Wicked Release (12 page)

20

S
omeone was saying her name over and over, but the sound was murky in Jess's head. All she could feel were the strong arms pinning her against someone's hard-muscled chest. His hand pressed into her mouth, but she kept screaming. The sound was muffled, but she could only hope it was still loud enough for one of her neighbors to hear. His palm dipped into her open mouth and Jess bit down hard on the space between his thumb and forefinger. Tangy blood pooled in her mouth and she spat before throwing her elbow into his gut and rushing for the door. But his hands held on strong around her waist and he kept calling her name. Her name and someone else's—Sam's.

“Jesus Christ, Jess, it's Sam! It's Sam, relax!”

“Sam?” She panted his name, out of breath from the fight.

“Yes! Fuck, I think I'm bleeding. I have your goddamn tooth marks in my thumb!”

Tears brimmed her eyes from the adrenaline rush and she dropped to a seat on the bottom step of the stairs. “What are you doing here, Sam?” she said, shaking.

“You said you wanted to meet here!”

“No I
didn't!
”

“Yes, you did! You said ‘Let's talk later.' And then you pointedly asked Lyle to take you home.”

“Oh, for God's sake . . . I meant let's talk tomorrow!”

A knock pounded on her door. Jess put a finger to her lips, shushing Sam, as he backed himself against the wall so he would be hidden from view.

Cracking the door open, she found a very concerned-looking Lyle standing there.

“Are you okay? I heard screaming.” He glanced behind her, frantically looking for any signs of a struggle.

Jess relaxed, resting her head on the door. “I'm fine. I . . . I saw a spider and freaked out a bit.”

“A spider?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you want me to come in and kill it for you?”

“No! Um, no, that's not necessary. I killed it already.”

“Did you now?” The timbre of his voice had dropped considerably. “Are you sure you're okay?”

She gave him a tight smile, but it was the best she could muster with her heart still pounding from the earlier scare. “I promise.”

His eyes drifted behind her one last time, scanning the foyer before he stepped back. “Good night—” said Jess. As she moved to close the door, he shoved his foot inside, stopping her.

“Just one more question. I forgot that Elliot wanted me to ask if you wanted pancakes tomorrow for brunch?” His eyes glistened and she could see the twitch of his jaw as the unspoken passed between them—Elliot's text flashing into her mind:
If you need me out there, use the word
pancake
in conversation.

She gave Lyle a small smile once more. “You know, I don't. I'm more of a waffle girl, myself.”

He relaxed and backed away. “Okay, then. Call if you need anything Ms. Wa—” Jess held up a hand, stopping him before he finished. That boyish grin widened and he nodded in her direction. “I mean . . .
Jess
.”

She waited until Lyle was inside his car and the headlights came on before shutting and locking the door. Moving to the stairs, she found Sam there, applying pressure to his bleeding hand.

“You and your spiders,” he said.

She rolled her eyes and held out a hand. “How's your thumb?”

“Bleeding,” he grumbled.

She sighed and jerked her head up the stairs. “Come on. I thought I saw some hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin in Cass's bathroom upstairs. Let's clean you up.”

To his credit, Sam followed her and though it may have been begrudging, he didn't show it too much. Once they were in the bathroom he dropped to a seat on the edge of the bathtub, holding his hand out as Jess grabbed some gauze and Band-Aids from the medicine cabinet.

Cradling his hand in hers, she dribbled the hydrogen peroxide on. It fizzed around the cut and she had to admit, she'd bitten him pretty damn hard. He breathed in sharply through his nose, though if he was in pain, it didn't register on his face in the least.

“I'm sorry I bit you,” Jess said, looking up at him from where she knelt. Kneeling before him, like his submissive. Unease tore through her core and she pushed to her feet and instead sat next to him. Level. On even ground. “But not
that
sorry,” she teased, a smile touching her lips.

“It may suck for me that you bit so hard, but I'm glad that you did. I'm glad you were of sound enough mind to fight off someone you thought was an intruder.” His jaw tensed and his eyes sparked with something alive and heavy. “I'm sorry I was the one to scare you. I thought you were expecting me—”

“I know. It was a misunderstanding.” She wiped away the remaining blood around the cut.

