WANTED: A Bad Boy Crime Romance Read online

  “They hated each other,” Jack says.

  Amber’s face brightens. She scribbles furiously on the notepad. “That’s it, don’t you see? Harvey set you up. With your father dead, and you in prison, he could take over the company, which he did.”

  The thought exhausts Jack. He’d finally grown accustomed to hating himself. It’s hard to transfer that loathing onto someone else. Amber taps the pen against her chin.

  “The question is, was he working alone,” she asks, drawing into herself. “Or was someone else involved. You say Joel and Henry are your best friends. Are you sure you can trust them?”

  “Yes,” Jack says, resolutely.

  “Think, Jack. Have either of them ever displayed violent tendencies?”

  Jack grows quiet, his eyebrows pinched. Amber can tell there’s something he’s not telling her. He looks at her with dark eyes. “All three of us have.”

  Amber continues carefully. “We have to look at everyone.”

  Jack slams his hand on the table, making Amber jump. “Not them. If I can trust anyone, it’s them. The only real relationships I’ve ever had are with them. They would die for me. I’d die for them.”

  “I understand it feels that way-“

  Jack gives her a look that makes her immediately stop talking. The pen drops from her hand, and clangs on the floor. He rises from his seat and leans over the table. His dark eyes are fixed on hers, and she can feel the heaviness of his breath.

  “You have no fucking clue who I really am,” Jack says. “What I’ve done, what I’m capable of. Your whitewashed world has kept you safe until now. What, you read books about killers, and you think you know all about them? You think you know what goes on in my mind?”

  Amber’s leaning back so far, the chair is starting to tilt. Jack draws in even closer, planting his hands on her shoulders.

  “You don’t know shit,” he growls. He tightens his grip on her, holds her for a terrifying moment, then suddenly lets go. The chair holding Amber descends backwards. She hurls her weight forward to keep from falling, and plants her feet on the ground.

  Jack tears away from her in a huff. He goes to the door and throws it open, allowing the cold air to replace the heat. Jack digs in his pocket, then holds up the car keys for her to see. He lays them on the counter next to the door.

  “You should leave,” he says, his breath fogging in the cold. Something catches his voice, and what he says next sounds almost human. “Before something happens to you.”

  Wordlessly, he stalks to the bedroom and closes the door behind him.

  Chapter Five

  Jack doesn’t bother to turn on the light. He sits on the edge of the cot, arms by his side, feet on the floor. The rumpled blankets smell like Amber. He runs his hands over them, imagining they hold some of her warmth too.

  He’s finally realized there’s no getting out of this. He can’t, won’t, kill her, and he can’t keep her here. He refuses to give any attention to what she’d said, how he was possibly set up. She’d only been talking to save her own life, to make him think there was a way out besides burying her body in the woods.

  Jack expected Amber would flee as soon as she had the chance. By now, he’d thought he’d hear the engine turning on, and her speeding down the road. He knows this is a suicide of sorts. When she gets back to town, she’ll rat him out, and they’ll come for him. Jack pictures himself walking outside, a semicircle of cop cars parked around the cabin, all flashing blue lights. He’d raise his hands in the air, get on his knees, and surrender his life, which doesn’t hold much worth anyway at the moment.

  But Amber doesn’t flee. Jack listens closely. He hears the creaking of the door as it’s blown back and forth in the wind. Amber hasn’t moved, at least, he hasn’t heard her. He pictures her still sitting at the table, looking over her notes, her body draped by his T-shirt.

  When she goes, you’ll be alone again. You’ll be nothing. You won’t exist.

  The chair squeaks. Jack stops breathing. He’s quiet, listening. Her footsteps are calm and deliberate as she walks. He hears the jingle of the car keys. She takes another step, and pauses. Jack grabs the edge of the mattress, keeping himself from rushing out there and grabbing her. He’s overwhelmed with the need to lock her away, to keep her for himself, to own her.

  “No,” he growls under his breath. “No more damage.”

  Wood groans. The door creaks. It slams shut. Jack exhales, expelling all air from his lungs, and searches for the motivation to inhale. He can’t go on like this, alone in the middle of nowhere, constantly looking over his shoulder. Maybe he should walk outside and fall in the lake.

