Chapter 9
Hudson
Fucking her was easy.
Far too easy.
And too dangerous.
Valentina was an unexpected distraction.
I’d thoroughly enjoyed cataloging every twist of her soft lips, every flick of her tongue when she didn’t think I was paying any attention.
And the casual yet perfected way she slipped her long fingers through her thick curls as she contemplated whether her behavior was acceptable.
In truth, I should have secured a hotel room that I knew was safe, taking her and her little girl there myself and walking away.
I could have called in a couple of favors with some buddies who were cops, hiring them to keep watch on her.
There were a couple of detectives who owed me more than one favor.
If I had come to my senses, after ensuring her safety I should have contacted the original prosecuting attorney, Jasmine Guthrie, demanding answers. I should have called the FBI agent who’d originally broken the case, discovering what the hell they were going to do about Jacob Jones’ release.
And I should have shut down my feelings for her.
Yes, there were a lot of things I should have done, but I hadn’t. Instead, I’d chosen to cross the same line as before, wanting nothing more than to possess her. Perhaps I was being selfish, but the danger was real.
I’d allowed the cloud of emotions in seeing her suffer mix with the building desire that I’d never shut down to interfere with my judgment.
Now, after another taste, I couldn’t seem to get enough.
What the hell kind of man did that make me?
Even now as I held her in my arms, all I could think about was the way she’d felt in my lap and how much I hungered to devour her teasing smile.
She’d seemed so completely vulnerable when walking into my house, fraught with the kind of despair years in the making.
At this moment she was a tempting vixen, flashing her deep blue eyes as a weapon.
Even watching the way the lighting in the room stroked the curve of her long neck kept the slow and steady ache in my cock.
The second I eased her down, she pressed her hands against my chest. If she thought she could suddenly escape me, she was wrong. Those same soulful eyes glinted with amusement. She was thoroughly enjoying toying with me.
When I spun her around, the slight sound she murmured was almost like a hiccup, far too adorable for the sultriness of her actions and stunning vision of her voluptuous body.
Bending her over the pool table, I pushed her down and immediately fisted her hair. As expected, she squirmed in my hold, laughing softly as she struggled to toss me a look over her shoulder.
“You’re still teasing me,” I told her.
“The question is. Can you handle the heat?”
Did Valentina have any idea what she’d done to me, what she continued to do to me?
The moment I slipped my cock into her sweet pussy, I let out a slow and easy breath.
The feel of having her muscles wrapped around my dick was the best damn thing I’d felt in a long time.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been with a woman. Life had been too fucking busy.
In truth, I’d had no interest.
“I guess you’re going to find out. Aren’t you?” My voice was almost unrecognizable, deep and husky and fraught with frustration. Fuck me, the feel of her created a feverish set of vibrations.
Her breath hitched for just a second, but I caught it. Every soft murmur she issued I wanted to absorb and allow to furrow deep inside long after she was gone.
We’d had little time to flirt during her grand jury testimony, yet somehow through subtle touches and quick but meaningful glances we’d managed. Yet this still seemed surreal.
With every kiss, fireworks had denotated behind my eyes, but this was… Incredible.
I pulled out, slowly driving into her again. The hunger for her was full of desperation and my actions reflected it. I fucked her long and hard, my body slamming against hers. I was brutal in taking her, no longer capable of maintaining any level of patience.
There was something provocative about fucking her from behind, being able to savor the shimmer of her porcelain skin and the soft murmurs escaping her lips.
Bending over, I pressed the full weight of my body on hers, nuzzling my face against her neck. I could enjoy drinking in her perfume for a full hour. I growled, the sound coming from deep within my throat and dragged my tongue under her ear.
She shuddered in my hold, still breathless. Still writhing beneath me.
The tick of her pulse in her neck was inviting. Unable to resist, I bit down on her tender skin. The desire to mark her was strong. I could easily get drunk off the scent of her perfume and nothing else.
She wasn’t prepared to surrender to me fully, pushing up from the pool table and meeting every brutal thrust. I laid claim to her in a way I hadn’t done with any other woman.
