We walked together toward the elevator and waited in comfortable silence for it to arrive. When it did, we climbed aboard and stood side by side as the doors closed. As soon as they did, the silence became less comfortable. The small space seemed to amplify Emmett’s spicy cologne and his nearness was a bit overwhelming. I risked a glance up at him and found him staring down at me with a very intense, very lust-filled gaze. My eyes must have given off a similar vibe, for Emmett’s control seemed to snap.
He reached over and slammed the emergency stop button before lifting me by the back of my thighs and slamming my back into the elevator wall. His mouth was on mine in an instant, eliciting a hungry, feral groan from my throat. The energy coursing through the small space was enough to drown out the sirens bleating overhead from the emergency stop button.
I wrapped one leg around his waist and dug my fingers into his short silky hair. I couldn’t get close enough to him. I could feel his arousal grinding against my center through his slacks. The fact that this gorgeous, powerful man was losing his control over me was enough to scatter goose bumps all over my overly sensitive skin.
Suddenly, the crackle of a PA system sounded over the alarms. “Um …” A loud voice cleared its throat through the speakers in the elevator. “Mr. Vance, I’m responding to an emergency call from Elevator Well 1. Does there seem to be a problem?”
I looked up at the source of the voice and noticed a camera in the corner of the elevator, pointed straight at us. Emmett noticed as well and groaned as he let me slide to the floor.
“No, Jerry,” Emmett replied as he turned away from the camera to adjust himself. “I just needed a moment. I’ll disengage the alarm. Sorry about that.”
“No problem, Mr. Vance,” Jerry, the night guard, said with more than a hint of humor in his voice.
I buried my face in Emmett’s chest. “I’ve been in this elevator every day for years. I knew there was a camera. How could I forget?!” I whined.
Emmett chuckled and helped straighten my hair out. “I seem to lose my senses when I’m alone with you. I’ll talk with Jerry and make sure this stays between us, alright?”
I sighed and reached up to my tippy toes to give him a quick kiss. “Alright. But no more of that. I don’t think I can handle one more person catching us in the act again!” I laughed glanced down at the erection still straining beneath his pants. “And you might want to take a few deep breaths and think about baseball before we exit the elevator.”
Emmett gave me mock glare and focused on his breathing as the elevator began its descent again.
By the time we reached the lobby, we were both breathing normally, although I was pretty sure the blush would stay on my face for at least a week. I bit the inside of my cheek as we passed Jerry and buried my face in Emmett’s shoulder.
Emmett walked me to my Mini and tugged me into him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up to his handsome face. He was beginning to sport a five o’clock shadow and his hair was mussed from our elevator escapade.
“Dinner? You can come to my place. I make a mean fettuccini alfredo.” Emmett nuzzled the area under my ear.
I debated the idea for a moment. On one hand, it felt like I couldn’t get enough of the man. He was gorgeous, intelligent, successful, caring, considerate … On the other hand, this had been a seriously rough week and it was beginning to affect my work.
I gave him a half smile and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t tonight.”
“Can’t, or won’t?” he challenged, placing a finger under my chin to lift my gaze.
“Both,” I replied. “I’ve had a very eventful week. I feel like I haven’t had a minute to collect myself. Other people have even noticed. That’s never happened to me before. I think I need quiet night to myself to figure things out and get back on track.”
Emmett smiled and searched my face. “I can respect that. But I don’t give up that easily. How about we hit that Thai place down the street for a quick dinner and then you can go home and regroup?”
I thought about this for about half a second before caving. “Alright,” I smiled. “Get in. I’ll drive.”
Emmett flashed a giddy grin and jogged around my Mini.
“How practical is a Mini Cooper in February in Chicago?” he asked as he fastened his seatbelt.
This earned him an eyeroll and a groan. “Not you too. You sound like my brothers. It’s fine. I’m a fabulous driver. Just you wait!”
