Nothing Left to Lose (16 page)

“I would be
honoured, Miss Spencer,” he replied, dipping his head and kissing
me softly.

I smiled
against his mouth, slipping one arm around his neck. When his arm
tightened on me and he rolled onto his back, I squeaked, giggling
as I was dragged on top of him. His hand slipped down to cup my ass
as the kiss deepened, growing in intensity again. When the kiss
finally broke, I dragged in a ragged breath. The room seemed to be
too hot and stuffy. I needed a little air. Gulping nervously, I sat
up, straddling him. He smiled up at me, folding one arm under his
head as his other hand drew a lazy pattern on my thigh.

The way he was
looking at me made a blush creep up my neck and spread across my
face. Neither of us spoke. Suddenly, my cell phone started
vibrating on my bedside cabinet, cutting through the silence and
making us both jump. Leaning over and snagging the phone from the
side, I frowned down at the number that belonged to my father.

“Dad?” I
answered, suddenly now very aware that I was naked with my near
guard laid out between my thighs.

Ashton’s body
jerked as his eyes widened.

“Hi, Annabelle.
I wanted to speak to Agent Taylor, but he’s not answering his cell.
I wondered if he was with you?” my dad quizzed.

My mouth popped
open in shock as I tried to come up with some lie that would
placate him. “Um, no Ashton’s not with me.” I winced, looking at
him for help. “I think he said he was going for… er…” Ashton
suddenly used his hand to mime his fingers dancing across the palm
of his hand. I raised one eyebrow. “A dance class?” I guessed.
Ashton chuckled quietly, shaking his head and slapping his forehead
with the palm of his hand.

“A dance
class?” my father repeated incredulously.

I closed my
eyes as I suddenly realised what Ashton was actually miming.
Someone running.
Hmm, that would have been a better excuse.
I sighed. “Dad, look, I don’t know where he is, alright? For all I
know he could be at a dance class. He’s probably gone for a run or
something,” I snapped, covering the mouthpiece of my phone as
Ashton’s chuckle turned into an outright laugh.

“Right, okay,
well if you see him, could you ask him to come and speak to me
about some arrangements for next week?” my dad requested.

“Sure thing,” I
answered, pressing the end button and dropping my phone down onto
the bed.

“Dance class?”
Ashton teased, shaking his head at me.

I sighed and
flopped down onto the bed. “He wants to see you to talk about some
arrangements for next week,” I stated, wanting to change the
subject.

He frowned but
nodded; clearly now wondering what my father wanted to see him
about. Settling himself down against my side, he ran his fingers
through my hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in
and planting a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. I smiled as his
eyes latched onto mine and I became trapped in the beautiful green
of them. After a couple of minutes of silence, he groaned. “I’d
better go speak to your father.” He pushed himself up onto all
fours, leaning over me, kissing me fiercely. “I’ll see you in a
bit. Maybe we could go for a walk or something?”

“Yeah okay,
sure,” I agreed, shrugging.

He kissed down
the side of my neck and across my body, lingering on my breasts,
then climbed out of the bed, frowning and not looking too happy
about having to leave. I watched his pert, little behind as he
pulled on his boxer shorts, picked up his weapons from the night
before, and then strutted confidently to the door.

Just before he
stepped out of my room, he turned back to me and a cocky smile
slipped onto his face. “I knew you’d fall for me sooner or later.
And thanks very much, ma’am,” he stated, winking before stepping
out and closing the door firmly behind him.

My heart
dropped down into my stomach.
Fall for him? I haven’t fallen for
him, I love Jack. Oh my God… Jack!
My eyes widened in horror as
my head whipped to the side, seeing the photo on my sideboard. He
was smiling at me as usual. I started to feel nauseous; I ran to
the bathroom and was sick violently until nothing else would come
out.

Turning the
shower to as hot as it would go, I climbed in, sobbing under the
spray. My tears mingled with the water jets, circling down the
drain as I scrubbed the sex smell from my skin.

