Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (9 page)

I
felt
a tingle of excitement as Nick took my hand. I would miss this. I would miss the way my body responded to him in an instant. I’d never had that with anyone before. As I followed him down the corridor, I took the chance to study his broad shoulders, powerful arms, and tight ass. I wanted to drink him in. After Monday, I’d never get the chance again.

Let’s make the most of the time we had left…

The line played on a loop in my head, and I tried to push it away. I didn’t want to think about Monday, not yet. I wanted to lose myself in Nick’s embrace. I didn’t want to think about anything other than the way he made me feel.

He looked back at me over his shoulder and gave me a slow, sexy smile that sent a bolt of heat sizzling through me. The look he gave me held so much promise of the pleasure to come. I was oblivious to all the people we passed as we made our way back to the room I’d been allocated. I could only focus on Nick. My mind was full of all the things I hoped he was going to do to me. If I was going to leave on Monday, I wanted to take some fantastic memories with me.

He pulled me into the bedroom and shut the door behind us. His eyes burned into mine as he pressed me back against the closed door and stroked my hair. “Are you okay, Ella?”

Instead of answering him, I went up onto my tiptoes, interlaced my fingers behind his head, and pulled him down towards me, so I could kiss him. His lips parted beneath mine, and I traced my tongue along his soft lower lip, feeling his stubble scratch my skin. I kissed him harder, clinging onto him.

He put his hands beneath my ass and scooped me up in his arms. I gasped and wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel his hardness pressing into me, and it was such a turn on. I was so ready for him, so wet already.

He pulled back slightly so he could look down into my face. His eyes were burning with such an intensity my breath caught in my throat. His arms tightened around me, and I ground myself wantonly against him. The bulge behind his zipper was huge, and I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

He looked as if he might have wanted to say something, but then he thought better of it and crushed his lips to mine, interlocking his tongue with mine.

I couldn’t get enough of him. The way he tasted… The way he smelled… And the way his hard body felt beneath my fingers.

When he pulled away again, his breath was coming hot and fast. He groaned as I shifted myself against him and reached a hand down towards his zipper. I stared into his eyes as I traced my fingers along the bulge in his jeans.

“Oh, God, Ella,” he murmured as I continued to stroke him beneath the denim.

“I need to feel you inside me,” I whispered. I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life.

He gave me a crooked grin. “My pleasure.”

He slid his hand beneath my clothes and moved his fingers upwards until he reached the lace of my panties. I flushed because he’d be able to tell how aroused I was already. The lace was already wet. His eyes darkened as his fingers found my most intimate spot. “Christ, Ella.”

He delved beneath the lace, burying his fingers in my wetness, sliding them slowly back and forth. I shivered with pleasure and let out a little moan.

“Do you like that?”

“Oh, yes.” I pressed down against his fingers as his other hand clutched my ass.

I wasn’t exactly a skinny girl, and yet he held me with one arm as he caressed me. My cheeks grew hot as he used his finger to circle and stroke me.

“I’m going to make sure you don’t forget tonight, Ella. I’m going to ruin you for any other man. I’m going to take you so hard, you’ll think about me every time you sleep with someone else. After you leave, I want to be the man you think about when you’re alone in bed, touching yourself.”

As he spoke, he slid a finger inside me, and used his thumb to press against me at the same time. Out of nowhere, my body responded, and my internal walls clenched around his finger as I came hard.

I breathed his name as I tried to get my breath back.

“What… What did you just do?”

That had never happened to me before. I always knew when I was going to come. There was a slow buildup before the delicious release, but that had been sudden and powerful. It made me feel uneasy — like he was more in control of my body than I was.

“That was nothing,” he said. “I’m going to make you come so many times that you’ll lose count.”

Nick reached down to unbuckle his jeans and fulfil his promise. My whole body was tingling as my eyes hungrily took in his hot, toned body. I wanted to remember every detail of this night when I left here.

As Nick moved toward me with a sexy smile on his lips, there was a loud hammering on the door.

I clasped a bedsheet in front of me, and my eyes widened as I looked at Nick questioningly.

“Who the hell is that?” Nick said in frustration.