He chuckled and shifted his butt around in the seat as I backed out of the parking stall. I pulled out of the garage and headed toward the restaurant, my hand shaking on the stick shift. The adrenaline from our steamy elevator ride was finally starting to wear off, leaving me flushed and a bit more than embarrassed. I really was off my game. I took a deep, cleansing breath and peeked over at Emmett who was studying my side mirror with a scowl.
“You okay?” I asked.
Emmett held up a finger and kept his gaze firmly affixed to the mirror. Ten tense seconds later, he straightened in his seat and glanced my way. “Do you know someone at work who drives a black jeep?”
I shook my head and checked my rear view mirror. Following close behind us was a black late model Jeep.
“Why do you think it’s a coworker’s car?” I asked, failing miserably at calming my shaking hands.
“It’s been following us since our parking garage,” Emmett answered as he pulled out his cell phone. “Take a right at the next light. It could be a coincidence. Don’t turn on your turn signal.”
I nodded my understanding and noted the Jeep was less than five feet from my rear bumper. The headlights were too bright to make out what the driver looked like, but I could tell there was only one person in the car.
I let up off the gas as we approached the light, decreasing my speed without hitting the breaks. Finally, at the very last second, I cranked the wheel and took a sharp right. A high pitched squeal sounded from behind us as the Jeep mirrored my movements.
Emmett swore loudly and craned around his seat to try to get a better view of the driver. Apparently he could see as little as I could because he whipped back around almost immediately.
“Alright, Ace. You’re going to have to show me your NASCAR skills. Think you can lose this guy?”
I inhaled a shaky breath and nodded. “Probably. Hang on.”
The next few moments were a blur and if I’m honest, I totally kicked ass. I turned corners on a dime, maneuvered through extremely tight alleys and I kid you not – I drifted. We’re talking Vin Diesel Fast & Furious drifting. It was awesome.
However, awesome as it was, the asshat behind us kept right on my bumper throughout the entire chase. The few times I was able to lose him, he caught right back up within a couple of blocks.
I had just completed a rather impressive figure eight around a median when I found myself staring at a brick wall. Emmett’s gasp prompted me to slam on the breaks, skidding to a stop less than three feet from the barrier.
“Shit!” I cried. “It’s a dead end.”
Emmett reached over and shifted my car into park.
“It’s alright, Anna. It’ll be okay. Just stay in the car.” Emmett reached for the door handle.
“Wait!” I grabbed onto his coat and tugged. “You can’t go out there! He could have a gun! He could have a taser! He could have a bazooka!”
Emmett cracked half a smile and shook his head. “I doubt he has a bazooka, Anna. It’ll be fine. Just stay in the car and have your cell phone ready. If I put a hand behind my back and wave, call nine-one-one. That’ll be our signal. Don’t move until I tell you it’s safe.” With that final warning, he opened the door and got out.
The Jeep was parked a couple of car lengths behind us, its headlights on bright. I could see a large shadowy form emerge from the driver’s side, but the headlights prohibited me from getting more than that rough image.
Emmett slowly walked around the back of my Mini, his arms spread out to his sides to show he was unarmed. I
could hear him shouting to the other driver, his tone firm but not threatening. I could only make out a few words, but I heard enough to know he was asking to sort things out without violence.
The driver kept advancing on Emmett slowly until they were just feet apart. Emmett lowered his hands and brought one behind his back. As I began punching in the numbers on my phone, a large ball of crackling light appeared between Emmett and the other driver. A fraction of a second later, the ball flew forward, knocking Emmett back into the bumper of my Mini, his head hitting my rear window with a sickening crack.
“Emmett!” I screamed as I hastily unfastened my seatbelt and wrenched the door open. I rushed around to the back of my car and found him slumped on the ground unconscious. Plumes of steam rose from his mouth in the frigid air, assuring me he was at least breathing. I threw myself over his body and stared up at the shadowed figure looming over us.
“You!” he growled in a deep raspy voice.
