Fate: A Trinity Novel: Book Five

by Audrey Carlan

  Just when the walls of my vagina start to flex and squeeze, Carson’s fingers and mouth leave my pussy, and I’m hauled up and flattened against the shower wall, where he drives deep. He’s as hard as a steel pipe and so thick. I moan and cling to him as though my very life depends on it, sucking and biting on the sensitive skin of his neck as his hips relentlessly slam against me.

  “Can’t get close enough.” He grinds his teeth as he tries to imprint himself on my body with his cock, hands, and mouth.

  Our lovemaking is wild, savage, and so intense I have to blink back the stars shooting across my peripheral vision with the amount of pleasure roaring through every limb.

  It’s too much and not enough at the same time. “Baby, slow down, calm down. I’m right here.” I dig my fingers into his back hard enough to leave crescent-shaped imprints in the skin of his shoulders while I try to get his attention and bring him back from the carnal, animalistic place he’s slipped into. Under normal circumstances, I’d let him fuck the shit out of me, but this doesn’t feel right. He’s trying to substitute sex for his pain, and that’s not possible.

  Carson’s body pins me up against the wall with his lower half, and his upper body shifts back. He cups my cheeks with both his hands. “I want to be closer,” he whispers against my mouth, our lips barely touching.

  “I need to be closer to you.” He rests his forehead against mine, his body shaking with the physical strain of holding me against the wall and his need to come.

  “Honey, we’re as close as two people can get.”

  “I want to be lost in you. I want it all to go away.” He presses his temple against mine and breathes into my neck.

  The water is starting to get cold, and I shiver. “Let me down.”

  Without even a glimmer of a fight or retort he pulls out, still hard as a rock, and lets me slide down his body until my feet touch the ground. I turn off the water, grab two towels, and dry us both efficiently and quickly. Carson is barely holding himself up, his posture and facial expression showing defeat.

  Naked, I lead him to his bed—our bed, seeing that I haven’t left since being released from the hospital—and sit him back on it. “Get in.”

  He does so instantly, the lost puppy within him taking instructions and following them to the letter. It kills me that my normally strong, opinionated, focused man has been beaten down to this level.

  Needing to comfort him, I crawl on top of him. His cock, now resting between my thighs, is still firm but not as hard as it was in the shower. I grip the comforter and pull it over both of us. Then I lift, grasp his cock, and slide right down it.

  Carson moans, his head going back, chest arching up. His hands fly to my hips, where he holds on as I slowly and rhythmically make love to him. Nice and easy. With mouth, tongue, and fingers, I kiss his neck, chest, and nipples, thumbing them while I move.

  “Kathleen…” He sighs and opens his eyes. They are filled with love and passion. Exactly what I need to see right now.

  I lean forward and take his lips with mine. He opens his mouth immediately, welcoming me inside. Our tongues dance and swirl around one another playfully. Kissing Carson fills up the emptiness I’ve felt for the past ten days. His kiss makes my heart beat, bringing me back to life. While we kiss, I continue to ride him. Long drags up and slow impressions back down, grinding my clit against his pubic bone with every drive.

  “You always know what I need,” he whispers, thrusting his hips and stirring his cock in titillating circles.

  “Hmmm…” I hum, enjoying his participation.

  I am surprised that he doesn’t take over. Usually when we reach the heights of our combined passion, he’ll flip me over and take me hard, but this time he doesn’t. He’s content to let me love him.

  Once a fine layer of sweat builds on our skin, I pick up the pace, pulling up and slamming back down. With every jarring thrust, I grind down until eventually I’m bouncing on his cock, hands resting on his chest, and he’s pressing his hips into each downstroke.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” I scream out, lifting my head to the ceiling, every muscle in my body tense and hyperfocused. As the base of my spine tingles, my sex clenches hard around his thick root, and I go off.

  Carson is right there with me, pushing up and grinding my hips down until he arches his body powerfully, elbows pressing into the mattress, and he plants himself deep and lets go. I dig my fingernails into his chest as my orgasm merges with his and his body locks around mine. He pulls me down flat against his body and wraps his arms around me. We both curve our heads into the other’s neck and breathe through the succulent aftershocks of our lovemaking.

