by Christi Snow
The screen filled with grainy video footage of Elle and I in the hall of the university building. She yanked her hand away from me and screamed, “No,” perfectly loud and clear on the video over the sounds of the scads of students, milling about in the halls.
With Minerva’s interview, the evidence looked damning.
“They can’t show that, can they?” Elle asked sounding horrified.
“They already have.” Dillon ran a frustrated hand over his face. He knew as well as I did that everything about this job had just gotten one hundred times more difficult.
The reporter appeared back on the screen, looking concerned and worried. “On top of the letter written exclusively to TENews by Illumination’s alleged kidnapper, this is one mystery we plan to solve. Is Illumination Wilcox a victim again, or is this all just a publicity ruse? Her mother, the world-famous ViviAnna, has used the media for her own publicity purposes before. But never fear, we at TENews are on the case, and you will be the first to know the facts as we find them.”
“But it’s not true,” Elle said. “I’ll go to them and tell them that they have it all wrong.”
“Elle.” I shook my head. “That’s what almost every victim of domestic abuse says until they wise up or end up dead. It won’t work. No one will believe you.”
Hawk Works would almost have to replace me as her bodyguard now. It was one thing to pose as her boyfriend. It was another thing entirely to create a shitstorm of negative press for the client when I was being portrayed as her violent partner. I hadn’t originally been excited about this assignment, but now that I could feel it slipping through my fingers, I didn’t want to leave her.
“Then what will we do?” she asked.
I exchanged a loaded look with Dillon. We had to talk to our boss, Samantha, at Hawk Works. “We’ll figure something out.”
I just had a feeling that none of us would like what that something would be.
ELLE
I didn’t understand why the guys weren’t more upset about this. Hell, why wasn’t Jonah more upset about this? They were basically on the national news, calling him an abuser. This story could very well follow him after his job as my bodyguard ended.
I may have just ruined his life. Oh my god.
My kidnapper had done this. He was ruining everything. I still hadn’t gotten to read his letter to TENews. Just thinking about it—about him—had my heart rate ratcheting up.
“Hey, hey, look at me, Elle.” Jonah grabbed my head at the back of my neck so I would meet his gaze. “You’re starting to have a panic attack. Relax.”
“But—” I gasped. “Bu—” I pointed at the screen as my chest grew tighter and tighter. I couldn’t get the air to come in as my lungs constricted.
“Baby, look at me. Come on. You can do this. Don’t think about the T.V. Don’t think about anything, but me.” His blue eyes looked worried—for me. He shook his head. “No. Look at my mouth. Follow my breathing.”
I dropped my gaze to his mouth, his lush lips, and watched him breathe in and out. The noise of the television dropped away. Dillon disappeared. It was just Jonah and me, breathing in and out together like we were one person.
I wanted that. Wanted him. My life was so fucked up right now, but the one thing that made sense in all the madness was him. He anchored me, kept me grounded, kept me sane with those caring eyes and full sensuous lips.
Suddenly those lips were on mine, and I needed Jonah so much more than I needed air in my lungs. His tongue worked over mine in a sexy dance of thrust and parry.
Someone moaned. I wasn’t sure if it was him or me. From the way we were swept away, it could have been either of us or both of us.
I clawed at the back of his neck, needing more, needing him closer to me. I just needed him.
“Please...” The word sounded broken, a lot like I felt these days, but with him, I felt like maybe I might heal...someday.
He lifted me and lowered me to the couch as I wrapped my legs around his hips, putting our groins in instant contact. His hard cock nestled against the cradle of my hips. I automatically flexed up into that contact. A low rumble of pleasure erupted from his chest.
He removed the complicated straps that made up his gun holster, which just drew my attention to the muscular physique I could see under his T-shirt.
