Claiming Lainey [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Lynnette Bernard

  “I need to get my sister and leave,” she said quietly, looking up at him and holding her hands in tight fists against her chest to keep them to herself.

  There was a sound of an explosion behind them coming from inside the diner. Bryce grabbed for Zoey and turned her to protect her from the shattering glass that shot out toward the street but not before a shard of it had sliced across Zoey’s left arm, cutting her from wrist to elbow.

  He threw them both to the ground, doing his best to take the brunt of the fall as he covered her body with his own. Reaching up and grabbing the speaker from his shoulder he called into it loud enough for dispatch to hear him.

  “Dispatch, Markham’s Diner has been the site of an explosion. Fire and ambulance needed immediately. Possible multiple victims. Fletcher out.”

  “Roger that. Assistance on the way, Fletcher.”

  Bryce pushed himself to his feet and turned to survey the front of the diner. The front door had been blown open by the explosion. He turned to see Zoey struggling to her feet. Blood was dripping down her left arm and there were a multitude of cuts across her right cheek and shoulder. Ripping off his uniform shirt, he pulled it free of the speaker and wrapped it carefully around his woman’s arm—and he had no doubt in his mind that she was his woman. He ripped the ends of the shirt, wrapping the material around her injury to create a makeshift bandage and tying it tightly.

  “Stay here, Zoey,” he commanded her, turning to head into the diner to see if anyone was inside.

  “Like hell,” Zoey muttered, heading into the diner right behind the handsome officer. She saw the cuts from the glass that had exploded out at them covering his back and oozing blood through the many slices in his white T-shirt. “You’re hurt, Bryce.” She touched his back lightly, afraid for him—the man she had just seen was meant to be her mate and the father of the baby she would be carrying.

  He turned around to face her and she was mesmerized by the blueness of his eyes. His ruggedly handsome face was fierce with concentration, and she nearly reached out and touched his chiseled jaw and the long scar that ran from it down the length of his neck. She wondered what could have possibly happened to him to have received that scar and knew it had to have been a very painful experience.

  “I’m coming with you,” she told him with fierce determination.

  He looked at her briefly, searching her face for any fear or panic, nodding when he saw neither. “Okay, but if I tell you to get out, you’d better do exactly as I say. Are we clear?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered. “Now move it so we can get DelAnne and the rest of the women out of there.”

  He couldn’t prevent the smile that came to him as he realized how strong and resilient a mate he had. He was gong to enjoy her and his life with her—he just knew it.

  Heading into the diner, he searched methodically for the women he knew had to be in there. He could hear the sound of sirens off in the distance and hoped they would arrive in enough time to help. Zoey was right by his side as he rounded the corner and found Lainey lying unconscious on the floor.

  Zoey reached for her neck and checked her pulse. “She’s alive,” she whispered. “You go check the back room for my sister, Claire, and Becca. I’ll get her outside.”

  Standing, she reached beneath Lainey’s shoulders and took firm hold, pulling her out from behind the counter. She dragged her toward the front door, relieved when she saw the ambulance pulling up out front. Two police cruisers and a fire engine pulled up right behind them.

  “Officer Fletcher is inside looking for my sister DelAnne, Claire Hamilton, and Becca Markham!” she shouted as the emergency responders exited their respective vehicles.

  She turned to go back in but was pulled back by an EMT. She shoved him away and rushed back inside the diner. She ignored the shouts behind her and headed into the kitchen just as Bryce Fletcher was carrying DelAnne out.

  “There are two more women in the kitchen!” he yelled to the rescue workers. “You are coming with me. Now!”

  He looked at Zoey, daring her to defy him. He demanded her compliance, looking at her with such intensity, she had no choice but to follow him. She went with him to the back of the ambulance and waited while the EMT examined her sister. She didn’t know when it had happened, but she found that her hand had been taken by the handsome deputy and was being held firmly.

  “You need to look at Bryce’s back when you’re finished with my sister,” she told the EMT, her voice even despite the way her entire body was shaking. “He has cuts from the exploding glass all across his back.”

  “Your arm is in worse shape than my back, honey,” he told her calmly.

  “It is?”

  “Yes, sweetheart,” he whispered, leaning forward and taking the ultimate chance in kissing her lips. When she didn’t pull away, he wrapped his arms around her and held her firmly against his chest.

  He released his hold on her when she pushed at him lightly. He saw the way her eyes looked up at him in fear and wondered why she would have that reaction. He was going to make it his mission to find out.

  He turned to see two deputies carrying out the two other women who had been in the diner, saying a prayer of thanks that both Becca Markham and Claire Hamilton were both alive. Another ambulance raced up the road, parking quickly. The women were quickly placed inside it, and Bryce finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  When he looked back at the diner, he saw the flames that were beginning to engulf it. The fire fighters were at work within seconds, spraying a deluge of water onto the flames. It was only a matter of minutes before the fire was contained, but it still wasn’t safe.

  “There’s a gas leak,” Sheriff Sturgess told him as he walked toward them. “It’s a good thing you arrived when you did or the women would have died.”

  “Damn it,” Bryce said angrily. “You know Hughes did this.”

