Shocked, he could only stare at her.
“I don’t want to hurt you. That’s why I ran. I know I have something inside of me, something that can’t always be controlled. And what if I can’t stop? What if—what if something else or someone else triggers me? Wyman didn’t even talk to us about that. What happens then? What happens if I go after you?”
“I’m not worried about that.”
Her hand swiped over her cheek. “You should be!” Anger there, bursting through her words.
But there were tears on her cheeks. He knew she felt more than anger. It took all of his self-control not to move toward her. Not to pull her into his arms. “Do I look scared?”
Her gaze was on him. “You should be.”
Jay shook his head.
“Why?” The word was torn from her. “Why do you still want me?”
“Because I’m not a fool. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.” But it was a lot more than that. Desire wasn’t just skin deep, not with her. Never with her.
“I want you.” Her voice was low. “It doesn’t stop. It’s always there. Everything else is so out of control, but the need is still there.” A stark pause. “Why?”
“Because lust is primitive. Basic. And while everything else might have been stripped away, Willow, primitive instincts remain. Your body trusts me, even if your mind—your heart—even if they don’t.”
“Fear is primitive, too.”
Yes, it was.
Her long lashes swept down to conceal her gaze. “I’m afraid when I’m with you.”
The last thing he wanted was for Willow to fear him.
“And I’m afraid when I’m not.” Her lashes lifted. “I’m sick of being afraid.”
Silence filled the car. Tension. When he spoke, his words were a low rumble. “Then tell the fear to fuck off, and take what you want.”
Her tongue slid out to lick over her lower lip. Sexy as all hell. “I want you.”
He wouldn’t go to her. This had to be her move. Her moment. “I’m right here.”
Red stained her cheeks. “In the car? The driver—”
“Told you before. He can’t see or hear anything that’s happening back here.” Jay knew her emotions were savaged. After what had happened in that hospital, Willow had to be a wreck. And that was why he wasn’t making this choice. If she wanted him, then she’d have to want him more than pain and fear. More than anything.
The way he wanted her.
She pulled in a deep breath. Then she slid off her shoes. She unhooked her pants. Pushed then down her hips while he watched and his dick jerked to quick, avid attention.
“Willow…”
“I don’t want pain. Or fear. When I’m with you, I get more than that.”
So she was using him. He should care. He didn’t. He’d just seen the scrap of underwear that she was wearing.
Willow didn’t take off her shirt, but she did move toward him. Her movements were hesitant but still sensual. Everything about the woman was sensual to him. Her panties were red, bright against her smooth skin. “This is wrong,” Willow said. She reached for his hand. She touched him. Twined her fingers through his.
He forced a shrug. “Do I look like I care?”
“We shouldn’t…” She pressed a kiss to his lips. Her tongue snaked into his mouth.
Oh, baby, we should. She slid onto his lap. Straddled him.
But he didn’t touch her the way he wanted. Didn’t take. Didn’t make her moan and gasp. He waited for her head to lift. Waited for her gaze to meet his. “Tell me that you want me, Willow.”
“I want you.”
“Tell me you want my hands on you.”
“I want…I want your hands on me.”
Magic words.
His hands curled around her hips. His dick shoved toward the crotch of her panties. The silk and his trousers were all that separated him from touching heaven. Hot, sweet heaven.
Willow needed this. She wanted her oblivion. One day, she’d realize he’d give her everything she wanted. Every. Single. Thing.
His fingers moved between their bodies. Down, down, until he was caressing the silk that covered her sex. He stroked her through the panties at first, enjoying the way her hips arched. Loving the way she got wet for him. He could feel the moisture through the silk. But that wasn’t quite enough.
Not for him.
He eased the panties to the side, moving so that his fingers could touch her. Bare flesh. And at first, he was gentle, trailing the tips of his fingers over her. She arched higher, gave a quick moan, and his touch grew harder. Stronger. Deeper. Two fingers slid into her. She rode his fingers, moving her hips quickly against him. His thumb pushed over her clit. Rubbed. Circled.
