Live Wire

chapter 6




The situation wasn’t going to change. Her friends were sticking by her side, and Tehya had to admit that knowing that she wasn’t facing this alone eased the tight, panicked pressure in her chest and lifted the fatalistic feeling that she may not live to see her next birthday. But the fear of losing someone else reopened the ragged wounds of the past.

The world wasn’t a pretty place, she thought, at least not for her. Her life had been an endless battle and each day of freedom had been paid for with the blood of others.

Now, as day faded to night and she sat at the computer completing the last of the payroll checks that would go out on Monday, Tehya realized that the distant thought of escaping and running alone wasn’t a course she could take, either. The time for running was over, just as she had told him when he first arrived.

Her life had been a series of paths leading here, to whatever battle fate had planned for her.

Shutting down the accounting program, she gathered the checks and tucked them into their individual envelopes. Penning the final name, she stared down at it silently.

Journey Taite.

She sighed, sliding a finger over the letters.

Journey had somehow broken with tradition and had managed to escape notice as she found herself a job. Taite daughters didn’t work. Francine Taite had once stated that fondly. It was a tradition. Taite daughters were protected from the world at all costs. The youngest of Craig Taite’s daughters, Stephen Taite’s granddaughter, was evidently determined not to be protected.

They were second cousins and Journey had no idea Tehya even existed. But Tehya had known about Journey. The moment the other girl had arrived in America Tehya had known, and she had made it a point to watch out for the younger girl, even from Texas.

When Tehya had left to find another home, she had found herself in Hagerstown, close enough to ensure a chance meeting. And because of Journey, Tehya had found herself watching the bar she was so fond of now.

Had she endangered the other girl as well? God, she prayed she hadn’t.

And then there was Jordan.

He was on the couch in the living room working silently, not even a shuffle of paper to betray his presence. However, she knew he was there, and she knew she would have to deal with what he had said earlier.

She hadn’t even wanted to know what the plan was after returning to the house. But now, hours later, she found herself wondering about it despite her best efforts to remain unaffected.

She straightened the envelopes before turning and tucking them into the leather briefcase sitting on the floor by the desk. Her employees would be waiting for their checks when she arrived.

There were a dozen employees, fewer than she needed, but she had wanted to wait before adding to the business. She was glad she had. Fewer to suspect, fewer to worry about protecting.

“What do I do about my company?” she asked quietly as she rose from her desk.

Jordan looked up from his laptop, his intense blue eyes lasering in on her.

His brow lifted mockingly. “Are you ready to listen now?”

She deserved the comment. She had cut him off each time he had tried to discuss the situation with her.

“You know, Tehya, you surprised me.” Disappointment laced his voice. “We’re here for you. The entire team came the second they learned you were in danger and each member of the backup team has offered their help. And you don’t even want to hear how we’re going to keep you alive.”

There was a thread of anger in his tone, and she couldn’t blame him.

“Does it matter now?” Finally, she sighed and walked over to the recliner facing the couch. “I’m ready to deal with it now Jordan. I wasn’t capable of accepting it earlier.” She rubbed roughly at her face as the weariness made her feel weak, almost too tired to face this discussion. “Perhaps, Jordan, just once in my entire life, I wanted to believe I was safe. I wanted a home, a life. Perhaps a cat or a dog.” Weary acceptance filled her at that realization. She’d wanted a pet. “How pathetic is that? I’ve never had a pet.”

“Understandable.” Despite the sympathy, his voice hardened. “Now we have to fix it so you can have one. But I can’t do it without help.”

Her shoulders bunched defensively. “What more can I do, Jordan? I won’t run again. I’ll do whatever is needed, just as I always have.”

This was the commander of the Elite Ops. Hard, cool, so damned logical he could have been a damned robot as he stared back at her.

“We need to consider the determination this shadow has shown since Sorrel’s death. The occasional searches, and the obvious interest in your death that we set up. I happen to be someone who knew why you were so important to Sorrel.”

“Then they would know more than I do.” She sniffed. “And that would mean it would be someone close to Sorrel, Perhaps another son? A brother? Because he trusted very few people.” Though as far as she knew her father hadn’t had family. “He was rumored to be an only child. When he died, no one came forward to claim the estate.”

