Adoring Her (The Heiress #3)

by Michelle Dare

  I ate my meal while I watched the game, and tried my best not to wonder what my girlfriend was doing, or if she was safe in our home. If she wasn’t, I’d get a call, or so I hoped. She had a gun and a very protective dog. Fuck, I needed to stop this shit. I was going to make myself insane. I ordered a beer to go with my meal and tried to focus on the game.

  I was about to leave when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was nine at night, so I figured it was Kasi messaging me. Looking at the screen, I realized it wasn’t a text, but a call. A call from a number I didn’t recognize. Before my brain could register to answer it, I missed the call. Less than thirty seconds later I had a voicemail.

  Standing from the barstool, I put money on the counter, and walked to the elevator. I entered the numerical passcode on my phone to retrieve the message, and pressed it to my ear. I never expected to hear what I did.

  Mr. Cole, this is Detective Lewis. I tried to reach your girlfriend, but we only got her voicemail. Joseph Harrison was released from our custody a few days ago. Bail was posted, and legally we couldn’t hold him any longer. The reason for my call is that we received a report of suspicious activity from a neighbor of his. We went to his apartment and he wasn’t there. We have reason to believe he still has interest in Ms. Markson. I’m sending an officer to her house now to check on her. Call me back when you get this.

  My body suddenly went cold, as if all of the blood drained from it. Chills raced up my arms. This couldn’t be fucking happening. Not while I wasn’t there. It was my worst nightmare. Kasi alone and this deranged asshole was free. At least there was an officer headed to the house, but there were too many things that could happen before he got there.

  Dialing Kasi’s cell, I prayed she’d pick up. Ring after ring and no answer. Fuck! I had Aubrey’s number and called her next. Same thing. Tried the home phone – nothing. I’d throw my phone if I didn’t need it. I was too far away to do anything. The cops were already involved. Kasi could have been in danger and there was nothing I could do. There weren’t enough curse words in the English language to cover how I was feeling.

  Calling the detective back, I spoke with him briefly, and he said the officer sent to her property radioed in that there was a disturbance, but it was being handled and Kasi was safe. She’d better be safe. I’d never forgive myself. He said she was fine, but I needed to hear her voice. I couldn’t relax until I heard that sweet sound on the other end of my phone.

  My finger went to her name in my contacts, and I called her again and again. Come on, baby, answer. I needed to hear her. Needed confirmation from her that she was okay. Minutes went by. Precious minutes. I was beside myself not knowing what was going on. By this point, I had somehow gotten back to my room and was pacing it frantically. I didn’t even remember going back to it.

  Finally, I was able to get through to her. “Radek?” she answered. I could hear her ragged breathing like she was trying to catch her breath.

  My voice held an edge of craziness, which I had reined in as much as possible. She was lucky I didn’t go full apocalyptic crazy on her. “Kasi, are you okay? What happened?”

  “Aubrey and I were watching a movie when the dogs started going nuts. I didn’t know why, but followed them to the front of the house. I looked at the security monitors and saw one of the motion detectors was tripped. The internal alarm in the house didn’t go off for some reason. The security company did get alerted, though, and must have called when the dogs were barking, because I never heard my phone ring. They called back, fortunately, and asked if I was okay. That was when I saw a person running across the property, tripping the motion sensing lights we installed outside. I told the security operator and they put a call in to the police. Come to find out an officer was already on his way, but they called back up. Aubrey went around making sure all of the doors and windows were locked, while I ran to get my gun.”

  My heart was beating so fast I wondered if it was going to stop, and I was going to kick over at any minute. A person can only take so much. “Fuck, baby.”

  “Wait, I’m not done,” she interjects, still gasping for air. “So, I have my gun, the dogs, and one of my besties. This sounds like a thriller movie, by the way.”

  “Kasi!”

