by R K Knightly
"Beta Carter, at your service," Carter said with a nod once Jeremiah stepped away. "But you can just call me Carter. I'm not much on titles."
"I'd like to see the hospital ward and clinic first, if you don't mind, Carter," Conley said, all business. "I hear you have made many improvements since I've stepped down as Alpha of Plumbrook."
"Indeed," Carter said as he started to walk away from the Alpha's home and toward the center of the community. Caleb, Conley’s silent shadow, followed. "We've gotten two more doctors, young ones, that you might be interesting in speaking with."
"Oh?" Conley's brows rose in interest.
"Yes," Carter agreed. "Dr. Elia Bailey and Dr. Chase Kincaid." He said the words heavily, with meaning.
"How interesting," Conley said slowly. "I know a few Kincaids. Perhaps it would be wise to visit with the family for a spell as well."
"And perhaps you could also tell me how Giselle fares at Plumbrook," Carter said, his voice but a whisper. "This is hush-hush, but I was the one to help her flee from Jeremiah."
"I know," Conley told him, equally as quiet. "She told me you were one of the good ones, though that you went against your Alpha is a bit of a shock."
"He was killing her slowly, Elder," Carter said. "She wouldn't have lasted much longer here. Jeremiah, no matter how he acts, would never have marked and mated with her. She was a plaything to him at the time, nothing more."
"And now?" Conley asked, his brow raising again.
"He – the man claims the same, but acts in utter contrast to that. He's...it's like he's become unhinged," Carter admitted. "He doesn't wish for anyone – not even me – to know he is in love with her."
"In love? A poor way of showing his affection for his female," Conley scoffed under his breath.
"I agree," Carter said. "It's why I helped her escape. She...he...it's so fucked up, pardon my French. The whole damned situation riles me up. We are meant to care for our women, not treat them like debris. Does...well, your son – is he being good to her?"
"Exceptionally good from what I am gathering," Conley said. They were almost at the clinic. "He lost his true mate a few years back, as you know. I honestly didn't think he would pick another to – well, to replace her, for lack of a better term."
Carter nodded.
"Good. I'm glad I helped then," he said. "But Jeremiah...he's not going to give up until he gets the girl or one of the two of them winds up dead. He's obsessed with getting her back no matter the cost."
"Surely there can’t be much of a pull left towards her now after she's been marked and mated," Conley said.
Carter shook his head.
"It's more of a principal thing with Jeremiah. He saw her first, so she is his. She'll always be his in some way. He just takes it to unnecessary extremes."
"I – I saw the initials carved into her back," Conley said, his voice sounding equal parts irate and sorrowful. "It's treacherous. The girl's not fucking cattle to be branded and hoarded."
Carter couldn't help but smile sadly in agreement.
"I couldn't agree more, Sir."
Carter then ushered him into the clinic for a cursory look at the place.
∞∞∞
"Mr. Kincaid, I'd like you to meet Elder Stark of The Council." Carter made introductions to a startled Roger Kincaid.
Conley stepped forward with his hand out to shake.
"Mr. Kincaid, I would first like to point out, the pleasure is all mine," Conley said. "And that I come bearing news of your youngest daughter, Giselle. Here."
He produced Elle’s small note. A small business card-shaped piece of folded, college-ruled paper was in his hands, and he dropped it into Roger's outstretched fingers. The man opened it and read the first few sentences before gasping.
"Mary!" Roger called out to his wife.
"Rog? What is it?" a voice called from the second floor of the home.
An older version of Elle came down the steps hurriedly, her tiny frame billowing in a long-sleeve t-shirt, chucks, and jeans.
"Look at this!" the man said, and they both leaned in to read the letter.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I wish I could tell you more than that I am safe where I am. I needed to leave Blackriver for reasons I will tell you at a later date. But be assured I am being cared for, and the man who gave you this note has seen this for himself.
