by Jayne Rylon
“There’s a gate and lots of No Trespassing signs along the driveway.” He shrugged. “Plus I haven’t needed a lot of security lately.”
“I’m sorry.” It dawned on her that she was dragging him into her mess. Putting him at risk. “I should go. Can we contact the Men in Blue somehow? Maybe they have information about the robbers or someplace to move me. A safe house.”
“You couldn’t possibly be more protected than you are here.” He put his hands on his hips.
“But you would be a hell of a lot better off with me far away.” The will to argue was trumped by her need to collapse onto his sofa. But she didn’t want to ruin the thing with her mud and blood and sweat.
“I don’t know about that anymore, Ellie.” He grew serious then. “We’ve tried the hands-off approach and I’m not sure it’s working.”
She flipped him the bird. “You tried that. I had no choice in the matter.”
Instead of arguing, he grinned. “It turns me on when you fight back.”
“I’m not usually a pushover, Lucas.” She glared at him. “You saw me at my worst. Don’t make judgments about me based on that or I guarantee you’re going to be sorely disappointed.”
He cleared his throat, acting the tiniest bit ashamed. It looked weird on him, considering how confident he typically was. Almost, though not quite, to the point of arrogance.
“To answer one of your earlier questions, yes. I have a secure line and I’m going to get in touch with the Men in Blue right now. We’ll figure out the best course of action. Do you want to be in on the call?” he asked.
His offer was enough. “Nope. Whatever you guys decide, I’ll do. You’re the experts. What I want is to find your bathroom and take the longest, hottest shower in the history of the universe.”
“I have a deep soaking tub with jets upstairs.” He smiled. “Feel free to indulge.”
Ellie practically whimpered at the thought alone.
Lucas hobbled into the kitchen and grabbed some fruit, a couple bottles of water and a block of cheese from his fridge. Then he gestured toward the stairs. “You first. I’m still unsteady going up these, especially right now.”
“Can I help somehow?” She turned, about to offer her hand or something.
“I can do it on my own.”
“Of course you can.”
He glanced away, then back, as if it pained him more to ask for assistance than it would falling on his ass with his hands full. “Would you maybe grab the food so I can use the railing?”
“Sure.” Except he’d snagged more than she could hold in her much smaller hands.
Fuck it. Not like she had any modesty left at this point. She grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted the front flap of the shredded material, holding it out in front of her like a net.
Lucas deposited his scroungings, swallowing hard as he tried valiantly not to steal a glimpse at her exposed legs. Or her panties, which peeked out beneath the ruined dress. His gaze flickered toward her thighs a few times before he jerked his chin upward. “Go ahead.”
Of course, that gave him a pretty up-close-and-personal view of her ass, which she didn’t mind.
He stifled a groan.
When she spun around to make sure he was okay, she noticed his line of sight and beamed.
“God help me,” he muttered.
Ellie waited until they were both at the top of the stairs before heading down the short hall to Lucas’s bedroom. It was easy to pick out which one was his since it was the only bedroom. She figured his couch had looked plenty comfy. She’d get cleaned up then go crash.
“I hope you don’t mind if I just say make yourself at home.” He held his hand out toward the bathroom. “You can set yourself up in there a lot faster than if I try to do it for you.”
“This is great—thank you.” She smiled.
It would have been so natural to go onto her tiptoes and kiss him. Just a quick peck. But he turned toward a black box with a phone resting on top, right when she debated making her move. The chance vanished.
So Ellie limped into the bathroom, ripped her shoes from her feet and threw them directly into the trash. Her dress would follow shortly. She leaned over the massive tub to turn on the water. It would take a while to fill.
As she waited, she couldn’t help but peek around. Not snooping, exactly. It just was such a rare opportunity to learn more about the man who’d kept her in the dark for months. No way would she dare to glance in the mirror. She could feel how ratty and full of leaves her hair was and her face couldn’t be much better. So she distracted herself by cataloging Lucas’s care products.
An assortment of items for amputees was lined up on the surround. Things she didn’t really understand except to get an idea, by how many there were, of how much effort he was expending to adapt to his new life. She thought of the endless counseling visits, doctors’ appointments, research on jobs and other therapy that had occupied her time lately. For Lucas, it must be way more daunting.
Every part of his personal space reflected some sort of change.
The bench in his shower, the slew of lotions and potions. Hell, even the pile of stump socks in his laundry basket. It was impossible to ignore here, where he spent so much of his time. Maybe he would let her turn his mind to more pleasurable things.
In the other room, she heard his efficient reporting to the Men in Blue. There, he was comfortable. Here, he still needed help adjusting. More determined than ever, she vowed to help him with that transition. If he’d let her.
“Mason, I think it’s best if I keep her here.” He spoke to one of Lacey’s guys who had rank on the force. The other Men in Blue listened to him. If he agreed, she’d be staying. “People don’t associate us. I wasn’t on any of the documentation from Morselli’s dungeon. We haven’t been seen together for nearly a year.”
Ouch. That part hurt.
It hadn’t been for lack of her reaching out either.
