by Nicole Fox
“What's going on?” Brent asked sharply. “Are you okay?”
“I'm okay,” I said, although my voice shook, and I was sure he could guess that I was in tears. “I'm not hurt,” I amended. That was a bit more believable. “But there are some people ... I've got tangled up in this thing with the ... with the Sigma Saints. With Katia Sin. You need to leave town for a little bit, so I can make sure—”
Brent interrupted me swearing loudly on the other end of the phone. “You did what?” he asked, his voice incredulous. “Jess, the Sigma Saints are—” He cut off, swearing more. “It's this guy Thorn, isn't it?” he growled. “I knew he was bad news. I didn't want to say anything because you know I was happy to see you with someone other than Emmanuel, but—”
“Forget about that all for now,” I interrupted. I sobbed, unable to help it. “Brent, you just have to get out of there, okay? I'm afraid they might come after you, and it would kill me if you got hurt because I let myself get mixed up in all of this.”
There was a long pause on the other end. “You need to go to the police, Jess. You know that, right? Just go to the police and—”
“I have to go,” I interrupted as someone swiped a room key. I held my breath as I hung up the hotel phone, staring with wide eyes at the door. What if it was that woman back again? What if they had made the decision to just kill me, because I was too much of a liability? What if...
But it was Thorn who stuck his head in the room and then entered slowly. “Jess?” he asked, coming inside and shutting the door behind him. “What the hell happened down in the lobby?”
I got to my feet and flung myself into the man's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. I knew he was the last person I should be turning to for safety, but he was my best option at the moment. I clung to him, shaking in fear.
Chapter Nineteen
Jess
Thorn sighed, stroking my back gently. When I had finally recovered myself, he turned my chin up so he could look me in the eyes. “I need you to talk to me,” he said. “Whatever happened—”
“I know,” I interrupted. I took a deep, shuddering breath. “I don't know who she was, that woman. I assume she was one of Katia Sin's ... people. One of the Sigma Saints. All I can tell you is that she was blonde, female, impeccably dressed… You would never have guessed that she had a gun.” I paused, trying to think back. But there were no other distinguishing features about the woman, really. She was just a normal woman.
I shrugged. “They must have done something to the receptionist. And the security surveillance systems. I was walking through the lobby when she shot the security guard. One clean shot, and the guy was dead.” I shuddered a little.
“Why were you in the lobby to start with?” Thorn asked, and although he was clearly trying to keep his tone neutral, I could still hear that underlying note of anger. I never should have gone off to lunch on my own. I knew there were dangers, now that I was caught up in all of this. Between Thorn and Katia Sin and Gabi and everyone else…
I swallowed hard. “I went to the diner for lunch,” I admitted, unable to meet his eyes. “I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but they must have had someone follow me, and the moment I got back here.” I swallowed again. It was my fault that security guy had died. Who knew what he had for a family or…
“Jess,” Thorn said, shaking me a little, and I realized that he had asked me something, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what. I was too busy thinking about all the things that could have happened that afternoon, if I had... “Jess,” Thorn repeated, a little more firmly this time.
I finally managed to focus my eyes on him, feeling the tears standing in them. “I know you're mad—” I started.
“Jess, I'm not mad,” Thorn said, shaking his head. “I just need to know that you're okay.”
“I'm okay,” I insisted, even though I wasn't really sure. “I mean, they didn't shoot me or anything...”
Thorn pulled me into his arms again, kissing me firmly. “You're okay,” he said as he pulled away. But he ducked back in for another kiss, this one one of the most passionate ones that we'd shared. His hands stayed in a neutral position by my shoulders, but the absolutely filthy way that he delved into my mouth…
I couldn't help but respond to him, though, leaning desperately into the kiss and meeting his tongue in a clash of passion that rivaled anything we had shared yet.
He pulled away first, staring down into my eyes and brushing back my hair, looking surprised. “Jess, I don't want to do anything that you're going to regret,” he told me.
I laughed a little. “Thorn, you clearly aren't going to take my virginity,” I reminded him. “And even if I didn't really want to have sex with you right now ... well, it's not like we haven't already...” I blushed a little, but I knew he knew what I was getting at.
That didn't seem to matter to him, though. “Jess,” he said again, his voice sounding sad. “I don't want you to just want this because you're afraid for your life and you think that somehow this will solve it. Or because you're—”
“It's not that,” I interrupted, even though I wasn't entirely sure why I was so desperate to have him make love to me right in that moment. I ducked my head a little, unable to meet his eyes. “I just...” I trembled a little, feeling another little spike of adrenaline. “When I was down there in that lobby, with that gun trained on me, all I could think of was you. I was just so desperate to have you there, so sure that you could make everything okay, and I—”
“I'm the reason you're in this mess,” Thorn reminded me, cupping my cheek in his palm. “Gosh, Jess, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you, but I seem to have signed your death warrant. I went to see Katia Sin today at the prison, to tell her that I couldn't carry the packages for her, and she basically warned me that she would get back at me if I didn't carry them. I should have known—”
“So we'll go somewhere,” I interrupted. “I don't know where, or what we'll do about these packages, but there has to be—”
Before I could finish that statement, Thorn was pulling me in for another kiss. It was desperate and passionate, a total clash of lips and tongues and teeth. Normally, I wouldn't have been so turned on by such a carnal display of lust, but right now, it was just what I needed.
