In The Still of the Night [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

He chuckled and slowly dipped one finger through her folds to circle her clit before pulling back again. She whimpered, begging with her body as she bowed up toward him. The heat of his body seeped into hers as his chest rubbed against her back. He turned her further and lifted her leg up and over his. Now she was spread open for his pleasure. Jenna loved the feeling.

“I need you inside of me,” she finally managed to get out.

Riley’s long, hard cock pressed against the crack of her buttocks as he rocked against her. He slipped a finger inside her wet pussy and pumped until she was meeting his thrusts with her own. Then he added a second finger and circled her clit with his thumb. She nearly came undone from the onslaught of feelings his fingers aroused. All the while, his mouth licked and nipped at her neck and shoulder.

“I’m going to fuck this pretty pussy long and deep.”

“Yes,” she managed to say in a breathy whisper.

He spread her wider with his leg and positioned his cock at her entrance before plunging forward to the hilt. She moaned, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pleasure. He filled her full and then some. His hard length pierced her core, leaving a hot trail of fiery need in its wake. The need grew until she was trying to ride him sideways. He laughed and nipped at her ear.

“Hold on, baby. Just feel. Feel how I fill you up, how hard I am for you. Do you know how much I want to bury myself so deep inside of you that you will always feel me there?” His strangled words belied how difficult it was for him to be still inside of her.

Then he rode her as she was meant to be ridden, long, hard, deep. He lifted her off the bed with each thrust. She stretched for the climax just out of reach. She willed it to hurry. An ache began deep within her womb and spread throughout her body. Release seemed only a heartbeat away, only to remain inaccessible despite her fervent pleas.

“That’s it, Jenna. Burn for me.” Riley thrust and retreated, thrust and retreated, then pulled out.

Jenna cried out, begging for him to finish her.

“Please, I need to come. Oh, God.”

“Easy, baby. I’ll take care of you.”

Riley rolled her to her back and pulled both her legs up over his shoulders. He lined his dick up with her entrance and surged forward once again. This time, he bumped the back of her cervix, and she came unglued. The climax washed over her in a flood of sensations. Her body flew apart and then remade itself as he tunneled in and out of her over and over again. His hoarse shout barely registered with her as she throbbed in time with her heartbeat.

Finally, she could breathe again and listened for Riley’s stuttering breathing. His took a little longer to settle, and she smiled. Having him lying on top of her thrilled her. The weight of him made it all the more real. He was there, with her, not out on his bike or on the road, but there with her. But for how long? The sobering thought had her tearing up.

“Hey, why the tears? Did I hurt you?” Riley brushed one away.

He looked down at her as he rested on his elbows above her. The black pool of his eyes seemed brighter than normal. Probably a trick of the light, she decided.

“No,” she reassured him. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“Because it felt so good.” Jenna knew Riley didn’t believe that was all there was to it, but he didn’t push it.

“Are you ready for breakfast?” he asked.

“Hmm, thought we already had breakfast,” she murmured as she ran her hand up and down his arm.

“If I’m going to keep up with you, I’m going to need more to sustain me.” He laughed before rolling out of bed.

“Oh, God.”

“What is it, baby?”

“We’re at Logan’s house!” The idea that she’d screamed her climax not once but twice at their house had her mortified to go downstairs.

“So?”

“So, I can’t go down there now. I’m too embarrassed.”

“You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the bed.

She leaned into him and hid her face against his chest. She couldn’t stay up here forever, she would have to go downstairs, but surly later would be better. Then she winced as the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock by the bed and noticed it was nearly four in the afternoon. They’d slept the day away.

“You better get dressed. I have a feeling that’s company we won’t be able to get out of,” Riley said with a grim face.

Jenna ran to the bathroom to clean up. Riley followed her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She looked up at him through the mirror. Their eyes met there. For one small instant, she thought she saw more than just caring in his eyes, but it was gone before she could capture the look. He swatted her on the ass and left her to finish dressing. She heard the bedroom door open then shut, leaving her in the bathroom all alone. She washed her face and dressed in the borrowed clothes once again. Since she didn’t have a bra to wear, she felt self-conscious. Tina’s bras would all be too large for her. She wasn’t flat-chested, but she could get away without a bra in some outfits. The present one wasn’t one of them. With a sigh, she combed her hair and drew in a deep breath. She had no choice except to go down stairs and see what was going on.

* * * *

“He made it through surgery, but the next twenty-four hours will be crucial to see if he will live or not. The odds are against him, but he’s in good hands at the hospital with some of the best doctors on staff there,” Detective Brunson said.

“And this concerns us how?” Riley asked as he walked into the room.

