The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  His face glistens with perspiration and he flexes his hips against me as I meet him move for move.

  “Give me your mouth. I want your mouth when I come.”

  “Oh, God, Kade.”

  He captures my mouth and invades it with his tongue. I tangle mine with his as our bodies are joined everywhere. And then my world fragments, light erupts, nerve endings fire, and everything bursts apart like an amazing display of fireworks.

  Then I hear Kade groan, feel his body stiffen, and then feel his heat spilling as I squeeze him dry. When he’s finished, he grabs my face and kisses me again. “You are sublime, my gorgeous love.”

  “Mmm. That was indeed sublime. And so are you, Kade. Kiss me again.” And he does. A sweet, gentle kiss.

  “You have my heart, Kade.”

  He brushes his thumb across my cheek. “And you are mine.”

  ~~~~~

  “It’s time to tell the nuns,” I announce.

  Kade stretches his long, muscular body, then turns to me, grinning. He’s so sexy and beautiful and I ask myself how I ever ended up with someone like him. Then he frowns.

  “It’s just the exterior, Juliette. It’s what’s inside that counts. Don’t ever forget that.”

  How does he always know what I’m thinking?

  “Because you’re so readable. It’s in your eyes. They are the most expressive things I’ve ever seen. I bet you were a terrible liar when you were young.”

  “I still am,” I say laughing.

  He leans into me and runs his mouth down my neck, making me shiver.

  “One more dragon tale. He always told me my looks were worth a million bucks but the rest of me was shit. That stuck with me, but that’s the one thing he told me that was the truth. Not the shit part, of course. But looks fade. It’s what you make of yourself and the things you do in life that count.”

  I thought Kade was broken. That he was damaged and needed to be glued back together. But now I’m wondering if he was sent to be my glue.

  “Tell me.”

  “It’s just that you claim to be the broken one, but I don’t know. I think you’re here to put my broken pieces back together. I feel so strong and capable when I’m with you. I never felt like that before. Like I can do anything.”

  He picks up the necklace I wear and rolls the stone around in his fingers. It’s something I’ve gotten used to and don’t give much thought to now.

  “It is me or this?”

  “What? No! It can’t be that, because I’ve worn that since … well, you know. And I only started feeling this way since we met.”

  “Juliette, do you think it’s time to pursue the meaning of this?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Especially now that you know the shadow people aren’t here to hurt you?”

  He may be right, but the last time I asked him about it, he evaded my question.

  “I offered to give it to him, and he acted shocked.”

  “Hmm. Have you researched it lately? Maybe there’s new information on it.”

  “I haven’t looked it up in a month or so. But that’s a good idea. I know. We can take a picture of it and look it up. You know, an image search?”

  I have no idea why I hadn’t thought of this before and I’m supposed to be the expert here. Kade offers to do that while I go back to the convent and tell the nuns of my decision. At first he wants to be with me, but I think I need to do this on my own.

  After my shower, I head off. Kade and I had a mini argument. He wanted to drive me but I needed the fresh air. It’s a gorgeous day, the end of December. The temperature is supposed to get up in the fifties. As I walk, I laugh instead of fear my shadows now. I hold back the wave that I nearly make when I spy them following me everywhere.

  The convent looms ahead and that sense of dread I used to get is no longer present. Instead of going in the front entrance, I detour through the back gate, making a tour through the ragged winter gardens. I used to spend a lot of time here, to escape from Sister Satan’s merciless criticism. The badly neglected space (mostly because I haven’t been pulling up the dead debris) looks forlorn and sad.

  As I look around, I notice something odd in the back corner. I skirt my way around some low shrubbery, and when I get to the object in question, I stifle the scream of horror that threatens to explode out of my mouth. It’s one of the nuns, I’m sure. I don’t know which one, because she’s lying on her side facing away from me. Before I gently roll her body, I know exactly what I’m going to find. Throat ripped open, a pool of blood next to her, and I’m sure her thigh is also sliced. Oh, sweet heavens, it’s Sister Josephina, one of the sweetest people on Earth.

  The oxygen leaves my body and I fight to regain it. I am so immersed in this gruesome scene, I don’t notice the atmosphere has shifted around me. Someone grabs me around my waist and it’s him. He whispers in my ear, but I can’t see him.

  “Close your eyes, Juliette.”

  “But …” I want to tell him I can’t breathe. But he won’t listen.

  “Do as I say.” His voice is harsh. Commanding. His arm clenches me even tighter, shaking me as he talks. “Now!”

  I do. But I also grasp his arm, my fingers digging into it savagely. I lean my head back against the expanse of his chest, and I don’t know why, but my fears lessen. His other hand covers my face and now I sense movement. Air rushes into my non-functioning lungs, and I expand them, inhaling as much oxygen as I can.

  Suddenly the motion ceases. I hear voices, but they don’t speak English. I could kick myself for not taking foreign languages. My mother was right. They always are, aren’t they? He still holds me, my eyes covered, and then he says something I can’t understand.

  “What?”

  He doesn’t respond. But everything turns gray. Weirdly enough, the next thing I know, I’m standing in front of the convent doors. My body feels odd. I can’t put my finger on it. It simply feels different. I look around and see them—there are more than just the usual two or three. I count five now. My brain is foggy.