When I got out,
I still didn’t feel better. It wasn’t the dirty feeling that
sometimes overcame me when I thought about Carter, no, this was
worse in some ways. I literally repulsed myself from the inside
out. I’d just done that with Ashton, and hadn’t even spared Jack a
single thought until it was too late.

I dressed as
quickly as possible, not even bothering to brush my sopping wet,
tangled hair before I stalked over to the bed and ripped the sheets
and covers from it, tossing them into the laundry basket.

Once I’d opened
the windows, I ran out of my room as fast as my legs would carry
me. As soon as I was in my car, I threw it into drive and sped out
of the drive with the tyres squealing. I knew where I was going, I
needed to see Jack and beg him to forgive me.

As I walked out
of her room, I couldn’t keep the triumphant smile off of my face. I
headed into my room and flopped onto the bed, thinking about what
had just happened. I’d wanted her since that first moment I’d laid
my eyes on her. Anna was an incredible person, so vulnerable, hurt,
and beautiful. Sure she was damaged, but maybe I could fix her. I
could help her heal if she’d let me. Clearly she tried to play the
bitch because she didn’t want people close to her, but I could see
through her act easy enough. She literally blew my mind, and I’d
never met anyone like her.

Even though I
was attracted to her, I never would have made a move on her because
of what she’d been through. Just now though,
she
was the one
that had instigated things between us and took the first step to
move on. I loved that. I was so physically attracted to her that it
was unreal, I wanted her so much, but more importantly, I wanted
something I’d never wanted before, I wanted to
be
with her.
The sex wasn’t important – not that I hadn’t wanted to make love to
her, of course, because I’d actually wanted that so badly I could
have died from the need – but the thing I wanted most in the world
was to see her happy. These feelings I had for her scared the life
out of me. I’d never even had a girlfriend before, yet I was
already crazy about her and I’d only known her for three days.

A soft sigh
escaped my lips as I thought about her face as it had looked just
now. She’d looked so happy that I couldn’t help but feel proud of
myself. Usually her eyes were hard, closed off and sad, but just
now they’d sparkled with a happiness that made my heart fly. She
truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, even
with the messed up bed hair, she had still taken my breath
away.

My mind
wandered to her naked, writhing under me as she moaned my name. I
wouldn’t be forgetting that in a long time, that was for sure. I
could actually die right now and be a happy man. The sex had been
incredible; better than anything I had ever felt in my life. It had
felt different to the usual flings I had; it was more intimate and
special.

We hadn’t used
protection which was a little worrying, but I knew that if the
worst did happen and she did get pregnant, I’d be there for her.
The chances of that happening were slim, but we’d cross that bridge
if we needed to. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as
a cute image formed in my mind – a baby with her brown eyes and
cute, little button nose. Although I’d never imagined having kids
before, that would be one gorgeous baby if it looked like its
momma.

I sighed
contentedly and rubbed a hand over my face. I genuinely wasn’t
expecting anything like this to happen when I took this assignment.
I’d never felt anything for a girl before, it all happened so
suddenly too. She’d stolen my heart in three days, well, she’d
actually had it in about three seconds. As soon as she’d walked
into her father’s office, I knew I was done for.

I pushed myself
up off the bed, stretching my arms above my head and feeling the
familiar burn of after sex muscle tightening. I grinned and grabbed
some jeans and a button down shirt, deciding I should probably go
and speak to the senator and see what he wanted. Once I was
dressed, I shoved my gun into its ankle holster and headed out. I
stopped outside her door, wondering if it would be a little too
forward if I knocked just so I could see her again, kiss her again
and pull her close to me. I wanted her so close that she’d melt
into me. It was probably a little fast for her, after all, I’d only
met her three days ago and I’d already slept with her. That
certainly wasn’t something I was expecting, even with my reputation
for a quick score.

