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Elle
The last week had been weird between Jonah and I. After that day when we’d visited the shooting range and gym, it was like he’d taken a big step back from me. Now, he was completely professional and withdrawn. Cold.
I tried not to take it personally, but how could I not? He’d given me the most explosive orgasm that morning. It had been arousing, sensual, and so damn sexy. But by that evening, he couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as me. From that point on, Dillon was the one who stayed nights in my apartment. Jonah accompanied me everywhere during the day as my “boyfriend” and then snuck away in the evenings. I didn’t understand it.
All I knew was that nothing had happened for a week except my torture. We went throughout our days with him by my side, touching me, whispering to me, and treating me like someone special, when all the while it was nothing more than an act. A tease of what could be, but never would.
Trace’s audition had gone so well in New York that the director had immediately asked him to stay. Of course, I’d been thrilled for my best friend, but I missed him more now than ever. Trace had always been able to read guys and their motivations so much better than me.
I dropped into my seat beside my classmate, Minerva, and focused on her and not the hot, sexy guy looming behind me. “Hey, Min. How are you...”
She turned to me and her eyes lit up with a mix of glee and excitement that made me decidedly uncomfortable as she grabbed hold of my hand. “Oh, Elle. I can’t believe you’re here this morning. How are you holding up?”
“What?” I glanced around the room and realized that everyone was watching me and whispering.
Jonah noticed, too, and pulled out his laptop and began to furiously type.
But Minerva already knew whatever was happening, so I turned to her. “What happened?”
She gasped. “You didn’t see it.” Her hand shot to her chest in mock distress, but her eyes were alight with way too much salacious interest for me to buy that. “The article on today’s TENews. There’s a letter from your kidnapper. About you. From him.”
“Him?” My voice didn’t sound like my own as it had risen several octaves in panic. The skin crawled on the back of my neck. “What did he say?” I whispered as horror settled over me.
I’d let the quiet of the last few weeks convince me that he’d disappeared, that he wouldn’t mess with me again. But now, I knew that peace was about to be blown to bits as I waited for my friend to tell me what she knew.
She patted my hand. “He was actually very nice about you. Talked about how much he loved you, and how you’re going to be the next big, famous star.”
My breath began to pant out of me.
I’m going to make you famous.
“He said that everyone didn’t see it yet, but they would. What you could become.”
Jonah wrapped his arm around me. “Come on,” he whispered in my ear. He gently urged me out of my chair.
“No,” Minerva whined. “Where are you taking her? I haven’t told her the best part. She’s going to miss class.”
I could feel his hands on me, my body, my face, my hair and those awful, horrible words echoing inside my head. I’m going to make you famous. I’m going to make you famous.
Shivers rolled up and down my spine, my entire body. I felt like I was about to shatter apart, just fly into little pieces right here in the lecture hall of the economics building with all my classmates looking on in horror. There goes the girl who couldn’t keep it together, they’d say, and they’d laugh at the pun.
Jonah had his arms wrapped around me, and my feet were hardly touching the floor as he rushed me down the hall, away from my classroom. To where, I didn’t know.
“Wait.” I dug my feet in, and Jonah stopped.
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“No.” My voice was tremulous so I took a deep breath and said it again. “No!” I stepped away from him and while my legs still felt like jelly from the panic attack that almost was, they managed to hold me up. “I can’t run. I won’t run. He stole my control once. I won’t hand it over to him again. Let’s go back to class.”
Every part of my body shook inside, but I tried not to let Jonah see that as he examined me, as if trying to make a decision.
I wasn’t going to wait for him to decide. It was my choice. My control. I was wrenching it back from that madman, right here, right now. I turned and tried to stride confidently back to my class.
The lecture had already begun when I slipped inside the door. My professor halted speaking, and most the room turned to look at me since he did.
I slipped into the first empty seat I saw and muttered a soft, “Sorry.”
Luckily, the professor didn’t make anything more of it, just gave me a slight nod and continued. I felt Minerva’s stunned gaze on me, but I was barely holding it together, so I didn’t look to her.
