“Leslie!” Kane shouts my name as he pounds his release inside me. And after four thrusts, he lays on top of me with both of us drenched in sweat trying to catch our breaths.
Chapter 8
“Well, you seem happy this morning,” Rorie says teasingly.
“Do I?” I act coy, but the smile on my face won’t go away. Kane and I stayed up most of night kissing, touching, and making love. I say making love because something felt so different this time. It wasn’t rushed or hard. It was slow and meaningful. I felt something I had never felt before from Kane. It was like he finally broke free of the chain that was holding him back from loving me. The fear was no longer there and he took me to new heights, a high I have never felt before.
“Wow. Did you hear a word I just said? You just zoned out for a few minutes.” Rorie waves her hand in front of me to get my attention.
I blink my eyes quickly, trying to come back to the now. “Sorry, yes. What did you say?”
“Damn girl, it must have been good!” Rorie laughs and bumps my shoulder.
My face heats. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Now, where are those receipts…
“Oh, no! You have to tell me! Come on, give me details. Was he good? What’s he like in bed? Does he have a big…you know?” Rorie wiggles her brows at me while placing her chin in the palm of her hands.
“Haven’t we talked about this already?” Where are those receipts!
“Not in detail, no. Help a girl out. I’m getting zero action.” She pouts. She freaking pouts with the bottom lip out and everything.
I roll my eyes. “Put your lip back. You’ll catch it on something.”
She smiles. “So, are you going to tell me,” Rorie whispers and scoots closer to me.
Glancing around to make sure no one else can hear, I realize the only people that are here are me and Rorie.
“I’ll give you a little detail…” I bite my lip. Sharing the sexual frenzy from last night seems so taboo, and it gets me excited.
She claps her hands and squeals. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“Okay, so…” My cheeks heat thinking about all the things Kane did to me. “He pulled me into my room and kissed me, but it was different this time. Something seemed…” I tap my pencil against my lip, trying to find the right word.
“Seemed like everything finally fell into place?” Rorie finished my sentence since I couldn’t find the right words.
“Yes! Exactly. He was softer this time and so intense. He took my breath away. He took my clothes off piece by piece and worshipped me. He is very well endowed down there…” I whisper the last part as if my mother is going to hear me.
“And he …”
“What are you girls talking about?” Kane burst through the door.
“Oh, nothing!” Rorie runs into me and the desk. “Ow, damn it.” She hurries away.
Kane lifts a brow at me. “Nothing, huh?” He struts over in his ripped jeans. My eyes zero in on the zipper. I know what’s behind there, and I want.
“Nope.” I shake my head. Act natural.
“So you wouldn’t be talking about me?” He leans against the front desk, which makes his biceps bulge. I whimper. I want them around me holding me up as he drives into me repeatedly.
“Oh, my dirty girl. Do you need it?”
“What?” I clear my throat. “No, we are working, Kane.” I lower my voice so Rorie doesn’t hear.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” He starts to come around the desk, but I go around the other side and hold my hands out.
“Oh, no! You will wait. We will wait until later!” Now I’m in front of the desk while he is behind it. He makes it look so small with his large frame.
“Can I at least get a kiss?” He pouts. He sticks out that bottom lip making the urge to suck it into my mouth almost take over my body.
“A kiss, but then you need to go because I have work to do. You know, animals to save. I still need to find a vet, and I can’t do that with you looking all delicious standing behind the counter making me wish you’d bend me over it.” I slap my hand over my mouth.
He slides his way around the desk. “Oh we will definitely make that happen, Crazy.” Kane slips his arms around me and pulls me tightly to him. He cups the place between my jaw and neck, knowing what it does to me. He brings those perfect plump lips down to meet mine and everything about my surroundings falls away. There is no animal clinic, there is no Rorie or Dylan, there is no Chase. There is just me and Kane. Time slows down, my body feels like it’s floating, his knee goes in between my thighs, and pushing against my sweet spot.
