The NOVA Trilogy Boxed Set

by Jayce, Aven

  I groan and sob, ignoring his words. He places his hands under my body and starts to lift.

  “Aaew!” I yell.

  “Jesus, Sophia. What’s wrong with you? Are you hurt?” he asks, placing me back on the floor. He circles, at a loss as to what to do. “Get off the floor,” he pleads in a louder voice. “Don’t fool around anymore, get up.”

  My arms shake as I lift my body. I pull my shirt over my head and bow down, embarrassed by my own last name that’s inked on my body.

  “Déjà vu,” he whispers and slams his fist into the wall. “FUCK! Fucking Paul Jameson. You shit. This is your daughter, your own daughter,” he yells as I curl back into a ball. He falls to the floor, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m sorry, Sophia. I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “I didn’t mean for this, for any of this to happen to you. I didn’t know it was going to get this bad.”

  This is it, my nervous breakdown. I felt it coming yesterday but Mera and I drank it away. Now that I’m sober and overcome with anxiety, my heart and mind have collapsed.

  “Soph, please say something.”

  I whimper and hold my hands tightly against my face.

  “I really thought I had it this time. That I could make something work and he might let us walk away. I knew I was in trouble when he said he didn’t think he would make enough of a profit for an exchange. God, I’m so sorry. At that point I figured you weren’t ever going to speak to me again, not after the video, so I opened my mouth to get you out of the room. I said what I thought would piss your father off enough to turn the focus on me and away from your rage at us. I spoke out of anger and hatred… again.”

  His words begin to calm me. I sniff and wipe the tears off my cheeks. He kisses the top of my head and holds me close.

  “I also wanted you to hate me.”

  “What? Why?” I ask, as I look into his eyes.

  “I already told you many times I knew it would be over, we weren’t leaving that room together. I couldn’t bear it. I was heartbroken, still am. I thought it would be easier to let you go if you hated me, that I wouldn’t think about you as much, or feel the pain that I started to feel when we woke up that morning. I’m a complete wreck without you, and I don’t know how to heal and make this pain go away.”

  “Cove, I’m sorry.”

  He picks me up and carries me to the bathroom, places me on the counter, and then turns on the water to the shower. We wait for it to warm and I scan his bruised body. His back has marks that look like he’s been hit with a baseball bat. He’s teary-eyed and a few drops stain his cheeks. I latch onto him with my legs, pull him close, and unbutton his pants. He slides them and his boxers down, leaving them on the floor next to his feet.

  I follow his chest to his abdomen with my finger, gently gliding down to his semi-erection. I stop, not wanting to touch any of his sensitive areas until he’s ready. I need him. I want him. “Cove?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you okay? How hurt are you?”

  More tears roll down his face as he shakes his head no. “I’m fine. A few cuts and bruises that will heal,” he whispers. “I’m distraught by this moment that we’re in. I’ve gone through it with my father when I was twelve. Your actions and words are the same as what I experienced one night with him. My life has come full circle. This can’t be good. To relive the most traumatic day in one’s life has to be some sort of sign. A sign for what, I don’t know. I’m suspicious of everything, and… something’s off. Something’s always wrong in this house, but this is different. I sense death.”

  “God, don’t say that. What happened to you? I’m the pessimistic one, remember?”

  “An entire day sitting drunk in the theater room watching myself on the screen as a teenager didn’t help to keep my sanity. But it’s more than that. I’m emotionally scarred. I hurt you again, and I’m sorry. You don’t have to accept my apology, but I am sorry. Everything I’ve done and said to you today has been out of anger. Your words in that office… I would have rather been shot dead years ago. I won’t go through that again. I’m terrified to touch you and start over because I know that in an instant you could turn on me and be gone.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You’ve said that before,” he sighs, placing his forehead against mine. “Sophia… I need you.”

  He backs away and steps into the shower, placing his hands against the wall under the showerhead. Water rolls down his body, and the dried blood slowly washes away. “I love you,” he whispers.

  “What happened?”

  “When?”

