by Marla Monroe
“Relax, Billy. She’ll be fine. She feels safe with us. Get some sleep. I’m sure we’re going to need it to deal with her later.”
He watched as his partner closed his eyes and settled in. The optimistic idiot was probably right. Kayley would want to go home immediately, but they weren’t about to let her until she understood that she belonged to them now. Hell, as far as he was concerned, she didn’t need to ever go back to her tiny house. This was her home now. They even had an office she could use for her business. They sure as hell didn’t use it for anything.
He looked at the woman lying halfway on top of him once again. Seeing her there eased some of the tightness inside of him that had been there for as long as he could remember. It was almost as if her being here in their home had been what was missing all this time.
“Sleep, Billy. Stop analyzing and trying to figure it all out.” Craig’s soft voice on the other side of Kayley had him smiling.
He figured the other man was right. They needed their sleep if they were going to keep up with their girl. She was going to put them through their paces before it was all said and done. But Billy had no doubt in his mind that they would win.
* * * *
Kayley groaned as she slowly woke up. Her body felt as if someone had run over her with their three-wheeler. Had she fallen or something? She started to roll over and realized she was lying across someone’s chest with and arm thrown across her waist. The next thing that hit her was how she’d gotten that way. The previous night’s events came rushing back in soul cringing clarity.
A soft whimper escaped before she could hold it back. Just the thought of what might have happened had her stomach rolling.
“Easy, baby girl. You’re safe.” Billy’s rusty voice came from just above the chest she currently claimed as her pillow.
She felt the light tickle of chest hair across her cheek as she slowly lifted her head to look into one of the men’s eyes she’d lusted after for at least the last twelve years of her life. The dark, reflective shine of his eyes stared up at her without blinking. How could this have happened? Finally she had ended up in their bed, but all she wanted to do now was escape and go home.
“I–I need the bathroom,” she finally said, looking away.
He turned his head toward Craig’s still form. “Hey, Craig. Move it man. Kayley needs the bathroom.”
Kayley looked over when the other man groaned and opened his eyes. Almost immediately, his sleep-confused eyes cleared and concern replaced it. He tentatively touched one cheek with his finger before giving her a soft smile and moving his hand off of her waist to roll over and sit up on the edge of the bed. He turned back and held out his hand to help her.
Billy slowly rolled her off of him and helped her ease closer to Craig. Once she had her feet on the floor, she stood up and started toward the bathroom. The first step she took made her cringe, and she yelped. The next thing she knew, Craig had her in his arms, striding toward the bathroom. He eased her down in front of the toilet and backed out of the room.
“Call out when you’re ready to come back to bed, baby. I don’t want you walking until your feet are better. I’ll be right outside the door.”
Kayley had never felt so out of sorts in her life. She had always been able to handle anything and everything life threw at her. This? Well it wasn’t something she’d ever considered happening to her. She was lost, and the scald of tears in her eyes felt so out of place.
As soon as she’d finished washing her hands afterward, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and cringed. She looked like she’d gone a round with a prizefighter. One eye was barely open and at least two shades of purple and black. The cut on her lip threatened to break open if she moved her mouth too much or too wide. Her hair, though blissfully clean, was a tangled mess. Thank God she’d cut it, or she would have never gotten the knots out of it. She looked around, but she didn’t see a comb or brush available.
After searching the drawers, she found several new toothbrushes still in their packaging with a fresh tube of toothpaste. She carefully brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth. It felt like a wad of cotton had been forced into it.
“Are you okay, Kayley? Do you need anything?” Craig asked through the door.
“J–just a minute.” Her voice cracked, a testament to how raw her throat felt.
She finger combed her hair the best she could then eased over to the door and opened it. Craig immediately lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the bed where Billy still waited. His dark eyes followed them across the room. When he lifted the covers so Craig could settle her back in the bed, she realized that both men were only wearing boxers. It hadn’t dawned on her until now.
As Billy eased closer to her, Kayley couldn’t help but enjoy the feel of him against her skin. Why now, when she was so messed up, did this have to happen? She tried to push out the memory of the previous night so she could pretend they had brought her there because they had wanted her, but too much ached and downright hurt for her to forget.
“How do you feel, baby girl? Do you need anything?” Billy asked.
“I’m okay. What time is it?” she whispered back.
“Nearly noon. You’ve been asleep for about eight hours. Are you hungry, or do you want to rest some more?”
“I need to go home, Billy.” She avoided Craig’s eyes as he settled down next to her.
“How ’bout we fix something to eat, and then we’ll carry you over there,” Billy said after a few tense seconds. “You need to take your antibiotics they gave you, and you have to eat first.”
“I’ll go fix something,” Craig said. “Any preferences? Do you want breakfast foods, or something else?”
“I’m not really very hungry. Just something easy, Craig, so I can take that pill.” She wasn’t sure she would be able to keep anything down the way her tummy felt.
“Eggs and toast,” Billy said. “Give her a little protein and some toast to ease her stomach.”
Craig leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek before climbing back out of the bed. Kayley felt guilty that he was having to get back up. She was sure neither one of them had gotten nearly as much sleep as she had. The sound of her phone ringing somewhere made her jerk.
