The Darkest Danger (Shattered Series Book 2) (7 page)

     But, his pleasurable assault continued.

     Forcing her eyes open, she maintained her rhythm against his fingers, and they seemed to probe deeper and deeper into her wet well.

     Suddenly, it wasn’t enough.

     Demanding more, she quickened her pace.

     She stared at the blank slate of the door, yet, she had no focus. And the sensations, she mulled, dazed, inhaling fractured breaths, they were too titillating to ignore. For nothing was more lethal than the feel of the fingers that probed her insides---

    “Oh…oh…” she gasped, dazed, staring blindly ahead. “Jarrod---”

     Suddenly, she was flying---

     Her wetness bathed his fingers, seeped from between her thighs.

     “I have to let go,” she cried breathlessly, clutching a plump breast in her hand. Her flesh was afire, and a misty sheen covered her soft skin. Inhaling a broken breath, she held onto the ricocheting pleasure, fully realizing that it was about to overtake her.

     Around his fingers, her muscles clenched tight, and soon, the spasms racked her body. Though, she fought to hold on, she couldn’t.

     Like a torrential flood, her explosive release came.

     Blinding her in its intensity…

     Her desperate scream finally burst free, killing the silence. Weakened, she collapsed against him.

     “You okay?” he rasped unsteadily, tightening his hold, pulling her close against him. “Baby…”

     “I want you inside of me,” she whispered, facing him fully, and closed a small hand around his engorged organ. Her passion-drugged gaze met his. “So deep that I’m full of you...”

     In one fluid movement, he lifted her.

     Their naked flesh became one as she wrapped her legs around him. “And I want to be inside of you,” he rasped hoarsely, clenching his fingers into her soft thighs, anchoring her tighter against him. “So much so that I don’t fucking care about anything else.”

     As her back met the door again, she gasped in response. But, she didn’t have the opportunity to mull that point any longer as he entered her. Her muscles clenched around his shaft, bearing his entry.

     Breathing hard and fast, he made one powerful thrust, but then halted. “Fuck,” he breathed at her ear, and a hard shudder racked his body. On its own volition, his body jerked against hers, but still, he fought for control. “You’re so wet and tight. All these weeks, you’ve been waiting for me---for me to possess you and stake my claim.
Tell me that I’m lying
.”

     “I can’t,” she whispered, trembling against him violently, fighting for her own sanity. “For every word that you breathe from your mouth is true. Make me yours again.”

     Clenching her hips tighter, he made a powerful thrust. “Is this it, sweet Olivia---is this what you want?” he hissed, shuddering against her nude form. “With me buried inside you so fucking deep that you can’t breathe.”

     Her one word was barely audible. “Yes.”

     Every thought and word fled as he set a slow and torturous pace. The darkness bore their crazed madness, embracing the desperate, ragged, fractured cries and moans that they both emitted.

    Drugged, lost in wonder, they reclaimed each other.

     Their insanity peaked along with their pace.

     All elements of any control dissipated.  

     Their sweat glistened bodies meshed even tighter, and he drove into her.

     Over, over, and over again…

     In the darkness, her eyes met his hot primal stare.

     “I only belong to you,” she gasped. “Only you.”

     At his deep strokes, she sensed the rush.

     Their pace was relentless.

     Almost crazed….

    
For weren’t they---

     Her cry of satisfaction met his.

     And had there ever been such a soulful sound, she sobbed uncontrollably, feeling her last shred of control snap.

     But, she wasn’t alone…

     His ragged pleas met her ears.

     The pleasure stole across his handsome face. “Olivia,” he breathed hoarsely, stealing her gaze. “Baby, I need you…”

     Their holds tightened with the arriving storm.

     His guttural grunts met her broken pleas.

     The rising tide chased them.

    
It took them both under.

Chapter 5

     “What happens now?” she asked, moments later, dressed again in the expensive evening gown. With growing concern, she stared at him from her perch on the bed, and watched as he finished dressing.