The moment felt right, pushing my boundaries in a way I couldn’t ignore.
I’d wanted this. There was no denying the intense cravings or lurid thoughts that had nearly consumed me.
Now she was mine for the taking, if only for one night.
My rough actions continued until we were both breathless, my sweat dripping down against her skin. Every moan was dangerous, every heated breath skipping past her lovely lips fueled the darkness deep within. I couldn’t think clearly, nor did I want to.
With a sharp crack of my hand against her bottom, she quivered in my hold. The way she arched her back forced me to repeat my action not once but several more times.
The moment she pushed back against me, I lost all sense of decency and reality.
My balls were heavy.
My pulse off the charts.
I wrapped my body around hers, pulling her up from the table just seconds before I released, filling her with my seed.
The only sound was our ragged breathing and somehow it managed to echo in my ears. A few seconds later, she wiggled underneath me.
“You’re not trying to escape me, are you?” I smirked, already eager for more.
“Oh, heavens, no. I’m merely teasing you.”
I bit down on her earlobe, enjoying every moment of having her in my arms.
“Then you should be ready for round two because you’re going nowhere.”
“You said he wrote you a note?” I asked after we’d played the silent game for several minutes.
Even if it was entirely possible Jacob hadn’t issued threats or that he’d ordered someone else to do so, I needed every scrap of information.
Just in case I could debunk the technicality and send his ass back to prison.
Valentina nodded. “On my car.”
“On your car.” Wait. What?
“Yes.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, her hand shaking as she pushed her finger around on the screen. “I managed to take a picture before the rain started. There were workers on the street where I live and there was dust all over my car.”
She pushed it with the lit screen across the counter before moving toward her daughter who was currently tossing cereal from her bowl. “Don’t do that, honey. You need to eat your breakfast.”
With a cup of coffee in my hand, I studied Valentina interacting with her daughter.
Kids amazed me. They had no sense of danger at such a young age, although it would be a shame to test that theory.
The little girl was the spitting image of her mother, including huge eyes that one day would draw boys in like flies to honey.
I hid a chuckle and grabbed Valentina’s phone just as the screen was fading. Instantly, my blood boiled. The words were chilling.
Bitch. You will die.
Unfortunately, they could have been written by anyone.
Certainly some slick attorney would suggest she’d written the words herself.
Also, if she lived in the same neighborhood as she had during the trial, the area was notorious for criminal activity.
When I didn’t say anything right away, she lifted her head.
Her eyes were even more imploring than when I’d opened the door. “It’s not enough to put him back in prison.”
“Unfortunately not. I agree with you that while Jacob is a psychotic killer, he’s highly intelligent. He wouldn’t have left any fingerprints.” Which made him not only unpredictable but highly dangerous.
“I know what you’re thinking. It could have been written by anyone. But it wasn’t. He was standing outside my apartment. Right there on the street near the light peering up at me and I could swear he was smiling.”
“Did you happen to get a picture of the person watching you?” I could tell as her face fell, she hadn’t.
Her lips pursed, twisting out of frustration. She appeared more distraught than the night before. “You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you’re terrified and saw someone and some asshole definitely left you a nasty message.
” I hated doubting her story, but I couldn’t go guns a-blazing to Ms. Guthrie or the state attorney’s office with baseless innuendos about the man they’d released already threatening the single witness.
Not only would her credibility be challenged, so would mine.
Plus, I’d be grilled about why she’d come to me and the status of our relationship. I’d need to play this very carefully if I had any hopes of doing things the right way.
I almost choked on the thought, the bitter taste in my mouth forcing me to push my mug of coffee out of the way.
While she’d slept, I’d pondered. Maybe that the wrong word to use. I’d paced the floor of my office, making notes on how best to handle the situation and speculating on what technicality had been used to get Jacob free from prison.
In doing so, I’d caught myself thinking more about Chase’s odd but pointed suggestion. The justice system had been stretched over the years and criminals seemingly birthed like cockroaches. We were a fractured society and there wasn’t a rein big enough to corral the issues.