chapter 4
Jonas had never felt more helpless in his life.
Watching JJ break down, falling to her knees right in the middle of the pond, took him to a dark place. One he wasn’t sure he could crawl back from. He’d been down this road before, watching a woman he loved being terrorized and broken down, piece by piece.
But fuck that. He’d be damned if he’d just watch as JJ slowly lost everything that made up her ballsy, flat-out, fearless self. Maybe that was what gave him the idea to approach Noah with the most insane idea ever.
Once the team had returned to the penthouse, Jonas pulled Rafe and Noah aside and floated his idea. He was met with are-you-fucking-kidding-me glares.
“You want us to go to the head of ORUS and ask for his help apprehending one of his own agents?” Noah shook his head, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Jonas muttered.
Noah glared at him. “It doesn’t just sound crazy. It is crazy. Normally I’d approach Ian with an offer, maybe some information he needed in exchange for a favor. But this is one of his guys; an active ORUS agent.”
Everything his friend was saying made sense. Hell it made perfect sense not to walk right into the fucking lion’s den and announce your presence, but Jonas was done sitting around and waiting for that fucker West to make a move. So far David had been the one calling the shots, arranging them all where he wanted them like chess pieces on a board. They needed to turn things around, pull him out of hiding on their terms.
Noah made a frustrated sound. “Even if he believes us when we have no proof, there’s no guarantee that he’d help us. Ian is better than most, that’s why we installed him as the head of ORUS. Better the enemy you know, right? But I’m not sure I trust him that much. We could be walking right into a trap. For all we know, this is exactly what Chamaeleon wants us to do.”
“I don’t think so,” Jonas said softly. His mind flashed back to the way West had looked at JJ. It hadn’t been calculated at all. He’d been wearing an expression of utter obsession, one that made Jonas’s skin crawl even as he remembered it.
“You didn’t see the way he was looking at her. He wants JJ, and he’s willing to do whatever is necessary to get to her. I seriously doubt Ian wants a loose cannon like that out there possibly putting ORUS at risk. He might not want to help us, but if he can rein West in, he might help us inadvertently.”
Noah stood, his face a blank mask. He left the room and returned a couple of minutes later with Matthias and Oskar.
“This is the deal. Jonas thinks we should get Ian involved.”
Matthias opened his mouth to protest but Noah held up a hand.
“Believe me, I know. But he has some good points. Ian might be the only one who can actually control West, and we think that might give us the opening we need to figure out where he’s keeping Isabella.”
No one spoke for a few moments, and Jonas knew they were all thinking the same thing. It might help them, or it might piss David off. And if that were the case, who knew how he’d react?
Matthias acted as a voice of reason. “Maybe we shouldn’t—”
“This is the only thing we can do,” Noah cut him off. “The longer he has her, the less likely it is that she’ll still be alive when we find her. This has to work.”
Rafe’s voice was calm but deadly. “You know me. I’m behind you all the way.”
For the next hour, they discussed strategy and then armed themselves to the teeth from the armory room. Ryan and Dylan were going to stay behind to protect the women, something Jonas was sure he’d get an earful about later. JJ hated it when they went off leaving the “little women” behind but Jonas wasn’t sure how she wanted them to handle it. He didn’t want to shut her out, but he for damn sure wasn’t going to bring her into a dangerous situation.
He’d noticed Noah had been taking more time to reassure Lucia lately, telling her what he was doing before leaving, which was unlike him. Jonas smiled thinking of how stoic and unbending his friend had been before finally admitting his longtime feelings for Lucia.
They took three separate vehicles with Rafe on his own, Matthias and Oskar in one of the vans they used for surveillance, and Jonas and Noah in the SUV. When they left New York, Jonas glanced over at Noah.
“He’s meeting us at the X.” The X was the location that ORUS used for mission prep. They never ever discussed details of black ops in their shiny office uptown. The X’s location changed monthly.
Jonas shrugged. It was an odd meeting place but he knew better than to ask too many questions. It had been years before Noah had confided in him about his past with the borderline-legal, government-sanctioned, shadow organization known as ORUS. He’d figured out on his own that Matthias had been in, too, and with the things Noah had mentioned about Rafe, he was pretty sure Lucia’s older brother was also a former agent. It made sense given the timeline of when Noah said he’d come into the DeMarco’s lives. Plus, the way Rafe fought indicated he was either an ORUS agent or former special ops. The dude had beaten the hell out of Matthias and Oskar and had almost blinded Jonas. He rubbed his eyes absently at the memory.
