Chased - A Titan Novella (Titan (Novella)) (7 page)

She clutched an end of the boa, and her hands pushed into his hair. Tiny flashes of pain rushed through him when she pulled in time with his mouth. The torture made his cock jump.

Rasping and tugging with his teeth, Asher watched Jenny toss her head. The lovely little noises she purred couldn’t have made him any harder. He abandoned her breast and elicited her protest.

“Don’t you worry.” Asher kissed his way down the slope of one and up to the other. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He breathed over its erect tip, flicking his tongue and brushing with her lips. Her hums started again. Her hips gyrated, and her stilettoes slowly inched up the bed, until her legs were bent and the icepick heels were near her ass.

“I ache, Ash.”

He petted over her thong. “For me?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“For release?” His fingers slipped under the satin.

“Uh-huh.” Her eyes screwed shut. Black feathers swayed by her arms.

“I could watch you like this all day long.”

“Don’t.” Jenny gasped. “I might die.”

He skimmed his fingers along the slick folds. “Like silk. Bet you taste like honey.”

Her head thrashed. “Don’t tease me anymore. I
am
dying.”

They both were. Asher circled his thumb around her clit and his tongue over her nipple. Jenny’s moans turned into pleas. Her hips swayed and lifted, the spikes of her black heels digging into the bed.

“Sweetheart, I’m having too much fun to stop.”

“But I don’t want to come alone.” Her mouth gaped, and her eyes pinched. “Be with me. Please, Asher.”

What was his holdup? Nothing, other than wanting to watch her fall apart again. He rolled from the bed, found his wallet, and slid a condom on.

Jenny propped on her elbows, knees still bent. He snagged her thong off but kept her heels and boa in place. He’d never wanted a woman the way Jenny made him want.

Sweat dampened his temples, tickled a spot between his shoulder blades. He wanted until he hurt. Wanted so much, so hard, that he wasn’t sure that fucking her would do anything but exasperate his need.

Asher covered her body with his. His shaft touched her center, making him shiver. Jenny laid her hands on his shoulders. Each half-moon of her fingernails bit into his flesh. The scrapes and scratches surprised him and felt awesome. He hoped they’d leave marks and flexed his hips, pressing smoothly into her wet heat and hoping she’d claw him again.

Her muscles clenched as he impaled her. “God, yes, Ash.”

Hunger surged, and he was losing himself in her. His thighs spread hers, and he worked deeper and deeper, feeling her fall open for him. They hit a sinful rhythm, and his name fell from her lips again. It was pure music. Almost lyrical.

Desperation and a fierce, barbaric, primal appetite controlled his body. He kissed her. Hard. Licking and biting and absorbing her essence. Just as hard as she kissed him back. Their mouths dueled. He wrapped an arm around her neck, and her heels crawled up his thighs, locking over his backside. He drove into her, and she embraced it, demanding more.

Goddamn, he was going to come. The release burned close. It made him blind. Made him crazy. Made him so sure he could love—

“Asher,” she screamed his name. Moaned again. Her head hung back. “I need—”

She shuddered and froze, tightening in his arms. Her legs clamped against his back, and Jenny bucked. Her pussy rode his shaft, pulsing and throbbing at the intense demand of her climax.

He gave up his barrier, everything he’d been holding back. His mind was frenzied. His lust unbridled.

“Sweetheart,” tore from his lungs, burned into the air. He pumped through the torrid peak, shattering in her arms, and collapsed against her.

Jenny wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Her clenching sweetness still convulsed, and he gasped for breath.

Asher pressed his lips to hers. Not a kiss. The lip press was nothing more than needing to be connected in every conceivable way. He could fall asleep like this. Holding his heaven.

They floated down together into silence. Finally, he could catch his breath, and the blood rushing in his ears slowed. She didn’t stir even as the boa’s feathers shimmied. Her eyes stayed shut, but he didn’t think she was asleep. What was going through her mind? Hell, what was going through his?

CHAPTER SIX

The unfamiliar bed might have coaxed Asher awake, but the warm woman curled naked against him was like a shot of high-octane espresso. He gathered her into his arms. “Morning, sweetheart.”

He wasn’t one for morning-after chitchat. But it seemed his standard operating procedures had officially become a joke. Nothing he did or said to Jenny was his norm. Nothing inside his chest felt normal either. It was tight, but he felt… fulfilled. Odd since he’d been driving for that feeling with every career move and election. The answer had been in front of him the whole time.

“I’m not a morning person,” Jenny mumbled and burrowed against his side.

He reached to the nightstand and checked his watch. Seven in the morning.
Getting a late start.

When was the last time he had slept in? He couldn’t recall. A campaign conference call was in thirty minutes, but that could be done from bed. Mostly he listened while his re-election team discussed the campaign stops, polling, and focus groups.

If something interested him, he would pipe up. But the logistics of campaign work numbed his mind. Let him do his day job, then he’d be happy. But that’s not how elections were won. There were fundraisers to attend, commercials to shoot, messaging to try.

Just thinking about the call bored him, but he had to get up and figure out what he should do about clothes.
Didn’t plan this very well, McIntyre.
His suit and shirt were strewn across the room. Wrinkles weren’t a good look for a man hounded and photographed on the campaign trail.

He grabbed his phone and touched the screen. Too many e-mails and text messages to count.
Shit.
He’d forgotten that Murphy was e-mailing over the Maxwell file. He clicked the e-mail open and downloaded the picture. No one he recognized. The file didn’t share any new information either.

Asher looked at Jenny. She snoozed quietly. Looked so innocent, though last night had proved that wrong. He would’ve whistled if he didn’t have to explain why. The woman’s sizzle was almost too much.
Almost.
But he’d take it. He smiled. Yeah, he’d take it every minute of the day.

