Chapter Sixteen

Jeremy

“Okay, what do you think of this one?” LaTasha asks, holding up an electric blue dress against her body. It’s sexy and stops right above her knees. With the pair of high heels I’d purchased her for this event, I’m sure she’d look great in it.

“It’s perfect,” I say half-heartedly. I try hard not to display what I’m feeling, but after what she’d revealed last night, it’s hard. The anguish in her voice as she recalled what that bastard had made her do as a child, fucked with me. It made me want to tear the entire state of Virginia up looking for him. And if Coral hadn’t assured me that he’d been taken care of long ago, I would do just that. I got up in the wee hours of the morning to call Coral just to double check that everyone involved in LaTasha’s horrific past had paid a price. She’d assured me they all had. Everyone from her mother’s boyfriend who had pimped her, his friend who was her first john, and even the prison guards that were involved in the prostitution ring at the juvenile detention center—they all had been handled. And Coral had even forwarded me copies of their obituaries and gravesites to prove it. Even knowing that, the anger oozing through my veins hadn’t subsided. In fact, it felt worse. The fact that I wanted to hurt those bastards, but I was unable to because they’d already been handled, bothered me.

“Is everything okay?” LaTasha asks.

I peer up at her, from my position on the bed. I can see fear clouding her pretty eyes.

“You’ve been distant most of today, and I completely understand after what I told you last night. I realize it’s a lot to deal with and if you want to back out or…” She hesitates, looking everywhere but in my eyes. “Or if you don’t want to be involved with me—”

“Come here,” I say, extending my hand to her. When she reaches for my hand, I pull her onto my lap and nuzzle her neck with my nose. “There’s nothing you could tell me to make me want to end things with you,” I say, realizing for the first time the truth of my words. “Nothing. Because I’ve already fallen in love with you.”

She gasps and pulls back peering down at me.

I continue. “The truth is I hate what those bastards did to you and if I didn’t already have assurances that they’d been taken care of, I would’ve had my investigator on the phone in the middle of the night to hunt them all down.” I hear the danger in my own voice and wonder if I’m scaring her.

“What do you mean they’ve been already taken care of?”

I shut my eyes, briefly debating on what to tell her…if I should tell her anything. “Coral,” I simply say.

“She did something to them?” she queries, her voice disbelieving.

“She eliminated them,” I say with little remorse.

“Eliminated? You mean…”

The look I give her is unflinching.  “Yes. They’re dead. Your mother’s boyfriend, his friend, and the prison guards were all eliminated a long time ago. And if Coral hadn’t offed them with Liam’s help of course, I certainly would have.”

LaTasha stares at me in disbelief.

“Coral and I are cut from the same cloth,” I continue. “She’s a natural protector. There’s no way someone can hurt the people we love to the extent you were hurt and be allowed to continue walking this earth. No way.” I shake my head at the mere thought of it. “I’ll just needed some time to get past my anger of not being the one who put the nail in their coffins. I hate that I couldn’t do that for you.” I press a palm to her warm cheek and stroke it with my thumb.

I notice LaTasha’s watery eyes sparkle with something as a tender smile touches her lips. “You love me?”

I nod. “Yes.” I don’t even have to think about that answer.

“Me too,” she admits above a whisper.

“You too what?” I want to hear the words.

“Love you. I love you too.”

The muscle in my chest squeezes from her declaration.

“This shit is crazy,” I say before sighing and rubbing my hand through my hair. I never thought I’d be one much for love, yet here the hell I am, chest deep into the shit with the woman in my arms.

“My very own Wolverine.”

That makes me laugh out loud for the first time that day. “And you’re my real-life Storm,” I return.

“Tuh,” she mocked. “I don’t think so. Ororo is fierce—”

“And a survivor with a vulnerable side just like you. She has the power to turn a stormy and cloudy day into sunshine within minutes. That’s exactly what you do for me. Jesus, when the fuck did I start sounding so Goddamn lame?!” I question out loud, causing LaTasha to chuckle as she pulls me in for a hug.

“You’re a regular sap, Mr. Bennett.”

“Only for you, doll.” I mean those words with every fiber of my being. I pull back enough to see her wiping tears from her eyes. Her dark skin peeking out from the edges of the white plush hotel robe she’s wearing, is begging to be touched. Never one to be able to deny myself of this woman for too long, I oblige, pushing the top part of the robe down over her bare shoulders. Her smooth skin greets me like a present on Christmas morning, and I push the robe down further until one of her naked breasts is exposed from underneath. Her nipple is already pert, asking to be licked. I lower my head, stick out my tongue, and twirl it around her areola, teasing her. My cock begins to stiffen when I hear her hiss at my tongue’s contact.

“Jeremy,” she whispers breathlessly.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, something that happens anytime she says my name. Right now, I’m not Sir. I’m Jeremy Bennett. Not a Dom, but a man who is fully intent on making love to his woman. I groan with anticipation as I lay her back against the bed, managing to pull open her robe. I hold her arms above her head and stare down at the woman beneath me. She’s so strong yet so pliable underneath me. Her huge honey eyes never leave my face, begging me to touch her. I lower my head to kiss one corner of her mouth. Then I kiss the other one, the top of her nose, forehead, chest, and on and on until I reach the valley between her legs. She easily opens her legs, keeping her hands perched above her head even though my hands are now wrapped around her thighs. She’s surrendering to me just the way I love. I gladly spend the rest of the night devouring her body. The screams she emits as I take her, alerts anyone within earshot that this woman belongs to me.