Again, he’s gentle at first, just gliding his hands lightly over me. As I open my legs wider for him, he swipes a finger over my clit. I practically fly out of the water.
“Easy.”
“It feels so good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. It’s good.”
“That’s nice, but I’m looking for more than good. So you just lie back and let me bring the amazing.”
I do as he says, and Aiden delivers on his promise. He’s never been a musician, but he knows how to make me feel like he’s composing the greatest love song ever written as he makes my body sing. I’m coming within minutes, his fingers inside of me, and his mouth marking my neck.
“Amazing,” I tell him, kissing him once more.
“I told you,” he says, making me laugh. Which I know was his intention.
“Thank you.”
“It was really okay? You’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m happy. Really happy. I never forgot how you touch me, but I needed to feel it again, so I could solidify it in my brain as well as my heart.”
“’I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now can I…um, well…can we make love? With me on top? Is that okay?”
“I think I may have lied earlier. This is my easiest yes ever.”
“I was hoping you’d be on board.”
“See? I’m making all your hopes come true today.”
“You are.”
I waste no time in turning around and sliding down onto his fully hard cock. I could feel it growing against my back while he was taking care of me, and I knew then that I was going to go through with my plan to go for it all today. I know he’ll stop if I feel weird, but, right now, all I feel is amazing. I’m thankful once again for Audrey, and the super contraceptives we all have because of her. I love being with Aiden without anything between us.
“You’ve got a big smile on your face, Doll. Are you enjoying your ride?”
Instead of answering, I place my hands on his shoulders, and rock harder onto him. The water is sloshing over the sides of tub, and we’re both covered in bubbles. It’s erotic and I think that the heat blazing between us could actually set the room on fire. When he catches my nipple between his teeth, I dig my nails into his shoulders and arch my back into almost a perfect “C” as I come hard. He follows me less than a minute later, thrusting into me hard enough to turn my aftershocks into yet another orgasm.
I collapse against him, placing kisses all over his chest and neck. “That was…”
“Oh yeah, it was.”
“We should get out of the tub before our skin gets too wrinkly.”
“You’re assuming I can move.”
“Don’t act like you’re anything less than super-human. This is me you’re talking to.”
He laughs, and then proceeds to stand with me in his arms. He moves his foot to pop the drain open, and then steps out, making his way to the bedroom. We’re not going there to sleep if I have anything to say about it. At least not yet.
* * *
Aiden
We’ve only been asleep for about an hour when my doorbell starts to ring. I ignore it at first, and then the pounding begins. I know it’s almost noon, but no one should be at my door.
“Police,” I hear, and fuck if that doesn’t get me out of bed.
“Aid?” Ellie asks in a sleepy voice.
“Just go back to sleep, Doll.”
“That’s the police,” she says, sitting up.
“I’ll see what they want. It’s probably nothing.”
I grab some shorts and a shirt off the floor, and practically run to the door. Whatever they’re here for is not something I want Ellie involved in. She’s finally working past the shit she went through, and she doesn’t need to deal with any of mine. I open the door and am crowded backwards by the six cops that stream in.
“Were you involved in an altercation at your mother’s bar last night, Mr. Ford?”
There were witnesses, and surveillance tapes, so I’m not going to lie. “Yes. A patron got handsy with our manager, and I punched him.”
“You did more than punch him. Witnesses say it took four men to pull you off of him.”
“I don’t like seeing women get mistreated.”
“The woman in question, Elletra Gallagher, is your girlfriend, is she not?”
“Yes. I am,” Ellie says, walking into the room in her outfit from earlier.
The detective asking the question looks surprised to see her here. “When did you get here, Miss Gallagher?”
“We left the bar together and came straight here. We’ve been here ever since.”
“At no time could he have gone out without you knowing?”
“No. We just fell asleep about an hour ago.”
“I see. I’m going to need you to come down to the station and make a statement to that effect. And Mr. Ford, I’m afraid that we’re going to need to take you in for further questioning.”
“On what charges?”
“The man you beat up was found dead in an alley not far from here.”
“I told you we’ve been together all this time. Why are you taking him in?”
She knows how these things work, but I think she’s too freaked out to think clearly at the moment. “It’s fine, Ellie. I’ll go with them.”
“No, it’s not fine. You were here with me. There’s no way you could’ve killed someone last night, or this morning.”
“Was anyone here with you?”
“No, Detective. We don’t invite extras to our fuck-a-thons. Sorry to ruin the fantasy.”
Shit. She’s going to get herself arrested, too. “Calm down, El. Please.”
“I suggest you listen to your boyfriend and just come and give your statement.”
“Fine. Okay if I take your car, Aid?”
“Of course.”
I walk over and kiss her, not caring that these men are waiting. “It’ll be fine. There are cameras outside that will show I never left. You know I didn’t leave. They won’t be able to hold me long.”
The cops insist on cuffing me, saying I’m a risk to them. They have no idea. Ellie follows us out, and I hate that she has to see me being put into the back of a squad car. I know she won’t care, because with her job, she could be arrested by accident, too. Faith was once, and they got her out. They’d get me out if I didn’t have an airtight alibi. I do, though, so I know what I told her it true. They can’t hold me long. And hopefully, she’ll hold back, and not end up in the cell next to me.
