At least both the shooter and the man who’d hired him had already suffered the consequences. As gratifying as that was, it didn’t ease Emma’s grief. It wouldn’t change the fact that Nat was gone.
Emma caught herself jiggling her leg and straightened in the uncomfortable plastic chair. She’d promised to stay close to Todd for her own safety, but she was anxious to get to the hospital. To Jason. She hadn’t heard from him since he texted Todd that Byron was going into surgery, and that Jason’s parents would be on the next available flight to Zurich. Byron’s wife and daughter had opted out of coming to see him.
Byron had a lot to atone for, enabling Renfro’s despicable lifestyle and the ensuing coverups, but she didn’t wish him dead. For Jason’s sake, she hoped he made a full recovery. And then faced a jury.
Thanks to Nolan and Dallas, much of his ill-gotten gains had already been diverted to organizations dedicated to helping women recover from abuse, escape the streets, feed and care for their families, or find safe work. Even if he didn’t face jail time, he wouldn’t have much profit to show from his service to Renfro. Whatever hedidhave would likely to go to Mallory and Ava.
Hopefully, he’d turn informant on anyone else who’d been involved with the man’s mistreatment of women and girls.
“Hey.” Todd’s voice drew her attention as he emerged from a secure door and entered the waiting area. He looked around. “The others still in there?”
She nodded.
“All right.” He gave her a friendly smile, so different from his reaction the day before. “Let’s go.”
After two days on the run, and an evening in the hospital while his brother underwent surgery, Jason waved Emma into his room at the Hotel Richter and stuck his key card into the slot that engaged the electricity. Exhaustion blanketed his limbs, as much emotional as physical, as he flipped on the light and surveyed the neat space where he’d carefully tucked everything away into the dresser when he arrived in town nearly a week ago.
Incredible how much had changed since then.
He’d reconnected with Emma. Warner was dead. His brother was in the recovery room under police custody. Preliminary news of Warner’s death and whispers of his exploits were already appearing online now that police had released a statement. Between Emma’s team, and the information he hoped Byron would give to the police, the full story would be out soon enough.
Not great for his family, but necessary.
The door clicked shut behind him and he turned to cage Emma against it before lowering his mouth to hers. He couldn’t wait another minute to feel the soft brush of her lips, breathe in her familiar scent, let her nearness soothe the pain of the evening’s events.
The kiss quickly deepened, but he kept his hands in place on either side of her head, testing his will, afraid that if he touched her it would all be over too soon. But then she gripped the back of his neck and he hoisted her up, too distracted by the feel of her wrapping her legs around his waist to care about the stab of pain in his arm. The hot core of her pressed against his steely erection and they both hummed at the rightness of it.
Staggering into the room, he sat on the bed and let his hands roam her precious body, so soft and strong and curvy, he couldn’t get enough. Her hips rolled and she rode him slowly, the most delicious torture.
She broke the kiss and stared at him as they both gasped for breath, her blue eyes full of lust and…concern? “Don’t you want to talk first?” she asked, her voice low and rough.
A dark laugh escaped him, and he lifted his hips, gratified by her soft gasp. “No. I definitely don’t want to talk.”
“Jason. Your—”
“Em,please.” He dropped his forehead to hers with a desperate sigh. He’d almost lost his brother today, and on top of it, he and Emma would have to go their separate ways soon. He wasn’t ready. Might never be ready to part from her again. Sure, it wouldn’t be for long, but now that she was back in his life, no matter how painful the circumstances, he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her side. “I know I need to process everything that’s happened. I promise I won’t play the stoic and let it eat me alive, okay? But right now, you’re all I want to think about. All I want. Period.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “Please, baby.” He kissed the other corner. “I need this. I needyou.”
Tugging out of his hold, she slid off his lap. Had he pushed too hard? Said too much? Not said—
Reaching for the hem of her shirt, she drew it over her head and dropped it onto the floor.
Oh, thank God. He tore his own shirt free of his shorts and followed suit.
With a saucy smile, she slid a condom from her front pocket and kicked off her shoes before dropping her pants, leaving her in a bra and underwear. “I came prepared.”
He was going to come just looking at her like this, Jesus. He toed off his shoes and yanked down his shorts, boxers, and socks. His blood thrummed at the desire in her eyes as he stood before her naked. When her tongue flitted across her lips, he closed the distance between them, snagged the condom from her fingers, and tossed in on the nightstand. “Not yet.”
They came together in a bruising, desperate kiss. How had he lived without her for so long? Her lips, her breath, her touch were fundamental to his existence.
Reaching around, he unhooked her bra and slid it down her arms, releasing her beautiful breasts, and dropped to his knees as he kissed his way down her body to feast on her pink nipples, fill his hands with all that soft, heavy flesh. She gasped and moaned and raked his scalp with her fingernails, sending bolts of pleasure straight to his groin.
Sweeping his hands down her lush body while he suckled, he tugged her underwear to her ankles and then urged her to sit on the bed. She obeyed, arching toward his mouth as he moved slowly downward, taking his time to savor every inch of her skin on the journey toward her sweetest treasure.
“Jason…” Emma moaned as he spread her knees and sucked on her inner thigh, marking her soft skin in a fit of possessiveness. “I want you inside me.”
Happy to oblige—though not the way she probably intended—he fucked her with his tongue, the taste of her making him delirious. Letting his fingers take over as she flopped back on the bed, he licked her clit, driven by her soft moans and harsh breaths, and her incredible taste.
She hooked her leg over his shoulder, locking him to her as she seized up, her breath halting before she cried out and shuddered. Feeling like a goddamned king, he caressed and soothed until her muscles relaxed and she sighed.
