Chapter 7
7
HIRO
I lean against the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil. To boot, I’m making hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles – red, green, and white – to mark my transition from commercial-Christmas hater to love-struck sap.
Love. Fuck. Really?
Really. It was inevitable when I look at it. It’s always been Noelle.
A low beeping reaches my ears, and my body instantly tenses. That’s the perimeter notification. I reach for my phone, wondering if I’ve missed a call from Madeleine or if somehow Henry made it back from Singapore and he didn’t let me know when he landed.
I swipe my screen. Nothing. The initial perimeter response gives me about twenty minutes as an early warning. I send an alert to Madeleine, requesting a status update and round the island.
“Noelle.” I don’t want to alarm her, but a perimeter notification means someone is near the cabin and didn’t clear their approach with my office or with me personally, which is pretty much one and the same thing.
While mistakes can happen, I really don’t think this is one of those extremely rare exceptions and my shoulder blades prickle with awareness.
She glances over her shoulder and sends me a heart-melting smile. Jesus. Any second now I’d be offering up my balls to hang on our Christmas tree, which is thawing out on the front porch.
From my phone, I set the full alarm system, bringing the security cameras online. The hair stands up on the back of my neck and I’m not one to ignore my instincts. Although the cabin is well-protected, I don’t like the idea of Noelle sitting down here with these windows, no matter that they can function like one-way glass and are bulletproof.
I hold out my hand. “We’re going upstairs now.”
Her mouth drops open at my tone. “But the movie?—”
“Later,” I say, and her eyes glaze with desire. Fuck what I wouldn’t give to play with her right now, that my urgency is because I can’t wait to strip her down and bury my face in that sweet pussy and not because of these stupid alarms.
I can’t get distracted. I pull her up from the couch and head for the stairs.
My concern must show because she tightens her hand around mine. “What’s wrong?” she asks.
I debate lying for a second, but that won’t do either of us any good. “Someone is coming.”
She twists her head when we reach the landing, peering down at the door. “Is it my brother?”
“Maybe.” I hope so. I hope it’s Henry and he’s so jetlagged, he forgot all the protocols for approaching the cabin. I tug her in for a kiss, not able to resist how adorable she looks in my shirt with her hair tousled from earlier. She melts against me, and I tuck it away for later. If it is Henry, I’ll have some serious explaining to do in about ten minutes.
When we get to my bedroom, I press my thumb to what looks like a knot in the wood of my floor-length mirror. The biometric sensor engages, and I hear a soft click before swinging the mirror away from the wall. Next to me, Noelle gasps and a little burst of pride straightens my shoulders. I’ve never shown anyone my office here before and the tech I’ve employed is all based on stuff my partners and I have created and tested over the years. Noelle peers around the frame and steps inside.
“I never would have guessed this was in here.”
“That’s the point.” I move in behind her and pull the door closed, reactivating the seal. It’s unlikely anyone could get this far, but if the cabin was breached, all they would succeed in doing would be pulling the wood paneling away from the ‘built-in’ mirror.
Noelle does a slow spin in my office, taking in the monitors and equipment, my desk, and a small kitchenette. “What is this place?” she breathes. “Is it like a safe room?”
“It is. I designed the one in your family’s home too.”
“Really? I thought you were a tech guy. Like video game apps.”
I move to my desk, swiping up so I can see the perimeter cameras. “I am a tech guy. Tech security and design. Although this space was designed by one of my partners. I’ll show you how the bed comes down from the ceiling later.”
She glances up. “There’s a bed?”
“Min Jee is incredible with industrial design. Small spaces aren’t new in a lot of residential units in many Asian countries, and she’s incorporated a lot of that knowledge for our customers.” A movement on the edge of west side of the property draws my eye and I zoom in, waiting to see if it gets picked up on another camera. Sure enough, a hooded figure is tramping through the woods. Noelle comes up behind me.
“A lost hiker?” she asks.
“Not in those clothes.” I do make allowances for people who may have broken down, or gotten lost, but the way this person is moving through the woods, instead of following the road up to the cabin makes me think this isn’t an innocent approach.
We watch for several more minutes, until finally the guy looks up, clearly scanning for surveillance, by the way he holds his hood up to shield one side of his face from where he suspects a camera would be. Not an amateur then, but obviously not someone who has done enough research on this place.
Noelle sucks in a breath, leaning close to the monitor. “Isn’t that?—”
“It is,” I say, flatly.
Shit.
Definitely not an amateur, just someone who decided to take advantage of time as opposed to strategy. “Noelle. Didn’t I tell you not to use your phone?”
“I didn’t!” She paces around the small room. “I swear, I didn’t text Karli, or call her or check any social sites, nothing.”
I stop, thinking for a minute. “Did you turn your phone off?”
She shakes her head. “No, I saw notifications come in, but I never responded, I promise.”
“Where’s your phone?”
“In my room. On that bench at the foot of the bed.” She bites her lip. “Why is that guy here? Do you know him?”
