by S Cinders
Outside of the vehicle was another matter, altogether.
“The police are on their way,” one man yelled, yanking his car door open.
The sleek black vehicle that had caused this terrible accident was nowhere to be found, but they hadn’t been as careful this time. Witnesses were on the scene, ready to report what’d happened. Sadly, nobody got the license number; however, the make and model of the car were at least something to go on.
Pedestrians raced to aid the victims, several calling out suggestions as to what should be done. One thing was certain as the smell of gasoline increased: it was only a matter of time before that car became a bomb.
A man with EMT training teamed up with a mother of four to help smash the front window open. More people were there to help cut them out of their seatbelts.
The EMT knew it was dangerous to move the victims. With head and neck injuries, the last thing they wanted to risk was spinal cord injury. However, if the car exploded, it wouldn’t matter either way.
The sound of sirens filled the air as fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars raced to the scene. As soon as the medical professionals could take over, the pedestrians moved back and allowed them to work.
“Are they going to make it?” the mother yelled out as the victims were each strapped to a gurney. Blood covered the woman’s face and was matted into her long, black hair. The man wasn’t any better, with his arm hanging at an awkward angle until they could strap it to his chest. With oxygen masks firmly secured, the rescue personnel began loading the victims into the ambulances.
“We will do our best, ma’am. Do you know who they are?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ve no idea who they are.”
13
Third Trimester: Night Sweats. You might think those are only reserved for menopausal women, but think again, my pregnant friend. We aren’t talking about merely being damp. Some women experience sheet-drenching, pajama-soaking night sweats. Never fear, there are some ways to help alleviate the symptoms. Stay hydrated, avoid heavy or restrictive clothing, sleep on a towel, and keep a clean sheet handy.
* * *
The closer they were getting to the baby coming, the more anxious Nate was becoming. He tried to hide it from Kim. He reasoned that Elliot hadn’t turned into a complete idiot before Charlotte was born, had he? No, and Nate wouldn’t either.
Tucking his latest parenting book into his briefcase, Nate opened the door to their apartment and called out to his wife.
“Kim? I’m home. Where are you?”
A muffled reply came back. “In here.”
Nate kicked his shoes off and loosened his tie. He was shrugging out of his suit coat when he got to their bedroom. What he saw there had him doing a double take.
Kim was naked as the day she was born, with a large fan pointed in her direction.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he whooped and started tearing at his clothes to remove them.
“No!” Kim cried out. “Whatever you do, don’t touch me! I’m so hot I think I’m going to die.”
Nate’s face fell along with his slacks onto the bedroom floor. “I should’ve known I would end up in Hell.”
Kim gave him “the look” which caused Nate to laugh.
“What?” he exclaimed. “Can you blame me? I came home to find my incredibly hot wife—”
“Your incredibly pregnant wife,” she interjected.
“Fine,” he conceded. “My incredibly pregnant wife, who is hot as sin, naked as a jaybird, and I can’t touch her.”
Kim’s nose wrinkled as she replied, “I am sweating like a stuck pig.”
“Pigs don’t sweat,” Nate countered.
“I might have to kill you,” she muttered.
Nate laughed and continued to remove the rest of his clothes. “You know it’s premeditated murder if you think about it before and tell someone you’re going to do it.”
Kim shrugged, her breasts bouncing and causing Nate to lose focus for a minute. “What do I care? You’ll be dead, and if you aren’t, you’re my lawyer. That’s what we like to call a win-win.”
Rolling his eyes, and finally naked himself, Nate grabbed one of Kim’s ankles and began to pull her toward him.
“No, you crazy person!” she half-laughed, half-cried. “I am so hot.”
Nate smirked at her. “That’s a point I am not going to argue. However, you are also in need of someone to help cool you down.”
“You never cool things down,” Kim said, a smile beginning to appear on her tired face.
“You’re not wrong,” he agreed. “But today is your lucky day.”
