Chapter Nine
Allie
Please let James get here soon. I need him.
Those thoughts keep racing through my mind as the door finally creaks open. The man who enters looks vaguely familiar to me and I can’t quite place him until he comes closer, and I notice the eyes that match his sister’s perfectly. Jim.
My stomach drops, but I try to hide the recognition from my face. I fail instantly. He catches the look of knowing and stops in front of me.
“I guess you know who I am, huh, Allie?” he asks, his voice deeper and more menacing than I was expecting. How can someone like this be related to someone as sweet and wonderful as Katie?
“Yes, Jim,” I sneer back at him, not wanting him to catch even a whiff of my fear.
“To think, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t got mixed up at the airport. A shame really, considering I saw you right outside. But as soon as I saw you go up to him I knew I had to watch it play out. When his driver showed up to pick me up after you’d taken off, I thought there was no way I could be that lucky.”
He looks down at me with a grin that doesn’t reach his eyes, and I’m suddenly quite scared of him. But I can’t let him see that, can’t let him see even a second of vulnerability from me.
“But I was,” he continues, “and my luck didn’t run out there. When I asked the driver for O’Connor’s address to “thank him” for the ride, he gave it out willingly—O’Connor may want to look into getting rid of him if he’s so concerned with security, by the way—and when I pulled up later that night, I was shocked to see the blonde my sister described was still there. That’s when I knew we had some leverage in this deal.”
I gasp at the revelation; no wonder the gem deal was causing James so many issues.
“How did you even get involved in this?” I ask him. I remember Katie mentioning he does something in finance, but I’m finding that hard to believe at the moment.
“My company handles the deals of several, shall we call them, elite enterprises. I was dispatched to help with the gem deal in Colombia when the team there determined they would be able to get a better end of the cut. My one goal was to work your little boyfriend to get him to pay more by any means necessary. So here you are, Allie.”
I hate the way my name sounds on his tongue. He is vile and money hungry and everything wrong with this world. I hate that my mistake has led us here, but I’m happier than ever that I picked up my James instead of this asshole.
“Now,” he says after a moment, “why don’t you tell me why exactly his family needs access to these gems?”
I remain silent, suddenly feeling very glad that James never told me the full details of the gem deal because I can’t even feel tempted to tell this asshole anything.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Allie. It’s up to you,” he says, stepping even closer to me. I notice then that his hands are wrapped in black gloves and a shiver of fear courses through me.
“Come on, Allie, a beautiful woman like you should have no trouble getting men to spill their secrets.” He strokes a glove covered hand down the side of my face and I’m instantly repulsed by his touch. I lean back. His lips curl in disdain as he leans closer, his hand starting to move lower.
I rear back before his hand can wander further and do the one thing I can think of to get him out of my face—I spit right into his eyes. He jerks back as my saliva hits him, letting out a laugh that doesn’t have a hint of humor in it before wiping the spit away.
“Hard way it is,” he says before landing a smack on the side of my face so rough I can feel my head rattle. Despite my best efforts, I let out a moan of pain before my head lolls to the side.
“Now—” he pauses as we both start to hear voices in the hall, followed by the sound of gunshots. All the color quickly drains from Jim’s face and I feel hope for the first time in hours that maybe help is on the way.
Please be my James, please, please, please.
Before I know it, the door bursts in and I see him, looking sweaty and exhausted and as handsome as ever. His eyes light up as soon as he sees me, and I breathe my first sigh of relief all day.
He came for me, just like I knew he would.
James moves in and before Jim can move, he lands a punch to his face. Jim stumbles backward into the wall, and James keeps moving, placing a hand around Jim’s throat, choking the life out of him.
“You thought you could squeeze me for more cash by kidnapping the love of my life you fucking piece of shit,” my James sneers in his face. If I was more together, I would be swooning at the “love of my life” comment, but all I can do is stare as he towers over Jim, leaning into him and instilling such fear that I don’t even know how he’s still standing.
