by J. M. Davies
“Look at me, Ella. I want to see you come,” he said, commanding her compliance.
She brought her head down to meet his gaze and he pressed deep inside, back and forth. He could feel the waves of her orgasm building and he stoked them, fanning her desire. Her face flushed hot and he pulled her hair down to capture her mouth. As Marcus touched his lips to hers, Ella opened her mouth and he pushed his tongue inside to taste her sweetness.
The ripples from her orgasm spread throughout his body. He deepened the kiss, stifling the loud moan as she came apart in his arms. She was magnificent. Feeling his own orgasm rise and claw high above him, he thrust faster and faster like a piston, groaning. She tilted her hips forward to meet his need. Marcus tightened his hold around her, never wanting to let go as his release came and the undulating waves of passion stole him away. He spilled his seed deep in her womb and rained down soft kisses on her cheek, releasing her hair.
The waves of pleasure rocked through his body and his heart raced. Moments later, reluctantly, he eased himself out of her, aware that their urgent mating had not been protected. He stepped back and hoisted his pants up. Ella adjusted her clothes and he stole a glance at her red face, swollen lips, and her hair in wild disarray. The love bites on her neck were obvious and his mouth lifted into a smile. There would be no mistaking what they had been up to and he didn’t care what anyone thought. He bent and picked up her torn underwear, handing it to her. Once they stepped outside this room, the darkness would descend and who knew what that would bring them both.
****
The ride back to the compound was quiet and uneventful. Ella sat with her back stiff and her shoulders drawn tight, unable to settle. Having sex in the hospital room with Marcus worried her. It wasn’t making love; he was proving a point. She clutched the leather seat in the Jeep, aware as they had left the room that Jake and Ava took one look and knew what had happened between them. She wouldn’t be surprised if the nursing staff had heard her moans. A heat stole into her cheeks. Was he sending Ava a message or her? Whatever it was, it was a hurried and frenzied act—which he was right; they both needed—but it didn’t lessen the distance between them one bit.
As she dressed, he handed her the torn panties and his cold words shook her.
“Does Steel satisfy you the way I do, Ella?”
She blinked, unsure of what he had said. “What?” Her voice wobbled. Marcus had been annoyed earlier but his need to possess her flamed higher and she couldn’t deny the lust for him. Despite all that had happened, they both took pleasure in their lovemaking. There was no denying that. Knowing despite his anger, he still needed her was intense, but the underlying irritation remained sharper than ever.
“You and Steel?”
“Are you crazy? We’re married. Steel is our boss. He’s your friend and he’s been there for me…”
She clutched his arm and he stared at the ring he had placed on her finger. It was tiny in comparison to Ava’s, and he reined his bitterness in.
“When I wasn’t. Is that what you were going to say? Josephine always said I was perceptive, that I could sense things. Well, he has feelings for you. When we get back home—know this, Ella, you’re moving back into our bed if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”
This archaic alpha-male domineering side drove her crazy. She wanted to shout at him and argue, but he strode outside, leaving his exotic scent behind. Now, as they approached the wide, black wrought-iron gates that pulled open at their arrival, she inhaled. There was so much to sift through and one of the more pressing issues sat next to her, boring holes into her face.
“Boss, Steel wants you in the ops room as soon as possible. Ava, too, for a full debriefing.”
Ella stared out the window, absorbing the bright sunshine and warmth of the midday. White and purple pansies bloomed in neat circles around several trees. She hadn’t noticed them before. Jake steered the Jeep over to the empty spaces next to their two-car garage and parked.
Marcus stepped out of the car and pulled open her door. “Go ahead, you two. I’ll go over now.”
Jake nodded and proceeded to walk away with Ava a few feet behind him. Ella’s heartbeat ramped up speed, waiting for his words and attempting not to let her temper flare. Josephine had died. He was angry. She needed to be patient with him.