Her breath came faster.
The limo kept driving.
His dick was rock hard, surging against his zipper. His fingers were in her, and her sex squeezed him tight. Wetter, hotter, with every moment that passed. His fingers slid in and out of her, moving in a quick rhythm, thrusting in the way that he knew she liked.
“Not…enough…” Willow pressed a kiss to his neck. Her voice whispered into his ear, “Want you in me.”
And there was the problem. He’d bring her to orgasm. He’d make her come again and again but… “Baby, I don’t have protection with me.”
Her hips pushed down harder on him. “I don’t…I don’t care.”
What? Oh, hell. Oh, hell, no, she hadn’t just said—
“I want you, Jay. All of you.”
Did she get it? There would be no going back, not from this. No saying things had been a mistake. No running away again.
“All of you,” Willow said again.
And his control was gone. He yanked open his pants. His dick shoved toward her, and then he was driving his hips up, surging into her. Driving as deep as he could go. Flesh to flesh. Nothing between him and Willow. Nothing to stop him from taking what he thought of as his.
So he took. His hands clamped around her hips. He lifted her up, down. Felt her sex squeeze him so tight. She was licking his neck, lightly biting, driving him insane. He thrust harder. Deeper. His cock shoved up, going so deep into her. She surrounded him. Her scent, her body, her. His left hand slipped to her clit. Stroked ruthlessly as he drove into her. He wanted her to come first. Fast and hard. Wanted to feel the contractions all around him. “Baby…”
And she did. Her head tipped back. She gasped out his name even as he felt the contractions of her release all along his cock. He didn’t hold back. His own release hit, slamming through Jay as he surged into her. He came inside of her, a hot blast that kept going and going. His hold was too tight. He should ease up.
He didn’t.
He kept thrusting. Even as his orgasm ended, he was getting harder again, for her. He kept thrusting because she was moaning. Twisting and pushing against him. Fighting for another release, and he was going to make sure she got that release. She was slick and sensitive, and pushing her to the edge again was so easy. He thrust up, hard, gritting his teeth because nothing on earth felt as good as she did. Nothing was as hot. Nothing was as tight. Nothing was like this slice of heaven.
Nothing was like her.
She came again, calling out his name. He kissed her neck. Made sure to leave his mark on her. Was it wrong that he wanted to mark her? That he wanted to own her?
Seemed only fair. The woman owned him, body and soul.
His breath was heaving. So was hers. And it took him a minute to realize the car had stopped moving. She seemed to make the same realization, at the same time, because her head whipped up. Willow stared at him with wide eyes.
“Oh, God,” she whispered as red stained her cheeks. “We’re—”
“We’re home,” he said smoothly.
And her lips eased into a quick smile. The tension that had been on her face vanished.
He smiled back at her. Kissed her sweet lips one more time. He’d always love her taste. When they got inside, he’d taste her
, everywhere. Every single inch of her.
He helped her right her clothes. He fixed himself. Then he was opening the door for her. The driver stood to the side, waiting, not saying a word because the guy wasn’t a fool.
And he knew who paid his salary.
They were in front of the house. Behind the big gates, safely away from the guards. Jay took Willow’s hand and led her up the steps. Her fingers were soft and warm against his. She leaned toward him as they neared the door.
“I think I can still feel you, inside.” Her voice was a sensual temptation, one that swept over him as if she’d just stroked him with her hands.
He felt the impact, of course, going straight to his dick. Because inside of her was exactly where he wanted to be. It was—
She stiffened. “Someone else is here.” Her gaze went to the front door.
“West is already inside.” He knew his brother had headed back to the house before they had. “He’s—”
“Not alone,” Willow said. And her shoulders straightened. “I’d recognize that perfume anywhere.” An edge had entered her voice.
Then the front door was opening. West stood there, his face unreadable. “We have a problem.”
