Ash: Jagged Edge Series #5

by A. L Long

  I spread my legs without hesitation as he continued to gently rub the soft sponge between them. My head fell back against his chest as he moved the sponge to my clit and began making slow circular movements. The pleasure he was giving me was so intense, I couldn’t take it any more. In a heated breath, I moaned, “Ash, please.”

  He knew exactly what I wanted. Dropping the sponge to the floor, he twisted my body so that I was facing him. Lifting my leg off the tile floor, he took hold of his impressive cock and guided it inside me. As his hand held me in place, he began pumping his shaft deeper and deeper. I could feel him fill me as his cock continued to pulsate between my walls.

  Letting go of my hips, his hands ventured to my breasts, where he took each nipple between his fingers and began rubbing and pinching them. With the added sensation, my body shook, releasing the desire I had for him. Giving me one last thrust, I felt the tremor of his body, letting me know that he was also met with his desire.

  An hour later, we were both finally dressed and on our way to the kitchen to satisfy the appetite we had worked up in the shower. As I got the coffee ready, Ash was busy pulling various items from the fridge. Taking a seat at the bar, I watched as Ash worked his magic with the ingredients in front of him, but mostly I was looking at his ass as he turned to drop the chopped vegetables in the pan that was on the stove. This was something that I would never get tired of.

  Needing a distraction, I decide to do something constructive, like set the table. Pushing from my seat, I rounded the bar and open the cupboard where the plates were located. My eyes drifted back over to Ash, taking in his perfection.

  ~****~

  I offered to clean up the dishes while Ash took a call on his cell. He wandered into the living room so I wasn’t really sure who he was talking to. If I had to take a guess, I would say that it had to be one of the guys he worked with. After placing the last dish in the dishwasher, I walked over to where he was. His shoulder was leaning against the long window while he gazed out. Stepping up behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist as he finished his call. I could barely see over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. The sky was still hazy from the fire.

  Letting him go, I moved beside him so I could get a better look. Thinking about what I had lost, my eyes began to fill with tears. My breath hitched and the words that came from inside were barely recognizable. “It’s gone, Ash. The one thing that I could call my own is gone.”

  Ash pulled me close and wrapped his comforting arms around me. Holding me tight, he kissed the top of the head and replied, “I want you here with me, Jules. There’s one thing that you will always own.”

  I looked up at him with confusion and asked,”What’s that, Ash?”

  Placing his hand on my cheek, he looked at me and said, “Me.”

  It was the most sincere thing that anyone had ever said to me. My heart was filled with happiness that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. At that moment, I knew that everything was going to be okay. Taking my hand, Ash led me over to the couch and pulled me to his lap as he sat down. His expression got serious as he rubbed the back of my hand. Looking at him with concern, I asked, “What’s wrong, Ash?”

  “I want you to come to the shop with me. We need to talk to Peter about what you shared with me. Do you think you’re up to it?”

  Nodding my head “Yes,” I stood and went to the guest bedroom where I knew my shoes would be. When I got back to the living area, Ash was waiting for me with his hands in his pockets, looking as gorgeous as ever. When I smiled at him, he mimicked mine with one of his own. “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” I replied, following behind him.

  As we drove away from Ash’s house, I kept thinking about what Ash said. He wanted me to be with him. To live with him in his home. I really didn’t have much of a choice at that point, seeing as how my home was burnt to the ground. Reaching the short road leading to my house. I looked over to Ash and asked, “Can we stop at the house for a minute?”

  Ash placed his hand on my thigh and squeezed it lightly. “Are you sure you want to do that?” he questioned with a hint of concern in his tone.

  “I have to at least look, Ash. There may be something that can be salvaged,” I responded.

  When he got to the house, the only thing left of my house were a few boards that managed to survive the fire. Opening the door, I climbed out of the truck and walked up to where the wooden porch use to be. Before I could take a step further, Ash was right behind me. His voice was stern as he warned, “Don’t go in there, Jules. The floor doesn’t look very solid.”

  Looking down at the floor, he was right. The floor was black. Even though it was still intact, the fire could have weakened the boards and I could have ended up in the basement. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t get inside. As far as I could see there wasn’t anything left of the house or of my things. It would take too long to try and get to the basement, and we really didn’t have the time at the moment.

  Backing away from the porch, I walked back over to the truck and got in. Ash got in as well and started the engine. As he backed away from the house, all I wanted was to know who had done this. Ash must have known what I was thinking. “We will find out who did this, Jules, and they will pay.”

  ~****~

  Ash parked his truck next to a fancy-looking Camaro. Getting out of the truck, I realized that it was the first time I had been to the place where he worked. It was also going to be the first time that I would be meeting all of the guys. Ash opened the door to the shop, and right away I was greeted by four tall, extremely hot muscular guys.

