Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Salvation [Sweet Awakenings 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Nicole Morgan

  He didn’t like her tone. “I did that because I didn’t want to hurt you. Now look what you’ve done to your delicate wrists. It will take weeks for that to heal.”

  Something in her changed. She thought of Rex and of their future. And she thought of Jesse and the promise she had made to him. “Weeks, huh? By that time, I’ll have either escaped or be dead from trying. No! Don’t you dare touch me!”

  He jumped back from her sharp words as if they had been a slap. “What has gotten into you?” He shook his head. “Fine, I won’t touch you. But I don’t want this to be any harder than it needs to be. If I have to hurt you, I will. Please don’t make me do that. I love you.” He was pleading with her now.

  Shelby watched him. He actually believed what he was saying. But she wouldn’t be his victim. She had to fight. But maybe she was going about this the wrong way. Maybe she should calm down. Maybe hear him out. If he had his guard down, maybe escaping would be that much easier.

  “Fine, don’t hurt me. I won’t do it again. At least for now,” she amended. “What do you want?”

  He smiled at her.

  “Please, sit on the couch. We’ll talk. I’ll explain everything,” he assured her.

  She hesitantly got up on her feet and sat on the couch. She tried to remain calm and act casual as she listened to him tell her of their fated union. Of how their being together was what God had wanted for them. He told her how he fell in love with her the very first time he walked into her hospital room to check on her. When he had first learned of the rape victim in ICU.

  He went on for what seemed like forever talking about destiny and God and divine intervention. Shelby was doing her best to seem mildly curious about what he was saying. But her mind kept going back to one thing. Rex. Please hurry, she thought to herself.

  Cullen, Andrew, Jack, and Rex all listened to the radio call while they held their breaths. The trooper was reporting what he had seen and was calling for backup from all available units.

  Shelby! No. Dear God. Please let her be okay. “Is she okay? Damn it, Cullen, get on the radio. Was she okay when he saw her?” Rex’s voice was filled with murderous intentions.

  Cullen turned to face him. “She tried to escape, Rex. I’d say that’s a pretty good sign that she’s okay.”

  “Don’t get smart with me, Bristow. I’ll kick your damn ass when this is all over with.”

  “Look,” Andrew said. “We know you love her. But when we get there, you’ve got to keep it cool. It looks like we’re dealing with a potential hostage situation. If you try to run in there half cocked, you could end up getting her killed.”

  Jack instantly placed a hand to his shoulder. “Which isn’t going to happen. Everybody just needs to calm down.”

  “There, up ahead. There’s the trooper’s car,” Cullen yelled to the backseat.

  The car stopped, and Rex waited for what seemed like an eternity as he was locked in the backseat of the cruiser. Andrew opened the door to the back, and Rex got out. He stalked over to the trooper in four strides, ready to kill anyone who got in his way. “What’s the update?” he demanded.

  “Who the hell are you?” the trooper snapped.

  “Not important. Officers Dollaghan and Bristow,” Andrew said in a curt introduction. “What’s the story?”

  The trooper eyed Rex and Jack speculatively before he responded. “The suspect grabbed her as she tried to run. She must have calmed him down pretty quickly, though, because they’re sitting on the couch talking now. She must be one smart cookie.”

  Rex’s heart lightened just a bit. She was alive. She was being smart. Good girl, honey, hang on, I’m coming! Rex grabbed the binoculars from the trooper and looked at the cabin. It took him a second to find the living room window. Then he saw her. “Shelby.” Rex whispered the word. She didn’t look hurt. Thank God. Maybe he would only have to kill the SOB, not torture him.

  “Does he know we’re out here?” Cullen asked.

  The trooper responded, “No, and I’ve informed all backup to leave their lights and sirens off. We –”

  “Shit!” Cullen bit the word out.

  “Let him go,” Jack said. “At this point, we might as well just give him backup. There’s no way he’s going to wait for the troops, so to speak. No one could stop him from going in there.”

  “Where the hell is he going then?” the trooper asked.

