“Talk,” I demanded.
“I can’t. She’ll hate me,” he whispered.
“She already hates you. Your whole kind, and for good fucking reason. I said talk!” I yelled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kai narrowed his eyes, unfazed by the tone of my voice.
“Nothing,”
“So, you found out something and you’re not going to tell me?”
A stern look appeared on my face. Kai took a deep breath. “You might want to sit down for this. Kai and I sat down on the couch next to each other.
“Where is she?”
“Asleep in the room. Now tell me.”
Kai nodded. “I met Isla once before. Well, before I met her at the hotel.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“It was brief. I was coming home from a night out with my work colleagues. I was driving along until I hit the bridge. I noticed a girl on there, clutching the pole with everything she had. I pulled over and quietly got out and made a call to emergency. She heard me and turned around. She was going to kill herself, Holden. She was ready to jump, but I managed to save her. I grabbed her and pulled her back. She landed on top of me and…um...kissed me. She heard the sirens and got up before running away.”
Blood was pounding in my ears and I shook my head, unable to believe what Kai just told me.
“I…Isla tried to kill herself? Are you sure?”
Kai nodded. “I was there, Holden.”
Fuck. Why the hell didn’t she come to me? I knew she was in a dark place and tried to help her as much as she could, but the news that she was contemplating on killing herself, was hard to take in.
“I can’t believe it,” I breathed.
“Fuck, she’s gonna kill me for telling you.” Kai ran his fingers through his hair and over his face.
“You’re a cop, Kai. She wants to kill you anyway,” I blurted.
“What the hell does she have against them?”
“I’ll leave that up to her to tell you. I’ve gotta go. Please watch out for her.”
“Of course, I’ll stay, I just don’t know how happy she’ll be when she sees me here and you gone.”
“She cares about you, Kai. I know she does. You both care about each other.”
Kai nodded. I stood up and made my way to the front door. “Call me when she wakes up.”
Isla
I was lying underneath my covers. When I turned my body around, I found someone next to me. Assuming it was Holden, I snuggled into his arms and took a deep breath before I noticed a familiar scent.
This isn’t Holden. This is Kai. I looked up and our eyes locked in place.
“Kai?”
“Hey, baby,” he whispered. Kai smiled at me. My heart raced at the sound of his voice, and when he called me baby, it settled any fear and doubt I had about him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Holden called me over. He said you were-.”
Not allowing Kai to finish, I leaned up and pressed my lips against his. For a moment he hesitated until he gave into the kiss. Kai’s hand reached the side of my face and I parted my lips, inviting his tongue inside. My body shivered, I climbed on top of him, and his hand moved down to my waist beneath my top.
Our kiss became heated and intense. Fuck. I want him. I need him. I should have been angry. Furious in fact for him lying, but my heart wouldn’t let me. Betrayed by my own thoughts and feelings, I continued to deepen the kiss. I can’t lose him. The man that was Kai Storm. The cop. The friend. The lover. All of him. I wanted all of him in my life. Kai’s smell was intoxicating and I couldn’t get enough of it. Our eyes locked in place when I broke the kiss.
“God, Isla. Please don’t break my heart,” he whispered.
I’ve missed him so much. Somewhere in between my daydream and my sleep, my heart forgave his.
“I need you, baby. I need you in my life. I’m sorry I lied to you,” he wept. “Please forgive me.”
Tears swelled in my eyes and a lump in my throat formed. I stopped myself from breaking down in front of him. Kai’s hands moved from my hips and he swept the hair from my face and held it tight against my scalp.
“You’re mine, do you understand me?”
I nodded slowly. “Yours.”
16
Bruised Fists and Retaliation
I leaned over and pressed my lips against Kai’s. It felt right, and I was once again comforted by him. Kai was nothing like my dad, or the asshole cop. Kai Storm was different. Shocked at first, I understood why he was distant, but the moment things started to develop between us, I knew in my heart that the connection I felt on that bridge would only get stronger. And I was right. That kiss was proving me right again. He was gently with me. His hands moved up and down my body and our lips melted with each other. Kai felt like home, or whatever a home should really feel like. Safe, secure and wanted. I didn’t want to stop kissing him, not until he pulled away from me. I can’t believe he came when Holden called him and- OH, GOD! Holden!
I broke the kiss and Kai looked at me with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“You came here for me.”
“Of course. I always be here for you no matter how much you push me away.”
“Where’s Holden?” My voice dipped low, and I sat up with Kai.
“I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”
“What?”
“I told him about how we really met. About the night on the bridge.”
The wind knocked out of me and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t angry at Kai for saying something, because I knew they were both worried about me, but I was concerned about Holden and what he was doing.
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. He looked furious. Like he didn’t seem himself. He was worried about you.”
“Fuck!” I screamed and placed my hands over my face.
“What’s wrong?” Kai gently took my hands in his.
