Forbidden Attraction: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  I grabbed the man by the shoulders and brought my knee up hard between his legs.

  He let out an oof and went down hard, like a sack of flour. The gun dropped and skittered across the floor and I grabbed it. Gritting my teeth, I held the gun to his knee and pulled the trigger. The man and Tess screamed in unison. I turned and reached for Tess, and she rushed to my side.

  I peeked into the hall and then hustled us out of the room.

  Exit, I thought frantically. Where’s the exit? I wished I hadn’t been unconscious when they’d brought me in. But this place couldn’t be all that big. Based on the size of the room we’d been in—it had been massive—I was pretty sure this building existed mostly in service of that one space. If we followed this hall, we should find an exit.

  Clutching Tess’s hand, I ran around the corner and skidded to a halt. Three more men were standing there, and one of them held a pistol.

  Before I could move, before I could even think about what needed to be done next, one of the men had pulled Tess out of my arms and propelled her toward the man with the gun. “Trying to get away?” he asked conversationally.

  “Let her go,” I said, raising my gun to point at them, my hand shaking.

  The man holding Tess pressed his gun to her head. “I don’t think you want to do that,” he said quietly. Tess was frozen, not even crying, her face a rictus of terror. “Put the gun down.”

  But I couldn’t move. The gun was the only power I had left. If I held it on them, they might not hurt her. If I turned it over, they definitely would.

  “I said, put it down!” the man yelled, shaking Tess hard and cocking his gun. Tess made a high keening sound. I felt like I was going to throw up.

  Then, with a loud crack, one of the men fell to the ground.

  I looked past him and saw the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. A squad of police officers stood in the hall. The man with the gun was quickly disarmed, and soon all of them were in cuffs. Noah rushed in a moment later, once the all clear had been sounded, and ran straight to his daughter’s side and swept her into his arms. She was sobbing uncontrollably, her head on his shoulder as he slowly stroked her hair.

  He looked up at me. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

  Tears sprang to my eyes, and I whimpered, “You’re welcome.”

  He walked over to me, still carrying Tess, and pulled me into an embrace. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly. “Are you hurt at all?”

  “I’m okay now.”

  “Good. Then let’s go home.”

  Chapter 32

  Noah

  With LM and his goons behind bars, I no longer felt any need to distance myself from Jenna. She was safe with me now. The only thing that might have kept us apart was a worry that Tess might not bond with her. But the two of them had been through a survival situation together. The bond was there. There was nothing I could do about that now. Jenna was going to be in our lives forever one way or another.

  When the three of us arrived at my house, I told Jenna, “You can take a shower, if you’d like and just relax a bit.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “A shower would be perfect, actually.” She gave my hand a squeeze, then disappeared upstairs.

  I rested my hand on Tess’s shoulder and guided her up to her bedroom. She was still crying quietly, overwhelmed by what she’d been through. I waited outside her bathroom while she showered on her own, offering to brush out her hair when she returned to her room. She sat on her bed docilely as I ran a brush through her tangled hair, and by the time I was done her eyelids were drooping.

  I wrapped my arms around her to sign in front of her face. Sleep, I signed. Go to sleep. You’re safe tonight.

  She nodded, head bowing forward. I eased myself off the bed, pulled back the blankets, and tucked her in gently, bending to kiss her forehead. I knelt beside her bed and stayed by her side until she was fully asleep. It only took a couple of minutes. She was completely worn out.

  But she was home. It was enough to make me want to break down.

  I couldn’t bring myself to leave her room. I lay on the floor between her bed and the door, my eyes on her. I heard the door to the guest room close and knew Jenna had gone to bed too. As much as I wanted to see her and make sure she was all right, it would have to wait. I couldn’t stand to leave Tess.

  When the sun came up the next morning, she was sound asleep, still in her bed. Still safe. I hadn’t slept a wink, but I felt better close to her.

  With a yawn I had to tame, I headed to my own room. The shower was running. I knocked on the bathroom door. “Jenna?”

  “Yeah?” Her voice was a little watery, and I wondered whether she’d been crying too.

  “Can I come in?” There was a moment of silence, a moment during which I wondered whether I’d overstepped myself.

  “Yes,” Jenna said.

  I peeled off my clothes, stepped into the bathroom, and opened the shower door. Jenna reached for me and drew me into her arms. For a moment we just stood there and held each other as the warm, comforting spray washed over us, easing our nerves, chasing away the horror of the past few days.

  Eventually we became aware of each other’s bodies. I slipped a knee between her thighs, and she began to rock her hips against me, her head coming to rest on my chest. My cock was pinned between us, and every time she moved friction and pressure forced my cock to harden further. I wrapped my arms around her, pleasure mounting, feeling somehow comforted in a way I never had by sex before.

  Jenna came with a soft cry, her body shuddering and going limp in my arms. I turned her around, wrapping my arms around her torso and cupping one soft breast, and entered her slowly, pulling her back onto me, trying to pace myself. Water cascaded down her back as we made love, and at one point she arched around to press her lips softly to mine.