I don’t know him personally, but I’m very familiar with the Blood Knights.
Fucking hell .
Is he alone, or did he have time to call in reinforcements? As we watch, he pauses in the shadow of a tree, and a small flare appears as he cups his hands around his mouth. A fucking cigarette? The Blood Knights aren’t stupid, so he’s either over-confident or he doesn’t give a shit about being discovered.
Neither scenario gives me the warm and fuzzies. This place is effectively a fortress, so I’m not too worried, but I’m not interested in dealing with anything that puts a target on Henry’s back or risks Noelle’s safety.
“Stay here,” I say, unlocking the door. “I’m going to get your phone.”
“But—” Noelle’s face is pale.
“We’re fine, Noelle. He can’t get in the cabin.”
I slip out and secure the mirror, jogging to get her phone. When I’m back in the safe room, I hand it to Noelle and ask her to unlock it.
“There are a bunch of texts here from Karli, but none of them say anything about Tom, which is kind of weird.”
“What do they say?”
“Mostly, where are you, where did you go, let’s meet for lunch, type of thing.”
I take her phone and open up her settings. I turn the phone to her. “Did you realize you were sharing your location with Karli?”
She shakes her head, taking the phone from me with trembling hands. “I mean we’ve shared locations before, when we’re trying to meet somewhere, but I didn’t think it was permanently on.”
“Did she have access to your phone?”
“Of course. She’s my best friend. She’s always at my place and she knows my password so we can check photos before posting them.”
I roll my eyes. “Text her.”
“What?”
“I have a suspicion. Please text her that you’re checking in and you’re fine.” I watch as she does, nodding when she hits send. I turn her towards the monitor.
Our sinister smoker straightens, pulling something out of his pocket. Noelle’s hand covers her mouth. “That’s Karli’s phone.”
“How do you know?”
“See the butterfly sticker on the case?”
I squint, and sure enough there’s something with wings on the back. Such a simple thing for this guy to track her. Jesus.
“She’s texting me back!” Noelle holds out her phone. “Or he is, or something.”
I watch the three dots appear and wait. Sure enough, a message pops up asking if Noelle is with her brother. An uneasy feeling grows in my stomach. What has put Henry on the Blood Knights’ radar?
“Should I text him back?”
I shake my head. “No. Let’s see what he does.”
As we watch he texts a few more times and the messages come in, a variation of the same ones as before. When Noelle doesn’t respond, he stuffs the phone back in his pocket and keeps trudging through the snow.
I take some pleasure in the fact that it looks like Tom has been following us since last night. He’s not dressed for a stakeout, wearing sneakers and what looks to be a few layers of dark clothing. That means he hasn’t taken the time to plan this properly. I check my watch. I have a unit on their way here, but they’re still thirty minutes out.
Tom finally makes it to the edge of the woods where he can spot the cabin. I curse when I realize I was too distracted by Noelle when we arrived earlier to park in the garage.
Stupid, rookie move. I bet I didn’t even lock it. Tom approaches the vehicle, looking in the windows and placing his hand on the hood to check the temperature. He tries the doors and, sure enough, I didn’t fucking lock them. I could sound the alarm from my phone now, but I’m interested to see what he’s going to do.
He circles the vehicle, pulls out a phone, one I note is absent the butterfly sticker, and takes some photos, including of the license. Fucker.
He pulls out a blade and sets in, slashing at the tires before he turns his frustration on the leather seats. Goddamn it, I’m itching to get out there and teach this fucker a lesson, but not if it means leaving Noelle in here. I’m confident she’d be fine until the unit arrived, but I’m not taking chances with her.
I can’t quite see what he’s doing until a few seconds later, the front seats erupt into flames. Jesus Fucking Christ .
Noelle turns wide blue eyes to mine. “Is he going to burn us out?”
“He can’t. The cabin might look like wood, but it’s actually fireproof siding. It would take a while to breach the house.”
“But it’s possible?”
I shake my head, pulling her to me and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “Not this guy and not today. I’ve called a unit in, and they’ll be here shortly. I would take care of this asshole myself, but it’s more important that I take care of you.”
“A unit?” Noelle shakes her head. “Who are you?”
“I’m the man your brother trusts to protect you.”
On the screens below us, Tom folds his arms, clearly waiting for someone to rush out of the house. When that doesn’t happen, he stalks up to the door, his tattoos clearly visible from our vantage point as he forgets about concealing himself and examines the door.
Noelle cuddles in close to me. “I trust you too, but I’m scared.”
I check my phone. “The unit will arrive any minute now.”
And that’s when I see Tom turn. He only hesitates a minute before he sprints into the woods, three large, black SUVs pulling in front of the cabin. I know there’s a group already located at strategic points in the woods, and we watch a cat-and-mouse game for a few minutes before Tom is apprehended by the team.
A call comes in and I issue directions for holding and questioning Tom. As much as I want to deal with him myself, and I will in a few days, I’m not leaving Noelle for anything. Although I use careful language, I see the fear in Noelle’s eyes, and I hate it.
