His Captive Lover (The Thorpe Brothers Series) (12 page)

“No more,” she gasped when his fingers moved again and she arched against him, almost whimpering with her need and the crazy way he made her feel. 

“Much more,” he countered and moved his mouth from hers, kissing along her neck, her shoulder and then hovering for a moment over her breast.  He waited, wondering what she would do and he almost smiled when she froze, her whole body rigid as she waited for his mouth. 

When he took her nipple in his mouth, she practically pushed him off of her but he was prepared for that, remembering her hand pulling his fingers away earlier.  So when she tried to grab his head, he simply took her hands in his and had his wicked way with her, holding her still with his body.  He didn’t stop until she was arching against him once again and then he only stopped so he could move to the other breast, giving it equal attention. 

“Ash!” she cried out, desperate for him to stop but not sure if she might be begging him to keep on going either.  She wasn’t sure about anything right now. 

“I know,” he said soothingly, but he didn’t feel very soothed at all.  Her reactions were making him even more crazy.  He wanted to just bury himself inside of her heat.  Instead, he moved his mouth lower, kissing her along her soft stomach. 

Either she was stronger than she appeared or he was in a weak state, because she suddenly lifted up, pushing him backwards.  He looked down at her, noting the dreamy look in her eyes and he smiled.  Taking off his shirt, he ripped something but didn’t look down.  “You’re mine,” he growled as he tossed his jeans behind him.  When he was fully naked, he moved closer to her, seeing the worry in her eyes as she took in his size.  “It’s okay,” he crooned, knowing that this would be her first time.  He grabbed the foil packet he’d been keeping in his wallet ever since the night of her ice cream adventure.  Once he was fully sheathed, he moved down to cover her once again. 

“Ash?” she gasped, feeling him against her leg. 

“Don’t worry,” he told her and bent lower, catching her lips with his.  Ever so carefully, he kissed her, bringing her back to that heated place where she was moving underneath him, her hips shifting frantically.  He suspected she didn’t know what she wanted, but he did.  When he moved between her legs, he slid one finger inside of her.  When she bowed her back, her legs instinctively moving wider for him, he knew she was right back with him. 

He felt her slick heat and had to close his eyes to control himself.  Every cell in his body wanted to just push into this heat but he wanted her to be with him every step of the way. 

When she grabbed his wrist again, he smiled but it might have been more of a grimace.  He wasn’t sure at this point.  “That didn’t stop me last time,” he said and bent to kiss her stomach, “and it isn’t going to stop me this time either.” 

She quickly started shaking her head, but he didn’t give her a chance to argue.  He simply slipped another finger inside of her and her grip on his wrist when limp as her body experienced the next level.  When her hips shifted, lifting to take his fingers deeper, he couldn’t stop himself any longer.  Moving over her, he quickly shifted his body into place and switched his fingers for his hard length, entering her hot core slowly so he wouldn’t hurt her. 

Mia grabbed onto his shoulders, her body no longer under her own control.  She wanted this so desperately that she couldn’t even form words.  She wanted him deeper, but she also wanted him to stop and move away.  If he did that though, she might just melt into a pool of desire and then evaporate with the heat. 

“Please, now!” she gasped when she felt him move inside her, slightly deeper with each thrust.  He was so slow, so gentle and she really didn’t want that right now.  She wasn’t sure how to tell him so she slid her hands down his body.  Tomorrow she might be embarrassed about grabbing his butt and pulling him inside her, but at that moment, when he was fully deep inside her, she couldn’t be sorry.  There was a slight bit of pain, but as she moved her hips, she became fully adjusted to his size and girth.  And it felt so perfectly right!

Unfortunately, he started moving and the rightness no longer was present.  It wasn’t wrong, but could only be described as frantic.  When he pulled out, she bit her lip and raised her hips to try and stop him.  When he pushed inside her, ever so slowly, she thought she might just scream out or hit him.  “Faster!” she cried, not sure what he would do but just instinctively knowing that she needed him to move inside of her, and not at this slow pace.

