Undercover Attraction, page 15
Jacob understood why she would be scared to jump into other relationships, but by now she should have gotten over it. Then again, he had seen women who had previously been abused before think that they didn't deserve anything better. He hated that they couldn't continue their lives without fear of being hurt by their significant other. Or even worse, expected it.
Was that why she was still unattached? Fear of being hurt again? It made sense to him, but now he could guarantee that her ex would never be out of jail to hurt her again.
Jacob was gun shy himself. His mother had left his father because he wouldn't give up being a cop. She used to say that he loved his city more than he did her. The truth was that she wasn't willing to share him with anyone or anything else, even her sons. His mother had been from money. The kind that wasn't made, but was just always there, and when she had married his father, she had been the center of attention. Once he and his brother had come along, she grew tired of not having the money and attention that she claimed to have deserved, and left when Jacob had been a young teenager.
Granted, his father was a hard man to live with, and had devoted any spare time he had to the city, but he had been a good husband, a good father, and then a good mother to Jacob and Alex also when their mother had left.
Jake had always told himself that if a woman couldn't live with what he loved to do, then it wasn't meant to be, but now, watching Jenna's face, he knew he would give up anything for her. Even his job. He had enough money in investments to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
But first he had to save her. The guys at the office had no luck cracking the disc so far. They were stumped. They couldn't figure out a method to the coding, they said it was a random sequence of numbers, and the only letter within the entered code was a j, everything else was numbers. It made no sense.
"If you talk about it, you'll feel better," Jenna's voice broke into his thoughts. She had looked over at him, with his brow wrinkled, his eyes down, lost in thought, and felt bad for him.
When she spoke, he looked back at her. It wasn't in his nature to discuss his cases with anyone outside of the precinct, but she was involved. He also didn't want to put her in any more danger than she was already in by disclosing any additional information. But it was her life at stake, and he felt she deserved to know something about it.
"Jenna, you might be staying with me for a while," he said carefully, trying to judge her reaction.
She looked at him for long seconds, chewing the inside of her cheek before speaking. "How long is a while?"
Jacob shrugged. "It depends on how long it takes us to track this guy down and put him away. May be a week or two, or may be a year. There's never a definite time frame."
She shook her head vehemently. "My classes start in 3 weeks. I can't still be in this- this- predicament- when that happens."
He looked over at her, a disbelieving look on his face. "Okay. In that case, I will call the murderers, drug dealers, and ammunitions traders-"
"Don’t forget the slave traders," Jenna piped in, aggravated.
"-and let them know to please hurry up and get caught so that you can go back to teaching in 3 weeks. I'm sure they will all just walk into the precinct and confess to wanting you dead and then go happily to jail."
She blanched, her eyes wide with fear. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I didn't mean to sound unreasonable. I just have a life and can't afford to miss work or even go on a vacation for long."
He sighed, regretting that he had scared her, and possibly hurt her feelings. He reached over and pulled her gently onto his lap, cradling her to him. "I didn't mean to snap. I just wanted you to realize that this could be a long case, and exposing yourself will end in disastrous results." He didn't need to point out her injuries that had already happened.
Her head nodded against his chest. "I know. I'm just being irritable. I hate being bottled up with nothing to do, and no say in what I can do."
Jacob thought of her interruption earlier. "How do you know that these guys are into slaves also?" She was probably just throwing a guess, adding to the bad things that she already thought of the bad guys.
Jenna chewed on her lip. She had said too much. No point trying to conceal it now. She wondered how mad he would be.
Chapter 12.
"I looked at the disc." She kept her eyes down, avoiding his.
"You did what?!" He held her at arm's length to stare at her in horror. "Jenna, you're just putting yourself in a worse position. Where did you get the disc from?"
She nibbled on her lip again, looking like a child who knew she was in trouble. "My backup site. It automatically saved there when I put it in my computer at home."
Jacob had been over the data a hundred times, and nothing had said anything about slaves. Or had it? "I didn't see anything about slaves in there."
She gasped. "Your guys haven't cracked the code yet? I thought you would have had someone on this already."
"I did. Wait- You cracked the code? You can decipher that mess?" His anger and disbelief faded in favor of awe. He had put his best encryption team on the data and they had translated none of it as of yet. How had she figured it out?
She nodded. "It was like chemistry to me. I have most of it already translated, with the exception of the two largest files. I even saved the translations on my backup site. The code was founded using the periodic table, not a randomly generated numerical code. That is why the only letter in it was a j, the periodic table has all of the alphabet except for it."
Jacob had been waiting on that information. There was probably quite a bit of info that could lead them to the ringleader. He was so happy he could kiss her. In fact-
Jenna was surprised when his lips crushed down against hers. She felt panicky for a second then remembered her promise she had made to Amy to at least try, and relaxed against him.
Jacob's tongue moved excitedly against her lips, seeking entrance. She opened her mouth for him and moaned when his tongue rubbed against hers.
They both felt when the kiss became something else entirely. No longer was it an impulsive act, but slowly becoming a seduction as old as time.
