Stranded Temptation: A Flaming Romance

by Milly Taiden

  “No! Stay awake. Kara, listen to me. You need to stay awake,” he pleaded.

  Exhaustion pushed her to keep her eyes closed, but she fought it. Movement made her turn her face back to the window where a blurry Max had cleared off the remaining broken glass, leaving the space open. He put his hands around the seatbelt and cut it with a pocketknife at her shoulder and hip areas. Then he hauled her toward him.

  Their gazes locked, and she knew she was going to be fine. He curled his arms around her upper body and pulled her through the glassless window.

  “I got you, baby,” was the last thing she heard before darkness took over.

  25

  Max clenched his teeth and held them together while he pulled Kara’s limp body out of the wrecked car. Police cars and ambulances surrounded the area when he brought her to the water’s edge. A crowd of people had gathered off to one side to watch everything. Two medics took her from his arms, strapped her on a gurney, and then took her vitals.

  “Is she okay?” His breath came out in shallow pants. The roaring of blood in his ears made it hard to hear what was said.

  The female medic spoke while she took Kara’s vitals. “We can’t be sure what your wife’s state is until she’s had tests done, so we’re going to get her to the hospital right away.”

  His wife, she’d said. Not yet, but soon. With a clenched gut, he watched the paramedics clean the cuts on the side of her head. Her normally golden blonde hair was matted with blood. His lungs constricted at the thought of a different outcome to her crash. He’d aged ten years when he saw her hit the tree and lose complete control of the car.

  “Can I speak to you for a moment, Mr. Richards? My name is Detective Ortiz.” An older Hispanic man stood a few feet away from him.

  He frowned and watched the medics bandage Kara’s head with multiple layers of gauze, place a neck guard around her throat, and insert oxygen tubes into her nose. “Can this wait? I want to go to the hospital with her.” He wasn’t going to leave her side until he knew she was 100 percent fine. Fuck, he wasn’t going to leave her side ever.

  “I need to ask some questions to get the investigation going. If I have other questions, I’ll come see you at the hospital. When you called you said she couldn’t stop the car because the brakes weren’t working?” The man pulled out a pad and a pen and wrote notes while they spoke.

  “That’s right. I was following her, and when I called her to ask why she wasn’t slowing down, she said she couldn’t. She’d been trying, but nothing was working. Her door locks seemed to have been stuck and so was her seatbelt. It’s all too strange to be a coincidence.” Had someone tampered with her brakes? Anger made it hard to speak in a calm voice.

  “Is there anyone you can think of that might have a problem with your wife, sir?” The detective watched him with a keen eye while they spoke.

  “Kara isn’t my wife, yet. And she’s never had any problems with anyone that I know of. She’s never been in any kind of trouble, so I’ve no idea if someone would want to mess with her car.”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Richards, we’ll find out if someone is trying to hurt your fiancée. I’ll contact you with further questions.” The detective moved off, and Max got into the back of the ambulance.

  “How is she?”

  Max turned to see Meghan running down the hospital corridor in sweatpants and a T-shirt. Her curly hair was tied at the top of her head in a haphazard ponytail, tears streaming down her face. It was clear she’d been asleep when he’d called.

  “They’re x-raying her skull and then taking her to a private room. Apparently, she only hurt her head, the rest of her seems fine.” Anger and frustration pulled at him. He’d called Brian and told him what happened. Brian had gotten on the phone with his contacts at the police department. Someone was looking at the brakes on the car for any signs of tampering. If someone messed with Kara’s brakes, they wanted her dead. The thought of someone out to kill her made Max see red.

  Meghan hugged him and then looked up into his eyes. He knew he looked like shit. His shirt was torn and stained with Kara’s blood. When he’d broken the rest of the glass out of her window to get her, he’d cut his hands in multiple areas on his fingers. He didn’t care about the cuts or the pain. He’d sacrifice himself a million times for her if it meant getting her out safely. A nurse had bandaged his hands and removed the small bits of glass.