Ash laughed softly, thrilled that she was so demanding.  It was such a turn-on, not to mention feeling her wrap her body around him so perfectly.  He lifted her legs, wrapping each one around his waist so he could move deeper and he gave the little lady exactly what she wanted. 

As he thrust back and forth, he watched her and could barely hold himself back because Mia in the throes of passion was sensuality personified.  She closed her eyes, lifted her hips, her hands moving along his chest and scratching his arms when he moved at a particularly good angle. 

In a shorter time than he would have liked, she exploded around him, her body climaxing in such a powerful, mind blowing manner that he almost stopped moving so he could watch her fall apart in his arms.  But then his body realized what his mind was about to do and protested vehemently.  He pounded into her after that, needing his own release. And when it came, he thought he was actually pouring his life into her slender, beautiful body.  It was so complete, so intense that he couldn’t even move for a long time afterwards.

Later that night, Ash stared up at the ceiling, holding Mia close against his side.  He couldn’t believe he had violated his personal code of ethics by sleeping with his client.  It was a huge conflict, but as he listened to her deep, even breathing and felt her body snuggle closer to his side, he knew that he wouldn’t have changed last night for anything. 

He should at least feel guilty, he told himself.   But as he examined his feelings, there was absolutely no guilt at all.  If he had the chance, he would probably do it all over again. In fact, he would give her a few hours of sleep, and then he
would
do it all over again.  Slowly, more thoroughly.  And he would enjoy every single moment of the activity. 

So there was really nothing else he could do except make sure that she was proven innocent.  As he lay there in her bed surrounded by flowered sheets and flowered pillows, his mind went over every detail of her case.  Something was missing besides the victim.  He checked off every detail, went through various precedents that could be brought to the issues, ideas that could dismiss the evidence or refute each item when it was brought to court. 

When he mentally had everything in place, knowing exactly how he could obliterate the prosecution’s case even before it came to trial, he nodded his head.  It wasn’t good enough though.  His ideas would only keep her out of court.  They wouldn’t prove that she hadn’t murdered her ex-fiancé.  He had to work harder, find that part that was missing, and bring it to light.  He knew it was out there, he just wasn’t sure exactly where to look to find it. 

But he would. 

With a nod of determination, he rolled over and nibbled on Mia’s neck.  He’d resisted her delectable body while working through everything, but he was finished with his mental checklist and he couldn’t resist any longer.  She was just too soft, too sweet and just too tempting.  His hand smoothed down her body, slowly waking her up and he smiled with anticipation when he saw her smiling even before she opened her eyes. 

Chapter 6

Ash walked into Mia’s school building and looked around.  He noted a very well-tended school with the children all laughing as they made their orderly way to their classes.  The teachers chatted amongst themselves as they herded their pupils from one place to another, all keeping a watchful eye on the students.  When the first bell rang, Ash couldn’t help but be impressed by how quickly everything and everyone calmed down and moved to their assigned areas.  Classroom doors were shut, the halls quieted down and there was an almost tangible feeling of energy everywhere. 

He walked into the office and introduced himself.  “I’m Ash Thorpe,” he said, handing his card to the secretary. 

“Oh, goodness!” she gasped and stood up after reading his card.  She blushed as she took in his height, but Ash was used to that reaction.  “You’re the man defending our Mia, aren’t you?” she gushed, clasping her hands together with excitement.  “We’re all thrilled that you’ve taken her case.”

The others in the room all stopped their work and turned to see what was happening, their fingers halted in midair and papers stopped shuffling.  He looked around, startled to have received such a reaction.  Most of the time, people were wary of lawyers but this group only looked hopeful and eager.  Excited? 

Ash cleared his throat, his eyes taking in all the details.  “I am.  I was wondering if I could interview some of the staff.  I know that some of Ms. Paulson’s co-workers knew Jeff Richardson and might be able to give me some insight.”

The other women looked at each other as if sending a silent message.  Then they quickly gathered round, even the principal who came out of her office when she overheard the conversation, a very stern looking woman with a severe suit and no-nonsense attitude.  All the women hurried to form a loose circle around him, more than eager to help him with any information.  “Whatever you need,” the principal replied with a nod of her head, her lips compressed as if she thought that were the only expression appropriate for this situation.  “We need her back here as soon as possible.”

