Chapter Five
The safe house was a nondescript cabin forty minutes outside the city, hidden among towering pines and accessible only by a winding dirt road that would give them plenty of warning if anyone approached.
Holly had spent the first day watching Jonah check windows and exits with the kind of thoroughness that spoke of years of training, helping him inventory supplies, and trying not to think about the fact that someone wanted her dead.
By the second day, she'd reorganized the kitchen cabinets twice.
By the third day, she was losing her mind.
There was no TV, no internet, no phone service unless you walked to the top of the ridge. She was rapidly running out of art supplies. There wasn't anything else to do but stare at pine trees and watch Jonah perform his security checks every four hours.
Holly stood in the rustic living room, watching him examine the door locks for what had to be the fifth time that day. He'd been like this since they'd arrived—all business, no trace of the passionate lover who'd worshipped her body just days before.
"How many safe houses do you have access to?" she asked, more to break the silence than because she cared about the answer.
"Enough." Jonah's tone was clipped, professional.
Irritation spiked. Three days of one-word answers and emotional distance were starting to wear on her nerves. "That's not really an answer. In fact, you've been giving me a lot of non-answers since we got here."
Jonah didn't look up from his inspection. "I'm trying to keep you alive. Everything else is secondary."
"Everything else?" Holly moved toward him, frustrated by the monotony, the isolation, and his sudden transformation into a security robot. "Is that what I am now? Secondary?"
That got his attention. Jonah's gaze snapped to hers. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Do I? Because you've barely looked at me since we got here, let alone touched me.
" Holly crossed her arms. "I've been stuck in this cabin for three days with nothing to do but watch you check the same locks over and over.
The least you could do is talk to me like I'm a person instead of just another item on your security checklist."
"Holly—"
"Are you regretting what happened between us? Because if you are, just say so. I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
Jonah was across the room and backing her against the wall before she could blink. His hands braced on either side of her head, his body caging her in with predatory intent.
"You think I regret having you?" His voice was low and rough. "You think I regret the way you felt wrapped around my cock, the sounds you made when I was buried inside you?"
She blushed at his words, but arousal pooled low in her belly. "Then why are you acting like it never happened?"
"Because if I start touching you again, I won't be able to stop." His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Holly saw his control wavering. "And right now, I need to focus on keeping you safe, not on all the ways I want to fuck you senseless."
"Maybe I don't want you to stop."
"You don't know what you're asking for."
"Then show me."
His mouth crashed down on hers with a hunger that bordered on violent, all tongue and teeth and desperate claiming. Holly moaned into the kiss, her hands fisting in his shirt as he devoured her mouth like a man starved.
"You want to see what you do to me?" he growled against her lips. "How crazy you make me?"
His hands moved to her hips, spinning her around until her palms were flat against the wall and her ass was pressed against his straining erection. Holly gasped at the sudden change in position, at the way his body covered hers from behind like he was claiming territory.
"I haven't been able to think straight since I first saw you," Jonah's voice was rough in her ear, his hands sliding under her shirt to palm her breasts.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to watch you and not touch?
To pretend I was just your neighbor when all I wanted was to pin you against the nearest wall and make you mine? "
Holly arched back against him, craving more of his touch. "I'm here now. I'm yours."
"Are you?" His teeth scraped against her neck as his hands worked at the button of her jeans. "Because once I start, I'm not going to be gentle. I'm going to take you exactly how I want you, and you're going to take everything I give you."
The dominant edge in his voice sent warmth spiraling through Holly's core. She'd never been one to submit easily, but Jonah made her want to surrender completely.
"Yes," she whispered, meaning it more than she'd ever meant anything.
Jonah made a sound that was part growl, part groan.
His hands made quick work of her jeans, pushing them down along with her panties until she was bare from the waist down.
Cool air hit her skin, but before Holly could process the sensation, Jonah's fingers were between her thighs, finding her slick and ready.
"Fuck, you're soaked," he said with dark satisfaction. "Is this what you want? To be taken hard and fast against the wall like you're nothing but mine to use?"
Holly pressed back against his hand, craving more of his touch.