I traced my
hand across the wood of her door. My eyes closed, and I laughed
quietly as I realised something – I was turning into some sort of
weirdo stalker. I was standing outside her door, thinking about
her; normally I’d arrest guys that did that. I forced myself to
walk away from the door. I needed to speak to her father, and then
maybe I’d take her for a picnic or something, show her what a good
boyfriend I could be.

As I was
walking through the house, I decided that my new favourite place in
the world was here with Anna; it used to be the shooting range at
the training academy, but she had that beat easily. I was certainly
going to be guarding her body extremely closely from now on. I
grinned at the thought of that happening again, and again, and
again.
Man, I love this job!
And pretty soon I had a feeling
I was going to love her too – I was already half way there and I
had only known her for three days. I’d never believed in love at
first sight until I met Anna.

When I got to
his outer office, his PA buzzed me straight through. Senator
Spencer was sitting behind his desk with a grim expression on his
face. He stood as I entered. “Agent Taylor, I need to speak to
you,” he said, smiling sadly, nodding towards the chair opposite
him. I sat quickly and waited for him to speak. “Agent Taylor,
we’ve received another letter from him, I just needed to make you
aware,” he stated, sliding a piece of paper across his desk.

I stiffened,
and my heart took off in a sprint. Another letter from Carter. I
wanted to run from the room and wrap her in my arms, never letting
go. I would die before I let him hurt her again and if I ever saw
him, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to restrain myself from killing
him.

I took the note
and read it over quickly; it was addressed, ‘Dear Princess’.
Realisation hit me: that guy on the CCTV footage had called her
princess too, that’s why she’d gotten kicked out of school. It was
essentially a love letter expressing how much he missed her, how he
couldn’t wait for them to be together again, and how he was
expecting her cooperation at the appeal, should she be called upon
to give evidence against him again. He wanted to take her away and
treat her like the princess that she was. He went into a lot of
crude detail about all of the things he wanted to do to her. I felt
the bile rise in my throat, so I quickly swallowed it down, trying
not to picture the images that were trying to force their way into
my head.

I was so angry
that my hands were shaking. I looked up at the senator; he looked
extremely sad and tired. “This came this morning, sir?” I asked,
folding the note and handing it back to him.

He nodded. “I
have the others if you want to read them,” he offered, rifling
through his desk drawers.

“Er… No thanks,
sir. Unless there’s anything in there I need to see,” I said
uncomfortably. I wasn’t sure I could read another one of those.

He waved his
hand at it, a look of disgust on his face. “No, they’re basically
the same as this one.”

“How many have
there been, sir?” I asked curiously. That information wasn’t in the
file.

He sighed. “He
sends one a week, every week for the last three years. Always the
same thing,” he answered. I gasped at the revelation.
One a
freaking week for three years and they haven’t told her?
I’d
assumed that it was only since the retrial was ordered. “We get one
of those love letters from him, and a death threat from somewhere
within his organisation,” he added grimly.

“Sir, you’re
sure we can’t tell Miss Spencer? I really think she would be better
off knowing. It would help her guards if she was more cooperative
with us.” My mind shot to her naked in the bed, where she’d seemed
very cooperative indeed.

“No, Agent
Taylor. It’s my decision, and I feel that she’s too fragile,” he
refused, shaking his head fiercely. I nodded in agreement. I knew
she was fragile; I’d seen her sobbing her heart out, shaking.
Fragile didn’t even seem the right word to describe Anna’s state of
mind. “I think she’s gotten much stronger since you came. She seems
to like you. I’ve never seen her like that with anyone since it
happened. I mean, she smiles for goodness’ sake, and the contact
you have with her boggles my mind,” he said, shaking his head in
disbelief.

Oh yeah, it
boggles my mind too alright!
I bit my lip to suppress the smile
that was trying to escape at the thought of the contact I just had
with her, and hopefully would have with her again in a little
while.

Suddenly my
cell phone rang; I looked at Senator Spencer apologetically and
reached to reject the call, but then saw it was from Dean, Anna’s
far guard. “I’m sorry, sir, I need to take this.” He nodded, so I
answered it quickly. “Dean, what is it?”