  As I followed Ash, he began introducing them to me one by one. “Guys, I want you to meet my girl, Juliette Daniels.” Ash paused for a moment and waited for the guys to say hello. Pointing at the first alpha-male, he said, “Jules, I want you to meet Cop. His real name is Vince Coppoletti, but we call him Cop for short.”

  Pointing to the next guy, he smiled, “This here is Lou Gainer.”

  With a tip of his head, Lou replied, “Ma’am.”

  Continuing his introductions, I was introduced to Sylvester Capelli, who went by the name of ‘Sly,’ and Mike Chavez. Ash went on to explain how all of them served together in Iraq. I could tell that they were all very close by the way they joked with each other and carried on. While I was listening to their conversation, another alpha-male type walked into the room. Ash looked over to him, then took my hand and led me to where he was standing.

  “Jules, this is Peter Hewitt. He’s the one who owns Jagged Edge Security. He is one of the best men I have ever known.”

  Holding out my hand, I said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Ryan and Josh are already in the conference room. We have a lot to go over with the new developments,” Peter remarked.

  Leading the way, we all followed Peter into the conference room. Just like he said, two men were already seated at the long table, engrossed in whatever they were looking at on their laptops. Clearing his voice, Peter said, “Guys, this is Juliette Daniels.” As they poked their heads up for a moment, Peter continued the introductions. “Juliette, this is Ryan Hyatt and his younger brother Josh.”

  Waving my hand to them, I replied with a simple, “Hi.”

  As everyone took their seats, Ash and I walked towards the front of the table, with Peter sitting at the head of the table and the rest of the guys in the remaining chairs. Peter began explaining the information he had found out. “I’ve been in touch with our contact at the FBI concerning human trafficking for sex. It seems Sebastian Collins as well as Walter Marlow are persons of interest.”

  Looking over to Ash with confusion, I looked back at Peter and asked, “What did you just say?”

  “We know about your relationship with Mr. Collins and Mr. Marlow, Juliette,” Peter claimed.

  Rising to my feet, I could feel a tightness in my chest. I felt like the one person I trusted just took everything we had and shit all over it. Opening the door t
o the conference room, I hurried to the front door. I knew Ash was right behind me the minute I heard his voice. “Jules, wait, let me explain.”

  “What is there to explain, Ash? Now everyone knows about my pathetic life. How could you? We were going to do this together,” I hissed.

  Stopping my movements, Ash tugged on my arm and pulled me next to him. “It wasn’t like that, Jules. When I read the contract and saw Sebastian’s name, I had Peter run a check on him. This was way before you told me everything. They are here to help you, not judge you. Please, Jules, help us figure this out and put those assholes behind bars for what they did. Our guess is you aren’t the only girl who fell into their plans.”

  “Do you really think there are other girls?” I asked, pushing my anger aside.

  “I know there are. Come back to the conference room and listen to what Peter found out,” Ash pleaded.

  When we re-entered the room, we saw Peter had posted some pictures on a white board. One was of the old mansion that Mr. Marlow had taken me to. Unable to hold back, I shouted, “I know that house! I was there, before I escaped.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Ash

  When Jules shouted that she had been in that house, I knew we had a lead. Looking over to Peter, he had this confused look on his face. Turning to Juliette, he asked, “Are you sure Juliette? Sebastian Collins owns this house and if Walter Marlow took you there, it confirms that they are working together.”

  “I will never forget that house. That is where he took me. I would bet my life on it,” she swore.

  “Did you see anything while you were there?” Peter asked.

  “Other than it was a dump, not really. I do remember that almost all of the doors were locked on the main floor. I almost didn’t make it out of there,” Juliette answered with a disgusted look on her face.

  “We think that Sebastian and Walter may be keeping the women they are getting ready to sell inside that house. After Nick, my friend from the city office, did some research, he concluded that it was the only house that had any utility usage,” Peter explained, his eyes on Juliette as he pointed at the rundown mansion. “We need to get someone inside to make sure. That’s where you come in.”

  I could tell by the look on Juliette’s face that she didn’t know what it was exactly that Peter was asking of her. I was totally against it and recommended that we send Nikki inside. Peter argued that there wasn’t enough time to get the bait set and Juliette was our only chance.

  Peter began explaining what the plan was, giving her a scenario as to what could happen if the plan went sour. The first thing he needed to do was make sure that the abducted women were inside. If they weren’t there, then there were still nine other properties that needed to be checked out. With everything he had said, she still wanted to help, even knowing that if they found out what she was up to, she could end up dead. All Juliette wanted was to make sure Sebastian and Walter were locked up for life.

