Chapter 53
FIFTY-THREE
Blakely
I clung to Devon and tried to keep myself from collapsing back onto the table that sounded like it was seconds away from giving out beneath me.
But I wasn’t nervous about falling. I knew Devon had me. Always.
Aftershocks racked my entire body, and suddenly the vibration against my clit was too much. I reached toward his hand, but Devon was quick to pull it away.
My nails scraped through the dark red hair at the base of his neck, and I searched out his lips with my own. One of his palms wrapped around my thigh while the other dipped beneath the low-cut top at my back. He was fascinated with his art tattooed on my skin, and I honestly loved how much he loved it.
Every time he touched it, it was a reminder that he helped save me once and continued to do so every single day.
“Fuck, Blakely,” he gasped against my lips. I dug my nails harder into his hair how I knew he liked and tugged his lower lip between my teeth. I wanted him overcome with pleasure just as I was. Watching Devon come undone was one of my favorite pastimes. He wasn’t often very emotive, but in bed, or better yet, when he was inside me, he couldn’t hold back even if he wanted to.
His cock slammed into me hard and so fucking deep over and over again. Sounds I didn’t know I was capable of making tumbled from my lips as he careened toward that impending release.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted, and I knew he was close. Without much thought, I braced my hands on his chest and pushed forward. Even mid-thrust, he didn’t hesitate to step back. There was a question and concern in his eyes, probably wondering why the hell I pushed him off.
But I held his stare as I slipped off the table and dropped to my knees on the unforgiving concrete floor. My skirt tumbled back down around me as I peered up his body and gripped his length in my hand. I circled the crown with my tongue and pumped him hard.
“Come in my mouth,” I said, lifting my other hand to wrap closer to the base of his cock. I twisted my wrists in quick tandem and devoured every one of his pleasure-filled expressions and sounds.
“You’re perfect. So perfect,” he chanted. “Fuck, right there. I’m?—”
His words broke off into a moan as I opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue. His hand weaved into my hair and held me in place as he shot onto my tongue, lips, and down my throat. He was panting hard by the time he was completely spent.
I swallowed, then kissed the swollen head of his cock as I drug my fingers across the corners of my mouth to gather any remnants.
And before I could even try to stand, Devon was gripping beneath my arms and hauling me up against him. His mouth slammed down on mine, and I lost myself in the kiss like I only ever could with him. Like I only ever wanted to with him .
Completely out of breath and with our lips swollen, we pulled apart. His nose dragged across my cheek as he buried his face in my neck and wrapped me in his strong arms.
Something in me felt lighter. The weight I’d been dragging around for weeks slowly dissipated, leaving my muscles tired and my mind calm.
“I’m really glad I asked Jason for privacy when I booked the room,” Devon said, and my entire body stiffened. Quickly, I pulled back, and my head snapped around, spotting two cameras in each corner of the room. “They’re off, I promise. As much as I would’ve hated to do it, I would’ve stopped you the second you kissed me.”
“You swear?” I asked, needing to hear him say it again for my own peace of mind.
“I swear,” he said confidently. “I wouldn’t let that happen.” I nodded, and Devon stepped back to straighten his clothes. He paced over to the control panel on the wall and turned the music off, so we didn’t have to yell over it. “How are you feeling?”
I took inventory of my emotions and tugged my skirt back around. “I’m feeling better. Good, actually.”
“That’s what I was hoping for. I hate when you’re upset or angry, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
I smiled at my sweet man and then surveyed the damage I’d done throughout the room. The table he’d fucked me on was the only thing left standing. Everything else had been destroyed by my bat.
I knew I was upset, but not to that extent. Something had come over me when I felt the weight of the bat in my hands and the music pounding over the speakers loud enough that it blocked out every other thought.
“Although I wasn’t expecting…” He motioned to the table, and every moment came flooding back. A blush crept up my neck and heated my cheeks.
I laughed and brushed my fingers over my lips, now completely devoid of the lipstick I’d carefully applied hours earlier. Devon leaned against the table, crossing his ankles and his arms over his chest. I looked up at him and noticed the remnants of pink lipstick on the corner of his mouth.
