by Isabel Wroth
She’d passed out in the ambulance, hadn’t woken up since, which was worrying the doctors, but thus far her vitals were steady and she was responsive. Even busted up and covered in blood, she’d fought like a demon to not let the cops separate them. Thankfully one of the officers that had responded to the call was Harding, and he’d made it happen, made sure Raid was in the bus with Athena, and as soon as he’d taken her hand and promised not to leave her side, she’d passed out. Top had come in not long ago, beard at an odd angle to see him cuffed to Athena’s bed, but he didn’t give a fuck, so long as he was with her and able to hold her hand. He didn’t know where everyone else was, or what was going on yet, he hadn’t been questioned, just cuffed to the bed after Athena had been put in the room and left alone.
The nurses came and went regularly, checking on them, nervous around him until they saw how he was holding onto Athena, bent over so he could keep his lips pressed to her wrist, feeling her pulse throbbing steadily against his mouth. A throat cleared, and he raised his eyes, not his head, not willing to trust the machines that said her heart was still beating, and saw the two IAB officers looking uncomfortable, but trying to bluff it with their really shit poker faces. “If you’re not here to uncuff me and make a formal fuckin apology for not keeping better tabs on your psychotic fuckin employee, get the fuck out.”
Athena murmured a sound in reaction to his voice, but she didn’t wake up. The officers shifted from foot to foot, one of them reaching into his pocket for a key to release the cuffs. “We’ll have to question her when she wakes up, your partners have given their accounts of how this all went down. And ah, your computer analyst has provided us with security footage of Woodward taking Miss Williams off the street and forcing her into a stolen car. Charges won’t be brought, against any of you.” He grunted, going back to watching her sleep, counting the breaths until she opened her eyes to look at him.
Forty eight fuckin hours, she didn’t wake up. She wasn’t in a coma, she didn’t have a brain injury, but she wouldn’t open her eyes. He didn’t sleep a single second of those entire forty eight hours, and at hour fifty two, she shifted on the scratchy sheets, moaned softly, and up went her lashes to show him her gorgeous, violet eyes. “There you are,” He murmured, relief surging so hard his head spun and his vision blurred. Burned. “You look like shit,” She rasped, and he managed to bark out a laugh, “I feel like shit. How about you?” She squeezed his hand, rolled her lips together and took a breath. “Hurt.” He stabbed the button to summon the nurses immediately. “Then why are you smiling?” She was, smiling as big as her split lip would allow, “If it hurts, means I’m awake, and alive.”
She had one hell of a point, and he got up to bend over her, touching kisses all over her face, resting his forehead on hers, hating that she smelled like death and cleaning solvents, not rosewood and geranium. But she was awake, and alive. “Thank fuck for that. Scared the shit out of me, baby.” The rest of what he wanted to say to her was interrupted when the nurse came in, and he had to move aside so she could get checked out, asked a million and one questions, given a shot of pain meds into her IV. The whole time, he never let go of her hand.
The cops came to question her, at her request, wanting it over and done with, and he sat with her mostly in his lap on the hospital bed, his mouth buried against her throat while she told the detectives every detail she remembered. And she remembered a lot of them. As sick as he was, hearing her speak words she never should have had to, if he’d just paid better attention, not let his guard down thinking that she’d be safe surrounded by hundreds of people. As sick as he was, listening to her tell them how Woodward had planned to force her to suck him off, and how she’d taken the opportunity to split the duct tape on her wrists, punch him in the balls and yank the knife off his belt…he couldn’t hold back the smile of pride. He swallowed down the bile and pressed kisses up the side of her throat, resting his lips on her temple.
His baby was such, a bad ass.
Woodward had bragged to her about killing her uncle, and he had proof to substantiate that now, thanks to Nasa, had planned to rape and kill her, and in the forty five minutes it had taken for them to find her and get to her, she had pretty much saved herself. They took her statement down in detail, and looked very uncomfortable when she’d asked him if the knife, or the multiple bullet holes had killed Woodward. “The coroner hasn’t completed his report,” The lead detective said, and soon as they were gone, he assured her if she really wanted to know, Nasa could find out. “Guess it doesn’t really matter. He’s dead.” She murmured, letting him totally support her weight, carefully curling into him, turning her nose to nuzzle at his throat. “Very fucking dead.”
