Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Vengeance [Sweet Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Nicole Morgan

  She jolted at the sound of her bathroom door opening. She turned, and through the frosted glass of the shower, she saw him standing there. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to scream and claw at him for ruining her night with Cullen.

  Instead she stood frozen and watched as he lifted his arms and pulled his T-shirt over his head. After throwing it to the side, he undid his jeans and slid them down his thighs. Trying to ignore the sudden desire building yet again, she controlled her breathing.

  She had to bite on her bottom lip to keep herself from moaning at the site of him coming toward the shower. His erection was evident and sinfully sexy in the silhouette of the frosted glass. She wanted him so badly she was literally hurting from the pain of it.

  Backing against the shower wall, she braced herself as the door opened. She momentarily had forgotten about her tears, but the expression on his ruggedly handsome face reminded her, and she turned away.

  “Chelsea? What’s wrong, sugar?” he asked her as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

  She wished she didn’t enjoy the feel of his arms around her. She wished she didn’t crave his cock as she felt it press against the small of her back. The emotions he evoked in her sent her over the edge, and she wept freely as he held her.

  It seemed like an hour had passed when in actuality it had probably only been minutes. Her tears were calming, and she realized that in the whole time he held her while she cried he had been caressing her body, talking to her, soothing her with his words and his touch.

  “Shh…it’s okay, sugar. I’ve got you, okay? Tell me…tell me what’s wrong…tell me what you need.”

  Leaning her head back against his shoulder, she whispered to him. “I need you. I’m sorry. I know you don’t want this, but I need you.”

  He kissed her temple and whispered. “I know, Chelsea. I know. It’s okay.”

  He said nothing more as he used a thigh to spread her legs apart. Then, pushing her slightly forward, he gently placed her hands on the shower seat and positioned himself at her entrance.

  “This time, I’m not using a condom, sugar. I want to feel all of you.”

  He didn’t wait for her reply when he thrust into her. The sensation of him driving into her from behind with such force literally had her screaming in ecstasy. Never once had she ever been taken the way that Adam took her. This thought raced through her mind as she ground herself down on him, bringing their bodies closer together, and came in a rush not much different than that of a blazing inferno.

  “Jesus, sugar. You’re gonna make me come.”

  Still trying to come down from her orgasm, she pulled her body away from him, spun herself around and, on her already quivering knees, dropped to the floor in front of him.

  She took him in her mouth without hesitation, forcing him deep into the cavernous depths of her throat. She needed him, all of him. As sure as she needed air to breathe, she needed to make Adam come. She needed to taste his salty semen and let it wash down her throat and into her very soul.

  She reached her hands up and, with one, held on to his deliciously firm ass and, with the other, massaged and played with his balls. His groans and the way he was pumping into her mouth as he fisted the back of her hair gave her a satisfaction like she had never known before.

  He howled out a word she didn’t understand as she felt the first drop of his musky concoction splash against her tongue. His cock swelled and pulsed inside her mouth, making it feel impossibly large in her mouth. She didn’t stop, though. She held onto him and swallowed all that he gave her and relished in every salty drop of it.

  She finally looked up at him at the sound and feel of the water shutting off. His strong hands reached underneath her arms and lifted her to a standing position. With one hand, he cupped her chin and kissed her.

  To say she was shocked was an understatement. She had always heard that men didn’t like to kiss their women after they had done such things. Yet here he was, kissing her and melting her heart with the soft way his tongue stroked hers.

  “Shit, Chelsea,” he whispered against her mouth, “you’re so amazing, so incredible.”

  She couldn’t speak. His words, although she knew he meant them in the sexual context, meant so much to her.

  “I’m gonna take you to bed, sugar. I’m gonna take you to bed and make you feel so good.”

  She only nodded as he opened the shower door. Each of them reaching for a towel, they dried each other off, the whole time staring at one another. When they were finished and she was brushing her hair, he came up behind her. Their bodies were naked and still damp from the shower. He was kissing her neck, her shoulders, and her back. The fire was starting to build again when she heard his phone ring.

  She didn’t miss the change in his eyes when he also heard it ring. His body language changed. He went stiff and rigid in his stance. He walked across the bathroom and bent over to pick up his jeans from the floor, removing his phone from the pocket.

  “Yeah?”

  Chelsea waited nervously as he stood with the phone to his ear and his back to her. She now finally had a view of his tattoo, the one she had seen once before but only for a second. It appeared to have some sort of a military symbol on it and a frog in the middle. She thought the frog was strange at first, until she remembered hearing once that SEALs were known as frog men.

  Suddenly, so quickly it startled her, he spun around and stared at her.

  “When?” he said while staring at her. “Uh huh. Yeah, I know it. Okay, I’ll be there.” He hung up his phone and sighed.

  “Problem?” She asked with a shaky voice, afraid of what he might say.

  “I have to leave. I’m sorry. I…fuck!” Hurriedly, he began dressing.

  “Is everything okay?” She hated the timid sound of her voice displayed, hated how the thought of him leaving tore at her heart.

  Adam came toward her and used a handle to cradle one of her cheeks. He didn’t say anything, but she saw something in his eyes. Sadness or regret? She wasn’t sure which, but it was overwhelming as he stared at her.

