Unafraid (Amber Ridge #1)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

T he scream had barely left Aspen’s lips when her bedroom door flew open and a very big, very angry Jesse stepped in, gun and flashlight in hand.

Her heart jumped into her throat. “Jesse!”

He scanned the room as if searching for a threat before closing the distance between them and sitting on the edge of the bed. He cupped her cheek. “Are you okay?”

Her gaze flew back to the window.

Gone. They were gone. Or at least, they weren’t at the window anymore. “I saw someone out there. Only their outline, but they were there, I swear.”

His eyes narrowed on the window. When he got up, she almost grabbed him to pull him back down. Keep him in what felt like the relative safety of her bed. But it wasn’t really safe if someone was watching her, was it?

He didn’t get too close to the glass, but his pistol remained raised, making the fine hairs on her arms stand on edge.

“I’m going to check outside.” He shut the curtains and turned toward the door. “Don’t follow me.”

She scrambled off the bed, catching his arm in the hall. “I don’t want you to go out there.”

“I have to.” There was no emotion on his face. None. It was like she was looking at a stranger. There was nothing about this version of Jesse that felt familiar.

He started to turn, but she yanked him back. “Jesse…we don’t know who’s out there. They might have a weapon.”

“So do I.”

“But—”

“Hey,” he cut her off, a sliver of emotion slipping into his features for the first time. “Remember…trust me.”

She nodded even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, but what choice did she have?

“Lock the door after me.” He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering for a second before he headed toward the back door off the kitchen. When he opened it, wind rushed inside the house, then he was gone. She clicked the lock and stepped back, wrapping her arms around her waist, digging her nails into her skin.

The house was dark. Almost pitch black. The logical thing to do was get her phone for some light. She didn’t. She couldn’t move. She needed confirmation that Jesse was safe.

Minutes ticked by, and those minutes felt like hours. God, how long did it take to check a yard? Was he okay? It would be so easy for someone to hide behind a tree or the side of a house and shoot.

But Jesse was smart. Trained. No one would get the jump on him.

A key sounded in the door and it opened, air once again whooshing inside as Jesse stepped in. He was soaking wet, his uniform sticking to his skin, water dripping down his face.

She didn’t care. She stepped forward and set her hands on his chest. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t find anyone. They must have run while I was coming in.”

She swallowed. “I don’t understand. Who would stand outside my window in the middle of a storm? That’s crazy.”

Something flashed over Jesse’s face. He opened his mouth, but Aspen got in first.

She gasped. “Oh my God, the pizza delivery kid.”

“Pete? You think it was him?”

“No. He saw someone sitting in their car on the street. He even thought they were watching the house. He went over to talk to them, but they drove off before he could reach them.”

Jesse’s jaw visibly clenched. “I’ll talk to Pete tomorrow.”

Aspen’s gaze lowered to his shirt. “You’re soaked.”

An entire five seconds of silence passed before she realized she was still touching his chest. Not just touching—exploring. Moving her hands over his hard ridges, feeling every muscle beneath her fingertips.

She looked up to see his eyes had become a darker shade of brown. And the way he was looking at her…

She took a hurried step back. “I’ll get you a towel.”

She spun and moved to the linen closet, breathing through the tingle in her lower belly. She shouldn’t be thinking about anything but the stranger in the window right now. That should be taking up her entire focus.

Movement sounded behind her, near his room, but she didn’t turn. She took out a large navy towel. When she reached his bedroom, she swallowed hard.

He’d set his flashlight pointing up to cast a dim glow over the room.

His shirt was already off, and his chest glistened with drops of water. For the second time that night, her fingers itched to touch him. Run her hands over his now bare skin.

She internally shook her head.

Stop it, Aspen.

Her gaze remained focused on his face, just his face, as she crossed the space between them.

She stepped forward and handed him the towel, their hands grazing as he took it.

“I didn’t like you going out there tonight,” she whispered.

“I know how to take care of myself.”

She knew that. Out of everyone in her life, this man was one of the deadliest. That didn’t change how not okay she was with him going outside when some weirdo was lurking around.

He touched her chin with his thumb and tilted her face up, his gaze boring into hers. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“You worry about me.”

“That’s different.”

His breath brushed her skin, causing little whispers of awareness to shoot down to her lower belly. She swallowed, studying his intense gaze. The way his damp hair clung to his forehead.

She reached up and grazed a lock from his face. “It isn’t. I want you to be safe, just like you want me to be safe.”

He gripped her waist, tugging her closer so her thighs touched his damp pants. “I like that you care.”

Without her permission, her focus lowered to his lips. They were full lips…and God, they looked kissable.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t be held responsible for what happens next,” he whispered.

Her gaze flew back to his, her mind a jumbled mess of possibilities. “It would be stupid of me to kiss you right now, wouldn’t it? Tell me it would be stupid.”