     Though his demeanor was relaxed, she still sensed the simmering tension in him. “Did you take that bastard’s ring off like I asked you?”

    She nodded. “It’s in the top drawer. It sickens me that I was forced to wear it. I can’t wait to get my real engagement ring back.” The horror seeped through her. “It’s still on the boat. In the haste in which we were forced off, I didn’t have time to retrieve it.”

     “If it’s on the boat, it’s safe and sound, then. Besides, I’m going to get you another one.”

     “But, I don’t want another one. The one that you gave me is special, and it’s the one that I want to keep.”

     “When this thing with Addison is over, we’ll retrieve a lot of things that we were forced to leave behind.”

     “Speaking of Matt, you have to get out of here.” No longer able to hide her anxiety, she stood before crossing the room to him. Folding both arms along her chest, she watched as he adjusted the cuff links. “He will go completely ballistic when he sees you here. This place is crawling with his friends and cohorts. Jarrod, I don’t think you realize how dangerous these people are.”

     Grabbing her hand, he tugged her towards him. “And I told
you
not to worry. Trust me, I know exactly what kind of people I’m dealing with,” Jarrod said seriously, kissing the tip of her nose. “That’s all the more reason to get you the hell out of here.”

     “I told you that I can’t leave,” she stressed again, searching his eyes. “Jarrod, they’ll kill you and hurt Meghan.”

     “Nothing of the sort is going to happen because I won’t let it,” he muttered, showing a hint of anger for the first time, and released her. “My only mistake was waiting too long to retaliate.”

     “Why are you and Matt at such dangerous odds?” she probed, eyeing him close. “Something tells me that your discord with Matt is far-reaching and has been going on for a long time. The guns and violence…it’s all too much. What happened between the two of you?”

     He tensed. “Right now, I don’t have time to give any details. As I said earlier, we have lots to talk about. But, not here.”

     She took in his tense features. “You’re scaring me, again. What is it?”

     “Again, now is not the time,” he said shortly, and then sighed. “Baby, look, I’m sorry that I snapped at you. It’s just that we’re in one hell of a predicament. Our little rendezvous has cost us some time. But, it was worth every fucking glorious minute. If anything, it may mean that I’m going to die a happy man.”

     Her expression was serious. “Don’t say things like that, Jarrod. It’s not funny.”

     “Hey,” he murmured, grasping her chin, and forced her tearful gaze to his. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

     “Promise?” she whispered. “I can’t lose you.”

     “You’re not going to lose me. I promise. Now, where’s that beautiful smile, the one that lights my entire world up?” he teased, planting small butterfly kisses along her face.

     She gave him a trembling smile.

     “There it is,” Jarrod grinned, tweaking her nose. “That’s what I want to see.”

     Releasing her, he walked to the table and confiscated his weapon. With surprising ease and quickness, he replaced it under his waistband before traveling back to her. “I need you to listen closely,” he said, and tension radiated from his body. “We’re going to have to separate, just for a little while---”

     “No,” she said stubbornly. “I’m staying with you.”

     “
No, you’re not
. Risking your life is not on the table, and getting you out of here safely is my focus. I’m not going to place you in any more danger than you are already in.”

     “This thing with you and Matt is really heavy, isn’t it? To the point that he’s threatening your life, Meghan’s, and mine,” she probed, and her eyes roamed over his face. She clenched the front of his shirt in her hands. “Tell me what’s going on---”

     “And I told you that here isn’t the place to do that,” Jarrod snapped, pulling free, and raked a hand through his hair. “We don’t have time for a debate right now. You’re just going to have to trust me on this.” Whipping his cell phone out, he sent a quick text, and a second later, he received a reply. He looked at her again. “Someone’s on their way up here, and I want you to go with him.”

     “And you, where are you going to be?” she asked, gulping past the lump in her throat. “I don’t think that I like where this conversation is going.”