He scrolled through the rest of his e-mails.
Campaign team, more campaign team
. More scrolling. A lot of e-mails overnight. Then again, he hadn’t checked his e-mail since he’d jumped off the train. There was an e-mail from Molly, subject line, “Heads up.” Nope, not in the mood for bad news. It could wait. Scrolling through more e-mail, finally,
press clips
.

Typical headlines. News on his opponent. News on the poll numbers. Typical. Everything that would be addressed on the conference call—well, whoa. What was, “McIntyre and Mystery Brunette”?
Jenny.
Guess Ricky hadn’t gotten all the pictures taken care of.

That was also what Molly had probably e-mailed him about. His sister was sure to have press clips and a Google Alert set up to track his name.

He clicked the link open and scanned. Nothing overly interesting. A cell phone-snapped picture and references to Jenny’s attractiveness and reluctance to leave.

He bet the “reluctance to leave” line would be fodder for gossip blogs and that his campaign team would say things like they should jump in front of the problem. Maybe issue a statement that Asher McIntyre respected women. The reactions sometimes were worse than just explaining the truth. His girl didn’t want to leave the party in her honor, but some people had been dicks and ruined the night for her.
Glad I made it better, though
.

He chuckled, taking it more in stride than he should, then leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “We’ve been ousted.”

She shushed him and nuzzled into her pillow.

“There’s a picture.”

Jenny slowly propped up on elbows. Her eyes were sleepy and hair disheveled. All in all, a great look on her, minus the annoyed pinch of her brows. “Picture? From one of the cell phones?”

He handed the phone over.

“Oh, this is bad, isn’t it? For you? Politics isn’t my thing, but this isn’t great, right?”

He shrugged. “Seen worse.”

She scrolled down and back up again. “They make you sound like a caveman, yanking me out of a bar.”

“They said you were hot.” He took the phone and tossed it toward the end of the bed. “Can’t fault them for the truth.”

“God, if I’d just walked out, none of this—”

“You can’t second-guess yourself, and you know that everything I do is tracked by the local news.”

She rolled her eyes then tried to smooth her hair. “Yeah, the man who hits every eligible bachelor list in the United States is tracked by just the local news.”

Shit.
What was he thinking? This picture pinpointed exactly where Jenny was and that she meant more to him than just his little sister’s best friend.

His phone rang, but he ignored it. A gut feeling said nothing good was on the other end of that call.

“Hey.” Jenny rolled to face him. “You okay?”

The phone rang again. He rubbed his face. Everything he did was calculated, but last night was not, and the sudden realization of the repercussions made his stomach sink. He grabbed the phone. Caller ID showed FBI Agent Murphy. He accepted the call and closed his eyes.

Asher took a deep breath. “Think I have a problem.”

Jenny’s face fell, mumbling, “Guess not.”

“Yeah, I’ll say,” Murphy grumbled. “You didn’t mention that Jenny Chase was more than your little sister’s best friend. That changes a few things.”

“It’s a recent development.”

Murphy laughed. “Yeah, well, guess those things happen. You also didn’t mention that Jenny Chase is the sister-in-law of Jared Westin.”

Asher’s mind stumbled, and he coughed. “Excuse me?”

“Guess you’re having quite the morning, aren’t you, Congressman?”

His mind reeled. Habit almost had him correcting Murphy to call him Asher, but the bigger concern was Jared Westin. “I’ll call you back.”

He hung up, dropped the phone, and rubbed his temples. “Sugar married Jared Westin?”

Jenny nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

His mind raced. Jared Westin ran Titan Group, and they were more than qualified to protect Jenny than half the FBI. Given Titan’s leeway with the law and its connections with everyone from the president to the director of the CIA, it would’ve been beneficial to know. That, and Jared would want to know if there was a threat against Jenny. The man had a ruthless bastard streak to him, and Asher was sure not being filled in on threats to extended family didn’t conjure up a good attitude.

He pinched his eyes shut. Actually, why hadn’t Titan shown up unannounced for protective detail? Only one reason.

“You didn’t mention the notes to Sugar?”

Jenny shook her head. “She’s just back from her honeymoon. Why get her in a tizzy?”

His stomach churned. He was very good at his job. Titan was very good at theirs. Much better than any resource Asher could call up, and he was man enough to admit that. “Because you were threatened. Because I can’t be with you twenty-four hours a day, and Titan can offer far more in terms of protection than I can sleeping on your couch.”

“You didn’t sleep on the couch last night.” Her smile flirted with him as she played the innocent card. “Besides, I don’t think that’s what Titan does. They take out war lords and cartel kings or whatever.”

“Trust me when I say no one really knows exactly what Titan does.” He checked the time and was a minute late for the campaign call. “Forget what you think you know about them, and call your sister.”

***

Jenny groaned and stared at her phone. Calling Sugar was never the easiest ordeal. She was pushy, and once her mind was set on something, it didn’t matter what Jenny said.

Working with Sugar at GUNS was fun. But telling her that a stalker had snapped a photo of Molly and Jenny at Disney World? Not fun.

Nor would the inquisition be when she told Sugar that after years of pining after Asher McIntyre, he’d spent the night in her bed. At least she could tell Sugar about the part in
Tassels and Tangos
. Jenny nodded. Sugar would love the performance for no other reason than costumes were going to be unbelievably outrageous.

Speaking of which… Jenny climbed out of bed and wrapped a sheet around her. It was too early to call anyone.
God, what time did Asher start working
? It wasn’t even eight yet. She watched him pace in the living room, wearing his boxer briefs from yesterday. That man had a killer body. A smile curved onto her cheeks, and she stared. In a million years, this wouldn’t have been the way she pictured her first morning in her temporary apartment.