Save You (Crave #2)

by Ryan Parker

  Finn was the missing part of my life I had been waiting to find, without even knowing I was waiting for him.

  I snapped out of those thoughts as I watched him give me a half-smile. “Just want to look at me?”

  He was right to be skeptical. I wanted, needed, more.

  I moved the top sheet off of him. His expression changed from a smile to one of seriousness, almost curiosity. I moved down between his legs and knelt, my face hovering just over his cock.

  I reached for it, wrapping my hands around the shaft, stroking it a few times. I held it straight up, stuck out my tongue and tasted him.

  Finn was looking down his body, watching me lick him. He made a sound that sounded like a combination of a moan and a growl, deep and primal, spurring me on.

  I took the tip into my mouth, holding it there as I felt him growing longer and harder.

  He reached down and brushed the hair out of my face, holding onto the side of my head as I began to move up and down his shaft.

  He didn’t let me do it for long.

  “I can’t take this,” he said. “I need to be inside you.”

  I wondered if he was thinking the same thing that I was—that this was sex to cleanse me of the stranger, that somehow it was Finn claiming my body again.

  He turned me over, reaching for the nightstand, then stopping.

  “What?” I said.

  “I don’t have—”

  I shook my head. “I don’t care. I don’t even want you to use one.” I didn’t want him to finish the sentence. I didn’t want one more second spent thinking about anything like that. I just wanted him. Inside me. Nothing separating our flesh this time. For the first time.

  He pushed into me, filling me, and he made that deep moaning sound again. My eyes rolled back in my head and my eyelids fell shut. But I wanted to see him, watch his every move. I opened my eyes and saw him glaring back at me as he thrust into me again and again, pushing me back on the bed with his movements.

  My breathing became shaky as my anticipation grew stronger. As many times as we had been intimate, I had become totally comfortable with him, but each time brought something new. Sometimes just a small movement he changed up. Sometimes a feeling I would get—like the one that was bubbling up in me right then, that animal inside me that only Finn knew how to rouse.

  I hooked my leg around one of his and tried to turn him over, but he was too strong when his entire body was flexed as he made love to me.

  But he picked up on my attempt. He slid his arm underneath me, to my lower back, and turned us over in one smooth motion, his cock still buried inside me.

  I sat up to ride him, grinding my hips against him, harder, harder, wanting him as deep inside me as my body would allow. His hands cupped my breasts, slid down my stomach and he gripped my hips, then let his hands fall to the side.

  Finn had always been the one in control of our sex, but he was letting me take over.

  “I want to see you get off on me the way you want,” he said.

  I didn’t think I could have gotten any wetter, but his words brought a whole new level to my arousal, heightened to the point that it sucked the breath out of me.

  I moved my hips around in circles, then up and down the length of his shaft. I could feel his cock throbbing inside of me. I slowed down, teasing him, moving agonizingly slow until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I needed to ride him harder.

  My hands were on his stomach as I steadied myself, sitting upright on him. I found a rhythm that made his mouth form just the slightest hint of an O-shape, and I kept up that pace.

  I felt his stomach muscles tighten against my palms and he started to move his hips up and down as I rode him faster.

  So many times he had told me when to come and I had given him what he wanted. Now, more than wanting, I needed him to come inside of me, so I repeated the words he used so often: “Come for me,” I said. “Come inside me, Finn.”

  I felt his cock pulsing inside of me. His stomach rose and fell as he got closer.

  I lowered myself onto him, my breasts pressing against his chest, my mouth on his. He ran his hands through my hair, grabbing handfuls and holding them tightly.

  Our lips were together, but we were just breathing heavily. I felt my own orgasm building within me—like a tight coil about to violently snap loose—as Finn thrust deep inside me.

  I felt the warmth and slickness as he came, groaning, and his movements became jerks more than even thrusts.

  My knees locked onto his sides as my body almost seized up from the sensations running through every nerve ending. My back arched, I threw my head back, and I came along with him.

  I collapsed, lying on his chest as we caught our breath.

  Finn wrapped his arms around me, holding me against his body.

  I listened to his racing heart drumming in his chest.

  Chapter Twenty-one (Finn)

  Rachel fell back asleep shortly after we made love. It was no longer just sex. Not that time, anyway. It was different than all our other times. Different than any other time in my life.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten and I was starving, but I didn’t want to leave her and there was no room service at the mid-priced hotel we were in.

  I texted Spencer, asking him if he was awake, and he replied almost immediately.

  We met in the hallway.

  “I have Rachel in there,” I said.

  “No need to brag, mate,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, you’re in there getting your brains fucked out, and I’m over in my room wanking myself to sleep.”

  I put my hand up. “Too much.”

  “What’s going on? You look serious, which isn’t all that strange for you, but….”

  I shook my head. “Long story. I’ll tell you in a little while. I don’t want to leave her, and I’m starving. She might be, too, when she wakes up. Will you go get us some food?”

