by Anne Rainey
Wade and Dean were there in an instant, and the four of them embraced. When her mom quieted, they released each other. Wade sent Jonas a quick smile. “Heck, Mom, Jonas wasn’t about to let our girl get hurt. Believe me, she’s in good hands.”
“He’s right, Mom,” Dean said, surprising them all by offering his own complimentary two cents. “Jonas had the situation under control.”
Guilt assailed Deanna as the horrible truth hit. Jonas so easily could’ve been killed, and she’d just sat there, like some ninny, not lifting a finger to stop Ray. As if tuned in to her thoughts, Jonas crossed the few feet separating them and took her hand in his and squeezed. “You okay, kitten?”
She nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. How could she ever explain in words how much she cared about him? How empty her life would be without him in it? She could’ve lost him—all because she’d needed a few swatches of material.
“Kitten?” she heard Wade ask. Jonas chuckled, which managed to drag a curse from Dean.
“Hush, the three of you,” her mother admonished. “I swear sometimes it’s like trying to round up chickens with you three boys.”
Jonas bit his lip and looked down at the floor. Wade and Dean both snickered. Deanna attempted to smile, but it felt hollow. In her mind, the scene inside Valdez’s living room played on a constant loop. Jonas walking in. Ray raising the gun and pointing it at his chest. The crazed look in his eyes as Jonas tried to reason with him. And her, doing absolutely nothing. Bile rose in her throat. The image would stay with her forever.
After a doctor examined and released Deanna, they all had to go to the police station to fill out statements and answer questions. Now, at a little past midnight, Jonas had Deanna in the passenger seat of his car. He’d promised her that he’d take her back to her place, but the silence, and her refusal to look at him, slowly tore at Jonas.
“Wade and Dean took care of your car,” he said, hoping to draw her out. “It should be at your house by now.”
“Thank you.”
Her quiet voice seemed entirely too far away. Jonas began to grow more and more concerned. “Won’t you look at me, kitten?”
She shrugged but didn’t take her gaze off the passenger side window.
It bothered Jonas that she wouldn’t look directly into his eyes. “It’s over now, Deanna. You’re safe.”
She turned finally and their gazes clashed. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms.
“It’s not that,” Deanna said as she clenched her eyes tight and covered her face with her palms.
Jonas reached over and brought one of her hands away from her face, then gave it a little squeeze. “What is it? Talk to me.”
She sighed and slumped against the seat. “I keep seeing Ray pointing that gun at you. You could’ve died and there would’ve been nothing I could do to stop him, Jonas.”
Jonas couldn’t be more surprised. “That’s what’s upsetting you? Fear for me?”
“I panicked and just sat there,” she cried out. “I couldn’t breathe, Jonas. I thought he was going to kill you and I just sat there.”
When she started to cry big, silent tears, Jonas felt like someone was ripping him apart from the inside. “Stop, damn it,” Jonas gently ordered as he brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. “Stop beating yourself up or I swear I’ll spank your ass.”
Deanna laughed and Jonas thought she sounded close to hysterics. “As far as threats, that’s a lousy one.”
“Why, because you think I won’t do it?”
“No, because a spanking from you isn’t frightening—it’s hot.”
Direct. Always so direct. Jesus, he loved her. More than he ever thought possible to love another human being, if he were honest with himself. Now he understood what Wade had found in Gracie. He turned onto her road, then pulled up in front of her house. As he suspected, her car was already in the driveway. Jonas shut off the engine and turned in the seat to face Deanna. She still had tears in her eyes, but they weren’t falling, which meant he could breathe.
“You did exactly what I needed you to do back there,” he murmured. “You kept your head, which allowed me to focus.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wimped out, you mean.”
“No,” he insisted. “Listen to me. I wouldn’t have been able to center my attention on getting the gun away from Ray if I’d been worried about what you might do.”
“I love you, Jonas.”
