Tempting the Heiress

by Nana Malone

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’re going to hand it back? Are you mad? We still don't know everything it says. We’re not going to do that until Neela has more time to decipher it. We need proper leverage, a way out of this mess you put her in. We hand it back to Vanhorn now, and we lose all leverage. Nothing’s to stop his men from killing us all. Best bet is to go back with the strength of the team behind us.”

  “I might as well be a sitting duck if I go back with nothing to show for it. I’m either making a play with the ledger or I need to stay dead.”

  I really did not like this woman.

  Hate was a strong word, but I didn't care for her. She was a liar. Every word out of her mouth had been a lie since we'd embarked on this little adventure. Not to mention, baby Mayzie was not too keen on her mum. Every time Willa picked her up, there were tears. And then she would dive for my arms saying, "Da."

  Of course, there was a part of me that wanted to believe she was trying to say Daddy.

  Yeah, that's the dumb part, mate.

  It was the part of me that wanted to believe. It was stupid. Emotions like that could get everyone hurt. Emotions would shift my focus, and I couldn’t afford that right now.

  Another huge risk. I still couldn't help it though. From the moment I’d first held that kid, I'd felt like she was mine, which was stupid, I was well aware.

  Because she wasn't.

  Willa continued her hard press for the idea. “Look, we might as well hand it over. I haven't seen Neela with it at all.”

  “What the hell do you think she’s been doing half the time?”

  Willa slid a glance over to Neela who was hunched over her phone. “Where is it?”

  Neela glanced up. “We didn’t think it was safe to carry, so I stashed it. But took photos so I've been able to work on it.”

  Willa pushed to standing as she stared at me. “You mean you don’t have it with you?”

  I shook my head. “Of course not.”

  "Neela?" Willa asked.

  "It's safe."

  Willa refused to back down. "No. I'm sorry, but it’s my life, I'm not leaving it in the hands of anyone else. I’ll just go get it."

  I laughed. "Well, I'm not letting you go anywhere unsupervised. What's to stop you from taking off with that ledger? Any answers we need will go with you."

  “Neela can come with me. She needs to work on it anyway.”

  The fuck? "My directive is clear. Keep Mayzie and Neela safe."

  Willa squared her shoulders. "Actually no. Your directive is to keep Mayzie safe. Not Neela.”

  My brows snapped down. "What?"

  "Look, there's only one of you. I didn’t want the baby in danger. It's faster and safer if you stay here with Mayzie.”

  “Let me be clear with you, love. Where Neela goes, I go. You aren’t to be trusted.”

  “Oh for the love of Christ. If you—”

  Neela interrupted. “Jesus Christ. Would the two of you stop?”

  “Neela—” I started, but she gave me a sharp shake of her head.

  “Bedroom now.” She handed a sleeping Mayzie over to Willa. “Put her down.”

  Willa’s brows drew up. “We’re not done. We can’t put this off any—”

  “We are done. I am done. We just fled armed assailants… again. And you two are busy yelling at each other. I never asked for any of this. I’m tired. Jax, bedroom. Now.”

  Why was it so hot having her give me orders? Maybe because I had full intention on challenging those orders once we were in the bed.

  But that was not what she had in mind when she slammed the door behind us. “You have to stop.”

  I stared at her. “What? I thought we were on the same page here?”

  “We are, but I can’t take the constant push and pull.

  “I hear you. We’ll make sure that—"

  She shook her head vehemently. “I want it done. Let me just give her the ledger. The sooner she has it, the sooner she’ll be out of our hair. We both know she doesn’t really want Mayzie.”

  “So you want to just give it up? No telling what that information is. What it could mean. Who it could hurt. No. It’s better if I call Ariel, and we take her somewhere to be questioned. And I can keep you safe.”

  “Yeah but for how long? They’ll keep coming. Vanhorn. Satorini. Whoever else she pissed off. I didn’t want this. My father’s life is now my life. He was always looking over his shoulder. I was adamant that I wanted nothing to do with that. I need simplicity in my life. I’ll give the ledger to Willa, then everything goes back to the way it was before.”