Five hours later, and I’m still in custody. My parents have both been by, and so has a lawyer Reina sent to me. She told me that they’re working on getting the footage from my apartment to the right people. Until then, I just need to hang tight, and keep telling the truth. Had they caught me doing anything else I’m guilty of over the past few months, I’d have to lie. This one time, the truth should be enough to set me free.
Chapter 15
Ellie
It was an exhausting night at work without Aiden there. I’m looking forward to a long, hot bath, and then hopefully a short wait until he’s released from questioning. The police can’t keep him when he’s got an airtight alibi. Even if they don’t believe that he was with me, Ainsley got camera footage to some of our allies on the force, showing that we were together and not anywhere near where that guy died.
I’m just about to get undressed when my bracelet starts flashing, letting me know that someone’s in the house with me, and it’s not Aiden. I grab a gun from my drawer, knowing I’ll have back-up within minutes. Even if I didn’t just activate my distress call, Ainsley got the same alarm I did when the house was breached.
I’m not going to wait for him to come get me, because I know who it is. We should’ve known he’d come for me after he finished with the guy at the bar, but none of us did. I’m not a regular victim who Aiden saved—I was just groped, and he beat the crap out of the guy in public. Aiden didn’t hunt him. In fact, it looked to mo
st people like he was just doing a part of his job by protecting me at work.
The guy after him is getting more erratic and sloppy since we’ve managed to stop him most of the time. And because Aiden has stopped going out. Killing a drunk guy, and going after me, aren’t things he’d be doing if he was thinking clearly. This could work for me, or against me, because there’s no longer a clear pattern. He’s a total wild card now.
As I reach the bottom of the stairs, I sense him to my left before his fist comes at me. I barely dodge it and spin to face him. He lunges for me again, and I flip him over my shoulder. He bounces back up, and now I know a little more about what’s going on, and it’s not good. He’s hyped up on some drug. I don’t know what, but it’s something that’s not slowing his reflexes, and is leaving him feeling no pain.
He’s bouncing on his feet, and his eyes are darting everywhere but at me. Jesus, I hope my friends get here soon. I can probably hold him off for a little bit, but taking him down alone is going to be a problem. All of a sudden, he charges and tackles me to the ground before I can try and stop him. The force knocks the wind out of me long enough for him to get in a couple of good punches and wrap his hands around my neck. I don’t even know where my gun went.
“You’re the best one yet, bitch. Aiden’s girl. How does it feel to know you’re going to die because you’re fucking the wrong guy? A guy who doesn’t really care about you anyway. He cares about no one but himself. I can’t wait to see his face when he knows that you died because of him. The great Aiden Ford is going to fall, and fall hard.”
I don’t even try to answer him as I bend my knees, and then slam my feet into his sides. I’m thanking God that I hadn’t taken my stilettos off as he screams in pain. Once his hands have loosened from my neck, I push him off of me and lunge for my gun where I see it on the floor. My hand closes over it as he throws himself on top of me.
“Maybe I should have some fun with you first.”
Oh hell no. If nothing else could’ve spurred me into action, his words just did. I will never let a man victimize me again; especially not this sorry excuse for a coward. I slam backwards, butting my head into his jaw. He moves enough for me to get out from under him and tighten my hand on the gun. I know I’m bruised from being knocked to the floor more than once, and I’m probably looking a little crazed, but I make myself think of that as a good thing.
I see the indecision in his eyes as he tries to decide if he can rush me again while my weapon is pointed at him. “I wouldn’t try it. Get on your knees.”
“I can’t let you live after you’ve seen me. I’ve worked too hard to set this all up.”
“It’s over. I will kill you. Do you really want to die because you’re jealous of Aiden? Or upset because the two of you drifted apart?”
“You think I shouldn’t be upset? We were best friends, and then he left me for guys who were famous.”
“What? He chose a different branch. And he doesn’t care that Nate and Matt are famous. He already told you that. I can’t believe you pretended to be gay and started killing people just to get some kind of twisted revenge. I mean, come on—fucking the VP when you’re not even into guys? Unless you’re on Scandal, who does shit like that?”
He doesn’t answer, trying to catch me off guard as he once again comes for me. I start unloading bullets in him as he keeps coming. He lands a hard punch as he finally falls, taking me to the floor with him.
The door slams open, and Matt rushes over to pull me off of Andres as his blood soaks into my clothes. “Jesus, El. We got here as fast as we could.”
“I know.”
“You unloaded a full clip?” Reina asks.
“Yeah. He was on something; kept coming for me.”
“Fuck,” Nate says.
That pretty much sums it up. The police arrive then, and although it was clearly self-defense, they have to take me to the station. I don’t even bother to change, since I know they’ll want my clothes. Reina promises to bring me a bag with my things. I’m in a daze as I get into the car, the blue and red lights flashing over everything.
