Mind (Trinity Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  “Mr. Davis won’t like that.” Jack’s voice holds a warning. A choked sob escapes, and I hold Austin tighter, needing the closeness, wishing it was Chase instead.

  “He won’t like that his woman is hurting and we’re not tending to her,” Austin grits out.

  “You’re right, he won’t.” I hear Chase’s clipped words from somewhere behind us.

  Before I can react, I’m being turned and placed into the most welcoming arms in the entire world. My haven. Chase’s arms encircle me and the entire world goes away. My breath hitches and I can’t say anything. Shivers wrack my form as he holds me tight, protecting me, giving me peace.

  “It’s okay, baby, I’m here. Let’s go home,” he whispers into my hairline.

  I nod and let him shuffle me into the limo. Before he closes the door, I hear him address Austin. “You’re a good man, but let’s not make a habit of putting your arms around my woman, unless it’s to protect her.”

  “That’s what I was doing, sir,” Austin says, and I can feel Chase’s body still momentarily, then he nods once.

  Long moments pass before Chase grips me tighter and replies, “I believe you.”

  The door shuts and the engine roars. Time seems to pass in a blur of tears and hiccups.

  I love this man. I love this man. I love this man. I chant internally.

  Just when I think he’s going to go all caveman, he surprises me with how very kind and understanding he can be.

  “I’m sorry I was hugging Austin. He really was just being nice to me.” The words spill out with little hitches in between.

  Chase trails his fingers along the side of my face and cups my neck. “Baby, I know. He does seem to care for you, more than I want to admit.”

  I tilt my head back. “No, not even. He’s very brotherly with me. He’s never so much as glanced at me that way, I assure you.” It’s very important that this point hits home. I cannot handle Chase being jealous of my bodyguard, and I’m not going to accept a new one. I’ve just gotten comfortable with the one I have.

  “I know that, baby. I’ve checked his record. He has five sisters back in Kentucky. When a man is interested in a woman, he doesn’t hold her in the sisterly way he was holding you. He was comforting you, not making a move. It’s what I did for Chloe growing up. I know the difference.”

  “Thank you, I really like him.” I glance at the privacy screen that is firmly closed. “More than Jack,” I admit.

  He laughs. “Jack is a tough pill to swallow. He doesn’t trust easily. It’s taken years for me to get on a friendly level with him. Once you’re my wife and he sees that you’re here to stay, he’ll warm up to you.” Chase hugs me close. “So, you going to tell me what happened with Mother that made you so upset.”

  A long sigh slips from my lips and I straighten my back. I knew we’d have to talk about it, but it’s not pleasant. “She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you, and made it very clear.”

  Chase’s jaw clenches and he tilts his head back to rest against the seat. “Gillian. It’s not you. Ever since Megan she…” he takes a deep breath.

  “I know. She thinks I’m going to hurt you. But, you know what? She doesn’t need to hurt me in return! She said she would make sure I signed a prenup, because I wasn’t going to take you for your money. I want to now, sign it, just to prove her wrong.” It’s a good idea, and I want to move forward on it. “Have your lawyers draw one up. I’ll sign the damn thing with her as a witness.” My indignation is ramping up into full blown fury. “I’ll prove that I don’t want your money!”

  “Gillian, shhhh. Settle down. There will be no prenup. We’ve already discussed this. Everything I have is yours. Everything you have is mine. That’s a real marriage. Sharing money is just an extension of my commitment to you.” He kisses the side of my neck.

  “But, she’ll never believe it’s real. I can’t have the only other woman you love hating me. I can’t Chase. It hurts too much.” I know my lip is trembling as the pad of his thumb strokes it.

  “You’ll win her over.” I shake my head. “You will. We just have to show her how much we mean to each other. Letting her help plan the wedding will go a long way towards earning her trust.”

  “Chase, I can’t…”

  “You can. Baby, I have faith in you. You’ve won me over; you’ll win her over too. Promise me you’ll try.”

