by Kaliana Cole
“My house?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Duncan, but it is just not safe for you to go back there right now.” Andy’s brown eyes were apologetic as he informed her that her house was no longer her safe haven. “So far they have found a lot of tampering with your security systems. Until that is rectified, do you have somewhere safe to stay?”
Emma liked the way he ignored the large man standing beside her as he asked that question. Ty, however, was oblivious, or more likely didn’t give a shit.
“Emma will be at our house until her place is secure again, however long it takes.” Gray eyes bored into hers, daring her to disagree.
“I need some things from home. I don’t even have any clothes, Ty.”
“Call Beth. She can meet you at our place with whatever you need.”
* * * *
Andy suppressed a smile as he watched his longtime friend take charge. How the mighty had fallen! Ty deserved some happiness. He hoped they could catch this asshole and give that happiness to Ty. If anyone deserved the love and respect of that man, she was standing right beside him.
Andy had seen the footage that creep had recorded of her escape. She was one gutsy woman. He watched Zach and Colby walk in, their attention absorbed by the small woman beside their older brother. Perhaps she was gutsy enough for all of them.
He resolutely ignored the tall, slender nurse with gold rings and picket fences in her eyes who stood watching at the door.
* * * *
Emma travelled back to Liberty Springs in the backseat of Colby’s pickup. She was surprised when Ty took shotgun, leaving Zach in the back with her. She used one of their phones to call Beth. The older woman had been relieved to hear from her and took down a list of things she would need. Beth assured her that the police were treating her home with respect, but it was going to take a month to clean up after them.
She could feel Zach’s eyes on her the whole time. She handed the phone back over silently, fatigue clear in her eyes. “Scoot over here, Em, and have a rest. We still have half an hour before we get home.”
She wanted to demur, wanted to show them that she was strong, but to be honest she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than a pair of strong arms to hold her. She slid over, slipping the center lap belt on before tucking under the arm Zach raised. Snuggling in against his chest, she brought her bandaged feet up to lay along the wide seat.
The touch of Ty’s gaze brought her eyes up to his. They were full of tenderness at the sight of her held in his brother’s arms until they rested on her damaged ankles. The pinch of fury took her by surprise. She hadn’t known Ty to exhibit his feelings before, hadn’t known such strong emotion lurked under his easygoing, calm façade.
Gray eyes returned to hers, and he had his face back under control, tranquil and tender. He gave her a searching look before turning forward once more, looking out into the darkness beyond the windshield. Em nestled in closer against Zach and drifted off to sleep with the comfort of Zach’s heart beating under her ear.
Awakening was much gentler this time, the car coming to rest rousing her softly. Storm-kissed eyes shone down upon her in the glow of the interior light. She must have slid to Zach’s lap as they travelled, and the warm weight of his hand rested against her side. He looked tired, emotionally wrung out.
Emma nearly smiled when she thought of how bad she must look. She dreaded seeing a mirror.
Beth met them at the door and bustled her inside, sending the men to get Emma’s things out of her car. Beth ran her a bath. While Emma would have preferred a shower, the bandages were supposed to stay in place for twenty-four hours. She needed to get the smell of disinfectant off her, to wash the madman’s touch from her body.
With great relief she slid into the embrace of the hot water, the aromatic bath salts leaching the ache from protesting muscles. The exotic scent of vanilla and cherry blossom drifted around her as Beth told her what the police had uncovered so far.
It made her blood run cold that her life had been under such intimate scrutiny by the lunatic who had been stalking her. She shuddered to think that he could have walked right into her house at any time. The security system had been compromised beyond belief. Beth had already booked an elite security firm to overhaul the system the moment the police finished processing the property.
When the water cooled and Emma was in real danger of being mistaken for a prune, Beth helped to dry her and get her dressed in a pair of flannel pajamas. While they weren’t high in the fashion stakes, the pink tartan ones were the most comfortable she had.
It was midnight before Beth left. She made sure Emma ate some of the casserole she had brought and was tucked in to bed with an oversized teddy bear in the shape of Colby lying beside her on top of the covers.
* * * *
Andy dropped in to check that everything was all right and assure them that regular patrols would be passing over the area, paying particular attention to the hill where the culprit had watched from last night. All drapes were firmly pulled.
He told Ty and Zach details he hadn’t been able to reveal earlier and showed them a clandestine copy of the recording of her escape. The bastard had set up a movement-activated camera so that he would be aware of the moment she woke. The device he had used to monitor her had recording capabilities as well as real time feed to a remote mobile viewer, most likely in the form of an iPhone.
The sophistication of the equipment was beyond local capabilities and a special unit had been sent over from Denver. Interstate cooperation at its best.
Ty stood up when the stark recording finished, hearing his own voice comforting Emma. Even after Em had smashed the lens, the audio had continued to be recorded. “Colb needs to see this.”
He turned and headed for the bedroom before anyone saw the tears threatening to spill. Such fire and determination! Her strength and fortitude had pared him to the bone. She was a special woman to be protected at all cost, cosseted, loved. The explicit acts they had wanted to do with her had been tarnished forever by one man’s insanity. He couldn’t imagine inflicting anything upon her that would remind her of the threats the sick bastard had taunted her with.
