She raised her other hand. An IV was taped to the back while another strip of adhesive irritated her wrist. What the hell? And where was Logan? She touched the sling her right arm rested in. Right. She’d gotten shot. A sigh fogged the mask covering her nose and mouth.
Glancing around she fumbled for the call button. A muffled ping drifted to her ears. Where was Logan?
Fear stilled the breath in her throat. Had he been shot as well? She pressed the button several more times in quick succession. The faint squeak of shoes slapped the linoleum floor, growing louder. The bed creaked as she shifted to a more comfortable position. Tears burned her eyes. If he wasn’t here, then he must have died protecting her. Them.
She drifted a hand over her abdomen. Had her injuries harmed the baby? Her heart clenched. She couldn’t lose them both. A soft knock preceded the door swinging open. Michaela squinted, trying to bring the dark bulky shape into focus.
Unease rippled down her spine. Something was off. She moved to press the button again. A hand clamped over her wrist and she flinched.
“So good to see you, Ms. Winters.” The stranger bared his teeth.
Michaela swallowed hard. Aloysius Reynolds.
He stepped closer. His dark wavy hair touched his shoulders. Not a lock was out of place as he thrust a hand inside the white doctor’s coat he wore.
“You should turn yourself in and save the police the continued expense of looking for you.” Her voice was muffled.
“Three of my men died trying to get to you.”
“I’ll send flowers to their families.”
He moved to the other side of the bed and reached for her injured shoulder. She held her breath, preparing for the pain she knew was to come. He squeezed. White-hot fiery darts stabbed through her system and dried the saliva in her mouth. She clutched the sheet and bit her lip to keep from crying out. She wouldn’t give him the luxury of hearing her scream.
When he released her shoulder the edges of her vision dimmed in relief, and she dragged a shallow breath into her lungs.
“You always were stubborn.” He grazed her cheek with the back of a knuckle. “In another place, you’d have been the prize of my collection, but now...” He removed a hand from his pocket, a syringe dangled from his fingers. “Now this game has come to an end. I don’t have time to hire more men to fail. It’s time I take matters into my own hands.”
She grabbed at his wrist, but in her weakened condition, she was no match for his strength. He overpowered her easily.
“You’ll be dead before the nurse checks your vitals and then all my legal troubles will go away. No testimony. No case.”
Movement from the shadows caught the corner of her vision. She stiffened. Reynolds grabbed the hand with the IV. “It’ll sting, but only for a moment.”
“So will this.”
His eyes widened.
“Burg.” She wanted to sag in relief, but she remained still. Where was Logan?
“I can still inject this in her before you shoot me.”
Burg nodded. “You might, but you’ll still bleed out.”
A knife pressed against Reynolds’ wrist. The hand holding the weapon extended over the bed.
“Logan.” She sighed.
Logan nodded. “Raise your hands.” Logan twisted the blade. A drop of crimson welled on the man’s wrist.
Slowly, Reynolds lifted his hands. Burg grabbed the syringe and tossed it to the other side of the room. He shoved his weapon in his holster, grabbed Reynolds by a wrist and jerked it behind his back.
The man howled. Burg slipped a plastic restraint on, kicked the other man’s feet from under him and shoved him to the floor, before securing the other wrist.
“Burg?” Logan straightened and slid his knife back in its sheath.
“I got this.” He grinned.
“You better.”
Burg laughed and hauled Reynolds to his feet. “We’ve got a nice cell for you and guess what, no fancy privileges.”
“I want my lawyer.”
“I’m sure you do. You can talk to him as soon as you get to jail. I’m sure he’ll be happy to advise you, since he helped arrange for those thugs.” He shoved Reynolds through the door.
Brock rested a hip on the mattress and smoothed Michaela’s hair from her face. He ran his hands gently over her, pausing to adjust her sling. Her shoulder felt sticky and hot. He frowned.
“I should get the nurse in here to take a look at that shoulder. It’s bleeding.”
“He squeezed it.”
“Yeah, I’ll have someone check it.”
She caught his sleeve as he stood. “Brock?”
His shoulders went rigid, then drooped. He clenched his hands at his side before facing her. His handsome face was schooled into an unreadable mask. She’d seen it enough times before to know there was something on his mind he didn’t want to tell her.
The machine picked up her increased heart rate. He twined the fingers of her free hand with his.
“It was through and through, but it did nick your collarbone.” He pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “A few weeks of bed rest and physical therapy and you’ll be good as new.”
Tears clogged and burned her throat. She had to know. He had to tell her. “Brock?”
His eyes blazed bright with emotion a mixture of love and sadness. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He choked on the words.
She stared at him, hoping it wasn’t true, but the evidence was spilling from his eyes, down his face. “No,” she whispered.
He palmed her cheek, caressing her skin with his thumb. “I’m sorry.” He drew her into his embrace and she wept into his shoulder.
Chapter Five
“Michaela. Michaela!”
His voice reached her from a fog. She jerked away from the hand shaking her. Pain lanced her shoulder. She snapped open her eyes and stared into golden topaz. A quick glance around the room showed a fire crackling in the hearth beyond the bed. The bureau and chest of drawers were lined against the wall, a small, pint-sized tree decorated for the holiday sat on the dresser.