He didn’t bother refastening his belt before he flung the door open. “Oh, it’s you,” Nick said, cuttingly. “What do you want?”

I couldn’t see who was at the door. Whoever it was had seriously bad timing, though. I shrank back against the bed. It was pretty obvious what Nick and I were doing, or at least what we had been about to do. I wasn’t ashamed exactly, but I would have preferred to keep it private and didn’t want anyone to see me.

“Victor would like a word.” The cool, deep voice was instantly recognizable. Jackson.

I flushed and hoped he hadn’t seen me.

“What about?” Nick snapped.

“I suggest you ask him that yourself,” Jackson replied. No matter what situation he found himself in, I couldn’t imagine anything ruffling Jackson. He always seemed so calm. So controlled.

“Hello, Ella,” Jackson’s voice took on a teasing tone as he leaned against the door-jam and winked at me.

Crap. My cheeks grew hot and I bit down on my lower lip. “Hi.”

Nick scowled and stepped to the side, so he was blocking Jackson’s view into the room.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll be there. Give me a minute.”

“I’ll wait here.”

“You don’t need to wait. I’m not a five-year-old. I can make my own way there.”

“All the same, I’ll wait. Orders are orders.”

Nick shut the door on him and cursed under his breath.

“I’m sorry, Ella. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, buckling his belt.

I nodded. “What do you think Victor wants?”

“Damned if I know,” Nick grumbled, and put his hand on the doorknob.

I purposely let the sheet fall forwards, exposing my breasts. “Hurry back.”

Nick’s eyes blazed and he sucked in a breath. “You can bet on it.”

After I covered myself again with the sheet, he wrenched open the door to confront Jackson.

“Let’s go.”

After Nick closed the bedroom door behind him and I heard his and Jackson’s footsteps retreating, I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn’t help wondering what Victor needed Nick for and why Jackson seemed to enjoy interrupting us, but I reminded myself that none of it really mattered anymore.

I was leaving on Monday, and I would never see Nick Steel or any of the other members of the Blackthorne crew again.

As I lay there, waiting for Nick to return, I had no idea that things were about to get a hell of a lot worse for me.

E
lla

Nick didn’t return. I sat on the bed propped up by the pillows unable to sleep.

I had tried calling Claire earlier, using Victor Blackthorne’s cell phone, but she hadn’t answered, and my call went straight to her voicemail. I tried to convince myself that it didn’t necessarily mean anything bad had happened to her. But my mind kept returning to the dreadful thought that she could be in trouble, too. I had no proof of that, though. Maybe Claire had gone back to New York, assuming I was still happily hooking up with Nick.

I stared up at the ceiling. As much as I would have loved to believe that, I couldn’t convince myself. Claire wasn’t like that. She was a good friend and would try and find out if I was okay. She would be worried because she hadn’t heard from me.

I glared angrily at the cell phone and snatched it up. I dialed her number again. After a few moments, I felt a split second of hope when I heard her voice. My hopes faded when I realized it was the recorded message again.

Hi, I’m sorry I can’t take your call right now. I’m probably out on a date with Brad Pitt. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.

I could handle this situation so much better if I just knew she was okay.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to sleep now. Finally, with a sigh, I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. I could feel the beginnings of a headache and needed a drink — just water this time. I’d had more than enough alcohol.

As I left the room, I paused in the corridor. The whole place was quiet. I hadn’t been expecting that. I had imagined that Victor’s meeting with his subjects would continue into the early hours of the morning. I’d assumed that was why Nick hadn’t returned.

I frowned. If he wasn’t talking business with Victor, then where was he?

I sighed. It didn’t matter anyway. Soon enough I would be out of here, and I wouldn’t have to worry about Victor and his crew.

I made my way to the kitchen, which was situated behind the bar. It was pretty modern — stainless steel countertops gleamed in the moonlight and huge refrigerators were set back against the far wall. The kitchen smelled of lemon-scented soap and old fried food.

I didn’t bother to turn on the lights as it was a full moon, and I didn’t want anybody to notice I was wandering around on my own. Alerting Victor’s crew to my presence would only cause them to check up on me, and that was the last thing I needed.

