I called Tex and Blaine to let them know what had happened while we were at the police station. Tex apologized for not hunting the information he’d found on Julian faster. It had taken a little digging, but he’d found a couple arrests which had been dismissed—both related to ex-girlfriends who’d accused him of not understanding what the ‘ex’ part meant. Money exchanged hands and the charges were wiped from his record. That’s why nothing had popped up in his first search, when I’d asked him to do a cursory check of all the men whose names had been linked with Chloe’s. It wasn’t until the warning bells went off this morning that I’d asked him to look deeper into Julian’s background.
I received a cryptic text back from Blaine a few hours later, which only made sense when we walked into Chloe’s house to find all the evidence from the shooting cleaned up already.
“Oh thank goodness,” Chloe sighed. “I don’t think I could handle cleaning up Julian’s blood after everything that happened today.”
“If things had gone wrong, it would have been your blood I was cleaning up.”
The thought of how close she’d come to getting hurt made me frantic. I’d only just found her, and I could have lost her. Yanking her against my chest, I put everything I was feeling into my kiss. My tongue slid into her mouth, tangling with hers as we panted into each other’s mouths. Cupping her cheeks in my palms, I tilted her head upwards to deepen the kiss further.
“I need you,” I moaned, tearing my mouth from hers to suck in a deep breath. She wrapped her legs around my waist when I lifted her up and carried her to the couch. I laid her on the cushions gently, following her down until I was half on top of her. With deft fingers, I made quick work of the buttons on her blouse and shoved the soft material wide.
“Make me forget the bad until I only remember the good,” she whispered. “Until the only thing I see or feel is you.”
“Whatever you want,” I promised, running my finger over the edge of her bra. “Anything you need. I’ll give it to you.”
“The only thing I need is you, Kael.”
“You’ve got me, baby.” I slid my other hand under her skirt, giving her inner thigh a squeeze to get her to part her legs. When they opened, my fingers moved higher, toying with the edge of her panties before slipping inside to stroke her swollen, drenched lips.
“And you’ve got me.”
“Fuck yeah, I do. You’re mine, Chloe,” I growled, yanking her panties down her legs and pushing a fingertip inside her. Rising up to my knees, I watched my finger move in and out of her at a leisurely pace. When I felt the quiver of her inner muscles, I added another finger and stretched her as I pumped them. She felt so damn good, and the scent of her desire filled the air. My dick was aching to get inside her, but I wanted to get her off first.
Bending low, I swept my tongue from bottom to top, and followed it up with a flick against her clit. The taste of her in my mouth snapped what little control I had left. Curling my fingers up, I searched for her G-spot and rubbed against it until she screamed her pleasure. With her spread out on the cushions underneath me, I fumbled with my belt and zipper, shoving my pants down as soon as I got them undone. I lowered myself over her, my eyes locked with hers, and settled between her legs until my dick nudged her opening.
“I love you, Chloe.”
Tears filled those beautiful green orbs and spilled down her cheeks. “I love you, too” she hiccuped.
“Thank fuck,” I sighed as I drove downwards, filling her in one powerful thrust. “Because I’m never letting you go.”
We moved together, her meeting me thrust for thrust. I nipped at her bottom lip with my teeth and whispered sweet nothings until her knees clenched against my sides and her nails dug into my back. I took her to the brink. Hard. Deep. Slow. I waited for her to fly over the edge before I allowed my own orgasm to crash over me. It hit with so much force I gasped for air while I shuddered in her arms, pumping into her throughout it all and pulling her into my arms when I was done.
“I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.” I’d suffered loss before, teammates killed in action during missions, but nothing had prepared me for the surge of panic I’d felt when it was Chloe’s life on the line. It’d taken every ounce of my training to keep a level head and not just go apeshit on the guy.
“I’m right here with you, safe and sound because you saved me.” Her words were softly said, her voice trembling at the end.
“You did a damn good job keeping it together.” Her level-headedness had been impressive, with one glaring exception. “Although, if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation again, you’d best not open the door to anyone unless I’ve told you it’s okay.”
“Well, maybe I would have known better if you’d showed me any of the stuff he’d sent in the last two weeks,” she grumbled. “Or even if you’d told me you’d asked Tex to look into Julian’s background. You’d done such a good job keeping me sheltered that I didn’t feel like I was really in danger anymore and let my guard down.”
“Fair point, well made,” I conceded. “No more secrets, even if they’re for your own good.”
“Secrets aren’t good for relationships anyway.”
“Another excellent point.”
“As long as I’m on a roll,” she drawled. “Boyfriends are meant to be with their girlfriends.”
“You asking me to move in with you?”
“Yeah, I guess I am, but it doesn’t mean we have to stay in Los Angeles forever. I mean, you might have other plans since you put your life on hold to come out here and rescue me.”
“I came out here and found my life,” I corrected her. “As long as I have you, everything else will fall into place.”
Epilogue
Chloe
One Year Later
“Happy anniversary, baby.”
I woke to the sound of Kael whispering in my ear.
“Anniversary?” I mumbled sleepily, worn out from a late night on set wrapping up the final scenes for my next movie.
