“Sure thing,” I answered, pressing the end button and dropping my phone down onto the bed.

“Dance class?” Ashton teased, shaking his head at me.

I sighed and flopped down onto the bed. “He wants to see you to talk about some arrangements for next week,” I stated, wanting to change the subject.

He frowned but nodded; clearly now wondering what my father wanted to see him about. Settling himself down against my side, he ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. I smiled as his eyes latched onto mine and I became trapped in the beautiful green of them. After a couple of minutes of silence, he groaned. “I’d better go speak to your father.” He pushed himself up onto all fours, leaning over me, kissing me fiercely. “I’ll see you in a bit. Maybe we could go for a walk or something?”

“Yeah okay, sure,” I agreed, shrugging.

He kissed down the side of my neck and across my body, lingering on my breasts, then climbed out of the bed, frowning and not looking too happy about having to leave. I watched his pert, little behind as he pulled on his boxer shorts, picked up his weapons from the night before, and then strutted confidently to the door.

Just before he stepped out of my room, he turned back to me and a cocky smile slipped onto his face. “I knew you’d fall for me sooner or later. And thanks very much, ma’am,” he stated, winking before stepping out and closing the door firmly behind him.

My heart dropped down into my stomach. Fall for him? I haven’t fallen for him, I love Jack. Oh my God… Jack! My eyes widened in horror as my head whipped to the side, seeing the photo on my sideboard. He was smiling at me as usual. I started to feel nauseous; I ran to the bathroom and was sick violently until nothing else would come out.

Turning the shower to as hot as it would go, I climbed in, sobbing under the spray. My tears mingled with the water jets, circling down the drain as I scrubbed the sex smell from my skin.

When I got out, I still didn’t feel better. It wasn’t the dirty feeling that sometimes overcame me when I thought about Carter, no, this was worse in some ways. I literally repulsed myself from the inside out. I’d just done that with Ashton, and hadn’t even spared Jack a single thought until it was too late.

I dressed as quickly as possible, not even bothering to brush my sopping wet, tangled hair before I stalked over to the bed and ripped the sheets and covers from it, tossing them into the laundry basket.

Once I’d opened the windows, I ran out of my room as fast as my legs would carry me. As soon as I was in my car, I threw it into drive and sped out of the drive with the tyres squealing. I knew where I was going, I needed to see Jack and beg him to forgive me.

Chapter Ten

~ Ashton ~

As I walked out of her room, I couldn’t keep the triumphant smile off of my face. I headed into my room and flopped onto the bed, thinking about what had just happened. I’d wanted her since that first moment I’d laid my eyes on her. Anna was an incredible person, so vulnerable, hurt, and beautiful. Sure she was damaged, but maybe I could fix her. I could help her heal if she’d let me. Clearly she tried to play the bitch because she didn’t want people close to her, but I could see through her act easy enough. She literally blew my mind, and I’d never met anyone like her.

Even though I was attracted to her, I never would have made a move on her because of what she’d been through. Just now though, she was the one that had instigated things between us and took the first step to move on. I loved that. I was so physically attracted to her that it was unreal, I wanted her so much, but more importantly, I wanted something I’d never wanted before, I wanted to be with her. The sex wasn’t important – not that I hadn’t wanted to make love to her, of course, because I’d actually wanted that so badly I could have died from the need – but the thing I wanted most in the world was to see her happy. These feelings I had for her scared the life out of me. I’d never even had a girlfriend before, yet I was already crazy about her and I’d only known her for three days.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I thought about her face as it had looked just now. She’d looked so happy that I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself. Usually her eyes were hard, closed off and sad, but just now they’d sparkled with a happiness that made my heart fly. She truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, even with the messed up bed hair, she had still taken my breath away.

My mind wandered to her naked, writhing under me as she moaned my name. I wouldn’t be forgetting that in a long time, that was for sure. I could actually die right now and be a happy man. The sex had been incredible; better than anything I had ever felt in my life. It had felt different to the usual flings I had; it was more intimate and special.

We hadn’t used protection which was a little worrying, but I knew that if the worst did happen and she did get pregnant, I’d be there for her. The chances of that happening were slim, but we’d cross that bridge if we needed to. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as a cute image formed in my mind – a baby with her brown eyes and cute, little button nose. Although I’d never imagined having kids before, that would be one gorgeous baby if it looked like its momma.

