Keila (Dreamcatchers Romantic Suspense Series Book 2)

by Jamie Garrett

  “You’re okay, Sweetheart. It’s all going to be okay.” He rocked her gently back and forth, and when her legs gave out, Jason guided them both gently to the floor. Finally, her tears dried up and her gulping breaths turned to soft hiccups. Jason brushed a hand down her face and then cupped her cheeks, kissing her softly. Keila stroked her hand down his arm and took his hand in hers, when a soft groan came from the corner. Jason lightly brushed her lips with his one last time.

  “You rest. I’ll check on her.”

  Jason moved over to Payton and took her wrist in his hand, then ran his hands lightly over her body, looking for injuries. Keila sat back and caught her breath, watching Jason as he checked Payton over. He looked over at her and caught her staring and grinned, his dimples appearing, and she grinned right back. There they were, lying in the middle of her own personal war zone, and being with him still felt good. It felt right.

  Then Payton came to, and all hell broke loose. The younger woman thrashed around wildly, struggling to stand. Her hands were free, but her feet had been bound with rope just as Jason’s had been.

  “Who are you? Let me go!”

  Jason tried to hold her still and earned a fist to the face for his efforts.

  “Shh, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.” He lifted up the scalpel and cut away the ropes securing Payton’s feet. The minute her feet could move, Payton scooted backward until her head clunked against the wall. Keila stood and walked over, crouching in front of her.

  “Stop. We’re here to help you. Please listen to us.”

  “How did I get here, and who the hell are you?”

  Keila paused. What on earth did she say? Payton had been a captive there for at least several weeks, and Keila had shared her thoughts and dreams. Payton had to at least suspect something, and so Keila took a deep breath and went with the truth.

  “I tried calling out to you. I had a vision of you here. I saw you trapped.”

  “Bullshit!” Payton lashed out, but her aim fell short, the swipe uncoordinated. Was she still under the influence of whatever they’d been drugging her with? “Like I’d believe that. The fuck is wrong with you people? I’ve never met you before in my life, and you expect me to believe you just happened to find out I’d been kidnapped?”

  Keila closed her eyes briefly. If only she could get inside Payton’s head. “I know it’s hard to bel—”

  “It’s bullshit.” Payton’s eyes swung wildly about the room and Keila felt a rush of sympathy. The poor girl was scared out of her mind. She reached out to take her hand, but Jason pulled her back.

  “We have to go, Keila, someone’s bound to call the cops, if they haven’t already. Psycho-woman left just before practically flanked by a small army, and we weren’t exactly quiet. We can’t be found at the scene. Zero’s dead and we’re covered in blood.”

  Keila wrenched her gaze away from Payton and heard sirens, faint at first but becoming louder by the second. Jason took her hand but Keila touched it to his chest, pushing back lightly, and turned back to Payton, still huddled on the floor.

  “Please, you have to come with us.”

  The sirens were almost deafeningly loud and sounds of car doors slamming echoed up the hallway. Jason nearly picked Keila up in his arms.

  “We have to go. If she won’t come with us then we’ll come back for her.” He turned to Payton. “I promise we’ll come back for you.”

  Payton covered her eyes with her hands and screamed. “Get out! Get the fuck out!”

  Keila wanted to hold her, to tell the younger girl that she knew what all of it felt like, that she’d once been her, but she couldn’t. All she could do was run.

  36

  Jason’s hands passed almost reverently over Keila’s skin, washing blood and dirt from her body. They hadn’t talked much on the way back to his apartment, Jason cradling her in the back of a cab. He’d told the driver the address and then just held her. He hadn’t spoken, but his hands traced over her body, touching nearly every part of her, his eyes still dark with concern. Every now and then she felt the brush of his lips instead of his hands as he kissed each part he examined for injuries. Her shivering body had warmed from those kisses, and then as he washed her clean in the shower, she’d felt almost normal again.

  He kissed her forehead before pushing her head lightly to rest on his pec. She could feel the hardness of his muscles bunching beneath his skin as he continued to trace a hand up and down her spine, and she sighed.

  “I’m still mad at you, you know.”

  She looked up at him in confusion and he spoke again.

  “It’s okay to be scared, Love. God, I’ve never been so scared in my life as when I realized where you’d gone today. Just don’t ever doubt that I should be right there beside you.”

  “But”—Jason kissed her, silencing her protest, and she kissed him long and deep before breaking away.

  “You know what my life is like, don’t you?”

  He laughed. “Is this the part where you try to convince me this can’t work again? Because if it is, then just be quiet and kiss me again instead.”

  His lips pressed against hers and she moaned. “I don’t want to become the thing you regret.”

  Jason wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her so tightly against him she could feel his heart beat beneath his skin.

  “Feel that, Keila? It’s beating for you. Only a fool would ever regret you, and only a fool wouldn’t know how to appreciate you.”

  Her eyes dropped down and Jason tipped her chin upward. “Keila. . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m no fool.”