I’ve killed before, but it’s never felt like this. Like it was right, all right, and not even a little bit wrong. Even when I’ve killed men who hurt children, I felt a little bad about not being able to take them in alive. But this? Killing Andres couldn’t be avoided, and it wasn’t wrong. Not if it saved Aiden, which I know it did. I truly feel at peace for the first time in months, and I don’t know whether to be scared of the feeling, or happy about it.
* * *
Aiden
I knew I’d get released tonight, since they really didn’t have enough to hold me. I know they were hoping for me to confess, but that wasn’t going to happen. I’ve killed plenty of people, but not the guy they wanted to pin on me. I didn’t touch him outside of the bar. I had no desire to—I was too busy finally touching Ellie.
What I didn’t expect was the sight I’m seeing as I make my way to the front of the station. Ellie is being led in. She’s wearing one of her work outfits, but it’s covered in blood. She’s bruised and her lip is split, but I know it’s not her own blood that’s all over her.
“El?”
“Hi Aiden.”
“What’s going on?”
“Andres came for me.”
“Andres?”
“That’s enough talking. Move along, Miss,” the officer closest to her says.
I want to run after her, and find out what happened, but I can’t. Why would Andres go after her? If I can’t be with her right now, I need to go to my dad. Whatever’s going on will hit him hard.
I don’t want to leave Ellie alone here, though. What if the Society doesn’t know? I mean, they should since her tracker should be on if she was in distress, but still. When Reina rushes through the door a minute later, I feel a little bit better. I’d feel a lot better if she wasn’t looking so harried. Reina doesn’t do harried.
“Rei?”
“Aiden, hi. You got released? Good. I need to take care of Ellie, but we’ll all talk as soon as she’s done, okay?”
“I need to see my dad.”
“Wait for us. We’ll go with you. This shouldn’t take long. It’s a clear case of self-defense.”
“Ellie said it was Andres. My dad’s going to need me.”
“Yes, but he’ll wait for us. Please just wait.”
“But—“
“Listen to her, man. She knows what she’s doing,” Matt says, coming up behind me.
“My dad.”
“Will wait. Trust her. Trust me.”
“Of course. I do trust you. Both of you. Take care of Ellie, Rei. I’ll wait here.”
“Thank you.”
It’s less than an hour later when Ellie and Reina finally emerge from the back of the station. Matt and I consumed a crazy amount of bad coffee and vending machine junk food during the time we were waiting. I had lots of questions for him, but he refused to answer. He told me we had to wait for everyone. So, I waited, but now it’s time for me to get the answers I need.
“Hawk, you’re still here?” Ellie says, running to me as I stand. She’s in a new t-shirt and jeans. I’m guessing Reina had them in that big purse of hers.
“Of course. I had to make sure you’d be released.”
“That was never in question,” Reina says.
“Still. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I left? I need to get to my dad, though. You said it was Andres and that is going to gut him.”
“I knew you’d want to go to him, so Reina called. He’s expecting us.”
“You called him?” I ask, and Reina nods. “I should’ve called him,” I say, running my hands through my hair. “I just wanted to see him in person and hug him.”
Ellie grabs my hands, and holds them. “We’ll go now. He won’t be upset that you didn’t call. He’s your dad. He knows you.”
“Yeah? Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go.”
Ellie rides with me in my car. We don’t talk duri
ng the drive, she just holds my hand, and leans her head on my shoulder. It’s almost like she needs comfort from me, too. I guess she does. The amount of blood she had on her makes me think Andy is definitely dead. She should know that my dad won’t hold it against her if she killed him. She had to protect herself.
“He won’t blame you, you know?”
“Huh?” she says, raising her head.”
“My dad. I know you’re worried, but he won’t blame you for protecting yourself.”
“I know. Thanks for saying it, though.”
I drive through the gates of my dad’s official house, and we’re promptly ushered inside. I stop short at the threshold to his large study, because I wasn’t expecting to see Nate, Jade, Faith, Jake, and Isa here. My mom, yeah, but not them. Or Theo, who I realize is standing behind my dad’s desk as well. Dave starts to walk in behind us, but my dad tells him to wait outside, and Ellie closes the door behind us. My friends are all looking everywhere but at me as my dad comes up and gives me a hug.
“What’s going on?”
“Have a seat, Aiden. There are some things I need to tell you about what happened today. And what happened almost three months ago.”
“Three months ago? You mean with Ellie?”
He nods. “And with you.”
“Tell me,” I say, rooted to the spot I’m in.
“Let’s sit, Hawk,” Ellie tells me, and for the first time ever I see fear in her eyes when she looks at me. That more than anything has me sitting on the empty loveseat, and pulling her down next to me. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I have a feeling that it’s going to change everything for me. And not in a good way.
Chapter 16
Ellie
I can barely breathe as Aiden and I sit down on the loveseat. I know what’s coming, and I’m pretty sure that I also know what it means for me—and for us. I want to grab him, and run from this room, from the secrets we’ve all kept from him. We did it to protect him, but he won’t understand that. He’s going to feel betrayed—especially by me. I’ll take it, though. I’ll let him throw all of his anger and hate at me. Because I know he’s going to need Matt and Nate when he learns about everything. They’re his true support system, and I can’t let him push them away.
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