All of My Soul (4 page)

“So what broke the window?”

The detective sighed loudly. “Can I text you
a picture?”

Lincoln agreed, and we waited in silence for
the notification. A small bubble popped up at the top of the
screen, and Lincoln tapped it, causing his text-messaging app to
appear. I gasped in horror as a crumpled picture of me being pinned
down on a dirty brown carpet while naked filled Lincoln’s screen.
Someone had drawn two X’s over my eyes, and a bright line of red
ink went through my neck.

“Where did you get that?!” Lincoln exclaimed
and quickly exited out of the app.

“You’re familiar with that picture?” the
detective asked.

“Where did you get it?” Lincoln asked again,
this time with more force.

Detective Murray cleared his throat. “It was
rubber-banded around a rock that was found in a pile of glass on
your bedroom floor.”

I whimpered and covered my mouth with my
hand. I seriously thought we were done with this shit. I should
have known Mackenzie would always find a way to use it to hurt
me.

Lincoln looked at me with concern etched in
every detail of his face. He put his arm around my shoulders and
pulled me tight against his chest.

“Detective, my brother will call you
shortly.”

“Mr. Monaghan, do not impede my
investigation. You need to tell me what you know.”

Lincoln exhaled sharply. “The woman in the
picture is my girlfriend, Jillian Thompson. The picture was taken
during an assault on her five years ago. You’ll need to speak with
Mackenzie McKay.”

“Miss Illinois, Mackenzie McKay?” the
detective asked in awe.

“
Former
Miss Illinois,” Lincoln
replied with a snarky tone. “My brother will be in touch.”

Lincoln hung up the phone and pulled me into
his lap. He cradled me as I hid my face in the side of his neck. I
should have expected something like this. I had a gut feeling
Mackenzie had been responsible for the vandalism on my car. Why had
I assumed the restraining order would work? Clearly, she didn’t
care. I had known a long time ago there was something not right
with her. I shouldn’t have expected her to not use my picture to
her advantage, especially after she sold it to the tabloid but
didn’t get the exposure she wanted. But something didn’t make
sense.

“Why would she do this?” I asked quietly.

“Because she’s an evil, hate-filled
bitch.”

“No, I know that. But it doesn’t make sense
for her to do this. I mean, clearly we would link her with this
picture. She would have to have known she’d be the prime suspect.
It’s almost too obvious. You know what I mean? Why would she risk
incriminating herself?”

Lincoln grumbled. “I don’t know, but it has
to be her.”

“Anyone could have gotten that picture, but I
would feel better if it was her.”

“Why do you say that?”

I sighed. “If it’s her, then we know she’s
just being cruel. I don’t think she has the guts to actually
physically hurt me. It’s more terrifying if it’s some random person
doing this for God-knows-what reason.”

Lincoln shook his head. “It makes more sense
that it’s Mackenzie. Even if she is just being cruel and
stupid.”

“I hope it is. It’d be nice to put an end to
this.”

“Nice?” Lincoln’s voice was low and sharp.
“Jillian, it would be nice if she disappeared from the surface of
the earth. Preferably in a painful and torturous way.”

Wow. I knew Lincoln hated Mackenzie, but I
had never heard him speak so viciously about anyone. But we had
arrived at our hotel, so I didn’t comment.

“What time do we have to leave tomorrow?” I
asked Lincoln as we rode the elevator to the top floor of our
hotel.

“Not till two o’clock.”

I pushed all thoughts of what the police had
found at Lincoln’s house out of my mind. Tonight was our night. I
put a smirk on my face, and I swaggered across the elevator until I
was standing right in front of him, leaning into him. “So we get to
sleep in and snuggle in bed all morning?”

“Would that make you happy?”

I furrowed my brows at his tone. He didn’t
sound pleased. “Of course it would, Lincoln.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry
your Valentine’s Day got ruined. I know how excited you were for
today.”

“It’s not ruined. Do you think it’s
ruined?”

“You told Frankie, Molly, and Kennedy that
you ruined their Valentine’s Day.”

I nodded but was still confused. “I did. I
feel bad for interrupting their night.”