  “The traumatic day with your father. How did it end?”

  “I was in the shower, like I am now. Same position. He was by the sink, like you. He said once I found someone I have feelings for I’d realize the difference between Paul’s world and love. He said he didn’t want me to think that the industry was reality, and when I found someone special I’d be able to move on and forget about all of this. You’re that person, Sophia. Maybe this is a sign for me to make a change. Everything’s starting over, but this time I need to do something differently. If I have to relive the past, I won’t allow it to take the same course as it did when I was a teenager. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Cove turns and stares. The door to the shower is open and he holds out his hand for me to join him.

  I step in and lather his back. I’m careful not to put any pressure on his bruises. He flinches every so often as I wash his arms, legs and chest. His eyes explore the ink on my shoulder over and over again. Each time he sighs and shakes his head. He touches the saran wrap and then pulls me against his chest. This is the embrace we need. Our hearts unlock, overflowing with desire. We’re exhausted, unable to fight or ignore the powerful love we both feel. I place my arms around his back and he kisses the top of my head, ears, cheeks, and finally my mouth. Hot water rushes down our faces as the steam rises and conceals our bodies. He groans passionately and I follow, our breathing deep and sensual. His tongue chases mine and we dance inside one another’s mouths. My hands travel along his flesh, touching his neck, chest, lower abdomen. I hope he’s okay. I want him to know I’m sorry and that I love him. He has to feel it. He must know.

  I melt as he nibbles my earlobe, tugging, kissing, and licking my flesh.

  “Sophia,” he whispers in my ear. “Can you hear me?”

  His words are barely audible. I moan and he understands, wrapping my arms around his back to bring him closer to my body. Flesh against flesh.

  “The sound of the water should help obstruct my words,” he says. “I want you to know my mother’s coming.”

  I kiss his neck and travel up to his ear. “How do you know?” I ask in my smallest voice.

  He lifts me and places my back against the marble wall. I wrap my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck. Our lips connect in a fiery craze. I’m smothered by his mouth and breath. His hand reaches up to my breast and his cock is firm against my clit. We pant and moan for one another.

  He takes my ear and whispers an answer. “I told her I loved her. She always says it first and then I respond. It’s our code. If I say it before her, she knows something’s wrong.”

  “That’s why she started to cry?” I murmur.

  “Hmm mmm.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  He laughs and kisses my neck and chin. I throw my head back and smile. “Haven’t a clue,” he says. “It’s out of my hands.”

  He releases me and turns off the shower. The mirror is steamed over and the room is sweltering like a sauna. My tense muscles relax and my heart melts when I see a smile on Cove’s face. He gently peels the tape and takes the covering off my tattoo, throwing it in the trash and then wraps a towel around my body.

  “Make love to me,” I say. “I want you inside of me.”

  “I’ll do whatever you want,” he whispers. “But you know we’re not alone.”

  “I know. Just tell me that you’ll be with me because you want to be, and not b
ecause I placed an order on a menu.”

  “I’ll be with you because I love you,” he replies, carrying me wrapped in the body length towel to bed. He lays me down and unfolds the top, exposing my breasts. “You’re beautiful, my warm and gentle Dove. Your body glows in this room… in front of me.”

  His cock is solid and ready for pleasure. He crawls over my body and rests his hips over mine. His lips brush across my mouth, down my neck, to my chest. He sucks and tugs on my nipples, which causes my inner space to ache.

  “I love you,” I whisper. “Fuck me, now.”

  He lifts his body and uncovers the rest of my hidden flesh. His hand brushes across my face and down my entire length, ending at my soft, beating inner lips. He places a finger over my clit and slides another inside. His eyes close and he exhales.

  “I never thought I’d feel this again.”

  “Me either,” I say.

  “I’m talking about my heart, Sophia.”

  “So am I.”

  He smiles, takes my legs, and places them over his shoulders. I reach my hands over my head to divulge my entire body to him. He holds my legs and puts light kisses around my knees and inner thighs. I moan in delight. The hunger I have for him to fill me is overwhelming.

