The Guardian Angel

Chapter-17: - Leah

The lip caressing soon stopped. It was now devouring rather than caressing. His fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer as I snaked my arms around his neck, pulling myself into him, my body flush against his. He pulled at my lower lip, eliciting a moan from deep within my belly. Desire unfurled, driving me closer to him.

His hand trailed from my hair down my spine, travelling down my ass to my thigh. He hitched it up and held it in a strong grip, pushing closer into me. His erection pressed into my belly, making me moan yet again; this time he joined me. His other hand dipped under my shirt, pressing against the side of my waist, his thumb circling my skin. I let my hand travel from his neck to his hair, tugging it and pulling his mouth into mine.

He groaned and pulled away suddenly. I felt a frown crease my forehead and draw my eyebrows together. I pouted, looking up at him. What was this? Tit for tat? He laughed and pecked my lip lightly, not nearly with the same desire as he had before. But I could see it burn in his eyes.

"We have to get back. Your friend is with him. Even if he had helped us, better to be careful. We don't know what his plan is." James sounded torn, like he'd much rather continue our previous...... Err, activities, instead of head back. And honestly, I felt the same, but leaving Jess alone with Stephen didn't sit well with me. If I had a choice, I'd rather stay here for the next hour or as long as it went on.

"Later." He said, the one word holding so much promise and anticipation, desire churned low in my belly. I nodded, even though I wanted to do anything but head back. Well not anything, just one particular thing.

Back at Jess' apartment, we found everything packed and ready for us to leave. Though, where we going? We couldn't possibly run forever. Stephen sat on the dining table chair, his legs propped up on the table, crossed at his ankles. He had a knife in one hand and an apple in the other. The knife was a flash as he cut the apple up, popping the pieces into his mouth.

Jeez, did the guy really have an appetite right now?! We were attacked barely an hour ago. Oh damn, so much had happened in an hour. So, I suppose he wasn't the only one with a weird priority list.

Jessica sat on the sofa; her eyes locked on Stephen. He didn't seem to really care. He looked up as we entered and rolled his eyes.

"Finally! You guys took an awful lot of time." I felt my ears turn warm as blood rushed through me. Stephen narrowed his eyes. I noticed through the corner of my eyes, a smile ghost at James' lips. But it was gone before I was sure I'd seen it.

"We needed to patch my wounds up." James answered. Jess' eyebrows lifted at the we.

James deposited the bag of cash on the table. Stephen whistled appreciatively.

"From where'd you get that?" He asked.

"You don't tell us anything. I'm not obliged to tell you anything." I'd never heard James talk like that. It seemed like he really didn't want to talk about that. Or maybe it's just because Stephen was here.

"Oh fine. Be like that." Stephen rolled his eyes. Stephen jumped up and slung like five bags easily over his back. His biceps were so large, I wouldn't have been able to wrap my hands around it. James narrowed his eyes at him, a hint of fury entering his face. Stephen smirked at him and strutted out of the house.

Wait, wait, wait. What was happening here?

James bent to lift some bags. "Nuh uh. You're not lifting anything." I scolded him.

He frowned at me. I stood my ground, glaring defiantly at him. Finally, he sighed and walked out the door. I lifted one of the few bags left and almost toppled over under its weight. Almost.

Jess showed up beside me and cursed under her breath.

"Bloody show-off." She was seething. And the stubborn bag at her feet didn't help her cursing situation a single bit. "Fucking pigheaded bitch is what he is." She started cursing him so much, half of it didn't even make sense.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down there, gal." I told her, placing my arms on either of her shoulders. She took a deep breath and visibly calmed down. Jess was like this, every little thing started to agitate her.

"What happened?" I asked her a moment later.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. She scrutinized me, examining my face. Huh? What was going on with everyone? Did I have something on me?

"Oh God, you are so dense." She knocked at the side of my head. "Hello? Anyone there?" She called out.

I swatted her hand away. "Shut up and tell me, Jess. We don't have time for this, we have to leave."

"Yeah. We have to get these bags down." She told, lugging the bag down the stairs. I followed after her, shaking my head.

We arrived down just in time to see a beautiful sleek black car pull up. The driver got out, he was wearing a faded jeans and a colorful tee. The tee and his face were completely conflicting. His shirt was vibrant and lively. His face was deadpan and radiated some sort of hidden malice. Focusing a little on the car behind him, I noticed it was a Cadillac Escalade. Yeesh, those cost a lot.

The man tossed the keys to Stephen.

"We're even after this. Don't contact me. Ever." He took off down the street, and he was gone.

"That's our ride." Stephen beamed, despite the serious one-sided conversation that had just taken place.

We loaded the bags into the car, which seemed luxuriously spacious. Or lemme put it like this—Luxurious and spacious. The insides were covered with white leather, each seat was separated with armrests and bottle or glass holders.

Well at least this ride was going to be comfortable. Physically.

"All right people! Get in!" Stephen ordered. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

"Where are we going?" Jess asked.

"Somewhere where we can discuss where we can go." Stephen snapped back.

"Not planned well, have you?" Jess muttered. Stephen ignored her.

Jess climbed into the last seat at the back. I climbed into the middle. Surprisingly, James climbed in to the seat beside me. I thought he'd sit front. Him being here was not expected, not all unwelcome though.

"Wait!" Jess cried. "I need to get the house keys before we leave."

"Jesus Christ!" Stephen roared. "Do you have no sense of self-preservation? Come back fast!"

Jess dragged me along too. As soon as were inside, she immediately grabbed the keys. Then she turned to me.

"God, how dense are you?!" She cried.

"Is that what this is about?" I asked her, incredulous.

"Yes, it is! If you don't realize, we are going to have a fight break out."

"What do you mean, Jess?" I asked her impatiently. "Just tell me already!"

"Don't you see James likes you?" She asked. I snorted.

"Of course, I know he likes me."

"Oh, thank God. What about Stephen?"

"Stephen doesn't like me." I was repelled by the thought.

"God, you're stupid." She shook her head. "Why do you think he came here? For me? To help his ol' buddy James out?" I saw what she was getting at. And what she was getting at terrified and confused me at the same time.

"He came back for you, you idiot! He likes you. Damn, I don't even know how much." She exclaimed. "So much he'd just murder a bunch of men."

I stared at her, wide eyed. "So, if you don't set things right. We're gonna have a fight break out between them." She continued.

An image of Stephen and James fighting flashed across my mind. A well built and buff Stephen against a lean and muscular James. 

Oh damn. This makes things reaallyy complicated. Much more than it already was.