They arrived at the door of their luxury suite a few minutes later. As Travis swiped the key card and pushed the heavy mahogany door open, Jillyanna's fingers tightened into a white-knuckled grip around the strap of her handbag.
The suite was sprawling and meticulously appointed, featuring upscale furniture, an expansive LED television with premium cable channels, and a well-stocked mini-fridge glinting in the ambient light. But dominating the center of the room was a massive, pristine king-sized bed.
"Here we are," Travis murmured from right behind her, his deep voice startling her out of her thoughts and sending her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.
'I was so incredibly brave downstairs, but now I want to turn around and run!' she panicked internally, silently cursing her own reckless impulsivity. Yet, her stubborn pride fiercely anchored her to the floor; she would absolutely never give him the satisfaction of laughing at her nerves. She had to see this through to the very end. Hopefully, her carefully calculated plan would actually yield the results she wanted.
"I'll take a shower first," Travis said smoothly, heading straight into the master bathroom and leaving her standing completely alone in the center of the room.
Jillyanna exhaled a shaky breath, setting her bag down on the velvet couch. She marched over to the mini-fridge, pulled out a chilled beer, and cracked it open. She desperately needed a dose of liquid courage to steady her wavering confidence. She was a naturally self-assured woman in every other aspect of her life, but navigating this uncharted territory was entirely different.
"He is absolutely worth it," she whispered to the empty room, taking a long sip. "He matches every single one of my strict qualifications perfectly. I wonder what he looks like when he completely loses control..." Lost in a hazy, intoxicating daydream of what was to come, she let her guard slip.
Suddenly, Travis's voice cut through the sound of running water from the bathroom. "Yanna? Sorry, but I forgot to grab a fresh towel from the linen closet out there. Can you bring one to the door for me?"
Still caught in her daze and not thinking straight, Jillyanna pulled a plush white towel from the hallway cupboard and walked up to the bathroom entrance.
"Open the door just a crack," she called out, her heart fluttering. "I'll slide it through to you." She took a slow, deep breath to steady her nerves—but before she could even exhale, the door swung wide. A pair of strong, unyielding arms wrapped securely around her waist and forcefully yanked her inside.
Travis pinned her wrists directly above her head against the cool tiled wall. He was already wearing a luxurious white bathrobe, loosely tied. "What exactly were you thinking, hmm?" His dark eyes danced with unadulterated mischief as his gaze raked hotly over her from head to toe. "Did you honestly think a suite of this caliber wouldn't already be fully stocked with towels?"
Jillyanna glanced around the space, her cheeks burning as she realized the sheer scale of the bathroom. It was massive, featuring an opulent freestanding soaking tub, and right next to it sat an open cupboard stacked with an abundance of fresh linens and rolled bathrobes.
'How was I supposed to know? I hadn't even stepped foot in here yet!' she scolded herself mentally.
Travis leaned in closer, his intense gaze tracing every line of her face—mapping the curve of her lips, the slope of her nose, and the arch of her brows before locking onto her eyes. There was a fierce, beautifully stubborn light in her gaze that felt profoundly, intoxicatingly familiar to him.
"I'm getting cold," Jillyanna whispered softly, an involuntary shiver running through her body beneath his towering frame.
"Then let me keep you warm."
Before the words could fully register in her mind, his lips descended upon hers. The initial touch was as light as a feather—cool, tentative, yet sending a rush of molten heat straight to her face. But the gentle hesitation didn't last long. Travis became possessive, his lips parting hers as he softly nibbled her lower lip before his tongue slid smoothly into her mouth. He tasted her deeply, dominant and slow, stealing the breath from her lungs until her knees threatened to give way completely.
Sensing her yielding, he guided her trembling hands up and wrapped them securely around his neck for support. One of his large hands anchored her firmly by the waist, while his other hand traced a slow, burning path up the exposed skin of her thigh.
A soft, breathless moan escaped Jillyanna's throat at the overwhelming rush of sensation. 'So this is what it actually feels like to be kissed,' she thought, her mind turning to beautiful chaos. 'It's making me ache for something so much more.'
With practiced, deliberate movements, Travis unclasped the sleek metallic ring collar at her neck and slid the fiery red dress down her body, leaving her in nothing but her delicate undergarments. Because the gown was already padded, pulling it down completely exposed the swell of her chest to his burning gaze.
Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of vulnerability, Jillyanna abruptly buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck to hide herself from his view. Her chest pressed flush against his warm body. "Don't look at me like that. This is actually incredibly embarrassing," she mumbled, her face completely crimson.
Travis wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her steady against him as she trembled softly in his embrace.
"You know we can always stop right now," Travis offered gently, his voice thick with restraint.
She immediately snapped her head up, shooting him a fiercely defiant glare despite her racing pulse. "I've already come this far to claim my prize. Don't you dare spoil it now."
A dark, dangerous smile spread across Travis's lips. "If that's the case..."
