JENNIE

Lisa's eyes held on to me as she mastered my body, her grip firm on my hips, her thick flesh filling me up and moving inside me, her mouth all over me, her teeth on my skin.

All of this from the one who had broken though the walls I'd built and captured me. They were demonstrations of touch and pleasure, a means of cementing the connection between us, of keeping me close to her. It was her way. She didn't need to worry, though.

Lisa had me.

Despite the whole mess tonight, she had me in her arms and underneath her, her commanding strength taking charge in the way it'd been from the beginning. Holding me safe. That night on the street when she'd coaxed me into her car and the later phone calls demanding I acknowledge her were just the start of my understanding of Lisa Manoban. There was so much more to this person than I ever imagined back then.

I wasn't going anywhere. I was in love with her.

"I want my cock in you all night long," she rasped, her brown eyes flashing against the moonlight as she moved. Looming over me, she plied my body in every which way as the light shone on our naked flesh through the balcony window. Hands, mouth, cock, tongue, teeth, fingers—she used them all.

Lisa said things to me like that during sex. Shocking stuff that made me hotter than hell, nourishing my confidence, and showing me how much she wanted me. It was precisely what I needed. Lisa was my answer, and she knew exactly what I craved. I don't know how she understood me so well, but she did without a doubt. Tonight had confirmed that message loud and clear. I guess I could finally admit that I was in need of another person in order to be happy.

That other person was Lisa.

I'd let someone in. The hard shell around my heart had been compromised, and very thoroughly too. Lisa had done it. She'd worked on me, and pushed me and demanded my attention. She never gave up on me and loved me in spite of my cavern of emotional issues. Lisa did all that for me. And now I could revel in the fact that I was loved by a someone whom I loved in return.

"Eyes on me, baby," she commanded on a harsh breath. "You know I have to have your eyes when I take you!" Her hand had moved up to grip my hair and she tugged. She never hurt me when she pulled it, though. Lisa knew just how much pressure to exert and was fully aware it sent me over the edge. I did know about her need for my eyes being on her and I held onto her fiery browns with everything I had.

But Lisa knew more about me than I knew about her.

"You're going to come first!" she gritted out, thrusting deep and hard, finding the sensitive spot within me needed to accomplish her directive.

As I felt the pressure build I let myself go to that perfect place of ecstasy, pinned beneath Lisa's body, which was burrowed in mine, her brown eyes just inches above me. She took my mouth as the orgasm ripped into me, filling another part of me, making me accept more of her, binding us together more deeply.

Her orgasm followed mine within seconds. I could always tell she was close from how she tightened to inhuman hardness right as she was about to come. The feeling was out of this world and intensely empowering. That I could pull such a reaction from her and elicit such feeling in another person did something to me. Something that healed me a little bit each time it happened—I kept getting better inside my head because of Lisa and the ways she showed her love for me. I had some hope about myself that I could be happy and live a normal life.

Lisa had given me that.

"Tell me, baby," she exhaled in a harsh whisper, but I could hear the vulnerability that accompanied the boldness. Lisa wasn't without her own insecurities, she was just a mortal like the rest of us.

"Always yours!" I truly meant my words as I felt her let go inside me.

When I opened my eyes sometime later, I realized I must have dozed a bit. Lisa had rearranged us halfway on our sides, but we were still joined together. She liked to stay buried inside me for a while afterward. I didn't mind, because it was something she desired and I loved making her happy.

I just wish she'd tell me more about her dark place. She was afraid to share and while it bothered me, I mostly understood her fear. I often wondered if her reasons for needing to touch me all the time and possess me so thoroughly during sex, and afterward too, had something to do with her time as a prisoner. They tortured her and scarred her and hurt her. It pained me just remembering how she'd been that night when her dreams woke her up in a panic.

I trailed my fingers over her shoulder and back. I imagined the angel wings of her tattoo and the words below them. And I felt the scars too. Lisa flicked her eyes open and pegged me hard. "Why wings? They're beautiful, you know."

"The wings reminded me of my mum," she said after a moment or two of silence, "and they covered over many of the scars."

I leaned forward, kissing her lips with a soft touch. I cupped her jaw and decided to take the plunge. I didn't want to scare Lisa away from talking to me if she was in a mood, but figured I had to try again at some point. "And the quote? Why that one?"

She shrugged and whispered, "I think I died a little tonight."

So much for her opening up and sharing. She wasn't up for any more delving into her past. I could tell. "What do you mean you died a little?"

"When I couldn't find you after that message came in on your mobile." she traced my cheek and then my lips with her finger—just the lightest touch, and I felt a shiver roll through me.

"Well, you did find me eventually, and no dying allowed, missy. That would be a real major buzzkill." I tried to tease her into a lighter mood, but it didn't seem to be working. When Lisa was in a serious frame of mind, she didn't just switch out of it easily.

"I'm glad you feel better," she paused and thrust her hips with a renewed erection, sinking in deep, "because I needed this with you, badly."

"I'm here and you have me," I murmured against her lips as she draped my legs over her shoulders and took charge of another round of pleasure. Once was rarely enough for her.