“I have phoned Steel and requested that all your clothes and toiletries be brought over. We’re married, and this is where you belong. I damn well took those vows for better or worse. We both enjoy the comforts we bring to each other. I know I said before I would give you space, but it won’t work. I won’t have you sleeping in any bed other than mine. Do you understand?”
Ella studied the obstinate man next to her. His dark, broody eyes led down to his straight nose and finished with a full thick beard. He really did look like a caveman. She wanted to make everything right between them, but was that possible? She sighed.
“Not really. Do you love Ava?” Her stare was unwavering.
He cocked his brow up and covered his mouth. Ella pushed past him.
“Of course not. I used to work with her.”
There was more to it than work. She studied his dipped brows and his lips now formed in a tight line. There was more to their story, but he wasn’t telling.
“I’ll stay, on one condition,” she said.
“What?”
She rested her gaze where his hand stroked his beard, as if taking comfort. “The beard has to go.”
She carried on and walked toward the house. The day was beautiful and fresh. As she swung around, she was winded by Marcus, who appeared in front of her and grabbed her waist to hold her still.
“I thought you liked my wolf man looks.”
His finger stroked her wrist and as their bodies molded together, the flutters of desire rose in her belly.
“It isn’t you, Marcus. It’s time to shave it off. Trust me, you won’t lose your power if you do.” She tugged the coarse dark hair.
Marcus lowered his head and leaned her against the Jeep. “Are you sure? Because when Samson trusted the wrong woman, he lost all his strength.” He dipped his head and lay a soft kiss in the hollow of her neck.
She blinked as the flutters of exhilaration gripped her, but he moved back.
“I’m sorry about the hospital. I didn’t mean to force myself on you like I did but I missed you.” He looked down at his hands and over at the compound.
She studied the man before her; she had never seen him so on edge. “I missed you to but so much has happened.”
He switched his gaze back at her and nodded. “When I get back, which I suspect will be late, we need to talk. I have things I need to share with you. I want to talk about Josephine but I need to talk about Ava too.”
“I’ll wait up for you.” A dread of what was to come clutched her belly.
Accepting her words, he turned and without looking back, headed for Steel’s mansion.
Switching her gaze off the man who owned her body and soul, she stepped up toward their house. But a cry on the light breeze held her.
A baby’s plea to be heard engulfed her and she pressed her lips together. Listen to him, Ella. A nagging sensation ruptured from within. It wasn’t just the cries she heard, but the words that Isabella had spoken. The doctor who had delivered her baby wanted to tell her something and he had been silenced. What if he knew her baby was alive? What if her child was reaching out, like she reached out for Marcus? She covered her face, forcing tears not to fall as all the information gathered like dots completing a jigsaw. A jigsaw that was her baby boy. A gut-wrenching ache told her that she was instinctively right. Deep down, she believed her child was alive and she replayed the professor’s chilling words that were said as she lay helpless.
“When they’ve finished with the baby, dump her in the woods with the fetus.”
Ella twisted around and yelled at the trees and the swaying branches, unable to hold everything that swirled around in her head inside any longer. “
Why would he use the word baby and then fetus?”
She wrapped her arms around her belly and wailed. Isabella had mentioned a building that she had seen in the doctor’s mind, one she thought she recognized. She had to go there and see for herself to find some connection to the life that had been inside her. Then she would know once and for all if her child lived. Don’t cry, little one. I’ll be there soon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Walking into his home with Ava glued to his side was not going to ease the problems between him and Ella, but he had no choice. The terrified woman wouldn’t stay anywhere else. He understood her terror, knowing Jose was out there. She was a target because of their association, and he felt compelled to assist her. But damn it to hell, couldn’t he just get a break? He raked his hands through his disorderly hair, knowing he needed a cut and shave. Checking his watch, which read eleven thirty, only confirmed what he already knew. He was late.
“Just wait here while I check in with Ella.” He gave a quick sweep around the open-plan living room that was shaded in darkness aside from a corner lamp.
“Do you have to check in with your wife about every little detail?” Ava stepped closer and pressed her hand on his shirt right over his heart.