  In frustration, I clasp my hands over my face and wipe them down to clear any residual tears, hoping my mascara didn’t run and leave me looking like a raccoon. For Chase, I can do anything. He’s the ultimate prize. Win over his mother; I can do this. I’ve won over worse. Justin’s mother hated me in the beginning. Said I was too goody-goody for her son and a stuck-up bitch. Even though we ended up friendly, it turned out she was right. I was too good for her son, but it took him almost killing me to figure it out. Not this time.

  “You know what, I will work with her on planning the wedding but Chase, I’m going to be me. And she’s going to have to deal with my girls. They are a huge part of my life, and they will have as much say, if not more, than your mother.”

  “That ought to be interesting. I can see Maria now, telling Mother off. I wonder if I can get tickets to that show? I’ll bring the popcorn,” he laughs.

  “This is not funny.” I playfully slap his chest and he unbuckles my seat belt pulling me astride his lap into a warm hug.

  As we embrace, his fingers trail up my thighs, pushing up my skirt as he goes. His hands cup my lace-clad bottom, and he thrusts his hips up against my core. A moan slips out into the open air of the limo. Damn, he just had me a couple hours ago and I already want him to take me again. With the rate his cock is rising, he feels it, too. Perhaps more.

  “Unbuckle my pants.” His eyes no longer hold the silly mirth of moments ago. Now his normally blue depths are clouding over and heavy-lidded with lust. It’s unnerving. With just a look, he can have me at the pinnacle of desire.

  My heart beats heavily against my chest as I undo his buckle, zipper then pull out his thick cock. As I admire it, Chase has been busy tickling the crease of my ass—his newest fascination. Just as I lean down to kiss my man, I hear the telltale sound of fabric shredding.

  “Those were a beautiful pair of panties,” I whisper and nip at his bottom lip, breathing in his air.

  “I’ll buy you more,” he dips his tongue in to lick my mouth. “I rather liked ripping them off you. I told you Gillian, nothing will prevent me from having you. Wherever and whenever, I want.” He tugs on my upper lip and soothes it with his tongue. “Especially not a scrap of lace.” His hand moves between my legs and his fingers slip along the wet flesh. “So ready for me, baby…I like that,” he rubs a thumb around my clit.

  “Oh God,” I tip my head back as Chase lines me up with his cock. His hands move to my hips and with a hip twirl and a well-aimed thrust, he’s embedded fully inside. Jolts of pleasure rip through my body and I cry out, unable to contain it. I’m sure Austin and Jack are getting an earful, but I don’t care. This man undoes me in ways that defy reason.

  “Ride me, baby,” he says as his teeth graze my neck.

  I lift up using my knees on each side of his hips and place my hands on both shoulders for leverage. He helps by offsetting my weight with his hands holding me at the ribs.

  As I come down, he powers up into me. His cock is thick and rock-hard as it jackhammers deep into my core. Chase tips his hips and lifts his knees bringing me down farther so that the only thing I see when I look down is our connection. The thick root of his cock is snug against me, the lips of my sex stretching wide to accommodate him. “Touch it. Feel us together, Baby.”

  He lifts me up a few inches and I place my fingers against the base of his cock. It’s slick from our union. “So good,” he whispers. I watch him dazedly as he brings me down, the petals of my sex opening and gripping his cock in a vulgar, graphic depiction of a hug. It’s the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen, sending rivulets of fresh excitement to the space
between us, making his path slicker.

  As I watch my body engulf him, over and over, I feel my heart pounding in time with his thrusts. It’s as if it beats for him. Only him. Within seconds his movements become more forceful, and I know he’s getting close.

  “Need to see you come. Want it all over me, soaking my dick with it.” His dirty talk and a well-placed thumb swirling around my clit, does it. Heat fills every pore, pleasure streaks across my body, sending me into orbit. My orgasm hits so hard and strong I scream. Chase doesn’t even try to muffle it, preferring to make it go on and on, using his strength to force me down onto his cock with long hard pulls, all the while, torturing my clit with little circles and tight pinches that are just barely more pleasure than pain. My pussy clenches tightly around his cock gripping roughly, trying to forcefully pull his essence from his body, until the sweet moment happens and he erupts in a deep groan, giving me everything.