“I figured you would want to know that he will be up on charges for murder, attempted murder, and assault,” Brunson said.

“If he pulls through,” Logan reminded him.

“I get the feeling none of you care if he does or not,” the detective noted.

“You didn’t see what Jenna looked like when he attacked her.” Riley growled.

“The doctors tell me that where the knife was, all someone would have had to do is twist it just a little to the left and he would have been beyond help,” Brunson stated.

“He’s a lucky SOB,” Riley said.

“So, why is he so lucky?”

Riley looked the detective in the eyes. “She means more to me than anything. There is no way I’ll risk losing her.”

Brunson looked over Riley’s shoulder. Riley turned, and there stood Jenna. The jeans were big on her and two inches too short for her. A black blouse didn’t hide the fact that she didn’t have a bra on. He wanted to cover her up but knew that was ridiculous. She was covered. Instead, he held his hand out, and she came to him. He enfolded her in his arms and drew her scent deep into his lungs.

“Ma’am. I hope you are feeling better,” the detective said.

“I am, thanks. I guess Gregg is still alive.”

“He’s hanging on by a thread. He may or may not pull through.”

“Forgive me if I don’t care. He deserves whatever he gets,” she said.

Riley squeezed her against him and kissed the top of her head.

“I needed to ask you a couple more questions if you don’t mind.” The detective pulled out his little notepad and waited pen poised above the paper.

“Sure.” Jenna pulled out of Riley’s arms and walked over to the living room and sat on the couch.

Riley followed and stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. He wasn’t sure why, but something about the detective’s look worried him. Both Logan and Morgan followed behind the detective. Riley wasn’t sure where Tina was at the moment. He worried that Jenna would need her.

“Did you know your husband had a life insurance policy?” The detective asked.

“Ex-husband,” she said. “And no. I didn’t know that.”

“He took out a one million dollar policy when you were married. About,” he looked at his notepad, “two years ago.”

“So what does that have to do with me?” Jenna asked.

Riley squeezed her shoulders. He didn’t like the direction this was going. Not one bit.

“You’re the beneficiary at his death,” Detective Brunson said, watching her closely.

Jenna’s head jerked up. “Me? Why? He didn’t care what happened to me.”

“Are you saying you didn’t know about the life insurance policy?”

“No, I didn’t know about it,” Jenna said.

“Your signature is on the policy. Are you sure you didn’t know about it?”

“I swear. I never knew about it. I signed so many forms when we were getting the divorce I might have signed one for that. I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t in the best shape when I filled out all the paperwork.”

Jenna was shaking now. Riley reached down and clasped her hands in his, pulling them back up to her shoulders where he held onto them. This wasn’t good. Someone had been digging to find a reason to cause trouble. His money was on the policeman, Hudson. Why did the little bastard have a hard-on for him?

“You see this puts things in a different light now, don’t you?” Detective Brunson said.

“No, I don’t really. I don’t want the money. The insurance company can keep it.”

“It’s not that simple. By law, they have to pay it out unless they can prove it was murder.”

There, it was out in the open now, Riley thought.
Ah, hell
. No matter what happened, she would be considered accessory at the very least and murder by contract at the worst. Thank God he hadn’t actually done it. This hanging over her head because of him would have been more than he could take. He was no good for her. He had known that from the beginning and kept trying to figure out a way to make it work.

If they found out his background in the army, they could make a case of it.
Fuck!
Riley’s gaze found Logan, and the other man jerked his head toward the kitchen. Then he disappeared. He knew what Riley was thinking about. Morgan took Logan’s place beside the couch.

“Are you saying they are going to try to prove I killed Gregg?” Jenna’s voice had risen and sounded close to breaking.

Riley focused on soothing her. He ran a hand down her arms. She had chill bumps there.

“I’m just warning you about what to expect should your ex not make it. Insurance companies are notorious for looking for ways out of paying off on claims.”

“How did all of this come up anyway?” Riley asked.

“Someone contacted the insurance company about Gregg Weatherby’s situation, and they, in turn, contacted us,” he said.

“Someone, hmm. My money is on that asshole, Hudson,” Morgan said.

“Was there anything else you needed to talk about?” Riley asked.

“More like is there anything you think I might need to know about?” the detective asked.

“You have all the information about me already. Unless you want to go into my duties while I was in the army, that is,” Riley said.

“Did it include murder?”

Chapter Thirteen

Jenna swallowed hard around the lump that had developed in her throat. Tina hugged her tight and drew her back into the kitchen from the living room where the men had gathered. Tyler was back from the hospital now, and though he claimed he was fine, she knew he had to have a headache. There was a fine line of tension evident in the furrow above his brow. It was her fault, all of it. They were going to end up accusing Riley of murder.

