I knew he wasn’t asking about bullets left in Arturo or the number of men who had attacked us. He wanted a number that would clog up my conscience. I wouldn’t give him an answer. My sins were my own. They’d stay right where they were.
“You’ll stay here? In case?” I asked my brother, shaking my head because he looked like he wanted to ask his question again.
But Kane didn’t push. He let me keep the details to myself for now. It had been a long damn day, and I was weary.
“Dale will too,” he said, eyebrows shooting up when he glanced out on the balcony to find Gin with her head on Dale’s shoulder. “This…uh…” he continued, blinking as Dale stiffened his shoulders. “This is his kind of shit. It’s why I brought him.”
“I figured.”
I polished off my beer and stretched. My limbs were aching. My muscles bunched tight from being on that damn plane. “I’m beat. You can yell at me some more in the morning.” I’d made it nearly to the hallway when Kane called my name, shooting me a look I’d never seen him give me.
How much he worried, everything he did for me, all those sacrifices, somehow landed on his face. He wasn’t an old man, but just then, my brother seemed ancient.
“It’s good you’re home. You…and your wife.”
13
Cara
The snow had started to fall. It wasn’t like the slush of wetness that collected on the sidewalks outside the museum every winter.
Washington snow was clean and fluffy and stuck to every available surface like fairy lights at Christmas. It was all around us, out on the grass, and along the forest treetops beyond the property. The snow reminded me of plumes of feathers as it fell, and I couldn’t pull my attention from the other side of the window.
Behind me, the shower turned off as Kiel finished up in the bathroom, pushing heat and steam from the half-open door into the room as he moved around in there. It felt comfortable, somehow, being here in his family’s cabin. It was just the two of us on the top floor. His brother and Kit took the master downstairs, and Gin got the smaller of the other bedrooms on the other side of the cabin. I was convinced that guy Dale didn’t sleep at all, and if he did, it would be sitting up with his eyes wide open.
The attack was brutal and quick and made no sense to me. Johnny was sure Vinnie was responsible. “There’s something that happens when a man’s pride gets trampled,” my brother had told me in the fleeting conversation we’d managed after landing. “I know it was him. The guy Kiel took out was Roman Atuso, Vinnie’s cousin.” That meant Vinnie had orchestrated the attack, likely to take out Kiel and make a place for himself in our family.
That also meant Kiel was still in danger. They’d try to come for us.
“You’re not sleeping?” Kiel asked, pulling me out of my thoughts and away from the snow as he left the bathroom. He wore plaid sleep pants and nothing else. I had to turn back toward the window to avoid watching him. “I thought you were tired.”
“I’m wide awake,” I admitted. My blood still ran hot from everything that had happened today—the shooting, Arturo, the rush to the airport, the never-ending trek up the mountain. Maybe it was shock. Maybe I was dead inside and was too stupid to listen to my body when it wanted rest. “I tried when you were in the shower, but it’s no good. Too many things on my mind.”
“You’re safe here,” he promised, standing behind me. In the window’s reflection, I caught the calm expression on Kiel’s face. He meant what he said and looked like he was a little desperate for me to believe him. “No one will touch you here.” He pulled my damp hair away from my neck and combed through the tangles. “Any man here would die before—”
“God, don’t say that,” I told him, pulling my hair from his fingers. “I don’t want you or anyone else dying for me.” Kiel reached for me, and I shook my head, stepping next to the bed to get space from him. He took up too much energy. “Today out on that sidewalk you covered me like you were scared I’d…”
“I was protecting you.”
“You could have died!”
Before I spoke it, I hadn’t realized how scared the thought made me. Kiel was my first love. He was my husband, but I’d allowed myself to keep him at a distance in my mind. If he wasn’t next to me, I didn’t have to worry. If he didn’t speak to me, there would never be the opportunity for him to break my heart.
But now…all of that was different.
Now, there was danger and violence and the worry that he’d come back here and stay. Now there was the very real possibility that I could lose him forever, and it was entirely my fault.
