Paranormal Dating Agency: Something Different (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 7

  "Please tell me there are no fleas," she said, having meant it as a joke, to lighten the mood, though her voice had not reflected that at all.

  "No, there are not. I hope. Now, sleep. Just sleep, my beautiful, Samantha."

  Feeling betrayed, by him maybe, by the world surely, along with being embarrassed and beyond tired, she slid off him, letting him still hold her, though, as she trembled into a restless sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  As she woke, the smell of Jacob, as unique as the man, hit her as she slithered slow against his hard body, the sensations making her feel sexy until the nightmares of yesterday came trickling back into her mind. Memories of her humiliation came flooding back as her body awakened to a sexual hunger more fierce than any she'd known before. Torn between lifting her body onto his like she did last night to begin to dry hump the morning erection she could see lifting the sheet over them, or pushing away, tearing off her hand just to run, she instead froze in place, trying to calm her breathing. Holding back to not press herself against him as hard as she could manage took control of her entire realm of focus.

  "Sam, are you okay?" he asked, his voice rough with sleep, and, she hoped, his own frustrated state of arousal.

  "Fine. Why?" she snipped, her voice a little deeper, a tad rougher than she'd even intended.

  She pushed up, and attempted to move away from him, only to be reminded by the grip of leather around her wrist that they were still cuffed together.

  "Fuck! Is this really necessary?" she yelled, lifting up her hand despite the ache of tender, irritated skin there. She shook their shackled hands above his face.

  "Look at you, you can't wait to run. Why in the world would I trust you to stay without it?" he countered, sitting up, towering over her, his breath bathing her face.

  She didn't even mind his morning breath as she stared over the hard muscles of his chest rather than look into his eyes.

  "How long are you going to treat me like a prisoner?"

  "As long as you act like a petulant child. Why are you so pissed this morning? Is it still fear over yesterday, or are you mad that I didn't take you when you wanted me to last night? That I didn't act like every other weak man and just take any pussy offered to me no matter what the consequences. If the first, I can assure you that you are safe. I promise I will do everything in my power to keep you that way, including cuffing you to me for life if that is what it takes. If it is the latter, you have to understand, I don't want cheap, meaningless sex with you. Lord fucking help me, I want more. And, for your information, that scares the shit out of me. So, be mad, but I'm not screwing this up for one night of sex. Fuck! I can't believe I am even saying such a thing. Samantha, I fall for no one, but I have somehow fallen for you. So while it is excruciating for me to not only admit to such a thing, but to have held back last night from taking you the way I desperately want to, I will admit it. To you. For you. You have to know by now, I would do anything for you. You just have to know that, if you know nothing else. I want to be your savior. I'm not sure why Ian called me that, or you, or even this Gerri person, but in every sense of the word, I want to be that for you. Heaven help me, my animal has chosen a witch for a mate just when I'd come to terms with it never picking one. And, to top off that magical revelation, said witch is in danger, and has to run and hide away for who knows how long, and I, given my job, have to kidnap her to save her, because it is the only way she will stay with me. Can you at least stop a second and appreciate my torment in all of this."

  Sam sat with her mouth open, trying to find something to say as both lust and fury boiled up inside her. Her breathing labored, her stomach tightening into a ball, so lost in the feelings rushing through her that the ringing of Jacob's phone made her just about jump out of her skin.

  "Go ahead, Ian. I have you on speaker," Jacob said a bit too loudly over the phone.

  He flashed her a look as if to say he had nothing to hide, or that he wouldn't hide anything from her. She wasn't sure, other than he was trying to make a point for her to trust him. A million jumbled thoughts screamed through her mind as she listened to the conversation.

