Bold Bodyguards [Triple Dare County, South Dakota 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance)

by Paige Cameron

  “No, don’t stop.”

  He slid her zipper slowly down. As he uncovered her skin, he kissed it lightly. She reached out and pulled the tie off his hair and threaded her fingers through the silky strands. Kohana looked up. The tension in his face outlined his high cheekbones and his narrow, tapering chin where a nerve pulsed at the side.

  Kohana went back to pushing her panties and jeans downward. He stopped briefly at her pussy and took a deep breath. Then he shoved the rest of her clothes to her ankles. He stopped to remove her boots before taking them all the way off.

  Cora had never felt so naked. She wasn’t twenty-one anymore and though she exercised to keep herself in shape, she felt vulnerable and exposed.

  He pulled her up and stepped back to view her. “You are more beautiful today than you were the last time I saw you.”

  “You don’t have to lie. We both know my age.”

  “Some women are beautiful at a young age, and then they often age more quickly. Others, like you, become lovelier as the years go by. Even in their older years their beauty can be seen. Not that you are in your older years.” His lips turned up in a half smile.

  She moved closer to him and unbuttoned his shirt. “You have on too many clothes.” When she dropped his shirt to the floor, she gasped. Her hand gently touched the fading bruises and healing cuts. “How did you stand it?” she asked as she walked around him and saw all the damage the torture had done.

  “You accept you may die, and then you put your mind somewhere else. It still hurts, but you are in control of your body, not them.”

  Anger flashed through her. “You were willing to die before giving them the information they wanted?”

  “If I had to, yes. I would have died anyway and many others. The leader they wanted back was diabolical. He had already killed many families, not just the men he fought.”

  She quickly undressed the rest of his body and walked around him, shocked at the injuries he’d sustained. Her hands brushed gently over them, and she tenderly kissed each place where he had been injured. At first he stood rigid with an open stance letting her do as she pleased.

  Gradually, Cora realized his body was trembling. “Am I hurting you?” she asked in a whisper. He shook his head no. She rose and stared at his face. Tears ran down his cheeks unheeded as he stared back at her.

  “Why are you crying at this time? I’m certain your attackers never saw a tear.”

  He gave her a wry smile. “You’re right. I’ve lived in a rough world. Tenderness isn’t known or allowed. Your softness and caring have made my injuries hurt less, and your touch melted a spot in me I’d kept frozen for a long time.”

  “Is that good or bad?” She studied his expression closely and saw the flash of uncertainty before he covered it up.

  “I honestly don’t know. Do you still want me to make love to you?”

  “I’d be lying if I said no.” Her fingertips started at his forehead and outlined his face. Then she brushed across his dark brows and ran her finger along the slit of his lips.

  He caught her hand and bit the edge of her finger before turning it over and kissing her palm. An appreciative sigh slipped from between her lips.

  When he kissed where her pulse throbbed in her wrist, she knew her heart pounded against his mouth. His hand stroked up her arm and over her shoulders. A tingling sensation suffused her upper body and her pussy wept with desire.

  Kohana pulled her tight to his body. His long, hard cock pulsated against her abdomen. His eyes searched her face, but for what she wasn’t sure. Cora skimmed her fingers along his strong jawline.

  His lips brushed hers, and she closed her eyes to savor the touch, smell, and feel of him. It all came rushing back like it was yesterday. The wonderful sensations only he had ever evoked from her body. She let her mind flow with the emotional state he’d aroused.

  Then after a few more minutes, she wrapped her hand around the girth of his cock. She heard the hitch in his breath.

  “Sit,” she said and pushed him toward the bed. He did and she knelt between his legs. Her hand stroked across the satin hardness. Cora bent her head and licked the pearl droplet from the slit in his crown. Then she licked and caressed all around his dick before taking him deep in her mouth.

  His hands caressed her head and hair as she started the up-and-down movement that had him groaning. She cupped his sac and he took a deep breath.

