Catching Cara: Dark Horse, Inc: Book 2

by Amy J. Hawthorn

  His world was far from right, but he’d be damned if it would stay that way for much longer. If the Grants didn’t have something they could use as evidence tomorrow, he’d find a way to make something happen. He wouldn’t rest until every one of those assholes was rotting behind bars.

  He closed the door on his sleeping daughter and went to check on his second but equally as important concern. Cara. God, but she humbled him. He’d never be able to express his gratitude.

  They’d driven from the mine straight to the urgent care that Rick had recommended. They checked both Kylie and Cara’s vitals and gave them a thorough check for any injuries they might have missed in his eagerness to get them off the hill. They’d also drawn blood from Kylie to test for foreign substances. Rick had arranged to have them all charted under fictitious names just to be safe. He’d been torn between wanting to wait on the lab results and getting his girls home, clean, and dry.

  In the end, he’d left after Rick and the doctor had assured him they would call results to him as soon as they came back. One thing about having obscenely rich friends with shady pasts and crazy connections? Rules were conveniently forgotten on a routine basis.

  He walked into the room Cara was using without knocking. Finding it empty, he continued onto the bathroom’s open door. He found her standing in front of the mirror, combing out and drying her hair. With the loud dryer blowing in her ear, she couldn’t have heard his quiet approach. He took a moment to watch her. Hair still wet from her shower, and a little bit pale, she stood there wrapped in nothing but a towel.

  He remembered the feel of her weight in his arms as he carried her to the truck. He’d taken her straight to the driver side door and helped her in. Trent who’d already buckled Kylie into her car seat and had been keeping her company, nodded his farewell. He’d kept Cara tight to his side the entire way to the urgent care. Fortunately, by the time they’d made it to Bourbon County, the storm had mellowed. The rain had slowed to a calm drizzle and only a few sparse flickers of lightning flickered in the distance. Against the sound of his truck driving through the night, the distant thunder didn’t have a chance and she’d had time to settle.

  She’d answered the doctor’s questions mechanically and cooperated, but she had all the animation of a robot. He’d hated it, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  He stepped into her line of sight. When she didn’t cover up, flinch or shoo him out, he took that as an invitation and stepped into the bathroom and her space. She stood there simply staring at him.

  He couldn’t stand it. Other than her mechanical answers to the doctor, she hadn’t uttered a single word. He didn’t know whether he wanted to shake or coddle her. He took the hair dryer from her, switched it off and set it on the counter. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine.” She gifted him with a plastic smile.

  “Let me see your hands.” He tamped down his impatience and raised them himself. “You really do need a manicure.”

  “I got all the dirt out, but I haven’t had a chance to clean up the ragged edges yet. They’re not that bad.” Finally, he saw a hint of her spine. He hated to play that game, but if it got him his Cara back, he’d do it. He hadn’t missed the concerned looks James and the other guys had given her when she wasn’t looking. They’d tried to gently coax her out, but hadn’t been able to draw out their Mayhem.

  He’d planned to come in here to thank her, but when he saw that spark, he changed his tactic. “Don’t worry. I’ll treat my princess to a manicure later.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head in that way he loved. “I’m no princess, Joe.”

  “You’re pretty enough to be one.” He leaned in and smelled the area where her jaw met her ear. “Smell like royalty, too.”

  “I just ran enough dirty water down Trent’s drain to fill a pond.” She looked up at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  He picked her up and set her ass on the counter beside the sink. “Your hair is soft enough. He ran a finger behind her ear in a slow caress.

  She tried to pull up her towel, but seeing as she sat on it, it wasn’t budging. Her eyes shot daggers at him.

  Finally, he was getting somewhere.

  He touched her chin and used the pad of his finger to trail a slow path down her neck. “What about your pretty little toes? What color polish are you wearing today?”

  She tried to cross her arms over her chest, but his finger got to her cleavage first, blocking her. Dipping his finger into the shallow hollow, he untucked the twist in the towel at her breasts and let the entire thing fall.

