by Rhonda Lott
“Sweetheart I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have called you that if I had.” Kane assured her.
“I know,” Dawn sighed. “It feels different when you say it, like you’re not just talking about my body.” Dawn turned to look into his eyes.
Kane leaned in and sipped gently from her lips. “You’re so much more than all these wonderfully made parts, Dawn. You have a brightness that can’t be hidden behind black clothes. Your eyes fascinate me because in them, I see a strength no man can beat down. I see a beauty that flows from the kindness of your heart.”
Kane said the words with such sincerity they brought tears to her eyes and an unmovable lump to her throat. Dawn placed her palms against his cheeks holding his face and stared. She gazed into those slate/blue eyes of his and saw it there. The pain, the strength and the honesty of him. Kane McAdams was simply amazing.
Kane turned his head slightly placing a kiss to her palm. “Mac is gone now, he can’t ever hurt you again.” He said.
“Yes his is gone, you did that for me.” Dawn looked up at him. “What ever happened to Aunt Pattie?”
“She died of an overdose about six months after I left home.”
“Good, she can’t hurt you either.” Dawn nodded.
“And yet they still have power over us. We have to change that. I know your secrets and you know mine. We can’t hide from each other any longer. We both have another person in this world, just as broken, as damaged and still fighting. We vowed to be friends and now I promise to stick by your side, heal, and grow with you. What do you say?” Kane pulled her thick hair away from her face, staring intently at her, waiting for her answer.
“I say we’ve been through enough shit in our lives Kane McAdams. Now with papa Blanco gunning for us, what choice do we have but to tough it out side by side. I’ll fight for you Kane.”
“And I’ll fight for you. Fucking Bonnie and Clyde, Beauty and her Beast, no one can stop us babe”
CHAPTER FIVE
KANE
They were coming. Someone tripped the perimeter alarm. Kane’s cell phone was linked to the security system and was beeping like crazy, waking him from a deep sleep. He was groggy and surprised, he hadn’t slept like that in a long time. His cell phone was keeping up a racket, Kane clicked on video of the outside. Three shadows were moving quickly towards the cabin.
Kane scrambled from the couch and grabbed his to go bag on the way to the bedroom. Opening the door he silently and quickly checked the window before waking Dawn. She came awake with a jolt. Dawn sat straight up in the bed, hair a midnight cloud around her face, brown eyes blinking up at him.
“Kane, what’s going on?” Her voice deep and raspy from sleep.
Sexy, popped into Kane’s mind. “Someone is sneaking around outside, hurry get dressed we have to move.”
Dawn rushed around the room quietly. She didn’t ask any questions, Kane smiled to himself. Dawn was always questioning him, once they were out from under this threat he was sure she would be back to it, with a vengeance.
Eyes straight, face set and determined, Dawn stepped to his side at the window. “Do you see anything?” She asked.
“No not yet, but they’re out there.” Kane turned to her, “We have surveillance in the surrounding woods. When something trips the camera’s infrared beams then a video feed comes to my phone. We got company for sure, let’s hope they move slowly.”
“Let’s go.” Dawn moved towards the door, Kane grabbed her arm.
“We’re going out the window D, and no vehicle. We can’t let them know were gone.”
Kane opened the window, tossed out his bag then squeezed his big frame through. Once on the ground he reached for Dawn. A shot rang out, the bullet splintering the wood inches from Kane’s head. He didn’t have time to be gentle, he grabbed Dawn by the arms and in one movement pulled her through the window as quick as a thread through a needle. Kane rolled them both on the ground as the sound of more shots filled the night air.
“Keep low and follow me, beauty.” Kane hefted Dawn up and ran for the trees.
They dove into the bushes. Kane pulled his revolver from his holster and tried to get a bead on where the shooter was, but there was no movement or sound.
“Where are they?” Dawn whispered in his ear.
“Not sure. D, I need you to stay low and right next to me, understand. Don’t get in front or behind, I want you on my hip at all times.” Kane’s tone spoke no disagreement.
