His eyes bulged. His fingers scrambled for anything. I stormed forward, the floor creaking and cracking beneath my feet. Ewan’s fingers snatched the sleeve of Emma’s blazer just as he teetered over the edge.
I held her other wrist and leaned back. She winced in pain, stretched between her fallen brother and me. Our eyes met. Emma was a good actress, able to wear a mask in almost every situation, but not a moment before death. Beneath her wide-eyed and ashen-faced fear, she looked at me as something more than a business partner, something beyond the transactions.
The blazer’s arm tore from her shoulder. With Ewan no longer pulling her, I fell back, dragging her with me. I slammed against the floor. It splintered and cracked and I fell again. My arms wrapped as tight as they could around Emma and I braced for impact.
17
Rewarded Chivalry
Emma
Ian slammed against the floor with an ‘oof’ under me. The arms holding me close against his chest never loosened. He breathed deep but remained frozen. I half expected the floor below us to give way too, but it didn’t.
“Are you okay?” I whispered as if speaking out loud could crack the floor and send us tumbling even lower.
“I’m sure I’ll be sore,” he replied at a normal volume. “But it was worth it.”
“How the hell did you get here so fast?” I asked, leaning up to look him in the eyes. “I knew you’d come when I triggered the alarm, but I thought you’d be way too late once he had me cornered.”
“Your mum had a tracker on Sal’s phone,” he said, still holding me tight against him, though one of his arms slid lower to the small of my back. “We started following almost as soon as she and Bashir got back to the solicitor’s office.”
I dropped my head to his chest. His fingers tangled into the hair at the back of my neck. My pulse hammered a frenetic beat. Defying death must have been like sprinting a marathon but I’d survived, because Ian had saved me.
“Thank you,” I said. “If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have made it.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d have thought of something,” he chuckled. “You are quite resourceful, especially under pressure.”
“It was the second time I was kidnapped in the last two weeks.” I couldn’t help but poke at my savior. “It’s old hand by now.”
“You never tried to escape me,” he replied.
The hand on my back slipped even lower. He grabbed a fistful of my ass. I felt his excitement against my belly. Shared it, even in such an inappropriate time and situation. I’d read somewhere that a brush with death could have you clinging to the things that made life worth living, and I did, despite myself.
Trying to understand every interaction and relationship as a transaction protected me. Nothing got through that armor, invested my emotions, except for Mom… until Ian had picked and picked at it.
From that cold and greedy point of view I’d cultivated, allying with Ian made the most sense. He still owed me money and now had the means to make payment. That explained why I’d chosen him over a brother willing to murder me, but not why I ground myself against his cock.
“You kept me entertained,” I whispered and pushed myself forward until we were face to face, “but I bore easy, so if you want to keep me around, you’re going to have to put the work in.”
“Are we negotiating an extension?” he asked and flashed a sly smile.
“I think I have everything I want already,” I said before leaning closer only to pull away before our lips met. “But you still owe me the £15,000. Plus interest.”
“Deal,” he replied and bridged the gap.
Our lips met. We lost ourselves. The kiss was pure animal need, a desire to connect after almost disconnecting from life. My head jerked back and our breaths came in pants.
“The interest is compounding, of course,” I breathed.
“Of course,” he replied and started chuckling.
I cut it off with my lips. If kisses were dances, this was more waltz than the frantic mosh pit of our last. Ian’s hand slipped under my skirt. His fingers tickled up my inner thigh. I spread my legs. A moan escaped my lips, breaking our kiss when those fingers brushed between my legs.
“I think my White Knight could use a reward,” I teased and pushed myself up to my knees. “Isn’t that how those fairy tales end?”
With a shimmy down his body, I grabbed his belt. He stared at me, chest heaving with deep breaths. He frowned, confused. Always fun to keep them guessing.
“Now might not be the most opportune time for this,” he said, eyes on the doorway. “We aren’t exactly out of danger.”