“Are you okay?”
She focused on Brock. “I-I don’t know.” Again her gaze roamed the room.
“You were dreaming?”
“Dreaming?” It had seemed so real. She touched her face. Her fingertips damp. She sat up. Both arms worked fine.
Brock dragged gentle fingers through her tousled hair. “Yeah. You were whimpering in your sleep.” He wrapped his arms around her. “You want to talk about it?”
“You said someone was trying to kill me.”
His lips grazed the curve of her shoulder. “Well, that part was true.”
She sighed. “And I got shot.”
He ran his palms up and down her arms then over her rib cage to cup her breasts. “Definitely not shot.” His thumbs circled her now erect nipples.
A soft moan eased past her lips and she squirmed against him. Desire simmered in her veins, pulsed low and throbbed in her clit. She shifted, bringing his erection between her butt cheeks.
He skimmed a hand down her front until he cupped her mound. “You have been safe in my arms.”
“Someone blew up the cabin.”
“Very vivid.”
“And tossed you over a balcony.” Need clenched her belly as his fingers delved into her slick heat.
His throaty chuckle brushed her skin. “Indeed. All of this before we open our gifts on Christmas?”
It was then she saw the twinkle of lights on the Christmas tree and the presents stacked beneath.
“Despite everything, Michaela, I wanted you safe and out of harm’s way.” He shifted until she was beneath him. “Reynolds is in custody, and Burg persuaded him to call off the hit. And all that time away these past coupla months allowed me to tie things up so leaving you like I did on our honeymoon, would not happen again.”
She closed her eyes as his lips closed over her nipple and his tongue flicked the tip. She clutched the sheet in her fists.
“That is my Christmas gift to you.”
“So no one else is after me?”
His answer was to lave her pebbled peak.
She arched against his mouth.
“And you’re home for good?”
“I don’t ever want to leave you like that again.”
A whimper left her lips. If all was well, then she still had one thing to tell him. She lifted her hands, flattened her palms against his chest and pushed him away.
He raised enough that the light from the fire chased the shadows from his face. Puzzlement knitted his brows together. “What is it?”
“I have to tell you something.”
Logan rolled off her and maneuvered them until she straddled him. She rested her hands on his shoulders. Her hair tickled her back as it slid over her shoulders. She closed her eyes and savored the smooth hard shaft resting between her legs. She wiggled her hips until the head brushed her clit, only then did she rock back and forth. Tingles raced up and down her spine, tightening her nipples and igniting a firestorm of sensation only he could quench.
He grasped her hips, preventing her from any further pleasure.
She frowned.
He chuckled. “I thought you had something to tell me?”
Nodding, she traced his areola before flicking her nail across his nipple. He sucked in a breath. She lifted her hips, just enough and then slowly eased him within her depths. A moan slipped past her lips as he settled home. He felt so good. She never wanted to be apart from him again.
“God, woman.” His fingers bit into her soft skin and she covered his hands with hers, moving them until they cupped her breasts.
Logan squeezed the soft globes, brushing his thumbs over the pebbled peaks until she hummed in pleasure. Each slap of her pelvis against his touched off shimmer after shimmer of desire, building anticipation and heightening her awareness of the hard cock scraping across sensitive nerve endings.
The slap of flesh against flesh mingled with the crackle and pop of the fire. She squeezed her muscles as she rode him, relishing the in and out of each downward thrust.
Michaela rocked back and forth, pleasure chasing away the last remnants of her nightmare.
He reached between their bodies and circled the hard little bud, adding the right amount of pressure until she cried out in ecstasy. Her muscles gripped the hardness moving within her until he groaned his release. She fell over the top of him, seeking his mouth for a damp kiss.
He grazed her ear with his lips, sending tingles along the delicate shell. “What did you have to tell me?” The fingers of one hand stroked her spine while the other pulled the covers around them.
She pillowed her head on his chest, before sweeping a kiss along his jaw. “I’m pregnant.”
He went still beneath her and his arms tightened a moment before they fell away. She lifted to one elbow to stare into his face. Before she could blink, she was under him, while his avid gaze searched her face.
“Really?” Awe filled his voice, while other emotion made it gruff.
She nodded. “Yeah. I wanted to wait until Christmas to tell you.” She glanced toward the clock. The large green numbers read ten past five. “Merry Christmas.”
A wide toothy grin split his face, causing his dimples to make a rare appearance. Her breath caught at the unaccustomed emotion displayed. He dropped a kiss on her lips. Tears pricked and burned behind her lids at the love and tenderness conveyed as he gathered her in his strong embrace.
He eased away. A hand drifting down her front to rest on her still flat abdomen. “Are you sure?”
She nodded as he shimmied down her body to press a soft kiss to her belly. The gesture warmed her to her core.
“This is the best Christmas present you could have ever given me.” Once more he laid next to her and gathered her close.
Michaela gazed into his face, laid her palm on his cheek and pulled him down for a kiss. “Merry Christmas.” As his lips met hers, she savored having this moment with him.
The End
www.wlynnchantale.com
Other Books by W. Lynn Chantale:
www.evernightpublishing.com/w-lynn-chantale
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Evernight Publishing
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