  Jack watched his friend as he made a large circle around the perimeter of the property and knew. It was a tactic they had used many times in the SEALs. An unwritten plan and they both knew exactly what their role was. “He’s circling around back. That’s my cue,” Jack said as he reached down and started smearing dirt and mud all over his shirt, pants, and skin.

  “Your cue? Where the hell are you going?” Andrew asked, more curious than angry. If there’s one thing he was sure of, it was that those two knew what they were doing.

  Jack turned back. “I’m the decoy. Be ready.” He jogged up the dirt road. Once he crossed the hundred-plus yards to the front of the cabin, he hunched down and waited for Rex.

  He looked to his left and saw Rex up against the side of the house. He was motioning the intel he had just learned. He held up his fingers. First one finger, then six fingers. Jack nodded. So there was one other entrance and six windows in the structure. He looked back to Rex to wait for his signal. He watched as Rex counted down, three, two, and one.

  Jack stood up and started up the stairs to the cabin. He was stomping loudly and cursing women. Doing everything he could to make sure Samuel knew he was coming.

  “So you see, my sweet. I love you enough to wait as long as it takes. You do not need to be afraid of–” He stopped at the sounds coming from the front porch. He was about to get up to investigate when he heard the loud banging on the door.

  “Hello, is anyone in there? Hello?”

  Jack! Shelby knew that voice. It was Jack. She tried to hide her smile. That meant Rex was here, too. She had to use every amount of strength she had to not look around the room. Was he already inside?

  Samuel looked at Shelby and placed a hand to her cheek. She purposely didn’t pull back. She wanted him to think he had chipped away at some of her resistance.

  “Please, Shelby. Do not do anything that may cause, what should we call it, suspicion. Yes, please don’t do anything to alert this stranger that there may be a problem in our relationship. I’ll be right back.”

  Shelby watched as he left her sitting on the couch. Was he that confident in their destiny that he didn’t think she would try to run? But she wouldn’t. If Jack was here, that meant he and Rex had a plan. She would wait. She wouldn’t do anything to interfere with it.

  “All right, I’m coming.” Samuel opened the door and was startled by the sight of the man covered in dirt on the porch. “What happened to you?”

  Jack had to contain his grin. He had never met this Samantha person, and he had hoped that she or he had never seen Jack with Shelby. But seeing his expression, he knew that the gamble had paid off. He had no idea who he was. “My damn woman. She kicked me out of the car as she was driving down–oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there, ma’am. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful,” Jack said to Shelby. His eyes sending a message to have her remain calm.

  Samuel, clearly pleased with Shelby’s calm demeanor and willingness to behave, smiled at her before turning back to Jack.

  Shelby saw movement in the corner of her eye. She looked out the sliding glass patio doors off of the kitchen. Rex. He put a finger to his mouth, motioning her to remain quiet. She nodded. He held up a hand indicating for her to hang on. Then he counted his fingers down from three. When he was satisfied that Samuel was otherwise occupied with Jack, he motioned for her to come toward the door.

  “When you say she kicked you out of the car, do you mean the car was mov–wait, I’ve seen you before.” Samuel turned back to see Shelby sneaking for the sliding glass door toward a man. No! “Metcalf!” Samuel screamed as he lunged for Shelby.<
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  Shelby saw him just in time as she moved out of the way. He went crashing through the sliding glass door as he grabbed on to her shirt, causing her to fly through with him.

  Rex jumped in and was on Samuel, trying to rip his hands free of Shelby. Shelby reached her head down and bit the hand that held on to her shirt. He screamed in agony as her shirt tore. Before she had a chance to move, she felt herself being yanked out of the scuffle and up. Jack had her.

  Shelby looked down and saw Rex beating the man to a bloody pulp. “Rex. Stop. You’re going to kill him!” Shelby screamed.

  But he didn’t stop. He was cursing Samuel and hitting him over and over again. Just when Shelby was worried that he wouldn’t be able to stop until it was too late, he collapsed. Andrew, Cullen, and the trooper made it up the stairs and were arresting Samuel, who was resisting arrest despite the beating he had just gotten.

  Shelby ran to kneel at Rex’s side when she saw blood. A lot of blood covering the side of his shirt. Then she took a closer look at his shirt. It was a hospital scrub. “Rex? Rex, can you hear me? Rex, what happened?” Confused, she looked up at Jack.