  Ian's muffled voice came back with, "Okay, then, hello to you both. Again, my apologies, Sam. I never meant for you to get caught up in my war. Had I known this situation would escalate this way, had I known there was even a chance, I'd have never agreed to Gerri's plan, who by the way, told me to send her apologies. She wants you to know she never meant savior in such a literal sense. She is with your mom, and I am keeping them updated as to your safety. They know to act as if you are dead for everyone's safety, but I couldn't let them suffer with the lie. They do know you are alive. Anyway, Jacob, things continue to escalate here. While I know they are bluffing for information, the bear pack is claiming that through their magical sources they know Sam is alive, and they are coming after her. We know that can't be the case, since her magic is still hidden. But I will take no chances, you know that. So, for precaution sake, and because I promised to do so, please take Sam to your lady friend in the theater that we spoke of. Get you both a full makeover, new identities, and then go far away. I don't want to know where. Destroy this phone. Amelia will give you a burner to use only to let me know you are safe once you hit your destination."

  Jacob simply hung up the phone, without so much as an acknowledgement of the plan, and took to destroying the phone. Nothing like in the movies, no hammer involved, just some opening, and she guessed maybe demagnetizing, not that she knew much about all of this stuff. And, she didn't bother to ask. Instead, she acted uninterested.

  "So, let's get dressed, we can grab something at a drive thru for breakfast on the way, and then we have about an hour's drive to reach Amelia. She's an old friend, member of the pride who moved away for love. However, she does costume and makeup for a local theater. So, with some connections to a man who does flawless work with fake ids, she has created a little side business for herself. She'll make us both over, give us new lives, and we will play along with them. I am hoping at some point to be able to un-cuff you and have you play along willingly. You have to realize that if you aren't with me you are dead. You heard Ian. If you got away from me, and your magic came back, they would find you, kill you if you are lucky, and torture you if you are not. I'm not trying to be mean, but you have to understand the gravity of this situation at some point and get over your animosity or whatever it is you have for me, and save yourself by staying with me. As far as we go, what has been said, what hasn't happened... I won't apologize again. You know how I feel about you now, and do with that what you will. I hope at some point you can trust me enough to just stay, not just so that you can stay alive, but because you want to. I hope to see the day."

  "If you are trying to scare me, it is working. Let's just get going. I'm not only starving, but I'm a stress eater, if you couldn't tell."

  "Don't do that."

  She just glared at him.

  "Samantha, don't sell yourself short. You are perfect in my eyes. Sexy. Charming, well, usually. And I want you, exactly as you are. Your curves, well...well we should get going before I go there. Remind me when we are safe to talk to you about them."

  He grumbled to himself as he began to move off the bed, tugging her with him.

  She wanted to believe him. She wanted to let go. She wanted to just let him protect her so she could stop feeling afraid, but it didn't suit her stubborn personality. Maybe her mother had been right, Lord forbid. What she did want, more than anything, was the target off her back. The idea of losing her studio hurt, and running away from her life wounded just as much. Her mom may have been a pain, but she loved her, and Sam had tons of friends she would miss terribly. She was even partial to her own hair color. However, she was even more interested in staying alive. Sacrifices would have to be made in order to stay that way.

  A pang of guilt gripped her heart as she remembered again that people had already died in their effort to save her. She needed to get over whatever this was: fear, emba
rrassment, lust, or maybe just sheer rebellion at having to give up her life and freedom. She needed to just go along and be grateful.

  She made her way off the bed, working with Jacob, trying to hide her own smile at the look of surprise in his eyes. Playing off that feeling, that mere few seconds of happiness, of having done something right with the man, who she had to stop denying she had feelings for, especially since he'd come so clean with her, she continued on, determined to be more willing prisoner. She walked over with him to the suitcase, grabbing the very non-descript pair of jeans, white t-shirt, and gray sweatshirt combo that laid on top for her.

  Experiencing a moment of rebellion, she channeled it into messing with the man she was cuffed to, starting to undress right there in front of him. T-shirt off and now dangling from the cuffs, standing in just her underwear, she turned to him in time to see his eyes wide, and hear his intake of breath that made her nipples pebble.

