“Hey, Jeffrey.” She scoops the black and white cat up into her arms. “It’s been a while. Where have you been, huh?” She strokes the cat, letting him nuzzle her as he purrs so loudly he sounds like a rocket launcher. “I thought you’d left me, too.” There’s a catch in her throat as she says the words but she squeezes her eyes shut against them.
“No chance of that.” The deep voice behind her makes her freeze. “That little guy loves you. You can believe that. There’s no way he’d leave you.”
Isabel keeps hold of the cat, turning around slowly, afraid that she’s conjured him up with her imagination, afraid that he could disappear again at any time.
“Wesley?” Her voice is quiet and full of skepticism, as if she’s expecting to be corrected, expecting to be disappointed.
“I’m here, Bel.” He takes a step towards her and, in the half-light of the moon, Isabel catches her breath, drinking in the sight of him as if she has been without water for days.
Her feet move before her brain has gone into gear and they propel her towards him, launching her at him and nearly knocking him off his feet as she holds onto him tight. There’s a strangled meow and Isabel pulls back a touch, realizing she’s in danger of squashing Jeffrey. She lays him back on the ground and jumps on Wesley again, wrapping her legs around him and covering his face with kisses. He holds onto her tight, laughing at the abandon with which she holds onto him.
“You came back.” She says the words as if she can’t really believe them, as if she thinks she may be dreaming.
“I told you I would.” He brushes a stray hair away from her face and that’s when Isabel sees the bandage covering his hand.
“You’re hurt.” She takes his hand in hers, looking worriedly up at him.
Wesley shrugs it off. “I’ve had a lot worse.”
“So you’re all right?” Isabel can barely get her words out around the lump in her throat. She feels so happy it’s a wonder she can say anything at all.
“I am now.” He looks at her with so much love in his eyes.
“I thought...When I didn’t hear from you...I was afraid that...” She lets the words trail off; they both know what she’s been feeling since he walked out the door.
“I told you I’d come back.” He wipes the tear that has made its way down her cheek away, pulling her even closer to him. “Nothing could keep me away from you, Bel. Nothing.” He leans down, covering his mouth with hers and Isabel opens herself up to him, as desperate as he is to taste, to feel his closeness.
“So, it’s over?” She looks up at him, holding her breath, barely daring to hope they actually have a shot at a normal life together, a normal relationship without having to worry about him turning up bloody and beaten or worse every night.
“It’s over.” He says the words with as much relief as Isabel feels.
Isabel bites her bottom lip. “So you’re not going anywhere for a little while?”
Wesley smiles at her warmly, reading her mind. “I’m not going anywhere for a good long while, Bel.” He looks at her speculatively. “If that’s okay with you?”
She laughs, her eyes bright, feeling happier than she has in a very long time, maybe ever. “I think I can work with that.” She rests her head on his chest, his arms tightening around her as she listens to his heartbeat, feeling like she’s finally come home.
EPILOGUE
Isabel peels off her clothes, figuring she has a few minutes to get ready. Tonight is special and she wants to make an effort. Jumping in the shower she’s grateful for the hot water that she knows is down to Wesley.
The boarding house is slowly getting brought into this century and Wesley’s construction skills had been instrumental in that happening. The bookings have become steady and she’s gotten to the point where some weeks they’re so busy they actually have to turn people away. If anyone had told her she’d be in this position six months ago she would have laughed them out of town. But it seems like all the hard work is finally paying off. The accounts are finally in the black, something Isabel hadn’t thought she’d live to see.
She lets the hot water soothe her tired muscles. Since Wesley has been back, there hasn’t been a night they haven’t spent together and they make good use of that time. But it isn’t just the nights, she thinks, blushing under the hot water. It has also been the mornings, the afternoons, whenever they find a moment to be together. They can’t get enough of each other and that doesn’t look like it is going to change any time soon and that is just fine with Isabel.
As if the very thought of him has conjured him up, Isabel hears the bathroom door open and close and she sees a familiar shape through the shower curtain.
“I’m nearly done.” She washes the shampoo out of her hair, thinking about what she’ll wear for their first real date.
Wesley had made the point that they’ve never actually had one and he wanted to rectify that problem so he is taking her out and she can’t be more excited.
“No rush.” Wesley’s voice is deep and husky and it has the amazing ability to make Isabel feel tingly all over. He opens the curtain and slips into the shower with her, looking her up and down like a starving man.
Isabel blushes under the carnality of his dark stare. They’ve been naked together more times than she can count and intimate in ways that she could never have imagined before him. But there is still something about the way he looks at her that makes her feel like she was burning up.
His body is perfect. She can’t look at him enough to get her fill. He’s all hard planes and ridges of muscle. He exudes strength and power and he’s completely intoxicating. His hands slip over her shoulders and down her back, over her slick skin and she feels the familiar tingling sensation she always equates to his touch.