  I want to go back and inspect the garden. The air around me rushes by. Is that one of them? Who are these men that protect me? After I leave here, my next goal is to find out.

  Sister Mary Elizabeth greets me warmly and when I ask about Sister Josephina, I am told that she hasn’t returned from visiting her family over the Christmas holidays. Sister Mary Elizabeth also tells me that Sister Josephina has decided that she wants to move closer to her former home and is trying to get transferred to another convent. While I know this is far from the truth, I don’t want to prolong this discussion. I am still shaken by my discovery and want to flee from this place for their protection as well as my own. I quickly tell them my reason for visiting. They all gush over their happiness for me and I find myself passed from one to the next, as they give me a good dose of hugs. I explain that I’ll be moving and where and let them know I’ll have my things out in a week or so. I pretend that I’m excited, when all I can think of is the dead nun in the garden.

  “Emmalia, we are so happy for you. We wish you and Kade the best. And we hope you aren’t strangers around here.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. Kade still has his music lessons and I will volunteer if you need me. I start my new job at Living Free next week. But you know if you need anything, I’ll be here.”

  We all hug again and then I pay a quick visit to Father Anthony and tell him the same. He offers us his heartfelt congratulations.

  “I knew you two would work things out. I saw how sweet he was on you and he’s a great man, Emmalia.”

  “Thank you Father. We are both lucky to have found each other.”

  I make some lame excuse to leave because I am still shaken over the discovery of Sister Josephina. Who killed her? And why would they do such a thing to her? What did the shadows do to make her disappear and to make all the nuns believe she was still with her family? I want to speak to them. I need to know. And where did they take me while they made a
ll this happen?

  When I tell Kade, he decides I shouldn’t go anywhere alone anymore.

  “That’s absurd. I can’t have an escort everywhere I go. And besides, I have the shadows. Today is one more reason to trust in them. They kept me safe throughout all this.”

  “I guess so, and you’re stubborn as hell so I know there’s no persuading you.”

  The crease between his eyes, the frown he wears, tells me how upset he is. I can’t discredit this. Smoothing the hair back from his forehead, I say, “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. I promise. And thank you for being so concerned. I guess no one has cared about me for a while now, so I need to get used to this.”

  I put my arms around his neck and kiss his perfect mouth.

  “Juliette, I have so much worry in this body of mine for you, it will never go away just with you saying those words. I love you and care for you. When you’re out there, alone, bad people are hunting you down, and I’m helpless, I do nothing but worry. It’s not safe for you. Maybe we should leave Denver. Run away from here.”

  “And go where? Where would I be safe? They’ll follow me everywhere.”

  He sighs. “I don’t know. I want you near me so I don’t have to worry so much when you’re not here.”

  “But, Kade. I can’t be with you every waking minute of the day.”

  “You wouldn’t. I’d see you when I’m at Living Free, which is a few hours a day, but then I leave to do other things. And you can least stay here until things die down. Or whatever.”

  It makes sense to some degree, but that means we’ll be together much more than I had planned. “What ever happened to take it slow and let it flow?”

  “It went out the window with your life being in danger.”

  “Point well made. I can’t discredit your logic.”

  “Then why won’t you do it?” He asks. Frustration or maybe it’s desperation that edges his voice.

  “Because you are the best thing that ever happened to me and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

  He throws his hands up in the air. “You don’t get this at all. There won’t be anything to fuck up if you get yourself killed. Jesus, what else do I have to say to convince you? How many more people will have to die?” he yells.

  “Okay! I’ll move in here then!” My voice matches his in decibels. We’re both panting like animals, but then he rushes me and shoves me hard against the nearest wall, pinning me.

  “Fuck it all. If anything ever happens to you, I don’t know what I’ll do.” His lips crash onto mine, painfully. My teeth gouge into them, and I can taste my own blood, but he is relentless and I need him. I need to feel this fervor, to know his emotions are every bit as wrapped up in me as mine are in him. We tear at each other’s clothing like two primitive beings, determined to be naked and rid of our garments. When we are, we keep going. He lifts me up, hands on my ass, and I’m impaled, quickly, deeply, and he flexes his hips against mine, rocking into me harder and deeper with every thrust.

  “I want every last bit of you on my cock, Juliette. Give me all of you.”

  My hands grip his shoulders as my heels dig into his ass. I urge and spur him on through words and gestures. This joining is rough, violent, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want him hard, as hard as he can give, and I tell him so.

  He is relentless as he pounds into me, bruising my back as it rams against the wall, but I still beg for more.

  “I’m close. I’m so close, Kade.” My nails gouge the firm muscles of his shoulders, hanging on for dear life now. But then, in a slow building, beginning in the arches of my feet, radiating up to my core, and then out to the rest of my body, it happens. I’m bursting into the ecstasy of an orgasm, calling his name, muscles contracting, and shuddering with the impact of it all.

