Trent doesn’t let go of her and speaks into the crook of her neck. “I know you’re angry with your mother and me, but just know I’m not giving up on us. Both of us deserve a place in your life, whether you like it or not.”
I brisk up at his harsh message, but once again my woman surprises the hell out of me. She must sense me growing pissed off as well. She steps back and nods.
“I understand. I was brutal with you down in the cafeteria, but I had to get it out.”
“Understood.” He smiles.
Curtis clears the room, and all too soon we are left alone. Caitlin curls up next to my side without me having to ask her to do so. My hand tangled in her hair as my only solace of comfort. With her by my side, it doesn’t matter how dark and dangerous I can be and if I’m a nameless soul wandering the world. None of it matters with her by my side.
“It was Vince who trashed your place. He was desperate,” I whisper.
She nods into my chest, processing all of it. And that’s the final pieces of our past that will ever be discussed. It’s over and only the days that lie before us truly matter. Nothing else does.
“Caitlin.”
The sound of her name coming from my lips causes her to look up at me. I take in her gorgeous face before I speak the most important three words of my life.
“I love you.” It’s not a whisper this time or a time where I’m bleeding out on the floor. It’s the cold, hard truth.
27
Caitlin
Dear Sweet Girl,
In the depths of my heart I really hope this letter never finds you. The selfish part of me does. I love your mother. Once upon a time, it was supposed to be me, her, and our gorgeous little girl.
There’s no easy way to let this out in a letter, but I’m your father. The day I met Louisa, I fell hard and fast for her. The circumstances were not right, but true love didn’t care. It was an affair, wrong in all the right ways, and we dove in headfirst.
Your mother had no choice but to stay with Clarence. I’m fighting daily to get my girls out of there. He’s a powerful man and has your mother in a trance. If you ever find yourself in danger or need help, you only have to reach out to me. Your mom is putting this letter in a place you’ll find it.
There’ve been many letters and tries to get you girls. Just know I love you and always will, even if I never get the chance to hold you.
With Love,
Trent Welsh
My eyes roam over his contact information. A simple combination of numbers and words that would’ve saved my life. I’ve learned she was running that day and Trent was coming for us. Clarence outwitted all of them with the knowledge received through written letters. There was no way in hell he was letting my mother out of his sight once his secret business was out of the bag. It was a matter of thirty minutes that changed everything that fateful night of the party. Clarence was swifter in action, but in the end got his justice.
I tuck the letter into my pocket, dry the few tears running down my face, and vow to be half as loving and dedicated as Trent. It’s an ugly story and one hardly comprehensible but with earnest lessons sprinkled throughout. I have a family. An honest to God real family. I still can’t believe this.
“You look good in those jeans.” I wink at Katch as he walks out of the bathroom.
“They’ll look a hell of a lot better on the floor of our bedroom. I need to fuck you.” I roll my eyes.
“You will.”
“Damn straight, I will, and I’m not letting any fuck roll me out in a wheelchair, either.”
I swear to the good God above this man is going to be the death of me. I’m ready to shove his grumpy ass out the window of the fourth-story hospital room.
“It’s policy.” I roll my eyes and ignore his grumbles.
I also send a silent prayer for the poor soul who comes knocking with a wheelchair. They’ll more than likely need counseling after dealing with this broody man. I giggle thinking about Katch’s reaction when he sees I brought my fancy-ass car he despises so much to take him home in.
“What’s so fucking funny?” he asks, walking toward the door.
“Oh, nothing, Ollie.”
I make the mistake of stepping too close to him. He has me wrapped up in his arms and swats my ass hard then attacks my lips with a fury that takes the breath clear out of my lungs. His tongue sweeps throughout my mouth. It’s the taste of forever and my other half. I’ll never grow old of it. He’s hard, very damn hard, pushing up against my front. He’s broken every fucking rule in the hospital and defied authority, so I damn well know he’ll be taking me as soon as we get home.
A little freckle-faced boy opens the door, nearly slamming right into us. He can’t be more than seventeen and is armed with a wheelchair. This is going to get ugly.
“Ready to go home, Oliver?” His voice is chipper.
“Listen, Red. You can take that wheelchair and stick it straight up your ass.”
I step between Katch and the now shaking boy. “Sorry, I’ll just be helping him out. It might be safer for everyone involved.”
“It’s…uh. It’s…uh…my job,” he stutters. “I’ll get fired.”
Zeke strolls in, giving the young man a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It will be fine. Nadine is correct in assuming everyone will be safer this way.”
The boy’s lower lip trembles. I elbow Katch in the ribs, not giving a shit about his wound. He clears his throat and offers a pathetic smile in way of apologizing.
“You’re a dick,” I hiss as the boy walks away with an empty wheelchair.
“I’m done with this shit. I can walk and am ready to get my life back. Give me my Goddamn papers, Doc.”
KATCH
Walking isn’t easy, but it’s fucking liberating. I feel like a fucking man dressed in my ratted jeans and t-shirt. The sound of my boots echoing down the hallway is the best sound I’ve heard in a long fucking time. I can tell Caitlin’s up to something, but I’m not quite sure what it is. I have a better poker face than her, so she has no idea what’s coming her way. I need her in every way a man needs a woman. By my side, in my bed, and filling up my heart.