“Oh, I think there is an emergency room in the back…” Rorie says as she walks by us, giving me wink.
Kane clears his throat. “Well, how about I see you later, Crazy?” He bends, pecking me one more time.
But as he is leaving, he stops bending down to my ear to whisper, “My dick is so hard for you right now. You will take care of it. Oh, and I have a surprise for you.” Kane walks away and slaps my ass, making me jump and yelp.
“Ow,” I scowl.
He barks a laugh. “Yeah, whatever. You loved it.” The door shuts and that damn bell rings from his departure.
“Damn, you guys could light up the night with fireworks. You don’t need to give me details. What I just saw was a great example. Is his friend Dylan single? I need relief.” She fans herself.
“Girl, you are so ridiculous. Get out of here. I have it covered for a few hours until Max gets here.”
“You sure, Crazy?” Rorie mocks me.
“Hush, before I fire you.” I stick my tongue out at her before she waves bye and shuts the door.
“Flamingo! Get away from your girlfriend and come keep me company!” I shout but everything is silent. I don’t even hear the little nails clicking against the floor when I call him. Maybe he is just smooching with his new girl.
“Flamingo, I wanted to surprise you, but Lily is coming home with us!” I walk into the back room to see Flamingo on the floor not moving. I look at all the other dogs and notice they are all sleeping too.
“What the hell, I would have heard them barking if something was wrong.” Unless I was just that toned out from Kane’s kiss.
“Flamingo.” I shake his heavy frame, but he doesn’t wake. It brings me comfort to see his chest rising. Suddenly, I smell something burning. Sniffing, I lift my head to see the vent on the side of the wall in the upper corner. Grey smoke is slowly coming from it, flowing into the room. Running to the door to get to the front desk to call for help, it doesn’t budge.
I bang on the door with my fists. “Someone! Help me!’ I cough as the smoke starts filling the room. I go to the closet to get blankets to try to cover all the cages and Flamingo. I want to try to prevent them from inhaling the smoke. Everything is getting heavier. My eyes burn from the heat that is intertwined with the grey smolder.
A figure rushes out of the closet as I open it making me tumble backwards.
“You thought you could get away from me?” The voice is distorted from a mask. “You thought you could ruin me? Well, I’m going to ruin you!”
“No…” Is this Chase? My heart thumps wildly trying to figure out how I’m going to get out of this situation, but as each second passes, I can feel my body weakening.
“Please, don’t.” My head shakes as my body falls to the floor.
“Just for good measure.” Chase backhands me, making blood pool in my mouth. He backhands me again on the other cheek right across my temple, and I see stars.
“Good luck getting out of this, Leslie. No one is here to save you and your little fucking dog now. I can’t wait until you all burn.” He kicks me in the stomach before he leaves, and even with the blood trickling from my forehead and my hand clutching my ribs where he kicked me, I slowly crawl to Flamingo and cover him with my body.
I’m not able to save the others. I don’t even know if I saved him.
“Flamingo.” I clutc
h his fur at his neck, digging my head into his body. “I’m sorry. I love you so much.” I cough. The tears flow and the guilt eats away at me. I’m the reason why all these animals are going to die. I’m the reason why Flamingo, my best friend, won’t get to live a long life, or love Lily. The grip on his neck loosens as I feel unconsciousness try to take over me.
“No…Fla-Flaming-” I slur trying to pull him close to my body.
“Leslie! Leslie!” I think I hear Kane calling for somewhere in my mind.
“Kane.” The sound of his voice brings me peace as I allow myself to be taken somewhere other than here. The smoke is thick now, my eyes are shut, and my body relaxes. It’s time to give in.
A loud bang echoes throughout the room, “Leslie!” A voice coughs. “Baby, oh my god.” The voice chokes out.
“Flamingo. Him first. Please.” I forced out.
“No. You’re first. You’re always first.”
Kane. It’s Kane. He wasn’t my imagination.
