Last Chance

by Christy Reece

  “Breakfast is ready.”

  McKenna jerked to attention. She was thankful she was long past the days of shedding tears for the massive mistakes she’d made. Explaining those tears to this man who seemed to be able to see straight into her soul already wasn’t something she could deal with.

  He was standing in the elegant dining room, beside a food-laden table. She’d learned many things about Lucas Kane last night. One she hadn’t expected was his need to take care of her. Despite the knowledge that she was treading on the most dangerous ground with him, she couldn’t prevent the little thrill that went through her. That this beautiful, golden Adonis of a man wanted to do nice things for her filled her with all sorts of warm tingles.

  She ignored her heart’s warning that reminded her the last man who’d filled her with those feelings had brutally betrayed her in the worst possible way. That man and Lucas had nothing in common. Besides, after today she would never see him again. What could one breakfast hurt?

  “Hungry?”

  Before she could speak, the loud growl of her stomach provided the answer. McKenna gave into a small grin. She could lie without blinking an eye, but her stomach always told the truth.

  Apparently hearing the growl, he laughed. “Good. It just got here.”

  Her eyes widened as she surveyed the feast he’d ordered for them. They were in Paris. This kind of meal shouldn’t even be available in this country, much less in the most elegant city in the world.

  The scraping of the chair on the hardwood floor pulled her from her lustful staring at the massive meal. She plopped inelegantly into the chair he’d pulled out for her and watched as he proceeded to heap a plate with eggs, smoked ham, fried potatoes, and biscuits.

  “Where did this food come from?”

  A small enigmatic smile played around his mouth. “I made a call to the chef after you fell asleep. He was kind enough to create the masterpiece you see before you.”

  Oh hell. Emotions clogged her throat and tears stung her eyes. Trust her to cry over something as silly as the mental image of a French chef running all over Paris looking for someone who could sell him a smoked country ham or perusing a cookbook for a biscuit recipe.

  Obviously recognizing the signs of an overwhelmed woman, Lucas urged softly, “Eat.”

  McKenna took a sip of strong French coffee, pulled herself together, and dived into a breakfast fit for a Nebraska farmer. Her father would have loved it.

  Lucas ate, because if he didn’t, it would make McKenna self-conscious. However, he enjoyed watching her eat much more than he enjoyed the meal. He needed to get over this odd fascination of watching her consume food. Not only was it making him as hard as a rock, it was damn freaky.

  His taste in women had always been a bit on the eclectic side, but the things he found physically attractive were, for the most part, predictable and traditional. A pretty face, a beautiful smile, a shapely ass. McKenna had all those things, but she also had a way of eating food that made him want to push that food away, pull her onto the table, and devour her the way she devoured her meal.

  She leaned back into her chair with a groan of apparent fulfillment, and he gripped the table. His erection pressed against the zipper of his pants—painful, inconvenient, and embarrassing as hell.

  “That was wonderful, Lucas. Thank you.”

  “Where are you from?”

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Her eyes flaring with fear, she stood. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

  Lucas remained seated. The knife in front of him was tempting. Hell, never had he thought to wish that Victor had gotten the chance to cut out his tongue. Why the fuck had he asked the one question that was guaranteed to put every radar and defense mechanism she possessed on the highest of alerts? Damned idiot. His mind had been on other things and he’d blurted his thoughts.

  Having no choice, Lucas tried to dig himself out of the hell pit he’d just thrown himself into. “I apologize, McKenna. I know that was out of the bounds of our agreement. Don’t leave.”

  She sighed. “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. You’ve been incredibly kind…fed me like a queen.” Her lips tilted into a tiny smile he had become very familiar with. It was an endearing little gesture she was probably not even aware of, and it made her look so incredibly vulnerable and alone. Once again, Lucas gripped the edge of the table, this time to keep from jumping to his feet and pulling her into his arms.

  “But I really do have to go.”