“I love you, sweetness,” he whispered as he leaned over and kissed her. He didn’t want to start something he couldn’t finish, so he kept it light. When he lifted his head and unbuckled his seat belt, he ordered, “Come on, I need to get you in my arms.”
Deanna nodded. By the time she’d grabbed her purse and had the car door open, Jonas was there. He wrapped his arm around her, and together they walked up to the front. As he looked at the scratches on her lock, he admitted, “By the way, I broke into your house.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You did?”
He shrugged. “When you didn’t answer your phone, I went searching.”
She cupped his face in her palm. “And I’m so glad you did, Jonas.”
Once inside, Jonas shoved the door closed with his knee and pulled her into his arms. They both let out a huge breath. “Never again, Deanna,” he groaned. “I never want to see you in danger again. I swear to Christ I can’t take it.”
She didn’t speak, merely kept her face snuggled against his leather jacket, her arms wrapped tight around his waist. Jonas started to lift her off the floor so he could cradle her against his chest, his one goal to make love to her, when she stopped him.
“I have something I want to show you,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
She reached into her purse and took out her phone, then turned the volume level all the way up. “It’s nearly dead, but it should still work.”
Okay, maybe she was still in shock. “You want to show me your phone?” he asked, more than a little confused.
“Call me on it,” she demanded, holding it up between them.
“Uh, okay.” Jonas took his phone off his belt and hit speed-dial 2. After a few seconds, Deanna’s phone started to ring to the AC/DC song “You Shook Me All Night Long.” She’d given him his own ring tone. Jonas’s cock hardened as he watched Deanna blush and hit END.
Jonas growled low in his throat, then lifted her into his arms. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, kitten,” he promised.
She laughed and slipped her arms around his neck.
Jonas swung her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. He took his time stripping her out of her clothes, then placed her gently on top of the blanket. When he was naked, he came down beside her.
She frowned. “I want you on top of me, Jonas.”
He shook his head and turned her to her side, facing away, then entered her in one smooth stroke from behind. “So sweet,” he whispered against her nape. Her flesh molded to his shape. Her body was so hot Jonas thought he’d go up in flames. It’d be one hell of a way to go.
“Faster, please,” Deanna whimpered, her need a living, breathing entity in that moment. Jonas ached to pound into her. To drive his cock deep. But not this time. “I want to feel you. Slowly. Every spasm, every drop of your cream as you come undone around my dick. I need to know you’re alive, kitten.”
“O-okay, but can we get crazy afterward?”
He chuckled and kissed her shoulder. “Yes. For now, just let me love you, sweetness.”
Jonas reached around and cupped her breast as he slid gently in and out of her sweet cunt. “We belong together, Deanna. I feel it in my bones.”
“Yes, Jonas.”
Jonas plucked her nipple, then skated his hand down her body and teased her clit. “When I’m loving you like this, nothing else exists. There are no drug dealers, no bad guys with guns. There’s only you and me, Deanna.”
“Oh, Jonas. You
say things that make me want to cry. It scares me.”
“No fear, not with me,” he replied emphatically. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “Make love to me.”
He leaned near her ear and whispered, “That’s what I’ve been doing since the first moment we kissed.”
Then neither of them could speak. The only sounds in the room were of Jonas and Deanna touching and playing. Souls entwined. Every atom of his body seemed to seek nourishment from hers. It was the single most beautiful experience of his life.
When she fell asleep in his arms, her soft, warm body pressed against the length of his, Jonas had a sense that he’d finally come home—and he would do whatever it took to protect that.
The next day, as Jonas watched Deanna whipping eggs for omelets, he received a call from Granger. “What’s up?” he asked as he flipped open his cell.
“Thought you’d like to know what we found at Valdez’s house.”
“Yeah?” Jonas asked, only mildly interested. With Deanna sashaying around the kitchen in her nighty, which consisted of a small white T-shirt and matching cotton panties, Jonas had sweeter things on his mind than drug dealers.
“A search yielded approximately one million dollars’ worth of cocaine and another one point three million in meth. Bastard’s going straight to jail once he’s recovered from the bullet wound.”