I know it will drive you to distraction to know I am somewhere out there in a place unknown to you, but it was for my safety that I left. That's all I can really tell you. I have found someone else. A second chance, if you will. If you can, please give the man who brought you my letter your phone numbers. It may not be safe to call and my old phone was left at Jeremiah's. I will leave my phone number at the bottom of the page but I will probably not answer unless I have your numbers first. I can't risk it.
Please don't ask Elder Stark any more about me. If I think it's safe, I will tell you myself.
Love,
Giselle
(315) 267-8842
"It...it's her handwriting," Mary Ellen said, her voice almost awed and sounding a touch watery.
"And it...it sounds like her as well," Roger agreed. He looked up at Conley. "How do you know my daughter and when did you meet?"
"I'm afraid answering those questions would be unwise at the moment," Conley told him in a serious tone. "If things right themselves, then before long you will have all the answers you need. But not a moment before. Your safety and the safety of your daughter depends upon it. Just trust me."
"This reeks of Jeremiah's hand in it," Roger snarled. "He's behind our daughter going missing, isn't he?"
"As I said, there is much I cannot discuss, and that is one of those things, but I promise you she is well cared for and happy where she is," Conley told her father.
"I...I hadn't seen her for a while before she left," Roger said, the dark, purple bruises under his eyes as plain as day. "And when we wanted to see her, we were always pushed back by either Jeremiah or his Beta."
"Just doing what my Alpha commanded of me," Carter said from his spot in the corner of the Kincaid's small home. Caleb was standing mute next to him, eyes everywhere.
"He is also your friend," Roger said to him, almost sternly. "Surely you could have spoken with him, gotten him to let us see our daughter."
"It wouldn't have been allowed," Carter said. "Just take what Elder Stark has given you. Respond to her if you will."
"Of course," Roger said and walked over to the kitchen to grab some scrap paper and a pen from the small drawer to the left of the microwave. He wrote for a moment, scribbling a few words to his youngest child, and handed it over to the Elder. "Tell her to call us. Any time, even if it's 3 AM. We want to speak with her badly."
"You have my word that I will give this to her," Conley said as he nodded and tucked the note in an inside jacket pocket where it couldn't fly free or fall out. "Just wait for her to contact you and don't – whatever you do – don't make her feel bad for leaving. It was not her wish. It was a necessity."
∞∞∞
"Elle, angel, he'll be fine," Liam told her and pulled her to him on the couch.
"But what if he's not? What if Jerem-"
"He'll be fine," Liam reiterated firmly. "I sent Caleb with him as a precaution and the old man's smoother than blown glass with his words when he wants to be. Makes me sound like an awkward, bumbling fool sometimes, but – well, don't tell him I said that. He'll never let me live it down."
Elle sighed and continued to worry. Liam pulled her onto his lap so that she straddled him and kissed her lips.
"Do I have to thoroughly distract you in order to get you to stop fretting?" he asked. Elle rolled her eyes at him.
"Distract me, or distract you?"
"Why can’t it be both?" Liam grinned.
"And maybe I can worry and be distracted at the same time," she told him, countering his argument.
"Not if I'm doing it right," he told her. "I'll have you moaning my
name in minutes. Hard to have you thinking of my father’s safety when my cock is sliding balls deep into you and fucking you incoherent."
Elle leaned down and kissed him, her arms wrapping around his firm shoulders as she melted further into him.
"You make a good case," she told him. "But I'm still worried and nothing you can do can stop that from happening."
He studied her for a moment before smirking just slightly.
"Challenge accepted," he told her, and pulled her against his body until there wasn't an inch of space left between them.
He ground his pelvis against her.
"You..." Elle began.
"Already hard, baby," he spoke against her lips. "That's what you do to me and it's all for you, angel."
He unzipped his pants, took out his dick, and stroked it for her a few times.
"I..." She was speechless as she watched him.
"Unless you follow that with the words, “want your cock”, I'm not listening," Liam told her.
