Page 28 of Hunted Temptation (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #4)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

ELODIE

When the car pulls up into a driveway, I bite the inside of my other cheek until I taste blood there as I pinch my eyes closed tightly. When I hear the driver chuckle, I lift my chin slightly and turn my head, opening my eyes to see what’s so funny. And that’s when I see him .

Vaughn.

He appears disheveled and a bit disoriented, maybe even a bit shocked. He doesn’t look like himself. Something is wrong. I knew it. As I continue to watch him, the shock turns to anger.

Rage .

He moves toward the car, and before I realize what’s happening, the driver’s door is being wrenched open. I’m not sure if he sees me, if he knows that I’m here, but I don’t make a noise.

I watch as the PI is jerked out of the car by his shirt, then Vaughn pulls his arm back, his fingers ball into a fist, but before he can slam said fist into the PI’s face, I scramble to the door and open it.

Calling out for him to stop.

I can’t let him hurt this guy. Not when I know that when he dies, Vaughn could possibly be linked to it. If something happened to Vaughn, I’m not sure I could live with myself. Because it would be my fault. I can’t take that kind of guilt.

Only when he hears my voice does Vaughn freeze. He’s still gripping the man’s shirt when his eyes meet mine.

“The list,” I say.

He knows what I mean. Releasing his grasp on the man, he takes a step backward, brushing his hands on the thighs of his pants.

As he does this, I notice that it’s not just his hair and his expression that are disheveled.

It’s his clothes, too. He’s a wrinkled-up mess, and I’ve never seen a hair out of place before, let alone his clothes.

“Not sure what you thought you were going to get away with, but you failed, jackass,” Vaughn snaps before he makes his way toward me. My entire body relaxes the moment he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his body for a hug.

Then I hear it.

One, two, three shots before a fourth. I gasp, pinching my eyes closed as my arms flex even more, and I hold on tighter to him. I don’t ever want to let him go. I found him. He’s alive and safe.

I feel Vaughn’s hand slide up my spine before it tangles in my hair, then, with little warning, he tugs my head backward as he tips his down, his eyes on mine. His lips twitch into a smirk.

“You found me,” he murmurs.

“I found you,” I whisper. “But you should probably call Merrick and let him know that I’m safe. He was supposed to be watching me.”

Vaughn’s lips twitch again before he speaks. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “But not before I taste you.”

His lips find mine, and almost instantly, I forget where I am, that there were gunshots, and that Vaughn was in danger. I nearly forget everything around me. There is only him and me, only the way he makes me feel.

The rest of the universe disappears.

When I feel his tongue slip into my mouth, he tastes me, and I slip my tongue into his, tasting him. We tangle our tongues together, tasting one another, and I feel desperate. I want him to fuck me on the hood of this car.

I want to feel alive.

I need to know that he’s okay, that he’s whole. And at the same time, I’m ferocious. Only when he releases me and takes a step backward am I somewhat tamed.

“We need to get into Boden’s car,” Vaughn announces.

My eyes are focused on his, but he shifts his attention down to the ground at his feet. My gaze follows his, and I know that I should gasp at the sight of a dead body, but I don’t. I smile.

“Does this mean someone is getting paid soon?” I ask.

Vaughn chuckles, and my attention shifts to him. My eyes meet his. His lips are curved upward into a cocky grin.

“I think that’s exactly what it means, but for us, it means we’re going home.”

I cup his cheeks. I don’t make a move to leave. I can’t, not until I speak to him. “I thought something bad had happened to you, like, really bad. I couldn’t breathe. I went for a walk around the block, and that’s when he grabbed me.”

My words come out in a rush, mainly because I need him to believe me. I need him to understand that I’m not stupid. I wasn’t taken because I was doing something wrong. I just needed a moment.

I just needed to breathe.

Vaughn dips his chin and shifts his face closer to mine. He presses his lips against my own before he speaks. Talking against my lips the way I absolutely love—the way I crave.

“It’s okay, Goldie. You’re safe now, and so am I. Let’s go home.”

“Home,” I breathe.

He hums. “Our home, Elodie. I love you.”

