TBAT-Christopher

by Anne, Melody

  “We’ll deal with you later,” Xander said. “Let’s go, Chris. If there really are so few of them here, we should be able to get to her before we’re spotted. We’ll get Adara to safety, and then end the Arcano once and for all.”

  “Agreed,” Bryan said. He tied Emanuel to the tree and bound his mouth with strong tape. Then the three brothers rushed toward the cabin. They’d often hunted here.

  “I see one guard to the left, and another up front,” Xander said.

  “I see the same,” Bryan told him.

  “You take the man on the left, Bryan. I’ll get the guard in front. Do it quickly. Make sure they don’t make a sound to alert the others. Chris, you get Adara.”

  “With pleasure,” Chris said.

  While Xander and Bryan took out the two men, Chris moved to the cabin, circling it first, and then approaching the door. Testing the knob, he found it unlocked, and though his heart pounded with the need to kick it in, he pushed it open slowly, then scanned the room.

  What he saw next wasn’t what he was expecting.

  “Christopher!”

  “Vanessa?”

  “What? How? I don’t understand,” she stuttered. Her gun was on the table, three feet away from the chair she was sitting in. He watched as she eyeballed the weapon before her gaze returned to him.

  “I wouldn’t even think of attempting it, Vanessa,” Chris said as he stepped closer to her.

  “You don’t understand . . .,” she said, and tears filled her eyes.

  “Don’t try tears on me, Vanessa. They won’t work,” he said, moving another careful step toward her.

  “Fine!” she snapped, the tears instantly evaporating. “What are you going to do, Christopher? Kill me?” No fear, only hatred, was pouring from her now.

  “It’s crossed my mind. So you’re part of the Arcano. For how long?”

  “My entire life. My family goes back to the original inhabitants of this island. I was groomed to be your wife, to bring power back to the rightful leaders, the true heirs to the kingdom.”

  Chris didn’t know what to think. Was she crazy? Or was there some truth in her words? Had the Arcano truly been waiting for this many centuries to take back the land that they believed to be theirs?

  “This makes no sense. Why come after Adara? After me? I’m not the king. That’s Xander.”

  “You foolish man. I had to go after your whore. You and she ruined all our plans. I was supposed to marry you, produce royal heirs, and then your brothers and their family members were to be killed. But you had to find a ridiculous American and decide to make her your bride,” the woman spat before she looked over at her gun again.

  “I don’t even know what to say to you, Vanessa, but I never planned to marry you. Yes, we had a fling a few years ago, but I never would have made you my wife, even if Adara hadn’t come into the picture.”

  “Of course you would have. I was groomed just for you, to be everything you could ever want. Now, it’s all ruined.”

  She leapt from the chair and grabbed for her gun. But Chris was prepared for her. Gripping her waist, he easily restrained her, though her claws were flying.

  Xander came rushing into the room, and Chris pushed Vanessa over to him so he could deal with her. He’d wasted enough time speaking to this insane, vicious woman. He needed to get to Adara, who had to be in the only bedroom in the cabin.

  When he pushed through the door, the sight before him made his stomach drop. Adara was on the floor, tied up and gagged, and curled into a ball in one corner.

  He had to tamp down the rage he was feeling. He had to assure her that she’d be all right. And most importantly, he had to get her to safety.

  “Adara?” He crept forward so he wouldn’t startle her.

  Fear was bright in her eyes at first, but when she realized it was Chris coming toward her, she instantly began trembling in what he assumed was relief.

  “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry,” he told her as he bent down, untied her, and took off her gag.

  She said nothing, but as soon as she was free, she wrapped her shaking arms around him and sobbed in his arms.

  “Did they . . . touch you?” he had to ask. He didn’t want to know whether the worst had happened, but he had to know how hurt she was.

  “They drugged me, and they hit me a few times, but that was all,” she whispered. He searched her face, finding no bruises. He was afraid to even touch her, afraid of hurting her further.

  “I’m so sorry,” he had to say again. Carefully, he lifted her in his arms, holding her snugly against him as he moved back out to the main room of the cabin.

  “We need to hurry, Chris,” Xander whispered.

  “Wait,” Adara said, struggling to be set down.

  Chris placed her on her feet. “What is it? If there’s anything here, we don’t need it.”

  She approached the woman, who was now the one bound and gagged. “Bitch!” Adara said before reaching back and, with a mighty blow, instantly bloodying the woman’s nose.

  “Now we can go,” Adara said, and she started shaking again.

  They made it back to the caves and then through the caverns and tunnels without any further incidents, the trek seeming endless now that their adrenaline wasn’t quite so high.

  Chris didn’t draw his first full breath until they stepped into the long-unused palace dungeons, where the tunnels began.

  “Lock Emanuel up,” Xander said. “And keep the guards out. I don’t know who else is on his side, and until I do, I want no one to know he’s here.”

  “Agreed,” Bryan said, leaving the gag and blindfold on Emanuel and locking him into a cell. They would deal with him later.

