Desired

by Stacey Kennedy

  “Dirty slut!” he roared, reaching for her.

  Ella gave him a hard push, not being that frightened woman anymore. He would not hit her again. Not now. Not ever. He fell back on his ass, and in that moment, Ella opened the car door.

  She nearly dropped into the seat when his arms wrapped around her waist, and she managed to scream, “Help!”

  Terror sent ice in her veins and her heart hammered in her ears. Knowing she had to get away, that no one was there to help her, she elbowed Rory, hard. His groan echoed around her, as she broke free and dropped into the seat with a gasp.

  With eyes so dark and full of rage, Rory reached in through the door, but she grabbed the handle, and, using all her strength, she slammed the door closed on his arm. “Fucking bitch!” he roared.

  When his arm was clear, she slammed the door shut and locked it. Loud bangs shook her world apart as Rory screamed obscenities, hitting the window with enough force she thought it might break.

  Her hand shook as she attempted to get the keys into the ignition. The second the car started, she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and shut her eyes. Needing to get away from the loud noise around her, she screamed, “I’m calling the police.”

  Then the banging on her window stopped.

  She opened her eyes, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Rory staggered back, the rage cleared from his gaze for a second. Still, the Rory she had known didn’t stand there. The drunken maniac did.

  Ella put the car in gear and hit the gas pedal. Her insides quivered as she looked in the rearview mirror, seeing Rory running in the opposite direction, clearly taking her threat seriously.

  Gasping and shaking, she kept driving until she’d put a mile between them. Then she pulled over to the side of the road. After putting the car in park, she dropped her cell phone to the seat, knowing she’d never call the police. She prayed Rory would be scared enough to leave now, as he suspected that the Vegas police were after him.

  She ran her hands over her face, attempting to control the shakes of her body. God, when is this going to end?

  Kyler …

  I need you …

  As much as she wanted to call him, she hated the thought of his knowing about her past. Sometimes she wished she could vanish. Leave it all behind, and be free from all the pain that seemed to follow her. She missed her family with an ache in her chest that bled. Feeling more alone than ever, she dropped her head into her hands and a sob broke from her throat.

  You are alone …

  At a little after three o’clock, Kyler pulled his cruiser into the parking spot. He cut the ignition, staring at the station, knowing he had to do something about Ella. She wasn’t talking to him. After breakfast, he’d tried numerous times to ask a few personal questions, and she’d completely shut him out.

  I don’t want a serious relationship, she had told him.

  Too bad for her he wanted exactly that.

  He’d waited a long time to find Ella. Now that he’d found her, he wanted to love her. Only problem? She wouldn’t drop her emotional walls for him. She was clearly content in her decision to keep things casual between them, but he wanted to break down that damn wall. Embracing her challenge to gain new adventures was one thing. Running from pain to escape was something else entirely.

  He wouldn’t allow her to use him as a way to hide from her heartache.

  Dealing with it, yes. Getting over it, yes. Ignoring it, not on his watch.

  He clenched his jaw and stepped out into the cloudy day. Each step he took toward the station brought more tension. He cared for Ella, of that he was sure. But he couldn’t allow her to avoid him.

  He deserved more.

  Hell, she deserved more.

  If he thought she couldn’t care for him in return, he’d walk away before he got in too deep. But he saw the possibilities of a future. His heart told him to stay.

  As he entered the station, the noise of the bustling office stormed across him. To his left, a drunken fool was being contained by two police officers. Kyler continued on and used his security card to enter the office. On his way through the hallway, passing the Drug Unit, his mind raced as he tried to piece her together.

  Abuse.

  Knowing that, he thought over his plans for her first scene. Part of him wanted to refuse to let her become a Club Sin member until he understood more about her, but the other part knew that wasn’t his decision to make. If Ella wanted to become a Club Sin member, the choice belonged to her. But how he handled her in the scene was up to him. And how could he add pain to her pleasure to take her higher? How could he demand she tell him what had happened to her?

