by Becca Van
She screamed as glass exploded toward her, cutting into her flesh. With trembling fingers she scrabbled with the seat belt catch and sobbed when it finally gave way, but she had been too slow. The passenger side door was opening and a hard hand gripped her ankle in an unforgiving grip. She kicked out with her other leg and felt a little satisfaction when the man cursed. Now that she could see his face because the interior light had come on when he had opened the door, she became more afraid. She’d never seen this person before but she could see the fury in his eyes. It was directed at her.
She tried to kick him again, but he was ready for her this time and caught her other ankle. His grip was bruising, and then he was pulling her across the bench seat toward him. Aurora yelled and struggled, hitting out, but she wasn’t strong enough to escape his clutches. Stinging pain seared into the back of her thigh as she was pulled across the glass-covered seat, but she didn’t have time to ascertain the damage done to her body. She needed to escape, and she wouldn’t give up until she was free.
* * * *
Mike placed his hand on the doorknob, opened the front door, which wasn’t locked, and reached for the light switch. He cursed under his breath when nothing happened. The power must have been cut, which also meant that the security system was down. He wondered why his cell phone hadn’t alerted him to the situation. He hoped that Derrick and Garth were aware of what was going on and were on their way over or had called the cops. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and called Gary. When the other man answered he didn’t give him time to speak.
“We’ve been broken into, the power has been cut, and Mac and I are checking things out. I’d appreciate it if you could get your ass over here as quickly as possible.” Mike had whispered the whole conversation, hoping that whoever had broken in couldn’t hear him or see the light from his digital display. Once he finished talking he disconnected the call and waited until his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. He carefully moved along the hall, staying close so he wouldn’t be an easy target. His heart beat rapidly as adrenaline spiked through his system, and he was glad for the hormone which would benefit him if he came face-to-face with the intruder.
Mike stopped near the kitchen door and peered around the corner. He couldn’t see much, but from what he could make out there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room. He headed toward the bedrooms, being careful not to make a noise. Just as he passed the bathroom he felt the air near his head move. He spun around but he wasn’t fast enough. Pain exploded in his head, and his knees buckled. Mike fought nausea which threatened to erupt, but he breathed deeply and waited for the throbbing in his head to lessen. He tried to see where his assailant was but it was still too dark. Moving slowly, he got to his hands and knees and sighed with relief when he realized whoever had attacked him was gone. Slowly he pushed up and then got to his feet and leaned against the wall to regain his equilibrium when nausea once more threatened. Just as he pushed off the wall he heard a scream and began to run.
* * * *
Mac ducked around the side of the house and saw that the side door access to the garage stood wide open. Being careful not to make a sound, he entered, but there was no one in sight. A noise toward the back of the house drew him out into the night toward the garden shed at the rear of the property. The tin door was ajar and light was emanating from within. He edged his way nearer and then peeked around the side of the door. No one was inside, but sitting in the middle of the shelf on the far side was a large flashlight. Since none of the lights inside had come on, he decided that the light would come in handy and hurried across to retrieve it. Just as he placed his hand on the handle, the door to the shed slammed closed and the bolt slid across, locking him inside.
Fuck! Now what am I going to do? Shit, Aurora. I need to get to Aurora.
Mac swung the flashlight around, looking for something to use to help him escape. His eyes alighted on the garden shears and he prayed they would be enough. Setting the light on the floor, he got down on his hands and knees and began to work.
* * * *
Aurora cried out when her shoulders hit the step of the truck as she was dragged from the seat. Her breath left her lungs in an oomph when her back landed on the hard concrete driveway. Pain radiated out from everywhere, but what sent her into a panic was the fact that she couldn’t breathe. It felt like hours but she knew it was probably only seconds before she was able to draw any air into her oxygen-starved organs.
Once she became aware of her surroundings, she began to fight anew. The man was pulling her to her feet and then trying to drag her away. She dug in her heels and used all of her body weight to prevent him from taking her, but she was too small to slow him down.
She tried to trip him and then kick him but nothing seemed to work. When she dug her nails into his arm with her free hand he cursed and then charged at her. Her world spun and then she was over his shoulders, her body lying across them behind his neck, and he was heading toward a car parked a little down the road. Aurora knew if she didn’t escape now that her life would be in danger. She renewed her struggles, kicking and bucking, hoping the asshole would drop her. A hard slap landed on her face, causing her to cry out. Just when she thought she was going to lose the fight she noticed headlights coming toward them.
Using every bit of strength she could, Aurora wrapped her hands around the fucker’s neck and squeezed. He growled and slapped her again, but she wasn’t about to give in. She dug her nails into the skin of his neck and dragged them along his flesh. He yelped and then she was falling. Her body slammed into the road, her head bouncing off the black tarmac, and she saw stars. She couldn’t see where he was but used her legs to kick and flailed her arms, hoping to keep him at bay.
A familiar voice finally penetrated her pain-induced fog.
“Put your hands in the air. Now,” Detective Gary Wade snapped out.