  “If you’re paying, I’m going.”

  I handed him some cash. “Yeah, get whatever you want.” I told him what I wanted, and he was off down the hallway to make the food run.

  I went back into the room. Not wanting to disturb Rachel, I didn’t get back on the bed. Instead, I sat in the chair and watched her sleep for a bit until I remembered I hadn’t heard back from Justin.

  I got my phone and checked to see if I had missed any texts or calls. Nothing. I stepped out into the hallway and dialed his number. The call went to voicemail. It was strange for him not to answer, but the few times that had happened he usually called me back a short time later.

  Back in the room, I sat in the chair again, this time watching the parking lot. I waited until I saw Spencer pull up and then went out in the hallway to meet him.

  “Want to eat in my room?” he asked. “Don’t want to wake Rachel.”

  “No, I don’t want her to wake up alone. Plus, I have something to take care of. Well, I hope so, anyway.”

  I gave him a brief rundown of what had occurred earlier in the day.

  “Jesus Christ, I slept through all of that,” he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out some fries. “Anything I can do?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Maybe later tonight.”

  “Let me know.” He took a step toward his door, the room adjacent to mine. “I’m sure I’ll be up all night after sleeping all day. Have to call Stephanie, anyway. Maybe she’ll have phone sex with me.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  When I got back into the room, Rachel was just waking up. “You got food.”

  “Nothing good, but it’ll have to do,” I said.

  We ate, mostly in silence, and then she asked, “What are we going to do?”

  I knew what was next. I was just waiting for the phone call. It was what would come after tonight that would be the difficult part. There was no need to bring that up now, though. It could wait until tomorrow.

  My mind was singularly focused on tonight. If Justin would only call back.

  And he did,
thirty minutes later.

  “I’m going to take this in the hallway,” I said.

  Rachel just nodded.

  I stepped outside and answered the call. I didn’t want anyone to overhear the conversation—not Spencer, not Rachel, not anyone behind the thin doors of the hotel. So I went down to where the vending and ice machines were located, their motors whirring up enough noise to drown out most of the conversation.

  “I got into the site,” Justin said. “Tracked down the username in the database and got the guy’s information—credit card number he used to pay for his membership, which of course gave me access to his home address; got his phone number; and found something very interesting.”

  He paused, as if building suspense, which I didn’t need right now. I had built up enough of it on my own waiting for his call. “Well?”

  “I was able to get into his cell phone records. His phone pinged a tower not far from Rachel’s apartment late in the morning.”

  “Jesus.” That was right about when the break-in would have taken place.

  “There’s more. Dude’s not a lawyer. He kills bugs for a living. He’s an exterminator.”

  Justin stopped there. I didn’t say anything. It was sinking in, and I knew there was more to come. In fact, I knew what Justin was going to tell me, but I had to hear him say it.

  He started by naming the company that the guy worked for, then said, “They have a contract with the property management firm that owns Rachel’s apartment building.”

  That would explain why there were no signs of forced entry. I knew that apartment complexes frequently gave exterminators a master key to all the units. He had used it to get into Rachel’s place. “Goddamn. It was him.”

  “Oh, no doubt,” Justin said. “Dude’s guilty as hell. So, what do you want? I have more information on him than he probably has on himself.”

  I thought about it for a moment, then said, “Three things. His home address, whether he has any registered guns, and whether he lives with anyone.”

  Chapter Twenty-two (Rachel)

  Finn came back into the room, looking like he was in a rush. He moved throughout the room swiftly, gathering his things.

  “What’s going on?” I said.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on my knee. “I’m going out for a little while. Just need to take care of something.”

  I didn’t want to be away from him. “Can I go?”

  He shook his head. “I need you to stay here. I won’t be long. Maybe just a few hours. I’ll have my phone with me, so if you need anything, call.”

  There was fire in his eyes again, but this time it wasn’t sexual. It looked like…anger, I thought. Actually more of a fury. As calmly as he spoke, I could see that there was something intense burning inside of him.

  “What are you doing?” I was sure that I knew, but I still asked, even though I expected no response, which is what I got.

  He shook his head. “You don’t want to know, and I don’t want to tell you.”

  “Why?” I pleaded. “I know so much now, what’s a little more? I just want to know because I worry about you. I have no idea if you’re going to do something totally safe or if you’re risking your life, or what.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just can’t, and I need you to trust me on that. All of this will make sense very soon.”

  I looked down. I couldn’t keep eye contact with him. It was an odd mixture of resentment at him not sharing something with me, and a strong fear that I’d never look into his eyes again. “Be careful,” I said.

  He reached out and placed a finger under my chin, turning my head toward him again. He leaned over to kiss me, holding it for longer than he usually did before pulling away. “I’m always careful.”

