by A. M. Myers
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, peppering kisses down my cheek to my neck. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Please don’t ever leave me again.”
He pulls back to force my gaze to his. “Never. I promise you, Kady.”
“I love you.”
“Fuck, I love you, too, baby,” he says, pulling me back to his lips as his hands grab my ass and he lifts me into the air. Moaning, I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he starts carrying me down the hallway to the bedroom, not once letting his lips leave mine as we kiss each other like we can’t get enough.
When we get to the bedroom, he lays me on my back in the middle of the bed and leans over me, his kisses growing softer, more intimate, as his hands trace my curves. His tongue tangles with mine as he hooks his fingers into the waistband of my leggings and when he pulls away to pull them down my legs, I whimper at the loss.
God, I need him.
Now.
I can’t remember the last time I felt this desperate but right now, I need him to prove to me that everything is okay between us. I need to know that we’re going to make it.
Once my leggings and panties are in a pile on the floor, he reaches out for my hand and I let him pull me up into a sitting position. He smiles, one of those special smiles that he saves just for me, and it’s like I’m seeing the sunshine for the first time in days.
“Take off the hoodie, babe. Let me see your gorgeous body.”
I moan as I grab the hem of my sweater and yank it over my head before doing the same with my tank top and lying back on the bed, naked. My teeth sink into my lip as I look up at him and he quickly strips before joining me on the bed.
“You gonna be upset if I forgo the foreplay this time?” he asks, grinning as he looms over me and I shake my head, reaching for him.
“No. I need you.”
He hums as he wedges his hips between my thighs and lines himself up with my entrance. We both gasp as he slowly sinks into me. Reaching up, he grabs my hands, lacing our fingers before planting them on the bed above my head as he starts slowly, seductively, thrusting his hips. His stroke is everything that I need in this moment - soft but still firm, slow, and hypnotic - and the love in his eyes as our gazes lock makes tears sting my eyes again.
“Hey,” he whispers, releasing one hand to wipe a tear away. “No more crying.”
I shake my head. “Tell me you love me.”
“I love you,” he vows with a smile and I close my eyes, soaking up the feeling as he lets go of my hands and presses his lips to mine again as he drives into me harder than before. I gasp, clawing at his back and he groans as he does it a couple more times before slowing down to that same seductive pace as before. Slipping his hand between us, he circles my clit with his fingers and groans softly in my ear, sending goose bumps racing across my flesh.
“I want you to come for me. You ready?”
I shake my head. “No.”
Like I’ve just issued some kind of challenge, he thrusts his hips harder and faster as he continues circling my clit and I scream, arching my back off the bed as a release builds out of nowhere. He grins, the cocky bastard back in full force as he grabs my hip, his fingers digging into my skin and slams into me. I scream his name, tangling my hands in my hair as he continues his assault and my body coils like a spring. His thumb flicks across my clit again and I explode, screaming as I throw my hands down and grip the sheets underneath me, my body arching off the bed with pleasure.
“Fuck, baby!” he exclaims and when I glance up at him, breathing heavily, his eyes gleam. “Again.”
He makes me come three more times in rapid succession before he grabs my hands again and pins them to the bed above my head.
“Together this time,” he orders, abandoning his sweet lovemaking for a pounding, punishing rhythm that makes me gasp each time he drives into me. My whimpers turn into loud moans as my body gyrates underneath him and my muscles begin to tremble.
“Noah, I can’t,” I gasp, the pleasure too overwhelming and he pulls back to meet my eyes.
“You will.” He punctuates his command with another thrust of his hips and I cry out before pleading for mercy. I don’t even care that he wins this round. With what he’s doing to me right now, no sane woman could resist. He groans, releasing one hand to reach down and pinch my nipple between his thumb and forefinger and I grab his arm, digging my nails into his flesh as my back arches off the bed again.
“Fuck,” he growls as he releases my other hand and wraps his fingers around my throat. My pussy clenches and we both moan as his grip tightens. He leans in, his lips hovering above mine as he searches my gaze. “You ready to come for me like a good girl?”
My belly tightens and I nod. He grins and pulls my leg up over his shoulder as he maintains the same pace, hitting that special spot that makes me delirious with pleasure. His grip tightens again as he groans and his body tenses as I reach up and drag my nails down his back.
“Fuck!” he yells, burying his head in my neck and his teeth sink into my skin. I cry out as another orgasm tears through me and he groans my name as his cock pulses inside me, spilling his release into me. He sighs and relaxes on top of me as I wrap my arms around him.We catch our breath as we cling to each other, neither one of us willing to let the other go yet and after a minute, he pulls back to meet my gaze.
“I suppose we should have that talk now.”
I laugh. “Are you actually going to talk this time?”
“Scouts honor,” he says, holding up the Boy Scouts symbol and I roll my eyes as I shove him off me.
“You were never in the damn Boy Scouts, Noah LeBlanc.”
“So?”
