Chapter 9
Cullan
N ormally, the anticipation of a slick, well-planned break-in puts me in a good mood, but my heart’s not in it tonight.
My phone chimes while I’m sitting in my truck waiting for my team, and my eyes widen when I see that someone has entered my house.
Someone is in my house, and Elena and Rosie are alone and unprotected.
I feel a spike of alarm, and then I notice the code that was entered for entry.
Leon, my son. What the hell is he doing there?
I told Leon three days ago that he had to sleep at his mother’s tonight, and I confirmed it in a text to him this afternoon.
He replied with a thumbs-up. My son is deliberately breaking my rules .
Angrily, I reach for my laptop and open it against the steering wheel. After a few keystrokes, the security camera feed from my house appears on the screen, and I toggle through the different cameras in the shared spaces, but neither he nor Elena is anywhere in sight.
There’s only Elena’s bedroom left, but I hesitate before pressing the key for that one before I know if she’s dressed or not.
The mic in the hallway picks up her indistinct voice. “…not supposed to be here when I’m working.”
I feel a rush of pleasure. Good girl, Elena. I switch to the bedroom camera so I can watch her throw Leon out of my house. She’s wearing her pajamas like she was about to go to bed.
Leon shrugs like he doesn’t know what Elena is talking about. “Can’t I drop in randomly and say hello to my beautiful girlfriend?”
Randomly? All Leon’s thinking about is that his girlfriend’s birth control just kicked in. Elena isn’t fooled by this “surprise” visit either.
“I told you I’m not ready for that, Leon,” she pleads. “Can’t we take this slow?”
He smiles and wraps his arms around her. “Of course we can take this slow.”
Elena tips her face up to him and puts her hands on his shoulders as they kiss.
I look away from the screen and glare out the window.
I struggle to take a calming breath through the envy that’s swarming in my chest. Yes, Leon has broken my rules, but it’s none of my business what two adults in a committed relationship are doing with each other.
Tell that to the jealous monster rampaging around in my veins.
“What if I just went down on you? I don’t want anything for myself,” Leon offers.
My eyes leap back to the screen. “Tell him to get out, Elena. Tell him right now,” I urge under my breath.
But this allegedly selfless offer makes Elena hesitate.
“Don’t fall for it, Elena.” I grip the sides of my laptop screen. It won’t just be going down on her. After she comes, he’ll say, “Just the tip,” and before she realizes what’s happening, they’ll be having sex. She’s already said she’s not ready for sex. My heart aches for her.
“Well, okay,” she says uncertainly, and Leon takes her in his arms and kisses her again, pushing her toward the bed.
Fuck. I check on Rosie, hoping she’s about to wake up and interrupt them, but my daughter is deeply asleep. Fuck .
I push my hand through my hair. I can’t watch this.
I can’t. My choices are to close my laptop and pretend I never saw what I wasn’t supposed to see, or to go home and startle Leon out of my house.
I feel torn by what I want versus what is right, and so I’m frozen in place, staring at the laptop screen.
Elena is kissing Leon, but her body is tense, and her lips are closed. She’s putting herself in a horrible position just to make Leon happy, and I can’t stand it .
This has gone far enough.
I put my laptop aside, send a text message to my team, and start my truck. Tonight’s plans just got canceled.
I race home and park in the garage. Before I get out of my truck, I check the feed on my laptop.
What I see pins me to my seat. Leon and Elena are on the bed, and he’s pulling her pajama shorts down her legs.
She’s completely naked from the waist down.
Her face is partly turned away from him and her hands are tense on the sheets.
While Leon goes down on her, she’s staring at the ceiling looking confused and uncomfortable.
As if she’s wishing she were anywhere else, and this would just be over.
“Is that good?” Leon mumbles between whatever the hell he’s doing down there.
“Uh, yeah,” she says uncertainly.
If I ever heard that tone from a woman while I was trying to make her come, I’d throw myself off the nearest building. Leon doesn’t seem to notice there’s anything wrong. Elena looks more miserable than ever.
Finally, he sits up with an irritated sigh. “You’re supposed to do something. Moan. Get wetter. What’s the problem?”
“Sorry…” The devastation on her face is heart-wrenching. The problem here is my son, who is pushing intimacy between them when Elena’s not ready. They stare at each other in silence.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Leon leaves her room, digging a vape out of his pocket.
