Luke (Dark Water Security Series Book 1)

by Madison Quinn

“You found the sunroom.”

  “I did,” she smiles. “I remembered seeing it when we were out there last night. It’s not the same as sitting outside, but at least I can take advantage of the view.”

  “I’ll turn off the alarm so you can move out there if you want. We can have breakfast on the patio.”

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  “I usually have a cup of coffee out there in the mornings, on the weekends at least.”

  When she stands up, I groan…loudly. She’s wearing a button-down dress shirt of mine that she must have taken from my closet…and nothing else. My dick immediately twitches remembering how it felt to have her in my arms again last night. Plus, there’s fucking something about seeing her in my clothes that’s an incredible turn on.

  “Luke?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “I asked if you slept okay after we…went back to bed?”

  “Yeah, I slept good.”

  She laughs and steps closer to me, her hands falling to my bare chest. Her breath hitches as she looks up at me. I can’t resist her, not after last night. I lean down and gently kiss her; my arms wrap around her waist, pulling her tightly against me. Her fingers tease my chest, slowly moving to my back where she explores all the scars she already knows are there.

  I’ve never been with a woman who didn’t ask questions when she felt or saw my back. I’d make up stories about what caused them, never wanting to admit the truth to anyone about what really happened in that house so many years ago. But with Em…I don’t need to make up stories, I don’t need to pretend, because she knows exactly what they are and how they got there.

  Following her lead, my fingers trail under the shirt she’s wearing, quickly revealing that she didn’t bother trying to find her panties before she left the room. I love how bold she’s being: touching me without hesitation, without worry, without a second thought. Grasping her ass, I pull her even closer to me, leaving her no doubt just how she’s affecting me. She moans when she feels me against her, hard and ready. But when she slips her hand into my pants it’s my turn to groan.

  “Em…”

  “I want you, Luke,” she whispers against my lips.

  “You sure?” There’s no doubt in my mind, but I need to know she’s certain. This changes everything between us… though I think things were already changing after our kiss at the resort.

  “I’m sure.”

  I lift her up until her legs wrap around my waist. Despite wanting nothing more than to have her in my bed, suddenly the bedroom is too far away. Instead, I gently lower us to the love seat where she was working only a few moments ago. With her lips still on mine, I slowly reach between us and start unbuttoning her shirt. It’s hard as hell to concentrate on the tiny buttons when she’s rubbing herself against me, teasing me with her tongue and making the sexiest sounds. Quickly giving up, I yank the shirt open, sending buttons flying across the room. Emily laughs against my lips and I open my eyes to find her more relaxed than I think I ever have.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I whisper.

  “I’m a mess.” Her hands immediately fly to her long hair, currently done up in some kind of a messy bun.

  “You’re absolutely stunning.”

  “Luke,” she moans when I take her breasts in my hands.

  She grips the back of the chair when I encourage her to rise up so I can take her hardened nipples in my mouth. I touch her everywhere I possibly can and still can’t get enough. The urge to be inside of her again is beyond overwhelming. Slipping my fingers between her legs, we both moan at the realization of how wet she is for me.

  There’s so much more I want to do to her: I want to kiss every part of her body, I want to lay her out on my bed and touch her everywhere, I want her…in every way possible. As much as I loved our first time together, being able to see her is so much better. I watch her face with every move I make, loving the way her mouth opens just slightly or when she bites her lower lip when I touch her somewhere she obviously enjoys. Most of all, I love the way she’s looking down at me rather than closing her eyes.

  I slowly lower her onto me, keeping her close though so I can immediately kiss her as soon as she comes within reach. She grips my shoulders tightly when I urge her to move against me, her nails digging into me just as she drops her head to my shoulder. I nearly lose it though when she lifts herself up slightly and starts pushing my pants down. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I hold her against me as I pull them the rest of the way down.

  Neither of us say a word, but our eyes meet the moment our bodies touch. Just like that night, there are no barriers between us, nothing stopping me from thrusting into her. Unlike that night though, we’re not two clumsy teenagers who have no idea what they’re doing. We’re not two kids held prisoner in a basement, thrown together by a crazed, sick man. Tonight we’re not together out of fear of what will happen the next day.

  “Em…” I whisper when all other words fail me. There’s so much I want to say to her, but I have no idea how.

  “Make love to me, Luke.” Slipping her hand between us, she slowly brings me to her opening. I cup her face in my hands, needing to see her, to watch her, as I take her again. I don’t know if she senses what I need or perhaps she has the same need, but her eyes find mine and neither of us even blink until she takes me in completely.

  “You feel…” I try to find the words, but yet again I fail. “So fucking amazing, baby.”

  “I’ve missed you, Luke. I’ve never felt as safe with anyone else as I do with you.”

  Bringing her lips to mine, words stop being needed the moment she starts moving against me. We take our time, cherishing each minute as if might be our last rather than our first…or, well, I guess second. I have no idea what the fuck is going to happen after we figure out who’s after her, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go again. I let her walk out of my life ten years ago when I was too young to do anything about it, but hell will have to freeze over before I make the same mistake twice.