I didn’t have to ask for it. It was given. I may not be a brother, but I’m as close as one can get, and it looks like I’ll be family real fucking soon.
When the carousel doors leading outside rotate open, the roar of Harleys fill the air. Caitlin freezes, trying her best to pull me back, but I drag her along beside me.
“No,” she tries to yell over the roar of the bikes. “No way in fucking hell, Katch.”
I spot her shitty-ass car in the pickup circle and finally catch on to her giggles. Nice try, Hollywood. I don’t walk toward her shiny car, but head straight to the line of bikes parked in the no-parking zone.
Curtis flips me a cigarette and then hands me a lighter. The first puff of smoke nearly knocks me on my ass with the resounding feeling of sweet freedom. Brick passes me a bottle of Jack. I tip it back, taking a small pull from it. It’s not about getting wasted but indulging in the sweet taste and being back in fucking charge.
I lean against the driver door of my sick-ass black car. I look up to see a very fucking pissed-off and red-faced Caitlin. So beautiful.
“Are you fucking crazy?” she screams. Goddamn sassy mouth. She needs to be shut up. Preferably with my cock.
I take a long pull of the cigarette, pull her to me until we are face-to-face, and then exhale. The cloud of my smoke framing her beautiful face.
“Fucking crazy about you. Let’s get home. I have a pussy to feast on.”
“Bullshit.” She stomps her foot and tries to push me away. “This isn’t happening. You are not cleared to drive.”
“Ride with me or take your car home. Only two choices you have, Hollywood.”
“No and no. This is bullshit, Katch. You’re healing. Get the fuck in my car now.”
Ah, and here’s the bitching that comes with being tied down to a woman. It’s what I invited into my
life when I slammed my car into reverse on the highway and let her bossy ass get in.
“Race you home.” I wink at her then settle behind the wheel.
I grow hard as fucking stone thinking of how pissed off she is and how fucking fun it will be having my way with her once we are behind closed doors. I can’t recall another time I’ve felt excitement coursing through me at the thought of going home.
The smoke billows out my window as I watch Hollywood stomp off. Her jeans hugging her perfect fucking ass. I force myself to look away so I don’t cum in my fucking pants like a teenage boy. My growls fill the cab of the car before the engine fires up. Addicting pussy, addicting body, and addicting heart. I’m a goner for this woman.
The brothers lead me home. The sounds of their rumbling pipes guiding me all the way. I kill for them and they protect me. My family. The men peel off with a lift of their middle finger as I turn into my driveway. The sight of my house makes me suddenly ill. I clench the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. I wanted to kill the fucker. Slice his throat and listen to him scream as he gurgled, gasping for that last breath of air. I’m used to quick assignments requiring one bullet to the head, but the rules wouldn’t have applied to ol’ Vince boy.
I would’ve had fun. Cutting each of his fingers off one at a time. Letting Snake dismember his dick and balls. Then I’d have made him beg for his life, letting him think he had a chance of survival. Hell, I might have even offered him a shot of whiskey or a joint to only pull it away right before he grabbed it. Then slit his throat with the blade of my knife.
“Get your ass out of that car.” Caitlin’s voice drifts into my car.
I hadn’t realized I’d been sitting behind the wheel, daydreaming about killing that motherfucker, until she pulled me from it. All it takes is one look at her to make it all vanish. I’ll take my Hollywood for the rest of my life if that’s the final prize for not killing Vince. I’m on the winning end.
“Are you fucking deaf?” She plants her hands on her hips.
The hospital stay and the last few months have taken their toll on all of us. Her frustration is cute but about to be eased by my dick.
“I heard you.” I stand, not wincing in pain even though it’s there.
She tries to keep rattling on, but I’ve had enough of it. I grab her by the elbow, dragging her into our home. I head right for the kitchen on a fucking mission to make a new memory.
“Katch, what are you doing?”
I spin her around, backing her up to the counter where she grabbed the knife from. My fingers rip her shirt from her chest. Her pants come down just as fast. She’s bared in front of me. Her body a blank canvas for us to paint our future on. I’m claiming her now with no reservations or fears.
I spin her to face the counter and place her hands on top of it. I reach over to the knife block and place a knife under a palm.
“Wh-What are you doing, Katch.”
She’s scared. Slight trembles beginning to control her body.
I press my front side to her back. My cock straining with her bare ass so close and ready to take. My lips brush the delicate shell of her ear, then I tell her exactly what we are going to do.
“Feel the fear, baby. Remember the pain, because I’m about to take that all away.” My teeth sink down into the flesh at the crook of her neck. “We are starting us right fucking now.”
Her fingers clutch the knife. Her trembles reside. She’s giving in to the fear and going to let me wash it all away for her. The gig is, she’s doing that for me times one hundred.
“Take it away. Take it all a fucking away. When I look at you, I see your bleeding body and feel his dick.”