  I scrubbed a hand down my face. “No. This is insane. You finish the translation and you are a sitting duck.”

  “If I don’t finish and I don’t hand it off, I’m a sitting duck anyway. Jax, I just want Mayzie to be safe.” Her voice quavered. “Sh—she’s everything. And I don’t know if I’ll survive knowing I could have done something to save her and I didn’t.”

  I tugged her close. “We’ll call in reinforcements in the morning. We might need to take the fight to home base since obviously they keep finding us. You’re bone weary. We can’t think like this with only half the picture. Let’s talk to the team in the morning. We’ll get the full lay of the land. Besides. You don’t have the journal. Ariel has got it for safe keeping. Once we talk to everyone we’ll decide okay?”

  I thought she might argue, but then her shoulders sagged. “I’m so scared Jax.”

  “I know love. I know.”

  “I’m afraid I’m going to wake up in the morning and discover that I have failed Mayzie May.”

  “You will never have failed her. You love her too much, okay?”

  “It’s going to hurt so bad when she takes her away.”

  I dropped my forehead to hers. “Good thing, I have no intention of letting that happen.”

  Neela...

  Jax was trying to kill me… with sex. Kill me with sex and make sure I couldn't move. Because if I couldn't move, then it meant I wasn't going anywhere.

  And he knew I was going.

  I'd been deprived of sleep by the most delicious sensations. That tugging and pulling of my breasts, and that low pull in my belly. It was some kind of delicious friction.

  I woke up to find Jax with his mouth around my nipple and his fingers sliding between my lips, gently circling my clit.

  "Morning love," he said, intermittently switching his mouth between my two breasts.

  After we’d made love half the night, I’d slept fitfully. I knew what had to be done about Willa. I knew my part in it. I just knew I’d have to do the one thing Jax didn’t want me to do.

  Not that I wanted to do it either.

  But the more I thought about it, I knew the fastest way to end this was to give Willa what she wanted. Then she’d be out of our lives. I’d make her see a life on the run was no life for a baby. Besides, I wasn't above bargaining with Willa to keep Mayzie safe. I’d do anything.

  I was still too much in my head, and Jax wasn’t having a moment of that. He nipped me gently on the nipple, making me cry out. “Jax.”

  “Focus love. I’m the one giving you orgasms. We have plenty of time to worry later.”

  Before I knew it, I was moaning, and I couldn’t give two fucks if Willa heard us.

  Jax wasted no time. He slid under the covers, palming my ass in both hands and spreading me wide. "No time for preamble, darling. Mayzie is going to be awake soon. I want to make sure we get our fill."

  And then he planted his lips on me. He wasn't gentle. He wasn't slow. He didn't take his time. Oh no, it was fast, flat licks with his tongue, the occasional grazing with his teeth, the sliding in of his fingers, fucking me quickly. No gentle slide, no calm wake-up. He wanted orgasms and he wanted them immediately. And I was going to give them to him, whether I wanted to or not.

  Spoiler alert. I totally wanted to.

  “Jax—"

  "Yeah, love?"

  How could he be so calm?
I felt like fire was racing through my veins, ready to combust, ready to blow me up from the inside.

  Just when I was close enough that I could taste it, I could feel it, he stopped.

  "Jax—"

  "Shh. I'm right here." His lips brushed mine, and I could taste myself on them. Just the knowledge of what he'd been doing was enough to have me raising my hips, trying to meet the slide of his erection. I needed that delicious friction.

  "Shit. Love. Do we have enough condoms left?"

  I frowned. "I'm on the pill."

  His eyes went wide. "What?"

  "The pill, I never went off."

  Jax muffled a curse against my lips. He grabbed his erection at the base and then smoothed it over my clit.

  I threw my head back. "Oh my God."

  "That's how you make me feel. Every damn day. Just on the edge of bursting because I need to be with you."

  "What are you doing, Jax?"

  "That's easy. I'm loving you."