  “Right. So, we turn all the lights off inside thinking he wouldn’t be able to see us. Then I hear one of the windows shatter in the back of the house. Ace bolts, Lily hot on his heels. I honestly don’t think she had a clue why she was running, only following him. Aubrey and I chased them. Ace took that motherfucker and grabbed his leg as he was trying to step through one of the tall windows. As soon as he was halfway in, I pressed the muzzle of the gun to his head. Then Aubrey pulled some badass karate move and kicked him in the chest. He fell back outside, pulling Ace with him. That dog had a death grip on him.

  “We heard sirens. I told Aubrey to go inside, and let the cops in, since I climbed through the window after Ace to keep the gun pointed at dickface. The cops were up here like lightning once the gate was opened. They found us out back, and I had to pry Ace’s teeth off the cocksucker. Who, by the way if you haven’t figured it out, is Joseph. That piece of shit doesn’t fucking quit. Anyway, there’s blood everywhere. Even some of it Ace’s. He got cut from the broken window. Aubrey is checking him out now. The window is thoroughly destroyed. Luckily, when I stepped through my jeans protected my legs. I do have some small cuts on my arms, but they’re superficial. Scratches really. Nothing to be concerned about.”

  I couldn’t get words out. What she did…how she handled it…it was fucking perfect. Well, maybe except for her stepping through a broken window. The cuts on her arms needed to be checked out. I needed to be there with her, but there was no way I could. What if he had grabbed the gun from her? He could have turned the thing around and shot her. Holy hell.

  My voice was shaking. “Are you okay?” I knew she wasn’t. She went through a window and pointed a gun at someone’s head, while her dog tore his leg to shreds, I’m sure.

  “Oh yeah, I’m fine. I feel good. I took that asshole down.” She sounded like a boxer who’d just won a match.

  “I’d rather you not have to take anyone down.”

  “I know you would, but we kicked his ass.”

  “He could have had a gun, Kasi! You don’t know if he was concealing something.”

  “Oh, he had a gun. Just didn’t pull it on us.”

  “He had a fucking gun?” The room was spinning as everything fell over me. Kasi could have been killed. It was amazing the hotel staff didn’t come knocking on my door from all of the yelling I’d been doing. That was the last thing I needed.

  “Yeah, we didn’t find out until the cops got here and searched him. It was still in his pants.”

  “He could have shot you! Don’t you understand that?”

  “Radek, I had a gun pointed to his fucking head and was ready to pull the trigger.”

  “I don’t think you understand the enormity of this, and how he could have shot you faster than you could’ve blinked.” In all honesty, I think she was running on pure adrenaline and was going to crash soon. The whole situation was going to slam into her, and she wasn’t going to be so cocky anymore. No, she was going to fall apart. Shit. I needed to get home.

  “You and the instructor trained me how to use the gun,” she stated firmly. “I was using that training and protecting myself. That’s all.”

  Through clenched teeth I seethed, not at her, but in general. Now I was shaking in anger. I was angry with myself, with the universe, and most of all with that lowlife piece of shit for doing this. “I never want to have this happen again.”

  “And I do? No, hell no, but at least I know now that when the shit hits the fan I won’t be too scared to defend myself. I reacted like I should when I needed to.”

  I softened my tone as best I could. “I never thought you wouldn’t, baby.”

  “Listen, Aubrey is calling me. I’ve gotta go. She said we need to get Ace to a vet. One of the cuts is deep.�
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  “Okay, keep me posted. And get your arms checked.”

  “Will do. I don’t think Ace even knows he’s cut. Aubrey had to practically pin him down to look at it. He wanted to be out there ripping into to that prick. My arms are fine. I’ll be sure to take care of them. Only scratches, like I said. Don’t worry about me.” Nope, didn’t believe that for one second. And don’t worry about her? Did she forget who she was talking to?

  I decided to ignore her last statement. “Take care of our boy. He might need stitches.”