  “Now we’re close enough,” Carson says into my ear before tunneling his hand into my hair, where he grips at the roots and tugs to get me to lift my head. Then he’s kissing me. Long, luscious lip presses and tickling tongue flicks until we’re both breathless from the effort.

  Eventually, we pull away, and I rest my head on his chest while he plays with my hair.

  “Thank you.” His tone is indescribable. A mix perhaps of being sexually sated with a hint of longing. Not at all what I’d expect after a round of intense lovemaking.

  “Uh…for making love to you?” I ask stupidly.

  He grins and chuckles but continues to play with my hair as if he’s deep in thought. I keep my chin on his chest, enjoying the beating of his heart and waiting for him to pull his thoughts together.

  “For knowing what to do,” he finally responds.

  I sigh, not wanting to take credit for something I was completely clueless about, and frankly, rather scared too. “Honey, I didn’t know what to do. Not really.”

  “You did. And you were right.” This time his words are matter-of-fact.

  “How so?”

  “I needed to connect. Find a way to release all the anger and sadness that has been brewing in me since we came home. Loving you, you giving your love back, it’s all I’m ever going to need to find myself again. Because without you, without our connection, I’m not me.”

  “Eli’s going to bring her home,” I remind him for what I feel like is the millionth time.

  His arms wrap tighter around me. “Yes, he is. I can feel it now. I have the power of your belief to pull me through.”

  I rise up, resting my hands on his bare chest, and smile. “That’s a really nice thing to say. Among all the other things too.” I grin, push forward, and peck his lips in a simple kiss.

  He sighs, curls an arm up my back, one hand going into my hair, the other wrapping around my waist, holding me close. “As long as I’ve got you, our baby, our future, Cora included, I’m going to be the happiest man alive. And I’m going to make sure you are too. I swear it. When this all evens out, it’s going to be all about our family. The one we’re making together.”

  His confidence is renewed, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

  “Sounds heavenly,” I admit, because it does. It’s what we always wanted way back when we got together originally. If I hadn’t been hurt and lost my way, we’d probably already be married with a couple of kids like Gillian and Chase or Bree and Phillip.

  Now we just need to get Cora back, put Misty behind bars, and take full custody of Cora. It sounds so simple, but the most important things in life rarely are.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CARSON

  The phone blaring into my subconscious wakes me from the first real sleep I’ve had in two weeks. I glance at the clock and note it’s five in the morning. Fuck.

  I grapple for the phone on the nightstand. Kathleen wakes and sits up, her eyes sleepy and her hair a mass of tangles from the many times I ran my fingers through it while I made love to her. She gingerly drags the blanket over her naked breasts, and I have to blink back the desire that instantly hits me. Christ, this woman will be the end of me.

  “Hello,” I answer, staring at her sexiness.

  “We got your girl.” Eli’s voice is a harsh slash through the fog of sleep and indecent
thoughts about my woman, bringing me completely awake.

  “Thank God. Babe, they’ve got her,” I say instantly to Kathleen, whose hand flies up to her mouth. Her eyes water, but the tears don’t fall.

  A voice in my ear breaks through the happy moment.

  “Carson. Carson. Man, fucking listen up,” Eli commands.

  “What?” I cringe and press the phone closer to my ear.

  “We’ve got a problem, man. Misty gave us the slip.”

  I shake my head and run my hand through my hair, tugging at the roots. The prickle of pain clears my head further. “You just said you have her.”

  “No. I said we’ve got your girl. Your daughter.”

  Instantly my fear eases and relief soothes over the rest.

  “You’ve got to come to Vegas and get her. Dice and I need to go after Misty.”

  I toss back the covers and shoot from the bed and into the closet like a rocket. “How did you get Cora and not Misty?”

  “She left her.”

  Those three words send a knife to my gut. “She left my fucking daughter alone?” I roar into the phone.

