Jake (Heart River Valley: Montana Protectors #1)

Chapter 9

Jake

I nside, I'm about to pull her close when my phone buzzes. The name on the screen makes me pause - a real estate agent in town that I reached out to.

“I need to take this,” I tell Elena. “Shouldn't be more than ten minutes.”

She smiles, running her fingers along my bookshelf. “I think I'll get some fresh air. The view looks amazing from your deck.”

I watch her slip outside before answering the call. Five minutes in, movement catches my eye - Elena's phone lighting up on my counter. I try to focus on the details being discussed, but another text comes through. Then another.

The messages flash across her screen, and my blood runs cold.

A photo of us getting in my truck moments earlier. The next message makes my fingers clench around the phone:

“I told you, Elena. If I can't have you, no one can.”

The sound hits me before I can process what it means - the distinctive whump-whump-whump of helicopter blades. For a moment, I'm frozen, back in that burning Blackhawk, smoke filling my lungs, blood on my hands…

Elena.

The thought of her breaks through the flashback. This isn't the middle east. This is Victor coming for her.

I drop the phone mid-sentence and burst through my door. The helicopter sound is coming from the north field. My legs pump harder as I crest the hill, and then I see them - Elena standing in the snow, her hair whipping in the rotor wash. A sleek black helicopter on the ground. And a man who must be Victor, in an expensive suit completely out of place in Montana, pointing a gun at her chest as he exits the chopper. He's tall and lean, with a snarl on his face and that look in his eyes. One I recognize from combat. The look of a man with nothing left to lose.

“Elena!” My voice carries over the dying engine noise.

She turns, eyes wide with fear. “Jake, no! He has a gun!”

I'm already running, closing the distance. Time slows down like it used to in combat. I see Victor's finger tighten on the trigger. Hear Elena scream. The crack of gunfire seems to echo off the mountains. I can tell from the sound that she wasn't hit.

Nothing matters except getting to her. Protecting her.

Bullets whistle past but I don't feel anything. My training takes over as I sprint past Elena, placing myself between her and Victor's poor aim. I hear the hollow click of an empty chamber. Victor stares at his gun in horror, realizing he's out of ammunition.

I don't give him time to react. My shoulder connects with his chest as I tackle him to the ground. The gun goes flying. My fist connects with his jaw once, twice. Then my hands are around his throat, squeezing. All I can see is red. All I can think about is him threatening Elena, hunting her, terrorizing her-

“Jake! Stop!” Elena's hands are pulling at my arms. “Please! He's not worth it. Don't kill him. Don't let him destroy your life.”

Her voice breaks through the rage. I release Victor's throat, watching him gasp and cough.

“If you ever come near her again,” I growl, “I won't stop next time.”

∞∞∞

Sirens pierce the evening air as county deputies swarm the field. I wrap a blanket around her shoulders and pull Elena against my chest as they cuff Victor. She's trembling, but her arms wrap around my waist with surprising strength.

“I thought... when I heard the shots...” She presses her face into my shirt.

“I've got you,” I say softly into her hair. “You're safe now.”

We watch in silence as they load Victor into a patrol car. The helicopter pilot is already giving his statement, claiming he was just hired for a private flight and had no idea about Victor's intentions.

“Let's get inside,” I tell her once the chaos dies down. “You're freezing.”

But as soon as my door closes behind us, Elena spins and crashes her lips into mine. The kiss is desperate, needy, full of everything we almost lost today. I press her against the wall, my hands framing her face as I pour all my fear and relief and want into the kiss.

“I need you,” she gasps against my mouth. “Jake, please...”

I lift her, and her legs wrap around my waist as I carry her to my bedroom.

It's different than our first time. There's an edge of desperation, yes, but also something deeper. Every touch feels weighted with meaning.

I lay her on my bed and take a moment just to look at her - hair spread across my pillow just like I envisioned, eyes dark with want, alive and safe and here. The sight makes my chest ache.

“Jake,” she whispers, reaching for me.

I cover her body with mine, catching her mouth in a kiss that starts gentle but quickly blazes out of control. Her hands slide under my shirt, tracing the scars on my back like she's mapping territory. When I pull back to strip it off, her eyes lock on the one near my heart.

“I almost lost you today,” she says softly, pressing her palm against it.

“Never.” I capture her hand, pressing it harder against my chest so she can feel my heartbeat. “I'll always come for you. Always protect you.”

She arches up to kiss me again, and then we're both fumbling with clothes, desperate to feel skin on skin. I trail kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, learning every inch of her. When I take her breast in my mouth, she gasps my name.

Her skin is like silk under my hands as I trail more kisses down her body. Every inch of her drives me wild - the soft curve of her breast, the delicate line of her ribs, the way her stomach quivers when I trace it with my tongue. Mine, my mind chants with each kiss. All mine.

I take my time exploring her thighs, loving how she trembles when I get close to where she wants me most, then retreat. Her fingers clutch at my shoulders, my hair, anywhere she can reach.

“Jake, please,” she whimpers.

The sound of her begging sets my blood on fire. When I finally taste her, her cry of pleasure makes me growl against her. Her hips buck up and I hold them down, controlling her pleasure, drawing out every gasp and moan. Her fingers tangle in my hair as I work her higher, and the slight pain only fuels my need.

The sight of her like this - head thrown back, lips parted, completely surrendered to me - makes possessive heat surge through my veins. No one else gets to see her this way. No one else gets to touch her like this.

When I feel her getting close, I pull back. She makes a frustrated sound that shoots straight through me.

“Look at me,” I demand as I slide up her body. I need to see those gorgeous eyes when I claim her. Need her to know who she belongs to.

They lock onto mine as I push inside her, and the connection steals my breath. She's so perfect, so tight, wrapping around me like she was made for me. Her legs circle my waist, pulling me deeper, and I have to grit my teeth against the surge of pleasure.

Her nails dig into my back as I start to move. Each thrust feels like coming home, like finding a piece of myself I didn't know was missing. The way she moves with me, the little sounds she makes - it's everything I never knew I needed.

“Mine,” I growl against her neck, marking her with my teeth. “You're mine, Elena.”

“Yours,” she gasps, arching into me. “Only yours, Jake. Always yours.”

The words send triumph racing through me. I pick up the pace, driving deeper, claiming every inch of her. When I feel her start to tighten around me, I slip a hand between us to circle that sensitive spot.

She comes apart spectacularly, my name a broken cry on her lips as she shudders beneath me. The sight of her pleasure, knowing I'm the one who gave it to her, sends me over the edge. I bury my face in her neck as ecstasy crashes over me, holding her close as I follow her into oblivion.

When I'm able to move again I gather her close.Pressing kisses to her hair, her temples, her shoulders - anywhere I can reach. She traces lazy patterns on my chest, right over my heart.

I tighten my arms around her. “I love you, Elena.” The words feel inevitable, like they've been waiting to be said since the moment I first saw her.

“I love you too, Jake.” Her reply is an answered prayer.

She kisses me then, slow and deep, and I know with bone-deep certainty that this is it for me. This woman, this moment, this life we could build together.

I'll spend forever keeping her safe. Making her smile. Loving her the way she deserves to be loved. She's the missing piece of my soul I never knew I was searching for.

And I'm never letting her go.