by Unknown
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t okay. Not for Bonnie.
“What do you think she was trying to tell you before…” Kim swallowed back the words. Before she died.
“I don’t know. I barely heard her.”
“She said something about Carl’s flash drive. Wyncott’s flash drive. I wonder if that’s whose file we have.”
Leo shook his head. “I have no clue. I mean we picked up our stuff on the same day. Do you think she got them confused?”
“I don’t know. All your stuff seemed to be on the first one.” Kim held tight, needing Leo’s strength and the comfort of his voice. “I should probably call Carl, but I thought I’d had all his information when I started going through his books. It doesn’t make sense.” The steady beat of Leo’s heart under her hand gave her much needed solace. It could’ve just as easily been him on the way to the hospital. If a piece of that ceiling had fallen on him or if he’d gotten trapped in that office trying to free Bonnie… Kim shuddered and Leo held her tighter.
“Excuse me, miss,” someone said.
Kim wiped the moisture from her stinging eyes and pulled away from Leo. An officer and EMT stood waiting to talk to them and it was like the other night all over again.
But this time, they had a suspect because both of them had seen the man leaving the scene. Kim soon discovered that Leo recognized the guy from his first visit to Nathan’s office when he’d collected his files.
It was hours later, after EMTs treated a few minor burns on both Kim and Leo and they had given a description of the suspect, that they returned to Leo’s house. Kim showered off the soot and came downstairs to find Leo in the den, sitting in front of the muted flat screen TV. Shower fresh himself, he’d thrown on a pair of navy blue sweats and looked like every woman’s fantasy. Clean shaven, hair still damp and eyes that could melt a pair of panties in the Artic.
“I like your outfit,” he said a second after a prolonged once over. The heat in his eyes gave her a full body flush, which went against everything she stood for. Just because he flashed those amazing eyes at her didn’t mean all her girl parts had to wake up and sing.
She looked down at the oversized black sweats—his again—and looked back at him. “Technically, I think it’s your outfit.” She ran her hand over the material on her thigh. “These are the softest things I’ve ever had against my skin. If I thought I could afford them, I’d buy a pair for myself.”
Leo gave her his slow, sexy smile. “Take ’em. They look better on you anyway.” He patted the sofa. “C’mere. I need t—” The doorbell interrupted him and he jumped off the sofa. “Gimme a sec. This won’t take long.” He jogged out of the room and Kim sat down on his spot on the sofa.
She snuggled against the cushions into the heat he left behind. She barely heard him at the front door as her lids closed over her eyes. Exhaustion blindsided her.
A few minutes later, Leo entered the room and the crinkle of paper piqued her curiosity. Kim cracked open an eye and spotted a couple of shopping bags from Cesar’s store.
“What’s that?” Nothing gave her a hard-on quite like a shopping bag.
“Just a little somethin’ somethin’,” Leo said, his smile sly and devastatingly handsome.
Somethin’ somethin’ looked very expensive. “Leo… What did you do?” Kim sat forward, the accountant battling the woman.
“I thought since you ruined another outfit today, you’d need a replacement.” He handed out the bags and when she didn’t take them, he set them on the coffee table in front of her.
She shook her head. “No. I’m not even looking in those bags.” She bolted up to catch the delivery guy. Maybe it wasn’t too late and the contents could go back now. But Leo anticipated her move and blocked her. She ran right into his hard chest and slowly looked up at him.
“Take the bags,” he said softly.
“No,” she repeated just as quietly. “You can’t afford what’s in those bags. If we don’t send them back now, we take them tomorrow before my plane leaves. I refuse to be responsible for any unnecessary spending and I honestly can’t afford any more of Cesar’s clothes. They go back.” Now she should move back, but being this close to Leo set her pulse hammering. She loved his aftershave or cologne or whatever he used to make himself smell so damn sexy.
He shook his head too. “What if I told you everything is bought and paid for without money. Would you keep it then?”
“You can’t buy things without money.” What had he done? She narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure it out.
