Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES)

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “What are you thinking about?” He nuzzled her neck and trailed his lips over her ear, and she leaned back into him, feeling him, loving him. It was so much like a honeymoon, the one they never had. She watched him in the mirror as she leaned into him and felt all his hardness pressed against her.

  “You.” She smiled at him in the mirror as he ran his hands over her huge belly, and she placed hers over his with a flash of the diamond band he’d given her just last week, signifying she was his. She glimpsed his bare finger and frowned.

  “Laura, what is it?”

  She met his deep gaze in the mirror. Lord, he was so strong, every part of him: his mind his body, his will. “When are you going to wear a wedding ring?”

  “I’m not. I don’t wear rings, Laura.” He went to pull away, but she grabbed his arm, and he appeared annoyed. “Why do you want me to wear a ring, anyway?”

  He pulled away, and so did she, wanting to cover herself. She hated when he got like this; it made her feel inadequate. He must have known, because he scooped his finger under her chin, lifting it up.

  “Don’t do that. Don’t pull into yourself.”

  She frowned. “Andy, I want you to wear a ring so that you can tell every one of those tarts who throw themselves at you that I’m your wife.” She grabbed his hand. “A wedding ring tells every one of those women to piss off because you’re mine and they can’t have you.” She let go of his hand. “That’s why,” she snapped and then turned away, striding out of the bathroom. She was halfway across the room when he scooped her up, and she shrieked as he laid her on the bed, resting a pillow under her head just as he slid inside her and she gasped.

  He held himself above her, his muscles flexing in his arm. The dark, predator-like caveman face that he had when he claimed her hovered inches from hers, and he touched her lips with his and moved. “Well, baby, just so you know, you are right about one thing: You are mine, every last inch of you.” He punctuated that point long and hard as he drove himself into her again and again until she lay moaning and gasping, uncomfortable as all hell but not wanting him to stop. She felt it building, the power of him and what he did to her, and that had her crying out his name as she felt his warmth spill into her.

  It was impossible for him to collapse on top of her, so he pulled away and moved her onto her side. He curled up behind her, pressing into her, and she reached her hand back and ran it over his tight ass.

  “Wow, that was…”

  “Amazing. Awesome,” Andy said. “Is that what you were going to say?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was going to say, all right.” She played with his fingers, lacing hers with his, loving the feel of his large, calloused hands and how they touched every inch of her.

  He kissed her shoulder, her neck. “I’m still not wearing a ring, but I’m thinking about adding one to yours.” He slid off the bed and strode in that cocky walk of his into the bathroom. “What time is the doctor coming today, Laura?” he called out.

  “Just after lunch, around one. Are you going to be here?” She heard the toilet flush and the water running. Then he leaned in the doorway.

  “I am, but we have that last class with Debra first, I thought. I think it starts in an hour.” He watched her across the room with those brilliant blue eyes that had brightened, she swore, to a lighter blue over the last few weeks. “Do you want to join me for a shower?”

  She scooted off the bed about as gracefully as a woman pregnant with twins could. “Yes, I do.” She waddled straight toward him and allowed him to run his gaze over all of her. Laura, for the first time, loved it.

  Chapter 16

  Laura had just woken up from a late-morning nap after meeting with Debra and going over some of the things to be expected at the hospital. She had explained that labor progressed fast or slow, never the same, and it was something that could never be predicted. Did she want an epidural? Did she want drugs that tapped the surface of the pain? There was only a small window to use them, and with twins, after the first, it was expected that her cervix would shrink down and she’d have to dilate again for the second. Everything came down to Andy as her support, getting her through labor, each stage, breathing and keeping her relaxed. It was terrifying and exciting all at once, and Andy was the one asking all the questions. He was also the one making the plans, arranging for a private birthing room at the hospital where they’d go when she went into labor. For the first time, Laura had stopped worrying.

  She glanced at the bedside clock: eleven thirty—she’d only slept an hour. She wanted to go into the kitchen and have a word with Aida before lunch. She hadn’t had much time over the past few weeks to spend time and just see how she was doing. She was, in fact, worried about Aida. She was the kindest older woman she’d ever met, and she’d never once judged Laura, taking her in, providing her and Gabriel a bed and shelter, and letting her cry every night for months without once saying “I told you so.”

  Laura was still wearing the maternity jeans and bright green and pink paisley shirt that were among the dozens and dozens of outfits that Andy kept buying for her. She’d told him to stop, but he hadn’t, and she was positive she’d never be able to wear them all. She glanced at her image in the mirror. She had dark smudges under both eyes, and she was starting to wonder if they’d always be there. She ran a brush through her hair and then started down the stairs, holding the rail and taking her time, as she couldn’t see where her feet were stepping. When she reached the bottom, she had started toward the kitchen when she heard a familiar voice and stopped. It took her a second to place the soft, pleasant voice of Dr. Richardson. She was early, and Laura was eager to talk to her about what Debra had shared at their last birthing class and listen to her babies’ heartbeats again, so she started waddling toward her with a smile on her face. She froze when she heard Caroline’s sharp voice, and something inside her heart thunked. All her joy with Andy crumbled, bringing an awful ache inside her.