“Kane, please. Get all the dogs.” I cough out.
Suddenly, I’m picked up and Kane runs out, leaving all my dogs behind. “No!’ I shout through a dry cracked throat.
I feel the grass beneath me and I sigh. Anything is better than that smoke-filled room.
“I’ll be right back, Crazy. I’ll be right back.” Kane kisses my forehead before leaving me again. My eyes wince from the sun bearing down on me, sirens fill the air making my head pound, and the sound of the ocean pounding against the shore makes my mouth salivate. Water. I need water.
A few moments later, Flamingo is at my side along with a few other dogs.
“Flamingo,” I shout in tears. My body jolts with sobs thinking that it maybe too late for my best friend.
“They’ll be okay, Leslie. He’ll be fine.” He coughs and passes a cold wet rag over my face to get the soot off. “There’s my dirty girl.” Kane’s voice is soft and full of emotion.
The sirens finally pull up and a sound of rushing water slices through the air. Everything is so blurry. I’m on a gurney now with an oxygen mask on. I try to get up, but they just push me back down.
“Kane. I need Kane.”
“Ma’am, you need to lay down. Kane is right behind us, okay? You need to save your voice.”
Metal doors slam, sirens blaze, and a prick in my arm lets me know I’m still alive.
“Flamingo!” I want my dog.
“Who is Flamingo?” The paramedic asks.
“I want my damn dog!” I shout before the well-acquainted world of darkness consumes me, yet again.
Chapter 9
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sounds of machines slowly infiltrate my dreams, bringing me out of a very deep sleep. My body feels sluggish like I just fought my way out of three hundred pounds worth of weights. Doing my best to move my hands up to get this oxygen mask off my face, I feel something grip my wrist to stop me.
“You need that, Crazy.” I groggily look over and see a very exhausted Kane. He has a five o’clock shadow, finger messy hair that could be washed, and dark circles around his eyes.
My voice is muffled from the mask. “It tickles.”
He chuckles. “Too bad.” He leans down and pulls the mask off for a second to give me a peck on the lips. He lingers for longer than I thought and puts his forehead against mine, something he does when he is deep in thought and trying to work through it.
“I’m so glad you’re awake. I thought I lost you.” He sniffles, and I feel wetness on my cheeks and this time, it’s not from me.
“I’m here,” I croak out, sounding like a frog.
His arms tighten around my head as much as he can without hurting me. “You have no idea how scared I was. I came back from lunch and saw the entire place up in smoke, and I thought I’d been too late. I saw your body lying there…I-I thought I had lost you when I hadn’t even had you yet.” Kane sniffles. Sniffles!
“Kane, I’m alive because of you. You saved me.” I hug him back. “Water.”
“Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t give you that first. I’ll take better care of you, I promise.” Kane looks around like he doesn’t know where he is and his hand shakes as he pours the water. When he brings it to me, I take a big sip and set the cup down as it settles the dryness in my throat.
“Kane, stop!” I reach for him and take his hand. He brings it to his mouth and kisses it. When he sits down, he holds our hands together and presses them against his forehead and shuts his eyes. He almost looks like he is praying, but I know he isn’t religious from a previous conversation.
“Look at you! Awake and alert! That’s what I like to see! I’m Dr. Hasselhoff and no I’m not related to the Hasselhoff.”
“I bet you get that a lot.” I smile weakly.
“You bet. I know I’m good looking, but come on, no one can beat the Hasselhoff.” The doctor rolls his eyes and smiles.
He presses the stethoscope against my chest and makes me sit up to press it against my back to listen to my lungs.
“All right. I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?” He spins a chair around, sitting down casually like he’s a cool fifteen-year-old boy.
“Bad news first. I want to end on a good note,” I rasp.