  Chris left his brothers and took Adara up to their suite, and straight to the bathroom.

  “May I help you with anything, Your Highness?” Adara’s maid asked.

  “No. Leave us.”

  Chris locked the doors and drew Adara a bath.

  “Oh, Chris, I was so frightened. I didn’t know if I would ever see you again.”

  “I felt the same way, baby,” he said. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”

  His throat hurt with the emotion rushing through him.

  “I knew you’d come for me,” she whispered, her eyes so trusting that it nearly broke him in half.

  “Always,” he promised.

  He kissed her gently before he began stripping her clothes away. There were a few bruises on her arms, one on her side, and another on her thigh. The thought of anyone harming her sent even more rage through him, but he managed to control it. That wasn’t what she needed to see right now.

  He turned to leave, thinking she might want a private bath, but two words of hers stopped him.

  “Please stay.”

  “Forever,” he told her.

  And forever was what he intended.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They both should have been exhausted after the events of the day, and it was after midnight. So they knew they should get out of the tub, but they just didn’t want to leave. Chris sat behind Adara, running his hands gently up and down her arms, her sides, her breasts, her legs, coating her skin with soap before the lapping water washed it away.

  The longer they sat there together in soothing silence, the calmer she became. This was right; this was where she belonged. With Chris, right here, right now.

  “Make love to me, Chris. I need you,” she said, turning her head to look up at him.

  “We shouldn’t right now, Adara. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal,” he replied, though she felt his manhood spring up against her back.

  “And all I could think about was being with you again. Please,” she begged. She pulled his head down, and grabbing his lips with hers, poured out her passion through that kiss and showed him with her body how much she loved him.

&
nbsp; He drew her around and put her on his lap as he deepened the kiss. His arousal was so close to doing what she wanted and needed, and yet so far away. She groaned into his mouth.

  He broke away from the kiss. “Not in here. Not this time,” he said, and stood up with her body cradled in his arms.

  He set her on her feet, then dried her off. The friction of the towel ignited even more flames inside her.

  Chris also dried himself quickly before lifting Adara in his arms again and carrying her to the bed. After sitting her down there, he gazed at her possessively, his eyes flashing with passion and so much more.

  “The thought that I might lose you almost killed me,” he said before dropping down and kneeling before her.

  “I felt the same. All I wanted was to see you one more time,” she said, emotions clogging her throat.

  “I need you, Adara, I love you.”

  “I love you, Christopher, and I so need you, too.”

  His eyes lit up with wonder and excitement, and she knew she’d made the right choice in telling him how she felt.

  “I’ll show you what you mean to me,” he said. And he brushed his lips against hers.

  She moved her hands from his well-defined shoulders, bringing them slowly down his chest and to his abs. He was so smooth and solid. The cool air whispered along her skin, but it couldn’t put out the fire burning between them.

  He skimmed her satin skin with those amazing fingers, sending ripples of delight all through her. She grew bolder and started to return the favor, caress for caress. He groaned in pleasure.

  She reached his hip, grasped his arousal, and rubbed it feverishly.

  “Slow down, darling,” he told her. “I have my limits.”

  He kissed her deeply, exploring the contours of her mouth. Then he moved his lips down her slim throat and nipped at her pulse while she brought her hands up and ran her fingers through his hair. Her whole body was aching for his possession.

  But he swiped his tongue across her peaked nipples and then blew warm air across the tender buds. She arched off the bed and moaned. She was so hot, so wet. And she was done with foreplay. She ground her hips against his in urgent invitation.

  “Patience” was all he said as he continued down her body. She couldn’t protest — what he was doing was melting her.

  He finally reached her thighs and spread them apart gently. “You are perfect. You awe me,” he whispered, and he licked the sensitive skin on her stomach.

  He moved his lips inexorably down. He slid his tongue against her folds and her swollen clitoris, and inserted a finger into her aching core. The sensation was so intense that she nearly shattered right then. She tried to pull away — she wanted him inside her. But he didn’t let up. He started moving faster, and the rhythm of his hands and mouth sent her off into a perfect storm of ecstasy.

  He slowed his movements and made sure she enjoyed every single second of the earth-shattering orgasm. He waited until she gave a final shudder before he moved upward once again.

  She’d thought that it was over — for her, at least. She wasn’t selfish, though, and she was more than willing to take care of him in any way that she could. At least when she got her breath back. But when he nibbled on one of her still-hardened nipples, her body woke up fiercely.

  And he took her lips once again. He was no longer slow and gentle. He was fast and demanding and she was answering his call. She needed him again.

  He lifted her leg around his hip, and his manhood pressed against her core. She jerked her hips. She was desperate for completion.

  He continued to caress her mouth with his, and he stroked her hip and the smooth curve of her backside. It wasn’t what she wanted now. She wanted everything. And finally, finally, finally, he began to give her what she needed, inch by amazing inch, until he was deep inside her.