  Wood groans beneath a footstep. Jack is startled away from his thoughts. His eyes focus on the closed door. He thinks he’s hearing things until there’s another footstep, then another. She’s walking towards his door. Through the torrent of emotion, relief, fear, hope, desire, one thought rings clearly in his head.

  The fucking balls on this chick…

  Amber swings the door open so hard it hits the wall, and swings back nearly closed. She places her hand on her hip.

  “I’m leaving,” she says, her voice cutting through the darkness. “But first, I want to say, fuck you, Jack. You think I’ve been so sheltered? That I don’t know about suffering? About death?” She shakes her head, laughing. “I watched my mother die. It took about two years. The house stunk of rotting flesh for that long. My dad had a nervous breakdown, my brother was too young, so I took care of her. I was the one who spooned broth into her mouth. I watched her body fail a little more each day. That’s what it was, little by little. Slow, agonizing torture.” She takes a commanding step into the room, and points her finger right in his face. “You’ve been surrounded by maids and servants your whole life. You had every opportunity in the world, and you settled for snorting drugs up your nose, walking around in a haze. You hate yourself, you want to punish yourself. You’re a shitty person, but you’re not a murderer.”

  Amber’s finished with her tirade. She leaves the silence hanging in the air, waiting for Jack’s response. The room is dark. She can barely see his face. He looks straight ahead, his eyes burning a hole in her core. She wanted to tell him those things, but she doesn’t know what reaction she expected. Did she want him to beg her to stay? Or admit he’s a massive asshole, then let her leave?

  Her indignation wears off. It leaves her trembling and empty.

  “For the record, I don’t think you did it,” she says, turning away. “And I won’t tell anyone you’re here.”

  Amber starts quickly towards the door, trying to leave before she changes her mind. Jack’s hand latches to her wrist like a vice, stopping her in her tracks. She stands motionless in that dark room, feeling the sense that time and space have slowed to a crawl. Every nerve ending in her body lights up. Her muscles tighten, sending energy to her sources of pleasure. Jack draws her towards the bed. She doesn’t fight him.

  When she’s close enough, he slips his arms around her waist, and pulls her down on the cot. He quickly overtakes her, pinning her on her back and holding her arms over her head. Amber’s breath rattles her ears. It’s shallow and rapid. Her nipples stand up in stiff points under the T-shirt. As her eyes adjust to the light, she’s able to make out his face. Jack is staring down at her, his eyes hot with lust. He lays his body on top of her. He’s already hard. He tilts his hips forward, grinding between her legs.

  He looks like he did in the barn, his conscious mind switched off, primal need his only motivation. Jack bends down and greedily kisses her neck.

  “You’re so soft, so warm,” he says between kisses. “It’s been so long.”

  His hands find their way up the T-shirt, and immediately grab her breasts. His calloused fingers rake across her sensitive nipples. He kneads her flesh, a growl rumbling up from his belly.

  “I want you,” he whispers harshly into her ear.

  Amber melts into the mattress. Lust twists around her abdomen, snaking down betwee
n her thighs. Her clit pulses against his cock, begging him to grind harder. Could this be her life right now? Is she really in a remote cabin far from any other person besides the darkly brooding Jack Larsen? How is it her fate intertwined with someone like Jack, who has more money than Amber could ever imagine?

  Or is she still living her sad, singular life in White Oak, and just having a really good dream?

  No, the wet heat enveloping her body is definitely real. It feels so good to be compressed under Jack’s weight. He tastes her all over, greedily lapping up her neck, and sucking her nipples. He pushes the T-shirt up over her head, then strips the clothes from his body. Everything about him is solid. There’s no softness, no give. The skin of his biceps stretches over the boulder like muscles. She runs her fingers over his rippled, defined back. His chest is broad, the pectoral muscles like large plates pressing into her breasts. And his cock. Amber doesn’t think she’s ever experienced a cock getting this hard. It’s long and thick, and stiff as a rod. When she wraps her fingers around it, it comes to life, pulsing against her palm. Jack drags the tip up her inner thigh, leaving a trail on her skin.