With my thumb, I wiped it away. Devon’s small, knowing smile made me smile.
“I wasn’t expecting that either,” I said quietly. And I couldn’t quite explain it. All that pent-up and built-up anger and frustration was simmering to the surface, and suddenly smashing things wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted Devon. I wanted to feel his strong, safe hands on me, and I wasn’t going to question it.
I wasn’t going to question anything anymore when it came to Devon.
Staring down at the floor, littered with broken pieces of everything, I said, “I just needed…you,” by way of explanation.
Devon reached out and grasped my hand, tugging me forward between his legs. His hands fell to my hips. “I’m here for whatever you need. No matter what, but especially for sex whenever you want it. That’s not a hardship for me.”
“Whenever I want?” A slow smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”
I was about to suggest that we leave and maybe grab some dinner when Devon’s expression changed, and his head dropped. An uneasy feeling began stirring in my stomach.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said.
“Okay,” I responded immediately, preparing for the worst possibility and trying to suppress my fight-or-flight response.
“After the roses in your mailbox and the unsolicited call from Sydney’s boyfriend, I decided to hire a PI.”
“You—you hired a private investigator? For me?”
“Yes, the police aren’t getting anywhere, and I can’t just sit idly by while this fucking psycho stalks you and makes your life a living hell. And it can’t hurt to have someone else working on your case at the same time as the police. She’s going to work in tandem with the police, and it’s someone else to hold them accountable, too. ”
My mind was racing, and I shouldn’t have been surprised. Devon had made it known he was prepared to do anything to help me find justice and to keep me safe.
My parents had hired a PI, too. When I was being held in that basement and they couldn’t be bothered to call the police, and when they were actively lying to my friends and telling them they’d heard from me, they hired a PI known for his work with other political figures. A guy who was paid top dollar by anyone with an influential name who needed the utmost anonymity and discretion.
Without knowing the woman he hired, I knew she would be nothing like that man. He wouldn’t hire someone who was so dirty and self-absorbed.
“And it’ll just be a perk that she’s going to look into Julian at the same time. Since he’s shown such an interest in you, we thought it might be a good place to start.”
Julian had seemingly taken Devon’s not-so-subtle threat to heart because he hadn’t tried to contact me since. But there was still something off about him, and it was worth looking into just in case.
“Where did you find a PI?” I heard myself asking, but I don’t know why I did. At the same time, we both said, “Reed.” The only one of our friends who was wealthy enough to have those types of connections.
He laughed and rubbed his thumbs against my hip bones. The touch was soothing and casual, like he was always meant to touch me with such care and openness.
“Her name is Marie, and she’s worked with Reed’s father at his law firm a few times and on a few personal matters for their family. She’s a fucking badass. Reed had nothing but exceptional things to say about her. I told her that I needed to run it past you first, though. If this is going too far, I’ll tell her we want to hold off.”
Immediately, I shook my head. “I’m not going to lie, the thought had crossed my mind that maybe I’d need to recruit additional help. But Dev, PIs aren’t cheap. I don’t want you spending an exorbitant amount of money on this. On me.”
Devon didn’t even have to argue. One quick dip of his eyebrows, and I knew he wasn’t hearing any of my arguments. “At least let me?—”
“No,” he said, a sense of finality in his tone. “It’s my money, and I’ll spend it however the hell I want. If I want to buy you a safe house, if I want to invest in a damn good PI, or if I want to buy you your own goddamn rage room, I’m going to do it. Unless you have a real, relevant argument, then fine. Otherwise, it’s happening.”
By the way his eyebrows shot to his hairline, he wasn’t expecting the giggle that burst from my lips. I tried to choke it down, chewing on the inside of my cheek, to think about the pain and not the laughter building in my chest. But it didn’t work.
A wide smile broke out over my face. One that I had no chance of hiding.
“Is something funny?” he asked with his own amused half-smile.
I shrugged and ran my thumb over his lower lip, wanting to experience that smile any way I could.
“You’re awfully cute when you’re bossy and possessive.”
