Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HOSTAGE
Lennon
And here I thought it would all be over by now.
We didn’t meet with Devon’s sister and friends after Andrei and my father left the manor. I was too upset.
It’s weird to think this, but I can handle being around Andrei. But my father showing up was a blow to my soul in so many ways, I couldn’t deal. And that’s saying a lot. I think I’ve been through more than any twenty-five-year-old deserves and lived to see the other side.
It wasn’t pretty. Proof was in the surveillance video of me killing a man for my freedom. Besides bruises and cuts that didn’t scar, I did it unscathed, which is even more of a miracle.
But my dad...
I thought he was dead. I grieved him all those years. The alternative was too painful. Who wants to live life knowing their father willingly traded off their daughter for a gambling debt and went off to resume their life as normal?
Yes, I needed my dad to be dead.
So when he walked into that room last night, I lost my cool, what little bravery I had mustered, and my ability to deal with reality.
I won’t get into the emotional rollercoaster they put me on with the mention of my mother.
I refuse to believe she’s alive until it’s proven otherwise.
I can’t go down the road of thinking that she’s out there waiting for me to find her.
Or, that she suffered a fate like mine.
Hell, it easily could have been worse.
Devon disappeared with my dad’s cell, and Jett whisked me straight to the elevator. He said he knew my dad would be back when he realized he left the device. He said that was a party we didn’t need to be present for.
Apparently, Bella has smart friends who know their way around a computer in a scary way. I take it that means we can learn what my dad has been up to all these years, and if he’s telling the truth about my mom.
Jett led me into his room, unzipped my crimson dress, and pushed it to the floor.
Standing before him in just my panties, he barely touched me.
He opened a drawer, grabbed the softest T-shirt I’ve ever felt in my life, and pulled it over my head.
It’s long enough to hit the middle of my thighs and pays tribute to Willie Nelson on the Fourth of July.
I’m not sure what to think about that, but it is Willie. Who doesn’t love Willie?
Then he pulled the covers back and tucked me in. I was still in shock from how the events of the evening played out that I hardly paid attention to Jett talking on the phone in a hushed tone as he paced from the bathroom to the hall and back again.
I fell asleep alone in my makeup and only brushed my teeth when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When I came back to bed, Jett pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair until I found sleep again.
Now the sun is up. It’s Monday, and I have no idea what the day will bring.
Jett is curled into me. The rhythm of his breathing is the only constant and reliable thing in my life at the moment.
Yesterday.
Today.
And I’d bet my life that he’ll be right here tomorrow.
Jett’s hand is tucked under his shirt that I’m wearing, splayed on my abs with the tips of his fingers tucked into my panties.
I need to get ready for work. At least I won’t have to say a prayer today before I start my stolen car in hopes that it will get me up the mountain to the manor.
I shift and try to pull out of his arms, but he stirs. I don’t want to wake him. He’s been all about me for days now, and even though he’s the picture of health, I’m sure he still needs his rest to heal from his surgery.
But when I try to gently pry his hand from my belly, his entire arm flexes, and he pulls me into his chest tighter. His lungs, that are as reliable as the sun rising and setting, pull in a deep breath as he buries his face in my hair.
“Jett,” I whisper. “I need to get ready for work.”
He presses his cock into the crack of my ass and mutters, “No you don’t.”
“I do. I need to be downstairs in an hour. Monday mornings are hectic from the weekend. I can’t be late.”
His voice is raspy with sleep, and his words are warm on my skin. “They can do Monday without you today. You’re not leaving this bed—at least not yet.”
“I don’t have that luxury. If I were sick on my deathbed, I’d find a way to go to work.”
His hand wanders up my body and lands on my breast for a squeeze. When he rolls my nipple between his fingers, I feel it everywhere, especially between my legs. “I talked to Devon last night. He told me to tell you to take the day off.”
“But I don’t have any vacation built up yet. I can’t just take the day off. I feel horrible enough that everyone—including my boss—is putting so much effort into helping me. I have to go to work.”
Jett presses his lips to my temple before he shifts far enough to push me to my back, but he still doesn’t let me go. He pushes up on his forearm and looks down at me. “When is the last time you took a day off?”
His wavy, dark hair is rumpled but his eyes are surprisingly sharp for having just woken up. “Yesterday was Sunday, so yesterday.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean when have you taken a day off?”
