by Katie Reus
Which was good because the feeling was mutual. Ellie had gotten under his skin from the moment he’d met her. Jay had already been working for Wyatt a few years when his boss had hired Ellie. Fresh out of college, the brown-eyed little vixen had nearly bowled him over. He’d had so many damn fantasies about her it was embarrassing.
She was an absolute work-a-holic leaving little time for play, but he’d bided his time. With all the out of town trips they went on together with their boss, he’d ended up spending more time with her than anyone else in his life. They’d become good friends, but he’d wanted more. He’d known she had too, but still, she’d kept the friendship boundaries strictly in place until over a year ago in Miami when he’d almost died in an explosion.
Since then he’d been inside her every chance he got. Each time he was with her his need grew, the woman a complete addiction he never wanted to get over. Right now he knew he couldn’t be gentle if she let him inside her tight body, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t please her.
As he kissed his way along her jaw, she arched into him, brushing her already hard nipples against his chest.
“Jay,” she murmured as he reached that sensitive area along her collarbone. He raked his teeth against her skin and she wrapped her fingers around his cock, squeezing with just enough pressure to drive him insane. She stroked once, twice, then he pulled back, his breathing ragged.
Staring up at him, the briefest hint of hurt bled into her eyes. He shook his head, and blindly reaching behind him, he turned down the pressure on the shower so that it was on the lowest setting.
“Sit on the edge,” he rasped out, nodding at the built-in bench.
She paused for only a second before doing as he said.
“Now spread your legs,” he said as he knelt in front of her.
Her espresso-colored eyes grew heavy-lidded as she complied. She clearly had no doubt what he was about to do and welcomed it. Despite everything that had happened today, the one thing between them that had never been in question was chemistry. Something he wanted to remind her of.
Without touching her, he drank in the sight of her bare body, covered in rivulets of water, faint steam from the leftover heat rising around her. Pale ropes of her hair fell around her full breasts, her pink nipples beading even tighter under his sweeping gaze.
His cock was a heavy club between his legs, but he forced his mind off his own need as he ran his palms along the inside of her legs, moving from her knees up to her inner thighs. Gently, slowly, he ran his thumbs along her soft lips.
She shuddered, placing her hands on his shoulders as if she would stop him. But she just clutched on to him, her fingernails digging into his skin as she urged him on.
Leaning down, he inhaled her sweet scent as he opened her pink folds.
“Don’t tease, Jay,” she whispered, her voice unsteady, her body practically shaking as his lips brushed against her sensitive skin.
Showing her complete lack of patience, another thing he loved about her, she scooted farther past the edge of the bench, practically shoving herself at his mouth.
Smiling against her slickness, he stroked his tongue along her slit and was rewarded with a pure moan of pleasure from Ellie. He knew he should tease her, draw this out as long as possible, but he needed to make her come.
Needed to feel her pleasure coating his tongue. Needed to hear his damn name on her lips and know she craved him as much as he did her.
He dipped his tongue inside her, stroking and teasing. With his thumb, he began rubbing her clit in tight little circles, knowing it would push her to the edge even faster.
Her breathing grew even more ragged as her hands moved from his shoulders to his head. She slid her fingers along his buzz cut, holding his head as she moaned. “Oh…right…there.” Her words were broken and uneven.
He wanted more.
With his other hand he slid two fingers inside her, pushing fast and deep. She nearly vaulted off the slick tile of the bench before lifting one leg and throwing it over his back. With her spread out like that, he was in an even better position to give her exactly what she needed.
Moving his fingers in and out of her, he played her body with precision until she was coming against his mouth and saying his name like a prayer in the most ragged voice. As her slickness coated his fingers, her inner walls convulsing as her climax punched through her, he practically growled in triumph against her slit.
He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed this from her until he tasted her desire. Her fingers, which had been digging into his skull, loosened and she stroked her hands over his head and down to his shoulders. “Thank you, Jay,” she whispered.
He didn’t want her thanks, he wanted her trust, her heart. Instead of responding, he kissed his way up her flat stomach, careful of her side, and not stopping until he reached her mouth. He claimed her lips, teasing his tongue against hers with barely concealed restraint. More than anything he wanted to slide his cock into her, to take her roughly against the tile, but with her ribs, he wouldn’t.
She must have sensed it because she slid off the bench so that she was kneeling in front of him. Reaching between their bodies, she fisted his hard length and started stroking him.
He felt like he should tell her to stop…for some reason. His brain short circuited as he tried to think of a reason why. There was none. He continued kissing her, branding her the only way he could as she caressed him.
Just the taste of her on his tongue was enough to set him off, but feeling her hands on his body was too much. He tore his mouth from hers, staring into her eyes as she continued stroking him. He wanted her to see him at his most vulnerable, to show her what she meant to him, how much he trusted her. Her dark eyes were heavy lidded as she watched him, pumped him, and brought him to a toe-numbing orgasm. The feel of her elegant fingers stroking his cock made him want to hold off longer because he didn’t want to give up her touch. As the climax built, becoming too much, he buried his face against her neck as he came, shuddering and groaning under the onslaught of his orgasm.