It turned out Drew had been wrong—I did have what it took to star in action flicks. In the aftermath of Julian’s arrest and conviction for stalking me, I found myself in high demand with the studios. The Oscar had already opened a lot of doors for me, but it was nothing compared to the choices I had with a blockbuster hit under my belt. People came out to see the movie I’d filmed with Julian in droves. It ended up being the biggest opening weekend at the box office my studio had ever had, but I was happy its success lasted long past those first few days. I liked to think that the scandal caught people’s interest, but the quality of the film made them want to see it more than once.
Either way, it worked out well for me because it meant I was able to avoid taking any more romantic comedy roles. After what happened with Julian, I didn’t think I’d ever be comfortable enough to perform in another movie with even a whiff of romance. Drew hadn’t been happy with my decision, but it didn’t matter what he thought because I fired him as soon as we learned that he was the inside source of information for Julian. None of it had been intentional on Drew’s part, but his carelessness with my safety meant he had to go—or so my new business manager insisted.
Kael didn’t trust me with hardly anyone other than himself, which meant he quickly became involved in my career. Lucky for both of us, he had quite the knack for managing me. In and out of bed.
But I wasn’t certain about his ability to read a calendar. “It isn’t our anniversary for a couple more days yet.”
“I found you one year ago today.”
“You’re right! It is the anniversary of the day we met.” My eyes popped open and I sat up, pressing my hand over my mouth when I saw him kneeling beside the bed. “Holy crap!”
“One year down and at least seventy more to go. All of which I want to spend with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I gasped, my hand trembling as he slid a gorgeous diamond solitaire onto my finger.
“Thank fu
ck,” he breathed out, capturing my lips in a sweet but passionate kiss. “How quickly do you think you can put a wedding together?”
“Well,” I drawled. “We’re celebrating the anniversary of when we met with a proposal, and it’s two days before the anniversary of when we officially started dating.”
His dark eyes lit up with happiness. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yup,” I giggled. “As long as what you’re thinking is that I’d like to run off to Vegas and get married to you this weekend.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“As long as you fly your gramps and my grandmom out for the ceremony, it’s exactly what I want.”
“They’d both have my head if I didn’t make sure they were there with us. Gramps took me aside during our last visit to give me pointers on how to propose properly.”
“I’ll have to remember to tell him how good of a job you did,” I giggled.
“You’d better send your grandmother a photo of the ring while you’re at it because she stuffed pictures into my pocket of five different rings she’d thought you’d like when we were leaving.”
His exasperation only increased my giggles. “It’s probably a good thing we’re getting married this weekend then, so they don’t have enough time to boss us around about the ceremony too. Plus, I don’t want to give the paparazzi enough time to figure out what we’re doing. I want this wedding to be about you and me and our love for each other.”
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get. I’ll give Blaine a call and have him check to see if we can have it at Damian’s hotel. As soon as he tells Delia, I’m sure she’ll call you and ask to help with the details.”
“Let him know Brody is welcome to join us too.”
I’d finally met Blaine’s swim buddy six months before when we’d gone to visit Blaine and Delia. He’d apologized profusely for being out of touch when Kael had asked for his help. Blaine had looked pissed when Kael had given Brody a hard time about dropping off the radar. It sounded like there was an interesting story there, and as Kael’s wife it was my responsibility to meddle in his friend’s lives. Or at least it seemed like a good enough excuse since I wanted everyone around us to be as happy as Kael made me.
Curious About Blaine & Delia?
Identity Crisis
A reclusive author...
Delia Sinclair is desperate to hit a looming deadline. With only two weeks to go before her manuscript is due, she heads to a remote cabin in the Smoky Mountains with no internet or cell service.
An ex-military security specialist...
Blaine West is halfway around the world when he gets a frantic message from his childhood sweetheart. She needs to lay low for awhile so he puts her in touch with someone who can help her until he can get back to town.
A dead body...
When Blaine arrives at the hotel where they were supposed to meet, he learns the body of a local author was discovered that morning but there's no sign of his old flame.
And a case of mistaken identity...
Delia returns home completely unaware that the police believe she's been murdered. With Delia alive and his ex still missing, Blaine has the skills and connections to find out exactly what happened and keep Delia safe.
Lead to a passion that burns out of control.
Available Now
Books By This Author
BLYTHE COLLEGE SERIES
Push the Envelope
Hit the Wall
Summer Nights (novella duo)
Outside the Box
Winter Wedding (novella)
BACHELORETTE PARTY SERIES
Sucked Into Love
CRISIS SERIES
Identity Crisis
BLACK RIVER PACK SERIES
Crying Wolf
Shoot for the Moon
Thrown to the Wolves
McMAHON CLAN SERIES
Bear the Consequences
Bear It All
Bear the Burden
BODY & SOUL SERIES
Bare Your Soul
Save Your Soul
About the Author
I absolutely adore reading—always have and always will. When I was growing up, my friends used to tease me when I would trail after them, trying to read and walk at the same time. If I have downtime, odds are you will find me reading or writing.
I am the mother of two wonderful sons who have inspired me to chase my dream of being an author. I want them to learn from me that you can live your dream as long as you are willing to work for it.
When I told my mom that my new year's resolution was to self-publish a book in 2013, she pretty much told me, "About time!"
Connect with me online!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rochellepaigeauthor
Twitter: @rochellepaige1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7328358.Rochelle_Paige
Website: http://www.rochellepaige.com
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protection Crisis (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 8
