“By the way, any worries that my father would care where you came from? Empty. Now, if you let him, he might ask you how to make his films about soldiers and war more realistic, but he’s already got a soft spot for you because you saved me once.”
“Rinse,” he demanded softly, not commenting.
She did as he’d bid. “It’s true. You know, he set up a college fund for Alvarez’s son. He paid for the extras the government didn’t provide for the burials of both your friends who died that day.”
“He tried to give me an obscene amount of money, too.” He grimaced. “I turned it down.”
Mystery knew it would sound crazy to most, and few men would have made that choice. But that summed up Axel. Her heart constricted. Oh, yeah. This was love. It had come hard, felt sappy and drugging—and she loved every minute.
She turned and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “If I’m happy, he’s happy.”
He paused, then began soaping his wide, bulging chest. She followed his movements with her hungry stare. It seemed impossible that she could want him again when she felt this wrung out and more than a little sore. How could she ache to feel him inside her again already?
After he worked a good lather onto his torso, arms, and neck, Axel set the soap aside. That devil on her shoulder started riding her again, and she picked up the white bar. Once she’d soaped up her hands, she reached down and cupped his balls, then began working her way up.
Almost instantly, his cock rose to attention, the shaft filling, the head rising. Mystery watched in fascination, a shiver running through her as Axel groaned.
“Princess, you’re inviting trouble.”
“What a shame,” she teased, batting her lashes his way.
He drilled his gaze down at her, his blue eyes turning hot and dark. He braced one palm on the wall just above her head, caging her in the corner of the shower. But he didn’t stop her from stroking his cock in long, slow drags.
His jaw tightened. His breathing turned rough. “I don’t recommend this now.”
She swiped her thumb across the sensitive head, delighting when he hissed in a breath through his teeth and stiffened even more in her hand. “Why is that?”
“Because I’m about to push you against that cold tile wall while I shove my cock inside your pussy and ride you hard. And I don’t have a condom.”
Mystery didn’t hate the idea of playing with fire—at all. She sidled up to him and rubbed herself against his length, still gripping and stroking him. “Just a little more. Just for a moment.”
Clearly, he hadn’t expected her assent. Heath’s voice rang in her head again, telling her that she didn’t know Axel that well, but she blocked it out. Her bodyguard was wrong. He was the one who didn’t know Axel. He didn’t understand. Her heart did.
For a long moment, Axel stood frozen, simply letting her undulate against him, touch him at will. “You’re trying to tempt me, princess.”
She peered up at him with a smile. “Is it working? It didn’t the first time I tried in that little ghost town, but I think—”
He snorted. “Oh, it worked then, too. One more of those fuck-me stares, and I probably would have worked my way inside you and never stopped.”
“Really?” She blinked at him.
“Oh, yeah. I would have hated myself for it if I had.”
“And now?” She licked her lips and dragged her fingers up the long length of his shaft again in a slow tease. “I’m not a girl anymore. I’m a woman who needs you.”
His breath turned choppier. His shoulders tightened. A flush crawled up his face. “You understand you could get pregnant.”
“Not the right time of the month. Besides . . . would it be the worst thing in the world?”
Axel gripped her wrist, stilling her stroking hand instantly. He came closer, crowding her even more. His chest flattened her breasts. His intent stare dug into her. “Be sure.”
Mystery froze. He would really do it, knowing the risks? Axel wasn’t the sort of man to walk away from his own child or the woman who had birthed it. “Is there some other reason I shouldn’t want you naturally?”
He gave a sharp jerk of his head. “I’m clean.”
She lifted on tiptoe and kissed his jaw. “I’m hungry for you.”
Axel sawed in a long breath, on the fence, his fist tightening just a bit on her wrist. “Oh, I want you so bad.”
The words had barely cleared his lips when he had her against the wall, her back stinging with the chill of the tile, and her legs in the crook of his elbows. His cock probed her swollen opening, and he sank in to the hilt in one vicious stroke.
Excitement seized her breath, made her heart race. Then he hit that sensitive place deep in her pussy. “Axel!”
His head fell back with a massive groan. “Oh, fuck. Yes. You have such a tight pussy, princess. I’m going to take it. It’s mine, and I want to mark it.”
Mystery couldn’t catch her breath. “Now.”
He pumped inside her, watching her breasts jiggle every time he slammed deep. A sense of being taken and owned steamrolled her, and it turned her on more than she’d ever imagined. Yes, she’d wanted to be closer to Axel. Her heart cried out for him. But her body certainly wanted its fair share of him, too.
When he dragged his length down her sensitive channel, then shoved back in again, she clawed his shoulders.
He rammed her, pummeling deep, baring his teeth and staring straight into her eyes. “That’s it . . . Feel. Every. Inch. Of. Me.” He punctuated each word with another thrust.
His strength, the force of every upward surge, ricocheted through her body. She cried out, her pleas echoing off the tile.