“I told him something about my past. I think he’s going to do something stupid.” My heart raced and my knees were bouncing up and down. A tinge of blood filled my mouth from biting my cheek. I got off Kai and ran to my closet. After I opened it up, I removed some sweat pants and a basic white t-shirt. Kai got off the bed and came up to me.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to find Holden,” I replied. My gaze never met his.
“What? Why?”
I turned to Kai and tried to catch my breath again. “I think he’s gone to find my dad.”
“Your dad?” Kai’s eyes furrowed. I knew that Holden hadn’t told him about that yet. My head dipped low and Kai stood directly in front of me.
“Isla. Please tell me.”
I lifted my head up and locked eyes with his.
“Tell me, baby. I want to help you.”
“You can’t help me. No one can.”
Unsatisfied by my response, Kai raised his voice. “Tell me, damnit!”
I took a deep breath before I opened my mouth. Holden was furious when I told him but was trying to remain calm for my benefit. God, I don’t know how Kai’s going to react.
“He’s gone to find my dad because…ugh. Because my dad raped me,” I whispered.
The light faded in Kai’s eyes and was replaced by total darkness I’ve never seen before. I never thought I would.
“He raped you?” Kai’s tone was cold, and distant.
I nodded. “I was young. I tried to get help but he threatened me. Said no one would believe me, and he even got his cop friend to-,” I paused.
Kai’s mouth dropped open and the blood quickly drained from his face. It’s how I felt all of these years, and I was getting a glimpse of the pain without looking in the mirror. Kai took a step back, his scorched blood was running beneath his veins, when it hit him.
“His cop friend raped you too?”
I didn’t need to say anything. Like Holden, he figured it out by the sorrow that swept across my face. Ka
i reached around the back pocket of his denim jeans and took out his phone. He started to dial a number, but I knew I had to stop him.
“Please don’t, Kai.” He turned to me with the phone still against his ear, and I begged for him to listen. “I can’t deal with this now. We need to find Holden before he does something crazy.”
Kai took a deep breath and hung up the phone. “This is why you hate cops?”
I nodded.
“This is why you were so fucking angry when you found out I was one?”
My voice dipped low. “Yes.”
“I almost lost you because of this. I’m not going to let that happen again. I’m going to find Holden, and I’m going to help him kill your dad, then I’m going to find his cop friend and do the same.” Kai dialed another number and yelled into the receiver. “Answer your fucking phone, Holden!” With no response, Kai tried multiple times. After a few failed attempts, he took the phone, threw it abruptly against the wall, and it broke into tiny pieces over my stained carpet. “ARGHHHHHH!” Kai screamed. His hands covered his face. I walked up to Kai and took his hands in mine, trying to stop them from trembling.
“Baby, please. It’s okay.”
“Fuck!” Kai stepped away from me. I was helpless when he swung his arm and punched the wall of my apartment. When he removed his hands from the dry wall, there was a gaping hole the size of his fists, which were bleeding and bruised.
“Oh, my God!”
Kai turned to me, cupped my face in his hands, and looked intensely in my eyes. “I love you, damnit. I fucking love you. We’re meant to be together. I’m going to protect you and I know you’ll protect me too.”
Tears ran down my face. I knew he meant those words the moment he released them. By God, it took me a while to admit, but I think I’ve always known. “I love you, too,” I whispered.
“No one will ever hurt you again. Do you understand me?” Kai vouched.
I nodded and he captured my lips with his. That was it. We were completely and utterly in love with each other. God, this is crazy. We hadn’t known each other for long, but it felt like he’d been in my life forever. Love at first sight exists, doesn’t it? I mean it has to. How could I allow myself to fall for someone so fast, unless it was out of my control?
My heart was his. He could have every part of me he wanted. Every fiber of my being was now tattooed with his name. Kai Storm was mine and I was his.
Kai winced and pulled away from me.
“You’re hurt.”
“Not anymore,” he replied.
After I took his hand in mine, I led him to the bathroom where I kept the first aid kit. The cupboard above the sink opened when I pushed at the corner. I took the locked box and wiped away the tears that started to fall again. Unlocking the first aid kit, I lifted up the lid and removed the disinfected wipes and gauze. I cleaned his wound before I wrapped a bandage over it.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded, gently planting a kiss over the white fabric against his skin. “I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders, but I’m worried about Holden.”
“Call him from your phone.”
We left the bathroom and headed to the lounge area. My phone sat on the coffee table. I grabbed it and dialed Holden’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Isla…”
“Holden? Where are you? Please tell me you didn’t go where I think you went?”
There was a pause over the phone before Holden replied. “I did.”
“God, what did you do?”
“Nothing,” he whispered. “Yet. But believe me when I tell you that he won’t be breathing again, and when I find that cop friend of his, he won’t be either.”
“Please Holden,” I begged. “Just come back. It’s not worth you getting hurt over.”
“Yeah, it is. They’re dead, and Kai’s going to help me hide the body.”
“Holden,” I yelled, but he hung up on me. “Fuck!” I grunted, and threw the phone back on the coffee table.
“He went looking for your dad, didn’t he?”
