Chapter 39
thirty-nine
Jo
The hot water pours over me, washing away blood, dirt, and grime that’s accumulated over the last few days. My eyes are closed, my mind wandering.
Senator Richard Pierce is dead. We burned down the house, but there’s no way there won’t be evidence of foul play. They’ll probably discover the dead bodies in the basement. Maybe whatever I shot Sinclair up with didn’t kill him and they can blame him for everything.
I ignore the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing, content to be lost in the sensation of the pounding water.
“Jo?” West’s voice has me opening my eyes, taking in his blurred form behind the fogged glass. “Are you doing okay? You’ve been in there a while.”
“Just thinkin’.” I shrug, turning to grab some of the body wash kept in the shower.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
I sigh. “Doctor, I hate talkin’ through doors. Why don’t you either come in here, or we can talk when I get out.”
He stills for a moment. He and Sam saw me bare when Hayden claimed me, and I’ve seen him shirtless plenty of times. But never have we both been completely naked together.
I’m prepared for him to tell me he’ll wait, but then I see the shape of him start removing clothes. My heart pounds in anticipation, my scent soaking the air as I get a teasing look of his naked body through the glass.
When he opens the door to step in, some of the fog escapes, and it occurs to me I must look like a drowned rat. But when his eyes take me in, it’s like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. His throat bobs, and there’s no hiding the heat in his eyes as his cock does the same.
“What’s going through your mind, Siren?” he asks quietly, his arms hanging awkwardly at his sides as he pointedly ignores his physical response to me.
He’s so far removed from the man that offered himself up for torture only hours ago so I wouldn’t have to take a few hits.
I can’t help the anger that bubbles up at the memory. The helplessness I felt watching himself volunteer so I’d stop fighting.
At the time, I didn’t even realize he had a plan.
All I could think about was how he’d be hurt and broken because of me.
Now, I see it for what it was—part of his ploy to get them to open the door so Kole could take them out.
But what if Kole hadn’t been able to break the cuffs?
What if things hadn’t worked out how they planned, and West got hurt because of me?
“Like you care.” My words are irrational, and I’m completely aware of this. I know I shouldn’t be mad.
But I am.
“What do you mean?” His brows furrow in confusion.
“You didn’t care how I felt when you went after Turnip,” I bite out. “You didn’t care when you volunteered to be tortured.”
He sighs, running a hand over his hair. “Jo, I—”
“Listen. I know that you were doin’ it for me.
I know you were gettin’ us out. But how do you think I woulda felt if you had taken a bullet tryin’ to get Turnip?
How I woulda lived with myself if Kole wasn’t able to break the cuffs and they really did hurt you to get me to cooperate?
!” My voice is shrill now, tears stinging my eyes.
“You keep puttin' yourself in danger, and you don’t seem to realize what it does to me, West!”
His mouth is on mine before I can blink.
The kiss is punishing. Harsh. His hand grips the back of my neck, and the tears pour free.
Our naked bodies press together, nothing but drops of water from the shower spray between us.
I’m crying—sobbing—all the stress and pressure since our safe house was attacked coming to a head.
I can’t stop kissing him. I don’t want to.
My arms are around his neck, holding him close. When he rips away from me, our chests heaving, he presses his forehead against mine.
“If I get hurt,” his voice is low and gravelly, “you will be sad. If I die, you might be devastated, but still have Kole, Sam, and Hayden.” He swallows, shaking his head.
“If you’re hurt? If you die? None of us will ever recover.
I don’t think you realize what it does to us.
To me. I will never ask you to stop being who you are—the reckless soul that constantly puts herself in danger for the sake of others.
But you have to realize that if you continue to do so, I’m going to be forced to take equal measures to make sure you are safe. ”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Even now, I’m not used to other people being affected by what happens to me. My heart pounds as I look up into the honey brown eyes of my Doctor. The man who continually sacrifices himself for me. His job. His beliefs. His life.
“I’m sorry.” My voice is pitiful, and I look down.
His finger tilts my chin up. “Don’t be sorry. The way you’ve grown up…well, it’s no wonder you throw yourself into the fire for the ones you care about. Just…just don’t ever think I don’t care, okay? Because the exact opposite is true. I care too much—”
This time it’s my lips that cut off his words. The kiss isn’t as harsh as before, but no less demanding. A silent reprimand.
He could never care “too much”.
West groans into my mouth as he hikes his arms under my ass and lifts me up. His hard cock is trapped between us as he props me up against the wall, my aching core desperate for friction.
