22. Elijah

Icould hear the ambient sounds of conversation in the hallway.

Could see the red-and-blue flash of ambulance lights, harsh against the moonlight slanting across the room.

There was an attacker on the ground. Two other guards awaiting my command. A state senator and her chief of staff, probably minutes away from breaking down this door.

And I couldn't stop touching Luke.

Not when I'd been so sure of that knife's trajectory. Not when my own brain had filled in the gaps with the worst images possible—Luke, bleeding on the floor, injured or worse because of my own gross incompetence. And if the worse had happened?

I'd never have been able to tell him about whatever this was, this all-consuming captivation that had dogged my steps for weeks now. It kept me up at night. Left my thoughts tangled, had me breaking every rule I'd ever sworn by.

Those same rules seemed pitiful and pointless in the face of the violence I'd stopped through sheer luck.

I've never wanted someone the way I want you.

Luke had no fucking idea what it was to truly want.

My fingers attacked the bow tie I'd tied back at the house, yanking it clean off before moving deftly down the buttons of his shirt. Our mouths stayed fused together as he shoved the jacket from my shoulders. My palms landed on the bare, warm skin of his chest and we both groaned. I kicked his feet apart and shifted, grinding our cocks together. Luke tore his mouth away as his head fell back.

"You feel amazing, Elijah." He grunted, fingers tangling in my hair again. I flexed my hips and ran my tongue up the length of his throat, turned on to the point of pain by Luke's husky breathing, every harshly whispered Elijah that fell from his lips.

There wasn't enough time, there'd never be enough time, but I knew one thing. I needed his body under mine, needed to know what his cock felt like wrapped in my fist, if he'd say my name when he came. I hooked my fingers in the top of his pants and hauled him off the wall, walking backward through the room as Luke kept kissing me.

He shucked his shirt while I unbuttoned my own, then I was shoving him backward onto a long couch. He sprawled against the cushions, watching me with heavy-lidded eyes and a swollen mouth, his throat working on a swallow when I finally shed my shirt. His shoulders were rounded with muscle, his chest hair dark, the ridges of his abs flexing with his ragged breathing.

I wiped a hand across my own swollen mouth, tasting him there, and my pulse tripled at the lazy grin that slid up his face.

Luke pushed back his tousled hair and crooked a finger with the boundless confidence of a man who knew just what kind of effect his beauty had on people. The kind of beauty that slams into you like a violent storm.

And who was I to resist such devastation?

I'd fallen to my knees for him once already—did so now on the couch, kissing up his stomach, the planes of his chest, crashing our mouths together as I popped open the button on his black pants.

I nuzzled my mouth into the crook of his neck, grazed the skin with my teeth, felt him arch up in response.

"We don't have a ton of time," I murmured, "or I'd spend an hour on this spot alone."

"There, please, yes," he groaned.

I smiled against his skin, then sucked. Luke cursed, his nails biting into my ribs where he clung to me. I dragged my lips up, to just below his ear. "I'd spend an hour here too."

He whimpered. My hand slipped into the waistband of his briefs and stilled, inches from the head of his cock.

Being short on time didn't stop me from wanting him to beg for it.

"After the bookstore, I went home and fucked my own fist, thinking of you, Luke."

His head fell back, exposing the lines of his throat.

"Thinking of you on your knees in that store for me." My fingers inched down, lightly stroking. Luke jumped. Hissed. "Thinking about how good you'd be. How that smart fucking mouth of yours would look wrapped around my cock."

Another light, teasing stroke. Another kiss, below his ear.

"Elijah, please," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm close and you haven't even touched me yet."

I gripped his length, hard, and tugged it free. We both turned to watch and I lost my mind at the sight of my hand, his gorgeous fucking dick, thick and veined and smooth beneath my fingers. Luke grabbed my face and pulled my mouth down to his, crying out through our kiss as I started to move.

Slow, at first. Teasing, at first. Except Luke was writhing beneath me, bucking his hips up, so I switched to short, rough strokes that had him crying out again.

