Then he does it again, thrusting a little harder, and I decide that good isn’t the right word – because this feels breathtaking.

  ‘More,’ I groan, the way he stiffens, then shudders, telling me that I’ve surprised him.

  ‘You want more, sweetheart? You’ve got it,’ he growls, pushing all the way in, until I can feel him pressed up tight against my ass, his heavy balls swinging against the slick lips of my cunt. I hear him mutter a gritty curse, just before he starts working that huge cock in and out of me, and I moan and pant for breath, squeezing the bar under my hands so tightly it’ll be a miracle if it isn’t dented.

  ‘Harder,’ I demand, wriggling my ass for him. ‘God, Jase, fuck me harder!’

  He snarls as he tightens the arm around my waist and reaches down with the other, fisting his hand in my hair and tugging my head back, my body jerking with each of the hard, relentless thrusts he’s hammering into me.

  ‘It’s so good,’ I gasp, knowing that when I come it’s going to be intense, and I’d give anything at that moment to be able to rub my clit. ‘Feels so good.’

  ‘You’re killing me, baby. Fucking killing me.’

  And then he keeps talking to me in that deliciously rough, lust-thick voice, telling me how beautiful I look. How tight and hot and incredible I feel to him, and I can’t get enough of it. I’m coming more undone with each husky, guttural word that falls from his lips, and when he reaches around my front and shoves three big, long fingers inside my pussy, I come so hard I start screaming. Screaming so sharp and loud that in some distant part of my mind, I’m hoping that J.J. has the TV in his room on full volume, because if not, breakfast tomorrow morning is going to be seriously awkward.

  I’m crying out ‘I love you,’ over and over, and Jase is growling it back as he finds his own violent release, sweat flying from our bodies as we cement the meaning of the words with the hungers of our flesh.

  Then I feel him lean over me and rest his forehead against my upper back, his powerful body shuddering as he empties the last of his orgasm into me, and he groans two quiet words that make me so very glad I sought him out tonight. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Jase.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he groans again, lowering us back down to the bench as he wraps both arms around me and presses a tender kiss to my shoulder. ‘Thank you for believing in me. For coming after me. For standing beside me and not giving up on me.’ His warm lips find my ear, and I swear I can hear the pure, raw emotion in his deep voice as he says, ‘But most of all, beautiful girl, thank you for loving me.’

  Chapter Seven

  JASE

  There’s a door that connects the gym to the master bedroom, and after I turn off the music and free her wrists, I lift Emmy into my arms and carry her pleasure-limp body straight into the marbled, waterfall shower.

  I can’t believe what she’s just given me, and how insanely good it was.

  I’d hoped I wouldn’t still be so thick and hard after blowing my load on her, but that’s not how it’d worked. If anything, I’d been even bigger, her pink little arsehole stretched so tight around me that each pulsing thrust of my cock had to have come with a bite of pain. But I’d watched her closely, carefully, and she’d never once tried to pull away from me. No, she’d just kept wriggling her little arse for more, the sounds spilling from her lips some of the sexiest that she’s ever made.

  And the way she’d felt . . . Christ, I need to stop thinking about it, because it’s just making my dick hard again, and my poor girl needs some bloody rest.

  Her gift of herself tonight, and the absolute trust that she’s shown she has in me, has quieted the demons in my head, and I cling to her, feeling her love in the soft brush of her lips against my chest, my throat, my mouth. This girl has transformed me, and now I don’t know how not to tell her how much I love her. Need her. Want her forever. So I just keep saying it, while she gives herself completely over to my care once again, letting me do as I will. I force my constant craving for her pleasure back, wrapping it in chains, and take my time washing her hair, before running the soapy sponge over her creamy, silky skin.

  She’s so fucking perfect, and what’s amazing is that she doesn’t even know it. There’s not a vain bone in Emmy’s body, and it’s just one of the endless number of things that I love about her.

  She sways against me, exhausted, and I quickly wash my own body, then stand us both under the warm water, rinsing the soap away, before turning the shower off. I grab two large towels and wrap one around my waist, then run the other over Emmy, drying the glistening droplets from her golden skin, and grab another one to wring the water out of her hair.