“My phone. It sounds like Bea’s ring. I’m sure she’s worried about me.” She started to climb out of the bed, but Billy’s hand around her waist stopped her.
“Be still. The deputy gave us your purse, and I left it in the kitchen. Craig will take care of it. You don’t need to get up until breakfast is ready.”
She didn’t hear her phone ringing anymore. Slowly, she relaxed back against Billy’s warm chest. The sensation of his warm breath at her neck and shoulder felt so good. Nothing like… She gritted her teeth, determined to stop thinking about them or last night.
Billy gently kissed her neck before slowly rubbing her belly in soft swirls that seemed to settle her just a bit.
“Stop thinking about it, Kay-Kay. Nothing is going to happen to you again. Craig and I will take care of you. Just relax and nap until breakfast is ready.”
“What do you mean, take care of me?” she asked in a whisper.
“Shhh. We’ll talk about it later, once you feel better. All you need to think about is getting better. We’ll keep you safe, baby girl.”
She didn’t say anything for a long minute. She let his words swirl around in her mind as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. None of it made sense to her. Why would they take care of her?
The sound of the door opening made her look up. Craig walked in with her phone in his hand and a pained expression on his face.
“Bea wants to talk to you, Kayley. She threatened to send the sheriff out if we didn’t let you talk to her,” he said.
Before Kayley could reach out and grab the phone, Billy snagged it from Craig’s hand. She cringed at the snarl in his voice when he spoke.
“Bea, she isn’t up to talking right now. Let her rest.”
&n
bsp; She could hear the very determined and equally snarly voice of Bea on the other end but couldn’t make out her words. Billy started to say something else but was obviously cut off. Finally he handed her the phone after informing Bea that if Kayley started crying, he would take the phone away from her.
“Bea? Are you okay?” she asked.
“Me? I’m fine, honey. What about you? When you didn’t answer your phone at the house, we went looking for you. I panicked, and we went to the Sheriff’s Department. They said you had been attacked. I was frantic. If Sam didn’t have friends at the hospital, I wouldn’t have known where to look. The dickwads at the Sheriff’s Department wouldn’t say anything about where you were.”
“I’m fine, Bea. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be home soon. I’m getting ready to eat something, and then I’ll be going home. I’ll call you when I get home.” She didn’t want to talk to Bea in front of Craig and Billy.
“Do you need us to come get you? We can be there in fifteen minutes, Kay.” Bea sounded so worried about her.
“No. I’m fine. I’ll call you when I get home.”
“I’ll be waiting, honey.” Bea said bye, and Kayley pressed end before handing the phone over to Billy.
Craig had returned to the kitchen while she and Bea had talked. She wondered how much he had told Bea. She wanted to go home and climb into bed and not raise her head above the covers for a month. She just wanted to forget all about it and keep on like nothing had happened, but with how she looked and felt, she wouldn’t be able to pretend. Talking with Bea would help her sort through it all and put it past her. It didn’t make her feel any better though.
“I wish she hadn’t called. You were relaxed and resting,” Billy said with a growl to his voice.
“She cares about me. I’m sure she panicked when she couldn’t find me after they had left me last night.” Kayley didn’t want Billy to say anything to her friend to hurt her.
He sighed behind her. “They shouldn’t have left you alone there. It wasn’t safe. I don’t care if she was sick.”
“Billy.” She didn’t know what she could say to get him to let it go.
When he got something into his head, he had a one-track mind. Always before, she’d liked that, thinking that if she could ever get him focused on her, his one-track mind would have kept her in heaven for a very long time. Now, she doubted he would ever see her as anything other than a victim he would look at with pity. She wouldn’t even have her dreams anymore. After all, when hope was gone, what was left to dream about?
Chapter Eight
When Craig refused to put Kayley down after she’d let Billy unlock the door to her house, she knew things weren’t going to go as easily as she’d planned. Instead of leaving after they had dropped her off, both men stepped inside of her home where they’d never been before. Craig carried her over to the loveseat and eased her down. Billy sat down next to her, and Craig took the chair across from them.
“Do you need to lie down for a while, Kayley?” Billy asked.
“No. I’m tired of lying down. I need to call Bea. When I do, she’s going to want to come over, so I need to get dressed,” she said as she started to stand up.
Instantly, both men were on their feet, with Craig lifting her once again. She wanted to protest, but after having done that already with it getting her nowhere, she’d given up. He turned and walked down the short hall, pausing to look confused by the three doors in front of him.
“The one in the middle is the bathroom. The one on the left is my office, and the door on the right is my bedroom,” she finally said, taking pity on him.
At Billy’s grunt behind her, Craig opened the door on the right and eased into her little bedroom. Two steps and he was at the bed where he carefully sat her down.
“Crap! This is like a dollhouse,” Billy said when he stepped into the room.
Now, with both men there, it felt like a dollhouse. They overfilled it and made everything around them look tiny and fragile. She had never much cared for fancy things outside of her computers or books. Her bedroom held nice furniture that she’d chosen simply because it fit the room. She could have afforded expensive stuff and could have bought a nice house across town, but she’d liked the tiny bungalow and the simplicity of it.