  As he was leaving, I was struck by a fear almost unlike any I’d felt before in my life. He wouldn’t tell me what he was doing, but whatever it was, I knew it was dangerous. I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to him. Then again, Finn had been through a lot of dangerous situations in his life and he’d always come though without so much as a scratch.

  I wished I had some of my books with me. They’d always provided an escape, and that’s exactly what I needed at the moment. I couldn’t imagine going back in my apartment, though. I wouldn’t have tried, anyway, wouldn’t have gone there alone just to get a book, but I wished I had some of my own things with me.

  The second best thing, I figured, was watching a sitcom or a romantic comedy—something light and not at all serious to take my mind off of missing Finn and worrying about his safety.

  I turned on the television. The first image I saw was a map, pinpointing a place not too far from where we were, in Alexandria. A woman was speaking, detailing the events that had taken place in the very early hours that morning.

  Then they showed video footage of the street where the house was located, and the woman introduced a terrorism expert. They began to talk about terrorists, specifically Chechen terrorists, and I knew immediately that Finn had been there.

  But they were talking about federal agents having raided the home. So maybe it didn’t have anything to do with Finn.

  The reporters explained that there were two similar situations in two different towns in Maryland, and that the feds were now investigating possible links to the group that was arrested earlier that day. But there were no raids at the other scenes. The people there had been killed, their houses set on fire.

  Because Finn had been so secretive, I had no way of making sense of it all. I had no clear picture of what exactly was going on and whether he was involved, and if so how much.

  But I knew he had to be, on some level. And if federal agents were digging deeper into the two previous incidents, that meant Finn was potentially on their radar.

  Finn had to know this. There was no way he didn’t keep up with the news, and no way he wasn’t receiving information like that from the people he worked for.

  So much for trying to relax.

  All I could do was wait.

  Chapter Twenty-three (Finn)

  After leaving the hotel room I stopped and knocked on Spencer’s door. He opened it, looking like he’d just woken up. His hair was a mess and he had pillow lines on his face.

  “Were you sleeping again?”

  “Took a little nap after talking to Stephanie.” He smiled.

  I thought back to his joke about phone sex and realized he hadn’t been joking at all.

  “Come in,” he said. “Have you been watching any more of the news?”

  “No. Anything new?” I stood in the doorway, holding the door open, as Spencer went back and sat in the chair.

  “They’re going to make the connection, Finn. This isn’t looking good.”

  Fuck. I knew he was right, and I knew it meant we had little time. “We could call McDowell. Find out what he knows.”

  He laughed, picking up on my sarcasm. “Fuck that slimy bastard. I’m getting out of town tonight, picking up Stephanie, and we’re out of here.”

  “Does she know yet?”

  “Of course not. But I did prep her a little before I left to come here. Laid the groundwork, as they say. It’s not going to be a problem. What about Rachel?”

  “I haven’t told her.” I lowered my voice. “But Rachel is why I came over. She’s next door. I need you to make sure she’s okay for the next couple of hours.”

  “Why? Where you are you going?”

  “Justin found the guy’s information.”

  He stood. “I’m going with you.”

  “No,” I said. “I’m going alone. And I need you to be here for Rachel.”

  He looked disappointed, like he was eager to go along and help me out. I didn’t need help from anyone, and even if I did I still wanted to take care of this myself.

  “Do you want me to go sit with her?” he asked.

  “No, she doesn’t even know you’re here.” I glanced at the door that adjoined the two rooms. I knew it was lock
ed on my side. “I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I can’t imagine how it could, actually. I’d just feel better knowing you were next door. Just in case.”

  “Whatever you need, Finn. You know you can count on me.”

  . . . . .

  Jim Udall was his name, and he lived just a few miles from Rachel’s apartment, so I was parked down his street less than twenty minutes after leaving the hotel.

  Rachel’s part of town was nice, but Udall lived in an old neighborhood. Not the quaint kind of old, but the rundown and neglected kind of old. His company truck stood out among the drab colors of the houses and old cars. His was yellow and had the company logo on it, as well as silhouettes of different kinds of bugs.

  It was still relatively early in the evening, so there were still people about in their yards, on their porches, walking dogs on the street. I felt a bit conspicuous sitting there in my car, but considering this didn’t seem like the kind of place where neighbors looked out for each other, I felt little concern about being confronted or reported.

  As night fell and the neighborhood’s outdoor activity gradually quieted down, I decided it was time to make my move.

  I attached the silencer to my pistol and slipped it into the back of my pants. It was too warm and muggy to pull off the jacket look, even a light one. I walked quickly toward his house, like I had a purpose and knew where I was going.

  Up the driveway, to the front porch.

  Knocked on the door.

  Saw a guy approaching. He opened the door.

  “Mr. Udall?”

  “Yes.”

  Pushed through the door, kicking his knee so it snapped the wrong way and made a crunching sound as it broke. He fell to the floor, letting out a scream.

  I closed the front door, quickly glancing up and down the street. No one was out there. No one heard his yelp.