  "I'm going to need some help here. Maybe un-cuff me and lock me in the bathroom again so I can actually get dressed?"

  He shook his head, but didn't move, his gaze fixed on her breasts, flashing briefly down over her stomach to her panties. While they were not exactly sexy, they were not granny panties either.

  "Are you going to say something, or move, anytime soon, Jacob?" she said, liking the buoyancy to her emotions of feeling in control, even if in a little way, in that she could turn the eye of this man. Maybe he had been telling the truth about how he felt about her.

  "Come on, Jacob, be my savior. Help me get dressed for our first official day of being on the run."

  "Sorry, I'm just..."

  "Just what," she teased in a rather bitchy sort of way as she turned to face him, standing just inches from his body, placing her free hand on the hip she popped out.

  "I'm just fighting a war within myself."

  "Winning or losing?"

  "I don't know yet."

  "What if I play the odds," she said, tipping her head to one side as she stepped up to him, her nipples now brushing against his still bare chest.

  The rush of electricity from her chest to her core that curled her toes, caught her breath, made her realize she'd win this game she was playing depending upon how she looked at it.

  He grabbed her sides, his hands settling lightly at her generous waist, not pulling her in or pushing her away. They stood in a suspended silence, the only sound in the room the combination of their labored breathing. His hands slid up her ribs, stopping and grasping her tighter not even an inch from where the bottom of her heavy breasts hung. She could feel the heat of his thumps, the surge of his energy. Magic bound or not, that's what she felt between them, where they touched, where they didn't, where their bodies teased each other with torturously close proximity.

  She maintained eye contact, not backing down, and not making the first move. She'd stand here mostly naked all day if need be. Her nipples had tightened to the point of pain, and the throbbing between her legs took on a life of its own, changing each and every function of her body.

  He inched his head down, his breath heating her lips, which remained slightly open, the urge to be kissed skittering along the warming skin.

  "I..." he managed before his mouth took hers.

  He pressed his lips against hers with a force that stole her breath and stopped her heart. Though die as she may, she never wanted this moment to end.

  His hands came up to hover over her breasts, thumbs flicking over her hard nubs, eliciting a moan from her, and her traitorous lower body pushed against his. His erection tenting his shorts pressed against her stomach, while her swollen lips between her thighs ached for attention.

  His hands moved to her back, making for an awkward twist of the arm still shackled to his, but in this moment she didn't mind adjusting. He pulled her in, crushing her generous breasts against his naked chest, his muscles moving with his rapid breath unyielding to her flesh, molding her to him.

  With his one free hand, he scooped her up, putting the wet spot of her panties against his still cotton covered erection. As he turned them, fell to the bed on top of her, her breath whooshed from her chest, and he abruptly pushed up and off of her.

  "Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

  "No. No, you didn't."

  "We can't do this. Not now. Not this way." He shook his head and backed away as much as the manacles would allow.

  "Why not now?" she hissed through gritted teeth as her body rebelled against her, edged her on to do whatever it took to have him inside of her, his lips roaming over every inch of her flesh.

  "I want it to be different. I want to have the time to savor you, for one. I want the luxury of time to ravage every inch of your gorgeous body, to see it, to memorize it. I want you willing, not cuffed, not held, not adjusting. I want you to willingly stand in a room with me, undress of your own free will. Then, I will take you. Soon. If you are agreeable, it will be soon. Maybe as other people, but still soon. Please. Please don't punish me the rest of the day for wanting more for us than this. I want you with every fiber of my being right now but I want more than just this. Can that be enough?"

  She nodded. Her brain getting it, even agreeing, as her body rebelled, yelled no, not to wait.

  "You are right. If it is to finally be, it should be more. Tonight maybe?"

  "I hope so. Thank you, Samantha for understanding. For cooperating. I'm still not uncuffing you other than to get you dressed." He released a heavy sigh. "For fuck's sake, let's get dressed. Then we can get new identities, maybe some food, maybe in a reverse order, and then drive away to a place where we can be alone, all night, all day, all week maybe. Regardless, thank you for letting me do this right even in this horrible situation."

