Because of You (26 page)

Just like the past two times I’ve kissed her, the hunger quickly ignites, and there’s no possibility of us going slow.

I reluctantly pull my lips away from hers, and she lets out a soft moan of protest. I know if I continue kissing her, things will escalate quickly, just like they did in the truck. That was hot as fuck and something we’re definitely going to need to repeat soon, but right now, I want more. I need more.

I reach back and fling the covers off of me as I slide down the length of her body until my chin is resting on one of her opened thighs, staring at the black patch of lace that covers her sex. I slowly slide my finger down the center, and my eyes shift up to Layla’s face as she whimpers and throws her head back.

Running my finger along the edge of her panties, I slide them to the side and inch forward until my lips are almost touching her and my breath floats over her skin. Holding the black lace to the side, I want to shift my hips into the mattress to ease some of the ache just looking at her has caused.

“Brady, please,” she groans from the head of the bed.

I don’t hesitate to plunge forward, wrapping my lips around her clit and sucking it into my mouth, overwhelmed with the feel and taste of her on my tongue. She’s sweet and musky, and I want to devour her.

Layla’s hands smack down on the bed, and she clutches the sheets tightly in her fists as I work her over with my tongue, moving my other hand between her legs so I can use my fingers as well.

Her hips jerk against my mouth, and her cries get louder and louder as I plunge two fingers inside of her and slide my flattened tongue back and forth quickly over her clit. Her climax surges through her so suddenly that a shocked cry flies from her lips, and she grasps the back of my head tightly, holding me in place while she rides it out against my mouth.

I want to keep going, continue sucking her and tasting her until the sun comes up, but she’s panting and muttering how much she needs me, clutching onto my shoulders and dragging me forcefully back up her body.

I almost had an orgasm just from feeling her come on my tongue, so there’s no way I can even think about trying to slow this down again. In the blink of an eye, my boxer briefs are pushed down around my knees with both of our hands, her black lace thong is ripped from her body, and I’m slamming inside of her, silencing our mutual groans with a kiss.

Her hands smack down to clutch my ass and pull me in deeper, her tongue swirling through my mouth, tasting herself on me, and I can’t help but moan.

The sound of pleasure and skin slapping together fills the room as I take her roughly, pushing us both up the bed with the force of my movements. She chants “harder” over and over against my lips, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to take it slow with this woman.

Her legs and arms wrap tightly around my body, and she shouts my name as a second release washes through her, pulsing around my cock and forcing my own orgasm to rush through me like a fucking freight train.

I collapse on top of her, my brain only functioning enough to make sure I don’t put all of my weight on top of her and crush her small frame.

In the aftermath, as we both lay there breathing heavily, wrapped up in each other, I think back to the song Layla sang tonight and hope to God I’m strong enough for this woman and can get her out of this impossible situation.

“What the hell were you thinking throwing a brick through her fucking window?”

Ray rolls his eyes as he puts his car in park, lights up a cigarette, and scans through the pictures he just picked up from the one hour photo place.

“I feel like we’ve had this discussion before. I do what I want, when I want, and I wanted to have a little fun with that hot piece of ass,” Ray replies with a chuckle as he runs his finger over a particularly good profile shot of Layla sitting on top of that asshole PI in his truck. Her head is thrown back, her mouth is open, and all of that glorious hair is spilling down her back. It makes him wish he would have walked up to the truck, thrown open the door, and dragged her out by her hair so she could have finished her little impromptu truck-fucking with him.

“This has gone too far. I just wanted her a little scared and some easy publicity,” the voice whines in irritation through the phone line.

Ray ignores it and continues flipping through the photos. He’s made it a habit of following Layla around everywhere she goes, and it’s been a little boring. Imagine his surprise when he woke up from a nap in his car to see her walk right by him, hop into the truck parked across from his car, and fuck that lowlife for all she's worth. He almost regrets spending a big chunk of his payment on a good camera with a telephoto lens, but these pictures prove that the expense is well worth it. Too bad he didn’t buy a video camera. He would have enjoyed being able to watch her bounce up and down on that guy’s cock again and again, imagining it was him.

“You should be more concerned with the fact that her new bodyguard follows her around everywhere she goes. I don’t think that guy is as dumb as he looks. You better watch your step or he’s going to find out what a bad, bad person you are,” Ray says with a laugh.

“He hates me. I know he already suspects something. Why the hell isn’t he doing what he usually does: sucking back booze and screwing random women? He’s not the loser I thought he was. He needs to be out of the picture immediately or this is going to blow up in our faces.”

Ray takes his favorite photo out of the pile and grabs a black Sharpie marker from the center console. It’s regrettable that he’s going to give this photo away, but he can always make another copy.

“This isn’t going to blow up in MY face,” his voice raises in disbelief. “It’s going to blow up in YOUR face. You better make nice with the big bad PI, and you better do it fast before he really starts digging into things,” Ray states distractedly as he pens a personalized message on the photo, reads it over, and smiles at his creativity.