  “I’ve dreamt of you so many times over the years, Em, but this…fuck it’s so much better than any dream,” I confess.

  “I…I...”

  Her eyes tell me everything she can’t and the realization floors me. Instead of questioning it, I wrap an arm around her waist, anchoring her to my chest. Using the little room I have, I thrust up, hard and fast, into her. Her core grips me, her fingers dig deeper into my shoulders, and her head falls to the back of the couch. While I tease her hardened nipple, I slowly start moving within her, alternating between slow and fast thrusts. Within minutes we’re both moaning and breathing heavily as we get closer and closer to our releases. Knowing I’m not going to last much longer, I slip my fingers down further until I find her clit.

  “LUKE!” she screams as the orgasm hits her. She tightens and convulses around me, slowly moving as she rides out the waves of her orgasm. As much as I keep going, it’s too much. Bringing her down just as I thrust deep, I empty myself into her. She collapses against me, her hand resting on my chest as if she has no intention of moving, which is perfectly fine with me.

  As we slowly come back to reality, I realize that in our haste we failed to use a condom. The panic that one would expect to come with that realization, doesn’t.

  Chapter 32

  Luke

  “Are you sure you need to be at the office today?” I ask for probably the hundredth time.

  “I told you, the software would run much faster on the servers at the office than here. Now that we have a partial picture of him, I want to run it through the facial recognition software and DMV database. Plus the manager at the rental car place should be in at nine today. Unfortunately, by the time I returned his call yesterday, he was already gone.”

  She smirks at me, since I’m the reason she didn’t return his call right away. Yesterday we pretty much spent the entire day in my bedroom, stopping only to eat and take an occasional nap. We reconnected in a way that I didn’t t
hink was possible. In some ways things have changed so much since I picked her up from the café two days ago but in other ways, things haven’t changed much between us.

  This morning she surprised me by insisting she needed to go to the office. I tried to convince her that it was a bad idea, but with each argument I made she also made one about how she would be safe while she was at the office. Finally, I couldn’t argue with her if it meant getting whoever this bastard is out of her life once and for all. I agreed under certain circumstances, including altering our schedule so that we don’t leave the office at the normal time just in case he’s watching. I’ve also let Alec know that I’ll be switching vehicles before we leave as well, again just in case.

  With any luck, today will bring us some answers. Emily’s software was able to match the license plate to a large rental company, but it’s like pulling teeth trying to get information on who actually rented the vehicle. She was also able to get a partial image of the bastard’s face from a traffic cam, but as both Garrett and Emily had said, his face was hidden by a low hat and sunglasses. Still, Emily believes that her software will be able to identify him.

  “What happens once we figure out who he is?” she wonders.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t think the police will do anything since he didn’t actually do anything—”

  “He fucking followed you! He was stalking you!”

  “Which is just a slap on the wrist,” she points out. “They have bigger issues going on compared to this, especially because he never actually threatened me.”

  “If the police won’t do anything, then we’ll just arrange to have a little chat with him.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “We’ll let him know that you’re mine and under no circumstances do I share, with anyone. If that doesn’t work, then I have a few guys we’ve used in the past that are excellent at getting points across.”

  “A little chauvinistic, don’t you think?” She laughs.

  “What is?”

  “I’m yours and you don’t share?”

  “Em…you’ve always been mine, from that very first day, you’ve been mine. Ten years may have passed, but trust me, you’re still mine,” there has never been any doubt in my mind.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  I glance over, not able to read the tone in her voice, but the smile she’s wearing tells me everything I need to know. I pull into the parking lot of the warehouse that houses our offices, quickly checking that no one pulls in after us. He wouldn’t have been able to follow us from the house, but it doesn’t stop me from checking anyway.

  “Good morning, Margaret.” If she’s surprised to find Emily and I walking in together, holding hands, she hides it well. I emailed her this morning to let her know that Emily was having car trouble and that I would be bringing her in late. Alec and I both agreed that until we know who this bastard is, the fewer people who know what’s going on the better.

  “Morning Mr. Simpson, Ms. Telford.” She nods.

  “Let me know if you find anything.” I pause when we’ve reached Emily’s office and lean down to kiss her. Immediately, her face turns an adorable shade of pink and she looks around to make sure no one is around. I couldn’t care less. I have no fucking problem with the entire office knowing that she’s mine.

  “I will.” She surprises me by leaning up and kissing me again before darting into her office.

  I quickly make my way down the hall to my office, immediately turning on the cameras for the security system. The wall of flat-screen monitors display every angle of our office and the surrounding property so if someone tries to sneak in, not only will they trigger an alarm, but I’ll also be able to see them on the screen. I adjust one of the cameras so it has a clear view of the doorway to Emily’s office.

  “Any problems?” Alec asks as soon as I answer my ringing phone.

  “None, there were no signs that he was waiting here for her.”

  “She have any other thoughts as to who this bastard might be?”

