Page 220 of Under Her Skin

‘Man, you taste sogood…’

She sucked in a deep breath as her body began to quiver until Theo brought her to a pitch of excitement she could not hold back and moaned as her orgasm shuddered through her. Theo propped himself up on his elbow and let his fingers drift gently down her body as she caught her breath. He smiled at her shining eyes, so deep and warm and full of love forhim.

Jess chuckledat his satisfied smile.. ‘Wow. Theo, I think I like your new definition of making out.’ She pushed him onto his back and stroked his face. ‘I think maybe it’s my turn to add a newdefinition.’

‘You do,huh?’

‘Oh yeah.’ And grinning, she moved down hisbody.

Jules watchedTheo bring her to orgasm and the rage he felt was all consuming. He waited outside Theo’s apartment the entire week in the hope he would lead him to wherever Jess had gone but now he wished he hadn’t seen them together like this. Defiling her, defiling hisJessica.

He stood at the side of the window, watching them, watching her as she repaid her lover’s generosity. Theo had pulled her t-shirt off and Jules admired the smooth skin, the way her back curved. Jules felt in his pocket. The gun. He had never used a gun before, not to deal with any of his… problems. But Jess was special. And having that rich asshole around had presented a whole new set of complications. A gun wasnecessary.

He felt the cold steel with his fingers. He imagined putting a bullet into that beautiful curve in the small of her back. The thought excited him. Jules grunted and froze. Theo had looked towards the window. He could see him sit up, looking concerned. Jules ducked down and darted back into thetrees.

‘What is it?’Jess lookedscared.

‘Thought I heard something.’ Theo got up and headed towards the door. He looked back at her and smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I’m just going to check around the house.’ He winked at her. ‘If you hear anything, lock the door. Don’t be scared, baby.’ He went out into the night. Jess felt a cold fear settle around her. But seconds later, Theo came back. He grinned wryly. ‘Sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to scare you. Guess I’m just jumpy after everything that’shappened.’

He locked the door behind him and took her in his arms. ‘I want you to know I heard what you said earlier and I’m on board. Completely. Except for the first base business… I don’t think we should deprive ourselves…’ He grinned wickedly and shechuckled.

‘You may have a point,’ and she slid her hand down his groin, cupped the long shape of his cock through the denim of his jeans. She glanced around and then grinned up at him. ‘Wanna fuck me on the stairs,soldier?’

Theo growled and scooped her up roughly, and then they were clawing at the remains of the other’s clothes. Theo tugged her legs around him, his cock so ramrod hard he had no trouble thrusting deep into her ready sex. He clamped her hands above her head as they fucked, brutally, desperately, their mouths hungry for theothers.

They made it to the bedroom and much, much later they fell asleep in the other’s arms. Neither of them woke when the door to the cabin creaked open. Jules moved silently through the house, up thestairs.

Jess lay on her back,naked, Theo’s arm across her stomach, his face buried in the curve of her neck. Her long dark lashes swept down onto the smooth skin of her cheeks, the flush of lovemaking still pink. Christ, she was beautiful. Jules pulled the gun from his jacket and aimed it at her belly. An inch away, just one inch. His finger twitched on the trigger as he imagined the bullet smashing into the soft silky flesh, her gasp of shock and agony, Theo Storm’s horror as she bled out in his arms. He’d let him watch her die before he shot him too. Jules smirked to himself. It was a nice fantasy but no…not yet. He pocketed the gun and slipped back down the stairs, through the woods to where he’d left his car. He downed a bottle of water before starting the engine, lost in thought. It was good to know that they had no idea the lengths he would go to – stupid fuckers. Hadn’t Camilla been enough to terrifythem?

What he’d done to Camilla was nothing to what he would do to Jess. Nothing atall.

The sky washeavy with snow a week later and Seattle was gearing up for a bad winter storm. Camilla was laid to rest in a small cemetery just outside the city and afterwards, Theo held Jess’s hand tightly in the car back home. Her head rested on his shoulder but he was surprised she hadn’t cried. Instead, he saw a slow burning anger behind her eyes. Good, he thought, that would keep her vigilant, keep her safe. He hadn’t told he that he’d found footprints and evidence of an intruder at the cabin thatday.

He kissed her temple.‘Hey, what say we grab some lunch then go over the paperwork Max sent over? Get a jump start on your newjob?’

Max had gotten together a bunch of information – in record time, Theo grinned to himself – and if Jess was up for it, then the Stormfront Foundation would soon be areality.

Jess looked up and smiled gratefully. ‘That sounds good to me, I could do with a new focus…apart from you, thatis.’

Jess lookedaround the wide spacious office with views across the city and her jaw dropped. Max smirked at Theo, who put a hand on Jess’s shoulder. ‘Don’t get freaked out. We have a ton of advisors ready to help you. We just thought you could get up to speed at your ownpace.’

‘And in one of the best offices in the city,’ she managed to choke out. Theo laughed and opened his hands inapology.

‘I can’t help it, I want you to have thebest.’

Jess nodded but chewed on her lip. Max cleared his throat. ‘We have a press conference coming up – no, don’t panic…’ He shook his head at the panic on Jess’s face. Theo wrapped his arms around her. ‘It’s just to announce the Foundation’s formation – we need to get the word out if we’re going to be helping people. I’ll be there to do most of the talking, Max too. We’ll introduce you as the president of thefoundation…’

‘Much to the amusement of the local art world,’ Jess said. She looked at him evenly. ‘Do you honestly think people won’t say it’s you finding a job for your fecklessgirlfriend?’

Theo took a deep breath. ‘To begin with, maybe. We have to be realistic, they’re gonna have their opinions. But when the foundation – when you - start making a real difference to young and exciting artists, they’ll change their minds. We just have to ride the wave ofskepticism.’

‘Including yours,’ Max said with a grin and Jess couldn’t help butlaugh.

‘In that case, I think I can handleit.’

The press conferencewent off without a hitch and suddenly the realization that she was the head of a charity made Jess more determined than ever to prove herself. In the weeks that followed, she worked late into the night with Theo’s advisors and even some picks of her own to source the most suitable projects to fund. She called up her old boss Gerry who was delighted to hear from her and she took him to lunch to pick hisbrains.

Gerry grinned happily at her.‘You were always too good to be someone’s assistant, anyway, Jess. I was selfish to hold youback.’