  Eli doesn’t say anything.

  “That fucking cunt! How could she? My God. Fuck!” I yell some more. “Where is she now? You have her?” I pace the floor of my closet, fire and ice heating and freezing my veins at the same time.

  She left her alone.

  “Yeah, man. I’ve got her.”

  “No, where is she right this second?” I clench my teeth, imagining my daughter left alone in a ramshackle apartment with no one there to take care of her. The vision rips through my chest and cuts into my heart.

  “Right this second, Eli!” I’m losing control with every disgusting thing I can imagine that could possibly happen to my girl.

  “In my arms. Not letting her go until I place her in your arms.” Eli’s voice is solid, and I focus all my attention on it like a lifeline.

  My knees go weak with gratitude, and I brace my fist against the wall in the closet to hold myself up. Kathleen rests her hand on my back, a show of silent support.

  “Christ! I’m getting dressed. I can be at the jetport in thirty minutes. Chase already has a plane at the ready. I’ll call him to get the pilot. I can be there in…fuck. Two hours at the earliest. Please don’t leave her,” I plead.

  “Not gonna leave my niece, man,” he rumbles into the phone.

  Besides his wife, Maria, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard Elijah Redding lay claim to one of the girls or their children. Even though he’s been at every function—unless he’s out on a hunt—and participated in what the girls call “family dinners,” I’ve never, not once, heard him throw down in this manner.

  I swallow hard. “Eli, I owe you.”

  “You never owe family. Get here fast. Dice is on Misty’s trail, but I need to be out there.”

  “What happened? How did she escape?”

  “Fucking bitch went out the bathroom window. We were quiet, man. Didn’t think she noticed us following her, but she must have. Dice took the back door of the rundown house she was renting, and I took the front. We broke in at the same time. I went straight to the room where I knew Cora was sleeping, and he went to Misty’s bedroom. During that time she slipped out the bathroom window, and she was smoke, man. Just fucking gone. Not sure how she pulled it off, but I look forward to finding out.”

  “Jesus. I’m just glad you got Cora. I’m on my way.”

  “Good. Out,” Eli says and hangs up.

  I toss the cell phone on the shelf, pull out a pair of underwear and jeans, and put them on. I tell Kathleen everything. She agrees to stay home, knowing it is safer for her to be here than travel to Sin City and be anywhere near where Misty is hiding. Eli has Cora now, so who knows what the crazy lunatic is planning. I can’t believe she’d left our daughter behind when two unknown men had broken in. I thought she loved her more than that.

  I finish getting dressed, grab my keys, call Chase to set up the pilot, and kiss my woman. I am off. I cannot wait a minute longer to hold my daughter. Kathleen had prepared a diaper bag with diapers, snacks, and clothes. She’d thought of everything. Even though Misty had cleared the house of the essentials, Kathleen had been steadily replacing everything. I think it kept her mind off the fact that Cora was gone. True to her word though, she always believed Elijah would bring her back. Thank fucking Christ for Kathleen. I know I am going to need her more than ever now that we’d be bringing home my daughter.

  * * *

  “Dah Dah!” Cora cries out, reaching for me the second her blue eyes meet mine. Her toothy smile is plastered on her face, and her eyes are alight with excitement.

  I pull my girl against my chest and nuzzle her neck, her soft curls tickling my nose and chin. “Baby girl. My God, I’ve missed you.” Her baby-powder-and-lotion scent hits my nose, and I inhale it deep within my body and soul. A piece of my heart opens and fills with such joy, I’m not sure I can contain the sissy-assed response overwhelming me. I power through and blink away tears as intense emotion crawls up my throat. Instead, I just hug her harder and swallow it down. I’ll give in to it later once I’ve had a chance to process everything.

  Cora smacks me on the cheeks, and I pull back to take her in.

  “Dah Dah,” she says and lays a sloppy, openmouthed kiss right on my lips. I do not give a flying fuck. I kiss her back over and over until she giggles. Once I have my fill, she starts pointing behind me. “Eeeee.” She’s pointing her chubby finger at Eli.

