Unexpected Vows

by Paige, Victoria

  “And you let them put it in me. Such devotion,” I said bitterly. Hating him was taking so much energy out of me.

  “We didn’t know of the side effects until they happened to a couple of our test subjects. It was supposed to be safe.”

  He continued to tell me about the various experiments they had undertaken to correct this flaw and assured me that the spindle in Olivia was solid. But until when? Until the next time they discovered it had a problem, too?

  Our dinner arrived. Porter’s guard nodded, meaning he’d checked over the hotel staff, though at this point I’d admit that Alex was sincere in simply wanting to talk to me and, other than his agenda to win me back, tempt me with the opportunity to avenge Piper, I didn’t think he’d outright kidnap me.

  As we ate our dinner, I noticed Alex stealing glances at me, as if scrutinizing me and wanting to say more.

  I lowered my utensils. “What?”

  “There’s something else.”

  Oh, God, this man was exhausting. “Let me guess, you haven’t told me everything about the spindle. What could be worse than knowing it could kill me any second?”

  Alex flattened his mouth. “The spindle we put in you had an AI processor.”

  “Artificial Intelligence?”

  “Yes. We discovered that a spindle with this capability would always attack the amygdala and hippocampus areas of the brain, causing hyperactivity between them and the visual cortex.”

  “English, Alex,” I said dryly.

  “Have you experienced hallucinations, Kate?”

  “No. I’ve been having headaches,” I stated slowly.

  Alex looked relieved but regretful. “That’s a flaw in the first-generation spindles.”

  “Not related to its toxicity?”

  “No, it’s a nuisance side effect.”

  I nodded and didn’t say anymore for I certainly agreed that my Gray Room was a pain in the ass.

  * * *

  I left Alex’s hotel room a mass of riotous nerves and conflicted emotions. The funny thing was, I actually thought he’d been honest with me that time. It didn’t mean I forgave him for what he did, but my animosity cooled a fraction, and it had everything to do with how he said goodbye at the door.

  I was about to leave his room when I thought of asking the one question I was afraid answered. “Am I a danger to people around me?”

  “I don’t know,” Alex replied. “I can lie and say you’re safest with me, but choices have been taken away from you for so long, I can’t do that to you.”

  “You didn’t give me much of a choice to come with you tonight,” I reminded him.

  “But that’s not one that mattered.” He nodded to the envelopes I had wedged under my arm. “These I hope will give you peace and help you find happiness.”

  I wasn’t ready to go back to the ranch yet and needed some time for myself. I borrowed a car from one of Porter’s men and a lock pick set. I knew most of them carried one and I usually carried a set in my bounty hunter duffel. I drove to my apartment and picked the lock easily, thinking the whole time of Colt and his disapproval of my unsafe neighborhood.

  I let myself in and sank into my lumpy sofa. I was eager to look at the flash drives of the twins.

  I retrieved a spare laptop from my bedroom. It was clunky and old, but it had the slot I needed for the memory stick.

  The first pictures were of Olivia and Josh as babies. A few were of Alex cradling them in each arm, a big smile on his face and yet there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes. I knew I was the reason for that sadness. He wanted me with them.

  A sob escaped my lips, emotions tracked down my cheeks, and my tears fell on the keyboard. I swiped at my face as I scrolled through the soulful pictures. There was almost a dreamlike quality to them. A roll of vintage film. Alex must have tinkered with the filter settings, but it was done tastefully. If it meant to stir a sense of nostalgia for a time I wished I’d been a part of, he was doing a damn fine job. There was a picture of Josh with a mandolin, followed by a video beside it.

  I pressed play, and if I hadn’t fallen in love with my children before, there was no escaping it now. My heart clenched. In the video, Livy was dressed in denim jumpers. Her cheeks were chubbier then, her blond hair in pigtails held up by pink ribbons. Josh, ever so serious, was wearing jeans and a buttoned-up shirt looking like a young gentleman. He balanced the mandolin on his lap and started plucking the chords to a plaintive melody.