Lisa made me feel desirable. She made me feel beautiful and sexy, from the words that came out of her mouth to the touch of her body in mine when she made love to me. And afterward, when she held me against her like I was precious.

Somebody wanted me, despite all that had gone down in my past. Someone was willing to fight for me. I was important to another person. To Lisa I was. The power in that knowledge was life-changing.

Lisa's particular brand of attention was intense and a lot to accept at first, but it worked for me. Lisa worked for me. She could show me how much she wanted me, and for the first time I had some hope that we could really make this relationship work. The "let's go slow" part hadn't happened at all like we'd agreed when we first met. But if we had gone slowly, I very much doubt I'd be naked in bed with her at the Somerset coast, in an English manor fit for a king, which happened to be owned by her sister, and being fucked to the brink of another magnificent orgasm right now. A girl has to take things as they come.

It took a bit for me to rouse myself after the second round of sheet-clawing sex, but I managed to wriggle out of her hold to head for the bathroom so I could clean up and prepare for sleep. I loved how she touched me all the time. I needed it, plain and simple, and Lisa knew that. It was just another way in which we were emotionally compatible.

I filled a glass of water and took the pill Dr. Roswell had prescribed for my night terrors. I had a routine. Birth control and vitamins in the morning, sleeping pill at night, once I was ready to actually sleep. I smirked into the elegant bathroom mirror that looked like something out of Buckingham Palace, realizing that bed and sleep were never synonymous when sharing with Lisa. We spent a great deal of time together in bed not sleeping, but I wasn't complaining.

I didn't expect to find her awake when I came out of the bathroom, but her eyes were open, tracking my every movement as I settled back into bed. She reached for me and held my face, something she did often when we were close like this.

"How come you're still awake? You must be exhausted after that long drive," I paused for emphasis, "and all that superb shagging—"

"I love you and I never want to let you go," she interrupted.

"So don't." I looked into her brown eyes, which seared me in the dim light.

"I never will." She said it with some hardness and I felt that she really meant it.

"I love you too, and I'm not going anywhere." I leaned in to kiss her lips, she kissed me back, but I could tell she had more to say and could feel the edge in her, which was surprising considering the orgasms she'd just pounded into me.

"The thing is I—I need something more permanent with us. I need you with me all the time so I can protect you and we can be together every day . . . and night."

I felt my heart begin to thud rapidly, whispers of panic taking hold. Just when I got comfortable with one aspect of us, Lisa pushed for more.

She's always been that way . . .

"But we are together every day now," I told her.

She furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes a fraction. "It's not enough, Jennie. Not after what happened tonight and that fucked-up message from God knows whom. I have Neil working on your mobile trace right now and we'll get to the bottom of it, but I need something more formal that tells the world you are off limits and untouchable by whatever designs they might have on you."

I swallowed hard, feeling her thumbs start to move over my jaw as I tried to imagine where she was going with this. "What do you mean when you say 'formal'? How formal are we talking?" Man, my voice was thready, and my heart felt like it would leap out of my chest the next moment.

She smiled at me and leaned in for a soft, slow kiss that calmed me some. Lisa had always calmed me, though. If I was unsettled or scared, she had a way of comforting me and easing the stress of the moment. "Lisa?" I asked when she finally pulled back.

"It's okay, baby," she said soothingly, "everything will be all right and I'll take care of you, but I know what we need to do—what needs to happen."

"You do?"

"Mmm-hmm." She rolled us over and held my face again, propped on her elbows and trapping me beneath her sculpted limbs, hard and smooth against my softer parts. "I'm sure of it, in fact." Her lips dropped to my neck and kissed up to my ear and then down my jaw, over my throat, and back to the other ear. "Very, very sure," she whispered between gentle kisses. "I realized it tonight as soon as we got here and I saw that you were wearing this." She kissed the spot where the amethyst pendant she'd given me lay in the hollow of my throat.

"What are you so sure about?" My voice was faint, but every word rang out clear as a bell in the short distance between us, as if I'd shouted my question.

"Do you trust me, Jennie?"

"Yes."

"And you love me?"

"Yes, of course. You know that I do."

She smiled down at me again. "Then it's settled."

"What is settled?" I implored against her gorgeous face, which had mesmerized me from the first, one side of her beautiful mouth turned up confidently, holding me firmly beneath her in a possessive hold so typical of my Lisa.

"We'll get married."

I stared at her, sure the words that just came out of her mouth were out of a scene from a romance novel. Maybe I was having a dream. I hoped.

Lisa shifted on top of me and shot that idea to hell. Holy fucking shit!

"It makes perfect sense," she said with a slow grin, "we make an announcement that goes out big, have you move in with me officially, and let everyone know your fiancé is in the security business—"

"Are you insane?" I cut her off and saw her eyes moving over my face, studying my reaction to her words. "Lisa, I can't get married. I don't want to. I'm just getting used to being in a relationship. It's way, way too soon to even consider something like that for us . . ."