“Do I know you?” I asked, trying to get a better look at him. I still couldn’t make out his face in the dark, but I could finally get a gauge on his body shape. The man was huge. His shoulders were nearly as wide as the front end of his jeep and he must have been at least five inches over six feet tall.
Something about his stance made the back of my brain tingle, but before I could think too hard on this, a high pitched honk broke through the silence. A single beam of light cut through the dark at the alley entrance, accompanied by the whir of a small engine.
In the dim glow of the streetlights I could just make out the shape of a scooter zipping straight toward us. Emmett’s attacker, momentarily stunned, twisted around to follow my gaze. The scooter and its driver were hurtling toward us at breakneck speed, showing no signs of slowing down. It was ten feet away from the black Jeep when the driver hit the brakes and skidded sideways, barreling into a fire hydrant with a loud metallic crack.
The scooter’s driver barely steadied himself before flipping up the visor on his helmet and turning his big hazel eyes my way.
“Carl!?” I questioned.
“Get in!” He shouted.
“What do you mean get in?! You’re on a damn scooter!”
Carl glanced down at his scooter as if just noticing for the first time that there weren’t any doors. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “It sounded like something I should say.”
I fought the incredible urge to roll my eyes and instead focused on the fact that there was an electric-wielding madman standing mere feet from me.
“Who the hell are you?” shouted the madman.
“I’m your worst nightmare, muthafucka!” replied Carl as he ripped his helmet off and chucked it at my attacker.
The man made an annoyed snort, caught the helmet in one big palm and hurled it back at Carl, knocking him and his scooter over backward.
Meanwhile, Emmett was just beginning to regain consciousness. I could feel his body twitching beneath mine.
Our attacker hadn’t come any closer, but he might as well have been on top of us for all the danger and malice he was projecting.
“Consider this your warning, Anna” he growled before turning and stalking back to his vehicle.
I remained motionless, paralyzed by fear, until the Jeep’s lights were no longer visible. How did he know my name? Why didn’t he kill us?
“Anna?” Emmett’s groggy voice brought me out of my stupor.
“I’m here. It’s alright.” I stroked Emmett’s hair, prodding the back of his head lightly, looking for abrasions. Finding only a large bump, I cradled his head and looked up at Carl. “How did you find us? How did you know?”
Carl righted himself and the scooter, flicked out the kickstand and walked over to us. “I was leaving work the same time you were. I saw a black Jeep follow you guys out of the parking garage. When I saw him make the same turn as you, I tried to follow. I lost you after the second or third turn. Honestly, it was just luck that I was able to find you down here. I feel like I drove down every street in a twenty block radius.”
I stood and bundled Carl into a hug. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I don’t know how that would have ended without the interruption.” I released him and held him at an arm’s length.
Carl blushed and stared at his shoes. “It was nothing. If he really wanted to kill you, he would have done it whether I was here or not.”
I smiled and shook his shoulders lightly. “Maybe, maybe not. But your entrance was kickass.”
Carl grinned. “It was totally kickass.”
I gave him an affectionate nudge before returning to Emmett. “Are you okay?”
Slowly, Emmett moved to a sitting position, cracked open an eye and looked my body up and down. “I’ll be fine. Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No. He didn’t touch me.”
Emmett’s body sagged with relief. “Thank God. I’m so sorry, Anna. I should have stayed in the car and called for backup.”
“What, so he could have electrified the car and fried us both? I don’t think so. Besides, we weren’t sure who it was. He wasn’t exactly normal.”
Emmett suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he hedged.
Seriously? Was he still trying to hide this super power crap from me?
“Emmett …”
“Anna, I’m not sure what you think you saw. The guy caught me off guard. Shoved me hard and I must have hit my head on your car.” Emmett reached up and felt the back of his head, wincing as he found a tender spot.
“You know that’s not true,” I argued. “Why are you being like this?”
