Jonas's Redemption: A Standalone Romantic Suspense (Titan Security Book 2)

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  Grabbing the shampoo, I gently massaged her head and lathered up every inch of her now golden mane. The expression on her face spoke volumes to the trust she was giving me. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open, just enjoying the sensation of my fingers over her scalp. I could easily imagine her on her knees, my fingers entwined with her hair, with her mouth forming that same o while taking in my cock. She had said she’d experimented with oral pleasure. Get your mind off your dick and back on her, dude. She’s your responsibility, not just to protect her but to care for her needs. Show her how well you can treat her. My mind was right. I needed to put away my licentious desires and provide the aftercare needed to ensure her happiness and well-being.

  After I’d rinsed her hair, we switched places. I grabbed the shampoo and started to wash my own hair, when she reached her hands around my neck and pulled me down where she could take over. “It’s my turn,” she said with enthusiasm.

  It was all I could do not to push her back against the wall and take her again. She had me at eye level with her breasts, those large pink nipples perfectly pebbled, begging to be sucked by my mouth. Control yourself, man. All in due time. I closed my eyes to avoid the temptation of her shapely body.

  With the shower done and both of us completely dried off, I carried her over to her bed and pulled back the sheets. “Stay right here and rest while I get us some lunch.”

  I’d expected her to argue with me, but she just curled up on her side, with a wide smile spread across her face, as she closed her eyes. I could tell she’d be out soon. I didn’t even make it to the door, when a small snore escaped from her lips, making me want to jump into bed with her and just hold her for an eternity. But I had things to do. I slipped on a pair of boxers, grabbed the satellite phone, and went downstairs so I wouldn’t bother Erica.

  Our supplies were definitely running low, even with me catching fish and gathering fruit from the abundance of tropical fruit trees. Looking into the freezer, I pulled out a couple items to thaw for tonight’s dinner. I looked in the pantry and saw white cake mix, but no frosting. Then I remembered the whipped cream we’d found in the freezer, but I needed something more, an added flavoring of some sort. I went back to the pantry and discovered some vanilla pudding mix that would enhance the flavor of the whipped cream…that and the fresh fruit we’d gathered yesterday. My mouth was already salivating at the idea. I think I had enough to pull together a special birthday dinner for her, or at least the best I could offer at this time.

  I was supposed to call Rick tonight anyway, which was great timing; I would bring up the issue of our food shortage. Why not go ahead and get the call over with so I could spend the evening with my attention on Erica.

  The phone rang only twice before Rick picked up. “What’s wrong?” were the first words out of his mouth.

  “We’re running seriously low on supplies. I’ve been making things stretch, with the fruit trees on the island and catching some fish, but we’ve been here almost a month now and only have maybe a week’s worth of food left, possibly two if we cut down to two meals a day. Could we go to the mainland to pick up a few supplies as long as we keep our cover and don’t stay too long?”

  “Negative,” Rick barked. “There’ve been hired guns snooping around the mainland this past week, asking about the islands close by. We’ve been able to divert them by paying the locals to keep them off your trail. Be sure to keep your position hidden to make it appear the island is uninhabited.”

  I punched the cushion next to me,. I wanted to let out some of the pent up hostility I had for this Victor guy and his goons. Damn it. Just when Erica and I finally connected, things were about to take a turn for the worse. I could only hope the Titan team would be able to hold the hired guns off for a while longer and keep the locals from taking them out to the islands in an attempt to search for us.

  “We’ve been sticking close to the house. The fruit trees are in the middle of the island surrounded by other trees, blocking any aerial views. As for the fishing, I’ve been going out at dark, wearing night-vision goggles, and only going into a cove that’s overwhelmed with trees, blocking me from view. The only way I’d be seen is with the use of a thermal scope picking up my heat signature.” I felt a bit defensive. “Am I not supposed to keep us fed?”