With effortless strength, Travis scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom. Jillyanna instinctively wrapped her legs securely around his waist. He kissed his way down her jaw, tracing the elegant line of her neck, her collarbone, and her bare shoulder before capturing her lips once more.
He didn't lay her down on the mattress right away; instead, he sat on the edge of the bed with her draped across his lap. His hands traveled over her skin, mapping every curve, before his palm gently cupped the fullness of her breast.
"I never imagined... that it could feel this incredible," Jillyanna breathless murmured, her head tilting back as his lips left her mouth to trail a burning path down to her chest.
"This... isn't even... the actual act yet, baby," Travis rasped between desperate, bruising kisses. He pressed a tender kiss against the soft slope of her breast before capturing her sensitive peak, drawing a sharp, undone gasp from her lips.
"God! Travis, it's too much!" Jillyanna cried out, entirely unable to contain her moans any longer.
"Let me hear you say my name again," he commanded softly, gently laying her down onto the soft sheets without breaking the intoxicating heat of their connection.
That night, under the sprawling canopy of the city's neon lights, one luxury hotel became a sanctuary of unbridled passion, while another just streets away transformed into a volatile tactical battleground.
Travis held up his end of their silent bargain flawlessly. He worshiped her body with an intensity that left Jillyanna completely breathless, her muscles trembling with a beautiful, deep-seated exhaustion. After several intense, blinding rounds, she lay completely spent, unable to move a single inch.
Though the hotel had provided standard protection, Jillyanna had fiercely insisted against using it, whispering a quiet reassurance that her timeline was perfectly safe. In truth, even if it wasn't, Travis realized with an overwhelming wave of certainty that he would willingly welcome her as the mother of his children.
With quiet tenderness, he used a warm, damp cloth to gently clean her skin before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest as they drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Meanwhile, across town, Cielo and Lucian were far too consumed by anxiety to even consider resting. The initial plan to book a separate room for themselves had been completely discarded out of pure restlessness. Instead, they spent the grueling hours pacing the surrounding blocks, grabbing late-night coffee, and talking in circles as they watched the clock slowly tick closer to dawn.
Over at the grand hotel, however, absolute chaos had just erupted. Fortunately, the vast majority of the high-society gala guests had already departed since it was well past midnight.
Sudein Blaze was still heavily entrenched in the VIP lounge, flanked by a dense perimeter of stone-faced personal bodyguards that prevented any standard approach. Seeing the bottleneck, Savannah stepped forward, smoothing down her sleek, backless black dress and utilizing her long, killer legs to command the room.
"Excuse me, handsome," Savannah purred, sashaying directly up to Blaze, intentionally shifting her posture to accentuate her low-cut neckline. "Do you happen to have a light?"
From his perimeter position, Hawk maintained a flawlessly detached poker face, though internally, he wanted nothing more than to gouge the trafficking kingpin's eyes out for the way he was staring at her.
"Find a light for the young lady," Blaze ordered his men, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face as his eyes raked over her cleavage. "I don't carry one on me."
Savannah smiled delightfully, closing the distance with practiced ease and dropping onto his lap.
What happened in the next fraction of a second was a masterclass in lethal synchronization. It unfolded so rapidly that not a single soul in the room had time to process the threat.
Thwip! Thwip!
Hawk fired two suppressed, highly precise shots, instantly neutralizing the two primary bodyguards before they could even reach for their holsters. Simultaneously, two elite military operatives disguised as banquet waiters broke formation, flanking the remaining security detail with lethal efficiency.
"Drop your weapons! We have your principal's life in our hands!" Hawk's commanding voice boomed through the high-ceilinged hall, forcing the entire room to lock eyes on the center couch.
The stunning woman who had been radiating charm a second prior now held a razor-sharp tactical dagger pressed firmly against Blaze's carotid artery. At the exact same moment, a solid, unblinking crimson laser dot from Valkyrie's sniper rifle painted the exact center of the kingpin's forehead.
The entire ballroom froze into a suffocating, dead silence. No one dared to blink.
Within moments, the General commanding the tactical operation strode into the room. He expertly slapped heavy steel handcuffs onto Blaze's wrists and secured a thick black hood over his head.
"Mission accomplished," General Calhoun announced firmly, turning a stern eye toward his troops. "Secure the perimeter and round up every single individual associated with this syndicate." He then turned toward Hawk and Savannah, offering a respectful nod. "Exceptional work from your unit tonight."
Hawk and Savannah offered a crisp, professional military salute before turning on their heels, vanishing into the shadows of the exit.
As they walked back toward the waiting SUV, Savannah adjusted her earpiece and looked over at Hawk. "Now, I can't help but wonder how Travis is holding up. Who do you think actually managed to hook up with him tonight? You don't think he was slipped a roofie or something, do you?"
"Not a chance," Hawk replied smoothly, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "If I had to guess, the woman who caught his attention tonight is someone he already knows."
It was an incredibly accurate intuition—though even Hawk couldn't possibly fathom just how deeply the pieces of the puzzle had already locked into place.