by April Lust
I shook my head and took a deep breath, recounting the events. His insistence that I get out of there, my refusal to leave without him, and Thomas searching for me while Saber was in the house. Most of them he seemed to remember, but it got a little fuzzy after the gunshot. “If Ryder hadn’t gotten there…” I shook my head, offering him a half smile. “Well, we’d probably both be dead.”
At that, he sat up suddenly, grabbing me by the shoulders despite his injured shoulder. “Damnit, Renee! You could have been killed! Next time, you leave me, damnit. You leave me!”
I stared at him, my chest tight at the emotion shining in his eyes, clear in his expression. I had realized as soon as he took that bullet for me, no, even before that, when he came into that room and pulled Thomas off of me, that the things he’d told me before were lies. I didn’t have all the details, but the guilt on Uncle Ryder’s face spoke volumes.
I had the feeling that it was never Saber’s choice to begin with to break up with me and the only reason I wasn’t strangling Ryder’s neck just then was because he’d saved our lives in the end.
“You should know that I can’t do that,” I whispered in answer to Saber. “I can’t leave you when something awful like that happens. Not even if my life’s in danger.”
He looked pissed and fully ready to argue. Probably to tell me what an idiot I was, but I wasn’t going to let him. I placed a single finger on his lips, stalling his next argument, and leaned forward. When my mouth was poised just above his, I smiled sweetly at him.
“No, never,” I whispered, then closed that final distance between our lips. I pressed mine to his fiercely, lingering even when it was probably a good idea to pull away. It felt like we hadn’t kissed in forever.
When I pulled away, he looked just as affected as I was. He swallowed and whispered, “Renee,” pain in his voice. But the pain didn’t seem to be coming from his shoulder or his bruised jaw. It was an inside kind of pain, the sort of thing that wounded the heart, not the body.
He looked ready to tell me something awful, maybe break up with me a second time, and I wasn’t ready to hear it. I wouldn’t accept it this time.
“No,” I told him sternly. “Not this time. I’m not letting you go, no matter what you say. I love you, Saber Monroe, and I won’t ever let you go. You’ve saved my life, in more ways than you can possibly imagine.”
He sucked in a breath and looked like I’d just given him a precious gift. He reached for me, pulled me closer to him, until I was leaning my forehead against his. “Renee Teana, you’re the bossiest, stubbornest, pain in the ass woman I’ve ever met. And I’m so in love with you that it hurts sometimes. And, baby, I know I don’t deserve you.”
I kissed him before he could say more, wondering how in the world he could possibly think he didn’t deserve me. When we broke the kiss, both breathing heavily, I said to him, “You don’t know anything. I belong with you, and anyone who can’t see that is crazy.”
***
Saber had to stay in the hospital for a week, much to his dismay. But I made it a more enjoyable experience by spending most of every day there with him. I would cuddle with him on the bed he was mostly stuck in and tell him about what was going on, keeping him updated.
Ryder and I had discussed the police in length after Thomas’s death. Ultimately, we decided that we had to call them. It would look really bad if we didn’t call them and they found the body. Which, eventually they would. They’d realize he’d been shot and then it would only be a matter of time before Ryder was put on the chopping block.
He had money now, as did I, but there wasn’t enough money in the world at this point to get him off the hook for murder.
Probably.
Instead, we called the police and told them that I had killed him in self-defense. That he’d kidnapped me and had been stalking me. Thankfully I had plenty of evidence to support my claim and now that he was dead, Cynthia was happy to help corroborate my story.
“Glad that’s all tidied up,” Saber commented. He was slipping on the fresh clothes that I’d brought him, relieved to be finally getting out of this room. I couldn’t blame him and looked forward to spending some quality time nursing him back to health. Or dressing up like a nurse, either way. “Did you tell them about me?”
I nodded. “Yes. I told them that you were my bodyguard and that you’d gotten shot protecting me which was why I had to pull the trigger. It explained your blood and why you didn’t shoot him. Fewer questions that way.”
He agreed. There was a comfortable silence between us as he finished getting dressed. When he came out of the bathroom looking gorgeous, clean, and dressed in jeans that made me want to do naughty things to him, he smiled at me.
“You ready to get out of here?”
“Am I ever,” I said agreeably.
We were headed out the door, when it opened before we could open it. I was surprised to find Uncle Ryder standing in the doorway. He cleared his throat.
“I wanted to talk to you for a minute before you take off.”
I felt Saber tense beside me and sensed that there was something going on here. Worry flooded me as I wondered if this was something that was going to turn out badly. Surely Ryder has nothing against Saber! He saved my life!
But before I could step between them or tell Ryder off for the bad thoughts I wasn’t sure he was having, Ryder spoke again.