Jonah slipped into the seat beside me, took hold of my hand, and squeezed it. That touch kept me anchored for the next hour. I had no idea what my professor had said, but when the lecture was over, I could breathe again. I’d done it...fought through my fear and stayed in control of my life. It may not have been pretty or ideal, but I’d done it. For now, that was enough.
That and Jonah, a strong force beside me, helping me face it all—the fear, the unknown, and the dread about when the next shoe would drop.
***
JONAH
Never in my life had I admired a single other person as much as I did Elle. She’d gone to every single one of her Monday classes. I could see the fear, feel her shaking every time I held her hand, but she did it.
I couldn’t even begin to understand why that fact had become so important to her, but I watched her fight her demons and stick to going to the classes, ignoring the whispers that followed her everywhere. But now as we headed home, the exhaustion from the day had finally claimed her. She was sound asleep in the passenger seat of her Rav4 as I tried not to leave indents from my fingers in her steering wheel.
They wouldn’t have to worry about this guy touching her again, because once he got within arm’s reach of me, he was a dead man. For him to taunt and terrify her like this was unforgivable.
Elle was one of the most generous, loving, kind women I’d ever met. For someone to threaten that...no, just no. He would never get near her.
However, Elle was worried about someone else. Mrs. Latham hadn’t been on her bench this afternoon.
That had sent Elle into a panic. “What if Mrs. Latham saw the article and that’s why she didn’t show up?”
I had to remind Elle that Mrs. Latham had stayed blissfully ignorant of Elle’s infamy before, and that was probably still the case. Something had probably just come up. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well or had another appointment.
But that had sent Elle into another blind panic as she worried about Mrs. Latham at home alone where no one could help her if she needed it. So, I’d promised to see what I could do about finding her. That was much easier said than done, since all Elle knew about her was her last name, that her husband had died last year, and that she spend Monday and Wednesday afternoons on that bench, feeding the pigeons.
All in all, it had been one hell of a day and as I glanced over at Elle, my heart twisted. I didn’t want to leave her in Dillon’s care tonight. I’d started doing that a week ago just for the sake of my own sanity. But today, she had a level of vulnerability that called to me. While she’d built this façade of strength around her all day, I had seen little glimpses of helplessness and fear. I wanted to be the one to fix it all for her.
We pulled into the parking garage, and I texted to Dillon that we were on our way up to her apartment.
He texted back. Good. We have a situation.
Damn. That didn’t sound promising, especially after an already difficult day.
Elle hadn’t moved since I turned off the car. I gently shook her shoulder, and her eyes fluttered open. She recognized me immediately and gave me a small secret smile, full of warmth and happiness. Then the memories of the day must have cascaded down over her. She stiffened, her smile fell, and she sat up with a gasp. “Sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”
“It’s okay. You want me carry you up to your castle like the sleeping princess?”
She laughed, exactly the response I’d been hoping for. “Um, no. I think I can handle it.”
“Okay, but you know I’m here for you if you need it.”
She stilled. “I do. I know.” She met my gaze, suddenly so serious. “And that backup has meant more to me than you will ever realize. Thank you, Jonah.”
I couldn’t believe she’d said that. Shock held me still for a split second until I realized she was getting out of the car without me. I rushed to catch up with her.
When we entered the apartment, Dillon was standing in front of the T.V. with a huge frown on his face.
“What’s going on?” I asked him.
“See for yourself.” He gestured toward the screen.
Elle gasped in shock.
It was TENews, and they were interviewing Minerva. “Honestly, I think she made the whole kidnapping up as a plea for help,” Minerva told the reporter.
“Why would she do that?” the reporter asked.
Minerva’s eyes grew wide and fearful. “She has this creepy, overbearing new boyfriend. Something’s off with them. He drags her off when she obviously doesn’t want to go. He’s just really bossy. It’s scary, you know? I’m worried about her. She’s such a sweet girl. To see her with a **bleep** like that.” Minerva shook her head. “It’s just...sad. I feel for her. She obviously feels like she has to cry out before people will pay attention, and she can escape him. His name is Jonah Sutton, and the guy is a creeper with a capital ‘C.’ If you ask me, that’s who she’s afraid of, not this phantom kidnapper.”