Deanna bent to pick up an onion peel she’d dropped, and Jonas about swallowed his tongue as her ass came up in the air. “Good riddance,” Jonas said as he sat back in the chair and spread his legs wide to accommodate his growing erection.
“My sentiments exactly.”
Jonas frowned as he thought of Ray, who even now sat in the county jail. “What do you think will happen to Ray?”
“Man, there isn’t a single judge in the entire county who won’t go easy on the guy.”
Granger sounded almost admiring.
“You think?”
“Some almost consider him a hero, Jonas, seeing as how his little rampage inadvertently gave us a reason to search Valdez’s house.”
When Jonas thought of how close Deanna had come to death, it pissed him off all over again. “It’s going to be a long damn time before I think of him in that light.”
Granger was quiet a moment. “If my woman was in a situation like that, I’d feel the same. Take care of her.”
“That’s the plan.” Jonas stood and moved up behind her, then wrapped an arm around her middle and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“That kid of Ray’s,” Granger said. “Cade, I think you said his name was.”
Deanna turned in his arms and cupped him through his boxers. He grinned and pinned her against the counter. “Cade, yeah. What about him?”
“He’s going to have a rough time of it.”
Jonas had to think for a minute; with Deanna’s hands on him, his brain often took a holiday. “I think Ray has some family, though. A sister maybe. He won’t be going through it alone. He’ll be okay.”
“Now that Valdez is off the streets, there are a lot of kids like Cade who’ll be okay. You feel me?”
“Damn straight,” Jonas replied.
They hung up after a few more minutes. Jonas set his phone down, then lifted Deanna and sat her on the countertop. “Now, where were we?”
“I believe we were about to have breakfast,” she said as she tunneled her fingers into his hair.
Jonas wagged his eyebrows and slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of her panties and tugged. When she lifted and let him pull them off, Jonas got a good eyeful of her succulent pussy, already damp with arousal. “Yeah, breakfast, and I’m famished.” Then he dipped his head and tasted paradise.
Epilogue
One month later ...
When Jonas woke, the first thing that registered was Deanna’s curvy body draped on top of him. He smiled and took his hands on a slow, leisurely path over her shoulders and back, before they reached the plush cushion of her ass. Her bottom was a thing of beauty. He could spend hours kissing and fondling her there. Had, in fact.
He cupped her, filling his palms with smooth feminine flesh, then moved her a few inches to the left so that he could wriggle his cock between her thighs. He rubbed against her clit with his engorged tip, nudging and evoking a throaty little moan from her. Slowly, she started to move her hips, beginning a rhythmic rotating motion even in her sleep. Her cheek pressed against his chest, and one hand splayed wide directly over his heart. His sweet Deanna, so beautiful and giving, and yet she’d decided to fall in love with him. The thought made him want to shout out a vicious war cry.
Intent on loving her the only way he knew how, fiercely and with his whole heart, Jonas moved the wild mane of Deanna’s shiny, dark hair to one side and kissed her exposed cheek, savoring the taste of her satiny skin. Her eyes fluttered open and her tongue darted out, licking at her dry, swollen lips. He watched the emotions skitter across her face as she realized where she was and who she was with. When her smile came, easy and unforced, he breathed in relief. Some part of him was still afraid she’d wake up and regret loving him. He was just too fucking glad she didn’t.
“Good morning, Jonas,” Deanna mumbled, her voice hoarse from screaming out her climaxes from the night before. His sweet little kitty had been an eager participant in the games they’d played, which consisted of whipped cream, body oil, and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs.
“Good morning, kitten,” he said as he gently flipped her over so that he covered her with his body.
