Safer With You (17 page)

“Fine, get some rest. I’ll be down the hall if you need anything. Lizzy, give her something to help her sleep. I want her to rest and not worry about Luke.” He tugs the door closed as he exits the room.

Lizzy hands me a pill as ordered. “Ms. Skye, if you don’t tell him everything you know, he won’t be able to help you,” Lizzy advises.

I want to say something sarcastic. She picks this minute to voice her opinion? I don’t want Jase on some wild chase if Luke has nothing to do with it. Plus, I don’t want Luke to get hurt because of me.

I’m all mixed up and dead tired. Lizzy settles me into bed. I’m still sore and bruised, but the pills take effect, and soon I’m dreaming of Jase.

Chapter Seventeen

Jase

This woman frustrates the hell out of me. One minute, I want to hold her in my arms, and the next I want to scream at her for being so stupid, trusting Michael Malone of all people. The biggest fuck up I’ve ever met.

After leaving her room, I find myself in the weight room. I almost left to find Luke/Michael/Douche Bag. But the way her eyes regarded mine, she pleaded for me to stay, and for some reason I can’t seem to tell her no.

Thankfully, Lizzy gave her an extra pill to relax. Worrying about Luke shut down her panic attack, which pisses me off, since that son of a bitch doesn’t deserve her worry or even a second of her time. But, then again, I don’t either. She’s too good. I’m a criminal. No better than Luke.

I put in my ear buds and go heavy with the weights, hoping to work out my frustration. With each bench press, the idea of wrapping my hands around Luke’s neck fuels more reps.

When the exhaustion sets in, I wipe my face with a towel, check my phone on the bench beside me, and see that it’s midnight. Perfect. I’ll shower and go to sleep, then I can start this torture again in a few hours.

After my shower, I pull on clean sweat pants, and as I step into the hallway, I hear a shrill scream coming from Nora’s room.

I barge into her room. Her body is thrashing beneath the sheets and she is screaming, “PLEASE NO! PLEASE STOP! Why would you do this to me?”

I move to the bed and hold her body still, but she fights against me. “Nora, wake up! Wake up!”

Her eyes fly open and she catches her breath as she wraps her arms tightly around my bare back. She breathes out my name like I am her savior. “Jase.”

“Nora, I’m here. I’m here. You’re okay; it was just a dream.” Her body is trembling and her skin is damp. I feel her hands move to my face. She guides my face towards hers, resting her forehead against mine.

Nora’s breathing fast; I can feel her heart race alongside my chest. I smooth the back of her hair and whisper, “It’s okay; no one can hurt you.”

Her head drops, and I feel her tears fall against my naked chest. Being the person she is leaning on right now is so satisfying. As long as she is in my arms, everything will be alright.

Nora moves from my chest. “Jase, I’m so sorry. It was so real. I think I remember some of what happened.” Her voice is strained and hoarse.

“Come, let’s lay back and calm down.” We settle back onto the pillows. As I settle into place, she rests her head on my chest. It shocks me, but I’m glad she does.

“You don’t have to talk about it. I don’t want you to have to relive it.” Without thinking, I kiss the top of her head and run my hands through her silky brown hair.

“I’m sorry to have woken you.”
 

“I was just finishing in the shower.”

She giggles, “Is that why you smell like soap? I wondered if maybe you sleep shirtless.”

“Well, had I heard you a few seconds earlier, I probably would have run in here naked. At least now I’m just half naked.”

My head swirls thinking about being naked with Nora, but when she laughs, I grin, and relax again.

Nora takes a deep breath and in a shaky voice asks, “Would you mind staying with me for a little while? It just seemed so real.”

“Sure,” I reply, but what I really want to say is
you’ll never be alone
.
 

I continue to run my fingers through her hair, over her shoulder, and back to her hair. The movement puts me in a trance.

“I remember the sound of his laugh. I can’t place it, but it’s familiar. The man. He was walking behind me while I was on my way to the guest house.”
 