  ‘Love you,’ she murmurs sleepily, when I lift her into my arms and carry her to my bed, and I’m fucking ecstatic that she’s finally going to be sleeping right where she belongs. ‘Love you so much, Jase.’

  ‘Mmm,’ I hum, like I’m savoring something tasty.

  There’s a small smile on her lips as she blinks up at me. ‘What?’

  ‘Every time you tell me you love me,’ I say, reaching down to tug the duvet back, then laying her down on the smooth gray sheets, ‘I’m going to think about taking your sweet little arse tonight.’

  ‘Oh, God,’ she groans with a soft, beautiful laugh, covering her pink face with her hands.

  I quickly dry off, toss the towel over the back of a chair, and then climb in beside her. ‘Don’t be shy now,’ I murmur, grinning as I pull her hands away from her blushing cheeks and rub my lips over hers. ‘Not with me, sweetheart.’

  She kisses me back, snuggling up against me as I stroke my hand down her side and over the curve of her hip. Then she pulls her head back a little, and there’s a warm, vibrant look in her eyes as she lifts her hand to my face, her fingertips brushing across the scar from the accident as she says, ‘I feel so incredibly lucky, Jase. Lucky that you’re still here with me, when I could have so easily lost you the night of the crash. And if you hadn’t woken up last night when you did, it all could have gone so differently.’

  I give her waist a gentle squeeze. ‘I know, baby.’

  She sighs as she places her hand against my chest, directly over my heart, and there’s a little frown tugging between her brows as she asks, ‘What are you going to do about Grace?’

  ‘Hell, I don’t know,’ I mutter. ‘I don’t want to get her fired, but she’s committing a serious felony by giving Oliver the keys to those people’s homes.’

  ‘She is,’ she agrees. ‘It’s such a shit situation.’

  ‘Last night,’ I scrape out, my gut instantly knotting with grief and guilt as I think about what happened. ‘I always knew Caroline was crazy, but . . . God, Em, I had no idea she was evil. How did I not see it? I mean, I lived with her. I should have known. And maybe if I’d opened my damn eyes, I wouldn’t have failed Cam as badly as I did.’

  ‘Don’t. Don’t do that,’ she says, her soft voice vibrating with emotion. ‘You don’t get to take the blame for this, because you have no part of it. You were just a child, Jase.’

  ‘But she’s fucking warped him,’ I growl, hating that I’ve brought this to our bed, but needing to be able to talk it out with her, now that the words are finally coming.

  Concern darkens her eyes, and she presses her hand a little harder against my chest as she says, ‘And she’ll pay for it. We’ll make sure of it.’

  ‘Damn straight we will.’

  She flinches at the conviction she hears in my low voice, and I can sense the worry and fear moving through her as she clutches my arm and says, ‘Are you sure we can’t just call the police and have them take her in? Because you’re right, she is evil, and it scares the ever-loving hell out of me to think of you facing off against her.’

  ‘If there were any other way, I’d do it. But you know how manipulative she is, Em. I can’t risk her putting this all on Cameron. And we still don’t know how she hired those bastards in San Diego who wrecked us, or what she’s planning next.’

  ‘I just don’t want anything to happen to you,’ she says in a rush, and it kills me when I see the tears gathering in her eyes, glistening on her lashes.

  ‘It won’t,’ I tell her, pushing my hand into her damp hair and curving it around the back of her head. ‘But I have to do this, Em. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t.’

  ‘I know,’ she breathes, just as the first tear slips away, sliding into her hair. ‘I just . . . I’m worried that more pain is waiting for you in that house. So please, just promise me that you’ll be careful. Because it’ll destroy me if I lose you.’

  Feeling like she’s just punched me right in the heart, I lean forward and press a tender kiss to her forehead. ‘Always, sweetheart. I promise.’

  ‘And there’s something else I’ve been wanting to tell you,’ she murmurs.

  ‘What is it, baby?’