  Lucas stood then. The erection that had been throbbing for release had disappeared. His stupidity and her fear had effectively doused it.

  “Last night was…” Hell, what could he say? Amazing? That would scare her out the door before he got in another breath.

  “Nice,” she said. “I haven’t talked like that in ages.” Another tiny smile. “Thank you.”

  “Do you know where I live?”

  Her brow wrinkled. “London?”

  “Yes, but…” Ah hell, he might as well say it and get it over with. “I don’t want to say goodbye.” When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand. “No…I can see it in your eyes. You’re going to tell me we can’t see each other again.”

  Her slender shoulders lifted in a helpless little shrug. “We can’t.”

  “McKenna, we’re two adults. We can do what we damn well please.”

  “Sometimes adults don’t always get what they want.”

  He watched as she turned toward the door. The small bag she’d brought with her was still beside it, where she’d dropped it yesterday.

  He reached into his pocket. “Here’s my card.”

  She turned then and looked at it briefly. “No…thanks.” For just an instant, the vulnerable, alone expression flashed in her eyes as she said, “You’re a very special man, Lucas. Thank you for a lovely night.” She grabbed her bag and went through the door.

  Lucas followed her but stopped at the door and watched as she stood at the elevator. He felt almost numb, as if she was taking life and energy from his body.

  Suddenly she turned and dropped her bag. Lucas’s heart stopped. And then she was running toward him. Two feet from him, he saw in her face what he was feeling in his heart. Opening his arms, she ran into them.

  He allowed her to show him what she wanted.

  Standing on her toes, she put her mouth on his and kissed him. It wasn’t a peck, it wasn’t soft, and it wasn’t neat. Her lips covered his and she pressed her tongue deep into his mouth.

  Instinct took over. Pulling her against him, he lowered his head and dove into the kiss. She tasted like strawberries, coffee, and honey. This was not an invitation. This kiss was probably the only one she would allow, the only one she planned to ever give him. He knew that about her.

  With that thought, he drew back slightly from the kiss. He didn’t plan for this to be the only kiss they ever shared, but he damned well intended it to be the best one either of them had ever had. Which meant turning down the heat to a simmer instead of a full boil. Keeping his mouth on hers, he decreased the pressure and played with her lips, feathering, retreating, savoring.

  Under the roar of passion and lust in his head, he heard a groan. Surrender. Arousal. Need. Though everything within him wanted to press her against the wall, strip her pants down, and love her till neither of them remembered their names, he knew that’d be the biggest mistake of all.

  Finally, knowing she needed to breathe, Lucas pulled slowly away and looked down at the aroused, heated woman in his arms.

  Panting slightly, she whispered against his lips, “I couldn’t have lived without ever knowing your taste.” Then, before he could respond, she jerked away. As if on cue, the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival. She ran toward it.

  “McKenna!”

  At the entrance to the elevator, she looked at him again.

  “If there’s ever anything you need, you only have to ask.”

  Her smile one of sheer beauty, she whispered, “You just g
ave me more than I ever expected.” And then she disappeared.

  Lucas stood staring at the closed elevator door. The only thing that hurt worse than the unappeased arousal pounding through him was the gaping hole in his chest that used to hold his heart. McKenna had taken that with her.

  four

  McKenna made it out to the street without crying, which she thought was pretty damned good considering she wanted to crawl into a corner and bawl like a baby. She hadn’t felt this bad in years. How could she have thought she could have just one kiss and it would satisfy an eternity of want?

  Lucas Kane had morphed from a golden hero of her dreams to a flesh-and-bone mortal, and the fascination for him hadn’t diminished as she had hoped.

  A harsh curse brought her attention back to her surroundings. Holy crap, here she was lusting after a man in the middle of a busy Paris sidewalk without any concept of time and place. Damon had spies everywhere, and if he found her in Paris, which was the closest place she had to a home, she was screwed.

