by Harper Sloan
“Chelcie, what did it say?” I’m pretty proud of myself for sounding a lot calmer than I feel. I take a few deep gulps to calm myself and wait for her to speak.
“There are pictures, Dee. They have pictures of you, and they have pictures of me.”
My heart is beating out of control. Oh my God.
“Was there anything else?” Tears are streaming down my face, and my hands are shaking so badly that I have no idea how I’m able to hold onto the phone.
“There’s a message,” she whispers back.
“And?”
“It said . . . God, it said that if you don’t deliver Adam or two hundred thousand dollars by the end of the month, they’re going to clear the debt owed in other ways. Dee! What the hell does that mean?!” By the time she finishes, she is sobbing.
I give myself a few minutes to freak out before trying to come up with a fix.
“Chelcie, listen to me. I want you to get your things and go straight home. Lock the door and do not answer for anyone. Pack as much as you can and get down here. I need to call Beck and let him know what’s going on, but I want you here where I know you will be safe.”
She’s silent for so long that I have to pull my phone away to make sure she didn’t disconnect.
“Chelc, do you understand?”
“Yeah, Dee. I’ll be there by tomorrow. Promise me you’re safe?”
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about you. Get down here, Chelcie. Everything’s going to be okay. Make sure you bring everything they mailed you and try not to touch it, okay?”
“I’ll be there.”
I quickly hang up the phone and immediately call Beck. After I fill him in, he tells me to check every door and stay away from the windows. I know he’s worried, but he’s trying to hide it so it doesn’t freak me out.
“I’m okay, Beck. I’m really okay. Just get home okay?” I don’t think I realized until that moment that I’m not as scared as I would have been months ago. I’m worried, but mainly for Chelcie. I know that Beck won’t let anything happen to me, and until she gets down here, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop the feeling that I have no way of controlling what happens here.
I check all the doors and make sure the alarm is active before making my way back upstairs. The only place that I know I’ll feel one hundred percent safe is in Beck’s bed, where I can pull the covers around me and let his scent surround me.
CHAPTER 20
Beck
The second that I hang up with Dee, I gather the rest of the guys in the office so I can fill them in on what’s going on.
“She doesn’t know if there’s more. The letter didn’t come here, which makes me think that he wants her to believe he knows more than he does. There’s a reason he sent it to Chelcie at the office and not here.”
Axel looks around for a second, thinking about all the facts that we have. Which is basically is a whole lot of nothing. “I don’t like this. How is it possible for this Adam shit to hide for this long?”
“We need the letter. Maybe we can pull something off of it. It’s a long shot, but right now, it’s all we have.” Coop sits down and for once doesn’t end a sentence with some smart-ass remark.
We’re all worried. This guy has us all by the balls, and it’s not sitting well with any of us.
“You need to get home to Dee. Let us worry about the shit we can do here.” Maddox pushes off the wall after giving me my marching orders and slams the newly replaced door against the wall in his haste to leave the room.
Greg leans forward from the seat in front of my desk, resting his elbows on his knees. “He’s right. We’ll handle shit here, and if anything new comes up, we’ll call. Just go make sure she’s okay. If you decide to come in tomorrow, then she comes with you.”
“You didn’t really think I was going to stay here today? Fuck you very much, Greg. All I had planned was filling you assholes in before I went home to my woman.” I start packing up my laptop and anything else I think I’ll need should I decide to start working out of my house until this shit is over. There’s only ten more days in the month, so regardless of what we figure out, there’s only a short amount of time before the deadline we’re working against runs out.
Greg goes to open his mouth, but I stop him as I round the desk to leave. “Don’t, okay? I get where you’re coming from and that’s fine, but don’t mistake my making sure you all knew what is going on as me not putting her first. Everything I do is to make sure that her happiness and wellbeing come before anything else.”
“Got it.”
I leave him still sitting in front of my desk and head out to the truck. I offer Sway a quick wave as I walk down the golden glitter filled sidewalk and pass by the salon. He smiles and waves in his usual flamboyant way, and as per normal with him, there is no way you can’t smile back. One thing with Sway, when things are starting to press in around you and your mood is as close to shit as it can get, Sway always makes the world a little bit brighter.
I throw my bags in the passenger seat and peel out of the lot, heading home to Dee as quickly as I can.
* * *
Dee throws the garage door open the second my truck shuts off. When I see her standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face, I let out the breath that I have been holding the whole drive home. I knew from her phone call that she is holding it together better than I would have imagined, but I’ve worried that with the time it took me to get home, she might have started to freak out. Seeing her now, and seeing that she really is fine, helps me untangle a little of the knot that’s settled in my gut.
“Hey, you,” she whispers when I walk up the two steps leading into the house. She brings her arms up, and wraps them around my neck, hugging me tightly.
“Hey you, back. Are you okay?”
She pulls back and nods. “I’m fine, just worried about Chelcie but I’m okay.”
“She’s a smart girl. What time did she say she’d get here?” When she lets go of my neck and takes my bag from me, my body instantly misses the contact. I follow her through the mudroom and into the kitchen. She sets the bag down and grabs me a beer from the fridge. As I sit down at the table, I reach over and pull her into my lap. I don’t want her more than a foot away from me right now, not until I can calm myself down a little more.