I sighed contentedly and rubbed a hand over my face. I genuinely wasn’t expecting anything like this to happen when I took this assignment. I’d never felt anything for a girl before, it all happened so suddenly too. She’d stolen my heart in three days, well, she’d actually had it in about three seconds. As soon as she’d walked into her father’s office, I knew I was done for.

I pushed myself up off the bed, stretching my arms above my head and feeling the familiar burn of after sex muscle tightening. I grinned and grabbed some jeans and a button down shirt, deciding I should probably go and speak to the senator and see what he wanted. Once I was dressed, I shoved my gun into its ankle holster and headed out. I stopped outside her door, wondering if it would be a little too forward if I knocked just so I could see her again, kiss her again and pull her close to me. I wanted her so close that she’d melt into me. It was probably a little fast for her, after all, I’d only met her three days ago and I’d already slept with her. That certainly wasn’t something I was expecting, even with my reputation for a quick score.

I traced my hand across the wood of her door. My eyes closed, and I laughed quietly as I realised something – I was turning into some sort of weirdo stalker. I was standing outside her door, thinking about her; normally I’d arrest guys that did that. I forced myself to walk away from the door. I needed to speak to her father, and then maybe I’d take her for a picnic or something, show her what a good boyfriend I could be.

As I was walking through the house, I decided that my new favourite place in the world was here with Anna; it used to be the shooting range at the training academy, but she had that beat easily. I was certainly going to be guarding her body extremely closely from now on. I grinned at the thought of that happening again, and again, and again. Man, I love this job! And pretty soon I had a feeling I was going to love her too – I was already half way there and I had only known her for three days. I’d never believed in love at first sight until I met Anna.

When I got to his outer office, his PA buzzed me straight through. Senator Spencer was sitting behind his desk with a grim expression on his face. He stood as I entered. “Agent Taylor, I need to speak to you,” he said, smiling sadly, nodding towards the chair opposite him. I sat quickly and waited for him to speak. “Agent Taylor, we’ve received another letter from him, I just needed to make you aware,” he stated, sliding a piece of paper across his desk.

I stiffened, and my heart took off in a sprint. Another letter from Carter. I wanted to run from the room and wrap her in my arms, never letting go. I would die before I let him hurt her again and if I ever saw him, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to restrain myself from killing him.

I took the note and read it over quickly; it was addressed, ‘Dear Princess’. Realisation hit me: that guy on the CCTV footage had called her princess too, that’s why she’d gotten kicked out of school. It was essentially a love letter expressing how much he missed her, how he couldn’t wait for them to be together again, and how he was expecting her cooperation at the appeal, should she be called upon to give evidence against him again. He wanted to take her away and treat her like the princess that she was. He went into a lot of crude detail about all of the things he wanted to do to her. I felt the bile rise in my throat, so I quickly swallowed it down, trying not to picture the images that were trying to force their way into my head.

I was so angry that my hands were shaking. I looked up at the senator; he looked extremely sad and tired. “This came this morning, sir?” I asked, folding the note and handing it back to him.

He nodded. “I have the others if you want to read them,” he offered, rifling through his desk drawers.

“Er… No thanks, sir. Unless there’s anything in there I need to see,” I said uncomfortably. I wasn’t sure I could read another one of those.

He waved his hand at it, a look of disgust on his face. “No, they’re basically the same as this one.”

“How many have there been, sir?” I asked curiously. That information wasn’t in the file.

He sighed. “He sends one a week, every week for the last three years. Always the same thing,” he answered. I gasped at the revelation. One a freaking week for three years and they haven’t told her? I’d assumed that it was only since the retrial was ordered. “We get one of those love letters from him, and a death threat from somewhere within his organisation,” he added grimly.

“Sir, you’re sure we can’t tell Miss Spencer? I really think she would be better off knowing. It would help her guards if she was more cooperative with us.” My mind shot to her n**ed in the bed, where she’d seemed very cooperative indeed.

“No, Agent Taylor. It’s my decision, and I feel that she’s too fragile,” he refused, shaking his head fiercely. I nodded in agreement. I knew she was fragile; I’d seen her sobbing her heart out, shaking. Fragile didn’t even seem the right word to describe Anna’s state of mind. “I think she’s gotten much stronger since you came. She seems to like you. I’ve never seen her like that with anyone since it happened. I mean, she smiles for goodness’ sake, and the contact you have with her boggles my mind,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.