Not that he was still bitter or anything.
When they pulled up outside of the X, Noah parked and got out immediately. Jonas followed, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Rafe appeared silently at his side. Matthias and Oskar climbed out of the van.
“There’s no one stationed to the East or the South.”
Jonas nodded once just as Rafe appeared.
“Looks clear. Let’s get this shit over with.” Rafe’s hand hovered close to the piece in his waistband.
They climbed over the metal guardrail and made their way down closer to the water. Ian stood next to a trashcan where a fire burned. Anyone looking would see nothing more than a random bum warming himself by a fire.
Not the head of a secretive and lethal organization. Maybe that was part of the lesson they all had to learn, Jonas thought. Not to judge too easily because nothing was truly as it appeared.
Noah stood next to Ian, stretching his hands out to the heat of the fire. Ian didn’t acknowledge him in any way.
“One of your dogs is off his leash,” Noah finally said.
Ian grunted. “My dogs don’t have leashes, they have microchips. If there’s a problem, I’ll take care of it. Not sure why that warrants a trip to this shithole so I can freeze my ass off.”
“It warrants a hell of a lot when my daughter’s life is at stake. You brought a predator into my home, and now I need you to help take him down.”
Ian froze and then turned slowly to look at Noah. “Chamaeleon?” The word was barely a whisper, but Noah nodded curtly. “Why would you think it was him? He’s been overseas for years and just got back. If he was after you, why would he wait this long?”
“It’s not me he’s after. It’s a friend. Isabella just got caught in the crossfire.”
Ian glanced behind him at Jonas and the others then barked out a laugh. “Well, you certainly came with a show of force.”
“This is my daughter, Ian. I need your help. I made you Orion because I thought you’d be different.”
Ian scoffed. “Like that was some favor. Might as well have painted a permanent target on my back.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Ian!”
Noah’s outburst took them all by surprise, Oskar shifting restlessly while Matthias clenched his fists. Jonas wanted to put a hand on Noah’s shoulder but under the circumstances, his friend was likely to bite it off. The only one who didn’t move was Rafe. He just stood staring at Ian with the blank visage of a man who had no trouble killing to get what he wanted.
Jonas shook his head. It was Rafe’s niece at stake, after all. The dude was a stone cold killer, but the only people he ever looked at with love were the grandmother who’d raised him, Lucia, and the mischievous baby girl who’d brought them all so much joy.
Chamaeleon had no idea what he’d started. Things had escalated from a skirmish to a full-scale nuclear war the moment he’d taken Isabella.
Ian finally spoke when it seemed they’d settled a bit.
“I’ll handle this. He’s still in contact so I can have someone bring him in. Alive.”
Noah let out an anguished sound that hit Jonas right in the chest. It was the sound of a man who was close to losing it. They needed to get out of there before he did something to make Ian take back his tentative offer to help.
“Let’s go. Maybe one of the boys has something by now.”
Noah nodded silently but his pain hung in the air between them, so thick it was choking them all. They turned to leave but before they got more than a few feet, Ian’s voice floated from behind them.
“I’ll handle him this time, Leo. But if you ever come at me like this again, be prepared for your funeral.”
Noah turned and nailed the other man with a dark stare. In that moment, Jonas realized he was seeing the true Noah, the killer ORUS had trained him to be underneath the civilized mask he wore everyday.
“If anything happens to my daughter, we’ll all be dead. Because that’s the only way I’m not getting her back.”
JJ rolled over and buried her face in the pillowcase. Even after a hot shower and wrapping herself in one of Jonas’s shirts and a huge robe, she still couldn’t seem to get warm. This was a different type of cold, the kind that got into your bones and made you feel like you were being punished.
Maybe I am.
JJ pulled the covers up to her chin and tried to sleep, only because she’d promised Jonas that she would. A tear slipped over the bridge of her nose to dampen the pillow. She bit her lip to make sure she wasn’t making any noise. The last thing she wanted was to raise Lucia’s suspicions even more.