Ellie leaned against the doorjamb, blinking back tears. Why had he cut her out of his life entirely?
With the evidence pointing to how radically his had changed all around her, it was clear that he resented her. Why wouldn’t he?
Indirectly, she’d been responsible for this.
If she hadn’t been in there that day…
If Ryan hadn’t sent the Men in Blue and other task force members to search for her…
If Lucas hadn’t been so damned brave…
He’d be whole, and she’d be gone. Instead of them both living half-alive.
Her heart sank as she realized the teasing they’d been doing in the woods was probably all they’d ever have. He’d been distracting her. Motivating her to keep going.
And it had worked.
Now it was time for her to return some of the generosity he’d shown her.
“There’s two hundred grand in here…” Lucas dropped that bombshell on the rest of their city’s finest. “Yeah, I counted it twice.”
A short silence.
“Fuck. I think so too. They used her to smuggle it out.” He growled. “But was it random chance? Or did they target her specifically. That’s what we need to know.”
Ellie poked her head out of the bathroom. “Lucas?”
If she didn’t have some relief from the thick tension of the debriefing happening in the room next door, she was going to lose her mind. He might be used to operating in situations like this, but she certainly was not. Diversions would be welcome.
“Hang on a sec,” he told the Men in Blue. “Yeah, E?”
“Sorry to interrupt. Mind if I use that tablet in the waterproof case by the tub?” She figured she could find a movie to watch or scan the Internet for information.
“Sure, go ahead. Just…don’t log in to any of your accounts, okay?” He winced. “Sorry, but we don’t want to give cybernerds, like JRad,
who are playing for the other team a trail of breadcrumbs. Use my stuff. Everything you need should be on there already. The messenger app is open and I’m sure Lacey, Shari, Izzy, Jambrea and Lily are dying to talk to you. If you’re up to it.”
“Aren’t they sleeping?” She glanced at the clock, surprised to find it was almost five in the morning. Lacey and Jambrea were nurses. They worked the night shift often to mesh their schedules to their guys’. Lily ran an exclusive BDSM club that had her on a similar cadence. And Shari was always up at the ass crack of dawn doing something on her land. “I guess not.”
“They’re worried about you.” He smiled softly. “Us, really.”
“I guess I should’ve known winning a jackpot like that isn’t really the kind of luck I have.” She dropped her forehead to the doorjamb.
“I didn’t realize this was a pity party. Hang on. Let me pull up a chair so I can bitch about only having one leg without toppling over.” He might have sounded harsh, but he grinned as he said it. Probably because he knew it was going to put her hackles up.
The man did seem to take perverse pleasure in her temper.
From across the room she could hear their mutual friends cracking up.
It felt good to burn instead of wilt beneath the gloom that had threatened her sometimes lately. No one could understand that better than Lucas. It made her happy to be treated like she wasn’t fragile.
She figured it was best to get even. Except instead of firing off a double middle-finger salute, she flashed him a wicked grin.
“Uh-oh. No. She’s not about to attack me. She’s smiling. Now I’m scared.” He rubbed his chest and damn if he didn’t mirror her expression. At least with a hint of a tilt to his lips that only made him infinitely more attractive.
That was when she took her destroyed dress and began to walk it up her thighs, then her midriff, and finally over her head. She dropped it to the bathroom floor, leaving her in only her matching candy-apple red, strapless bra and lacy panties. It was freeing, to have the ability to tease a man while completely guaranteed that he would not hurt her.
“Son of a bitch!” he barked.
Still, he didn’t look away.
“No. No, sorry. Everything’s fine. Great. I mean, there’s no need to rush over here or anything,” Lucas rambled, something she’d never heard before or thought possible.
Could he actually be flustered? By her?
What would their friends find if they barged in soon?
Probably nothing.
The thought launched a zing of disappointment through her gut. So she spun, giving Lucas a perfect view of her backside. She reached behind herself, unclasping her bra and letting it join her ruined dress on the ground.
“E!” he hissed.
When she peeked over her shoulder, he had his hand smothering the mouthpiece.
So she decided to complete her revenge. If he could rile her, she could do the same to him. At least she hoped she could.
Ellie popped her thumbs through the skimpy waistband of her skimpier panties. She walked them down the curve of her hips then wiggled until she was able to step out of them.
“Holy shit,” he groaned. This time when she glanced back at him, his hand was rearranging the growing bulge in his jeans. He could have looked away at any time—turned around or even simply closed his eyes.
But he didn’t.
With a wink, she headed for his tub, out of his line of sight, ending her demonstration.
“Huh?” he said, obviously trying to catch up to the conversation he was having with the Men in Blue. “Sorry. I just…I got distracted for a minute. No, get your minds out of the gutter. She’s not even in here. She went to take a bath. The hike tore her up some. Both of us.”
And just like that, the results of her teasing evaporated.
He was all business again, reminded of how she’d been a victim.
Damn it.
On the side of the tub, a bottle caught her attention. It was one she knew well. Jambrea had given her the same thing for her birthday. It was a mix of lavender and other oils, designed for relaxation, mixed with a splash of bubble bath. Somehow, the thought of Lucas surrounded by suds had her chuckling.