  As he reached his cubicle on the far left side of the office, he waved to his fellow cops, some at their desks and others on their way out the door. Fuck, he’d never been so happy to be stuck in the corner, where he was alone.

  His hand gripped his chair with far more strength than he’d intended, yanking it out from under the desk and hitting his boot. Dropping down into his seat, he grumbled, “Get it together, Morgan.” Then he powered up his computer.

  As the screen lit up, a soft voice said, “Got a call from a friend in Savannah. He’s asking me for a favor.”

  Turning to the new rookie on his team, Kyler asked, “What favor?”

  Maggie brushed a hand over her dark hair pulled tight in bun. Her light brown eyes were unsure, and she shifted on her feet. An uneasy look he’d seen from many rookies crossed her face. “He’s got a friend under a restraining order and has asked that we keep an eye out for him. If we bring his friend in, he’d like us to call him before we process the paperwork.”

  Kyler snorted. “If he has a restraining order and he breaks it, he’ll be arrested.”

  Maggie’s expression became pinched. “I agree and told him this, but also said we’d see what the situation was. Of course, I’m not asking you to look the other way.”

  As her supervisor, this favor had to go through Kyler, and he didn’t doubt Maggie’s heart. She was a damn good cop and she wanted to do right by her friend. He also noticed her guarded eyes having to ask Kyler this request. “Who is the friend to you?”

  “Someone I became close with at the academy.”

  “Good friends, then?” At her nod, he continued. “All right. As long as nothing happens to the woman in question, we’ll do as your friend asks.”

  Maggie handed him a document. “Thanks. I owe you.”

  Kyler nodded. Then, as Maggie strode off, he looked down to the document. He scanned over the picture of an inebriated-looking man on the mug shot, then read the details. His gaze froze on the person who’d issued the restraining order, and only important information stood out.

  Ella Snow, wife of the accused, refused to press charges. Protection order in place. Domestic violence. Savannah, Georgia.

  Kyler’s hand shook as he gripped the paper. Everything he had wondered about Ella suddenly made a whole lot of sense. How bizarre for this to surface at his precinct, but lucky that it did. He’d wanted some insight. Now he had it, and he almost wished he didn’t.

  Ella’s married?

  That little bit of news bothered him, but not as much as knowing that she was abused by her husband. A muscle in his jaw flexed, fury spreading out through his veins. Pretty big truth not to tell him, yet he fully understood why she’d kept silent about it.

  Her husband—a man she’d loved and trusted—had hit her.

  Christ, Kyler had smacked her ass the first time he’d been with her, something he now regretted. He tried telling himself that his swats had been light and she’d enjoyed it, but had he known what he did now, he wouldn’t have used such intensity.

  His chest tightened as he placed the document down on his desk, then he turned to the computer. He opened the NCIC (National Crime Information Center database) and plugged in the driver’s license number of her husband, Rory, mentioned on the page.

  The active protection order popped up on the screen, and Kyler scanned over
the report. The more he read, the more he despised it. Not only did it confirm that Ella was married, but it seemed that scar on her face had been caused by her husband shoving her into a glass table in a drunken rage.

  Leaning back in his seat, he exhaled slowly. Raw jealousy penetrated him now, knowing that she was married. Then the anger developed, for the simple reason that she hadn’t told him. Yet, all the same, he sympathized with her silence. Her past marriage wasn’t good. Maybe she worried if she opened the door it would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer.

  She had told you she was coming out of a long relationship.

  While he had heard part of the truth, this awareness also told him he hardly knew her. That bothered him far more than anything else. Rubbing his hands over his face, he pondered his next move. Fuck, he felt like shit for even finding out this information. He would’ve preferred to hear it from her mouth, not learn of her past this way.

  However, his biggest concern: Rory’s in Vegas.

  Kyler began to understand why Ella had seemed so troubled over the past days. Perhaps Rory had made contact. Heat flooded his body at the disturbing thought that quite possibly she’d been threatened.