With a low, playful growl, he scooped me up, his arms quickly fastened around my waist as he spun me, another uncharacteristic giggle floated from me.
“Then you must think I’m fucking adorable all the time.” He set me back on my feet and kissed me soundly, hands clasping my cheeks and moving my mouth where he wanted it.
But he couldn’t kiss me like he wanted when we were both smiling like fucking idiots.
“God, I love you,” he hummed against my lips.
“Good thing I love you, too. ”
We followed the instructions Jason had given Devon—to turn off the control panel and the lights as well as put the sledgehammer and bat back where we’d found them.
Hand-in-hand, we headed out the back door, the heavy metal slamming shut behind us. Devon shot off a quick text to Marie, letting her know she could get started as soon as she could. It wasn’t a second later that she responded.
Marie: On it. I’ll get started tonight.
The large steel door on the other side of the warehouse was open, and inside, Jason continued sorting donations. He waved and told us to come back whenever we wanted.
“I feel bad,” I whispered to Devon as he led us around the building.
“Why?”
“He was so nice, letting us use one of the rooms after hours, and making all those accommodations, and we just ended up fucking.”
Devon shook his head and threw his arm over my shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. I’ve known Jason for a long time—he’s done much crazier shit.”
“Whatever you say.” He kissed the top of my head and opened the car door, gesturing for me to hop onto the seat.
I couldn’t stop smiling when he shut the door and began walking around the front of the car.
But before Devon could get to the driver’s side door, Jason came jogging around the building. I couldn’t hear him from inside, but Devon stopped in his tracks and looked from Jason to me.
He raised his index finger, telling me that he’d be just a minute and met Jason at the hood of the car.
Tugging my new phone out of my bag, I began to read the few missed texts on the screen. Several from the group chat I’d been added back to which included everyone, and a few from our girls only chat as well.
I was reading something about Ivy’s new assistant volleyball coach she was trying to train, when all of the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Chills, intense and swift, swept over my arms and down my legs.
Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my gut. Every single one of my instincts was on high alert. People don’t often talk about the third option; when something’s wrong and in the face of danger, it’s not just fight or flight. Freeze was a solid option many people unconsciously chose.
It was the option I chose at that moment.
Holding my breath, I glanced in the rearview mirror but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary—a dark back seat, nothing more.
Trying to identify what had set me on edge, I silently willed Devon to look in my direction. To just peek into the car and see me. I willed my pounding heart to quiet.
Then I heard it. A low, muffled cry from farther back in the car. And I was pushing out of the door in the next second. My flight response finally took over and propelled me into the night air.
I stumbled and barely caught myself before falling to my knees on the hard asphalt. Devon was there in a second, and when he reached for me, I realized I was shaking.
“What the hell, Blake? What’s going on?”
I swallowed and found my voice, letting him pull me up. Jason was a few feet away, but I only caught a glimpse of him before I looked back to Devon. “There’s someone in the car.”
His face hardened—soft, caring eyes growing serious, and his jaw tensing. Faint smile lines around his eyes and mouth disappearing in an instant. He turned and surveyed the car.
“Help me,” he told Jason, who nodded when he’d finally broken free of his shock. Devon motioned toward the front of the SUV, where Jason began searching for something out of the ordinary.
Devon glanced in the rear windows and slowly walked to the back of the car. Several feet away, I watched everything. I waited to see movement from one of the windows or a flash of something unexpected.
But nothing happened. Finally, when the two men had inspected the outside of the car to their satisfaction, they stood in front of the trunk. A silent conversation passed between them, and they both stayed several feet back as Devon clicked a button on his keys.
I held my breath and kept my phone poised in my shaking hand, prepared to call the cops in less than a second if needed. It felt like an eternity for the trunk to open. A familiar dinging coming from inside the car and the dim lights turning on to illuminate the interior.
The entire time the door ascended, I prayed. Not to anyone in particular, but to anyone who would listen. I would have rather been crazy. I would have rather it had all been in my head. I would have rather the small, whimpered cry not been real.
But I wasn’t that lucky.