Her nerve endings were already so sensitive, so stimulated—yet miraculously ready for more. The scrape of his cock pushing up through her swollen tissue delivered tingles. As he withdrew, he left behind a terrible ache. Time slipped away, disappearing like the water down the drain. Mystery simply let herself feel as he worked, grunting and flexing, to deliver the orgasm brewing right behind her clit.
She tightened on his cock, locked her arms around his neck, stared into his eyes and swore she saw the future coming together. She’d missed him every day since Death Valley. She didn’t ever want to miss him again.
“Axel!” Her breath hitched. She whimpered.
He readjusted, grabbing her by the ass, then using every rippling muscle in his arms, chest, and shoulders, lifting her up his cock, then impaling her again, thrusting at the end of the stroke to reach that damn spot that reacted to the feel of him deep.
With a scream, she splintered in his arms, shattering into little pieces around him.
Axel barely gave her time to catch her breath. Pressing his forehead into hers, he clenched his jaw and jackhammered into her like a madman, the lightning speed and pure power he put into every stroke dazzling her until she saw stars. Mystery reclined her head against the tile, closed her eyes, and tumbled into bright, tingling pleasure again.
Her body was still aglow when he withdrew and set her on her feet. She blinked, head dizzy, as she watched Axel take himself in hand and stroke his cock roughly. Soon, he clenched his teeth and stared at her with blue eyes that burned into her. With one look, he wanted her to know that, even if he wasn’t coming inside her, he considered her his. Then he sprayed across her belly with a low groan.
As he panted and recovered, the waterfall from the showerhead pelted his torso. She stood against the wall, protected from the deluge, and felt the most primal urge to touch his seed, rub it into her skin.
When she tested the need by grazing her fingertips over her stomach, he drew closer and grabbed her wrist, then flattened her palm into the warm, thick liquid and worked it. “That’s it. I want you to smell like me.”
Her breath caught. The idea of carrying his scent all night long didn’t merely arouse her again, but made her heart thump. It sounded odd and maybe even a little taboo, she realized, wanting to wear the product of someone’s passion. O
n the other hand, she couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of belonging to Axel in every way he would let her.
A tiny part of her heart wished that he’d wanted to come inside her and see if nature blessed them, but she understood why he hadn’t. They juggled so much right now—a stalker, a burgeoning relationship. She was supposed to be back in the UK next week. She lived there . . . and he’d still be here. What if she’d conceived? Yeah, she didn’t have an answer. She’d better start using her brain and stop letting her heart and hormones run the show.
He cupped her face and dropped a little kiss on her lips. “I’m always going to take care of you first.”
His expression told her that he would have loved to take her up on her offer, but duty compelled him to be responsible.
No way could she be upset with him for that. “You always have. Thank you.” I love you.
He smiled and reached for a towel. Mystery air dried while she tried to repair her hopelessly half-drowned hair. Within a few minutes, they’d dressed, and she felt more than a little wicked knowing that Axel’s very essence had seeped into her skin.
As he opened the bedroom door and led her into the hall, he rested his protective hand at the small of her back. “I think Callie stashed something sugary and fattening in the fridge.”
Sugary sounded great about now. Once inside, they pulled out plates and forks and a massive piece of turtle cheesecake. With an indulgent grin, Axel took a bite and watched her devour half of it in less than a minute.
“That good?” he teased. “I couldn’t tell.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “If you don’t stop running off your mouth, I’m going to eat all this alone. You won’t get any.”
“I’ve gotten what I wanted.” He leaned closer and grabbed the arms of her chair, sliding her and the furniture closer to him. “I might want more of that.”
A flush raced to Mystery’s cheeks. Every moment with him just seemed easy and natural. They came from totally different worlds, and yet it was as if they’d been made for one another.
“I might give it to you.” She bit her lip.
Axel sent her a grin that showed off his dimples. “No ‘might’ about it. I plan to take you again . . . and again, until you beg me to stop. We’ll see if I have any mercy then.”
* * *
THEY ate in silence until most of the piece was demolished. Then Axel stood and started a pot of coffee. Mystery fell in beside him, washing off their plate, finding coffee cups and creamer. Then they waited together, and a sense of peace settled over him. Being with this woman was so simple, like breathing.
Not taking her up on her invitation to come inside her had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. And if he kept thinking about it, he’d pull her pants down, lay her across the kitchen table, fuck her senseless—and change his mind.
“I’m surprised your father let you come to the States without him,” he remarked. “He’s incredibly protective. And after what happened to you as a teenager, it’s no wonder.”
“The only way he’d let me make this trip ‘solo’ was with Heath. He wanted to send a whole team of people with me, but I argued that Aunt Gail lives in the middle of nowhere. It’s not like the paparazzi hang out there. And we’d certainly see any intruders coming a mile away. After World War Three, he finally relented.”
“I’m glad you came and your dad compromised.”