  In a few harsh thrusts, Chase’s body goes rigid. One hand clamps my shoulder in a bruising hold, forcing me onto his thick cock over and over. I spiral into yet another smaller but equally satisfying orgasm.

  His hot semen coats my insides warming me from the inside out as I collapse against his chest. We didn’t even take our clothes off, too hurried to connect with one another.

  Chase’s arms soothe up and down my back, his length softening, but still deep inside. “Feel better?” He asks. “I know I do.” He punctuates the question with a little thrust that sends aftershocks to tingle and flex at my core.

  “Actually, I do.” I snuggle into his neck. “You know sex isn’t going to be the answer to everything right?”

  “And why not?” He digs his hand into the hair at my nape, and I pull back to stare deep into his eyes, still filled with lust but softer now and more blue.

  “Because, well,”—I think about it for a few seconds—“I can’t really come up with anything.” I smile.

  “Oh, I can come up with something.” He punctuates with a lift of his hips.

  “You’re a nut,” I nuzzle his neck and lick the salty skin there.

  “But you love me,” he chuckles. It’s such a beautiful sound.

  “Yes, yes I do.”

  Chapter 7

  X

  It’s time. The locker room is empty, devoid of testosterone junkies, and people so fat they’ll never lose that elusive twenty pounds they think will free them. I find the locker I want. I’d spied on him enough this past week to figure him out. He’s so fucking predictable. His locker combination is his daughter’s birthday. If it was Gillian’s I’d have to figure out a more tortuous plan. I set the cylinder into the square space and connect the cord to the hinge of the locker. When it opens again…BOOM! No more Phillip.

  Chills of excitement mingle with the unstoppable anticipation, and vision of seeing my girl at his funeral. Clad all in black, her beautiful face mourning the loss of a man that will one day be a lousy memory. I’ll make sure of that. My dick hardens as I think about what her face will look like when she finds out her best friend for the last decade, her first fuck, is gone in the blink of an eye. Poof!

  It’s almost too fucking easy. Footsteps approach and I turn around and pretend to just be putting my sweatshirt on. I have a beanie slung low, covering my hair color. Another patron sits down and proceeds to change into his workout gear. Ignoring him, I keep a low profile by tying my shoes, never making eye contact. It wouldn’t do for a witness to be able to remember me. Doesn’t matter though. I frequent this gym all the time. Today, I came in through the back with a trainer buddy of mine, so there’s no record I was here. Now it’s time to solidify my alibi.

  Once alone, I creep to the back of the gym and slip out the door. I pull off the sweatshirt leaving me in a bright red t-shirt. Very noticeable. I rip off the beanie and throw both items in my car then make my way around to the front. As I walk in, the girl at the counter flirts with me, and I make a point to talk her up for a few minutes while logging in.

  “Have a nice workout,” she says seductively.

  “Oh, I think today is going to be a real blast,” I chuckle at my own joke.

  “Yeah, a blast. Totally!” she winks.

  I turn and roll my eyes. Stupid bimbo. Like I’d bed a plastic woman when I can have someone as precious as my Gillian. A woman who doesn’t need any surgical alterations. Her body was crafted by the angels. When I close my eyes, I can still remember her creamy skin, the rose-tipped nipples, the small strip of red, nestled at the apex of her thighs. Even her scent calls to me. She always smelled of vanilla. I can’t enter Starbucks without salivating with thoughts of her.

  Setting up on a machine far away from the locker rooms, I hop on an elliptical and wait. Twenty minutes into my workout he comes walking through the doors. His tall frame is wrapped from head to toe in Nike. Could the asshole be any more pathetic? A sadistic grin slips across my face as I watch my reflection in the mirror. All hell is about to break loose.

  A few minutes later, the beautiful music of blood curdling screams, coupled with pandemonium, breaks out near the locker room. That grimy prick is yelling for people to get back and get out. That’s when the roar of the blast knocks me on my ass. The earplugs I put into my ears barely dull the roar as the entire building shakes. The lights of the gym flicker out. Smoke fills the main level as people cry and struggle to their feet to help one another out. I run over to the locker room area to assess the damage. There is a huge hole where the locker room used to be. Bodies are everywhere. Some are gasping in pain, others are not moving. Including one brown-haired shmuck. He is under a large chunk of debris. I can’t tell if he’s alive or dead. My hope is the latter, but I’m pissed that the bomb had a delay in going off. He must have barely opened the locker at first, or maybe the wire didn’t shift enough when he opened it. Either way, it eventually went off, destroying this corner of the building but not his face like it should have. Dammit all to hell.

