“Don’t mind her,” Jalen said as he walked back into the house. “I’m glad you’re here. We need to talk.”
I followed. “I told your wife–”
“About that–”
“I don’t care,” I cut him off again. “I really am here about Meka. I need your help.”
“What happened?” His entire demeanor changed, and I knew he had his focus in the right place now.
“To get right to the point, Meka’s asshole boyfriend sold her for drugs. He gave me the address where he took her. I went there–”
“Alone?” His head snapped around. “That wasn’t smart, Rona.”
I held up a hand. “Not your business and not the time. I found Meka and at least five other girls. They were being held in a storage unit by several armed guys. Contrary to what you might think, I’m not stupid. I knew I couldn’t get all of the girls out safely, so I went to the cops, but they aren’t going to do anything.”
“What do you mean they aren’t going to do anything?”
I leaned against the back of an overstuffed chair. I was exhausted, but I still had, as they say, ‘miles to go before I sleep.’
“I took the boyfriend down to the station after he confessed what he did, but they let him go. My phone was dead, so I couldn’t call for help, and when I went to the station to tell them what I found, Officer Lennard basically blew me off, acting like I was trying to interfere in a police investigation. He actually threatened to arrest me.”
“I’ve never liked that slimy bastard,” Jalen muttered. He looked at me, a hard glint in his eyes. “You need me to pull some strings to get the cops to that storage place?”
“I’m afraid they’re going to take the girls somewhere else,” I said, worry worming down my spine. Too much time had already passed, and I’d never forgive myself if I lost track of the girls because I hadn’t charged my stupid phone. “Shawn could have already warned them. He’s the one who tipped them off that I was looking in the first place. I thought about going back myself, but it’s not something one person can pull off, not without risking everyone’s lives.”
Jalen already had his phone up to his ear. I would’ve been annoyed that he seemed to be ignoring me, but he was doing exactly what I needed.
“Hey, Chet, it’s Jalen.”
It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to the Police Commissioner, Chet Shumaker III.
“I need to call in a favor. There’s something going on at King’s Storage, unit twelve. I can’t tell you how I know, but I can tell you that if you send some men out there, prepared to take down some pretty nasty guys, and have a couple ambulances waiting, you’ll end up being a hero. Great press to use when you start your campaign for governor in a couple years.”
Smart, using the commissioner’s political ambitions to get him to do the right thing. I could see the business side of Jalen in that small conversation.
“Yes, this needs to be done now. I know it’s early, but it’s time sensitive.” He waited a few seconds, then smiled. “Excellent. Thank you, Chet. And yes, if you could give me a call when it’s taken care of, I’d appreciate it.” He set the phone down and looked at me. “It’s done.”
“Thank you.” The words were said on the exhale of a relieved breath. “I’ll head down to the site, and once I see Meka, I’ll give Theo a call. I’ll send you a bill after that.”
“Wait,” he said before I was even able to turn to go. “You can’t go there. It could compromise the rescue.”
Dammit. I didn’t think I would, but as soon as he put the idea out there, it was all I could think about. “Good point. I’ll go to the police station then.”
“Wait here with me,” Jalen said. “You can find out what happened when Chet calls me. And we can talk.”
I bristled at that. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”
His expression was serious as he walked over to me. “Yes, we do.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. Apparently, we were going to talk.
Twenty
The adrenaline that had kept me going for more than a day was starting to wear off, but I’d gone for longer periods of time on less sleep. I’d make it this time too.
Especially since I was now sitting next to Jalen on a very comfortable couch, preparing to talk about whatever he thought we needed to talk about.
“I’m sorry.”
Okay, after the way he’d talked to me and to his wife, I hadn’t expected an apology to be the first thing out of his mouth when he sat down.
He handed me a cup of coffee. “I already had the coffee going, so you might as well take advantage of it.”
I took a drink and sighed as the heat and caffeine flowed through me. “Thank you.”
“For the coffee or the apology?”
“The coffee. I’m still not sure about the apology,” I answered honestly.
He took another long drink of his own coffee and then set the mug down on the table in front of us. “I was wrong. A lot. I was wrong to kiss you, to have sex with you, to leave you like that.”
“Wait.” I held up a hand. “You don’t get to unilaterally decide that us kissing and having sex was wrong by itself. It took two of us, and I was all in for that decision. How you handled the after part, yeah, I’ll take your apology for that.” And I wasn’t even about to bring up the wife part. Yet.
“You were hurt,” he began. “I should have–”
“I’m an adult, and I knew what I was doing.” I shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like you were the only hook up I’d ever had.”
His mouth flattened into a line, and something hot flashed across his eyes. “I figured that out already.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? The married man is going to bring up my personal life?”
“I’m not married,” he said, his mouth twisting into a scowl. “Not anymore.”
“So, Elise Marx is–?”
“My ex-wife.” He glanced toward the front door. “Or at least she will be as soon as she signs the damn papers.”
“I hate to say it, Jalen, but until a divorce is finalized, you’re still married.”