  Olivia announced, “I’m singing Bayu-bayushki-bayu.”

  She opened her adorable mouth and a clear, powerful, young voice sang the words to the lullaby.

  Choking at the sheer beauty of the mandolin strings and Liv’s singing, I surrendered myself to an ugly cry. Loud gut-wrenching sounds filled the tiny apartment. My stomach hurt with the force of my sobs, but I couldn’t stop.

  I cried for a time with them I could never get back.

  I cried for a time they needed their mother to protect them.

  And I cried for a future I may never have with them.

  * * *

  Getting caught up in the pictures and videos of the twins, I didn’t realize three hours had passed by the time I returned to the ranch. The house was quiet and I knew, even before I checked the twins’ room, that they weren’t there. I headed to the kitchen and saw a note on the countertop from Mac. The twins were with him.

  Where was Colt?

  I made my way to the bunkhouse, but my gaze was drawn to the Annex. Somehow I knew Colt was there. Were there new “visitors”? I didn’t see any new or unfamiliar vehicles.

  Mac opened the door before I could knock. The bunkhouse wasn’t typical open housing with cots. There were several rooms and a kitchen. One big room had several beds for temporary ranch hands.

  “Are the twins all right?” I asked, alarmed at the grimness in his face.

  “They are,” he said, stepping aside and letting me in. “They fell asleep two hours ago. Disappointed you didn’t come home with Colt.”

  “Had things to take care of. Do we have visitors at the Annex? Is that where Colt is?”

  “No visitors. You want some tea? I’m making some.” Mac led me to the kitchen.

  “Don’t want to keep you up. I’ll just get the twins—”

  “Leave them be,” Mac cut in. “I’ll bring them o’er tomorrow morning.” He gave my body a quick perusal. “You okay, missy? Heard you got knocked out at the festival.”

  The festival seemed like eons ago. “I’m fine. All those people …” We’d had the TV on mute in the hotel room, but punched up the volume when updates on the shooting came on. The number of the dead had risen to thirty-two.

  “It’s a tragedy,” Mac agreed. “Glad the twins are fine.” His gaze pierced into mine. “Boss is at the Annex. Never seen him this pissed. He held it together for the kids.” He inclined his head in the direction of the building. “Been working off his frustration at the gym.”

  “I had to talk to Alex.”

  “The twins’ sire?”

  “Their father,” I corrected. After going through those pictures and videos, I wanted to think that Josh and Olivia did have a parent growing up.

  Mac’s jaw clenched. “Where does that leave Colt?”

  “He’s still their guardian. We are. Nothing has changed.” I was getting mad at Mac. “Nothing is simple either and I don’t need you needling me about the situation because it’s sure fucked up!”

  I huffed an irritated breath. “Where is the twins’ room?”

  “I told you they’re asleep—”

  I took the three steps needed to get into the ranch manager’s face. “I like you, Mac,” I gritted through my teeth. “You genuinely care for the kids, but you can’t dictate to me when I can or cannot see my kids. Are we clear?”

  Mac regarded me carefully before he tipped his chin to the hallway. “Second door on the right.”

  I stalked past him without saying another word. Entering the room quietly, I could make out Oliv
ia’s blond head under the comforter. She moved slightly when I touched her hair. “Mama?”

  An ache twinged in my chest at that word. A warm ache. “Go back to sleep, baby girl.”

  She mumbled unintelligibly and started to snore lightly. I moved to the adjacent bed.

  “You’re okay?” came Josh’s sleepy voice.

  “Yes.”

  “We were worried.”

  “I know, but I’m fine,” I assured him. At least I was for now. “Sleep, kiddo. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “’Kay.”

  I watched over them for a few minutes more and then left the room.

  20

  Kate

  There were no guests in the Annex, and the door was unlocked. The facility had no foyer and opened directly into a living room and a kitchen. A ten-seat dining table stood in front of the kitchen bar. Nothing fancy, everything utilitarian. The entire area was enclosed within four walls—no relief of a hallway, but there were two doors. The one on the left led to the sleeping quarters, while the one in front of me led to an exercise room and clinic.

