Peace of Infinity

by Maegan Abel

  “Dom!” Cara screamed, though the sound was more of a sob. Evie took off in the direction of Cara’s room and I jogged after Dom, catching up with him at the elevator.

  “Back off, Gavin. I mean it,” he snapped, pounding the button with the side of his fist.

  “Let’s talk outside,” I said, noting the eyes of the nursing staff on us.

  He didn’t speak as the doors opened and we rode down to the first floor, but the fury rolling off him battered around the tiny metal box as his hands raked through his hair.

  As soon as we stepped out of the hospital, he turned and headed down the sidewalk, moving quickly toward the parking lot. I followed. “What the fuck was that? What happened in there, man?” When he didn’t answer, I grabbed his arm. Catching me off guard, he yanked free and spun toward me, looking ready to throw a punch. Dom was never violent. He rarely got angry. “Whoa. Easy.”

  With a growl of frustration, he slammed his fist full force into the brick of the building. I flinched, certain he’d just broken bones. “She’s fucking protecting him!”

  “I know!” I yelled, matching his anger. “Trust me, I know, and it’s infuriating, but you have got to keep it together. She was in a very traumatic accident today and she needs you. You can’t walk away right now. You can’t make it worse.”

  “Fuck that. I’m not sitting around and watching her…” he trailed off and shook his head. Shoving past me, he headed toward his car in the parking lot.

  I realized where his head was and chased him yet again, pinning him against his car to stop him. “I will handle this, Dom. Don’t even think about going after him. Give me time. We have to take him down the right way.”

  “He gave up his chance for the right way when he put his hands around her throat,” he said, the words sounding as lethal as the look in his eyes. He shrugged from my grip and slid behind the wheel of his car. I backed away, watching as he started the engine and sped off.

  “Shit,” I muttered, pissed I now had to worry about him as well.

  I headed back into the building, making my way back to the ICU. Taking my time, I tried to decide if I needed to call and have Dom picked up. He’d never forgive me for that move. Plus, the reminder of Evie’s face when she saw Cara along with the memory of the way Cara looked pinned in the car almost made me wish I could go with him. I paused at the door to Cara’s room when I heard her sobbing.

  “He’s never coming back. He hates me.” Her voice sounded so broken, it took everything in me not to call Dom right then and tell him what he was doing to her by leaving.

  “He’ll be back. Trust me,” Evie said, her tone soothing. I pushed open the door a little and saw Evie curled up with Cara on the bed, holding her. Cara’s body was hunched in, her face wet from tears and tight with pain. She looked as broken as she sounded. “You know how these guys are. Look at Gavin. I can’t freaking shake the guy, no matter how hard I try.” Evie looked straight at me, giving me a tight smile.

  Cara followed Evie’s eyes and her expression became hopeful when she saw me. A part of me hated Dom for not only making Cara look that way, but for leaving me the task of hurting her yet again.

  “He needs to cool off. He’ll be back,” I promised, hoping I was telling the truth. He wouldn’t give up that easily, I was sure. I wasn’t as sure that he wouldn’t end up getting himself hurt or in trouble trying to protect or avenge her though. I started to move toward the bed.

  “I want to press charges against Shawn,” she said, her voice firm.

  I paused, lifting my eyebrows. She nodded and even while her body trembled with obvious fear, I saw determination in the set of her jaw and fierceness of her eyes that reminded me a lot of Evie. I nodded back. “Okay. I’ll make the call.”

  Cara spent three days in the hospital before they released her. She spoke with a detective and a warrant for Shawn’s arrest was issued. So far, the only sighting had been at a hospital in Mt. Pleasant. Unfortunately, we hadn’t been informed until he was discharged, but we were still hopeful. He would have to return home or to his job eventually, and then we would have him. He was facing multiple assault charges as well as kidnapping for the day of the accident.

  The downside to the three days was Dom didn’t return. I tried calling him, but only got voicemail. I spent all my time either at work or the hospital with Evie and Cara, only leaving to sleep since Evie was staying with Cara. Now, with the girls going home, I was trying to figure out how to talk Evie into letting me stay with them. Or get them a security system. Or both.

  When Cara told us what happened the day Shawn kidnapped her, I knew I wouldn’t be allowing either of them out of my sight for a while. Cara explained, her voice trembling, how Shawn had showed up at the house when she’d called in sick to work. He’d pushed his way inside and then dragged her out after kicking Stitch aside when he tried to come to her rescue. The story rattled Evie and once Cara had fallen asleep again, Evie asked me to go to the house, pack them both clothes, and check on Stitch.

  I did as she asked, allowing the officers inside to take pictures for evidence. Once they were done, I cleaned so the girls wouldn’t have to come home to see blood and the general disarray from a fight. Stitch had been an anxious mess and I took him to my house for the time being. He’d more than proven he would protect the girls, but there was no way I was comfortable leaving them alone until we knew something more about Shawn and where he was. He’d been off the radar so far, but he was still a threat.

  While we waited for Cara’s discharge papers, I pulled Evie aside.

  “What’s up?” she asked, a smile in place. It was something that was taking me a little time to adjust to—Evie smiling at me and being with me in a normal capacity. It didn’t mean she lost the sassy attitude, but I wouldn’t want her to.

  “I want you and Cara to come stay with me until we can find Shawn,” I said, putting a hand lightly on her neck when she frowned.

  “I don’t think—” she started, just like I knew she would.

  “Ev, I need to make sure you’re both okay. It’s only temporary. Neither of you are safe at the house right now,” I said, trying to make my case. “So I’d prefer if you stayed with me. If not, I’ll be staying at your place.”

  “What’s my other option?” she asked, her forehead wrinkled and eyes showing agitation. She wasn’t used to someone else calling the shots in her life and I was aware of that, I just didn’t care at the moment.

  “There isn’t another option,” I answered, leaning closer as her eyes tightened. “Either the three of us are at your place or the three of us are at mine.”

  She shook her head, shrugging away from my touch in a huff. “You’re such a pain in my ass,” she snapped, turning to head back to her sister. I grabbed her arm to stop her.

  “Which is it?” I asked, not letting her out of making a decision.

  “I’m going to ask her where she’d rather stay,” she said, yanking her arm free. I sighed, hating that I pissed her off. But I won, even if it was a small victory.

  As it turned out, Cara wasn’t ready to go home. She was relieved at the option to stay at my place, which only served to piss Evie off more.

  The drive made Cara a little jittery, but I told her it was expected. When we got to the house, both girls were happy to see Stitch and he was particularly protective of Cara. He followed her around the house as I got them both settled in.

  After setting up Cara in the spare room, she took a pain pill and said she was going to sleep. Evie tried to get her to eat something, but she wasn’t feeling well. I went to take a shower and when I got out, Evie took her turn in the bathroom. When she came in the room in a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, I watched her carefully. She glanced over at where I was stretched out under the covers.

  “Are you really going to make me sleep on the couch?” she asked, her head tilted to one side as she raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Why would you sleep on the couch?” I asked.

  “I don’t sh
are the bed. I don’t do the whole cuddling thing,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she lifted her chin.

  I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh at her stubbornness. “Get in the bed, Ev.”

  “Seriously, Gavin, if you start bossing me around…” she warned.

  I stared at her for a moment, assessing how willing I was to fight over this tonight. “I have to be up early for work, so either get in the bed or turn off the light on your way out.” I stayed where I was, challenging my challenging woman to see which road she would take.

  She huffed and shut off the light before climbing into bed beside me. I grinned in the darkness.

  “Don’t for a second think you’ve won,” she snapped.

  “You’re mine and you’re in my bed. I won,” I answered firmly.

  “I’m not property. Don’t try to claim me,” she muttered.

  I moved, rolling over to pin her to the bed beneath my body. I stayed on my forearms so my face could be close to hers. Her eyes were narrowed, but I leaned down and kissed her anyway, showing her exactly what I meant when I said she was mine.

  “We can’t do this,” he groaned, his hands on my shoulders to push me away. He swallowed hard, dropping his head and cutting off my view of those eyes.

  “Don’t…” I started, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I bit my lip, feeling the tears burning my throat before I kissed him make their way to my eyes. This was too hard.

  “You have to make the choice, Ev.” He stepped back farther, dropping his hands this time and I felt myself wobble at the loss of contact. I was unused to heels this high and the train of my wedding gown was constantly getting caught up beneath my feet. “I didn’t mean for it to happen this way. I shouldn’t have told you any of it. God, I’m sorry.” His hands went to his already mussed hair and I watched as he took another step toward the door. Another step out of my life.

  “I knew there was something. I could feel it,” I admitted, watching him falter as his head snapped up to meet my gaze. “It was the day we met. When I fell down the stairs and you rushed over to help me. There was…” I rolled my hands in front of my torso, picking and tugging at the lace there, trying to find the word. I was completely flustered and an absolute mess. “I felt it. I knew you were meant to be there at that moment.”

  “Fate doesn’t mean—”

  “I’m not saying it was just fate,” I said, hating that I could see how much he was hurting. His pain caused me pain. Why was that? “I’ve known. I’ve known something was different about us. Maybe I didn’t know there was an actual word for it, but you’re a fool if you think I didn’t feel it. I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t.”

  He took one step toward me, his head tilted to the side as he studied my face. “What are you saying, Ev?” I shook my head, but I couldn’t get the words out. “Why are you here?”

  That was the question, wasn’t it? The answer would change my entire life as I knew it.

  “I love you, Gavin.” Saying it was painful, but also completely right. “I can’t pretend I don’t. Not anymore. I…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that, but it’s the truth.”

  He hesitated and then took another step closer, putting us just inches apart again. We weren’t even touching, but I could feel his presence surrounding me and wished it were his arms. “What do you want?”

  Taking a deep breath, I let the words I’d been thinking for months rush out of my mouth in a flurry. “I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want anyone else. I just want to be with you.”

  I barely finished before his lips were on mine again.

  The shift happened immediately and I no longer cared one bit about how different my life would be. All I cared about was the man crushing me to his body with those arms I’d been dreaming about for over a year.

  Maybe it was the heat that woke me. Maybe it was the dream. I wasn’t sure, but as I blinked into the dark, I realized I was on my side and Gavin’s body was fitted to mine from head to toe. One of his arms was under the pillow my head was resting on and the other was wrapped around my middle, holding me to him.

  Spooning. He was spooning me.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake.

  “Ugh. Get off me,” I grumbled, still half asleep as I shoved at his arm.

  “Stop.” His voice was husky in a way that would’ve been sexy if he weren’t pinning me to the bed. Okay, so it was still sexy. But I ignored that.

  “Let go,” I said, still trying to get free of his arm.

  With an annoyed sigh, the arm under my head snaked out from under the pillow and grabbed the edge of the blanket in front of me. I barely had time to wonder what he was doing before his arm moved again, coming under me and ending up behind my back with the blanket in his fist. I saw what was happening too late and my arms were pinned by the comforter as he pulled the top tight.

  “Shit. Let me go,” I snapped, wide awake and flying quickly into pissed way the hell off.

  “Stop fighting,” he said, quiet but with an annoyed grunt as an elbow connected with his side.

  “No. I don’t like to be trapped. Let me go,” I said, still struggling with everything I had.

  I felt his face at my neck and he dropped a soft kiss there. I considered throwing my head back to hit him with it, but just as I went to move, his still husky voice whispered, “You said you were in this, Evie. You’re only fighting me to be fighting and I’m exhausted. Please?”

  I sighed, grumbling under my breath about hating him, but relenting in my struggle. He was right. I told him I was in this, but that didn’t mean I could handle cuddly shit. He let out a soft laugh and kissed my neck again, thoroughly distracting me as he dragged his teeth lightly along the skin.

  “Thank you,” he said as he settled back into place behind me.

  “You think you won again,” I huffed, frowning into the darkness of the room.

  He squeezed me tighter and chuckled, making his point clear. He had won. Dammit. I sighed and waited, thinking as soon as his grip loosened, I would break free. But the warmth of his body, the feel of his breath on my neck and shoulder…before I knew it, I was asleep again.

  I woke to Gavin’s warmth again, but this time, it was much more enjoyable. His hand was inside my shorts, fingers grazing over the bare skin beneath as his lips and teeth worked on my collarbone, slipping down my body. My back arched as his mouth found my nipple through my tank with no problem at all. His fingers shifted then, adding more pressure as his eyes met mine.

  He grinned up at me as he moved lower, his hands tugging down and removing my shorts as his mouth landed directly where I wanted it. I gasped, my hands fisting the sheets on either side of me as one of his made its way under my tank. He pushed it up as he continued to work me perfectly. It was just like before, that same impeccable movement where he knew exactly how to work my body without me having to say a word. As things got more heated, my hands found his hair and he wasted no time bringing me straight to an earth shattering, toe-curling climax that was a better wakeup call than any I’d ever had.

  Blinking, I saw his smirk as he made his way back up my body. I couldn’t help but give him a lazy smile in return.

  “Not so bad waking up in my bed, is it?” he asked, nuzzling his nose in my neck. He had a point. It made waking up much more enjoyable, but at his words, I remembered being pinned to him with the blankets last night. I could feel how hard he was as he leaned into my body and I smirked.

  Revenge would be mine.

  “Are you saying you’ll wake me up that way every morning?” I asked, turning to face him. Running one hand down his stomach and into his boxer briefs, I wrapped it around him. He gasped at the sensation and I gave his shoulder a shove. Of course, he complied and rolled to his back.

  “Hell yes I will,” he said, and the roughness in his voice was beyond sexy. I shuddered slightly at the images his promise brought to life in my mind. But I needed to focus.

  I grabbed the top of his boxer briefs and pulled
them off, letting him settle in for what I pretended would be his payback for the orgasm. Out the corner of my eye, I saw exactly what I hoped for on his nightstand. I lowered my head and let my hair fall in my face to hide my smirk. This was going to be fun. I took my time, kissing down the ridges of his abs, which I had to admit I would be happy to spend hours doing, before taking him into my mouth. I used all my best moves, ignoring him when he tried to pull me away. He was ready to move on to sex, but I wasn’t quite there yet. I needed him more worked up.

  Finally, I released him and started up his body. Settling my knees on either side of his torso, I pressed my full body against him. He groaned as his hands went to my hips, but I pulled them away. He was half sitting and I sat up, pulling off my tank top before leaning my body against his once again.

  “I think I might like waking up in your bed,” I semi-lied as I ran my lips along his. I was letting him think he won. I took my time teasing him again, keeping him frustrated and distracted by not allowing him to enter me. My chest pressed into his, moving as I squirmed, hiding the reaching of my hand. I moaned to disguise any sounds as I cautiously pulled the handcuffs from the nightstand.

  Returning my hand to the bed, I slid it under the pillow and worked to open both sides of the handcuffs. One-handed, this was no easy task, but I was dedicated. The question was, would I be able to get them in place before he realized what I was up to?

  Once they were both open, I left them under the pillow and moved my hand away. Lifting my hips, I positioned him and finally let him enter me. We both groaned in unison. It was more than a physical connection and I still didn’t understand it. It didn’t make sense to me. I’d been with plenty of men, yet I only felt it with Gavin. There was something…complete. Something inside was whole when I was with him. How was it possible to feel so connected to him when I’d never felt that with any of the other men I’d been with?