"Oh, god, you're gonna make me come," he growled, nipping my bottom lip. Tempting me to deepen the kiss, to lick my tongue against his, to sink into the feel of his hot, hard body beneath me. I could hear the slick sounds of my fingers moving, Luke's shaky breath, the roar of my own heart in my ears.

We didn't stop kissing either, even as Luke gasped, "Elijah…Elijah…yes," and climaxed, his come spilling onto my hand.

Something dark and possessive thrummed to life as he said my name, clung to me, took great, gasping breaths with his forehead pressed to mine. I pushed up onto my arms to gaze down at him—a beautiful mess, debauched and disheveled. I grabbed his hand and brushed my lips across the inside of his wrist, his fluttering pulse. His expression softened and something cracked open in my chest.

"Are you…" I cleared my throat. "Was that…okay?"

I bit my tongue. Stopped myself from asking was I okay? Because I hadn't held back just now, hadn't controlled my emotions or controlled myself to the point of invisibility.

Luke beamed, chuckling softly. He reared up, holding me still by the chin to kiss me sweetly. "I came so hard I saw through space and time." Another kiss. "I'm more than okay." And another. "I'm ecstatic." Kiss-kiss-kiss. "Euphoric." He nudged his nose against mine. "Happy. Very, very happy."

My cheeks went hot at the compliment. I ducked my head, hiding the smile that threatened to break across my face.

He caught it, turning me by the chin. "Two smiles from Elijah Knight in one day? I'm one lucky bastard."

"Luke." I scoffed, burying my face in his chest, my brain and body suddenly full of…of too much. Too much want and contentment and pride. Emotions I wasn't used to feeling so abundantly.

His lips hovered at my temple. "Do you know how handsome you look when you smile at me like that?" Then I was shoved up to sit with Luke straddling my lap. I groaned at the contact, yanking him against my still-hard cock as he stared down at me. "Do you know what that smile makes me wanna do?"

His lips—hot and firm—descended my neck. My hand fisted in his thick hair, my knees already spreading wide.

"Tell me," I demanded.

He sank his teeth into my chest and I hissed. "It makes me wanna put this smart mouth to work."

"We don't have enough time."

He kissed down my belly with an arrogant smile. "I'm known to be quite skilled in this area, Elijah." He palmed my cock through the fabric and I let out a curse. "I don't need a lot of time."

The walkie crackled to life next to us. "Everything okay with Mr. Beaumont?"

My body was wound so tight I almost cracked the radio in half when I picked it up. Brought it to my lips. Hesitated. The real world was forcing its way back in. But I was too busy having heart palpitations caused by Luke's lopsided grin when he rose on his knees to kiss me again.

What started soft became a surging, reckless desire. Luke's mouth claimed mine, drank me in until I could only shudder beneath his focused attention.

"Knight?" came the voice on the radio.

Luke trailed a finger across the head of my cock.

"He needs a few more minutes," I grunted, then tossed the thing across the room.

I grabbed Luke by the hair and dragged him close. "Put it to work."

"Yes, sir," he said with a wink.

Luke sank gracefully and I raised my hips an inch so he could yank down my pants. When my aching cock sprang free, his eyes went wide. He ran his tongue up the side before taking me into his hot, eager mouth. Everything around me trembled, paused, vanished.

My world narrowed to a single point of focus—the breadth of Luke's muscular shoulders, the hair at the nape of his neck, his fingers on my thigh, sliding up to tangle with my own. My other hand landed in his hair as his head bobbed up and down, obliterating every thought, every fear, every stray worry.

He hollowed his cheeks and sucked me deep. So deep that I growled, "Jesus fucking Christ, Luke."

His response was a smug arch of his brow. Then he moaned, redoubling his efforts, and I watched the muscles ripple across his back, watched the pure bliss in his expression.

Pleasure spiked sharply through my body and my head tipped back on another long groan. I was keenly aware of what we looked like, clothing half-off, shirts strewn across the floor, Luke sucking hungrily at my feet. It was too goddamn filthy, too much like my fantasy.

I was on the edge of orgasm almost immediately.

"God, it's too good," I hissed, tightening my fingers in his hair.

He gave another moan. Another deep swallow.

