The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,47

hard lines of his face.

Her hand slid along his jaw. “Let go,” she urged him.

He did. He seemed to erupt with a fury. His hips pistoned against her, and she felt the shudder that worked over his body as he came. Fierce, hard jerks of release.

The bed shook. She shook, too. Ella became aware that her legs were still locked around him, and she let them slowly flop back to the mattress. She was boneless and weak, and her eyes wanted to drift closed.

He withdrew from her. Padded to the bathroom. She just snuggled down into the bedding. Yawned. Maybe even drifted off to sleep.

“Ella…”

His voice. Close.

She forced her lashes to lift. “Are you sleeping with me?”

He nodded. Eased into the bed with her. Pulled her against him. “You won’t…you’ll still be here in the morning, right? Because if you run again, you should know, I’ll chase you.”

Sleep pulled hard at her. Maybe the adrenaline was crashing from her system. “Two weeks, remember?” Her voice slurred a little.

Did he press a kiss to her temple? It had felt like he had. “Two weeks.”

But before she surrendered completely to sleep, Ella nuzzled closer to him. “Next time, I will…shatter your control.”

And she thought she heard him say, “Sweetheart, you always do.”

***

“Axel is dead, man. Dead.” He’d seen the news story. His hands were sweaty. This whole job had turned into a nightmare. If so much money weren’t on the line, he’d be walking. No, running away.

“An unfortunate situation.”

Unfortunate? Hell, yes, it was unfortunate. Did you do it? But he knew better than to ask that question. Sometimes, you didn’t want to hear the truth. It was safer that way.

“You need to take Antony Kyle. Isolate the guy. He’s a freaking techie. It’s not like it will be hard to get him.”

“He has a bodyguard.” A woman. He’d knocked her down when he was running in the stairwell. “His former head of security.” Yeah, he knew all about her. “She’s going to be sticking to him.”

“If you’d eliminated her today, it wouldn’t be a problem, would it?”

He didn’t like where this was going. He wasn’t getting enough money for this shit. “You didn’t hire me to kill people. You aren’t paying me for—”

“I’m paying you for it now. If someone is in your way, don’t just knock them down.”

He stiffened. The boss knows what happened in the stairwell.

“Eliminate anyone in your way. Get Antony Kyle. I’ll convince him to give me what I need.” A mocking laugh. “You really think a guy like him will be able to hold out against someone like me?”

No, he didn’t think Antony would last long against the boss. He could almost feel sorry for the man.

“Consider your payment doubled. Get me what I want. Get it now.”

Doubled? He stopped feeling quite so sorry for the tech nerd. And he started planning.

Chapter Twelve

He opened his eyes and knew immediately that Ella was gone. Antony jerked up in bed as his heart nearly exploded from his chest. “Ella!” He touched her pillow. Cold. Dammit. She’d promised not to run. He’d been so careful with her last night. With all of his strength, he’d held onto the tattered edges of his control. He hadn’t taken her over and over again like he’d wanted. He’d been a freaking gentleman because he’d wanted to prove that he could give her anything she needed.

But she’d still left.

She’d still run from him.

How am I going to get her back now? Antony shoved aside the covers, and, naked, jumped from the bed. He surged for the door.

It opened before he could reach it. Ella stood there, dressed in a pair of faded jeans that hugged her hips and thighs, a black top that dipped off one perfect shoulder, and her cute little tennis shoes.

She lifted a brow as her gaze swept over his body. “Well, good morning to you, too, sunshine. Someone woke up feeling energetic.”

“You left.”

She’d been staring at his dick. The dick that was hard and eager for her already. But at his words, her gaze returned to his face.

“I…thought you’d left,” he corrected gruffly.

“Is that why you were yelling my name?”

A jerky nod.

“And you were about to rush after me—naked—because you thought you could catch me?”

“I don’t know what the hell I thought.” She still had a faint scratch on her cheek. The sight reminded him of the danger she’d faced the day before. “Ella…”

“I went to my room in order to shower and get dressed. Niesha arrived a little while