Cherish Me (The Protected Love Series) (8 page)

From the edge of the bed Judy stood and made her way back out of the empty guest room. Walking into the kitchen she saw Jace leaning over into the fridge.

“So what’s for dinner tonight?” Judy asked taking a seat at the bar.

“Oh, I figured I would whi
p up some mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and some green beans.” Jace leaned up smiling.

“Seems very… southern.” Judy smirked as she hopped off of the stool. “I will grab the plates and get the table set.

“Oh, no no. I will take care of that. Why don’t you go have a seat on the couch? I will bring you a glass of wine.” Jace nuzzled the hair at the back of her neck while walking her towards the great room.

“What on Earth has gotten into you?” She giggled as he gently swatted her ass.

Just before she could sit down on the couch she heard the doorbell ring. She looked over at Jace questioningly, taking in the silly grin on his face as he leaned against the door frame.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Jace smiled nodding towards the door.

“I didn’t know we were expecting guests tonight.”

Judy made her way over to the door
looking back at Jace, his eyes were as bright as a kid on Christmas morning. A smile plastered from ear to ear.
This asshole probably ordered KFC chicken. Smartass
. Lifting up onto her toes she peered out of the peep hole. She wasn’t sure who the large figure was on the other side. His hair was shortly cropped on the back of his head as he stared down towards the other end of the hallway. She waited for a moment until the man turned back and faced the door. His ice blue eyes and chocolate brown hair stood out as she took in the features of his face. Without thought she slung the door open and launched herself out at him.

“Mason!” Her heart felt as though it was going to rupture from her chest.
Her brother was home.

“Sis! Oh
, you don’t know how badly I’ve missed you.” He wrapped his large arms around her small frame, holding her as if she’d disappear at any moment.

“Oh my God
… How did you? Where did you find me?” Her words stuttered from her mouth. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?” She held his large frame out at arm’s length checking him from head to toe.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Y
our boy Jace here actually got in touch with me. Come to find out he actually served alongside my Master Sergeant. Since I was transitioning back into the civilian world he was able to pull some strings and get me a flight over here.”

“Jace!” Judy turned finding him standing behind her with that same shit eating grin on his face. Reaching out he took Mason’s hand shaking it proudly.

“Welcome home soldier.” Jace responded. “I hope everything went smoothly with your flight? Please, come in and make yourself at home.”

“Yes, thank you again for everything you did to help.” Mason said taking in the large apartment
before plopping his large sea bag next to the couch. “Nice place you have here.”

“Thank you. It’s much more like
home now that I have Judy with me.” He said wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I’
m sorry. I am still in shock that you are actually here!” Judy couldn’t help but smile. “I have my two favorite men with me now. Please tell me that you’re staying for a while, Mason.”

“I am completely transferred over into the civilian sector. However
, you’re going to have to help me find a job.” He laughed. “I don’t want to be living off my little sister.”

“Oh, I think we can arrange something.” Jace smirked as the doorbell rang again.

“More guests?” Judy looked to Jace.

“
Nah, that would be the chicken.” He laughed as he headed over to the door.

“I knew your smartass wasn’t going to actually cook.”
Judy chuckled as she helped take the food to the table.

*****

“So Mason, what do you say you and I head into the office in the morning and I can introduce you to some of the guys?” Jace asked in between bites.

“Sounds good.” Mason said devouring another piece of chicken.

“Don’t worry about finding a place or anything right now. You can stay here with us until you get settled” Jace nodded.

“Ok thanks. I don’t want to be crashing on your couch for too long. I may check around this weekend and see what I can find.”
Mason smiled over at Judy before continuing, “I might hook up with Alexis and see what that place was that she was staying at.”

“Alexis? How did you know Alexis was here?” Judy said trying to choke down the food in her mouth.

“We have kept in touch online for the last few years. I haven’t seen her in a while. She told me a few years back that she loved the place she’d found. Said it was away from the traffic and the main city. You two haven’t hooked up yet? I figured as close as you were in school that you two would have taken this city over together already.” Mason chuckled.

Judy almost spit her drink all over the table. Her eyes made their way to Jace’s,
his eyes gave away a knowing look. He should have told her about what Gabe thought he’d found. He glanced over giving her a silent look that they would talk about it later, but that didn’t go very far.

“Jace. Do you have something to tell me?” Judy spouted across the table.

“Well, I’d hoped that once we’d found more solid information you and I could have discussed this. But since I just got that information, I suppose now is as good a time as any.” He looked over apologetically at Mason.

“Gabe found an address for Alexis here in LA.
It was from a few years back. And for the record Mason you will not be living there. It’s not in the best area.” Jace swallowed his last bite before leaning back in his seat taking both of their stares in. “We weren’t sure if it was mere coincidence, that maybe someone with the same information was located here in LA, or if it were truly her. I sent Gabe over to hassle the management company about any remains or belonging’s that had been left behind. They aren’t budging, said that the belongings wouldn’t be given out without ID confirmation. So that’s a dead end.”

“What do you think she left behind?” Jace could see Judy’s interest peaking.

“We don’t know really. Anything that could have been left is better than nothing at all. A note, pictures, receipts; anything that could connect her to what is going on.” Jace brushed his hand over his face. “Listen Honey, I know that Alexis is your friend. But I think that somehow or another she is connected to this whole thing; the phone calls, text messages, her showing up in random places unannounced they feel off. Maybe she’s doing it against her will. Maybe she’s not.”