Kim squealed as Nate yanked her the rest of the way into his arms and laughed as he carried her into their bathroom. Flipping on the shower, Nate thanked his lucky stars that he’d not skimped on the bathroom remodel. With a myriad of shower heads coming from all kinds of angles, the shower was something of an experience rather than just a typical hygienic tool.
Putting the water to lukewarm, he placed Kim inside and grabbed two fluffy towels for when they were finished.
“Oh,” Kim sighed and turned to grin at him. The water had plastered her hair to the side of her face and rivulets of water sluiced down her body. She’d never looked more stunning to him. “This is perfect.”
Nate stepped inside the shower, enclosing them in the luxurious space. Then he grabbed a fluffy washcloth and squirted on a generous amount of her favorite scented bodywash. Kim stuck her hand out to take the washcloth, but Nate shook his head.
“I’ve got this,” he said huskily.
Kim’s arm dropped as she bit down on her bottom lip and her eyes dilated, becoming a deeper shade of blue. Nate was already hard, seeing her lying there naked had taken care of that. But this was an image that he would not soon forget.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said hoarsely, bringing the cloth up to wash her back. He was careful, making sure the soap covered every inch of her body. As the suds cascaded across her ass, Nate leaned against her and kissed her forehead.
“I think this will be my fantasy material for years to come.”
Kim smiled up at him. “You don’t need fantasy material when you have the real thing.”
Nate leaned down and kissed her, loving the way that she immediately melted against him. Her mouth tasted of cherries—her latest pregnancy craving—and sin. Pure unadulterated sin.
Kim mewled low in her throat, the sound driving Nate half out of his mind. He was trying to help cool her down, but she’d been right when she mentioned he was better at heating things up. He needed to take his time.
Slowly breaking the kiss, Nate put more soap on the washcloth and began to soap her ripe breasts. Kim hissed as he gently rubbed her nipples, the washcloth tenderly abrading the pink flesh until it puckered up like a tiny rose.
Unable to help himself, Nate leaned down and lifted one breast to his mouth. Kim cried out as he suckled, licked, and teased her flesh. Moving to the other breast he continued his onslaught until Kim was panting.
“I need you,” she whispered helplessly as she clutched his shoulders.
Nate sank to his knees, not caring that the water was attacking from all angles. He helped Kim settle onto the shower bench seat and maneuvered her to the edge. Then, parting her legs, he took a good look at her pink pussy. It was wet, not just from the shower, but from her desire. Her pussy lips were swollen with need and matched the wild look of lust and abandon in her eyes.
“What do you want me to do?” he challenged.
“You had better come fuck me with that tongue of yours, Nate. Do not mess with me. I am hormonal, and you started this.”
He would have laughed if he hadn't been so damn horny. As it was, Nate did precisely what he was told. Parting her pussy lips, he licked her core, loving the way she tasted, the way she sank into his touch.
Her hands shot into his hair, and she slid a little more, opening herself to the fullest. This was how he wanted her: open, needy, with
his name on her lips.
He dove in again, licking and tasting her, kissing her pussy, and then eating her out. He knew just what she needed, and he would give it to her.
Sliding a finger inside her channel, he began to finger fuck her while using his tongue to alternate flicking and sucking on her clit. He knew the signs: the way her breathing would hitch, her thighs would tighten, and her hands would do their best to smoother him against her sex.
It was a dance he was familiar with and yet it seduced him every single time. Ignoring his throbbing cock, Nate continued his onslaught until he felt it: her body convulsing beneath his mouth and the taste of her desire coating his lips.
“Still sad that you didn’t kill me?” he teased.
“You’re such a tease,” she laughed, slumping against the tile.
“Now, it’s my turn,” he said, scooping her up into his arms. “Come on, Mrs. Livingston; your shower is over.”
Nate’s cell phone rang from the pocket of his slacks on the floor.
“Just ignore it,” Nate said, snatching up the towel and starting to dry Kim off.
But when it began to ring again, Kim frowned and said, “Maybe it’s important.”
Nate gestured to his raging hard-on. “This is important!”