  She patted him on the side, and they moved to sit in a waiting area. “She’s going to be fine. I know Kara. She’s a fighter.”

  He knew Kara was a fighter. No sane person would’ve crashed their car on purpose to give themselves a chance to live. His Kara was strong. A survivor. It was the unknown on the brakes that bothered him.

  He hated to ask, but he needed to know if his suspicions were correct. “Do you know if Kara has had any problems with anyone? An ex-boyfriend maybe?”

  Meghan frowned. “What do you mean problems? Kara’s never had any problems with anybody. When Barry broke up with her, she didn’t even fight it because she knew they were not going anywhere.”

  “I think someone tampered with her brakes. I just don’t know why.”

  Meghan gaped at him.

  The more he thought about it, the more he was sure someone was after her. It was the why that was driving him crazy. He needed to know in order to help find who did it and stop the bastard before they tried to hurt her again.

  His cell phone rang. When he pressed the accept call button, he saw Brian’s photo on the screen.

  He went straight to the point. “What did you find out?”

  Brian’s no-nonsense tone came through the other end of the line. “First off, the parking brake is now a small lever you pull up on to make it work. You push it down to deactivate it. Secondly, we have a problem. Kara’s in danger, bro.”

  This was no accident. His eyes flickered to a male nurse. The nurse pointed to the room Kara had been taken to.

  “I have to go. Find out whatever else you can on her ex or anyone in her past. Whoever is doing this is going to have to go through me to get at her again.”

  Tortured thoughts of what might have happened if she’d gone home alone or during a busy traffic hour filled his brain and made him seethe. Meghan’s grip on his arm pulled him out of his anguished visions.

  “Max? What did Brian say?” Her words came out shaky, and he knew she was having a hard time holding it together.

  He voiced his suspicions. “We need to find out who wants Kara out of the way. Her brakes were cut.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. Why would anyone do that? Kara has never done anything to garner that kind of hate.” She whispered the words and covered her mouth with a shaky hand.

  “Come on. She’s in her room. Let’s go see her.”

  A knot the size of a small country formed in his throat when he walked into the hospital room and saw Kara’s deathly pale face and gauze-covered temple.

  An older female doctor walked in and looked from Max to Meghan.

  She frowned and stared pointedly at Max. “Are you Ms. Masters’ family?”

  “Yes.” At least he would be if he had his way.

  She looked at the pad in her hands and then back to him. “She’s heavily sedated, but she’ll be fine in a week or so. She has a concussion, but that’s the worst of her injuries.”

  His heart raced in his chest. “Is there anything we can do to help her?” Worry made his voice rough.

  The doctor gave him a gentle smile. “Make sure she doesn’t do any more crazy stunts in the future.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked out.

  Meghan sat by Kara’s bed and cried while holding her hand. Kara’s limp body lay motionless on the pristine white sheets. The contrast of color only added to the paleness of her face and made her bruises stick out.

  He watched Meghan brush Kara’s blonde hair from her face. Suddenly, Kara’s face creased in pain. She opened her mouth and whispered something.

  Max took quick steps to get c
loser, and Meghan leaned into her. “Kara?”

  “Max,” she mumbled. Her eyes were still closed.

  He moved forward and around the bed. As if she were the most delicate china, because to him she was, he picked up her limp hand and laid it over his own.

  “I’m here, baby.” His heart filled with emotion.

  A frown marred her brows. “Don’t go. Please. I’m scared.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I know,” she whispered and fell back asleep.

  She trusted him to take care of her, and he wouldn’t let her down. Goddamn it all to hell! When he got his hands on the fucker that did this, the bastard wouldn’t live to regret it. He’d find the asshole trying to hurt her and make him stop. Once it was all over, he wouldn’t take no for an answer from her on moving their relationship to the next level. No way in hell was he going to be away from her again. He’d be damned if now that he finally had her, someone was going to hurt her.