  “No. She easily tracked down the last guy she dated before her dad got sick—”

  “And?”

  “He’s on his honeymoon in Aruba, easily verified by the plane ticket and credit card transactions.”

  “Damn, I liked him for it.”

  “So did I. A scorned lover is always my first thought and nine times out of ten, it’s them.”

  “Let’s hope she can work her magic and find out who this bastard is so she can put this behind her. She doesn’t need something like this with everything she’s already been through,” Alec says.

  “Agreed.” He has no idea just how right he is.

  “Let me know what you find. I have a call with a potential new client this afternoon. Depending on how the call goes, do you have someone available for a live-in position?”

  “Garrett,” I say without giving it a second thought. He proved himself to me handling the last minute call for help with Emily and then taking care of her car after we had to quickly leave. “He’s completed his training and has done a few on-site jobs. Depending on what all is needed, I’d consider presenting him with the case.”

  “I’ll know more after the call, and then I’ll have Emily start running the background checks before we decide if we’re going to move forward. But from what I’ve gathered, he’s some big shot tech guru who has been receiving threats after it was revealed software his company developed was actually spying on their customers. Of course, he denies this, but it’s the nature of the threats.”

  “Let me know what you find out. I’d like more information on the threats, but Garrett would probably be a good fit for the job. He was willing to consider live-in positions, so that won’t be a problem.”

  “Great, I’ll let you know if we need to move forward with the background checks.”

  “Thanks for covering the call this morning. I didn’t want to risk bringing her here early.”

  “No, that made sense. It was fine, the timing worked out because Sophie took an early nap since she was up most of the night.”

  “Everything okay?” She’s usually a pretty good sleeper for Alec.

  “She’s teething, so just having a hard time.”

  “Do you need anything? I can bring something by—”

  “No, Dani…she thought ahead and had all these teething toys and stuff ready for this.”

  “Let me know if you need something…I don’t know shit about babies but if there’s something I can do…”

  “We’re good, thanks.”

  A weird silence falls. This is the first time he’s even said Dani’s name since the accident. I don’t know if he even realizes he was avoiding saying her name or if he realizes he said it just now. Since it all happened, he’s been closed off about her. The closest I can get to talking about her is to ask about Sophie. That was a struggle at first too, but he’s slowly started opening up.

  “Let me know what you find out. And, Luke, keep Emily safe.”

  “Always.”

  The next few hours pass by quickly, but, thankfully, without event. There’s no sign of Emily’s stalker, but I don’t think for even a second that he’s given up. Men like him don’t just give up, not once they set their eyes on someone they want. The thought sickens me.

  “We have a name.” She practically bounces into my office just as I was wrapping up.

  “Really?”

  “Jackson Scott.”

  “Who the hell is that?”

  “That’s the guy who rented the Toyota that’s been following me, both according to the rental company and the DMV database.”

  “I figured,” I grunt, “but who the hell is he to you?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You don’t know him?”

  “Never heard the name before.”

  “Does he look familiar? At all?”

  “No.”

  “Where’s he from? He could have known you without you knowing w
ho he is?”

  “I only have a preliminary background check completed so far. The more in-depth one will take a few more hours. He lives outside of DC and, from what I can tell so far, he hasn’t stayed at the hotel where I am. He’s not married, no children, and from the looks of it he’s unemployed—”

  “What did he do?”

  “Everything.” She sighs. “Most recently he was a cab driver in the city, before that a bartender, and before that, he did stints at several construction companies.”

  “Fuck, that doesn’t help us figure out how he knows you.”

  “I know.” She adjusts the chair in front of my desk, angling it so her back isn’t toward the door before sitting down. I noticed she does that whenever she’s here, but I haven’t see her do it at my house.

  “Any criminal record?”

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s something at least.”

  Chapter 33

  Luke

  It’s been a week and we’re no closer to finding this bastard then we were when this all began. I sent a couple guys to his last known address, but there was no sign of him there, which wasn’t unexpected since he had been hanging around the hotel. For all intents and purposes, we’re beginning to wonder if he had given up, but we all know the likelihood of that is slim. So, we’ve gone about our lives as best as we’re able to. Emily and I still go to the office when we need to, but for the most part, we work from my house.

  That’s the only bright side to this entire situation; we’ve been living together this entire time. Except for the first night when she slept in a guestroom, every other night she’s been sleeping in my bed. I love falling asleep with her in my arms and waking up to find her still there in the morning. In many ways, it reminds me of our time in the basement because we sleep the exact same way.

  We’ve also spent the last week getting to know each other again. We both have a lot of quirks from our experience, but I’m surprised to learn that Emily doesn’t have an issue with darkness the way I do. For me, it doesn’t matter where I am or how prepared I try to be, if I’m surrounded in total darkness I have to fight off a panic attack. Emily is bothered by darkness only in unfamiliar places, which I’ve learned is why she tries to memorize every room she walks into. Darkness didn’t bother her at her dad’s house because she knew where everything was already and trusted her dad to keep her safe. She says she feels the same way being here.