Dawn nodded once and hooked her fingers through his belt loops.
“Give me a gun, I know you got extra in that bag.”
Kane chuckled, pulled out a hand gun from his duffel, slid it to her and moved off into the trees. To her credit Dawn kept pace with him.
It was dark with only a sliver of moonlight that dotted there path through the trees. They kept a steady pace through the woods following a hiking trail that was all but overgrown. The trees were densely packed and helped to cover their movements. Kane stopped occasionally to listen for anyone on their tail.
He knew all the back trails and hiding spots from his time spent on the mountain and if the men after them didn’t catch them, they would reach a rock overhang. The perfect place to secure for the rest of the night and pick them off one by one.
Dawn was silent next to him. The only sound she made were slightly rapid breaths as they jogged along. Kane was surprised that Dawn followed his every order. She challenged him at every turn. Dawn was one head strong female, not the he wanted her any other way.
They made good time and as the dark face of the rock formation came into view Kane let out a sigh of relief, only to have his breath whoosh out of him as the sound of bullets ricocheted off the cliff.
“Shit.” Kane hissed. They sprinted for a huge tree ducking behind it. Two more bullets pierced the wood. Kane had Dawn’s body plastered to the tree trunk.
“I know you only had one lesson. But I need you to aim for those trees to the right. Don’t step out, shoot. I’ll be right back.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? Kane don’t go out there. We could—“
Kane silenced her with a hard press of his lips to hers. He felt her tense up, pushing her hands against his chest for a second, then she melted. With a sigh she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. Damn but it felt like heaven. Only one problem, killers were shooting at them. Fuck, but he didn’t want to stop. Kane pulled away from her.
“Stay put. Your Beast is about to rampage Beauty.”
DAWN
Kane faded into the darkness, leaving her with her mouth open and her pulse pounding. Right, distract the shooter. Dawn pressed her body sideways and tight against the tree, holding the gun out a fraction she fired blindly, prayed she didn’t accidentally shoot Kane in the process.
Shoot, pause two beats shoot again. Bullets hit the tree a half a dozen times causing her to jump out of her skin with each pop and snap of impact. It sounded as if the bullets were splitting the tree into. By sheer will, Dawn kept her hand from shaking like an old lady, but not by much. The thundering shots slowed from many to only a couple and then nothing, an eerie silence filled the woods.
Someone touched her shoulder. Dawn sucked in a huge breath, swinging the gun around only to have a hand close over hers.
“It’s me D.” Kane said.
“Jesus Christ. Kane you scared the shit out of me.” Dawn threw herself into his big body. He was back and safe. She ran her hands up and down his chest and arms to assure herself he was real, they came away warm, wet, and sticky. Dawn glanced down at her hands, even though it was too dark to see clearly, she knew what was covering her fingers, blood. Her insides twisted and her head swam for a second.
“Are you shot?” Dawn’s voice came out louder than she expected. “Is that blood on your arms?”
“Not my blood Beauty.” He gave her one of his teasing grins. “Let’s move, I took care of those two but there are a couple more of them out there.”
Dawn didn’t hav
e time to process his words. Kane was picking up the duffel bag, ready to go. She grabbed his extended hand and started walking.
He had killed two men in the span of a few minutes. Dawn knew he was protecting her, keeping them both alive, but she still got a chill from the thought. This was what he did all the time, maybe not the killing part, but putting himself between danger and people who he protected.
The Blanco family made killing their business, loving to take and destroy. That’s what made Kane different. He had a ready smile, teased and laughed a lot, but when it came right down to it, he was more deadly than any of Esteban’s hired guns. More deadly than them, but he used his killer instincts to defend people from creatures like the Blanco’s.
Dawn felt the tug of Kane’s hand. Her pace was lagging because of her distracting thoughts and because the ground around the twenty five foot overhang was elevating.
“We’re running out of ground. How will we get to the top of this huge thing?” Dawn asked.