“How did you get in?”

Sam jerked his head towards the basement. “The tunnel. They had someone stationed down there, but I used my badge and got in that way.”

When Jess was finished cleaning the cut, she then spread on some Neosporin and put on a bandage. She lifted her eyes to find Sam's steeled onto her, unrelenting. Demanding things she wasn't sure she had it within herself to give anymore. Not to Sam. Maybe not to anyone. Nerves fluttered through her belly and the rush wasn't entirely an unpleasant feeling. As she moved to pull her hand back, Sam held on, the gentleness of his touch contradicting the fierceness of his stare. Jess inhaled that musky scent that was purely Sam and the smell resonated deep inside of her. It felt warm and reassuring in a way that she needed more than anything and yet had been lacking the last few days. “Jess—” With the mere mention of her name, it was as though he pulled the supporting piece out of a Jenga tower, sending all the pieces of her life crashing to the ground.

“Please, Sam. I don't want to talk. I'm so
sick
of talking.”

He paused. “You want me to go?”

The quietness of the house spoke louder than she ever needed to. “I didn't say that, either.”

That was all the prodding he seemed to need. His mouth came crashing down onto hers, his hands scooping her onto her feet with him. Her palms were cold against the warmth of his skin as she slid them beneath his shirt. His chest was a landscape of soft skin stretched over taut muscle. She could taste how much he wanted her and his urgency was as potent on her tongue as the whiskey from earlier that evening. As she arched into him, his body encompassed hers, holding her, cradling her into the kiss.

A grim feeling rose from her stomach—a reminder of all the lies. It pushed past that warm uncoiling passion, but Jess shoved it back below the surface. Buried the uncertainty and darkness and doubt down below the desire. For tonight—for now—she didn't want to remember. She didn't want to address the lies and the pain. Instead, she focused on the moment. The slick heat spreading between her legs and Sam's hot tongue sliding inside her mouth. Nothing other than the feel of his hard muscle against her hands. Nothing other than his erection pressing against her, claiming her body as his. Just for this one night.

A rough sound of pleasure rumbled through Jess's mouth from deep in Sam's chest and she relished in it as though swallowing this groan could bring them closer. She wanted all that he had to offer. Every bit of it. She wanted his pleasure. And his pain. She wanted Sam.

It was comforting to know he desired her as much as she did him and as his hands roamed down her back, he paused at her ass, pulling her hard against his cock.

Something inside of her cracked. She didn't care who Jessica Walters was tonight. Or who she would be tomorrow. Because for now, she wanted to just enjoy. And relish in the feel of letting go, putting her pleasure in Sam's hands.

Her fingers dipped into his soft head of hair, careful to avoid the bandaged area. Gently, she tugged his neck back but she couldn't pry her lips off his skin even if she wanted to. And she definitely didn't.

She gasped as Sam tore his mouth from hers, pushing her to arm's length.

“Jessie, what the hell—I thought—”

“Shut up,” she rasped, and her voice was low and sultry, nearly unrecognizable from what she normally sounded like. “Take me. Do with me what you do. Be my master—”

“Jessie, I'm not your master. I'm no one's master.”

“But—”

“I don't want to control you. I just want to feel good with you.”

Heat rushed through her body, swirling, and her head grew light. “But I thought that's what you do. What this lifestyle was about.”

Sam shook his head and brushed her hair from her forehead. “For some.” His eyes glinted, and the dim lights of the bathroom hid the deep blue of his eyes. Cupping her jaw, he pulled her in slowly for a kiss that lingered, his tongue nudging her lips wider. “But I don't want to own you,” he said. “Not in that way. Wanting control in the bedroom is different from wanting ownership.”

Long seconds ticked by and Sam's gentle touch brushed down her neck, pausing between her breasts before cupping one, rolling his thumb over her nipple. Friction from his touch sent jolts of electricity shimmering down her body and Jess let her head fall back against the wall. It was impossible to hide how affected she was by him. Sliding her knee between his legs, she stopped short of his groin.