I nodded. “I think he’s going to hurt him.”
“We should go. We need to go to your parent’s place.”
“What?” My eyes widened at him and my heart started to race.
“I’m going to make sure that Holden doesn’t do anything. We’re not going to go inside.”
I let out a deep breath. Fear clouded my eyes and Kai knew seeing my parents would be difficult for me. He stepped closer and rested his hand on the side of my face.
“I told you I’ll protect you, and I will,” he promised.
I threw my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my body, before he placed his head on my shoulders.
“I love you, Isla.”
“I love you too, Kai.”
Kai and I were sitting in the car on the way to my parent’s place. After I gave him the address, he started the drive. I hope we find Holden before he does anything stupid. Reaching over, I took Kai’s hand in mine, and it was shaking again. He was still trying to deal with what I had told him. I had held onto this for so long, I felt relieved being able to talk to someone about it. After the threats my dad had made against me, I was scared. Kai was a cop, but how much of what my dad said was true?
Kai pulled me from my thoughts. “You okay, baby?”
I turned to face him, but his eyes were glued to the road. “I don’t know. I’m anxious right now.”
He nodded. “We’ll find him. It won’t be long till we get there.”
My phone started to ring and I looked down at the caller I.D. Holden’s name popped up on the screen.
“Holden?”
“Don’t bother going to your parent’s place.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What? Why?”
Holden took a deep breath. “There was no one home.”
I sighed out a relief. I’m fucking glad no one was there. I couldn’t handle it if Holden got in trouble trying to protect me.
“Where are you now?” I asked Holden.
“Heading back to your place.”
“Okay, we’ll see you soon.”
I hung up the phone and placed it in my bag.
“What did he say?”
“He said no one was home and that he’s heading back to my place.” Storm shook his head and the car jerked when he pulled to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you believe him?” Kai raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean he would have no reason to lie.”
“We need to check it out just in case,” Kai urged.
I nodded. Kai veered back into the road and we continued the drive to my parent’s place. When we arrived, he parked the car a few houses down. After ten minutes of whispering to each other, we heard the sirens of an ambulance arrive, which stopped right in front of their house.
17
Bubbly Kisses
“Baby,” I whispered. Our eyes locked at the ambulance.
“I see it,” Kai mumbled. Two paramedics stepped out of the vehicle and scurried into the house.
My jaws clenched and I shuffled in the car seat, trying to get comfortable. My fingers were frantically scratching the surface of my palm. The only thing on my mind was Holden. I hope he’s alright. Whatever happened, and whatever he did, I knew he did it for me.
“I don’t think I can sit here much longer, Kai. I’m going crazy.” I didn’t want my parents to see me at all, even though I knew there was little chance they would.
“I know. We’ll go soon,” he promised.
I turned my attention to Kai. “Will Holden get in trouble?”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t. Your dad deserves a lot worse than what Holden probably did to him. Hell, I was ready to kill that rapist myself,” Kai fumed.
The paramedics walked out of the house, pulling what looked to be my dad on a stretcher. “Can you see anything?”
My dad was placed in the back of the ambulance. The paramedics drove off with the sirens blaring. Kai switched on the engine and we made our way back to my apartment.
When we arrived, I opened the front door. Holden was sitting on the couch and his head was down, with his hands hidden beneath him. He looked up at the both of us, and I couldn’t read his expression. I sat down next to him.
“What did you do, Holden?”
“Nothing he didn’t deserve.”
I wasn’t angry that Holden wanted to hurt my dad. There were so many times I had imagined doing it myself. Thoughts of me grabbing a knife in the kitchen while he was masticating his breakfast with an open mouth. Hell, I even wanted to use my own hands to beat the crap out of him. I was jealous that Holden had the courage to do what I couldn’t. What I was afraid to do myself. To stand up for me.
I looked at Holden with Sympathy. “Holden,” I whispered. “Please tell me what you did.”
His eyes held mine for a moment, before he took out his hands from underneath him. I gazed at his them in disbelief. There were bruises all over his knuckles with fresh cuts that seeped with blood. My attention turned to Kai.
“Can you please get me the first aid kit, baby?”
Holden looked at me in confusion. “Baby?”
I gave him a faint smile. “I couldn’t stay away from him, Holden. I love Kai,” I confessed.
Holden smiled back at me. Kai returned with the first aid kit.
“Thanks.” I opened up the kit and took out the essentials to disinfect and dress his wound. “Your hands are the second ones I’ve patched up today.”
“What are you talking about?” Holden asked.
“Kai over there broke my wall when I told him about my dad.”
“My blood was boiling, bro. I need a new fucking cellphone.”
“I reacted too quickly. They’re gonna send my ass to jail,” Holden whispered. His eyes were drawn to my hands, which were wrapping up the white bandage around his knuckles.
“That won’t happen, bro. I’ll make sure of it,” Kai assured Holden.
“I’m sorry, Isla,” Holden apologized.
His Desire Page 17
