Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

DANIELA

I woke up to the feeling of Braden's lips on my neck and his morning wood pressing into my back. His hands gently caressed my hips and stomach while he pulled me close, wrapping me in the warmth and safety of his arms.

I couldn't even remember the last time I'd woken up on my own rather than having a crying baby or an alarm rouse me from sleep. Even before Isaac had come along, I'd been in school and had to set an alarm so I could get to class on time.

But this morning, I'd gotten a rare break. We'd left Isaac with Lina last night because we'd known it would be a late night and had figured it would be better to just pick him up this morning rather than wake them up when we got back. And this was a mini vacation, which meant there were no alarms waking us up either.

"Mm," I sighed contentedly as I turned my head to find Braden beaming brighter than the sun as he looked at me. "Morning."

"Morning, beautiful," he murmured, claiming my lips in a soft, tender kiss while his fingers made their way down between my legs and started to rub slow, unhurried circles on that sensitive nub.

I let out a soft moan as I lifted one leg and hooked it over his thigh, granting him access to do whatever he wanted. Sliding further down, he slipped a finger inside me and brushed it against that sweet spot inside me while his thumb continued to lazily circle around my clit. I arched my hips, needing so much more, but he kept the same pace, like he was trying to draw this out as much as possible.

I'd never get tired of this. The way he made me feel. His tender, caring touches and caresses. His lips as they left reverent kisses all over my body. His voice in my ear, reminding me how much he loved me as he expressed those feelings physically.

"B, please," I whimpered. "I…I…"

"What do you need, sweetheart?" he asked softly. "Tell me."

"You," I gasped as he pressed down harder on my clit while adding a second finger and starting to work them in and out of me.

His lips landed on my collarbone, teeth lightly grazing, sending a shiver through my whole body.

"I'm all yours." His hot breath washed over my skin like a gentle tide. "Mind." A kiss landed on my neck. "Body." His tongue flicked over my earlobe. "And soul."

Our mouths collided again as he picked up the pace with his hand ever so slightly, and I tried to buck my hips in time with his pumps, but it was impossible with this angle.

"Inside me," I breathed. "I need you inside me. All of you."

He groaned. "With fucking pleasure."

His hand disappeared from my core, making me whimper at the loss of him, but within mere seconds, he shifted his position slightly and I felt the head of his cock at my entrance. He slowly pressed his way inside, stealing my breath away as the most delicious feeling of fullness and ecstasy overtook me. I turned halfway to wrap an arm around his neck as he started to rock in and out of me from behind, igniting flames in the very core of my being.

"Oh, God," I panted as he picked up his pace, hitting places inside me I didn't even know existed. "Fuck, B! Right there. You feel so good."

"You feel like fucking heaven, Dani," he said quietly. "Like forever. Because that's what I see when I look at you."

Then he claimed my lips in a hard, hungry kiss as his fingers found their way back to that sensitive bundle of nerves and started to rub. I whimpered into his mouth as I writhed against him, chasing that blissful high.

When he pulled out of me, I whined at the loss of him, but he quickly rolled me to my back and plunged back in, lifting one of my legs to his shoulder as he pistoned in and out of me like a man possessed.

"Oh, fuck," I moaned. "So good."

"Rub that clit for me, beautiful," he husked as he planted a kiss on my calf. "Make yourself come. Let me watch."

I obeyed, letting my fingers wander down to where we were joined and flicking them over that swollen nub that was begging for attention while using the other hand to pinch one of my nipples.

"That's it. Good girl," he groaned. "Fuck, you should see yourself right now. Never seen anything so damn perfect."

"Shit, B!" I screamed as I rubbed myself harder, chasing my euphoria. "God, I'm so close."

My entire body was sparking like a livewire, teetering on the edge of release, and as much as I wanted this feeling to last forever, I knew I was reaching the point of no return. So instead of fighting it, I gave myself over to the pleasure, letting myself shatter.

"Braden, fuck!" I cried as wave after wave of sheer bliss crashed over me.

"God, Dani," he growled as he followed me over the edge, collapsing to his elbows as he spilled himself inside me.

I was still gasping for breath, floating back down to earth on a cloud, when Braden's phone started to ring. He grumbled something incoherent, but didn't move to answer it. Instead, he slowly pulled out of me as he rolled us to our sides, giving me a tender kiss before gathering me in his arms. I happily snuggled closer to him, cocooning myself in his embrace as we enjoyed this rare moment of complete solitude.