  While he was tempted to call her and get this sorted out, he knew better than to confront her. She hid this maybe out of embarrassment, or perhaps she wanted to fight this battle on her own. Bulldozing his way into her life wasn’t his way, nor was making a bad situation worse.

  He craved protecting her. Nothing else mattered.

  She might not want his help, but being proactive was never a bad thing. Dropping his hands, he picked up his personal cell phone on the desk and dialed Club Sin Dom Porter.

  Porter answered on the second ring. “This is a surprise.”

  “Need a favor,” Kyler said.

  “Always. What’s up?”

  “Look into someone for me.” Porter was a private investigator. In fact, one of the best in Las Vegas. Sometimes cops were tied up with thick red tape and endless paperwork, whereas PIs had more room to seek information. Kyler wouldn’t wait for Ella’s husband to do something that would warrant police intervention. Not on his fucking watch. “His name is Rory Snow.”

  “Snow, hmm …” Porter said with hesitation. “Is that not the last name of your sweet little thing?”

  “It’s her husband,” Kyler replied, scraping a hand over his tired eyes.

  Porter coughed. “Did you say ‘husband’?”

  “Yeah, sadly, I did.” Kyler dropped his hand. “This needs to stay between us, but I want you to find out more about him. He’s come to Vegas. I want to know where he’s staying.”

  Porter paused. “Is he a problem?”

  “That’s what I need to find out.”

  Just after four o’clock, Ella hurried out of the elevator, waving at Thomas and approaching the front doors of the office. When she stepped outside, she scanned the area for Rory. Her heart thudded in her chest and a cold sweat washed over her skin.

  She never spotted him on the street, but the sensation of being watched never faded. Maybe her threat of calling the police had finally gotten him to see sense. Or so she hoped.

  As her gaze drifted along the road, she found Kyler’s truck waiting at the curb, and she smiled in relief. He’d called earlier to say he’d be picking her up after work, and her car would be safe left at the office overnight. She mused to herself, For not wanting a relationship, you sure seem to be in one. Though she discovered that each hour that passed, every moment she spent with him was unexpectedly welcomed.

  The hot air tightened her lungs as she hurried to the truck. She couldn’t ignore the sense of normalcy overwhelming her. As if her past, pending divorce, the abuse had all disappeared, as if it never happened. Almost as if the fresh start she’d been searching for, she found.

  Things are good, Ella. Enjoy it.

  At the truck, she opened the passenger-side door. Kyler greeted her with his charming smile as she pulled herself up into the truck. “Where are we off to?”

  “My parents’ house,” he replied in a flat voice.

  She froze midway to doing up her seat belt. “We’re going to meet your family?”

  “Yep.” He turned on his truck, glancing sideways at her with his grin intact. “Scared shitless?”

  “Um …” She looked down to her yellow flowered print dress, pulling on the hem and wishing she had looked in the mirror.

  His fingers twined with hers, drawing her focus. “Stop worrying. You’re beautiful, and they’re going to love you.”

  She gulped. Meeting the family? Wasn’t that kind of a big step? Part of her liked the idea of him wanting to share his life with her. The other part wanted to get out of the truck and run.

  That was relationship stuff, things people who were dating each other did.

  Kyler barked a laugh. “Friends do take friends to family events.” His smile faded into a frown. “As you keep reminding me that we’re friends-with-benefits, I’ll remind you that I’m not taking you there as a girlfriend, but as a friend. There’s no need to hyperventilate.”

  “Sorry. You’re right.” She chuckled away her ridiculous thoughts. “It’ll be fun.” The last thing she wanted to do was lead him on. Passion with Kyler was unbelievable—scratch that, it was mind-blowing. He was gorgeous and completely lovable, but she didn’t want another messy relationship.

  She just needed to keep telling herself that.

  Kyler put the truck in gear and then booked it down the road. Las Vegas streets whipped by her window, and she stole glances at him. His fingers gripped tight against the steering wheel, and an odd tension exuded from him.

  To break the stifling silence, she said, “The doctor called a few hours ago and she got my clear test results in. I plan to grab them on the way to work tomorrow.”