  And then he pressed his tip inside and watched as he slid into me. His eyes were on us joining. My eyes were on him. The exaltation on his face was incredible to watch.

  "You own every part of me."

  And then he was moving. Quickly. Just like all those fascinating porn movies I'd ever seen, where the guy had the girl basically pinned to the bed with his hips and he was working her over.

  But unlike the girls in those videos, I was enjoying the ride. I didn't have much range of motion in my hands, but I could arch my back, trying to get him to give me what I wanted.

  It was delicious. I loved it. He sank so deep, and he was so big, stretching me. It was all I wanted. It was all I maybe was ever going to need. Him, inside me, knowing every inch of me.

  With a rough snarl, he flipped us over, squeezing my ass tightly as he held me on top of him.

  I sucked in a sharp breath when the tip of one of his fingers grazed over my anus.

  He gave me a devilish grin. "Did you like that?"

  "I—uh—"

  He did it again, more firmly this time, and his touch coincided with a slide of his thickness inside me. "Oh my God. Oh my God. I—"

  "Is that a yes?"

  "Yes, it's a yes. Oh, Jesus."

  And then he was sliding a finger inside my ass as he was still inside me. He slid his free hand into my hair and gripped. A tiny sting of pain only heightened what I was feeling. He was owning me, possessing me.

  Jax pulled my hair back, forcing me to arch my back, forcing my breasts to be an offer for him, and then he leaned up and took one into his mouth as he stimulated the most sensitive parts of my body.

  Before I knew it, I was flying. With his finger in my ass, his cock deep inside me, the bare slide of nothing between us, I broke apart. Teeth biting my lip, bliss coursing through me, I fell. Completely and totally in love.

  He wasn't done with me though.

  He only increased his pace, sucked harder, pulled more. Finally, he released my breast, his teeth diving into that soft spot on my shoulder between my ear and the hollow of my neck, and he bit me, roaring into it as he came. His body jerked beneath mine. His arms tightened around me. His finger that had been doing all those dirty things to me, gently tapped that bundle of nerves, making me shake and shudder.

  "Jesus Christ, Neela, you're fucking going to kill me."

  "I'm pretty sure I'm already dead. So, I beat you."

  "Woman."

  I wanted to stay in his arms. I wanted to just do nothing more than this and let him make love to me every day.

  But I knew I had to go. Willa had the missing piece of the ledger. And with people on our trail, she was the key to cracking everything. She was also the key to that little girl’s safety. I had to get her as far away from Mayzie as possible. If Jax had to stick with Mayzie, I would take Willa. And I knew just how to do it.

  Lazily stroking his hand up my back, Jax kissed my mouth first, then my cheeks, and I said, "I’m going to get some water. You want a sports drink?"

  He started to sit up abruptly. “I’ll do it.”

  I pushed him back down. “Nope. You take care of me all the time. I can do it.”

  He smile was immediate. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime. I want you to know I still expect to be waited on hand and foot when we get back.”

  His low, rumbling chuckle made me contemplate another round. But no. If I didn’t pull the trigger now, I never would.

  In the kitchen, I grabbed myself a glass of water and him a drink from the fridge. I hoped to God the drinks were sweet enough to mask the bitterness. I then marched into the bathroom of the cramped safehouse and grabbed the sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet. I didn't know the dosage. I just needed to put him out long enough to leave with Willa. He was determined to do everything his way.

  My way might be bat-shit crazy, but at least my way would get rid of Willa, not make her an even bigger problem.

  When I returned to the bedroom, I pretended to open the bottle and handed it over. He didn’t even blink and guzzled it down.

  He would be pissed in the morning. But he’d eventually understand. He would have to.

  “Come back to bed, love. Let me hold you. It’s still a few minutes until dawn and Mayzie will be up.”

  “Okay. You twisted my arm.” I snuggled in, reveling in the feel of him.

  “I love you. You know that,” he mumbled as he kissed my shoulder.

  “I love you too, Jax.” I just hoped he forgave me.