“Sorry,” he said as he broke away from me, still staring down at my lips.
“Don't be,” I said breathlessly, pulling him back into another kiss. I shook my head. “I need—”
“I know,” Thorn said, cutting me off with another soft kiss. This one was more tender, as though he understood that I was scared, upset, afraid of doing the wrong thing. His callused palms stroked my cheeks; his lips were gentle against mine.
“Lie back,” he said quietly, moving all the while to unbutton my shirt. “I know you're scared, but let me let you feel good.” He kissed down the line of my neck, waiting patiently until I gave permission before he moved down below my neckline.
“Please,” I begged in a whimpery voice. “Thorn, please...” Perhaps sex was the only way I would feel alive at the moment. Perhaps I needed this. Perhaps he needed this too, because I could feel how he was shivering against me a little, as though my being scared had scared him too.
“I'm so glad that you're okay,” Thorn said quietly, kissing my collarbone and jawline as I lay myself back against the pillows. He shook his head, pushing my shirt back off my shoulders, revealing my bra. “If anything happened to you, Jess, I swear—”
I captured his lips in mine before he could utter promises that he could never manage to keep. I was beginning to realize that it was impossible for him to keep me safe from the Sigma Saints. But that was okay; I could keep myself safe.
I lay back, throwing my hands up over my head, giving him an encouraging look. “Thorn, I—” I began, but before I could finish, he had caught my left nipple between his teeth, causing me to moan wantonly. “Please,” I begged, even though I didn't really even know what I was begging for. I just needed more of that
, of something else; I wasn't even really sure. But I knew that he would know.
He grinned up at me, continuing to lave my nipple with his tongue, until the peak was dark and pert. Then, he moved to the other nipple and repeated his movements, waiting until I was squirming against the sheets before he moved on to the main attraction.
When his hand dropped down between my legs, I couldn't help gasping. It wasn't that it was unexpected or unwanted, but it felt so good that I couldn't help responding to him, spreading my legs wider and beckoning him into the space between my knees.
He smiled against my skin, clearly pleased with my response to his reactions, anyway, so it wasn't as though I was doing something that he didn't want. He kissed a line up from my knee to the joint between my leg and my hip, moving slowly until I was practically desperate with need.
In fact, I could feel myself rapidly slickening, already prepped for him to slide inside of me. But he was taking his time, nipping at the soft flesh on the inside of my thigh, making it so that I was practically writhing on the sheets beneath him before he moved on.
When he finally lined up his throbbing length against my hole, I practically sobbed with relief. “Please,” I begged again, unable to keep the desperate noise from falling from my lips. “Thorn, you don't know how bad I need this...”
Thorn thrust into me in one smooth move, filling me utterly, causing me to cry out. “Fuck, yes,” I whimpered, pushing my hands up against the headboard and using that as leverage. “Yes, please—please.”
He set a punishing pace, quickly snapping his hips against mine, barely giving me any time to adjust to the way he was filling me. But at the moment, that was just what I needed. I cried out each time he pushed into me, feeling totally punched out with the way he was filling me right up to my molten core. His grip on my hips was tight enough to leave bruises, and I couldn't get enough of it.
Suddenly, I turned my face to the side, becoming aware of the fact that tears were streaming down my face. “Please, Thorn,” I said all my earlier bravado gone. I was just desperate to be held, to be cared for, to feel as though there were something real in my life anchoring me to that moment. Thorn was helping me with that, but…
He slowed his pace, drawing his member in and out of me slowly enough that I could feel every bump and ridge along his length. “It's all right,” he murmured into the crook of my neck, pushing my hair back so that he could kiss along the salty lines of my skin. “It's all right. I've got you, Jess.”
He leaned down against me, allowing me to feel his warm weight pressing against me in a way that was already, somehow, familiar to me. I trembled against him, and he kissed my temple. “It's okay,” he repeated.
And I believed it, that was the thing. From the slow, smooth thrusts of his member inside of me to the way he was cradling me against his chest, I believed every word of it. Thorn would take care of me. Thorn would make sure I was safe. I suddenly sighed against his chest, relaxing into his talented ministrations.