We watched each other for so long I thought I could make out the flick of snow as it fell and collected outside our window. The tension felt hotter than the fireplace, and the burn in my eyes grew heavy from the assemblage of tears on my lashes.
“You could have…”
Kiel was standing in front of me in three short steps, taking hold of my shoulders like he needed me to be still and silent and listen to him for once. I didn’t move.
“You wanted me to protect you…”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“I’m… Shit, Cara, you’re my wife.”
When it’s convenient, I wanted to remind him but didn’t think I could get the words out of my mouth. I didn’t mean them anyway.
Kiel smoothed his hands up my shoulders, holding my face between his palms as he wiped my face dry. That kiss earlier tonight had been a tease, something to calm me. Something that had started to escalate into something I tried to pretend I didn’t want. Now his eyes were so dark in the dim light of the fire. He smelled of sandalwood and fresh linen. I wanted him to kiss me and never stop. I wanted his touch, his taste, and all of him again. Not because we could die in seconds, but because we couldn’t live another minute without any of it.
There was a glint in his eyes I’d seen before from him. Before the lies. Before the betrayal. Back when our lives were secret, happy, and there was a promise of the forever to come. That look gave me hope, and it kept me breathless.
“Cara,” he whispered, and I willed him closer, wanting him to tilt my head toward him. Wanting the vow I’d made of us never being together again to be something I’d imagined and not real.
“Amore mio…” I took a step, sliding my hands to the back of his neck. “Kiss me like this is forever.”
Kiel was a good husband. He gave. He listened, and he did what I asked. The last syllable had barely left my mouth, my nails arching slowly up his neck. Kiel released the smallest groan then took my lips because they were his.
His tongue was hot, heavy, and consumed my mouth. I let it, loving how his hold on my face shifted. How those long, perfect fingers moved from my face as he kissed me. Teasing every inch of skin they found, along my arms, down to the curve of my ass when he gripped it.
“Baby, get close,” he told me, helping me lift my legs around his hips. He held me by my ass with one hand and stripped off the oversized sleepshirt Kit had given me with the other. I wore no bra underneath. Nothing at all, in fact, but that shirt. Kiel came to that realization after tossing the shirt to the floor, finding me bare, open, and so fucking wet as he walked us to the bed. “Cara… Shit…”
We went down on the bed. Kiel’s wide, glorious body hovering, the small scars along his ribs shining against the firelight as he loomed over me, pulling one of my legs over his shoulder.
“You’re wet, warm, and all mine,” he told me, sliding to the edge of the bed. He kept my leg on that shoulder and licked my pussy, pushing on my thigh to get me wide and open.
“Warm…and sweet,” Kiel said, spreading my pussy lips apart, keeping me open while he licked and sucked on my clit.
My skin felt electrified and raw, like every swipe of his tongue against me, every deep, rubbing thrust of his fingers inside me would set my skin on fire. I was sensitive everywhere, tingling, lit with something that had nothing to do with sex and touch and taste.
This time when Kiel loved me, it was becaus
e he wanted to make me feel good. Now, I wasn’t a body to be used. I was the woman he loved. I felt it in every stroke of his fingers against my pussy walls, every hot lick of his tongue on my skin.
“Kiel…God,” I said, gripping the sheets when he hummed against my clit, like just the taste and scent of me was the most delectable thing he’d ever had in his mouth. “Please,” I tried, feeling the orgasm build. “I’m going to come…ah…” And he doubled his efforts, tongue working fast, fingers moving faster. I felt the tingling of my orgasm building, building, building until it sent me over the edge. I cried out, back coming off the mattress as Kiel rode the upsurge with me.
It hadn’t ebbed. My entire body hummed with sensation, and Kiel did not pause or allow me a single second to regroup before he moved me back, tugging on my waist. He moved without sound. Without a single word at all. I could only watch him, running my nails over his chest and down to his stomach as he slipped off his pants and took hold of his cock in one hand.