“Because he left that estate to his son and his daughter,” he reminded her. “You and Raven. With his son dead, that only left you. Coming forward would do no one any good at this point since the French government confiscated the estate as recompense against Sorrel’s victims. But that doesn’t cancel out the revenge angle against for his death.”

That was what she was scared of, though she had assumed a former associate rather than a family member. “But no matter which, how do we draw them out?”

His lips tightened in frustration. “You won’t like it, but I want you to promise to hear me out.”

She nodded and said, “Okay, but before you dive in, keep in mind that I’ll also need to know what to do with my company. My employees can’t afford to be without work, Jordan, and I don’t want to lay them off or suspend business.”

“The company is easy,” he assured her. “Tomorrow, you’ll give the information needed to Clint and Morganna when they arrive. They’re flying in tonight from Atlanta. They’ll be here by dawn. They’ll take over for you until this is over, while supporting the rumor that you’re considering selling the company.” He lifted his hand as she started to speak. “This will keep anyone from targeting the company or your employees. Their covers are simple. They’re coming in as themselves, and we’ll have no contact with them after the initial meeting. Once this is over, then you can return and simply say you changed your mind about selling. The employees may be concerned, but I believe they’ll handle it okay if Clint and Morganna promise no one will be fired because of the sell.”

Her lips tightened as she gave a quiet nod. She didn’t like it, but he was right. If the person or persons behind Arthur and Tenneyson were the same as in France, or worse, someone fanatically dedicated to Sorrel’s memory and his cause, then they would target the business and her employees if they thought it meant anything to her.

“Is that the only part I won’t like?” She had a feeling it wasn’t.

“No, it isn’t.” He sat forward, his gaze meeting hers, locking with hers, and she felt that familiar heat curling in her lower belly.

“Then what is it?” she asked shortly. “Go ahead, Jordan, strip me to the bone quickly, don’t draw it out.”

His lips almost quirked into a smile before his expression stilled.

“We’re going to use the Taite family to draw them in, Tehya. It’s time for you to face your family.”

She jumped to her feet, astonished fury erupting through her. “The hell it is.”

Jordan came to his feet slowly. “You know, Tehya, this temper of yours could get you into trouble, sweetheart,” he warned her with an air of forced patience.

“Go to hell, Jordan!” she snapped, her fingers raking through her hair as she fought to make sense of this supposed plan of his. “What the hell makes you think I’m going to face them simply because you dictate it, when I haven’t done so in all these years? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the man trying to save your pretty ass,” he bit out furiously. He jerked her into his arms.

“I will not allow you to sacrifice my family,” she raged bitterly. She couldn’t believe he would suggest such a thing. That he would even believe she would consider it.

“By God, I will sacrifice Stephen Taite, his son, and a hundred more like them to protect you!” Savage determination hardened his expression. “Don’t doubt that for a f*cking minute, Tehya. No one, but f*cking no one, matters as much to me as you and your safety.”

His anger barely registered. All she could feel was her own, her complete rejection of ever revealing herself to her family.

Even her mother had refused to go to them. Despite their wealth and power, decades after her abduction her mother had vehemently opposed contacting them anytime it was suggested. Until Boyd had been killed. Then, she had contacted her parents, and she had paid for it with her life and with theirs. Tehya vowed she wouldn’t make the same mistake.

Now Tehya would not go to them, and she wouldn’t have them pulled into her battle.

“Too late, Tehya,” he told her, his tone harsh, the cool logic lost as his eyes flamed with blue fire. “You can go along with it or we’ll go on to the next plan. Anonymously informing both Stephen Taite, as well as the press, of your existence and your whereabouts. Now we can fight this battle privately or, by God, we can do it publicly. Take your damned pick.”

He was furious.

Tehya had never seen him so angry, his eyes glittering with fiery emotion. But she couldn’t remember the last time she had been so pissed off, either.

Rage bit into her, fueling the aggression rising inside her.

“How dare you barge into my life and think you can make such autocratic decisions where I’m concerned! You are not my father and you’re not my husband, so you can f*cking back off.”

“But I am your damned lover now and I won’t back down. I didn’t back down for Sorrel and I won’t back down for whoever the hell thinks they can continue to torture you. And I sure as hell won’t back down for you.”

Her lips parted to rage at him, to spew the fury boiling inside her, when he abruptly jerked her closer and his head lowered, his lips suddenly covering hers with a dominant, furious hunger.