  Cora glanced up and his eyes were closed, his face drawn. When he opened his eyes, she saw a tenderness that surprised her. He lifted her up and onto the bed.

  “I want to be in your sweet, hot pussy when I come. But wait, I have to get something.” He checked the back pocket of his jeans and got a condom package. He opened it and handed the condom to her. “Put it on.”

  Her hands were trembling, but she managed to roll it on him. He scooted back on the bed and had her straddle his body. Then he lifted her onto his dick. The slick entrance to her pussy made his thrust smooth and easy. Her pussy walls rippled around him.

  Having his cock inside her kindled a fire in her belly. All the pent-up hunger she’d denied for years awakened with an insatiable craving. His warm hands cupped her full breasts and his fingers rubbed across her sensitive nipples.

  Cora was bombarded with a demanding desire to feel more and more. Her breasts swelled in his hands as he suckled each rosy bud.

  His movements became faster and her back arched, bringing him deeper into her pussy. His hands clamped her hips tight, encouraging her to move in sync with him. Their lusty scent filled the air and a heated blaze roared through her veins toward the final explosion.

  When it hit her, a rush of euphoric jolted up her spine to her brain. She screamed out his name as her body shook and all her awareness was on the rippling heat at her core and Kohana’s demanding thrusts.

  His orgasm hit and he pounded into her, sending her pussy into another ecstatic orgasm. Kohana held her tight as his cock throbbed against her pussy walls.

  Before rolling off, he kissed her lips. Then he struggled for breath with perspiration coating his tanned body.

  “Oh, have I hurt you?” Cora leaned over him. “I forgot about your injuries.”

  “I’d be insulted if you hadn’t. I’m fine. You did all the work.”

  “But what if you’re bleeding inside and we don’t know it?”

  “The doctor said he’d never seen anyone heal as fast and as well as I did. He kept me an extra day because he knew as soon as I was released, I’d do more then he wanted me to.”

  “Still, I want Gavin to check you.”

  “No problem. I was told to have follow-up with a doctor wherever I went.”

  He pulled her down beside him and rubbed across her wrinkled forehead. “Stop worrying.”

  “I will after you see Gavin. I’m showering and dressing. Then we’re going there before we see your parents. You can use the bathroom in the hallway,” she said as she went in her bath and closed the door.

  “Are you going to be this unromantic every time we make love?” he hollered through the doorway.

  “We aren’t making love again, until you are fully healed.”

  She heard his chuckle as he walked off. What had she done? She’d opened her heart for him to hurt her another time. Would he go or stay? I don’t think he even knows, and what will I do since I’m falling in love with both him and Garrick?

  Questions circled her brain as she let the cold water run over her head. Her body still tingled from his touch.

  Chapter Nine

  Gavin laughed when Kohana told him about Cora’s reaction after they’d made love. “She’s scared to death she hurt me. Please tell her I’m much tougher than she thinks.”

  “We’ll get an X-ray of the surgical area, and I’ll do a blood test. Let me look at your right wrist. Your report said you had a cast on it.”

  “I did, but they decided it was only a bad strain. I insisted they remove it before I left.”

  “We’ll do an X-ra
y of it just to be safe. I’m sure you’re fine, but checking the surgical area and the wrist gives us a place to start.”

  Kohana waited in an exam room for the lab work and X-rays to be done. He thought about earlier when he held Cora in his arms. Making love to her had been more like coming home than arriving in Triple Creek.

  There’d been a reason for keeping her necklace that he hadn’t realized before. It wasn’t just the memory of her, but the sense of her, and how she made him feel. The necklace had created a thread between them that brought him through tight situations. It gave him a reason to fight when he didn’t think he could hold on any longer. She’d been his good luck talisman.

  The door opened and Cora stuck her head in. “The nurse practitioner is coming down the hall. She’ll be doing your tests. They run a small, but efficient office.”

  “Did you come in to hold my hand?” His eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “Do you need someone to do that?”

  “Only if it’s you, darlin’.”