  “No answer? I’ll have to see for myself. Princess.” He ran his finger between her breasts and down her belly. He slowed and continued straight down over the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs. She kept her legs together so he followed the seam to her knees and then down her shins. Easing down to his knees, he looked at her feet. “Just what I thought. Purple polish for my perfect princess.”

  “Are you trying to be a poet MacDonald? If so, don’t, because you stink.” The tightness in his throat eased when he heard a good dash of snark in her tone.

  “Nope, I’m not a poet. I’m just a plain ‘ole country boy who’s trying to figure out what to do with his princess.” He kissed the spot where her knees touched.

  “That’s warrior princess to you, Mr. MacDonald.” There she was. His Cara.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He eased his thumbs between her ankles the slid them up the insides of her calves until he hit her knees. There he applied pressure until her legs opened.

  “What are you doing?” Suspicion colored her voice.

  “Nothing much. Shhh…” Starting at mid-thigh, he licked a path up her inner leg until he reached the joint where her thigh met his heaven. Her sharply indrawn breath sounded like music to his ears. With his thumbs, he exposed her and, with his mouth, he loved her.

  Holy shit. Her head dropped back to rest against the mirror with a thud. Joe held her legs open with his shoulders and rocked her world with his hands and mouth. Already weak and overwhelmed by sensation, she could do nothing more but tangle her hands in his hair and hold on. Exquisite pleasure washed over her in a warm glow.

  Groaning against her, he tilted her pelvis, gently dropping her to rest her shoulders against the mirror. He wrapped one hand under a leg to tightly grip her ass. He used the other to aid his mouth. Tongue, teeth, fingers, and lips stirred so much sensation she didn’t know where she ended and he began.

  Liquid, languid arousal erupted into hurried, turbulent passion. Instinctively, she placed the foot of her free leg on the counter, giving him even more access.

  He rewarded her with a light smack on her ass and a muttered, “That’s my girl. Give me your all.” Then he took full advantage of her shift, setting fire to her world. He rocked into her with his fingers and tongue. Sharp, powerful bliss saturated her every cell until she wanted to burst. Quivering with the onslaught of ecstasy, unable to contain the magnitude of pleasure, she exploded.

  Ready for her cry, he stood, covered her mouth with his and drew the waves of orgasm out with his fingers. Muscles taught, breathless, she held onto his shoulders as his body moved against hers, blanketing it with his scent, his strength. From head to pussy, he covered her.

  The moment she went boneless, he pulled his cock free of his jeans. Eager, hungry for more, she grabbed for him only to have him pull away with a curse. “Fuck. Me.” He growled low and harsh.

  “I’m trying to.” She smiled, trying to soften his sudden frustration.

  “I can’t. No Condom.” He pressed his forehead to hers and trailed a finger over her heavy breast in regret. His chest heaved and, even through his tee, she made out the lines of his tense, heavy muscles.

  When a tendril of bliss budded in her tight nipple and spread, she understood his regret all too well. “I’m protected. I’m on the pill and clean but I understand if you don’t…” Her words trailed off. She didn’t want to put him in that awkward position so she change
d course. “You took care of me, I’ll—”

  “No. I trust you. It’s good. We’re good.” He kissed her hot and deep and dropped his jeans farther.

  God, this man shook her to her core in the best ways imaginable.

  With his cock fisted in hand, he fit the speared head to her entrance. Eager, needy, she clutched his hips, nails digging into the flesh of his ass and urged him on. When he looked at her, she melted.

  “My princess is a hungry little thing, isn’t she?” He smiled brighter then delivered with one sure stroke.

  Packed to bursting with electric pleasure, she gloried in the male beauty covering her. Hers for the taking. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and let him have everything.

  “Don’t wanna hurt you, but I’m not sure I can go easy, sweetheart.” He pulled back and pushed in with stoic deliberation. Tense from head to toe, he shook with hunger.

  She couldn’t bear the thought of him needing something she could give.

  “Hang on.” She placed a staying hand on his chest only to have him look at her like she’d lost her mind. “Trust me.”