“You think Alexis is working with a gang? I mean
, I know she has a terrible history of boyfriends, but that kind of puts it over the edge.” Judy rolled her eyes.

“Well, I know that one guy she was dating when she first moved her was a real douche.” Mason chimmed in.
“What the hell was his name?” He wracked his brain as he mulled over, spouting out various names, “William, no. Kyle, no… Thomas, no..”

“Trent?” Judy whispered from across the table.

“Yeah, Trent. Man, he was a prick. Pretty boy who cared about nothing but himself. He used to get her to do all kinds of dumb shit for him. She would email me complaining about how he’d talked her into sending fake complaints to his bosses so that they would fire the managers and promote him in their place.” Mason paused looking from Jace to Judy and back to Jace. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,
but I think you just told us everything we needed to know.” Jace said before continuing. “Did you get all of the information about the shooting at the night club, Mason?”

“I got a lot of information but since I was overseas I didn’t get the specifics. I wanted to call a hundred times Judy, I did. I
just never got the chance.” Regret filled Mason’s eyes.

“It’s ok Mason. I knew it wa
s hard for you to just pick up the phone and call when you were in the middle of the desert.” Judy reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“So what is going on with this Trent guy?” Mason asked.

“Leading up to the night of the shooting Judy and two of her friends had been working for a guy named Trent Williams. He was the owner of the nightclub; aside from him being a douche, we didn’t think he was wrapped up in the shit storm he actually was. He had acquired some investors, who turned out to be less than honorable. After the asshole didn’t pay up, the gang that was affiliated with Trent’s business partner decided they would take revenge on Abbi and Judy. Thinking they would get to Trent.” Jace explained. “The night that Judy was shot, Ryan and I were given privilege to join the local SWAT Team and we took the bastard gang leader out. We haven’t had confirmation that the phone calls and threats were from the gang. We also have to think about the fact that Trent is currently at large and we literally caused his world to cave in around him. It’s very plausible to think he is trying to act out some sort of revenge also.”

“Ok, so I am taking it that we are going to find this
Trent bastard and make him pay?” Anticipation reverberated in Mason’s voice.

“Well, here’s the thing. We can’t
find him; and over the past few weeks Judy hasn’t been speaking with Alexis. So we don’t really know where either of them are and we can’t rule out that this may still be a threat from the gang. Taking out the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in the LA area doesn’t really keep you off of the radar. Even with this new information, it’s not enough to say who is causing this to happen.”

“So what you’re telling me is that it’s time to do a little reconnaissance work.” Mason grinned.

“Do you still have Alexis’ contact information?” Jace asked.

“I’ve got it right here.” Mason said holding up his cell.

“Judy, have I told you lately how much I like your brother?”

Judy woke to the bright light peeking in through their bedroom curtains. Rolling over she took in the peaceful look on Jace’s face. It was the first night in weeks that he had gotten a good night’s sleep. Words couldn’t describe her devotion to this man. She knew that no matter where he went she would go
too. She would do anything she could to make him happy. This was what true love felt like. She would never be her mother because Jace would never let her be that type of woman. He would lift her up, support her, and cherish her. He would never expect her to cower down in the corner. He helped her embrace her free spirit and for that she would always love him.

It had been days since she had felt his hands running against her body. She craved his touch, his fire. Quietly she removed the cover from him pulling her black hair to the side as she knelt next to him. “Good morning, Mr. Alexander.” She nuzzled below his ear planting her lips against his skin.

“Mmm, good morning to you Princess.” He reached up and wrapped his arms around her neck pulling her down to him.

She devoured his mouth, ta
king his bottom lip in hers biting down and gently pulling. “I want to feel you inside of me Jace.” Her words bit at his skin causing goose bumps to run from his neck down.

In one swift motion he rolled on top of her pushing her body down into the mattress.
His erection pressed into the apex of her thighs putting pressure against her clit. She rocked her hips up towards him causing the sensation to travel up her body. She moaned as he pulled the light fabric of her nightgown away from her breast, reaching up and slipping the strap down her arm. His lips rubbed against her taut nipple, stroking it with his tongue before taking it into his mouth and sucking hard.

“Please
, Jace. Please make love to me.” She begged out, her body feeling as though it was about to spontaneously combust.

“Oh I am, Baby. I am about to devour you whole.” His hands took her
s, intertwining their fingers as he brought her hands up above her head.

She watched as he leaned over to his end table and retrieved the black w
rist restraints. He gently wrapped them around both of her wrists before latching it to the black strap hidden under their pillows. She pulled against the soft black fabric testing its strength. She wasn’t going anywhere and the thrill of it vibrated through her body. He kissed his way down to her other breast as he reached back over to the nightstand. Removing the black satin blindfold and placing it over her eyes.

“You
want to feel me inside of you, Baby?” His soft words were suddenly right next to her ear.

“Yes. Please Jace.”

“You’re going to feel me everywhere. Here.” He paused for a moment before taking one nipple and then the other into his mouth and sucking hard. “Here.” He kissed slowly down to her naval as anticipation flourished into her stomach.

She slowly opened her eyes in expectation of what was coming next. His kisses trailed down her thighs as his hot breath blew out against her panties. “And here.” Sliding her lace panties to the side he slid his tongue up her pussy and to her clit. She pulled against her restraints moaning out.

“Let me hear you scream baby. Scream as my tongue sucks on your hot wet clit.” Before her brain could catch up he was ripping her panties off of her.