by Lucy Wild
Table of Contents
EPILOGUE
ROB
HOPE
ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR
KEPT SAFE
(SNEAK PEEK)
LUCY WILD
SAVING HOPE
A Billionaire Secret Baby Romance
LUCY WILD
Contents
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
ROB
HOPE
EPILOGUE
ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR
KEPT SAFE (SNEAK PEEK)
LUCY WILD
They tried to kill her. I got in the way.
I wasn’t built to be with anyone.
I’m like a raging fire.
Get too close and you get burned.
It’s the way it’s always been.
But when Hope literally crashed into my world, I had no choice but to take her in.
She was so pure, so innocent, so good. Everything I’m not.
When I saw what they’d done to her, I swore I’d make it right.
Now they’re coming back to finish what they started.
But this time it’s different.
This time, she isn’t on her own.
I’m ready to defend her.
Ready to kill for her.
Ready to die for her.
And her unborn child.
© Copyright 2017 Lucy Wild
All characters in this book exist only in the imagination of the author and bear no relation to anyone with the same name or names. They are not inspired by any individual and all incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part. Excepting in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or distributed without the express permission of the author.
This book is intended for mature audiences and may contain explicit language and scenes which some readers may find disturbing.
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ROB
I LOOKED OUT THROUGH the broken window, trying to figure out what that noise was. It was at least five miles to the nearest town, too far for anyone to be out here walking at this time of night. All I could see was darkness. Then a hint of movement amongst the trees.
Was it Anthony trying to trick me out of winning our bet? My business partner was a good guy but I wouldn’t have put it past him to bend the rules in order to win. It wasn’t going to work though. I wasn’t going anywhere.
All I had to do was spend the night in this abandoned house that Anthony had sworn was haunted. It was just one of countless stupid bets we’d made over the years. When you’re rich, you get bored easily. If I lasted the night without my car or my phone, I’d win the grand sum of one pound, the traditional amount.
He’d picked me up from the car park in town. My car and phone were waiting there for me. “Best way to be sure,” he’d said as he’d driven me towards the sunset. “You definitely up for this? A night without your precious phone?”
Of course I was. It was the easiest bet we’d ever made. I was settled in with a book, a lantern, and a blanket. The sun had vanished and I was alone in the dark. Just me, the surrounding woods and the creaks and groans of the old house.
The house itself had looked a little bit spooky when we’d approached it but nothing I couldn’t handle.
It had been built a couple of hundred years ago. The roof was still on but most of the glass in the windows was gone, hence the need for the pure wool blanket wrapped around my shoulders. It was perhaps a gamekeeper’s cottage or a Victorian shooting lodge. The brickwork was crumbling but you could tell it had once had an expansive garden as the grass outside was thick only with weeds, not trees.
The woodland was held back by a dry stone wall that had fallen into heaps in several places, brambles crisscrossing the remaining stonework. As I climbed out of the car and stood next to Anthony, looking at the house, he passed me the night’s entertainment.
“The novelisation of Ghost,” I said. “Very funny.”
“Well you’re staying in a haunted house, right?”
“So I want to read a romance? You know I don’t like romance, in books or in real life.”
“You never know, you might pick up some tips.”
I frowned in mock anger. “Are you telling me I need help with my technique?”
He laughed. “You’re not exactly Mr Romance, are you? How many women did you screw at the last work do?”
“I worship women, Anthony. Every single one of them.”
“Yes but not for very long, that’s the problem. You got through three in an hour.”
“What can I say? I like to keep busy.”
He shoved a blanket and lantern into my hand. “Get busy with those.”
“A lantern? Not a torch? What is this, 1852?”
“Thought it would fit the mood of the place. You’re lucky I didn’t just give you a candle.”
“Remind me why I’m doing this,” I said as I looked down at my meagre belongings.
“Because you hate losing bets?”
“Oh yeah, that’s it.” I grinned and turned away from him to push open the front door. It squealed in protest, almost falling from the hinges. “Make sure the car’s here on time in the morning. I’ll have to play catch up since I don’t have my phone with me.”
“Eight o’clock sharp,” he replied, climbing back into the car. “If you’re still alive of course.”
He drove off whilst the echoes of his dramatic evil laugh faded away. I watched him go before heading inside. A night off from work. I should be grateful. I’d not had one for months. But this was why. I felt guilty whenever I stepped away, knowing how much they needed me. It’s weird, no matter how big my empire grew, no matter how many staff I hired, I seemed more vital, rather than less. It was infuriating.