  Slowly, he bent his head down and kissed her. Without saying anything more, he left the bathroom. Moments later she heard her front door closing and, soon thereafter, the sound of his engine. She stood there frozen, still in shock over the expression she’d seen in his eyes right before he’d left.

  The squeal of his tires as he sped away brought her back to reality. He was gone. For a moment she had felt completely and totally connected to him, and in an instant it was broken.

  The secrets that Adam Collins held in his past were obviously much deeper than she had anticipated. Two questions remained. First, there was whether or not she was strong enough to continue on with their affair, despite his constant rejection after every time she gave herself to him so unconditionally. The second was whether or not she was strong enough to not give herself to him, because she knew that all it took was a look or his presence and she was on fire for him, with no hope of saying no.

  Chapter 19

  Adam raced down the street. His adrenaline was pumping through his veins at a pace he was sure was unhealthy. When Taylor had called him and told him that a minute ago, a half an hour outside of Cheyenne Wells, he caught a glimpse of the Bianchi limousine driving in the opposite direction, it left Adam with a chill that started in his gut and raced straight to his heart.

  What could have happened to change the meeting time? What’s more is why did it make him feel so uneasy? The thought that Bianchi Sr. had actually killed his own son, his youngest son, did cross his mind, but he knew it was unlikely. Old man Bianchi was if nothing else a strict family man and a devout Catholic.

  If he timed it right, he could park his car a good mile from the Bianchi mansion, hike up the hill behind their family compound, and climb up one of the trees in the surrounding area behind the property. He needed to get a good look at who was in that car. The possibility that Danny Jr. was in it was all the incentive he needed to leave Che
lsea.

  Chelsea. She was so incredible. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand the overwhelming emotions that sent him spiraling out of control whenever she was near him. He knew he shouldn’t want her, shouldn’t continue to go to her. He couldn’t help himself, though.

  Her body, her voice, her eyes, and her very essence called out to him and begged him, no demanded him to go to her, to take her and to…He stopped himself before he could let his thoughts continue. He couldn’t have her. No matter how much he wanted her, he knew he didn’t deserve her. He didn’t deserve happiness. He had his chance at that, and his stupid male arrogance had pissed it away.

  His phone rang. He reached for it and glanced at the number. Rex? What did he want?

  “Yeah?”

  “We need to talk.”

  Adam rolled his eyes at the curt tone of Rex’s voice. That only meant one thing. He was going to catch shit for something.

  “Now’s not the time man. I gotta go.” He was about to hang up when he heard Rex shout through the phone.

  “No. I swear to God if you hang up this phone, brother or no brother, I will kick the ever-loving shit out of you.”

  “Jesus, man, I do not have time for this. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “I’m not fucking around here, Adam. Cut the shit, all right? What the hell did you do tonight with your neighbor?”

  Adam, who was about to hang up yet again, was surprised and honestly intrigued by his question. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t play innocent, asshole. Shelby and I went to Flanagan’s for a couple of drinks after a movie tonight. We saw Cullen Jr. sitting at the bar. Imagine our surprise when he told us his date, your neighbor, got suddenly ill and had to run into her house, without so much as a word to him, right after you sent him on a wild goose chase to his parents’ house. Which was, coincidentally, right after you spent a few minutes alone with her.”

  Shit! He was not in the mood to have his conscience get the better of him.

  “What the hell do you want me to say?”

  Rex muttered something on the other end that he couldn’t make out. Although he was fairly sure it was not flattering.

  “How about the truth? Jesus, man, Cullen’s a good guy. He was really excited about tonight. Why did you have to fuck it up for him?”

  Why did his friends always assume the worst of him? “What in the hell makes you think it was my fault? She didn’t feel well. How on earth could that be my—”

  Rex yelled. “Cut the shit! I said tell me the truth. You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?”

  “You know what, Metcalfe? I am sick and tired of you and Jack making me feel like I’m a complete and total fuck up all the time.”

  He switched ears as he took a sharp turn way too fast. “And another thing, yeah, I’m an asshole. Deal with it and move the fuck on! If you lost even half of what I lost, you’d be a little rough around the edges, too. So get off my ass. Now, I told you I was busy, so let it go. I saved your life when my team and I rescued your asses in Colombia. That should at least account for a few free passes. So leave me and Chelsea alone!”

  Damn it. As soon as he spoke, he knew his mistake. Rex had been goading him, knowing it would force some sort of unwilling confession out of him.

  “So, it’s you and Chelsea now is it? Mind telling me when this happened and why your girlfriend was going on a date with my friend?”

  Adam gripped the steering wheel tight, annoyed at himself and with Rex. “She’s not my girlfriend, okay? But she sure as hell is not going out with that prick Bristow!”

  “Really? So, he’s a prick now. Tell me, Adam, when did you meet him again?”

  Rex always had been the best at dragging information out of people. The knowledge that he had forgotten that only irritated him more.

  “Fine. I have never met him. That doesn’t mean I have to like him, okay? Now for the final time, I have to go.”

