by Becca Van
Nicole had no idea where she was going, but she knew she couldn’t stay here a moment longer.
Chapter Four
Brom spun around when Rand and Ty followed him into the kitchen and when his anger became too much, he slammed his fist down on the table. “Fuck, Ty. Could you have said anything more stupid? What the hell were you thinking?”
Brom was usually the one to step in and calm his brothers down, since he was the one who was normally the more cool headed of the three of them in most situations, but right at this moment he was seething with anger and needed an outlet. He’d never been so angry in his life. Rand gripped his shoulder, trying to calm him down, but Brom didn’t want to calm down. Right at this moment he wanted to slam his fist into Ty’s face. “She didn’t let me finish,” Ty said in an ice-cold voice. “I was going to tell her that of course it was our job to care for her, because she means everything to us. It wasn’t until she slammed the bathroom door, closed and locked it that I felt her pain. Son of a fucking bitch! Why the fuck do I have to screw everything up?”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ty.”
Brom glared at Rand and then looked toward his oldest brother. The look of defeat on Ty’s face had his anger dissipating and he sighed when he realized that Rand was right. Brom hardly ever got so angry that he snapped but if he did the ire never lasted long. He always tried to see all aspects of an argument and looked at it logically without letting emotion cloud his judgment, but where Nicole was concerned emotion was everything. But Rand was right. Nicole hadn’t given Ty a chance to finish talking and had instead hurled herself into the bathroom. She must have tried to hide her pain from them, because he hadn’t felt it until she’d locked the bathroom door either. That was the first time he’d not felt some sort of emotion coming from her and he wondered if she knew about their enhanced skills already and was trying to build a wall to keep them out.
Women talked to each other all the time and the niggling in the back of his mind made him think that he may very well be right. Sara must have told her about their abilities and maybe Nicole had been waiting for them to tell her themselves. Ty wasn’t the only who had fucked up. They all had from the very beginning, and if she knew, she hadn’t said a word or in any way hinted at their empathy or other skills.
If that was the case, did it mean that Nicole didn’t think they trusted her?
“Of course it was my fault,” Ty snapped and threw himself onto a stool at the counter, nearly tipping it over.
Brom stepped closer to his brother and placed his hand on Ty’s other shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “No, it wasn’t. I’m sorry for snapping at you. We’ve gone about dealing with Nicole all wrong. We should have been upfront with her from the start. Now she thinks she is only a duty to us and that we are lusting after her body without having any feelings for her at all.”
Rand sat on the other side of Ty, and Brom took the stool to his right. They were silent, caught up in their own thoughts. Brom glanced at the clock and saw that it was four in the morning and knew they couldn’t resolve anything now. It was too late and they needed to go back to bed and try to get another couple of hours’ sleep. But there was no way Nicole wouldn’t face them in the morning. Brom was determined to explain everything to her with his brothers by his side and when they had, then all bets were off. He had every intention of making love to their woman and he was going to make sure there was no doubt in her mind about how much she meant to them.
Brom slapped Ty on the back and rose to his feet. “We’ll talk to her in the morning. Let her cool down and sleep. Hopefully when she wakes up she’ll be willing to listen.”
“Brom’s right,” Rand said as he stood. “There’s nothing we can do now, but tomorrow is a different story.”
Brom headed for his bedroom, Rand following behind. He glanced toward Nicole’s closed bedroom door and sighed with frustration. It was really hard to not take the steps that would bring him to her door. He wanted to make her listen to him, but he knew it would be better to wait until she’d had a few hours’ sleep. The anticipation of confronting her was going to make it hard for him to get some shuteye and he couldn’t wait to tell her how he really felt about her. She was the love of his life and he had no intentions of losing her.
* * * *
Nicole had no idea where she was or where she was headed, but none of that even mattered. She’d been walking for at least four hours and hoped she would encounter a sign or a town soon. She’d never even been to North Dakota before and hadn’t even bothered to look at the state on a map. Her legs were burning and she was so damn tired and hungry she had nearly turned around and headed back the way she’d come from, but she wasn’t about to stay where she was only seen as a chore.
She was walking on the side of the road and had been lucky or unlucky enough not to encounter any cars from either direction. Now that the sun was up, at least she wasn’t as cold as she had been. She should have known the night air would be really low in temperature, considering she was in snow country. Although it was just the beginning of fall the difference in temperature from summer was quite noticeable.
When she’d come to the end of the driveway to the Elite Dragoons cattle ranch, she had turned right and hoped for the best. Now she wondered whether she should have taken a left instead. If she had, she might have encountered a town and been able to buy a bus ticket back to her hometown of Chadron, Nebraska. That was another thing she had to think about. Would it really be too dangerous for her to go back home or were the men just being paranoid? As far as Nicole was concerned, there was no way the Japanese Underworld criminals could know where she lived. They had abducted her after a night out and she hadn’t been anywhere near her home. Although going back to her one-bedroom apartment with no one to protect her made her very nervous. The only other option was to get to Jill’s and hide out at her place.
