But then where the hell are they? There’s no sign of breakfast or lunch being made in the kitchen, but I find a damn note sitting on the counter.
I’m sorry, Colt. I need time to think.
Anger and fear both rise up in me. I’m not mad at Emma, but at myself. If she doesn’t understand yet that there’s nothing I wouldn’t give her or do for her, then I still have work to do. I need to show her that I’ll always be there to catch her when she falls, kiss away her tears, and then kiss her all over her deliciously hot body when Sophia is tucked up in bed.
I frown. Does she think my feelings are just for her? Nothing could be further from the truth. If you’d asked me a week ago whether I was father material, I would have laughed and said maybe sometime in the future. I’ve always wanted kids but I hadn’t found someone I loved enough to bring a life into the world. Then the universe sandbagged me by bringing me a ready-made family. Emma and Sophia are a package deal and I want to give them both the life they deserve.
I just need to find out where the hell she’s gone and set things straight. A rock forms in my gut as I grab my keys and make a beeline for my truck. The thought of them both out there in the world with no protection sends ice through my veins. I need to find them right now, before the asshole making Emma’s life hell notices she’s all alone for the first time in days. He’ll have been getting frustrated, or horny, and both could spell disaster.
I pull out of my drive so fast the truck’s rear wheels spin on the gravel. Fuck speed limits. I need to reach my girls. I’m on the freeway before my mind registers that the old sedan I keep parked around the corner was missing. Without slowing down, I use voice controls to tell my phone to call Beck. “I need a LoJack on the Pontiac. Right now.” My voice comes out as a growl but Beck knows better than to ask questions. My men are damn good and he’ll know from my voice I’m not screwing around.
“Two seconds, boss,” he says. The road noise hides any other sounds on the line but I can picture him tapping away furiously on the keyboard. Beck’s always my go-to guy when I need to track someone down. He’s got a sixth sense about where perps are hiding. I can only hope his skills transfer to looking for Emma. “Got her, Colt,” he says a few minutes later. “The car is parked outside of Sophia’s school, arrived about ten minutes ago.”
I blow out a breath. Okay. If she’s there then chances are everything’s okay. I take the next off-ramp, only five minutes away. I’ll find her and take her home and talk about whatever she needs, and then rock her world with amazing sex again, just to make my point.
Still, I can’t shake that nagging feeling. Ten minutes is a long time to stay at the school just to drop Sophia off. Maybe she decided to walk her in, to talk to a teacher? But I’ve seen enough evil in this world to know that ten minutes is a lifetime. I keep going toward the school, never lifting my foot off the gas, just in case.
Screw five minutes. I make it in three. Pulling up behind the Pontiac, it’s obvious as soon as I lay eyes on it that it’s empty. I look and Emma’s bag is lying on the front seat, so she can’t have gone far. I’m about to try the door to see if it’s locked when a cry reaches my ears. It’s faint but I’d know her voice anywhere. Emma!
Nothing else matters but tracking the direction of her voice. I spin around, my eyes narrowing as I strain my hearing. The world fades away as my attention sharpens, narrowing to a single point. Where the hell is Emma?
There! I hear it again, louder this time, and the direction is clear. I take off, sprinting across the school grounds and not giving a single fuck who sees me. Less than thirty seconds pass before I see them. Emma is being carried over a man’s shoulder. He’s older than she is and the guy is huge, easily able to overpower her. She needs me. Right the hell now. My speed picks up again and I gain ground as the man stops. I see red as he drops my girl to the ground, but when he wraps his meaty hands around her throat, all bets are off. I’ll kill that fucker.
I reach them in seconds, throwing my arm around the guy’s neck in a chokehold. I squeeze as hard as I can but the bastard keeps his hands wrapped around Emma’s neck. I squeeze harder and finally his grip loosens just enough for me to pull him backward. He falls over and I’m on him, pounding the guy into the dirt. He’ll pay for laying even a finger on Emma.
Seconds pass, or minutes—I can’t tell—before I hear my name being called and someone pulls me from the motherfucker. It’s Beck. He knows me too damn well and arrives just in time to stop me from killing the man. It’s a punishment he so richly deserves, but one look at Emma’s tear-stained face and all the fight goes out of me. I nod. Beck takes over, restraining the man and keeping him on the ground until the cops arrive.
I rush over and sweep Emma into my arms, holding her tight against my chest as her tears flow harder. There’s nothing I can do other than kiss the top of her head and rub her back, reassuring her that she’s safe. Once the adrenaline spike has worn off, I’ll check her over properly and make sure she’s really okay. But for now, I’ll hold her for as long as she needs, and then for a lifetime after that.
She’s my girl, and always will be. As our lips meet and I take her soft, warm mouth, a sense of completion envelopes me. She’s safe. The rest, I’ll deal with as it comes. “Colt, I’m so sorry,” she says.
I kiss her again, silencing any sort of apology. There’s nothing she needs to be sorry for. There’s only one thing I need from her, the only thing I’ll ever need. “Just tell me you’re mine, darling. That you’ll let me love you and protect you for the rest of our lives.”
Her arms wrap around me tightly and she presses so deeply into my embrace it’s as if we become one. “Forever,” she whispers, “sounds perfect to me.”
“Forever,” I say and claim her lips again. Forever won’t be nearly long enough.
Epilogue - Emma
I stare down at our toddler’s face as he naps. He’s the spitting image of his father and only looks more like Colt every day as he grows. I can’t believe that Benji is nearly two years old. So much has happened.