“Show me,” she managed to choke out. “Show me what you mean by that. Take me into the world you explore again. I miss it. I miss
you.
” His lips brushed over her neck, moving slowly up her jaw and landing on her mouth. It was possessive yet maintained a softness that so perfectly defined Sam. To the world, Sam exuded a hardness. A roughness. He was a brick wall, impenetrable. But with Jess? He was malleable . . . he was changing. Growing. Where he used to be stubborn to a fault, he now made compromises.

“Nothing would please me more,” he growled, and he lowered his mouth to hers once more. His kiss was fiery and demanding and it was all the distraction Sam needed to slip Jess's dress off her body. He backed her, dressed now in just her bra and thong, toward the bedroom, his lips never leaving hers.

The back of her knees brushed against the bed and Jess gasped, a light-headedness taking hold of her. She panted, stretching her head back to reveal a strip of her neck, but Sam was relentless, wanting more than she was offering. He unhooked her bra and the chilly air brushed over her nipples. A whimper splintered her lips and her body clenched at that low, sexy chuckle Sam had. It ripped through her body, vibrating.

Scooping his hands into her hair, he tugged her neck back even more, stretching her muscles tight, but not so that she was totally uncomfortable. His hands traveled down her body as he lowered in front of her, pausing at her breasts and taking a nipple into his mouth, while fondling her other breast with a gentle hand. She hissed as his teeth grazed her sensitive nipple and he moved to repeat the sensation on her other breast.

Dropping to his knees in front of her, he hooked his fingers into her panties and scraped them down her thighs until they banded around her ankles. Desire sizzled in her chest as he pressed a tender kiss to her stomach, dipping his tongue into her navel.

Rather than use his mouth immediately, he teased her, running his nose gently up her sex and inhaling deeply. Her body bucked against the barely-there tingle and tease of a touch. Just enough to let her know something was coming, but not enough to give her a true jolt of pleasure.

“Screw you,” she said playfully, peeking one eye open at him kneeling in front of her.

She could feel his smile against her skin. “That's the idea,” he said, casting her a heated look. And that smile, now directed up at her, was dazzling, nearly taking her breath away. His fingers trailed against her swollen lips and Jess bit down on her bottom lip to suppress a pant.

A slice of his irresistible tongue darted out, licking, exploring, and circling her. His finger continued its slow stroke back and forth against her pussy, now and then switching places with where his mouth was. He paused, circling his tongue slowly around her clit in tortuously luscious licks before he delved two fingers inside of her, pressing and stretching, just where she ached for it most. His fingers pumped in and out as he increased the speed of his tongue against her clit.

Jess scooped her fingers into his dark, soft hair. Every muscle tightened as her pleasure increased and her legs trembled with the simple task of remaining standing in front of him.

His fingers and tongue worked perfectly together, driving her faster toward the edge. The roaring sound of blood deafened her and nothing existed in the moment except for this. Except for Sam and this pleasure. Her mind drifted to the soft feel of being tied up. The excitement of the blindfold and not knowing what was coming next.

His teeth scraped along her clit and his fingers retreated, only to be replaced by the darting thrust of his tongue inside of her. “Oh,” she gasped, and Sam was there to catch her as her knees buckled, his hands gripping around her ass. “Oh, God. Sam—”

Her muscles contracted, beginning with her toes curling, and it rapidly swept up to her sex and over her stomach and chest. Quiet moans that she couldn't contain anymore strangled in her throat and she sighed as the feelings released. Like snipping a stretched rubber band, Jess snapped. That heat that had been slowly warming her body flared to a smoking blaze and she wilted in his arms, curving her back as she pumped her hips against his mouth. That first spasm was the largest and jerked her body back as pure bliss erupted through her so deeply that she could feel the contractions within her bones.

Sam braced her weight as though it were nothing, releasing her onto the bed and stripping his own clothes off. His hot body, slick with sweat and moisture, pressed her into the soft mattress. His erection nestled between her legs, putting rock-solid pressure just where she needed it. Despite the mind-blowing orgasm she'd just experienced, she craved more. Needed more. Tingles cascaded down her body, some lingering just long enough at her breasts to peak her nipples into two solid nubs.