  Meghan looked up at him with teary eyes. “She’s never admitted to being scared before. Her dad always told her she had to be strong on her own. Never depend on anyone because she only had herself in life.” She gave him a watery smile. “It’s clear she cares more about you than even she realizes.”

  His heart expanded at the implication. She was his. He wouldn’t be letting her go for anyone. Kara had owned his heart from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. She was the first woman, besides his mom, to make him want to be more than some company head. They belonged together. And it would be one blizzard day in hell before he let someone take her away.

  26

  Kara woke to streaming sunlight and a blazing headache. It felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to her head. Damn, that shit hurt. She brushed her tongue over her dry lips while she looked around the room. To her left, Max sat on a chair and used a laptop. Images of the horrid car ride when her brakes didn’t work skittered through her brain.

  She tested her voice with his name, “Max?” Crap. She sounded like someone had beaten the shit out of her vocal chords.

  His eyes jerked up to hers with worry, and he flung the laptop to the chair next to his.

  “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” His voice was raw and deep, like he, too, had a dry throat.

  “Water, please.”

  While he got her water, she pressed a button to lift the bed to recline. She watched him sit. He glanced at her face while she took small sips. She passed him the plastic cup and waited for him to ask whatever he’d been waiting for.

  “I have to ask you some questions, but I don’t want you to get concerned.” Shit, that never sounded good. The apologetic look he gave her added to her worry.

  “What do you need to know?” She winced at the throbbing in her head.

  “Is there anyone who might have a problem with you to the point that they’d try to hurt you?”

  She frowned at his question but answered honestly. “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”

  He looked thoughtful for a while. If she had to guess, she’d say he’d been debating telling her the truth.

  He grasped her hand and held it while he spoke. “Your brakes were cut. It was no accident you couldn’t stop the car.”

  Fuck. That sucked big time. “You mean someone’s trying to kill me, right? What about the cartels? Could they have found us?”

  He’d thought about that and talked with Mr. Lynam from the consulate. Lynam wasn’t sure anyone would go after them since they’d kept their mouths shut about the island. If need be, Max would get his own army and take the fucking cartel boss out. He felt sure that had to be the culprit.

  His face became tense, and his jaw clenched. “I won’t let anything happen to you again. Don’t be scared, no one will get to you.”

  Her heart melted at his fierce expression. Squeezing the hand holding hers, she smiled. “I know, Max.”

  Kara blinked sleep away with a smile. She was in bed, and Max was holding her. He’d taken her to his home to take care of her. For almost a week, there had been a nurse watching over her head, and she’d been more asleep than awake. Heavy drugs had helped ease her pain and allowed her skull to heal. Every night, she’d ask him to lie down with her until she fell asleep and would wake up with him still in bed with her.

  Healing faster than expected, she had been ready and willing for him to make love to her. However, he’d acted like she was still at death’s door whenever she tried to suggest any body play. It was getting frustrating.

  She left his arms quietly, got off the bed, and stripped. Hurriedly, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the Jacuzzi. She left the door wide open. She lowered her body into the warm bubbles and moaned at the wonderful heat kissing her skin.

  She had a clear view of the bed and knew he would be able to see her if he lifted his head. Thoughts of Max’s lips on her body made her shut her eyes, lean her head back on the towel on the edge, and caress her breasts. Her nipples pebbled into tight points. She lifted both hands to her chest. Fire coursed in her veins when she squeezed her breasts and tweaked her nipples. She panted. Whimpers rushed past her lips with each pinch on her skin. She added more pressure, and the arousal searing through her escalated. She moaned louder. A new heat on her skin made her open her eyes.

  Standing at the doorway watching her was the only man to make her melt with one look. Max. With his clenched jaw, his flared nostrils, and his cock in his hand, he made her mouth water. He stood before her, completely naked, and stroked his length in slow motions. Her hands squeezed at her breasts harder, and one hand moved down between her open thighs to flick a finger over her clit.

