Chased - A Titan Novella (Titan (Novella)) (3 page)

Molly topped off her glass of wine. “Actually, I have a headache.” The doorbell rang. “That was fast. I’ll get it, grab a slice and my glass, and head to bed. Nothing better for a headache than pizza and vino. You paid for this already, right, Ash?”

“Yup.” He didn’t shift to the empty side of the couch.

Holy shit. Jenny wanted to hug and strangle Molly.
Don’t leave me alone with him. I’m not sure of my next move.

“Night.” A laidback Asher leaned forward, letting his hand drag over her shoulders, then grabbed the empty wine glass. He filled it to an appropriate level, unlike Jenny’s monster glasses. “Feel better, Molls.”

Molly brought the pizza to the coffee table, grabbed a slice without a plate, and left the box on the table.

This isn’t at all awkward.
And by not at all, all Jenny could think of was yes, this was obvious and awkward. The big, pink elephant in the room had donned a tutu and was dancing with sparklers in hand.

She gulped her wine. “Molly doesn’t really have a headache.”

What? Shut up, Jenny!
Her nerves made the room shrink. She couldn’t take a stabilizing breath and had no idea what uncensored line would fall from her lips next.

Asher shut off the television, turned, and raked a penetrating gaze over her while sipping his wine. Her nipples grew tight, and she shivered to her toes. The room was too quiet.

Finally, he swirled his glass and set it down. “I know she doesn’t have a headache.”

“You know?”

His expressive eyes narrowed. “You know what else I know?”

No. I don’t.
She shook her head.
And I’m not sure I want to know.
Her handling of his newfound focus left her quivering like a waif of a woman. Actually, drinking like a wino-sailor. The push-pull of their flirtation had never allowed for him to make a move. It was their unspoken rule, and apparently, she’d grown more than confident he’d never make a move. Tonight, she was unprepared.

“Guess, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart?
She shook her head again.
No way am I guessing anything
.

He smiled in that trusting, all-knowing way he had about him. “Here’s what I know. First, someone threatened you girls. I’d walk away from everything I have to make sure justice is done. But second”—he took her wine glass out of her hand—“I needed to find you, Jenny. I need to put a stop to the one lie between us that has been as consistent as it has been irrational.”

“That’s the line of a politician.” Taking a deep breath was out of the question. The wine made her head swim.
He
made her head spin. She tried again to fill her lungs and felt them refuse. There wasn’t enough oxygen in her ever-shrinking living room. “You could mean anything.”

“But I don’t.” He took a piece of hair hanging over her eye and tucked it behind her ear. Her pulse screamed in her neck, but his focused stare never wavered. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve always known. Now it’s your turn: What do you want?”

Her eyelashes fluttered; her stomach dropped. His voice was always low, but its vibrations washed over her, making her throb.

“I want…”
You.
That was the answer. It had always been the answer up until the opportunity presented itself. But she didn’t trust her feelings or his motivation. “Not to be confused.”

He shifted closer, evaporating their distance. His broad palms covered her cheeks, and his thumbs stroked slowly. Her bottom lip drifted open, and her eyelids sank. The quietest sigh fell from her mouth, and she hated how easy she was to manipulate.

“You are gorgeous.” His tone was deep and hungry, and he was close enough for her to register the rich aroma of his faded cologne. “And it shouldn’t have taken me this long to tell you that.”

Asher brushed his lips over hers. Like the intense roll of a summer storm, crackling lightning and thundering pulses ran their course, uncontrolled and unstoppable.

“Ash…” Her lips tickled against his, and her mind drew blank, focusing on the sparks that spread from her lips into the softest of kisses.

His fingers feathered into her hair, and she opened her mouth to him. He tasted like red wine, sweet and savory, and each velvet stroke of his tongue wicked away her hesitation. She struggled to stay in the moment, wanting to remember every amazing second, but the indulgent and delicate kiss was fading. Years of taunts and teases had lined up, urging their bodies together.

Jenny leaned into his embrace. He dropped a hand from her hair and wrapped it around her back, pulling her close to his chest, into his lap. Exactly where she wanted to be.

He ate at her mouth, lust pouring between them. He was all-powerful, all-consuming. He groaned against their lip lock. “God, Jenny.”

Her legs straddled his thighs, and she rocked her hips, flexing over him. His hand still buried in her hair knotted and tugged, exposing her neck. His teeth dragged over her bottom lip and scraped down her neck.

“Yes.” His teeth rasped again, and she arched into his strong embrace. “Please, Ash. Please.”

Please what?
It didn’t matter, whatever he’d give her, she would give back. Jenny wouldn’t hide from him.

He suckled down to her collarbone. Harsh and surprising. The more he kissed, the more she needed. Pent-up frustration multiplied. Wild want pulsed between her legs. She was wet. He was erect. They still had their clothes on, and nothing about this first kiss said it was ending anytime soon.

“God, sweetheart, nothing better than you.”

Red-hot in his arms, Jenny grasped at him, wrapping her arms around his impossibly broad shoulders. He picked her up and swept her down. Her back was on the couch, and he loomed over her then dropped down with a mind-bending kiss, pressing his weight between her thighs. One leg stayed pinned between him and the back of the couch, the other snaked up his strong, lean muscles.

She opened her eyes, skipping her hands into his hair. He leaned to the side and tore at her shirt, pushing it up her stomach, over her bra, and locked his mouth around her nipple.

“I love that.” Intense pleasure-pain roared through her as he plucked and sucked. “I love…”
You.
She always had. But that wasn’t for him to know. No reason to ruin this.

He pulled the other bra cup down and covered her breast with his palm. His massaging fingers were better than she’d imagined, and as he rolled his tongue over one tip and his thumb and forefinger over the other, she couldn’t feel anything other than the ecstasy rolling from his touch, moving lower, lower, lower, all the way to her craving canal.

