by Unknown
She’d never climaxed before tonight.
With Kane, she’d already had three orgasms. Two years with the senator had failed to ever give her a single moment’s pleasure.
Kane growled, drenching her with wet warmth. “God, if this gets any better, I’ll be right here fucking you all night.”
Jayla laughed. “My bed is your bed.”
Abruptly, the bedroom door slammed open. Barbara marched in, her face dark with rage, a furious avenger.
Jayla melted into the mattress, unable to breathe. She couldn’t have said a word if her life depended on it. Kane, his cock still buried deep inside her, slowly slid his arm beneath her breasts and held her up. He made no move to withdraw from her, but instead, pressed a tender kiss to her nape.
God, could this night get any worse?
His wife stood there staring, unblinking. “I see you finally fucked the little tart. If you’re finished, I’d like to go home now.”
“I’m not finished,” Kane calmly replied.
Jayla wished she could crawl inside the wall and vanish forever, but Kane was having none of it. He rubbed her throbbing nipples until they tightened into hard little buds of expectation. All the while, he moved slowly inside her, ignoring his wife standing in the doorway.
Finally, he grunted one last time and Jayla couldn’t believe he climaxed again, or that he did it with Barbara staring a hole through both of them. He pulled out of her, pulled up his pants, and tugged the zipper in place.
“I’m finished now,” he said turning to face Barbara. “If you’re ready, we’ll go home.”
Jayla stood up naked as the day she was born and watched him cross the room to his wife. He didn’t look back. Hell, he didn’t even bother to close the door behind them. He didn’t say kiss my ass, go to hell, you’re a lousy fuck, a great fuck, or anything. He simply walked away from her like nothing had happened between them or that he hadn’t just screwed her in front of his wife.
What the hell?
Barbara paused long enough to look over her shoulder and smile. “Surely, my dear, you didn’t think you were anything special for my husband? You aren’t the first cunt he’s been attracted to, nor will you be the last. He always comes back to me because I understand him.”
Jayla slammed the door in Barbara’s face and locked it. “Understand that, bitch!” She hurried to the shower, tears crawling down her face. She’d never been so humiliated in her life. Indeed, she’d thought she was special to him, that he needed her, but he’d used her just like–just like–fuck! Just like the senator, only she’d made it easy for him. Like a fool, she’d given him her body, her heart, and he’d taken what he wanted and flung the rest back in her face, unwanted, and walked out with his wife, a cold bastard if ever there was one.
She slid down onto the shower floor and bawled until she had no more tears left to cry. “Oh, God,” she cried as a thought suddenly hit her. “No. Don’t let it happen.”
Stepping out of the shower, she brushed the tangled wet hair out of her eyes and turned off the shower knobs. Drying off with a huge pink towel, she wrapped it around her sarong-style. Her mind felt numb. It occurred to her she no longer used birth control. She hadn’t thought, hadn’t cared that Kane hadn’t worn a rubber—the need for one simply hadn’t occurred to her—until just now.
What if?
God, she couldn’t get pregnant.
Kane didn’t want her. She couldn’t be pregnant by him. Hamilton would kill her.
Tomorrow and every day after that, Kane and his wife would return. He and the senator were now business partners. They were all supposed to go sailing at dawn.
She couldn’t face them. She couldn’t.
Desperate to escape the awful humiliation, Jayla hastily packed a suitcase and overnight bag. Anything else she needed she’d purchase along the way. She took the stash of cash she kept hidden in a shoe box on the top shelf of her closet. No one knew she had the money. The senator was nothing, if not a generous man, but Jayla never spent the money he gave her.
Instead, she ratted it away for emergencies—for a moment like this.
Her heart sinking, she had to get away. She needed time alone, away from all of them, away from the insanity of her life. Without saying a word to anyone, Jayla hurried down the servant’s stairs and out the backdoor to the garage.
