I nodded.
He rubbed his palms over his face in frustration. “You’re employed by the best security company in the Atlanta area, Jessa. Why in the hell didn’t you tell anyone at work what was going on?”
“I thought about telling Calista, but I didn’t want to be a bother.” I shrugged. “And I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, not until you showed me the note on the back of that last picture. I swear that if I’d gotten something like that in the mail, I would have said something. Right away.”
Bending low, he dropped his forehead against mine. His blue eyes were serious as they gazed into mine, and I was incredibly flustered by his closeness—but also more aware of him than I’d ever been any other person in my entire life.
“I want a promise from you, Jessa. You have any problems that are worrying you, from now on you come to me with them. Can you do that for me?”
“But—”
“Don’t,” he rasped. “I know what you’re going to say, but the last thing you are is a bother to me. I’d be fucking honored to be the man you turn to when you need help.”
I wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, it was like my lips had a mind of their own. Instead of giving him the promise he wanted, one I was more than happy to provide, I found myself rising up on my toes to press my mouth against his in a soft kiss. It must have been answer enough for Roman, though. He quickly took control of the kiss, and it went from soft and gentle to hard and demanding in the blink of an eye.
4
ROMAN
Jessa’s hesitant touch of her lips to mine wasn’t the answer I’d been looking for. It was way fucking better. Her kiss told me, without words, that she was going to trust me with her problems. Trust me to keep her safe. Trust me with her body.
Triumph raced through my system, and I pulled her into my arms as I crushed my mouth over hers. She didn’t put up any resistance to me taking over the kiss. Instead, her arms locked around my neck, and she pressed her body against mine. When her lips parted, a deep groan rumbled up my chest. I was getting my first taste of her, and it was beyond what I’d imagined—which I’d done more often than I cared to admit over the last month, jacking off to fantasies of her until my palm was sore. But the timing was shit because I needed to get her out of town before her stalker realized that we were onto him. Her safety came before anything else.
I allowed myself another minute to enjoy the kiss, my tongue tangling with hers and my hands palming her ass before I tore myself away and stepped back.
“Pack your shit, beautiful. Enough for at least a week.” If I had my way, and I fully intended to, those bags were going tocome to my place when we were back in town, after this was all taken care of. Quickly followed by the rest of her stuff because I had no intention of letting her go now that I had her.
“Uh huh,” she sighed with a dazed expression on her face.
She had a habit of saying that, one that I’d always found cute. But with the way she looked now with her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen, it was sexy as fuck. I forced myself to turn around and walk out of the room before I ignored the danger she was in and tossed her on the bed. As I walked through the living room and into the kitchen, I spotted a stack of mail on the counter. Without any remorse, I picked it up and thumbed through the envelopes, pausing on one from a doctor’s office. It was addressed to Jessa, but I hadn’t heard anything about her being sick. After a quick glance over my shoulder, I pulled my knife out of my pocket and slit the envelope open. A quick peek inside alleviated my concern over her health—and had my cock pressing against my zipper.
My innocent girl had made herself an appointment with a gynecologist. They’d sent new client intake forms, along with some brochures for different forms of birth control for her to read before she met with the doctor...tomorrow. She was going to miss it since we’d be in Kentucky by then. At my cabin, where I didn’t have any condoms because I never brought anyone there with me.
Ever.
Until Jessa.
Hell, I didn’t even have any condoms in my apartment or my truck. Not a single one in my wallet, either. It’d been more than a year since I’d been even remotely interested in hooking up with a woman. Probably another year more than that since I’d been with anyone. When I made the decision not to re-up in the Army and move back home, I figured I’d have plenty of time to get back into the dating game. But then I met Jessa, and even justthe idea of being near another woman left my cock limp and my balls trying to crawl back inside my body. It’d made me look at my dry spell in a new light, that’s for damn sure.
She was well worth however long it took to woo her into my bed...and my life. That’s what I kept reminding myself each time she blushed and stammered her way through an interaction with me. For a man who’d been known for his patience in the military, it was in short supply whenever I was near Jessa.
But now that she was going to be under my roof, sleeping in my bed? The time for waiting had come to an end, and I needed to solidify my position in her life. By keeping her safe. And with sex. Lots and lots of sex. Without condoms or the birth control she’d planned on getting—which had damn well better have been for me and not some other guy. I growled at the thought, my hands clenching and my muscles clenching.
“Umm, all done,” she whispered from behind me.
I turned to face Jessa, and she took a step backwards when she got a look at my expression.
“Are you dating someone?” I hadn’t meant to ask her the question that had me so pissed off, but I couldn’t take it back now that it was out there. I was almost positive the answer was no, but even the smallest amount of uncertainty was enough to make me see red—or green as the case may be since my anger was one-hundred percent motivated by jealousy.
“What? No! Why?” she sputtered.
I unfisted my hand and showed her what I was holding.
“Oh!” Her face turned bright red, and her gaze dropped to the floor. “Umm. No. I just. Well. I thought it was something I should finally do, I guess.”
Since I’d already decided that the time for waiting was over, I pushed a little more. “Because someone caught your attention?”
Her dark eyes jerked up to me, looking startled, and then darted back to the floor. “Um. Yeah. Maybe.”