“We’re going to be late.” She shivers as she says the words, already seriously turned on.
“Does that mean you want me to stop?” Wesley raises a knowing eyebrow at her.
Isabel doesn’t respond with words, instead reaching out to touch his hard shaft and wrap her hand around its thickness. She watches as his eyes flutter closed, enjoying the delicious moment as she tugs at his hardness. She leans in and kisses him deeply, the water falling around them, turning their skin slippery and wet.
Isabel looks at the scar on his thigh, the wound that would never quite heal. Eventually, he had told her that during the last fight he’d agreed to do for the Devil Dogs, he’d been injured and it opened up again on him. He’d lost a lot of blood, but some good Samaritan had seen him bleeding out by the side of the road and called an ambulance. They’d stitched him up and he’d slipped out of the hospital before they’d had a chance to ask too many questions. The sight of it still made her chest tight as she came to grips with how close she had been to losing him that night.
“Hey.” He lifts her chin up to meet his eyes. “I’m here. It’s all all right.” He kisses her deeply, making sure she’s got the message.
Her arms snake up around his neck, losing herself in the kiss. Waves of water cascade over them both, beating down on them and stimulating them in the most intimate of places. Their bodies are slippery against each other, silky and wet.
Isabel reaches out to take his cock in her hand. The tip of his penis slides against her hand and she moans with pleasure at the feel of his hardness. She’s already wet in between her thighs.
“You’re so beautiful, Isabel.” He kisses her as he says the words, his tongue teasing her mouth open, tasting her deeply, as if she is the best thing he’s ever sampled. He kisses his way down her neck, finding the sensitive spot at the hollow of her collarbone. His hands slide down her body until he’s kneeling in front of her, his hair soaked through from the shower.
Isabel looks down at him and feels a pulse of heat in her pussy at the sight of him between her legs. He nudges open her legs and her eyes open wide in surprise as he ducks his head down and takes a long, loving taste of her. Her hands fly around his head, supporting herself as her legs threaten to
give way. She cries out as his tongue darts around her clit, massaging it and driving her wild.
“Bel, I love how you taste.” He moans the words out against her pussy and the vibrations of his voice send a shiver of pleasure through her.
He inserts his finger inside of her, his tongue still lapping at her and she throws her head back, abandoning herself to the pleasure that this man is wringing out of her. She starts to breathe heavier as Wesley nibbles her clit, making her come hard with his tongue.
Her legs are shaking as he leans back onto his heels and looks up at her. Clearly liking what he sees, he stands up, pulling her closer to him. His hands are on her butt, lifting her up and he pushes her against the cold tiled wall, pinioning her there with his hips. He kisses her longingly, telling her with his tongue exactly what he wants to do inside of her. The taste of herself on his mouth drives her insane and she bites at his lips, suckling and kissing him as if she can’t get enough of him.
Wesley’s cock presses against her entrance, making her moan and wriggle against him. He squeezes her ass, massaging her with both hands as she wraps her legs around his hips, pushing her heat against his long shaft, demanding him to enter her. Wesley kisses her neck as he obliges, ramming into her and slamming her up against the cold tiles. She cries out as he delves deep inside of her, coaxing pleasure out of her. He bites her earlobe softly, knowing exactly the pressure she needs to push her further towards her climax.
He pushes in deeper and faster, his gaze never leaving hers as she meets him thrust for thrust. He moves back, almost pulling completely out of her before his cock slams into her again, pushing open her swollen lower lips and making her cry out in ecstasy.
“I love you, Isabel.” He whispers the words against her ear as he plunges into her ever deeper and she holds on tight to him, knowing he’s pushing her over the edge and she’s happy to fall.
Her pussy clamps down tightly around his cock as she orgasms, increasing the pressure around his shaft and propelling him towards his own shuddering end. His hips buck as he empties inside of her, filling her up with his seed and making her cry out yet again.
He holds onto her tightly, his head resting against hers, her legs wrapped around his hips, so close it’s as if they’re one person. They are a tangle of limbs, impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.
“I guess we should think about getting clean.” Wesley’s words are dragged out of him as if he doesn’t really want to have to say them.
Isabel giggles against his shoulder as, gently, he sets her down on her shaky legs and proceeds to start soaping her from top to toe. When he touches her between her legs, she feels the stirrings of desire again and has to bite her lip to stop herself from moaning.
Wesley catches her reaction, smiling at her wickedly. She reaches down to return the favor, stroking his shaft with her soapy hands and feeling him thicken and harden in her hold. They lock eyes with each other, all thoughts of getting clean forgotten.
When they finally make it out of the shower, Isabel is smiling the smile of a satisfied woman and Wesley watches her appreciatively as she sets about getting ready for their night out together.
“Bel, there’s something I wanted to talk about before we head out.” He is leaning lazily against the wall, watching her.
