No Limit (Armed & Dangerous #1)(48)

“Nowhere.”

He stepped back as if I’d slapped him. “After everything we’ve been through . . . you’re going to f*cking lie to me? Tell me the f*cking truth!”

Frozen, I stood there staring into his tormented green gaze. It was in that moment I realized I loved him. Instead of waiting on me to show him, he lowered my tattered dress to the floor and I let him. His fingers brushed across my collarbone on down to my breasts and my stomach. A murderous growl escaped his lips when he found the marks on my hips. Reluctantly, I looked down at the damage and closed my eyes. The half moon crescents were deep red and turning purple. Just a simple touch from him made me balk in pain.

“Goddamn, son of a bitch,” he yelled. Storming away, he punched a hole in the wall and ran a hand through his hair. “What the hell am I supposed to do? Just let him get away with hurting you?”

“Jason, I knew there was a chance I’d get hurt doing this, maybe even killed. It’s the risk we take. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Like hell there’s not. The next time I see him, I don’t give a shit where we are, or what’s going on. I will f*ck him up.”

Slowly, I walked over to him and I placed my hands on his face. “I paid him back for what he did to me. I flogged him pretty good. So don’t think for a second I let him get away with putting his hands on me.”

Sighing, he lowered his head. “It’s not the same.”

“Why? Why is it not the same?”

Lifting his head, he looked down at my lips and kissed me. “Because I’m the one who needs to protect you, to keep you safe. It’s in my blood.”

“Is that it? You just want to keep me safe?”

He brushed a finger down my cheek. “Well, there’s that and also one other thing.”

“What?”

Taking my face in his hands, he stared into my eyes. “I’m falling in love with you.”

I clutched my chest, then jumped into his arms. “I thought I’d never hear you say those words. I’m falling for you too. So much it hurts.” He kissed me hard, opening me with his tongue. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he carried me into the bedroom, never taking his mouth from mine. “Make love to me, Jason.”

Gently laying me on the bed, he covered me with his body. “Are you sure that’s what you want after tonight? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I trust you.”





The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed and panicked. “Jason?” There was no sound. I jumped out of bed and slipped on my bathrobe, rushing into the living room. “Jason?” He wasn’t in his room either. “Fuck me.”

“Gladly, but you’ll have to wait until after breakfast.”

Jerking around, I watched as Jason came through the door, carrying two cups of coffee and a bag. “What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me you were going for breakfast? You had me worried.”

He set our stuff down on the counter and I joined him. “You mean you were worried because you thought I’d gone after Davies?”

I bit my lip. “It crossed my mind.”

Opening the bag, he pulled out two apple pastries and slid me one. “I’m going after him and nothing’s going to stop me, not even you. I just don’t want him drugged out of his mind when I do. It’s important he remembers my lesson.”

I just wished he could see that leaving Chazz face down in his own fluids and a flogged ass was payback enough. The humiliation alone was retribution. “Have you talked to Ryan yet?” I asked nervously. I wasn’t looking forward to telling him we didn’t have a single shred of evidence from anyone.

He took a bite of his pastry and nodded. “He’s coming to see us today. I didn’t go into details, but I’m sure he got the hint.”

“What do you think he’ll say?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out in an hour when he gets here.”

I finished my pastry, then hurried off to take a shower while he stayed in the kitchen and worked. After getting dressed, I watched Jason from the doorway to my room, his forehead all scrunched in concentration. The stubble on his face had grown thicker; I liked it that way, even though I knew he hadn’t shaved because he was stressed. It made me wonder what things would be like between us if we weren’t here for work, if we could just be ourselves.

My phone rang and I jumped, drawing Jason’s attention. His muscles relaxed and he smiled. “I knew you were watching me, firecracker.”

“It’s kind of hard not to. Give me one sec.” I hurried over to my phone and my heart leapt when I saw my uncle’s name. “Uncle G,” I answered excitedly. His name was Gary, but uncle G was what I had called him ever since I was little and it stuck over the years.

“Hey, peanut. Vegas treating you well?”

“Somewhat. It’s been a trying case.”

“No leads?”

“We’ve had plenty, but they all ran into dead ends. Hopefully, we’ll figure it out soon.”

“How’s it going working with that other agent? I know you were worried about his reaction.”

I snorted. “It was hard at first, but now it’s going good. We haven’t killed each other yet.”