HIS Return (Hamilton Investigation & Security: HIS Series Book 3)

by Sheila Kell

  The door opened, and her twin brothers entered.

  Brad narrowed his eyes. “Sofia, what the hell are you doing here?”

  Sofia cocked her head at him and smiled flirtatiously. She had always had a thing for the twin. “I’m here to see Emily.”

  “Well, she’s leaving so you may as well go too.”

  Emily’s eyes widened at her brother’s rudeness. Sure he’d been annoyed at Sofia always throwing herself at him when they’d been younger, but now?

  Her friend huffed. “Fine.” She circled back to Emily. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks in Oxford. Give me a call before then and we’ll grab coffee and catch up. There’s much to tell.”

  They hugged and the woman left.

  Emily narrowed her eyes at Brad. “That was uncalled for.”

  He shrugged. “Got her to leave though, didn’t I?”

  Her mouth dropped open.

  “Anything?” Jesse asked.

  “No sign of them.” Matt looked at her then back at her oldest brother. “Their places were tossed too.”

  Jesse faced her, his muscles bunched up and his jaw tight, frustration bleeding from his features. “You almost ready to leave? I’ll have someone clean this up.”

  No Teri. No Michael. Without them, they had only a piece of burned-up computer. They needed her boss or coworker. Were the two in on this? That didn’t make sense though if Teri was the one who’d downloaded the information.

  “Let me grab a couple of things for Amber.” If she could collect her daughter’s favorite stuffed animal, at least the trip wouldn’t be a total waste.

  AMBER giggled as she climbed the steps out of the pool, stopping to the side, on the edge with her arms held out, air-filled plastic triangles eating up most of her short arms. “Again, Daddy.”

  With nothing new to go on to remove the threat to Em and Amber, Jake stood in the water, ready to catch his daughter when she fearlessly launched herself at him. She’d shied away from the pool at the beginning, but Reagan had coaxed her to finally get in the water and then she was jumping in like her cousin. He discovered she was okay with it as long as her head didn’t go underwater. And, he was okay with it. So far. He prayed she didn’t decide on a death grip around his neck.

  Spending the last few days with Em, he’d heard all that he’d missed in his daughter’s life. One of the most enjoyable stories was when Amber had tried to ride Dottie. Most importantly, he’d learned more about his grown-up sprite and how her life had been without him. He hated she’d had to sacrifice so much because he’d left. He’d make it up to her if it happened to be the last thing he did.

  Each day, he witnessed the anger he’d initially felt from her melt and heat spark, making it difficult to keep his hands off her. He needed to feel her body against his while he was awake. Not like it had been all of those years ago.

  They’d avoided the topics of Amber’s conception and of marriage. Both conversations silently hung in the background after her initial reaction to his proposal. Speaking of the two subjects before they’d become close again would be a disaster. He’d lose any ground he’d obtained.

  Showing he would be a good father to Amber and a loving man to Em had been important. The question residing in his mind was whether he’d push so hard and so fast if they didn’t have a daughter. Showing her what existed between them—yes. Get married right away—probably not. He’d have let her pick the timeline for marriage. But, they would get married.

  It no longer mattered what his thoughts were. He did have a daughter, and he would be a father to her and not one who saw her every other weekend. They’d be a loving family.

  Maybe by showing Em what was still between them, reigniting the passion he’d felt in his dream would pull them closer together and open her heart.

  In a pool chair beside Kate and Megan, he caught Em’s gaze. He could’ve sworn a flash of desire crossed her pupils as she looked him over. Thankfully, the cold water helped him not embarrass himself with how much she affected him.

  “Daddy, again!”

  Accepting him without question, his daughter had attached herself to his side, and since Em kept her daughter close, he spent more time with her as well. His hope was that she felt like they were becoming a family.

  Water splashed at him as a little water nymph landed in his arms, sputtering as her face caught wet splashes.

  “Lunch is ready,” Brad announced before turning back to the grill. The smell of chicken, burgers and hot dogs floated his way, and Jake’s stomach growled.

  Standing at the shallow end, he pulled his daughter against him. “Are you hungry, princess?”

  A loud wail sounded in his ears, frightening him for a moment.

  “No! Wanna jump!”

  He turned to step back to his spot in the pool.

  Em walked to them wearing a stern expression. “Amber, it’s time to eat. No more pool.”

  Afraid to set his daughter down for fear she’d jump in the pool without an adult, he exited the water and handed her to her mother amidst the struggle to be released from their arms. Watching Em handle Amber, convincing her a hot dog would be good right now and then the pool later and drying up the child’s tears, amazed him. He wanted to be able to do the same thing. He was too much of a pussy and gave in to her tears.

  “You two sit. I’ll grab your plates. What do you want, sprite?”

  Em started, electricity shooting between them. “Chicken with potato salad. Get Amber a hot dog, no bun, no sides, please.”

  Sitting down with two plates, one for his daughter and one for Em, he took the time to slice Amber’s hot dog as he’d witnessed Em do before. With their lunch plates prepared, he returned to the grill for his own.

  “Smooth move.”

  He looked at Devon curiously. “What?”

