WALLS THAT WHISPER YOUR NAME
1376 Words
CHAPTER THREE
“Wow”, she said ... approaching the Hamptons estate which is at the end of a long road ... .Elena loves the view….
Tree-lined drive like something out of a dream Elena had never dared to have. White clapboard against grey sky, wide windows reflecting the ocean, the kind of house that looked too perfect to be real. The SUV rolled to a stop in the circular driveway. Jax stepped out first, scanning the perimeter…. the way he always did, eyes sweeping left to right, hand resting near his hip.
Elena followed….The air smelled like salt and pine.
Wind tugged at her hair. She pulled her coat tighter.
“Welcome home,” Jax said dryly.
She almost smiled. “Feels more like a fortress.”
“That’s the idea,"Jax replied
The front door opened before they reached it. A woman in her fifties…short silver hair, sharp eyes, production manager clipboard in hand... She stepped out.
“Ms Voss, Mr. Harlan…Everything is set. The crew will arrive tomorrow morning. The security sweep finished an hour ago.”
Jax nodded once. “Perimeter?”
“Cameras active, motion sensors on the dunes, gate locked. You are the only ones here tonight.
Elena glanced at him. “Just us?”
The woman gave a small shrug. “Director’s orders… Quiet before the storm.”
Jax thanked her. She disappeared inside, leaving them on the porch.
He picked up her bag without asking. “After you.”
Inside, the house opened into wide, light-filled spaces. Hardwood floors, cream walls, furniture that looked expensive and untouched. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the Atlantic like a painting. The ocean rolled in slow, restless waves.
Jax set her bag at the foot of the staircase….The guest sleeps down the hall. Pick whichever.”
Elena looked up the wide staircase. “You’re not sleeping on the couch again.” Are you?
“I’ll take the guest room,” he replied
She turned to him….There’s one bedroom with a lock, the rest are open-plan. You’re the one who said better sightlines.”
His jaw ticked. “I’ll manage.”
She didn’t argue. She was too tired and the house felt too big and too quiet all at once.
She climbed the stairs. The master suite took up the entire second floor…..a king bed with crisp white linens, a sitting area by the window, a bathroom bigger than her first apartment. She dropped her bag on the bench at the foot of the bed and walked to the glass.
The view stretched forever. Grey water, grey sky, no horizon line. Just endless.
She heard footsteps behind her.
Jax stood in the doorway, arms crossed. “You good?”
She didn’t turn. “Definitely.”
He stepped inside. Closed the door softly. The sound of the jammed door sounds louder than it should have.
She finally looked at him. “You think Victoria did it? The photo?”
Possibly… She has access, motive, means….he replied
Elena wrapped her arms around herself. “She hates me that much?”
“She doesn’t hate you…she hates losing control.”
Elena studied his face. The scar caught the dim light from the window. She crossed the room, stopped a foot away.
“Tell me about her.”
Jax exhaled through his nose. “We met in the service. She was intel, smart and driven….we got married fast and divorced faster. She wanted structure but I wanted out.”
“And now she’s watching us.”
“Not us. Me.”
Elena stepped closer. “She thinks I’m taking you away.”
He didn’t move. “She thinks I’m letting you.”
The space between them shrank without either of them stepping forward. Elena could feel the heat coming off him, the faint scent of cedar and salt air.
She lifted her hand slowly. Fingertips brushed the scar on his temple.
He didn’t flinch.
“How did this happen?” she asked again, softer this time.
“During training the knife slipped. I was twenty-two...thought I was invincible.”
Her thumb traced the curve. “You still think that?”
“No,” he replied
Her hand slid down to his jaw. Rough stubble under her palm. His eyes darkened.
“Elena,” he said…
She rose on her toes…pressed her mouth to his.
He froze for half a heartbeat.
Then his hands came up…one cupping the back of her neck, the other sliding to her waist and he kissed her back like he’d been waiting years for permission.
It wasn’t gentle.
It was hungry and desperate… like every rule he’d ever followed had just snapped in half.
She opened for him. Tasted coffee and salt and something darker, something that felt like surrender. His fingers tightened in her hair, tilting her head so he could go deeper. She made a small sound against his mouth…half moan, half relief and he answered with a low growl that vibrated through her.
They stumbled back. Her spine hit the wall beside the window…cool glass against her back, his heat everywhere else.
His hand slid under her sweater, palm flat against her stomach. Skin to skin. She arched into it.
“Jax…”
He pulled back just enough to look at her….“We shouldn’t.”She said
“I know.”
Neither moved.
She reached for his shirt, tugged it up and he helped her pull it over his head. Scars everywhere….thin lines across his ribs, a puckered one near his collarbone.
She traced them with her fingertips. He shivered.
“Your turn,” he murmured.
She let him peel the sweater off her. Then the bra. Cold air hit her skin. His eyes dropped, dark and reverent.
He bent, mouth finding the curve of her neck, then lower. She gasped when his lips closed over her n****e, tongue flicking slow circles.
Her hands went to his belt but fumbled. He helped…Jeans hit the floor…Boxers followed.
He lifted her like she weighed nothing. Legs wrapped around his waist. Back still against the wall.
He paused there, forehead to hers. Breathing hard.
“Tell me to stop.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare.”
He entered her in one slow, deep thrust.
They both groaned.
He stilled, letting her adjust. Then he moved…slow at first, deliberate, every slide pulling a new sound from her throat. She clung to his shoulders, nails digging in.
His mouth found hers again, swallowing her gasps.
The rhythm built, faster and harder. The window rattled faintly behind her.
She felt it building low in her belly, tight and bright.
“Jax….” he moaned
“I’ve got you,” he rasped and “Let go.”
She did.
The release hit her like a wave…sharp, blinding and endless. She cried out against his mouth. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep, shuddering through it with a low, broken sound that sounded like her name.
They stayed like that for long minutes. Foreheads pressed. Breathing synced. The ocean rolling outside like nothing had changed.
Everything had.
He carried her to the bed. Laid her down gently. Pulled the covers over them both. Wrapped an arm around her waist, her back to his chest.
She laced her fingers through his.
“Regrets?” she whispered.
“None.”
She turned in his arms. Kissed him softly this time.
Slow. Sweet.
“Me either.”
Outside, the wind picked up. The house creaked.
Somewhere in the dark, a camera blinked red.
But neither of them saw it...
Elena drifted toward sleep, Jax’s heartbeat steady against her back.
Then…soft, almost inaudible, and single word drifted through the room.
Not from the wind.
Not from the ocean.
But from inside the walls.
“Elena…”
Her eyes snapped open.
Jax’s arm tightened around her instantly…he’d heard it too.
The voice came again, low and intimate, like a lover whispering against her ear.
“Sweet dreams, darling.”
A faint click.
The red light on the hidden camera flared brighter for one heartbeat and went blank.
The house lights followed.
Total darkness.
Then Jax’s voice, deadly calm in her ear…
“Stay exactly where you are.”
A floorboard creaked directly beneath the bed.
Someone was already inside the room.
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