  “I know. He was amazing, Radek. You should have seen him. I’m so proud of that dog. Even little Lily tried to be tough.” I could hear Aubrey calling for her. “Okay, Ace needs care. Gotta run. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  3

  An hour later I was lying in bed trying to sleep. My mind was going through all of the ways Kasi could have been hurt, or worse, killed. This night could have been one of the worst of my life, but it wasn’t. She did what she needed to and prevailed. I needed to focus on the positive to try and get my mind to settle enough so I could sleep. No way did I want to fly with minimal hours of rest.

  My phone dinged with a new text. Ace was going to be fine. He had one deep cut from the glass, but the vet cleaned it out and stitched him up. I texted how happy I was to hear that and my goodnight to her. Somehow I managed to shut my brain off long enough to pass out.

  ****

  I awoke drenched in sweat an hour before the alarm was set to go off. The dream I had was so real. Kasi was shot. Ace was shot. Lily was dead and Joseph was standing over them all, gun in hand. I ran through the door to see all of that, and then he shot me as I ran toward Kasi. I sat up rubbing my chest where the bullet had gone in. I even felt sore, which was odd. Maybe it was the stress of the night before. Bringing my shaking hand up to my face to rub my eyes, I noticed a lone tear had escaped. I hadn’t even realized it. The dream shook me to my core.

  Knowing there was no way I was going to be able to fall back to sleep, I showered and ordered room service. We weren’t set to depart until noon. I was able to take my time eating and texted Kasi to see how she and Ace were doing. She responded quickly, saying they were both fine and for me to have a safe flight home. My guess was that she couldn’t sleep given the early hour. That was all I got from her. Nothing elaborate. She wasn’t chatty. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

  The day couldn’t have gone any slower. Time passed at a snail’s pace. I wanted to wrap my girlfriend in my arms and check every inch of her to make sure she was really all right, then I was going to sink deep inside of her. My dick hardened at the thought. Nope, stand down, soldier. He wasn’t getting relieved until I got home. Then he could work until he couldn’t stand any longer.

  Food, shower, car to the airport, preflight checks, and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, the family I was flying got held up and was late. Figures. The one time I was in a rush to get home and the people I was flying were late. Thank fuck this was the last job without Kasi.

  I didn’t need to worry about losing money by only working for her. Frugal was a nice way to say I was cheap as hell when I was single. I lived in a very inexpensive apartment close to where I worked. My furniture was all used when I got it. I only spent money on food, clothes, and the big splurge was my truck. Everything else went into the bank or was invested. I had a financial planner who managed all of my investments for me. I found that my frugality didn’t exist now that I had Kasi. I wanted to buy her things. Lots of things. Very expensive things. Like the mini vacation we took. She deserved that and so much more. I planned on spending my life showing her how much she meant to me.

  Between all of the money I made working, and the money I received when my mom passed away, I was set for quite a while. I never discussed my financial situation with anyone. If I absolutely needed something, I bought it. Now that I was living with Kasi, I wanted to contribute to half of the bills. I wasn’t depending on her finances to survive. It was quite the opposite. I could afford to pay for everything, and it wouldn’t make a sizable dent.

  The family arrived and we wasted no time getting in the air. The flight went quick, and before I knew it, I was in my truck on my way to Kasi’s home. Our home. I needed to get used to saying that. She had caught me a couple of times, since I’d moved in, and corrected me. The fact that I didn’t have to stop at my apartment to pack more clothes before heading to the house was nice. Saved me some time. Time I planned on using loving her.

  I texted her before I left the airport saying I was on my way and to be naked when I got there. She sent me back a picture of her bare breasts. My dick appreciated that and became a pain with how it was pushing against my pants the entire way home. Maybe I’d come on her supple tits first. They were what she sent me a picture of, after all.

  Glancing at the clock in my truck for what felt like the hundredth time, I was slowly getting closer to her. Too slowly, but I didn’t want to get pulled over and take even longer. The most amazing woman in the world was at home waiting for me. Almost there, almost.