That was news to him.  Mia had stayed away from work for the past several days, always available to his team which was great, but he was now confused.  “You mean you didn’t put her on administrative leave?” he asked, trying to clarify the situation.

The principal waved her hand at her.  “Goodness no, but I suppose the school board might have if she hadn’t told me that she would need some personal time to sort this out.  She’s so sweet to be thinking about us at a time like this,” the principal said, shaking her head grimly.  “I’m Jeanie,” she said, extending her hand.  “And you just tell us who you need to speak with and we’ll rotate that person out of their classroom for however long you need.”

Ash couldn’t believe this kind of reception.  Normally, he had to threaten legal action to get people to take some time out of their day to help him with his work.  That was one of the reasons he normally allowed Mark and his team to do these sorts of interviews and report back to him.  Why he was here, Ash hadn’t really figured out yet. 

He mentally shook his head.  That wasn’t true at all, he accepted.  He was here because he was determined to clear Mia’s name.  He’d made that decision last night while holding her in his arms and he wanted to be personally involved, to see the reactions of her co-workers and hear from others about Jeff and his relationship with Mia, the woman he now considered his. 

Taking a piece of paper out of a file folder, he handed it to the principal.  “Here’s a list of the people Mia said knew of her relationship between Jeff and herself, and had met Jeff or socialized with them,” he said, pulling out a neatly typed list of people. 

The principal quickly scanned through the list and it was as if the entire office staff went into full-battle mode.  “Eleanor,” the principal said, handing the list to the secretary, “make a copy of this list and distribute it around to the other teachers.  See if anyone is missing from the list that Mr. Thorpe might need to talk to.”  She turned to another woman.  “Jane, could you get the first three people on this list down to the office?  It’s going to cause some disruption, but everyone will manage.”

Two men walked into the office, obviously both staff members themselves.  “I just heard that you need people to cover the classrooms to help Mia,” they said.  “Where do we go first?”

Within ten minutes, Ash was sitting in a conference room with three people, all of whom were telling him wonderful things about Mia and reviling her ex-fiancé.  Apparently, no one liked Jeff Richardson and all were furious with him for the way he stalked her after their breakup.  They gave him story after story about how Mia would slip out the back door of the school or a side door, parked her car on a side street or rode the bus, anything possible to slip by Jeff’s notice so she could come and go from the school without his harassment.  It had gotten so bad, one teacher talked about how she’d spoken to a police officer and asked how to get a restraining order. 

“Did you follow through?” Ash asked, sitting up, his pen hovering over the notepaper. 

The teacher shook her head, her eyes sad with regret.  “Unfortunately, I only got the information last week and I was out sick with the flu.  So I never got the chance to tell her what to do before all this happened last week.  But I’m sure this is just another trick of Jeff’s to get her back.  He was a conniving snake,” she said, anger brimming within her hazel eyes.

Ash left the school several hours later, chuckling at how protective all of the teachers were of Mia.  She seemed to draw that out in several people.  Including himself, he thought.

The little woman could take care of herself though.  He thought of all the times he’d wanted to comfort her during this process, but she’d simply pulled herself up and worked it out.  Of course, she’d tried to defend herself all alone initially which had been a huge mistake.  There were too many intricacies within the law that she wouldn’t know about.  He shook his head, shuddering mentally at what would be happening to her right now if Autumn hadn’t seen Mia’s name on the docket list. 

Mia thought she could do it all and in most cases, she was right.   But he was damn well going to take on some of that burden.  The woman needed to know her limits.  Yoga and ice cream weren’t going to solve her problems this time. 

And then there was last night, he thought, castigating himself one more time.  He’d broken one of his sacred rules.  Never get involved with a client.  Personal feelings and opinions had no place in his line of business.  He was hired to keep people out of jail and he was extremely good at it.  If he allowed emotions to muck up the process, it was always dangerous.