“Fuck that! I won’t regret shit!” Edward pulled against his cuffs.
“Calm down, man,” Seth said.
“He was going to rape her!” Edward roared.
Seth’s jaw clenched as he stared at the man on the floor for a long moment. Then he looked at Dana who was on the verge of breaking down and back to the man. He lunged at the man and punched him several times in the ribs and the side of the face before he was pulled off.
“Put him in another room!” the female officer ordered.
The man on the floor gasped for air. “He attacked me!”
“I didn’t see a damn thing,” the woman said.
Bret moved past the police and put an arm around Dana. “Come on, Dana, you don’t need to see this.”
“Get her out of here! And you tell Tyler he’s fucking fired!” Edward yelled.
“Edward-” Dana began to say.
“You mean the guy who was here before? I left the property when he came. I waited until he left before I came back.”
“Are you on fucking crack? What’s wrong with you?”
Edward demanded.
“I love her,” he said.
“Shut up, you sick fuck!” Edward snapped.
“Get her out of here,” one of the officers said.
Seth pulled her out of the room. She went into her room and pulled on her clothes and came back out to see the man was gone and Edward was sitting on the couch, still cuffed, panting heavily.
“Let him calm down,” Seth said. He put an arm around Dana’s shoulders and led her into the kitchen. Bret was sitting down with several officers, drinking coffee. They nodded to her.
Seth released his hold on her and began sweeping up the glass. “I called a twenty-four hour glass repair service, Dana. They’ll be here within the hour,” Bret said.
“Thank you, Bret.”
She moved around the kitchen, trying to keep busy. “Hhow was the game guys?”
“It was good, Dana. Thanks for the tickets,” Seth said, solemnly.
She nodded as she pulled everything out of the fridge to make sandwiches. She made up a bunch of sandwiches and placed them on the table. After a few minutes the guys began eating.
“Ma’am, I need a sworn statement,” the female officer said.
“Of course,” Dana said. She looked around to find all eyes were on her. They wanted to know what happened.
“Um, can we talk about this in another room?”
“Sure, let’s step out onto the pool patio,” she said. Dana nodded and followed her.
Dana explained swimming and admitted to skinny dipping. Her face was burning when she explained that part. The woman smiled warmly and told her she completely understood. Then she told her about catching the man and what happened after that.
“I don’t see a problem with his arrest. I think he’s going to end up in a psychiatric unit for a while.”
“As long as he’s off the street,” Dana said.
“I’ll be filing for an emergency restraining order on him for you.”
“Thank you,” Dana said absently. Her eyes were locked on the gate where the man first approached her. God, if the kids had been home she didn’t know what she would have done.
“Can I ask something? If my kids were here that wouldn’t have stopped him would it?” Dana asked.
The officer shook her head. “No, he admitted to having plans to um,
he had a plan to rape you undisturbed,” she said nervously.
Dana felt her heart speed up. Her head became foggy.
“He was going to kill them, wasn’t he?” she asked slowly.
The officer nodded slowly. Dana’s hand shot to her mouth and she stumbled away. She fell to her knees and began vomiting.
“Ma’am?” the officer said anxiously.
Seth ran out. “Dana!” He dropped by her side and put an arm around her back. He held her hair back while she vomited. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he crooned softly.
“What should I do?” the officer asked.
“She’ll be okay. She’s pregnant,” Seth said.
“I’ll get her a drink,” the officer said, quickly walking back towards the kitchen.
“It’s okay, Dana.” Seth said.
She cried, “No, it’s not!”
“Shh, we’ll fix this.”
“How? This can’t be fixed! I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore.”
Seth gently rubbed her back while she cried against his chest. “Edward is going to take care of this. Don’t worry.”
“You’re telling me not to worry? A nut job broke into my house with plans to rape me and apparently kill my kids. I didn’t ask, but I’m pretty sure the guy would have killed Edward too if he was here. How can I not worry? I could have lost my entire family in one night!”
“But you didn’t. Everyone is safe. The kids are safe.
Edward called them to make sure.”
“Dana?” Bret said.
“What’s up, Bret?” Seth asked.
“Officer Fields said he’d come over tomorrow on his day off to go over security with me. We’re going to set up tighter security and he thinks it would be better to have a live in security.”
“Can you talk to Edward about this? She’s really upset.”
