Authors: Tencia Winters,Serena Vale
Chapter 3
Adeline stared at the bathroom mirror. Looking, but not really seeing. She replayed the awful scene from the alley over and over in her head. Remembering the crippling fear, the fear that she hated in herself, the fear that Adeline had thought she’d overcome when she had finally left her abusive boyfriend.
It had taken her almost a year to leave Blake, but she knew if she hadn’t she would have ended up trapped, hurt, or worse. She lifted up the corner of her now clean t-shirt to examine the faded yellow and purple splotched bruises along her right ribs, fainter now that they had started to heal.
Blake had been so sweet, so loving in the beginning. She had thought she was in love him. Had even moved in with him. But after a few months he’d changed. He had become incredibly possessive, and flew into a jealous rage over the slightest thing.
He had isolated her from her friends, and the only family she had was back in Virginia. She had felt so alone, so dependent on him. She looked at the bruises again. That had been the last straw. Blake had screamed at her that she had been flirting with the checkout boy at the grocery store.
It was a ridiculous excuse, but she had been petrified at the look of absolute rage in his eyes. She had packed her suitcase and fled that very night, spending the last two weeks constantly looking over her shoulder, expecting him to be there.
She took in the pale wash of her skin, ghost white under the fluorescent lights of the bathroom overhead lamp. Her deep blue eyes dominated her face, still widened, making her look startled. She took a deep breath, thinking of the big man still waiting out in the main space of the hotel room. It was really just a big bedroom but it had a couch and TV stand set up on one side, and a small kitchenette toward the back.
Adeline could easily picture him, he’d said his name was Jay, pacing back and forth on the worn beige carpet. He had saved her, in more ways than one. Standing in that alley, watching the gang of thugs walk closer to her, she had given into her fear.
She hadn’t been able to move, to run, or even scream and she loathed that fact. Blake had turned her into this shivering creature she barely recognized, and she ached for the chance to prove herself. But she knew it would take time to build back her confidence, which was why she was so taken aback with how comfortable she was with the hulking stranger.
Adeline felt like she had known him forever, felt so safe and protected in his presence she had acted more like her old self, her real self, than she had in a long time. Not since before Blake had come into her life, and turned into someone she didn’t recognize.
She tugged discontentedly at the drab brown she had dyed her hair in the hopes it would help her remain hidden. She missed having blond hair, thought it complimented her pale complexion while the mousy brown just washed her out.
Oh well
. It was a small price to pay, she thought. Just a little longer, and she would be on her way to another state to disappear for good.
Stealing herself with one last look in the mirror, making sure she at least looked more respectable than when she had entered in her grime covered cloths and mussed hair about twenty minutes earlier. Smoothing the skirt down over the flair of her hips, she nodded at herself in approval.
She had grown up uncomfortable in her own skin, developing curves at an early age, it had taken her a long time to love her lush body. Looking at the hourglass shape, the dip of her waist, and the womanly flair of her hips, she just felt a brief moment of pride at her figure. Blake had always told her she needed to lose weight, take better care of herself, but she was healthier than he was. In fact, she consistently outpaced whenever he made her go on those awful runs.
It had nothing to do with looking good for the devastatingly handsome man still waiting for her on the other side of the room. Nope, not at all. She had forced down the surge of desire as she had taken in his wave of light brown hair, and dreamy chocolate brown eyes.
She thought again of the last few hectic moments in the alley. Adeline was sure she had seen…something. She had been hunched against the rough brick, trying desperately to disappear. But she remembered the charge of electric current suddenly thick in the air, and where Jay had been standing, she could see a big, brown bear the same exact shade of light brown that matched Jay’s perfectly.
She shook her head, maybe she was in shock, or seeing things because of the massive surge of fear that had flooded her body. Adeline thought again of the way he had brought down those five tough looking men, barely breaking a sweat, and then had been so incredibly gentle with her.
Maybe she had been imagining things, but maybe…just maybe there was something else to this man, something that went beyond the sheltered world that she knew.
Chapter 4
Jay paced restlessly, waiting for Adeline to come out of the bathroom but willing to give her as much time as she needed. She had just been through something awful, and from the looks of the faint bruises wrapping around her upper arms in the shape of fingers, she had been going through something awful for a long time.
There was no way in hell he was going to bring Adeline back to that Blake Newcombe asshole until he had the whole story, and then, well, then they would see. But he had a feeling that if those bruises turned out to mean what he thought they would, he would be paying Blake a visit very soon. And it wouldn’t be pleasant for either of them.
His bear half paced just as restlessly inside him, wanting to growl, and claw, and smash at the thought of anyone hurting Adeline, anyone touching her.
The thought whispered through his mind before he could push it away.
Mine
. He tried to contain the surge of warmth as the word repeated relentlessly. He knew that’s not what she needed right now.
