Chapter 20
chapter
twenty
Six Weeks Later
Izabel
The front door slammed and jolted me from what I was working on.
“Iza?”
I quickly closed the file I had open on my computer and stood, excited to see my husband after he’d been gone for two days, while also trying to control the sneaky grin that wanted to form on my lips.
“Baby?”
I hurried to meet him, but Drake had already darkened the entrance of my office at the estate home we continued to rent.
The impatience on my husband’s face quickly softened into an expression of sheer pleasure at the sight of me.
My heart stuttered. I’d missed him.
Drake swept me into his arms and planted a deep, crushing kiss against my mouth. He quickly pulled away with a wry smile on his face. “I must say, wife, I’m quite disappointed that you weren’t rushing to meet me at the door, seeing as I’ve been gone for two days.”
“I was in the middle of something…”
“Was it more important than saying hello to your husband?” he growled. His eyes tracked down my body as if assessing what I was wearing. A kimono robe covered my camisole and sleep shorts, showing a lot of leg.
My mouth twitched. “I take the fifth.”
“You’re going to pay for that.” He spun me around. My laughter caught at the stinging slap on my ass.
“Ow!” I yelped even as a throb started low in my belly, but it was the smolder in his gaze that made my pussy clench.
I tried to hold him off, but he backed me into the room. A mixture of coyness and excitement dared me to tease the simmering mountain of potent male in front of me. “Drake…now, is that a way to say hello…?”
The corner of his mouth hitched up. “I’ll teach you how to say hello, wife.”
He lunged, and I sidestepped, his fingers catching the robe that ripped from my body. I squealed with laughter. A hard fuck was in my future, and I did the only thing I shouldn’t have done.
Ran.
I dashed around him, out of the office and up the staircase, consciously aware that Drake was following me in swift stalking strides.
“Not a good idea to run, baby,” he called.
What was I doing?
By the time I reached our bedroom, I was breathless, not from running away from Drake, but from the intense electric ball of anticipation that charged through my body.
Footsteps sounded behind me.
Drake had removed his shirt and I couldn’t help marveling at the chiseled muscles rippling beneath his skin as he unbuckled his belt, all the while holding my gaze captive.
He unbuttoned his jeans and lowered his fly.
My lips parted at the sight of the dusting of hair leading to the bulge behind his boxer briefs.
He pounced.
I playfully shoved at his chest, feeling the rumble of need beneath my palms before he robbed my air. His mouth crashed into mine and devoured me in a savage kiss. His hand dove into my shorts, and he growled in approval upon finding me slick as hell.
He lifted me by my ass. I expected to be fucked against the wall, but was surprised when he carried me to the bed and dropped us on it. I lost his mouth for a hot second. Cool air kissed my pelvis as he removed my shorts.
Then he impaled me. A single deep driving thrust that made me gasp.
But he silenced me with another kiss, and I could only sob into his mouth.
He circled his hips and ground into me, rubbing my needy, throbbing pussy.
Overwhelmed by the ferocity with how he plundered me, I came fast and hard, blinded in the sheer intensity of my orgasm.
My inner muscles were still spasming when Drake lifted my leg and pounded into me.
Wrenching his mouth from me, he rasped, “Can’t get enough of you. Never enough.” He canted his hips to go deeper, eyes blazing with possession. Again and again, he rammed into me until he thrust one final time and emptied himself inside me with a grunt. He collapsed, pinning me under his weight.
After the shudders of his release dissipated, he rolled to my side and pulled me against him. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “Missed you.”
“I can tell.” I smiled against his skin that bore a sheen of his exertion.
He squeezed my shoulder. “Did you miss me?”
I sighed dramatically. “I guess.”
Drake’s fingers dug into my ribs. I jerked because I was ticklish there.
“Stop that.” I laughed.
He rolled back on top of me, straddling my thighs. “Did you miss me, sweet Izabel?” The devilish glint in his eyes made me laugh harder because just the threat of getting tickled was enough to evoke that reaction.