“I wanted to commend you for your bravery,” he said seriously, like a military leader praising his troops. “What you did for Renee…” He shook his head, offering a half smile. “I don’t know of anyone who would have done that for her.”
“You, sir,” Saber pointed out.
Ryder laughed at that, a sound I always loved to hear. “Fair point. And here’s mine: I was wrong to try to keep you two apart.”
Anger surged through me swiftly and mercilessly. So it had been Ryder’s doing! I wanted to yell at him, but Ryder continued before I got the chance, though I was seriously thinking about interrupting him. In the end, I was glad that I didn’t.
“I told you that you were beneath her, that Renee deserved better, and in a way I stand by that.” He held up his hand when it looked like I was about to chew his ass for being a jerk. “Because there is no one in this world who will ever be good enough for my niece. But you’re the only man who has ever come close.”
He offered his hand to Saber, who shook it firmly.
“It would be my honor to have you date my niece. There’s no one I would trust more with her.”
Saber seemed to lighten at that and he turned me in his arms. Eyes burning with passion and something else, he leaned down at pressed a searing kiss to my lips. When we broke, I felt dazed, my whole body buzzing with electricity. “I love you, Renee Teana, and I will do anything to hold on to you.”
THE END
BONUS CONTENT - Sinner’s Kiss: A Dark Bad Boy Romance
By April Lust
She’s addicted to my sinner’s kiss.
What doesn’t kill a man makes him stronger.
If that’s true, I must be f*ckin’ Hercules, because I’ve been on death’s doorstep more times than I can count.
This time, though, I might not be coming back.
It’s not as though I don’t deserve death.
God knows I’ve ended enough lives with my own two hands.
I’ve spilled blood, hot and spurting, and laughed at the sight of it.
Maybe this was my fate all along.
But out of nowhere, she showed up.
A guardian angel if ever there was one.
Pure, sweet, and kind – those things don’t exist in my world.
Seeing those pretty eyes was like a breath of fresh air for a drowning man.
But now that she’s saved, the tables have turned.
My angel is about to learn that hell is just a state of mind.
She’s mine now. And I’m never letting her go.
Chapter One
Isabella Smith moved across t
he gift shop, picking up items that were out of place and putting them back in their proper spots. She paused to straighten a stack of birthday cards that had gone askew. The overhead lights caught the crystal beads of a display of bracelets and glittered as she approached. She moved the bracelets, spreading them out evenly along the bar they hung from.
The clock clicked over to 9 p.m. and it was officially closing time. She flipped over the sign on the door, locked it, then went behind the counter to take care of the cash register. After taking the drawer to the office, she counted and jotted numbers into the books, making sure everything came out perfectly. She took the time to sort the money just how she knew her manager, Sue, liked it, turning all the bills to face the same way, unfolding the dog eared corners so that the stacks sat as neat and flat as possible inside the safe.
Next, Isabella made a note of several items that she noticed were running low and should be ordered soon. This wasn’t part of her job exactly, but she found ways whenever she could to go above and beyond, hoping to earn the position of assistant manager, which had been vacant for some time now. She thought Sue really liked her from the way she always took time to explain things and teach her. She always complimented Isabella’s displays and often noted how good her work was.
She locked the office door with a hopeful glow in her heart. She could really use the pay raise that came with the assistant manager position. It hadn’t been easy moving here. She knew no one and had her daughter to think of. Who would watch Sara while she worked all day? But Red Hills had been the picture of southern hospitality when she’d arrived, bruises still visible around her eye and on her cheek from her ex, Craig.
It had been Sue who first helped her. Isabella had rushed into the gift shop to buy an umbrella in a sudden downpour. Sara had found her way to the toys and was begging for a new doll when Sue came to ask them if they needed help. Isabella knew she couldn’t afford the doll and had to take it from her four-year-old with tears in her eyes. Sue had seen this and given her the doll. They’d chatted a bit and before she knew it, Isabella’s life story was poured out on this poor woman.
Sue lived alone and insisted that they stay with her until they found their own place. For three weeks, Sue and Isabella got to know each other. Isabella started working at the gift shop, and a neighbor watched Sara during the day. Life had finally started to come together. Now Isabella and Sara had a tiny apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was theirs, and they had worked hard to make it home.
As she walked back through the store, Isabella’s eyes fell on the display of dolls that Sara had so loved, and she smiled, thinking of how Sara hadn’t let the pink-dressed, yellow-haired doll go for days. She was likely sleeping with it right now, clutched tight to her chest on Jeanine’s couch, waiting for her mommy to come and take her home.
Isabella flicked out the lights and set the alarm before locking the door behind her. In her car, she blasted music and sang along, enjoying the cool evening air tossing her hair around. She turned left and onto a stretch of highway that was heavily wooded. She was on guard for animals on this street, glancing often at the sides of the roads for glowing eyes that might run in front of her.