"You're perfect," I said, watching his mouth work. "You're so perfect right now."

Those blue eyes flew up to meet mine, singeing me with their heat.

"Please don't stop," I begged—fucking begged. "I'm so…"

Footsteps thumped outside the door. Raised voices on my walkie-talkie. Headlights glaring through the closed curtains. I stared down at Luke and couldn't have controlled my reaction for all the willpower in the world. This time it was Luke slapping a hand across my mouth mere seconds before an orgasm ripped through me with a fury, muffling my strangled groans as I came.

"Holy shit," I whispered, my chest heaving. "Holy fucking shit."

Luke wiped a hand across his swollen lips with a decadent, sinful grin. He pressed up onto his knees and whispered in my ear, "Told ya I was good."

I could only kiss him then, a kiss meant to soothe us both as the world outside got closer and closer. But it didn't soothe. It only ignited us again, until I was yanking him against me like I'd never get enough.

"Hello?" came an alarmed voice through the door. The senator's voice. "Lucas? Are you unwell?"

My radio squawked. "Uh…Elijah? Where the hell are you guys? The officers need to talk to you."

We froze. Then sprang into rapid action. A host of anxieties surged back into my brain, so quickly I was lightheaded when I stood, shoving myself back into my pants. Luke was hopping on one foot, a shoe on the other, and buttoning his shirt at the same time.

At the mirror, I paled at the sight of my hair, the wrinkles in the sleeves of my jacket. Luke wasn't any better, though he could pull off the slightly rumpled look of the young and wealthy much better than I could.

There were knocks at the door again, louder this time. Luke stepped in front of me with a wry smile and began finger-combing my hair into some sense of order. And I tried my best to ignore how the steady sifting of his fingers in my hair made me feel.

Safe. Appreciated. Seen.

The top few buttons of his white shirt were open, the bow tie hanging loose around his neck. I reached for it, and he batted my hand away.

"Leave it," he whispered playfully. "I need to hide the hickey you gave me."

Alarmed, I pulled back his collar and saw the bruise forming where I'd sucked his skin between my teeth. My fingers tightened, my body's reaction hovering between embarrassment and possessiveness.

"I marked you," I said gruffly.

Luke brushed the remaining lint from my shoulders and checked every button on my shirt, then stepped back to examine me.

"You sure did mark me." He stepped close to breathe in my ear—too dangerous, with the doorknob shaking, the voices rising in volume outside. "I'm gonna get hard every time I see it, Elijah."

I gripped the back of his head, needing him again. But Luke only kissed my cheek and said, "Follow my lead, okay? I got this."

I blinked, stunned by the force of his tenderness. Almost as stunned as I'd been when he called me sweetheart earlier, an endearment that had never been used, not once, to describe me. Hearing those words from his mouth, in that voice, felt like taking a punch to the sternum.

"Elijah?" he asked. "Are you ready?"

Ready. Yes. Right. Luke had been attacked at a party and I was his lead protection agent. The same agent countless people were waiting to hear from just steps outside this room. I marched over to the doorway, remembering at the last second to pick up the radio I'd thrown to the floor. The absolute carelessness would have been astonishing if I wasn't also mentally calculating every damn mistake I'd made since we stepped into this house.

I positioned myself by the door and gave Luke a nod. He rubbed a hand through his hair, messing up the strands again, and shot me a covert wink before he pulled open the door.

"Senator Wallace, hi," he said blearily, rubbing his face. Grady pushed past him into the room, followed by Sylvester. I averted my gaze, keeping it trained on Luke to help my nerves. "I'm so sorry for slipping away like that. Elijah knows that I have a condition."

"You do?" asked Sylvester, confusion evident in his voice.

"After an…an upset like that, my blood pressure always drops," Luke said. "I've fainted before. From shock. Elijah knows to get me to a couch as quickly as possible until the dizziness and the nausea passes. I didn't mean to cause any additional alarm."

The light in the room was switched on. The pillows on the couch were in disarray, but other than that, there were no signs of what had just transpired between the two of us.