He made a frustrated sound. “Look, I was twenty-one when we met. We dated for four crazy years, and then I decided it was a good idea for us to get married. It was good for ten months, and then she walked out. We separated for six months, then tried to reconcile.” His voice was flat, like he was reciting a series of historical events rather than telling me about a romantic relationship in his past. “We were working on it for a few months when I found her in bed with one of the bodyguards I’d hired to keep her safe.”
Ouch.
“She won’t sign the divorce papers because she’s insisting that the adultery clause in the prenuptial agreement hasn’t applied since she walked out ten months into the marriage.” His hand scraped against the stubble on his jaw. “She’s being a pain in my ass, but I was wrong to take my issues with her out on you.”
“That’s why you freaked out when you saw Clay,” I said softly. “It brought up a lot of bad memories.”
“Like I said, I was wrong. I had no right to take all of that out on you.” His hand went through his hair, leaving clumps standing up all over his head. “Hell, I don’t even have the right to be jealous at all. We weren’t – aren’t – in a relationship. What you do and who you do it with isn’t my business, and my behavior was inexcusable. I’m sorry.”
I gave him a partial smile. “If I’m honest, Jalen, I have to say that I had a flash of that inappropriate jealousy when Elise introduced herself as your wife.”
He shot me a sideways look. “Really?”
I glared at him. “Let’s not get distracted here.”
He laughed, and the energy around us shifted from angry and tense to something warmer. “You caught me off-guard from moment one, Rona Quick. You weren’t anything I was expecting, and that day, seeing you hurt, it brought things to the surface that I wasn’t ready for.”
Something in my stom
ach fluttered as I admitted, “I didn’t expect you either. And nothing happened with Clay and me. In the past, yes, he and I were involved, but not anymore. We’d been friends, had a casual thing, and then we’re back to being friends. He came to talk to me, and I didn’t want him driving back to Denver so late. That’s all.”
“Elise showed up here at midnight, drunk and ranting. I let her stay in one of the guest rooms to sleep it off.” He sighed. “I haven’t been in love with her for a long time, if I ever really had, but that doesn’t mean I want her to hurt herself.”
I reached for my coffee and finished with a single long gulp. It wasn’t quite cold, but definitely heading toward lukewarm. I needed the caffeine though.
Actually, I needed something stronger than caffeine. I needed alcohol. Clearing things up with Jalen had been good, but now I was all too aware that we were waiting for a phone call that was either going to close my case or make things a whole lot worse.
And I didn’t know what to do.
Should I just sit here and stare at the phone? Would it be wrong to want to take a nap? Then I remembered that I was at Jalen’s house and taking a nap here would be weird. No nap then. Should we talk? About what? The case? I’d given him pretty much everything I had already. And talking about it would make me start to think about what those poor girls were going through, which would make me want to go down to the storage unit and help. Except I couldn’t help. Because I wasn’t a cop or an FBI agent.
Because I’d gotten kicked out for lying about my name and about my shitty dad spending life in prison.
Which meant I couldn’t go in and help the girls I found or arrest the scumbags who’d been hurting them. I hadn’t even been able to get the people whose job it was to protect them to go and do just that.
I swallowed hard, tears burning my eyes. No. I wasn’t going to do this now. I couldn’t do this now. Not with Jalen sitting there. We’d just gotten things fixed up between us. I didn’t need to make things awkward because I was too tired to control my emotions.
“Can we move past what happened?” Jalen broke the silence. “Go back before I acted like a total ass and start over again?”
I cleared my throat and pushed down the emotions threatening to choke me. “So, before we met then?”
He chuckled. “How about before I walked out like a moron?”
I raised an eyebrow, grateful for the distraction. “You mean back to when we were fucking?”
He leaned closer, his arm brushing against mine. “Yes, Rona. Back to when I was buried balls deep in that tight cunt of yours, coming so hard I saw stars.”
F-u-c-k.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I think we can go back to that.”
I really hoped he meant what I thought he did. It was stupid. Again. But I wanted it. I needed it. Him. Not just for a distraction, but because there was something I didn’t understand between us, and I wasn’t strong enough to stay away.
“I don’t want to take advantage of the situation,” he said quietly. He brushed hair back from my face but didn’t pull his hand back. His fingers ghosted across my skin, a touch nearly impossible to feel, but one that left such a fire in its wake that I couldn’t feel anything else.
“I don’t want pity sex,” I countered. I put my hand on his thigh, loving the feel of his muscles bunching beneath my palm.
“I don’t pity you, Rona.” He slid his hand up and around to grip my hair. The shock of pain prompted a small sound that made his pupils dilate, his irises darken. “I admire you.”
“You admire me?”
He shook his head and chuckled, a sensual sound that flowed over my skin. “Yes, crazy woman. I admire you. Everything you’ve accomplished. How strong you are.”
“That’s what all the girls want to hear.” I tucked my hands under his shirt, my smile widening as he cursed. “How strong they are.”
He leaned closer, not stopping until his mouth was only a breath away from mine. “I thought women wanted the truth.” He brushed his lips across mine. “That’s the truth. You’re strong.”
He kissed the corner of my mouth.
“And insanely intelligent. Passionate. Stubborn. Sexy.”