That’s something else he’s been keeping from me.
I don’t approve of smoking, but right now, I have other priorities.
As he leaves the room, Elena rolls onto one side and curls into a ball.
My instinct is to go to her and pull her into my arms, and tell her everything is going to be all right, but I can’t do that.
Or can I?
A plan forms in my mind, and as soon as it occurs to me, the darker side of my soul awakens. Purrs. Hungers .
After all, why shouldn’t I? It’s for Elena. Anything for Elena.
I get out of my truck and go into the house, moving silently into the darkened kitchen.
Leon passes along the hall without seeing me, and as soon as I hear the front door close behind him, I electronically deadbolt all the doors, change his access code to the house, and temporarily deactivate the doorbell.
That takes care of my son. He has no way back inside until I revert his code back to the old one. No one else can get in or out.
Elena is probably lying there feeling like she’s disappointed Leon by not living up to his expectations of her. I’m not going to leave her sunk in so much misery.
Upstairs, I check that Rosie is still sleeping soundly, and then I go into Leon’s room, fish one of his discarded hoodies from the floor and put it on. It smells of Leon’s body spray, and I pull the hood up to conceal my lighter-colored hair.
I quietly open Elena’s bedroom door, reach in, and turn out the light. When I enter, I can just make her out in the darkness, curled on her side away from me and covered with the blanket. Her pajama shorts are on the floor. I know she’s not asleep. She’ll be far too upset for that.
Her phone is on the nightstand. I reach out and hold down the power button to turn it off before Leon can finish vaping, try to get back inside, and start calling her.
Then I sit beside Elena on the bed and gaze down at her. She’s turned away from me with her eyes closed and her whole body tensed. She’s probably wondering how Leon’s about to humiliate her even more, my poor girl.
Gently, I stroke my fingers through her silky hair, still slightly damp from her shower.
I go on stroking until I see the furrow between her brows gradually smooth out.
I caress her shoulders briefly, and then I reach down to her feet.
I rub her ankles, massaging where her legs must ache from her long shifts.
Elena inhales, and then exhales deeply, slowly relaxing.
I go on stroking and rubbing her legs for several minutes, showing her that I care how hard she works.
Elena stretches and rolls onto her back, her eyes closed and her face peaceful now.
“That’s nice…” she whispers.
I smile at her in the darkness.
Beneath the blanket, I massage higher on her legs, first her calves, and then just above her knees. Her skin feels supple and smooth. I hope she can feel how grateful I am to touch her.
“Do you want to sleep?” I whisper.
She shakes her head without opening her eyes. “Stay.”
I gently squeeze her thighs. If I stay, I’m not going to be able to resist doing what my son so ineffectually tried to do. I wonder if she wants that.
Slowly, giving her time to stop me, I draw the blankets back from her naked lower half.
Elena’s beautiful body, wearing just the camisole, is revealed to me.
Her stomach looks warm and soft. Her hips have a lush curve.
Her thighs are rounded, and at their apex is the slit of her sex.
Blood rushes to my hardening cock and my tongue yearns to slip between those folds and taste her.
I nearly tell Elena how beautiful she is and how long I’ve wanted her.
I crave to talk to her. I never want to shut up about how much I need her, but I stop myself just in time.
I hook her legs over my shoulders and plant soft kisses on her belly as I stroke her hips. I reach up and squeeze her breasts lightly and caress her nipples with my thumbs, and I hear what my son demanded from Elena without earning it.
A soft, aroused moan.
I squeeze her tight, press my face into the curve of her waist, and groan softly. I want to hear her moan again. I shouldn’t even be here. It would be better to tuck the blankets around her and walk out of the room before I cross this line.
Elena’s hand finds mine and squeezes it. “Please,” she whispers softly. “I want you to.”
My hesitation dissolves in a flood of heat. Anything for Elena.
I kiss down her belly, slip my tongue into her slit, and slide it against her clit.
She moans again, louder this time. She tastes fucking wonderful.
Elena clenches her fingers on my shoulders as she gasps in pleasure.
As I slowly caress her pussy with my tongue, she sounds shocked and surprised by every pleasurable sensation she’s feeling.
I dare not raise my head and look at her in case she meets my eyes and sees a man going down on her who’s not her boyfriend.
What will she do if she realizes who I am? Scream? Run?