Jacob's hands threaded in her hair, just as Jenna wrapped her arm around him, raking her short nails against his neck.
He shuddered as her fingers caressed his nape and he held her head, angling her mouth further so he could kiss her even deeper.
It was an onslaught of sensation. His tongue dueled with hers, first demanding and brutal, then teasing and caressing, coaxing her to respond every bit as eager as he.
And she did.
A wet heat began to pool between her thighs, as her heart sped up its erratic rhythm. One of his hands roamed her back, then gripped her hip, sliding her tighter to his chest.
She felt his erection through her jeans, pressing adamantly against her backside. The temptation to rub against it was just too much, and she wiggled a bit on his lap, wringing a groan from him.
Temptress, he thought. He moved his hand from her hair to her breast, filling his palm with the plump, warm weight, rolling his fingers until he could feel the pucker of her nipple in his hand.
She moaned into his mouth when he flicked against it with his finger, lightly pulling it into a hardened peak. He turned her with his hand on her hip, laying her back against his front, allowing himself better access to her body.
Jenna shuddered as his hands slowly slid lower, her stomach quivering as his fingers grazed her ribs. He lightly caressed her lower belly as his hand worked on the button to her jeans.
Finally. He worked his fingers into her pants, looking down her body at his hands, feeling another burst of desire as he glimpsed the black lace panties that she had bought from the mall yesterday. His cock was as hard as steel beneath her, growing harder by the second as she squirmed her backside against it on his lap.
The damp heat between her legs welcomed his fingers, scalding him, making his patience evaporate in a torrent of lust. One finger traced her slit upwards, finding and circling around her clit in a slow glide of slick pleasure.
Her back arched, and she ground downward, almost making him spill inside his swim trunks. The little noises she was making in the back of her throat made him lose his thoughts, until only one thought remained. Need.
He pulled away from her, chuckling at her cry of protest, but quickly stripped her of her jeans, groaning when he saw the way the black lace hugged her curves. He could almost be jealous of the material. He slowly slipped the buttons of her shirt loose, then, careful of her arm, pulled it off. No bra. Perfect.
Gently turning her in his lap so she straddled him, he latched onto a nipple and teased her until her nails bit into his scalp. His hand once again slid down between her thighs, finding and tormenting her clit until Jenna thought she would come just from the friction.
Her head arched back, giving Jacob a delicious view of her breasts. The head of his cock jumped, nudging against her through his wet shorts, trying to find its way into her heat of its own accord.
One of her hands reached down and wrapped soft fingers around him, and he thought he would expire from the tight clasp of those heavenly fingers.
He slid his shorts down to give her better access, never breaking away from her nipples, then almost screamed in pleasure when her nails raked down his engorged length.
"No more. Now, Jacob. Please." Jenna couldn't wait any longer for him to be buried in her. She was already coalescing out of control, and only one thing could send her over the edge- him.
Her panties quickly disappeared, and Jacob turned her to straddle him. His thick, hard length plunged into her depths. She sighed in bliss.
She lifted herself with her legs, riding him until tendrils of heat ran up his spine and he became a mass of nothing but raw sexual energy.
So good, Jacob thought, knowing he couldn't last for long with her sensual ride on his lap. She controlled the pace as she needed it, moving in slow circles every time she slid down and he filled her. He would pay her back in spades later, when he didn't have to be so careful of her injuries. For now, he was content to let her be in control.
Jenna almost smiled at the look of pleasure on Jacob's face. His teeth were clenched and his head lay back against the lounge chair, the muscles in his neck and chest taut from trying to hold on to the last of his control. She aimed to make him lose it completely. She glided up and down again, barely holding in a gasp as he filled her completely, sending friction coursing into all those delicious nerve endings that had been craving another taste of him. She rocked her hips on him, while he was still deep inside of her then moaned as she felt him jerk against a sensitive spot within her.
His eyes went even darker as his control snapped, and he twisted. She suddenly found herself on her back, Jacob's hand clenching her hip as he took over the pace, plunging in and out in a rhythm frenzied by his oncoming orgasm.
But he refused to go over without her right alongside him. He ground his pelvis into her clit with every downward thrust, feeling her core pulse around his cock, trying to milk his seed from him.
"You drive me insane for wanting you," he gasped against her shoulder, nibbling on her neck as her head thrashed from side to side. "I've been dreaming of this since you came here, walking around in a constant state of arousal for you."
"You- oh- should do something about that." Her husky voice was barely audible through her moans. She could feel her orgasm rising up, waves of pleasure starting somewhere deep inside, slowly fanning outward.
Jacob drove himself deep, ground against her clit, and was rewarded by her shout. "I plan to remedy it from this point on, baby."
Her orgasm burst through her, causing her to tense, her tight muscles becoming even tighter, and Jacob felt himself reach the same goal.
He spilled inside of her with a shout, holding himself deep as her tight channel convulsed around him.
Only when he collapsed on top of her, his head buried in her shoulder, did he realize he hadn't used protection.