Kane looked back at her, bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement. “We climb babe.”
“Fuck that. I’m not climbing up this gigantic ass rock.” Dawn said, stopping dead in her tracks. It wasn’t that she was afraid of heights, she just really, really didn’t like falling to her death.
“Your language, D.” Kane teased.
“Oh, sorry. Fuck, fuck, fuck no. Is that better.” Dawn crossed her arms under her breast, clenched her jaw and shook her head. No way, he had to be kidding. Just, no way could she do that. “Can’t we walk around this?”
“Beauty, I’ve climbed this little rock hundreds of times. I’ll get you up there, no problem. We’re in this together, remember.”
“It’s dark as sin out here, I’ve never climbed anything before, and I’m at the disadvantage of being hunted. Excuse me for not wanting to be shot dead while hanging from a damn rope. This is crazy.” Dawn realized that her voice was escalating. She didn’t want to be caught by those men, but damn.
“I can see anything that moves from that height. We only have a few more hours till dawn. They can’t get to us without me spotting them first. Trust me.” Kane told her with gentle assurance.
He brought both her hands to his sensual lips and pressed a kiss there. The feel of his lips on her sparked heat straight to her core. His smokey blue eyes held her gaze and Dawn was suddenly unafraid. Well, a tiny, tiny bit less afraid.
Dawn groaned, scrubbing her face with her hands. Literal rock meet hard place.
“Ahhh shit, ok. How do we do this?”
Kane bent and pulled out some gloves, rope and a small flash light. “Not totally prepared for this, but we will have to make due. These gloves will help you grip the rock. I’ll tie us together and go up first. Copy my movements, hands and feet in the same spot as mine. If you slip the rope will catch you.”
“If I slip?” Dawn gasped out. “What?”
“You’re not going to slip.”
Kane wrapped the thick rope around her waist, down through her legs, making a sort of harness around her ass and then tying it in an intricate knot at her middle. He then did the same to himself. He placed the flashlight between his teeth, gave her a reassuring smile, turned and started climbing.
Dawn spent the next few long, long minutes in complete misery as she strained her calf and arm muscles pulling herself up the rock behind Kane. Every few minutes he would look back at her to check on her.
Big idiot, and she thought he was smart. She thought she was smart, but no, here they were in the middle of nowhere hanging from a fucking rock. That cabin was supposed to be safe. So much for safe. Blanco had his slimy feelers everywhere. The thought of trying to hide from him indefinitely brought a gray heavy gloom to her heart. That would be impossible, it seems that bastard was deadly serious about killing them. What in the world we’re they going to do?
The light from the flash light was enough for her to make out Kane’s movements. Dawn put her hands and feet in the same crevices as Kane and even though she feared falling, she found herself getting the hang of it, not enjoying it one bit however. How in the world could Kane enjoy this? He obviously climbed a lot, his movements were effortless. His strapping, strong body maneuvered and advanced up the face of the rock like it was child’s play.
Dawn feared losing her grip with every hand placement. It wasn’t just the fear of falling that chomped away at her insides. The remaining hit men were out there somewhere. She prayed they didn’t see the beam from Kane’s flashlight. Concentrating on Kane’s movements was a difficult task, while every nerve in her body wanted her to turn around and keep an eye out. To be shot while hanging on the end of a rope with no way to defend yourself was not how Dawn wanted to leave this world.
The wind picked up as they reached the summit of the rock. Dawn felt its blasting cold slice through her jacket and shirt. Kane pulled himself up on the ledge of the rock and reached his hand out for her. Grabbing her gloved fingers, he was about to pull her up to him when a bullet cracked into the rock next to her boot.
Dawn instinctively jerked her body causing her to slip and fall back, as more bullets blasted into the rock around her.
A scream ripped itself from Dawns lungs as she scrambled to right herself. The desperate sound of Kane yelling her name fading away as she lost her grip time and time again. The image of the ground rushing up to meet her jumped into her mind. Suddenly, the rope jerked tight between her legs stopping her free fall. But now she was out of Kane’s reach, holding on to the rock for dear life.