Emmett clenched his jaw in either frustration or pain. Probably both. “Anna, your imagination is getting the better of you again. Drop it. Please. There was nothing out of the ordinary except a guy with an insane temper and a rush of adrenaline.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek and fought an internal battle over whether to fight this subject or not. Finally, after taking in the pain etched across Emmett’s face, I chose to breach the subject in the morning, after he had healed up.
“Carl, will you help me get Emmett into my car?”
Carl nodded and stepped forward to help me hoist Emmett up. Once we got him situated in the front seat, I pulled Carl in for one more hug. “Thanks again, Carl. Will you be alright getting home?”
Carl smiled and nodded before turning toward his scooter. “I’ll text you when I get there. But next time, I want to take the bad guy down. I’ve been working on my badass Bruce Willis exit lines. I’ve got some doozies!”
I gave in to the eye roll and smiled as he zipped off. Emmett was texting on his phone as I plopped down next to him in my car, probably letting Blake or his father know what had happened. I took a fortifying breath and tried my very best to not question it.
“We should probably take you to the hospital,” I said. “What if it’s more than a concussion? You hit my rear window really hard.”
Emmett shook his head, wincing at the sudden movement. “It’s fine. I just need some rest.”
“Well, you shouldn’t sleep alone, Emmett. You can’t sleep for long periods of time with a concussion as bad as yours must be.”
Emmett tried his best to shoot me a cocky smile through the pain. “Are you trying to get in my pants, Jennings?”
I laughed and started my car back up. “No, Vance, I’m not. I honestly don’t want you to sleep alone tonight. Will you come with me back to my place? I’ll set an alarm and wake you up every couple of hours.”
The cocky grin remained as he tilted his head in acceptance. “If you don’t mind, sure. But only if you promise not to take advantage of me in my weakened state. I’ve heard stories about your sexual prowess.”
I socked him lightly in the shoulder before backing out of the alley. “I’ll do my best to keep my hands to myself.”
Thankfully, by the time we arrived at my loft Emmett was able to walk on his own. We took the elevator up to my floor and made it inside without
incident. An awkward moment passed as we stood in my living room, directly between the guest bedroom and my master bedroom.
I smiled shyly at him before motioning toward my room. “It’d be easier to wake you up every couple of hours if we were in the same room. Plus, I have an adjoining bathroom. You’ll probably want to get cleaned up.”
Emmett nodded and followed me into my room. I showed him into the bathroom and grabbed him a towel before turning to leave. “I’ve got some sweats one of my brothers left here. I’ll grab those while you shower.”
Disappointment flashed across Emmett’s face. “You aren’t going to join me?” he asked, poofing his lower lip out in a pout.
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. I promised I wouldn’t take advantage of you. Plus, this is only our second date and it ended in disaster, just like the first. I have a strict Three Non-Disastrous Dates rule. I’m a lady, Vance.” I winked and shut the door on his deep chuckle.
Ten minutes later as I waited in bed, my strict rule was in serious threat of being broken. Emmett Vance stepped out of my bathroom with a towel around his waist and a beautiful, bare chest. Just because I hadn’t ever seen him in Vance Publishing’s gym must not have meant he didn’t work out. The man was huge and absolutely gorgeous. I took my time ogling him from head to toe and prayed I wasn’t drooling all over myself.
“Like what you see?” Emmett asked, smiling smugly.
I quickly threw the pair of sweats at him and yanked the covers over my head. “For the love of chocolate, put these on!” I begged.
I hid in my cocoon of blankets until I felt the bed dip beside me. I risked a glance and peeked out, finding Emmett grinning down at me.
“I’m clothed, Jennings. You can come out.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the covers back down, noticing Emmett’s eyes raking down my body in appreciation. I had opted for a navy satin nightgown with spaghetti straps and a bit of lace on the low neckline. It was sexy, but not too sexy.
“Like what you see?” I asked, attempting to mimic Emmett’s signature smirk.
Power Surge (Anna Jennings Super Novel Book 1) Page 9
