one she’d retrieved from the train station at Cameron Markov’s behest. There was nothing from her teammate.
That foreboding feeling she’d felt during the last year returned in full force. Brody was a crack at deciphering code, and if he couldn’t get it, he’d turn it over to Vivi. Ella had known the risk of Endgame getting the information before she did, but she’d felt the benefit outweighed that risk.
“Damn it,” she said around her thumbnail.
She penned a quick email to Vivi Granger and had just wrapped it up when she felt, more than heard, Jude enter the room.
“Just couldn’t wait, could you?” His voice held no small amount of accusation.
She looked over at him and noticed his shirtless chest and hooded gaze. Her hands itched to touch him, and her mouth watered for a taste. “I just emailed Vivi. If I’m hiding anything from you, I’m sure she’ll tell you what it is.”
Jude walked over to her, taking the computer from her hands and placing it on the coffee table. He sat in front of her on that same table, just watching her.
“Can we eat first?” she asked.
“I could eat,” he responded, face blank, tone equally so.
She nodded and stood. He grabbed her hips and held her in front of him. She glanced down, intent on asking him to let her go, but his words stopped her.
“I don’t ever want to wake up without you in my bed. Ever again, Ella. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Her heart melted into a great big puddle at his feet. She brushed his hair off his forehead. “Oh, Jude, I can’t promise that.”
“Just give me the words, Ella. I’ll help you hold to them,” he promised her.
“What you’ve yet to realize is that I’m always with you, Jude. You hold my heart in your chest. You have from the moment I saw you. Corny, right?” She laughed mirthlessly. “I’ve loved you from the first time our eyes met. You were as much of a storm in my life as the one raging outside.”
He nodded and kissed her palm. “You don’t know what it was like…” His voice trailed off, breaking at the end as his pain at her desertion communicated loud and clear.
“I don’t. I left. I didn’t give you what I should have, which was my trust. I’m responsible for that. I have to live with that for the rest of my life. But, Jude, until I’ve finished this, I can’t make you any promises other than that I’ll love you until the breath leaves my body.”
He stood then and ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t say that! Don’t you talk about dying!”
She fell back to sitting on the couch. He stalked away from her, and she sat there accepting what she’d done to the man she loved and resolving to somehow fix what she’d torn apart.
Pans banged in the kitchen, and she followed the sounds.
He moved with contained violence. It shimmered in the air around him, but Ella wasn’t afraid of her man. He was mad for her. Not at her.
He stopped what he was doing, dropping a pan on the floor as he stalked to her. “What is going on? Tell me right now.”
“Let’s eat first, Jude. A truth?” she queried softly.
He nodded once, his eyes burning into hers.
“I really need you to put a shirt on. And I’ll make this truth a twofer. I’ll tell you everything after we eat.”
She had to. She’d waited too long already. After what he’d given her in that bedroom, she needed to shed any preconceived notions about protecting Jude. She’d hindered him way more than she’d ever protected him, and in the process, she’d nearly destroyed them both.
He drew in a deep breath, and she felt the violence recede. He ran upstairs and came back wearing a gray T-shirt. Jude walked over to the pot he’d dropped moments ago and picked it up.
“You want a really late breakfast or lunch?” he asked her cautiously.
“Lunch.”
He nodded and began gathering the makings for lunch. She watched him as he moved, soaking up his presence like a sponge. God, what he did to her by simply breathing. She moved to the counter and began working alongside him as he heated up what looked like…
“Is that Tia Rosa’s hot pepper chili?”
He grunted, which Ella took as a yes.
“Damn. Do you have Coronas?”
Another grunt.
“Hot damn, Jude! I needed this today!” Her mouth was already watering. She pushed him out of the way because he was taking too long to get the chili thawed and heated. “Grab some bread or something—get it sliced and toasted,
” she ordered as she stirred and adjusted the temperature beneath the simmering pot.
Ella heard him behind her, doing as she’d asked. It took him about five minutes to slice the bread, warm it, and set the table. Once the chili was ready, she placed the pot on the table. “Is there any butter?”
He pointed, still clearly wallowing in his anger. She couldn’t blame him, so she didn’t give him hell about it. She just pulled the butter from the mammoth refrigerator he’d pointed at and placed it beside the bread on the table.
“Beer, Jude? We must have beer,” she told him.
He rolled his eyes, but another small smile tugged his lips up as he stood and opened a smaller fridge set into the island counter. He pulled out two beers and placed them on the table.
“Let’s eat,” Ella said enthusiastically.
Jude grunted again. Three grunts. She’d take that after being caught with his laptop.
She took the first bite, felt the warmth of the chili tickle her throat. She closed her eyes, savoring, and then the burn hit, tearing her eyes behind her lids, making her smile. She’d missed this. So much. His aunt’s hot pepper chili was food for her soul. She’d met Tia Rosa three times over the course of the year she’d been with Jude. Each time, the woman had come to the beach house, and each time she’d made her infamous hot pepper chili. Ella had loved the chili, but she’d loved the way the woman fussed over Jude more. Add in the fact that his aunt had immediately taken Ella into her heart, and it was the perfect trifecta.
Ella took another bite and groaned. It was delicious food, and memories, and… She opened her eyes and met Jude’s gaze.
His face was so solemn, so controlled. But his eyes were wet, and she knew it wasn’t from the chili. He’d eaten it for so long that he was immune to the peppers his aunt used to make the base for the chili.
Ella reached for her beer, took a long swallow, and watched him. He did the same, watching her.
“I’ve missed you, Ella.”
She nodded. “I can dig it. I mean, I’m pretty damn awesome and hard not to miss.”
He threw a piece of bread at her, and she picked it up and popped it in her mouth. He gave her a laugh this time. Definitely better than a grunt.