  “Buddy, a hand…” says a hoarse voice to my right. I look down and see the man that I’d sat next to earlier in the locker room.

  Realizing that standing here was making a scene, I jump into action, helping others remove large pieces of plaster off of patrons. Blood pools on the ground near a few peoples’ heads. They aren’t breathing. Casualties of war. I’d seen a lot of it when I served time in Afghanistan. Sometimes you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I should feel bad, but I don’t. Death doesn’t sadden me. It’s a part of life.

  The first responders arrive in a flurry of activity. As I’m carrying a woman whose leg would probably need to be amputated, I see a paramedic put his fingers to Phillip’s lifeless body. A beat later, the words that he says fill me with a rage so deep, I’m not sure I can contain it.

  “Hey, stretcher over here. Got a pulse!” The paramedic yells for others to pull the rubble off Phillip’s body as he works on keeping him alive.

  “Mother fucker” I say under my breath as I make it outside into the fresh air. A fireman rushes over to me to carry the woman in my arms over to another ambulance.

  The pretty bimbo I saw earlier runs over to me and flings herself into my arms. It is with extreme effort that I don’t shove her off me and onto the ground. “Oh my God. I’m so glad you’re okay!” she cries into my neck. I grit my teeth so hard I can hear the grinding sound deep within my skull.

  “I’m fine. You should get checked out though.”

  She sniffs into my neck and nods. Disgusting. “Okay, yeah. I’ll see you soon?” she worries her lip.

  “Sure,” I say barely managing a smile.

  While I’m giving my statement to San Francisco’s finest, a team of paramedics comes out of the gym with my target on their stretcher. One of them is on top of it straddling Phillip and pumping his chest. His heart must have stopped. Maybe my luck is turning around. The team pushes him into the ambulance, and with lights flashing and the siren blaring, they speed off into the night toward the hospital. I couldn’t wait to hear the news of wheth
er he lives or dies.

  Gillian

  Chase tickles my feet as I try and fail to read a saucy romance novel. “Cut it out!” I poke at him with my toes. He has a pair of black, wire rimmed glasses perched on his nose as he pretends to read an article in Forbes while “massaging my feet”. Chase glances over the rims of his spectacles. Drop dead sexy. There’s something about a man looking positively smart that makes him utterly edible. It’s proof he’s Superman. He even has Clark Kent’s glasses.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” A slow grin slips along his lush lips. I was debating attacking my man when the cellphone on the table rings.

  I look at the display. The number shows ‘unknown’. Instantly, cold sweeps through me, stilling all movement. “What’s the matter?” Chase asks, noticing the shift in our casual Sunday morning.

  “Not sure.” I hold the display out and he grabs the phone, answering it.

  “Chase Davis here,” he barks into the phone using his menacing all business voice. For a moment, he listens, not saying anything. I hold my breath as I wait. “Yes, she’s my fiancée. You can tell me whatever it is.” His tone is a warning, like when a rattlesnake shakes its tail. “I see. When did this happen?” He looks at his watch. “We’ll be right there. Thank you for calling.” Chase frowns, hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath.

  Bone chilling fear slithers along my spine. I just know something horrible has happened. I can feel it deep within my soul. “What is it?”

  “It’s Phillip. He’s been hurt. We have to get to the hospital. Right now.” For Chase to say it like that, I realize it must be bad.

  Jumping up, I rush to our room. Tossing the robe onto the floor, I throw on a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt. The entire process between getting dressed, stepping into a pair of tennis shoes and grabbing a hair tie takes less than five minutes. Chase ushers me to the garage level where he helps me into a gunmetal grey Aston Martin. He is clenching his teeth, his lips in a grim line. He’s holding something back.