  “I do. But I’m not going to do a damn thing about it until I have the evidence I need to make sure that the man doesn’t walk away.”

  Bryce nodded. He completely understood and agreed. Jenkins Hughes had nearly killed three women and had injured his mate. He had also destroyed the livelihood of the Markham sisters. He deserved whatever the law could throw at him.

  “We need to contact Lainey’s mates,” Bryce said quietly.

  “Already did,” Sturgess told him.

  Bryce nodded and turned his attention back to the woman who sat quietly on the bumper of the ambulance. She was holding her arm against her chest and was watching the EMT who was working on her sister. She was completely unaware of his presence when he came up to stand in front of her.

  “So, Zoey,” he said quietly. “Are you going to admit that when you touched me you saw that we’re going to be mated and we’re going to have a baby, or what?”

  She looked up at him with sad eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she told him quietly, standing up and turning away from him. “I didn’t see any such thing.”

  “Are you denying what we both shared?”

  “I’m telling you, nothing happened,” she told him without looking back at him. “We didn’t share anything. There is nothing between us, and there never will be, Officer Fletcher.”

  Bryce watched as she carefully climbed into the back of the ambulance and accepted the help of the EMT. He didn’t understand why she refused to acknowledge something that was destined to be. When she turned to look back at him, her eyes were cold and distant. In that moment, he ached down to his very soul, mourning the loss of the mate and the child he would never know.

  Chapter 31

  The main entrance door to Denver Memorial exploded open as the McKade family entered in a rush. Amber Matthews jumped in surprise but quickly composed herself. As head nurse on duty, she had seen many families come into the emergency room entrance in various states of panic, and she was used to helping to calm them down. Seeing that it was her childhood friends gave her a sense of worry, but she knew that the staff on duty
would do all that they could to help her friends.

  “Amber, do you know where Lainey is?” Spence McKade called out to her as he approached the nurses’ station and saw Lainey’s childhood friend standing behind the desk.

  “Room 657 North, Spence,” she told him quickly, her light brown eyes filled with concern as she faced him. Seeing the way Tim and Spence were nearly in a panic, she knew that she had to help them. Walking around the desk at the nurses’ station, she reached out and touched their forearms lightly. “She was conscious and able to speak to us when they brought her in.”

  Spence nodded and turned, running toward the elevators, Tim close beside him. He punched the elevator button and reached out to touch Tim’s shoulder and squeeze it tightly.

  “Tim,” he whispered.

  “I know,” Tim said quietly. “We have to believe that everything will be okay, Spence.”

  Spence nodded and did his best to remain in control. His heart felt like it was about to pound out of his chest. When he had received the phone call from Sheriff Sturgess telling him about the explosion and fire at the diner, he felt as if his whole world was crashing in. Tim’s emotional turmoil was worse.

  Tim knew that it was probably his father who had caused the destruction of the diner. His father had been the one responsible for jeopardizing the lives of Becca, Claire, DelAnne, Lainey, and their babies. His father had been the one who had caused injuries to Zoey and Officer Fletcher. His father had done that all. And he probably didn’t care one damn bit that he had.

  Tim’s heart pounded within his chest as he thought about the possibility of losing their mate and their twins. Losing Lainey was not an option. Never knowing their sweet babies was not an option. He couldn’t think about that happening. He wouldn’t think about that happening.

  The elevator doors opened, and the two men stepped inside, pushing the sixth floor button. Just as the doors were about to close, two large hands shoved between them, making the doors halt and slide open to admit Rafe and Jake. Spence looked at them and saw that his brothers were just as upset as he and Tim were.

  “Did they tell you anything about Becca and Claire?” Tim asked them.

  “They told us their room numbers. They’re on the same floor as Lainey,” Jake said, his voice hard. “They wouldn’t tell us anything more.”

  “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that my father did this,” Tim said softly. “If they don’t catch him, I’ll kill him myself.”

  “Don’t put this on yourself, Tim,” Jake told him firmly. “You’re not responsible for what Jenkins did. And I’ll help you take him out if he gets away with this.”

  Spence closed his eyes and did his best to center himself. He didn’t want to think about anything except holding their mate and loving her. He wanted to take her home, take care of her, and protect her and their babies. He didn’t give a damn about anything else.

  The elevator doors opened and the four men rushed down the hallway, looking for the numbers on the doors that would lead them to their mates. They must have looked like a wall of invaders as they rushed down the hall, but none of them cared about anything except getting to their woman.

  “Here’s 657, Tim,” Spence called out to him as he pushed at the door and carefully walked into the quiet hospital room.

  Lainey was lying very still in the bed, a mask covering her nose and mouth and pumping oxygen into her. There was a bruise on the left side of her head and her complexion was very pale.

  They walked over to her slowly, taking off their cowboy hats and holding them in their hands, crumpling the brims in their nervousness. Before they could do anything, the hospital room door opened and a doctor walked in, going quickly to Lainey and checking her vital signs.

  “Are you this woman’s next of kin?” he asked them quietly.

  “She’s our mate,” Spence answered for the both of them. “Is she okay?”

  “She will be,” the doctor told them, not even reacting to the fact that she had two mates.