Her red Mustang waited—a gift the senator bestowed upon her for her seventeenth birthday, as well as a late night visit to her bed, just last month. The car was the only thing he’d ever given her that she’d willingly accepted, and that was because she’d known a time would come, perhaps more than once, when she’d need a quick escape.
Jayla closed the door and inserted the key. There was so much noise inside the house no one was likely to hear the engine start up. Backing out of the garage, she pressed down on the accelerator and shot away from King’s Hill.
Once she reached the airport, it was just a matter of parking the car, paying a month in advance for the parking space, then hurrying inside the airport to purchase a ticket. The harried clerk glared at her as if she’d interrupted his one a.m. nap or something.
“Where do you wish to go?” he asked in an uninterested tone.
“I don’t care. Just sell me a ticket on the first flight out of here to anywhere.”
He looked at her, an odd expression on his face as though he thought perhaps she was a criminal bent on escaping the law.
“Look, my husband is a mean sonofabitch. If he catches me, he’ll beat me…again. Can you please sell me a ticket so I can get away from him?”
“Yes,” he replied. “There’s a flight leaving in twenty minutes for India. They’re boarding now. If you hurry, you can just make it.”
“India?” God, she’d never been there. Why couldn’t there be a flight to England or some other English speaking country?
“Look, lady, do you want the ticket or not?”
“I’ll take it.”
She didn’t know how she got her bags checked in or made that flight on time. The stewardess was just closing the door when Jayla yelled, “Wait. Wait. I need on board.”
Thank God the lady smiled and nodded. Settling in her seat, Jayla fastened her seatbelt and released a long breath. Tonight, she intended to disappear for as long as she needed.
* * * *
Wild rubbed a hand down his mouth. “You really went to India?”
“India? Yes. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but I think I somehow thought if I went somewhere there were billions of people, no one could find me. I’d vanish without a trace. Using cash helped. I learned during that time to never use credit cards or debit cards. They leave a paper trail that leads right to you.”
He grinned. “My little outlaw. It wasn’t like you were evading the law, baby.”
“No, the senator is worse than the law, his punishment exacting when you cross him. He would have done something to my mother to get to me if he could have found me.” She sighed. “You have any idea how difficult it is to blend in with people who are much darker skinned than you are? It’s utterly impossible. I was a novelty everywhere I went.”
“This all happened before the incident at the pool?”
“No.”
“So, were you pregnant?”
“No. I was lucky.”
That time.
Wild released a pent-up breath. “There’s more to this story?” he asked quietly, sounding sure.
“Unfortunately, a lot more, but if you don’t want to hear it I—”
“I want to hear everything, but we better save it for tomorrow night. It’s getting late. Get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be the day from hell.”
Jayla nodded. She thought he might make love to her again, but no. Perhaps he couldn’t bear to touch her because of what she’d shared with him this night, or how she’d seduced Kane, a married man. She couldn’t blame Wild if he never wanted to touch her again. He thought he was soiled. Compared to her black soul, she was far wo
rse tainted from all the wrong she’d been a part of and could never undo. She didn’t deserve forgiveness or a second chance, but she prayed Wild would be her salvation.
Save it for tomorrow night. The rest. The worst.
Jayla hoped she possessed enough strength and courage to share it with him. Burrowing against Wild, she couldn’t help wondering what troubles tomorrow might bring.
The day from hell.
She closed her eyes and shivered. A dark premonition slid across her mind.
The day from hell.
Drifting into sleep, Jayla dreamed of howling wolves, sharp teeth slashing and ripping her flesh from her bones. Moaning, she was grateful Wild lay beside her, a barrier to the dangers of the world.
But the lonely call of the wolves haunted her troubled dreams the rest of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Death and taxes and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.
~Margaret Mitchell
Dancing Star Ranch
February 22, Sunday
10:00 p.m.