“Are you the police?” she whispers, watching as a hood is thrown over Tom’s head and he’s dragged out of the woods and into one of the waiting vehicles. “CIA? Interpol?”
“I’m not.” I hold out my hands. “I don’t even know that I’m one of the good guys.”
She wraps her arms over her waist, rocking back on her heels.
A buzz causes me to glance down at my phone and I see that the unit is cleaning up and resetting the perimeter. I let them know that I’ll meet with them in a couple of days.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Noelle nods. “What would have happened to me if you hadn’t been there last night?”
“We never have to worry about that, baby. From this day forward, I’m here for you.”
She bites her lip. “Because my brother asked you to?”
“No, because I want to be wherever you are.” A panicked thought crosses my mind. I told her she was stuck with me, but I don’t want to scare her off. “And if you don’t want that, I’ll still be here for you.”
She walks to up me and pokes me in the chest. “No turning back now, Hiro. I’m not letting you wiggle out of this one. As you said, I’m an adult now, and I am going to make my own decisions.” She tips her beautiful face to mine. “And one decision I’ll happily make is having you. I’m yours.”
I switch off the screens, not wanting the reminder of what I’ll need to focus on to keep her and her family safe in the future, and hit another switch, causing the bed in the ceiling to lower and the equipment to slide away. Noelle stares in amazement at the perfect alignment of the bed over the desk.
“This is so cool.” She heads over and tests it with her hands. “Is it safe?”
“I assume so, although I’ve never actually slept in here.”
She shoots me a look from under her lashes that goes straight to my cock. “I wasn’t talking about sleeping.”
I trust Min Jee, but when she designed this, I don’t know if she thought about how hard I want to fuck this woman in this exact instant.
I slide open the doorway. “We can test the design standards later,” I say, drawing on all my control to not bend her over the bed and drive myself into her from behind. “Right now, I want a big, luxurious bed where I can comfortably drive you wild for hours.”
“Hours?” She straightens, looking over her shoulder.
“Hours. First, I’m going to use my tongue on those incredible tits of yours. I want to worship them, feel those perfect nipples hard against my tongue and see if I can make you come just from that alone.”
She gets off the bed, looking a bit dazed. “And then?”
I take her hand, pulling her into my bedroom. “And then I’m going to bury my face in the wetness between your legs, because you will be soaked from all the top-shelf action.”
“Top-shelf action?” She laughs but I don’t care. I’m too caught up in stripping my shirt from her and lashing my tongue against those little cherries as she squirms in my arms.
“Yeah, top-shelf action. And then I’m going to lick that sweet pussy until you’re moaning and begging me to pound you into the mattress.” I push her down onto my bed.
“I’m about to beg you now,” she says, breathlessly, rising up on her elbows as I quickly shed my clothing.
“Oh, really?” I climb over her, kissing her hipbones and finding her wetness with my fingers. “You’re already so wet and warm,” I murmur.
“I thought you were starting with the top-shelf action,” she stutters as I push two fingers into her softness.
“Mmmm, I’m too hungry for a taste of this,” I say leaning forward to drag my nose up her center. Noelle moans and I pull back to get a view of her glistening skin before diving back in and sliding my tongue over her slick flesh.
Slowly, slowly, I glide my tongue up, down, over and around her folds, building her pleasure the way I learned earlier. “That’s a good girl,” I murmur as she shifts her hips. “Spread your legs, baby.”
Noelle’s movements become more frantic, and I ease back slightly my gaze fixed on her gorgeous, pink swollen flesh. “Do you need more, sweetheart?”
“I need you,” she gasps. “Inside me.”
I chuckle at the way she grips my hair, trying to yank me up. I slide my hand under her plump ass. “Not yet, gorgeous girl. I can’t get enough of the way you taste.”
“Please,” she whines.
“Please make you come?”
She nods.
“Pretty please with cherries on top?” I reach up and thumb her nipple, loving the way she arches at my touch.
“Pr-pretty please.” Her words stutter out as I pinch the taut peak before releasing it, my cock heavy against the sheets.
Pulling her hips up, I grind my face into her and flick her sweet clit with my tongue, letting her body’s responses guide me to giving her what she needs.
Noelle’s thighs are shaking around my head, and I pump my fingers in and out of her, loving the curse words falling from her beautiful lips, the way her hands alternate between clenching the duvet and clutching at my hair.
“So fucking sweet,” I rasp before working her clit again, keeping my pace steady while her orgasm builds inside her. Finally, she comes against my mouth, and I lap up every perfect shudder of her body, gentling my tongue to a soothing rhythm.
“Come here,” she croaks, crooking her finger and I climb up her body, dropping kisses everywhere. She grabs my shoulders and kisses me deeply, our tongues tangling and fuck, if that isn’t the hottest thing she could do in the moment.
She breaks the kiss and looks me in the eye. “Do I need to beg some more?”