by D. C. Stone
“I had to file for a restraining order from my fiancé, then changed my name and moved five states away to try to protect us.”
Us?
At that, his hand spasmed, and she darted her gaze back to him. Now it seemed as if she searched for something on his face. He still forced air in and out of his lungs, trying his damnedest not to get up and pace the room.
“Manuel doesn’t like being denied of his plaything. And that’s exactly what I was to him. A trophy to be set up on a shelf and admired by all his family and friends. But in the dark of the night, that trophy would turn into a punching bag. And it was steadily getting worse.”
The easy breaths he’d been taking in became choppy. Fuzzy memories flashed behind his blinking, dry eyes. He knew exactly what kind of damage a man could inflict on a woman. He’d seen it firsthand. And the thought of anyone laying any kind of violence on Samantha, a woman who’d shown nothing but kindness with animals she’d interacted with, with his niece, his family, caused a different kind of violent feeling to roll through him. He pushed the reaction down. She didn’t need to see that right now. She needed his attention and support, despite hiding such a major thing from him. He refused to let the ugliness of it all inside him. He’d deal with that later, when he was alone.
“Go on,” he encouraged. “What happened today?”
Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall. He scooted closer to the bed and reinforced his grip on her hand. “Manuel was in the apartment.” She swallowed. “I’ve never seen him so angry.”
“Did he tell you how he found you?”
She shook her head. The movement caused a tear to fall over her cheek. Before he could move, she swiped it away impatiently. “I fought back this time, though. I fought with everything I had. This time he wasn’t going to break me. It’s not just me I’m fighting for. And I think that took him by surprise.”
“You shouldn’t have had to fight him at all. I wish I would have gone with you.”
She shook her head again, her pretty red ringlets falling around her shoulders in soft waves. “I managed to get to the alarm panel and hit the panic button. He left once we heard the sirens.”
Chris took another calming, deep breath. “You don’t have anything to fear anymore. I’ll make sure you’re protected, Sam. You’ll be safe.” His words made him feel like a fool, but right now they were all he had to offer. He felt useless fighting a battle he couldn’t see.
“That’s not all,” she said and swiped at another tear rolling down her cheek. They came steadily now, and he couldn’t hold out any longer. He dropped her hand and scooted into the bed with her, drawing her carefully into his arms. She held on tight then looked up to meet his gaze.
“I’m pregnant.”
Shock stunned him speechless. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink. They’d been safe each time they’d been intimate, hadn’t they? He scrambled, trying to remember every time. He’d always been safe, had made it a priority to do so, not just to protect himself, but also to prevent situations like this from happening. But if he’d been safe, no way was the baby his. That meant…
“It’s not yours, Chris. It’s his. The day I changed my name at the court and ran for my life, for our lives, I took a pregnancy test.”
That air he’d been working on taking in and out in a steady stream grew ragged. Shit. His hands curled into fists around her back, the rage of it all screaming through his system. He crushed her into his chest, not knowing what to say. He didn’t have the words, couldn’t think straight. His mind was a jumbled mess, and as if this situation weren’t bad enough, hints of visions kept intruding on his memories.
Different times he’d been in the hospital as a child. Fear he didn’t understand left a bad taste in his mouth and he tried to push through all he had learned, all of what was spinning in his head. He leaned back on the bed, Sam on his chest, and forced his hand to unclench so he could run a palm down the back of her head. His calluses caught on the soft tendrils, but neither of them seemed to care.
“We’ll get through this, Sam. You’re safe now. I’ll keep you safe.”
She tightened her grip on his shirt and let the tears she’d been fighting come. He held her through it all.
Chapter Eighteen
Samantha accepted the cup of steaming tea from Hailey with a smile. “Thank you, sweetheart.” She sipped the hot liquid, inhaling the aroma of chamomile and lavender with a satisfied sigh. Her body ached, but the pounding behind her left eye told another story. One that refused to let her push any of what occurred today in the back of her mind.
Not that her body wasn’t telling her what a mirror had. The marks left on her face would keep the activity in her head for weeks to come. And the memories would serve as haunting reminders of the very real terror she felt for that hour alone with Manuel.
Then there was the baby. A lifetime reminder she’d never be able to forget. A child created through utter violence, but one she vowed she’d love with everything she was.
Hailey disappeared in the bathroom, coming out a few moments later and sitting on the side of the bed, her shrew gaze far too old for her young years. “Is there anything else I can get for you, Doctor Eagen?”
Sam smiled warmly and shook her head, dropping the smile when it stretched her lips to the point of pain. “You’ve already done so much. Rearranging the clinic’s schedule and calling other vet offices in the area to help the more emergent cases get addressed now. You’ve done more than I could have asked for, and I appreciate it all.”
“Well,” Hailey said, and tucked her hands into her lap. “Make sure Uncle Chris spoils you. Don’t get up unless you absolutely need to. We want you to be back on your feet quickly.”
Sam couldn’t help but like the young woman, and even though she had to be at least fifteen years her senior, she accepted the instructions with a firm nod of her head.
“Mom got sick right after she and D got together.”