As though the touch, the kiss, filled with his own fury and protectiveness had lit a fuse inside her own lust, Tehya began fighting, not for release, but for control of the kiss.

She nipped at his tongue as he licked hungrily at hers, his lips slanting over hers as her hands moved suddenly from his chest to his hair.

The force of her teeth against the sensitive flesh had him jerking back, but only momentarily. A second later his hand gripped her jaw, holding it as his lips covered hers forcibly once again.

The dominance, the incredible seductive force of the action, had a hungry moan passing her throat as her fingers clenched in the material covering his chest.

Buttons popped. The material parted and a second later the sexy mat of curls on his chest tingled against her sensitive palms.

It was incredible. Force meeting force as he groaned and the kiss deepened. Her nails rasped over his chest, her hands caressing, lowering along his abdomen to the low band of his jeans.

Beneath the tough denim material, the hard ridge of his cock tempted her, causing her to flatten her palm over the heavy width as a desperate cry vibrated in her throat and she returned to tearing at the metal clasp.

She wanted to taste him, to own him. To control all that hard strength and dominance for just a moment. To feel the hunger and the need that she knew he couldn’t deny when held in that intimate caress.

Finally the metal snap released, allowing her to work the zipper over the thick length.

Wickedly hot, the heavy flesh met her touch, sending trails of heated sensation to whip across her nerve endings.

Her nipples ached, felt too tight, too sensitive. Her * throbbed in agony and her vagina clenched with emptiness. Need sizzled over her flesh, making her body ultrasensitive, receptive to even the slightest touch, aching for it, as she felt his hand slide into her hair and clench the heavy curls.

Fiery pleasure-pain whipped through her scalp. Heated need tore through her, striking at her *, at her p-ssy, and causing her hips to jerk against the hard contour of the thigh suddenly pressing against her * as she slid her hand lower and cupped the taut sac drawn tight against the base of his cock. Wicked, carnal, Tehya whimpered with the hunger to taste every part of him.

“Damn.” His lips jerked from hers as he stared down at her, his expression savagely hewn, reflecting the power and possessive heat of his lust.

“Take what you want, baby,” he dared her, as the grip on her hair tightened and he began to draw her down his body. The feel of his hands in her hair, the strength and dominance sent a sensual weakness flooding her body.

She became intoxicated. Rage, pain, and fear disintegrated beneath the freedom to kiss, to caress the hard contours of his chest. The hard flat disc of his nipple that elicited a groan from him and his fingers tightening to tug erotically at her hair, pulling her down his body. Her tongue darted out to flick against the hard abs flexing beneath her lips and tongue as the wild male taste of his flesh exploded against her taste buds.

His response was instantaneous. His grip tightened in her hair as a harsh groan rumbled in his chest. The response sent a spike of anticipation racing through her.

“Ah, sweet Tehya,” he moaned, his voice rasping. “Damn, baby, I love that hot little tongue.”

Kissing, licking, stroking, she went even lower, slowly going to her knees as she attempted to wrap her fingers around the too wide flesh of his cock. Flushed, dark, silk over heat-infused iron, the heavy shaft throbbed beneath her fingers.

Enclosing it in her hand wasn’t happening, but still, she stroked and caressed the heated flesh as she allowed her tongue to reach out and flick against the damp, engorged head.

“Hell, yes.” The broken sound of his voice only made her hotter, made the act sexier. “Suck it, Tehya. Suck my dick, baby.”

His hips pressed forward, the flared crest pressing against her lips, pushing between them, as she sucked it slowly, teasingly into her mouth.

* * *

Staring down at her, Jordan fought to hold back the overwhelming hunger to push her to the floor and just f*ck her. Never had he known a need for a woman as he did for this one. She was like a flame burning inside him, the conflagration spilling from her, into his veins, across his nerve endings, and burning straight to his soul.

As those sweet, pouty lips parted, stretching around the width of his cock, he felt pure lust explode through his balls, tightening them further. Carnal, blistering in its heat, feverish hunger struck his senses. It had been too long since he’d had her, too long since the pleasure he’d only found with this woman had torn through his senses.

His fingers tightened in her hair, a convulsive, almost involuntary movement, as he filled both hands with the fiery curls. Holding her head in place, he controlled the impalement of her lush lips. Watching her take him so intimately, with such pleasure and hunger, spiked the dominance that raged through him.