I needed to see that chest, to touch it. I ripped his T-shirt up his lats, and he lifted off me, reaching behind his head to tear the shirt over his neck. Suddenly, I was faced with miles of taut, hard, tanned skin, and I didn’t know where to explore first. I ran one hand down his spine and all the way to his ass where I cupped him, pulling his groin tighter to mine. With my other hand, I flicked the hard bud of his nipple.
He threw his head back. “That feels amazing.” He moaned, so I did it again.
Then I scooted below him so that I could wrap my lips around that sensitive skin. He cupped the back of my head and the rumblings in his chest grew deeper and more intense. “Elle.” He moaned. “I want you.”
I stilled as arcs of tension built in my core, sending bursts of pleasure throughout my pelvis. This was it, the moment of decision. I glanced up at his dark, intense, navy-blue eyes, and I ceased questioning what I wanted. “I want you, too.”
His throat worked as he swallowed and nodded. He dipped his head and ravished my mouth with his for several minutes before breaking the kiss.
“Hold on.” He jumped up and pulled me up with him. I wrapped my arms and legs around him. He took the stairs at a run, still stroking his hands up and down the suddenly sensitive skin of my back.
Upstairs, he slowly lowered me to my bed, showing such care although I could feel that he was just as desperate as me.
My hands went to his jeans, but he shook his head and stopped me. “Not yet.” His voice sounded low, intense. “Once those are gone, my control will be, too. First, I want to love you.”
He stepped back from the bed and unstrapped all his hidden knives. To know that he stayed armed like that to keep me safe was a heady thing. I felt cared for, nurtured.
Gushy warmth flowed through my chest as he came back to the bed and tugged my shirt off and over my head. I glanced down, thankful to discover I’d worn my lacy pale pink bra today.
Jonah bit his lip as he took in my chest. He thumbed my puckered nipple visible through the lace. “So beautiful and delicate, but with a spine of steel hidden just under the surface.” He leaned down and took that nipple into his mouth lace and all. As he ran his tongue over that hard bud, the lace provided extra friction on top of the wet heat of his mouth. The sensation was intense, so much more than when I touched my nipples.
My back arched at the wonderful sensation, and I threaded my fingers into his hair. He licked and sucked and nibbled while his hands dropped to my jeans. Before I knew what had happened, the bottom half of my body was completely nude and bared to him. He trailed his mouth down my stomach and growled when he found the tiny strip of trimmed pubes leading him to my throbbing pussy.
He followed the trail with his fingers, delving between my sensitive folds. “So wet.” He drew the words out like that was the best surprise he’d found today. “And tight.”
Need clenched hot and tense inside me, and all I could do was whimper as I arched into his incredible touch. “Jonah...”
“I got you, baby.” He crawled down my body and lowered his face between my legs. At the first swipe of his tongue, my world went supernova, and then he got down to business. Within seconds, my muscles were locked tight. I was right on the edge, pleading with him incoherently. His tongue stroked between my folds as he ran his thumb in a pulsing motion over my clit, and I screamed as every internal muscle tensed.
“Come for me, Elle. Let me taste that gorgeous nectar of yours.”
He flung me over the edge with his words. Muscles pulsed, white-hot light flared behind my eyes, and I careened into orgasm. His fingers continued to stroke me as I clenched and drew him deeper inside me. He slowly eased me down, ev
entually removing his fingers from my core, leaving me way too empty. I wanted him inside me, not just his fingers.
I tugged him up my torso. “That was amazing.” I kissed him long and hard, and his hard dick behind the placket of his jeans rubbed my groin, reawakening the arousal that had just been satisfied. I was ready for so much more. “Now, it’s your turn.”
I dropped my hands to the waistband of his jeans. This time, he didn’t stop me. Instead, he watched my hands with those dark, intense, need-filled eyes. When I got the placket open, he lifted his hips so I could shove the jeans and underwear down his hips.
His hard erection sprung free, making my mouth go dry. The bulbous head was dark red and engorged, wet on the tip with his need. I wrapped my hand around him as much as I could, but I couldn’t completely encircle him with my grip. Growing up in my mom’s crazy world, I’d seen dicks before, but none had compared to Jonah.