He was beautiful, hovering over me, his thick fist rubbing up and down that perfect dick, watching me like he couldn’t decide how to take me. Like the only thought that seemed clear was the undeniable need to worship me until we were both boneless.
“You ready for me, Little Goddess?” His voice was low, gravel rich. The sound of it and the sight of his flexing muscles over me were enough distraction for me not to be annoyed about the nickname.
“Always,” I replied, hands still on his chest as he lowered toward me. Every second expanded. I barely managed to keep my eyes open as Kiel held himself against my pussy, teasing us both. The tip slipping between my lips, going in a little, then coming out completely.
“Fuck, I want you,” he said, then stopped teasing, holding everything still except for the long, slow slip of his cock sliding into me. “Fuck…”
I hissed, skin lighting up again at his deep-down touch, moving my hands over his chest, up my own stomach, gripping my breasts, teasing my nipples. Kiel followed the movement, working his hips as he smoothed his hands up my ribs to squeeze both my breasts.
“More,” I panted, spreading my legs farther apart. Kiel obliged, holding up my knees, speeding his hips to go deep, work harder and harder. “Yes…like that. Just like that…”
Kiel’s grip on my legs tightened as he moved, pace steady, cock buried so deep. Then he lowered, holding one thigh apart as he came closer, lowering his mouth over mine. Stealing my breath and kiss with the mind-numbing touch of his tongue against mine. I felt him everywhere—in my pussy, pulsing hot. Against my nipples, scratching next to his chest. In my mouth as we battled for control. Kiel won, holding my head still as he continued to love me, his fingers tangled in my hair. His breath panting and damp against my face.
“Cara…oh God…” he started, hips moving faster. I knew what he wanted—that tightness, that milking surge of pressure, and when I gave it to him, Kiel threw his head back, grip tangled in the pillow next to my head. He roared, growled, and came hard deep, wet, and hot inside me.
“God…oh God,” he managed. Landing on the pillow beside me, he curled one hand around my waist as he pulled me to his chest. “Fuck, baby…I love you.”
I went still. Unable to keep the smile from stretching across my mouth. He didn’t move when I looked up at him. Instead, Kiel’s half smile only grew wider when I kissed him, pulling his face toward me.
“Mean it?” I asked. My insides hummed again when Kiel nodded, running his thumb over my face.
The next thought in my head was a reply that didn’t sound rehearsed. There had been a thousand ways I’d practiced telling Kiel I loved him.
It was right there, on the tip of my tongue. Ready to admit. Ready to share. I took a breath, watching Kiel watch me, sliding my finger against the dip along his top lip. But my words froze solid like the ground outside this cabin when the power clicked off.
Those words were still there, ready to come out despite the dark quiet that surrounded us. But Kiel sat up, and the words got shoved back down as he left the bed, tugging on a pair of jeans and a thick hoodie Kane had left for him.
Then those words were forgotten completely at the shattering of both glass and silence in the cabin with the shrieking scream coming from downstairs.
14
Kiel
Dale was on point. I knew that. Logic told me maybe Gin had seen something. That had to be her screaming. Kane had mumbled something to me before I came upstairs about Dale taking first watch, with Gin keeping him company. A half thought-of joke ran through my mind about them together, alone, but everything save for that scream got squashed. I found the Glock in the bedside table where I’d left it and moved away from the bed.
“Stay here,” I told Cara, frowning when she only stared back at me. She was defiant. Stubborn. She didn’t like anyone telling her what to do, but there was real fear on her face just then. She was terrified. “Baby, please,” I said, kissing her forehead. “If you were ever gonna listen to me, now is the time. Don’t fucking leave this room, okay?”
The nod was quick. Something I didn’t buy in the least, but there was no time to demand a pinkie promise from my wife. The thundering of feet was loud, and I needed to find out what the hell was waiting for me downstairs.
“Shit gets sideways, you fucking hide, Cara. I mean it.”
“Kiel…” she started, the sharp, desperate tone of her voice stopping me. Cara held her breath, blanket pulled up across her chest as I glanced back at her. “I…I love you too.”