Needs that he normally had complete control over went haywire the moment he touched her. The moment she touched him. Nothing mattered but the pleasure that raged between them and the burning heat they shared. He watched as her cheeks hollowed, her face flushed, and pleasure tightened the muscles of his thighs painfully.

Damp heat enclosed his cock head as her nimble little tongue swirled around the tip of the engorged head of his cock, before moving beneath to rub against the exquisitely sensitive spot located there.

Staring down at her enraptured expression, he held her head in place, his hips shifting, moving slow and easy as he f*cked her swollen lips, barely holding back a snarl caused by the near violent ecstasy rushing through him.

Son of a bitch, it was so f*cking good. Addictive. Pure hot lust licking over his flesh. Her mouth was like damp fire, searing his flesh, shredding his self-control. Pleasure tore through his system, laying waste to any precautions he could have taken to remain emotionally distant from her let alone controlling the addictive need for her touch.

She was his weakness, it was something he had sensed she would be for years. The one woman he couldn’t walk away from or bear losing. She was his pleasure, his pain, and if he didn’t f*ck her, soon, then she would be the death of him.

Tehya wanted to protest as she felt Jordan’s hands gripping her shoulders, drawing her to her feet. Her lips parted to speak, but at the same time his hands moved to her jeans, strong fingers releasing the metal buttons that held them on her hips.

Her gaze jerked downward, her attention suddenly held by the fact that she was being undressed. That Jordan was undressing her. For some reason the thought of it was powerfully arousing.

“Get those sneakers off,” he demanded, his expression hard as he stared up at her from where he crouched in front of her.

She toed off her shoes, her breathing heavy and labored as she felt her body preparing for more, begging for more. Her p-ssy ached, her * rasping against her panties as her hips shifted.

Within seconds, he had her naked, standing before him, flushed, her body silently begging for his touch.

Staring at her swollen breasts, he drew his shirt from his powerful shoulders, the heavy muscles moving erratically with his breath.

As he leaned against the side of the couch, he removed his boots, then shed his jeans before straightening, his hard fingers gripping the base of his cock.

“I’ve never been so damned hard in my life,” he groaned as he moved to her, his hand gripping her hip as the other cupped her cheek.

His head lowered, his lips brushing against hers. A deep male groan filled the air and the kiss became deeper, causing a heavy fatigue to invade her limbs as her thighs clenched in response to the surging ache between them.

“Sweet baby,” he whispered as he eased her back.

The edge of the chair pressed against the back of her legs.

“Sit down for me, Tehya.”

God, it was so damned sexy. Wicked.

She eased into the chair, the soft, expensive leather cushioning her as he knelt in front of her and spread her legs.

“Come here,” he said gripping her hips and easing her forward until her hips rested on the edge of the chair, giving him easy access to her.

His lips pressed to her thighs, first one, then the other. His tongue licked against her flesh, heating her further as her * throbbed and seemed to become more swollen.

“Stop teasing me!” The harsh cry was thick, desperation echoing through it, as his fingers trailed fire to the bare folds of her p-ssy.

“I’m not teasing, sweetheart,” he assured her. “I definitely intend to deliver.”

His hand pressed beneath her thigh, lifting it until her leg folded over his shoulder.

Tehya’s breath caught. Pleasure lashed through her system with the power of a whip, striking against her swollen, sensitive * and causing her hips to jerk involuntarily.

Heated and damp, his tongue flicked over the tiny bundle of nerves as she felt his fingers slowly rim the clenched entrance to her p-ssy.

Her fingers tunneled into his hair, gripping the strands as she strained closer, her lashes drifting closed while shattering waves of sensation washed through her body. She felt drugged by the sensations, pulled into a dazed state of sensory overload that she needed to leave.

“There, baby, just lay back there and let me have you.” His free hand slid up her torso, callused fingertips finding the hard tip of a nipple and gripping it in an erotic vise.

A convulsive wave of electric pleasure tore through her, her body jerking with the extremity of it. Her p-ssy tightened and clenched, her juices weeping from the entrance as his fingers slid in, rasping against the delicate inner muscles as he caressed nerve endings grown ultra sensitive.

His tongue licked, probed, and caressed her * as pleasure built in a burning arc that threatened to consume her.