  “Good. I’m glad they came back so quickly. Though I should have known they would.” He smiled, warmth shining in his features. “Mary tends to rush results for new Club Sin members.”

  “She’s not a member at Club Sin, right?”

  Kyler shook his head, taking a left turn. “She used to play at my old club with her husband, Charles, who passed away a few years back. The crowd at Club Sin is young. I doubt she’d feel comfortable there.” Then he gestured to the envelope tucked in the side of the seat. “That’s your police report.”

  “Oh, nice.” She swallowed against the surprising heady desire filling her. This is happening. “So, tomorrow is the night, then?”

  He chuckled, low and deep. “Tomorrow is the night.”

  With thoughts of her first night as a Club Sin submissive swirling in her mind, she remained silent on the remainder of the drive. As the truck slowed, she noticed he drove into the Henderson suburbs. She’d been shown a house in this part of the city by her real estate agent, but the neighborhood had been too family-oriented for her.

  Kyler stopped the truck in front of a Spanish-style house that had a rustic tile roof with palm trees and large cacti decorating the front garden. She followed him out of the truck, and when he reached her around the hood, he said with an amused voice, “Look out, you’re about to be attacked by the mob.”

  Ella turned, seeing a bunch of young children running straight for them. Kyler brushed past her, meeting the kids halfway, and dropped to his knees as the kids tackled him, screaming, “Uncle Kyler.”

  She smiled. Cute kids. Sexy Uncle.

  As quick as the kids jumped him, they were off and running toward the backyard. Ella noticed two of Kyler’s brothers, she assumed, since they looked a lot like him only older, standing at the gate to the backyard, watching their children. Then a soft voice said, “Tackle, uncle Ky-Ky?”

  Ella looked to the small boy, then said to Kyler, “Uncle Ky-Ky?”

  He patted the head of the littlest boy, who hadn’t run fast enough to catch Kyler earlier. “Apparently, Kyler is a tricky name for little monsters.” On his knees, he turned to the child and opened his arms. “Come get me, tiger. I�
�m shaking in my boots.” The kid leapt into his arms and Kyler pretended to fall back, holding the child in his arms and making dying noises.

  “Uncle Ky-Ky die.” The kid jumped off, laughing, and ran toward the other kids.

  Kyler called, “Joey, go be a zombie and scare all the girls.”

  Joey lifted his arms. “Me. Zombie.” Then he went toward the backyard, screaming.

  Kyler pushed off the ground and Ella shouldered him, smiling. “You’re sweet with them.”

  “I like kids, always have.” He placed a warm hand on her back and ushered her forward. “Let’s go meet the older mob, since they’re all staring at us anyway. Be prepared to have my mother gush all over you.”

  Ella looked to the backyard, seeing he was right. Three couples and Kyler’s parents she assumed all had their eyes trained on her. All three brothers shared their father’s traits of a tall frame and light brown hair, but Kyler had a little more muscle than the rest. Two of the older brothers were a little softer around the middle, as was his father. The oldest brother was slender, and just a bit taller than the rest.

  “Everyone, this is Ella,” Kyler said. “You can all stop staring at her.”

  His brothers laughed and said hello to Ella before they all shared a manly hug with Kyler. Ella received many nice-to-meet-yous from Kyler’s sister-in-laws, who were all ranging from mid-thirties to early forties. But then the eldest woman, looking around sixty, with short brown hair that was perfectly curled, stepped out of the group. Her soft blue eyes held Ella’s before she hugged her.

  “Welcome, Ella.” Kyler’s mother leaned away, hooking her arm into Ella’s. “Let’s get to know each other over some wine. I could use some help in the kitchen.”

  Kyler’s father, with the stern eyes, frowned, brushing a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “Lisa, do not frighten the poor girl away.”

  Leaning away from the last brother he hugged, Kyler added with a grin, “Forgot to tell you, my mother is nosy and will ask you a thousand questions.”

  “Oh, hush, you.” His mother waved a dismissing hand. “That is a blatant lie.”