“Keep moaning like that, and we’ll never make it into your bed.” His light-colored eyes had darkened. Their shocking intensity made him look possessive, carnal—

A loud rap on the door froze Jenny into place with her hands gripping his shirt. They stopped. Their uneven breaths and heaving chests mirrored one another, and his head dropped, placing one languid kiss over the breast he’d been deeply sucking.

Asher pulled her shirt down. “Change in shifts. New agent. They’ll need to check in with me.”

He sat up as another rap echoed on the door and ran a hand over his face. Jenny pulled her legs back, flushed and dizzy, then scooted back on the couch, staring at him.
What to say?

A third knock banged through the apartment, and Molly walked down the hall. “Jeez, isn’t anyone going to—” She did a double take, and Jenny knew they were so busted. “Never mind. I got it.”

Asher stood up. “No. Hang on. You’re not answering the door when there’s a lunatic out there.” He walked to the front door, looked out the peephole, and answered.

Molly mouthed, “Oh my God,” and pointed at her brother then Jenny.

Cheeks flaming from arousal and awareness, she shrugged, pulling the blanket over her. She mouthed back, “Go away.”

Asher walked in with the agent and made introductions. The congressman was back; whoever the man on the couch was had been shelved. They finished small talk, and the agent moved to his post. Asher shut and locked the door, turned, eyeing both her and a giggling Molly.
Very mature, Molls.

The hot and heavy moment was
so
gone, and they’d been
so
obvious, she had to laugh too. Even Asher-the-Congressman chuckled, and Jenny pulled the blanket over her head. “Go away, Molly.”

Molly stopped giggling and whistled as she walked out of the living room. “Scandalous.”

Still under the blanket, she heard Asher walk across the room and felt the cushion dip when he sat down. “You okay under there?”

“I feel like I’m fifteen and just got caught making out with the captain of the football team.”

“Nope, just your best friend’s older brother. Can’t wait for the Molly McIntyre inquisition.” He tugged the blanket off her head. “You’re gorgeous and cute. Not a bad mix.” Then he tossed the blanket back on her head. “Feel free to come out if you’re hungry for cold pizza.”

Well, she was hungry and would have to come out eventually anyway. She let the blanket fall.

“That was fast.” He turned the lamp off and the television on, snagged her arm, and pulled her against him. Just like that, he was relaxed again and holding her.

She didn’t get it. Not that she wanted to complain, but why now? “Ash?”

He took a bite of pizza. “So what’s your audition for?”

She reached over for a piece of pizza, grabbed a copy of the script that’d been buried under the pile of magazines, and handed it to him. “Third callback, and I’m hoping third time’s a charm.”

“
Tassels and Tangos
.” He read the cover and paged through the bound script one-handed while his other arm draped over her. His muscles shifted suddenly from kicked back to killer. “Who’s Maxwell?”

“An acting coach I met at the last audition. Said he had some insight into what the director wanted, but I got a weird feeling. That’s his number in case I change my mind.”

Asher’s face hardened. He tucked her in, took her script, and walked to the door. Jenny leaned over to try and listen but didn’t pick up any of the conversation he had with the agent. After a minute, Asher returned, sans script.

“What’s that all about?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Probably coincidence.”

Icy dread curled down her spine. “Asher. Tell me.”

“All the notes have been signed by Maxwell.”

CHAPTER THREE

Asher wrapped his arms around Jenny and held on tight. Her run-in with a man named Maxwell wasn’t a coincidence, and Asher wouldn’t take someone fucking around with his family or his woman.

Jenny sighed as she watched
The Late Show
in his arms. This wasn’t how he’d thought his day would end. No way she could’ve guessed it either. She had to be exhausted. Flight from Florida, glass or two of wine, and he’d basically jumped her out of nowhere. Add the spike of arousal and then the dread of a stalker—the girl needed to pass out.

As much as he wanted to take her to her room and strip her down, it wasn’t going to happen tonight. “You falling asleep, sweetheart?”

She yawned. “Nope.”

“Right.” Besides, if he put her in bed, then he could follow up with Murphy, make arrangements for someone to talk to Jenny first thing in the morning. Maxwell contacting Jenny was a huge a break in the investigation. But Maxwell’s blatant move had been dangerous. Asher wanted to pace the room like a caged tiger, ready to rip flesh from bone given the chance to attack. Jenny didn’t need to see him worked up.

He scooped her up. “Off to bed.”

She blinked, innocent and uncertain. “You joining me?”

“Not tonight.”

Her face fell. Why had he stayed away from her this long? And how badly had he hurt her over the years?
Damn, McIntyre.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I have to work a little, and you have
Tassels and Tangos
tomorrow. Gotta get your beauty sleep.”

He walked down the hall with her pressed against his shirt. He’d denied himself this simple luxury for years. Holding her couldn’t compare to any other woman. And kissing her… wow. Not equivalent either. She tasted like honey and smelled like vanilla. A kiss from anyone else was akin to licking cardboard. Lifeless and unnecessary.

After opening her door, he laid her on the bed. “You okay?”

She shrugged, grabbed a huge T-shirt from the foot of her bed, and changed. Her modesty was charming, but he had stolen a glance at her lace bra and thong and loved knowing what was under her cotton nightshirt. Somehow that peep show was even better than what he’d imagined with his earlier thoughts of silk pajamas.

“Not sure I can sleep.” Her voice was worried.

“Forget about Maxwell.” Saying the man’s name made Asher’s blood boil.

Jenny crawled under the covers. “Trying.”

A vortex of emotion swirled in his mind. Like. Lust. Longing. He traced her chin with the back of two fingers. “You are as soft as you look.”

“Stay with me tonight.”