Standby (Open Skies Book 4) by Becca Jameson (best sales books of all time .TXT) 📗

stiffened, but he controlled his reaction to the black bruising all over her breasts. Even with her olive skin, it was pretty bad.

His fingers came to her tender skin and grazed over the swell of her breasts. He scooted down her body until he was near her knees, parting the towel completely. The bruises between her thighs from Hawke gripping her hard between her legs weren’t as bad, but they were still visible.

Jake slid down farther and parted her knees several inches as his gaze roamed over her pussy. Finally, he leaned over and kissed her mound before climbing up her body and kissing all over her breasts.

She was struggling not to cry when he lifted his face and met her gaze. “Where else, sweetheart?”

She flinched.

“Shayla. Where. Else.”

She drew in a slow breath and shoved at his chest so he would move to one side of her. Then she rolled over onto her belly, closing her eyes.

“Jesus,” he muttered, finally losing his calm façade.

One hand came to the small of her back. The other landed on the back of her knees. He was framing the entire area where she was most badly bruised, from the top of her butt to about halfway down her thighs.

His fingers trailed up her skin, touching her everywhere as if he needed the contact to understand or take away some of the pain or erase the memories. “He did this through your jeans?”

“Yes.”

“Did he have a belt or something?”

“No. He used his hand.”

She listened to him breathing heavily as he slowly calmed down, and then he dropped to her side, rolled her to face him, and pulled her gently into his embrace. He resumed kissing her, his hand on the small of her back. He didn’t stop until she was panting, and then he continued with kisses to her neck and shoulders and around to her ear. “I’m sorry he hurt you, sweetheart.”

“I know.”

“How bad does it hurt?”

“Not too bad. The worst is my scalp from pulling my hair.”

He drew in a sharp breath.

She’d given all these details to the police in a separate room from him that first night. A female officer had taken pictures of the bruising too, though those pictures wouldn’t come close to telling the story since her skin hadn’t turned purple and black yet.

As if he needed to soothe her scalp too, he eased his hand up into her hair and stroked it so gently that she almost cried again.

She swallowed back the emotion. “Jake, I need to go back to my condo today. Go through my mail. Spend some time with my girlfriends. Drink a bottle of wine while I tell them what happened. They’ve called a dozen times.”

He pulled back and met her gaze. “Okay. I assume you mean you’re going to spend the night there.”

“Yes. I’m going to drink. And it is my condo. I haven’t been there for a while.”

He looked concerned.

She held his gaze. “I just need a little time to process the last two weeks. It feels like I got sucked up into a tornado and tossed out in Kansas covered in literal bruises.”

“I get that, but why do I feel like you’re pulling away from me?”

“I’m not. Not really. I just want some time alone to think and clear my head. Can you understand that?”

“Yes.” His brow was furrowed with concern. “Take all the time you want.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll help you get your stuff together.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t need to take everything. Just the essentials. I assume I’m still eligible for a proverbial drawer in your bedroom.” She smiled at him.

“Of course. Always. I’ll clear out two if you need more space.”

“I might.”

He slid off the side of the bed and reached out a hand to help her up, pulling her once again into his embrace and kissing her.

She was beyond aware that she was naked and he was clothed. This seemed to be a theme with them.

When he cupped her face and met her gaze, his expression was serious. She thought he was going to say something else, perhaps ask her not to go. Instead, he kissed her forehead and left the room.

Chapter 25

Shayla was curled up in the corner of the couch in her living room later that afternoon, surrounded by her posse. They had enough bottles of wine on hand to see them through the evening.

The coffee table was littered with snacks—a cheese tray, a fruit tray, a veggie tray. An actual meal was not in the plans. Talking on top of each other and catching up was the theme. It was rare when they were all off work at the same time.

Shayla looked at Libby first. “How is Jason?”

Libby waved a hand through the air. “He’s fine. I promise. Three stitches. He hasn’t even slowed down other than to skip weightlifting with that arm for one week.” She chuckled but she was shaking.

“You had to be scared out of your mind, Libby.” Destiny pointed out what they all knew.

Libby looked down at her lap and then took a deep breath. “Yeah. I was. It all happened so fast. One minute we were watching a movie, and the next minute he was out the door. If there’s one thing I know about this group of alpha men, they do not leave a brother to fight any battle alone.” She smiled. “The man keeps a freaking locked weapons box filled with God only knows what ready to jump on a plane.”

Shayla smiled back. “Can’t say what all is in that box, but it did include a smoke bomb which came in super handy.”

“Seriously?” Bex asked, rubbing her rounded stomach.

Shayla nodded. “Yeah, and dammit, I had just gotten the upper hand when Jason threw that damn thing through the window. My knee had made a pretty forceful impact with Hawke’s balls seconds before that. I was on my way toward the door.”

They were all grinning, only because everyone knew the outcome was favorable.

Shayla continued. “I managed to get