Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel (18 page)

Amour sat in the middle of Jason’s bed contemplating on how she could possibly process all that’s been going on in her life for the past few days. This was all beginning to get a bit unbearable. Well, at least she had Jason. He would protect her if things took a turn for the worst. Reminding herself of that made her feel a little more at ease but not fully. It was late, maybe she should just try to get some sleep and worry about all of this in the morning. Yeah, that sounded great but it was easier said than done. She wasn’t tired at all and she was beginning to feel another headache coming on. Just as she decided to take a couple of the aspirin she had sitting on the nightstand beside her, she heard a soft knock at the door.

“Amour?”
Jason called out to her in a low voice.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

Was she? She didn’t know how to answer that so she just went with the safest answer she could think of. “Sure.”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Jason opened the door and stepped inside holding a large yellow envelope in his hand. “I just thought you might want to finish looking through all of this stuff from the storage and the safe deposit box tonight. But if you’re not up for it we can do it tomorrow.”

“I’m good. We can do that.”

His eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay. Well let me go and grab the boxes we didn’t go through out of the living room and I’ll be right back.

Amour glanced at the clock and noticed that three hours had passed since they’d started sorting through all the material they had in front of them. The remaining boxes from the storage locker consisted mainly of old bills, recipes, clothing, jewelry and a bunch of old photos of mostly of her mother and father together on various occasions with and without
her
.  Seeing those photos made her wish even more that she could’ve remembered those times now that her mother was gone. Her mind started to drift into thoughts of her father before Jason interrupted them.

“I found more,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I found more pictures of your mother with Pierce Harrington.”

“So what?” She wasn’t interested in seeing them. She really couldn’t care less who that man was. He was of no importance to her.

“Well, I think you should see these.”

“Why should I care about some man that my mom worked for?”

“It doesn’t look like they were working in these pictures.”

She hesitated before taking the stack of photos from Jason. Once she’d looked at them she noticed that there were various photos of her mother and Pierce at the beach, different bars and restaurants and what looked like lots of vacation destinations. The realization hit her like slap in the face. Her mother
was
having an affair with Pierce Harrington. The proof of that was staring her right in the face. There was picture after picture of the two of them kissing and hugging very intimately. Then what Angela said about her mother must be true. The thought of it all was starting to make her sick to her stomach and she suddenly couldn’t take anymore of this.

“Who is Adam?” Jason asked.

She barely heard what he’d said. “What?”

“Your mother is posing in this picture with some guy and it says “Me and Adam” on the back of it. Do you think your father would know who that is?”

The name didn’t sound familiar to her and she couldn’t remember her father ever mentioning anyone with that name and right now, she didn’t give a damn. She just wanted those pictures out of her face. “I don’t know. I can’t do this anymore Jason. Can we just stop for now?”

“What’s wrong?”

She quickly rose to her feet. “I just need some air.”

“Where are you going?”

“Outside to take a walk.”

“Wait, I’m going with you.”

* * *

Jason had decided to take Amour to Temescal Park in Pacific Palisades. The mid-sized park stood right off of Pacific Coast Highway where it overlooked the ocean. He figured this time away from the apartment and all the craziness that was going on in that part of town would be good for her and help get her mind off things. Jason knew that his plan was a successful one when all she could think about was how beautiful the surroundings were and how she would very much love to rent one of the fifteen small bungalows inside of the park and spend a weekend there.

By the time they’d finished touring the place, it started to get late. Jason then took her to a secluded part of the beach to watch the sun set from the back of his truck.  The temperature had dropped down to a warm but comfortable seventy degrees and perfect. He looked in her direction to find her staring at the ocean in front of them and fiddling with her bracelet. “Are you still upset?”

“Yes.”

“You know what your mother did or didn’t do is not a reflection on you right?”

“I know. That’s not what’s upsetting me.”

“What is then?”

“Everything that she put my father through.
How could she do that to him when he loved her so much?”

“Well you don’t know that for sure Amour. She and Pierce could’ve been together before your father met her.”

“I suppose you’re right but…I don’t know. The whole thing just seems weird to me. Why would Angela lie about that? What does she have to gain from doing so?”

“There’s no telling what she’s hiding and people often do the craziest things out of spite. Just because she said they were friends doesn’t mean they actually were.”

“I guess so.” She looked down at her wrist and fiddled with her bracelet some more. “Well at least we know who gave her this. There was no way my father would’ve been able to afford this on his salary.”

“Yeah and that also explains all the flowers and the limos too.”

“I feel guilty for even wearing this now.”

He put his hand under her hair and gently rubbed the back of her neck. “It still belonged to her Amour and she still cherished it. Knowing where it came from doesn’t change any of that.”

When she fell silent for a few moments, he wondered what she was thinking. He was usually good at reading facial expressions but at the moment, hers was completely blank. After a few more minutes, she finally spoke.

