by Burke, Dez
“But she looks far worse than she really is,” the doctor continued. “A few bruised ribs and then the swelling which will come down eventually. No real damage done to any internal organs.”
This was plenty damage, thought Blake as a black rage seemed almost to smother his senses. He could feel the doctor’s eyes on him, before the other man said, “You aren’t really her family, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” Blake admitted, tearing his eyes reluctantly from Kira. His grip on her slender fingers tightened slightly as he added, “But I swear to you on my life I’m not the one who did this.”
“For some strange reason, I believe you,” Dr. Samuel said. “She’ll be fine, given a few weeks or rest and treatment. But whoever did this to her needs to be brought to justice. She was unconscious when she was brought in and has slipped in and out for the past two days. This is a serious case for the police and we’re looking to any of her friends or family to come forward with information.”
“I’ll see that her family gets notified. I don’t think any of them know she’s here,” Blake said calmly while inside he was filled with a storm of anger huge enough to make him find who did this and…God help them, death would be a mercy for such a person.
“And I’m personally going to see to it that the man responsible pays dearly for this. Please spare no cost for her care as I’ll see to that myself as well. I want her well and out of here as soon as possible.”
The doctor nodded, hands in his coat pocket as he gave Blake another of his shrewd looks. “So if you aren’t her cousin Mr. Carter, just who are you?”
Blake sighed deeply, and then turned his gaze back to Kira as he replied, “I’m the man who loves her.” So much he could hardly breathe. And he wouldn’t rest until he had her safe and in his arms where he knew she belonged.
***
Kira awoke slowly from her sedative-induced sleep. When she saw the nurse let Blake into her room, any last traces of sleep escaped and her heart began to pound as she looked up into the face of the last man she’d expected to see.
“Blake,” she breathed, pushing herself back into her pillows as if to bury herself in them. She saw his lips go tight when he noticed her reaction. The urge to flee which she usually had around him had far from abated and she knew he could tell.
But his voice was calm as he thanked the nurse, who checked Kira’s vitals before nodding and leaving silently.
“Kira, baby,” he said, tenderness in each syllable as he came forward once they were alone.
His affection she didn’t need. Not now. “What are you doing here, Blake?” she asked angrily.
“Where else would I be?” he asked, sitting next to her bed and taking her hand in his, not letting go even as she pulled.
Sighing angrily, she stopped struggling and simply turned her face away.
“I’m sorry,” he said deeply. “If I had anything to do with this…”
“You had everything to do with it,” Kira snapped furiously, head whipping to face him again. “If you hadn’t sent that hateful gift of yours…” She shook her head, trying to ward off images of Terrence’s livid face…the way it had felt when the first blow came, and then the next.
“Cheating – lying – faking – bitch!” he’d gritted out, each word punctuated by a punch aimed indiscriminately on her face and other tender parts of her body that her hands could not protect.
The shock of what was happening to her made Kira feel incapable of trying to fight back or escape. And Terrence was too strong. Too full of rage.
Fear, disbelief and agony filled her whole frame and when she finally felt herself hit the floor still he came after her, almost pounding her into the ground.
“You whore!” he bit out, and the blows suddenly stopped. But now Kira found herself wishing he hadn’t, not until he’d made her senseless to the suffering that made it impossible to even let out a single scream.
She winced as she felt him wrap his fist around her wrist and then savagely wrung the engagement ring from her finger with his other hand.
“To even think I gave you this,” he snarled. “My grandmother must have been turning over in her grave.”
Kira found enough strength to cover her face with her arms, her body curling into a fetal position in fear that he’d continue his onslaught. Each breath felt like it was splintering her ribs.
“After this you’d better think twice about cheating on any man,” he said in her ear, even as she trembled when he muttered, “Just be happy I didn’t fucking kill you.”
She heard him leave and had almost wished he had killed her; the pain of living had turned unbearable. Tears streaming down her face, she sank into a welcome pit of unconsciousness.
When Kira thought of all she’d been through in the past several days she knew she was lucky to be alive. Lucky too that even with all that happened, her pregnancy was safe. That was the first thing she’d asked the doctor once she’d regained consciousness and he’d assured her that no damage had come to the baby. Only then had Kira felt true relief that her own life had been spared.
Now she felt nothing but anger, especially at Blake for even thinking he was blameless in any of this. “I still don’t understand why you’d do something like that,” she breathed, staring at him with eyes brimming with tears. “Why Blake? Was my rejection so hurtful that you just had to strike back? You saw my chance at happiness and you just had to destroy it. That’s why you sent that…that present of yours.” Accusation dripped from every word and she was glad to see him wince as if slapped.
“No, no,” Blake denied fiercely. “I was mad at you, yes. But I never meant for this to happen. How would I even predict that it would get to this? Did Terrence do this? I’m going to fucking kill him! How did Terrence find out about it?”