He pulled my head to the side and kissed down the side of my neck.
“I don’t pity you,” he repeated his earlier statement as he raised his head. His gaze burned into me. “I want you because you’re all of those things I said and more. I’m not asking for anything more than this right now if that’s what you want. All I need to know now is if you want me too.”
I answered him by sliding off the couch and down onto my knees. “Shirt off.”
He had it off in one smooth motion, revealing all of that gorgeous flesh. As I positioned myself between his legs, I ran my hands up his stomach, admiring the tight muscles and light dusting of hair. I scratched my nails across his flat nipples, and he swore, his body jerking.
“Shit, Rona,” he groaned. “Your turn. Take off your shirt.”
I ignored him, turning my attention to the growing bulge that his soft cotton pants did absolutely nothing to hide. He raised his hips, helping me get rid of the last barrier between me and my prize.
And what a prize.
The man was a work of art, and I took the time to drink in the sight of him, naked and all mine. His cock lay heavy on his thigh, thickening, but not yet fully aroused. It was time to help him with that.
I wrapped my hand around the base of his shaft, lightly stroking him from root to tip. I’d touched other men before, but it never failed to amaze me at just how soft the skin was on such a delicate part of the body. No, I decided. Delicate was the wrong word. There was nothing delicate about what I held in my hand.
I ran my nail along the underside of his cock, tracing the vein that ran there, pumping blood into his growing erection. Sensitive was a better word.
He muttered something under his breath, and I looked up at him. “What was that?”
“I said you are killing me.” He smiled. “But I don’t mind.”
“I’m just getting started,” I warned him.
I held him in one hand as I licked his skin, the bitter tang of salt and musk exploding on my tongue. I’d never really minded oral sex, but I didn’t think I’d ever enjoyed it as much as I was enjoying it now. It was more than the physical sensation of taking him into my mouth, more than the feel of the tip slipping past my lips and over my tongue. It was the sounds he made, those throaty groans and primal grunts, each one turning me on even more.
I cupped his balls, rolling them between my fingers as I moved my mouth and hand in tandem. I swirled my tongue around the tip of his cock, then sucked on it like it was some sort of treat. Maybe it was. I enjoyed myself during sex, but this was different. He wanted to take charge. I could feel it. The fact that he was holding back intrigued me, and that wasn’t something I experienced too often.
He cursed, running his hand through my hair, strong fingers massaging my scalp before pushing down just hard enough for me to know what he wanted. I went lower, taking him deeper. My mouth stretched painfully wide, jaw aching, but I let his cock slide to the back of my throat, holding as much of him in my mouth as I could.
“Fuck, Rona!”
He yanked me up by my hair, the pain sending tears to my eyes even as I coughed and gasped. Before I could catch my breath, he hauled me up on his lap, his arms tight around me.
“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I shouldn’t have–”
I grabbed the back of his head and slammed my mouth onto his, cutting off the rest of the sentence. His cock was hot and hard against my leg, and his hands moved down to palm my ass, grinding me against him. At least I knew he still wanted me. Judging by the way his hips were jerking against me, he really wanted me.
I bit down on his lip, and he growled, the sound going straight through me.
“Careful. You might not like what happens if you keep that up.”
I reached down between us and wrapped my fingers around his
cock. “Maybe I’ll like it a lot.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked up at me, and then he flipped us over. His hands went to my pants, yanking them and my underwear off in one quick motion. He tossed them over his shoulder and reached for my shirt.
“No.”
He stopped and gave me a curious look.
“If that changes things–”
He leaned over me, the hair on his legs rough against the insides of my thighs. “Do you still want this?”
I nodded without hesitation. My body was throbbing, and if I didn’t get some relief from him, I’d have to take care of it myself, but he would do a hell of a lot better job.
In one smooth move, he grabbed my legs and slid down between my thighs. The moment his tongue touched me, a shudder ran through me and my eyes closed. Waves of blissful pleasure washed over me, each one stronger than the last. I’d known he had a skilled tongue, but this was above and beyond anything I could have imagined.
A spike of pain jolted me upright, and I glared down at Jalen. He grinned up at me, his expression as heated as my flushed skin. “I told you that you might not like what came next.”
“Do it again.”
His eyebrows went up in surprise. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, watching as he turned his head and sank his teeth into the flesh of my inner thigh. The shock of pain was expected this time, but it didn’t make the intensity any less. And it definitely didn’t make me enjoy it any less.
I’d always known that I liked things a little rough, but I’d never been able to ask anyone to go as far as I wanted. Jalen, it appeared, would do it without any qualms.
“Damn,” he said as he slid a finger inside me. “You’re soaked.”
“Don’t you have something better to do with that tongue?” I dropped my hand down between my legs. “Or do I have to do everything myself?”
He grabbed my hand. “You don’t touch yourself unless I tell you to.”
Shit, that was hot.
Then his mouth was on me again, his hands holding my hips tightly as his tongue worked its way inside me. He licked every inch of me, finding places no one had reached before, each one sending me higher, closer to the edge. When he slid two fingers inside me, his tongue dancing back and forth across my clit, I started to come.