“Okay,” Bret said, trying to give her an encouraging smile.
“I’m going to stay in one of the guest rooms tonight, Dana, okay? Until they put that plan into motion.”
“Sounds good,” she said, getting to her feet.
The female officer walked onto the patio, carrying a can of ginger ale. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Dana mumbled. She sipped the soda slowly.
Seth stood by her, watching her every move, afraid that she was going to pass out or be sick again. “Seth, can I ask you something?”
“The answer is yes I am trying to steal you,” he said, smiling wryly.
She rolled her eyes and ignored his comment. “I wanted to ask you why Edward stopped using security. When I met him the first day he had security, but by that night they were gone. What happened?”
Seth winced. “Oh that
..umm, okay, but don’t tell him I told you, okay?” She nodded encouraging him to continue.
“He got rid of them for you.”
“For me?” Clearly not the answer she was expecting.
“Yeah, see he said that you weren’t hiding behind security and were leading a productive semi peaceful life and that if he had any chance with you he couldn’t have security around. He didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Hmm, well, that was pretty dumb.”
“That’s what we told him,” Seth agreed. “But that boy was so head over heels in love with you we couldn’t talk any sense into him.”
“I didn’t know,” she said, feeling guilty.
“He’s happy. I haven’t seen him happy in years and now he’s ridiculously happy. He loves you and the kids. He’ll do what he needs to make everything perfect for you and the kids.”
“I just need them safe.”
“He’ll do that,” Seth said. He looked at his watch. “Look it’s after three in the morning. I want you to go get some sleep, okay?”
“But-“
“No buts, you’re pregnant. You need to rest for them.”
She reluctantly nodded and made her way inside saying good night to Bret who was the only one that remained. She didn’t see Edward until she walked into their bedroom.
Edward was lying on top of the covers in his clothes. His arms were folded over his face. Dana quickly undressed.
She pulled on a silk nightie and climbed in bed. He didn’t react.
Dana moved towards him cautiously. She snuggled against him and placed her head on his chest. She laid her arm across his flat stomach and sighed with relief. She felt safe. He felt like home. Her body began to relax. She closed her eyes and welcomed sleep.
He couldn’t move when he heard Dana come into the room. W
hat he wanted to do was to scoop her up into his arms and run with her to the car, get their kids and leave the country. Instead he tried to force all his fears out his head.
His imagination was on overdrive. When he found out what the man brought with him to their house he almost punched the cop to get to him. He couldn’t take the thoughts or the knowledge of what that bastard had planned.
When Dana curled up against him he felt peace. His chest relaxed, allowing him to breathe. Now he felt her arm across his waist. She felt good. He wanted her to lie on top of him like a blanket so he could take in her warmth and keep her safely against him.
She was asleep now and he wouldn’t do anything to take this moment of peace away from her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She was alive and the kids were safe. That’s all that mattered. He would keep them safe.
*******
Dana woke up a little after seven and looked around the house. Seth was snoring away in the guest room next to the kids’ rooms. She moved through the house, making sure windows and doors were locked. The alarm was set, Seth must have done that. Edward entrusted him and his family with the code in case they had to come by the house for either the kids or look after the house while they were on a shoot.
When she woke up she was surprised to find Edward gone. She didn’t think he got much sleep. So far she hadn’t come across him. The office was in dire need of a good cleaning after last night and she wanted to clean it before Rick arrived in two hours.
She didn’t really want to clean the office. What she wanted was either to climb back in bed with Edward or soak in the tub. Neither one was an option at the moment.
She sighed heavily and opened the office door.
Edward was moving around the office. She was surprised to find it mostly clean. He organized the desk, picked up the papers that were thrown on the floor and straightened out the little knickknacks that were thrown around the room last night.
“Good morning,” he said softly to her.
She pushed her hair back. “Good morning. What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m cleaning this mess up.” He continued to clean. “Sit down and relax,” he said absently.
A man cleaning without being asked, was that possible? She forced her legs to carry her to the overstuffed chair and sat down with her legs pulled up. She felt odd sitting in panties and a nightie while he cleaned. If she had to match a word to how she felt it would be lazy. She hated sitting around while others worked, but he wasn’t allowing her to help.