  Our lovemaking was gentler and more impassioned than it had ever been. Somehow, without discussing, we both understood we’d moved to a new stage in our relationship. It felt like she was telling me with her body that she didn’t blame me for what had happened to her, that she didn’t think it was my fault and she wasn’t going to hold it against me. For my part, I tried to communicate that from now on I would always keep her safe, that being with me wouldn’t be a risk for her and that I would never, ever allow anyone to hurt her again.

  We took our time. We spent long stretches of time looking into each other’s eyes and longer stretches kissing passionately. We didn’t speak. No words were necessary. I understood her better than I ever had. I felt closer to her than I ever had. I’d never expected to feel this kind of intimacy with a woman again after my wife died. But here it was. The warm water running down my body seemed to wash away the years of anger and pain, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like myself again.

  We came at the same time, Jenna reaching behind me to grip my thighs and hold me close to her, our lips locked in a frantic kiss. When it was over and we were finally separated, I wrapped her up in the softest towel I owned and carried her to my bed.

  “I love you,” I told her quietly. “Do you know that? I’m in love with you.”

  She nodded, scooting close to me and huddling in the circle of my arms.

  “I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you again.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Noah. I know it wasn’t your fault.”

  “I should have done something. They’d been stalking me for weeks. I should have told someone.”

  “If you’d gone to the police, they might have hurt you.”

  “Better me than you or Tess. I thought they might do something to her if I told.” I took a deep breath. “I guess I didn’t do a great job of avoiding that.”

  She kissed me gently. “You saved us,” she said. “We both know that. We’d still be in that awful place if it weren’t for you. Or worse. You got there in time. You saved our lives.”

  “They were going to kill you both.”

&
nbsp; “But they didn’t.”

  It was such a relief to have someone to talk to, after all this time. It felt like drawing poison from a wound. “I want you to move in here,” I told her. “I want you to live with me.”

  “In the guest room?”

  “No,” I said. “Not the guest room. I want you to move in here.” I gestured around my own room. “I want a relationship with you. I want us to live together. I want a future together.” Words seemed to keep pouring out of my mouth unbidden. I had never made myself emotionally vulnerable like this before. But if it meant she would stay, I would do it a hundred times. “You can keep your apartment,” I said. “I own this place, so it will cost you nothing to live here. But I want you to be a part of our family, Jenna.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I want that too,” she said quietly.

  “Are you saying yes?”

  She looked hesitant for a moment and I felt a fist of fear clutch my heart. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  I drew back just a bit and braced myself.

  “Noah, I’m pregnant.”

  I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me temporarily and I opened my mouth and then closed it again, looking like a fish out of water. Finally I found my voice.

  “Are you sure?” What a dumb fucking question.

  “I’m sure,” she said, and I could tell she was nervous for my reaction.

  There was no doubt in my mind how I felt about it. I pulled her close and peppered her face with kisses. “Thank you,” I told her. “Thank you for giving Tess and me a new lease on life.”

  “You’re happy?” she asked, looking up with wide, tear-filled eyes.

  “I’m happy,” I told her. “Are you?”

  She nodded frantically and threw her arms around me. We kissed, sealing the deal, and the she pulled away to look at me.

  “What are you going to tell Tess?”

  “We’ll tell her together.”

  I wasn’t expecting Tess to be ready for a meal out of the house after everything that had happened. I thought we’d want to stay home for a while. But when I asked her about the three of us having breakfast, she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. Can we go out for crepes?

  That’s what you want? I signed. She nodded vigorously. Okay, then crepes it is. I didn’t think I could refuse my daughter anything today. She could have asked me for a car and I would have given in, despite the fact that she wouldn’t be driving for years and we lived in Manhattan.

  Jenna was on board with the crepes idea, but she seemed nervous. “What if she gets upset?” she asked as we dressed. “What if you tell her and it bothers her?” She paused and exclaimed, “Oh, hell, Noah, I can’t wear this!”

  I looked at her. She was holding the clothes she’d been wearing yesterday. The clothes she’d been kidnapped in. “Of course you can’t,” I said. “I’m sorry, I was being stupid. Let me make a call.”

  “What kind of call?”

  I held up a hand as I put the phone to my ear. “This is Noah Clark,” I said. “I have an account. I need a couple of sundresses sent over ASAP. Nothing fancy. Size...eight?”

  Jenna nodded, seeming mystified.

  “Twenty minutes. Great. Thank you.” I hung up.

  She was staring at me. “Who was that?”

  “Bergdorf’s.”

  “They deliver clothes to your house?”

  “Of course,” I said with a shrug. “They’ll deliver clothes anywhere if you pay for it. Tess and I don’t usually shop like that because she likes to pick out her own clothes, but I have a standing account in case I forget to plan ahead and need some shirts or something. Why don’t you put on my robe so you can come downstairs until the dresses arrive? We’ll make coffee.”

  Jenna seemed speechless as I helped her into the robe. “Is this what it’s going to be like living with you?” she asked finally.

  “Hmm?”