  “You always knew what to say at the right time,” she teased back. “Hi, Angie, how’s your day going?”

  “Busy as usual. Who’s this handsome guy you’ve brought to see us?”

  “Angie, this is the long, lost Kohana Shanley. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. Kohana, Angie is Russell Elden and Flint Rikward’s wife.”

  “The FBI guy?”

  “He used to be. He and Holt Ramm have an investigative business in Minneapolis.”

  “I’ve heard his name. His job sounds interesting.”

  “It can be at times, and then other cases not so much. But he likes it, and I like him not being shot at so often. Here let me see your arm. We’ll get the blood test, and then I’ll do the X-rays so you two can get out of here.”

  When she left, Kohana asked, “Whose Holt Ramm?”

  “He’s a friend of Gray Callahan’s. They married Natalie. She’s McCloud’s daughter.”

  He shook his head. “You go away for twenty years or so and everything changes. I remember Natalie. She used to come visit her father on summer vacation. Her parents were one of the few couples I’d known to divorce in Triple Creeks Township. At least of the old families.”

  “It was a big shock at the time.”

  After his X-rays, Gavin returned. He had Kohana take his shirt off. He listened to his heart, lungs, and stomach area. When he stepped back, he checked all the cuts and bruises. “They really worked you over.”

  “Yeah.”

  “The surgical wound is healing nicely. I’m surprised how well it’s doing this soon. But you’ve been warned, I’m sure, that you have to be more careful about injuries or even simple cuts.”

  “I know. I got a full course from the doctor who took out my spleen.”

  “Good, just checking. I’ll go see if we have the blood work results yet.”

  “I like him. He’s a good doctor,” Kohana said to Cora.

  “We’re lucky to have him. He had better offers from well-known medical groups. He turned them down to come home and take care of us.”

  “You admire him.”

  “Very much. We’ve been friends for a long time. I trust him.”

  Kohana wasn’t sure how he felt about what Cora had said. A flicker of jealousy burned inside him. He hadn’t missed how she’d emphasized Gavin had come home and took care of his own. Whereas he had left them all. Not a very good comparison for me.

  “You look annoyed. What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not patient. I want to get out of here. This really wasn’t necessary, and don’t think every time we make love I’m going to come and get checked.” He heard the sarcasm in his voice.

  Cora stood up abruptly. “What makes you think we’re going to make love every time you want? Maybe we won’t ever again.” She flounced out of the patient room.

  I guess she told me off. She’s definitely not the sweet, mild-mannered Cora I left behind. I think I may like this Cora even more.

  * * * *

  Cora hurried through the waiting room and outside. Thank goodness Kohana had handed her car keys to her as they went inside the office. She walked to her car and got in. He could find his own way back. She’d visit his parents another time.

  The cool breeze blowing in her hair helped calm her as she drove toward the ranch. It felt so good to be alone. She wasn’t used to having people around her all the time. Making a sudden decision, she swung the car around and headed to the hospital. She’d arrange to start to work next Monday.

  Cora vaguely noticed a gray van pull into the parking place beside her. In her hurry to go inside the hospital, she got out and turned to walk around her car. A tall, thin man with bushy hair and a thick scar on the side of his face stood between her car and the van.

  When he smiled, his face drew up on one side. That and the deadly, calm look in his eyes had her heart beating frantically. Silly, they got all of the men.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m new here. Is this the only hospital in town?”

  “Yes, but’s it very good. Are you hurt?” She walked a bit closer.

  “My buddy, in the back of the van, cut his hand on a flail shredder.”

  “You need to drive right around to the emergency room. How did he do that, and why didn’t you go there first?”

  She saw the answer in his expression. She swung her keys up and hit him in the eye. He screamed and bent over. She ran toward the entrance yelling for help.

  When several men ran outside, she pointed to the gray van backing up. They ran forward but he quickly drove away.

  “We couldn’t get much of his tag number, but I did see a B and an M,” one man said.