  “Whoa there. I’m not questioning what you’re doing. I’m just saying be careful. Hold on a sec.” I heard him set the phone down and someone give him something—paper maybe—telling him it needed his immediate attention.

  I got up and continued looking between the kitchen and the pantry area, trying to figure out what I could do for lunch, when Rick got back on the line. “We’re going to have a hard time slipping in supplies. If we do anything, it’ll have to be in the middle of the night and a limited restock. We’re watching a tropical system that isn’t headed your way yet, but that might change, pending another system in its path. If the ridge of high pressure stands still, the tropical system will shift away from you, but if the ridge passes too quickly, the storm may aim straight for you. We’ll have to act fast on that food drop to ensure we get something to you.

  “We still have Cat and Jasper in Miami who can get that set up. Have your phone turned on at ten tonight. I’ll relay a time and location you can expect the food, along with an update on the storm. Although, it seems we’ll be watching this storm system for a few days or more. I know Liam has that house of his built like Fort Knox. I just hope we don’t have to test to see if it holds up to the strength of Mother Nature.”

  “Copy that. Erica has enough shit on her plate; she doesn’t need more to deal with. Any updates on her friends?” I knew she’d want to know what’s going on with them.

  I could hear Rick shuffle through some papers on his desk. “Hannah’s still in the hospital but doing well. Casey has one more surgery on her leg where they’ll go in and set the pins to hold the bones together before they cast it. She should be ready to leave about the same time as Hannah. Both girls will end up in a rehab facility here in Orlando.”

  He went on to add, “My brother, Derrick, has offered to help coordinate the move to ensure everything runs smoothly. He’ll borrow his boss’s—Tennison’s—plane to fly them and their parents down. We’ve hired a nurse and doctor to fly down with them to ensure they get here safely. Don’t worry. We’ll make sure they’re protected. We’ve managed to get several new hires since you’ve been gone, so we have plenty of coverage.”

  Rick was skirting the knowledge I wanted. “What about Victor? Have you found him yet? Do you know who he’s working for? If his brotherhood is making a comeback? Anything?”

  The hard swallow I heard on the other end of the line wasn’t good. “I don’t know. We don’t have much, and, at this point, my father is pulling every connection he has to try and get to the bottom of it. Erica’s father, Ivan, reached out with a request for help from the various Bratvas in the New York area. Through one of his former Russian associates Ivan was contacted by a Soveitnik—a counselor—who requested a meeting between the Pkhan—the leader of his Bratva group—to discuss Victor. They’ve agreed to meet on neutral ground and each bring one person along. Ivan will take my father, Tony. Apparently, Ivan believes he can trust this leader, someone named Nickolai Siniosi. I guess they grew up together, but just to be on the safe side, we’re having them met at a midpoint on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.”

  Damn, this was getting into some serious shit. You never got to speak to the Pakhan unless you were about to be offed or unless they were willing to strike a deal. I just hoped everyone stayed safe, and we could get some resolution to all this, for all our sakes. “Do you think the Pakhan can put an end to this?”

  “To be honest, man, I don’t know. From what little we’ve gathered, it sounds like Victor was hired to do a job that went terribly wrong, bringing shame not only to the brotherhood but to his family as well. The one thing we have confirmed is that the group he belonged to is still running legitimate businesses but has nothing to
do with Victor anymore. Most of his funds are still missing, and some of the accounts we’d found, under assumed names, are still blocked, so how he’s getting money to do anything is beyond us. Sophia has tried to trace every known link and can’t find anything, so either he has money stashed where he can get to it or he’s getting funded by someone. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

  Rick took in a big frustrating breath before continuing, “To me, it almost sounds like this Nickolai dude is after him too, wanting to put an end to things, but I can’t be certain. I have a bad feeling we might end up working with them for a short time to get this issue resolved. It doesn’t sit well with me, though.”

  Nodding my head, not that anyone could see, I agreed. “It doesn’t sit well with me either. I just hope Tony and Ivan aren’t walking into a trap.”