“She’s going to leave soon. I talked to her about fifteen minutes ago and she had just finished loading her car. It’s going to take her anywhere from six to eight hours to get here, so I would guess sometime in the middle of the night. She’s got directions to the house. She knows to call at any time, and we’ll be waiting for her.”
“How is she holding together?” I’m a little worried about her making that drive by herself, but I know she’s much safer here than she’ll be up there where no one can protect her.
“I think she’s okay. I mean, as okay as she can be when a death threat basically just landed in her lap. What are we going to do, Beck? Unless we find Adam and have him shed a little light on this, I don’t see what else can be done.”
I study her for a second while I take another pull from the beer. She really does seem completely fine. Maybe a little rattled, but that’s to be expected. There isn’t any darkness in her eyes that makes me think she could be having a setback. Nope, my wildcat is front and center, ready to fight for it.
“Let’s try and focus on the positive here, okay? You’re safe, Chelcie is safe, and there is no way in hell some sick fuck is getting close to either of you. When Chelcie gets here, we can take a look at things and see just what he sent to her. For now, let me enjoy your sweet ass in my lap.”
She smacks my arm playfully and smiles.
“Pig.” She laughs and I savor every second of it.
* * *
“Beck. Beck, wake up.”
When Dee’s soft breath and low whispers wake me up from one of the hottest dreams ever, I immediately reach over and pull her closer. Her naked body rubbing against mine further ignites the desire burn
ing inside of me.
“Beck! We can’t start anything right now.”
Her laugh shoots straight through me, and my already painfully hard dick throbs. Her small hands pressing against my chest make my skin burn. She doesn’t protest much when I start kissing down her neck.
“God, you taste good.” I continue to kiss along her collarbone, ignoring her protest. The only thing I can think of is pushing inside of her welcoming body. My dick is begging for the release that only her body can provide. “So damn good,” I murmur against her breast before pulling one erect nipple in my mouth, twirling my tongue around the tip, and sucking gently.
“Beck, please . . . I won’t be able to stop you soon, and Chelcie just called. Damn, that feels so good.” She stops talking and pushes her hand into my hair, holding me to her breast.
Right when I’m about to push deep between her legs, her words finally make sense. I drop my forehead to her chest and try to hold myself back.
“How long?” God, it hurts to stop. I’m close to begging her to just touch me. All it’s going to take is a few strokes of her soft hand for me to explode, but I want to be with her . . . in her.
“What?” Her eyes are clouded with desire, and I know that if either one of us is going to be strong enough to stop before we get any further, then it’s going to have to be me.
“How long until Chelcie is here? Please tell me she isn’t about to knock on the damn door.” I can’t even lift my head off her chest. Her pussy is hugging my dick, and as much as I would love to pull back and press into her, I know if Chelcie is close, this is the last thing I need to be doing.
“Relax, Honey. She’s a good thirty minutes out.” Before I can even move, she wraps her hand around me, lifts her hips so that I’ll move off her, and the second she has enough space between our bodies, lines me up. In a move that would make a porn star proud, she pushes off with her feet and buries my cock deep. She doesn’t even give me a chance to move at first. She just continues to work her body against mine.
“If you want to do all the work, all you have to do is say something. I can see my wildcat itching to come out and play.”
She doesn’t speak, just keeps pushing herself off the mattress. Her walls constrict and hug my dick tight when I speak.
“You like working my dick, Dee? You like the way it feels when you take what you need?” She moans and I can feel her growing even wetter. I let the strength in my arms and thighs slacken and press her deep into the bed. “I asked you a question. Do you like working my dick?”
When she realizes that I won’t let her move, she finally looks up at me. Her eyes are so thick with ecstasy that the normal light brown color looks almost black. She blinks a few times before a wicked smile forms across her beautiful flushed face. She runs her hands up my chest and wraps them around my neck before pulling me in close until we’re nose to nose. “I like it almost as much as when you throw my legs over your shoulders and pound my body so hard I’m sure I could feel you in my throat.”
Jesus. Christ. My woman knows just what to say to get what she wants and right now, I can tell that she is begging me to take her hard.
“Is that what you want? You want me to take these long legs and wrap them around my neck like a goddamn bow? Be sure, Wildcat, because right now, I need you like you wouldn’t believe.” I lean back, holding onto her slim hips so that we don’t lose our connection, and take a second to enjoy the view. She’s already palming her tits, caressing and pinching her puckered nipples. Her body is raised slightly from my hold on her hips. She is completely at my mercy right now, and when I thrust forward shallowly, I know she is only seconds away from begging for it. Her legs wrap around me and her heels try to dig into my ass to push me further.
“Answer me.” I give her another shallow thrust, and when her walls clamp down and a surge of wetness coats my dick, I almost forget everything except taking what we both want. “Now.”
Her eyes snap open at my hard command and burn into me. “YES! Fucking take me, Beck. Take me hard.”
