His Safe Keeping (The Safe Series)

by Tina Bass

  “Yeah, baby, he’s dead.” Kade repeated, still holding her eyes so she could see the truth.

  “Okay,” she said just above a whisper and winced at the pain in her throat. Kade moved from over her and again all she could see was that very dim light. She closed her eyes because it was just easier than trying to hold them open. She heard Kade’s voice telling someone she couldn’t see that she was awake.

  Kade watched as her eyes drifted back closed and waited for the doctor to come in. For six long fuckin’ torturous hours, he’d sat by her bedside and waited for her to just open those gorgeous eyes. When she’d collapsed in his arms and she was lying on her floor as her blood leaked from her body…fuck! Her blood. Her precious blood, spilling out, covering his hands, soaking into the towels, pooling on the floor around her, he was scared. He would admit that, but fuck, when he heard the EMT’s words, ‘we lost the pulse,’ that was fear like he’d never felt before. Soul burning fear. A fear he never wanted to experience again. He knew those words would haunt him for the rest of his life. For three fuckin’ hours those words echoed in his head as he waited in the hospital’s emergency waiting room. Only to stand outside of her room, staring through the glass at her, his Krista, with so many tubes and wires attached to her body. His beautiful, sweet, lively Krista just lying in that bed so still, so fuckin’ still, eyes closed, waiting on blood that might save her life. That was heartbreaking, soul ripping, drive you in-fuckin’-sane kind of fear. When the woman, and he couldn’t remember her name, when she arrived and test after test was run, only then was her blood pumped into Krista’s body and thank fuck it seemed to be working. That started the long process of slowly raising her body temperature, then after that bringing her out of the coma the doctors had put her in. Then came the six fuckin’ hours he sat by her bedside waiting for her to open her eyes. He leaned over her, kissed her cheek, and whispered in her ear. “I love you.” He gently laid his cheek to hers. He inhaled her, and then before he pulled back and after he heard the door to her room open, he whispered again in her ear. “I love you so fuckin’ much.”

  Krista felt Kade next to her, touching his cheek to hers, heard his voice, him telling her he loved her.

  “I love you,” she whispered so low as she tried to swallow to ease the pain in her throat. She felt it when Kade moved away from her.

  “She’s awake, just has her eyes closed, and I think her throat is hurting her.” She heard Kade’s voice speaking to someone and then she could hear water. Was that water running?

  “Kris, open your eyes, darlin’. I want to sit you up some so you can sip some water.” She heard Dr. Miller’s voice just as she felt the bed she was lying in start to move. When she opened her eyes again she saw him leaning over her with a cup in his hand. He put the straw to her lips and instructed her quietly. “Small sips.” The water running down her throat was easing the raw scratchiness, so she took bigger sips. “Slowly.” The doctor repeated and her eyes moved to his smiling face. “How are you feeling?” She moved her arm so she could take the cup from him, only to feel that same tugging on her skin. She looked down to see an IV needle taped to her arm. When she tried to move the other, she felt that one was trapped. She wanted to see what was holding her still, and saw that Kade was holding her hand. She smiled a small smile at him.

  “I need my hand,” she stated and watched a little smile appear on his solemn face. When she took the cup, she turned back to Dr. Miller. “I’m okay, I think. Maybe a little tired. My throat is sore.” She took another sip of water. “But the water seems to be helping with that.” She looked around and saw that she was in a hospital room…again? “Why am I in the hospital? What happened?” She looked between Dr. Miller and Kade. It took Kade about two seconds to explain in Kade’s usual way.

  “Fuckin’ Price!” Kade barked out, and then said no more. Dr. Miller, on the other hand, took much longer to explain. He explained the stab wounds, the medically induced coma, the ice packs to lower her body temperature, and Destiny flying all the way from North Carolina to give her blood.

  “Is she still here?” Krista wanted to thank her and to meet her. Even though for the past six months or so they’d talked via the internet, thanks to Dr. Miller ‘introducing’ them to one another, it sure would be nice to meet her face to face, especially since it seemed she’d helped save her life.

  “She’s still here and eager to meet you.” Dr. Miller patted her arm just above the IV needle.

  Kade sat by the window in Krista’s room to give her and Destiny a little privacy. He should probably let them have some time alone, but he couldn’t make himself leave her room. He didn’t want to leave her side! From where he sat he couldn’t even touch her but he could see her. See her laughing and talking girly shit to this woman. This woman who had helped save Krista’s life and fuck if her name wasn’t Destiny. Hadn’t they been talking about destiny and shit just a few days ago? Krista had said that destiny gave her him, now fuck him, Destiny gave him his Krista back. He moved his eyes from Krista to Destiny. Yeah, she was pretty, with long blonde hair, not sure how long, as she had it pinned up some way or other that only a fuckin’ girl would know. Fair skin, not sun kissed like Krista’s but he knew Krista liked spending a lot of time outside, maybe Destiny didn’t. Her eyes were blue, but not sky blue like Krista’s. Hers were darker and they didn’t quite seem to sparkle like his Krista’s did, but he couldn’t say she wasn’t pretty because she was very pretty.