“Don’t look at me like I’m a criminal,” he admonished quietly. “It’s all legit. The bags don’t go back.” His lethal smile gave her a quick chill across her arms. “Open ’em up.”
“Not until you tell me how you paid for them.” She stepped back and crossed her arms.
Leo backed up a step to the bags. “Fine, then I’ll open them.” Before Kim got a word out, Leo removed the contents of the first bag. A skirt and top similar to the ones she’d lost in today’s fire along with two more tops. The next bag contained a gorgeous dress and another skirt and top ensemble. The outfits were spectacular. Ones she’d already tried on and discarded days ago. They’d fit her perfectly.
Kim would’ve checked for price tags but knew none existed. She took the clothes out of Leo’s hands and stood in front of him. “I don’t know how you did it, but I will find out. What I want to know now is why you did it? It’s totally not necessary since I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Taking her hand, Leo looked down at her, his blue eyes serious. “Consider it a thank you or a going home gift. You ran into a burning building. I think that deserves some recognition.”
A lump lodged in Kim’s throat and her hard heart cracked. “I—” She had to clear the emotion from her throat. “Leo, I can’t. Actually, you ran into the burning building so you’re the hero. You’re the one who deserves—”
Leo took the clothes from her other hand and set them on the sofa before pulling her closer. He tipped his head toward the bags on the table. “They’re not my size.” His grin made her chest heavy. “You have to take them. Cesar would be disappointed if you didn’t. Besides, I want you to have it all.” His thumb stroked little circles on the back of her hand and sent tiny currents of electricity streaking up her arm. “Don’t say no.”
They watched each other for the longest time as Kim debated what to do. She shouldn’t keep the clothes and she couldn’t afford them. How did Leo pay for them without money?
“You traded something, didn’t you?” she asked. He had a ton of stuff. It could’ve been anything.
“Not telling.” Words a ten-year old might say spoken by a very serious man. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Say yes.”
Somehow in the next few seconds their lips were inches apart. “Leo,” Kim whispered, still torn. Not only because of the cost, but because of the gesture. Because he made her feel special and no one had done that in a long, long time.
His lips brushed hers and Kim closed her eyes to take in the taste of him, the feel of his arms as they wrapped around her. The soft, slow minty kiss knocked down all her walls with astounding efficiency. “Say yes,” he murmured against her mouth before kissing her again.
“What am I saying yes to?” she asked the next time they came up for air.
His gaze searched her eyes as his fingers sifted through her hair. “Anything? Everything? Whatever you want.” His mouth connected with hers again, and Kim let him own her, let him work his magic with his sneaky tongue and hot lips.
“I thought we weren’t going to do this again,” she said when he pulled back to trace kisses along her jaw.
“I guess I wanted to celebrate the fact that we’re alive.” He closed his eyes, shook his head. “I keep seeing Bonnie…and all that blood.”
So that was it. She nodded. Watching Bonnie die had been pretty devastating for both of them. “Me too. I kept thinking it cou
ld’ve been you if the roof caved in or…I don’t know.” She stroked her thumb along his cheek. “I’d…” She couldn’t finish, didn’t want to say anything that might give away just how much she liked him.
“You what?” he asked, watching her closely.
“I’d hate to lose a new friend.”
His sharp blue gaze bore into hers. She saw his loneliness, his despair. The fact that he was going to lose so much, but that he’d—they’d—survived the day seemed like a great reason to celebrate life by living it to the fullest.
Kim reached up at the same time Leo leaned down. She lost the will to fight anymore. She’d take anything he wanted to give…the damn clothes, his body. The soft kiss didn’t take long to heat up. She kissed him with a hunger she’d been holding back, with a passion she’d thought she’d lost.
No Jack Daniels to blame this time and she wouldn’t regret being with Leo. Maybe he wanted to give her something, but she needed to give him this time, her body. She needed him to know he could get through whatever came his way in the upcoming months and if giving herself right now helped him do that, then he deserved it.