The shot on the television flipped so that only the reporter stood in the screen. “You heard it here first on TENews. Illumination Wilcox might be the victim of domestic abuse, but we’re not just taking this one person’s word for it. Here is video of the victim and her boyfriend taken earlier today.”
The screen filled with grainy video footage of Elle and I in the hall of the university building. She yanked her hand away from me and screamed, “No,” perfectly loud and clear on the video over the sounds of the scads of students, milling about in the halls.
With Minerva’s interview, the evidence looked damning.
“They can’t show that, can they?” Elle asked sounding horrified.
“They already have.” Dillon ran a frustrated hand over his face. He knew as well as I did that everything about this job had just gotten one hundred times more difficult.
The reporter appeared back on the screen, looking concerned and worried. “On top of the letter written exclusively to TENews by Illumination’s alleged kidnapper, this is one mystery we plan to solve. Is Illumination Wilcox a victim again, or is this all just a publicity ruse? Her mother, the world-famous ViviAnna, has used the media for her own publicity purposes before. But never fear, we at TENews are on the case, and you will be the first to know the facts as we find them.”
“But it’s not true,” Elle said. “I’ll go to them and tell them that they have it all wrong.”
“Elle.” I shook my head. “That’s what almost every victim of domestic abuse says until they wise up or end up dead. It won’t work. No one will believe you.”
Hawk Works would almost have to replace me as her bodyguard now. It was one thing to pose as her boyfriend. It was another thing entirely to create a shitstorm of negative press for the client when I was being portrayed as her violent partner. I hadn’t originally been excited about this assignment, but now that I could feel it slipping through my fingers, I didn’t want to leave her.
“Then what will we do?” she asked.
I exchanged a loaded look with Dillon. We had to talk to our boss, Samantha, at Hawk Works. “We’ll figure something out.”
I just had a feeling that none of us would like what that something would be.
***
ELLE
I didn’t understand why the guys weren’t more upset about this. Hell, why wasn’t Jonah more upset about this? They were basically on the national news, calling him an abuser. This story could very well follow him after his job as my bodyguard ended.
I may have just ruined his life. Oh my god.
My kidnapper had done this. He was ruining everything. I still hadn’t gotten to read his letter to TENews. Just thinking about it—about him—had my heart rate ratcheting up.
“Hey, hey, look at me, Elle.” Jonah grabbed my head at the back of my neck so I would meet his gaze. “You’re starting to have a panic attack. Relax.”
“But—” I gasped. “Bu—” I pointed at the screen as my chest grew tighter and tighter. I couldn’t get the air to come in as my lungs constricted.
“Baby, look at me. Come on. You can do this. Don’t think about the T.V. Don’t think about anything, but me.” His blue eyes looked worried—for me. He shook his head. “No. Look at my mouth. Follow my breathing.”
I dropped my gaze to his mouth, his lush lips, and watched him breathe in and out. The noise of the television dropped away. Dillon disappeared. It was just Jonah and me, breathing in and out together like we were one person.
I wanted that. Wanted him. My life was so fucked up right now, but the one thing that made sense in all the madness was him. He anchored me, kept me grounded, kept me sane with those caring eyes and full sensuous lips.
Suddenly those lips were on mine, and I needed Jonah so much more than I needed air in my lungs. His tongue worked over mine in a sexy dance of thrust and parry.
Someone moaned. I wasn’t sure if it was him or me. From the way we were swept away, it could have been either of us or both of us.
I clawed at the back of his neck, needing more, needing him closer to me. I just needed him.
“Please...” The word sounded broken, a lot like I felt these days, but with him, I felt like maybe I might heal...someday.
He lifted me and lowered me to the couch as I wrapped my legs around his hips, putting our groins in instant contact. His hard cock nestled against the cradle of my hips. I automatically flexed up into that contact. A low rumble of pleasure erupted from his chest.
He removed the complicated straps that made up his gun holster, which just drew my attention to the muscular physique I could see under his T-shirt.