  He looked into her eyes, the moment so beautiful she almost wept. She loved him so much and there was no better way for them to be close. He started moving slowly in and out of her tight womanhood, causing ripples of desire to course through her.

  Giving her another drugging kiss, he gripped her hips masterfully and continued thrusting. And she met him stroke for stroke.

  She splintered. And almost simultaneously, he threw his head back and gave a loud groan as he released deep into her core.

  He collapsed on top of her and she almost couldn’t breathe from the weight of him. She didn’t care.

  She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chris put his hand on the doorknob several times, only to stop and take a step back.

  Telling Adara the truth was the only decent thing to do. But how could he do that without losing her?

  Still, he and Adara hadn’t shared a single bad moment since they’d come to Rubare Collina — at least one that didn’t involve someone threatening or trying to kill one of them.

  Why worry? Everything would be fine. She would understand his little deception. She had to. She loved him as much as he loved her.

  The wedding was only thirty days away, but how could he go through with it when this lie of his was blighting every thought in his brain? He had to do the decent thing. The honorable thing.

  So he opened the door to their suite. Adara was sitting in a high-backed chair and reading a book. When he walked in, her cheeks grew flushed and she smiled up at him.

  “I was just thinking about you,” she said with a secret smile.

  “What were you thinking?”

  “Some things are better off left to mystery,” she said, closing her book and setting it aside, with the front cover hidden. “Did you and your brothers have a good day?”

  “Yes, we managed to get a lot accomplished. With Emanuel’s information, we now have most of the remaining members of the Arcano in custody.” He bowed his head for a moment in shame. “Adara, I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you about them. I really didn’t think they were a threat anymore.”

  “I understand. Or I think I do. As long as you don’t keep secrets from me ever again, Chris . . .”

  “That’s what I want to talk to you about.” He shifted on his feet, but then pulled her into his arms.

  Why did he seem so uncertain now, so reluctant to speak? This just wasn’t like him at all.

  “What is it, Chris? You can tell me anything.”

  “I don’t want to spoil this time with you,” he said, leaning down and nuzzling her neck.

  “You can’t spoil it, Chris. You know how much I love you,” she said so sweetly that his breath caught in his throat.

  He moved to the couch and pulled her onto his lap. Then he brushed the hair from her face. “We can get through anything together, right, my darling Adara?”

  “What is this all about? You’re really making me worry.”

  “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Adara, but we’ve grown so much since we’ve come to Rubare Collina. Please remember that.”

  “Chris, just spit it out.” She laughed nervously. “You’re probably making it worse in your own mind than it really is.”

  “Okay . . . when I told you that we were engaged before we arrived here . . . I might have stretched the truth just a little bit.”

  She sat back and stared at him. “What do you mean by ‘stretched the truth’?”

  He hated the suspicion that instantly filled her eyes.

  “We’d been seeing each other for three months — I told you that — but when it started, we both agreed to something casual. Just a short-term affair. Neither of us wanted anything serious.”

  He could tell from the way her eyes seemed to go wildly in and out of focus that she was searching her mind, trying to break through the wall of blankness there. He was a mass of tension when she finally spoke.

  “That sounds normal. I mean, relationships don’t blossom
overnight, do they?”

  “The day we left for this country, you told me you didn’t want to be with me anymore. You said that it was over.” These last six words came out in a rush.

  She stiffened. “Why did I say that? Were things bad between us?”

  “No, not at all. I honestly think it was all just a shock for you when you learned that my feelings had grown, had changed. You were protecting yourself somehow. But what you have to remember is the way you feel now, Adara. We love each other completely, and that’s something that’s very rare,” he told her, cupping her face with his hands.

  “I . . . I’m trying to remember,” she said. She closed her eyes firmly and did her best to concentrate.

  “Your memory will come back to you. The doctor said you’re fine now. When you’re ready, it will all come back.”

  Adara didn’t pull away from him, but he couldn’t miss the strain in her features, her shudders of doubt and misgiving.

  “But I want to remember,” she told him. “That I don’t can’t be from any lack of trying.”

  “Just train your mind on the way you feel about me now. Don’t think about what happened before we got here.”

  He’d done what he’d promised himself to do. He’d told her the truth. Most of it, anyway. He’d just left out one tiny detail — the actual kidnapping. Why get into that?

  “I love you, Adara, and that’s all you need to think about.” He leaned forward and took her lips gently with his.

  She closed her eyes, kissed him back, and murmured “Yes.”

  Chris knew that everything would be perfect now. Again.

  But then she froze, and cried out.

  “What’s going on? What on earth is wrong, Adara?”

  “It hurts,” she said, gripping her head convulsively.

  “What hurts?”

  He rose from the couch, still holding her.

  “Let me go. Right now. Please.”

  He put her back on the couch and sat beside her, running a hand reassuringly up and down her back. “Do I need to get the doctor?” he asked. “Yes, I’ll get the doctor.”