Brought to His Knees-Tough Guys Laid Low By Love
Page 10
“Trudy, it’s Sunday. It’s over.”
“It’s Sunday?” She frowned. “I guess I lost track of the time.”
“You were working so hard, it was easy to do.”
“I guess…I guess I should call the contractor about my house. I don’t want to go home to missing doors and windows.” Her voice began to sound distant and soft.
“I had that taken care of while you were working. I’ll also have someone from our security team escort you home and stick around for a while to ensure your safety.”
“Those guys, you said they’d leave me alone once I stopped working for you.”
“Correct, but I’d like someone watching over you just to make sure. I received word from Lajos yesterday, the wolves have left Jacksonville and are in Miami. He and Meisha have found their hideout.”
“Meisha? What is Meisha still doing with him?”
“It appears that she’s very strong willed. She wants to help Lajos catch the culprits who attacked her.”
Trudy chuckled weakly and shook her head. “I can think of a million reasons why Meisha shouldn’t get involved in any of this, but I can also find a million reasons why she would. When Meisha sets her mind to something there’s no way to deter her.”
“Yes, I think Lajos is finding that out the hard way.”
He dialed Katalin.
She picked up on the third ring. “Hey, boss,” she said in a chipper voice.
“Please ready one of the jets for Ms. Hollander. I want Peter Sheffield. He’s been with the company for twenty years and can be trusted to pilot. Also, let Hunter know that he’ll be Ms. Hollander’s bodyguard for a while.”
“Wait. What? You’re sending her away?” Katalin’s voice pierced through the receiver of the phone.
“Yes, she has done her job, her contract has ended,” he said, trying to steady his voice.
He could feel the tension rising from Trudy. She was panicked. He worked against his emotions and psychologically pulled further away from her.
“No fucking way. But she’s your mate. How can you even form the words to send her away?” Katalin said.
“Katalin? Please don’t argue with me. I promised Ms. Hollander that she’d be home by Sunday and I intend to keep my promise.”
His head began to pound as the wolf howled in his mind. The noise felt as though someone was hammering the back of his skull. He put his hand to his head and closed his eyes against the pain.
Katalin laughed on the other end and the cackling sound made him cringe. The sound only proved to grate on his nerves and irritate his already agitated wolf. He pulled the phone away from his ear. When she stopped he put the phone back to his ear. “Done?”
“Yeah, for now.” Katalin said.
He disconnected the call and turned his attention to Trudy. The look in her face was filled with pain, rejection and hurt. He felt as though someone had gut–punched him and knocked all the air out of his lungs.
“Trudy,” he began.
She put up a hand and stood. She wobbled at first, but her hand shot out to stabilize herself on the arm of the chair. She took a few deep breaths and then let go of the chair and adjusted her clothes. “Okay then, if you’ll please direct me to the exit I’ll be on my way. This place is large. I couldn’t find my way back if I tried.”
Knock, knock.
They both turned to find Erzsebet standing the doorway. “Hey, Trudy, ready?” she asked.
Trudy looked back to Kristof. Hurt shone in her eyes, as she must’ve realized he wasn’t going to see her out. “My fee?” she asked in a controlled voice.
“Was wired to your account yesterday. I’ve also authorized a fifty percent bonus for all of your troubles.”
“That was very nice of you.” She tried to sound normal, but he could hear the terseness in her voice.
His wolf flashed him an image of it lying on the ground not breathing. No, we’ll die if we keep her with us, Kristof responded.
Image after image, his wolf assaulted him with pictures of both of them…dead.
Kristof put his hands on his desk, gripping the edge as he watched her walk away and out of his life.
Chapter Seventeen
The fight that raged inside Kristof’s mind was driving him insane. His wolf’s thoughts came in frantic barrages of images that seemed to crash against his skull. He closed his eyes, pressing his eyelids together tightly. That only caused flashes of light to spark within the darkness.
His wolf never had this strong of a reaction before–to anything, but also it had never imprinted on anyone either.
“It’s what’s best for her,” Kristof strained, trying to calm his inner beast. Of course the wolf wouldn’t understand the ramifications of taking on a human mate. It’s only objective was to claim and protect her. But protecting such a fragile creature would be near impossible and Kristof had to convince his wolf to see things his way.
When his wolf let out a roar, the sound reverberated against his skull. Pain radiated across his head in all directions. Kristof tightened his grip on the edge of his desk and let out a roar of his own.
He fought against the wolf with every ounce of his strength. There was too much at stake. With his entire being threatening to crash around him, Kristof held onto the few thoughts that were most important to him.
Don’t let the wolf out.
Don’t let the wolf go to Trudy.
I can’t be responsible for Trudy’s death.
I can’t outlive a mate.
“Kristof! What the hell are you doing?” Andras’ voice reached through the chaos of his mind.
“I can’t…” Kristof struggled to say.
“What’s the matter with him?” Kristof heard his cousin Nicolai ask. “He’s burning up. His clothes are drenched.”
“He found his mate and is letting her go.”
“What? Can that even be done?” Nicolai asked.
“No, but that’s not stopping this fool from trying,” Andras said. Kristof felt Andras’ strong hands around him, pulling him from his chair and down to the floor. “Let him out.”
Kristof shook his head. “I can’t. I won’t.”
“Let him out,” Andras said again.
This time Kristof just didn’t hear the command, he felt it. Kristof clenched down on his teeth, grinding them together, trying to fight against the pull to obey his Alpha.