  His brother nodded in the direction of his daughter and Em, who had been joined by Blake who gushed over his granddaughter. “Cutting that for Amber. You could tell Em liked that.”

  Gazing at the two most important people in his life eating their meals, a smile touched his lips, and his heart beat with love for the both of them. Em stood, leaving Amber with her grandfather, and slipped into the house in the short covering she wore over her yellow bikini. It only took a moment to decide to follow her. Setting down his plate, he slowly strode in her wake.

  Welcoming the cool air, he closed the door behind him and sought out Em. Before she could close the bathroom door behind her, Jake snuck into the room and locked the door.

  “Jake,” she whispered, her voice nervous and her eyes shining, “what are you doing?”

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snug against his body, groaning at the bolts of lightning zipping their way through every nerve ending in his body, from head to toe, sending blood rushing to his groin. Her shiver at his touch made him want her even more.

  “Showing you there is something between us.” His mouth swooped down on hers, claiming her lips before his tongue invaded her mouth, tasting her sweetness, while his arousal grew and his swim trunks began to tent.

  The kiss was just as he remembered in his dream and somehow, he knew sliding back into her body and watching her face as she came apart would be just as blissful. Thinking those things vanquished his self-restraint, and his kiss turned fierce as he devoured her mouth, suckling on her swollen lips and tongue, demanding more from her with each passing moment.

  Before he realized his actions, he’d picked Em up, situated her on the vanity and slid between her legs. Her heat burned through her shorts to his stiff member as his hands grasped her buttocks and rocked his hips against hers until she would be able to feel how hard she made him.

  A low mewling sound escaped her, enticing him further as he reached for her shirt to strip it over her head to allow him to worship the body beneath it before he exploded like a teenager on his
first time with a woman. Pushing aside her bathing suit top, he closed his hand over the full swell of her breast and feral desire ripped through him, increasing his urgency to have her, to show her that she was his and only his.

  A knock on the door broke through the haze clouding his mind when a small voice followed it. “Mommy, I gotta potty!”

  EMILY pushed Jake back, her hands burning on his naked chest, and slid from the vanity and corrected her clothing before reaching for the door. It took several tries to unlock it with her trembling hand. Using her other hand on Jake’s forearm, she shoved him out the door, past her daughter who hopped around doing the potty dance. It was time to move Amber from pull-up diapers to panties. She was growing too quickly that it almost saddened Emily to move her to the next stage of her little life.

  “Come in and potty.” She kissed her daughter on the head. “I’m so proud of you.”

  While they’d been residing here, she’d had quite a few people interrupting and saving her from making mistakes with Jake that she knew she’d regret, but she’d never expected one of her saviors to be her daughter. His magic touch tossed her will to keep a distance between them out the window, leaving her weak and wanting. Hell, she’d been ready to fuck him right there in the bathroom.

  They may be close again, but she hadn’t been ready to make that jump from friends to lovers. Yet, resisting him was near impossible. Knowing he wanted her as badly as she wanted him left her breathless, and her heart did a pitter-patter when they were near each other.

  Amber scooted the little stool so she could use the regular toilet and then fought to pull her wet swimsuit off. “Mommy, hep me.”

  The frantic cry told Emily they only had a few moments before this potty trip failed. Deftly stripping the little girl down, she picked the child up and sat her on the toilet.

  Looking up, Emily saw Jake in the doorway, watching their interaction with a strange expression on his face. She reached under the counter and removed a pull-up to give herself a moment to settle the chaotic beating of her heart from their sensual encounter.

  Damn, he was handsome. He’d begun to put on a little weight, and he looked rested for a change. She wished she could say she’d felt rested. The entire situation had kept her tossing and turning most nights, unsure what her next steps should be or what Jake would do.

  His throat clearing, deep and sexy, had her raising her eyebrows at him in question.

  “How long does she do that?”

  Embarrassment at almost being caught like they had been by her daughter temporarily forgotten, she fought the smile trying to explode on her face. “Do what? Go to the bathroom?”

  “No.” A slight redness crept up his neck. “Still need those diaper things. She didn’t wear one today, and she seemed okay on her own.”

  Glancing over, she witnessed her daughter pulling enough toilet paper to clog the commode for days. Dropping the diaper, Emily reached over, tore off a piece and handed it to Amber. “She is close to being on her own. She’s had only one accident this week. As for today, they’d only weigh her down, so I decided to chance it.” She picked up the article and placed it back under the counter. “I’m not putting that on her. It was habit to grab it.”

  The flushing of the toilet turned Jake’s focus on his daughter, watching her with wide eyes filled with wonder.

  Emily’s lips still felt the tingling from his kiss, the heat running through her body from his touch. Shit. She could barely remember her reasons for pulling back from him.

  Amber bumped into her foot when she scooted her stool to the sink. “I torry, Mommy. You hut?”

  Emily shook her head, and the little girl continued, stretching to reach the cold faucet, pumping some colorful, bottled child’s foamy soap in her hands. Finished, she jumped down and pushed her stool out of the way. After she helped her daughter back into her swimsuit, Emily was forgotten.

  “Daddy, I wanna jump.”