  “He’s okay. He probably tore his stitches. Come on, Andrew, help me get him up. We need to get him to a hospital,” Jack said.

  They lifted Rex and made their way down the stairs when the ambulance pulled up.

  “I don’t understand.” Shelby’s eyes looked tortured and sought Jack for explanation.

  Jack placed an arm around her after they set Rex down on the gurney. “He got stabbed trying to find you. He’s okay. But they told him to stay in the hospital. He had lost a lot of blood. He was in no condition for a rescue operation.” He smirked at her. “He’s only been out of surgery for a few hours.”

  “But he came anyway,” she murmured, all too aware of the lengths he had gone to save her. She remembered the promises he had made to her. He would never let anyone hurt her ever again. He should have been in the hospital, but instead, he was running around the woods, bleeding and fighting to save her. She started to weep.

  “Ssh.” Jack held her. “He’ll be fine. He’s too damn arrogant not to be.” Jack looked over her head when he saw Tamara approaching. He gave her a nod, letting her know all was well.

  Tamara smiled at her husband and mouthed the words, “I love you.”

  “Shelby?” Rex’s voice was a gravelly whisper.

  She jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in and touched her hand to his cheek. “Shh. I’m right here, Rex. Don’t try and talk, you need to rest.” She placed a light kiss to his mouth.

  “You’re okay?” His eyes scanned her face, looking for signs of bruising.

  She smiled. “I’m fine. But someone did not listen to doctor’s orders yesterday and ended up destroying the patch job they did on you.”

  He lifted one corner of his mouth. “When have you ever known me to take orders from anyone?”

  She let out an exasperated laugh. “Yes, Rex, you are incorrigible.” Her face turned somber, and a tear dropped to her cheek.

  “Honey? What’s wrong?” Rex said as he lifted a hand to wipe her tear.

  “I love you so much, Rex.” She kissed him again, only passionately this time.

  When she pulled back, he asked, “Samantha? I mean Samuel, did they get him?”

  She nodded. “Don’t you remember?”

  “I remember beating the crap out of her or him, but then everything goes sort of fuzzy.”

  She sighed. “That’s probably from all the blood loss. You passed out. You were so pale and weak. I’d never seen you like that. I –” She turned away from him, trying not to cry.

  “Shelby? Honey, what is it?” He had tugged on her hand to make her face him.

  She shook her head with a smile and wiped the tears that had escaped. “I was just so worried when I saw you collapse, and then all that blood.” She ran her hands through her hair and expelled a breath. “Sorry, Andrew and Cullen arrested him. He’s getting the help he needs.”

  “The help he needs? The SOB’s not in jail?” Rex’s anger was apparent in every shouted word.

  Shelby came closer and took his hand again. “Rex, he’s not well. He suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. He’s not well at all.”

  Rex’s hand tightened its grip on her hand. “Shelby, he could have killed you, or–” He stopped himself. Not wanting to say the word. Rape.

  “No, I don’t think he would have. Regardless of what the doctor finds, he will be charged for your attempted murder and my kidnapping. But he didn’t touch me, Rex. I don’t think he would have unless I allowed it.”

  Rex’s head snapped up at her last comment.

  “Which I never would have. But I learned something about myself yesterday, Rex.” He looked at her, waiting. “I’m not a victim anymore. When he tied me up, I didn’t cower. I didn’t cry. When he tried to convince me that you were dead, I wouldn’t believe him. I kept fighting. I knew I had to fight until I found a way out.”

  “Why didn’t you believe him when he said I was dead?” he wondered.

  She smirked, ran her hands up to the sides of his face, and held him. “You’re Rex Metcalf. My hero. The love of my life. There was no way that he would have been able to take you. Besides, you promised me a lifetime of happiness, and I intend to collect.” She winked at him before leaning in for a kiss.

  Rex drew away from the kiss. “I love you, honey. But I thought we talked about this crying thing. Why are you crying again?”