I glance over at him and shake my head. “Nothing. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He grins, pulling me into his arms and pressing his lips to my shoulder. “And I’m sorry for the way things have been between us for the past couple days. I know I probably haven’t been easy to deal with. I just… I feel so fucking guilty but I’m going to make it up to you. I swear, baby. Nothing in this world is more important to me than you are and I’m sorry I forgot that a minute.”
“What made you remember?”
He shakes his head. “I stormed out of this house and was opening the door to my truck when it hit me what I was doing. The thought of driving away from you and never coming back… I couldn’t do it no matter how much guilt I have to carry around.”
I roll over to face him and press my hand to his cheek. “I need you to hear me, Noah. I do not blame you. It was not your fault. You with me?”
“I am. This whole thing really fucked with my head for a minute but I’m back on track, I promise you.”
I nod, leaning forward to steal a kiss. “That’s good because we have to decide how we’re going to deal with Oliver. He is going to pay for this.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“Good. Let’s get to work, then.”
“Shit,” he whispers with a grin. “Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you’re all fired up?”
I laugh. “Only every day of my life but you’re gonna have to control your cock for a minute.”
“Baby,” he groans, rolling to his back as he closes his eyes and sighs. “That’s really hard to do when you talk about my cock.”
Laughing, I lightly slap his cheek, not feeling the least bit sorry for him. He’s just going to have to find a way to deal with it because getting vengeance for us and our boy comes first, above anything else.
Chapter Nineteen
Kady
“Kady,” Noah breathes, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze as I fidget in the chair next to him. This damn waiting room is too quiet for my sanity and thinking about what the lawyer might tell us is making me lose my mind. “It’s going to be okay.”
I nod despite the churning in my belly. Noah and I stayed up late into the night, talking about everything that happened to me when Oliver kidnapped me and what we were going to do
about it before we moved on to how we should handle the situation with our son. As much as we both want to charge in there and take back what is rightfully ours, we were unsure if we could… or if we should. Noah suggested that we speak to a lawyer and find out our rights before we make that decision and I agreed with him. Thankfully, he had developed a friendship with his lawyer from seven years ago and even though he’s moved from being a public defender to a big office downtown, all it took was one call from Noah and he was squeezing us into his schedule today. That and the five thousand dollar retainer Noah promised him. Turns out, my man still has most of the money from his drug days hidden away so well that the cops never found it - almost one hundred thousand dollars total.
“Mr. LeBlanc,” the receptionist calls and Noah looks up. She smiles. “You can go back now.”
We stand and Noah wraps his arm around my waist as we follow her directions to a large office with glass walls. A man with dark hair and ice blue eyes glances up as we approach and stands, smiling as we walk in.
“Noah, good to see you again,” he says, holding his hand out and Noah releases me to shake it before he turns to me. “And you must be Kady. I’m Asher Reed.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, shaking his hand. After the formalities are over, we sit in the two chairs in front of his desk and he takes a breath as he looks up at us.
“Okay, hit me with it.”
Noah spares a glance at me and I nod. He launches into the whole story, starting with the night he was arrested and the more he hears, the more his eyebrows creep up his face. When Noah finally finishes with the kidnapping portion of my story, Asher blows out a breath.
“Jesus Christ.” He turns to me. “Did you ever go to the police?”
I shake my head. “I’ve been in hiding for the past six years until Noah found me again.”
“Okay, I’d have to look into the statute of limitations on the crimes of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, and rape but I’m not sure how much you could really do after all these years.”
Noah leans forward. “That’s actually not why we’re here.”
“Then why are you here?” he asks, leaning back in his chair, his gaze flicking between the two of us. Noah glances at me and I clear my throat.
“When I was taken, I had just found out that I was pregnant.”
His eyes widen. “Oh…”
“I gave birth to the baby when I was being held captive and Mr. Ford said the baby died. We’ve discovered that was not true. Our son was left at a fire station and put in the foster care system before being adopted by a family in Port Allen.”
“My God,” he whispers, leaning forward and grabbing a piece of paper. “I’m going to give you the name of an excellent family lawyer I know. Tell them I sent you and they’ll be able to guide you through all this.”
“Actually, that’s why we came to see you. Do we have any rights in this situation?”
He nods. “The child was taken from you and while a judge may have terminated your rights when he was adopted, the kidnapping makes that all null and void. You just need to be able to prove everything you’re telling me and your son will be returned to you as soon as possible.”
“Will the family fight us?”
He gives us a half-hearted nod. “They might try, which is why I’m giving you her number. She’s one of the best family attorneys I’ve ever met and she’ll take care of you.”
My head spins as he hands over the name and number of the family lawyer. Noah stands, holding his hand out to me and I let him pull me out of my chair as I stare at the paper in my hand.
“As we agreed,” Noah says, trying to pass Asher an envelope of cash but Asher shakes his head and pushes it back toward us.
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t help all that much and even if I had, I wouldn’t charge you for this. What the two of you have been through, it’s… unimaginable and Mr. Ford… he’s a nasty piece of work.”
“You’ve met him?” Noah asks and Asher nods.
“Just once but that was enough.”