  He paused a moment at that thought. Before he met Krista, a woman as pretty or not even as pretty as Destiny, would have stirred something in him, if nothing but a simple attraction to a nice looking woman. Most of the time, more than that. But, since Krista…nothing. Hell, not even the appreciation of seeing a pretty woman. Just nothing. He looked back at Krista just as she smiled one of those gorgeous smiles that wasn’t even aimed at him and he felt his whole body stir with a helluva’ lot more than simple attraction. She turned her eyes to him and gave him some of that smile.

  “I love you,” he mouthed silently and watched her smile grow even bigger before she turned back to listen to whatever it was Destiny was saying. He did love her, more than fuckin’ life itself, but somehow it was so much more than that. He was in awe of her. He had never met a woman, hell, woman or man who had been through half the shit she had and who was as strong, sweet, funny, and fuckin’ loved life like she did. To look at her now, talking, laughing, joking, you would never believe what she’d been through in the last—he glanced at the clock—fuckin’ twelve hours. Damn, had it only been twelve hours since she collapsed in his arms? He glanced back at the clock…just under, and it felt like fuckin’ decades of waiting, and now just look at her. Not for the first time he thought that his woman was a-fuckin’-mazing!

  Chapter Forty-One

  “Krista!” She heard Kade shouting.

  “I’m in the kitchen,” she yelled back to him, not quite as loudly as Kade. Since she was released from the hospital more than a week ago with a completely clean bill of health—something she had to keep reminding him—every time she was out of his sight for more than a few minutes, he would shout for her. She’d gotten her stitches out yesterday, and today had been his first day back at work, after he insisted on staying home and ‘taking care of her’ which meant watching her every move. That is, when he would let her move at all. Unless she had to pee, every time she moved to do something, he would jump up and do it for her. Shoot, if he could’ve figured a way, he would’ve peed for her as well. She giggled at the thought. That, thank goodness, only lasted the first few days, mostly because she had told him if he didn’t stop she was going back to her house alone. They compromised. He would back off some if she moved in with him permanently. So here she was, living in her dream home with her dream man and thinking that with time he would ease back on the over-the-top overprotective stuff.

  Today he’d finally gone back to work and left he
r at home with only Rosa, Lank, and about five other men, who just happened to ‘need’ something from the house every five minutes. She glanced at the time. Yep, he had managed to stay at work for a whole four hours. She smiled, shaking her head. She walked into the living room and met him halfway across the room.

  “How was your day at work?” she teased. He narrowed his eyes at her right before he wrapped her in his arms and brought her to his chest.

  “I missed you, baby.” He laid his cheek on the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around him.

  “I missed you too.” She couldn’t lie. She had missed him, every overprotective bone in his body. Krista stepped back and looked up at him as she rose up on her tiptoes and he leaned down to her, kissing her lightly on the lips. Krista moved her hands to his hair, holding him to her as she deepened the kiss. Then she felt his hand cupping her butt as her feet left the floor. When he was standing straight up again, she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him long and hard. They’d made love for the first time since her release from the hospital just last night and then again this morning, but now it felt like it had been weeks. When he pulled his head back she was going to say just that but he got there first.

  “I got something for you.” He laid his forehead on hers. Oh yeah, she wanted what he had for her, thinking she knew what it was, until he continued what he was saying. “Outside.” Wait. What? Okay, what she was thinking they most definitely couldn’t do outside with the way he had people coming and going. He moved his hands from her butt and let her feet fall back to the floor. When she stood on her own two legs again, he grabbed her hand and tugged her across the living room and out the front door. He stopped there and stepped to the side. Krista saw a big box, peeked inside and…squealed!

  “Puppies! You got me puppies!” She reached in and pulled one out, then the other, and plopped down on the porch so they could crawl and wiggle all over her lap. She smiled up at Kade, her heart shining in her eyes. “Thank you.” She laughed as one of the puppies tried to lick her face. Kade squatted down in front of her, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet.

  “They’re part lab, part ‘who the fuck knows,’” Kade told her as he scratched one behind its ears. “You can name them whatever you want. They’re still young enough for that, but…” He stopped there and she looked back at him.

  “But, what?” she asked him curiously.

  “The pound had already given them names.” He looked back down at the puppies already making a bed in her lap. “That’s kinda’ why I picked these two for you.” He glanced back at her. She smiled at him. He was so cute when he was shy about saying something.

  “Soooo…what are their names?” She already knew it was going to be something sweet.

  “Romeo and Juliet,” he answered quietly. She felt her heart overflow. Tears pricked her eyes, but she didn’t know they were running down her cheeks, until he cupped her face, and his thumbs were brushing away her tears.

  “Irish,” she whispered and all she could manage to get out was his name.

  “Wanted to give you that, baby, ever since the day you told me you’ve been wanting a dog. Wanted to give that dream to you, looked at about ten or more animals, from puppies to full grown dogs, but when I saw these two, and heard their names…” He shrugged his shoulders, dropped his hands down to the puppies, and looked at them. “Thought you would like that these two could live happily ever after on a ranch.” Krista leaned over, wrapping her arms around his neck. She dumped the puppies from her lap as she fell into him, knocking him back and off balance.