“And your night wasn’t interrupted?”

I sighed. “Yes, I wish the window thing
wouldn’t have interrupted our night, but I still get to be with you
tonight. So nothing is ruined. No matter what Mackenzie or whoever
did this tries, they can’t ruin this. I’m spending Valentine’s Day
with the man I am madly in love with. Nothing can change that.”

“Princess…” he whispered.

He tried to circle his arms around me, but
the elevator dinged as we reached our floor. I smiled and bit my
lip as I stepped away from him. Grabbing his hand, I walked
backward out of the elevator, pulling him with me.

His eyes burned into mine as he followed me
down the short hallway. I stopped in front of our room and leaned
back against the door. Lincoln closed the space between us quickly,
taking the last three steps in almost a run. The door thumped as he
placed his hands on either side of my head and loomed over me.

“You’re perfect, you know that? I can’t get
over it.” He was breathing deeply, and his desire for me was
obvious.

I shook my head. “You’re perfect,” I
whispered back to him.

He bent his elbows and lowered his face to
mine. His kisses started off softly and slowly but quickly grew
more intense.

“Lincoln,” I whimpered as he caged me against
the door. His body felt so good against mine. I loved being this
close to him.

I heard the beep of our door lock as Lincoln
pulled away from me. “Let’s go inside. I think you’ll like your
next surprise.”

“There’s more?” I asked as he opened the door
and nodded.

The lights in our room had been dimmed, and
there was a soft glow coming from the large bathroom. Our bed had
been covered in red rose petals; my roses from this morning sat in
a glass vase on the nightstand next to my side of the bed. I kicked
off my boots before peeking inside the bathroom. The Jacuzzi tub
had been filled with bubbly water, and small tea-light candles
lined the edge. A platter of strawberries sat next to a silver
bucket of ice that held a green bottle of champagne.

I sensed Lincoln standing directly behind me
in the doorway of the bathroom so I turned and hugged him around
the waist, burying my face in his coat.

His arms came around me and held me tightly
against him.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“How did you do this?” This wasn’t what the
room had looked like when I left.

“I have my ways.” I could hear the smile in
his voice. “Do you want to take a bath, Princess?”

“Mm. That sounds wonderful.” Warm water,
relaxing bubbles, and naked Lincoln? Did he really need to ask?

Lincoln unbuttoned his coat, then mine, and
threw them onto a chair in the corner of the bathroom. He returned
to me, cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me passionately. My
hands wandered around to his back, and I began pulling at his dress
shirt, untucking it from his jeans. He broke our kiss and stepped
back from me so he could unwrap my scarf from around my neck. His
eyes never left mine until he slowly lifted my sweater up over my
head, revealing my camisole underneath.

“You have way too many layers. In the future,
fewer layers, more skin,” he said as he pulled my tank top over my
head.

Knowing my skin was marred and imperfect, I
couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed and utterly grateful that
Lincoln could say he wanted more of it. I leaned back against the
sink vanity and arched my back so my chest rose up.

“More skin? Like this?” I asked as I skimmed
my fingertips of one hand down the cleavage created by my new bra.
It was difficult to be naked in front of him, despite his
reassurance this morning, but I had bought this bra specifically
for tonight. It was hot pink with black lace on the cups. It lifted
me up and created cleavage I never had before. I felt like a model
wearing it, even if I didn’t necessarily look like one.

Lincoln took a step back and his eyes locked
on to my chest. “Holy shit. Is that new?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “And the panties
match.”

His dark brown eyes flashed to mine. They
were full of desire. “Show me,” he ordered.

I smiled widely. He liked it. I could see how
much he liked it through his jeans.

I pushed him back a little more and tried to
look sexy as I walked to the chair where he had placed our coats.
Lincoln watched me like a predator as I retrieved my phone from my
coat pocket and brought up my music app. I selected a song with a
deep bass beat and began swaying my hips and rolling my shoulders
as Eve’s “Let Me Blow Your Mind” featuring Gwen Stefani filled the
room. It was an older song, but it was perfect for what I wanted to
do.

