by Avery Gale
Sage was seething with anger Coral had been in so much danger, the fury roiling inside him threatening to burst at any second. He let his gaze flicker to the tumbler of water sitting in front of him. Damn it would make a satisfying crunch as it hit the wall at the other side of the room. The temptation was almost too much to resist because he was certain he’d feel at least marginally better for a few breaths. But as a Dom, Sage knew the quickest way to shut down a submissive was to react emotionally to their story—particularly if the emotion was negative. A sub’s innate desire to please meant they often withheld information simply to avoid negative reactions from those around them, and it didn’t matter if the reaction wasn’t directed at them—the reaction was the same.
“I ran behind the neighbor’s fence, and then made my way through the parking lot. I had a small pocketknife in my purse, so I flattened as many tires as I could on cars I knew were theirs before running to my own car. I always had to park down the street so his friends could part close. In hindsight, I think I should be more grateful for that, huh?” Coral’s eyes were swimming in unshed tears. Her sad attempt at humor hadn’t done anything for Sage or for her.
Sage felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest as she talked about how she’d driven for days without sleep. “It wasn’t so bad actually, because every time I fell asleep I kept seeing that gun…and the man on the floor. So I wasn’t really getting any sleep anyway.” She shuddered, her eyes closed against a horror Sage knew she’d probably be haunted by for years to come.
“I’ve continued to checked newspapers when I can. I’ve only seen one brief mention about a missing drug dealer, but there wasn’t much information in the short article. Since I have to drive to larger towns to get internet access, I don’t get to check often now. Honestly, I’m afraid to check too often. I ditched my phone pretty quickly because I was afraid he’d find a way to track it. I used disposable phones until about three months ago. I finally got a real phone because it was so hard to remember to buy minutes. I was afraid to go without a phone, you know? I don’t know how he got the number. I haven’t given it to anyone but Charlotte.” Her voice had finally faded to a whisper. The tears filling her eyes were close to falling, and Sage wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and never let her go. It was time to get her out of the small diner, she had already had enough of her dignity stolen—he wasn’t going to compound the problem by putting her emotions on public display.
“Sweetness, if you are finished eating, I’d like to get out of here. We need to figure out exactly how we’re going to keep you safe. And quite frankly, I need to just hold you for a minute.” He’d kept his voice level—a miracle considering the fury pulsing through his system. He was going to have to call Brandt in and he wasn’t sure how Coral was going to handle it. Additionally, he didn’t want to risk her reputation by having what would likely be a strained conversation with the local sheriff in a public place.
He saw her take a fortifying breath, and knew she was working on every possible excuse to keep him from helping her. Good luck with that, sweetheart. Not gonna happen. As soon as they were on the sidewalk he turned her, pulling her into his embrace. God, she was so small against him. Her cheek rested against his heart. He held her close until he felt her relax into his hold. Inhaling the frigid air, he pulled back enough to look down into her dark eyes. “Coral, the first thing I’m going to say is you are no longer facing any of this alone. Remember that, sweetness, because it’s important. And I know you are worrying about involving anyone else.” When her eyes widened in surprise, he laughed. “Pet, it’s written all over your face. Now, Charlotte told me you have tomorrow off, so let’s go up to your apartment. I want you to pack up a few things, and I’m taking you out to the ranch.” When she started to protest he held up his hand to stop her. “Coral, do you trust me? Have I or any of my brothers ever given you any cause to be afraid of us? Hell, Brandt is the damned Sheriff. Do you think he’d let us hurt or take advantage of you?”
He saw her shoulders relax as she considered his words. Sage chuckled, hoping his smile would put an end to her doubt. “Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, the whole lot of us are more afraid of Charlotte and our own pop than we are of most anything else you could imagine. And I assure you, if either of them found out we had treated you like anything but a princess, there would be hell to pay for sure.”