“Thank you,” She sighed softly, and his throat worked roughly, “For what?”
“Coming to get me. That totally sucked.” Her gentle murmur and the loving smile she gave him, it killed him.
How could she thank him? He hadn’t gotten to her in time to stop the piece of shit from hurting her. From stripping her naked, chaining her to the floor, this close to having raped her, killed her… “Athena,” He tried to choke out an apology, but really, what would be good enough to make up for not getting there in time? She’d had to wait for him to almost get his pants all the way off before she could act. She’d had to let that piece of mother fucking garbage, fall on top of her before she could stab him in the gut. “I forgot all the stuff Uncle John had told me to do if I ever got kidnapped. Except for that I should have been looking out for landmarks if I somehow managed to get away. You guys should put on a class or something, self-defense for women.”
She was so calm about the whole thing, but he could feel her shaking. He thought it was her, until she hugged her arms around his waist and hugged him as tight as she could, “I’m okay. Please don’t let him be right,” Her murmur made him realize he was the one shaking, and he went cold at the wariness that now edged into her tone, “What the fuck…right about what?” She sucked in a breath through her nose, rubbing her face into his chest, her words half muffled against his cut. “That you wouldn’t want me after he finished with me.” He spluttered, snarled, saw red for a second.
He knew she hadn’t been raped, the doctors had confirmed it, she’d said it hadn’t happened, he believed her. But that she had that thought, rolling around in her head, heard that mother fucker’s voice in her head telling her that he wouldn’t want her anymore… “Mother…what…get that the fuck out of your head. Right now.” His fury must have come across loud and clear, because she chuffed at him, “What? You’re being all weird. Is it because I stabbed him before you could shoot him?”
“Athena,”
“Will it make you feel better to know you guys probably killed him? His hands were still pretty tight on my throat, and he’d just tackled me when you busted in the door. Gut wounds aren’t immediately fatal,”
“Jesus,”
He dropped his head to her shoulder, shivering as his body finally started to come down the other side of being panicked, terrified, worried, impatiently waiting, listening to her retell every sickening detail of what he hadn’t been able to stop. “Or are you being weird, because you think him taking me was your fault?”
“IT WAS MY FAULT!”
He carefully disentangled himself from her and paced away, raking his hands through his hair, down his face, the rage burning out of control, mixing with his guilt in a toxic brew that ate up his insides. “Raid,” He threw his hand out to stop her from using that gentle tone, “No, I had my fuckin feet up, drinkin beer and playing video games when he took you. In broad fuckin daylight. If I’d been with you, that wouldn’t have happened, he wouldn’t have fuckin touched you.”
“I let him.”
He froze, not sure he’d heard her correctly, because surely she hadn’t said, what he thought she’d just said. She heaved a breath and winced as she scooted back, thanking him when he leapt to put another pillow behind her so she could sit up more comfortably, “Tell me I j
She twisted the blankets in her lap, wincing at the volume of his roar, and pressed her lips together for a second. “I could have shouted, fought him on the street, called attention to us, but Ever was right there with Lyon, and I didn’t want to risk him going off and them getting caught in the crosshairs, or chance him using the baby as leverage. Odds were low with so many people around, but they were just too close. I knew you guys had him on surveillance, and it didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t be right behind me as soon as Ever noticed I was gone. The garbage can on wheels threw me for a loop, but Ruckus and the other prospect rolled up and tailed us. What’s his name, by the way, the other one?”
“Gee,” He rasped, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“Gee? You guys and your weird biker names.” She muttered, shaking her head disbelievingly. “Whatever, I saw them, and I knew you weren’t far behind. Just had to piss him off, keep him talking and doing stupid shit, which I admit, I may have pushed him a little bit too far-“
“Jesus. Jesus! Too far? Too far! Athena, he was going to rape you before he killed you, and you provoked him on purpose?”