Noah had asked them not to tell Lucia what had happened. They’d only told her that JJ had gone to confront him and that he’d pushed her. Although she was pretty sure Lucia wasn’t buying their story anyway. Even though she didn’t agree with Noah’s decision to keep Lucia in the dark, a small, secret part of her was thankful. She wasn’t sure she could bear to look her best friend in the eye and admit that she didn’t think David was going to give Isabella back.
She shivered remembering the satisfied look in his eyes when he’d seen her standing outside. He was getting off on this, on the power to draw her to him against her will. It was terrifying and humiliating, but she’d have gladly borne all of that if it brought Izzy back.
There was a quick knock on the door before Lucia stuck her head in. JJ sat up, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her robe.
“Hey, you can come in. I’m not sleeping anyway.”
Lucia shut the door behind her. JJ moved over so Lucia could sit on the edge of the bed.
“I wanted to check on you and see if you were really okay, not just pretending so Jonas wouldn’t worry.” Lucia’s gray eyes roamed over her as if looking for bruises.
It only made JJ’s stomach churn harder. Her friend was so loving and nurturing, they’d always joked that Lucia would have all the babies and JJ could just be the crazy aunt who sneaked them candy and told them inappropriate stories about men once they were older.
What would happen to her friend if they couldn’t rescue Isabella? It would destroy her. It was the worst thing in the world to see destruction coming for you on the horizon when you were locked in place and could do nothing to stop it.
“I’m okay. Physically.”
Lucia pushed her hair back. “That’s not what I asked.”
JJ sucked in a tremulous breath. “He’s insane, Lucia. I don’t know what to do. He was enjoying it, denying everything and watching me lose it. I don’t know what he’ll do next, but I am terrified. I bet Noah is wishing you’d never met me.”
“We can’t give up. I have to believe that there’s a purpose to all of this.” Lucia lay down next to her and grabbed her hand. “And Noah loves you like a sister, just like I do. Everyone here loves you. I’ll have to keep telling you that until you finally believe it.”
“If you don’t mind, Lucia, I’ll take over from here.”
Jonas’s deep voice cut through the room, startling them both. Lucia squeezed her hand before getting up. She patted Jonas on the arm on the way out.
“Hey,” JJ said finally, not sure what else to say. Part of her was afraid to ask exactly where he’d been. She wasn’t sure she could take any more bad news today.
“Hey,” Jonas whispered back before lying down next to her. He rolled over so their lips were only a few inches apart. “You should listen to your friend, you know. Everyone here loves you. You’re not just someone they put up with to make Lucia happy. They adore you in your own right.”
JJ closed her eyes, mortified that he could zero in on her insecurities so easily. It was impossible to hold any resentment toward Lucia, even though she was the delicately beautiful, feminine ideal that JJ had never quite been able to meet. Lucia was all sweetness and light while JJ was all gunpowder and hot sauce. She couldn’t help that there were definitely times when she’d felt people only tolerated her because she was friends with Lucia.
“I love them, too. That’s why this is so hard. Being here is putting them all at risk. It’s selfish of me to stay. I should just run away, somewhere David will never find me.”
Jonas grabbed her so suddenly she squeaked. In the next few seconds, she found herself pressed beneath two hundred pounds of pissed-off but completely aroused male. He flexed his hips, driving his hard cock between her legs. JJ moaned at the contact, the pressure hitting right where she ached.
“First of all, you aren’t going anywhere.” He kissed her on the neck, sucking right over her pulse. “Second of all, if you run, I’ll follow you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Jessica Jones.”
One minute she was staring into his eyes, the next she was wrapped around him, her legs twined with his and her arms clamped around his neck. He was what she needed, that port in the storm that made her feel safe.
JJ held on to him for dear life, kissing every bit of skin within reach. Maybe she could merge into him and lose this desperate feeling of isolation. Jonas seemed to understand what she wanted because he kissed her for long moments, tangling their tongues together while holding her closer, one of his big hands tucked under her ass, holding her in place for the slow, rolling movement of his hips.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered.
