Cherish Me (The Protected Love Series) (6 page)

“It’s a date.” Abbi called back as the door closed behind them.

As they walked back towards the living room Jace heard Judy’s cell phone start ringing. She froze. He made his way over to her bag reached in and pulled it out. “Babe, its Ashley.” He could hear her let out the breath she’d been holding. She took the phone from him and answered.

“Hello?” She looked over at Jace and
gave him a soft smile. “Yeah, Gabe should be over there soon. Jace said you could stay here with us until everything blows over.” She paused again listening. “No we are ok. A little freaked out, but ok.”

“Judy, tell her to make sure that it is Gabe before she opens the door.” Jace whispered towards her.

“Ok, Jace wants you to just make sure that it’s Gabe before you open the door. I will see you soon.” Judy smiled as she hung up the phone and handed it back to Jace. “She is packing her bag now.”

“Ok. What do you say we
make some tacos for dinner?” Jace wrapped his arms around her waist and led her towards the kitchen.

“After everything that
happened today you are going to cook tacos?” Judy giggled.

“I didn’t say I was going to cook them. That’s what I have you for.” He smacked her
ass as they made their way into the kitchen.

“You’re going to get it
, you know that?” Judy cut her eyes at him as she pulled out a pack of taco shells. “And you said
we,
so get your fine ass in here and start chopping this onion.

“You think my ass is fine?” He twisted poking out his backside. “You don’t think these pants make it look big?”

“There is something seriously wrong with you Jace Alexander.”

“Yeah, her name is Judy Adams.” He smiled.

*****

“Ok, so I am thinking coral dresses, blue and green flowers, and the guys in cream tuxes. What do you think? Too nautical?” Abbi flipped through one of the 25 wedding magazines that she had bought before coming to Judy’s.

“No, I don’t think it’s too nautical. Besides you’re doing it at the beach house.” Judy tossed a magazine over to the other side of the bed before grabbing another.

“Where is Ashley? Is she still sleeping?” Abbi glanced over at the clock.

“Yeah. I checked on her this morning. Snoring like a bear. We stayed up pretty late last night talking. I apologized for overreacting. She still says that she isn’t using. She said that she had just taken some cold medicine and it had made her loopy.” Judy looked over at Abbi unconvinced.

“Let’s just give her the benefit of the doubt for now.” Abbi smiled.

As the two grabbed another magazine the door to Judy’s room flung open causing them to both jump.

“Seriously, how many fucking rooms are in this place? I was legit lost there for a second. I got scared that I would never find my way back out.” Ashley walked into the room taking a seat next to Judy.

“
Seriously
Ashley, you’re going to make me go into premature labor.” Abbi took a deep steadying breath.

“Oh my bad. Sorry. I imagine you two are pretty jumpy after yesterday.” Ashley leaned back against the headboard. “So this is where all the magic happens
huh?” She looked over at Judy. “I wanna see what kind of handcuffs you use.”

“Ashley are you really sitting on Jace’s pillow in your underwear?
” Judy looked down.

“Uh, these are boyshorts. It’s the same thing as sleep shorts.” Ashley nonchalantly pulled the pillow from underneath her and scooted it off the bed.

“You are something else girl. Oh and we don’t use handcuffs, we use full restraints.” Judy gave her a wicked grin.

Flashbacks of the first night Jace had used them on her filtered into her mind.

“Lie on the bed and bring your ankles up to your wrists.” His voice commanding.

Without though
t she complied, bringing her ankles up in front of her. She watched in amazement as he wrapped the black straps around her ankles, moving to her wrists next. This was nothing she’d ever tried before and the excitement of it caused her stomach to stir. Heat flashed down her body into the apex of her thighs, she could feel her wetness as the thought of him controlling her ran through her mind.

“It’s not going to hurt, B
aby, but you’re not going to be able to move. I am going to turn you onto your stomach now. I want to see your ass in the air.”

He rolled her onto her stomach. Her wrists pulled back between her legs forcing her shoulders down onto the bed and her ass into the air. She had always been very confident in her body, but somet
hing about this made her feel very vulnerable. Her stomach clenched at the thought of what was to come. She laid there for what felt like hours. Jace was just out of her line of view, what on earth was he doing?

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” He came up behind her causing her to jump. His sudden closeness fueled her arousal.

She could feel his hands as they slid down her spine, caressing her ass as he made his way down to her entrance. With his knee he spread her legs farther apart.

“So wet for me.” His fingers teased her clit. “You are fucking perfect. So. Fucking. Perfect.”

She moaned out as his tongue slid down her ass to her pussy. “I am about to fuck the thought of any other man out of your head baby. This pussy is going to be mine.” His hands found her hips as he thrust his length inside of her. A sharp gasp escaping her lips before the tingling sensation took over her body. That was it, from that moment on, she was his.

“Hello? Did you fall asleep there?” Ashley said snapping towards Judy’s face. “Wake up girl. You passing out on us or something?”

“Sorry.” Judy blushed. “I was just thinking about something.”

“You and Jace’s sack sessions
? Please, do tell.” Ashley smirked before picking up a magazine.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Judy laughed. “Why don’t you ever bother Abbi about this kind of stuff?”

“I don’t know? Don’t take offense to this or anything Abs, but you don’t seem like the freakiest person in the sack.” Ashley grinned over at Abbi.

“Hey! I’m sexy!” Abbi protested.

“Oh, no doubt. If I batted for both teams I would definitely bang you. I’m just saying you seem like a missionary style kinda girl to me.”

“I am hurt that you would think that.” Abbi said trying to keep a straight face.

