by Maggie Cole
“Never point the gun, even when you think it’s empty, at anyone, understand?”
I nodded.
“Tell me you understand, Maddie.”
“I understand, Jack.”
“Good. Now I’m going to show you how to load it with bullets.” He opened a drawer and pulled out six bullets. I watched as he put in two and then he made me put the other four in.
We put our ear protectors on, and he stood behind me once more. With his hands on top of mine, he flipped the safety and prodded me to squeeze the trigger. The gun fired and shot me back a bit into Jack, who stood firmly planted.
He put the safety on, set the gun back down, and uncovered our ears. “Did you feel how you bounced back?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the gun kicking back. You need to plant yourself into the ground.” He showed me how.
"Okay, Jack.” I put my ear covers back on and stepped in front of him.
We stood back in position, and I fired. Then again. And again. And again. The last bullet, Jack stepped away from me, and I fired on my own.
Jack’s face was serious. He pulled our ear protectors off and put the safety back on the gun. “There are bullets in my desk drawer, the opposite drawer where this gun is. You figured out the code, so if you ever get stuck and can’t get to this room, you remember where I have this, okay?”
“I understand. But Jack, we have security in the lobby and right now bodyguards outside our door. Nothing is going to happen.”
“Probably not, but I won’t take my chances with you.”
There was still so much I didn’t know about Jack. But I felt like I had just learned the most important piece. His need to protect me I could always feel, but now I knew it ran deeper than I realized. I thought back to his immediate flight mode the first night we met in the bar.
I glanced around the room, and then at Jack, and I saw so much sadness in his eyes. This room was extreme, and it represented what he blamed himself for. I realized that he thought it was his fault they lost the baby, and I grabbed his face and pulled it to mine. “It wasn’t your fault, Jack.”
His eyes welled up. “It was. I couldn’t protect them,” he whispered.
I shook my head. “No. It wasn’t.”
Tears began to fall. An ocean of guilt, a lifetime of self-hatred, a never-ending stream of pain fell in those tears, as I pulled him into me.
I let him cry. I don’t know how long it was. I finally grabbed his hand and the gun. “Come on, Jack, let’s get out of here.”
We turned off the lights and locked up the room. I walked into the office and locked the gun in the safe.
Jack stood in the doorway and observed me. “Maddie, we have to find out what Bo wants with you.”
“I’m assuming he is working for Mike.”
“But what are they planning?”
Shivers whipped through my body, as I had a flashback of Bo when he ripped off my underwear and pushed me up against the sink. “I don’t know. What did the FBI say when you called them today?”
Jack sighed. “Not much. They said they would put a trail on him, but other than that, they couldn’t disclose anything to me.” He paused.
“What is it?”.
“A new shipment came in today.” Disgust filled his face. “One of the agents got wind of ‘the party.’”
“What else aren’t you telling me?”
Jack took a big breath and ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t say anything at first.
“What?”
“The FBI doesn’t understand why they are so interested in you. Another account was opened today in your name. It was one thing to use your name to have you be the fall person, but they feel it’s more personal...more like revenge.”
My mind spun. “Revenge for what?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know. I hoped maybe you could think of something?”
There wasn’t anything I could think of. “Jack, I swear, I don’t know why they involved me in this!”
Jack came over to me. “Maddie, I know that. Everyone knows that. Don’t think for one minute that anyone thinks you’re involved in this.”
“I feel like I need to defend myself or something.”
Jack pulled me close. “No one thinks you are involved, Maddie. And you never have to defend yourself to me.”
I closed my eyes. When would this nightmare end? It felt like we were in a never-ending trap that we couldn't get out of, and until we did, we would never be free.
“Hey, I don’t think all this worrying is helping us. Why don’t we do something to take our minds off this?” Jack gave me his boyish grin. It was the look that always made my insides turn to jello.
I laughed softly. “And what would you have us do?”
He whispered in my ear, “I brought you a gift.”
My insides instantly woke up. I gave him a sly look. “Yeah? What kind of gift?”
“I can’t tell you. I can only show you.” He gave me a cocky grin while he trailed his fingers over my collarbone.
He didn’t have to ask me twice. “Well, show me then.”
Jack didn’t need any more encouragement. He stuck his fingers in my pants and traced the back of my thong. My body pulsed and knew it would soon be soaring. He clutched my butt cheeks and picked me up as my legs automatically wrapped around his hips. He set me on the desk.
Jack put his face next to mine. His lips and tongue explored my mouth and quickly lit the fire within me.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Jack left and returned with a bag. He set it next to me and drew me to his body.
My underwear sat against his hard cock. His pants were still on, but it teased me and made me wet through our clothes. As I pulled Jack closer, I felt it expand, which turned me on further. It was a power trip I always felt every time we had sex—that my body could do that to his, and that his dick was mine and mine alone.
I ground into him and shoved my heels into his buttocks to get his manhood closer to my body. With a swift yank, Jack ripped my thong off me. I gasped with pleasure at the quick moment of pain.
He wadded my dress up further and grabbed a handful of my wetness. “God, I love how wet you get for me,” he praised me as he rubbed my nub and made me moan.