My heart swells so much, it’s so full that I think it might actually explode inside my chest. It doesn’t, but it feels like it might.

He loves me.

I don’t know if he really feels it deep in his soul the way I do, but I don’t care. I’ll take the words. That’s all I need to know that this is where I’m staying. I’m marrying this man. He takes a step backward, but I can’t do anything other than stare at him with my lips parted in awe.

“You love me?” I ask in a whisper.

He hums, his gaze never leaving mine. He’s connected to me, and I swear it feels as if we’re one person. He extends his arm, his palm facing upward. The moment I slip my hand into his, he curls his fingers around mine before he gently tugs me behind him as he makes his way toward a black SUV.

I open my mouth to ask him what’s going on when he reaches into his pocket, pulls out his phone, slides his thumb across the screen, then holds the device against his ear.

“Vaughn,” he announces.

He doesn’t say anything as the person on the other end of the line speaks. I can’t make out any of the words the person says, but I can hear their deep voice through the cell, so I know it’s a man.

“My place,” Vaughn snaps. “The safe house.”

He ends the call, tosses the phone into the cup holder, and then starts the car’s engine. Without a word, he backs out of the driveway, though he has to drive on the grass to get around the PI’s car and body.

I look down at the lifeless body of the man who kidnapped me one more time and feel nothing. I don’t know if I should feel bad or sad, but I feel absolutely nothing at the sight of him. Not even pity, and even when I reach deep inside myself, there is nothing.

I’m not sure how far we’ve gone when Vaughn’s fingers grip my thigh, squeezing me gently as he pulls the car over to the side of the road. I don’t know how long we’ve been driving, but there are only a few tobacco fields and tall trees surround us.

“You good?” he asks.

Shifting my attention to him, I lift my head and meet his eyes. My breathing comes out in heavy pants. Squeezing my thighs together, I wonder if I should tell him that I want him right now. I’m not sure why the urge has taken over, but it’s consumed me without warning.

VAUGHN

Elodie climbs over the center console of the car, hiking her skirt up as she straddles my thighs. I instantly reach for her hips, flexing my fingers and digging them into her flesh. Her own fingers find purchase on my shoulders.

“What do you need, Goldie?” I keep my tone low and even.

“You,” she breathes, her hips rolling, searching.

My lips curve up into a smile, my lids lowering as I lean back and look up into her gorgeous face. She was taken today. I was taken today. This could have ended very differently for us, but thankfully, it didn’t.

I release one of her hips to glide my fingers across her belly before dipping beneath the waist of her panties. Cupping her center, I watch as her head falls back slightly. She begins to rock against my palm, needing more.

Elodie is pure gorgeousness. She’s pure perfection. I don’t deserve her, but I’m not going to let her go either. I’m going to give her everything she needs in life, and whatever the fuck she wants, too.

“Vaughn,” she breathes as she begins to move faster, grinding her clit harder against my palm.

“Take out my cock,” I grind out.

She does what I demand with zero hesitation. I am hard and ready for her. Slipping my hand from between her legs, I reach between us to hook my finger in the center of her panties and tug them to the side. I already know she’s dripping wet and ready for me.

Elodie shifts, lifting her hips slightly and positioning herself as I hold her panties aside, then she slowly sinks down along my length, taking all of me inside her. She stills, her eyes wide and her lips parted as she stares at me.

“Don’t move,” I murmur. “Stay right there. Feel me inside you, stretching you.”

She shakes her head, and her breathing turns from even and calm to panicked pants. “I need to move, Vaughn,” she whimpers.

My lips twitch at the panicked tone in her voice. Releasing the center of her panties, I shift my hand between us and touch her clit with the pad of my thumb. I don’t move. I don’t rub circles there. I just apply pressure as I look up into her eyes.

“Whatever you want, Goldie. It’s yours.”

Her face softens, and the panic-stricken look vanishes instantly as she gives me a soft smile.

“It’s you, Vaughn. You’re what I want, however you give it to me.”

Clearing my throat, I release her hip with my other hand and bury it in the back of her hair, gripping the soft strands before I speak.

“I have nothing left to give you, Elodie. You have all of me. Every goddamn inch.”