  She turns her head, brushing her own soft kiss across the ink on my inner forearm. ‘I’ve been—’ she starts to say, but is cut off by a jarring knock against the bedroom door.

  We both tense at the sound, then bolt upright, and I’m already moving to my feet when my grandfather’s deep voice carries through the door. ‘Jase, get out here! We’ve got a problem!’

  I grab a pair of jeans and tug them on, then glance back to make sure that Emmy’s covered up, and see her standing on the other side of the bed, wearing the duvet like a toga, and I’d laugh if I wasn’t so worried. ‘What’s happened?’ I ask, yanking the door open to find my grandfather standing in the hallway, dressed in the same dark jeans and T-shirt he’d been wearing earlier.

  ‘Anna just phoned me,’ he mutters, and since the only Anna I know is his housekeeper, that’s who I assume he’s talking about. ‘She’s friends with Evelyn, one of the maids at Beckett House, and the woman just called her. Said that Caroline is packing up nearly everything she owns and throwing it into the back of Alistair’s Discovery.’

  ‘Son of a bitch,’ I growl, already turning and heading towards my chest of drawers. ‘She’s planning to make a run for it.’

  ‘I’ll be waiting for you at the door,’ Harrison says before he turns to walk back down the hall, giving us privacy, and I’m grateful as hell that he’s here. Not only because it means I won’t have to do this alone, but if not for Anna, Caroline might have slipped away right under our noses.

  Emmy, though, still hasn’t realized that the plan has changed.

  ‘Why is he waiting at the door?’ she asks. ‘I don’t understand. You can’t possibly be thinking to go there now.’

  Sitting down on the side of the bed to pull on my socks, I say, ‘I don’t have any choice, Em. I’ve got to get her confession tonight.’

  ‘But Callan’s security team isn’t here yet!’ she shouts, coming around the foot of the bed looking like she’s seriously pissed off. But I know it’s because she’s worried about me, and I hate like hell that I’m having to put her through this.

  ‘I know,’ I say, moving to my feet and pulling on the Henley that I grabbed from the drawer. ‘We’re just going to have to go in on our own.’

  ‘Fuck that!’ she growls, glaring up at me as I walk over and take her flushed face in my hands.

  ‘I love you,’ I tell her, leaning down and pressing a hard, swift kiss to her lips. ‘But I don’t have time to argue with you right now. J.J. and I need to be on the road.’

  ‘Well, you’re not leaving me here,’ she mutters, dropping the duvet and stomping over to her suitcase, which I’d brought in for her earlier.

  ‘Emmy,’ I groan, thinking she’s going to be the fucking death of me, even as I can’t take my greedy gaze off her gorgeous arse.

  ‘Don’t Emmy me,’ she snaps, grabbing a clean pair of jeans and a dark sweater from her case. ‘I’m going with you.’

  I try to talk her into staying at the flat, but the stubborn woman refuses to listen to reason. She dresses quickly, then stomps out of the room ahead of me, and I’m so frustrated I almost forget to grab the wire that Callan gave me.

  J.J. has no doubt heard her shouting at me, but he’s smart enough not to mention it when we meet up with him at the door. As we take the lift down to the parking garage, I tell Emmy that the only way she’s coming is if she promises to stay in the damn car when we reach Beckett House, and though she argues, she finally relents when J.J. tells her that her presence would likely only incite Caroline to more extreme behavior. It’s the perfect argument, since Emmy’s already worried about my safety, and I make a mental note to thank the old guy when we’re alone.

  It’s late and there’s hardly any traffic on the motorway, so we make good time to Kent. Especially seeing as how I push just about every speeding law there is, thankfully avoiding the police, since I don’t have time for a ticket. We’re all silent, clearly lost in our heads, and I can’t help thinking that if I’d just had Cameron call Caroline last night, making up some story about how he hadn’t been able to break into the flat because we’d changed the locks or some shit, then she wouldn’t be panicking right now, obviously worried that he got caught and has snitched her out. But after his breakdown, I hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of him having to talk to her, and even though this might all go to shit because of it, I realize that I still stand by my decision. Cameron’s been through enough, and if I end up having to hire a legion of investigators to chase her evil arse around the world, then I will. There won’t be any safe place for her to hide, and eventually she’ll be brought back to pay for what she’s done.