He’d never felt such an intense connection to anyone until Ellie. Everything about her called to him on the most primal level.
After he caught his breath, he pulled back to find her watching him carefully. She smiled tentatively, almost nervously, and he could tell she wanted to ask him something. “What is it, baby?”
She bit her bottom lip, the action so un-Ellie like it floored him. “What are we now? What’s going to happen between us?”
“You mean are we still together?”
She nodded.
His first instinct was to be annoyed at the question, but he knew it was coming from a place of vulnerability. “Yes…but I don’t know what’s going to happen.” He knew exactly what he wanted from Ellie, but until she trusted him, until she decided that they’d face any and all problems together as a team, he didn’t know what the future held because that was up to her to decide.
Hurt flickered in her gaze before she stood quickly and turned away from him. Hand on the shower knob, she said, “I’m going to turn up the pressure so we can wash off.”
He stood too, moving out of the way so the stream didn’t slam into his face. They washed off together in silence, and he hated how he could see her practically building a wall between them again. Slapping the mortar on and laying the bricks one at a time.
“I didn’t say I didn’t love you, Ellie.” His words seemed harsh, over pronounced in the enclosure.
Her dark gaze snapped up to meet his, but she didn’t respond. Just stared at him questioningly.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen between us because that’s up to you. When you figure it out, let me know.” He wasn’t going to spell it out for her. He knew what he wanted; it was time for her to decide if she wanted the same thing. Because he had some damn pride. Without waiting for a response, he left the shower, snagging a towel from the nearest hook as he went.
Chapter 7
Ellie
wrapped the dark green silky robe Jay had bought for her a couple months ago around her body and stumbled toward the bedroom. Her damp hair hung down her back, soaking through the material and giving her a chill, but she didn’t care enough to dry it. She felt raw and ripped open and it was her own damn fault. She could read through the lines, understood what Jay hadn’t said in the shower.
God, she was so screwed up. She didn’t understand why Jay even wanted her. Especially after everything she’d told him. But he’d basically said the ball was in her court. And she’d hurt him yet again, without even meaning to.
Sighing and pushing thoughts of her own dysfunction aside, she grabbed her cell from her purse and sat on the bed. Even though she didn’t want to, she turned it back on. As expected it started pinging out of control, indicating multiple texts and voicemails. She listened to her messages first and was surprised that they were all work related. Maybe Wyatt had been serious about not letting her go because all the calls were from people who should have known she’d quit by now. Of course there was one from Sierra and Iris, both sounding concerned about her. Which meant they likely knew everything.
She groaned at the thought. Sierra was so sweet and freaking innocent she probably thought Ellie was a drama queen or…Ellie didn’t know what, but it couldn’t be good. And Iris was Wyatt’s wife. Beautiful, wealthy, so put together. The woman had probably never seen a trailer park or had any contact with the types of people Ellie had run with so long ago. She could only imagine what Iris thought and it made her cringe. She’d worked so hard to build a new life for herself, leave all the shady stuff behind.
Ellie ran her palm over her face. She desperately needed to fix things with Jay. The problem was, she didn’t know where to start. She felt almost like a stranger around him. And it was all her fault. She also needed to get her act together and call Wyatt, but…she still wasn’t sure what the right decision was. If she worked at the Serafina, she put everyone in danger. There had to be a way out of this. Of course, first she needed to give Kevin his money. Jay had said he’d help her out so maybe once she gave it to him and told him she didn’t work at the Serafina any longer things could work out.
Laying back against the pillows, she scrolled through her texts, responding to the work-related ones that she could. Once she’d done that, she opened the texts from the same number Kevin had called her from. At first they were almost innocuous. Call me. We need to talk. Then they escalated into threatening. Call me bitch. I want what’s mine or else.
Yeah, that sounded like the winner she knew. Closing her eyes, she set the phone on the fluffy comforter next to her and massaged her temple. There had to be a way out of this mess. A way that no one she loved got hurt.
To figure that out, she needed to talk to Jay. Because he was right to put this on her. She needed to work with him to figure out this mess then go from there. He deserved someone who trusted him enough not to run the way she had. She might not ever work through her issues or truly deserve a man like Jay but she had to try. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her and she didn’t want to go through life without him.
She would talk to him…in just a couple minutes. Exhaustion swept over her as the comfortable bed molded to her body. She was safe, in the home she shared with the man she loved and all she wanted to do was sleep. Just for ten minutes. Then she’d deal with the big mess she’d gotten herself into.
* * * * *
Ellie popped up from the waiting room chair as the doctor strode in, his expression the same flat one it always seemed to be. She’d been suffocating in here as they waited for news on Jay. After that terrible explosion at Wyatt’s Miami mansion he’d been knocked unconscious. Or maybe he was in a coma. They simply didn’t know what was going on and the stupid doctors weren’t giving them updates fast enough.