I needed to see that chest, to touch it. I ripped his T-shirt up his lats, and he lifted off me, reaching behind his head to tear the shirt over his neck. Suddenly, I was faced with miles of taut, hard, tanned skin, and I didn’t know where to explore first. I ran one hand down his spine and all the way to his ass where I cupped him, pulling his groin tighter to mine. With my other hand, I flicked the hard bud of his nipple.
He threw his head back. “That feels amazing.” He moaned, so I did it again.
Then I scooted below him so that I could wrap my lips around that sensitive skin. He cupped the back of my head and the rumblings in his chest grew deeper and more intense. “Elle.” He moaned. “I want you.”
I stilled as arcs of tension built in my core, sending bursts of pleasure throughout my pelvis. This was it, the moment of decision. I glanced up at his dark, intense, navy-blue eyes, and I ceased questioning what I wanted. “I want you, too.”
His throat worked as he swallowed and nodded. He dipped his head and ravished my mouth with his for several minutes before breaking the kiss.
“Hold on.” He jumped up and pulled me up with him. I wrapped my arms and legs around him. He took the stairs at a run, still stroking his hands up and down the suddenly sensitive skin of my back.
Upstairs, he slowly lowered me to my bed, showing such care although I could feel that he was just as desperate as me.
My hands went to his jeans, but he shook his head and stopped me. “Not yet.” His voice sounded low, intense. “Once those are gone, my control will be, too. First, I want to love you.”
He stepped back from the bed and unstrapped all his hidden knives. To know that he stayed armed like that to keep me safe was a heady thing. I felt cared for, nurtured.
Gushy warmth flowed through my chest as he came back to the bed and tugged my shirt off and over my head. I glanced down, thankful to discover I’d worn my lacy pale pink bra today.
Jonah bit his lip as he took in my chest. He thumbed my puckered nipple visible through the lace. “So beautiful and delicate, but with a spine of steel hidden just under the surface.” He leaned down and took that nipple into his mouth lace and all. As he ran his tongue over that hard bud, the lace provided extra friction on top of the wet heat of his mouth. The sensation was intense, so much more than when I touched my nipples.
My back arched at the wonderful sensation, and I threaded my fingers into his hair. He licked and sucked and nibbled while his hands dropped to my jeans. Before I knew what had happened, the bottom half of my body was completely nude and bared to him. He trailed his mouth down my stomach and growled when he found the tiny strip of trimmed pubes leading him to my throbbing pussy.
He followed the trail with his fingers, delving between my sensitive folds. “So wet.” He drew the words out like that was the best surprise he’d found today. “And tight.”
Need clenched hot and tense inside me, and all I could do was whimper as I arched into his incredible touch. “Jonah...”
“I got you, baby.” He crawled down my body and lowered his face between my legs. At the first swipe of his tongue, my world went supernova, and then he got down to business. Within seconds, my muscles were locked tight. I was right on the edge, pleading with him incoherently. His tongue stroked between my folds as he ran his thumb in a pulsing motion over my clit, and I screamed as every internal muscle tensed.
“Come for me, Elle. Let me taste that gorgeous nectar of yours.”
He flung me over the edge with his words. Muscles pulsed, white-hot light flared behind my eyes, and I careened into orgasm. His fingers continued to stroke me as I clenched and drew him deeper inside me. He slowly eased me down, eventually removing his fingers from my core, leaving me way too empty. I wanted him inside me, not just his fingers.
I tugged him up my torso. “That was amazing.” I kissed him long and hard, and his hard dick behind the placket of his jeans rubbed my groin, reawakening the arousal that had just been satisfied. I was ready for so much more. “Now, it’s your turn.”
I dropped my hands to the waistband of his jeans. This time, he didn’t stop me. Instead, he watched my hands with those dark, intense, need-filled eyes. When I got the placket open, he lifted his hips so I could shove the jeans and underwear down his hips.