  “Doc, she’s pregnant with twins,” Tim told him, the worry in his voice evident.

  “The EMTs told us. She was conscious for a brief moment in the ambulance. She regained consciousness when we were examining her. Your mate told us that she was isolated in her office for most of the time, so she was exposed to the gas for only a short time. She said she got dizzy and fell. That’s how she got the injury to the left side of her head. We believe the babies are perfectly fine but we’ll be doing an ultrasound shortly. That should alleviate any concerns that we might have.”

  Lainey’s moan drew all of their attention. Both men went to her immediately and stood on either side of the bed, each of them taking one of her hands in theirs. She looked up at them both and smiled behind the oxygen mask.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  “I’m so sorry, honey,” Tim told her, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles lightly.

  “For what, Timmy?”

  “My father did this.”

  “He did?”

  Tim nodded, his eyes showing Lainey the pain and guilt he was feeling. She pulled him closer, her grip weak.

  “He’s not your father,” she told Tim softly. “Mr. McKade was your father, remember?”

  “Lainey,” Tim began, his voice filled with pain.

  “No. Stop. You are not responsible for this, Tim.” She turned to look at Spence. “Tell him, Spence.”

  “She’s right, Tim. This was not your fault.”

  Tim shook his head and leaned over the side rail of the bed to hug Lainey carefully. For the first time in his life he felt completely defeated. All the beatings he had received at the hand of his father, all the cruel words his father had hurled at him, and all the times he felt the pain of not being loved by his mother, couldn’t compare to the complete desolation he was feeling at that moment. No amount of abuse and no moment of pain he had ever been handed in his life, hurt as much as he hurt right then.

  He couldn’t help the tears that fell from his eyes or the deep sobs that escaped him. Knowing that he was the reason Lainey and the other women were injured devastated him. The fear he had that they might have lost their mate and their children was so intense he could barely breathe.

  Lainey couldn’t help but cry as she held Tim tightly against her body and felt his pain. Spence was choked up as well. She could feel the way he was desperate to ease Tim’s sorrow.

  Spence grabbed for Lainey’s hand as she caressed Tim’s back lightly. He squeezed it gently then rested his hand on Tim’s back to pet it in soothing circles. The fear of nearly losing their mate and their unborn babies washed over him, and he didn’t even try to hide the tears that filled his own eyes. Tim’s anguished cries tore him apart—hitting him square in the gut. Spence took a calming breath as he fought to control his own emotions. He needed to do something to protect and comfort all three of them.

  Lainey held onto Tim with as much strength as she could muster, glad when Spence surrounded the both of them with his strong arms. The instant feeling of peace and love filled the three of them.

  “Touch our babies,” Lainey whispered. “They need to feel you just as I do.”

  Both men slid their hands beneath the sheet and light blanket that covered Lainey, pushing aside the hospital gown that she wore so their hands could touch her skin. As soon as their open palms rested against her abdomen, the warmth of their babies greeted them.

  “Can you feel how strong our babies are?” Lainey asked them.

  “Yes,” Tim whispered, his tears ebbing as the feeling of their babies’ life forces eased his worries.

  “They’re definite tigers,” Spence told her, smiling when Lainey giggled softly. He reached out and touched the back of Tim’s head to draw him closer so he could rest his forehead against his.

  “They take after their daddies,” Lainey told them softly, looking up and smiling at the way Spence reached out to Tim to help him.

  “You’re wrong, kitten,” Spence wh
ispered, easing away from Tim to lean down and kiss her temple tenderly. “They take after their mommy.”

  * * * *

  Rafe rushed into the hospital room where Becca lay on her left side, so still and pale. Walking over to her bed, he lowered the side rail and climbed onto the bed to settle beside her, pulling her gently against his body so that he held her tightly as she faced him. He kissed her forehead lightly and reached up to straighten the mask that was pumping oxygen into her.

  “Becca Markham, you are never to scare me like this ever again,” he told her firmly.

  Becca’s eyes fluttered open slowly then widened with surprise. “I must be dead,” she whispered.

  “Becca! Don’t ever say such a thing again,” he warned her.

  “I have to be dead,” she insisted. “That’s the only way I could ever be in your arms. This is exactly what my heaven is, Rafe.”

  “Yeah, well, we’re going to fix that. You just get some rest and we’re going to have a long talk when we get home.”

  “Okay,” she told him tiredly. “Will you stay with me?”

  “Yes,” he whispered, glad when she settled against him trustingly and soon fell asleep.

  He closed his eyes and listened to the rhythmic breathing of the woman he loved. He smiled at the way she thought that being held within his arms was heaven. If she only knew how much it meant to him to have her lying next to him.

  “Baby, I’m never going to let you go,” he told her, trying to figure out how he could actually make that happen without dragging her down into his hell with the guilt that consumed him.

  * * * *

  Jake pushed open the door to Claire’s hospital room slowly. Stepping inside, he saw that she was restless in the bed, whimpering softly.

  “Claire?” he questioned, his voice firm. “Tell me what’s wrong, angel.”

  “It’s too much, Jake,” she told him, moaning softly. “I can feel the pain of everyone here. Please help me.”