  And I imagine that between the abuse and blackmail charges, along with attempting to pay for my murder, she’ll be going away for a long, long time.

  I cut the lights halfway down the massive drive to Beckett House and pull off into the trees to avoid detection, figuring Harrison and I can walk the rest of the way. And seeing as how Emmy’s going to be waiting in the car, I don’t want it anywhere near the house.

  I take a moment to attach the wire, hoping like hell that when I play a snippet of Cameron’s confession for Caroline from my phone, her temper and hatred of me will take over and do the rest, leading her straight into her own confession. And if it works, I’ll take the recording directly to Danny, and let Scotland Yard deal with her, instead of trusting the local police department.

  When I’ve got the wire in place, I climb out of the car, slip the slender recording device into my pocket, and open the rear driver’s side door, since Emmy’s sitting in the backseat, still quietly fuming. I reach in, grab her behind the neck, and tug her towards me, giving her a hard, fast kiss, and it might sound corny as hell, but I swear this woman gives me strength.

  ‘Jase, this wasn’t the plan,’ she says in a voice that’s thick with worry when I pull away. ‘You’re meant to be going in with Callan’s team for backup.’

  ‘When Cameron didn’t contact her last night, it must have tipped her off. I can’t risk her making a run for it and never finding her, Em. That’s bullshit.’

  She wets her lips, and I can see her pulse pounding at the base of her throat as she says, ‘Then let me come with you. I won’t even go inside if you don’t want me to. I just . . . I need to be close enough to know that you’re okay.’

  ‘Fuck no,’ I growl. ‘That’s not happening.’

  I make her promise again to stay put, lean in to give her a deep, I-love-the-hell-out-of-you kiss, and then step back and shut the door. J.J. meets me around the back of the car, and we’re both quiet as we make our way up to the house, until I clear my throat a little, and murmur, ‘I’m glad you’re here with me.’

  He gives me a grandfatherly pat on the back, and I swear I choke up a bit as he says, ‘Me too, Jase. Me too.’

  When we reach the house, we see Alistair’s Discovery parked near the front steps, the back open and already packed with bags and cases. The front door is ajar, so we slip inside, and it’s easy to locate Caroline and Alistair from the way they’re screaming at each other. There’s no sign of any of the household staff, so I’m guessing they’ve all retreated into the east wing, as they often do when these two have one of their raging, bloodthirsty arguments.

  As J.J. and I make our way across the foyer, heading for the music room, I swear it feels like a lifetime ago since I was here, instead of a mere five weeks.

  But those five weeks . . . Hell, they’ve certainly packed a punch. I’d found the girl of my dreams, only to lose her, then get her back, then nearly get her killed and lose her again.

  And then she came back to me, and told me she loved me, and after Cameron’s confession, I’m about to put an end to this whole fucking nightmare once and for all.

  Then I’m taking my girl and riding off into the proverbial sunset. Into a future that’s going to be filled with love and warmth, without a single ounce of the cold, cruel bitterness that practically bleeds from these walls.

  I share a meaningful look with J.J. as we reach the door to the music room, then twist the handle to open it, and I step inside to find Caroline standing in the center of the room with her back to me, while Alistair leans drunkenly against the side of the gleaming grand piano.

  Since he’s the only one who’s facing the doorway, it’s Alistair who sees me first, his bloodshot eyes going wide with surprise. ‘Jase! I had no idea you were coming down this week.’

  Just as the last syllable leaves Alistair’s lips, J.J. steps into the room beside me, his hands casually pushed in his pockets, and Alistair’s face instantly stiffens with fear, which I love. J.J. Harrison might be getting up there in years, but he still has the bearing of a man you do not want to fuck with. And while Alistair might be a pathetic drunk, he’s smart enough to know that my grandfather and I as a united front can’t mean anything but trouble for him.