Kira glared at him. “He was right there with me when the gift was delivered,” she said. “He opened it and read your note before I could stop him. He wanted answers and I couldn’t give them to him. So he…snapped. You can imagine the rest.”
Blake’s head bowed for a moment and Kira glimpsed the shadow of pain that crossed his face. He sighed raggedly and then lifted his gaze to meet hers. There was fury beneath the bleakness in his eyes but she knew his anger was not against her. “Believe me; that I never guessed Terrence would be there when you got the gift. I guess it was just bad timing; a costly miscalculation I’ll regret for a long time to come.”
“How does that make this any better? You wanted to make your point by sending the underwear and you did,” Kira said bitterly.
He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them with warm pressure. “I can’t blame you if you think I’m the worst creature to walk the earth. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused. And I’m going to remedy all that; if only you’d let me. Please let me try.”
Kira gave him a suspicious look. “How?”
“Marry me, Kira. Be my wife.”
Kira’s breath caught and she stared at him in disbelief. Then almost immediately she was shaking her head firmly, her heart growing cold. “No. Forget it. Go away. Leave me alone.”
“Kira, please think about it,” he said with tender persistence. “Just give me a chance to show you I really care about you. Always have.”
“You?” Kira sneered. “You care about me? That’s funny! I’d have thought your nice little stunt with the note and gift was enough proof to show how much you actually hate me. And the way you practically ignored me these last few months…”
“The only reason I sent that was to make sure you hadn’t forgotten about me – about us,” he said gruffly. “I mean, damn it Kira. You were all set to marry this guy. I was so desperate. I felt that if I made you remember what we shared it would make you see what a lie you’d be living if you settled with Terrence. You can deny it all you want but we had something Kira and it was worth fighting for. As for those times I ignored you…that was just protective measures. You’d hurt me with your rejection more than once and I’m not made of stone, m
y love. It really hurt when you turned away from me. The way you’re doing now. It’s like a dagger through my heart to see the look in your eyes. To see how much you hate me right now.”
He drew her palm up and kissed the base, close to her wrist. Kira shivered as she watched the emotions playing across his handsome face. “I was ready to do anything to make you see things my way,” he added quietly. “I never in a million years thought something like this would happen.”
Kira let out a shaky sigh. “That was still no cause for what you did,” she said firmly, ignoring the tingle of awareness creeping up her arm at the touch of his warm, sensual lips. A thrilling sensation like she hadn’t felt in ages overshadowed even the dull ache that still lingered on her frame and she bit on her lip, tugging her hand from his intimate touch.
“There’s no excuse, Blake. You knew how much I’d struggled to put that night behind me. You’ll never understand what it meant for me to sink to such behavior. It scared me to think what I could be capable of and it made me realize I didn’t know myself as well as I thought I did.”
She saw Blake was about to interrupt, but she continued, “Anyway you shouldn’t have bothered. Because if your motive was to make me break up with Terrence, I’d already done that. In fact, I’d already told him I wasn’t going through with the wedding when your gift arrived. I guess all of that put together made him go off the deep end.”
“Don’t justify what he did, Kira,” Blake snarled. “Knowing that he dared lay even a finger on you…”
“I’ll be fine,” Kira murmured, her cheeks flushing at his protective tone. She looked down in surprise to see their fingers were entwined. Why did she feel suddenly so shy…and why couldn’t she meet his intensely blazing grey eyes?
“Kira,” he prompted softly. “Why did you break up with Terrence?”
Kira groaned inwardly. Trust Blake to pick up on that detail. And then she wondered what his reaction would be if she told him about the baby? Would his so-called marriage proposal still stand or would he feel more trapped? Because she knew he’d asked her to marry him only out of guilt. Why else if it wasn’t his way of trying to make up for what he’d done? Kira wasn’t stupid. She didn’t need him marrying her out of pity.
But he was waiting for her reply so she gave him one. “Terrence and I had too many secrets between us. On my part at least. I couldn’t honestly go on with it knowing what I’d done, cheating on him while we were together. He was so sure I was saving myself up for him and when he found out that I’d…” She shook her head with a grimace at the memory. “I couldn’t keep living a lie.”
“And it was a lie because…?”
Kira’s teeth sank deeper into her bottom lip at Blake’s persistence. What did he want her to do? Confess that she was in love with him and that’s why she couldn’t go through with marrying Terrence? How could she open herself up like that when her insecurities still flashed powerfully within her?
“Please…I don’t think I need this right now,” she gasped, her hand covering her face. It was just too much at once and she felt crowded in by everything; Terrence’s shocking eruption, her fear of losing her baby and then Blake making an appearance with reconciliation on his mind.
To his credit, he backed down at once. “I understand. You’ve only just started to get better and need more rest. I’ll let you be for now, Kira. But think about what I said.” He took her hand and kissed it again. “If you think it’s for the best then let’s forget the past. Let’s erase every bad thing that’s happened between us. I simply want you in my life and I’m hoping that somehow, you’ll start to trust what you feel. I want us to be together more than anything.”
I don’t know what I feel, thought a troubled Kira. She told herself she had every reason to hate and distrust Blake. He was a smooth talker who could get a nun to strip off her panties for him. He could have any woman he wanted yet here he was, pleading for her hand. Why was it so hard for her to believe a man like him would want someone like her? Why did she keep fighting the urge to give him a chance? In her heart she longed to give in to the excitement of being with a gorgeous man who desired her with such intensity, and whom she desired in equal proportion. She had two choices: she could keep lying to herself or she could give them a chance. But not solely for her own sake this time. She had someone more important to think about now. She needed to do what was best for the baby, no matter what.
“I meant it about my proposal,” Blake was saying after a pause. Kira’s heart began to thud like a sledge hammer. “You don’t need to give me an answer now. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other and maybe that would help you decide that being my wife might not be so bad.”
He suddenly flashed that white, gorgeous grin that lit up his beautiful grey eyes and reminded Kira of her first ever fantasy of Blake. And then that one time he’d claimed her and she’d felt the heat of his passion within her deepest core; his ivory skin pressed against the dusky softness of hers. Could it be possible that something with permanence could rise out of one reckless act of passion?
She felt the pangs of doubt too strongly to make up her mind now. She told herself she was relieved when Blake rose to leave. Stamping down the treacherous twinge of longing for him to stay, she watched him reach the door. And then before she could stop herself she blurted out the words that had been eating at her all along.
“Blake.” He turned around expectantly and she chewed hard on her lip. “I still don’t know the real reason why you’d want to marry me. I don’t understand.”
“I really thought I’d mentioned it,” he said teasingly, and then his grey eyes sobered when he added in a raw voice, “Because I love you, Kira. And because I realize that life wouldn’t be the same without you in it.”
And he was gone before Kira could reply.
Chapter Thirteen
It was over a week later before Kira was finally out of hospital. She’d lost quite a bit of weight but other than that she felt fine and no longer winced when she made any sudden moves.
Blake visited her every day and always with flowers, candy and gourmet snacks. She almost managed to convince herself that seeing him each day was something she didn’t look forward to. Even if she did, she made sure not to show it. He’d never be able to tell how his smiles brightened the room and how his tender looks warmed her to her bones. Even their conversations were a high point of her day even though she let him do most of the talking. He wouldn’t know how much she loved listening to his stirringly deep and resonating voice especially when he brought a book along to read to her.
If he was trying to wear down her defenses, it was working, though he wouldn’t be able to tell from her attitude. Kira had no intention of letting her guard down yet, even though having the attention of a warm, gentle and giving man like Blake would be enough to thaw even the most frozen of hearts. He did everything he possibly could to make her see he had more sides to him.
He talked about his mother who’d passed on and the life they’d had back in Britain. He talked about his aspirations and the dreams he had about his family and future. When he asked Kira about her own family, Kira was glad to tell him she had none and watched his expression.
“What, no one?” Blake asked with a smile like he thought she was kidding.
“My mother was hooked on prescription drugs,” Kira suddenly blurted, staring at him. “She died when I was nine. There was only me and my dad and he was a drunk. He didn’t even bother making sure I went to school. Luckily, the neighbors took it upon themselves to watch out for me. I never really knew any of my extended family. I just figured we didn’t have any. When I grew older, I discovered that my mother was turned away by her folks when she chose to marry my dad, and his family didn’t approve of the marriage either. So yeah, I pretty much grew up not knowing any of my aunts, uncles or cousins. You could say I was practically raised by parents of my friends or the people at church who took interest in my welfare.”
When Kira finished, she smile
d thinly. “Maybe you’d like to take back your marriage proposal now. I came from a dirt poor family with a father with no ambition. He didn’t care if I ended up on the street, selling myself or drugs.”
Blake didn’t look away, his expression calm as he asked gently, “Where’s your father now?”
Kira swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Her eyes stung and she looked away. “I don’t know. Last time I heard from him was two years ago. He came by my apartment demanding money. I gave him some and he was gone after that. I never saw him again and for all I know, he’s dead.”
Kira heard Blake sigh and she closed her eyes, waiting for the words of rejection.
“When will you finally understand that none of that matters to me?” Blake asked gently, causing Kira to catch her breath. She looked at him and saw his intense look of sincerity. “I don’t care about background or your family history. That doesn’t define who you are. Just look at you. There’s a quality about you that steals my breath every time you walk into the room. You’re not just beautiful, you’re determined and smart. I’ve seen you handle situations at work that would cause other women to tear out their hair in panic. You have this infinite grace about you and you never lose your cool.”
“I lost it with you,” she murmured, looking at him with her chin tilted high. “That night at the party when I let a man I barely knew rip my pants off and fuck me on the couch in his father’s library. Would you consider that to be an act of a woman with high quality?”
His smile tilted his lips into a curve and Kira couldn’t help thinking about how sinfully sweet those lips had tasted.