  “Always.” But that look hadn’t left his face.

  “Let me down.”

  He pulled out and she almost called him back, the loss so sharp. Weak from her earlier stress and the orgasm he’d given her, when she tried to climb down, she realized her problem. Her muscles were jelly. “Um. Help?”

  He quirked an eyebrow, but when she held her arms out, he lifted her and set her on her feet. She held onto his biceps and steadied herself. Then she hoped she could do this without making a fool of herself.

  In for a penny…

  She let go and turned around, baring her ass. Bracing her hands on the counter, she arched her back, and taunted him with the view. She looked over her shoulder and found him staring at her ass.

  “Ahem.” It was her turn to look at him with an arched brow. He looked up and a slow, wicked grin crept across his face. Heat simmered in his gaze, branding her. Then, totally not caring, his gaze swept back to her ass. “Joe.” When his focus came back to her, she replied, “Now you don’t have to worry about breaking my neck. Do your worst, big boy.”

  His calloused hand cupped one butt cheek and the other her jaw. He kissed her tenderly but the moment his tongue touched hers, their appetite for each other surged. Charged hunger zipped along her nerve endings.

  Fisting his cock, he broke away, chest heaving and moved to stand behind her. “You undo me.” Taking her hips in his hands, he seated himself at her core. Then he slid in, fast and hard. Overwhelmingly full, she whimpered at the sensation overload. He hit home, pulled back scraping by her already tender tissues. Delicious, tight, burning friction scalded her with pleasure.

  Draping his larger body over hers, wrapping his arms around her, he held her to him, buffering her arms from the force of his thrusts. Then he let go of his need. Holding her tightly, he pounded into her, a primal, possessive mating.

  The rest of her body was an altogether different type of story. Assaulted with erotic joy, she reveled in his possession. Her body grew tighter and tighter with each pass until she didn’t think she could bear the pleasure and force any longer. Unable to contain it any longer, she released the pressure, exploding in a rush of blistering ecstasy.

  Biting her lip and moaning, she fought to stay silent as another, larger orgasm surged over her.

  Iron bands wrapped tight around her middle as his pace doubled. Hard and furious, his body pistoned into hers.

  Hot spurts jetted inside her. Growling, his pace slowed as he pulled her back, tight against his hips. He alternated soft kisses down her spine with murmured praise.

  She laid her head on her hands on the counter and let her weight go. She’d barely taken her next breath when he pulled out and swept her into his arms.

  Burdened with a mess of emotions, they met in Trent’s living room. Cara watched as Joe skipped his usual chair and took a seat in the middle of the couch then drew her to sit beside him. Far too tired to argue, she did so. She had to admit, when he wrapped one arm around her, pulling her into his side, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

  Their arrival seemed to serve as a signal for everyone to gather. Always prepared, most of them kept an extra set of clothes in their vehicles and had time to change. Weariness, anger and even a thin layer of fear hung over the room like a smoky haze.

  “Joe, I went out to your ride for the note Boyd left. I scanned it into our files and then sealed it in a bag. Didn’t think you’d mind.” Rick sat at his usual spot at the head of Trent’s dining room table.

  “Not at all. Thanks.” Joe’s voice went gruff, quiet. “Thanks for everything, again. Boyd keeps this shit up; I’ll never get out of your debt.”

  Not taking it as the joke it was meant as, Rick met Joe’s gaze head on. “There’s no need for debts in this room.” Rick’s tone, though subdued, left no room for argument. “Now that the unnecessary formal crap is out of the way, onto the most important topic. Safety. Joe, how do you feel about Kylie staying here until this is sorted? Kate’s available to keep an eye on her, and we’d all rest easier knowing she is safe here on the farm.”

  “I was going to speak to Trent about that. I agree. After tonight? Yeah, I want her here. I’ll run out tomorrow and pack some of her things. She’ll think she’s on a vacation and school doesn’t start for another week and a half.”