As they rounded the corner he heard the door of her little apartment close. Sage quickly pulled her behind him, and stepped into the shadows. Sage and Coral stood stone still listening, as the two men descending the stairs at the back of O’Donnell Hardware cursed the fact their target hadn’t been home. Evidently kidnappers didn’t relish the thought of having to make more than one attempt to capture their quarry. Sage shook his head in disbelief. What the hell kind of two-bit hoods are these guys anyway?
As the two men got into a dark sedan, Sage was betting was a rental, he heard one of them say something about “the bitch being positive the girl would be there by now” but he hadn’t been able to hear the partner’s response. Sage wondered if Coral had been completely upfront with him or if perhaps her boyfriend had been seeing someone else on the side.
After they’d driven away, Coral shifted so she could step around him, but Sage stilled her. Leaning down, he brushed the silken curls that had escaped her ponytail aside, to speak against her ear. “Sweetness, this could be a trap. Is there anything up there you can’t live without tonight?” When she shook her head, he kissed the shell of her ear and wanted to smile at the shiver he felt move through her. Obviously the lady is at least attracted to me—it’s a start. “Alright then, let’s get out of here.”
He’d parked in the alley a couple of doors down from the hardware store. Keeping them in the shadows, Sage moved quickly to the passenger’s side of his truck. Lifting her easily into the cab, he leaned across her to secure her seatbelt and noticed she was crying. “Oh baby, please don’t cry—you’re breaking my heart. I promise we’ll keep you safe.”
“I’m sorry. I hate to cry, but I’m so tired of being scared. It’s exhausting. I had finally gotten to the place where I could sleep all night again. And now…well, now it’s all starting over. I thought I’d escaped. I went clear across the country. Why won’t they just let me go? Obviously I’m not going to tell anyone after all this time.” Sage knew exactly why they were tracking her, and he was pretty sure she did too. There was no way her ex was going to leave such a large loose end. An eyewitness to a murder would be definitely be an enormous problem, but there really wasn’t anything to be gained by saying that out loud.
He’d placed his hands on both sides of her face, and used his thumbs to gently brush away her tears. He kissed the end of her nose and smiled. “Let’s get you home, sweetness.” It wasn’t until he was buckled in and was driving he realized the significance of the words he’d spoken to Coral. But rather than them sounding odd, somehow they’d sounded exactly right.
Chapter Four
Using the hands free device in his truck, Sage called Brandt letting him know there had been a break-in at Coral’s apartment, and briefly explaining what they’d seen and heard. “Coral is with me, I’m taking her home with me.” And I intend to keep her there. “Give me a call when you can.” Sage knew Brandt would understand his statement translated to, I want to talk to you when Coral can’t hear our conversation.
Brandt’s voice boomed through the truck’s speakers, “I’m heading that way now. I wasn’t in town, so it’s going to take me a few minutes to get there. Is there anything Coral would like me to bring from her apartment when I come home?” She nodded and rattled off a short list, including a backpack she said contained a change of clothes, a small makeup bag, hairbrush, her e-reader, and a teddy bear. Brandt chuckled, but Sage heard the underlying tension in his brother’s voice as he assured her he’d strap the bear in carefully before heading out to the ranch. Sage wasn’t sure which of the things Coral asked for Brandt had taken issue with, but he
intended to find out.
Sage was grateful Brandt had been gentle with Coral despite the thread of steel he’d heard in his brother’s tone. The middle Morgan brother was probably the most hardline of any of them, and that attitude certainly wasn’t what Coral needed tonight. Brandt’s years as a Navy SEAL had hardened him in many ways and nothing seemed to be sanding down those sharp edges.
Sage hoped Brandt and his other brothers all found their women someday soon because the five of them had always planned to marry and raise their families together. None of them were getting any younger, something his mother had reminded him of just this morning. They had already completed three homes on the ranch and the other ones were started. Sage had always known he’d live in the main house, but there would be a lot of work to do before all the others had moved out.