  "You're welcome," she managed, his honestly, his earnest sentiments begging her to be agreeable, yet with the slithering ease of a serpent, a pang of fear crept in.

  You're alive, she reminded herself, because of this man, this savior, in more ways than one. You spent the last few weeks denying how you truly felt about him. Enough already. Man up. Go along with his plan. Stop being such a bitch. Be afraid of dying, but don't be afraid of love any longer. If nothing else, yesterday should have taught you that.

  When he hadn't moved, she nodded again, acknowledging her consent to his plan, picked up her clothes and moved toward the bathroom. He did as she asked, un-cuffing her in the bathroom, then shutting the door for privacy as he changed just on the other side of it.

  She emerged minutes later, her hair tossed up in a messy bun that ended up under a ball cap, ready to get on with their day, if only to get to the end part he'd promised her. It suddenly didn't matter who was out to kill her, or where they ended up, as long as they ended there together and naked.

  Chapter Eight

  Having only stopped for egg sandwiches and coffee at a fast food drive thru, they arrived within an hour at their destination. He led her around the back of a building, to a set of stairs on the end. After climbing the metal structure, the door at the top opened within a minute to the odd cadence of his knock. All the secret spy shit amused her for a moment, that was until a woman with rainbow colored hair, and wilder colored clothes opened the door and ushered them in.

  Sam couldn't get past the studio apartment with exposed brick walls, rustic wooden flooring, and modern appliances made to look old, reminiscent of the fifties style, all white and cute looking. The scene amused her with the flair of some streaks of red, as prominent as the woman who stood beside them.

  After introducing herself, but acting like old friends, Amelia got right to work. Sam, ushered into a hairdresser's chair in a back room, felt comfortable with this stranger in an instant. Though, Sam did sit tentatively, eyes wide, hoping a gypsy wasn't what she was going to be made into. Not that the woman wasn't striking, downright beautiful in fact, but it just wasn't her style. Not that she had one outside of yoga clothes, so she tried to keep an open mind as the woman bustled around, and Jacob, standing guard at the door to the room, appeared just
as pensive despite the smirk on his face.

  Fatigue settled over her like a wet blanket, killing her caffeine-induced spirit, even though Jacob had un-cuffed her at Amelia's insistence. Soon enough, the woman even shooed him into another room to wait.

  "No worries, Sam, I won't make you look like me. To hide out, you need to become a plain Jane, be a woman a man could pass and not notice."

  "Not really an issue there," Sam muttered. "Do whatever."

  "Oh don't sell yourself short. And, don't piss off Jacob."

  "You say it like one has something to do with the other."

  "It does, lady. He looks at you like a man in love, not a man paid to protect. And trust me, I've seen enough of the latter to know. Now, before you protest again, lets talk about your new look. How about prim and proper? We will make your golden brown curls just a mousy brown, cut in some layers, shorten, and go straight. Again, basic, but not unflattering to your face. Then we will give you some colored contacts to make your eyes brown. Isn't too far off for your complexion, but then we will give you a spray tan. Your porcelain skin with a healthy glow being such a striking figure, we just want to give you a little color so the bad guys looking for blond curls and light skin overlook you. We will top it all off with a basic pair of slacks and sweater. This you can travel in. You can wear clothes you are more comfortable in and pull up your hair once you are at your hideaway destination. A cabin, Jacob let slip. Just tell me what you want, and I will order it in for you. Got a personal shopper on the payroll."

  "Cabin?"

  "That's what I heard, though I don't know where it is, or how long of a drive you have ahead of you. The words slipped from his mouth. I was just instructed to give you layers as you'll drive into a colder climate. So, let's get started, and we can discuss how to make Mr. Muscle bound with the dark, silky hair over there look plain, too."