That didn’t seem to be an issue for him as his head fell to his chest as his hips pistoned his length into my fist. “Feels so good,” he moaned. “Elle.”
More pre-cum wet his tip, easing my stroke. He groaned and leaned down to kiss me again as he reached across the bed to fumble for his jeans. He removed his wallet and found a condom.
My eyes widened at the sight of that little foil packet. This was really going to happen.
He noticed my attention. “Are you still with me?”
I nodded, words fleeing right along with my ability to think. The only thing I could focus on was the frissons of nerves alongside the lust and desire. But I had no doubt... I wanted this.
I took the condom packet from him and ripped it open, then slid the latex onto him using a nice firm stroke, which he seemed to appreciate if the sounds of pleasure bursting out of him were anything to judge by.
He lowered his hips until he was in between my legs, his cock right at my entrance. I widened my legs to accommodate him. He rubbed his length across my folds, once, twice, and then plunged in, sliding easily through my wetness until suddenly, he didn’t.
I froze as the pain speared through me, making me gasp.
He froze. “Elle?” His voice tensed, high and panicked.
“Yeah...” I swallowed and tried to relax as my body rebelled against the intrusion. “It’s okay. Keep going.” I rocked my hips, and another pinch of pain lit up.
“Oh, fuck.” He sounded like he was the one in pain, but he still didn’t move. The longer he stayed still, though, the more I tensed up. “Elle, you should have—”
Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. “Please. Don’t stop.” I tried to move my hips to try to get him to move. I could still feel him hard and pulsing inside me. If he didn’t finish this now, I think the pain would be a lot worse than what I’d just experienced. I tensed my internal muscles as I rolled my hips. Dang, that did not feel so great. Why did people do this again?
He groaned low, and his hips followed the flow of mine as if by instinct. I could see the turmoil in his eyes, but I could also see the pleasure, the desire. I wanted to give him more of that.
“You can’t stop now,” I said. “I’ll never forgive you.”
For a moment, his eyes closed, and he rolled his hips. Everything was suddenly so much better. The pain began to recede as pleasure took over. My eyes widened.
“Ooh, wow. That’s...good.” I cocked my hips up, and that sent him even deeper inside me.
He laughed, a sound I didn’t even realize I needed to hear until he did it. “You don’t have to sound so”—he groaned and seemed to push even deeper inside me—“surprised. Damn, you’re so tight and hot.” He buried his face in the crook of my neck, and we both focused on the push and pull of where we were joined together.
At first, the roll of Jonah’s hips had been slow and sensual, but as the tension built, we both began to pant and move together faster. I never knew sex could feel this good. No wonder people got stupid over it.
The pressure inside me began to coil tighter and tighter. “Jonah, please...” I had no idea what I was begging for, but he did.
He reached between us and rolled his finger over my clit as his rhythm began to falter. “I’m right there, Elle. Come with—”
He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before another orgasm rolled through me, taking me by surprise as I screamed my release.
His hips stuttered, and he groaned low. His hard length flexed inside me, pulsing.
At this moment, I couldn’t get any closer to a person, to him. His dick pulsed and throbbed, which sent tendrils of pleasure rolling through my groin. It all felt amazing.
I ran my hands up and down his sweaty back, glorying in the sensation of him deep inside me as he panted and began to relax into my hold.
“Thank you,” I whispered, unintentionally breaking the intimacy between us.
He stiffened and pulled away from me, not meeting my eyes as he dragged out, holding the base of the condom. “You should have told me.” He sounded angry.
“Why? So, you would have turned me down?” I sat up in the bed.
“Exactly.” He strode out of the room, grabbing up his clothes as he left.
What the fuck? I wrapped my arms around my waist. I needed to protect myself from the pain pounding in my chest, in my heart. I sat there, completely ravished and sexually replete. It should have been a good moment, but instead I felt more alone than I ever had in my entire life. And with my life, that was saying something.