  When her gaze trailed down to take in his sexy sight, moisture dripped from her cunt. He was gorgeous. A woman’s fantasy turned to life. His cock jerked in his hands when her tongue darted out, and she licked her lips. A clear bead of liquid dripped from the head of his dick.

  She whimpered his name. “Max, please. I need you.” She dipped two fingers into her molten sex and groaned.

  His dark gray gaze swept her face, down her chest, and the area where the bubbles kept him from seeing more. She watched the stroking on his cock increase in pace. “Tell me what you want, baby.”

  She groaned at the sexy sight of what he was doing to himself. “You, Max. Inside me.”

  “You mean you want me to fuck you? You want to feel my hard cock sliding against your tight pussy walls, until every nerve ending screams out when you come?”

  Sensual visions of him inside her made her pump her fingers into her pussy faster. “Yes, please. Fuck me, Max.”

  She watched him increase the jerking of his cock in his hand. He looked so fucking good doing that. It made her want to get on her knees and suck him off while he jerked.

  “How do you want me to fuck you, baby?” His voice turned deep and raspy. Lava shot through her veins down to her cunt. Her pussy fluttered and clenched around her fingers.

  “Hard, fast, rough. However you want.” Oh God, yes. Hard, fast, and rough sounded perfect.

  “You like it rough?” His stormy gaze latched onto hers and promised all kinds of wicked delight.

  “Yes, God, yes.” Her hips rolled on her hand, and she started to get frustrated because the penetration wasn’t deep enough.

  Water sloshed when he stepped into the Jacuzzi with her. He kneeled between her legs and gently lifted her head for a kiss. Molten heat spread through her until she blazed with fire. He consumed her with his sexy mouth while his tongue lavished hers.

  He put his large, calloused hands over hers and pushed her to pleasure herself harder. He used one of his hands to mold and squeeze her breast while she pinched at the nipple. He used his other hand to pull her fingers out from inside her cunt. He placed them over her clit, fucking her with his own fingers instead. Tension gathered inside her, edging her closer to her release.

  Having his and her hands touching her notched up her pleasure. When he added his lips an
d fucked her mouth with his tongue it made her body shatter. Her chest heaved, and she gulped in air while her lower body rocked on his hand. Her pussy grasped at his digits, and she tried not to pass out from the pleasure.

  “Baby, you’re so hot.” He groaned between kisses and swipes of his tongue. “I can’t wait to fuck you.” Yes, her man fucking her sounded beyond good to her. It sounded perfect.

  He grabbed and lifted her by the waist while she was still shuddering. They switched positions until he was the one sitting on the seat, and she was straddling him. He curled his hands around her thighs and placed her over his cock until she was sliding down in one smooth glide.

  Still moaning from the perfection of him filling her, she was caught unaware by the feel of his warm lips latching on to her nipple and sucking. Hard. She jerked over him and rocked her hips on his cock.

  Her breaths came out in short pants. “Oh, good God.” She rocked her hips again and then rolled them in a full body wave while his mouth was still attached to her breast. He grazed the tight bud of her nipple and nipped it with his teeth, sending flashes of electricity down to her cunt. Whimpers slipped through her lips. He grabbed her ass cheeks and helped her rock on his length until she was riding him hard. He sucked on her breast, his lips warm and firm over her flesh, while she ground her pussy down his cock. Clinging to his shoulders, she dug her nails into the bulging muscles while they flexed.

  “Ride me, just like that.” He kissed her chest. “Fucking perfect.”

  More water sloshed when their movement became frenzied and less coordinated. Tension flared brightly inside her until all her focus was on toppling over the edge of pleasure. One of his thumbs flicked roughly over her clit, and he nibbled harder on her taut nipple. A burst of scorching bliss rushed through her. She took shallow pants and allowed it to consume her.