She smiled when she thought of facing her friend again. Jill would likely scream the place down and then she would give her a tongue lashing for scaring the crap out of her, and after that would probably burst into tears and hug her so tight she couldn’t breathe.
Nicole had met Jill in high school and from the very first they had just seemed to click. They were complete opposites and she guessed that was why their friendship was so strong. Jill was an extrovert, very outgoing and opinionated, whereas Nicole was more of an introvert and didn’t like to be the center of attention.
Nicole had been on her own since the age of sixteen and even though she had become very independent, she hated living on her own and having to rely on only herself. It wasn’t that she had to work to pay her bills and keep a roof over her head, it was just that she was so damn lonely. Jill was in a long-term relationship and Nicole didn’t want to become a third wheel, so she would have to think of finding somewhere else to stay. Her mom drifted through her mind, but there was no way in hell she was ever going to live under her mother’s roof again. The thought of doing so sent shivers up and down her spine.
Nicole was grateful to her mom for looking after her as long as she had, but her mother had been way too young when she had become pregnant with her and as she grew up she realized that all the men who visited weren’t just guests but actual customers. When the men had started looking at her with lust in their eyes, she knew it was time to leave. Nicole only wished that her mom had more self-worth and had chosen to work at a café and finished school rather than being a prostitute, but she had done the best she could with the education she had. Besides who was she to judge when she had no idea what her mom had been through by struggling to make a living? They’d never been really close, and even though she had been to see her mother a couple of times since moving out the welcome she got wasn’t very…well, welcoming. She had seen the jealousy in her mother’s eyes when the men had pinned her with their lustful gazes, but her mom should have known that there was no way in hell she was going to follow in her footsteps.
Nicole spun around when she heard the rumble of an engin
e and saw a car in the distance. She was in a quandary about whether to hide or to stand in the middle of the road and flag the driver down. Her hesitancy ended up deciding for her as the car slowed when it got closer. She sagged in relief when she saw a shocked but familiar face staring at her with mouth gaping open. The car pulled onto the shoulder and May opened her door.
“What the hell are you doing out here, young lady?” May got out of the car and hurried toward her and then she was being enveloped into warm loving arms. “Good God, Nicole, what are you doing? What were you thinking?”
Nicole burst into tears and clung to May as she cried out all her pain. The elderly woman just kept right on hugging her and ran a soothing hand down her hair, head and back. Finally her tears dried up and May pulled back to look at her and she began to explain. With each word that came out of her mouth, May’s face darkened with anger and her lips thinned out but then a speculative light came into her eyes.
“I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for what Ty said, honey. Come on and get in the car. You can help with the shopping and then I’ll drive you back home.” May helped Nicole into the car and headed to town. Half an hour later, they were sitting at a table of a diner in a very small rural town she’d had no idea existed. From what she could see, there was only the diner, which was also a gas station, and in another section of the same building was a small supermarket. There were a couple of houses on the main street but she suspected any other residences were spread far and wide in every direction.
“Did it occur to you the reason they haven’t told you about their abilities is because they were scared of your reaction?”
“What do you mean?”
“Honey”—May reached across the table and placed her hand over Nicole’s—“they volunteered to be a military experiment and now have advanced senses and are empathetic. What would have been your reaction when they told you that?”
Nicole nibbled on her bottom lip and tried to think objectively but it was hard since she already knew about their skills. “I probably would have thought they were crazy.”
“Exactly.” May withdrew her hand, picked up her coffee, and took a sip. “If Sara hadn’t told you, you wouldn’t have believed them. Try to put yourself in their shoes, Nicole. And are you positive that Ty really sees you as a duty? Did you give him and his brothers a chance to explain things to you or did you just feel hurt and run?”
Nicole exhaled heavily. “I ran and locked myself in the bathroom.”
“Communication is the key to any good relationship, honey. You need to sit down with those boys and listen to what they have to say.”
Nicole nodded and felt some of her tension drain away. She was as much to blame for their predicament as the men were. She was so used to being rejected and hurt she hadn’t given them a chance.
“I’m glad you came along and made me see sense. I don’t know where I would have ended up if you hadn’t needed to go shopping.”
“You’re lucky, young lady, usually I just get everything delivered, but today I felt the need to get out for a bit.”
“Thanks, May. When we get back I promise to give them a chance to explain.”
May nodded. “See that you do.”
* * * *
Rand knocked on the door to Nicole’s room again and tried to hear if she was moving around. He was getting really worried, because she was usually up and about before breakfast, but she was still holed up in her room. He lowered his mental shield and became really concerned when he couldn’t feel anything coming from Nicole at all, since that had never happened before. It was now ten in the morning and he wanted to sit down with his brothers and talk to her, but that wouldn’t happen if she didn’t come out of her room. His gut was churning and he had a bad feeling.