After he was done, Edward turned around to look at Dana. Damn she was beautiful. He knew it irritated her to no end to have to sit there and not help. He almost smiled, almost. He was still so upset about what could have happened last night. Another man tried to take what was his. He felt a deep need to claim her again, to refresh his mark on her.
Marrying her today would make him feel better, but he needed to touch her, now. It was the part of him that every male had, the dominant animal side that needed to claim what was rightfully his, her.
“Put your legs down,” he demanded softly.
Dana looked into his eyes and after a moment she put her legs down. “Spread your legs for me, baby,” he said, undoing his belt. He undid the button and unzipped his pants. He pulled his shirt off and threw it to the side, never taking his eyes away from hers. “Lose the panties.”
She hooked her thumbs in her panties and pulled them off leaving her in that soft nightie that needed to go. “The teddy, too,” he said. She pulled it off over her head. He looked at her body for a long moment, memorizing it.
He walked over to her without another word and knelt in front of the chair. He put his hands under her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the chair. He grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist. His eyes were locked on hers. The rest of his face was tight with aggression from last night and what he needed to do now.
Dana wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. He reached down and freed himself and pushed into her with a grunt. She was ready for him, wanted him to do this. His hands grasped her hips and held them tightly as he began to move in and out of her. There were no moans or groans from him only grunts. It was a job he had to do and wouldn’t allow himself to enjoy.
She looked into Edward’s eyes and saw the man she loved in pain. He was wound so tightly that she was afraid he would explode. She could feel every muscle beneath her touch tense up. He grunted as he moved slowly in and out of her. She knew what this was, a claim. He wanted to show her she was still his.
Dana kept her eyes locked with his and fought every urge to melt into him and moan. She bit her lip and screamed silently at herself not to close her eyes. Her grip around his neck and waist tightened as she used her hold to bring herself closer to him. He sensed her need and brought her closer until their chests were pressed tightly together and their heads were side by side no longer able to look at each other.
She took the opportunity to close her eyes. The feeling of him moving in her was so painfully slow and excruciating.
She wanted, needed him to move faster. Her body was screaming for it. If he kept up this pace she was going to scream in agony. She tried to be good, tried to be understanding to what he was going through, but this was too much. She needed him, all of him, not just his body, but his heart involved.
Her mouth moved of its own accord to his neck and began to kiss and suck his skin. She heard a small gasp escape his lips followed by a grunt and a quick hard thrust.
Edward stilled for a matter of seconds and then went back to his painfully slow pace. She wasn’t giving up that easily.
She began to lick his neck greedily as she ran her hands in his hair. She released a loud long moan out against his skin knowing what that did to him. His grip tightened on her hips, but he didn’t abandon his pace.
Dana moved her mouth slowly up his neck and nibbled and sucked on his ear lobe. Her hands inched down his back, running her fingernails lightly over his skin, making him arch against her until she cupped his backside firmly, urging him into her.
He tried to pull his upper body away from her but she refused to give in. She flicked his ear lobe with her tongue stealing a long moan from him. “That’s what I want,” she said huskily into his ear making him groan.
She moved her mouth along his jaw until she came to his mouth. Her lips moved slowly against his frozen lips.
When he tried to turn his head to the side Dana reached up and gently yanked his mouth back to hers. His lips softened as she ran her tongue over them.
Her hand moved between their bodies. When he drew out she clasped her hand around him tightly so he would go through two different sensations with each thrust. He bucked hard against her.
“Oh fuck, Dana
baby, don’t fucking do that!” he growled.
“But I love touching you,” she said sensually. Her hand was now wet from his thrust into her. She gripped tighter.
He moaned loudly and tried to pull out of her. The death grip she had on him didn’t grant him the ability. He was forced to thrust back inside her or stay there.
“Baby, please
..please
.oh, fuck yeah!” he said, closing his eyes and dropping his head back as she began to run her hand up and down him with the same tight grip that kept him partially in her.
She kissed his Adam’s apple, licked and nibbled it as his moans turned into pants. He tried to push back into her, but she stopped him. He tried again and this time she moved back from him, pulling him out of her before she released her grip on him.
His eyes shot open and he stared at her in confusion.
She studied him for a long moment. He looked more alert.
His face had softened and there was no doubt in her mind he wanted her to continue to pleasure him. Finally she’d broken
A Humble Heart Page 28