"Please," she gasped.
"Please what?" His fingers circled her clit with maddening pressure. "Tell me exactly what you want. I want to hear you say it."
Holly's face burned with embarrassment and arousal. "I want you to fuck me. Hard. Like I'm yours."
"Good girl." The approval in his voice sent shivers down her spine. "Because you are mine. This sweet pussy, this perfect body—all of it belongs to me now."
Holly heard the sound of his zipper, felt the broad head of his cock pressing against her slick entrance. Without warning, he thrust forward, filling her completely in one powerful stroke that made her cry out.
"Christ, you feel incredible," Jonah groaned, his hands gripping her hips hard enough to leave marks. "So tight and wet around my cock. Like you were made for me."
He set a punishing rhythm, driving into her with enough force to make her see stars. Holly braced herself against the wall, meeting each thrust with desperate enthusiasm. She'd never been taken like this—with such possession, such complete dominance—and it was overwhelming.
"You like this, don't you?" Jonah's voice was rough against her ear. "Being fucked like you're mine to claim. Being reminded exactly who you belong to."
"Yes," Holly panted, her body coiling tight with approaching climax. "God, yes."
One of his hands moved to her throat, not squeezing but simply holding, the gesture intimate and possessive in a way that made her core clench around him.
"Come for me," he commanded, his thumb finding her clit. "Come on my cock like the good girl you are."
The combination of his words, his touch, and the overwhelming fullness of him inside her sent Holly spiraling over the edge. She cried out his name as her orgasm crashed through her, her inner walls milking his cock as pleasure consumed her.
"That's it, baby," Jonah groaned, his rhythm faltering as her climax triggered his own. "Taking my cock so perfectly. So beautiful when you surrender to me."
He thrust deep one final time, his cock pulsing as he emptied himself inside her with a roar that echoed through the cabin.
They stayed frozen in that position for long moments, both breathing hard and trying to process what had just happened. Finally, Jonah pulled out and gently turned Holly to face him, his hands surprisingly tender as he helped her straighten her clothes.
"Are you okay?" he asked, searching her face for any sign of regret or distress.
Holly smiled, noting the concern in his gaze. "More than okay. That was..." She trailed off, unable to find words for the experience.
"Just what I needed."
"Exactly." Holly reached up to touch his face, marveling at how this dangerous man could be so gentle with her. "I've never... I mean, I don't usually..."
"Submit?" Jonah's lips curved in a small smile. "I know. That's what makes it so perfect when you do."
She blushed. "Is that what this is about? Making me submit?"
"This is about claiming what's mine. About making sure you understand that you belong to me now, completely."
The possessive declaration should have set off every feminist alarm bell in Holly's head. Instead, it sent warmth spreading through her chest.
"And what do I get in return?" she asked, stepping toward him until their bodies were almost touching.
"Everything." Jonah's voice was rough with promise. "My protection, my loyalty, my complete devotion. Whatever you need, whatever you want—it's yours."
Holly stared up at him, feeling the truth of his words. This wasn't just about sex or even attraction. This was deeper, more primal. A claiming that went both ways.
"Even the full truth about you and your past?" she asked.
Holly caught a glimpse of the guilt he'd been hiding.
"I want to know everything. All of it."
"Some truths are dangerous."
"So is loving someone you don't really know."
The word hung in the air between them, shocking them both. Holly hadn't meant to say it, hadn't even realized she felt it until the word slipped out. But looking at Jonah's stunned face, she realized it was true.
Somewhere between yesterday and now, she'd fallen in love with him.
"Holly," Jonah's voice was strained. "You don't understand what you're saying."
"Don't I?" Holly stepped toward him, close enough to see the conflict warring in his gaze. "I know you're not just some bodyguard my father hired. I know you're more dangerous than you let on. And I know that whatever you're hiding, it's eating you alive."
Jonah was silent for a long moment, and Holly could practically see him wrestling with himself over how much to reveal.
"I wasn't just military. I was black ops," he said finally. "The kind of soldier who doesn't officially exist."
"What kind of operations?"