When his hand came up to play with my clit, I knew that I was a goner. I couldn't handle the way he was manipulating my needy hole as well as the way that he was flicking the pad of his callused thumb against my nub; it was too much. I mewled softly and clenched my hands in the sheets, twisting a little beneath him. But he didn't let up, and suddenly my climax overtook me.
He gasped out my name, though, falling through a climax of his own as my warm, wet walls collapsed around him, wringing out his seed as though I had been the one planning this all along. He fell against me, his warmth caressing and gentle and everything that I needed at the moment.
Even as we came down from our shared high, he continued to stare over at me, looking as though there were something he wanted to ask me. But instead, he settled for reaching out, stroking my cheek one last time. “Oh, Jess,” he said quietly, sadly. He kissed me once more, chastely, this time, and then he rolled to his feet and began putting his clothes back on.
Chapter Twenty
Jess
It was while Thorn was putting his jeans back on that I finally found my voice. “So what happens now?” I asked.
He grunted a little but offered no other response.
I reached out and caught his arm, though, scowling a little. “That's not good enough,” I told him. “What happens now? Clearly the Sigma Saints are after me. I think they think they can use me as a pawn to get you to deliver the packages. I don't know what you did today, but—”
“I'm not delivering the packages into the jail,” Thorn interrupted, sounding agitated. “That's what I did today. I went to the prison and told Katia that she needs to find some other way.”
I frowned at him, impressed but not wanting to let it show. Clearly, his decision hadn't led to the best circumstances for me. We would need to go to the authorities or something, to somehow stop her from using her other sycophants from attacking us. And that would be dangerous enough on its own.
Thorn swore quietly under his breath. “I was so happy,” he said, startling me. “I left that prison, and even though I knew that Katia had her plans for me, I thought I was going to be free to...” His eyes slid over towards me, and he looked almost guilty for a moment.
“To what?” I asked, bravely squaring my shoulders. I had a feeling I knew what he had been thinking, and I couldn't deny that it was something that I wanted as well…
“I thought we would be able to start a future together,” Thorn admitted, sounding almost embarrassed. “Not that you'd ever be much of a biker chick, but I … well, I can't deny that there's a certain appeal to cozy kitchens and white-washed homes.” He shook his head. “But that is never going to happen. I know that. Whether I deliver the packages or not, I think you're going to have to go into hiding. I should never have gotten you involved in this.”
“It's okay,” I said quietly, unable to look him in the eyes. I picked at the bedspread, wishing that we could rewind five or ten minutes, that our passion could overtake us again. The thing was, there was no future for me with Thorn, and I had known that from the very start. He wasn't the type of guy to get married to a mousy little insurance specialist. He wasn't really the type to get married to anyone.
If I was feeling a bit of heartbreak at the moment, it was my own fault, for letting myself believe that I could ... that I could what? Change him? If I had ever thought that, I had to have been delirious.
I swallowed hard and looked away from him, turning my gaze out over the dingy motel room. “They said that you have to deliver the packages,” I told him. “Or else more people will die. I will die.” I had to hope that that would mean something to him.
Thorn turned my face towards him, staring down at me for a long moment. It seemed as though he were trying to memorize my features, as though this might be the last time he saw me.
“I can't believe they came after you here,” he finally said. “I never would have expected Katia to...” He shook his head. “We'll need to move hotels, and I'll need to talk to Gabi.”
I nodded my head, unable to do anything more.
The new hotel — the Seven Seas — was marginally better than the last place, at least. Not that that really mattered to me, as I set down my bag in the living room area of our suite. A nicer hotel didn't make up for the fact that in this past week, I had gotten myself mixed up with all sorts of devils and had a gun pointed at me in a hotel lobby. I swallowed hard as I stared around, wondering if Brent had heeded my warning, if he was safe.
I couldn't check on him, though. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that anyone could be tapping my phone lines. The last thing I needed was for them to hear me chatting with my brother, even if he wasn't a target already, I could easily make it so that he was, just through my stupidity.
“Home sweet home,” Thorn muttered under his breath as he set his own luggage down. He looked around the place, grimacing in distaste. “Not my style, but it'll do.”
He pulled out his phone, quickly dialing a number. “I have to c
all Gabi,” he told me as he moved towards the bedroom. “Can you keep yourself occupied out here for a little while?”
Without waiting for an answer, he retreated into the other room, pulling the door firmly shut behind him.
I sank down on the couch, feeling tears prick at my eyes as I hugged my arms around myself. I felt utterly alone, barely able to imagine that this was my life now.
In another lifetime, I imagined that Thorn and I might have gotten along—that we might even have dated for an extended period of time. Of course, I couldn't see marriage or anything like that for the two of us—he was too brash, and I was too homely. But we might have been happy for a little while, at least.
That wasn't an option, with our current situation. We might have amazing sex, but it was just that — just sex. I swallowed hard, chanting that over and over in my head in an attempt to convince myself of it all. Just sex, just sex, just sex.