  Right after, he follows, but he lets me go and pulls out quickly, because he never put a condom on. I fall to my knees, my legs are so weak. He does the same. I suppose his are weak, too, from holding us both up. I don’t know, but I watch the sexy shower of his cum as it shoots out of him. My hand reaches for him, and I stroke him, making sure there’s nothing left. He runs his tongue across his lower lip, and that alone makes me want him again.

  I crawl up on his thighs, straddle them and take his lip into my mouth and nibble on it. Then I kiss him. Slowly. Until I need air.

  “Kade. Every time. I want more with you. You’ve opened a door and I’m astonished at what’s on the other side.”

  Ice blue eyes, melted by our lovemaking, gaze back at me. “Do you know, when I was at my worst, I would dream of a time when life might be great? But I never imagined this. My dreams never came close to this. You’re my miracle, Juliette. Let me be the man who can protect you. The man you need right now.”

  I run my hand through his hair and say, “Don’t you know? You are that man.”

  Eighteen

  The Seven

  “How? Where? We need to find them. If they’ve found the convent, it’s only a matter of time. That necklace has to be kept safe. Rafe, any information?” Sabin asks.

  “None. We don’t know how or where they’re slipping through.”

  “Anyone else?”

  Edge volunteers an idea. “This may or may not hold any ground. But it seems like every time she’s around that dog of hers, they stay away. Maybe they have an aversion to canines.”

  Silence blankets the room while everyone waits for the Sabin explosion. But it never occurs.

  “You may have something there, Edge. In any case, we have to get this figured out. Fast. Until then, she has five. Five of us at all times.”

  “Sabin, there aren’t enough of us.”

  “Then what do you propose, Rafe? Letting her go?”

  “No, I …”

  “There is no other option. And after that incident at the convent with the dead nun, do you think she’s not going to have questions? This is not some insipid girl. She’s a brilliant woman who has been able to figure out a whole lot of shit that your men can’t. So, we stay on her, five men, and do our fucking jobs. If anything happens to her or that necklace, we are dust. Clear?”

  “Clear,” Rafe responds.

  “Oh, and one of you stays on the boyfriend. If they did that to the nun, I wouldn’t put anything past them. The boyfriend needs protection, too.”

  Rafe looks at Sabin. He knows he’s taking a huge risk here. “Can we go four and three?”

  Sabin’s head swivels. “That means no time off. Ever.”

  “I know. If it’s that urgent, then we need all manpower, all the time.”

  “No rotations?”

  “None.”

  Sabin blows out a breath. “I’m good with it if you are.”

  “Done. Four and three. When they’re together, we can take a break. Five on. We rest at night.”

  Sabin nods. Then he cocks his head.

  “What?” Rafe asks.

  “Should we tell her?”

  “About Paradox?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, Sabin. I don’t know. That’s a lot for her to carry on her shoulders.”

  “She’s been carrying a lot for almost three years now.”

  Rafe is silent, but only for a moment as he digests everything. “True, but Paradox—this is different.”

  Sabin shrugs. He’s a tough man, hard to get to know. Surrounds himself with in impenetrable shield that he never lets down, but for some reason, he’s taken a liking to this girl. Rafe is surprised. Usually Sabin shows very little interest in his subjects. Not this girl. Since he’s come in the field, he’s shown her a deference like no other and Rafe is baffled. The night he approached her and made them known to her, Rafe couldn’t believe it. They never ever do that, under any circumstances. But Sabin insisted. Sabin said anyone with balls enough to shout out to them the way she did needed to see them. So that’s what he did.

  “What is it about this one, Sabin? You are different with her.”

  “Not your business, Rafe.”


  Now it was Rafe’s turn to shrug. “Whatever. Just be careful with her. You don’t want to compromise us or what we do. That could have catastrophic consequences.”

  Sabin’s eyes land on Rafe’s. His gaze nearly burns Rafe. “You don’t ever have to worry about me doing harm to this group, Rafe. You got that?”

  “I hear you, sir.”

  “Glad we understand each other.”

  The message was sent and received. Stay out of my fucking business.

  Nineteen

  Juliette

  January third, my first day on the job. I can barely contain my excitement. It begins with Kade giving me a tour of Living Free and then introducing me to Kevin, the IT guy. I’ll be spending my first day with him.

  Kevin is a computer tech, but is not a computer scientist. Unfortunately, I find a lot of things that could be improved upon. I begin making a list. There are things that can be integrated into their program to make things easier from the rehab center each individual comes from, so their transfer is more streamlined. There are updates to their website that can be implemented which would make it much more attractive to a viewer. There are items from the business side that would make it easier for accounting purposes. My list is endless.

  That night, when I get home, I present my list to Kade. With each problem, I have my solution listed and what it would take for me to implement it. The processes are quite simple and I could have them up and running in no time.

  Kade peruses the list and then says, “Is this a joke?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Have I hired the shittiest IT guy in the world?”

  “No. You hired someone who is adequate at what he does. I am an expert, Kade. That’s the difference.”

  “You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”

  That question makes me laugh even though I find it a bit odd. “Maybe a little.”

  “Figures. Every one of the Hart brothers has ended up with a brainiac.”