She grinned down at me, utterly calm and confident. "I know, baby. It is far too soon, but the world doesn't have to know that. To them it looks like you're about to be the wife of the former-SF, high-profile CEO of Manoban Inc. To whoever is out there with an agenda, they get a message loud and clear. That they need to keep the hell away from you; that they won't be able to touch you in any way, shape or form, and that they won't get close enough to even blink at you, let alone deliver threats like that fucked-up shit from last night." She kissed me softly, looking very proud of herself. "It's a brilliant plan."

I just kept staring at her, sure she was a figment of some fantastical dream I was having. "It's also dishonest, Lisa. Have you even considered what you are asking me to do? To lie? To mislead our families and friends into believing some fiction that we met two months ago and now we're getting married?"

She stiffened above me, and her jaw got that stubborn set to it. "When it comes to protecting you, I'll do whatever I need to do. I'm not taking the risk with you—it's too late for that. I told you I was all in, and that's not changed in the last hours."

Her glaring expression was more than a little intimidating, even in the dim light. I tried to explain myself. "Well, no, my feelings haven't changed either, but that doesn't mean we can . . ."

My words trailed off as I tried to process what she'd just so confidently declared—that getting married would be a good idea—just like eating more vegetables or wearing sunscreen was a good idea. I had to wonder if the stomach bug that had got to me tonight was making me hallucinate.

"There's no reason we can't." Lisa looked a little wounded as she studied me carefully, and it gave me a pang of regret, but only for about two seconds. What she was proposing was absolutely insane. I could barely wrap my head around being in love with someone who'd stormed her way into my life, audaciously and without apology, a mere two months ago. How in the hell could I agree to a marriage based on my protection from some mysterious threat of unknown motivations by unnamed people?

"I—I'm—you're absolutely out-of-your-mind crazy right now! Lisa, do you realize what you are proposing here?"

She nodded at me, her face just inches from mine. I couldn't really tell what she was thinking right now either. She wanted her way, I could guess, but her motives were what surprised me more. I knew she loved me. She made sure to tell me often. And I know my feelings for her were the same . . . but . . . marriage?! I was sure she couldn't have suggested anything more of a shock to my fragile emotional grid than this. Surely Lisa didn't want a wife. This was way too soon.

"Yes, Jennie, I very much know what I just said to you." She kept her face neutral but firm, giving away nothing.

"You want to marry me, a woman you just met eight weeks ago, who has relationship phobias and—and a fucked-up past—"

She shut me up with a dominating kiss, the kind that left no doubts about the seriousness of her proposal. God! Am I in Bizarro World here? I let her mouth plunder mine for a moment, then brought my hand up to the back of her head. I tugged her back and cupped her cheek, seeking her eyes again.

"Baby . . . that thing tonight spooked me," she whispered. "I didn't plan this out; I just know what feels right. I want you with me. You won't need a work visa any more. You can live here and work in London somewhere in your field. You'll have time to find the perfect job without pressure to wrangle the immigration laws, and most important, we can be together. It's what I want. I can shield you as your wife. I can make sure you're always protected. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. I love you. You love me, yeah? What's the problem? It's the perfect solution." She tilted her head at me and squinted her eyes like I was being illogically stupid.

"I'm not anywhere close to being ready for that, Lisa, despite how I feel about you."

"I'm not either and the timing is horrible, but I think it's our only good option." She softly brushed my hair back from my face with a gentle touch. "I'm willing . . . and I think you should at least consider it." She gave me the eyebrow look. "I'm not enduring another episode like we had tonight at the National."

I started to protest but she shushed me with another demanding kiss that was so very typical of her. She held me beneath her, pressing me into the soft mattress and stroking into my mouth with a skilled tongue. I let her kiss me and just floated along for a bit, trying my best to process what she'd shared.

"Before you get all feisty and worried, I want you to just think about it for now. We could have a long engagement, but the announcement is what will make people sit up and take notice. We had a tough night and there's a ton of shit to be sorted, but in the end, we're together and that won't be changing." She kissed me on the forehead. "And you're moving in with me."

I just stared at her and took in her words.

"That last part is not a request, Jennie. What went down tonight was utter madness and we cannot be living in two places."

"God, what am I going to do with you?" I stifled a yawn and realized the pill was making me sleepy. I knew I wouldn't be able to continue this conversation much longer. The idea flashed through my mind that she might have used that fact to her advantage. Lisa wasn't good at poker for nothing.

"You're exhausted, and quite frankly I am too."

I yawned again and agreed with her. "I am . . . but I still don't know what to even say about what you're suggesting," I told her, speaking into her eyes, which were just inches from mine.

She snuggled me against her body in preparation for sleep and buried her face in my neck. "You're going to go to sleep right now, and think about it . . . and trust me . . . and move in with me officially."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Yeah, just like that." Her lips moved against the back of my neck. "It's simply the way things have to be." I felt her lips graze my skin as she pressed close. "I love you, baby. Now go to sleep."

Lisa's strong arms folded around me did feel magnificent, despite the fact that I thought she was out of her ever-loving mind. But knowing that she would do something so drastic for me just to keep me protected, that she loved me that much, made the small smile on my face feel fucking fabulous, to quote my soldier-mouthed lover.

I did sleep then, safe in her arms.