  I crossed the room with purposeful strides, determined to erase Colt’s lingering doubts about my feelings for Alex. Colt and I might not even have a future. But before I’d go insane or die from brain toxicity, I wanted to spend time with my family. And Colt and I needed to talk. When I wrenched the door open, words failed to form on my lips.

  Colt was going at it at the pull-up bar. Shirtless and facing away from me, the sculpted muscles of his back corded and flexed under skin glistening with sweat. Each grunt made my pussy clench as if he was fucking me instead of working out. Faster and faster he heaved himself up and down. The area below my belly pulsed in response. Aroused, I wanted to rub my finger over my clit. I needed to come.

  He jumped off the bar and snatched a towel. His back tensed and he turned around, his gaze drilling through me from across the room.

  The towel dropped.

  He stalked my way.

  Refusing to feel like hunted prey, I advanced five steps into the room. His dominance, his rage, his lust crashed into me like a tsunami. I should retreat. Instead, I stood transfixed. Even as he moved into my space and his heat seared my skin, he didn’t stop walking. I staggered back. His hands hit my hips and steadied me as he backed me against the wall.

  “Colt, what the hell?” I glared at him.

  His hard face and harder eyes cut through me like a steel blade. “You went to a hotel.”

  “How—”

  “Did you fuck him?”

  “No!” I ground out.

  My shirt disappeared over my head. My vision darkened as his head bent and his lips slammed down on mine; his tongue shot into my mouth. Fingers knocked off a bra strap and a hand palmed my breast. His thumb and forefinger pinching a nipple so hard, I whimpered at the exquisite sensation. His mouth left mine and sucked on my breast, pulling, tongue swirling over my nipple as he deftly unbuttoned my jeans. Calloused fingers delved behind my panties and sank inside me. His thumb hit my clit. I exploded in waves, arching toward him, wanting more contact. His mouth left my breast and I felt the thickness of his breath against my ear. “Now’s the time to say no.”

  “You better not stop,” I hissed.

  “You protected?”

  I gave a shaky incline of my head.

  A gleam of triumph flashed through his eyes before he yanked my jeans down along with my panties. I toed off my sneakers and stepped out of my clothes. He kicked my feet apart, dragged me forward with one leg on his hip as my other wrapped around him instinctively. My bare pussy felt every contour of his hardness behind his nylon shorts. He pressed and rubbed himself against my drenched heat.

  “Colt,” I gasped. “Inside. Now.”

  “I’m clean,” he stated flatly, but somehow I already knew that.

  Our breath mingled as he worked his fingers between us. With our gaze locked, he moved the blunt head of his cock to gather my juices around its tip.

  “Christ,” he growled. “You’re fucking wet.”

  He entered me and groaned. Body shaking, he struggled not to move, burying his face between the curve of my neck and shoulder as if savoring the moment. His girth stretched me to pleasurable limits. I was full of Colt Montgomery; my body marveled at the sheer size of him inside me.

  “Please move,” I whispered desperately.

  He raised anguished eyes at me. “Gonna be hard and fast.”

  A corner of my mouth lifted. “Give it to me, cowboy.”

  Every inch of him withdrew, then I was rammed against the wall. Colt unleashed a ferocious pace, driving into my womb. He pounded me savagely.

  “Fuck, fuck,” he snarled. “This”— his eyes squeezed shut and his jaw tightened—“never felt this good.”

  His mouth grabbed mine in a kiss and he swallowed my moans, grunting as he thrust into me over and over. Renewed pressure built at my pelvic core and I tore my lips from his, my head shaking from side to side as I chased my orgasm. He reached between us and gave me what I wanted. His thumb swept over my aching bud and a ripple so powerful shot me into climax.

  My scream echoed in my ears and my head banged against the wall from the jolt of my release. My pussy clamped down on his cock. He shuddered, muffled a curse, and spilled into me. Hot spurts of semen branded my walls as he moved in staggered bursts.