  “Yes or no is all I want to know. Is it safe for her to have the babies now?”

  “It would be best if she made it three more weeks. The babies’ lungs are still developing.”

  “Three more weeks with that piece of trash under my roof.”

  Laura stood humbly beside the grandfather clock and listened to Caroline sigh in the annoyed way she did when she couldn’t deal with something and it had to go.

  “Well, I guess that’s a small price until my son can be rid of her. It’s becoming difficult, keeping a straight face and remaining pleasant. I don’t know how Andy does it so well, but then again, he does take after his father in so many ways.”

  Laura’s hand was trembling as she pressed it to her heart. Her eyes burned, and it was only a matter of time before the tears streamed down her cheeks and she wouldn’t be able to stop them. It was one of those moments when she knew someone had just yanked the rug right out from under her and she’d landed hard on her backside. She could even feel the ache in her back as if it were already battered and bruised.

  “After I do the C-section, she’ll be out for a while, so she won’t see the babies. Do you have everything ready for the twins?” It was the doctor again who asked. That nice woman who said she couldn’t and wouldn’t break confidentiality, that she was her doctor. Apparently, she had lied, and in such a sincere way, too.

  “I’ve already hired a nanny, and the nursery’s done. Everything is handled here, so when those babies come home, they will be in competent hands. My son will not have to worry that his babies aren’t being cared for, and then he can get on with finding someone more suitable. I have just the woman in mind.”

  “The mother will probably ask to hold her babies when she wakes up.”

  Laura couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Were they going to see that she disappeared? Could a doctor do a C-section just like that and take her babies from her? This was criminal, what they were planning, and at that moment every good thing she felt for Andy turned to ashes. She could hear footsteps and pressed her
back to the wall until she heard the women pass on the other side of the clock, heading toward the dining room at the far end of the house.

  Laura slipped away and hurried up the stairs, her hand over her babies, who were still part of her, inside her. She didn’t know what she was looking for but started down the long hallway, opening doors and peeking in. She turned the corner to Caroline’s wing, and when she opened the third door, her heart cracked open like a steel vault. Tears filled her eyes as she stepped into a nursery with two cradles, change tables, a rocker, a daybed. The room was filled corner to corner with stuffies, white and lavender everywhere. It was for her babies, and at that moment she couldn’t bring herself to touch one thing, as she felt so betrayed by Andy. She wished she could hate him, the man to whom she’d handed her heart on a platter, the man who’d pretended to care for her, to love her so passionately for weeks. Even just a few hours ago, he’d taken her on his bed, but obviously to him it was just sex, all a game. She pressed her back to the wall and wept as soundlessly as she could as her legs gave way and she slid down to the floor, pressing her hand to her mouth, choking on her sobs.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there in a crumpled heap, struggling to breath, with all her energy gone. When she felt the baby’s foot in her side and another on her bladder, she scrambled on her knees and struggled to her feet. She swiped her face and her nose with her sleeve, then grabbed a few Kleenex from one of the boxes and blew her nose, stuffing the tissue in her pocket. Her face felt tight and swollen, and her eyes burned. When she caught her image in one of the gilded mirrors in the room, her face was red and blotchy, her eyes swollen and filled with those red lines that meant she had cried a thousand tears.

  But she couldn’t do anything about it as she pulled open the door and peeked out, leaving the fancy nursery. She was halfway down the hall to her bedroom when she heard footsteps on the stairs and Andy’s voice. Her heart started hammering, and she froze for a minute, looking for a place to hide, but then there he was in front of their open door, that bitch of a doctor with him. Laura jammed her mouth shut, grinding her teeth, wanting to scream and yell and pound her fists into him. But that would be a damn stupid thing to do, because she’d give herself away and let him know what a despicable monster she thought he was.

  “Laura, what are you doing there?” Andy was in front of her. “Are you okay?” He even appeared concerned.

  She really was an idiot, and she wondered if he had to leave the room just to have a good laugh every day at how he’d played her. When her touched her cheek, she flinched.

  “What happened? What’s going on?” he snapped, and she glanced at the fury and something else in his gaze that confused her.

  She looked away and did something she never did. “Nothing, I’m sorry. I just had a bad dream. I have to go pee.” She hurried as fast as she could into Andy’s bedroom and to the bathroom and shut the door. She had to pull it together, but she was physically ill at the thought that this woman was going to put her hands on her and she was going to let her. She had to get through this exam, then get this women the hell away from her. And Gabriel, where was he? She had to find him and figure out a way to disappear. Forever.

  She flushed the toilet, washed her hands, and splashed cool water over her face again and again, then wiped it. She still looked a mess, but the tap on the door nearly sent her through the roof.

  “Laura.” He turned the locked doorknob, clicking it back and forth. “Laura, open the door.”

  She turned the lock and opened it, and he was staring at her with that dark look. The man was no fool; he knew something was going on, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d spill it, or he’d read everything on her face. She was as transparent as a piece of plastic wrap, so she rested her hand on her large belly and said, “I didn’t realize I had locked it. Sorry, I feel kind of odd with the doctor in our bedroom. Isn’t she early?”