“I wonder if my father knew about him.”

Jason wanted to ease her mind by telling her that he most likely didn’t but he didn’t see any reason to sugar coat it. She needed to accept this for what it was, that way she could move on with her life. If Ted did know about Carly’s affair with Pierce Harrington, the likelihood of him admitting it to her if she questioned him about it was very slim. And if he didn’t know, well telling him would probably hurt him and Jason knew that was the last thing Amour wanted.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring it up to him,” he said.

“Why? Don’t you think he has the right to know?”

“Yes but what good would it
do Amour? Right now all his memories of her are good ones. As far as he’s concerned, he had a beautiful woman who loved him and was very good to him. Why would you want to take that away from him?”

“I get that Jason but I just feel so guilty for knowing this and he doesn’t.”

He removed his hand form her neck and turned her face to his. “
If
he doesn’t. You can’t change what happened sweetheart, and telling him won’t either. None of it matters anymore. What does matter is finding out who killed her so whoever it is can be brought to justice and your mother can rest in peace. Everything else can be forgotten at this point.”

She said nothing for about five minutes but the look in her eyes told him that she was willing to accept what he’d just told her, however hard it was going to be.
“If you say so.”

“It’ll be okay, I promise.” She nodded in agreement. “Do you want some wine?”

She frowned. “Are we going to the store now?”

“No.” He reached in back of him and grabbed a large brown bag out of the back seat. “I grabbed it out of the fridge along with a few beers before we left home.”

“Oh…I didn’t notice.”

He chuckled. “I know you didn’t. Let’s just relax and have a few drinks while we enjoy this warm night air, the bright stars in the sky and this nice ocean view. We’ll worry about all of that other stuff tomorrow.”

A couple of hours had passed and it had gotten dark out. Nothing but the stars in the clear night sky lit the area. It was a beautiful site to see. Jason had always loved looking at the stars every since he was a kid. Sometimes he wished he could be among them so he wouldn’t have to be in this life anymore. Those feelings have dissipated greatly since childhood, but sometimes he still felt them, especially when he was all alone. A light breeze passed though the back of the truck causing him to catch a whiff of Amour’s perfume. It smelled good on her, but it wasn’t the only thing that was
good
on her. Everything from the soft waves in her long hair to the way her blue tank and denim shorts fit so snug and perfect on her. All he could do was stare at her in the darkness because he didn’t know what to say.

She looked up at him and frowned. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“You were staring. What were you thinking about?”

“It was nothing really. You’re just beautiful that’s all.”

She smiled. “That’s the third time you’ve said that in a week. Are you trying to give me an ego boost or something?”

He chuckled. “Come on, you know you’re gorgeous.”

She fell silent for a few seconds. “Thank you, you’re pretty gorgeous yourself.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. Sure, he’d heard it before from various women in the past, but it never meant anything to him because he knew the only reason they were saying it was because they wanted to fulfill some kind of bodyguard fantasy with him. But for some reason, hearing it from Amour coupled with all the beer he’d drank suddenly made him feel good and also, bold. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He looked up at her again and their eyes locked. “Come here.”

“Why?”

He didn’t need her to question what he wanted. He just needed her to cooperate while he still had a buzz from the beer and was willing to go past second base with her. “Just come here.”

When she scooted closer to him, he touched her face and lifted it up to his staring into her now curious eyes again. “I want you.”

She let out a low giggle. “Yeah I know. You told me when we were against the side of the truck a few days ago.”

“I wasn’t serious then, I am now.”

Her facial expression turned blank as he covered her lips with his. She tasted like the wine she’d been drinking, sweet and intoxicating. When her lips parted, his tongue found its way inside her warm inviting mouth connecting with hers. So much for him not doing this anymore. Oh well, he was half drunk now and he was sick of fighting it.

“Jason…” she said in a breathy voice when the kiss they were sharing was slowly broken.

He put his index finger to her lips. “Shhh…”

He covered her lips with his again this time kissing her harder than before, sucking on them and tasting every corner of her mouth. His lips and tongue then traveled down her neck as he straightened her legs on either side of him and kneeled in front of her. He kissed, licked and sucked on her soft flesh, devouring it and taking in every bit of her feminine scent. When his lips reached the top of her breasts, he heard a low gritty moan escape from her throat making his cock swell in his jeans. Without hesitation, he quickly lifted her tank over her head and tossed it aside chucking the red lacy bra she was wearing along with it. He cupped her breasts and lowered his mouth to them sucking them so aggressively she threw her head back.

“Jason…Ohhh...”