“You’re thinking too hard again,” Tina admonished.

“I can’t help it. It’s all my fault.”

“No it’s not. You aren’t to blame for any of it. Gregg is the one to blame. He’s caused all of this, first by beating you and second by setting you up to have to go through hell when he did die.”

“Why didn’t he change the beneficiary after we divorced?” Jenna asked.

“Because he planned for you to have to jump through hoops because of the insurance,” Tina said.

“They’re going to say I asked Riley to do it. I just know they are.”

“The guys will figure something out.”

She couldn’t hear what was going on in the other room. That fact alone ramped up her unease concerning the entire situation. What could they possibly come up with to keep Riley from going to prison for murder? She knew if Gregg died, Riley hadn’t done it on purpose.

Sure, she knew he was capable of killing. If he hadn’t told her that he hadn’t killed Gregg when he had the opportunity, she might have believed he’d done it to save her. It wouldn’t have changed how she felt about him, either. Still, he said he didn’t kill Gregg. She believed him. Now she had to figure out how to make sure everyone else believed him, too. Somehow, she got the impression that wasn’t going to be easy. He had secrets, and those secrets were what had everyone on edge.

“Jenna? Are you listening to me?” Tina asked.

“Sorry. I was thinking.”

“Let’s cook dinner so when they finish talking over whatever they are talking about, we can all eat. I don’t think any of us have had a decent meal in a few days now. Have you even eaten in the last twenty-four hours?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I don’t really want anything,” Jenna said, then asked, “How well do you really know Logan?”

“Well enough, why?”

“Do you know what he did in the army?”

“No, it’s never come up. I know he writes mission manuals for the army now.” Tina sat down at the table. “Why?”

“He and Riley are really close. I just thought that maybe you knew more about what they did. I’m worried that something about his past is going to put him in trouble.”

“You mean you think when he was in the army, something he did there might make him more of a target now,” Tina said.

“Right.”

“All we can do is let them handle it. You have got to stop worrying so much and let someone else help you.”

“Says the stubborn woman who nearly got killed by a stalker because she wouldn’t ask for help.”

* * * *

“Unless he dies, you’re covered,” Morgan said.

“They can’t demand any information from Uncle Sam about your status in the army without a damn good reason. Murder might be a good reason, but right now, they don’t have anything to push with,” Logan agreed.

“If the bastard dies, then you might need to think about what they can find out. I’m taking it that you were into some covert ops,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, you could assume that,” Riley allowed. “I can’t talk about any of it.”

“If they bring it up, you can only deny.” Logan flipped through an address book. “Here it is, Dodge Greer.”

“You have his Stillwater phone number?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah.” Logan picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello?
”

“Dodge, it’s Logan. I’ve got Riley, Tyler, and Morgan here, too. I’m putting you on speakerphone.”

“If this is some form of intervention, go fuck yourselves
.
” Dodge said.

“Sorry, dude. It ain’t about you.” Logan rubbed a spot between his eyes.

“What’s going on then?”

“Riley might be in some trouble. We need your help.”

“What kind of help can an old cripple give you guys?” Dodge asked.

“Computer help. We need some records to disappear or at the least get buried as deep as possible.”

“Hell, what did he go and do? Kill someone?”

Logan didn’t say anything. Riley drew in a deep breath and let it out. The silence must have gotten to Dodge because he started cussing a blue streak.

“It’s not a done deal yet. They guy isn’t dead, but he might not make it,” Logan interrupted.

“Riley, you were with Bo’s unit, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, shit. That’s going to be a tough one. I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise to permanently lose anything, but I’ll be sure it’s damn hard to dig up on a civilian end.” Dodge promised.

“Good enough. Thanks, man,” Riley said.

“Got your ass,” Dodge said and hung up.

“It’s the best we can do for now.” Logan hung up the phone and leaned back in the chair.

“I think I’ll go visit Dodge when everything around here settles down. You with me, Riley?” Morgan asked.

“Naw, better count me out. I’m not sure what I’m doing right now.” Riley couldn’t help but think about Jenna in the next room.

Would she still want him if all he’d done in the army came out? Right now, she said it didn’t matter that he might have killed her ex. But that was different than being an assassin for the US Army. No, she might not accept that as easily. And if it didn’t come out, did he tell her or pretend it never happened?

