Chapter Eight
T ori took a deep breath and made a decision. Hopefully Jeter would be on board with her choice. It wouldn’t matter afterward. She’d walk away with what she hoped was a good memory. She was good at disappearing, or she had been for the past four years. Pump the breaks, Vittoria. This sexy man hasn’t agreed to do anything. Yet. The last word slid into her subconscious. Her mom had told her she was like a moth to a flame, always getting too close to danger when she’d been young. This time, Tori’s eyes were wide open, and she’d be damned if she didn’t want to feel the burn from Jeter.
“You keep looking at me like that, farfallina, and I won’t be responsible for my actions,” he growled.
She bit her lip, wondering if she was pushing them too fast. Hell, she knew nothing about him besides his name and that he was in town for his brother Kendrick’s wedding...a wedding that wasn’t happening after the bride ran off with another man.
The stark reality hit her like a bucket of ice water. She reached for the small packet of alcohol swabs. “This is going to sting,” she warned.
His body tensed slightly, but that was the only sign of discomfort he showed.
“You gonna kiss me all better?” he asked.
She froze, watching his Adam's apple bob up and down. He looked like he could be a sexy spy or gangster wearing a suit with the top three buttons of the dress shirt undone. Each time he lifted his hand, she saw bits of what appeared to be ink on his wrist. If there was one thing she was a sucker for, tatted up men, was it.
“There you go. You didn’t answer my question about being up to date on your vaccinations,” she said, taking a step back. His hands fell away from her, dangling between his spread thighs. Tori couldn’t help but stare where they landed. He was hard.
Her eyes jerked up to meet his, catching a knowing glint in his flashing green orbs.
“Hey, it’s only natural for a man to get excited when a gorgeous woman, as sexy as you, has her hands on him,” he said, winking. “Besides, if we ignore him, he’ll go away.”
“I don’t know how you can ignore an anaconda in your pants.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. The moment the words left her mouth, she wanted to call them back. Embarrassed she’d spoken what she’d been thinking. “Ignore that, please.”
He got to his feet like a jungle cat stalking his prey. She took a step back for everyone he took forward until her back hit the counter. As soon as he stood in front of her, she let out a sigh. “What are we doing? Shouldn’t we be running to your friend’s place to hide?”
Jeter bent, placing his hands on the counter beside her hips, caging her in. “Nobody but Kendrick knows I’m here. We’re safe for a bit. I want to try something.”
She held his gaze while he brought his face closer to hers. “And what is that?”
Instead of answering, he ran his nose down the side of her face, stopping at her ear. “This,” he whispered.
She shuddered. Her hands gripped the granite next to his, needing something to hold on to. Jeter licked her lobe and then gave it a little bite. She moaned. The diabolical man chuckled.
He trailed kisses and licks along her jaw until he reached her mouth. When he pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and repeated the action with the top lip, she was beyond ready to throw caution to the wind and beg him to take her.
She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, loving the growl he let out. Jeter’s mouth covered hers, and then he was lifting her up, placing her ass on the cold counter. Her legs wrapped around his hips, bringing their lower halves flush. The feel of his hardness against her apex sent a zing of pleasure down to her toes. “Oh yes,” she moaned.
One of his hands shifted to her ass. The other, he brought up behind her head, gripping a fistful of her hair. If asked, she’d have given a hard no to hair pulling until Jeter. Damn, the man was making her want things she’d never dreamed of.
His lips left hers, moving down her throat, brushing kisses along her neck. Not once did he break the connection of the lower halves, which she was sure he could, even though she’d locked her ankles together.
“I want to see your breasts, farfallina.” He tugged her hair one last time. When he released the pressure on her head, she sighed, loving the way he brought his big hand to her chest. Staring transfixed at Jeter’s face as he lifted her T-shirt, she wondered what he’d think of the ink she sported since few had seen it.
The sound of a cell phone ringing stopped his hand, freezing them both.
“FuckingA,” he swore.
“Do you have to get that?” she asked. Her body buzzing with need.
He closed his eyes. The feel of his cock jerking between her thighs let her know he didn’t want to stop either, making her feel better knowing he wasn’t unaffected by their heavy petting.
Jeter twisted to pick up his jacket, grabbed his cell out of the pocket. “What?” he barked.
“Is that how you answer your phone nowadays, asshole?”
Jeter moved away from Tori, shaking his head and holding up a finger to her. “Sorry, brother. What’s wrong?”
With the distance between them, she couldn’t hear the conversation on the other side of the phone. Feeling weird for sitting on the counter like she expected him to come back and...and they’d resume what they’d been doing, she hopped down.
“Get your act together, hussy,” she mumbled. She turned the water on and washed her hands as she realized she hadn’t done so after taking care of Jeter’s head. Her hands trembled. The memory of seeing concrete flying up and knowing someone had shot at them had her heart pounding in fear all over again. They could’ve been killed.
“Oh god,” she gasped.
