TWENTY-THREE - ROMAN
The last thing I wanted to do was shoot this poor fucker in front of Jameson, but he wouldn’t stop screaming, and it was pissing me off. That and I wasn’t about to give him a chance to even think about trying to come back.
Problem solved.
As much as I wanted to know who he was, his identification was the last thing I was concerned about at the moment. I needed to get her out of here first.
“Holy shit,” I heard Ivan say. “That was impressive.”
“He didn’t even look,” Jordan said quietly to Ivan.
I wanted to tell him, yeah, no shit. Why do you think Ivan brought me here?
“How’d he get here?” I asked Jordan since he was the one who was supposed to be standing post.
“I—he just got off the elevator. Came down here faster than I could respond.”
“And you let him in here, why?” I asked James, knowing she was the only one who could have opened the door.
“He knew,” she whispered.
I scrunched my eyebrows together. “Knew what?” Because at this point, I didn’t know up from down, who knew what, or whether I was coming or going anymore.
“Magnolia. He told me—us—to stay away.”
Fuck. “Get him out of here,” I said to Ivan and Jordan. “Take him out of the building and off the property. Just make sure he gets to Kane before the end of the day.”
“Yeah, sure. Got it,” Jordan acknowledged.
Ivan just shook his head and half laughed in amusement. “We’ll take care of it.”
I loosened my grip around James, holding her at arm’s length. “You okay?”
She looked up at me. “Y—yeah.” She swallowed. “I’m…okay. I think. Thank you.”
I brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “That’s what I’m here for.”
Jordan radioed for backup. We needed to leave, but I didn’t want to have to step over this guy. I also didn’t want to sit here with a dead body any longer than we already had.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I looked her over. She seemed fine, no visible marks.
She shook her head. “No.”
I steadied my breathing. “We need to get you out of here. Come on.” I grabbed her hand and led her toward the door, shielding her from the man with a bullet hole in his forehead.
I positioned her ahead of me, just outside the door, keeping her back to me as I leaned over to Ivan. “You recognize him?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Never seen him. Still probably one of Kane’s guys. You know how he goes through men.”
Either way, he wasn’t my problem anymore. He was going back to Kane, and he could figure out what to do with the guy’s body.
What I wanted to know more than his identity was how he’d gotten ahold of one of our employee uniforms. He was wearing an Emerald Haze button-down shirt and black dress pants.
The pants were basic; anyone could get them, but the shirts were issued through HR and embroidered with the employee’s name during orientation and returned upon dismissal. His name spot had been left blank.
I kept a tight grip on James and walked us back to her penthouse. We passed Cody from security running in the opposite direction as we trekked across the casino floor.
We eventually reached the top floor of the hotel and stopped in the middle of the hallway. There were two options—her place or mine. The doors were directly across the hall from one another, and it didn’t matter which one we used; I wasn’t leaving her alone again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked when we reached the middle point between her place and mine.
“Yeah, I’m fine, actually. I’m just ready to get this shit over with so I can put it behind me. All I wanted was to host this fundraiser in honor of my dad. I didn’t know it was going to turn into a life-or-death fiasco.”
“I agree, but it is, and I’m here. But right now, where to?”
“What do you mean?”
“Whose place are we going to, mine or yours? Because I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I’ll be fine…at least for the rest of the day. Kane’s never sent two men back-to-back.”
“Are you crazy? Before you answer, let me answer that for you—you’re crazy. At this point, you’ll be lucky if you shower alone from now on.”
“Why?” Her shoulders slumped. “What difference does it make now? Kane isn’t letting this go, and my own men fucked up and almost got me killed…again. I’m just not safe anywhere anymore.”
“Look at me.” My gut twisted. I felt the same way, but as long as I was here, I would stop at nothing to protect her.
Not even because it was my job anymore, but because it was her.
My leaving her under Jordan’s watch was a big fucking mistake, one that I would never make again.
Though my time alone with Ivan had been more than productive and informative, to say the least. My only mission now was to become Jameson’s shadow as much as possible from here on out.
I reached under her chin and tilted her face up. “Look at me. You have nothing to worry about. Okay? Your life is mine. I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t say ever. You’re only here because you’re being paid. You’ll be gone again in a few days.”
“You can’t be serious. Is that what you think?” If she only knew the shit I’d been through today alone, just in the last couple of hours, she wouldn’t remotely feel that way. She didn’t have a fucking clue what I was up against.
“It’s just—I have so much going on and so much to do, and it really hit me that when this is over, you’re leaving. Whether I make it out alive, you get to walk out of here a free man. All I want is to leave.”
With any luck, it’ll be with me. “Come here.” I pulled her into me and wrapped my arms around her.
“Why do you care so much?” she asked with her face buried in my chest.
For starters, because I fucking love you.
I’ve always loved you. I never stopped loving you.
All the things I wanted to say but couldn’t.
Instead of telling her how I’d felt, I went with the next best thing.
Maybe not the most appropriate time, but the opportunity presented itself, and I wasn’t turning back this time.
“Because if anything happens to you, I can’t do this.”
Catching her off guard, I lifted her off the ground and backed her up against my door.
Decision made.
She let out a gasp, but I caught her mouth with mine before she could protest. As soon as our lips locked, her entire body relaxed in my arms. She moaned into my mouth as she physically melted into me.
That’s my girl. She wanted this just as much as me.
That much I already knew. And as many chances that we’ve had, then backed out of, this was not going to be one of those times. It was time to stop playing around.
I reached behind her and cupped her ass with both hands, giving it a firm squeeze as I slid my tongue deeper into her mouth. She welcomed it in, sucking on it the slightest before gently dragging it between her teeth. This got a moan out of me.