He motioned Colby out and slipped under the covers, needing to feel her in his arms. He spooned along her back, the curve of her ass tucking in neatly to his groin, her head under his chin. She had wiggled once, striving to get even closer in her sleep, and then relaxed against him, soft and warm. A single tear escaped his control, rolling down his temple to mark the pillow with its sorrow.
He knew they should be letting her go, that she deserved more than they could ever offer her. They were hard men with hard desires, and after the mockery that asshole had made of their proclivities, he knew Emma could never accept them that way, nor would they ask her to.
But as much as he knew they should set her free, he just couldn’t imagine his future without her being the center of it. He held her tight and whispered a plea, his heart in every broken word, that this was where she would always belong, safe in his arms.
Chapter 7
The seductive aroma of freshly brewed coffee met Emma’s nose the next morning. She lifted her head, wincing as she stretched, sore muscles protesting violently. She opened her eyes to Zach’s gray eyes, tinted with silver. “Morning, Em. How did you sleep?”
“Mmm, good.” She snuggled further under the blankets before realizing she was actually tucking herself tighter against a large body behind her. A big hand appeared as an arm wrapped around her, one with heavy calluses. Ty. “I can smell coffee.”
Zach grinned. “Colby’s making it.”
“Why Colby?”
“Because we pulled rank.” The deep voice rumbled against her back as Ty spoke, his meaty chest pressed against her. Emma’s eyes closed at the sensation of having it vibrate straight through her. She gave a small shiver. Ty misinterpreted it, pulling the quilt up over her tighter.
She saw Zach’s mouth twitch and knew he hadn’t made the same mistake. He k
issed her forehead before getting up. “I’ll get you some Tylenol.”
“I don’t think I need any.”
“You haven’t moved yet.” Nor did she have any plans to.
But as comfortable as she was, the bathroom beckoned. Emma slid out of Ty’s arms. He relinquished his hold reluctantly. She discovered Zach was right. She ached all over.
Emma found herself waited on hand and foot. She was escorted to the lounge where coffee and pills awaited. Zach cooked her fluffy scrambled eggs for breakfast. Ty went out to her place to feed and check on her animals while Colby ran leads for her laptop. Working would take her mind off things.
But she found she was more tired than anything else. She slept most of the day away and then curled up with Colby and slept all night. She woke up once more surrounded by Ty’s warmth.
Emma wasn’t half as stiff the next day, and while Ty went out to take care of her animals, she found she could work.
She was glad the lounge was against the wall because both brothers seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get a look at what she was typing. As she had just got up to Kenneth and Lillian’s first erotic encounter beyond a kiss, their hovering presence wasn’t conducive to fluid writing.
“Look, you two! I cannot work with the pair of you hovering around trying to look over my shoulder. Haven’t you got something better to do?”
The smile that stretched Colby’s handsome face should have warned her that whatever it was wouldn’t be to her liking. “Sure, we have. Zach, where did you put that latest pile of books? We can do some more research.”
“They’re in my room. I’ll go get them.”
Emma’s brow was creased in a puzzled frown as Colby continued to grin at her. “Research?”
“Yeah, we have been conducting a little study for a while now. I think we are getting close to reaching a conclusion.”
Her confusion was magnified as Zach dumped a pile of books on the table. They were romance novels. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Eliza’s Folly there amongst them. It was the latest release in her Lords of Dunbury series.
“And what is the purpose of this little study?” Her voice was arch. She had a fair idea what they were up to.
“To find out who you write as, of course.” Colby grinned as he plucked one from the top of the pile, thankfully not hers.
“And what does Ty think of your juvenile little research project?”
Zach laughed. “Hell, Ty started it. He has been trying to find out what name you write under since he found out that you wrote. He just roped us in to help. Not that we aren’t just as curious.”
“We even think we have it narrowed down to seven authors. This is the latest release from each, so we will just be sitting here searching for clues while you go on creating another one for us to read.”
* * * *
Ty came back before lunch, amused to see his brothers flicking through the latest arrivals in their little project.
He was not amused at the information Andy had passed on. They had been able to find no trace of Emma’s abductor. A stolen motorboat had been found abandoned at the far side of the lake, and tire tracks had been found at a deserted campsite nearby. The tread patterns had narrowed it down to a late-model four-by-four, but that was as far as it had gone.
He sat down on the lounge after lunch with Em. Unlike his brothers, he showed no interest in her computer screen. Instead he reached out for a book from the remaining ones scattered on the table. He felt Em’s thigh tense where his rested against it. He moved his hand left and it relaxed marginally, but when he went right the tension felt like steel. Hiding a grin, he picked up the latest offering from Emmaline Eaglemore.
His brothers had dismissed the author as too obvious, but he hadn’t been convinced. The giveaway for him was the characterization and individuality of the horses in her books. They were written by someone who knew horseflesh, not someone spouting researched material and hackneyed lines.