Noah nods and shakes his hand. “I hear you there. Thank you for all your help.”
“Of course. Let me know how it all works out.”
“We will. Thanks, again.”
Taking my hand, Noah leads me back out to the lobby and we stop in front of the elevator, waiting for it to reach our floor.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
“I don’t know…”
Nodding, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and presses a kiss to my head as the elevator doors slide open and we step inside. We ride down to the parking garage in silence as my mind races and my heart aches. I want my son back more than anything but as soon as Asher started talking about getting a lawyer and fighting to get our son back, all I could see was him with tears running down his face as we rip him from his family.
“Baby,” Noah whispers after we climb in the truck. Tears sting my eyes as I turn to him and his face crumples as he pulls me across the seat and into his arms. “What’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours?”
“Do you think we should do this?”
He jerks back. “Absolutely. Oliver doesn’t get to take our son from us.”
“But he already has and now we’re talking about taking him from the only family he’s ever known.” The tears start to fall and I wipe them away, wishing I didn’t feel so lost in all of this. Even though I’ve never spent more than a few moments with him seven years ago, I love that little boy more than I could ever describe. It fills me to the point of pain each time I think about him and not having him with us is torturous but that doesn’t mean it’s what is best for him. How am I suppose to hurt him like that?
“What are you saying, Kady?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to hurt him. He’s this perfect little person that we created in love but he doesn’t know us. How would we be any better than Oliver if we took him from them?”
“Baby,” he whispers, his eyes glossy as he crushes me to his chest again. I grip his hoodie in my hands as my confusion and pain mix together and bleed onto my face in the form of tears. I keep hoping that, at some point, I’ll reach the bottom of the well but no matter how much I feel, how much I cry, there’s always more underneath it waiting to swallow me whole. Finally, Noah pulls back and cradles my face in his hands. “I have an idea.”
I nod.
“How about we go and talk to them and see if we can’t find something that will work for everyone? Because you’re right. I can’t even think about hurting him and they’re not the villains in this story either. They don’t deserve to lose their son anymore than we did.”
A sob bubbles out of me as I grab one of his hands and nod. Of all our options, this seems to be the most fair one. I just hope that they’re willing to hear us out and work with us.
* * * *
We pull up in front of the house and I suck in a breath as Noah glances over at me and our eyes meet. His brows knit together as he holds his hand out to me.
“Ready?”
Nodding, I take it. He opens the door before climbing out and pulling me out of the truck behind him. As we close the door and turn toward the house, Kelly walks out with our son, the little girl we saw the last time we were here, and an older woman who looks just like her. Noah wraps his arm around my waist as we watch them. The older woman loads the kids up in a van and hugs Kelly before climbing behind the wheel. She waves good-bye from the driveway as they back out and we start across the street, hoping to catch her before she goes back inside. The van pulls away and Kelly turns to us, smiling.
“Hey. Can I help y’all with something?”
Noah steps forward and nods. “Yes, ma’am. My name is Noah LeBlanc and this is my girl, Kady Sinclair. We… uh…”
He turns to me, a little lost and my mind screeches to a halt. Hell, how do we tell this woman who we are? She scowls at Noah then her eyes widen and she gasps.
“Oh my
god…”
Noah turns back to her and we all stare at each other for a second before she places a shaky hand against her chest.
“Y’all better come inside.”
As she turns away from us, Noah flashes me a “what the hell do we do” look and I slip out of his hold before grabbing his hand and pulling him along behind me as I follow her up to the house. I get the impression that this woman knows exactly who we are and she’s been preparing for this day since the day she adopted our son.
Their house is just as gorgeous inside and my throat feels dry as my stomach rolls. Shit. How the hell are we supposed to compete with all this? Noah barely has anything and I’ve just got the cabin and a rundown truck that probably should have died three years ago. Kelly leads us into a beautiful white kitchen with a giant island in the middle before pointing to a large round table.
“Have a seat, please. I’m just going to get some tea going and go get my husband.”
We nod as she sets a kettle on the stove and leaves the room. As soon as we’re gone, I blow out a breath and wring my trembling hands together.
“You okay, baby?” Noah asks and I shake my head.
“I have no idea. You?”
He scoffs. “Same.”
We cuddle together as we wait for them to return and when the kettle starts whistling, Kelly comes back into the kitchen with her husband, TJ, on her heels. He studies us as he helps her grab some cups and arrange them on a tray before bringing everything over to the table. We’re all perfectly polite as they pass out the cups but there’s a current of tension filling up the room and I clear my throat, feeling the need to try and put everyone at ease.
“Before we start with why we’re here, I just want to ask that you’ll keep an open mind. We recognize that you are the only parents Thomas has…”
“Nicholas,” Kelly snaps, her gaze flying up from her cup of tea to meet mine. I nod, biting back tears.
“Right, Nicholas. We don’t want to take him from you, if that’s what you’re thinking…”
TJ scoffs, interrupting me. “Just try. This was a legal adoption and we have a damn good lawyer.”