As he pulled in front of the main house the one of the two large wooden doors opened before he’d even taken his truck out of gear. Colt, Phoenix and Kip all walked down the steps to greet them. Brandt had obviously given them a heads up. When he turned to tell Coral to wait for him to come around and help her, he saw she’d fallen asleep. Stepping from the truck, he turned to his brothers. “She’s exhausted. Let me get her settled on the sofa in the living room, and then we’ll talk in the kitchen. I doubt she sleeps long, but I want her to get any rest she can.”
Sliding his arms under her, Sage lifted her into his arms. She settled against him perfectly, her soft breath wafting gently against the side of his neck, and sending a very strong message to his cock. Goddamn it to hell. Walking with a hard-on is a pain in the ass. Sage didn’t waste any time getting her settled, covering her with a soft quilt his mom had given him a few months earlier. She’d told him she’d made it so he’d have something special to wrap his true love in when she finally made her way into his life. I swear the woman is downright spooky sometimes. His dad had often warned all five of his sons their mama’s intuition was nothing to scoff at. And over the years they’d learned to listen to her, even when she didn’t think they were.
The fireplace was already blazing, the room comfortably warm as the golden glow highlighted all the different shades of gold and auburn in her dark hair. Sage pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before motioning his brothers out of the room. The deep purple half-moons under her eyes spoke volumes about everything she’d been dealing with, and he hoped like hell she’d be able to rest better under their roof. When he started to step away Phoenix shook his head and pointed at her threadbare canvas shoes.
Sage smiled, leave it to Phoenix to notice—he was the caretaker among them. Phoenix was the quietest and most sensitive of the five Morgan brothers. He was also absolutely brilliant. The computer games Phoenix Morgan created were among the most popular in the world. He’d also created several software programs that eased the ranch’s endless bookkeeping in ways Sage would have never been able to imagine possible.
Phoenix’s sensitive nature made him a natural with animals of all kinds, and the ranch hands often begged him for his help when they were trying to break a particularly skittish mare. Sage had never seen him fail with an animal, and much to his brother’s chagrin, Phoenix didn’t seem particularly interested in practicing those skills on a woman. Phoenix had always been painfully shy, and Sage had been surprised to see him chatting easily with Coral one day inside the hardware store. When he’d asked his brother about it later, he’d shrugged his shoulders and simply said she was easy to talk to.
Sitting down around their large kitchen table, Sage gave them an abbreviated update because he knew they were going to have to hear it all again as soon as Brandt made his way home. Colt’s eyes were bright with fury. “So you’re planning to keep her here, right? No way does she need to be in that apartment alone. Hell, you saw what those stairs were like when we worked on them last summer. I can’t imagine the door is any more secure, I’d be surprised if it even locks.”
Colt had helped Sage repair the stairs one evening last summer after they’d overheard Coral tell Charlotte she was planning to fix it herself. But since Coral hadn’t been home at the time, they hadn’t been able to check anything else in the small apartment. Now he knew she’d been driving to other towns to use the internet he understood her frequent unexplained absences.
“I want her to stay here. She will be safe here and—well, I want her close. Fuck me. I just want her period. She’s smart, obviously resourceful, and brave—not to mention witty and kind. And the fact she is gorgeous is icing on a perfect piece of sweet cake.” When Sage looked up, he knew by the grins on his brother’s faces Coral must be standing behind him. He turned in his seat and his breath caught in his throat. Her tiny feet were now bare and her hair was a riot of chestnut waves that caught the light making it look as if light sprites were dancing in and out of her curls.
She must have gotten too warm and taken off the soft sweatshirt she’d been wearing because she was standing there in a tiny white T-shirt that didn’t meet the top of her low cut jeans. He caught a glint off a gold ring in her navel and couldn’t hold back his whispered, “Sweet Jesus, you are so fucking beautiful.” She had already been blushing but at his words her cheeks were now nearly glowing. When he held his hand out to her, she walked straight to him with no hesitation, and he was lost to her in that moment. The brief show of trust was all it took to completely ensnare his heart. She was so petite he still had to look down into her eyes despite the fact he’d settled her on his lap. “Are you alright, sweetness?”