Her breath came out in a whoosh, and his smile turned devilish as he descended on her already-erect nipple. This morning he was beyond niceties; all he wanted was to be deep inside of her. He sucked her hard nipple into the wet cavern of his mouth, flicking back and forth with his tongue. She arched into him, giving him more, giving him whatever he craved. Jonas licked and bit, then used his hands to plump both breasts together so he could nuzzle his face against her cleavage. He leisurely made his way down her body, lapping and nibbling at her rib cage until he reached her belly, where he let his tongue dip into her little button. She pleaded with him, saying his name over and over.
“Mmm, pussy,” he growled as he reached her dark curls. “My favorite morning meal.”
He pushed her legs wide, then dipped his tongue into her hot opening. Deanna’s hands went to his hair, grasping handfuls and pushing his face against her farther. He sucked her clit, teasing it with his tongue. She vaulted up, coming and shouting his name in wild abandon.
Jonas lifted and sat back on his haunches. “Roll to your stomach, kitten,” he ordered. “Up on your hands and knees. I want you from behind this time.”
Deanna moaned and turned over, then pushed up on all fours. His cock thickened at the pretty sight. He moved behind her and, using his knee to spread her legs wider for his invasion, Jonas clutched her hips in one hand.
“Does this ass need a spanking?”
She whimpered and wiggled. “God, yes!”
Jonas quickly swatted her. He kept the strikes gentle at first, alternating between each buttock, then harder. She cried out as he spanked her with more force. Over and over, until her ass was good and pink from his hand. “Now that’s a pretty sight,” he murmured as he massaged the sting away. He dipped his hand between her ass cheeks and encountered her wet, swollen folds. “Damn, you’re soaked.”
Her pink vulva and pearly clit were completely visible in the early morning light. Jonas wanted to take the time to look at her, to fill himself with the beauty of her, but his dick had other ideas.
“Jonas, I need you,” she pleaded.
He took his cock in a tight fist and guided it to her entrance. One silky glide imbedded Jonas deep. When she moaned and reached between her legs, grasping his balls and beginning to squeeze and play, Jonas lost it.
He pulled all the way out, then thrust into her, impaling her in a mad rush for that one elusive thing that only Deanna
gave him. His body knew hers and his greedy cock craved her. Only her. Only Deanna. When her supple hips pushed backward, Jonas cursed.
“Harder, Jonas,” she cried. “Fuck me.”
“Hell yeah.”
He plunged into her, over and over, until his passion rocketed out of control. As he lowered his body over hers, caging her in, he kissed her neck, then sucked at the delicate skin, causing blood to rush to the surface.
“Another love bite?” she asked in a breathless voice.
“Yes,” he gritted out as he watched a slight bruise appear.
“That’s very naughty of you, Jonas.”
“You can spank me for it later,” he promised.
Reaching a rough, calloused hand beneath her, Jonas rubbed over her distended clit. “Is this my hot little pussy?”
“Y-yes, always,” she vowed.
She arched and clenched around him then, her sex cupping his dick like a hot little glove, and they both flew apart.
A few minutes passed; then Jonas pulled his cock free. Deanna collapsed onto the bed, her breathing labored and sweat causing tendrils of her hair to stick to her cheek.
“You take my breath away,” he whispered as he stared down at her.
She chuckled and turned over. “It’s you with all the wicked ideas, Jonas.”
Jonas merely shook his head and dropped to the bed beside her. “Come here, woman,” he growled as he reached over and tugged her on top of him.
“Ew,” she said, “I’m all sweaty.”
He pushed her hair off her face and kissed her forehead. “I like you all sweaty, so be still.”
She settled against him. “I meant to ask you last night but we got ... distracted.”
He let his hands massage the length of her back. “By distracted do you mean when I squirted whipped cream on your pussy and licked it off?”
She laughed. “Yeah, that.”
“A very tasty distraction, kitten.”
“Anyway, I wanted to ask about Ray’s phone call. What’d he say?”
Jonas frowned as he recalled the conversation. “Cade is doing well. He’s staying with his aunt, Ray’s sister, while Ray’s in prison. It seems like the kid has his life back on track—even though his dad will probably do time for attempted murder. Jesus, what a mess.”