Pulling his mouth away from her breasts, he kissed her lips again with the same aggression before reaching down between her legs to quickly unbutton the fly of her shorts and slipping them off of her. She returned the favor by quickly discarding his t-shirt as well as his jeans. Pushing him down to the floor of the truck, she covered him with her entire body pressing her breasts against his chest and flicking his earlobe with her tongue causing a chill to rush down his spine.

“I want to taste you like you tasted me,” she whispered seductively.

Her words were wet and warm in his ear and made his cock feel like it had grown five more inches. Her lips then moved down his neck to his chest where she slowly circled his nipple with her tongue. The contact made him instantly dig his fingers in her hair and gently push her head down further. He didn’t want to force her, but the anticipation from the thought of her mouth gliding up and down his hard shaft made him react in that way. She didn’t seem to mind as her head descended towards his waist leaving a trail of wet kisses along the way. When she slowly rubbed the palms of her hands against his tight abdomen, his muscles clenched. Letting out a low moan, he rested the back of his head on the floor letting her take full control.

“Please baby,” he said in voice that was barely audible. He felt her tongue trace the muscles in his stomach as she pulled down his boxer briefs and tossed them to the side. He was naked, in the back of his truck, hard as a rock giving this woman complete control over his pleasure and his mind. What was he doing? He never did this. Suddenly all of the second thoughts in his mind flew out of the window when he felt the palm of her hand circle around his erection and gently stroke it. Her touch sent a jolt through his cock causing a small drop of pre-come to escape. She flicked her tongue across the head tasting the clear fluid before closing her lips around it and sucking him deep into her mouth. “Oh fuck...”

His hips jerked upward as he clenched his fingers in her hair pulling it slightly. She let out a series of low moans as he fucked her hot mouth feeling the head of his cock brush the back of her throat. She sucked him so deep and so good that if he didn’t stop this now, he was going to come soon. “Stop…” He quickly pulled her up from between his legs straddling her on his pelvis and she began to move her hips. The crotch of the red thong she was wearing was wet against his cock. She was ready for him, and he was definitely ready for her. “That’s right baby, grind on my dick.”

He cupped her ass as she continued to grind. The motion of her hips coupled with the friction from her thong made for a pleasurable combination but it wasn’t enough. He needed to be inside her. He reached down between her legs and ripped the crotch of her panties apart exposing the soft blond curls that sheltered her swollen clit. Lifting her up slightly by her hips, he aligned them with his before slowly lowering her onto him and feeling the delicious hot wetness that gripped his cock like a fist. The words he struggled to speak came out gritty and low. “You feel so damn good.” Pressing the palms of her hands on his chest, she began to move up and down on his cock taking in a little more of him with every stroke. She took in large gulps of breath as she moved harder and faster. Her moans were deep and breathy and turned him on immensely.

“Yes baby! Fuck me!” He grabbed her ass cheeks and guided her hips in a circular motion before moving her up and down on his shaft with aggressive demand. But it still wasn’t enough. He needed more. Grabbing her waist and rising up in a sitting position, he rolled Amour onto her back before turning her in an almost sideways position. He placed one long leg on his shoulder while spreading the other further out with his knee locking it between him and the back seat of the truck. He slid his thick shaft back inside her and began stroking her with even more intensity while her liquid heat aided his penetration. Never before had he felt a woman this wet, this tight, this perfect. Her breasts bobbed up and down as her fucked her deep hitting her cervix with intense aggression. She took in a huge gulp of air and pressed the palm of her hand to her lower stomach causing him pause in mid stroke. Was he hurting her? He could see her eyes widen in the darkness of the truck as she turned to look at him, panting.

“No…please don’t stop!” she cried out.

Her words were breathy and a choppy because of her hard breathing, but he understood them perfectly clear. He granted her wish by pumping inside of her again harder, faster, and deeper than before. “I want to feel you come on my cock.” After a few more deep strokes, he could hear her taking in more large gulps of air. He knew she was almost there and the thought of feeling her come around him made his balls clench. She had to come soon, because he certainly was. He pumped in and out of her. Stretching her legs a little further apart fucking her as deep as her body would allow. When she clenched the blanket beneath them, he knew with just a few more strokes…

“Yes! You’re so deep! I’m going to come so hard Jason!”

“Come for me baby! I want to feel it!”

“Oh my god! Jason! Ohhh!”

Her legs began to shake and her inner muscles clenched his cock as she milked the entire length of his shaft. He remained inside of her, stroking her but he knew it wouldn’t last too much longer. Between her soft moans of his name and her tight pussy slicked with her cream, his control was beginning to slip. She moaned even louder, he fucked her harder, feeling her muscles clench him again leading her to another orgasm. He couldn’t hold off anymore. His control was gone. “Oh fuck yeah baby! Goddamn!” His abdominal muscles tightened as well as his balls and after a few more strokes, he came hard and deep inside of her filling her with all of his liquid heat before collapsing on top of her.