  “Cove… please.”

  I watch as he holds his mass. I feel his tip press against me. He slides it down over my area and then with one quick thrust, he’s inside. Filling me whole, my insides stretched and I come undone for him. I lift my chin and grip the sheets in pure ecstasy.

  “Oh God,” I say with a deep breath. “I’ve never felt like this before. My entire body has erupted. My heart, mind, insides, everything aches for you. The way you make me feel, you’re all powerful, Cove,” I pant. “Control me. Be the one who controls all of this.”

  He moves fast and hard, thrusting deep. I wrap my legs around his waist and he descends over my chest, his arms support his body as his cock propels in and out. I place my hands through his hair and pull his face down to my lips, my tongue circling his. He drives faster. We whimper and groan… our bodies heated in untamed movements. I’m wild for him, unable to get enough of his cock. He powers fiercer than ever before. I feel vicious. I need to come.

  “Make me come,” I plead.

  He lowers his abdomen over my clit and rubs quickly against it. The pressure from his mass massages my inner spot and I’m engorged. I turn my head and moan.

  “Come for me,” he growls. “Do it now.”

  I open my mouth as he slams relentlessly against my most pleasurable areas. I grab onto his arms and tilt my head back, my abdomen and chest tense.

  “That’s it, I feel you around me. You’re gonna make me come. Do it first. Do it now,” he demands.

  My eyes close and I let out a loud groan as my insides rip apart. Showers of rapid rhythms and pleasure race throughout my body.

  “My God!” I shout.

  “Oh fuck, I’m coming with you,” he says as he pulls out and jerks himself off. I whimper at his withdrawal and place my hand down to my clit as we finish our release together. His cum lands on my chest and he moans and gasps at the gratification. He falls on top of me when he’s finished, and huffs for air. We inhale deep breaths together and he ends our passion with an erotic kiss.

  “God dammit I love you,” he declares. A light enters his eyes as he speaks, making me feel revived and happy, something I haven’t experienced in days. “You okay?” he asks, as he brushes my hair off my face.

  “I’m more than okay,” I respond with a smile. “We’re both okay.”

  He blushes and rolls off. I take the towel that I’m on and wipe the cum off our stomachs. He smiles and places his arm under his head, looking like the God that he is. His body is amazingly toned and I can’t get enough of his dark hair and eyes. He smiles as he catches me admiring him.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asks.

  “That I’m lucky. That we’re lucky.”

  He laughs and covers his face. “I’d like to agree with you, but we are locked in a room, and a house for that matter.”

  “Besides that. We’ll make this work. Together, we’re stronger than they think we are.”

  He uncovers his face and leans on one arm, places his hand behind my neck, and pulls me in, kissing my lips. “You’re right, besides all of that, we are lucky,” he says, and lowers back on the bed. I take his hand in mine and place it over my heart as we both stare at the ceiling fan.

  “Hum for me,” I request. “I’ve only heard rap music for two days and I’d like to hear something pretty as I drift to sleep.”

  “Rap music can be pretty.”

  “Please?”

  “I usually only hum when I’m nervous, but for you, I’ll make an exception. Any requests?”

  I smile as he runs his hand through my hair. “Whatever you feel is appropriate for the moment.”

  “You like John Legend?”

  “Mmm.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. All of Me it is.”

  He starts to hum softly and I yawn, closing my eyes. “Thank you,” I whisper. “That’s a sweet love song. When you finish I’d like to hear Bruno Mars, David Gray, then Maroon 5.”

  I sense a smile on his face as he finds my demands playful. He continues. His soft sounds fill the room.

  “Don’t ever leave me, Sophia. Don’t turn your back on me again. Please… just let me have your heart, forever.”

  We fall into a deep sleep, our hands and bodies tightly entwined. We’re exhausted, sore, bruised, and beaten… but in love.

  SUNSET RUSH

  Book Three of The NOVA Trilogy

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  About The Author

  PROLOGUE

  “Lewis, darling, what a little cuddle bug you are this morning. Is it time for breakfast? You want me to get out of bed?”