“Grab something out of her closet, Craig. I’ll find underwear for her,” Billy said looking over at her dresser.
“No! I can dress myself. You can leave now. I really appreciate everything. I mean, for saving me and all and for taking care of me, but I’m fine now. I’m sure y’all have lots to do at home.” She picked at the bandage on her hand.
Billy moved so fast she didn’t even see him coming. Suddenly he was standing over her, hands on hips with a serious expression on his face.
“Oh, no you don’t, Kay-Kay. You’re not kicking us out. Stop fiddling with that bandage before you hurt yourself. We’re not leaving you here. You’re coming back to the house with us until you can take care of yourself again,” he said.
She was sure her mouth hung open and her eyes were the size of dinner plates. If he’d said frogs could fly she wouldn’t have been any more shocked. Go back to their house? No way.
“I’m not going to stay with you guys. I’ve got work to do. There’s nothing wrong with me but some stitches in my hand and my knee. I didn’t have a concussion according to the doctor, and I can get around just fine without Craig carrying me everywhere.” She tried to cross her arms, but the bandage on her hand made it awkward as hell, softening the effect.
Billy bent down until they were nose to nose and gave her one hell of a look. She had no doubt that most men would have peed their pants at that look, but it didn’t have the same effect on her. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She just tightened her jaw and stared back at him. She had to be careful with her split lip.
Finally, he cursed and stood up again, running his hands through the shaggy black strands in obvious frustration. She looked over where Craig was leaning against her closet door holding a large T-shirt and some baggy jeans. He seemed to be fighting a grin. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he sobered up.
“Look, you don’t need to be by yourself today, baby. Let us take care of you and make sure you have what you need,” Craig said as he handed the clothes to Billy.
“I really appreciate it, guys, but I can take care of myself now. Please. I need to see Bea,” she finally admitted.
Craig seemed to get it then. He nodded and walked over to where Billy was going through her drawers looking for panties and a bra. She could hear Craig whispering to the other man who stiffened then relaxed and hung his head. It made her feel guilty for some reason. They were trying to take care of her, and she was telling them to get out. Now she felt like a dog and almost said never mind. But they both turned around with smiles, though Billy’s looked forced.
“Here you go, Kay. We’re going to help you dress, then wait until Bea gets here. Then we’ll go. If you need anything at all, you have to promise you’ll call us though,” Craig said.
“H–help me dress?” her voice cracked. “I can get dressed by myself, guys.”
“You can’t with your hand like that, Kay-Kay,” Billy said. He sighed and looked toward the door. “Look, Craig helped you last night. Let him help you today. I’ll wait in the living room.”
With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Craig standing in front of her with her underwear in his hands. The soft pink matching set looked funny lying there in his big hands. She swallowed hard at the sudden lump in her throat and nodded.
Craig was very careful of her face when he pulled his shirt over her head from behind. He waited while she slipped her arms through the bra’s loops then carefully fastened it in back before slipping her own T-shirt over her head. He’d already slipped socks on her injured feet so that when she stood up now and let the baggy sweats fall to the floor, she was able to do so without whimpering at the pain.
He remained behind her and helped her step into the pale pink
panties, pulling them up her legs and over her hips before he helped her step into the baggy jeans. She had to hold on to his shoulder this time as he pulled the baggy material into place. She managed to zip them but wasn’t able to fasten the button. She looked over her shoulder at him and then slowly turned around. Craig quickly did the deed without saying a word.
“There you go, baby. You’re all dressed now. Do you want shoes, or are socks fine?” he asked.
“I think I’ll stick to the socks today.” She wiggled her toes then looked back up at him. “Thanks, Craig. I appreciate your help. I really do.” She could feel tears burning the backs of her eyes but didn’t want to cry.
He seemed to sense them and quickly changed the subject. “Let’s get in the other room before Billy wears a hole in your floor pacing.”
She smiled at him as he walked slowly out the door, allowing her to make her own way down the hall. When she walked into the living area, Billy was pacing in front of her loveseat. Craig gave her a huge smile at proving he was right. She just shook her head.
“I’ll call Bea now so you won’t have to wait too long.” She eased over toward where her purse lay on the coffee table, but Billy snatched it up and brought it to her so she wouldn’t have to walk across the floor to get it.
“Thanks.” She let Craig help her sit at the tiny table she used to eat off of and started to dial press Bea’s speed dial number when the doorbell rang.
“What you want to bet that’s Bea now?” Craig said with a chuckle.
Billy only grunted and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. When Craig opened the door, Bea pushed past him with an apologetic Sam right behind him.
“Oh, God, Kay. Look at your face.” The other woman instantly wrapped her arms around Kayley in a fierce hug that might have broken ribs if Billy hadn’t shouted at her.
“Jesus, Bea. You’re going to kill her. She’s hurt all over. Go easy on her.”
“Billy.” Sam took a step toward the other man.
“Sam. Billy’s right. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, Kay. I wasn’t thinking. Are you okay? What can I get for you?” the other woman asked.