“Isn’t this breaking my rules?” she asked with a sly grin.
“Oh, it most definitely is, but you said yourself that you make the rules, Miss Hazentree. If I’m being honest, I don’t give a fuck about your rules anymore.”
“You’re right,” she whispered. “I do make the rules, which also means I can break them. So whatever it is you plan on doing to me, please don’t stop. No more stopping.”
While holding her up against the wall with one arm, I reached into my back pocket with the other, pulled out my key card, and unlocked the door behind her. “Not a chance in hell.”
I wrapped her legs tighter around my waist as I carried her inside, shoving the door closed with my foot.
She cradled my face between her hands, bringing her mouth back to mine as her delicate tongue dipped between my lips. Kissing Jameson felt like having life breathed back into me.
I walked over to my bed and carefully sat her down on the edge.
“No going back?” she asked with the slightest hesitation in her voice.
I knelt in front of her. “No, Jameson. No going back.” I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.
“These need to go,” she said, slipping her shoes off one at a time, flicking them to the side.
“No, these need to go.” I grabbed the waistband of her dress pants, pulling them downward. She rose slightly off the bed as I dragged them down…her panties coming off with them.
This wasn’t the first time we had ever been intimate, but definitely the longest we’d ever gone without each other. It will not be our last.
I ran my palms slowly up and down her thighs. When I reached her knees, I coaxed her legs apart, spreading her open.
“Oh, god,” she moaned softly.
“Lay back,” I demanded. She propped herself back on her elbows and stared down at me. “All the way.”
“What if I don’t trus—” I cut her off midsentence when I pressed my tongue to her pussy.
“Oh,” she moaned out.
I wished I could have seen her face, how her eyes fluttered closed at the sensation of my tongue as I dragged it up her slit or the way her mouth formed the perfect O when she moaned with pleasure when I gently flicked my tongue over her clit.
She fisted her hands into my hair, pulling handfuls of it into her grip, forcing my face deeper into her. I did not object.
She arched her back, moaning louder and louder, rocking her hips against my mouth as I licked and sucked and ate her out. I slowly slid two fingers into her tight, wet pussy, curling them against her inner walls. The faster I moved my fingers inside, the harder she clenched down on me.
“Rom—Roman,” she breathed. “I’m clo—”
Her hips bucked beneath me as I coaxed her first orgasm out of her. Her juices covered my face and dripped down into my hand.
As her breathing steadied, I withdrew my fingers and stood up. “You okay?”
She smiled. “I’m better than okay. Holy shit, I needed that.”
“I’m not done with you yet.”
She sat up on the edge of the bed and pulled me toward her. “Good. Because I don’t want you to be.”
I grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head, tossing it to the floor beside her pants and shoes. She reached up and dragged her fingernails across my chest and down my abdomen. When she reached the hem of my pants, she gave them a tug. “These need to go.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I unhooked my belt, unbuttoned, and pulled my own pants off.
“These, too,” she said, referring to my silk boxers. She hooked her finger into the elastic band and pulled, then let it snap back.
“Careful what you wish for.” I slid them off and gave her what she asked for.
“Hmm. Come closer.”
I stepped forward, just inches away from her. She wrapped her hand around my cock and stroked me from base to tip with a firm grip. She leaned forward and licked the bead of precum that spilled from the tip. I reached out and grabbed the back of her head, coaxing her forward.
She licked the head of my cock, then pulled me into her mouth, letting out a moan as she sucked me in.
“Fuck,” I hissed. Her going down on me would never get old—the feel of her wet lips sliding against my shaft, her hand wrapped around me, jerking me off at the same time she sucked me in. All of it had me on edge.
She moaned again as the head of my cock hit the back of her throat. I almost came.
“James, fuck, slow down.” I pulled back. “Christ, you’re gonna make me come.”
She grinned, wiping off her mouth. “And? Isn’t that the idea?”
I leaned down and kissed her swollen, dark pink lips. “Yeah, it is. But I don’t want to come in your mouth this time.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“I’m not done with you yet.” I planted a gentle kiss on the side of her mouth, then kissed along her jawline to her ear. I nibbled on her earlobe, then licked and kissed my way down her neck until I reached her breast.
She arched her back, urging me on. I wrapped my mouth on one nipple, then the other, sucking, flicking my tongue, focusing on one at a time.
My cock nestled between her thighs as I urged her to lie back on the bed.
Her legs spread slightly apart, allowing the head of my cock to rub against her wet pussy.
“Roman.” She lifted her hips. “I need you.”
I grabbed my cock and rubbed her pussy up and down with the tip. “I’m all yours.”
She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I pushed myself inside of her in one long, slow movement, burying myself as deep into her as I could go.
“Ah, god,” she called out loud. Her pussy tightened around my cock as I moved in and out of her, harder and faster.
I grabbed onto her shoulders, pulling her downward as I thrust upward. “Fuck. James. Your pussy’s so goddamned tight. And mine. All. Fucking. Mine.”
We panted, our bodies drenched slick with sweat as I fucked her with everything I had.
What felt like years of pent-up frustration, want, need, desire, anger, unspoken feelings—all of it—came barreling out of me in the form of rough and raw sex, topped off with single-handedly the most mind-blowing orgasm I’ve ever had with the woman who was unknowingly responsible for every single one of those emotions.
And fuck.
Every minute I’d ever spent wondering what her pussy would feel like wrapped around my dick again, every second I’d thought about being inside of her all night long, wondering if we’d ever even make it this far, was worth the wait.
Because now I know.