I reached out and unzipped Jack’s pants and unbuckled his belt. His pants fell to the ground, and I forced his boxers along with them.
“Little feisty today, are we?” He raised his eyebrows along with his cocky grin.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I reached up and hungrily kissed him, as I claimed him as mine. His naked skin melted against me.
His hands bunched up my dress, and he whipped it over my head and tossed it aside and leaned back into my mouth.
As Jack’s large hands stroked my back, he removed my bra. He nibbled on my ear and whispered, “I’m going to make you cum harder tonight, Maddie, than ever before.”
My vagina started to spasm at his promise. “Ah, God Jack, yes,” I moaned and threw my neck back so he could feast on it.
“Do you want your present, Maddie?”
“Yes, Jack.”
“Lay down then.”
My hot skin laid back on the cold, hard wood. Jack grabbed my feet and planted them at the end of the desk. “Close your eyes, Maddie.”
I closed my eyes. I could hear the shuffle of a bag, a box being ripped open, and the squirt of something…but I didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t take long and began to rub his fingers over my clit.
“You can open your eyes.” Jack leaned over me and kissed me.
My eyelids fluttered open.
“Maddie, tell me to stop at any time, okay?”
“Okay, Jack.”
He started to suck on my breasts, and his fingers played with my ass and vagina.
He stuck what I thought was a finger up my asshole. I sucked in a deep breath. “This feels okay, Maddie?”
“Yes,” I breathed, enjoying the pressure. Jack’s l
ips fluttered on my mound and sent tiny volts through my body. I loved it, but I wanted him in my pussy, and I shoved his head there.
He quietly chuckled, moved his mouth to where I wanted him and gave me a few sucks as his finger went deeper into my anus.
With hitched breath, I mumbled, “Oh..oh..oh…”
Jack’s soft hands teased my areolas, as his mouth pulled more of me into him. One hand caressed my left breast, and I felt his finger go deeper in my ass. Then, both hands found my breasts again.
Jack sucked me hard, and I cried out, “Oh, God!” I pulled his hair and pushed his head back on me and then pulled his hair again.
“You’re so wild today,” Jack rubbed my butt cheek with his warm hands, then I felt something twist deeper in my backside.
Okay, it now was apparent; it wasn’t Jack’s finger but something else that filled me up. “Mmm,” I moaned.
Jack's mouth left my clit and made its way up my stomach. Both of his hands grabbed my face as he kissed me. I grabbed onto his neck. “I think I’m going to make you wait for your high.”
I shook my head feverishly. I felt full of whatever was inside me, but I wanted my high. “Please, Jack, suck me,” I begged.
His warm breath whispered in my ear, “I know what you need, baby. Just trust me.”
Jack pushed in me with his cock. Slowly, he gave it to me inch by inch.
I was so full; between his dick and whatever was in my ass, I had never felt so filled.
He pushed into me all the way. “Oh…fuck, Jack,” I cried out with hitched breath.
Jack stopped. “You okay? Want me to stop or keep going?”
“Don’t stop, Jack. It’s good. Please, don’t stop.”
“Hold on then, Maddie.” Suddenly, I felt a slow vibration in my anus.
As my mouth contorted in a big O, I gasped. My breath shallow, my eyes met Jack's, as he intently watched my face for my every reaction.
“Fuck you turn me on.” He started to thrust in and out of me.
Every cell in my body vibrated, and I couldn’t think. The slow vibration suddenly went faster, and ripples of pleasure coursed throughout my body like never before.
I couldn’t speak—only gasp out ah’s and oh’s.
Jack felt it too. A grunt came out of him as his eyes closed, and his neck moved back slightly.
My body quivered from the vibrations, and my vagina gripped Jacks' penis like never before as I dug my nails into the back of his waist while he thrust into me faster.
Jack’s finger started to rub my nub, and I flew over the edge. “Jack, I...” I couldn’t finish my sentence. Heat flowed through my body, and the lava erupted from the volcano.
Jack nodded, red-faced, hardly able to speak.
Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck! I clawed my nails across his back.
With one last rub of my clit, he pulled something out of my ass and pumped himself into me as I climaxed like never before. My back arched off the desk, and my juices squirted out all over him, as our bodies spasmed uncontrollably.
I laid on the desk and tried to catch my breath. Our body fluids were everywhere. Jack leaned over me, with his elbows and forearms on both sides of my chest. His breathing was labored, and sweat dripped off both of us.
He shoved his tongue in my mouth and once again, claimed me as his and made me feel like no one else on earth existed...like I was his prize...as if nothing else in life mattered but me.
I wondered if I was more breathless from the intense orgasm or his kisses? When he pulled back, I asked him, “What was that?”
He grinned. “Vibrating anal beads.”
I laughed. “That was crazy.”
Jack moved his hands between the desk and my back and pulled me up, then massaged my thighs and slowly released my legs straight out. Once my legs hung over the desk, I sat up, and he put his palms next to each side of my thigh and kissed me some more. Then he picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and slapped my ass.