A sudden click and the light next to him switched on. Ella lay sprawled on the leather couch opposite them. He removed Ava’s hand from his chest and let it fall. He needed to be clear with her about where his feelings lay. Although he thought his demonstration at the hospital would have sufficed. Damn, this woman was a thorn in his side.
“Ella, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Ella sat back, resting against the cushions. Her fingers twisted in her hair and she sucked the end in her mouth. He ran his gaze over her flushed face, long bare legs, and messy waves, noticing that she only wore his Navy SEAL T-shirt, and his mouth dried up like the Sahara.
“You said you wanted to talk so I waited,” Ella said with a husky voice that touched each one of his sensitive nerve endings.
His mind froze, but his dick rose to attention. Hell, this was pure hell as Ava stood next to him. Ella smiled sweetly, and he longed to run his hands all over her legs and an image of them being wrapped around his waist caused his mouth to fall open. He swallowed down an invisible lump in his throat.
“Ava needs to stay for a while. I’ll show her to the guest room and be right back down.”
At his words, Ella let her hair slip from her hands. Her eyes slid to the woman next to him. He switched his gaze to Ava as well to check what she was doing. He didn’t trust her and wondered not for the first time what had prompted him to ever get involved with her. Staring over her hourglass frame in her tight clothes, the answer was obvious. Sex. She was willing and as desperate as he had been for relief. He blew out a deep breath as he let his eyes roam back over at Ella. She was the one woman he would settle for a night in front of a cozy fire, simply talking. He wanted a lifetime with her, even with their differences.
“There are clean sheets on the bed, and an extra blanket in the closet in case you get cold, Ava. I hope you sleep well,” Ella said.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” said Ava.
He studied his beautiful wife as her golden locks shone under the light. Under the circumstances, she was hiding her emotions well, but if he scratched under the surface, a million questions lay in wait, he knew. Finding a suitable safe house for Ava was a priority.
“Come on, I’ll show you the way.” He glanced over his shoulder at Ava, who clutched her arm and nodded. He proceeded to walk at a quick pace through the living room and up the stairs, headed for the guest room at the back of the house. He pushed the wooden door open and walked in. The smell of new carpet and a light scent of vanilla greeted him. He looked around; Ella had changed the sheets, as if anticipating their guest. He walked over to the large picture window that overlooked the neat fenced-in yard at the back with a small brick patio area, and turned around.
Ava studied the room and sat down on the edge of the queen-sized bed covered in a duck-egg blue quilt. “I’m not sure what to do next.”
Marcus sighed. “Do you think Jose knows you’re an FBI agent?” Marcus moved and stood by the door with his hands in his pockets. He studied the woman, unsure of her thoughts as she smoothed her hands over her thighs.
“Everything’s a mess. I can’t go back. I’m not even sure if I can return to the FBI, and I cannot hide out here forever.” Her head dipped low. Ava was a strong woman but right now, she was alone.
“Look, we don’t have to figure it all out tonight. Get some rest and we can talk about it some more tomorrow. Steel said there were options. You need to sleep and clear your head. Then you can think more clearly.” He needed to talk with Ella and he didn’t have any answers for Ava, at least not right now. He was exhausted. Marcus took a step to the door but she pulled on his sleeve, making him stop and look back at her.
“Jose doesn’t leave loose ends. That’s what I am. It’s what you are. No one escapes him.”
Marcus swallowed down her words. His job always meant his life was at risk, always in danger. He was used to that. As an FBI agent, she should be used to that too. What else was she worried about? He twisted around and studied her.
“Is there anything else you need to tell me? Like why Jose arrived when he did at the hotel? Why didn’t he trust you?”
She started to cry and covered her face with her hands, but he stayed exactly where he was. He couldn’t be her shoulder to cry on.
“Maybe he never did. I don’t know. I had a few appointments lately, and we hadn’t been getting along. Maybe he was suspicious.”
“Why?” he asked.