Sam’s eyes widened in alarm, about to ask and apologize, as was the normal immediate response whenever someone mentioned a family member “getting sick,” but Hailey jumped in before she could.
“Not that it was anything serious. Just the flu. We suspected it had to do with all the stress she had been under.” She trailed off for a moment then shook her head and jumped back in. “Anyhow, D wasn’t living with us yet and Mom didn’t want him to see her like that. When she gets sick, she is S. I. C. K.” Hailey bugged her eyes with emphasis and Sam fought the urge to laugh.
“So, she had texted him she was sick, apparently thinking with his job and all, he’d want to stay away.” She shook her head, a small smile dancing on her pink lips. “Boy, was she wrong. Dwayne came over and hovered. And when I mean he hovered, he hov-er-ed. He slept right beside her every night, made sure she stayed in bed, got her soup and orange juice, tissues, you name it. It was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever seen, from what she told me.”
Hailey’s smile grew, her gaze far off. She turned to Sam again. “So, make sure Uncle Chris spoils you, but be forewarned, these Gonzalez men have a problem with personal space when their women are sick, or in your case, hurt.” She lifted a delicate shoulder. “It’s kind of romantic when you think of it.”
Behind Hailey, a snort sounded. Sam looked over her shoulder as Hailey turned to see Chris with a wide smile. “Don’t listen to D, Hails. He has no sense of romance at all. Just ask your mother.”
Hailey laughed and rose from the bed. “I think Mom would disagree with you there. But I’ll get out of your hair. If you need anything,” she said, and cast a glance at them both, “please don’t hesitate to call. I have my phone on me and I’m only a short drive from the clinic. And before you say anything, I’ll take Dad with me if I need to go by there.”
Chris nodded and Sam murmured, “Thank you, Hailey. Have a good night.”
“Sure thing,” she said with a wave. “You, too.”
Chris shut the door behind her and went to the
bathroom. The water faucet turned on and off, the toilet flushed, and some rustling around sounded before he came out dressed in a pair of black boxers, a perplexed look on his face, eyes on the door Hailey just disappeared through.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He didn’t answer right away, and his brows turned down into a deep V on his forehead. The man was entirely too handsome for his own good. She couldn’t help but unabashedly take him in standing there in all his glory. She’d heard soldiers were in shape, they had to be to do the work they did, especially Special Operation soldiers, but the defined, cut muscles on Chris took that physical fitness to a whole other level.
Wide shoulders gave way to arms molded with muscles. His stomach and waist looked as if he’d been carved from stone. Was some Adonis statue ready to be erected.
And speaking of erected … his package stood out in stark relief in those formfitting boxers, drawing her gaze more than probably polite.
Beautiful.
Of course, he probably would scoff at being called beautiful, but that was how she saw him in her mind. And it wasn’t just the outside that made him so. It was everything about him, his compassion, caring, and empathy he’d shown toward her and his dog. He truly cared about ridding the world of evil, and she’d seen that in everything he’d done over the past few weeks, from the interactions with his team, toward handling everything going on with her.
How she ever got so lucky to get him in her life, she’d never know. But what she understood now more than ever was she wanted to keep him. And she knew it was selfish, especially asking that of him, of taking in her and a child that wasn’t his, but she didn’t want to let him go. She wanted to make this decision for her, and her only. She wanted him … forever.
Everything was so new, though. Their relationship. They had known each other for a few weeks. How could she feel this connected to him? Was it all in her head? Was he a rebound from a bad relationship she just escaped?
She didn’t want to think so and instead wanted to follow the warm, tingly feeling she got whenever she was in his presence. She wanted to chase this good feeling so she could continue having more of it. After everything she’d been through, didn’t she deserve at least that?
“I don’t know,” Chris said, drawing her out of her musings, “but something is up.” He shook his head and walked over to the bed, then lay next to her, tucking himself under the heavy covers. “I have more pills missing, and either I’m taking them and not realizing it, or someone is swiping them out from underneath me.”
Sam raised her brows. “That’s not good. Oxy, you said?”
He nodded.
“Those are highly addictive pills. How many were in the bottle?”
“Thirty. I have a prescription for one more refill, but I threw it away knowing I wouldn’t use it. I don’t like the way they make me fuzzy. And my mom had an addiction to drugs, if you remember…”
She nodded and curled up on her side, facing him as he settled in.
“I swear I’ve only taken a few, three at most, but nearly the entire bottle is gone.”
“What do you think is going on?”
He stared at the door to his bedroom, a deep frown settled on his face. “I think I need to have a chat with D soon.” He seemed to struggle on what to say next, but took a deep breath and faced her. “Hailey has been through a bit of a tough time.”
Alarm coursed through Samantha, the implications of what Chris said hitting her. “You think Hailey is taking your pills?”
He nodded, a grim look on his face.
“Chris, that’s a serious accusation. Even more so because she works in a clinic where there are controlled substances in abundance.”
“But you have the key for that locker, right?”
She nodded.