His eyes hooded. “I love seeing you laugh.” He leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss on my lips. “I love you, baby.”
We’d experienced so much healing in these past few weeks. Laughing with all my heart was becoming more frequent, especially with this gorgeous and devoted man at my side. “I love you too, Drake.”
Drake
“So, how did it go?”
Izabel’s question dragged me out from the sands of sleep. I yawned and hugged her tighter. “Good.”
“Good?”
“Jesus, Izabel, I’m tired,” I grumbled. “Let your man sleep.”
“It’s barely eight. Have you even eaten?”
She tried to untangle our limbs, but I only locked her tighter. I smiled inwardly when I heard her huff.
“Tell me what was discussed.”
I had appeared at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with Marcus Harrelson and Viktor Baran. The public outrage that erupted with the arrest of Lawrence Mitchell and Allison Tierney brought the hammer down on our lawmakers to fix what was broken in Washington.
“Viktor gave them a two-hundred-page report of what was broken in the DoD and the CIA. It’s a major overhaul, baby. The enemies are learning to adapt, getting more sophisticated, and our government entities are not flexible enough to address the threats.”
“Is anything going to be done about the oil lobby?”
I stroked her hair away from her face. “With the global economy playing a key role in overall security, every company or trade association will be scrutinized in their spending.” I went on to tell her what I was allowed to say since it had been a closed hearing. “Big changes are coming to Washington.”
Izabel sighed. “Well, let’s hope it’s not all talk.”
I hoped so, too. “Enough about me. How’s the construction of the Glen Ford neighborhood coming along?”
“The Solace Foundation has finally broken ground on the apartment complex.”
“That’s good news.”
“Also, it was Kyle’s last day today,” she added quickly.
“It’s about damn time.” I kept my voice level and tried to control the anger that rose in me every time I remembered the architect’s role in Izabel’s abduction. Though Izabel saw him as a victim, I viewed him as an idiot.
“He’s really sorry about what happened and apologized again before he left,” she said.
I didn’t say anything. When Marcus discovered how the fake maintenance guys got into the building, I’d lost my mind.
Allison Tierney had been watching Izabel and the people around her, picking out who she could target.
She’d zeroed in on Kyle. Tierney’s MO had always been “sex as a weapon” and she had a bevy of high-paid escorts who she had used to seduce lawmakers she wanted to blackmail.
With Kyle, she used them to swipe his keycard, allowing access into the company.
The architect hadn’t even found out it had been duplicated until Marcus barged into his office and hauled him off for questioning.
It was only through Izabel’s pleading that kept me from beating the shit out of the guy.
I was also in awe at my wife’s resilience from her ordeal. Although the first week or so brought her nightmares, she was able to put the incident behind her with my help and Doc G’s.
She was a true-blue SEAL wife.
Izabel’s foot rubbed against my legs.
“Cold?” I murmured.
“Hmm…” She pressed closer. “Just miss the feel of you.”
“So, what took you so long to get to the door?”
“Not this again,” she groaned, giving an emphatic, pained sigh.
“What are you hiding from me?”
She swatted my chest. “What makes you think I’m hiding something?”
“Because you had this smirk on your face and I know you well enough that you’re keeping a surprise from me.”
“Well, if you know it’s a surprise, why are you pushing me about it?” she groused. “What if I’m not ready to show you?”
I barked a laugh. “Well, now, you’ll really have to show me.”
I tightened my fingers around her rib cage.
“Ugh! You’re so annoying.” Izabel scrambled away from me, scooted off the bed and snagged her sleep shorts off the floor, and hopped into them. “Well, come on then.”
I chuckled as I followed my almost naked wife down the hallway, down the stairs, and into her office.
She snagged her robe off the floor and put herself into it.
“I was enjoying the view,” I murmured.
Izabel glared at me before she plopped in front of her computer and woke it up. Her expression grew tender when she clicked on a file and displayed its contents on the screen.
A ball of emotion formed in my throat.
I swallowed hard. “You did this for us?”
“Yes, it was time to draw our new beginning.”