by Martel, Tali
“Don’t do that please,” he said, and she jerked her face up, sensing the urgency in his voice.
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t… look away from me like you can’t bear to watch my face. It’s humiliating and I won’t bear it. You can either believe me or pretend you believe me. Those are your only two options.”
“And if I don’t do either of those things?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Then you can stay in your room in that same sweater and jeans and I’ll bring you a can of soup for every meal,” he said, and Leona noticed a hint of a smile lurking on his lips.
The answer was not what she had expected and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He smiled and it had an insane effect on his handsome face. He looked boyish, young and carefree… definitely not a murderer.
It had an even more devastating effect on her senses, and she inhaled sharply, her eyes gluing to his smiling lips. She couldn’t smile back because her stomach was clenching into knots of arousal. She wasn’t used to feeling that warming sensation, so she didn’t know how to hide it, and Jake’s smile froze on his face as he caught her watching his lips.
They stayed silent and the only sound was the soft hum of the refrigerator. Jake’s lips parted as he breathed and it broke the spell. Leona lurched out of the stool and walked into the living room. Jake turned towards the stove and covered the leftover pieces of chicken in the skillet. But no matter what either of them pretended to do, their thoughts were on the same thing: the moment that had just passed between them.
The sexual tension in the room was like a tangible object. Jake gritted his teeth, holding on to the sink, his knuckles turning white. His cock was hard and pulsing with need, and he didn’t want Leona to see it. He didn’t want to scare her away. He wanted to spend the next week in her company, pleasant company, not the angry presence he was trying to eradicate. Showing her how physically fucked-up and desperate he was, wasn’t going to help his cause in any way.
Chapter Eleven
Leona flicked on the TV and sat down, watching the only news channel that was unlocked. “Now that I know who you are, would you mind unlocking the news channels? I want to know what’s going on in the world.”
Jake pasted a passive expression on his face and walked towards her, unlocking the channels in an instant. “Here you go,” he said magnanimously and fell onto the couch next to her. Luckily for Jake, there was no new update on his escape, save for a few seconds’ worth of air-time that his mug shot received.
The newscaster’s voice was loud and clear through the living area, “If you see this man, do not approach him. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.”
Leona listened and it was like a reality check. The man was sitting next to her, just two feet away, and although he wasn’t armed at the moment, he did have a gun. Having a gun didn’t make a man dangerous though. Her brothers had guns, her father had a whole cabinet full of them, and they weren’t even mildly dangerous.
Jake moved to get off the couch and she jumped, then looked away guiltily as he watched her knowingly. Shaking his head, he was about to turn away when a breaking news alert flashed through the wide screen. Thinking it might be something about him, he waited and then his blood froze as the news-caster began speaking.
“Justice Benson was shot by two unidentified men as he left his home for a hearing. The attack was made about ten minutes ago and the police have yet to comment on the situation, but sources indicate that both men are in custody. Justice Benson has been rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital and his condition is said to be critical.”
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Leona screamed and stood up. Jake placed his hand on her arm but she jerked away as if she had been burned. “Oh my God!” she screamed again, looking straight at Jake, and his heart flipped at the sight of pure terror on her face.
“Leona,” he began, but she was past the point of any reasoning.
She grabbed his arm hysterically, her fingers digging into his arm and began crying loudly, “You have to let me go. My father! It’s my dad! I have to go back home.”
Jake clenched his jaw and regretted unlocking the news channels. No matter what happened with her father, whether he died or lived, he couldn’t let her go before he was out of Colorado. He shook his head, remorse twisting his handsome features as tears started falling in torrents over Leona’s cheeks.
“Please don’t do this to me. I won’t say anything to anyone. Just let me go. I want to be with my dad, he might be dying,” she shrieked and instantly regretted saying the words herself, because her whole body was racked with gut-wrenching sobs.
Jake shook his head again and she grabbed the front of his shirt in both hands, twisting the fabric. “You son of a bitch!” she screamed. “Don’t you have a heart? I want to go home. Let me go home!” She cried and Jake clutched her face, bending his forehead down to rest against hers.
“I’m sorry, Leona. I’m so sorry,” he whispered and Leona cried harder, her eyes clenched shut. Jake watched her beautiful face an inch away from his and he ached to soothe her, give her whatever she wanted as long as her pain subsided. He couldn’t do anything, he was helpless. This was her pain to deal with. “Shhh,” he said, sliding his fingers through her thick luxurious hair, caressing her scalp with his fingertips. “Shhh. It’s going to be okay, sweetheart, don’t cry,” he whispered over and over.
Leona pressed her face against his chest, pushing her cheek into the deep crater in the middle of his wide chest. She felt lonely and she wanted someone to lean on, someone to ease the terrible ache in her heart as she thought about her father lying on a surgical table, bullets pierced through his flesh.
“I want to go, Jake, please,” she whimpered, but in her heart she knew that it wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t blame Jake. This was a life or death situation for him, too. He couldn’t risk his life for her. “I’m so scared,” she cried out and her body was racked with shudders as she began crying again.