Jace Remington dropped the phone on its cradle and plumped the pillow behind his head. “That was Dianna,” he called to his wife. “She’s not coming home when she’s released from the hospital, but staying at Raider’s until she’s up to the return flight. Then she’s returning to New York.”
Kaycee stepped into the doorway of the master bathroom. “Are you able to fly the chopper?”
Jace frowned. “I think so. My shoulder’s still tender, but I can use my arm in a pinch for short durations, but, sweetheart, it isn’t me that’s the problem. It’s her. She has to have time for her leg to heal. After that, she wants some time alone to get her mind settled. Whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.”
“No, I meant do you think you can fly me to Havre…now?”
Jace whipped his head up from the book he was scanning, his full attention now on his wife. “What’s wrong?”
Hell, she looked okay standing there, a little pale maybe, but her color had been off all day. Earlier, she’d complained of her back hurting. Five months pregnant with triplets, she already looked nine months along. The pregnancy was hard for her. Jesus, it’s been hard for him, too.
“I think my water broke.”
“What?” He flung back the covers and dashed to her side. “Don’t you know for sure?” He hovered around her not knowing what to say or think or even what he should do.
“God.” He raked fingers through his tousled hair. “Shouldn’t a woman know if her water broke or not?”
“Well, gee, Jace, this is my first pregnancy, so no, I’m not sure. I just know I’m hurting and there’s a bit of blood and it felt like I peed my pants. Maybe I did, but I think you should take me to the hospital.”
“A bit of blood?” he asked, his voice rising. “How much is a bit?”
“Enough to be of concern,” she answered calmly.
How could she be composed at a moment like this? He practically hopped from one foot to the other, dancing around like a wild man. Jace hurried to the closet and flung open the door. “You’re suitcase. You finished packing it? Didn’t you?”
“No. I wasn’t expecting to go into labor tonight.”
“Well, good God, Kaycee, did you plan on the babies coming home naked?”
A ghost of a grin flickered across her lips. “Calm down, Jace. I’m the one in labor here. You can return home and finish packing for me later.”
“Oh.” He took her hand, his fingers trembling. “Do you want to change clothes?”
“I already did.” She bit her lower lip, her face twisted with pain. “I think we better hurry.”
Jace gripped her upper arms. “I don’t wanna be the one to fly you. I want to be at your side. I’ll call Josh.”
“The foreman knows how to fly the chopper?”
“Sure. He can take us.”
Jace made the call and grabbed Kaycee by the arm. “He’ll be waiting for us. Are you ready?”
Kaycee grinned. “Yes, I am, but don’t you think maybe you should put on some clothes? Or did you plan to arrive at the hospital as naked as our babies?”
Jace looked sheepish. “Give me three minutes.”
Two hours later, Danger found Jace standing at the neonatal nursery windows for critical babies. “I wondered why you weren’t answering your cell phone. Now I know the reason.”
Jace turned away from the windows where he’d been staring at his three daughters. “How did you know I was here?”
“Bumped into Josh at the elevators just before he headed back to the ranch. How’s Kaycee?”
“She’s pretty much out of it. They had to take the babies.” He drew a deep breath as tears welled in his eyes. “We don’t know if they’re going to make it.”
“They’ll make it,” Danger said. “They’ve got the Remington grit and their mama’s courage.”
“The doctor said there’s a good chance, but they’re so tiny, barely a pound. I don’t know how we’ll ever tell those two apart. They’re identical, right down to their little pink toes. Baby A and Baby B. Baby C, looks like her mama. Isn’t she beautiful?” he asked in awe. He grinned. “Ain’t it a hell of a thing? Three little angels.”
“They’re perfect little beings, aren’t they?” Danger said sounding as awed as Jace. “All of them, so beautiful and perfect. Look at all that dark hair. They look like you, Jace.”
Jace grinned. “Yeah. The twins do. Not any doubts those babies are Remingtons,” he said proudly.
“That they are,” Danger agreed. “Maybe the next one will be a boy.”