She unscrewed the top and put a capful of the lovely mixture into the tub. Considering how monstrous the soaker was, compared to hers, she went ahead and added a second dollop.
Breathing deeply, she prepared herself then dipped a foot in. Lucas’s patch job had worked wonders, but the sting in the areas he hadn’t treated was enough to make her groan.
“You okay?” Lucas shouted from the other room. His conversation was nothing more than a comforting rumble when she was this close to the rush of water.
“Yeah,” she lied. “Just felt good.”
“Tell me if you need anything,” he instructed.
Somehow she figured that didn’t include a make-out session or an orgasm to help her relax before bed.
Easing herself into the water slowly, Ellie bit her lip to keep from hissing at each additional sting that resulted from submerging her dings beneath the waves. She didn’t waste any time in pressing the button to activate the jets.
It took a while, but eventually she was up to her collarbones in blissfully steamy, pretty-smelling heat. It began to seep into her bones. For a while there, she thought she’d never be warm again.
Now that she was, she just lay there, boneless, as the rush of water massaged her all over.
And then the tablet near her head binged. After a minute it binged again. And again.
A smile curved her lips upward. She put her money on Izzy, the least patient of her friends. Not wanting to keep them in suspense—worried about her—any longer than necessary, Ellie grabbed the device and unlocked the screen.
Funny, Lucas had the same case she did.
Even the same color.
She’d picked it because it matched her eyes. Why had he? Was it his favorite color?
Or maybe it had been the only one left in the store when he needed one.
Ellie had spent lots of quality time in the tub, reading or surfing the net. It was one of the things that calmed her when she had a bad night. Could he have that in common with her too?
Sure enough, a little box with Izzy’s name held a stream of messages.
Paging Ms. Ellie…
Yo, Ellie.
Answer me!
Are you okay?
Ellllliiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee
Then the rest of her friends’ names appeared in italics, with a note that they’d joined the conversation.
Lacey: Calm down, Iz. Maybe she went to bed instead.
Lily: Anyone want to take odds on where she’ll be sleeping tonight?
Okay, that was enough of that. What if Lucas saw their messages?
Then again, so what if he did? Ellie had wondered the same thing, though she assumed they had different views on the best solution to that problem.
Lucas: Hey, ladies, I’m here. And fine. Mostly. My dress is toast, though.
Izzy: Unless Lucas has really taken up cross-dressing, which I might like to see, I’m going to assume this is you, Ellie?
Lucas: Ha-ha, yes. He told me not to sign in to my accounts.
Shari: NO! Not the dress! It was spectacular on you.
Lucas: Win some, lose some.
Jambrea: Is it true? There’s extra money in the bag? Loads more? I can’t believe it!
Lucas: I’m sure I don’t get to keep it. You know, without people shooting at me and trying to abduct me and shit. Who knows if I even really won the $50K. I’m not holding my breath.
Izzy: Are you okay, Ellie? Really?
Lucas: Yeah. I will be. Kind of shaken up, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet, you know? It still feels like a bad dream. If it weren’t for Lucas… Mostly I just want to veg out,
grab something to eat and then sleep for a year. My feet are killing me.
Lily: You definitely deserve a woman-of-the-year award for walking so damn far in those fuck-me heels.
Shari: Holy shit! Ellie, didn’t you call your brother and let him know you’re okay?
Lucas: No, Lucas is on the secure line with the guys. I have no way of contacting Ryan. Can you let him know, somehow that is cop-approved? If someone is looking for me, he could be in trouble too.
Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
Shari: I don’t think that’s a problem. I’m kind of at his and Ben’s place. We got the call and something seemed like it was up before I’d made it very far, so I turned around and came back. Thought he might be climbing the walls until he heard something. For the record, he was.
Lucas: Thank you for being there for him. I didn’t mean to scare him.
Izzy: Not like you did this on purpose, babe! Ryan will chill out now that he knows you’re safe.
Lily: And especially if he takes advantage of having both Ben and Shari at his disposal.
Shari: Hey now! He’s right here. Watch your typing.
Lucas: Tell him I love him, and I’ll call him as soon as I’m able, okay?
Shari: He says he loves you too. And that you should listen to Lucas and not give him a hard time.
Lacey: Oh, I think you should give him a hard time all right.
Lucas: Hey! My brother can see this. Gross.
Still, she laughed.
Jambrea: Ryan and Ben should give Shari a double-hard time! I highly recommend it.
Lacey: I second that. Mason and Tyler have made me a two-scoop girl for life.
Shari: OMG. Zip it.
Their antics did exactly as they intended—erased her worry. They’d gotten good at rescuing her from slumps or terror in the past year or so.
Lucas: I love you all and miss you already. Sorry I screwed up girls’ night out.
Lily: I’ll spank you next time I see you. Or, better yet, let Jeremy have a turn.
Ellie knew the notorious Domme was only teasing.
Lacey: We won’t keep you. You need to chill out and rest. I’m so glad you’re all right.
Lucas: Thanks. Hey, Jambi or Lacey…