I chose what was once a living room. The wallpaper was peeling but the smell of mould wasn’t too bad. The floor was clean enough, just a few damp patches with moss gradually spreading. In the corner by the fireplace, I settled in and began to read. The only contraband I’d brought was a flask of boiling water, enough to make a coffee in the morning. I wouldn’t be able to function without it. The coffee was kept separate in a metal tin, ready to use. If I made it now, it’d be foul come the next day.
By the time I was a couple of chapters into the book I was already getting bored. It’s surprising how much you take your phone for granted until it’s taken away from you. Work emails were probably piling up by the dozen.
When you run an empire, you can’t just stop. I’d have a lot of catching up to do in the morning.
It was about ten when I heard the noise for the first time. It wasn’t like the creaks and groans of the old house, nor was it the wind in the trees. This was something different.
I sat up and listened but I couldn’t hear anything anymore. Then the snap of a twig outside and I knew there was definitely something there. I picked up the lantern, peering out into the gloom. “If that’s the best you can do,” I
shouted, expecting Anthony to walk into the light, “it’s not going to work. I’m four for zero this month.”
I had no intention of giving up my winning streak over a twig snapping. But then I heard something else. There was someone panting. Another twig snap and then a rustling sound in the distance, growing louder.
I put the lantern down, throwing the blanket over it to kill the light. I got the sudden feeling it wasn’t Anthony. And that I shouldn’t let myself be seen.
I moved across the room to the other window, the floorboards creaking under my feet. When I looked out again, I squinted, peering into the thick blackness, the trees barely visible as the moon vanished behind a cloud.
Then I saw her. At first she was nothing but a blur amongst the trees but as my eyes adjusted better to the dark, I saw her emerge into the clearing between the wood and the house. She was sprinting as if the hounds of hell were chasing her.
The ground was overgrown with weeds and she stumbled, falling heavily but still trying to move forwards. She was up a second later, almost falling again as she staggered on. Her head lifted and I got my first proper look at her.
She had long hair that flew back behind her as she tried to run. Her dress was torn, revealing flashes of her chest and cuts on her legs as she approached the door of the house, glancing behind her every other second.
I ran around to the door just as it crashed open. She tripped over the step, stumbling into my arms, her wild eyes staring up at me. “Help me,” she said, her voice strained with fear. “They’re coming.”
HOPE
I OPENED MY EYES and for the briefest of seconds, I thought I’d gone blind. It was pitch black. Was I dead? Had they done what they’d threatened? Was this the afterlife?
Then my lungs began to burn and I realised I was still trying to breathe. At the same time, I felt a hand over my mouth and nose. I tried to scream, a shadowy figure coming into focus above me.
“Quiet,” the man looming over me said, his voice gruff but quiet, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear him. He lowered his hand down my face, freeing my nose but keeping my mouth covered. “In here.”
I was groggy as anything, my body aching with exhaustion. My arms still stung from where I’d fallen into the brambles. My throat was sore from where they’d grabbed me.
I winced as the man dragged me across the room, my limbs ineffectually fighting him, trying to break free. He was far too strong for me. My feet kicked a blanket and there was a single flare of light that died almost at once. It was enough to give me a glimpse of his face. He looked furious.
A door opened and then the darkness grew even blacker. I could make out nothing, not even his face. I was trapped, pressed up against him. Even in my fear I couldn’t help but notice that he smelled good.
Another voice reached me, this one shouting, somewhere outside. I knew that voice.
It all came back to me. They were out there. The two of them were still coming for me. I thought I’d got away when I ran into the woods but it was my own stupid fault. I’d soon got lost, stumbling around in the dark, my throat swelling from where it had been grabbed.
When I emerged by the roadside, I went to flag down the first car that passed by. It was them. I almost gave up, having to force my legs to move to get away from them again, sprinting back into the woods and the darkness that swallowed me. Then I found the house in the middle of nowhere.
“Keep still,” the man said, his hand sliding down my back. He was going to rape me. He was going to tear my clothes off and I’d never be able to fight him off, he was too strong.
“I need to reach the handle,” he whispered. “Move this way.”
I shuffled closer to him, my head pressed against his chest as he pulled the door closed behind me. In the darkness, I waited, listening to his slow and steady heartbeat, loud in my ear, so different to my own heart, thumping with fear as it was.
“Did you see her?” a voice shouted.
“No, is she in the house?”
“I can’t hear anything.”
Silence. The man next to me breathed steadily, his hand on the door, gripping it tightly, keeping us hidden.
The front door of the house crashed open. Whispers. Then louder. “Are you in there, Hope?”
The other voice. “We just want to talk to you. Come on out.”
The man holding me shuffled in place, his other hand moving away. I didn’t know what was happening but there was a sudden noise outside the house. “What was that?”