“I didn’t think he was going to.” She sighed. “And it sounds terrible, but whenever he’s in between girlfriends, he’s cranky.”
Axel laughed, refraining from pointing out that most men were when they weren’t getting any. “I’m sure he’d appreciate that observation. What was it like growing up with Marshall Mullins as a single father? Was he strict? Absent? Difficult?”
She shrugged. “All of the above. Of course, he knew I was always being watched. But after my mother’s death, he definitely hovered more, which only got worse after my abduction. It hasn’t let up since. As a kid, I missed my mom a lot. I think he did, too. But I have to admit, the house was more peaceful after she passed. They fought all the time.”
“About your dad’s love life?” Axel asked but he felt sure he knew the answer.
“Totally. He wasn’t even discreet about it half the time. At first, I guess he thought I was too young to understand why there were so many pictures of him out on the town with other women. I was about seven when he got slapped with his first paternity suit, but he wasn’t the father. I’m sure that was just luck, though.”
“Did your mom take the cheating hard?”
“Absolutely. When she’d had too much wine, she’d clutch their wedding album to her chest and ask herself what went wrong. I didn’t have an answer.”
“Of course not. You were a kid.”
“And I was angry with my dad. Furious. I spent most of my time with my mom, so I saw how all his cheating tore her apart. I’d never put up with that. I don’t know why she did for so many years.”
Axel nodded. She shouldn’t have to. No woman should. “Do you think she was depressed?”
“Absolutely. She took medication for it. I’ve asked myself over and over if her depression contributed to her death. But I don’t think she committed suicide.”
“I suppose she could fall off a cliff by herself, but she didn’t leave a note or give any indication she was ending it. In fact, hadn’t she contacted a divorce lawyer earlier that week?”
Mystery nodded. “She planned to divorce Dad and take him for half of everything. When she told him, he blew a gasket. That fight was epic. I remember hearing them in their bedroom have a shake-the-walls screamfest. They said some incredibly ugly things.” Mystery gave a hollow laugh. “My mom reminded him that he’d fucked most anyone in Hollywood who wore a skirt in the last nine years. He didn’t really have a reply, except to say she’d made mistakes, too. But she was totally serious about leaving. She’d even contacted a real estate agent about some property back in Kansas. My mom was making plans for a new life, not ending it.”
Axel agreed. Some of that had been public knowledge—even her terrible fights with her husband. Circumstantial evidence made Marshall Mullins look like the prime suspect. After all, that divorce would have cost him about ten million dollars. But Axel didn’t see the famous director as the murderous type. Granted, he might have hired someone . . . But there were holes in that theory, too, like the lack of a money trail.
“Why was your mother in Angeles National Forest that day?” he asked. If he wanted to get to the bottom of Mystery’s kidnapping, he’d have to start here.
“She called it her Zen place. Her dad had apparently taken her there as a kid on a camping trip, and she fell in love. Whenever she was upset or needed to clear her head, she’d drive out there. Sometimes, she’d take me, too. I was in school that day, so she didn’t.”
“Did you know she’d planned to drive to that spot?”
Mystery shook her head. “My mother was often very solitary. She liked being alone, especially when she felt off-kilter. She would pack up the car and disappear for a few hours. Sometimes more.”
How would Marshall Mullins have known exactly where in the forest his wife would be and when? Yes, he could have hired someone to follow her, and there had been lots of speculation that a thug from the Asian mafia he’d hired as a consultant for an upcoming film might have been persuaded to do some wet work for the famous director. But the criminal had wound up facedown in the Pacific a few days later, slaughtered by a rival, so they’d never really know. The only facts in evidence: Marshall and Julia Mullins had come to horrific blows over his cheating one morning, and she had threatened to divorce him. Less than six hours later, she’d been dead. He’d benefitted most from her untimely demise. And somehow, this involved their daughter.
“I know what you’re thinking.” She looked down at the hands she wrung in her lap, then raised big hazel eyes to him. “My dad didn’t do this. He might make a lot of movies about warriors and
gritty cops, even that one about the serial killer, but he’s a pacifist at heart.”
Axel frowned. The man who’d sat across a table from him and watched as he and the squad had planned Mystery’s rescue had been all for blood if it brought her home. Axel didn’t burst her bubble. But he also didn’t believe Marshall Mullins had hired someone to kill his wife.
He shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. It’s time we put your mother to rest and gave you back your safety. Getting there might get bumpy, though.”
“I just don’t understand why the photo says I’d be safe in England.”
“I don’t know that we’re meant to understand a lot of things about this right now. Once we unravel everything, it will make sense.”
A sudden knock behind them made Axel tense. He whirled around in his seat, blocking Mystery from the door with his body. He fully expected to see Heath, ready to brawl now that he’d heard her in pleasure with another man. Bring it. Axel itched for a fight.
Instead, he found Zeb, one of his fellow Dominants and Dungeon