  Finally, the gate to our driveway was in sight. I reached up to my visor and clicked the remote to open it. Now that I was living with her, she gave me a remote. No more having to be buzzed in. Although, I was going to miss hearing her sexy voice before driving up to see her, like a prequel of what was to come.

  I drove my truck up our winding driveway and parked it at the top. Reaching into the backseat, I grabbed my bag. When I hopped out of the cab, I saw her standing in the doorway of the house. Kasi was a vision. There weren’t enough words to describe how much I loved her. Her long, blonde hair was lightly blowing in the breeze like an ethereal goddess. Kasi was naked. Stark naked.

  Her nipples were taut due to the cold air, yet she didn’t seem at all affected by the temperature. Her left hip was propped against the doorframe. Her slender legs on display for me alone. One hand was on her jutted out hip, while the other on her bottom lip. Her finger dragged along the plump skin.

  Resisting the urge to run to her, I walked at a steady pace, trying to rein in my need to bury myself in her. Emotions were raging in my mind: lust, fear, relief, anger. Then I went to what could have happened to her the night before. She was alive. I had to try and focus on the fact that she was still in front of me. Not gone. Beautiful and alive before me. I needed to get inside of her to assure my inner self that she was real.

  I walked until I was a breath away from her body. Looking down into those gorgeous blue eyes, I pressed my hips to hers. I wrapped one arm around her waist and threw my bag to the tile floor inside. We walked through the door, and I used my foot to kick it shut behind me. Kasi didn’t say a word, only stared at me with raw passion in her eyes.

  Not wasting any time, I bent down and threw her over my shoulder. She squealed in surprise. I brought one hand up and smacked her ass, then rested my arm over the backs of her knees to hold her in place. I took the stairs with ease. There were no dogs trailing me. I bet she crated them so we could have this time. We had a huge one for Ace that Lily also claimed as hers. He didn’t seem to mind.

  There was no time for talking with Kasi right now. We were going to make love first. I wanted to caress her, cherish her; make her feel just how much I loved her.

  I gently placed her on the bed and removed my clothing with speed rivaling a stripper. She lowered herself onto her back as I crawled over her. Testing her wetness with my hand, I found her just like I knew she would be. Completely ready for me. Bringing those fingers to my lips, I licked off her cream and groaned deep in my throat. My hands went to her inner thighs to spread her open. Lowering myself to her sweet center, I slowly entered her. God, she was perfect. Her warmth wrapped around my dick like a tight glove. She moaned and dug her nails into my ass. I knew that was as close to heaven on earth as I could get. Kasi, under me, around me, all over me, encompassing my very being. I never wanted to know what it would be like if she were gone. That thought brought me back to
what happened and what could have happened. No, I was with her in the moment. That other shit could wait.

  I wanted to worship her, but found I couldn’t hold back and go slow. My body overrode my mind and ran the show. It was a carnal need driving me. My dick was saying, “Fuck you, she’s mine!” to my brain.

  “More, faster,” she pleaded. At least she was on the same page as my cock.

  “As you wish, my love.”

  I lowered myself to my forearms and placed them on either side of her head, caging her in. My lips found hers as I repeatedly thrust into her. My tongue stroked hers. We were both greedy in our need for one another. I was close, so fucking close to coming, but I wouldn’t until she did. I always wanted her to find her release first.

  Leaning on one arm, I moved my hand to her breast. They were the perfect size. Not too small, but not more than a solid handful. They fit into my palms like she was made for me. I cupped her as my thumb brushed over her stiff nipple. She moaned into my mouth. My thumb pinched her, causing her to cry out. Then I glided my hand down her body, over her smooth stomach, to her core. My finger brushed her clit, causing her to writhe under me. There was something very empowering about knowing I could make her fall apart. Whether it be with my touch, my cock, or my mouth. I knew what she needed and happily gave it to her. Every. Single. Time.