  The tension in Cara’s shoulders eased. “I can help as well, if Kate has something to do.” Rick nodded his thanks. When Joe’s only response was to rub his hand up and down her arm, she figured he accepted the solution as well.

  Leigh came in from likely peeking in on her niece and sat beside Joe. He pulled her into his other side and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks guys. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you keeping her here. I’ll come out and stay with her if needed.”

  “Good. It’ll be a short drive for you, since you’ll be staying here as well.” Rick looked down at his computer and spoke as if he hadn’t just delivered a shock.

  Leigh’s head snapped to look at him. “Excuse me?”

  Rick raised his head and looked directly at Leigh. “I said that’s good. It’ll be a short drive for you, since you’ll be staying here as—”

  “I heard your words. What I don’t get is why you think you can tell me what to do. I can’t stay here.” She sat up straight, breaking her brother’s hold.

  “I know, space is tight here. Tonight, we’ll put you with Cara, and tomorrow you’ll—”

  “No, Rick. You’re not getting it. I’ll be sleeping at my place tonight and every other night. You may be the head of this outfit, but I’m not one of your soldiers. I’m no one. There’s no reason for anyone to come after me.”

  “Leigh, you’re staying here. End of discussion.” Even sitting, he looked as though he’d turned his nose down at her, like a parent to an errant child.

  Leigh stood and cocked her hip, with one hand fisted on her waist. “No. You don’t get to issue me orders. No.”

  “Sis.” With that single, quiet word, Joe had his sister’s attention.

  She turned to face him, but remained silent.

  “Think about what happened today. If Kylie is safe behind castle walls, and they need to get me out of the picture, where are they going to look next? Every day it feels as though I’m tiptoeing around landmines. I don’t need to worry about your safety too. Losing you would be just as devastating as losing Kylie. I simply can’t. Please stay here, either at Trent’s or at the big house.”

  Cara watched Leigh’s will crumple and she ached for the gorgeous, willowy brunette. But Joe was right and Leigh was smart enough to know it. Caring enough to listen. “You’re lucky you’re my brother, you know?”

  “I do know. I want to keep it that way.”

  Leigh softened and spoke to Joe as if his opinion was the only one that mattered. “I’ll sleep with Kylie tonight and figure out the rest tomorrow.” She gave him a sad litt
le smile then went to the kitchen. There she opened the dishwasher and began rinsing dishes in the sink. She never once acknowledged Rick, making Cara wonder if something more lurked beneath the surface of their casual acquaintance.

  Joe looked to the table and everyone scattered around the room. “What I want to know is why they wanted me out of the picture tonight. The note said it was a warning, but I don’t believe it.”

  Noah spoke quietly from the table where he sat at Rick’s left, facing the group. “I don’t either. I mean, that was a huge risk to take and a lot of work. I would think that leaving the note and a picture would have been enough of a threat.” The big man’s fisted hands on the table contrasted with his seemingly relaxed pose. Cara’s heart had melted earlier when he’d taken a few moments to sit with Kylie while she ate her dinner. He’d spoken softly and joked with the little girl, but his eyes had been full of worry and anger.

  “They had plans tonight, likely out at the quarry and wanted to make sure all of us and especially Joe, were occupied.” James spoke from the end of the table, opposite Rick. “Chicken shit assholes. I’d like to cram their asses in a dark mine without light, food or water and leave them there for about fifty years.”

  “Agreed. Since Joe was their focus, I’m sure Hawkins was a primary player. I get why Joe didn’t want to call in rescue tonight, but by not doing so Hawkins now knows Joe is onto him.” Trent pointed his beer bottle to Joe.

  With exhaustion stealing the last of her strength, she leaned deeper into Joe. His chest vibrated beneath her ear when he spoke. “I’m not the only one who’s lost faith in him. I’m getting hints all over town that people think he’s dirty. I’m going to meet with a teen who overdosed not too long ago and her parents. They have something to tell, but don’t want me to come back to their home or at the station. They insisted I come alone and that we meet out of town. His authority is crumbling.”