JJ moaned when he bit her lip gently. She clutched at him, trying to get his shirt off. Jonas chuckled as he moved back slightly so she could tug at the cotton. “Take it easy, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
But JJ didn’t want to take it easy. She wanted it fast and hard, wanted to feel him everywhere. Anything to cover the feeling David’s eyes had painted on her skin.
“Faster, Jonas. Please.”
He raised his head, and whatever he saw in her eyes made him move. One arm reached behind him, and he yanked the shirt off in one smooth motion. JJ was on him immediately running her hands greedily over the golden brown skin revealed. He moaned low in his throat when she slid down and sucked at his nipples.
“Christ, you’re trying to kill me.”
JJ was lost in the sight, sensation and feel of his skin against her mouth. He tasted slightly salty and uniquely masculine. She tugged and yanked until she tossed the robe aside. Suddenly he flipped her over, his weight covering her back, pressing her into the mattress.
“Hold on, angel. I know what you need.”
He grabbed her hands and pushed them over her head. She struggled slightly at first, but a gentle kiss to her cheek made her relax. Just like that, she melted, completely safe in his embrace. He was going to take her, comfort her, pleasure her, and all she had to do was trust it.
Trust him.
“I need you, Jonas.” The admission felt like swallowing rocks. JJ wondered if she’d ever felt safe enough to admit that she needed anyone before.
“I know you do, baby girl. I’m going to take care of you.”
She reared up off the bed when his fingers made contact with the edge of her panties. Every touch, every brush of his lips against hers felt like live wires. Her skin was starving for him and so was she.
“Jesus, you’re soaked for me already.” His voice was husky with desire and purely masculine appreciation.
JJ normally would have made a smart comment, but her breath was stolen at the first thrust of his fingers. She cried out, remembering at the last minute that the others might be able to hear them and biting her lip.
His mouth covered hers, sucking gently at the lip she’d abused. JJ let out a greedy sound as she ran her hands over his muscles. All the guys were in great shape, it was a prerequisite for their line of work, but none of them could compare to Jonas in her opinion. He was built on the slimmer side but his workout regime had packed his frame with muscle. She loved the feeling of him pressing into her.
He tugged at the edge of her shirt and she held her arms over her head so he could pull it off. Jonas groaned at the sight of her in nothing but her panties. JJ lifted her hips so she could pull the panties down her legs, her eyes taking in his every motion as he struggled to get out of his boots and jeans. He hadn’t worn any underwear so as soon as he tugged his jeans down, his cock bobbed out, thick and ready. JJ leaned forward and sucked on the tip.
“Christ. JJ, you can’t do that. I won’t last, baby” he warned.
She smiled around him, reveling in his erotic curse as she hummed against his skin. His fingers tangled in her hair and she moaned again, incredibly turned on by the sharp tug at her roots. When she looked up at him, Jonas was watching her with slitted eyes, taking in the sight of her lips wrapped around his swollen cock.
Something in her eyes must have set him off, because he tugged her back gently and then pushed her back on the bed. JJ started to protest but then lost her train of thought at the first touch of his skin against hers. His skin was so warm, burning against hers and she wanted to feel it all over her. But Jonas had other ideas, nuzzling her breast before sucking her tight nipple between his lips. He alternated between her breasts until JJ thought she’d scream, and then she did cry out when he entered her a moment later, his thick cock stretching her to the limit.
“Oh my god.” JJ bit him on the shoulder, and his hiss of surprise mingled with her harsh breathing. It was all she could do to hang on, clutching his shoulders as he rolled his hips. As he tunneled deeper, she felt like they were melting into each other. That was what JJ wanted, to be overtaken and overpowered. To know that Jonas was in control and wouldn’t let anything bad happen.
She needed to believe that.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, baby. Believe that. You mean too much to me.” Jonas pushed the hair off her face and the motion was so tender it brought tears to her eyes. “I love you, JJ.”
“I love you, too. So much.”
JJ shuddered as waves of pleasure spread through her like lightning bolts. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open, but she didn’t want to miss a thing. Jonas didn’t disappoint her either, his face tightening a few moments later as he fought his own release.
“Come with me, baby.”
As soon as he said the words, JJ let go, flying into a storm of light and sensation. His hands tightened under her bottom, and she heard his sexy-as-hell growl as he let go. The last thing she heard before she drifted off was Jonas telling her to rest and that she was safe with him.