  “Ditto. Let’s wrap this up. Remember to turn your phone back on just before ten tonight. I’ll call to update you. Until then, stay safe.” He hung up the phone, and then I turned mine off, reserving the power to it and making a mental note that I needed to be back on it tonight. I hated having to limit our conversations to only a few minutes to get as much of an update as possible, but we didn’t want anyone intercepting our radio waves and triangulating our signal.

  I pulled a few ingredients out of the pantry and fridge, opting for something quick and easy to fix for lunch. Opening all the cabinet doors in the kitchen, I finally located a bed tray, and then readied the food to take up to Erica.

  A small tinkling sound pervaded the air around me, causing me to turn over and stretch. The movement stopped me in my tracks, as I was feeling sensations in places I’d never felt before. I was achy, but it was a good kind of sore, one from being overly sexed. I wanted to say the word “loved,” but that didn’t feel right, and to term it as nothing more than a fuck when the feelings were so intense and the connection…well, that was just wrong. I knew Jonas had some issues he needed to work through before he could fully commit his heart, but he wasn’t the only one. I still had my hang-ups too.

  Needing my body to wake up, I tried stretching again, only to wince. “Feeling a bit sore?” I startled and grabbed the sheets, which had fallen to my waist, to cover my exposed breasts. I turned my attention toward the door to find Jonas standing there, in his boxer briefs, holding a tray laden with delicious goodies.

  The only treat I could focus on was how amazing his body looked. Why hadn’t I taken the time to appreciate him more? His arms were heavily muscled; the sheer size of him would intimidate most women and a few men. His upper torso was the classic male form: wide and muscular on top that led down to a thin waist and that oh-so-glorious v at his hips pointing directly to the powerhouse of manhood hiding behind those briefs. My mouth began to salivate at the idea of tasting his cock in my mouth. Would Jonas taste salty, sweet, or a little of both? His abs were hard and bumpy, giving me understanding to the definition most books had of washboard abs. I’d run my hand over them in the shower, had felt all the hills and valleys of his muscles, and had wondered what it’d be like to run my tongue over them. Damn, why was it getting so hot in here all the sudden?

  His laughter broke through my momentary daze. “See something you like?”

  Blinking a few times, I felt like I was burning up being so close to this hotter-than-hell specimen of man. “Yes, Sir, I do. I see something I like very much.” The words had left my mouth before I’d even realized what I’d said.

  I threw my hand over my mouth, wanting to claim momentary dementia or a lapse of oxygen or anything that would get me out of my admission. I wasn’t prepared for him to come over to the side of the bed, put the tray in the center of it, and pull down the sheet covering my breasts.

  “Well, I see something I like quite a bit, too.” I started to look away, but his hands cupped my face, which forced me to gaze upon him. “I don’t want you to ever hide your body from me. As long as we’re here, and then if we still agree on things when this whole adventure is up, that body belongs to me.” I wanted to argue, but his mouth met mine with a gentle kiss completely different than the ones we’d shared earlier today. This one was tender, caring, maybe even loving and complex.

  I pulled back trying to get air. To say he took my breath away would be an understatement. Just one look from him and my heart began racing. I didn’t know which was worse, fighting my feelings for him and being frustrated as hell or giving into my desires and wanting so much more than either of us was willing to give, not knowing exactly where this was going. Could a person really fall in love with another that quickly? I would admit that I was starting to feel something for him. Granted, we’d only succumbed to temptation today, but the sexual tension had been crackling in the air between us for almost a month, if not longer. If he was anywhere near me, I could feel the electrical impulses running up and down my skin, lighting my body to a heated mess.

  Girl, you’ve been in love with him since the first time you laid eyes on him at his sister’s wedding. Heck, even he told you he’d fallen for you then. Live in the moment, honey; don’t try to overanalyze anything. Just enjoy that fine hunk of beefcake and have all the servings you want. Apparently, my subconscious was an oversexed fiend that needed to get off even more than I did.

