Chapter Four

"You didn't need to try and sway Jenkins to persuade me into letting you remain here anymore than you need to be." Mark whispered. He spoke with frustration highlighting itself in his deep voice upon Ella's attempt to remain there. "It wasn't very nice to see you obviously flirting with some rookie cop."

"How in the hell can you call what I said in there to be flirting?" Ella asked, curiously. She kept her voice to a whisper like his to prevent Jenkins from hearing what they were talking about. "All I did was state that I was safe with so many people around in the immediate area, and that there was no way that my life would be threatened."

"You were using the same kind of southern charm that you used on me when I first met you at that bar downtown."

"I have had that southern charm long before we ever met, Mark. It is not something to tempt men into letting me get what I want."

Once he had moved her halfway down the stairs out of Jenkins' range of sight, Mark turned towards her on the stairs, and place his other hand on her midsection to prevent any further movement on her part. He sensed her body to be trembling underneath his warm palm while tightening at the same time.

I still got it…For a moment, I was afraid that I had lost the ability to freeze in her tracks by just my hand pressing my hand firmly to her midsection. Glad to see that I still have that ability.

A faint smirk danced across his face upon finding Ella's arousal to be growing deep inside the pit of her stomach despite her facial expression revealing an inner struggle to keep her desires beneath the surface. He brushed his fingertips across her abdomen while his mouth moved to one of her ears.

"You can try to fight this as much as you want, Ella," Mark whispered, "but I know who you really are, and what it takes to get you turn into putty in my hands." He lowered his voice to where it was full of nothing but lust that only Ella could fully satisfy. "There is nothing about you that I don't remember, and don't love."

"Damn you, Mark." Ella shivered with the emotions that she had been struggling to keep in check for the last few moments with him. "You always have to revert to using your hands to getting what you want."

"If that was the case…we would be having sex upstairs right now on your bed if that confounded officer hadn't come up, and knocked on the door, interrupting the moment."

Mark caught her whipping her head in his direction with a fiery, angered look upon her face to mask the obvious attraction he knew that was nestled inside of her.

"How dare you?! You talk about us having sex in a way that cheapens it, and makes it seem more like two baboons in heat."

"That was not my intention, Ella." A faint grin started to morph onto his face despite his best intention to not show one. "Even though…We did get close to being like two baboons in heat during your birthday weekend."

His eyes caught one of her hands lifting up from her side, and moving to slap him across his face in response to what he said. His hand moved from her midsection to catch her wrist before it could bring her palm into contact with the side of his face that she had aimed for. Mark pulled her closer against him right there on the stairs with officers downstairs in the living room, and an officer upstairs in her bedroom, revealing his unconcern about them being found out.

"I am sorry if I offended you with that little statement, Ella." Mark kept his voice not above a whisper as he spoke to her in a sensual way that would speak to her passionate side. "However…I am not going to lie about something that happened between us."

"You don't have to make it out to be so cheap, Mark." Ella replied. Her soft, whisper shivered on its way out of her mouth due to the sudden closeness between him and her on the stairs. "That is what made me more mad than anything else."

"As I stated already…It was not my intention to make it appear that way to you."

"Very well…"

Mark's gaze started to get lost in the stare he was receiving from his ex-girlfriend. The way that her dark brown eyes were locked on his with an underlying sexual hunger trying to reveal itself made it very obvious to himself. She was becoming aroused right there on the stairs due to there being no space between them just as he was.

The obvious closeness between her and him made his hormones go into overdrive. He didn't care that there were people around that could catch them on the stairs like they were. All he wanted was to spend as much time he could manage to spare with her, and showering her with the affection that she had not received from him in the last two years.

Remember the task at hand, Mark. There is a crazed murderer on the loose, and you need to focus on getting Ella out of here before the idiot tries to be brazen enough to come into this house with the people who are in it right now since he didn't care to be upstairs a few moments ago with the police officers downstairs.

Even though he truly wanted to ignore what his conscience was whispering to him, Mark knew it was right. There was someone out there that who would make another attempt on Ella's life, as well as on his own life since he was assigned to keep her safe from whoever it was that killed her parents. He needed to focus on getting her out of there as quickly as he could manage instead of his own desires and lusts.

Pushing his passionate emotions to the side, Mark eased her wrist out of his hand, and brought it back to rest at his side as she moved her hers back as well. He kept his other palm against the small of her back in the gentlest of ways. His hand gently pushed against her body, guiding her down the rest of the stairs.

"There you two are!" Mark's superior spoke firmly towards Ella and himself once he caught sight of them to be walking into the living room where he had been waiting on them. His hands were nestled upon his hips as he shot them both an icy glare. "I was starting to think that I was going to have to come hunt you two down if you didn't show up."

Normally, Mark didn't mind it when his boss would be firm with him since he normally couldn't hold it, and ended up showing his sense of humor to him. However, he found him to be rather serious this time with him when he spoke. He tried to maintain a strong, fearless persona in front of his former lover while his boss had caused him to experience a slight amount of intimidation inside of himself.

Just remain calm, Mark. You can't let Ella see you being nervous around Brighton. It will make a bad impression, and cause you to appear more as a scaredy-cat or a wuss than the person she remembered that used to fight any guy that would look at her in the wrong way or say the littlest snarky remark about the way she looked or who she was.

Mark's muscles in his throat took a few moments to clear out his vocal chords of anything that would keep his voice from coming across anything less than his normal, powerful yet confident tone.