  The other man added, “I think there was a seven and a one or maybe the letter I, also. Are you okay?”

  “I’m just a little shook up. Thanks for coming to my assistance.”

  The first man was on the phone. “She’s alone. All right, I’ll tell her.” He clicked his phone off. “I notified the sheriff. He said for you to stay here at the hospital. He’ll come and get you.”

  Cora wanted to say a curse word, but she didn’t. The men were very helpful, but she was in for a long lecture and not just from Kel, but from Garrick, Kohana, Gavin, and Beck. She’d never hear the end of this. It was their fault. They said they’d gotten everyone.

  But they also told me to let them guard me for a while longer to be sure. I guess I deserve what I’ll have to listen to.

  When the sheriff’s car came to a screeching halt outside the hospital lobby, Cora saw Kohana jump out of the front seat and rush toward the door. She stepped back as he bolted through.

  “Are you all right?” His fingers grasped her shoulders tight. He gave her a quick encompassing look and then pulled her into his arms.

  “Thank heaven, he didn’t get you.”

  Cora felt the trembling in his arms and had seen how white his face looked. “Who is he?” she whispered against his shoulder.

  Kohana leaned back and stared into her eyes. “My guess is he’s the one who took the leadership role in their group. He must have been waiting for them at a designated spot. When they didn’t return, he hid.”

  He cupped her face in his hands. “He’d have tortured you, maybe cut off a finger to send to me to convince me he had you.” Kohana yanked her back tight in his arms.

  “Kohana, I can’t breathe.”

  “Sorry, I’ve never been so scared in my life.” Then as though he’d only recalled why she’d been alone, he frowned. “Why did you leave? It was stupid and dangerous.”

  “You all told me they’d gotten everyone.”

  “We also said we wanted to be certain you’d be safe before you went off on your own. You were mad at me and acted impulsively. That’s how people get killed.”

  “May I interrupt this reunion,” Kel drawled. “I’d like to take Cora to the station and call Russell. He’s a part-time forensic artist for the FBI. I’d like to have him draw a picture of the man who
tried to kidnap you. Do you think you could give him a description?” Kel asked.

  “Yes. I got a good look at him.”

  “And if he’s who I think he is, I can add to it,” Kohana said.

  “Excellent.” Kel punched a number on his phone. “Hi, Russ. How’s it going? Yeah, we’ve had a bit of excitement lately. That’s why I’m calling. I’d like you to work with Cora and Kohana on doing a facial drawing. Sure, my office or your ranch is fine.” He glanced at Cora and Kohana and they nodded yes. “I’ll send them right out, and thanks.”

  Kel put his phone in his waist holder. “Cora, do you know the way to Russ’s ranch?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then he’ll be ready when you get there. Kohana, I figure you’ll be going along to protect her and help with the identification.”

  “You bet. I’m staying by her side if I have to handcuff her to me.”

  Kel grinned. “I don’t know about that offer I made you. You may be too mean for the job.” He walked off chuckling.

  “What offer?” Cora asked as they got in her car.

  “To work for him.”

  “Are you considering it?”

  “I haven’t had time to consider it.” He glanced at her. “What with your running off and almost getting kidnapped.” He pulled her to him and kissed her hard.

  She wanted to deny how his kiss tormented her with remembrances of yesterdays. But she didn’t succeed. As his kiss softened, she sighed, and his tongue slid in to sensuously caress the interior of her mouth.

  For a few seconds, he soothed her into lowering her guard. Then he slowly moved back to his position behind the wheel. “Tell me how to get to Russell’s house.” His voice sounded low and seductive. Her inner core stirred with a passionate craving to be closer. It took all her strength not to move across the seat and sit touching the side of his sexy body.

  She sensed he knew the effect he had on her. It scared her. Was this as real to him as it was to her? Did she want to give her heart to a man who might throw it away again?

  Cora wasn’t sure she had much choice. Her body didn’t respond to her commands. When he came close to her, she melted like chocolate on a hot summer day.