With an uncharacteristic burst of confidence,
I hooked my thumbs inside my waistband and slowly unbuttoned my
pants and lowered the zipper. I quickly spun around so my back was
to Lincoln as the song took over my movements. I felt sexy and
confident as I flipped my long hair over one shoulder and looked
back at my man.

Lincoln clenched and unclenched his fists as
he watched me dance to the music. He was totally mesmerized, and it
made me feel so desirable. He never looked at me as if my scars
were invisible. Rather, he looked at me as if my scars were just
another piece of me that made me even more beautiful to him. He
made me feel completely accepted and loved.

Sliding my fingers around to the waistband by
my hips, I slowly pulled down on one side of my skinny jeans,
revealing the tiny string of pink and black lace.

I turned back around to face him and pulled
the other side of my jeans down over my hip and let them fall down
to my ankles. I somehow managed to work my feet out of my socks and
jeans without falling over or looking too ridiculous.

Lincoln licked his lips as I moved my hands
over my body and sauntered toward my man who was wearing too many
layers himself.

“More skin,” I told him as I reached for the
buttons on his shirt. He placed his hands on my hips as I stood in
front of him in just my bra and panties, swaying to the beat of the
music. I stripped off his shirt, adding it to the growing pile of
clothing on the floor, and immediately began unbuckling his belt. I
pulled on it as I stepped back from him and worked it free of his
pants, loop by loop. As soon as his belt was free, he rid himself
of his pants and boxers, and I stopped dancing as I took in the
sight of him. I wanted to memorize every inch of his skin. Every
bump of his muscles. He was so handsome, and he was all mine.

He took a step toward me, and I snapped out
of my daze. I smiled at him as I started moving my hips to the beat
again.

“Jillian, you’re killing me. Come here.”

I bit my lip and swayed my head back and
forth. I had plans and a surprise of my own for him, but that was
for later.

I held out my hand, and when he placed his in
mine, I pulled him toward the chair in the corner. I threw our
coats on the floor and pushed him down into the cushy chair. His
erection stood straight up, and all I wanted to do was crawl on top
and impale myself on him, but I restrained myself.

I placed my hands on the arms of the chair
and leaned over him. Softly I brushed my lips over his, teasing him
until he reacted. He sat up slightly so he could kiss me deeply.
When I returned his intensity, I heard him groan, and his hands
brushed against the skin at my ribs before moving higher to my
breasts. He ran his hands over my bra and tried to circle his
thumbs around my nipples, but I pulled away from him. I was already
too worked up.

Leaning over him again, I ran my hands down
his chest and across his abdomen. I took his hard member gently in
my hand. Lincoln closed his eyes and dropped his head back as I
moved my hand up and down slowly.

I leaned closer and moved my mouth to his
ear. I licked the outer shell slowly before whispering, “I’m gonna
blow your mind…”

Lincoln’s shivered and breathed deeply
several times. I dropped to my knees between his legs and ran my
hand up his thigh. He opened his eyes slightly, and I could see him
watching me as I lowered my mouth to his thick shaft.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby. Thank you for
such an awesome day,” I told him before I took him in my mouth.

He groaned loudly as I began to slowly bob my
head up and down. His leg muscles quivered, and his pelvis moved
with each gyration of my head. I tried to take him as deep as I
could, knowing that’s how he liked it.

I looked up at him through hooded eyes as I
increased my speed and pressure, and our eyes met. The combination
of love and lust written on his face turned me on so much. I loved
how I could pleasure him. If someone had told me two months ago I’d
be giving my boyfriend a blowjob in a hotel in Boston after dancing
a strip tease, I would have said they were insane. But there was
nowhere I’d rather be right now.

Lincoln groaned loudly as he moved his right
hand to the back of my head and gently gripped my hair at the top.
He closed his eyes again, and in a matter of moments I could tell
he was close to the edge. Then he did something he’d never done
before.

Moving his left hand to join his other, he
weaved his fingers through my hair and began dominating the speed
and direction of my head, totally taking control. He cried out as
he moved me quickly up and down his shaft a few more times before
pushing me off him. He let go of me as he erupted, directing his
release onto my cleavage with a loud groan.