Jay turned quickly as he heard the door creak open, his breath catching as he drank in the sight of her haloed by the cool white light emanating from the bathroom. She looked like an angel to him, every perfect dip and curve pulling at him so that he ended up with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his dark blue jeans in the hopes of controlling his body. It seemed an impossible task when he was standing barely five feet away from her.
He couldn’t take his dark eyes off of her as she walked barefoot into the small motel room, looking so out of place to him against the backdrop of the dingy space. Like a pearl shining bright and clean on a pile of rocks.
Jay shifted his feet, searching for the right words to say to comfort her, to explain that he would make sure she was safe. He had a few ideas, a rough plan forming in the back of his mind while he had been waiting. But he needed to hear the whole story, and he wasn’t sure Adeline was ready to tell it. Maybe he would give her a few days, and then come back.
Like hell
. As if he could stay away from her at all. The thought caused an ache right below his chest as his whole being protested the idea.
Jay took a half step towards her, then hesitated, not really sure what he was still doing there in the first place. His deep, rumbly voice was hushed in the quiet room.
“I guess I should be going.” Adeline took a quick step forward, her hand raised instinctively to try and stop him. She didn’t know what it was, but there was a feeling that fell over her like a blanket whenever she was near him. Like the safest place in the whole world for her was by her side.
He made her fear melt away, although what replaced was pure desire, shocking in its intensity. In the beginning, she had fancied herself in love with Blake, but that paltry flicker was nothing beside the inferno that flashed through her now.
It was the strangest thing, and Adeline couldn’t wrap her mind around it, but she wasn’t willing to let it just walk out the door. She was so tired of sacrificing what she wanted, or just maybe, needed.
“Wait…Jay.” Her words were as softly spoken as his. “Please, would you, will you stay?”
“I ahh…well, I don’t know…”
“I mean, on the couch. Maybe you could just sleep here, on the couch.” Her entire face flashed pink, not even sure herself why she was asking him to stay, but desperately wanting him too. “I just…I don’t want to be alone.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course, I can stay.” Adeline peered up at him, trying to read his expression but it was hard in the softly cast glow coming from the bathroom and the faint light of the lamp on the night stand. She sighed in relief. He was going to be there with her, that’s all that mattered to her.
Chapter 5
Jay lay on his back on the hard, slightly musty smelling couch, wondering what the hell he was doing there. He checked his watch, again. Almost three in the morning, and he hadn’t slept a wink. He didn’t expect to either. Not with the soft whisper of Adeline’s rhythmic breathing filling his ears, her scent, a mix of lavender and chamomile wrapping so tightly around his senses he was afraid he would never shake her loose.
Did he even want to?
He cursed at himself. She was just getting out of a terrible relationship, she didn’t need him. He had to reign in his anger anew as he thought back to their conversation a few hours ago, sitting at the small table crammed into the corner as she told him about running from her ex-boyfriend. Not husband. He had mentally sighed in relief at that, even though he knew it was of no consequence.
Guilt lay heavy on his conscience as she had told him everything about why she was hiding, what she had experienced. He had been in awe at her ability to still trust anyone after what she had gone through, but could only be grateful that for some strange reason, she trusted him.
Jay, however, had been much less forthcoming. He knew he should tell her that he had been hired by Blake, but he didn’t know how to without crushing the bond that had grown between them, something he was loathe to do. He had to tell her the truth, there was no way around it. Jay sighed again to himself. It was decided, first thing in the morning, he would tell her everything.
A sudden cry from the direction of the bed had him shooting up, crouched in defensive stance, adrenaline surging. It took his mind a few seconds to realize that Adeline wasn’t being attacked, but still deep asleep and thrashing on the big bed that was pushed up against the opposite wall.
She was caught in the throes of a nightmare, and Jay rushed to the side of the bed, his only thought that of comforting her. It tore him up to see the agonized expression on her slumbering face, and the nearly invisible trail of wet tears as they rolled across her cheeks to puddle on the pillow she was laying on.
“Adeline,” he whispered, standing over her, afraid of what her reaction might be if he reached out and nudged her shoulder. “Adeline, wake up, sweetheart.” This time her name was louder as it fell off his tongue into the darkness of the room
“Adeline.” She could hear someone say her name, and even in sleep she turned towards the voice. In her dreams, she was back in the alley, too afraid to move, too afraid to make a sound.
“Adeline, wake up.” With a start and a gasp, she opened her eyes, and found Jay’s meltingly dark gaze inches from her own. A wave of some sweet, dark emotion rolled over her. Something she’d never felt before, and it had Adeline reaching out to him before she had the chance to second guess herself.
“Jay.” Her voice carried a hint of the ache that that had started pulsing across her skin. A thrill coursed through her at the rough groan he couldn’t quite contain.
“You were having a nightmare. I just wanted to…” Jay paused, unwilling to finish the sentence. He knew what he wanted, and the desire panting in her soft whisper had him so hard he had to shift his feet, trying to get comfortable in the confines of the tight denim he was still wearing, only allowing himself to strip off his shirt before laying on the couch.