  His words made her heart skip a beat and she exhaled shakily. Jason wrapped his arms back around her waist and kissed her softly, over and over again.

  “I know that life has made it hard for you to trust. I get that. All I ask is that you give this—give us—a chance.”

  That was it. Her future was staring her in the face, and Keila was done pushing it away. Jason had fought her demons for her, literally. He was what her heart wanted, and she was done fighting herself.

  Keila pulled back and smiled. “Okay.”

  Jason’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “Okay? You really mean it?”

  She laughed. “Yes. I want this.” It was her turn to take his chin in her hand, bringing his eyes to connect with hers. “I love you, Jason.”

  Jason whooped, picking her up and spinning, nearly knocking them both over on the slippery shower floor. She couldn’t help but laugh at his celebration, absurd as it was. She loved that carefree part of him. God, after what they’d been through that day, she needed it, she craved it.

  He placed her gently back on the floor before taking her mouth firmly, his tongue pushing into her mouth and moving with hers. Her hands wrapped in his hair and tugged and Jason groaned.

  “I love you, too, Keila,” he grinned. “And now I know you love me, you’re stuck with me for good.”

  Keila grinned but it quickly fell away as memories of the day washed over her.

  “Do you really think Payton will be okay? It nearly drove me out of my mind to leave her there.”

  “She will be. The cops were close. I doubt the poor girl remembers much after being unconscious for so long. Head injuries and exposure to drugs like that aren’t taken lightly, and so she’ll be in the hospital for awhile. We’ll find her again, after I take care of you.”

  “But”—Jason placed a finger over her lips before picking her up and wrapping her in a soft towel, so big that it covered her entire height with room to spare. He placed her standing on the soft bathmat and took his time drying every inch of her skin with soft, gentle touches, and then picked her up again and carried her into his bedroom. He lowered her onto the bed and then lay over her and his lips met hers.

  His kisses started off gentle at first, but then grew in intensity, Jason wrapping her in his strong arms and pulling every inch of her body in contact with his. He tangled his hands in her hair, then
glided one down her neck and made circles around her nipple before he gently rolled it between his fingers. Keila shivered, and she felt him grow long and hard against her thigh. Her hips strained upward, searching for contact as her tongue darted out, tangling with his. Despite her desire to take it slowly, to savor it, she couldn’t wait. As his tongue replaced his fingers at her breast, Keila moaned, digging her nails into Jason’s scalp. He grabbed a condom and she felt his cock nuzzle against her opening before he pushed inside, taking her in one deep thrust. Keila gasped and then Jason began to move. His hands were everywhere, touching her as his cock moved inside her, touching her deep inside, stoking the flames until ecstasy burned through her and she came with a cry. Jason thrust twice more before holding her tightly, his eyes closing as she felt him spill inside her.

  Later, Keila lay and watched the moonlight drift across the room. Jason held her to him, her back pressed to his front, but neither of them slept.

  “We’ll find her. Then we’ll gather up Emily and Reece and you can fill us all in on what comes next.”

  What did come next? Zero was dead, but Keila hadn’t forgotten the woman. She was still out there somewhere, and Keila was absolutely sure that whoever she was, she held the answers Keila craved. She would find her, but she’d have help. Jason dropped soft kisses down her neck and Keila smiled.

  “We’ll figure it out.”

  Jason turned her over onto her back and pushed up on one arm, kissing her lightly again. “I love you,” he smiled down at her. “I think I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you.”

  Keila reached up and twined her fingers in his, pulling his lips back to hers and she felt Jason grow hard again. They’d work it all out in the morning. Until then, she had a life to live. One that was long overdue.

  “I love you, too.”

  THE END

  Thank you so much for reading Keila and Jason’s story. Click here to download Payton’s story and read now.

  Also by Jamie Garrett

  Marked By Desire - Romantic Suspense Series

  Books 1 - 5 (first book free!)

  The Dreamcatchers Series

  Emily

  Keila

  Payton

  Lainey (coming soon!)

  DARC Ops Series

  Dark Secret - Book 1

  Dark Web (coming soon!)

  Riley Reid Mystery Series

  Books 1 - 3 (first book free!)

  Acknowledgments

  A huge thank you to you—all my readers, subscribers, and social media followers. Thank you for choosing to read my books!

  Thank you to my ARC team, for all your support. You’re all amazing!

  A special thanks also to Anette King and Kristine Piiparinen, for all that you do. You are both incredible ladies.

  Come and hang out with me, plus authors Lisa Ladew and Adele Huxley, along with the fabulous badass babes in our Facebook romance group, Books, Babes, and Badasses. We talk about anything and everything, and there’s plenty of yummy eye candy too. Stop by and say hello anytime! You can also subscribe to my newsletter, send me an email, find me on Facebook, or visit my website.

  About the Author

  Hi, I’m Jamie. I live with my husband, two beautiful children and three cats. I loves to read almost as much as I loves to write, and can’t imagine anything better than getting to be an author and writing every day. There is at least one cat draped over the keyboard at all times.

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