“Add it to the list,” Jay muttered. So much for his time with Willow. So much for picking right back up where he’d left off…
Being balls deep in her.
“Jay.”
He stiffened. The feminine cry of his name had come from behind West, and as the woman hurried forward, her perfume drifted to him, too.
He realized why Willow had called the scent familiar. It was.
Reva brushed past West. She went straight to Jay. Threw her arms around him. Held tight. “I thought I was too late.” Her voice was muffled against him. “When I heard about the blaze at Push, I thought he’d gotten to you. I thought—”
She was pulled away from him. By Willow. Very deliberately moved.
“Don’t,” Willow advised the other woman with a killing glare. “Don’t touch him again. Especially not when I’m standing right beside him.”
Reva’s mouth parted. Closed. She frowned in confusion. “But…Jay?”
West cleared his throat. “Let’s get inside. And Jay, you’re gonna want to hear what Reva has to say.”
He wasn’t so sure about that. Willow looked pissed. Possibly jealous? And if she didn’t want the other woman there—
“He wants to kill you,” Reva blurted. “H-he thought I’d help. That I’d be happy to join him in destroying you because of our break-up, but that’s not who I am.” She gave a sharp shake of her head. “I got away from him, and I’ve been trying to get hold of you all day. You don’t answer your phone!” Her hands twisted in front of her.
This was definitely a conversation they were taking inside. Jay made sure Willow went in first, then he shut the door behind him.
West led the way to the den, and, once there, Reva paced behind the couch. “I thought he was kidding at first. I mean, he had to be kidding, right? And I think I even laughed.”
Willow stood near Jay, her body alert, her gaze on Reva.
“Tell me who he is,” Jay ordered grimly.
“I don’t know who he is! He looked like money, walked like power, and had an air that said he was dangerous. Like, scary dangerous.” She hurried to the bar. Poured herself some vodka and downed it in a blink. “Normally, I like that. Serious turn-on, but this time…” She shivered. Took another vodka shot. “Something was off about him. Way off.”
Jay glanced at West. His brother inclined his head.
“Where did you meet the guy?” West asked.
“At Wander, the bar just a few streets over from Push. I’d gone in because I wasn’t ready for the night to end. Not like anyone was waiting at home for me.” Her hand tightened around the glass. “He walked right up to me. I thought I was going to have a good time. But he wanted something else. Something totally different.” She spun to face Jay. “He wanted to destroy you.”
West coughed into his hand. “Not the first time a business rival has wanted—”
“No.” Reva’s voice was sharp. “This isn’t about business. This was personal. You think I can’t tell the difference? He said he wanted to destroy Jay, and he meant those words. Not some business rivalry.” Her eyes gleamed at Jay. “I think he wanted you dead.”
Willow advanced on the other woman. “Describe the man.”
“Jay’s height. Muscular. Built. And he had money. I can always tell.” Her cheeks puffed out and then she blew out a hard breath. “His eyes were intense. Like they were looking right through me. And I swear, it was like he really could see straight into me.”
“Hair color, Reva.” Impatience bit through West’s words. “Eye color. Ethnicity. Physical characteristics, woman. Come on.”
“Oh, um, dark hair, I think. Dark eyes. He had a…a scar on his chin. He’s going to be back at Wander tonight. Two a.m. He thinks we’re going to meet. That I’m going to bring you to him.” She swallowed. “He offered me fifty grand to serve you up to him. And the guy actually believed I would do it.”
Jay considered the matter for a moment.
“No.” West shook his head. “Jay, absolutely not.”
Absolutely the hell, yes. Because he knew who the stranger had to be. “You’re about to make his fifty, Reva, and I’ll give you fifty more.”
The glass cracked in Reva’s hand.
“Because you’re taking me to the see this bastard. And I’ll be the one to destroy him.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I don’t trust her.” Willow wrapped her arms around her stomach as she stared out into the night. They were in Jay’s room. The broken window had already been repaired, as if she’d never left him.