  “I love you,” she said as she kissed him. When she pulled back and had regained her balance, she looked at him, then sat back on her butt and held out her hands, palms down, fingers bent down. He looked at her hands, then back at her.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he asked confused. She looked at him straight in the face with not even a hint of a smile.

  “Aren’t you going to arrest me?” she asked seriously.

  “What the fuck?” he asked, now completely confused.

  “Looks like I knocked you on your booty again. Isn’t that like assault on a police officer or some—” She never finished teasing him as he grabbed her up and was kissing her breathless. Then he pulled back and had that sexy smirk on his face.

  “All right, ma’am, you have two choices. I can either handcuff you to my bed for an undefined amount of time or you can promise to spend the rest of your life as a McKaden.” His smirk faded as he moved her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a ring. Kade picked up her hand in his, then looked into her eyes. “My beautiful Krista, I love you so much. I could never imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?” he asked her solemnly as he slid the ring on her finger.

  “Yes,” she whispered with excitement in her voice, then his lips met hers. When they pulled apart she looked down at the ring he had placed on her finger. “Beautiful.” She looked back at him. “Now, about those choices…” She dragged out, then smiled a sexy half smile of her own. “Do I really have to pick just one?”

  Three Months Later…

  He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, Krista thought as she looked out across the yard at her Irish, standing by the makeshift bar, talking to Lank.

  “Will the bride and groom please take the floor for their first dance as husband and wife?” the DJ asked. She watched Kade come to meet her in the dance floor he had built just for this reason. When they reached the middle together, he cupped her face, thumb rubbing her cheek.

  “My beautiful wife.” He leaned in and kissed her lips lightly. “Dance with me, baby?” he asked softly just as the music started. Wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him, they started to dance. She was so into her husband that at first she didn’t even hear what song they were dancing to, then the music penetrated and she held her husband just a little bit tighter as they danced to John Michael Montgomery’s I Love the Way You Love Me. And just like the day in the parking lot of the mall, in the rain, when the song ended, he dipped her over his arm and kissed her. When they straightened she looked into his eyes.

  “I have a wedding present for you,” she whispered where only he could hear.

  “And I got one for you too, baby.” Kade winked at her. She smiled at him, then moved back just a little and grabbed his hands.

  “Well, I can’t give you your present just yet, but I can give you a hint.” She placed his hands on her stomach. “It’s a boy or a girl,” she said and watched that sexy smirk on his face fall. For a beat he just stared at her.

  “A-a-a b-baby?” he stuttered hoarsely, then cleared his throat. “You’re going to have a baby?” Kade whispered reverently.

  “We’re going to have a baby,” she whispered back with affection. Then she was yanked off her feet and spun around, pressed tightly to his chest.

  “Oh, fuck!” He stopped abruptly and sat her gently on her feet. “Sorry, baby.” He placed his hands back on her stomach, then looked at her with the biggest grin she’d ever seen on his face right before he spoke with his heart shining from his eyes. “I love you so fuckin’ much!”

  Epilogue

  A glimpse into the future…

  Krista stopped the car, as she had so many times, at the top of the driveway of her home. The day they were married, Kade had the wooden arch taken down and commissioned another one to be built and put in its place. And just like countless other days for the past almost five years, when she saw it, she had to stop for a moment. And just like countless other times she could still remember the day that Kade had shown it to her, just like it was yesterday. It was made completely out of stone. On the left side of the arch, it said ‘Kade’ and on the right side, it said ‘Krista.’ But, in the middle across the top, between the two names was ‘A ghra’—which in Gaelic, an old Irish language, meant love. She smiled, thinking of
Kade holding her to him while he explained that to her and her summing it up to him.

  “So, basically, you’re saying it says ‘Irish loves Krista?’” She teased him and his response was immediate.

  “It’s set in stone, baby.”

  She continued down the driveway and couldn’t help but smile at the huge multi-colored flower pots. When she’d mentioned her idea about planting flowers in between the trees to add some color, the very next day Kade had a truck load of flower pots delivered along with paint in every color of the rainbow. He’d explained to Krista the reason he bought this for her. “You paint the pots, baby. You’ll have your color in the winter months when the flowers don’t bloom.” So now all year long, in between each tree, was color. As she reached the house, which wasn’t quite as small as it had started out to be, what with the addition Kade had added, after the ‘addition’ to their family had arrived. She looked at her house, hers, this was Kade’s wedding gift to Krista. He had the deed to the house and land put in her name, just hers, explaining in Kade fashion. “It’s yours, baby, no one can make you move ever again.”

  Krista looked over to the small barn that had also been added. It housed only four horses, ‘for the family horses,’ Kade had said. As she got out of her car, her wedding gift to Kade was running out of the barn. She smiled and thought she was wrong about that ‘hint’ she had given him. His gift wasn’t a boy or a girl, but turned out to be two boys, and as she watched them running toward her—two black haired green-eyed boys who looked exactly like their daddy—she couldn’t be happier. Followed closely on their heels were Romeo and Juliet. Ever since the day her and Kade brought the boys home, those dogs hadn’t left their sides. Then a second later their daddy came stalking out of the barn, right to her.