“Right, right. That’s a good idea. Maybe I can throw him off the trail if I just kill him with kindness,” the voice replies.

“Or I could just kill him.”

Ray barks out a laugh when he hears the gasp of shock through the phone line at his suggestion.

“What?! No! Absolutely not. We’re not talking about killing anyone. I told you that in the beginning. No one needs to die. We just need to pull back a little. No more threats, no more going off on your own. This needs to be finished so he packs up and leaves. Layla will go back to doing what she’s supposed to, and no one will ever know I had anything to do with this.”

Ray sighs as the person rambles on and on, trying to tell him what to do and what not to do. He doesn’t like it when people think they can boss him around. He was hired to do a job, and he doesn’t care what the fuck this person wants. He’s going to finish it how he wants to, and if someone has to die, well then so be it.

He cuts the person off mid-sentence and hangs up the phone without a goodbye, tossing the cell phone into the passenger seat and studying the photo in his hands for a few minutes.

He looks up from the picture when he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. Layla and the idiot joined at her hip are finally done stretching at the entrance of the trail. They take off into the woods running side by side.

Ray smiles to himself as he tosses the butt of his cigarette out the window, opens the car door, and makes his way over to the F150 parked close to the trail. Luckily, with the nice weather lately, the park is packed early in the morning, and his beat-up Honda doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. He’d found the last available parking space in the crowded lot, crouched down low in his seat, and sat waiting until the coast was clear.

He ambles over to the truck, bends down to tie his shoe next to the front tire, and glances around for any signs of anyone looking his way or paying any attention to him. When he sees no one, he stands up and quickly shoves the photo facedown underneath the windshield wiper blade on the passenger side, right where Layla will see it when she gets back into the truck.

Ray smiles to himself and whistles softly as he makes his way back to his car.

He can feel his dick swell in his pants when he thinks about the look that will be on Layla’s face when she sees that picture. Her full lips will part in surprise, and maybe a lone tear will fall from her eye and down her cheek. Soon enough, he’ll be so close to her that he’ll be able to lick her tears right off of her cheek. He wishes he could stick around for the show, but he’ll be with her soon enough. Right now, he’s got supplies to purchase and a kidnapping to map out.

When I woke up this morning, still wrapped in Brady’s arms after the best night of sleep I’d had in forever, I decided a morning run was needed to get my adrenaline pumping in some way other than rolling over to face him and pulling him into my body.

When I tried to slide out of his arms, he pulled me back against him, ran his hands down my side, and hitched my leg back over his thigh and slowly entered me from behind. Thirty minutes later, and after I was too worn out to move, he was the one who suggested the run.

Being with Brady is so easy that it scares me. I’m growing attached to him quickly, and for someone like me, that isn’t good. I can’t get attached to him. He doesn’t understand why I do the things I do, and even though he apologized last night for questioning me repeatedly about my choices, I know it still bothers him. If he sticks around after this case is over, it will always bother him. He might try to hide it so as not to upset me, but it would eat away at him. He’s not the type of man to sit back and watch someone suffer.

I don’t know why I’m even entertaining the idea of him being here after my stalker is caught. We’ve had sex a few times. That’s it. Mind-blowing, brain-numbing sex, but still…only sex. We’re not in love and he hasn’t promised me anything beyond today. He’s here because he has a job to do, and I’m probably an easy way to pass the time. I shouldn’t be worried about disappointing him down the road. It probably won’t be long now until the police figure out who is behind all of the threats, he’ll go to jail, and Brady will go back to his own life.

“So, tell me about your sister. Is she younger or older than you?” I ask, trying to banish thoughts of Brady and I having a future together as we jog past the first mile marker on the trail.

“She’s younger by two years,” he replies with a smile on his face as he thinks about her. “She’s had a rough time of it lately. Married an abusive asshole that my parents loved, and after he busted her face and broke some bones about six months ago, she finally got up the nerve to leave his sorry ass and showed up on my doorstep with her daughter.”

I shake my head in both sympathy and anger for this woman and her daughter. Hearing something like this always makes me regret the complaints I have about my own life.

“I’m glad she was able to get away and that she has you to lean on.”

Brady lets out a mocking snort.

“Yeah, well, I was an asshole myself for a long time. She didn’t deserve that shit from him
or
me. I have a lot of making up to do with her. Keeping an eye on her and Emma and helping them out is the least I can do.”

I wonder what he means about him being an asshole to his sister, but I don’t want to push him to tell me something he doesn’t want to so I move on to another subject.

We run three more miles, talking easily about both of our childhoods. I tell him about some of the better memories I have of just my dad and me, and he tells me about his three best friends, all Navy SEALS scattered throughout the world. Men he keeps in contact with all of the time and knows he can trust or turn to for help whenever he needs it.

I’m glad he has people like that in his life. I can count on one hand the friends I have who I can rely on like that. Actually, I can count on one finger, but even after what he did for me at June’s bar, I’m still not sure if our friendship will ever be the same.

“So, you and Finn. Just friends, right?” Brady asks nonchalantly, staring straight ahead.