  Jake held his hand out, and a small one slipped in it. “Let’s get those float things back on your arms and check out the pool.”

  As they moved to the back door, she heard him ask, “Do you think there are sharks in the pool?”

  Her daughter giggled, a joyous sound that always made her smile. “No, thilwy. There’s just Unca Jethe and Rea-Rea.”

  The door to the patio closed leaving Emily alone. She leaned against the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. “What the hell did you just let happen?”

  “What indeed?”

  She spun around to Trent leaning lazily against the doorjamb wearing a sly grin on his face.

  “Nothing.” She slipped past him and tightened her jaw at his hearty chuckle.

  Eleven

  COZY EVENINGS WITH the family while watching a movie, usually an action one with a badass hero, was another thing Jake had missed, but he’d never expected the next time he’d experience it that the feature film would be a children’s animated movie. With Amber and Reagan sitting on the floor hypnotized by the cartoon, no adult complained about the change in genre. Glancing around, he noticed the men’s eyes were glued to the TV. Amazing.

  Focusing on the talking animals on the screen became an impossible task for Jake. His thoughts kept flashing to the feel of Em’s soft body in his hands, her sidled up next to him, the friction as their groins rubbed against each other, only separated by thin bathing suits, which had been beyond the memory of his dreams these past few years. It also had his cock twitching.

  Earlier, he’d stalked outside after the heated encounter in the bathroom. Strutted was more like it. He’d just had a taste of Em. Amber had run off toward Reagan, leaving him with his thoughts. He couldn’t wash the feel of Em’s body next to his from his mind. Damn if he hadn’t been imagining taking her to bed and doing everything to her he’d dreamed.

  Then he’d been caught off-guard with a splash of cold water that drenched him, cooling down his fevered body, returning his mind to what was happening around him.

  “There are children out here. Get yourself under control.”

  Realizing what Matt meant, he’d placed his hands in front of his crotch and hastily made his way to the pool, diving in before the kids noticed how his swimsuit had tented and asked about it. He couldn’t believe Amber hadn’t said something with that ardent curiosity of hers.

  If the water hadn’t cooled down his growing desire, Em’s expression and actions when she’d returned to the family would have. He’d expected a smile, something to encourage him, but she’d gone out of her way to avoid him, always having a sister-in-law or Trent close by to intervene when he neared her so he’d watched helplessly as her anger returned, closing her off from him, and he couldn’t wrap his mind around why. Her passionate response proved she’d wanted the same thing. Hell, they could’ve set the bathroom ablaze with the intensity of their kisses alone.

  Jake’s heart clenched painfully. It’d been too soon to make a move, but damn if being near her without touching her, holding her, caressing her, didn’t push him almost past the point of insanity. When she’d been younger, her age had always frozen his lust. Now, there was nothing holding him back from having her. Except her acquiescence. And fucking Trent. He’d yet to discuss her leaving the man behind, and her brothers wouldn’t give him any hints about how long she’d been with the man. They just smirked and shrugged when he asked them anything about the two.

  Earning her trust back and rekindling her love for him was the course he had to continue to take to make her believe he loved her and would not leave her again. And, it didn’t mean seducing her every time he could get her alone.

  A smile automatically grew on his face as his mind returned to the present when his baby girl climbed in his lap. She leaned back against him and stuck her thumb in her mouth, fighting to keep her eyes open. Looking across the room, he captured Em’s gaze, and he could’ve sworn her eyes were damp, holding back
tears ready to spill.

  Wanting an opportunity to apologize for earlier, he’d refused to hand Amber over to her mother when the movie ended. He’d kept the sleeping girl in his arms and followed Em instead. After a light kiss on his daughter’s head, he turned to the woman he loved only to find she wasn’t in the room.

  His heart thudded heavily in his chest. She was pushing him away, giving up on the desire that drew them together, not giving them a chance to make a life as a family. Wanting to chase her, but knowing he needed to give her time to come to grips with where their relationship was moving, he sought his own bed. Alone.

  Which turned out to be the right thing since he’d woken in the night, twisted in his sheets and swinging his arms, from another nightmare of his captivity.

  OVER another of Mrs. Kessler’s wonderful breakfasts, the Hamilton brothers held an impromptu meeting. Jake wondered how often they held the meetings when he hadn’t been invited. He hadn’t been invited this morning, yet here he was and he damn well would participate. His Em and princess’s safety were too important.

  “What do you mean you’ve got nothing, Dev?” Jesse demanded, angrier than Jake had ever seen him.

  Devon shrugged. “Just what I said. Nothing. The piece of equipment was beyond salvageable.”

  Matt took a bite of pancake, chewed and swallowed. “Well, that fucking sucks.” He returned his attention to his plate.

  Anger at the loss of a lead and fear for the people Jake loved ran through him. His appetite squashed. “What about her boss and coworker? What if we find them?”

  The eldest Hamilton brother cocked his head at him. “We’ve been looking for them.”

  Surprised, he just stared. They had been having meetings where he hadn’t been privileged enough to attend. “When did this happen?” he croaked.

  “As soon as everything happened and the two disappeared.” Jesse stood and carried his plate to the buffet. “No real luck yet.”