  Holding her head down, she draped the strap of her bag across her shoulder and started down the sidewalk. She needed to get out of Paris for a few days. Her bags were at a small storage facility she’d set up when she’d first arrived in Paris. She’d go there, grab some things, and head toward Lyon. Hopefully, Lucas would be gone by the time she returned. Being in the same city with him was too much of a temptation.

  Her mind back into total awareness, McKenna kept her head down, her eyes avoiding contact with anyone she passed. She had to be aware, always on guard. It had been over two years since Damon’s people had spotted her. But he hadn’t stopped looking. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that. The man had killed everyone she loved, taken everything she held most precious.

  Thinking herself free of him would be dangerous not only to her but to those around her, too. The last time she’d felt safe, she had learned a hard lesson. And a sweet, elderly lady had paid the price.

  Damon had a way of teaching lessons. She had learned more than her share. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one to suffer when Damon was of a mind to teach her something.

  No way in hell would he give up until she gave him what he wanted: her freedom, her body, and her obedience.

  Palm Beach

  “We may have found her.”

  Damon shot up in bed. Morning blues had kept him in bed for hours longer than he normally stayed there. His investigators’ news a few days ago had depressed him more than usual. But at those words his adrenaline spiked.

  “Where?”

  “Little Rock, Arkansas.”

  Damon swung his legs around, his feet dropping to the floor. She was from a small town in Nebraska, but a bigger city might suit her better since she was hiding from him. The last time his investigators had found her she was in Memphis, Tennessee. After the unfortunate but necessary incident with her neighbor, she’d disappeared.

  “Do you have a picture?”

  “Yes. I just sent it to your cellphone. Take a look and let me know what you think.”

  Damon looked at his cellphone screen and pressed a key for his photographs. And there she was. She looked somewhat different than he remembered. He rubbed his eyes and peered closer. The picture had been taken from a distance, but he would recognize her anywhere. Long brownish blond hair, the same full lips, pert little nose, baby-soft skin. Yes, it was his McKenna!

  Tearing his gaze away from the screen, he put the phone back to his ear. “Has she seen you?”

  “No. She acts a bit shy and wary, but not abnormally so. We followed her all day yesterday while she was doing errands. Was totally oblivious.”

  “What name is she going by?”

  “Jamie Kendrick. She works two part-time jobs, one at a dry cleaner’s, the other at a real estate office.”

  Fury exploded inside Damon. Dammit, she wouldn’t have to work at all if she just did what she was supposed to do. If she were with him, she would never have to lift a finger again. Why couldn’t she understand that?

  “She have any relationships?”

  “None that we’ve seen so far. She lives in an apartment complex…kind of ratty. Since we’ve only just found her, we don’t know that much about her yet.”

  “I expect that will change.” He kept his voice mild. His investigators knew that just the initial news that she’d been found wasn’t enough. In a few days, they should know what the last pair of shoes she bought looked like and whether they pinched her feet. They were that good and he had that much money.

  “Yes. We’ll report more soon.”

  “Very good, Carlos. I’ll make sure you’re amply rewarded.”

  “Thank you, sir.” There was no pride or smugness in his voice. The man knew Damon didn’t stand for that.

  Damon closed his phone and dropped his head back to his pillow. His love had been found. Years ago, he’d given her the choice to come to him on her own and she had defied him. Killing the old lady had been an unfortunate by-product of McKenna’s defiance.

  The elderly woman had fallen down the stairs…okay, admittedly she’d been shoved a little, but he’d been trying to get into McKenna’s apartment and the old bitch had caught him. She had been going to call the police. He’d tried to explain to her that he was an old friend, and she hadn’t believed him. The little struggle on the stairway had lasted not even a minute. He’d pushed her away and she’d fallen down the entire flight of stairs and broken her neck.