“Ok, where is the kinkiest place you have ever had sex at then?” Ashley asked.

“Um…” Abbi’s cheeks flushed. “The dinner table.”

“As in,
at
the dinner table or
on
it?” Judy asked.

“On it.” Abbi laughed as she planted her head down in her hands trying to hide her embarrassment.

“
As in
the table I ate off of at Christmas?” Judy protested.

“Yeah, that would be the one.” Abbi laughed. “Oh, come one. It wasn’t w
here you sat. It was at Ryan’s seat.”

“Well thank God for that
! I will never be able to look at your broccoli casserole the same though.”

“Oh please, I am sitting on the bed that I am sure you and Jace have humped all over and I am not complaining.”

“Well I have to say you have surprised me on that one Abs.” Ashley laughed. “Your turn Judy.”

“What? Oh no. I didn’t agree to the twenty questions game.”

“One question, learn your math. Freakiest place you and Stud Muffin have ever gotten down and dirty at.”

“Jace’s office at work.” She said proudly.

“Really, while everyone is at the office?” Abbi asked.

“Yeah, it’s something about the thrill of getting caught that makes it so much better.”

“Well, I don’t know about you two but this conversation is making me a little thirsty. Water anyone?” Ashley said hopping off the bed.

“Sure.” Judy and Abbi answered in unison.

“So still no word from your family?” Abbi asked as she thumbed the pages of one of the magazines.

“Nope. Still no word.”

Judy sat for a moment thinking about her family. A part of her heart ached knowing that they’d written her off. She’d given up on ever hearing back from them, it was clear they wanted nothing to do with her. But all it took was to look right in front of her to see that she wasn’t missing anything. Abbi and Ashley made her world complete. She had a man in her life
that would never hold her back; who treated her like a princess and made her feel wanted every day. She grabbed a brightly colored magazine as she heard a squeal come from the hallway right before Ashley came running back into the room.

“You dickbags!
” Abbi and Judy both stared at her not quite comprehending the reason for the harsh nickname. “You didn’t tell me Gabe was out there!” She panted as she held the door closed behind her.

Judy a
nd Abbi looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “I swear, Ashley. I totally forgot.” Judy could barely get the words out as she fell over onto the bed clutching her stomach.

“I despise you both!” Ashley marched out of the door.

“Oh come on! Where are you going?” Judy tried to contain her laughter.

“To put on some damn pants!” Ashley shouted back down the hallway. “I hope you enjoyed the show Gabe!”

Judy and Abbi laughed harder as Gabe shouted back down the hallway towards them. “I did!”

Two weeks had gone by and the closest thing they had come to as a lead was that the call to Judy’s phone had been placed from a payphone one block from the boutique the girls had been shopping at. Jace was beginning to lose his mind. He had been slipping on his work; Ryan could tell but never said anything. For the past few weeks he had been haunted, constantly worrying throughout the day and at night the haunting came in his dreams. The first nightmare was of the night Judy had been shot. The searing pain rang out through his body at the sound of the Captain’s words…

“One girl has already been shot tonight. Let’s try and keep that number from going up. I only have so many rounds in my gun and I would hate to use two bullets just to shut you two up.”

“Shot? Who was shot?” Jace looked at the Captain.

“A young lady by the name of Judith Adams. Chest wound. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai approximately fifteen minutes ago. Alive, but in critical condition.”

“Oh my God.” Jace bent over clutching at his chest.

The dreams that followed were filled with buried IED’s, flashbacks of their Humvee taking fire outside of a small village called
Lewar Jel Jay in Afghanistan. He had seen many of his fellow brothers fall at the hands of the enemy there, and had also been responsible for taking the lives of many others as well. It had been years since he had experienced anything like this.

H
e was suddenly feeling as though his world was slipping through his hands. He was a man who took charge and had things under control. But this was out of his hands, out of his control completely, and he didn’t quite know how to deal with that. In his frustration he’s been distant towards Judy also. None of this was her fault and she deserved a man who wouldn’t pull away when shit got tough but honestly he felt that his distance from her would only help her in the long run. They were after him and Ryan, not her. His phone rang loudly pulling him out of his thoughts.

“This is Ja
ce.” His voice was short.

“Hey boss man. You remember that detail you gave me a few weeks back?” Gabe’s voice came through the phone.

“Yeah, with Alexis. What’s up? Did you find something?”

“Well, I don’t know if
it has anything to do with our current situation or not. But I have been doing some checking around and it looks as though she may have been living here in Los Angeles for more than a few months. I found an old address that links her here a few years ago.”

“Really?” Jace thought about the conversation Alexis and Judy had in the back of the car. He was positive she’d said she had only been here for a few weeks.

“That’s not all. I followed up on the address and it’s the same apartment building that Trent once lived in. It’s not the best neighborhood and notorious for gang activity. It might be coincidence, but this is not sitting right with me.”

Jace
tried swallowing but his throat felt like sandpaper. He knew from the beginning that this girl had been up to no good and he had let her into his home. “Ok, send me the address and then call and see if it’s vacant. If it is, see if you can get in there. Ask the management company if they have any belonging’s left from when it was vacated. Anything.”

“On it boss, I will call over
and see what I can find out.”

“Ok, you’re with the girls now?” Jace asked.

“I am here at Abbi’s right now. I will get word to Aaron and head over there if you’d like me to.”

“No
. I will be home shortly. Thanks Gabe.” Jace hung up the phone and dialed Judy.

It rang. Then rang again. Worry began settling into his stomach. It wasn’t like her to not answer on the first two or three rings.