She looked up at him, and for the first time since that dirty, dilapidated warehouse, he saw tears. She hadn’t cried when she’d retold the story to the cops. She hadn’t cried when the doctor had listed her injuries. But she was close now, looking right at him like she was bracing for something, chin up, ready to take a hit. “Is this going to fuck us up to the point where you’re going to walk away?” The anger drained away like she’d just pulled the plug, and all he was left with was the relief, the total and unwavering adoration, “Baby,” He whispered, gutted that she would think, consider, that he would ever walk out on her.
He crossed the distance he’d put between them and pulled her back into his lap, careful not to hurt her, kissing her as hard as he dared. Kissed her tears away when she sagged against him, tangling his fingers in her hair, hating the pair of goose eggs that were raised up on her scalp. “It fucked me up, not knowing what was happening to you. Not knowing what he’d done, if it was your blood, not knowing when you were going to wake up.” She sniffled, the bruises on her pale skin standing out in sharp relief, “I’ll wake up someday and not see that, but today it’s still fresh. Today, I can’t believe the size of your balls, and can’t decide if I’m proud of you for being such a bad ass, or pissed the fuck off that you can’t seem to be afraid of anything.”
“I was afraid.”
“Could have fuckin fooled me, seen battle hardened soldiers with less guts when faced with an armed enemy.”
“I’d already seen him sniveling and crying, curled up in the fetal position on the floor. It’s hard to be scared of someone when you know that’s their true color. I didn’t realize how tiny his dick was. I just thought it was normal, you know? Been with a few other guys before him and they all were average, I thought. Then you come along and totally break that scale…”
“Not hearing what you were scared of,”
“The pain. Scared I might not be able to take it long enough for you to find me.”
“Mother fuck…could you find a way to not be so brave? It would make me feel better.”
“I’ll get right on that. Still love me?”
She asked it with a teasing drawl, but he could see the seriousness in her eyes. How she could think he would stop loving her after everything she’d just been through? Crazy. That was the only explanation. She was certi-fuckin-fiable. “Till the day I die,” He stroked her hair, kissed her softly.
THIRTY SIX
The surface of the lake was flat as glass, as a mirror, making the night seem almost bright as day, the full moon huge and hung low in the star studded sky. After everything, they’d needed a break, to get away together for a while, and when Athena had suggested her Uncle’s cabin, he hadn’t even hesitated. It was just a small A frame, but it was right on the lake and they didn’t have neighbors for five acres on either side.
Hence why they were laying tangled up together on the deck, butt ass naked.
He’d let her ride him into a bone crushing orgasm under that huge moon, stunned by how she’d seemed to glow beneath its rays. Her bruises had healed up like they’d never been, and they hadn’t talked much about her being taken after she’d gotten out of the hospital. She’d had two nightmares in the six weeks since having killed Woodward, he’d had more than fuckin two nightmares, but each one, he woke up and she was right there, snuggled up to his side, warm and alive. Just like right now.
He pulled in a deep breath, smelling the water, the trees, the wind, and it was like he’d lit one of the Tahoe candles she’d made for him. The sound of the water, hissing softly back and forth on the shore was a relaxing soundtrack, while Athena’s hair blew soft as silk across his bare chest. Her palm was flat on his belly, and he couldn’t quit brushing his fingertips back and forth, around and around that soft skin, wondering what her reaction would be when he busted out the ring he’d bought her last week and asked her to marry him. He kissed her brow softly and she sighed, relaxing into sleep while the stars, the moon, the wind and the tress looked down on them. “Love you, baby.” He murmured, looking up just in time to see an owl fly silently across the moon. “Love you more,”
THE END….
Of book 2!
A huge thank you to the people who’ve bought and reviewed my books! Your support keeps me going!
And thank you to Soma Vida in South Austin, coolest co-working space ever!
Stay tuned for the next book in the series,
Ripley and Saint’s story,
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