  I watched as Jonas stood up, removed his briefs, exposing his amazingly large and erect cock, and then climbed into bed next to me, taking up a position near the headboard. I matched his position, inching my legs away from the tray so I wouldn’t bump it. I let the sheets fall to my waist. If he wanted to view me, so be it. Who was I to argue?

  He picked up a small plate of fruit and began feeding me with his fingers. “I can feed myself. I’m not helpless.”

  Jonas smirked but didn’t let the slice of papaya fall from his hand. With his eyebrows raised and a knowing look on his face, “Indulge me, princess. Let me take care of you.”

  He was still in this whole aftercare mode, which reminded me, “You know, I never agreed to be your submissive.”

  I instantly knew I’d said the wrong thing. Jonas put the plate of fruit down and his brows furrowed. He started to pull the covers away to get out of bed, so I grabbed him on his bicep. Damn, his arm felt like solid granite. “You didn’t let me finish.” He turned, his brown-green eyes filled with the pain he thought would be coming. “I never agreed to it earlier, but I am agreeing now.”

  “You mean it?” His face was full of hope and wonder, almost like that of a child on Christmas morning waking to find the tree surrounded with presents.

  I nodded but held up my hand. “I’ll agree to be your submissive, and you already know my hard limits—yes, I did at least listen to Carol and my sister on that aspect. However, I do have a couple of terms.”

  He sat back in bed running a hand over his beard. “Okay, shoot.”

  I don’t know what possessed me, but I placed my hand on his forearm. I guess I needed him to feel my touch, experience the care I now had for him. “I need you to teach me what you desire, how to submit, and anything else you feel I need to know.”

  He didn’t hesitate, “Done.”

  The next issue would be the hardest; the one that might cause this whole situation to blow up in my face. “Please keep an open mind on this next part. You talked about me trusting you. Well, that’s a two-way street. You want me to open up my heart, mind, and body to you and share with you all my secrets, fears, and desires, but you need to practice what you preach.” Jonas started to move and opened his mouth to object, when I gripped his arm tighter and held my other hand up to him to halt his complaints. “Now here me out. If I have to trust you and keep my heart and mind open, doesn’t it only seem fair that you trust me enough to deal with any issues you’re going through?” I knew I had him on a technicality.

  Both of his hands came up to cover his face. He grunted a bit. “Why do you have to be so fucking intuitive?” He lowered his hands, and, with a heavy sigh, acquiesced. “You’re right. I’m asking you to trust me, to talk to me, but I’m
not giving you the same in return. As a Dominant, I’m supposed to put your needs above my own.”

  Jonas reached his hand out and slowly slid the back of his knuckles down the side of my face. He blinked a few times, as if the words he was about to say were difficult. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but understand this: some of it may not be pretty, and I’m afraid you might think less of me after hearing about my past.”

  Resting my hand over his, I looked up into his eyes. “You forget who you’re talking to here. I’ve seen quite a bit in my short life and in my clinical rotations for school. I’ve heard patients recount war stories that would have most people running for the hills. I don’t think there’s much you could say that would change the way I think of you.” He seemed to breathe easier, with his posture relaxing once more.

  I hoped my words would encourage him to start communicating with me. Goodness knows I wanted to understand what made this man tick. But I watched in disappointment as he took hold of the plate of fruit again, lifted it close to me, and then picked up a bite with his fingers and placed it against my lips. “Open up, my little submissive.”

  My body was screaming with elation over how he used the word “my,” putting emphasis on it, staking his claim. In some off way, it gave me peace to know I could trust him with my life, not that I didn’t already. Hell, I trusted every member of Titan to keep me, or whomever else they were protecting, safe. It’s something my parents, both being operatives, instilled in me.

  However, to say I was a bit disappointed that Jonas focused his attention on my needs instead of his own was an understatement. I reasoned that in time he’d come around, when he felt comfortable enough to talk to me. Until then, I’d live in the moment and enjoy what we had.