He pulled her long, bohemian style skirt up a bit and pushed aside the panel of her panties before he played with her slit, pulling moisture up to rub at her clit.
"God, I don't think I want to see you in anything but a skirt or dress after this," he told her as he circled her sensitive little bud slowly. "Such easy access when I want to have you panting and coming for me."
"Liam," she whined, her legs trembling.
"What, baby? You ready for my dick already?"
Fuck, she was wet. Already. Dripping. He was going to be soaked by her when he finally got inside.
Just how he liked it.
He moved her so her wet pussy was hovering over his dick, an inch or two from sliding right into her.
"Come on, baby," he murmured enticingly. "Ride my dick. I know you want to. Your pussy wouldn't be dripping for me like this if you didn't."
Inch by thick inch, she sat down on him until he was fully seated inside her, cock twitching. He pulled her head to his so he could kiss her lips and he circled his hips so she could feel him everywhere inside her.
"Oh yeah, that's it," Liam groaned out as he felt Elle clamp down around him. "Squeeze that cock, angel."
She lifted up slowly, churning her hips when she came back down.
"Fuck, yeah." His groans made her want to speed up, but she knew he needed slow at first. She did too.
"That's it. I'm making it a house rule for you to always wear something with easy access to your tight little cunt," he told her as his hips thrust upward to meet with hers. "Your pussy's too good...not to..." He trailed off as she sat down on him again.
Soon, she was being bounced on his lap and making these adorable soft mewls that had his dick wanting to spit.
"That's it, baby. Take it," he told her as he met her thrust for thrust. "Take this dick deep for me."
He circled his hips and felt her squeeze and get tighter around him. Though she was still mostly clothed, her tits bounced in time with their thrusts and Liam had to keep himself from leaning forward to bite at her nipples through her shirt.
"Well, shit!" a voice exclaimed. "Taking my advice on getting me some grandchildren quite seriously, aren't ya, son?"
Chapter 31
Elle squeaked and toppled off Liam's lap. Liam immediately grabbed a throw pillow from the couch he was seated on to cover his dick.
Too late.
His father nodded approvingly.
"Good to know the family gene for large cocks was passed down to you too, son," Conley told him and looked over to where Elle was hiding most of herself behind a throw pillow. "Mazeltov for taking that on, my dear."
Elle groaned into her pillow and tried to make herself as small as possible. If she had her way, she would just up and evaporate into thin air.
"Dad, for crying out loud-"
"What?" Conley asked. "It's not like I haven't seen a dick before and she's all covered up, which was wise since you decided to get intimate in the living room. It's not my fault you left your front door unlocked. How was I to know what I was walking into?"
Liam ran a frustrated hand through his hair and prayed to God his father left the room before he started plotting his murder. Patricide? Was that the word?
"I'll just be in the kitchen if you need me," Conley said. "Feel free to mosey on upstairs to, uhm, finish yourselves off and all that. I expect grandchildren immediately, and with what I've seen here, I'd expect them soon."
"Just kill me already," Elle mumbled into her pillow.
"Later," Liam said lightly. "I haven't come yet and neither have you."
Elle threw her pillow at him, tossed her hands up in the air, and walked up the stairs to their bedroom.
∞∞∞
"My father brought this back from Blackriver," Liam told Elle, who was lurking in the bathroom after taking a warm, yet unsatisfying, shower.
She grabbed the small piece of paper from him quickly and opened it up.
"He did it! He saw my parents!" She beamed at him and he returned the smile. "These are their cell phone numbers! Liam, I can call them now!"
"I know, angel, but remember to be careful," he warned. "Too much information could lead to someone getting seriously hurt. And when, not if, you do call, make sure it's at a time they're sure to be home or away from the rest of the pack. Dad said they've been missing you. He spoke to their Beta as well. Carter."
Elle immediately frowned.
"I hope they were cautious as to where they spoke," she said.
Elle. Forever worrying about everyone else.