  She dropped her forehead to rest on his and closed her eyes. “Oh, Rex, what am I going to do with you? You risked your own well-being to save me. You–you kept your promise. You said you wouldn’t let anyone hurt me ever again. And you didn’t, you saved me. Oh, you foolish man. You had lost so much blood. You should have stayed in the hospital. If anything had happened to you, I–”

  He silenced her with a kiss. Then told her, “Now you know how I feel. Did you really think I could lie in a hospital bed and wait for you to be rescued?” He framed her face in his hands. “You’re mine. I had to find you. I couldn’t just wait around while you needed me. You are everything to me, Shelby. I would die before I let anything get in the way of my protecting you. You should know me better than that by now. Now come here. I need to hold you.”

  She giggled as she pushed away from him. “Rex, I can’t. Your stitches could tear again.”

  “Damn freaking stitches,” he muttered. “When do I get out of here?”

  “If you behave and get lots of rest, they said they will let you out tomorrow.” She took a deep breath and sat down. She began studying her fingernails as she casually continued. “By the way, I hope you don’t mind. But I had to sleep with the orderly that you shoved against the wall when you ran out of here yesterday so he wouldn’t press charges.”

  His head snapped to hers before he relaxed. “Very funny! There are just certain things you don’t joke about.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her chair and next to him.

  “Well, I see someone’s getting his strength back.” She reached down and nibbled on his ear.

  He grabbed her and kissed her with a smoldering passion hot enough to set the sheets on fire. When she finally pulled away, he could see the desire in her eyes, and he laughed as he patted her on the butt. “Huh, I bet the orderly can’t do that.”

  “What orderly?” she asked as she leaned down for more of his kiss, which held hidden promises.

  After minutes of a long, inviting kiss, Rex said breathlessly, “God, you taste so sweet. How long has it been, honey? Over a day at least? I have to have you. Please, baby. Close the blinds.”

  “Rex! We can’t! Someone could walk in.” She drew back and looked at the intent in his eyes. Knowing that she really thought it was a fantastic idea. “Well, I suppose I could put the chair in front of the door.” She smirked.

  “Yeah, put the chair in front of the door. Then I want you to climb on top of me. I’m dying for you, honey!” Rex’s eyes wer
e roaming her body as she walked away toward the door.

  She grinned back at him over her shoulder as she placed the chair in front of the door. She walked next to his bed and pulled her panties down from under her skirt and she got on top of him. Her face was flushed, and she was giggling. When their bodies finally met, she hissed, “Oh, Rex. Yes.” She threw her head back and took in the feel of him.

  When she brought her gaze back to meet his, he asked, “Penny for your thoughts?”

  She smiled and said, “This is so very bad.”

  He was rocking his hips and meeting her thrusts. “Oh, no, honey. It’s so very good!”

  Epilogue

  “Hey, man, you ready in here?” Jack peeked his head in the spare bedroom.

  Rex looked at Jack through the mirror as he tied his tie. He had just been thinking how damn lucky he was. He was marrying the most amazing and sexy woman who ever walked the face of the earth in the backyard of their new home. They were starting their life together, and things couldn’t be more perfect. “I was ready two and a half months ago.” Rex had finished his tie and turned. “How is she?”

  “She’s gorgeous, man. Are you sure she really wants to marry you? Maybe she’s suffering some sort of PTSD or something,” Jack teased.

  Rex laughed and smacked Jack on the shoulder. “I get it. I gave you all sorts of crap when it was your turn, so now I’m fair game. It’s all right, though. I’ll take any jabs you throw my way as long as at the end of the day she’s Mrs. Rex Metcalf.”

  “Hello?” Colleen and Cullen Sr. knocked on the door before walking into the room.

  Rex and Jack both smiled and waited their turns kissing Colleen’s cheek.

  “So, young man. Are you ready?” Cullen Sr. asked him, a proud smile on his face.

  “That I am, old man,” Rex said as he placed an arm around him.

  “Well, I don’t have to tell you how very happy I am for you two. If there were ever any two people who deserved to be happy, it was you two,” Colleen said as a tiny tear trailed down her cheek. “Oh, dear. Now I have to see to my face. Come, Cullen. Let’s make sure all is well downstairs.”