by J. Lea
“Uncomfortable?” comes Jude’s voice from the bed.
“No, I’m peachy,” I bark out sarcastically.
“Just checking. It sounded like you’re in a boxing match with the couch.”
“Nope.”
“Okay. If you change your mind, I can still share the bed. It’s warm and more comfortable than that monstrosity. There’s also plenty of space for the both of us.” There’s laughter in his voice, like he finds the whole thing amusing.
“Not changing my mind.” I hope my voice sounds determined.
“As you wish. But let me just say this is one of the most comfortable beds I’ve tried. I bet I’m gonna sleep like a baby.” He stretches his arms and legs just to irritate me. Asshole.
I lie there for a few minutes, then admit my defeat. “Fine! This old piece of crap is a torture machine. Happy now?” I growl as I get up and throw my pillow and blanket on the bed.
“That took a while. I didn’t think you were gonna last so long.”
“Shut up. We’re just going to sleep. We’re grown-ups. I’ll survive.” That’s a shitty consolation, April. I put as much space between us as the bed allows and wrap myself in the blanket. Jude shakes his head at me, amused. “You stay on your side of the bed and I’ll stay on mine and we’ll be fine.” We’re enveloped in the darkness when Jude turns off the TV.
“Sweet dreams, Princess.”
“Call me that again, and I promise I’ll wipe that stupid grin off your face.”
“I’d like to see you try, Princess.”
I scoot closer to him and elbow him hard in the ribs; I’ve briefly considered kicking him a little south of his stomach but I’ll save that for the next time. He yelps in a mixture of pain and surprise.
“Who’re you calling a princess now, huh?” I smirk, pull the covers up to my chin and close my eyes. Jude doesn’t respond, just chuckles instead. I desperately want to fall asleep, but my traitorous brain has other plans for me. It keeps playing clips of our encounter in New York in my head…
Nine
Jude
I wake up in an unknown room, surrounded by April’s scent.
April…
I have to admit, she’s something else. Very stubborn, which I’m not used to. It pisses me off that she pays so little attention to what I tell her and does the complete opposite just to spite me. And I’ll be damned, it turns me the hell on. Her soft curves are driving me insane. I wish I could just fuck her again, so I could get her out of my system.
I roll around assuming she’s still asleep, since I haven’t heard or felt her move, but her side of the bed is empty. I jump to my feet.
“April?” I call in case she’s in the bathroom, but there’s no response. Pulling jeans and a shirt on, I walk up to the bathroom door, knocking loudly. “April, you in here?” Silence. When I push the door open, I see the bathroom is empty. I should have known better! Putting my socks and shoes on, I grab my jacket and a gun from my nightstand and shove it behind my back, just in case. I’m not surprised to find the door to our room unlocked and her shoes missing. “Fucking perfect!” I mutter, clenching my teeth. “Fuck!” I add. Icy morning air blasts in my face as I walk outside. Is it so hard to follow my rules? Does she really need to contradict my every word? I’m going to throttle her when I find her. She’s constantly putting herself in danger, making my job even more difficult as it is. I can’t believe she managed to get out of the bed without waking me. I’m a very light sleeper, especially when I’m on a job, but I somehow slept through it. Running down the stairs to the parking lot, I check if my car is still in its spot. I exhale in relief when it’s still where I left it, so I scan the parameters for any sight of April. Instead of the peeping Tom from yesterday I see an older, grey-haired woman sitting at the reception desk. I nod at her cheerful “Morning!” as I walk past her and get back up the stairs to our floor. Finally, I see April coming to the room from the opposite side. Thank fuck!
“April!” She stops in her tracks as she hears my pissed off voice. “Where the hell have you been? You can’t just up and leave as you please! What the fuck have you been thinking?” Again with the lecturing.
“Sorry, Mr. Grumpy, I was hungry. You slept so soundly and my stomach demanded food quite loudly, so I went to grab some snacks from the vending machine. I was literally fifty feet away. No biggie.”
“No biggie? No biggie?!” I turn around and close my eyes for a second to calm my agitated nerves. She’s kidding me, right? Has she even listened to a word I’ve said for the past few days? “You’re doing this on purpose, right?” I turn and focus on her eyes. “Trying to see how much I can take before my nerves are frayed and I snap?”
“What? Did you think I ran off? No such luck,” she says.
“I’ve told you dozens of times - I’m responsible for your safety. You need to tell me if you want to go somewhere.”
“You were sleeping. I wasn’t even gone for five minutes. I thought I’d be back before you even knew I was gone.”
“I don’t care. I need to know where you are. No exceptions. I can’t do my job if you’re trying to sabotage me.”
“So don’t.” She glowers at me. “I never asked you to follow me around. I can take care of myself.” She storms into the room and I run after her.
“April, wait!” Damn it! I’ve never met a more stubborn woman than her. I narrowly miss being hit in the face with the door. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know where you are. Can’t you understand that?” I demand. How can she not get that?
The snacks April bought fly on the bed along with her purse and April turns her back to me. I see her shoulders sag and she sighs.