“Your voice will be shot for a while. Don’t strain it. Drink plenty of water and take it easy for a few days. Your lungs sound good, so I’m going to release you in a few hours. Luckily, your guy here got you just in time before the smoke could do any damage to your lungs. You cannot push yourself. You need to understand how serious it is not to do that. No running, climbing, jogging, swimming, yelling, disc-golfing, water polo-ing, horseback riding might be okay if you go slowly, and….” He taps his finger to his chin. “You can have sex, but nothing too crazy. You let him do all the work.”
“Oh, thank everything that’s beautiful.” Kane’s fist pumps into the air.
I roll my eyes. “He is insatiable.”
“I understand. My wife and I have been married thirty years, and I can’t get enough of her.” His face turns a little red from the omission and Kane hides his smile behind his fist.
“Well doc, that’s a good marriage. I hope one day, I can have something like that.” My vocal cords still sound like they were dragged across nails, but it is what it is.
He glances at Kane. “I have a feeling you are on the right path.”
“Thanks Doc. I appreciate everything you did for her.”
The doctor takes Kane’s hand in a shake. “It’s my job, son. I’ll be back in a few hours to get your papers, so you can go home.”
I sigh after the door is shut finally, leaving Kane and me alone.
“You need more water, baby?” Kane brings the cup to my mouth and lifts my head until I sigh contently.
“Thank you.”
“Anything you for, Crazy.”
“Just you.” I shake my head at him.
He smiles shyly. “I can do that.”
I fall back asleep for a few hours and Dr. Hasselhoff comes in with the necessary paperwork and wheelchair, telling me how it’s “hospital policy.” I want to walk, but I understand.
I can’t wait to get out of the sterile room that smells like plastic and medicine. I can’t wait to eat real food, but even that would have to wait since my throat is sensitive.
“What happened to Flamingo? What happened to all the dogs?” I gasp. How could I forget? I’m terrible. My eyes start to overflow, and my lip trembles.
Kane squats in front of me. “All of them are okay. I might have…done something I shouldn’t have.” He scratches his head.
I squint my eyes. I don’t even need to ask the question.
“I bought the three acres of property behind your house and fenced it in. All the dogs are there…and I adopted them.”
I almost can’t hear the last part from it being whispered.
“You…what?” I look at him in disbelief. There is no way I heard that correctly.
“The shops
are ruined, Leslie. Someone set the shop on fire. I’m going to have to rebuild and that includes the shelter. I’m sorry, Leslie. It’s gone.”
“Ruined.”
“It’s okay. You know I can afford all of it. I’ve already broke ground, and paying for the dogs and fence wasn’t a big deal. It was the least I could do for the woman I love.” Kane straightens as if he didn’t expect to say that. He looks surprised.
I laugh. “You look a little shocked.”
“I didn’t plan on saying it like that.” He nods and put his hands on his hips.
“Well, I don’t know how I feel about it yet. I’m too tired to argue, but I don’t want to be in a relationship where I can’t contribute. I don’t want to feel bought, Kane.” I take a sip of my water from my little plastic cup.
He lifts me into his cherry red truck, which doesn’t compare to penis size at all because my guy is hung like a bull.
“You contribute to me every day, Crazy. You just don’t know how much you changed my life. I’m a better man. I strive to be better everyday for you. If my money means you can stay at home, take care of our fifteen dog children, and maybe…I don’t know, some of our own, then yeah, I’ll make sure you never have to want a day in your life, if it means you are by my side.”
My eyes tear up, “Take me home, Kane.”
You’re my home, Kane.
Chapter 10
“The police called while you were asleep on the ride home. “
Kane picks me up from the passenger seat and brings me inside the house.
“What did they want?” I grumble.
“They wanted to talk to you and get your statement about what happened at the shelter. I told them you needed an extra day of recovering.” Kane open the door while I wrapped myself around him. My hands are around his neck, and my legs are wrapped around his waist.
“You want to see Flamingo? I know you do.” He walks with his hands on my back as I keep myself there like a spider monkey.
He opens the sliding glass door and whistles. “Flamingo!”
The Ink Romance Series Page 13