Her nails dug into his scalp as she tried to get closer to the burning caress of his tongue circling her swollen *.

The slow, measured strokes of his fingers f*cking inside her p-ssy had deep, desperate cries rising in her chest as she thrust up to meet his fingers. She fought to gain a deeper, harder thrust inside her clenched vagina, a firmer, hotter pressure against her *.

“Jordan, please.” The whispered need was rife was desperation as lips eased from her swollen flesh while his fingers slide from the tight grip of her p-ssy.

Her lashes lifted, watching in dazed anticipation as Jordan gripped the heavy weight of his cock and rose between her thighs.

The thick head pressed against the folds as his lips moved to the tender tips of her breasts. The combined sensations rocking and exploding through her with rapid-fire percussion.

As he sucked the tight tip into his mouth, his hips pressed forward, his cock stretching, working its way into the snug sensitive depths of her p-ssy.

“Ah hell. Tight. God, Tehya, you’re so f*cking tight.” His lips pressed to the curve of her breast as he fought to breathe, to drag enough oxygen into his body to beat back the light-headed, drugging effects of the pleasure tearing through him.

He could feel her, the snug tissue rippling over his flesh, milking his cock drawing him in as he felt perspiration bead along his spine.

“Jordan!” The whispered cry stroked his senses like a physical stroke of ecstasy. Desperation filled her tone, the rising need for release in it matching the flex and hungry strokes of her p-ssy over his cock head as he worked slowly inside her.

A final lick to her nipple and he lifted his head, watching the hungry glow coming from beneath her lowered lashes.

Her neck arched, her hips flexed upward, her fingers digging into his shoulders as a whimper left her lips.

“F*ck me, Jordan,” she whispered as those dark, emerald-green eyes lit with an inner fire and glowed up at him, hungry demand flashing in their depths.

The wickedly sensual demand lit a fuse to his lust and sent a powerful, overwhelming wave of hunger tearing through him.

He’d waited too long. The knowledge of that was only a distant thought. He’d suffered this damned hard-on through the night and all f*cking day. The hunger had torn at his guts, and now he’d waited too long to take her.

A hard, involuntary thrust of his cock buried him inside the gripping depths of her p-ssy as feminine muscles clenched tight and hot with urgent demand.

Fiery and erotically slick. Control was forgotten, and nothing but the race to ecstasy remained.

Tehya felt her back arch at the forceful, dominant thrust of his cock inside her. Flames tore through her vagina, raced around her *, and through her system as Jordan began thrusting inside her.

The powerful arcs of sensation were explosive, detonating through her as the exquisite pleasure-pain began to erupt through her p-ssy.

“God. Tehya.” His voice was a harsh, guttural cry, as it rasped over her senses, spurred her pleasure higher and hotter.

She strained against him, her breathing hard, the feel of his chest hair prickling her nipples, his lips slanted over hers, his tongue licking, probing, his cock stretching and burning her inner muscles.

It was building. Flares of heat, surges of electric, agonizing pleasure. Her * was a living flame, each stroke of his pelvis against her driving spikes of pure white-hot sensation through her womb.

Her entire body pulsed and throbbed.

The feel of his erection, thick and heavy, forging its way into her p-ssy.

Waves of rapture began to surge.

She gasped for breath, her eyes flaring open, widening to stare up at Jordan in dazed, ecstatic euphoria. Convulsive, destructive, her orgasm began in the pit of her belly, tightening and blazing out of control as she felt the first, furious explosion of release.

Her p-ssy contracted on the shuttling flesh between her thighs. A rivulet of perspiration ease down his temple, his expression sharpening to savage angles.

The first agonizing surge of release slammed through her. She felt Jordan thrust in hard, deep. Throbbing, pulsing, his cock exploded inside her, shuddering through his body. Her vision dimmed, her breath stilling inside her lungs before a low, wild whimper escaped her throat.

Deep spurts of semen were triggers to her extended release. It seemed never-ending, each shuddering pulse of ecstasy tearing through her, tossing her into brutal waves of elation.

Her head thrashed against the back of the chair. Her nails dug into his arms, and she swore that had to be her trying to scream.

Or was she actually screaming?

No, she couldn’t have, she wouldn’t have.

That wasn’t her voice crying hoarsely “Oh God, Jordan, I love you…”

No.

She wasn’t that insane.