“West,” I whimper, and he curses, reaching blindly to turn off the water. Water drips from us as he carries me out of the shower, his lips never leaving mine as he holds me to him.
“Fuck, I knew I should have been the one to to check on her,” I hear Hayden mutter before a door slams, and then I’m being lowered to the bed.
“I need you,” I whisper to my beta, holding my arms out as I look up at him. “Please, West.”
“You never need to ask, Siren,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my lips, then he’s kissing lower down my body. My neck, between my breasts, down my navel, and then…
He kisses my aching clit.
“West!” I cry out, my hands fisting the sheets as he licks and sucks at me, twirling his tongue around my desperate bundle of nerves.
“You taste so damn good,” he groans, his fingers coming up and teasing my entrance. “You’re so tight, Siren.”
A groan of satisfaction leaves me when he slides his fingers inside, his tongue never leaving my needy pussy.
“Oh! Fuck!” I’m sure the guys can hear us plain as day from the other room, but I can’t bring myself to care. My hands move from the sheets to his head as he sucks my clit into his mouth and tilts his fingers up to hit my g-spot.
I explode, my release overtaking me like a tidal wave, and he gently strokes me through it, not lifting himself until my head falls back on the mattress. “Holy shit.” My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath. “Get inside me, West.”
“What my Siren wants, she gets.” He lifts himself so he’s hovering over me, then lifts one of my legs over his arm before lining himself up. The first press of his hard, throbbing cock into me makes my breath catch. “Fuck, Jo, I don’t know how long I’m gonna last. It’s been so long—”
He cuts off with a moan when I tilt my hips up, making him slide the rest of the way into me. West hovers above me for a moment, and we keep eye contact as his cock pulses once inside me.
“Fuck, sorry,” he grunts, lowering himself.
“Don’t be sorry,” I pant, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Just kiss me.”
And he does. Tasting myself on his lips is erotic as hell, and the drag of his cock against my insides stokes the fire in me higher and higher until I’m sure I’m about to tip over the edge again.
My hands move from his neck down his back, feeling the muscles he obviously puts in hard work to maintain.
A high pitched keen leaves me when he swivels his hips just right, and he lets out a low growl, mimicking the move again and again until I’m falling, my pussy clenching around his cock, milking his own release from him.
He lets out a low, sexy groan as he pulses inside me, and then he rolls off, landing on the bed next to me. I turn my head to look at him, and he puts a hand on my face, bringing me closer to kiss me again.
“Fuck,” he sighs. “I’m falling in love with you, Siren.”
“Meet you at the bottom?” I pant, and he grins before kissing me again.
“Clothes are here!” Sam is knocking on the door ten minutes later.
“Come in, Sammy-Boy, you don’t have to knock.” I sit up on the bed not bothering to cover myself. West bands a hand around my waist and pulls me back down.
The door opens, and Sam walks in, holding a dozen paper bags, all filled to the brim. “I don’t know how much use Prada is going to be, but Vander’s family obviously has expensive taste.”
West lets me up, and I scramble to the end of the bed, still naked as I take the bags from Sam. I hold up a beautiful cashmere sweater and a pair of jeans. “Damn. People might think I’m classy if I wear shit like this.”
“You’re classy as fuck, Fireball.” Hayden leans in the doorway, his heated eyes roaming over my bare body.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Nobody but you thinks that, Darlin’.”
“I think it,” Kole interjects, sidling past Hayden to enter the room. “You are a majestic sight to behold, Lisichka.”
I find myself giggling. But then, Sam’s nose twitches. “Jo…are you feeling okay? You smell…strong.”
Frowning, I lift my arm and sniff under my armpit. “I think I smell fresh as a daisy, thank you very much.”
“No, I mean your scent.”
Hayden pushes away from the door and comes in front of me. “I noticed it too, but I figured it was because she and West were just having sex.”
“Have you taken your suppressants today?” Kole frowns, his nose twitching as well. “Not that you do not smell amazing, but it could be indicative of—”
“My heat,” I groan, palming my face. “No, the suppressants were in the duffels with all our clothes. They must still be back at the car wreck.”
“Shit,” Hayden curses. “Do you think Adela could get us some more?”
“I’ve never had a heat before, so I don’t know exactly how they work, but from what I understand, if you take them after your symptoms have already started, it’ll make it less intense but it won’t stop it altogether.
” I bite my lip, then dig through the clothing bag for clean underwear. “We can try, though.”
“I’ll go to the house and see if she can help,” Hayden says, running a hand through his hair.
I nod. “Do you want me to come with you?”
He shakes his head, giving me a weak smile. “It’s okay, Fireball. You deserve some rest.”