  “Yeah, I ran into her downstairs. I thought you told me she was coming after lunch.” Andy slid his arm around Laura’s shoulders, and she did everything she could not to shrink away.

  The doctor had set her bag down, but she didn’t look up at Laura until she sat on the bed. “All right, are you ready to have a listen to these babies?”

  Laura forced a smile to her face, but it ached so much that it had to look phony, so she glanced at her fingers and had to blink back tears as she stared at the diamond wedding band glittering from her finger.

  “Laura, you don’t look all right. What’s going on?” Andy sat right beside her and slid both his hands on her arms, and she knew that unless she got him to move away, she’d start screaming.

  “I’m just so tired, Andy. I really just want to lie down and go to sleep.” She refused to look at him, and she could feel him studying her. He had coiled up like a snake, pulling away.

  When she glanced up at the doctor, she was watching her closely in a way that had Laura’s alarm bells going off. She was really screwing this up. The last thing she wanted was to tip anyone off to what she’d heard. At this point, the babies, her babies, were still inside her safely, and she needed to find a way to get Andy and the doctor to leave without suspecting her concerns, because she didn’t know what either of them had planned. She considered both of them capable of anything, so she slid up her shirt and scooted down, allowing the doctor to squirt jelly on her tummy. When the babies’ heartbeats echoed through the room, she shut her eyes and listened.

  Chapter 17

  She pretended to be asleep when Andy came in. She had tucked the covers under her chin so he couldn’t see that she was dressed in the peach sweat suit. The last thing she wanted was him touching her or trying to take off her clothes. She knew he would have just put Gabriel to bed, and it took everything she had to keep her breathing even as he stood over her. He ran his hand over her shoulder and lifted strands of her hair, running his fingers through it. Then he pulled away, and the floor squeaked as he stepped back. Her breath caught, and he said, “I know you’re awake, and I don’t know what’s going on with you, Laura, but I thought we were past this.”

  A tear slipped out, and she squeezed her eyes shut, her face scrunching up as the power of the emotions she had struggled all day to bottle up broke away. Andy, being Andy, leaned over her, his strong arms boxing her in on her side, his face hovering just inches from hers. She couldn’t stop the hysterics as she started choking with her tears, and then he was beside her on the bed, pulling her up into his arms.

  “Laura, what’s wrong, honey?” He rested his chin on top of her head and wrapped his arms around her back, rubbing up and down as she buried her face against his chest, squeezing her fists into his dark shirt and shaking her head.

  She didn’t know how long he held her, and she mourned what was to come. The thought that she might never feel his arms around her again was killing her, but knowing it was all a lie even now gave her the strength to push away.

  “Laura, I’ve never seen you like this. Something has upset you. Why won’t you tell me what it is? Did my mother say something to you?”

  She flinched, and he slid his hand over her shoulder.

  “So it was my mother. What did she do this time?”

  She couldn’t look at him. “Andy, I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep. Please.” She waited, but the man didn’t move.

  He reached to caress her cheek, and she saw his hand come up and then stop as he squeezed it and pulled away. “Okay, get some sleep, but I want you to talk to me about this tomorrow.”

  Laura went to scoot back down on her side under the covers.

  “Laura, let me help you get undressed.”

  “No, Andy, please. I’m cold. Just let me rest like this,” she snapped, and she hoped he’d just leave and not push it as he usually did.

  He let out a sigh she knew well. He probably wanted to reach out and shake her, but he didn’t. He stood up and pulled the covers over her, leaned down to kiss her cheek, and paused for a second. He kissed her cheek again. “
I’ll come back and check on you in a bit.”

  “Is Gabriel asleep?” She didn’t look at Andy when she asked and held her breath, waiting for his answer.

  “He should be. He was really tired. I took him riding again. He really loves it, Laura. You should see his face when I put him on Sugar today in the round ring, and he had her backing up all by himself today.”

  She rolled over on her back and was stunned by the hurt and love and something else in his eyes. Then she rolled on her side and gave him her back again. “Goodnight, Andy.”

  She hated him now for pretending to care for Gabriel and plotting with his mother and the doctor to rip her babies away. She waited for the click of the door, and then she sat up and struggled to the edge of the bed, listening to Andy’s footsteps on the stairs. She hurried to the door and opened it quietly, peeking out. She could hear him in the foyer, speaking with someone, and then listened to his footsteps, imagining he’d gone into his library, as he did every night, for a drink, to make some calls and catch up on whatever big project he was working on. Whatever it was, she didn’t have a clue.

  Laura shivered in her thin t-shirt and tiptoed to their huge walk-in closet. She grabbed a dark sweater that still had its price tag dangling, ripped the tag off, and pulled it on. She grabbed the brand new pair of sneakers from the shoe rack and sat in the chair, struggling to pull them on and tie them as best she could. Then she slipped out of the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her and walking as quietly as she could down the empty hall to Gabriel’s room, two doors down. She slipped inside, shutting the door behind her, and watched over her little boy, who was sound asleep. How was she going to get him out of the house without him making any noise? She slid open his closet and pulled out his sneakers and a hoodie and grabbed a pair of socks from the chest of drawers.