Dr. Warren cleared his throat. “Mr. Wentworth is going to be okay. He has a concussion, a few stitches on his head and some broken ribs but he’s going to pull through. He’s awake now and asking to see Ellie. Normally I wouldn’t allow visitors—”
Ellie elbowed Wyatt out of the way as she hurried to stand directly in front of the doctor. She couldn’t believe Jay was asking to see her, especially since they weren’t a couple, but she was desperate to see him. “I’m Ellie.”
Dr. Warren fingered his stethoscope for a moment, then sighed. “He’s not very coherent and—”
“I don’t care. If he’s awake enough to ask for me I want to see him.” She didn’t care how desperate she sounded or that anyone knew about her feelings for Jay.
The doctor sighed again and motioned that she should follow him. She barely remembered the walk to his room, could only focus on the clicking sound of her heels until finally the older man stopped in front of a partially open door and indicated she could enter.
Steeling herself for the sight of Jay injured, she pushed open the door. The room was dimly lit as she stepped inside. Her heart jumped into her throat as she moved past the bathroom door and saw him lying on the stark white sheets of the hospital bed.
“Hey,” he rasped out, those devilish green eyes of his looking electric against his paler than normal skin.
“Jay. How are you feeling?” Rushing to his side, she hovered at the edge of the bed next to him. He was so big he took up practically the whole thing, his long legs looking cramped at the end. She didn’t want to sit and accidentally hurt him.
“Better now that you’re here.” Before she could move to grab a chair, he snagged her around the waist and pulled her down next to him.
He groaned in discomfort as he half turned on his side so she had room. “What are you doing?” She didn’t move because she didn’t want to jostle him further.
“Need you close,” he murmured, patting her knee.
“Oh, Jay.” She reached out and gently traced the area on his forehead above the long line of stitches. “You are so lucky.” Her throat tightened as she thought about how fortunate he truly was. Broken ribs, stitches and a concussion sucked, but he would heal. The ribs would be the worst, but she planned to be there for him while he got back on his feet.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, his words thick and a little slurred. “I could leave tonight.”
Unable to stop herself, she snorted. “All right superman, I guess you’ll just have to humor the doctors and me and stay put for a few more days, okay?”
“If it makes you happy I’ll stay here.” He gave her a lopsided smile that made him look so boyish.
She wondered what drugs they had him on, if any. He was hooked up to an IV, but that could just be fluids. “It makes me very happy to know you’re being so well taken care of. I was so worried about you.” That being an understatement. She’d been ready to take off her boss’s head in an attempt to get to Jay after the explosion.
“Worried enough that you’ll finally go on that first date with me?” His gaze narrowed, some of the sleepiness falling away.
“Yes.”
He blinked in surprise. “Yes? Just like that?”
She nodded, her throat tightening again. God, she could have lost him before they’d ever had a chance to start. She’d been attracted to him from the moment she’d met him, but they worked together so that had made him off limits. Lately he’d been pushing harder and her resolve had been weakening to the point she’d almost kissed him earlier today. “Just like that.”
“I would’ve blown myself up a long time ago if I’d known that’s all it would take to get you to go out with me.”
Laughing, she reached out and stroked the side of his face, cupping his cheek gently. “Don’t even joke about that.”
He covered her hand with his big one, that boyish grin playing across his face making him seem a decade younger as he leaned his face into her hold.
He opened his mouth to speak and an explosion rumbled beneath them…
Ellie’s eyes flew open and she jerked upright in bed. Breathing hard, she looked around her and Jay’s bedroom feeling lost and diso
riented. What the hell? She’d been dreaming about Jay… How long had she been out? Glancing at her cell phone she realized it hadn’t been very long. Her hair was still damp too.
She rubbed a hand over her face and slid her legs off the bed. She needed to get up and—the bedroom door flew open and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Jay stood there in jeans, no shirt and a gun held tightly in his hand. Her eyes widened, not because of the gun, but because he was clearly agitated. “Pack a bag. Someone just blew up your car.”
“What?” No way she’d heard him correctly.
Mouth pulled into a grim line, he nodded. “Pack enough for a couple weeks. I’ve called the cops and Wyatt, but you and I are getting the hell out of here and somewhere safer until this mess is sorted out.”
Feeling numb, she moved toward the closet. Her car had been parked in the driveway. Someone had come to their home and done this. She or Jay could have been badly injured, or worse. “Was anyone hurt? Did you see who did it?”
He shook his head. “No to both counts.”
At least no one had been injured, but if someone had blown up her car—and she had no doubt who had done it—things had just gotten a lot more deadly. “It had to be Kevin, right?”
Jay nodded. “That’s my guess.”
She paused by the closet door and clutched onto it, thankful for the support. She knew she needed to pack and that they had to get the hell out of there, but she felt almost frozen, her limbs numb. “What are we going to do?”
“Get some place safe, regroup with a team, and take this bastard down.” The razor’s edge to his voice sent a chill down her spine.
Ellie had seen Jay intense at work before, especially with the various threatening situations they dealt with, but she’d never seen him like this. So…deadly.
It completely melted her that he’d do anything to protect her, but her nightmare was coming to life. Jay was now involved and in real danger.
Because of her.