He was actually thinking about it. He was contemplating a life with Jenna. A forever-after sort of life. Did he have it in him? Yeah, he thought he did. Was it the right thing to do? Hell no. She deserved someone with a hell of a lot more class than he had. His tastes in sex ran to the kinky side. She didn’t seem to mind, but she hadn’t really seen all of him. He was a heavy dominant sort of guy. He liked sex down and dirty and lots of it. What if she grew fearful of his kind of kink?

Riley shook it off. He had to get past this road block before he could even think of forever with Jenna. Forever. Just the word sent chills down his spine. He never thought he would ever think in those terms. Especially not about a woman. He laughed to himself. A bike, yeah, he could think in terms of forever. But a woman?

“Tina said dinner is on the table. Let’s eat,” Logan said, jerking him from his thoughts.

“Smells like spaghetti,” Morgan rubbed his hands together.

“My favorite.” Tyler brought up the rear.

“Everything edible is your favorite,” Morgan teased.

After dinner, Logan helped with the dishes while Riley and the others piled into the living room to watch a movie. Logan, Tina, and Jenna joined them after a short while. Everyone let the worries of the day slide away long enough to enjoy the action-thriller. An hour later, the phone rang. Logan paused the movie to answer it. “Yeah. I see. Okay, we’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Logan replaced the phone and shook his head.

“Gregg started bleeding again, so they had to take him back to surgery,” Logan finally said.

“Hell.”

“Damn.”

“Oh no.” Jenna looked over at Riley and squeezed his hand.

“It will be okay, Jenna,” he said.

They turned the movie back on, but no one really paid a lot of attention to it. Riley kept thinking back to his army career and how it was going to hang him if anyone found out about it. How would Jenna feel about it, he wondered? He couldn’t talk to her about it. It was classified information. If it came out during all of this mess, there was nothing he could do about it.

There was no word from the hospital after the movie, so they put on another one to pass the time. Riley kissed Jenna on the cheek and hugged her close. He couldn’t get enough of her, close enough to her, deep enough in her to satisfy his needs. Right then, the only thing he wanted to do was sink his dick all the way inside of her and stay that way.

The phone rang again. Tina handed it to Logan.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll tell him. Right.” Logan hung up the phone.

“He didn’t make it,” Logan finally said.

“I take it they want to talk to me again,” Riley said.

“Yeah, they asked if you would meet them downtown at nine in the morning.” Logan stood up and blew out a breath. “You know we’re behind you on this. It was self-defense all the way.”

“I know. I’m not worried. I didn’t even have a weapon on me,” Riley agreed.

Jenna held on to him as though he would disappear if she let him go. He knew she was scared. He could almost taste it on his tongue. He stood up, pulling her with him.

“I think we better get to bed if we are going to make it there by nine in the morning,” Riley said. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”

They all said good night and split up to go upstairs. Riley kept a tight hold of Jenna. He wasn’t sure she was going to make it all the way to the room before she fell apart. He could feel the fine tremors in her body.

Once they reached the room, he pulled her into his arms and held her as she started crying. He knew it wasn’t out of loss with Gregg’s death but with reaction to everything that had happened in the last few days. She was relieved and scared all at once. He understood.

“I’m s-sorry,” she gasped. “I can’t help it.”

“Shhh, it’s all right. Go ahead and cry, baby.” Riley backed them up to the bed and sat down, pulling her down into his lap.

“What’s going to happen to you now? I’m sorry I got you in this, Riley. I’m so sorry.”

“Shhh, Jenna. You didn’t get me involved. I involved myself. None of this is your fault, and nothing is going to happen. I didn’t kill him. It was self-defense. I’m not worried about it. You don’t need to be, either.”

“I can’t help it. You could go to prison because of me.”

“Stop it!” Riley shook her. “I’m telling you this once, and I don’t want to have to repeat myself again. This is not your fault, and if I hear you say you’re sorry about it one more time, I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank that pretty ass of yours till it’s rosy red. Do you understand me?”

Jenna nodded and sniffed. Her eyes had grown round in astonishment that he would spank her. Riley nearly grinned at that. He could tell from the way she licked her lips that the thought excited her. When things had calmed down, he was going to introduce her to some of the things he liked. Just the thought of her bare ass in the air and his handprint on those round cheeks stirred his cock.

He needed a way to distract her, and his hard cock would do just the trick. Riley cupped the back of her head and brought her lips up to meet his. He lightly kissed along the corners of her mouth then licked the seam until she opened for him. He slipped his tongue into her hot mouth and proceeded to devour her from the inside out. His teeth nipped at her lower lip then licked over it with his tongue to sooth the sting. The feel of her tongue sliding against his drew a low growl from him. Their mouths met in a soul-searing kiss that went on until he had to break away to breathe.

He pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes.