Just then he saw her coming down the hall. As angry as he was, he couldn’t help himself from jumping up and going over to her.
She immediately put her hand up and was going to tell him not to fuss, when he grabbed her in a bear hug. Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face in his neck and found herself unable to hold back the tears.
“I know you’re mad. I’m sorry,” she hiccupped out. “I just wanted to see what these dogs might look like.”
Shane held her tightly for a moment, not allowing his thoughts to travel to the what-ifs. He looked behind her, seeing Carl appearing discomfited. Setting Annie back down, he looked into her big green eyes, saying, “Sunshine, we are going to discuss this later. But for now, you’ve gotta talk to Detective Carter again.” Looking up, she saw the detective that had interviewed her earlier. Sighing, she just nodded as she started to walk away with him.
“Carl,” Shane bit out and Carl jumped. “You are going to talk to my partner Detective Dixon. And I’m going to be in there as well. And after you finish with him, you and me are going to have a little chat.”
“Great,” Carl moaned as he followed them down the hall.
Two hours later the detectives were finished, at least happy that they had some possible descriptions, including tattoos, to go on. Shane and Carl had their talk, Carl looking decidedly unhappy. Annie walked over to him, giving him a quick hug. “I’m sorry I drug you into this,” she said.
He nervously looked over her shoulder as he hugged her back, seeing Shane’s glare. “It was my idea to go with you, doc.” Letting go of her, he smiled as he said, “See you on Monday,” before he turned and walked out of the door.
Annie slowly turned around to see Shane standing off to the side. Pulling her lips in, she walked over to him keeping her gaze on his. Reaching up, she placed her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating underneath her fingertips. “Are you still mad?”
The anger and fear that had been at an all-time high several hours ago had waned. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. Kissing the top of her head, he said, “No baby. But we do have things to discuss. Things like how can Jobe keep you safe when you are just supposed to be shopping, and we don’t know where you are? We’re supposed to have trust, sunshine, but you knew when you went out this morning that you were deceiving me. And Carl? You drug him along not understanding the dangers of this world I’ve been telling you about.”
Annie just nodded her head against his chest, feeling the tears welling up again. “I was scared,” her quiet voice said. “I don’t understand how people can be so cruel to animals.”
Closing his eyes, he pulled her in even tighter. What would she think if she knew some people treat their children worse than those dogs? Glad that his sunshine did not deal with those horrors, he just said, “Lots of shitty people in the world, baby. I gotta deal with them, but I don’t want you to. So no more, right?” He gently pulled on her hair so that she raised her eyes up to his. “No more investigating? No more going out on your own? No more putting yourself in danger, right?”
Nodding, she agreed. “Yeah. Just doing my job from now on. I’ll be the vet and you be the detective.” Lifting her eyes back to his sky blue ones, she pleaded, “But Shane?”
He looked down into the green orbs that he swore held his soul. “Yeah, sunshine?”
“I can’t sit by and do nothing if there is some way I can help.”
“I get that, baby. But don’t go off by yourself and don’t drag your friends into it. Tell me. Let me step in and do what I need to do.” He held her gaze for a moment. “Promise?”
“I promise,” she said, and stood on her tiptoes to reach his lips. Kissing him lightly, she lowered back down. “I loaned my car to Carl to get home and he’ll bring it to me on Monday. Can you take me home?”
Smiling as he tucked her into his side, throwing his arm over her shoulders. “Nowhere I’d rather be than with you, babe. Nowhere at all.” Giving a head jerk to Matt, he took her home.
Chapter 26
Waking up slowly the next morning, Annie couldn’t help but smile. Last night, Shane had showed her just how much he loved her as he worshiped her body. Stretching, she felt sore in a few muscles that had gotten a workout. Before she could roll over a muscular arm snaked under her breasts and pulled her firmly back against his rock-hard chest. Immediately she felt his erection pressing into her ass and his lips raining soft kisses on her neck.
“Ummmm,” she groaned as she felt herself get wet and her nipples harden as his hand cupped her breasts. “Morning,” she said, twisting her head to capture his mouth.
He slid his tongue into her mouth, immediately turning the kiss into a hard, wet, possessive mating of tongues. He felt her meet him stroke for stroke, inflaming him more, and he slid his leg between hers separating them. He slid his fingers into her folds, noticing how wet she was. That’s my sunshine, always ready for me. He pushed his swollen cock into her welcoming body, driving into the hilt.
Sliding in and out, he began with slow, deliberate strokes before the sensations overtook and he started to thrust wildly. One hand held her hips, pulling her back to meet his strokes, and the other held her breast, tweaking her nipple. Come on, baby. Come for me.
Annie threw her head back as the friction sent electricity pulsing through her pussy to deep in her core. One final roll of his fingers on her nipple and the explosion had her screaming his name.
“That’s it, sunshine.” He buried his face in her silky hair as he felt his orgasm overtake and he emptied himself deep into her. Thrusting several more times as though to eke out every bit of him into her waiting body, he finally lay sated, panting as he pulled her back in closely once again.
Both lay side by side, letting their racing heartbeats slow and their breathing become less ragged.
Lifting his head so that he could see her face, he asked, “You okay, baby?”
“Um hmm,” was the only reply.
Rolling her to face him, he asked again, “Baby, look at me. You okay?”
She opened her eyes and stared at his beautiful pale blue eyes, full of concern. “I am, honey. Why?”
Shane pushed her sweat-damp hair from her face and stared back into her beautiful eyes. “We’ve gone at it quite a bit since we got home. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, honey. I’m perfect,” she said with a grin as she leaned in for a kiss.
“Yeah you are, sunshine.”
The rest of the day was spent in a rare day of working around the house in the morning and piling up on the sofa watching baseball on TV in the afternoon. The house was beginning to really feel like home and Shane always said he liked her decorating in family. Looking around at the pictures on the mantle, she wondered when they would add more. Marriage, children. They hadn’t talked about these things yet, so she wondered if he wanted them as much as she did. Looking over at his strong profile staring at the large screen, she realized that she wanted him in her life forever.
He looked over at her staring at him and lifted his brow in question. Wrapping his hand around her neck, he brought her gently over to him, tucking her tightly next to him. “What’s on your mind, baby?”
“I was just wondering where you saw us going, Shane.”
He smiled, knowing that her honest question showed exactly what he loved about her. No pretense. No making him try to guess what she was thinking or needing. He thought back to his two years of darkness. All that time trying to guess what the hell everyone needed without letting them know who he was and I walk out to pure, fuckin’ sunshine.
“I see us gettin’ married and having kids. Living in this house and raising our family here,” he said honestly.
She twisted quickly in his arms to stare intently into his expressive eyes. All she saw looking back at her was love. Smiling, she grabbed his face and kissed him with all the love she had. “I hoped for that, but wasn’t sure if it was w
hat a beast like you wanted.”
“Sunshine, don’t you know? You’ve tamed this beast.” With that, the baseball game was forgotten as he reminded her just how much he loved her.
* * *
Monday morning found Annie hurrying down the street toward the clinic, her pastry bag in her hand. Smiling, she remembered Mrs. Greenwald sharing that she finally had a date with Mr. Machelli. “Hmm, love is in the air, so maybe I can do some work on Suzanne and Matt. They both need someone to love.”
Running into the clinic, she found Leon in a panic. “Suzanne hasn’t come in yet and Carl called to say that he won’t be in either. So it looks like it is just you and me, doc. Thank goodness it’s an easy morning. We don’t have any early appointments.”
“Suzanne texted me this morning to say that she was sick and couldn’t come in, but I didn’t know about Carl. Well, if we get anything major in we’ll just have to refer them to the emergency vet.”
Annie walked in to the back area to make sure they were ready while Leon manned the front desk. Hearing the jingle of the front door, she knew that Leon was greeting whoever was coming in so she made a quick trip to the office to store the pastries and fire up the computer. A loud thump came from the front and she walked out, not hearing anything else. That’s odd. Usually Leon talks non-stop to the clients. She walked through the lab area to head to the front when suddenly she stopped in her tracks.
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the face of the young man from the van of puppies she had encountered a few days previously. In his hand he waved a black plastic device, but she didn’t know what it was.
“Where’s Leon?” she whispered, her eyes never leaving his hand.
“You don’t know what this is, girlie? I got me a stun gun and your man out there is not gonna be botherin’ us. Now you do just what I say and I won’t have to use this on you.”
A small dog came running over to the man’s feet and he immediately kicked out, sending the dog whimpering away.
Annie’s eyes, wide with fright, looked at him with her questions unspoken.
His smile curved his lips as his eyes roved over her body. “You wondering about the dog. Yeah, pretty smart, huh? I walk in with a dog and nobody thinks anything about it. How about you and me just take a little trip out the back door.”
Annie’s eyes glanced at the security cameras in the corner of the room, hoping someone at Tony’s security company was watching. Jobe! Jobe should be outside.
The man’s eyes followed hers and as he realized that they were on cameras, he shot into action. Whirling around, he grabbed her with one hand and held the taser against her with the other.
The shock was immediate and her muscles contracted before she went limp. He threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and jogged to the alley door. Throwing it open, he was greeted with one of his buddies who grabbed her arms and tied them quickly behind her back before they threw her on the floor of the van.
“Go man! They got fuckin’ security cameras!” she heard someone shout before they pulled out of the alley and onto the road behind her clinic.
Annie, stilled stunned, couldn’t seem to get her body or mind to work properly. Not able to do anything but lay still, she hoped the security that Shane put in place was already in action. Shane. Please find me.
As the van was pulling away, Jobe received the signal from his earpiece that someone was in the clinic. “Fuck!” he yelled into his microphone. “A guy went in with a goddamn dog. I thought he was a client.”
As Jobe charged in he saw Leon down on the floor of the reception area, starting to move. “He got her. I could hear them. He got her,” Leon rasped.
Jobe was running to the alley, but all he could see was the back of the van as it turned onto the road opposite of where his SUV was. Knowing he could never catch them, he yelled into his mic. “Too far. Call the cameras up and get Tony.”
“He’s already on it. He’s calling Shane right now,” came the answer back.