“Look,” she says, exasperatedly, and faces me. “I’m sick of everybody telling me what to do and when to do it. I just want to live my life on my own terms. I don’t want to look over my shoulder every time I leave my house, looking for Leo, afraid he’s gonna come after me. I won’t let him take my life away from me. I just won’t!”
“You can’t take this matter lightly. You have no idea how dangerous he could be.”
“I know him, Jude,” she says. “He doesn’t have an evil bone in his body. He’s just hurt over our break-up.”
“Have you ever considered Leo is not the one behind the stalking and threats?”
April tilts her head to the side. “No?” She answers with a question, not really convinced of her answer. “The e-mails from his address and phone calls from his number don’t lie. Don’t you think so?” She loses that intense, ready-to-fight expression on her face, and I see wheels turning in her head. She frowns.
“Just thinking about all the possibilities. I always think outside the box.”
“Even though I wish it wasn’t Leo, all evidence points to him.”
“What if he actually attacks you? Or hurts Max? Maybe go as far as to even attack his wife or daughter? Will you still be as pig-headed then? So incredibly stubborn and clueless about your safety? Stop being so selfish.” I’m trying to keep my voice calm; my words are finally getting through her thick head.
“He wouldn’t do that,” she says, wide-eyed.
“How can you be so sure? He can get his revenge by hurting Max. Are you willing to risk his life?”
“I hate you!” she exclaims, pushing me away with both her hands, but I don’t budge. A tear rolls down her cheek. “I hate you!” I grab her wrists, trying to calm her down, but she’s trying to break away from my hold. “I hate you, I hate you,” she keeps repeating and trying to hit me.
Wrapping my arm tightly around her shoulders I turn her around, so her back is pressed to my chest. It doesn’t take her long until she calms down.
“Hate me all you want, Princess, but I’ll do anything to find that son of a bitch and give you your life back. I think we’ll both be very happy when that day comes. If you need someone to hate, hate me, but I’m not giving up until I finish my job and fulfill my promise to your brother.”
Her body starts shaking and
I hear her start to sob afterwards, so I sit her down on the bed. I unwrap one of the sandwiches she bought and offer it to her. She knocks it out of my hand and reaches for another one. All I can do is shake my head and hope we don’t kill each other in the following days.
After an hour of complete silence between us, the air in the room is still thick with tension.
“I’m sorry for being rough, but you left me with no other choice. Whether you want it or not, I’m here to help you. I’m the good guy here.” I’m trying to break the silence.
“I don’t want to talk,” she says, emotionless. “Leave me alone.”
“If that’s what you want…”
I focus my attention back on the reports I need to write for my father. April is switching between TV channels, still pretending I’m not in the room. She increased the volume so much my head is ringing and I find myself typing the same sentence for the fourth time.
“Can you please turn the volume down? I’m trying to get some work done here.” At my request, she increases the volume even more, stuffs a handful of chips in her mouth and continues to ignore me. “April, I mean it,” I say sternly. She’s really enjoying this.
“What did you say? I can’t hear you,” she yells.
“Turn down the volume and maybe you will,” I repeat.
“No can do. I’m watching this show. You should join me. It’s funny. A little relaxation wouldn’t hurt you, Mr. Stuck-up.” She giggles and points at something that just happened on the screen. Taking a deep breath, trying to keep myself under control, I walk over to her, pluck the remote control out of her hands and turn the TV off.
“Hey! I was watching this!”
“And I was working, but all this noise was making it impossible to focus.”
April grimaces. “Okay then.” She jerkily gets up, pulls a bottle of cheap whiskey out of her purse, unscrews it and takes a big gulp of the yellow liquid. And then another one. When she lowers the bottle, she scrunches up her face and shakes her head. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she exclaims: “Eww, disguisting!”
“What are you doing?” My voice is calm - at least I hope I sound calm, because on the inside I’m anything but. She pays me no attention and swallows a few more big gulps before she finally answers.
“What do you think I’m doing? If I’m stuck here with you for god knows how long, I might as well get drunk to keep myself entertained.”
“Where did you get the bottle?”
“I have my ways.”
“Slow down a bit,” I try to reason with her, but it’s like I’m talking to a wall. Looking me straight in the eyes, April takes another swig. She gets off the couch and slowly walks up to me.
“Want some?”
“No, thank you. And you should stop, too.”
“Come on, don’t be such a Debbie Downer. Have a drink with me,” she offers me the bottle and, when I shake my head no, she shrugs, tosses back another gulp of whiskey and spins around. “Have it your way, grumpy. That means more for me. Yay!” She stumbles on her last spin and barely catches herself. “Whoops, this gets into your head pretty quick,” she giggles.
“April, you’ve had enough.” I’m running out of patience. I reach for the bottle to confiscate it, but she hides it behind her back, cackling.
“What is it, cowboy, you want this?” she challenges me by shaking the bottle. The tone of her voice’s changed from angry to seductive. She leans closer to me, hooking her thumb into the front loop of my jeans, the bottle still safely behind her back. “You smell incredible.” She pauses. “And you’re very attractive, even though you have a stick really far up your butt.” I watch her close her eyes and lean into me. She inhales my scent, brushing her nose against my suddenly oversensitive skin. “You smell of musk. I love musk. Musk, musk, musk. They should start bottling it. I know I’d buy it.” She keeps rambling on and on so I reach behind her to snag the whiskey out of her grasp.