#
The next day brought with it a new dawn for Jenna. She had decided to take hold of everything Jacob had to offer during her duration at his home. Once the case was over she would walk away, she assured herself.
When she had told Amy of her decision and the incident at the pool yesterday, Amy had shrieked, thrilled that Jenna had taken her advice, vehemently adding that Jenna wouldn't regret her decision, even if she did end up with a broken heart. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all was her exact words, something Amy truly believed.
Jacob had been nothing but considerate of her feelings since their poolside tryst yesterday. He had carefully toweled her deliciously overused intimate areas dry, then carried her into the house, ran her a warm bath, and allowed her to soak for a while. Then, even after all that, he had helped her dress, tenderly changing the dressings on her injuries.
This morning, she had woken in his bed, Jacob curled loosely around her, and she had never felt safer. He had fixed her a late breakfast, then carried her upstairs for 'brunch', as he called it, followed by another bath, this time in which he joined her, softly lathering her body, rinsing her, then drying her with his hands and mouth.
He was a very attentive lover, giving his complete attention and concentration on what he was doing, never doing anything half-way, but diving in wholeheartedly, bringing her repeatedly to climax before he took his own.
She realized that she could easily lose her heart to this man and decided to steel herself against it. There was no sense in giving him a part of herself that she couldn't take with her when this was all over with. Sex- although it was the best of her life- and love were two different things, and she firmly resolved not to get the two mixed up.
After all, Jacob just lusted after her anyway, so she wouldn't be hurting his feelings either when he walked out of her life for good.
She looked over at him now, sitting in the lazy boy, feet propped up, flipping channels. He caught her eye and stood up, walking with the grace of an unleashed tempest towards her. Power seemed to fill every cell of his body, sending thrills of sexual heat through her body as he approached her.
He smiled that crooked smile, knowing instinctively what she was thinking, and stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders.
He placed a kiss to the nape of her neck and she shivered from the sensual touch of his lips.
"Do you need something? Hungry? Thirsty?" he asked against her shoulder.
She shook her head, "No, thanks, I'm fine. Don't distract me, I'm almost done with this."
He chuckled against her neck. "You're distracting me. I can't concentrate on anything that's on TV while I watch your devilish fingers caress the keyboard. I want to be under those deft hands of yours."
How did the man know just what to say to get her blood heated? He should be illegal.
"Twenty minutes. That's all I need to finish and then you can distract me all you want." She leaned her head against his chest, tilting her head back to look up at him.
He sighed, like a child who wouldn't get his favorite dessert after dinner. "Fine. Twenty minutes, then you're mine for the next hour." That quirky grin would be the death of her.
She turned back to the computer, picking up where she had left off, quickly interpreting the coded disc and typing in the translation. He had agreed to let her complete the translation after she had told him how easily she could decode the complex script.
The data in the scrambled codes was unbelievable, horrific to her, and she had to work hard to detach herself from what it said. Things that she had never imagined, even in her worst nightmares. Her safe little world had protected her from this, and she cried inside for the children who were suffering at the hands of these people.
She finally finished, with seven minutes to spare, and turned to Jacob. His head turned to look at her, his eyes dark with unchecked desire.
An unsteady breath whistled from her lips, and Jacob walked over to view her translations. He quickly scanned the documents then clicked print. His eyes widened in horror at the damning details. They had to catch this bastard and fast.
Only one detail eluded them. A name. He looked back at Jenna who was saving and storing her documents back on her webspace.
She had managed to break a code that the best team in the US had been unable to crack. Amazement flooded through him, infusing him with pride. She was an absolute treasure.
"Thank you, Jenna," he muttered. "We'll analyze these and try to get a lead somehow. You don't know how much I appreciate you doing this."
Her smile lit up her face, turning her green eyes into bright emeralds. "It wasn't any trouble. I hate sitting around doing nothing anyway. This gave me something to do, and allowed me to participate in some way to my dilemma."
"You do know that you can't let anyone know you've seen these documents," he said in all seriousness. Her protection was, above all, his first priority.
A nod of her head. "I know, and I understand."
He reached out and caressed her cheek with his knuckles. "You are an asset to us now, Jenna, and if they found out…" His voice broke off as he turned his head, unable to think of the unbearable consequences. "I have to call this in. Don't move."
She sat there at the computer as he walked away to call the department. His voice was a low murmur from his office as he talked to his father.
After a few moments, he returned, documents in hand, face grim.
"Dad seems to think that I should not have let you translate the documents. He basically ripped me a new one." One side of his lips rose in a humorless grin.
"I'm sorry you got into trouble because of it, Jacob. I didn't mean for that to happen." She felt somewhat guilty that his dad had probably yelled at him because of her.
He chuckled. "It's no problem. Dad has his way of doing things, and he hates it when the rules are broken in any way. He's just mad that you were placed in a further compromising position, even if you did do what so many of our guys couldn't." He turned her chair around so she was facing him. "I do have to warn you, though. He is on his way here now, so turn on the charm and he should be as infatuated with you as I am. That might keep him from chiding you like a child."