  Lewis nudges his nose under Leondra’s chin and purrs, kneading his paws into her chest. His ‘lion cut’ from the groomer a week ago has grown ever so slightly and softened into a short fleece-like texture. Leondra runs her hand down his back and he lifts his rump in pleasure. She scratches his ears and spends some time loving Sophia’s Persian cat, as she knows she’ll soon have to get ready for her flight to Vegas.

  “Cove and Sophia need me, Lewis. I don’t know what’s wrong, but it can’t be good they’re not answering their phones when I call, and then Cove used his code at the end of our last conversation. He knows I always end the call with ‘I love you,’ not the other way around. He’s trying to tell me something.”

  Lewis sets his ears back and listens, still whorish for affection as she speaks.

  “Can you hear me Paul? Still listening? Probably not, since my son and your daughter are no longer here. What do you care what old Leondra Everton does, anyway? You only want control of my husband and young Cove, my once happy, loving, strong son who you’ve destroyed. I’m taking him back, Paul. You listening? I hope you are. You took my husband… my freedom… my son’s life, but now I see a glimmer of light and hope in his eyes. He’s coming back to life, thanks to your daughter. He loves her, Paul. You remember love, right? I love my husband you know. Always and forever, no matter what you’ve put us through, you can’t break the bond we have, or the strength we feel in our love for one another. My son has a chance, finally, to feel it, to have what we have. It’s in his eyes when he looks at Sophia, and in her eyes when she gazes back at him.”


  Lewis steps off of Leondra’s chest and rolls around on the bed with his feet in the air.

  “You agree with me, don’t you Lewis? We all deserve warmth, security, happiness, and love.”

  The buzzer of her loft sounds and Lewis jumps down, his short Persian legs scampering across the room and out to the living area. Leondra quickly sits up and wraps her gold robe around her naked body.

  “Odd. I wonder if that’s Haverty in need of more instructions while I’m gone. Lewis? You expecting anyone?”

  He scratches his new cat condo and jumps to the top, then licks his paw and washes his nose, ignoring her presence in the room. She walks barefoot to the brightly decorated foyer, and clicks the intercom.

  “Yes?”

  She waits and listens; only silence is on the other end. Nothing. No response. She walks to the kitchen and turns on the coffee pot, taking her favorite bright blue mug out of the cabinet. It’s lop-sided, with ‘mommy’ and a smiley face carved into the side. She remembers how proud Cove was when he gave it to her one Christmas morning when he was in kindergarten.

  The buzzer sounds again, and this time Lewis stops his morning bath and looks toward the door. Leondra places the mug on the counter and heads back to the foyer.

  “Yes?” she says, in a more demanding voice than before.

  “Leondra… it’s… it’s me.”

  She recognizes the voice immediately. A voice she’s been waiting to hear for almost seven years. Her heart races in anticipation. What’s going on? Why is she here? Why now, after all this time? Leondra presses the intercom and responds with a shaky voice. “Go around to the underground parking and take the back stairwell to the top floor. I’ll be waiting.”

  She runs to her bedroom and throws her robe to the ground, the robe she’s worn every day around the house since the police arrived and took her husband away in handcuffs. It’s the robe that offers her security from the world of Paul Jameson. The robe her husband opened ever so slowly and made love to her the morning before he was gone. It’s off. On the floor. Someone’s coming.

  She opens her closet, quickly sliding into a black button up blouse, black leggings, and a long red sweater, after which she tosses her hair until it fluffs out. The back stairwell door jiggles and a knock of arrival echoes in the hall. She puckers her lips, swipes a dark lipstick over them, and pinches her cheeks for color. Lewis watches as she sprints through the living room, stopping once again at the foyer. She takes a deep breath and slowly, casually, walks down the hall to the back stairwell door. It’s steel, with no windows, and she can’t see the person on the other side. There’s another knock on the steel and Leondra places her hand against the cold metal. She feels the vibrations, hesitates, tears in her eyes, and opens the door.