She nodded and leaned into him pressing her cheek against the front of his shoulder. He looked up at his brothers and saw affection in their eyes. When he first expressed an interest in Charlotte’s new girl, each of his brothers had made a point to stop by the hardware store to meet her and introduce themselves. Sage was grateful now they’d each taken the time to get to know her. She was much more at ease now because of their efforts. He knew it would be far easier for Coral to be in a roomful of men she considered friends rather than those she merely considered acquaintances. Naturally it was Phoenix who leaned close and asked, “Coral, honey would you like something to drink? We probably have just about everything since we’re ready for our New Year’s Eve party.”
She sat bolt upright, her eyes going wide as she looked at Sage. “Oh my stars. I forgot you mentioned a party. I didn’t ask Brandt to bring me anything to wear that will be suitable for a party. How on earth am I going to help serve without something appropriate to wear? Oh frack, I can’t believe I did this. Sometimes I’m pretty sure not all of my wiring is plugged in.” Serving? Did she just say serving? Oh, not on your life sweet girl.
He placed his fingers under her chin making sure her focus remained on him. “Serving? You think I invited you here to work? Seriously?” Her eyes dilated and he heard her quick intake of breath—such a beautiful submissive response. He wanted to scoop her up and head right up to his bedroom—he’d show her exactly why he had invited her. He’d been planning to put her in the guest room but her reaction had sealed another fate for the two of them tonight. She would be sleeping in his bed rather than alone.
“No pet, you are not serving at the party. If you want to help out here and there we’ll appreciate it, just as we would the help from any guest or family member.” He’d deliberately changed his term of endearment, using one closely associated with D/s relationships. With his fingers wrapped around the back of her neck, he felt her pulse kick up at the reference. Interesting. “Now, Phoenix is awaiting your answer about a drink. I suggest you take him up on his offer because I just heard Brandt pull up and it’s a safe bet he’s going to have a lot of questions for you.
Coral knew she’d surprised Sage when she leaned forward kissing him on the cheek before following Phoenix into the kitchen. The flair of desire in his eyes made her glad she’d taken the chance. As she walked out of the room she tried to finger comb her wild curls not realizing the motion would raise the hem her shirt enough to give the men behind her a nice view of the small scro
llwork tattoo she had gotten as a teen. The soft colors swirled down and around the dimples at the top of her ass, though they couldn’t have seen much of the intricate design. Hearing Sage’s low growl gave her a thrill of satisfaction knowing she’d been able to affect him in some small way. Okay…if she was being honest, Coral should probably admit she was mentally bouncing up and down with smug self-satisfaction. Being able to affect the sexiest man she’d ever known by doing nothing more than sauntering out of the room, and flashing a bit of skin his way made her feel like a sex kitten—and it had been a really long time since she’d felt anything close to attractive.
Sage Morgan was the embodiment of everything Coral found sexy. His dark eyes truly were the windows to his soul. During the time she’d known him, Coral had learned to tell when he was teasing her by the way his eyes danced with mischief. She’d seen glimpses of his desire, but there had never been any promise he’d follow through…until tonight. That promise had shown itself briefly outside the diner earlier this evening, and listening to him talk about her with his brothers had given her another spark of hope. But the white-hot flash of desire she’d seen in his eyes when she’d pressed her lips against his tan cheek was a panty-soaking moment.
She helped Phoenix set drinks and a few snacks on trays, enjoying how easy Sage’s younger brother was to work with. Coral tried not to stare at her surroundings with her chin dropped to her chest, and her mouth gaping open like a fish—but holy fricking crap on a pink cactus. Their kitchen would make any woman drool. It was huge. Phoenix laughed softly when he saw her taking it all in with wide eyes. “Remember, this is the main house and our mom raised five sons here—she also loves to entertain. Even now, when they are home for the summer or holidays, she does the majority of their entertaining here rather than at their smaller place in town. If you want to know the truth, I think we’ll be building another house out back when grandkids come along. Neither Mom, nor Pop will want to live in town and miss a moment they could share with their rewards for not stringing us up—Pop’s words, not mine by the way.”