“I can think of many words to describe what a kiss between you and me would be, but stupid isn’t one of them. I could lie, but do you really want me to do that?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

He lowered his head, his lips brushing her cheek as he whispered, “Liar.”

He lifted his head, and suddenly his lips were right there, a mere fraction from hers.

She couldn’t stop herself—she lifted to her toes and kissed him.

Jesse’s blood roared between his ears, deafening the storm outside. Aspen’s lips were on his, and they were just as soft as he knew they would be.

He swiped his mouth across hers, and a sweet moan slipped from her throat into the air, making every territorial part of him scream mine .

He turned them and leaned her against the wall, letting her soft curves press into his hard edges. But it wasn’t enough. He lifted her and she gasped, her legs wrapping around his waist, and the second her lips separated, he slid his tongue inside, curving it around hers.

Jesus, she tasted good. So good he felt like he could drown in her kiss.

He massaged his tongue against hers as he slipped a hand beneath the material of her shirt. Slowly, he glided his palm up her waist, the smoothness of her skin seeping into him. When he reached her bare breast, he cupped her, soaking up the soft moans that cut through the air.

She was his addiction. His drug. And he had no fucking control over his need for her.

As he held the silky weight of her breast in his palm, he rolled her nipple with his thumb and forefinger.

She moaned, and the sound shot straight to his cock.

“Perfect,” he growled softly. “Your breasts are perfect.”

She tugged at his hair, arching her back and pressing into him as he thrummed her tight nipple back and forth.

More earth-shattering groans. So. Fucking. Perfect.

She ground her hips against him, making his cock so hard it was almost painful.

“Jesse…yes.”

Hearing his name as a moan on her lips was like fire in his veins.

He grazed his hand back down her side, this time slipping his fingers into the waistband of her pajama shorts. He swiped her clit, and she cried out as her entire body trembled. He stroked her again before pressing his thumb to her clit and rolling it in a circular motion.

She writhed and groaned, digging her nails into his shoulders, almost breaking skin.

Every sound she made did something to him. Changed him. And fuck if he ever wanted to change back.

He touched two fingers to her entrance. Heard her breath catch. Then he slid inside her, filling her.

He pumped his fingers in and out, lowering his head and taking her nipple between his lips.

He wanted her on fire. He wanted her to need him with the same intensity that he needed her.

He sucked, and suddenly, her body tensed. Her nails cut into him as she screamed and broke, her walls throbbing against his fingers.

He kept pumping his fingers into her until her shudders slowed and her eyes fluttered open.

God, she was beautiful.

He straightened her clothes and lowered her to the floor. The second she was on her feet, she reached for him, but he gently grabbed her wrist.

“Not tonight.” He wanted her—fuck, he wanted her. But he needed her to be all in first, not recovering from a pervert at her window. “That was just for you.”

Her brows flickered. “You don’t want me to touch you?”

“Not tonight.”

Hurt cut across her features. And maybe some embarrassment.

Shit . “Aspen—”

He reached for her, but she pulled away.

“I’m sorry, I—” She pushed loose strands of hair from her face. “I should go.”

“Wait, we need to talk—”

“No.” She sidestepped his second attempt to touch her. “Maybe in the morning.” Then she turned, hurrying out of the room and down the hall. The sound of her door closing made a resounding thump.

Jesus, he couldn’t have handled that worse if he’d tried.

He wanted to go after her. Explain to her just how fucking much he wanted her but why he also wanted to go slow. He needed slow.

But then his phone rang.

He pulled it out. He had a signal again. Not much, but a couple bars were better than nothing. It was the station. “Jesse speaking.”

“Jesse. It’s Claudia.”

“Did you make it to the house?” He felt like shit for asking her to go out there in this weather, but this was important to him because it involved Aspen.

“The woman gave me hell, but I got in. Unfortunately, I need to order a new cable. It will take a few days to come in.”

Of course it would. “Okay. Did you let George, the owner, know?”

“I did. He said he’d prefer not to kick her out because he hasn’t had many bookings on the property and is losing money.”

Yeah, he’d gotten that feeling earlier. “Thanks for going out there, especially in the storm.”

“No problem. Also, my friend is still looking into Dylan Bollard. I can tell you that he hasn’t used his bank cards in days.”

Jesse frowned. “You’re kidding?”

“Nope. Could be a coincidence. Or he could be trying to hide his movement. I did find one thing.”

“What?”

“I called his workplace. His employer spoke to me. Told me that as of a week ago, he took leave from work.”

Jesse’s muscles tensed, his gaze moving to the window. Leave from work and potentially concealing his location…it left a bad fucking taste in his mouth. “Keep looking into it.”

“Will do.”

Jesse hung up. He didn’t like this. Any of it.