“Dawn,” Kane leaned over the ledge, “don’t move. I got you, stay still as you can.”
Dawn pressed her body as close to the rock as possible without losing her grip. Kane disappeared for a few seconds and Dawn’s heart stopped. He reappeared with a big mean looking rifle on his shoulder. He had ditched the flashlight, everything was drenched in black. Dawn could barely make Kane out. The gunman must have lost sight of them because of the darkness. He wasn’t shooting anymore. Kane was on his stomach with the scope of the rifle to his eye. For the count of a few heart beats the whole world seemed to go ominously silent. Dawn couldn’t move, dare not breathe.
“Got you motherfucker.” Kane said in a hushed whisper. He made his shot. “Two down.”
“Kane McAdams get me off this fucking rock.” Dawn yelled up to him. The rope between her legs tightened as Kane hauled her up. When she reached the ledge, he wrapped his hands around her and gathered her up against him. Dawn clung to his strong frame, her body shaking so badly she couldn’t stop the tremors.
“I got you babe, I got you.” Kane leaned in to whisper in her ear over and over, lifting her up and squeezing her impossibly close.
Dawn could feel the racing of his heart against her cheek, the slight trembling of his limbs around her. Was Kane afraid for her?
“Yes, I know what you said, but the bullets all around me and the picture of me splattered all over the ground shook my confidence in you big guy. I mean you’re good but you wouldn’t be able to put humpy dumpy back together, you know what I mean.” Dawn told him around the enormous lump in her throat.
“Brave ass woman, you weren’t the only one scared. You will never climb anything but stairs ever again.” Kane said.
Brave, hardly, she was not the dare devil, run into danger type of girl. Over the past couple of years she had evolved into this woman who adapted, camouflaging the constant fear and coping.
Glancing around, Dawn was surprised to find the landing of the giant rock was not the actual round top she had been expecting. The rock surface was stone but it led into another more elevated part of the forest. You could step right off the rock onto earth and follow what seemed to be a path into the woods.
Dawn took a quick step back, glancing up at Kane with a what the hell expression on her face.
“No, we could not have hiked up here. This particular elevation is only assessable by scaling this rock face. They can’t get to us but we can hike out of here.” Kane explained.
“Oh, got ya. Now what?” It was still hours till morning and cloudy skies kept the moon from giving them much light, Dawn wondered if Kane would even be able to make out their pursuers.
“There’s a thermal blanket in my bag. You get some sleep and I’ll keep watch.”
“That bag of yours has just about everything.” Dawn commented as she pulled the foil type blanket out and found a spot that didn’t have any pebbles to lay down.
Dawn trembled under the blanket, delayed reaction to the fear she experienced that day. She watched her beast as he kept silent safeguard over her. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Kane the big jokester was a complicated individual.
He thought up the friends vow, but as Dawn watched the slight breeze ruffle his over long locks, she made plans to turn that into a friends with benefits vow. Yep, soon as she got her arousing protector alone. Dawn snuggled under her blanket, drifting off thinking about all the “benefits” she wanted Kane to teach her.
CHAPTER SIX
KANE
Kane stood in the doorway watching her sleep. The motel room was old but clean, smelling of pine disinfectant. There was one double bed, television, dresser, small table and chair. It all look to have been around since the 80’s. Kane didn’t care about the décor, he was worried.
The feeling of being hunted was something he hated with a passion. He’d stayed up all night on that cliff waiting for the hitmen to come out of the woods. No such luck. The only thing he got was damn near frozen and a sharp crick in his neck.
The hike to the small town and motel room was uneventful, even so, Kane kept his guard up. Now, after a hot shower he was still fidgety and wanted to let loose some of his frustration on that fucker Blanco. Kane knew that David was working his ass of trying to get a location on Esteban. David would find him and when he did, Kane was going to rain down some well-deserved justice on the piece of shit.