She glanced to the right and saw a mound on the ground. At first it looked like a dead animal. She couldn’t make out any part of it, but as she got closer and the object was washed for an instant in bright headlights, she saw a boot.
It had happened so fast that she had already passed the spot before she realized it was a person lying there. She pulled into the gravel, stomping hard on her brakes.
With her phone tight in her hand, she approached the person. It looked like a man from what she could see of his blond hair and jeans. But there was no movement, and she didn’t want to run up to a dead body in case it was a gruesome sight. Her stomach already felt queasy with the thought.
“Hello?” she called out tentatively when she was about twenty feet away.
No response. She tapped the flashlight feature on her phone and shined the light on him. It definitely was a him. Blood trickled from multiple places on his face. He’d been beaten badly. His eyes nearly swollen shut, his lip split and thick, purple splotches across his cheek bones. The sight gave her chills, thinking of how many times she’d had injuries like these after a night of Craig’s anger.
She inched closer, trying to see if his chest was moving.
He lay on his side, half curled into a ball. His black shirt was torn and shiny with blood. His jeans, also ripped in places, were dirty and bloody. A black leather jacket was hanging from him in shreds.
“Can you hear me?” she asked.
She knelt down beside him, afraid to touch him. His chest didn’t seem to be moving. With a shaking hand, she pressed her fingertips to his wrist. She found no heartbeat. But then a soft wheeze came from his mouth.
“Oh my God, are you still alive?”
He made a ragged coughing sound and moved his arm a few inches.
“Just hang on, I’ll call 9-1-1.”
He said something. She couldn’t make it out, but the sound was so insistent, that she paused.
“What did you say?” She leaned closer to his mouth.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t? Don’t what, call 9-1-1?”
“Don’t call,” he wheezed.
“But you look like you’re about to die. You need to get to a hospital.”
He took a shuttering breath and pushed himself up with effort to a seated position. Blood gushed from his nose and he spit out more blood.
Isabella put her hand to her mouth and had to look away. She had napkins and tissues in her car and got up to dash over and bring them to him. She handed him the napkins, but they were soaked through within seconds.
“Please,” he said, half whispering. “Get me out of here.”
She looked back to her car, which was about thirty feet ahead. He didn’t look like he’d able to walk that distance, and she wasn’t strong enough to help him much.
“Hang on.” She returned to her car and backed it up slowly, craning her head around to see how close she was getting to him.
He pushed himself onto all fours, pausing to breathe through the pain. He crawled over to the back door. Isabella opened it for him, pulled Sara’s car seat from its place, and dashed to the trunk to get the blanket she kept there for times when Sara got cold. She spread the blanket over the backseat and stood back awkwardly as he pulled himself up and into the car.
“Can I help you somehow?” She wasn’t sure where he was injured and didn’t want to just grab him somewhere it might hurt.
He didn’t answer. Shaking, he pulled himself up onto the seat and slumped over. She closed the door behind him and got into the driver’s seat.
“You need a hospital badly.”
He was still bleeding, pressing a dripping napkin to his nose. She handed him the rest of the napkins. The cluster of bright white turned red almost instantly when he held them to his face.
“No.”
He coughed, splattering blood all over her car’s seat. Isabella swallowed hard and tried not to let her stomach turn over.
“They’ll kill me,” he said.
At first, she thought this was ridiculous. If you were hurt that badly, you needed a hospital. That simple. Whoever had done this surely wouldn’t kill him while he was there. But then she thought of the last time Craig had landed her in the hospital. Her friend had taken her to the hospital against her wishes. Craig had come into her room and almost suffocated her to death before a nurse happened to come in. Then Craig had quickly moved the pillow behind her head, making it look like he was the perfect husband, trying to make his clumsy wife more comfortable.
If whoever had beaten him had left him for dead, then he was right. If they knew he was alive, if they drove by and found him gone, they would check the hospitals first. It wouldn’t take much in his condition to kill him. She wouldn’t do that to him. She remembered how terrified she had been to wake up in the hospital whe
n she thought she was safe at her friend’s house, and how the terror had multiplied when Craig entered the room, his face full of rage. She would not do that to this man.
With a deep breath, she pulled back onto the road and drove to her apartment building.
***
Isabella and Sara’s apartment was what people called “shoe-box sized.” She was grateful to have two bedrooms, but there was hardly enough space for the bed and a dresser in each. The kitchen held only a small wooden table and four chairs across from the short counter. The counter space was filled with gadgets—a two-cup coffee maker, toaster, dish rack, microwave, and a small candle. There wasn’t much counter space left for anything else. But it had a window over the sink and the fridge was a decent size. And it was included when she moved in.