He nodded back. “Good. Keep it on you for now. We’ll do a count to make sure once we get back down there. But all I’m saying is what she went through wasn’t easy. And whoever took her pumped her full of some drugs that left her completely out of it for long periods of time. Heroine. Heroine is what they filled her with. She couldn’t function for a while after everything, and as far as I know, is still struggling with the withdrawal. It hasn’t been that long since she’s been back, and I know they are still doing counseling, but this is twice now she’s been here and more pills have gone missing. I’m not saying it’s her, but with her past and everything she’s been through, all I’m saying is I think I need to have a chat with D about it. Just to be certain.”
“It’s a tough situation to be in, for all of you,” she said.
His lips flattened and he pushed a tendril of hair behind her ear, the action so achingly tender her nose stung with tears. “Yeah, it is.”
She captured his wrist and held it to her face before he could draw his hand away. “Chris?”
“Right here, Red.”
Her stomach flipped with the urge to blurt out her feelings. Things were so very new between them. She didn’t want to scare him off. But the urge to tell him refused to be delayed. She’d always been impulsive, but this was taking things a step further. They need to get everything out, to declare something between them. To have them both recognize it for what it was.
“I … I…”
He drew closer to her and cupped her face until her gaze lifted to his. In the darkness of the night with the moon shining behind him from the window, he looked like a dark protector. A man who’d slay any dragon for her.
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” she said in a rush, the words pushed out with such force that she had to draw in a quick take of air to prevent herself from passing out.
Chris froze, his entire being not moving at all. If she hadn’t been sure, she would have suspected him of being that very statue she thought of earlier. Several seconds ticked by in utter silence and an uneasy feeling worked its way into her stomach. She’d said something too soon. She knew it!
She parted her lips to apologize, but found his mouth covering hers. He brushed his lips against her so tenderly, softly like a moth’s wings. She pressed toward him, needing the contact of her body, and found his arm wrapped around her waist as he hauled her against him. The action was so unlike the kiss, forceful even, and she realized what he did. He kissed her with care as her mouth had a busted lip, but showed her with his actions just how much her words had moved him.
She parted her mouth and his tongue peeked out to claim hers, but still it was soft, hesitant almost, their tongues dancing to a tune as old as time itself. Their lips didn’t touch, but they fused their bodies together, tongues wrapped around one another. She fell into his spell and let him show her what his words could not.
Chris broke away with a harsh growl. “You’re hurt. Let’s slow down.”
She shook her head and rolled him to his back. He grunted and stared up at her, his eyes shining bright and round under the reflection of the moon. Silvery splashes of light played over his strikingly handsome features. The strong cut of his jaw, a dusting of a five o’clock shadow, and deep, wide-set, honey-colored eyes. He smelled of man with a hint of a spicy cologne she couldn’t seem to get enough of. All of it combined drove her to distraction. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted him despite being through her ordeal.
Heat settled between her legs and low within her stomach. She resettled over him, and her legs fell open to encompass his slim hips. Aligning them as she knew was a perfect fit, breath jumped out between her parted lips as her intimate parts came into contact with his dangly bits, only a thin barrier of their underwear the remaining obstacle.
“Red,” he said, the growl echoing through the room and causing a thrill to roll up her spine. He grabbed her hips, not to throw her off it seemed, but to hold her still. “Sweetheart.” He tilted his head back as she dipped hers, then she ran her tongue along the length of his throat.
“I want you,” she whispered. “Please.”
A beat of silence, then he groaned and dipped his big hands under
the elastic of her underwear to hold her ass in place over his hardening cock. His hips rolled, pushing against her most private part, held in place by his grip.
She curled her toes as pleasure washed through her limbs. Amazing that only hours ago she’d been in the clutches of terror, and now, she couldn’t think straight for the warm tingles building within her.
His harsh breaths sounded in the room as she continued her onslaught of his neck, taking care not to stretch her lips too much. He didn’t seem to pay any attention to her care, though, for his body started to get into the motion his hips led. His grip tightened, hands clutching for purpose.
Beneath her shirt, her nipples pebbled to hard rocks she wanted to scrap across his chest. Sweat dampened the skin behind her neck, and between her legs, she grew wetter. She could feel the material between them growing damper with each grinding movement of their hips against one another.
She could come just like this but wanted more. She wanted to feel him skin to skin.
Sitting up and ignoring the twinges in her back, she whipped the shirt over her head, taking a moment of victory at his desire-filled gaze on her body.
She’d done this. She gave him this reaction. Her confidence grew under his stare. Whereas she’d been a shallow creature led through the bedtime activities before, under Chris’s attention, she wanted to lead them to pleasure.
Straddling him, she rolled her hips forward and back, her mouth parting as a new wave of pleasure washed over her body. The tingles made her scalp prickle, made her body beg to be filled by only what he could provide.
Chris clutched at her underwear, growling deeper in his throat until it sounded as if an animal had entered their secluded moment.
“Sweetheart,” he said, the words sounding ripped out of him. “I need to be inside you. These”—he tugged at her panties on each side—“need to come off.”
She didn’t want to move from her position, but she wanted him inside of her. “Rip them off me,” she breathed.