Her hand went to her stomach. Before she vomited in the sink, she rushed into the small room where the toilet was, lifted the lid, and barely made it before she made a complete fool of herself.
The feel of someone grabbing her hair registered, but Tori’s eyes watered; her stomach heaved, and she was sure she’d hack up her entire abdomen. With one hand on the wall next to her, she stayed still, hoping she had nothing else to come up.
“Here. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Jeter’s soothing tone nearly broke her.
She felt a warm wash cloth smooth over her face and neck. The man acted like being shot was nothing. She wanted to scream and remind him someone had shot at them, or rather her, and he’d been the unlucky one to suffer. Yet he was holding her hair while she tossed her cookies and then wiping her face. She wanted to crawl into a corner and cry.
“I’m such a Sissy Lala,” she cried
JETER WISHED HE’D BEEN thinking straight. To him, getting shot at was...normal. Hell, he’d grown up in the Family, then went off to join the military, became Special Ops, and now was part of the Royal MC. They did shit that certainly wasn’t for the faint of heart. He’d seen a lot of shit that would turn grown men’s stomachs sour. “I’m sorry, baby. I should’ve realized you needed care.”
He'd be kicking his own ass for a long time for not taking better consideration for Tori’s wellbeing.
“It’s not your fault or place to take care of me, Jeter.” She took a shaky breath before standing up straight.
A simple move and yet there was so much in the action. She could lie. His mind whirled with thoughts on how to fix her. He stopped at her words. There had been far too many people who’d told him they didn’t need him. Shit, that was stupid. He didn’t know her, and she didn’t know him. Of course, she didn’t know him.
His gut threatened to twist into a knot, but they needed him to stay in control. He wasn’t that little kid who was a spare any longer. They needed to stay focused, and he had to remember she was in trouble because of him. Fuck.
“That was my brother on the phone. Why don’t you brush your teeth and wash your face. After you're finished, I’ll fill you in on what he told me. I need to make a phone call.”
He handed her the washcloth, then spun on his heel and left her in the toilet room. No matter how much he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her close, he walked away. That’s what he was good at. He was fucking amazing at wreaking vengeance, not embracing women and telling them all the hearts and flowers they needed to hear.
“Okay. Um, do you have a toothbrush and toothpaste I can borrow?” she asked. Her face turned pink as she spoke. Hell, he wanted to strip her bare and see if she blushed so beautifully all over.
Waving a hand toward the counter where a few containers sat, he nodded. “There are complimentary ones in there. I brought my own, so feel free to use one of those.”
He didn’t want to make a bigger ass of himself and figured he should leave to make the call to his friend with the local MC. Enzo and he went way back. They both grew up with Mafia ties and after he’d landed in California and patched in with the Royal Sons, he’d been stunned to find out his old friend was in the Chicago chapter. Small fucking world indeed.
Going through his contacts, he pressed dial and waited for the other man to answer.
“Yo, Jeter. How’s it hanging, brother?” Enzo asked in his Jersey accent.
“I see you still ain’t got rid of that atrocious tone, brother?”
Enzo snorted. “Same as you, friend. I thought you’d sound like a Valley Girl or some shit by now. So, what’s up? I have a feeling you ain’t calling me to see if I want to grab a coffee and get our nails done?”
The other man was a straight shooter. Jeter gave him a rundown of why he was in town, leaving nothing out, including the shooting and subsequent need to lie low for a couple of days.
Enzo put him on hold for a few minutes while Jeter listened to Tori in the bathroom, hoping she didn’t get sick again. The toilet flushed twice while he paced in front of the terrace windows. He wasn’t good at taking care of others, but dammit, he felt compelled to help Tori. No, it was more than that. He wanted to ease her suffering.
“Hey, brother. My Prez has given permission for you and your ole’ lady to come and seek sanctuary here for as long as you need it.”
Jeter didn’t correct Enzo about who Tori was to him. Tori being under his protection as his ole’ lady would keep others from trying anything stupid. “Thank you, Enzo. We’ll be there within a couple of hours.”
He hung up after getting the address. The need to check on Tori had his nerves on edge. Shit, if he could, he’d insert a chip into her like some deranged bastard.
A ghost of a smile lit his face. “She’d cut my dick off,” he muttered as he walked back toward the bathroom. He may have just met the feisty woman, but he knew without a doubt Tori had a mind of her own. Hell, most people who faced being shot would’ve broken. Yet she’d stayed strong, calm, and collected until they’d made it safely to his hotel. Even then, she hadn’t become a screaming, inconsolable mess. He’d bet his left nut she would’ve stayed cool if they’d been unable to get behind closed doors for another hour or two. Pride welled within him, but he also wished she didn’t need to have the inner core of strength.
“How you feeling?” he asked, taking her appearance in from head to toe. She looked like she’d washed her face and had put her hair into a high ponytail, making her seem younger and more vulnerable. Jeter thought about leaving her in the hotel under an alias while he went on the hunt for answers.