Jake clutched her tightly to himself, his first normal, human touch in four years, and he wanted to savor the moment, he never wanted to let her go. His body was hardening with arousal at her nearness, despite him not even thinking about it. His cock was pulsing and pushing through the front of his pants.
“Don’t cry,” he said against her hair and then clutched her cheeks in either palm, twisting her face upwards to face him. “Don’t cry,” he whispered again, fiercely, and his lips descended to press against hers.
Chapter Twelve
Jake knew the instant his lips touched hers that he should stop, but then his mind went blank and his body took over every coherent thought. Leona was shock-still in his arms, her hands resting limply on his waist and her face in his palms. Jake broke the brief contact, but in a split second his starved body urged him to take her lips in a deep, plundering kiss.
Leona shivered, her eyes closing as the incredible feeling of his full, molded mouth moved against hers. It slid back and forth, tasting the contours of her lips, and then his tongue pushed its way into her mouth.
Leona moaned and her hands clutched at his shirt, tightening into fists as her lips began moving instinctively. She parted her mouth and slanted her head to receive his kiss. Her innocent surrender to his mouth’s insistent pressure tore a low grunt from his throat and his mouth slid fiercely over hers as he deepened the kiss.
His insistent mouth was almost rough on her full, pink lips, his hands clutching her face. His eyes parted slightly and her face was so close, her long eyelashes falling over her cheekbones as she savored the kiss. Jake’s tanned hands were a stark contrast against her dark, ebony skin, and he slid his fingers back and forth over her cheeks, closing his eyes as he wiped away her tears.
His mouth abandoned hers and trailed a hot, breathy path over her cheek. He pressed his lips to her tears and Leona shivered, pushing her body closer to his. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, and as she slid even closer in desperation, his hard pulsing c
ock poked her stomach.
This level of intimacy wasn’t something Leona was used to at all, and she lurched backwards, her eyes widening at the realization that he was so aroused by their kiss. She could understand her response to him, she was naïve and inexperienced, with only a handful of kisses as her complete history of sexual interactions. He, on the other hand, was obviously very skilled and experienced at these sorts of things and she was surprised he was so affected by her amateur kiss.
Jake knew the instant she pulled away he should let her go and let her hide in her room, away from him and his starved body. But he couldn’t, he was wild with the need to kiss her again, to feel her delectable, full breasts crushed against his chest again. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her back, his lips pressing to the curve of her neck.
Leona shook as tremors flowed through her and she gave up. There was no other place she’d rather be than in Jake’s arms. Her pussy was soaked with her body’s response to his mouth so she couldn’t deny that she wanted him more than she had ever wanted anybody in her life.
Jake waited for her to resist him and when she didn’t, that was all the encouragement he needed. He slid his hands down to her waist, and then up, sliding her sweater with them as his palms grazed her smooth, naked skin.
Leona gasped and instinctively took his lips in hers as his palms forged a hot, searing path along the sides of her body. He pushed his hands under her sweater, and caressed the sides of her breasts, never touching them over her bra, but just lingering on the edge. His mind was screaming at him to touch her breasts, feel them, crush their fullness in his palms, but somehow he resisted.
Leona shook with the feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling as if her insides were coiling for something delicious. She moaned as his thumb flicked the side of her breast over her bra, and the sound broke Jake’s resistance. He crumbled under the weight of his arousal and jerked her bra up roughly, covering both breasts with his palms.
He groaned into her mouth and she whimpered, her breath catching as she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. Jake’s mouth descended onto hers in a plundering kiss that stole her ability to think, and her back arched backwards against the force of his mouth.
He squeezed her breasts and his fingers pressed her nipples gently. Leona cried out against Jake’s mouth, and the sweet sound was like throwing lighter fluid on an already flaming fire. He grunted and slid his hand down her flat stomach to the waistband of her jeans, then slipped inside and clutched her ass-cheeks.
Leona pushed at his shoulders instinctively, her sense retuning as if an ice cold bucket of water was dumped on her head. Jake’s mind didn’t register that she was trying to stop him. She moved her mouth away from his and he buried his lips into her neck, his fingers sliding further down and touching her pussy. He moaned as her pussy juices soaked his finger, and Leona gasped in surprise, pleasure, and shock at the intimacy.
She pushed him away with all her might and stepped back, watching Jake stand there with his eyes wide, his breath harsh, and his cock jutting out through the fabric of his pants.
Leona’s own breathing was erratic, her bra undone under her sweater and her nipples showing through the thin wool.
Sense returned in the next few seconds, and Jake knew that for as long as he lived, he would not forget this sight.
Leona’s face was flushed, her lips swollen from his kisses, and her long, thick hair a mess from his fingers. He could hear his blood roaring in his ears, and they stared at each other for a few moments before Leona turned around and walked swiftly to her room, shutting the door behind her.
She sat on the edge of the bed and felt like she was drunk, or high, or both. Her father was almost killed and here she was, letting an escaped convict squeeze her nipples and slide his tongue against hers. The thought warmed her face again and she fell onto the bed on her side, straightening her sweater and covering her face with her hands.