His hard erection sprung free, making my mouth go dry. The bulbous head was dark red and engorged, wet on the tip with his need. I wrapped my hand around him as much as I could, but I couldn’t completely encircle him with my grip. Growing up in my mom’s crazy world, I’d seen dicks before, but none had compared to Jonah.
That didn’t seem to be an issue for him as his head fell to his chest as his hips pistoned his length into my fist. “Feels so good,” he moaned. “Elle.”
More pre-cum wet his tip, easing my stroke. He groaned and leaned down to kiss me again as he reached across the bed to fumble for his jeans. He removed his wallet and found a condom.
My eyes widened at the sight of that little foil packet. This was really going to happen.
He noticed my attention. “Are you still with me?”
I nodded, words fleeing right along with my ability to think. The only thing I could focus on was the frissons of nerves alongside the lust and desire. But I had no doubt... I wanted this.
I took the condom packet from him and ripped it open, then slid the latex onto him using a nice firm stroke, which he seemed to appreciate if the sounds of pleasure bursting out of him were anything to judge by.
He lowered his hips until he was in between my legs, his cock right at my entrance. I widened my legs to accommodate him. He rubbed his length across my folds, once, twice, and then plunged in, sliding easily through my wetness until suddenly, he didn’t.
I froze as the pain speared through me, making me gasp.
He froze. “Elle?” His voice tensed, high and panicked.
“Yeah...” I swallowed and tried to relax as my body rebelled against the intrusion. “It’s okay. Keep going.” I rocked my hips, and another pinch of pain lit up.
“Oh, fuck.” He sounded like he was the one in pain, but he still didn’t move. The longer he stayed still, though, the more I tensed up. “Elle, you should have—”
Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. “Please. Don’t stop.” I tried to move my hips to try to get him to move. I could still feel him hard and pulsing inside me. If he didn’t finish this now, I think the pain would be a lot worse than what I’d just experienced. I tensed my internal muscles as I rolled my hips. Dang, that did not feel so great. Why did people do this again?
He groaned low, and his hips followed the flow of mine as if by instinct. I could see the turmoil in his eyes, but I could also see the pleasure, the desire. I wanted to give him more of that.
“You can’t stop now,” I said. “I’ll never forgive you.”
For a moment, his eyes closed, and he rolled his hips. Everything was suddenly so much better. The pain began to recede as pleasure took over. My eyes widened.
“Ooh, wow. That’s...good.” I cocked my hips up, and that sent him even deeper inside me.
He laughed, a sound I didn’t even realize I needed to hear until he did it. “You don’t have to sound so”—he groaned and seemed to push even deeper inside me—“surprised. Damn, you’re so tight and hot.” He buried his face in the crook of my neck, and we both focused on the push and pull of where we were joined together.
At first, the roll of Jonah’s hips had been slow and sensual, but as the tension built, we both began to pant and move together faster. I never knew sex could feel this good. No wonder people got stupid over it.
The pressure inside me began to coil tighter and tighter. “Jonah, please...” I had no idea what I was begging for, but he did.
He reached between us and rolled his finger over my clit as his rhythm began to falter. “I’m right there, Elle. Come with—”
He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before another orgasm rolled through me, taking me by surprise as I screamed my release.
His hips stuttered, and he groaned low. His hard length flexed inside me, pulsing.
At this moment, I couldn’t get any closer to a person, to him. His dick pulsed and throbbed, which sent tendrils of pleasure rolling through my groin. It all felt amazing.
I ran my hands up and down his sweaty back, glorying in the sensation of him deep inside me as he panted and began to relax into my hold.
“Thank you,” I whispered, unintentionally breaking the intimacy between us.
He stiffened and pulled away from me, not meeting my eyes as he dragged out, holding the base of the condom. “You should have told me.” He sounded angry.
“Why? So, you would have turned me down?” I sat up in the bed.
“Exactly.” He strode out of the room, grabbing up his clothes as he left.
What the fuck? I wrapped my arms around my waist. I needed to protect myself from the pain pounding in my chest, in my heart. I sat there, completely ravished and sexually replete. It should have been a good moment, but instead I felt more alone than I ever had in my entire life. And with my life, that was saying something.