Chapter Ten
Jonah
I stalked out the front door of Elle’s apartment, texting Dillon. Where are you?
“Right here, dude,” he answered from where he’d been leaning outside the door. “Are you done?” He gave me a judgmental once over.
Aw, hell. Dillon had been in the room when all that had begun, and I’d been so swept up in Elle that I hadn’t even remembered or noticed. I’d known that Hawk Works would most likely be recalling me, and all I’d been able to focus on was this might be my last chance to be with Elle.
“In more ways than one,” I muttered. I’d fucked this all up so epically, I’d be lucky to have my job tomorrow—either here or in Austin. Not that I still deserved to have it. Fuck. I tugged at my hair in frustration.
Dillon reared back in surprise. “What? It didn’t live up to your fantasies?”
I barked out a harsh laugh. “She was a virgin, and I had no clue.” And I’d rutted into her like a goddamned caveman with no ease, no finesse.
Fuck. I’d hurt her.
Pain clawed through my chest.
“Jesus. Seriously?” Dillon looked as stunned as I’d felt.
Nausea churned low in my belly. I wanted to rip my skin off as the reality of what I’d just done hit harder and harder. I’d hurt her.
On top of that, we had zero future. I was married to my job. There wasn’t room for anything else in my life.
Dillon whistled. “Oh, man.”
I nodded, appreciating the commiseration from my best friend as my mind spun with all the ways I’d fucked this up. I shouldn’t have been having sex with her, but to take her virginity like that...I’d been out of control.
I’d hurt her.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked.
“I have no fucking clue.”
Dillon shook his head. “Honestly, it may not matter. Samantha wants you to call her from the control room to discuss the situation with TENews. If you want to go do that now, I’ll go watch over Elle.”
My immediate response was to argue. I didn’t want anyone watching over Elle but me. Not that I could be trusted to protect her. We all knew how epically bad that had just gone. Fuck. I ran my hand through my hair again.
Instead of storming back into the apartment to claim Elle as mine and only mine, I said, “Okay.” I headed to the stairwell to the tenth floor where we’d been cleared to use the security rooms.
Like every other part of this building, the security control room was checked by DNA technology. As part of our coo
peration with the Windsett Complex team, Dillon and I had been logged into their systems, so I entered the room with no issue. It was called a security room, but it was actually more like a hub with a series of offices to house the extensive teams they kept on hand to protect the wealthy inhabitants of the building.
We’d been granted use of one of the back offices with secure phone lines, and I headed there after an acknowledging wave from the woman manning the security screens on site.
Once I was in the room with the door closed, I sank into the chair at the desk in the corner. This call would likely end with me being sent back to Austin since this entire case had become a clusterfuck today. My boss, Samantha, didn’t even know how I’d screwed things up royally here, on top of everything else.
While I knew that I’d fucked up, I didn’t want to leave. The idea of someone else protecting Elle...
I’d trust Dillon and anyone else from Hawk Works with my life. I wasn’t sure I could trust them with Elle’s. I needed to be the one here to keep her safe, and somehow I had to convince Samantha to agree with that.
I dialed Samantha’s direct line.
“Hawk Works Security,” she answered. “This is Samantha Billings.”
“Samantha, this is Jonah Sutton.”
“Jonah, yes, I’ve been expecting your call. How is Ms. Wilcox handling today?”
I closed my eyes and winced. Elle had been hit with one thing after another today. First the letter to TENews from her kidnapper, which meant he was still out there as a threat. Then the false accusations on campus. Then I stole her virginity. “She’s actually holding up remarkably well. She’s incredibly strong.” And I had just walked out on her after having sex.
I knocked my fist against my forehead. She’d just trusted me with everything and now I would have to leave her completely. That couldn’t happen.
“That’s good to hear,” Samantha said. “Because after much discussion, we think the best course of action would be to leave everyone in place as is.”