My thoughts turn dark for just a moment as I recall that fateful day. For a while, I thought that it was all over, that I was leaving Sophia without any family in the world. But then, along came Colt, rescuing me and changing my entire life. Not only did Sophia and I finally have the family I craved for her, just ten months later, she became the proudest big sister ever. Colt didn’t waste any time getting me to the altar and Benji was conceived on our honeymoon. I chuckle. I’m sure Colt planned the whole thing, despite his protests. Colt is serious about his family and the little boy sleeping before me was the perfect addition.
Colt sidles up beside me. I don’t hear him come in, as I’m so wrapped up in staring at Benji’s cute little dimples. For a large man, Colt sure can move silently. He’s taken me by surprise more than once over the last few years. Best surprise ever.
He stands behind me, encircling me in his arms and leans his head down to rest on my shoulder. The stubble on his cheek rubs against mine and my eyes drift closed as shivers run through me at the sensation. Even when I first met him, Colt was rarely clean-shaven but these days, it’s more about chasing after a toddler and a teenager, leaving him with little spare time. Life’s certainly busier than it was even before I met him, but now it’s also wonderful.
“Got any plans for the rest of the afternoon, Mrs. Wolfe?”
I grin, my hands resting against his as I fiddle mindlessly with his wedding band. “Oh, I don’t know,” I say, biting back a laugh. “Maybe some cleaning. I was hoping to spend some time in the studio, too.” Yep, the studio. One of the first things Colt did when we moved in officially was set up a special room that I could use to sing, really sing my heart out, as loud as I needed. It was the perfect release for me. I could yell, even cry, when I needed to, and still feel as safe and loved as ever. Over the months, I started laying down tracks, just some basic work, and the sneaky man sent them off to a buddy of his to upload to a music streaming service. He sur
prised me by sending me a playlist recommendation of my own music.
I lean back, resting against him. Right now, our family is my world but maybe one day soon I’ll pursue singing again. Whatever I decide, I know Colt will support me.
He rubs against me, making his intentions—and his hard cock—clear. He takes my hands, linking his fingers through mine and wrapping my arms, criss-crossed, against my stomach. It’s both protective and capturing, just the way I like it. Colt is a man in charge, especially in the bedroom, and I can’t get enough of it.
“We’ve got a whole four hours until Sophia is home from school.” He inclines his head toward the crib. “And this little guy will sleep for at least two of those.” One of his hands reaches up and caresses my breast through my thin shirt. “Imagine all the things I could do to make you scream in two hours.”
I turn and press my lips to his, and his tongue thrusts into my mouth even as he’s lifting me up and carrying me away. I grin into his neck, muffling my giggle, and nip at his skin. A hand slaps me gently on the ass. “You’ll pay for that when I get you to bed,” he says. In the hall now, I laugh freely and he grins. “I wonder how many times I can make you call out my name before I spill inside of you.”
Right after the incident, which is what I’ve taken to calling it, Colt was so careful with me, treating me as if I would break. He’d never sneak up on me and every touch was planned, deliberate, and so delicate. It showed more love than I’d ever known that he was willing to limit his natural instincts for me, but after some months, the fear faded away and I needed my Colt back again. As wild as his namesake, Colt isn’t into anything too heavy, but a swat on my ass as he captures my lips in a bruising kiss? God, yes, please. Foreplay is definitely fun as well as hot as hell.
He strips me quickly and lays me down, pushing my legs apart as he dives between them. With our limited time, he’s not playing today and his fingers expertly circle my clit as his tongue thrusts inside of me. That’s another thing he’s an expert at and I’m coming before he breaks a sweat, and yes, definitely calling out his name. He switches to pushing his fingers inside me, one and then two, and makes me come all over his face again before he finally pulls me to my knees and pushes into me from behind. He fucks me deep, his body folded over mine, always protecting me, even now while we make love. His hand reaches around and toys with my nipples, tweaking them until I come a third time, my core rippling around his cock as he thrusts fast. As the final shudders go through me, he pulls out nearly to the tip and then thrusts in so deep I cry out in delicious ecstasy as his cock touches every part of my sex. He holds himself there, groaning as I feel the warm rush of his release coating my channel.
My arms finally give way beneath me and he withdraws, leaving me feeling empty, but he quickly pulls me into his arms. We lay spooning, my back to his front, and I shiver from aftershocks and the delicious sensation of his stubble brushing against my neck as he whispers all the dirty things he’ll do to me next nap time.
I smile. This is my perfect forever, and I can’t wait.
Also by Jamie Garrett
Steel Kings
Betrayal
Confession
Vengeance
Hunted
DARC Ops
Darkest Hour (0.5)
Dark Secret
Dark Web
Dark Heart
Dark Control
Dark Threat
Dark Lies
Dark Salvation
Dark Discovery
Dark Enemy
Dark Escape
Dark Deception
Southern Heat
From the Ashes
Fighting the Flames
Burning the Past
Trial by Fire
Line of Fire
Up in Flames
Under Fire
Fuel the Fire
Dreamcatchers
Books 1 - 5
Marked By Desire
Books 1 - 5
Riley Reid Mysteries
Books 1 - 3 (first book free!)
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to you—all my readers, subscribers, and social media followers. Thank you for choosing to read my books!
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A special thanks also to Anette King and Kristine Piiparinen, for all that you do. You are both incredible ladies.
Come and hang out with me, plus authors Lisa Ladew and Kate Fargo, along with the fabulous badass babes in our Facebook romance group, Books, Babes, and Badasses. We talk about anything and everything, and there’s plenty of yummy eye candy too. Stop by and say hello anytime! You can also subscribe to my newsletter, send me an email, find me on Facebook, or visit my website.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Jamie. I live with my husband, two beautiful children and two cats. I loves to read almost as much as I loves to write, and can’t imagine anything better than getting to be an author and writing every day. There is at least one cat draped over the keyboard at all times.
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Colt (Red Wolfe Security Book 1) Page 4