  “That’s right, baby. He’s Uncle E.”

  The huge man smirks while putting on his shoulder holster, adding his weapons, and covering it all with a worn leather jacket.

  “Get her home. Tell Maria I’ll call her when I can, yeah?”

  I nod. “Yeah. I’ll call her from the plane. Eli, I…”

  “Not a word. I know what this means. And one day, there will come a time when I call in a favor in return. Cool?”

  It has to be said, Eli is the epitome of cool. It makes sense why Maria hero-worships the guy. He is one. And I finally got to experience a dose of it myself. Now Maria and I have something in common. Forever. Eli saved my daughter and is going after her crazy mother so we can put her behind bars. Yeah, he’s a goddamned hero.

  “We’re cool,” I finally say, getting my emotions under control and putting out my hand.

  Eli shakes it hard, using his other arm to grip my shoulder and give a squeeze of what could only be considered camaraderie. Then he lifts a large hand, places it on my daughter’s head, and ruffles her blond curls. The word “Spicy” is tatted in blue ink running from the top of his wrist and ending in a loop of the “Y” at his index finger.

  “Spicy?”

  He glances down at his tattoo and grins. “Maria’s the spiciest thing I’ve ever tasted. Need a reminder of my wife when I’m out on the job. Something easy to see so I always know what kind of fire I’ve got to come home to.”

  I nod, realizing how deep this man’s emotions run. He may be a wall of muscle, with tatted-up arms and a scary growl—so different from his twin brother Tommy, who we lost three years ago—but he loves with intensity. Maria got herself the right man.

  “Bye, munchkin. Uncle E’s got work to do. Good times, girl,” he says and then turns and heads out the door.

  “Eeeeeeeee,” Cora cries out and waves her hand.

  He turns, grins at my girl, and winks. “Get her home.”

  “Will do. Be safe.”

  “Always am, man. Got something important to come home to.” He grins and lifts two fingers in a quick wave.

  “Yes, yes, you do,” I mumble, holding my girl close. “Let’s get you home, baby girl.”

  * * *

  Once I get Cora settled on the plane and asleep on the couch next to me, I pull out my phone, planning to call Kathleen. But my phone rings in my hand from an unknown number.

  Before I can say hello, someone is rattling off in my ear. “Dude, do you have your daughter?�
�� says a voice sounding like a young teen’s.

  “Who the fuck is this?” I use a scary tone I don’t even recognize, but between my daughter being kidnapped and her mother out on the run, I’ve lost all patience.

  “Dude, it’s Scooter. I’m one of Eli’s hunters.” He says this like I should know who he is.

  Scooter. I let the name roll around in my head a few times before it registers. Hunter, my ass. He’s Eli’s tech guy. Never enters the field, just stays behind on his computer, hacking away and drinking endless amounts of Mountain Dew and Red Bull, if I remember correctly.

  “Yeah, I remember. And yes, I’ve got Cora.”

  “Wicked cool. But dude, I’ve got some shit news for you. I tried to call Eli to tell him first, because that’s the way shit rolls around here, but he’s not answering. I tracked him, and he’s on the highway heading north. Means he’s on the trail to meet up with Dice, who’s a solid three hours ahead of him.”

  “All of this is very interesting information, but you said you had bad news?” I attempt to bring Scooter back around to the point of his call.

  “Aw, yeah. Sorry to tell you, but your baby’s mama is psychotic.” He drops this little nugget as if he’s just told me it’s a breezy fifty degrees in the bay and to wear a pullover because of the chill.

  “Tell me something we don’t know, Scooter.” I let all the air out of my lungs, my patience tried. I need to lie down with my daughter on my chest and just be still, listening to her heartbeat, not shooting the shit with some tech wizard.

  “No, man. You don’t get it. She’s clinically insane. As in escaped from a mental institution.”

  A mental institution? “You’re kidding.”

  I can hear the phone volume change, and then Scooter sounds louder but farther away, like he’s in a tunnel. He’s probably put me on speaker.