     “You won’t,” he said point blank, staring at her hard. “I’m not going anywhere, not at least until I square up with Addison. There are some things that the bastard and I need to get straight. ”

     “Surely, Jarrod, you aren’t being serious,” she murmured, feeling the dread creep on her, and at his look, the anger flared within her.

     
He was serious
.

     “Ok, let me get this straight and correct me if I’m wrong. I’m supposed to leave with someone that I don’t even know while you stay here and play ‘shoot and bang’em up” with the bad guys, right?” she retorted sharply, not taking the edge off her anger. “Sounds like a bad scene from an 80’s action remake. Only problem is that you’ll be a part of the deadly and gruesome scenes. Well, I’m not going to stand for it---”

     “It’s not your call to make,” he said, and his anger matched hers.” He gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, and sarcasm laced his next words. “An 80’s action flick with bad dialogue and acting? I was thinking that tonight is reminiscent of the 1940’s with gangster flair, more like bang, bang, and Addison’s dead.” He arched a brow. “Who knows? Maybe if we stand here long enough, we can strand up some more decades of crimes and espionage---”

     “Stop it! Don’t you dare patronize me,” she fumed, frowning. “Be straight with me….which is something that you haven’t done since we’ve been together tonight. I have questions.
You
have than answers. And damn it, Jarrod, you’re going to give them to me!”

     “Olivia---”

     The quick, subtle knock ended anything that he would’ve said.

     Scowling, he turned away from her.

    
But, she’d struck a nerve
, she realized, noticing his stiff posture as he journeyed to the door.
He was so tense that it was lucky that he didn’t break
…

     An attractive African-American man waited at the door.

     Fortyish, muscular, packing at least 250 pounds, the man reminded her of a well-built professional wrestler, and the white tuxedo fit his frame well. Toughness exuded from him, a trait that she sensed immediately. After throwing another cautious look over his shoulder, the man stepped into the room. “Long time, no see,” the stranger said, clasping Jarrod’s hand in a firm handshake. “Good to see you again, Sabatino.”

     “Likewise,” he said in turn, closing the door behind him. “It’s unfortunate that we’re meeting under such dire circumstances again.”

     The man strode further into the room. “After this is over, we’ll have to have a boy’s night out soon. Shoot a little pool, drink a few beers, find some fast women---”

     “I don’t think so,” she broke in, frowning, and went forward. Both jealously and protectiveness sprang in her at once. “Fast women are not a part of Jarrod’s equation and never will be again.” She extended her hand towards the man. “I’m Jarrod’s fiancée, Olivia Lange. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I gather that you’re the one who’s going to transport me out of here safely.”

     “I really stuck my foot in my mouth with that comment, didn’t I?” the man grinned, returning her handshake, showing a hint of embarrassment. “Sorry, pretty lady, I didn’t realize that this boy was halfway hitched. Frank T. is the name, by the way.”

     “That’s not surprising,” she said, feeling the hurt niggling at her again. She threw a frown in Jarrod’s direction, and he had the grace to redden. “It seems that Jarrod has a penchant of not mentioning our engagement to his close friends and confidants. For months, I’ve been struggling to figure that one out.”

     “It seems that I have a lot of sins to atone for,” Jarrod quipped tightly. “As much as I’d like to throw myself at the mercy of your goodness, sweetheart, it’s not a viable option, right now.”

     “There are all kinds of truth to that statement,” Frank T. agreed, nodding with his own frown. “As a matter of fact, the warning bells are sounding in my head. Addison’s pop hasn’t shown up yet, and it makes me wonder what else is going on. I mean, as jacked as this engagement party is, it’s strange that he’s not here celebrating with the prodigal son. While that’s so, the heat is still on. Got to say, Addison’s goons are a rough looking crowd. They’re anticipating any and every kind of trouble.” He turned towards Jarrod fully. “Now is the time to move. There won’t be another chance.”