Rand headed back to the kitchen where his brothers were currently sipping on mugs of coffee.
“She’s still not answering?” Ty asked.
“No.” Rand scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t like this. I can’t feel her at all.”
“Let me try.” Brom rose to his feet and headed to Nicole’s room. “Nicole, open the door, darlin’, we need to talk to you.”
Ty was full of tension with his jaw clenched tight and Rand hoped his brother’s temper didn’t snap and make things worse, but he didn’t stop Ty when he stood and hurried out of the room. Rand followed behind and they all stood outside her bedroom door.
“I can’t feel her,” Brom turned to face him and Ty.
“Let me…” Ty began and Rand knew his brother had lowered his mental shield. Ty’s face paled and he staggered a little. “She’s not in the fucking house.”
“What?” Rand roared and pictured Nicole in his mind. When he didn’t feel anything he knew that Ty was right.
“Step away from the door,” Ty snapped.
Rand and Brom moved back and then Ty raised his foot and kicked the door near the lock. Ty rushed into the room with Rand and Brom right behind him.
“Fuck, she went out the window. Rand, call the leaders and see if she’s at their house.” Ty walked over to the window and then paced while Rand made the call.
“She’s not there,” Rand said quietly as fear clutched his heart.
“Where the fuck could she have gone?” Ty bellowed.
Rand knew his brother wasn’t angry at their woman but afraid for her. He glanced around the room and saw her purse sitting on the dresser. There was only one way he could think of to find out, and he prayed to God that it would work for them like it had for their team leaders. He picked up her purse and dug into it, hoping to get a feel of where she was, but he got so much more when his hand landed on her hairbrush.
Rand felt pain pierce her heart at Ty’s words and every other emotion she had dealt with since the previous night. When he saw her walking along the road in the dark, fear consumed him. But then it began to dissipate when May encountered her on her way to town and he felt relief that she was safe. When he came back to reality his brothers were staring at him and he looked down to see that he was still holding her brush in his hand.
He had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah and we felt everything she felt, too,” Brom said.
“Thank God May found her,” Ty said in a hoarse voice. “If she’d gone back home like she’d planned, she would have been in danger.” Ty headed toward the door. “Let’s go and get our woman.”
“Wait.” Brom grabbed Ty’s shoulder before he could leave the room. “Nicole is safe for the moment and talking with May. I think we should wait until she comes back home. She needs time to sort through her feelings, Ty.”
“She thinks we don’t trust her.” Ty shrugged out of his hold and continued in a hard voice. “She’s known from nearly the first about our abilities and never once said anything. How could she believe we didn’t trust and care for her?”
Rand knew his brother was feeling hurt and not angry at Nicole and hoped when they were finally face-to-face, talking to their woman, that Ty didn’t let his emotions rule him. Ty used that cold voice when he was on the job or hurting, but they had gone about trying to reach Nicole all wrong and instead of trying to get her closer to them they had ended up hurting her and pushing her away. The time away from them and the house would do her good, but when she came back he and his brothers had to set things straight with her.
As far as Rand was concerned there was no fucking way she was getting away from them again.
Chapter Five
Ty had been on pins ever since they realized that Nicole had left. He’d spent most of the day working out on the ranch with the hands, but his mind wandered often and a few of the hands have given him curious looks. Not one of them had said anything to him. When he glanced at his watch he saw that is was nearly three in the afternoon, and he decided to head back to the house. After mounting up he kneed his horse into a gallop and headed back. The closer he got to the house, the more the tension in his body eased and when h
e saw May’s car parked in the carport off the side of the main house he sighed with relief.
Opening his shield, he felt for Nicole and he sighed again when he felt her nervous trepidation. After handing the reins of his horse over to another ranch hand, he strode purposefully toward the back door. Rand and Brom were just coming around the other side of the house and he figured that they couldn’t wait any longer to talk to Nicole either. None of them said a word as they gained the steps to the wraparound verandah, and after removing their boots, Ty led the way inside.
Nicole was sitting on the sofa and she looked up when he and his brothers entered the room. He didn’t like that she looked scared, but when he filtered out the other emotions flooding him he honed in on Nicole’s and realized that she wasn’t really frightened, but she was very nervous. She looked pale and tired but at least she wasn’t hurt in any way.
Ty sat on the sofa next to her and Rand sat on her other side. Brom pushed the coffee table back and sat on the sturdy wooden furniture in front of her, leaned forward and took her hand in his.
“Are you okay, darlin’?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Ty interjected. “I can feel your pain, baby.”
Nicole lowered her eyes to the floor and tried to withdraw her hand from Brom’s, but his brother didn’t let her retreat. Ty reached over and cupped her cheek then gently turned her head until their gazes connected. “I’m sorry that I hurt you, but if you had stuck around and let me finish, you wouldn’t have had to be hurting.”