That and “Aunt Clara,” whose wicked, no-nonsense approach to life bore an uncanny resemblance to Beth.
He settled in for a read, the discomfort of the woman beside him bringing a rare smile to his lips. Her resilience amazed him. Only two days ago she had been fighting for her freedom. Today she was getting all squirmy because he was reading one of her books, unless he was very much mistaken.
Twenty pages later he had no doubts. The little minx had put him in there. He was the one trying not to squirm as he read of “Eliza” watching his burnished muscles writhe and ripple as red molten iron bent to his indomitable will as her lithe body tightened with unrequited need, a flush of color burgeoning on her ivory cheeks as her womanhood wept at the wickedness of her inappropriate thoughts. Fuck!
He read on, dumbfounded. Never again would he light up the gas for Em without thinking about what was going through that pretty little head of hers. Christ, that woman had a way with words!
He shifted uncomfortably, giving the organ lengthening behind his fly room to grow. He glanced up, seeing the scarlet staining Emma’s cheeks. She knew damn well where he was up to.
“Hey, Colb?” The instant tension that gripped her made him restrain a smile. His younger brother lifted his head from the book he was reading. “Can you duck over to Beth’s? She said she would have something for dinner ready this afternoon. The old girl is stressing out big time about us cooking for Emma.” He hoped Colby didn’t pick up on the slightly husky timbre that had crept into his voice.
“But Roger was just about to flip up the skirts of this gypsy girl,” Colb complained, holding up the book he was reading. It was by a more risqué author who only just scraped into mainstream romance by the skin of her teeth. She had held Colby’s vote as Emma’s alter ego, but Ty felt that was mostly wishful thinking on his brother’s behalf.
“It will still be there when you get back,” he assured him with a grin.
Colby left reluctantly, dropping a kiss on Emma’s brow as he passed. Zach had gone to close up the feed store for the kid who had opened for them today. Ty meant to make the most of that time.
He turned to face her, waiting for her to look up. By the color infusing her cheeks, she could feel his gaze. Finally she did, her chin lifting high, defiant despite the delightful blush.
“Tristan the blacksmith, huh?” A wide grin split his face.
“I have no idea what I was thinking. It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she said ruefully. “I hope you don’t mind too much.”
“Mind? I’m hard as a fucking rock, Em. You’re killing me.” He let her see every ounce of hunger in his eyes. “I feel like an animal. You have gone through hell and all I want to do is throw you down on that rug and lick every inch of your body.”
* * * *
Lust hit Emma like a freight train at his heated declaration, slamming into her, ripping the breath from her lungs and pooling deep in her loins. She wanted nothing more than to let him fulfill every wicked thought she had ever had. To feel that promised tongue do whatever he so desired.
She looked into charcoal eyes as she tried to think. That was the problem. She didn’t need to think, she needed to forget, needed to lose herself for a little while.
She lifted her arched brows. “Do I have to beg?”
A low growl came from deep in Ty’s throat as he picked her up. He held her tight against him as he sunk to his knees on the thick rug. She could feel the strength of his arousal. “You’re sure, darlin’? I don’t want you calling foul later.”
“Make me forget, Ty, just for a little while.”
He claimed her lips and made her mouth his own, unleashing the full, devastating potential of his mouth. His tongue swept and danced, diabolical as it mimicked what she wanted him to do so badly to the folds mashing against the rigid stalk of his cock.
He dragged his lips along her jaw, stubble rasping sexily against her delicate skin. Em’s head fell back as his mouth found her throat, licking and nipping lightly at the fragile skin as he m
oved ever lower. He pressed a tender kiss next to the plaster covering her burns. With dexterity belying its size, one hand undid the buttons that held her pajamas closed, his mouth following the sensitive path they unveiled.
Between her breasts he laid a fiery trail of kisses, one strong arm splayed beneath her back, holding her secure as she arched back, lost to his touch. His tongue dipped into her navel as the last button gave way to the mastery of his hand. He lifted his head, dark sensuality blazing forth from onyx pools.
Beneath hooded eyes, Em watched the reverence with which he bared her breasts, spreading her top wide from where it had caught on pebbled nipples. Possessive heat bathed her as he viewed the bounty he had revealed.
His mouth descended, laying an open-mouthed kiss on the rise of each dusky-tipped mound. Then, like a man starving, he took possession of her breasts, and her mind was lost. Delicious suction engulfed one nipple, hot and wet. A roughened hand made the other its own, grazing a callused thumb over the erect nub before rolling it exquisitely between thumb and forefinger.
Emma could only soak up the pleasure. She tangled one hand in his short hair, encouraging the sweet, torturous suction of his mouth. Her hips writhed shamelessly, proof of her arousal bathing the material between their bodies.
* * * *
With a deep draw Ty released her breast. Ignoring the imperious tugging on his hair to resume, he swapped sides, treating its twin to his oral ministrations.
Her gasp turned into a moan, sending more of his blood to try and fit into his overburdened cock. His whole purpose became trying to drive more of the sexy little sounds out of her. Deeper and deeper he pulled her under his spell, but her abandoned responses became too much. He wanted more. Needed more.