I know the answer to that, but I lie. “I don’t know.”
“That’s what I thought. Every minute I spend getting to know you is like peeling another layer back. After last night, I can tell that you never had a day off on that damn boat. You’re taking today off.”
“No. I’m not prepared to be gone. I didn’t arrange for anyone to cover for me or—”
He interrupts me with a kiss ... and not a good morning peck.
This is an all-out, zero-to-sixty, possessive kiss. I feel it down to my toes. He wedges his heavy thigh between my legs and presses it right against my very wet panties.
I grip his shoulders to hang on and thank my middle-of-the-night self for brushing my teeth. Jett’s touch slides back up my body and tags the hem of the T-shirt on its way.
He breaks his kiss long enough to rip the shirt over my head, leaving me in my panties and him in boxers.
I put a hand to his chest to stop him long enough to talk. “As much as I’d rather do this, I have to get up.”
“You don’t get it. Devon didn’t suggest you take the day off. He ordered you to take the day off. He kicked your dad and Petrov off the manor property. He’ll do it over and over again if he has to, but he doesn’t want you around the manor by yourself, just in case.”
I mull that over before I ask, “Was that Devon’s order or did you make this happen?”
“We agreed to it, so both of us. You’re not going to work today.”
My emotions are warring within me, bouncing around between deflated from being told not to come to work to being turned on and wondering about all the ways Jett can have his way with me on my first day off other than a Saturday and Sunday.
And that’s only been since I got to the manor. Weekends were not a thing with Andrei.
“I’m not sure what to do with a day off.”
A slow smile spreads over his handsome face. “I can help you with that.”
He doesn’t need an invitation. He pushes the covers to the side and pushes to his knees.
I shiver with the loss of his body heat and feel it in every nerve ending in my body when he drags my panties down my legs.
The morning sun peeks through the crack in the heavy drapery, throwing a soft, filtered haze through the room.
Jett may be staring down my body, but I’m doing the same to him.
He hovers over me, his wide chest and muscled abs on display. My eyes go south, past his fresh scars and straight to his cock begging to be released where it’s being held hostage in his boxers.
Hostage.
I know what that feels like.
Without thinking twice, I reach up and stroke his cock with the tips of my fingers.
Jett groans. “You’re really testing my control.”
I look into his eyes and do it again.
“Baby.” He groans and reaches down for my hand and wraps it around his cock. When he thrusts into my hold, I tighten my grip.
“You feel so...” I’m not sure what to say.
“Big? Hard?” He gives me multiple options. “You don’t need to stroke my ego, but you can stroke me.”
I roll my lips together. “I was going to say perfect. But if you insist.”
He holds my hand to his cock tight over his boxers, but I want more.
I pull my hand away and do what he did to me, but I do it with much less confidence. Hooking my fingers at his hips, I pull.
He doesn’t stop me, but he does narrow his eyes as he falls back to his knees between my legs. “My bum kidneys have nothing on you. You’ll be the death of me for sure.”
I have to sit up to reach him, but I pull farther and farther. When his bare cock springs out in front of me, my heart skips a beat and my mouth waters.
I can’t take my eyes off him ... it. However you refer to the most beautiful and fascinating organ I’ve ever seen.
The tip of his cock is swollen and dark. A vein bulges where it runs down the side, and it lists just a tad to the right. But here I am, front and center. Face to face. So close, all I’d have to do is lean in a bit to reach out and taste it with the tip of my tongue.
“If you lick your lips one more time, Lennon, I’ll come right here all over your face. And I don’t want to do that ... yet.”
Yet.
My eyes dart up to his. He’s dead serious.
I can’t squeeze my thighs together because he’s kneeling between my legs. If I wasn’t hungry for his touch, I’d take care of the situation myself. The ache there is begging to be taken care of.
I look back down at his cock as Jett holds out his hand for mine. “Let me show you.”
My heart pounds, but I place my hand in his. When he wraps my fingers around his long, bare cock, he also shifts his knees apart, which in turn, spreads my legs farther. His gaze shifts down my body and focuses directly on my sex, open and needing attention.
It’s like Jett can read my mind. “I’d tell you to touch yourself, but I’m too greedy. I want every ounce of your pleasure. I’ll take care of you myself in due time.”