“Did you have security escort you?”

I could feel her body stiffen. “No,” she confesses.

I know this isn’t the best time for a safety speech, so I make a mental note to remind her some other time. Plus, I find myself distracted by the nearness of her body. She’s somehow managed to break one leg free of her blanket and tangle it with mine. She caresses my arm while she talks. I don’t want to let her go, so I try not to move and let her talk.

“Like I said, I was on my way to the guest house. I remember being so happy.” Her big brown eyes look up at me and a smile crosses her lips.
Was she happy because of our time in the pickup?
“No one was around, so I started singing a song that was played at the wedding. But someone clapped, loud and slow…almost like they were being sarcastic. I don’t think I will ever forget that sound.”

My chest feels damp again, and I know she’s crying. She continues to talk and my temperature rises. I know the worst part is coming, and I don’t want to hear it.

“I tried to turn around, but before I could, he covered my mouth with a cloth.” She lets out a chuckle and sniffles. “I bit his hand, but it didn’t do anything. He whispered something in my ear. He smelled of cigarette smoke. But then, everything went fuzzy.”

“Do you remember what he whispered?”

She shakes her head against my chest. “No.”

The toxicology test came back with chloroform in her blood. He must have used that on the cloth that he placed over her mouth.
So why did he beat her if she was already incapacitated?

Nora lifts onto her elbow and gazes into my eyes. I’m almost afraid of what she is going to say next. But she surprises me. “Even though the night ended terribly, I enjoyed the time we spent together. I’m grateful you found me.”

I would have done anything in the world not to find her like that. Especially since I left her to help out her ex-boyfriend. How am I going to explain this to her without her losing faith in me? I kept her asshole boyfriend safe instead of her. I need her to know that she is my priority.

“Nora, I want you to know that everything you ever heard about me is true. But, I don’t lie to people who are important to me, and I never do something I don’t want to.”

I sit up so that I can look her in the eye. She needs to know how I feel about her.

“So, believe me. When we kissed after the wedding and you let me touch you…that was real. You are important to me. I want to take you out. I meant it when I said it that night, and I mean it now. I’m so sorry I left you. This is my fault. I’ll never forgive myself.”

She sits up even further and places her hand on my face. “No, Jase no.”

“Nora, I left you. I should have made sure security walked you to the guest house, or I should have done it myself.”

I feel like such an ass. I’m not telling her the whole truth, and I know the minute I do, I’ll lose her.

“Jase, stop.” She places her soft fingers over my mouth. “You didn’t hurt me. Look at all you’ve done to help me. I can’t pee without the ninja watching.” Her laugh is infectious.

“The ninja?” I have no idea what that means.

“Yeah, Lizzy. That woman is so damn quiet and appears out of nowhere.”

“Huh, I never thought of her that way, but I guess you’re right.” Funny how she makes me laugh over someone taking their job too seriously.

“Can I ask you a question? I don’t mean to seem ungrateful or offend you.”

I nod. “Not much offends me; I’m a big boy.”

“Why are you taking care of me like this? Is it because Max asked you to, or is it something else?”

She finally asks. I didn’t have the balls to bring it up, so I’m glad she does. How do I tell her that from the moment I met her, she has changed my world more than I ever imagined? I tried to ignore it, but there is no denying there is a connection between us.

“I’m doing this because you need help, and I don’t trust anyone to help you like I can.” She lays back on the pillow and pulls the blanket up to her chin.

She is quiet for a few moments, and her eyes are narrowing like she’s thinking of something else. I brace myself for whatever that could be.

“Okay then, can you tell me more about the night of the accident? Since I’m starting to remember, maybe something you say will jog my memory. I wasn’t ready before, but I am now.”

No way. I’m not telling her a goddamn thing about how I found her. “No,” I simply state.

Nora stares at me like I’ve spoken a foreign language. Abruptly, she throws the covers aside and gets out of the bed.