I rummaged through the cupboards, trying to find a glass. Eventually, I found one, and as I returned to the sink to fill the glass with water, I heard a movement behind me.

I turned rapidly and collided with a wall of rock hard muscle. My heart leapt in my chest, and for a moment, I think I forgot to breathe.

The wall of muscle stepped into the light. The moon highlighted his smooth skin and his pale hair.
It was Jackson.

My heart was still pounding. I put a hand against my chest.

“Jackson?” I glared at him angrily. “Why are you creeping around?”

Jackson smirked. “I could ask you the same question, Ella.”

I was immediately on the defensive. I put the glass on the counter and folded my arms across my chest, continuing to glare at him. “I needed a drink.”

Jackson leaned back against the steel counter. I don’t know why but his proximity made me nervous. He didn’t scare me exactly, but he seemed to emanate a raw power that set my nerves on edge.

“Did you get through to your friend?”

“What?” My hand shook as I reached over to fill my glass with water. Why did he care about Claire? Was it a trap? I was so close to getting out of here. I didn’t want anything to ruin it.

To gain myself some time before answering, I sipped some water. Then I set the glass down on the counter, staring at the wet ring it left behind, instead of looking at Jackson.

“I didn’t get through,” I said. “She didn’t answer.”

Jackson nodded. “And that worries you?”

Dammit, why all this interest in me all of a sudden?

I couldn’t trust him. I shrugged and tried to look relaxed. “She was probably just out.”

“I’m going to need Victor’s cell phone back,” Jackson said.

I sighed. I’d been hoping he’d forget about it for a while so I’d be able to try Claire again tomorrow morning.

“Sure,” I said, attempting to smile brightly. I reached into the pocket of my jeans, pulled out Victor’s cell phone and handed it to Jackson.

Jackson took it. “Thank you, Ella.”

Then he surprised me by slipping an object out of his pocket and putting it down on the counter. It was a small cell phone.

“What’s that?”

“What does it look like?”

I bit my lower lip. What was going on? Was he trying to help me? Or was this a trap?

“It’s a prepaid cell phone. You can keep it.”

“To track my calls?”

Jackson chuckled. “Are you always so suspicious when someone tries to help you?”

“Only when those people have tried to
kidnap
me,” I snapped.

“I didn’t do that, Ella.”

I looked away. His bright blue eyes were too penetrating. I felt like he could see right through me to all the secrets I was holding. He made me feel guilty even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“True,” I said. “But you’re still part of all this.”

“So is Nick Steel.”

“That’s different.”

But it wasn’t really different, was it? If anything, Nick was more responsible for my situation than Jackson.

Jackson shrugged.

“Use it or don’t use it. It doesn’t bother me,” he said, but the expression in his eyes told me the opposite.

And just like that he turned and left. It was amazing how such a big man could move so swiftly and quietly.

Alone in the kitchen, I turned back to the phone and stared down at it as I sipped my water. I could just leave it there. If it was a trap, then that would ruin his plans, but I couldn’t resist it. I picked up the phone and turned it over in my hand, examining it.

I didn’t want to use the cell phone in the kitchen as I thought Jackson might still be listening. Ideally, I would have liked to take it outside, but I guessed the doors would be alarmed at night. Security had been very tight this evening.

So I rinsed up my glass and took the phone through to the bar and sat down in one of the booths.

I dialed Claire’s number, and for a second, my hopes were raised again when I heard her voice, but it was just the damn answer phone message.

I hung up.

I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t know if anyone other than Claire was checking her messages. If she was in a similar situation to me, the last thing I wanted to do was get her in more trouble.

I had no proof that Chad, Tom or Damien hadn’t taken her phone that night. They could be waiting to see if I left a message so they could go running to Victor and spoil my attempt to leave.

I sighed and looked down at the phone. I could call someone else. Perhaps 911 or the local sheriff, but if I really was going home on Monday, I didn’t want to screw things up.

I decided to leave it for now and see how things played out. Clutching the phone, I headed back to the bedroom and slid in between the cotton sheets.

The bed felt too big without Nick. My fingers itched to stroke his skin and run my hands through his dark, silky hair.

I needed him to come back soon.

After Monday, I would never see him again.