Aurora’s vision finally cleared and she looked up to see the bastard crouching over her with a gun pointed at her head. As she stared down the barrel of the gun, she began to shiver with fear and cold. She’d never felt so cold in her life. A trickle of warmth dripped down her leg and she wondered how badly she was cut.
What an odd thing to think about when I’m about to die.
The man grabbed hold of her hair and tugged her to her feet. Her legs were shaking so much she could barely stand. If it wasn’t for the fucker holding her up she would still be in a heap on the ground.
“Drop your weapon and let the woman go,” Gary ordered.
“Do you think I’m fucking stupid? As soon as I release her you’ll shoot me.”
“Not if you drop the gun. Let her go and drop the gun at the same time.”
Aurora didn’t know how much longer she could stay upright. She felt weak and was sure it was from loss of blood as well as shock. Her teeth chattered, and even though she was aware of everything going on around her, everything seemed surreal. As if she was living a dream.
* * * *
Mike could see a dark trail on the concrete driveway and knew it was Aurora’s blood. He followed the trail of blood and prayed the whole time that she was alive. When he reached the road, the trail merged with the blacktop of the bitumen, but he didn’t need to see it anymore. He hurried as much as he could, his head pounding with every step he took. Headlights in the distance illuminated the road and he saw that the man was carrying Aurora across the top of his shoulders toward a car about a hundred yards ahead. She was fighting him with everything she had. When he was fifty yards away he moved off to the side of the road onto the grass shoulder so his footsteps were muffled.
The car came to a screeching halt and he nearly sagged with relief when he heard Gary ordering the man to let Aurora go. The bastard had flung her from his shoulders and he felt sick when she landed on the road with a dull thud, and now he was crouched over her. As Mike moved closer to Aurora and the asshole, he spotted Mac across the yard, also making his way toward them. They communicated silently, us
ing tactics they learned in the military, and planned their next move.
He was only twenty yards away when the asshole lifted Aurora by her hair and held the gun to her head. There was no way in hell he was letting the love of his life die, when they had only just found each other.
Mike crept along and when he was closer moved back onto the road. Stones crunched beneath his feet and the bastard turned and pointed the gun in his direction. Mike went flying through the air and hit the ground hard, as he dove out of the line of fire.
He lifted his head when he heard the scuffle and winced when Mac took a punch to the jaw. While he had distracted Aurora’s assailant and drawn his gunfire, Mac had been moving toward him from behind. The gun went flying and then Mac’s fist hit the bastard in the face over and over again. Finally his brother stopped punching and he waited with bated breath hoping the fucker was down for the count. Mac was still straddling him with a raised fist, but when the prick didn’t move he slowly rose to his feet. Gary rushed forward, rolled the attacker onto his stomach, pulled his arms behind his back, and cuffed him.
Mike scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Aurora, who was lying in the middle of the road motionless.
“Aurora, baby, where are you hurt?” Mike asked.
“Speak to us, honey,” Mac demanded as rushed over to their woman.
She smiled up at him and Mac and then her smile turned to a frown. Her eyes slid closed. Mike and Mac both went to their knees trying to see where she was injured. Mac shone the flashlight he held in his hand over her body. Her cheek was red where the asshole had struck her, but other than that Mike couldn’t see any other damage.
“Help me roll her over, Mike.” Mac placed the light on the ground. “We need to check her for injuries.”
Mike pulled his T-shirt off, wadded it up, and placed it under Aurora’s head. With care they turned her onto her side. Mac snatched up the light and moved it up and down her body. Her left thigh had a long jagged cut on the back, and both her legs were covered in blood.
“Jesus,” Gary gasped when he saw Aurora’s wound. “Paramedics are on the way. I should have killed that bastard but I didn’t want to shoot in case I hit Aurora.”
Mac stripped off his T-shirt and put it over the cut on Aurora’s leg and applied pressure. More police cars and two ambulances arrived on the scene. The paramedics assessed Aurora and then loaded her up on a stretcher. Mike followed them to the ambulance and was about to get in when Gary’s voice stopped him.
“Do either of you know who this asshole is?” Gary shone a light on the face of the man currently being wheeled to the other ambulance.
“Shit. Yeah, it’s Billy Smith. He owns another moving company here in town.”
“Thanks, I’ll be by the hospital as soon as I’ve finished up here to get your statements.”
Mike nodded and then got into the ambulance.
“I’ll get the truck and follow,” Mac called out and then ran back toward the house.
One paramedic attended to Aurora while the other saw to the cut on his head. Mike reached over and clasped Aurora’s hand, praying that she would be all right.
Chapter Twelve
Aurora woke to the sound of beeping and knew she was in a hospital. The blood pressure cuff around her upper arm whirred quietly as it pumped up and squeezed, and then as it released it beeped out some sort of message or alert unknown to her. She licked her lips, trying to moisten them, but even her tongue felt dry so it didn’t make any difference. She finally became aware that both her hands were being held and struggled to pry her eyelids open, having to blink a few times to dispel the haze in front of her. Turning her head to the side, she met aqua-blue eyes.