Half a second was all I could spare, but her expression and the tone of her voice had me stuck where I stood. I’d waited a long time to hear that from her again. It was here now, but there was no time to enjoy it. Instead, I nodded, forcing myself to step toward the door before I answered her. The need to touch her nearly overwhelmed me, but I managed to keep myself in check. “I know you do, baby.” And then I shot out of the door.
The hall was pitch-black and silent. The rustling feet I’d heard seconds before had quieted, and now there was nothing moving in the cabin.
Not even the gust of storm wind from an hour before was rushing anymore. It was as if the world had gone silent. As if everything—the heavy tree limbs, the manic wind, the running water from the creek outside, the crowing wildlife, the mountain itself had all decided to hold its breath and wait for whatever inevitability was about to happen.
It didn’t fill me with comfort. Fear leveled up inside me, like bricks against a flimsy gate. All the anxiety, worry, and dread inside me crashed together.
But then the memory shot through me again—Cara underneath me, her entire body shaking like a Chihuahua stuck in a rainstorm as bullets rang out over our heads. Then the image of her open to me minutes before, letting me love her and take her and giving me everything she had, eradicated that worry.
It squashed the dread.
In its place came anger and the burning itch to lay flat the playing field.
I would not let Vinnie take what was mine.
What would always be mine.
I wouldn’t let anyone keep her from me ever again.
There were no creaks or noises on the steps as I took them. No movement down in the living room as I descended the stairs, but I caught a shadow moving across from me, something looming and stiff. I gripped the gun tighter, flipping off the safety as I aimed it toward the shadow.
The shadow danced against the full, bright moon, and I squeezed the handle of my Glock, aiming with my hand held out, ready to shoot as I tilted toward the corner of the wall. But I found only Gin huddled against the back of the sofa, knees to her chest as she cupped her face in her hands.
“Dale…” I heard. The whisper was soft, pained, but echoed across the kitchen when Gin spoke it. The woman was fierce on a good day. She was a licensed contractor used to the bullshit women working in a male-dominated field usually got. But Gin held her own most of the time, from what Kane had mentioned, showing the boys how it was done. She was not a woman who scared easi
ly. But that tone had me second-guessing whose voice I heard.
“Please, not Dale…no.”
She jolted but stayed silent when I darted to her, holding my fingers over her mouth before she could scream.
“Where?” I whispered, shoulder to shoulder with her when something rustled outside. The sound was muffled by the glass doors, but I could still make out the thud of moving bodies.
“Dale heard something.” Gin’s voice was low, raspy, and she leaned toward my ear as she spoke. “He went out to the balcony and saw…something or someone. He…he screamed at me to get inside and lock the doors.” She wiped her wet face as though she was irritated she cried but continued. “I’d just gotten the lock bolted when I saw two assholes tackle him to the ground. I was going to run up and get Kane, but then…” She nodded, and when I followed her gaze, my stomach sank.
I immediately darted toward the kitchen, only to be stopped when my brother’s look held me back. Kane was slumped against the kitchen island and had one of Vinnie’s assholes in a headlock. The man wasn’t giving up and fought hard, making weak attempts to twist away from my brother, angling his elbow up to jab at Kane’s ribs, but that move was deflected quick. Kane was large and flexible with the asshole around the neck. His long legs locked around the guy’s thighs, squeezing him tight.
Another step and Kane glared at me, shaking his head. “Mine,” he wheezed, and I backed off, getting distracted by the tussle when another thump of noise sounded on the other side of the glass doors.
“Dale!” Gin screamed when the man in question was thrown against the glass, ducking as one beefy asshole swung at him. He could handle himself but didn’t need to.
“Go!” I yelled at Gin, jerking my head toward the stairs. “Stay with Cara and…”
“Kane?” I heard over my shoulder. It never fucking failed. Always something. Always a threat when there shouldn’t have been one. Kane should have left me to this. But then I’d have been left on my own with only my scared wife to back me up. I squashed the regret and darted toward a terrified-looking Kit as she came into the kitchen. “What…”
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