“You know you were underpaying. My client deserved better,” Jim gasps out, but I can hear the slight quiver in his voice. Good. He should be fucking terrified.
“Oh really? And did your client authorize you to kidnap an innocent woman in an effort to make a few extra bucks?”
Jim winces, letting us know he’s totally and completely fucked for what he’s done to me.
“That’s what I thought. You know they’ll be hearing about this, and with their connections in Colombia, I know they can do much worse to you than I ever could. Still, I’m tempted to kill you myself.” James’ hand clenches tighter around his throat, Jim’s face growing redder by the second.
“James, don’t,” I plead. Not for Jim’s sake, but for Katie’s.
“You sure, baby?” he asks.
“Yes. He’s Katie’s brother. And I need you beside me, not in jail.”
James chuckles darkly, “Oh baby, no way I’d let them put me in jail for this asshole.” He finally lets Jim go and jerks his head toward his security team that followed him in, “Get him out of here.” They pick him up and carry him out.
James crosses the room and kneels in front of my chair. He pulls a knife from his jacket pocket and starts slicing away at the restraints at my ankles and wrists. The second my wrists are free, I launch off the chair and into his arms, taking us both to the ground. I immediately burst into tears at the feel of his touch.
“It’s okay, baby,” he says softly, stroking a hand through my hair and down my back in an effort to soothe me.
“I know,” I say through tears. “I knew you’d come for me. I can’t believe how dumb I was to think I could go to Katie’s when you warned me of how much danger I was in. I am so, so sorry. I’ll never doubt your warnings again.” He reaches an arm up and wipes the tears from my cheeks.
“It’s okay, baby,” he repeats. “I didn’t give you enough information to believe me, and trust me, I’ll never do that to you again. Ever. I love you so much, Allie. I went crazy thinking I was going to lose you today and that it was going to be all my fault. I thought I would never get to tell you how much I love you.”
I start laughing through my tears, so many emotions taking over my body at once, I feel like I’m losing my mind.
“I love you, too,” I say. “Thank you for saving me. I love you so much,” I repeat, stroking his cheeks.
“Forever,” he says gruffly. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here. I need to show you how much I love you.” He sits up so I’m in his lap and kisses me quickly but passionately before rising and carrying me out of this horrible place.
***
The ride back to James’ place was quiet, but his hands never left my body from the moment we left the building. They still haven’t left my body as he guides me up the stairs to his room and into his bathroom.
He turns on the shower before wordlessly helping me undress. I lift my arms over my head and he removes my sweatshirt and sports bra before lowering to his knees and peeling down my leggings. After he’s successfully slid them off, he presses quick kisses to the insides of my thighs and the center of my core.
Without thinking, I bring my hands to his head, tangling them in his darks strands and holding him against my pussy. His espresso eyes look up at me, asking for permission to taste me further. I give him a wordless nod, suddenly desperate to feel the pleasure of his tongue, to feel alive.
“Gonna show you how much I missed you today, baby,” he says, before leaning forward and absolutely inhaling the scent of my pussy. He leans back and sticks his tongue out, poking at my clit before suctioning his mouth to me. The pressure is so good, I feel like I could come just from that. He tickles a hand up my inner thigh before swiftly curling two fingers inside of me. I moan as he begins thrusting, maintaining his delicious sucking on my clit.
This must be what heaven feels like.
“You taste like heaven,” James says, echoing my thoughts as if he was in my head. God, I can’t believe this hot, gifted, brilliant man is all mine.
“I love you,” I moan as he increases his licks and my eyes nearly roll back in my head. With a quick nip at my clit and a curve of his fingers, I’m falling apart around him and he’s on his knees before me licking up every. Last. Drop. It’s a sight I’ll never get enough of.
“I love you more, baby,” he says, rising and revealing the protruding hardness pushing at the soft fabric of his black joggers. “Now, let’s get cleaned up.” He turns me and presses a light slap to my ass as he nudges me towards the shower, eliciting a light cackle from me and helping the trauma of the day further disappear.