“I know, baby.” My palm runs down her side, wrapping around her front. She’s frozen, dry, and not one inkling of being in the mood.
I glide through her folds while talking in her ear. She has to be able to see and feel me before she’ll let go. The longer I talk, the more she relaxes. My fingers are soon coated and she melts back into me.
“Make me forget, Katch. I need you.”
She tries to reach back with her free hand for my cock, but I stop her. I have her on the floor where Vince once had her. I fight the memories as much as she is. I cover her body like he did, forcing her to look up at me. Her eyes are shut tight at first, but they finally float open when she realizes it’s me. I kiss my way down from her collarbone to her tits then her pelvic area. I don’t stop, determined to taste every single inch of her flesh.
She’s sweet and giving as my tongue works her over. Her back bows off the floor, while her moans fuel me on. I don’t see him anymore or Caitlin’s pleading stare. She’s all I see, smell, and taste. My tongue stays busy, while two of my fingers sink deep into her heat. She falls over the edge, but I’m not done. I rub the entrance of her ass, sinking a finger in there while sucking hard on her clit.
“Now, Katch.” Her hands rip on my hair, pulling me up to her.
I don’t let her work the buttons of my jeans but do it for her. My cock bobs out, bouncing off her abdomen. I run it along her skin, letting the precum blaze a trail on her flesh. Tears roll down her face and her pleas fly from her mouth. My self-control is tapped out. Her core hugs my cock tight. I freeze, not being able to move inside of her.
“Forever,” I whisper.
“Forever.”
As the time goes on, my hips become powerful. I’m bruising her and can’t stop myself. I cum once, but it’s not enough. I fuck her until I’m no longer able to move. We’re covered in each other’s sweat and releases. Someday, my Hollywood will hear those words she deserves to hear.
Epilogue
Caitlin
Family dinners are not my thing. A foreign concept, actually, but it’s something my mother and Trent have been doing for the last six months. The only perk of this dinner is watching Katch get all jittery and break out in hives over it.
He’d rather be at home with his feet kicked up, a full glass of whiskey, and his dick inside me. It’s his lucky day, since this month’s get-together is brunch on a lazy Sunday. The poor man is being held hostage in the living room, watching football with Trent. His only response is an occasional growl here or there.
“How long on the timer, Mom?”
“Forty-five.”
I toss in the egg sausage casserole, whirl around, and swipe some of the whipped cream she made for a cobbler. I should see it coming, but I don’t. My mother nails me with a quick lash of the towel to the side.
“That’s gross. Knock it off.”
Giggles boil up in me, and I repeat the action and then take off for the living room before she has time to catch me again. Many days and several memories ago, I used to do the same thing. At first, I was a clear lover of food, but then it was fun getting my mom all fired up.
I dart for Katch’s lap and land right in the middle of it. He’s my big, bad guy, always by my side to protect me.
“Don’t think that little stunt will be helping you, young lady.” My mother swats her towel at my head.
Katch growls in my defense then receives his own swat to the back of the head.
“I’m not afraid of you, Katch,” she replies.
He growls again, just like the wild beast he is, then wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. I’m able to lay my head on his shoulder with no reservations or the fear of the future, all because of him. In moments of silence the what if thoughts assault me. What if we had beat the devil himself to the punch? What if Katch had never picked me up? What if I had never opened my heart to the greatest adventure of my life?
I let those thoughts fly out the window as fast as they threaten to attack my soul. The saving grace is in the way he holds me, his scent that fills my nostrils, and his taste; they are all my anchors in life. I do all three of those things right now to ground myself in the moment.
Our awkward family situations are just that, awkward as fuck. Katch doesn’t do family, but he does for me, even if it comes in the form o
f growls and grunts. He suddenly stands up and begins walking down the hall to the bathroom.
“Oh no, you two don’t!” My mom’s voice flows down the hallway. “I know what you two do in there during these meals.”
My face falls to the crook of Katch’s neck, flushed with embarrassment. The heat burns the apples of my cheeks. He’s giving me all my stolen moments of my younger years back tenfold and making sure my parents are at my side the whole time.
“Busted,” he growls, palming my ass. “I’m so fucking hard it hurts.”
I lean back to taunt him. “I was going to suck you off, too.”
“Fuck being busted.” He takes long strides to the bathroom.
The ringing of the doorbell stops us dead in our tracks.
“I’ll get it,” Trent hollers.
Katch sets me down, tugging me behind him. There’s a familiar sight at the front door. A police officer. Trent stands guard in front of my mother like he always does. There’ve been several visits from the local police department checking in on the status of my mother and if she has any further information she could share with them.
“Ma’am.” The officer nods.
By the way Trent’s shoulders tense up, I can tell he knows this officer on a close basis. He still works on the force.
“Just checking in to see how everything has been.”
My mom tucks herself into Trent’s side, not shy about the fact she’s found her true love and never letting it go. The best role model a woman can have. She gives her typical reply of not remembering anything more. That there hasn’t been any contact whatsoever from the kidnappers, convincing the shit out of the officer.
When Opposites Collide Boxset Page 20