“Let him out.” Andras’ command seemed to fill every molecule in his body.
A million sparks seemed to fly as he felt the shattering effects of being forced to obey. With a roar his wolf sprang free. While the man, tired and broken, lay in the recesses of his mind.
His wolf took off. Through the halls and out the swinging door. The car was long gone but her scent was still strong. It would always be strong for him. His paws beat against the pavement as he followed the driveway to the gate that was meant to keep him confined. At finding the entrance wide open, his heart leapt for joy.
“Don’t take the main roads,” Andras said. “We can’t have this spectacle on the news.”
Kristof looked to his side, watching Andras, in his wolf form, coming up fast. “What are you doing here?” Although Kristof was almost too weak to project the question, his wolf ran faster and faster, thinking of nothing other than Trudy.
“Someone has to watch over you.”
“I second that,” Katalin said.
Kristof turned to the right, seeing her. “You too?”
“Katalin, I told you to make the call to hold the plane. I didn’t say that you could come.”
“But you didn’t tell me not to come either. Besides, I did what you asked, so don’t start yelling at me.” Katalin said.
“Can you two please stop arguing, my head is already a mess,” Kristof begged.
“Right, focus on getting Trudy back,” Katalin said.
Andras growled low but didn’t slow the pace. They ran through the woods, avoiding the major streets as Andras had commanded. The closer he got
to her, the stronger her scent became and the stronger Kristof felt himself getting. By the time they reached the small city–owned airport, she was all he could smell. She overpowered his senses. He wanted to close his eyes and revel in the euphoric feeling that began to wash over him.
“Stay in the game, big guy,” Andras warned.
“I’m trying to,” Kristof said.
They went through an opening in the fence, one that had been made long ago for the wolves to pass through. Avoiding the tarmac, they kept to the grassy areas. He had his sights set on the plane. He ran as hard as he could to the white object in the distance. When he finally reached it, he skidded to a halt.
Let me out, Kristof coaxed to the beast that was in full control.
A barrage of images came through his mind. Him telling Trudy to go. Him watching her leave.
No, not again, Kristof promised.
His wolf hesitated.
Not again, Kristof repeated.
The wolf relented control and Kristof sprang free. His body taking the shape of the man.
Trudy wiped the tears from her eyes. But no matter how many times she told herself to stop crying, she couldn’t. She sank lower into the back seat of the plane. She didn’t want Hunter, her new bodyguard, who was sitting in the front, to see her. She had tears pouring down her face and snot running from her nose. It was bad enough that he could hear her bawling like a dumped teenager. She wasn’t a pretty crier. In fact, she looked horrible when she cried. She’d seen herself cry and it looked bad.
“Um, Ms. Hollander,” Hunter called.
“Yes?” she called out weakly.
“You have a visitor. Look out your window.”
She wiped her eyes again and peered out her window.
Kristof.
She blinked again, making sure her vision wasn’t playing tricks on her. Kristof, Andras and a woman were standing right outside the plane and they were all naked.
Trudy inhaled sharply and pressed her forehead to the window.
“Trudy!” Kristof yelled out. “Tru!”
“What are you doing here?” she yelled back to him.
“I came for you.”
A burst of a cry escaped over her lips. She’d hoped Kristof would’ve stopped her from walking out the building. When the car drove down the long winding driveway, she thought that maybe he would’ve locked the gates, preventing her from leaving. But when the car had reached the airfield, she knew he was going to let her go.
He hadn’t wanted her.
“Don’t leave me,” he yelled out. “Please, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” she called out. “I have a life to get back to, a business to run and a fat dog to put on a diet.”
“I’m sorry for trying to send you away when all I want to do is keep you by my side. Your life is here with me–you’re my mate. I was foolish for trying to send you away. We’ll figure something out with your business and I’ll send Hunter to go and get Piper.”
I’m his mate?
Everything else he’d said seemed to swirl in a haze in her head. There was only one thought she could hold on to. She scrunched her brows together. “What are you talking about?”
“When we first met outside your house, I imprinted on you, claiming you as mine.”
“But…how?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
“You feel calmer when we’re together and become agitated when we’re apart.”
She let out a shaky breath. When she left, she felt herself splinter a little with each mile she traveled away from him.
“I’m right, you can’t tell me I’m wrong. Your insides are probably a mess right now,” he said. “Just as mine are.”
All she could do was nod.
He held out a hand to her. “Trudy, come to me, please.”
She unhooked her seatbelt and ran to the door, stopping short from flying down the stairs and into his arms. “This can’t be right. I’m not like you.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but it is. I tried to fight it.” He shook his head. “I tried my hardest to fight it. I was afraid you’d get hurt living in my world.” He came to the bottom of the stairs. His hand gripped the handrail. He stared up to her. “You’re mine and I’m never letting you go.”
“You just did,” she whispered.
He began walking up the stairs slowly. Every muscle in his body flexed. His gait was predatory. “It was a mistake.”
Her eyes dropped from his eyes to his chiseled abs and to his cock. Her knees weakened. “A very big mistake,” she whispered.
“One that I plan to rectify now,” he said when he was on her.
“How do you plan to do that?” she asked almost breathlessly.
He reached down and grabbed her thighs, spreading them apart as he picked her up, making her straddle his waist.
“You’re mine, Trudy Hollander and I’m never letting you go again.”
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About A.M. Griffin
A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.
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