  And he’d never gotten to see McKenna. Instead, he’d had to send her a damn letter explaining what had happened and how it was once again her fault. If she had come to him as he’d asked, the old biddy would still be alive. He had expected the letter to produce a good result. That hadn’t happened. Instead of coming to him and admitting her mistake, she had disappeared again, and he’d been looking for her for two years.

  At some point he had hoped she would come back on her own. That had been his ultimatum. Come to me of your own free will or everyone you care about will die. She hadn’t taken him up on his offer, so he really didn’t have a choice in the matter, did he? Now that she’d been found, he would never let her go again.

  He’d had to tame her into submission several times before, and though it would pain him to do it again, he would have no choice. With the right amount of discipline, along with all the love he had for her, he was sure that this time he could change her mind. This time he would convince her.

  And very soon, he would have that opportunity. Excitement rushed through him. McKenna would soon be his again!

  Marseille, France

  McKenna sat on the park bench across from a sleazy hotel. Sipping coffee, she tried to pretend she wasn’t freezing her ass off…pretty damn hard since she was freezing her ass off.

  Right before she’d gotten on a train to Lyon, Noah had called with a possible job. He never said he had a job for her—just a possible job if she was interested. She’d yet to turn down any possible jobs. Not only did she need the money, but working with LCR was the most worthwhile thing she’d ever done. She was just lucky she got paid for it.

  The hotel was a known operation for prostitution. If that’s what a person chose to do, that was their business. Being forced into prostitution was another matter. Noah had gotten word that several young girls had been taken off the street in various parts of the city and had ended up here in this skank hole.

  Only one LCR operative was working the job with her. He had gone into the hotel for a brief look-see. On his word, she’d either know they needed more help or this was something they’d do on their own.

  “Got ourselves a bit of a problem.”

  If anyone else heard Dylan Savage’s lazy voice, they’d think he was about the most laid-back person in the world. McKenna had worked several ops with him. Beneath that slow, lazy drawl, she heard the underlying tension in his tone.

  “What?”

  “Don’t have time to get additional help. We got ourselves a serious issue.”

  McKenn
a stood and crossed the street. Making her way slowly to the entrance, she tried to appear as unconcerned as Dylan always did. Inside, her heart was triple-timing with adrenaline. Dylan would never be authorizing her to come in without backup unless some major shit was taking place.

  “Can you give me an idea?”

  “Got four of them going on right now. All of them sound pretty damn rough.” He stopped and added, “And damn young.”

  The sheer grimness in his voice had her picking up her pace. Four young women were being raped. He was right. No waiting for backup.

  “I’m at the entrance,” McKenna said.

  “Lobby should be deserted. Gorilla behind the counter will be out for a while. I’m on the third floor. I got rooms six and eight. You take rooms thirteen and fifteen.”

  “Got it.” Before she went through the door, McKenna pulled her knife from its sheath under her pant leg and slid it into her jacket pocket. Taking the gun from her shoulder holster, she held it down at her side. It was doubtful she’d need it until she got to the room, but she’d take no chances.

  Entering the small lobby, she scrunched her nose at the repugnant smells that hit all at once: musky sex blended with the stench of urine, vomit, and other excrements she didn’t even want to think about.

  Dylan was right: the lobby was empty. The long counter that served as check-in or whatever the hell they called it in a prostitution house had no one standing behind it. On her way up the stairs, she glimpsed a pair of jean-clad legs sticking out from behind the counter and figured they belonged to the aforementioned gorilla.

  Her gun at the ready, McKenna ran up two flights of stairs. Stopping at the top of the third-floor entrance, she held her breath to listen. All sorts of sounds emanated from several different areas. Groans of pleasure and beds squeaking didn’t cause alarm. Screams and cries of pain did. McKenna took off running toward the sickening sound.

  Her heart racing, she stopped at room thirteen and eased the door open. Peeking inside, she decided to hell with stealth. She shoved the door open and it thudded hard against the wall. The grunting man on the bed whirled around and yelled, “I’m not finished.”