“Nora, be careful. Take it easy.”

Her face is red, her chest heaves, and she can barely manage to find the arm holes to her robe. I watch her, caught up in the cuteness of the situation.

“You, Jase Madsyn, need to stop treating me like a porcelain doll. You don’t know what I can and cannot handle. This asshole came after me and tried to kill me, not you. Stop trying to control everything!”

I’ve never seen her so mad. I didn’t know she had it in her. Her eyes are full of fire as she serves me a death glare. I press my lips together to stifle a laugh. I’m enjoying the show, but I’m not happy that she thinks I’m trying to control her.

“Nora, just calm down. Don’t presume you know my intentions.”

Nora speaks animatedly with her hands, “Then why don’t you give me straight answers? What exactly are your intentions, Madsyn? You’re giving me mixed signals.”

She’s right, I know. She continues, flailing her arms around, and I’m worried she’ll pop a stitch. She marches to me and points at my chest. “When I ask you questions, you turn into Mr. Businessman and don’t give me honest answers. You know a hell of a lot more than you’re telling me about the attack. I think your business includes more than owning a so-called ‘security company,’ but, most of all, I want to know what the hell you want from me!” She crosses her arms over her chest and resumes glaring.

Damn, she’s sexy.
If anyone else talked to me this way, I would be pissed, but here with Nora looking at me like a bull ready to attack, I’m inclined to pull her onto this bed and show her exactly how I feel about her.

“Honestly?” I ask with a smirk.

“Yes, honestly!” she yells.

I move to my knees and pull her close to my body. I wrap one arm around her waist to grab her ass, and move the other hand to her cheek and cover her lips with my thumb. It seems to do the trick. She’s quiet now.

In fact, her big brown eyes look stunned.

I whisper. “I have no fucking idea what I want from you. All I know is that the night of the wedding was the best and worst night of my life. Never have I been so comfortable with a woman or had so much fun.” I tug her face close to mine and continue. “I’ve never felt a connection with any woman before. What I feel every time I touch or kiss you, I don’t even have a word for, but when I found you in your car, beaten and covered in blood…I’ve never been so scared. As far as my intentions…”

She doesn’t let me finish. Her lips are on mine. She starts slow, but in seconds, my other hand flies up to her face and I hold her cheeks, kissing her deeper. A quiet moan escapes her lips.

God, it goes straight to my cock. My hands roam down her silky hair to her tiny waist. I lean back and pull her with me. Nora follows my lead, and in seconds, she’s under me. I hover over her, looking into her dilated eyes, gazing over her crimson cheeks and swollen lips.

Leaning up, I undo her robe and she winces. Immediately, I freeze. The vision of her in that car enters my head and I pull away.
Shit.
Did I hurt her?

“It’s okay. I’m fine. Don’t stop,” she begs.

Despite her plea, I back off, jumping off the bed as gracefully as I can manage. “I can’t.”

Nora sits up and grabs for my chest. “It’s just sore. I don’t want you to stop.”

I take a deep breath. “Nora, I don’t want to hurt you. I saw what happened to you, I know what you’ve been through, and all I can see is you in that damn car; you were almost unrecognizable.”

I need to get out of this room. Away from her and what she does to me, my body. I turn to walk away from her, but she tugs my arm.

I turn to her. “Jase, I’m fine and you are protecting me in every way possible. You would never hurt me. What I need from you is to treat me like everything is normal. Like nothing happened to me. Like you would any other woman you wanted to make love to. I’m not fragile; I won’t break.”

“I’ve never made love to anyone.”

She looks at me, confused.

“I’ve only had sex. You’d be my first. I want to make love to you, Nora, only you.” I finally tell her my truth.

We are standing chest to chest, hands holding each other’s faces.

“Jase, I’m so scared and confused, but most of all, I’m happy. I know what happened to me was horrible, but it brought you into my life, and right now there is nothing more that I want than for you to hold me in your arms and make love to me.”