“You’ve had quite enough of that. Why don’t you go lay down for a bit? You’re drunk.”
“Nope,” she pops the “p”. “I’m slightly inebriated, that’s way different,” she smiles drunkenly, her eyes boring into mine. Her fingers run down my chest, over my stomach, and she licks her lips - her full, sensual lips that I’ve already had the pleasure of feeling all over my body. “So hard. I bet at least one part of your body is even harder.” She reaches down toward my zipper.
“April,” I warn her. I’m not indifferent to her touch and she knows that well.
“What?” she breathes out, innocently bats her eyelashes at me, and leans over to kiss me. I grab her forearms and gently push her away.
“You’re drunk. You need to back down a little.”
“Don’t tell me you’re not interested. I saw you were watching me when you thought I didn’t see.” She gives me a seductive smile. “You want me; don’t play the innocent card. I know guys like you.”
“Guys like me?” I lift my brow.
“Womanizers,” she says.
“You have no idea what I’m really like, Princess.” I have to admit I’m really turned on by her taking charge. But, as much as I may like women, I wouldn’t take advantage of a drunk one. Every woman I take to my bed is there voluntarily, sober and willing. I make sure she vividly remembers the night with me.
“But I know what you like.” She licks her lips again, slowly, and her eyes are burning with desire. “I can help you relax. You need that. So here’s your chance, no strings attached. Take me.” The next moment, her tank top is over her head and the sight in front of me paralyzes me. I’ll be damned. The whole right part of her torso is covered with an exquisite tattoo of twisted cherry branches, full of colorful cherry blossoms, just like I remember. It starts just under her right breast and continues down her ribs and stomach disappearing into the band of her jeans. I can barely find enough strength in me to tear my gaze away. And don’t get me started with her lace bra.
“Cut it out, April.” I run my hands over my face.
“Or else?” she challenges me, plastering her front to my chest.
“You’re drunk, you’re not thinking straight.”
“Right this moment I’m thinking about one thing, and that’s great sex, topped with an even better orgasm. You can give that to me, right, big guy?” Her hands reach down to open the button on my pants, but I stop her before she can pull the pants down my hips. She ignores my attempts to stop her, and the next second, her lips are pressed against mine. I let myself enjoy a brief moment of amazing sensations: her warm, wet lips on mine. Moaning softly, she opens her mouth, our tongues meet in a passionate caress. But as much as I want this, I need to put an end to April’s attempts to drown her sorrows in booze and sex, so I tear myself away from her.
“That’s enough, April. When you sober up, you’re so going to regret this.”
She stuffs her finger in my face. “Fuck you, Jude. You don’t know anything about me!” She runs into the bathroom and, once again, the door slams shut behind her.
That was close. I run a hand through my hair in frustration and try to slow my heartbeat by taking a deep breath. I also need to rearrange the growing bulge in my pants. “Fuck!” I mutter to myself. I want to go after her but I know she’s too angry and drunk to listen to the words of reason. I’ll leave her to cool down and I need to do the same. I never imagined a simple brush of her lips over mine would push me off the ledge. I’m hard as a rock.
My phone goes off on my nightstand; I’m glad to see my older brother’s name on the screen.
“Hey, Cole,” I greet him, trying to slow down my breathing. “Are you guys at her house already?”
“Yes, we’ve been here for a while,” comes his serious reply.
“What’s wrong?” I know my brother so well I can feel it in his voice when something’s off.
“When Jessie and I arrived to the house, we found a note on the windshield of her car.”
“What did it say?” My eyes are watching the bathr
oom door.
“You can run but you can’t hide.”
“Seriously?” I exclaim. “Son of a bitch!”
“That’s not all,” Cole continues. “Her e-mail is filled to the brink with new messages, and so is her phone. He’s got her work schedule, her credit card passwords, and all the info on people in her life. Jude, this guy is seriously whacked. He wants her back no matter the costs, screw consequences.”
“Fuck! Do the e-mails say the same thing as the note?”
“I’ll forward them to your computer. Let me just put everything together, okay?”
“Deal. Be careful, okay?” I say. “What about the cameras?”
“We found two more: one in the master bathroom and one more in her bedroom.
“Any idea where he might’ve gotten them?”
“They’re some sort of wireless cameras, streaming video directly to a personal computer or a smart phone, no wires necessary. All he needs to connect to the cameras is wi-fi and then one click to access the video. One click, man! This fucker is helluva smart. I’ve never seen a camera like this in the field before. And it’s so small. It’s barely noticeable. I don’t know how April even managed to find one, but I’m glad she did.”
“So am I, man, so am I. Don’t forget to forward the messages when you’re finished sweeping the house.” As soon as possible, I hope.
“How is she?”
I sigh, scratching my head. “Stubborn like a mule, angry at the world, not really realizing she’s in serious danger. And insanely annoying.”
Cole chuckles. “Just how you like ‘em. You’ll tame her in no time.”
“Don’t be a smartass.”