Ava removed her hands from her face but covered her mouth. Marcus observed her pale cheeks moist from her tears. She looked paler than normal and dark shadows nursed her eyes. Suddenly she rose from the bed and dashed into the bathroom. He stepped closer but stopped when he heard her retching. He wanted to leave but couldn’t, and walked inside to find her over the sink, wiping her face with a wet washcloth. She flushed the toilet and turned to face him.
“We hadn’t been sharing a bed and he didn’t like that,” she said. For a second, he was lost. She wiped her mouth with some paper towels and brushed past him back into the bedroom, lying down on the bed with her arm folded over her eyes.
“Why weren’t you sharing a bed?”
“I didn’t want to disturb him and half the time he wasn’t there anyway. He was always traveling. I didn’t think he would miss me.”
There was something she was holding back and he wasn’t sure why. “Ava, are you pregnant?”
As his words left his mouth, she sat upright on the bed and removed her arms from her ashen face. Her eyes were wide like pools of black coffee.
“Please, don’t tell anyone. I’m not sure I’m going to keep it. Like I said, Drayton. Everything is a mess.”
He scratched his head. He couldn’t for the life of him understand what had prompted Ava to call him in the first place. He narrowed his eyes. “You called me because you were alarmed at the increasing numbers of women disappearing from the streets. You said you had evidence as to who was involved. We’ve established that it was my old boss Philip Jackson from the FBI. That bastard, I thought he was dead. What I don’t get is why, when we met, you were naked in bed in that hotel, ready to carry on where we left off if you’re pregnant? I was there all of fifteen minutes before your husband and his men arrived. You’re not that stupid and neither am I.” He raised his voice and wiped his mouth. He hated feeling played and something about her story didn’t make sense.
She leaped off the bed and stood next to him. “I didn’t set you up if that’s what you think, but I can’t deny I needed your help.”
Marcus stared at her, noting there were no outward, obvious signs of a pregnancy and that morning sickness occurred in the first trimester, when it could be hidden.
“Is the baby Jose’s?”
Ava looked at him an
d blinked before she nodded. He was as sure as he could be at this point she was telling the truth. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
“Then, once again, why? Why put yourself at risk and why did you need my help?”
She backed away and crossed her arms over her belly. “If I stayed, he would know I was pregnant, and he would make me have the child. I couldn’t do that. Not there, not with him.” She turned away and walked to the window. “I don’t know if I want to be a mother, but he can’t ever know. He’s a monster, and I know he absolutely cannot be a father.”
It was a mess but this wasn’t his mess. Geez, he had enough to sort out. He still didn’t trust her and that sensation didn’t ease.
“Okay, but babies don’t just happen.”
“You don’t understand, Drayton. I had no control. I couldn’t do anything. He wanted to get me with child, okay?”
He stared at her long and hard. Even if what she said was true, it was her choice to stay with the bastard and marry him. She had made a choice.
“Well, nothing is going to change overnight and it’s Josephine’s funeral tomorrow. There are things I need to sort out before then. Good night, Ava.”
He walked to the door and held it with his hand to close it behind him. He couldn’t help her in the way she wanted him to, which meant he had to keep his distance.
“I’m sorry, Marcus, for all the trouble I’ve landed at your feet, but I meant what I said earlier. I never stopped loving you.”
A hard blow like a fist to the belly twisted inside as her words sunk in. He wasn’t responsible for the decisions she made. It wasn’t his fault, he told himself. He kept walking and closed the door behind him. He didn’t know all her secrets, he was sure, but one thing he knew a hundred percent—Ava was trouble. When he reached the bottom stairs, he heard the clink of glass and his gaze shot straight to the kitchen area where a light shone. Ella stood there with a glass of red wine in her hand. He walked over and raked his hand through his hair. They needed to talk, but he wasn’t sure that talking would do them any good tonight. He hoped it wouldn’t lead to more arguments. His head was going to explode. When he reached her, he opened the cupboard door and reached for a glass, filling it with the fragrant wine. Lifting the drink to his lips, he took a large gulp, but placed it back on the countertop.