But the ringing started again not even thirty seconds later.

"Damn it," he muttered as he let go of me with one arm and rolled back just enough to grab his phone from the nightstand, hitting the button to answer. "What, Leo?"

My heart jumped into my throat as a knot started to tighten in the pit of my stomach. We weren't supposed to leave until this afternoon, and Braden had specifically asked our security team to give us our privacy this morning unless there was an emergency.

So what was the emergency?

Had Vicki been spotted here? Were we in danger?

Or worse, had something happened to our son? Or to his nanny, or our friends?

"Yeah, she's right here. Hang on," Braden said, drawing me out of my spiraling thoughts. He pulled the phone from his ear and hit the button for speakerphone. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"Morning, Dani," came my bodyguard's voice, solemn and heavy.

"Wh-what's wrong, Leo?" The words trembled out of me as I curled closer to my boyfriend, needing the warmth and comfort he always provided. "Is Isaac okay? And Lina?"

"Yes, they're both fine," Leo said quickly. "But for Isaac's safety, we need to keep you separated right now."

Nausea roiled in my gut as I processed what he'd just said.

I couldn't see my son this morning. Whatever was happening, it was bad enough that Leo thought Isaac would be safer if he wasn't with me…or Braden.

"Just tell us what the fuck is going on, God damn it!" Braden spat, anxiety and fear coating every word.

"You haven't seen the news this morning?"

"No. We just woke up about twenty minutes ago," he bit out. "What happened?"

Leo sighed. "The body of Leslie Greer, a sports journalist based in Orlando, was found in the parking garage at our hotel this morning. Shot once in the head, execution-style."

"Fuck," Braden murmured, so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

The knot in my stomach turned into a bowling ball, and I tasted bile that I had to swallow back down.

There was no possible way that this was a coincidence. Not when Braden had slept with Leslie a few months ago, and there was a psycho out there who was completely obsessed with him and had already threatened to hurt me. I didn't know much about obsessive stalkers, but I did know that no one who had even the vaguest association with their targets was safe. That included random one-night stands.

"We don't have any verifiable proof that Vicki's here in Miami, but we can't be too careful," he went on.

"She's here," Braden choked out as his arm tightened around me. "Leslie and I… We have history. It was just one night, but she started hassling me about it at the premiere last night. Ian and Kyler's publicist had to throw her out. That's not a coincidence, and neither is the fact that she was killed at the hotel where I'm staying."

"Damn it," Leo breathed, almost to himself. "Okay, then it's even more vital that we keep you and your son separated right now. Since Vicki's going to be more focused on you than Isaac, we want to keep him with Lina and have you leave the city in separate vehicles. We can stop somewhere after about an hour and move them to your vehicle if you want, but our priority right now is keeping everyone safe while getting you out of Miami as quickly as possible. And you need to call your PI and the detectives handling your case while we're en route."

"Can we send Dani in Lina's car?" Braden asked, squeezing me even tighter as his lips landed on my head. "I need her safe too. I don't care about myself, but I can't let anything happen to her."

"Our feeling is that it's safer for Isaac if we keep him and Dani separated," he said apologetically. "Vicki can only be in one place at a time, and since she's made specific threats toward Dani already, there's a higher risk of something happening to the baby if Dani's with him."

Tears stung the backs of my eyes as I swallowed the lump that was rising in my throat. The truth was, Leo was right. Keeping me and Isaac separated was safer for him. No matter how much danger I'd be putting myself in, I had no choice. I had to do whatever it took to keep my son out of harm's way.

"He's right, B," I sniffed quietly, then took a deep breath. "Does Lina know yet?"

"Brian's talking with her right now," Leo told us. "I'm going to keep him and Connor with Lina, and Henry and I are going to stay with you two."

"Got it," Braden clipped out. "When do we leave?"

"Can you be ready in ten minutes?"

"Yeah, we can," I said. "We'll see you then."

As Braden ended the call, he turned to me with pure horror written on his face. I knew it wasn't fear for himself, though. It was distress for me. For my safety. He cared more about my wellbeing than he did about his own. He always had, from the very beginning.

But that was also how I felt about him. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect him from the monster who had terrorized him for months and tried everything she could to tear us apart. Because the thought of a world where Braden Hicks didn't exist was too painful to even contemplate.