  During all this, Amber barely moves. She can’t. She’s pinned beneath him, her body wedged into the mattress. His beard scratches against her when he kisses her, leaving the skin around her mouth red and raw. But she’s content to lie back and allow Jack full use of her body.

  Jack rises up on his knees. Beneath him, Amber is bathed in moonlight. Her hair is fanned out beneath her, giving her an angelic look. Her soft tits, rising and falling with her breath, makes his cock pulse even harder. There’s something in the soft bow of her lips, the gentle slope of her nose, and the way her eyes focus on him that makes him entertain the thought that maybe his sorry life is worth saving.

  Amber cranes her head back with an impatient moan. Jack decides not to keep her waiting any longer. He plunges his hips forward, groaning as he finds her soft wetness. He wants to plunge his full length inside of her, but her body needs a little coaxing. He wedges the tip in, then presses his thumb into her clit. While she moans and cups her breasts, she grows increasingly wet, allowing Jack to slide inside.

  Amber exhales as he fills her. With the pleasure, comes a sting of pain. He’s so big, her skin stretches over him. But she doesn’t want to him to stop, she wants more. Her body responds by lubricating itself, and soon she can take all of him. Once he’s fully inside, Jack looks down at her, his eyes full of an urgent wanting. Amber reaches to clutch his beard, understanding somewhere deep inside of her that this is about more than sex. This is about two broken people coming together to heal.

  Jack grunts, a dark smile licking across his lips. He wraps his hands around Amber’s waist, gripping her flesh tightly, then proceeds to fuck her brains out. His thrusts are hard and steady, and he gains increasing speed. Amber grips the blankets, trying to hold on while Jack rails her. The orgasms are immediate, and come one after another. She enters a state of pure ecstasy as pleasure crashes through her limbs, weakening her, threatening to pull her under and never let her out.

  In a swift, fluid movement, Jack flips her onto her stomach. He spanks her ass hard enough to give her a glimpse of his strength, before plunging inside of her again. He grasps her shoulders, holding her steady as he pounds her. Jack knows she’s already come several times, and now it’s his turn. He grits his teeth as he fucks her harder, his raging hot flesh sliding against the velvety wet walls of her pussy. His breathing deepens as he reaches the point of no return. As soon as his balls tighten, he pulls out of her. Cum spurts forcefully from his cock, streaking across her lower back.

  Amber collapses into the bed. Her legs are spread, her pussy pink and glistening in the moonlight. Jack lightly strokes his fingertips down her back. She’s so sensitive, even this small touch makes her spasm. She senses Jack’s smile. He slips his fingers between her legs and taps her clit. Amber’s head lulls around as she moans. She can barely stand it. Jack, using two fingers now, rubs her faster, harder, leading her to an inevitable orgasm.

  The tremors shake her already weakened muscles. Her eyes clench shut, refusing to open. She’s barely aware of Jack cleaning her back with a T-shirt. She’s on the edge of sleep when he crawls into bed beside her. His strong arms wrap around her waist, and he hooks a leg around her hips, pinning her there. Even if she wasn’t sliding into a sex coma, she wouldn’t be going anywhere. She’s trapped, just like she was in the diner that night. But she doesn’t want to escape. Together, they fall into an exhausted and dreamless sleep.

  *

  Sunlight filters into Jack’s eyelids, rousing him into a semi-wakeful state. After a deep sleep, his subconscious fights to be heard. He feels the blankets covering his body, but his mind is back in his father’s office. Jack looks down at the puddle of blood at his feet. Cowered in front of him is his father. His head is already cracked in half, but he’s still alive. His mouth moves slowly, slurring the words, “Jack, please don’t.”

  Jack looks down at his hand, and see he’s holding a gun. He drops it immediately, then shakes his hands out. He looks back to his father, but he’s not there. The location has shifted. He’s no longer in his father’s office, but in that empty ballroom. Henry and Joel are there. She’s there too. He doesn’t know her name. That night, her face was obscured by a black eye mask, but in Jack’s dreams, the mask isn’t there. Her face is just a featureless orb that floats, almost disembodied.