Kim’s lips twitched. “Of course, what was I thinking?”
The phone began to ring again and with an angry huff, Nate marched over to his pants, not caring that he was dripping water all over the floor.
“Elliot?” he snapped. “This had better be good.”
14
Dr. Jarvis exited surgery and headed down to the emergency room nurse station to check in. “Were you able to find any family for Mr. Tabor and Ms. Vauban?”
Alexis, head nurse, nodded and said, “Sort of. We attempted to contact Ms. Vauban’s uncle, but he seems to be unavailable. However, I was able to reach someone who put me in touch with her lawyer.”
Dr. Jarvis winced. “Surely she’s got somebody out there. What about Mr. Tabor?”
“He has a sister coming in from Ohio. She should be here in the next few hours. Mr. Tabor just happens to be Special Agent Scott Tabor in the FBI’s White Collar Unit. His handler’s already here and swearing up a storm in the ER waiting room. Apparently, he’s the one who connected Ms. Vauban with Elliot Brand, and from there they found her lawyer.
Dr Jarvis’s brows shot up. “Elliot Brand, of Brand Enterprises? I wonder what the connection is.”
Alexis merely shrugged. “Not sure, but he’s waiting out there to talk to you.”
Dr. Jarvis nodded and took a deep breath. Only a few years out of medical school, he was struggling to make a name for himself and somehow move out from under the mountain of student loans that threatened to swallow him whole.
It was far more common to deal with a junkie or bullet wound than it was to be speaking with one of the richest men in the country. However, Dr. Jarvis had found that most people, no matter what their walk of life was, tended to act the same in an emergency.
And because of that, he pushed everything else aside and walked into the waiting room.
Nate and Kim strode into the emergency room no more than twenty minutes after Elliot’s phone call. Apparently, Agent Tabor had Elliot’s business card in his wallet from when they’d spent time at the gym. It seemed a lifetime ago in some ways, and nothing like the handful of hours it truly was.
The minute Elliot and Mandy spotted them; they were up on their feet walking toward them.
“Have you heard anything?” Kim asked, taking Mandy’s cold hands in her own.
Mandy nodded, but it was Elliot who replied, “The doctor was just out here. He said they were able to do a procedure to stop the bleeding from the injury on Alyssa’s head. There doesn’t appear to be a brain bleed; however, time will tell. For now, they have her stable and resting in the ICU. Once the swelling goes down, they’ll have a far better picture.”
“What about Scott?” Nate asked.
“He was very lucky,” Mandy answered. “Besides some bumps and bruises, he’ll make a full recovery. They got ahold of his sister and she’s coming in from Ohio. Some agents from the FBI are with him right now.”
She trailed off a little uncertainly.
“What is it?” Kim urged. “What are you not saying?”
Mandy bit her lip. “I could have misunderstood what the agents were saying to each other.”
Scott glanced from her to Nate and Kim. “I didn’t hear anything, but Mandy thinks the other agents were insinuating that this wasn’t an accident.”
“That’s because it wasn’t,” a muscular black man of nearly six-and-a-half feet replied. They all looked up, and then up again. His frame was massive, yet he moved gracefully, like an athlete. In what had to be a practiced move he’d made hundreds of times, he pulled out his badge saying, “Deputy Director Tyrone Stephens with the FBI White Collar Unit. We have witnesses informing us of a black vehicle that, after repeated attempts to run Agent Tabor off the road, finally succeeded in causing the car to crash. Unfortunately, they didn’t get a license plate number.”
“Damn it,” Nate muttered, causing Tyrone's gaze to lock on him.
“Mr. Livingston, you are just the man I’d like to see. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have you come back to headquarters with me. Ms. Vauban is still unconscious in the ICU, but Agent Tabor has given me his report.”
Nate looked down at Kim with a pained expression, but before he could say anything Kim was saying, “You go ahead, Mandy and Elliot will make sure I get home safely. Just find the bastards that did this to them.”