“How do you feel, honey?” Mac asked.
“Like I’ve been pulled through a hedge backward,” she answered in a husky voice.
Mac released her hand and reached for the jug of water on the table near the foot of the bed. He poured water into a cup, stuck a straw into it, and then moved the couple of steps nearer to her head. She sipped gratefully and thanked him after quenching her thirst. She looked to the other side of the bed and saw Mike sleeping with his head on the bed close to her hip. There was a small bandage just above his left temple.
“Is Mike all right?” she asked in a whisper so she wouldn’t wake him.
“He’ll be fine, honey. He’s got a couple of stitches where that asshole clouted him with a bat and a headache, but other than that he’s as right as rain.”
“Thank God,” she said and gently stroked her fingers through Mike’s hair, making sure to stay well away from his injury.
“You, however, are another story,” Mac said with a frown.
“I’m fine, Mac. A little achy and my muscles are stiff, but I’m alive.”
“And thank God for that,” Mike rasped as he sat up. “I have never been so scared in my life, baby. I thought you were dying.”
“It takes more than being dropped on the ground to kill me.” Aurora laced her fingers with Mike’s once more.
“You are going to have to take it easy for quite a while, honey. The doctor stitched up your leg, but you lost a lot of blood and they had to give you two pints. You will be really tired for a while and you won’t be going back to work for at least three weeks,” Mac stated in a firm voice.
“Three weeks! Shit. Well, then I guess I had better move in with you so you can both take care of me.”
“What?”
“Do you mean that, baby?” Mike asked.
“Yes. When that asshole was trying to kidnap me I vowed that if I survived then I would move in with you as soon as I could. I love you both, so much, and don’t want to waste another minute. I want to be with you. I need to be with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you both by my side.”
“God, honey, you’ve made me so happy,” Mac said in a husky voice. He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.
“I love you so much, Aurora. I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to spend each spare minute holding you, loving you and maybe one day, watch your belly grow big with our child.”
“Are you …”
“Shh, baby, just rest. I don’t want you to tire yourself out,” Mike said.
“Ah, glad to see you’re awake, young lady,” the elderly doctor said as he entered the room. “You listen to your young man. It would be best to rest and recuperate for as long as you can. If you push yourself too hard, you might just end up back in here, and I’m sure you don’t want that.”
“No, sir,” she replied but lowered her eyes so her men couldn’t see the gleam of determination she was sure she couldn’t hide.
“Good. Now the nurse will be in shortly with your release forms. You will need to see your regular GP to get the stitches removed from that leg, and of course I already have a detailed report for you to hand over to your doctor. You have no concussion, and other than a swollen bruised cheek and bruising to your back, you are otherwise healthy. Do you have any questions?”
“No. Thank you, Doctor.”
“You’re welcome. When you get home make sure you go straight to bed, and take him with you.” The doctor pointed toward Mike. “He has a slight concussion but refused to leave your side. Stubborn young man.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Aurora muttered, and to her chagrin the doctor heard her. He threw back his head and roared with laughter, and then he surprised the crap out of her.
“We Doms tend to be a stubborn lot.” He winked at Aurora and then left the room still chuckling.
“Close your mouth, honey,” Mac said, gently squeezing her hand.
She snapped her mouth closed with an audible click.
“Do one of you want to tell me who that man was?”
“He was the doctor who treated you, baby.”
“No, not the doctor. I meant the one who tried to abduct me.”
Mac cleared his throat. “He was Billy Smith, owner of Smith Movers. Apparently his business started going down
the tubes when we started our own company, and instead of looking into ways of fixing things he just went to the bank and borrowed more and more money. Over the years our company grew and he became angry at our success. He finally closed the doors and ceded bankruptcy last week. Rather than looking at his business acumen, he became jealous of our success and blamed us for his problems. Smith snapped and came after us, by breaking and entering into our home and warehouse. When that didn’t work he decided to hurt us where it would hurt most and came after you.
“He’d been watching us for a while, and when you entered our lives he decided you were the better option to hurt us.”
Aurora shivered. Mike rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “He can’t hurt you anymore, baby. Gary had to shoot him in the shoulder when the asshole tried to escape when he pulled him from his patrol car and was trying to get him into the precinct. He’s currently recovering, but he has a guard twenty-four seven. When he’s well enough he will be incarcerated until he’s up for a trial hearing.”
“Will I have to testify?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. We can ask Gary when he comes to take your statement. He’s already been in to take ours, but since he was on the scene he doesn’t think so. Gary hopes that your statement will be enough. But don’t worry, baby. If you do you won’t have to do it alone.”
Aurora sagged with relief and then looked up as the nurse entered the room. An hour later they were on the way home.
* * * *
Over the next two weeks visitors from the club dropped in regularly. Masters Turner and Barry along with Charlie brought over a casserole and stayed for a chat and then left again. Masters Gary, Tank, and Jack also popped in a few times, and her Doms took advantage of Master Jack’s doctoring skills to give her a checkup. He also removed the stitches from the back of her thigh when they were due to come out.