Of all the things she could do at the moment, the only thing that was tempting her was to go back to Jake, and let him take her virginity. Her pussy ached with the need to be stretched and feel him inside, pushing back and forth and his mouth kissing hers again.
She touched her finger to her lips and they felt delightfully sore. She had been kissed countless times, and that was when she usually pulled the plug on any budding relationship. Why was it that Jake was the only man from whom she should run away, while every fiber of her being was screaming to let him take her?
Leona tensed her thighs, trying to soothe the throbbing sensation in her pussy but it didn’t help. She had to struggle to stay where she was and not throw away her morals.
She heard the TV being switched off in the living room and she dared not think of Jake and the feeling of his cock, insistent and hard against her stomach. Her navel clenched enticingly and she squirmed, a moment before her traitorous mind reminded her of the way he had pinched her nipples.
Unbidden, a fantasy of his rough mouth over her nipple crossed her mind and she shook her head, getting off the bed and walking into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
She couldn’t fight this. She couldn’t fight this urge she had for him. Whether he had murdered his fiancée or not didn’t matter anymore.
The only thing she could believe in that moment was the man who had kissed her with such consumed abandon a few minutes ago couldn’t be a murderer. He had let her go as soon as she had pushed him away. Surely a man who could murder someone in cold blood wouldn’t wait for a woman to consent to sex?
It might be flawed logic, or just her trying to make Jake something that he was not, but she chose to ignore it. She wanted to believe he was the lover she was imagining him to be. She wanted him to make her feel complete by filling her body with his.
She stared at her face in the mirror and her reflection mocked her. After years of trying to evade men who were as socially prominent as herself, she had fallen for a man who was a criminal, an outcast of sorts. In her heart, she knew that before this day was over, she was going to give herself to Jake.
Chapter Thirteen
She adjusted her sweater as she entered the living room with a nonchalant expression fixed on her face. Jake glanced at her before pointing to the screen. “You just missed another update on your father. Apparently he’s just been shot in the arm but they’re still unsure. They’ll have another update in an hour I think,” he said casually and Leona breathed a sigh of relief.
From the moment she had heard her father had been shot, so much had happened in her life. She looked at Jake with gratitude written all over her face, and Jake was shocked.
He had imagined her coming out of the room like an avenging angel, screaming and blaming him for what had happened. He had even recited a speech in his head that he was going to give in his defense. He was going to take full responsibility for what had happened and then apologize to her. Apparently, Leona wasn’t blaming him for anything.
She sat on the sofa away from Jake and began watching TV, an abnormally calm expression on her face. Jake wanted her to say something so he could get to the part about him blaming himself, but he waited and waited, and she said nothing.
They watched half of an old movie together and Jake watched her profile, her legs curled up beneath her. She looked like a high school student instead of a budding, hot-shot lawyer, and the light from the TV danced across her high cheek bones and big eyes.
Jake decided to copy her and just ignore the fact that they had almost had sex in the middle of the living room. He scratched his cheek and a whiff of Leona’s scent hit him, almost doubling him over in arousal. Her scent was embedded in his skin and he jerked his hand away, standing up and getting two bottles of beer from the fridge.
He glanced at the TV screen while he handed her the bottle and her fingers slid over his as she took it from him. His gaze jerked to her and she was watching him with her lips parted in surprise. She had felt it, too.
A tingling, exciting feeling coursed through
his body and instantly he looked away, clearing his throat and putting some distance between himself and the beautiful girl who was torturing his starved body.
“Uhh, Leona," he began and cleared his throat again, but suddenly he was at a loss for words. He glanced up and she was blushing brightly, but trying to act like she wasn’t affected at all. She knew what was going to happen between them tonight, and she was shy about it.
He didn’t remember when he had last fucked a woman who was actually embarrassed about the act. But then again, Leona wasn’t like any other woman.
He slowly walked toward her and she tilted her head upward to meet his gaze. His whole body tensed at her closeness and her expression and he lifted a hand to slide it around her nape. She shivered and closed her eyes, making Jake’s control snap. He placed his bottle of beer on the table and took her hand, making her stand in front of him.
His mouth descended almost roughly over hers and he forgot everything. Her breasts crushed against his chest again as she pressed her body to his, her lips parting to meet his kiss. Her indrawn breath made him grab her by her back and push her against his hard erection.
She clutched at his shirt and then gasped in surprise as he laid her on the couch, his body covering hers. Her legs parted of their own accord and the bulge in his pants pressed against her moist pussy. Leona moaned and her head fell back while Jake hungrily began nibbling at her throat.
“Leona," he whispered against her neck, and she clutched his shoulders, holding him in place. Jake’s hands slid up her sweater and tugged at the cup of her bra, pushing it aside and claiming her breasts possessively. The firm fullness swelled to fill his palms and he pushed off her, removing her sweater with a rough jerk.
Cold air hit Leona’s heated skin and Jake pushed her back, guiding her bra aside as his mouth closed over one perfect nipple. She arched her back, moaning aloud as he began sucking at her tit.