  Finally, he stayed embedded, his mouth touched my temple, lips moving as though saying an imprecation. Our heated flesh dripped with sweat, our insides scorched from the intensity of our coming together.

  After a span of several heartbeats, he lowered my legs, picked up my shirt and pulled it over my head.

  Heady from the multiple times I came, I couldn’t figure out the look on Colt’s face. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was angry.

  “I’m not done,” he said, eyes blazing over my face and body possessively.

  I might have just come from those words.

  Colt sucked hard on my clit. My body arched and my fingers pulled at his hair. The shower washed over us but my senses ignored the spray of water. No. The exquisite throbbing below my belly had my attention as he spectacularly tongue-fucked me into another orgasm. Why had I denied myself the pleasure of this man’s diabolical tongue for so long?

  He ate me as if his survival depended on it. He worshiped my pussy like it was his singular devotion to give me an orgasm. When he lowered my leg from his shoulder, my knees buckled, but he shot to his feet and held me up. Spinning me around, he lifted me against the tiles and drove inside me again.

  “Colt, I’m sore,” I breathed.

  “Never get enough,” he growled. “Shouldn’t have waited this long.” He thrust at a steady pace, not as wild as the first time. I did not come again, but when he reached his climax, I was deliciously sated.

  “I have to clean up again,” I complained after he withdrew from me.

  “Hush and stop whining. You love it,” Colt whispered with a smile in his voice. He unhooked the detachable shower head and cleaned between my legs. Then he wrapped me in towels and led me out of the enclosure.

  I was boneless. Limp as a noodle. Whatever you call that state where you’ve been fucked out of your mind and can only follow someone’s lead.

  Colt sat me on the closed toilet seat.

  “Just a sec,” he muttered. I looked at myself in the mirror and pulled the towel from my head. My skin glowed with a freshly fucked look. Multiple orgasmic sex with Colt Montgomery was the best sex ever.

  A smile played on my lips.

  He returned with a blow dryer and his T-shirt. Still naked, his muscles unusually pumped from his workout and our sex marathon. I marveled at how I managed to say no to this man for so long.

  “What’s that smirk all about?” he asked as he helped me into the tee. He grabbed the towel and started squeezing the water out of my hair with it.

  “I was thinking we should’ve had sex sooner.”

  He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. “You were
worth the wait.”

  My heart melted.

  “And the aggravation,” he muttered.

  I glared at him and he returned it with a wry grin.

  When he plugged in the blow dryer and started drying my hair, I tried to take it from him, but he held it away.

  “I’ve done this before, babe,” he said.

  “When I was catatonic?”

  “Yes,” he confirmed. “The nurse bathed you, but I took care of everything else.”

  “Seriously,” I raised my voice to be heard over the noise. “How are you not married?”

  He shrugged but didn’t answer. I was too tired to press. When he was done, he led me to the bedroom.

  “Um, I probably should head back to my own room.”

  “Stay with me,” he said softly.

  “The kids—”

  “I wake up early. I’ll carry you to your bedroom; you won’t even have to wake up.”

  How could I object to that? “All right.”

  I slipped into bed and Colt followed behind me. He pulled me close and tangled our limbs together.

  “We’ll feel hot—” I protested.

  “You worry too much,” he murmured.

  Again, I was too tired to protest. Relaxed from the shower, I fell asleep instantly.

  Sometime in the early morning, Colt made love to me again. He coaxed me awake and made me come on his fingers before he slid inside me, thrusting gently until he finished.

  We fell back asleep in each other’s arms.

  21

  Colt

  A sound woke him. Light streamed from the windows cutting the bed in a swath of early morning rays. Tousled blond hair was visible under the comforter. Kate wasn’t a cuddler and had moved to the far side of the bed. He was tempted to drag her back to him just to hear her adorable protests.

  Children’s voices.

  Oh, shit!

  He’d overslept.