“Jack,” I giggled. “Where are you taking me?”
“We’re due for a bath.” And he slapped my ass again.
22
Jack
When I walked in and saw Maddie with my gun, I about lost it. I realized we were at the point of no return. If she wanted to play with my gun, then she needed to know how to use it.
I knew I would eventually tell her the entire truth about my past, but I wasn’t ready. I was tired, stressed, and holding onto a thread. But it couldn’t be avoided. We were in a situation that may require her to be able to protect herself, and now that she had opened Pandora’s box, there was no going back.
When I took her into my safe room, I realized I probably looked like a crazy person and had a lot of explaining to do. But now she knew my full story. She could now understand why I would do anything to protect her.
It had been twenty-four hours since then. I chewed Casey out for showing Maddie his gun, I was on constant phone calls with the FBI, and the word was that they would raid the next party, which was that night.
I prayed that it would be over soon as I was a man on the edge of a breakdown, and my demons came out all day long.
The flashbacks. The night terrors. The sounds of the women and children's screams ran in my mind, along with Kelly’s the night of the break-in. It was all just too much.
The only thing that kept me sane was Maddie. She had gone to work for the day. I had been cooped up in the penthouse all day, and it suddenly hit me that it was summer. With everything going on, I hadn’t even noticed the change of the season.
When Maddie returned from work, I led her over to the stairs.
She turned her head at me, confused. “Where does this go?”
“You’ll see.” The thought crossed my mind that she probably thought I would lead her to another safe room.
At the top of the stairs, I opened the door, and sunlight flooded in. She stepped out and gave me a huge smile. “Jack, this is amazing!”
I had converted the rooftop of the penthouse into an outdoor paradise, complete with a swimming pool and hot tub. It was my favorite aspect of the penthouse. The flowers were in full bloom, and I realized that I hadn’t been here since before the incident occurred. I had missed it all last summer.
Maddie quickly stripped out of her clothes. I grinned at her. My carefree girl, full of adventure, ran and yelled, “The last one in the pool cooks dinner naked.”
I threw my head back, laughing, then quickly stripped my clothes off and ran after her. It was exactly what I needed.
I dove in after her, swam to the other side where she was, and pulled her naked body to mine.
“You’re going to have to cook me dinner naked now.”
“Yeah, what do you want me to make?”
“Hmmm.” She pointed over to the outdoor kitchen. “You can grill for me whatever you want, and you can wear an apron.”
I let out a big roar. “You’re serious?”
“Actually, I think chicken takes longer to cook. Yes, cook chicken,” she smirked.
“Anything else?” I asked her, amused at her request.
She put her arms around my neck. “I want dessert first.”
* * *
Maddie
It had been three days. I went to work and back to Jack’s with no stops between. The bodyguards would take me to work and meet me in the lobby on my way out of the building. Jack worked closely with the FBI, and they busted Jim and Bo in Tampa, the night before, with the new shipment of women and children. Mike had escaped off the grid, and the FBI was on the hunt.
Liv, Meg, and I ate lunch in the building cafe. My phone rang. “Hey, Jack.”
“Maddie, I have to take a dinner meeting tonight. I’m so sorry, but I can’t put it off.”
Jack came home early from Tampa. He had only taken meetings while I was at work since the Bo incident.
“Jack, go take your meeting. I’ll be fine.”
Jack hesitated. “I hate to leave you by yourself tonight.”
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“You’ll be home later, right?”
“Yes, but it will be late. You probably shouldn’t wait up.”
"No worries. Do what you need to do. I’ll be fine.”
Meg and Liv listened and waited for me to update them.
“Jack has a dinner meeting tonight. I told him last night that we can’t hide out forever. This is getting a bit ridiculous.” I rolled my eyes.
“I think we all know what it’s like to be cooped up,” Meg said, and Liv nodded.
“Now that Jim and Bo have been caught, surely it won’t be long before they find Mike,” Liv declared.
I shook my head. “At least it’s summer, and Jack has the rooftop. It’s been nice for us to be able to get outside still and the nighttime weather has been nice this week.” I omitted the details that Jack and I had fucked like rabbits on his rooftop patio the last few nights.
We finished our lunch and started to head back to the office.
“I’ll meet you upstairs. I need to use the restroom,” I told them.
The restroom was quiet, and I was the only one there. I entered a stall and went about my business.
“Sorry, this restroom is closed for cleaning,” a muffled deep voice said. The sound of the big, white bin wheels turning, and the door locking creeped me out a bit, but it was standard throughout the day.
I could hear them open all the stall doors, and they tried to open mine.
“Just a minute,” I called out.
No one responded.
They tried to open my door again.
“I’ll be a minute,” I puffed out, slightly irritated, finished up, flushed the toilet, and pulled my pencil skirt over my butt. I unlocked the door and stepped out of the stall.
When I turned to look around, I didn’t see anyone and assumed the cleaner must have left or been in one of the stalls, so I made my way to the sink to wash my hands. I gazed up in the mirror and saw him.
He stood behind me and wore a hat pulled low over his eyes. “Hello, Maddie.”