  “No, it’s not okay. So what, are you threatened by Cullen? You’re sleeping with her and she agreed to go on a date, and rather than be a classy guy and step aside, you just interfered. Nice, Collins. Damn, Jack was right. You are the world’s biggest prick!”

  “Damn it. Why are you on my ass? What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to start dealing with this shit from over a year ago. Ally’s gone. She’s not coming back and neither is your child. You can’t continue to screw with everyone around you just because you’re not happy. Get that through your head. Because, brother or no brother, until you do, I’m through with you.” Rex said nothing more and the line went dead.

  “What the…” Adam stared at the phone in surprise. Rex had always been the one to stick up for him when everyone else gave him grief. The fact that he just thoroughly had his ass chewed by his good buddy just proved that he had become worse than he already thought.

  He rounded the corner, which would take him to the state park on the outskirts of the Bianchi mansion. He wasn’t sure if it made Bianchi Sr. an idiot or a genius for building his compound on the border to government land. Something told him, though, the son of a bitch knew exactly what he was doing.

  He found an end parking space by the public restrooms and reached for some change in his side console. Once outside, he activated his car alarm and did a cursory glance of his surroundings as he strode over to the vending machine to purchase a bottle of water.

  His phone rang, and he prayed it wasn’t Rex again to make him feel more like an ass than he already did. Glancing at the number, he recognized who it was.

  “Taylor? What’s wrong?”

  “I was following far behind them, so I wasn’t noticed. A couple of miles at least. Anyway, I noticed something in the brush on the side of the road when I hit about seventy-five miles outside of Denver. I almost didn’t stop, but something told me I should.” Taylor hesitated.

  “And? What was it?” Adam asked of the suddenly quiet man.

  Taylor expelled a large breath. “It’s the guard, from the Bianchi compound. He’s dead. Shot. In the back of the head, execution style.”

  Adam closed his eyes. He didn’t care for anyone who would work for the Bianchi crime family, but he didn’t want to see the guy killed either.

  “They found out?”

  “It’s all I can figure,” Taylor confirmed. “Why else would they kill him?”

  “Shit! I don’t like this. I just got to the park. How far do you think they are away from the compound now?”

  Adam was already making the trek up the rough terrain that made up the state park. From the looks of the steep hills and rocks everywhere, he figured that his latter theory had been correct. Bianchi knew exactly what he was doing when he built his house right next to government-owned land, which met up with the back of the Bianchi property.

  “My best guess would be a half hour, tops. Be careful and good luck. I need to call in an anonymous tip, just need to find a payphone first. I’ll check back in with you later tonight. Meanwhile though, call me if you need anything,” Taylor stated, with not a hint of his usual casualness in his voice.

  “Good. I’ll make it there in no time at all. Talk to you later.” Adam hung up the phone and slid it into his back pocket.

  Squatting down, he did a few bounces on his knees and swung his upper body from side to side. After repeating this process a few times, he breathed in deeply and spoke to himself.

  “Well, once a SEAL, always a SEAL. Get your ass moving, Collins.”

  With his private motivational speech taken care of, he clutched the water bottle in his hand and began to run up the rugged terrain that was laid out before him.

  He jumped over smaller obstacles and found himself having to use his rock-climbing skills on some of the steeper hills. In a few locations, he found himself with little more to grip onto but the hard clay of the Colorado landscape.

  He realized just how out of shape he’d gotten when he found himself getting winded after only a quarter of a mile. In his days of bei
ng a SEAL team member, he could run for miles without even breaking a sweat. Lifting weights wasn’t enough, obviously, as he worried that he wouldn’t make the mile trek without having to stop several times.

  He pushed on in spite of his fatigue. There was no time for stopping. This was do or die time. This was his vengeance for Ally. No way was he going to let a stupid excuse like being too tired stop him from giving Danny Bianchi exactly what he deserved.

  In the distance Adam saw the large stone wall that surrounded the Bianchi property. He looked around and surveyed what would be the best hiding place. Seeing a large pine tree, he winced at the idea but knew that the tall, lush tree would be the perfect camouflage so the guards wouldn’t spot him.

  Chapter 20

  Chelsea sat in front of her television. She was staring at the screen but not really seeing what was on it. The final half of Die Hard just didn’t interest her like it normally would. Especially seeing as how it was one of her all-time-favorite movies. Adam had left two hours ago without more than a goodbye and an apology. Despite the hours that had passed, the uncomfortable ache in her chest remained.

  She wanted to be angry with him, furious with him for leaving her once again. Every time they were together, he left once it was over, if not physically, at least emotionally. For some reason though, reasons she couldn’t quite understand, she wasn’t angry with him, but sad. She was sad for what she felt change in him.

  The look she saw in his eyes. The way that they changed when he got that call, it literally broke her heart. In that instant, she was torn between her fear of him leaving and breaking the moment they were having and her need to go to him and touch him, kiss him, do anything to him just to take that look of worry off of his face.

  She wished she knew what Cullen had been talking about when he mentioned Adam’s past. The knowledge that he was once a Navy SEAL was still sinking in. She wondered, if it hadn’t been for Cullen mentioning Adam being shot, would she have even noticed the wound she saw on his shoulder?