  Driving back to my place, all I could think about was the plan that Peter put into place and what he expected of Juliette. I knew that there was always a risk with every mission we had, but to have someone you loved involved, it was an even greater risk. Diverting my eyes to Juliette, I said to her, “Jules, you don’t have to do this. We can find another way.”

  When she moved her eyes from the road to me, her expression said it all. She didn’t have to say anything for me to know that she was going to do this. “Ash, I have to do this. Just like you said, they needed to pay for what they did. They took everything from me. All I want is to give them what they deserve. I want them to know what it feels like to lose everything.”

  If anyone deserved to be righted for what those two men had done, it was Jules. I wasn’t sure how many other women had suffered under their hands, but they deserved justice as well. Letting her know that I understood, I took hold of her hand and squeezed it gently.

  There was still enough of the day left that we decided to go over to her place and see if there was anything that we could find that she could save. Turning down the short road to her house, I made a half circle and backed up as close as I could to the porch. Juliette got out and began surveying the damage. My guess was that she was trying to figure out a way to get inside without falling through the floor.

  Standing beside her, I took in the mess and figured out that the best way to get inside was to try and go through the basement. Going to the side of the house, I saw the broken window that I entered. I thought it would be better if I went in first, just in case the house was unstable. As I crawled through the window, the strong smell of burnt wood filled my senses. Looking above me to the ceiling, I could see the fire hadn’t made it to the floor joists or the underside of the floor. This was a good indication the floor above was sturdy enough to walk on. Walking up the steps, I tried pushing open the door, but something must have fallen against it during the fire.

  Crawling back through the window, Juliette was standing outside waiting for me. Giving me her hand, she tried to help through the window. This was the cutest thing ever. I wasn’t sure why she thought her one-hundred-twenty pound body could pull my two-hundred pound body from the window.

  Once I got to my feet, I brushed off my pants and said, “I think the floor is strong enough to walk on. Just in case, let me check it out first.”

  Jules nodded in agreement as we walked back to the front of the house. Grabbing a piece of wood from the burnt debris, I checked to make sure it was strong enough by stabbing it into the ground. Satisfied that it would work, I headed to where the porch used to be. When I got to front doorway, I began poking the wood with the stick to make sure it was stable. With every step I took Juliette was right behind me. While I poked, she looked around to see if she could see anything that resembled any of her personal things.

  By the time we had finished searching the mess, Juliette’s hands were covered in black soot from picking up whatever she thought was something important. I had never met a person more determined to find at least one thing that was worth saving. Taking what little she had found, I placed in the bed of the truck for her.

  As we got inside the truck, my cell phone rang. Looking down at the screen, it was Peter. I wasn’t sure why he would be calling, unless he had some more information for me. Swiping the screen, I answered, “What’s up, Peter?”

  “Are you with Juliette?” he asked.

  “Yeah, let me put you on speaker,” I responded.

  “The fire marshal did a sweep of the Juliette’s house. They didn’t find anything that would indicate that the fire was intentionally started. They are ruling that the house probably had faulty wiring, considering how old it was. I’m really sorry, Juliette. I was hoping they would find something.”

  “Wait, what about the boarded windows and doors?” I asked.

  “Nothing, bro. Whoever did this was very smart and knew exactly what they were doing,” Peter replied before he continued. “We may not be able to tie the fire to Mr. Collins or Mr. Marlow, but we will get them.”

  This was not what I wanted to hear, and by the look on Juliette’s face, neither did she. I guess it would have been too easy to pin this on them. Just like Peter said, whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.

  I backed the truck in the garage like I always did. Juliette didn’t move from her spot. I knew she was disappointed by Peter’s news. Taking the key from the ignition, I rounded the front of the truck and opened her door. With a tear escaping her eye, she looked at me and said, “He can’t win. This needs to end or I will never be free of him.”

  She was right, this did need to end. She had been through enough. Pressing my lips to hers, I whispered with conviction, “It will end. I’ll make sure of it.”

  ~****~

  “How about we take a break?” I said to Jules as I set down a crystal vase.

  “Okay, how about I fix us some lunch?” she suggested.

  We had spent most of the morning cleaning and polishing the items she was able to
save from the fire. It wasn’t helping her to forget about the fire, but at least it was keeping her busy. Finishing up, we both stood and headed inside the house. It was another hot day and the only thing I wanted was to cool my body off. Opening up the fridge, I grabbed two brews and popped the tops. Jules was busy making us sandwiches, so I decided to check with the guys to see if Hawk and Isabelle had made it in safely. Snagging my phone off of the counter, I dialed Peter’s number and waited for him to answer.

  “Hey, bro,” he answered with enthusiasm.

  “By the sound of your voice, Hawk and Isabelle must have made it in,” I replied.

  “Yeah, we are all at the shop catching up. Why don’t you and Juliette come down?”