She doesn’t even get the whole sentence out before I throw her long legs over my shoulders, rise up on my knees, and pull her body off the mattress with my hands on her hips. Her arms fall from her tits and help support her body. I’ve taken her in this position before, with all of her weight bracing on her upper back and shoulders, but never as hard as I’m planning. “You good?” I ground out, flexing my fingers against the soft skin at her hips.
“If you don’t move soon, I’m going to hurt you.” She pants and squeezes her legs around my head. “Pleas—”
With one swift and powerful thrust, I finally let myself take her. My balls slap against her ass with each slam home, and it doesn’t take long before her screams are echoing through my room. She looks so damn beautiful, legs around my neck, perfect tan body flushed with desire from welcoming each rough pump of my hips, and her eyes showering me with every single ounce of love I’ve ever craved from her.
Complete one hundred percent acceptance of everything I’ve ever dreamed of giving her.
Stopping briefly, I set her body back down on the mattress, lower her legs from my neck, and slowly glide in and out of her wet heat. Her eyes flash when she realizes I’ve changed course, but when I press my thumb against her swollen clit, her eyes roll back in her head. I bring our hips together tightly and continue to strum my thumb against her. Right when I feel her about to fall over the crest, I pull back. Her eyes burn with frustration and I laugh. “Does my wildcat want to play?” God, I hope so, because the way her body feels when I’m balls deep inside her wet heat is almost too good.
“Stop playing games and fuck me!”
I shouldn’t have laughed, because the second I smile and bark out a laugh, she takes advantage. Her legs push in and her hands shove against my chest. Somehow, I manage to grab her hips and keep us connected as we roll. Her hands shoot out to gain purchase. One hand wraps around the headboard, and the other flies out, crashing against the nightstand. She doesn’t even pause when the sounds of glass breaking and wood smashing against the floor mixes with our moans.
She rides me hard and fast. Her strong legs push and she grinds down against my ridged dick. I help lift her up when I can tell she’s close, digging my feet into the bed to match each movement with a thrust of my hips.
“You feel so good, so good . . . love how you love me.” I groan when her words wrap around me, and squeeze her hips tight. “I’m close, Baby.” And just like that, she drops down, throws her head back, and screams my name. I have just a few seconds to enjoy the view before I flip our bodies once again, and take what my body is craving. There is nothing better than feeling her come against my dick, her wetness so slick that even my balls are coated, and with each thrust, her body holds me so tight that I feel like it’s begging me never to leave. Yeah, when my woman is coming hard against my dick, there isn’t anything better.
“Oh my, God, Beck! I’m going to come again! Harder, please, Baby, harder!” Her legs wrap around my hips and her fingers dig into my back. The bite of pain from her nails breaking the skin is all the fuel I need. Fire dances down my spine and wraps around my balls. I take one more thrust into her body before I empty every last drop of myself into her.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, with my body blanketing hers, and my dick making slow, lazy glides into her drenched pussy. When I fall from her body, the moans that leave both of us are borderline desperate. Leaning up, I look down at her. Her hair is in messy waves around her head, her eyes are closed, and her face is flushed. The only clue I have that she’s even awake is the small smile playing against her swollen lips.
I press my lips against her and smile back at her when her eyes open. “I think we should think about leaving this bed before I can’t stop myself from taking you again.”
She smiles and nods.
“Come on. If we hurry, we can wash off before Chelcie gets here. Probably wouldn’t be a good idea to answer the door with you runnin
g down my leg.” She laughs as she climbs from the bed and starts walking towards the bathroom. When she notices I’m not behind her, she stops and turns to look where I’m still sprawled out on the bed. My once slack dick is rock hard and ready for more. Fuck me, but just the thought of my come inside her, running down her leg makes every possessive part of me roar to life.
Pushing off the bed, I stalk towards her. She looks confused for a second until I grab her body and walk towards the bathroom. Her legs wrap around my hips out of instinct. “Chelcie’s going to have to get over it. Just the thought of your body with my come all over you is the hottest fucking thing you could have just said. Fuck, Dee. You make me want to come all over your body so everyone knows you’re mine.”
“That sounds kind of messy, Honey.” She laughs, pulling back to see how serious I am, which causes her laughter to die on her lips. “You can’t be serious?”
Not even bothering to answer, I busy myself with turning on the water and walking into the shower, rotating so that the water hits my back until it can warm.
“Oh, Dee, now that you’re mine, there isn’t much of anything I wouldn’t do to make sure the world knows that you are taken.”
She doesn’t protest much when I push her against the shower and take her body again. Her bright eyes and naughty smile are all the confirmation I need that she understands what I’m saying.
CHAPTER 21
Dee
Lucky for us, when Chelcie said she would be here in thirty minutes, she had really taken an hour. She finally pulled down Beck’s driveway and parked behind the garage just as I was walking downstairs to wait for her. My hair was still dripping wet, but at least I didn’t smell like sex anymore.
A small smile forms when I think about how energetic Beck had gotten. I love when he takes me hard, but tonight, he took me hard and rough, and there wasn’t a second of it that I didn’t love.
“You look happy, Dee.” Chelcie comments from where she’s sitting at the kitchen table, pulling me from my daydream.