“It was that way. Shit, she’s doubling back. Come on, this place gives me the creeps.”
The door opened again, their footsteps vanishing outside.
I couldn’t relax. Not until I knew they were gone. The man holding me made no attempt to move, his hand on me again, holding me against him. He felt warm, the heat coming off him thawing my bare legs as I started to shiver.
“You’re cold,” he whispered. “Wait there.”
“Don’t go,” I said as he shifted around me. “Please.”
He carried on moving but I grabbed his hand, not letting go as he stood up. He muttered something but at least he didn’t force me to let go. The door to the cupboard swung open and he listened closely for a few seconds before stepping out. I followed him.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“You need warming up,” he said, picking a blanket up off the floor and wrapping it around my shoulders. There was a lantern under the blanket and its glow filled the room, revealing his face better. He stepped back and looked at me as I examined him.
He was tall, well built with broad shoulders. He stood rigidly upright, his chest thrust forwards. He had stubble but only a day or two’s worth. He had a face that looked like it was used to telling people what to do and I was no exception.
“Sit there,” he said, pointing at the floor. “And tell me who the hell those two were.”
“They might come back,” I replied, the panic still evident in my voice. “We should go.”
“I’m not going anywhere and neither are you until you’ve warmed up.”
“But what if they come back?”
“Then I’ll ask them what I’m about to ask you. What were you running from?”
“Please, don’t make me talk about it. Not yet.” I couldn’t talk about it. To talk about it would mean thinking about it and I was determined to erase it from my memory, never think about it, never talk about it.
“All right,” he said, sitting down and patting the floor next to him. “Come on, before you pass out again.”
I sat down, glancing up at the window, certain every sound out there meant they were coming back. “Do you have a car?” I asked. “Can you get me away from here?”
“Not until the morning. You can relax. They’re not coming back.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I know people,” he said bluntly, reaching across and taking my hand in his. “You’re still freezing. Come and huddle up on me, you need warming up.” I looked at him, my eyes narrowing and he saw the meaning in them. “You were running. You sweated. Your clothes got damp. Now you’ve stopped, that damp is cooling your skin. After a while, your temperature will get too low and you’ll feel tired. Feeling tired?”
I nodded, a yawn escaping my lips.
“That sleep will kill you. Now I’m not going to ask again. Either sit closer or I’ll move you.”
Then he grabbed me.
ROB
SHE WAS INFURIATING. She just sat there, turning blue, shivering like mad but refusing to move, her arms folded like she was a petulant child.
She glared at me but her expression changed to shock when I grabbed her and pulled her onto my lap, twisting her so her chest was pressed to mine, her legs around my hips. Her lips were inches from mine and out of nowhere I felt the sudden urge to kiss her. Where had that come from?
She was clearly scared, it was the least appropriate time for my body to start reacting this way. I could feel myself stiffening
as she settled in place, squirming slightly but not putting up any real effort to get away. She was too tired.
She sat staring into my eyes, still with that flicker of defiance on display. Her shivering slowly began to subside but I continued to frown as I felt the back of her dress. It was soaking wet and coated in thick mud. “We need to get that off you,” I said, tugging at it slightly.
“No we don’t,” she replied, twisting in place, her voice a whine.
“Yes we do,” I snapped, pulling it upwards, ignoring her struggling hands. “It’s wet, you’re wet. You’re covered in mud and you’ll freeze if you keep that on. We need to get you clean and dry.”
“Stop,” she snapped. “Don’t.”
Fine,” I replied, letting go. “I’ll wait until you pass out from hypothermia, then I’ll take it off you. I give you about three minutes.”
She shuddered uncontrollably, her teeth starting to chatter. “I don’t want you to see me naked,” she said and my cock twitched in response. I hadn’t even been thinking about that but my body had other ideas, it was already talking to the caveman part of my brain, telling me I needed to see her body, I needed to use her body, I needed to take her body.
“Up to you,” I said with a shrug, pressing her to me, “but you won’t get warm if you keep it on.”
“Promise me you won’t look.”
I almost laughed. She’d run from two men who clearly meant her harm. She was in an abandoned building with a complete stranger who might do anything to her and yet she was still thinking of her modesty.
I took her hands in mine. “I promise I won’t hurt you. Will that do?”
She looked at me in silence for a moment, sizing me up. Then she nodded. “I believe you.”
“Good,” I said, reaching for the dress again, sliding it up her body. She stared at me throughout, not blinking once as I tugged it up her chest and then over her head. I tossed it aside, glancing down just once at the swell of her breasts, noting how hard her nipples were, my cock twitching again in response, the sensation in my trousers not helped by the way she wriggled on my lap.