For the first time Tyrone smiled. It was a little startling how handsome the man was when his expression softened a little. “I promise to return him as quickly as possible.”
Kim flushed and said, “Keep him for as long as you need. We didn’t have any plans.”
Nate’s arm shot around her and brought Kim in close. Then he planted one on her right in the middle of the emergency room. It may have been quick, but the kiss was still thorough.
Mandy was giggling softly while Elliot seemed to be rolling his eyes. Tyrone arched a brow. “It seems as if I may have interrupted somebody’s plans.”
“Damn right,” Nate muttered as everyone laughed and Kim batted at his chest, cheeks flaming with color.
After Nate left with Tyrone, Mandy and Kim sat down to talk for a moment.
“Didn’t Alyssa say that she had an uncle?” Mandy asked.
Kim nodded. “Yeah, she did. Something seemed a little off, though, when she mentioned him.”
“Do you think?” Mandy said skeptically. “Maybe it was just because Alyssa hadn’t really warmed up to us yet.”
“Maybe,” Kim replied. “Why didn’t they call him?”
Mandy shrugged. “The nurse said they couldn’t reach him. Elliot said that he didn’t know the man personally, but that he didn’t have the best reputation.”
“Oh, well, maybe she’s embarrassed because of that,” Kim added. “I know that the shit mom and dad used to do was horribly embarrassing.”
Mandy leaned over and placed her head against Kim’s shoulder. “It freaks me out that someone intentionally tried to hurt them.”
“Me too,” Kim replied, taking Mandy’s hands again and leaning her head against her sister’s.
Elliot walked back from the nurse’s station. “Good news; they were able to get in touch with Franklin Vauban, Alyssa’s uncle. He’s on his way here.”
Mandy let out a sigh of relief. “Thank heavens. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck in the hospital completely alone.”
Kim shook her head. “You’ll always have me, Mandy. And now you have Elliot, Charlotte, Mrs. H, and Robert. At this point you’ve got a menagerie of people by your side.”
Mandy smiled while Kim gave her hands an extra squeeze. She should have been happier that Alyssa’s uncle would be there soon to support Alyssa. After all, it had only been that morning when Kim had d
ecided that Alyssa wasn’t the horrible homewrecker she’d thought her to be.
Yet, something didn’t sit right. Call it Spidey-senses, women’s intuition, or trusting her gut; Kim felt like something was off. She couldn’t help but notice that, even though Alyssa was obviously involved in something terrible, she didn’t choose to go to her uncle. She’d gone to her lawyer.
Kim knew that she was pregnant and hormonal, and maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing. That was likely it.
It was another half-hour until a portly older man barreled into the ER. His hair was trimmed short, his suit impeccable, and his necktie of the finest silk. He looked every bit the powerful man he was trying to portray.
“Where is my niece?” he demanded. “Do you know who she is? I will be removing her from this hellhole as soon as it can be arranged. Dear God, what could they have been thinking about, bringing her to a public hospital?”
Mandy opened her mouth to defend the kind hospital workers who’d stopped Alyssa’s bleeding and saved her life.
But Kim shook her head, silencing her sister. She knew what it felt like to be in the presence of someone evil. Most of the sisters' lives, Kim had done everything in her power to protect Mandy from their parents.
Kim didn’t even know if Mandy was aware of the abuse she’d taken trying to keep it from ever touching Mandy. It took someone who had walked through the shadows of Hell to recognize its residents. Kim was pretty sure she'd just met its leader.
15
“Nonsense, I have power-of-attorney over my niece. I decide where she will receive the care she needs.”
Kim glanced up at the clock. It had been nearly a half-hour since Frank Vauban stormed into the emergency room demanding that he see his niece. He had threatened just about every kind of retribution if they didn’t hand her over to him.
Sadly, he wasn’t holding all the cards.
Another agent strode into the ER, flashing his credentials. “I’m Agent Jackson. I work with Tyrone and Scott. I think I have the basics of what happened here, but if someone will kindly give me a refresher?”