"He said they were, and I believe him," Liam said. "My father wouldn't put a good guy like Carter in jeopardy. Not when he's the one that ultimately led you to me."
She jumped into his arms with a squeal and he stumbled back, startled at her sudden enthusiasm.
"Carter saved you, Elle," Liam told her. "My father and I will always be forever grateful to him." Especially me.
"And you saved me," she told him, tilting her head up to look him in the eyes. "You took me in when I had no place in this world, gave me a home, some security, your devotion. Those things are important as well and without them, I don't know what I would have done."
"Well," Liam said through a breath. "You saved me too. You gave me something that's mine again. Something to live for, to fight for." He paused. "And someone to love. I love you, Elle. I might have loved you the first time I met you, I don't know. But I know it now, and I never want you to ever doubt it."
He kissed her as her eyes widened at his words, pushing her up against the wall of the bathroom. Her legs squeezed around his hips as his tongue slipped into her mouth. The kiss started out slow and quickly grew feverish, needy. His stiff length pressed against her sex and the heat there mingled with hers.
They needed less clothing. Now.
Liam quickly unzipped his pants and pushed them down over his hips before pulling her dress up to her waist. He slid her panties to the side and pulled her body higher until the tip of his cock was pressing hard and ready against her slick entrance. He let her down onto him slowly as she sighed a moan into his mouth. His cock slipped further into her, inch by thick inch. Once she was seated, his lips unlocked from hers and he looked her in the eyes.
Fuck, he loved her. Loved the way she moaned for him, loved the way she worried. He even loved the way she had gotten so embarrassed in front of his father before. It was fucking adorable, the way her cheeks stained crimson at being caught in the act. Yes, it had been embarrassing for Liam as well, but his father also had walked in on his son masturbating before. There was nothing more mortifying than that, even if it had been ages ago when Liam was still a young teenager.
"Liam, I-"
He cut her off.
"Don't say it if you don't mean it, angel," he told her and pulled out, leaving only an inch of his dick encased in her. "My ego is strong enough to withstand it if you don't. It...it's better if you only say it if you mean it. I'm already there, but if you're not, understand that that
's okay."
She shook her head at him. "I do, though," she told him. "I do love you. I don't know if it's the bond or something else, but I love you, am in love with you. And thank you for saying it. I don't think I would ever have the guts to say it to you first."
He smiled down at her and gave a slow, steady stroke into her.
"I wanted to say it days ago but, shit happened," he told her. "Rogues, your stupid fucking alleged cousin. My father coming...I guess it – those weren't the right times. But I owed it to you to tell you how I felt. I want to say all the words to you, and I-"
"Liam," she interjected, her voice soft.
"What, angel?"
"Shut the fuck up and make love to me," she told him, her eyes rolling back while her lashes fluttered.
Liam could only smile.
"With pleasure."
∞∞∞
After Liam fucked her against the wall of the bathroom, in his bed, and over the desk in the corner – just for good measure – he realized he was starving. He looked at the clock and was astonished to see it was after 8 PM. He hoped his father knew how to cook grilled cheese or something. He didn't need his mother nagging at him that he wasn't feeding the old man.
Apparently, the inability to cook ran through the male Stark genes.
"Baby, are there any leftovers from last night still in the fridge?" he asked as he leaned over to kiss Elle on the cheek.
"Should be, unless your father ate it," she mumbled to him. "Does he like Chicken Parmesan?"
Fuck. His father loved it.
"Yeah, it's uh...one of his favorite dishes."
"I'll get up," she said, pulling herself upright from the bed and ready to cook him something fresh.
"Don't bother," Liam told her. "You're tired and I can make a sandwich. You want one?"
"Sure. Do we still have turkey?"
"Think so," Liam said. "Mayo, some lettuce and cheddar?"
She moaned.
His cock stirred.
"Sounds good," she said.
Fuck. Now he was hard again. Just from that cute little moan she gave.
He adjusted his hard length and walked out into the hallway, hoping his father was in his bedroom already.