  “You know most people don’t live like this, right? Most people can’t just call one of the fanciest department stores in the city and have a random pile of clothes sent over because they don’t have anything to wear.”

  “It’s not a pile. It’s two dresses.”

  “I’m used to saving up if I want new clothes.”

  “You can still do that if you want,” I said, grinning. “I’m not going to stop you. But yes, once you move in you’ll be able to order clothes on my account if that’s what you want to do.”

  “This is crazy,” she murmured. “You’re crazy.” And she turned and rose up on her toes to kiss me.

  Half an hour later, when the dresses had arrived and Jenna had chosen one to wear to breakfast, when the coffee had been brewed and Jenna and I had had a cup, we made our way down the block to the crepe house around the corner.

  I waited until we were seated and had placed our orders to begin the conversation. Speaking and signing at the same time so both of them would understand me, I said, “Okay, Tess. We brought you here today because we wanted to talk about the future.”

  The future? she signed, looking puzzled. Do you mean my new school?

  “Not your new school,” I said. “I want to talk to you about our family. It’s been just you and me for a while now, and that’s been hard and sad, but it’s also given us a chance to get pretty close, right?”

  She nodded.

  “I wouldn’t make any big decisions for this family without talking to you first,” I said. “I hope you know that.”

  What big decision are you making? She cut her eyes to Jenna, a smile beginning on her cute face.

  I took a deep breath. “Jenna and I really like each other. Like as more than just friends.”

  I know that, Dad, Tess said.

  I raised my eyebrows. “You do?”

  Why else would those bad guys kidnap her? It was because they knew you liked her. Obviously. She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed that I thought she was too dense to realize what was going on.

  I laughed. “Okay,” I said. “You got me. Is that all right with you?”

  Are you going to get married?

  “I don’t know,” I said, glancing at Jenna. “Right now I’m asking her to move in with us. If you’re comfortable with that.”

  Yes! she said, nodding enthusiastically.

  “That’s okay with you?”

  That’s perfect. We’ll have so much fun.

  “There’s something else too.”

  What is it?

  “You’re going to have a baby brother or sister.”

  Tess’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she jumped up and ran to Jenna, throwing her arms around her. There were tears all around and one hell of a celebration to be had. The waitress brought our crepes to the table, and Tess immediately set about dumping powdered sugar all over hers. Beneath the table, I took Jenna’s hand and squeezed it, and she met my eyes and smiled. With Tess’s stamp of approval, there was nothing to hold us back.

  Everything would fall wonderfully into place.

  Epilogue

  Jenna

  “Design Studio.” I collapsed into my desk chair and closed my eyes, glad that whoever was on the other end of the phone couldn’t see me right now. I didn’t exactly look professional, I knew, with my sensible pumps kicked off under my desk, slouching in my chair. But it had been a long, tiring day.

  A long, tiring, supremely fulfilling day.

  Five new clients had come in—not having found my website, not coming to me based on Noah’s recommendation, but just in off the street when they’d seen the sign I hung out the window of what used to be Grandma Suzie’s living room. Tesslia Interior Design. Five new clients! I knew that having premises would make a difference in my business. Over the past couple of years, that had proven to be true. And today was a perfect example. After flipping through my portfolio, all five of them had hired me. I would certainly have a lot of work in the coming weeks!

  The renovations probably hadn’t hurt my ability to get clients at all, of cou
rse. They’d been Noah’s idea. You’ll have a hard time getting interior design work operating out of an apartment that looks like it hasn’t been upgraded since the seventies, he’d said, and grabbed the contact list from my desk to start calling contractors. The next thing I knew, a whole team had been assembled in front of me, and Noah had been reclining with his feet up on my grandmother’s ancient ottoman. “It’s your show,” he’d said, waving a hand as if to tell me he was tapping out of the process.

  And so the old shag carpeting had been taken up and replaced with quality wood floor. I’d installed a beautiful bay window that looked out over the city. The rusty old kitchen had been replaced with a gleaming, modern “reception area” where I could offer fresh cookies and cold drinks. And Grandma Suzie’s bedroom had been turned into my office, the wood paneled walls replaced with frosted glass, a teak desk and deep suede couch brought in.

  This office was where I sat now, flipping through the paperwork my last new client of the day had filled out. The woman wanted her bathroom redesigned, made more luxurious, and I already had a lot of good ideas for the project. Are you Tess or Lia? the woman had asked as she’d sat down, and I grinned at the memory.

  There was a knock at the door, and I looked up, surprised. Another client?

  Tess burst in the door and ran to me. I caught her in an embrace, and her father grinned as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. “How was work today?”

  “Long,” I replied. “Long but good. I’ve got a lot of new projects.” I turned the scheduling book around on my desk and flipped through the pages so he could see that I was booked up for the next three months.

  Wow! Tess signed. Can I help?

  You can help me look at paint samples, I said, and pulled out my ring of paint sample swatches. Tess took it happily and went over to the book of carpet cuttings. One of her favorite things to do at my office was to match a paint sample with a carpet sample. I’d even used her ideas once or twice—she had an eye for color. Maybe she could do an internship here when she was a little older.