Intent on giving him a good show, Isabel chooses her skimpiest underwear, shimmying into it with more movement than necessary and enjoying the strangled sound he makes in the back of his throat at the sight of her.
“Sure, go ahead.” She looks over her shoulder at him, smiling coquettishly and zeroing in on the bulge in his jeans.
Wesley shakes his head, like he knows exactly what she’s playing at. “But if you don’t put some clothes on, quickly, we’re not going to be going anywhere.” He rubs the dark shadow of his beard that’s already springing up around his chin, despite the fact that he only shaved that morning.
“Well, that’s a first – you actually asking me to get dressed. This must be serious.” Her expression is flirtatious but there’s a hint of unease, making her stomach churn. He had said he was out of his work with the Dogs, but what if he’s changed his mind? What if they’ve managed to draw him back in?
“Take a seat, Bel.” He nods her towards her bed and she sits down, watching him warily.
“You’re starting to scare me a little, Wes.” She yanks down the short black dress she’d bought especially for the occasion, suddenly feeling like she’s not sure if there’s going to be anything to celebrate.
He doesn’t look at her, another bad sign and it gets worse. He starts pacing.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about you and me and this place.” He looks around at the old Victorian house. “And I think it might be time to make some changes.”
Isabel holds her breath, not trusting herself to say anything.
“I think you should go back to med school.” Wesley says the last thing she could have expected. He barrels on, as if he’s had this speech all thought out and he doesn’t want to get sidetracked by her interrupting him. “Chicago has one of the best schools in the country and, with your grades, they’d accept you in a heartbeat. There’s no reason why you can’t start studying again.”
Isabel opens her mouth, closes it and then opens it again, trying to frame the words through the shock of his suggestion. “It’s a nice thought, Wes. But I’d say there is a pretty big reason why I can’t.” She looks around at the house as if to emphasize the point.
“That’s where I come in.” He smiles at her as if she’s just played right into his hands. “The boarding house is doing better and better and I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of how this place runs now and anything I don’t know, Rosa does.” He lets the thought settle for a moment before he continues. “You’ve been talking about giving her a share in the business for a little while now. Maybe this is the time to do it. And I’ll help you with whatever you need, in any way that I can.”
Isabel stands up and crosses over to Wesley, touched that he’s obviously thought a lot about this. She kisses him briefly on the lips before sitting down in front of her dressing room mirror. “It’s a great idea, Wes. And I really appreciate that you’ve thought it through. But there’s no way I can afford med school. Even on a scholarship, which I’d be lucky to get, there are still costs and the boarding house isn’t making enough yet to support me.” She shrugs, concentrating on applying a lick of mascara to each eye. She’s made her peace with the fact that she’s not going to be a surgeon; at least that’s what she tells herself. Sure there are days when she finds herself imagining what her life would be like if she could go back to school and start practicing, doing what she’d always wanted. But that was normal, wasn’t it? It is just a fantasy now.
She watches Wesley in the mirror as he continues pacing behind her. It’s clear he hasn’t finished whatever he wants to say.
“I have quite a lot of money saved, from the work I did with the Dogs; probably enough for your college tuition a few times over.” He shrugs when he catches her staring at his reflection in shock. “Like I said, I made good money.”
Isabel turns around to look at him, her mind still playing catch up with what he’s just told her. “Even if I could accept the money – which I can’t – I don’t think I could ever be comfortable using money I know has criminal ties. It just wouldn’t seem right.”
She grabs her purse, dropping her lipstick and cell inside and snapping it shut, as if that will put an end to the conversation. But Wesley has stopped dead in front of her and he clearly has no plans to go anywhere until he’s finished what he wants to say.
“I don’t want the money. I’ve never had any use for it. But this is a chance to give you what you need to get what you want; there’s no better reason to give it away.” He shrugs, pinning her with that serious stare of his. “This is a chance to use the money for something good, Bel. You’ve always wanted to save people, to fix people; this is your chance to do that. It’s what your mom
would have wanted. You know that.”
His eagerness is endearing and not a little infectious. Isabel feels herself getting excited at the prospect of what he’s offering. “It wouldn’t be a gift. It would have to be a loan.” She bites her lip, willing herself not to get too carried away.
“You can call it whatever you want if it means that you’ll take it.” He takes her hands and lifts her to her feet, his eyes focused on her. “Isabel, I love you. Let me do this for you.” When she doesn’t say anything he gives her hands a little squeeze, bringing her back to reality. “So, Bel, what do you say?”
Isabel smiles up at him, her soul feeling lighter than it has in a very long time. “I say yes, Wes. I say yes. With you, it’s always yes.”
THE END
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Did you love Animal Rage? Then you should read Leash: A Bad Boy Motorcycle Club Romance by Kathryn Thomas!
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Animal Rage Page 8