I was just trying to keep him safe. Only leaving hadn’t worked so well. And now, she felt even closer to him than before. Willow swore that she could still feel Jay inside of her.
And Jay’s ex-lover was right down the hallway.
He strode out of the bathroom, and she turned toward him, instantly aware of him with an intensity that was unnerving. He’d wrapped a towel around his hips. The guy’s muscles flexed and shifted as he moved, and she tried not to let her gaze linger. She failed.
“Was she lying about her story?” Jay asked.
She wasn’t as good at Sawyer and Flynn when it came to reading a person’s lies. A point that was becoming glaringly obvious to her. “Her heart was racing the whole time. She was sweating. And nervous.”
His head cocked. His hair was wet. Gleaming. She should have joined him in the shower. Should have picked up right where they’d left off in the car. Instead…
She’d hesitated. She’d become too nervous.
It’s because I didn’t expect to find his ex waiting for him. All cozy in his house.
“She didn’t have to tell us about him.” Jay rubbed his jaw. He was freshly shaven. He looked handsome. Powerful. Sexy. “Like I said before, Reva isn’t who you expect her to be.”
“She still wants you.”
He laughed at that even as he strode closer. “Right. She wants me alive because I am no good dead to her.”
But the man out there—he wanted Jay dead. “You think he’s my ex.”
Jay’s hand came up and curled under her chin. “I think he’s a problem that needs to be eliminated.”
“I’m coming with you.”
His jaw locked.
“I’m coming with you,” Willow said again. Her words hadn’t been a question. “This is my life. And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one with the super strength.”
“And I’m the one with his own damn army of security guards. I can handle this. You don’t need to be put at risk.”
“I’m not exactly the standing-on-the-sidelines type, in case you missed that about me.”
He leaned toward her. His lips skimmed over hers. “I haven’t missed a single thing about you.” The kiss was too short. Too fleeting.
Her sex seemed
to clench. Want him again. She was starting to wonder if she’d always want him.
“If this man…if he’s the one who did this to me, if he’s the one who k-killed me,” she couldn’t help but stumble over that part, “Then I deserve to face him. I deserve to see who did this to me.”
“He wants you.” His pupils had expanded, making his eyes go dark and flat. “From what you and Wyman have said, it seems like he went fucking crazy, Willow. If he couldn’t have you, then he wasn’t going to let you walk away. And when you waltz in that place, when you get close to him again, what do you think will happen?”
Her mouth had gone dry. “I’ll kick his ass.”
His lips quirked. For a moment, his eyes seemed to lighten. Then the darkness returned. “His fantasy will be walking right toward him. He’ll see you, and you’ll be the only thing he wants. He’ll do anything to have you.”
“Is that why he wants to destroy you? Because he thinks that you have me?” She hadn’t meant for her voice to become so husky. Had she?
“He wants me dead because I’m touching you.” And he was. His fingers were sliding down her neck. A light touch. One that shouldn’t have sent fire trailing over her skin, but it did. He did. “He wants me dead because the bastard knows that touching won’t be enough for me.” Down, down his hand went. Stopping over her heart. “I’ll want to possess you completely. He can’t have that.”
Possession. “I’m not a thing. I don’t belong to him or you.”
Jay didn’t move. His gaze was locked on her. “When I’m balls deep in you, Willow, I sure as hell feel like I belong to you.”
Wait—what?
His hand fell away from her. He turned his back toward her. “You’re right. It is your life. Your choices. And you have a right to face the sonofabitch who did this to you.” She saw his hands fist at his sides. “But he won’t touch you again. I’ll bury him first.”
Sometimes she forgot—sometimes, it was too easy to just look at Jay and see his controlled veneer. His intelligence. The tech billionaire. The charmer. The guy with the quick smile and good looks. But then he’d say something, he’d do something…a giveaway that spoke of his past. His time on the streets. The life he’d led long ago.