  “Please, don’t,” she whispers.

  Jack’s muscles seize, contracting together, squeezing him into a ball. Cold sweat covers his body as he grapples to find wakefulness. He’s groping the bed, reaching for something, anything.

  And he finds it, something soft and warm. He clutches it desperately, and draws the figure against him. He plunges his face into the flesh, breathing the scent that eases his pain, if only a little.

  “Hmmm…”

  The voice is light enough to float on air. It reaches Jack inside of his nightmare, and pulls him up to the surface. Jack’s eyes bolt open. She’s there, with him in his bed. Amber’s eyes are closed, her long lashes fanned out against her skin. In her sleep, she snuggles her cheek against Jack’s chest. Her hand drifts along the side of his torso. Jack’s cock twitches at her touch, then springs to life beneath the covers. He’d like to sink inside of her while she sleeps, wake her by fucking her, but he doesn’t want to disturb her.

  She looks so peaceful, so trusting. He has the nagging feeling that if she wakes up, she’ll leave. Jack studies the freckles on her shoulder, tracing a line down her arm, all the way to her wrist. He wants to memorize every part of her, every minute detail. With her body limp against his, Jack can’t fight the consuming feeling that she belongs to him.

  I took her, after all, he thinks, tightening his arms around her. That means she’s mine.

  Jack watches Amber until her eyes flutter open. She stretches her back like a cat, a gentle smile on her lips. She lifts her head from his chest and looks up at his face, the memories of last night flooding her all at once. Her cheeks burn red, and her lips fall open. Jack kisses her before she has a chance to say anything.

  “Good morning.” He smooths her hair back from her face.

  “Morning.” Amber’s eyes dart down to their naked bodies tangled together. She makes a move to sit up, but Jack draws her deeper under the covers, closer to him. Amber raises an eyebrow at him, then rakes her front teeth against his skin. A hard, dense ball of lust forms in Jack’s stomach.

  Jack grips her shoulders, rolling her onto her back. Amber giggles beneath him. He has a full on erection, but that’s not what he wants right now. He wants to venture deeper inside of her, and not just by way of her pussy. He cuddles up to her side in a spooning position, and gently kisses her ear.

  “Was that true what you said last night, about your mother?”

  Amber’s breath stops for a split second. Jack sees her eyelashes dampen. For all of Amber’s toughness, it’s obvious her mother’s deat
h still affects her.

  “Yes.” Amber fiddles with the hem of the pillowcase. “She had leukemia.”

  Her torso clenches, like she’s about to cry, and is fighting to holding it back. Jack caresses her skin, warming her, as if to say, “You don’t have to hold onto the pain. You can give some to me.”

  “You took care of her?” He kisses the nape of her neck.

  Amber clears her throat, getting control of her emotions. “It was up to me. There was no one else. We couldn’t afford hospice. There was a nurse that came around a couple of times a week, but mostly, it was me.” She closes her eyes, leaning back against his chest. My God, he’s so warm. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret it. I’m glad I could be with her in the end, help her feel a little more comfortable when she was in so much pain. But that’s the reason why I never went to college like I planned. I’ve been stuck in White Oak ever since.”

  “Why don’t you just move?”

  She turns him, squinting. “Not everyone has the money to just up and move.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot about other people’s financial restraints.” He bites her shoulder teasingly.

  Amber giggles, then sighs. “I had a full scholarship lined up, but I had to tell them I couldn’t accept it. There was no way I could leave. That summer, before I was supposed to go away for college, Dad got really bad. I didn’t want to leave him alone. I was scared if I did, he’d commit suicide.”

  Her body tenses again. Jack strokes her hair softly.

  “That’s why you’re so brave,” he says. “You’ve seen hell, and you survived.” He covers her hand with his, and holds it there.

  “That’s a good way of putting it,” Amber says. Lying in bed with him, holding hands, it feels suspiciously normal. She hasn’t talked about her mother, or that difficult time, since it happened. It felt good to open up to Jack. “It’s strange losing a parent. It’s a shock because you think it’s not supposed to happen. You’re not supposed to watch them die.”