  An hour later as his snores filled the silence, I slunk out from under his arm and dressed in a hurry. When I snuck out to the living room, I found Willa on her back, half falling off the couch. I shook her awake.

  “What the fuck, Neela?”

  “If you want the ledger, now is the time to get it. Move your ass. One condition, though; You leave Mayzie with me until you sort out your shit. She needs stability, and you know that.”

  “You’re shitting me. You expect me to give up my daughter?”

  I lifted my chin. “I expect you to clean up your mess and not drag her into it. Your choice. That’s the only way we’re doing this.”

  Willa glowered at me but then gave me a sharp nod. “Fine.”

  “Get ready to go, we don’t have much time.”

  She blinked several times as if she didn’t believe me, but then she got her ass in gear.

  While Willa dressed, I went over to the baby cot in the corner and kissed Mayzie’s forehead. “I love you, Mayzie May. You be good for Jax. I’ll see you soon.”

  I just prayed I wasn’t making a huge mistake. Under cover of darkness, I left behind my family, hoping to keep them safe.

  Seventeen

  Jax…

  At first I thought it was Mayzie that woke me up. But no. That scratching sound wasn’t the baby. I dragged open my eyes, reached for the weapon underneath my pillow, and stayed very quiet.

  Fuck, I was lethargic. My eyes weren’t working right. They didn’t want to stay open. Not to mention I was groggy, and my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

  The fuck?

  You’ve been drugged.

  Shit. Mayzie. I had to get to Mayzie. Had Willa drugged me?

  I patted the other side of the bed for Neela, but the sheets were cool. She’d been out of bed a long time.

  My brows furrowed as I tried to make the synapses fire correctly.

  Slowly, it dawned. It wasn’t Willa who’d drugged me. It had been Neela.

  I glowered at the sports drink on the night stand. She’d drugged me. She’d fucking drugged me and nuzzled in next to me.

  Worse, I knew exactly why she’d done it, and I had no idea how much time I had to stop her. I picked my phone up and sent the SOS signal to Ariel with a quick message to watch for Neela.

  That woman was stupidly stubborn, and when I got my hands on her, I was going to give her the spanking of a lifetime.

  There was another scraping sound. I had trouble. I went to Mayzie’s bed and lifted her o
ut of the makeshift crib, grabbed a carrier, and strapped her in. She was almost too big for it, but I had to use what we had. Then, I put her in the closet, praying that she stayed asleep.

  “You stay in here, love. Uncle Jax will be right back, okay? Don’t you go waking up on me.”

  Once she was in the closet, I grabbed my weapons. Ankle holster, back holster, and knives.

  I edged closer and closer to the door. The bedroom was small. I didn’t have a lot of places to hide, and the darkness was not my friend. I didn’t have the night vision goggles and maybe whoever was trying to get in here did.

  My watch buzzed. It told me someone had breached one of the entrances, but unfortunately, it didn’t tell me which one. We had a bathroom window and the windows in the bedroom, and I had set up makeshift alarms there and on the front door. I thought the bedroom was safe. The front door was closed, so I aimed the gun toward the bathroom. I crashed forward quickly, eyes on the swivel, watching carefully. Someone was here.

  “Oh, I do want to say thank you for looking after my daughter.”

  I scowled and then I slowly turned.

  “I’m Michael Satorini. You’ve given us a merry chase. But now my men and I are going to take my daughter.“

  “How the fuck did you get in here?”

  “Oh, you think I wasn’t already in here? I’ve been hiding in that closet in that bathroom down the hallway. I’ve been hiding in plain sight ever since the love of your life left. Tell me, was that Willa or Neela? I know from experience just how good Willa is, how you’re seeing stars, worshipping at the altar of sheer greatness. You slept with the goods, huh?”

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “Just what’s mine.”

  I don’t know why it just dawned on me, the way Willa had said the name, the way she had explained they had history. He was Mayzie’s father.

  “You can’t have her.”

  “You can’t stop me.”

  “The hell I can’t.” I charged for him. I managed to get in a jab and a hook.