Jace shook his head. “God, Danger, I don’t think I can stand to go through all this again. Do you know there’s a ninety-nine per cent chance that if Kaycee gets pregnant again, it’ll be either with twins or triplets?”
“You’re joking?”
“No. Triplets run in her family.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t wanna put her through something like this again. I thought Kaycee was going to have the babies before we reached Havre. I don’t think we’ll risk having any more children.” He frowned. “Why were you trying to call me?”
Danger’s brows knitted together. “I think Wild may be in a bit of trouble. I thought maybe you might wanna do a flyby of the cabin and check on him.”
Jace shook his head. “I’ll be tied up here for days. I can’t leave Kaycee right now or the babies. If something happened and I wasn’t here, my wife would never forgive me and I wouldn’t blame her. She and those babies are my first priority.”
“What about Josh? Could he fly me there?”
“Sure, but it’ll have to be sometime tomorrow. He has to fly back here with Kaycee’s bag and my cell in the morning, and that’s if the weather permits. I still haven’t called any of the family and told them the babies have arrived.”
“Well hell, half your family’s in the hospital somewhere. How’s Duel?”
“Slow. He’s waiting to fly to D.C. for surgery to remove that damn bullet from his spine.”
Danger nodded. “Let’s hope things don’t get too hairy for Wild in the meantime.”
“He knows how to handle himself.”
“I think Jayla Ross might be with him.”
“What? Aw, shit! Is this all connected to that mess Duel got involved in?
“I think so. They still don’t know who murdered the first lady. I talked to that agent, Samantha Rivers yesterday. She said things were still insane in Washington.”
“If Jayla Ross is somehow involved Wild might not be in such great shape. He’s always been in love with her. Damn, I hope she doesn’t break his heart again.”
“Really? He’s in love with her?”
Jace rocked back on his boot heels, grinning. “Yup. He was the only one who didn’t realize it.”
“I didn’t know it,” Danger said. “Hell, this world is chocked full of surprises.”
Jace grinned and scratched his jaw. “Ain’t it though?”
; * * * *
Montana Wilderness
The Cabin
February 23, Monday
5:30 a.m.
A hiss of low, angry words, the ring of a sharp slap, and a woman’s strangled cries dragged Kane out of the deep sleep he’d finally fallen into around midnight. He despised sleeping in Wild Remington’s bed, but other than joining Zaden and the woman on the double-sized sleeping bag in front of the fireplace, he’d take the hated bed.
The last thing he wanted was to lie beside Zaden and the woman while his friend fucked the night away.
He clenched his fists. How he hated that the cowboy had slept with Jayla. Their scents saturated the pillows, the sheets, the very air he breathed. His gut tightened. Jealousy boiled hot and fierce in his blood. He’d always been somewhat of a possessive man. He didn’t share what belonged to him. The cowboy had taken something that was his. He’d see him dead for it.
Zaden’s low grunts when he took the woman earlier in the night were the last sounds Kane heard before drifting off to sleep. They were the first he heard upon waking.
Did the man ever get enough?
Disgusted, the answer to that question was glaringly obvious. Something wasn’t quite wired right in his partner’s brain. Hell, he enjoyed sex as well as the next man, but it wasn’t a twenty-four hour, gotta-have-it-deal with him. Zaden—well, the assassin was a different story, ruthless, cold-blooded, the thrill of the kill flipped his switch. Much as he regretted it, Kane had no doubt what was going to take place over the next few minutes.
He turned slowly, quietly, so he faced not only the fire, but Zaden and the woman who pleaded for her sadistic terrorist to stop. Forcing her onto her hands and knees, Zaden pumped hard and fast between her thighs. Her slender shoulders shook with her ragged breaths. The young woman tried to escape, clawing the sleeping bag in her feeble attempt to gain her freedom, but Zaden held her firmly in place, his hips in constant movement. “Keep still, bitch,” he growled in warning.