Leo pulled back, his lips wet from kissing her. “No cabana sofa tonight.” He took her hand and started walking backward. Kim followed. She followed all the way to his bedroom. He stopped at the side of his enormous bed and kissed her again, his magnetism lethal. Easing the sweatshirt over her head, he barely lost a beat between kisses. He slid her bra straps over her shoulders and made a meal out of uncovering her breasts and dropping the bra to the floor. The sweetest torture as he kissed the sensitive skin at her cleavage and finally her ultra-sensitive nipple. She held his head as he cupped her and sucked the hard bud into his mouth. Streaks of fire zipped between her legs and made her wet and eager. His sneaky thumbs dipped into the waistband of her sweats and he brought them down, kneeling in front of her in the process. She loved his soft growl as he realized she’d gone commando again.
“Do you ever wear underwear?” he asked before circling his tongue around her belly button.
She smiled, slipped her fingers through his soft hair then gasped as he nibbled on her hip and sent a full-body chill across her skin. “I only bought a couple of pairs at Cesar’s.” Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she lifted it up and over his head. Their eyes locked as he stood in front of her. He set his mouth on hers again as she divested him of his sweatpants and boxer briefs in one shot. His erection grazed her stomach and he groaned when she put her hand around his penis and squeezed. In the next second he had her off her feet and flat on her back. His weight pressed her into the cushy bed, his erection prodding her slick entrance.
“Two things I have to do,” he said, trailing kisses across her jaw.
“God, I hope one of them entails pushing inside me soon.”
He growled again. “Three things,” he amended. “First…” He worked his way to her breast again and sucked hard on her nipple.
Kim arched into his mouth, whimpered at the zing of fresh sexual craving. “Leo,” she begged. “Now.”
“In a minute,” he said. “Don’t be so bossy.” His mouth trailed farther down. “I’m hungry.” He ended up between her legs, his breath hot right before he dove in with his tongue.
Crying out, Kim locked his head between her thighs as he went to work with hard delicious licks and soft sucking kisses. He drove her crazy with pressure on her clit only to back away when she got close to coming. Over and over he kept her on a tenuous line, just on the cusp of a free fall. “Leeeoooo,” she pleaded, desperate to go over the edge.
“Little busy here,” he mumbled, finally slipping a finger into the mix and forcing a sharp inhale at the invasion.
She grabbed his head as she arched into his touch, into his mouth, and with one last hard lick across her clit and the fullness of his fingers inside her, she hit that point of no return. Everything inside her tightened up a second before the pressure exploded into a massive euphoric release. Her muscles clenched, spasmed as Leo continued to pump and suck, drawing out the pleasure to unprecedented lengths.
Gasping for air, Kim finally let loose of Leo’s hair and all her muscles went slack. Sweat coated her skin and Leo moved next to her. She heard a drawer open, heard the rip of a foil packet and smiled. She wanted to give him the same ride he gave her. She wanted him gasping and begging for mercy.
With new determination and before he had to chance to pounce, she turned and pinned his shoulders to the bed as she straddled him. “Suited up pretty quick there, I noticed,” she said before kissing him. She tasted herself on his lips and rubbed her very sensitive clit against his thick erection. They both moaned.
He held her face in his hands. “I’m gonna go off like a rocket in about three seconds so you might want to climb on board before this ship sails.”
“So romantic,” she said, taking his mouth in a fiery hot kiss as she adjusted herself over him. “All aboard,” she huffed out, and sank down on him as he lunged up. She bit back a moan and held on tight. The pressure surprised her. She didn’t remember how tightly he filled her and she froze, breathing through the initial shock.
He froze too, his breathing harsh in her ear. “You okay?”
Kim nodded, keeping her face buried in his neck. She loved the way his hands glided down her sides, over her ass and back up along her spine. He made her tingle everywhere he touched. “You feel really good.” She gently bit his collarbone and felt the instant twitch of his cock inside her. The low growl in his chest rumbled beneath her.
Spreading kisses across his jaw, she eventually sat up and admired his spectacular pecs and washboard abs. “Very nice,” she murmured, lifting off him and sliding back down.