"I am sorry, Brighton." Mark said. He was grateful that his voice possessed the sound he was going for and not what he feared it would come out as. "Miss Adams and myself were inspecting the condition of her room, and a second message that was left behind by our killer."

"There is a second message?!"

"Yes, sir. The person inscribed it on her dresser's mirror either before or after they completely demolished her bedroom."

"Is anyone up there right now in her old room to look over it for any evidence this person could have left behind?"

"Officer Jenkins is upstairs in her room looking it over as we speak, sir."

Mark's eyes glanced over towards Ella, and found her to appear very uncomfortable and left out during their conversation. He got the feeling from her that she was feeling more like an object that was to stand in silence, and not to make a single word until she was needed to do something for either one of them.

He hated to see her upset like she was. Ella's smile brightened up his mood when he would be experiencing a bad day, but found her current expression to make him more concerned than anything else.

Mark turned his focus upon the chief, and regained the firm tone he had in his voice earlier as he spoke to him.

"Brighton, I am going to take my leave with Miss Adams." His focus was on ridding Ella of the stress that her body, mind, and spirit was under, and not on making his boss happy. "Once we are at my home and I have made sure that the area outside is safe from any intruders, I will call back to the station to report on our status, and on my next-"

"Callaway…I need to speak to with you in the kitchen right now…Alone."

Before he could speak up, Mark watched his superior head off towards the direction of Ella's parents' kitchen with a stern look on his face. The sight of how Brighton looked made him very curious about what it was that he wished to speak to him about in private.

He turned his focus in the direction of his ex-girlfriend, and noticed her face possessing the same expression that swept across his own from Brighton being stern and short with his request of him.

"Um…" Ella asked," is he always stone cold with you or is it because of the situation at the moment that has him on edge?"

"He is just having one of those days, Ella. We all have them. I am sure it is nothing to worry about. I will be back in a few short moments, and then I will get us on the road to my place."

"I hope you are not heading into your own firing, Mark."

I hope so too, Ella. The idea of me losing my job, and my one chance to rekindle the passion between the two of us is a thought that I don't want to think of right now.

Ella's suggestion of what he could be heading into made him more nervous than he already was. He didn't want to think on something that would keep them apart instead of bringing them together.

Pushing her remark to the back of his mind, Mark pulled his eyes away from Ella, and walked away from her. He did his best to remain relaxed despite the emotions that were ravaging his body. Mark moved around a corner, and walked across the opened doorway of the kitchen to find Brighton leaning against his back against the stove with his arms over his chest, and his head bowed.

Could Ella have been right? Was he walked into his own job determination? Her mere suggestion added fuel to the fire that his own doubt had created in just a short span of a few seconds.

"So," Mark asked, being the first to break the silence, "what did you want to talk to me about, boss?"

Mark chose to speak to his current superior in a way that wouldn't be too serious, but not too light hearted either. He wanted his boss to be calm and not so hung up on appearing to be the rock of the police force in Lexington that he had been for the last five years.

His eyes watched him lift his head up, and focused a saddened look that was on his face in his direction from where he was located.

"Mark," Brighton replied, "I have a question for you." His strong, southern voice shook slightly with the nervousness and concern that matched the emotions ravaging Mark's mind. "There is something that I have to know."

"What do you want to know, boss?"

"How safe is the area that you are taking Mike's daughter to?"

Mark suddenly realized that reason behind Brighton's stern appearance, and the facial expression he had shown him during his time in the kitchen with him. Brighton didn't want anything to happen to her since he knew her father. It was reasonable since he would be hesitant to let her out of his sight after her parents' murder.

"I live sixteen miles outside of the city in the countryside, Brighton." Mark lowered his voice to be softer and soothing for his ears to bring calm back into his mind from the sensation that was ravaging him. "Also, my cabin is perched on top of a hill that overlooks the area for miles. It makes it very hard for anyone to sneak up to the house without me seeing them from any window of the building."

"Do you have any security cameras or a security system?"

"I have both security cameras, and a top of the line security system. My cameras operate both in the day and at night, continuously displaying any kind of movement outside of my home on my computer."

"What about weapons?"

"I have a variety of weapons that will keep Ella and I safe from harm at anyone's hands."

"What about-"

Mark walked up, and placed one of his hands on Brighton's shoulder. He gently squeezed the ball of his shoulder blade in a comforting grip.

"Ella is safe with me, boss. I won't allow anything to happen to her."

He spoke from his heart, wanting his superior to know that he would not let anyone or anything harm Ella.

Mark found him receiving his approval with a simple nod before he headed out of the kitchen in silence. He knew him to be a man of a few words, and didn't push it with him.

Walking out of the kitchen, Mark headed over to where Ella stood near the closed entrance to her home with her hands nestled at her sides. He brought himself to a stop next to her curvaceous body before he placed one of his hands against the small of her back once more while his other hand motioned to the front door of her home.

"Let's get out of here, Ella." Mark kept his voice soft even though his seriousness lingered within the tone. He wanted to get it to her that he needed to get them out of there at that very moment before anything else happened. "Now is the time to get going before anything else goes wrong."

"What happened?" Ella asked, curious to know about what happened between Brighton and himself in the kitchen. "Did you get fired?"

"Let's just say that Brighton was wanting to make sure that I had the right…qualifications for the job as your protector."

He dropped it there with her; not wishing to bring up that his superior was concerned about her taking off with him to his home outside the city limits of Lexington. Mark's hand applied a little more pressure to her back as he guided her to the piece of wood that separated them from the world outside of the house they stood in.