Running back to Leon, he could hear the sirens coming closer as Leon pleaded for him to find Annie.
“Don’t worry man. My boss is talking to Shane. Jesus, fuck. Those assholes don’t know what they’ve done.”
Leon looked into Jobe’s face as he was assisted to stand. The question in his eyes went unspoken.
Jobe looked at him, his face tight with anger. “I’m pissed as hell and we’re gonna get the doc back. But Shane? Fuck man. They’ve let loose the wild man and don’t even know it.”
* * *
Shane looked down at his phone in the middle of a briefing, seeing Tony’s number. “What’s up?” he asked as he stepped outside the room. He was silent for just a few seconds before his legs gave out from under him.
Matt jumped up grabbing the phone from Shane, not knowing who he was talking to. “It’s Dixon. Talk.” The words coming back almost took him to his knees as well.
“Fuck.” He immediately put his phone on speaker as others gathered around.
“Got everything on camera. Man came in with a dog, just as though he was a client. That’s how he got past my man outside. He dropped the dog then tasered the man in the reception area. Went back, talked to Doctor Donavan for just a moment, and then tasered her. He carried her out and was met by another man who tied her up. They left in a white panel van. We got the plates and have called it in officially.” Tony rattled all of this off quickly and efficiently.
“Is Shane still there?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Matt answered.
“She didn’t have her purse, but her cell is on her. We’ve got a trace on it. My men are rolling into the office now. We’re sending you the coordinates.”
A policewoman rushed into the room. “The officers that went to the clinic to assist were told to check on the young woman, Suzanne, that works there. He was afraid that she was in danger too since he can’t get hold of her on her phone. I’ve got two officers going to her apartment now.”
Shane looked at Matt, his mind racing. Fuck, pull it together. Think it through. “Carl. We gotta get someone to Carl’s place as well. He was with her the other day so he may be in danger as well. Get Leon to get his address. He lives with his mother down the block. Hell, get Jobe on it. He knows the address.”
Snagging his phone, he started to walk down the hall with Matt right on his heels.
“Shane,” Matt said while grabbing his arm. “Where are you goin’? You’ve gotta stay here man.”
Shane turned on his friend and partner, a look of pure white anger shooting from his ice blue eyes, growling, “Get your hands off, Matt.”
“Shane, you can’t go running outta here half-cocked. Right now, you don’t know where she is. She needs you clear-headed, working the problem. She needs you to get all the intelligence we can gather. It’s the only way to find her and keep her safe.”
Matt looked into the eyes of his friend, seeing anguish war with the anger that was there.
“I’ve just got…,” Shane’s voice cracked and he dropped his eyes for a moment.
They both looked up as the chief came around the corner looking for them. “Got more. The girl Suzanne was found in her apartment. She’s alive but had been tasered as well and tied up. That person must have used her phone to text in this morning so that no one would be looking for her.”
“Jesus, fuck,” Shane bit out, realizing how organized this operation had been.
“There’s more,” the chief said, causing Shane and Matt to focus their eyes on him again.
“Dr. Carl Odgen. His mother died a few months ago. There is no apartment that he shared with her. It’s just his stuff and not much of it. He’s missing too.”
“So he’s an imposter? Not even a vet?” Matt growled.
“No, he’s a licensed veterinarian. We don’t know at this time what his involvement is. We just know he doesn’t live with his mother and he’s missing.”
Matt and Shane looked at each other, trying to fit the pieces to
gether.
“If Carl was part of the gang, he had plenty of opportunity to hurt Annie. Hell, even at the markets the other day he could have helped take her. It doesn’t add up.”
“Men,” the chief said, calling their attention back to him. “I don’t usually agree with partnering with a security agency, but I want you two over at Alverez Security. We need everything we can get.” With that, the chief turned and walked back into the briefing room while Matt and Shane charged out of the building.
* * *
Annie was lying in the back of another panel van, bouncing on the hard metal floor, her arms and shoulders screaming with pain from being tied behind her back. Tape covered her mouth so that she couldn’t make a sound. Her kidnappers had changed vans twice; each time the drivers had stayed the same. The young man who had tasered her kept looking back over his shoulder.
She lost all sense of direction, not having any idea where they were going. Oh, please let Leon be all right. And let Shane get hold of the security tapes. But they’ve changed vans. The license plates will be different.
Just then the van made a sharp turn and the road became very bumpy. She felt every jostle, every pothole, every movement of the van as her head banged against the metal floor once again. A movement to her side had her jerking her head around. The young man had crawled out of his seat and into the back of the van.
Heart pounding, she could feel bile rising, but tried to force it down, knowing with her mouth taped shut she could choke.
“You’re very pretty, doctor,” he said, eyes glittering as they stared at her chest. He reached out a finger and traced her jaw down to her neck, then down further as he slid his hand over her breast and squeezed. “You and me, we could have a lot of fun,” he said.
“Marco! Stop feeling up the girl and get your ass back up here,” the driver yelled.
The one called Marco scowled as his gaze shot between the driver and Annie. His eyes drifted back down to her heaving breasts. Giving one final squeeze, he crawled back up to the front of the van and sat back down in his seat.
Love's Taming (The Love's Series) Page 23