He grabbed her hips and adjusted her pace, moved up into her every time she came down. The friction took her on another ride, one she hadn’t expected.
“Oh God, Leo…” It was so good. Too good. She wanted to do this forever. Be in same amazing moment where their bodies fit perfectly and nothing mattered but the way they moved together. He took her breasts in his hands as he arched into her again and after three strong thrusts he pinched her nipples. Crying out, Kim let her orgasm envelop her like a massive wave, crashing over her in the perfect storm. Leo’s cock throbbed inside her as his own climax finally took him over.
Breathing hard, she collapsed on Leo’s chest and his arms came around her, holding her close. She could let herself fall big time if she kept this up. Good thing she was finally on a plane tomorrow.
A hell of a way to end her stay in Los Angeles.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Abbey paced the front entryway and checked her watch. Blake should’ve been here by now. He’d told her an hour at the most. Twenty minutes to get over the hill, two to find the envelope in the desk, a few minutes to pack up some fresh clothes, send the envelope off in the mail and twenty to get back over the hill. It had been twice that amount of time.
Troy came out of his office. “No sign of him yet?” he asked.
“No.” Abbey shook her hands in nervous energy. “I’ve called his apartment and his cell phone. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“Neither do I.” Troy never sugarcoated. “Will you be okay here if I go to his apartment?”
“I want to go with you.”
He shook his head. “You’re safer here. I already called the detectives and they’re going to have a car drive by and patrol the neighborhood. I want to go check things out. I’ll call you if I find anything.” He grabbed his jacket and headed for the garage. “Don’t go anywhere no matter what,” he warned over his shoulder. “Your ass stays grounded here.” The door closed behind him.
Ten minutes after he left, Abbey’s phone rang and she snatched it out of her back pocket. Blake’s name blazed on the caller ID and relief hit her like a punch to the gut. “Finally,” she said, into the phone. “I was worried about you.”
“Aw. That’s so sweet.” The voice didn’t belong to Blake and fear rose up from her cen
ter and lifted every hair on her body.
“Who is this? Where’s Blake?” Her voice shook and she swallowed back heart wrenching fear.
“Your boyfriend is here. With me and my friends. We’re just waiting for you to get this party started.”
She didn’t recognize the voice. Think. What would Troy do? What would he ask? What would he want?
Proof of life!
“Just because you have his phone doesn’t mean you have him.” She sounded way braver than she felt.
The man laughed. “That is true. Here, I’ll let you talk to him.” There was jostling and she heard breathing. “Say hello to your girlfriend, asshole,” the man said. “You’re on speaker phone.” She waited and didn’t hear anything. Just that same breathing then a rush of air. “I said, ‘say hello,’” the man repeated and she heard a grunt of pain.
Was Blake keeping quiet so she wouldn’t do what they said? He’d do that for her. She knew he would. He’d do anything to keep her away from the men who wanted her. But what if it was a trap? What if they really didn’t have Blake?
“Blake?” she asked.
“Looks like your boyfriend doesn’t want to talk to you, Abbey. But we’re going to make him. I’m sure you know what happened to his brother a couple years ago. And they are twins. I think it’s only fair that they be twins in everything.”
His ear! “No!” she screamed. “No! I believe you. I believe you. Don’t hurt him! I’ll do whatever you want.”
“NO! Abbey, no!” Blake yelled.
She heard him in the background, heard the sound of his struggles, and tears slid down her cheeks. “Don’t! Whatever you want, I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt him.”
“Don’t call the cops, Abbey, or he dies. We’ve got eyes on you. We’re listening. Just get in your car and come to the address I text to your phone. Tell someone and your boyfriend bites the dust.”
“Okay, okay. Please. Just don’t hurt him.”
“We’re texting you the address now. It should take you about thirty minutes to get here. Don’t be late, Abbey. Or your boyfriend loses his ear and then maybe a finger or two.” The call disconnected before Abbey could say anything else.