Senator Wallace still eyed us with suspicion. Though I hadn't forgotten the threats she'd issued earlier this evening. Different in tone than the knife attack, but no less concerning.

"No apology is necessary," she finally said. "It's chaos out there and you weren't missed at first. But we did want to make sure nothing had happened to you. You've had quite a scare."

"It was my mistake," I said sternly. "I was concerned for Luke and should have updated everyone so they didn't worry. I'm assuming an arrest has already been made?"

Sylvester nodded slowly. "Paramedics are waiting outside to examine you, sir. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." I slipped my phone from my pocket and felt a surge of panic at the four missed calls from Foster. "Stay with Lucas while I speak with the director."

I turned to move but Luke's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Thanks again. For…protecting me. For saving my life." He reached up to his neck, thumb stroking along the tender spot where I'd marked him with my teeth. My blood sizzled, my cock twitched. "I won't forget it, Elijah."

I managed to nod. "Just doing my job, Mr. Beaumont."

His lips tipped up into a half smile, which was my cue to get out of there. I didn't need to be trading flirty inside jokes with my client. I'd officially snapped, lost any semblance of control, which meant one charming grin from Luke would be all I needed to kiss him in front of everyone.

Outside, I raked a hand through my hair as lightning arced across the sky. The cops were still here but they'd have to wait until after I lied to my boss.

You are so in over your fucking head, my brain whispered.

I dialed Foster's number and pressed a hand to my mouth, realizing I still smelled like Luke. His come, his sweat, the salt on his skin. Lust overrode my shame but then Foster barked a greeting into the phone, and it was like a bucket of ice water down the spine.

"Where the hell have you been?" he snapped. "And what the hell happened?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry, sir. Luke…Mr. Beaumont was shaken up after the attack and I needed to get him to a couch so he could lie down. He has an issue with his blood pressure, has fainted from stress before. I apologize for not answering. It was only out of concern for the client."

"Sylvester said you were in there with him for almost half an hour."

My eyes rose to the stormy sky as my gut churned with guilt. "Yes, that sounds about right." The silence on the other end was much too heavy. "Foster? Sir?"

"I'm gonna need a full report tomorrow on how Vincent Maura was able to get that close to Lucas with a knife given the sheer volume of security involved. Who dropped the ball?"

Me.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll find out," I hedged. "Sorry, did you say…Vincent Maura? That's not possible."

That was the name of the stalker I'd mentioned to Luke when we first met—the B-list celebrity who'd despised Lincoln after he believed he'd ruined his condo. In the end, he'd fled the authorities and was never caught. But his hatred clearly hadn't dissipated with Lincoln's death. I'd seen the look in his eyes when I tackled him to the floor. There was no regret, no equivocation.

He'd intended to kill Luke.

"It is possible. Sylvester gave me that update as soon as the police arrived. So now I'd like to know why I know more about this situation than you do, Knight?"

I winced, rubbing my forehead. "Message received, sir."

More silence from Foster and bile rose in my throat.

Of course, Luke had to swagger into my life and rip it from its moorings this close to my promotion to director.

Of course, he had to tempt me away from the rules I held dear, endangering himself and others along the way, when I was right in the middle of securing the position that would ensure my family's stability.

"Do we have a problem, Elijah?" Foster asked softly. "You mentioned Lucas was challenging to work with. Do I need to pull you?—"

"No," I said sharply. Too sharply. "What I mean is…the safety of the Beaumont family is very important to me and has been for more than five years now. I'd consider it an honor to protect them until it's time for me to move into the office."

And take on your role when you retire. Those were the words that sat on the back of my tongue, but I was suddenly nervous to voice them aloud. Nervous that I'd somehow be found wanting after years of career perfection.

"Are you sure about that?" Foster asked—and the warning in his tone was clear.

Not that I heeded it. My head was too full of memories. Luke, adorably nervous as he presented me with the cake he'd made. The way he'd shuddered and sighed as I kissed him against that door without mercy.

His lips in my hair, whispering: do you know how handsome you are when you smile at me like that?

"Yes, sir. I'm sure," I said firmly.

No one would oversee protecting Luke except me.