“Jay. Come here.” Adeline’s hushed words pulled at him excruciatingly.
“You don’t need this, you don’t need me. Not now, not after…everything.”
“You’re wrong.” Her voice was soft, but strong in the darkness of the motel room. “I do need you. I don’t know why, it doesn’t really make sense. I should be terrified, but…I’m not.” Jay could just make out the brief shake of her against the pillow, the blond waves rustling at her movement.
“You make me feel whole. Like I’ve been living with a part of me missing. I know that sounds crazy…” Adeline trailed off as she turned her head away from him on the pillow. Cautiously, he reached out a hand, cupping it around her incredibly soft cheek, and gently tilted her back until her blue eyes glittered inches from his own.
“No, that doesn’t sound crazy at all. I…” Jay cleared his throat, about to say that he felt the same, “I think you should try and go back to sleep.” That was definitely
not
what he wanted to say, but he didn’t want her to get hurt any more than she already had. Rushing into a new relationship after dealing with that asshole Blake might just be more than she was ready for.
Adeline felt a prick of irritation at the tone of his voice. She could see he was trying to take things slow for her benefit, but slow was the last thing she had on her mind. For the first time in a long time, she knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted Jay.
She reached for him, simultaneously pressing her mouth flush to his, not giving him a chance to pull back. Angling her head for better access, she slowly traced the seam of his lips with her tongue. He fought back a moan under her patient attach, but refused to open his mouth and give her what she wanted.
Adeline pulled back just enough to speak, her words whispering against his lips.
“I don’t need to go back to sleep. I need you.” She stared up at him solemnly. “Please.” Like a dam bursting, Jay was on top of her. His hands framed her face, fingers diving into her long waves. He held her head still as his mouth came down on hers. His kiss was deep, patient, and devastating.
Adeline could feel her arousal grow even sharper as moisture pooled at her center, the empty feeling driving her crazy as she pushed her hips up against his, desperate for closer contact.
The slide of his tongue against hers had her writhing anew, tangling the sheets between her legs. His hands were everywhere, creating and stoking flames of sensation wherever he touched. She felt like a live wire.
She pushed against his shoulders, and he instantly stopped, pushing himself away with his arms braced on either side like he was doing a pushup.
“Is everything…”
“Turn over.” She demanded breathlessly, her intent clear in her deep blue eyes alight with lust and something warmer, softer. Jay hesitantly flipped onto his back, obviously used to being the one in charge, but willing to let her do whatever she wanted to him.
She wasted no time, reaching for the fly of his dark denim jeans. She needed to see all of him. The chiseled muscles of his stomach jumped as she brushed her knuckles back and forth once, twice, finally getting the zipper down.
As he lifted his hips to help remove the offending material, she tugged hard on the belt loops, and soon it was slide off his legs to be discarded on the beige carpet next to the mattress. Jay was left wearing a tight pair of dark blue boxer briefs, and she caught her breath as she drank him.
He looked like a Greek god, all sculpted muscle and perfect skin. She had never been totally comfortable with her curvier figure, but next to him, she felt like she was the perfect size. Her soft against of his delicious hard. Adeline had to stop herself from licking her lips.
Quickly shedding the light green tank top, she had worn to bed, she reached for the little matching shorts but was stopped by the sound of his ragged gasp. His eyes were like burning coals as he took in her body. His look made her burn even brighter, and before he could make another sound she was naked, and moving to straddle his thighs.
She hooked the tips of her fingers around the elastic of his boxers and pulled them down, releasing an impressive erection. Her pussy throbbed in anticipation, out of control lust raging through her like a wild fire. She had never felt like this in her entire life.
Jay braced his hands on either hip, about to tell her to slow down, but before he could open his mouth her soaking heat was enveloping him and his brain completely shut down. Heaven.
The thought repeated over and over again at the torturous pleasure of her sinking oh so slowly onto his length. Setting a steady pace that had him panting in seconds, he felt like a horny teenager worried he wouldn’t last long enough to please her. He held back his orgasm with sheer will, the friction of her snug heat the most incredible sensation he had ever felt. Paradise.
The animal inside him howled in a wave of ecstatic possession. This woman was touching every single part of him, leaving nothing unturned as she rode him wildly, unabashedly.
He thrust his hips up, rewarded by her husky moan as he hit that spot deep inside. Again, he moved his hips up as she moved down, and this time when they met, they both released a groan at the amazing feeling. Before long, she was losing her rhythm, slamming her lush body down on his, and he bit his lip to keep from coming, searing the look on her face into his memory as she finally broke apart, crying out as she came around him.
He couldn’t hold back any longer, the sight of her climax sending him over his own peak, body tensing as waves of pleasure so intense they took his breath exploded over him. Jay released a deep sigh as Adeline collapsed bonelessly on top of him. Heaven.